[u]Stray[/u]
Gomenasai for everything
Gomenasai, I know I let you down
Gomenasai till the end
I never needed a friend
Like I do now
Tatu-Gomenasai
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The ghostly notes of a piano echoed with a deep melancholy within the halls of the hospital. Once in awhile, the
chords and melody would stop and the sound of a single note would echo as it was tuned with care. Many of the
hospital's staff hummed along in their own tunes with the piano, not having heard it played in quite some time. The
last person to play it was no longer capable of doing so, and now she simply sat in her seat, listening with her eyes
shut as her once seemingly destroyed mind buzzed with activity.
The hospital was usually quiet this time of day, for most were in their rooms, induced into slumber by drugs. Yes,
the rest of the hospital buzzed below and above their feet. But for the patients of the mental ward, this time of day
was usually silence.
Even still, no one was bothered as a young woman played the old piano with a touch that resembled one of a
lover's. She was a gentle person, that much anyone could see. Beyond the fact that she was in the ward, she was a
normal girl. Very few knew exactly why she was there, just like the other lone female in the room. Some said she'd
lost her mind finally, for her story was very well known.
Nearly burned alive alongside her lover.
That had been several years before, and yet people still talked of it. The way it had all happened was so very
strange. Two high school students found buried in the rubble of an elementary school, one burned to death and the
other cling to his body, tears leaving stark trails down her dirt, ash, and blood encrusted cheeks. It was said that
nearly five police officers had to pull her from the young man's body as she screamed for all the world to hear.
And heard it was.
People at her high school unanimously wore solid black to school the next day, mourning the loss of a dear friend
and yet, thanking the Kami that they were spared one. Both had been popular to all within their school, having only
a select few enemies. Many of the students felt their insides twist at the thought of seeing one without the other, for
they had never been apart longer than a day or two.
Now, one would have to live without the other.
But the story was becoming overdone, and fewer people spoke of it. Fewer still knew the true story of the two teens.
They had been given the same name, a name given to them before they were even conceived. Both were born to
separate branches of society, she to a normal urban family and he, to a insanely successful business man and his
second wife. Very few knew of their true name, not even their parents, and they themselves never knew until they
were in junior high.
At first, they despised each other. She was the perfect child, never getting into any trouble and always had perfect
grades. He was rebellious to his core, and it shined brightly in everything that he did. They had met by chance, and
by chance he had opened his locker door in her face, sending her to the floor. He'd stood above her in shock, just
staring down at her with his wide golden eyes as she stared back up at him with doe-like eyes of such bright
sapphire blue, he'd gulped upon feeling the intensity of her gaze.
Unfortunately, that first moment had been shattered by a smart comment on his part. Which in turn, earned him a
well deserved slap from her. Needless to say, they didn't get along very well after that.
Fortunately for those watching over them, another chance happening helped them realize their destiny.
It was the first day of a lab in the newly completed science building, and a single misplaced chemical set of a
blazing fire that trapped many inside their classrooms until help arrived. But unlike the others, they had been away
from the classrooms, having been selected to get more supplies after one of their daily spats. When the fire had
started they were forced into a small supply closet. To the day that he died, he swore that in an instant an
overwhelming surge of protectiveness came from deep inside him and he'd sheltered her within the small closet, all
the while thinking that it was most likely going to be their grave. Especially after the hall outside collapsed and
trapped them indefinitely.
Within the confines of the raging fire, as other students who knew they were still inside cried in horror, time seemed
to still as Kagome, who had breathed in more smoke than he had, suddenly opened her eyes and smiled up at him.
That moment in time was all it took.
Their name became known to them in that moment, a searing hot pain erupting on his right shoulder and her left.
He'd brought her to his chest in a crushing hug, and without realizing it, they had said their name out loud.
"Inferno, so strong it burns you to your core."
After that, they had both lost consciousness.
The sound of the piano faltered for a moment as the girl become lost in her memories, a lone tear falling from her
right eye and landing on the E key of the piano.
