Full Moon Wo Sagashite Fan Fiction ❯ Finding the Gateway to Heaven ❯ Eternal Snow ( Chapter 6 )

…Chapter 6 - Eternal Snow…

Wakaoji sure has changed, thought Takuto to himself, as he sat waiting for the doctor at the café on Shimono Street. He was always a nice person, but now he seems so serious about something, too, and … so light-hearted. He seems…

Wakaoji entered the door and waved to Takuto, the genuine smile on his face easing Takuto's initial bristling, which had long been his initial reaction to everyone around him. Wakaoji sat down, not bothering to remove the lab coat he had worn evidently to further ease Takuto's mind, and proceeded to remove several folders from his briefcase, containing pictures, diagrams, and x-rays regarding the operation.

They sat and spoke for several hours. Wakaoji thoroughly explained the procedure to Takuto, noting how this procedure was different than what had been available several years ago. He emphasized how the angle and mechanics of the new lasers no longer made it necessary to cut through the vocal cords as before, and was thus able to preserve the person's voice, except if the cancer had entirely consumed the throat.

"But then you would be coughing blood every time you spoke, Takuto," Wakaoji answered before the singer could even ask, "I need to take a look at you, though, to see just how far your sarcoma has progressed. But as easily as you speak now, I believe this procedure will go rather smoothly."

Slowly Takuto accepted the idea that he may be able to sing again, and hope lit his soul in a way that nothing had since Mitsuki's parents died so suddenly those years ago. Fighting back tears, Takuto agreed, his concerns about funding waved away swiftly by Wakaoji.

"If you remember, I told you that I became a producer. Let's just say that the girl did very very well. And, it was thanks to you, Takuto," Wakaoji finally breached the subject, sensing calmness and a relaxed spirit from the boy.

"So you know where I've been these last two years, Wakaoji?" Takuto asked, his frustration building inside again, but this time directed only inward and not at his friend.

"Let's first take care of your throat, Takuto," Wakaoji said firmly, and then perhaps we can see about your memory.

Takuto agreed, his reservations finally making way to the immense desire he felt to once again return to the crowds, the cheering, the spotlight, and most of all, the sound of his own voice singing.

The check-up went rather quickly, and Wakaoji beamed after noting that Takuto's case was less severe than Mitsuki's had been.

The hospital had become something of a news item since the first operation, and though Wakaoji shrugged and smiled at Takuto's questions about how difficult it would be to hold the operation, the reality was rather taxing for the sensei. More than several of his colleagues had approached him with questions, the director of the hospital had asked him to write an extremely detailed analysis of the procedure, with particular note to its extensibility into cancers other than the throat, and the lab had become a training ground on weekends.

For months now, Wakaoji had been tutoring several specialists from most of the major hospitals in the city on the workings of the new machines and technique. Surprisingly, the pressure had not phased the sensei in the slightest, and Wakaoji had eagerly become the tutor, in hopes that others might benefit as Mitsuki had from the simple yet extremely advanced changes made in excising the tumors from the highly complicated area.

Wakaoji finalized plans for the operation, and approached Takuto regarding matters, "Takuto, it was asked of me to allow several other doctors to come and watch the procedure this time. As you are the patient, I must leave it up to you."

"I suppose you would not ask if it would not help. Ok, Wakaoji, I'll allow it. And perhaps it is time I met my benefactor," he added, attempting to make himself sound distant and uninterested, though the truth was quite the opposite, especially as he believed he already knew who it was.

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To attempt to describe the calmness with which Mitsuki endured her restlessness in the weeks following Wakaoji's discovery of Takuto would be rather difficult. She spent her time at play with her friends, immersing herself in her schoolwork, volunteering at an elementary school nearby, and generally expending so much energy each day that she barely had time to write and vocalize no less than fifteen songs before collapsing into slumber.

"Wakaoji-sensei, it's been so long, I'm not sure I even want to see him," she said quietly as they entered his car, "I … I'm scared, Wakaoji-sensei."

"Takuto," Wakaoji began, "… Takuto is Takuto, Mitsuki. When you saw him he had just awoken with a completely blank space of two years in his memory, things were rather frightening for him. I won't say he has changed much, but you know him, possibly better than I do. I think he's ready now, before, he was just not."

Mitsuki nodded and entered the car, doubt clouding her mind as the car made its way towards Ooshige's house.

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Meroko awoke in a strange place, a seeming endless beach much like where she had said farewell to Takuto. She dimly felt a vibration emanating from the air around her, amidst the calmness present in the scenery of her surroundings. Eichi was nowhere in sight…

Eichi-kun.

Meroko's ears flopped up, recognition dawning on her so suddenly, and startling her so heavily, that she poofed back into bunny form instantly.

Dusty blonde hair. Large hazel eyes. Kind. Eichi-kun. Sakura Eichi.

Waaaaa, cried Meroko to herself, waaaaaaa.

