Full Moon Wo Sagashite Fan Fiction ❯ Finding the Gateway to Heaven ❯ Dream Power ( Chapter 3 )

…Chapter 3 - Dream Power…

Meroko enjoyed her role as an angel to such a degree that she often found things to do when she was not actively assigned to angelic duty. She had gone to a playground and changed the lives of a group of bullies at one point, passing through just as they were about to destroy the beauty of a younger group's sand castles. Not a week before her latest assignment, she had visited a children's hospital and entertained as a talking bunny rabbit, away from the eyes of the concerned parents, of course.

Meroko's current assignment found her as a young girl of three's stuffed bunny rabbit and imaginary friend. Just about one month had passed since she had joined Satora Eniki's family. The girl's parents were just too often too busy to spend time with her, and to avert the path of deep depression upon which she had been headed, Meroko sat waiting for her on a park bench one sunny day. Her mom had insisted that she leave the mangy stuffed animal (Meroko had actually been able to ignore those words…) behind as it must belong to someone, but Eniki had insistently sat on the bench for a full three hours, waiting patiently for the non-existent owner. Finally, her exasperated mother had given in and allowed Meroko into the family.

"…and then my mommy told me get off the couch 'cause my pants were dirty," said Eniki, finishing another tale of her mother castigating her for some minor offense.

"daddy didn't say anything," she concluded to the little stuffed animal, gently stroking its ears. Meroko only looked up at her, as both of them listened to the parents speak about their work day to each other in the living room next door. Their voices rose and fell as the news' excitement waxed and waned.

The telephone rang, causing a ripple in the tide of the conversation, and Eniki's mother's voice could be heard as she answered. "Kato is sick? Oh, ok. I see. I'll be right there. Hold on, let me get a pen. Shinzao. Ok, what's the address again? Ok, I'll be right there," the sound of the phone being placed back in its cradle could be heard.

"Could you put Eniki to bed, dear? I won't be back until late morning, it seems."

"Kato is sick again, huh?"

"The owner is furious, I guess he has a right to be, this is the second time one of them has called in just two hours before show time."

"You really need to let Katori handle things more often, dear, if you keep helping her like this she'll never be able to handle these emergencies."

"I know, but…"

The conversation in the next room rambled on as Meroko gazed into Eniki's sad eyes. The little girl sat quietly for a time, before suddenly bursting into tears. Meroko could barely hear the father's exasperated comment from the other room, "There she goes again! Well, I'll try and see what is wrong with our little Eniki this time. You'd best get going, dear."

The man walked into the room with an impatient look on his face, his short spiky hair framing an oddly proportioned square face. The brown eyes were set just too far apart, causing the wide brim of his nose to seem larger than the narrow tip.

"Eniki, it isn't polite to listen in on our conversations, you know. Now, off to bed with you."

The little girl buried her face in Meroko and continued her loud wailing. Meroko merely accepted the pain, though her eyes became spirals as the fierce hugging continued.

The father had given up on her already and gone back to the living room to speak to his wife, who had nearly been out the door.

"I swear, I just don't know what to do, do I just let her cry it out?"

"I'm sure she'll be ok. Goodbye, Eniki, I love you, sweetie," her mom called to her, followed by the click as the door closed.

Father soon returned, reminding Eniki to increase the pitch of her sobbing again. Meroko gently stroked her face away from his adult eyes, and as her father simply stood staring down at the two, Eniki slowly drained herself, and lost the energy to continue.

"There you go, now let's go to bed, Eniki, I'll even read you that story that you like so much," and which her father found boring and silly.

"Ok, daddy," came the muffled reply, and Meroko whispered softly so that only Eniki could hear, "I'll take you on a voyage after the story, Eniki, maybe we can even go see the head Oliphant!"

The little girl said "Ok!" again, a bit more eagerly, and though her dad had already turned his back and headed towards her bedroom, the sheer excitement in her voice gave him a brief, odd sensation towards his little daughter… a slight tingling in his breast which he quickly shook off as he prepared to appease her with her lame little children's tale.

Eniki washed and changed into her pajamas as her father searched for the proper book on the shelf near her bed. She had crawled under the covers already when he turned to her, and staring down at his daughter as she gripped the fluffy red bunny doll that she had found warmed his heart, and he found it easy to embellish the story of how Baraba overcame his differences from the other Oliphants to eventually triumph and become their king. "And lo! The great king…" he added at one point, "… woof woof," he barked like a dog at another, and at the very end of Baraba's tale he found himself trumpeting like a true Oliphant to the delight of his daughter. Her tender smile pleased him enough to warrant a kiss on her forehead, as he supposed parents were supposed to kiss their children before leaving them for the night, and true to Meroko's promise, Eniki dreamed pleasantly of immense jungles and gray Oliphants as they trudged through, herself their beloved queen and ruler.

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The dream ended too suddenly, though. Struggling to swallow through parched lips to soothe his dry throat, Takuto clenched his fist in self-abasing anger before reaching over to his nightstand for his water glass, the pain of the cancer scattering the images of Meroko and Mitsuki from his mind, leaving him grasping vainly at the dream's shattered pieces.