'Ironic to think that our name was shown to us during such a disaster.'
She shook away the deeper thoughts, and instead began to play once more and become lost in the memories she
hadn't explored in some time.
They'd both awoken in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by darkness. No lights shined around them, no flames
roared, no structures cracked. There was simply nothing, and they had turned to one another with wide eyes. It was
then they realized they were in fact glowing with a red haze, completely unharmed by the fire.
Except for the distinct pain upon their shoulders.
"You two are one's who share the same name. You live for each other, and no other. Whether you approve or not,
you are bound in ways that run thicker and deeper than blood. Two halves of the same whole."
They'd been shocked to find themselves not alone, but joined by two others who were dressed in similar ways. They
were young children, both with white hair and black eyes. They could have been brother and sister had it not been
for the distinct differences in their facial structure. The girl wore a simple white sun dress with silver flowers across
the bottom hem. The young boy, who was about a head taller than the girl, wore a pair of worn jeans and dirtied t-
shirt that looked to be three sizes too big.
But they seemed to fit together like a lock and key, despite some appearance differences.
"Who are you?"
He had found his voice first and spoken to the children, who in turn smiled at them with a barely noticeable upturn
of their lips.
"Nihility, so dark it consumes your soul."
They spoke as one, breathed as one, and thought as one. Although it may have been understandably eerie under
normal circumstances, they were not bothered. For they were already shocked enough as it was.
"You, Inferno, are just like us. A single being that works with two halves. A Sacrifice and a Fighter. Although,
sensei is determined to make sure you can both be what you wish. Both shall have the chance to defend the other."
This time, she had found her voice, though shakily.
"What are you saying? Are you saying...are you saying we're supposed to fight others like us? People who share
the same name?"
The children had nodded before the boy had stepped foward and stomped his foot once, making a purple ring of
light appear around his feet.
"Battle system initiate! I proclaim a battle of spells!"
"Get behind me!"
She'd been pushed behind her unlikely savior, still feeling the burn upon her shoulder. It seemed to intensify with
every moment. But to her relief, it suddenly lessened when he protector had spoken.
"I proclaim myself the Fighter of Inferno, and accept your challenge with consent of my Sacrifice!"
She faltered again with her fingers just above the keys, a ghost of a smile upon her lips. How surprised she'd been
then, to find he knew about what was going to some length.
Where as she had no idea.
She began to play again, making the other female in the room open her eyes slightly to reveal hazed cinnamon eyes.
This girl was different from the other, and she smiled fully with a twisted grin behind the piano player's back.
"Please, consent to this. If you don't we'll die here."
She'd been so terrified in that moment that all she could do was nod as he stood up fully again, leaving her upon her
knees as she watched this supposed battle ensue. Nihility had struck first, sending lashes of purple light towards
them. But instead of hitting her protector as she had thought they would, the lashes went past him and wrapped
themselves around her wrists and neck.
She'd never in her life felt such pain, and the lashes felt as though they were slowly melting past her skin to the
bone. This, she knew to be true quickly when a trickle of blood could felt going down past her collarbone.
"Miss Higurashi?"
She didn't stop playing, but she did turn her head slightly as to acknowledge the aging woman behind her in a
nurses uniform.
"Ano...there is someone who wishes to speak with you." At this, she snorted and turned back to the piano fully.
"No one has come. No one will ever come. For who wants to see a person who's been thrown away? Hmm?" She
received no answer and decided the woman must have left as she went from a soft tinkling sound to a darker,
heavier sound as she played, seeing the first battle she'd ever been in within her minds eye.
In his desperation to free her from the painful lashes, her "Fighter" as he'd proclaimed himself, had ended the battle
quickly enough. The two children had smiled in a strangely approving way as the darkness had dispersed, leaving
them standing in a field of high grasses that overlooked the harbor she knew was close to the business district of the
city.
"You've done well. Sensei shall be in touch."
With that, they had turned and walked off together, leaving the teenagers to themselves. After that day, nothing was
ever the same.