A figure appeared in front of her, a darkly cloaked figure whose face could not be seen, and whose voice could only be felt.

…That is right, Meroko, your partner is Sakura Eichi.

Meroko looked up at the figure with waffles in her eyes, tears not yet flowing but definitely willing.

Recognition once again flooded her being, with a power that knocked her back several feet, as fear nearly gripped and overwhelmed her. I thought I left the Shinigami permanently. Why am I here?

And voicing the thought caused the dark figure to suddenly disappear, along with the sandy beach, and everything around her, and Meroko found herself back in Eichi's arms on the street where she had been not moments before.

Meroko gasped as she gazed into his soft eyes, wondering to herself if he knew who he was, scared of mentioning anything to him, and worst of all, terribly guilty because of her love for him.

"What is wrong, little bunny?" he asked her gently, seeming not to have noticed her sudden disappearance and reappearance.

"He he, oh, um. Nothing," Meroko lied and instantly regretted doing so, and just as quickly chose to correct herself, "That's not true. Oh, don't ask me what's wrong," and threw herself, weeping, deeper into his grasp.

Though he was obviously stunned, Eichi held her gently for a while, silently allowing her to overcome whatever was plaguing her. His call became one of a work assignment, and had he considered the implications, he may have become intensely worried at this fact.

"Meroko Yui, right?" he said, his voice coursing over her in waves, soothing her slowly and bringing to light the length she had traveled to get where she was now.

"Yes. May I ask your name?" she responded quietly, needing to hear him say it, to assure herself that she was correct, but also to be sure that he recalled his own name of his own will. But most of all, simply, because she had to ask.

"Sakura Eichi," Eichi replied, and looked puzzled for a moment, as he gently pushed Meroko back the length of his arms, "I haven't thought about that until just now. Isn't that odd?"

Meroko nodded slightly, a terrified sensation again beginning to overpower her. She turned to her left, only to see…

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Out of the corner of her eye, amidst the burden of her heavy heart, Mitsuki saw a feather from a familiar wing gently floating above the ground. Perhaps it was just in her mind, but the image startled her, and pressing her face to the glass, she kept sight of it as the car rounded a corner…

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Mitsuki. It was Mitsuki! Suddenly Meroko's spirit returned, and in spite of holding the same Eichi-kun in her arms, despite seeing and feeling the Shinigami once again, Meroko leapt up, carrying Eichi with her. Certainly there was a purpose to all of this, even as Shinigami she had been used to ensure Mitsuki's survival.

Sudden realization of this brought a terrible calmness to Meroko, as she flew higher and higher through the planes.

Eichi clung hazily to her, lost in contemplation of his own identity. Distantly he asked, "Where are we going, Meroko?"

But Meroko did not answer, for she did not know. They passed the tallest of skyscrapers in the angelic plane, and shifted above and beyond to a vast whiteness where Meroko could feel the pulse of the world as a steady rhythm in every fiber of her being.

Eichi evidently became encompassed by the sensation as well, and his attention finally shifted away from inner contemplation to that of the cosmos around them.

Calmly, in the most frightening of places imaginable, Meroko and Eichi sat, and waited.

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Meroko, thought Mitsuki gently to herself. I'm sure of it, but why am I seeing her again?

"Wakaoji-sensei, you didn't notice anything... unusual back there, did you? Just before you turned onto this street?"

"You mean the dog with the thick black eyebrows? It seemed to be guarding a pile of masks…" replied Wakaoji.

"Sensei! No, I didn't even notice… dog?" Mitsuki fumbled, halted, and continued after a minute, "I think I saw Meroko, Wakaoji-sensei."

"Meroko? Oh, the little rabbit? Oh! The little rabbit!" Wakaoji's focus was distracted quite heavily from the road by this, and he suddenly stopped the car.

"Are you sure, Mitsuki? What could it mean?"

"I don't know, Wakaoji-sensei, but I'm feeling better now. Meroko helped Takuto live again, I'm sure of it! Maybe she appeared to give me the courage to see him again," she hesitated, "But it didn't feel like that, I almost felt sad when I saw," again, Mitsuki seemed as if she were not going to continue, "well … it was just a feather floating above the ground..."

Wakaoji would have thought oddly of this had he not seen the two Shinigami himself, and recollection of his initial encounter with Takuto of Negi Ramen halted him from doubting that this feather could mean other Meroko. Still, uncertain as to how to proceed, Wakaoji only sat and waited for Mitsuki to continue.

"I think it's ok, now, Wakaoji-sensei," Mitsuki said, and though she now felt relaxed towards her impending meeting with Takuto, a deep sense of foreboding for Meroko's fate caused her to say aloud, "I just hope Meroko is ok." Suddenly she cupped her hands on the window of the small car and shouted, "Meroko, I wish you the best!"