Her face was still fresh, though, the same little girl from before, the first face he had recognized since waking from the nightmarish gap of two years that had passed since his accident. He struggled to remember events long since suppressed yet again, but they were truly erased, and try as he might, his memory would not follow his will. Sitting up finally, Takuto placed his face between bent knees and simply sat listening to the sound of his breath as it entered and left his body. He shut his eyes tightly before lying back down and returning to the land of his dreams.

Morning came, the sun sifting through the shades on his window, arousing Takuto just minutes before his alarm clock would have woken him anyway. He got out of bed and stretched his arms high above his head, mentally thinking of his workday ahead before he realized that the day was the weekend and his day off.

I need to get out more, Takuto thought to himself unhappily, times in the band returning to him, of staying out late for parties on the weekends and some weeknights, missing weeks of school at a time, though his friends tutored him on the road. The life of a rock star was definitely much more suited to him, not this sedentary work as a florist's helper.

Having made up his mind, Takuto slung his guitar around his shoulder again, the miniature cat figurine dangling loosely behind. The flower shop below was still closed, though the owner could be seen arranging various colors of roses in the refrigerator behind the counter. Takuto knocked on the glass entrance.

"I'm going to try to look for another job, Kanoka-san, thank you for letting me work here until now."

Though surprised by the suddenness of it, Kanoka had sensed Takuto's distress for a while now and anticipated this day for some time. Takuto had seemed restless since the very first day, though he had worked hard and helped Kanoka increase his business as well as become a friend.

"Do your best, Takuto! I'm sure you'll find something that suits you."

Takuto headed to a local club where bands regularly hung out looking for replacements and new members. He knew that he would face tough competition, added to the fact that guitar had never been Takuto's strongest musical ability, but he knew that he could never sing again, and his playing was adequate for most.

The Sliced Onion was a rather large, dingy club off the side streets of one of the major thoroughfares in the city. Seeing its outside made people want to cry, as its drab faded brown exterior mixed with a putrid gray, making it seem like the pants of a hobo rather than the side of a building. The door was made of a heavy metallic iron, and though surprisingly easy to open for its weight, it felt cold to the touch and its deep and numerous dents hinted as to its age.

No signs pointed to the entrance, the only indication that this was the number one hang out of nearly every major band in the city being the absolutely incredible music that often emanated from its walls, which were just soundproof enough to reduce everything to a slight hum and bass beat.

Inside, Takuto stepped onto a huge wooden floor basked in a near-gloomy dimness, off to the side of which could almost be seen twenty or thirty doors which led to various rooms set up with amps, sound systems, computer recording equipment, beds, couches, and more. Those rooms were fully soundproof, and several had their doors shut and people posted outside to guard, in spite of their evident intoxication and ease of manner.

On stage was a hip and exciting group that had caused quite a sensation along with Full Moon, now singing one of their more popular numbers, Rock and Roll Princess Ni Natte. Takuto's leg moved involuntarily to the beat as he glanced about the dimly lit room, searching for the seekers who were scouting nearly every patron that walked in. He recognized a face or two from the streets here and there, noticed several crowds of gapers seated around obviously current idols, and finally made eye contact with the lead of a group of four who were nearly surrounded by their noisy fans and most likely several aspiring musicians.

Takuto eased his way through the tight crowd as the other gentleman first scoped out Takuto, then nudged one of his friends who obviously recognized the former singer. He excitedly turned to the female next to him, who in turn calmly assessed Takuto before elbowing the final gent, who was busy in conversation with a small group of roadies and shooed her with his hand. She shrugged her shoulders, and the trio talked quietly amongst themselves as Takuto approached. Finally arriving, the lead member asked one of the seated fans rather decisively to relinquish his chair, and motioned for Takuto to have a seat.

"Takuto Kira, right?" he said, skipping any pleasantries with his cool demeanor.

Takuto merely nodded slightly, and passed his gaze among the band members, who stared at him for a time. The final member cut off his flirtation finally, and turning to the group said, "So, you guys found a new singer, huh?"

"This used to be the singer for Route L, before he moved to Kissime. Then two years ago, he just vanished."

"Route L, huh?" said the girl, evidently interested in Takuto, "he seems a bit young, how old are you, little Kira?"

Takuto stated, "I'm not here to sing. I'm looking to play the guitar."

The group hesitated, somewhat stunned, before the lead member grinned and said, "Well, then you'll have to fight it out the gent at the end of the table. Maso, how'd you like a little competition to see which of you plays a better axe?" and he and the girl began laughing at Maso's evident dismay.

"Hey, man, you'd better be kidding! I was one of the first members here, you know!" Maso defended himself by slapping his right hand on the table.

"Look, Takuto, we really need a singer, come join us and use those great chords of yours, eh?" interrupted the leader, calmly.

Takuto fought back his emotions as he replied, "I can't. I wish I could, I really wish I could, but I can't," Takuto swallowed hard, "so you don't need a second guitar player, huh…"

"Nah, sorry, not really."

"What do you mean, not really, no way!" shouted Maso, but suddenly calmed down upon seeing Takuto's dismay, "Sorry kid, try Kleaning Up, they're probably in room number three over on the other side of the hall, I hear their guitarist had some sort of injury and may not be able to play any more."

"Thanks," said Takuto, and walked off without a backward glance, leaving the band sitting speechless for a moment before Maso resumed flirtation with his gaggle of girls and the rest slowly rejoined their previous conversations.