The sensei had indeed been in touch, visiting them at the oddest times to train their skills. Both caught on quickly,
her more so since she knew nothing of this. She began to understand the pain she felt was better that no pain, for no
pain meant her other half was in pain. They began to be able to sense each other. If one was in danger or
emotionally distressed, the other knew.
Must faster than anticipated, they began to surpass others in combat who had been fighting for many years. They
truly were an inferno, burning across the competition with little to no mercy. They weren't ruthless, and they
refused to kill. But nevertheless, they were powerful.
There was a time when they were forced to make a kill, having already switched so that she was the temporary
Fighter due to the fact that their opponents had made sure that their roles were already switched. He had fallen to his
knees in agony, and in a desperate effort, she'd wiped them off the field.
She was inconsolable for weeks after that.
But he'd helped her see that it wasn't her fault. That there hadn't been any other way around it. With that advice,
she'd come around again, stronger than before.
Everyone knew their name, everyone knew of their power, and yet, no one truly knew at the same time. The world
around them was oblivious to the battles that went on every day, the mysterious deaths that would never be
explained because they weren't even caused by something viewable in the normal realm. But they didn't care that no
one knew of their triumphs. They didn't care that their parents questioned their morals when they would disappear
in the middle of the night, and sometimes not return for days.
For they'd had each other, and at the time, that had been enough.
"Gomen, but you'll have to stop playing that piano and speak Miss Higurashi." She stopped again, and finally
turned around fully to the woman with such fluid grace she amazed herself.
After all, they'd recently doubled her medication intake which had already been nearly three times the normal
amount the other patients took.
"Honto ni? Well then, someone must really want to see me." She laughed darkly as she stood, brushing some of her
waist-length, onyx hair behind her ear, before she spoke again. "Strange, why would someone want to see a girl
with no memory of the last year and enough mental problems to last a lifetime?"
Again, she laughed, and the older woman winced in slight fear. This caused the young woman to stop in her
movement, which was spinning on her toes towards the doorway, and frown.
"Mou, the baba-chan is afraid of Kagome. Pity, I wanted a friend." She giggled again as she walked past the only
other patient in the room, but her laughter stopped when a frail hand suddenly latched onto her wrist with far more
strength than she had imagined possible.
"One such as you can never have friends." The girl known as Kagome blinked, the slight haze that usually shined
dully in her eyes suddenly gone.
"Nani?"
"You did not die with your Fighter. You let your other half die, to be burned alive." The other girl growled as she
bent her head lower than before. "I despise you. I despise him. You're just like he was. My Fighter left me to die in
this place! He left his other half to waste away! I hate him! I hate you! You disgust me!"
"Kagura no!" The old woman came over in a bustle of nurses clothes and keys, pulling Kagura's frail hand from
Kagome's wrist, where a purple bruise was already beginning to form. Kagome stepped back in shock, pulling her
wrist to her chest with wide, suddenly tearing eyes.
"No! I'll kill her! She's just like him! Just like him!!!" The old nurse finally managed to reach in her pocket and pull
out a syringe, suddenly jabbing it into Kagura's arm as she tried to break free from her wheelchair, which had been
equipped with leather straps just for this sort of thing.
The old woman was so busy in fact, that she didn't even notice as Kagome let out a sort of choked sob and ran from
the room.
Her bare feet slid easily on the well waxed floor, and a few times she had to grasp the railings on the walls to help
steady herself. The drugs in her system weren't helping matters either, and her vision blurred in and out as she
continued to run, hoping to the Kami that she might find an exit.
That she might finally escape.
Her vision blurred once more, and this time she missed the rails. Her whole world seemed to fall with her, and
Kagome just wanted to cry out for the injustice the world had dealt her with.
But she never felt her body hit the floor. Instead, she opened her eyes to see herself reflected in golden orbs of
captured sunlight. Her vision blurred once more, from tears and the drugs, and Kagome sobbed in relief as she used
what little strength she could muster and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Inuyasha...you've come to save me all over again..."
With that, she fell into a deep sleep.