Blinking, it was but a moment before Wakaoji joined in, "Me, too, Meroko! Good luck!" after which the two of them laughed before Wakaoji resumed their course towards Ooshige's.

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"Good evening," Takuto said hesitantly, bowing as his flushed red cheeks displayed his embarrassment to Mitsuki.

"Good evening," Mitsuki replied gently, bowing low in kind.

"So you're Full Moon?" Takuto asked, startling Mitsuki, who turned towards a startled Wakaoji, who was crossing his hands back and forth in front of him rather quickly to indicate, Not me!

"Eh, well…" Mitsuki fumbled. "No, I mean, yes, but, no."

"Wakaoji said that he was bringing the girl who would sponsor the operation, and that he was her producer. Since he told me that he produced for Full Moon, I thought that you must be her. So you are a singer, too?"

"I was one," said Mitsuki, causing Takuto to glare at Wakaoji, forcing Mitsuki to explain, "I will be one again." I hope.

"Can I hear you sing? Wakaoji says that the treatment is very effective."

Mitsuki's patience was slowly eroding under Takuto's barrage, and as her frustration became apparent to both Takuto and Wakaoji, the sensei interrupted, "Takuto, her throat has not fully recovered yet, it may take about a year for … well, for the cells to fully reform in the affected areas. Your case is actually lighter than Mitsuki's was, and you can hear that she can still speak, right? Perhaps you two can talk about other things first."

"No, Wakaoji-sensei, it's ok, I do love singing after all. Takuto, do you mind if I sing one of your songs?"

"If you mean Route L's, I only sang them, songs don't belong to any one person. Although perhaps Aoi could have claimed them."

"My father…"

Stunned, Takuto stared intently at Mitsuki for a while. "You really do look like her. So you are their daughter, huh?"

Mitsuki blushed fiercely at the intense scrutiny, which differed harshly from the protective love she had known from Takuto the kitty. Finally she stammered on the first verse, and began singing.

"Kimi wo suki ni natte dorekurai tatsu no kana? Kimochifukurande yuku bakari de. Kimi wa, kono omoi kidzuiteiru no kana? Ichido mo kotoba ni wa shitenai kedo…"

Entranced, Takuto hardly seemed to notice when the song was finished. Finally he snapped out of his reverie and noticed that they were all still standing in the foyer, causing him to blush fiercely before he fell to his knees, and placed his head on the ground, as he begged Mitsuki apologetically, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Startled, Mitsuki turned to Wakaoji, who only shrugged, before he apparently realized the situation, smiled, and walked off into the living room, adding puzzlement to Mitsuki's already shocked state.

"Eh…" she began, then knelt and put her hand on Takuto's shoulder, to find that he was crying softly to himself.

"Mituski, Koga Mitsuki," he said, "Do you know, I used to love your parents so much. They were like my own parents. They replaced my own parents. Then they were gone, and I just ignored everything." Takuto paused, wiping his eyes with his sleeve, still facing the ground, "When you were born, I was there at the hospital. And I just hated you. There you were, this little girl in your crib, and you had taken everyone away from me. I went up to the window where you were lying, and I was so mad I was frowning and right before I could yell at you, you just looked up at me and smiled. There you were, staring up at this angry little kid, and all you could do was smile, and you even laughed. And I just ran away. It must have been so hard for you, and all I could think about was me. I knew you were in that orphanage, and I just ignored you. I didn't want your pity, your smile. I didn't want to help you at all. All I saw was that I wanted to sing again."

Stunned beyond words, Mitsuki could only listen as Takuto poured his heart out to her. The pain of thoughts of her parents and their passing had long since become an acceptable ache to her, though it had taken Eichi, and Takuto and Meroko to get her to the point where she could not cry merely at the thought of the two people she had never known. She gently lifted Takuto's face by the chin, and looked into his eyes.

"You sing… so… beautifully, Mitsuki-sama," Takuto said between breaths. "You even sound just like Full Moon," and here he merely gazed into her eyes for a while, her calm passion reflecting his intense sadness.

Staring at her like this very quickly returned to him a heavy feeling of shame, and Takuto stood up, folded his arms, closed his eyes, and turned away from Mitsuki so quickly that she fell to the ground from the sudden loss of support, but not before her eyes widened and a tear formed at her temple as she realized her dilemma.

"Well, anyway," Takuto coughed formally, "that being said, I guess your operation worked just fine, I'll go tell Wakaoji that I'm ok with it, now."

"Sensei," replied Mitsuki from the ground, before standing and brushing her skirt off with her hands.

"Eh?"

"Wakaoji-sensei," she said, "that's his name, now."

Takuto merely made an open-mouthed startled expression before realizing that he was being teased more than corrected, and began to laugh freely and deeply from the sudden release of tension.

"Sensei. That's right, he is a sensei now, isn't he!" and the two of them stood laughing, before joining Wakaoji-Sensei in the dining room.