InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Not Another High School Fanfic ❯ Aoi's Phase and Kikyo's Accident ( Chapter 18 )

Chapter 18: Aoi's Phase and Kikyo's Accident

Hana's POV

Ah, today's a wonderful day, I thought as I woke up the following morning. As I got ready for school I reflected on everything that had happened the previous night.

 

Sesshomaru stood up and extended his hand out to me, “Would you like to dance?”

“Of course!” I said blushing, extending my hand as well. He took my hand and pulled me closer to him. He grabbed my waist as I wrapped my arms around his neck. We then danced to the soft sound of the music...

I sighed as the beads of warm water pelted my body in the shower.

 

That was the first time we danced together…

 

Sesshomaru let go of me once the song ended. I looked up at him and smiled.

“Are you gonna be my sunshine, Sessho-chan?” I asked.

He smiled back and said, “Of course...”

We both leaned in closer and kissed. At that moment I couldn't think of anything or anyone else but Sesshomaru. It was those moments only that had purpose, being with the man I loved.

I hadn't noticed it at first, but laying on our table a bouquet of roses. Sesshomaru picked them up and handed them to me. I giggled and said, “Hana to Hana, that's funny.”

“So, you like them?” He asked.

“Are you kidding? I love them!” I hugged him and said, “I love you, Sessho-chan!”

“I love you too. As a matter of fact, I'll love you until the very last rose in the bouquet dies.”

I looked at him, confused, “What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I said. I'll love you until the last rose in that bouquet dies.”

As I finished brushing my hair, I smiled into the mirror. I didn't realize the true significance of the bouquet until I got home. I noticed that one rose looked slightly different from the others. I picked out that rose and felt its petals, it was a fake. Then I realized...because the last rose of the bouquet was a fake, it couldn't die. So if it couldn't die…then that meant Sesshomaru would love me forever. Well I already knew that, but the idea of it was very romantic. It made butterflies flutter around in my stomach. I sighed again, I couldn't be happier.

I wanted to take a picture of my special rose bouquet on my cell phone, but when I pressed the `Capture' button it told me that the memory was full. I scrolled through the pictures I had already taken and noticed a picture of Aoi and Bankotsu together.

 

I wonder how those two are doing... I thought.

 

When I got to school, the first person I looked for was Aoi. When I didn't see her at her locker, I assumed she was already in class or just running a little late. But first period passed, then second period, I started to get worried. It wasn't like my sister to miss school. She would have at least called me if she knew she wasn't going to be there...

I asked around to see if anyone had seen her. No one had.

I thought to ask Bankotsu if maybe he knew where Aoi was, but I didn't even notice his absence until Miroku brought it up.

“Hm, they both just happen to be absent on the exact same day?” He said with a perverted smile, “Maybe they are here, and they're just hooking up in the storage closet-“

I slapped Miroku hard across the face, “Aoi would never do that!”

But what if…I thought, but then shook my head.

Sesshomaru kept telling me not to worry about her, that she was probably fine, but how could I not worry about my own sister?

At lunch time, I decided to call to Aoi. When nobody answered the house phone I called her cell phone, but I still didn't get an answer. Just as I was about to call her again I saw someone familiar exiting the main office. I instantly realized it was Aunt Risa and ran to her.

“Aunt Risa!” I called out to her.

She looked a bit surprised once she noticed me, “Oh, Hana.”

When I got close to her I stopped running. “Aunt Risa…is Aoi okay? How come she's not at school? Is she sick?”

“Well that's what I told the main office otherwise they wouldn't have excused her for her absence. I was just about to get her work. The truth is…Aoi hasn't come out of her room since she came home last night. I tried talking to her but she won't listen to me. She won't open her door. She won't eat. I was going to call you after school was over to see if you could come and talk to her. I'm so worried about her Hana…” Aunt Risa said looking close to tears.

That sounds almost like Inuyasha when he was upset about Kikyo. I gasped, Could…this have anything to do with Bankotsu? I need to find out...

I then looked at Aunt Risa determinedly and said “Don't worry Aunt Risa. I'll come and see Aoi as soon as school is dismissed.”

Aunt Risa wrapped me in a tight hug and said, “Oh thank you Hana. I know she'll listen to you…”

I hope so…I thought, hugging her back.

 

I tried to be legit and visit Aoi once school was over, but I was so anxious to see her I faked sick and left early.

I'm coming Aoi…I thought as I drove to her house.

When I arrived at the house, I saw a note on the front door. I took it off and read it.

Hana,

There was an emergency at the hospital so I had to leave. I left the key under the mat so you could let yourself in. I'll call later to check on Aoi. And while you're here can you please try to get her to eat something? Thank you so much.

-Aunt Risa

I put the note in my pocket and got the key from under the mat. After going inside and closing the door behind me, I went straight to the kitchen. I looked through the cabinets and refrigerator for something I could fix Aoi. After getting some ingredients, I began to prepare her meal. In between my mixing and stirring and frying I looked at the ceiling and sighed. I hope she eats this. But more importantly I hope she'll be okay. I thought.

When I was done, in front of me laid a meal consisting of sushi, sunomono, curry bread, and teriyaki chicken. Satisfied, I placed the plate, along with a bottle of Ramune, on a tray and carried it upstairs. I stopped at Aoi's door and knocked once.

“Aoi, it's me, Hana...”

As I expected, there was no response. I knocked again...still no answer.

“Aoi please open up...I made some food for you...”

Next I tried the doorknob and was surprised to see the door was unlocked. I let myself in and saw Aoi sitting on her bed with Kotsu-chan, the bunny, in her lap. Her head was down as she petted him. Her hair fell over her face, but I could still see the shimmering tears that fell from her eyes and I could hear her loud sobbing. For a moment I just stood there, unsure of what to do. I had never seen her so upset.

She picked up a picture frame from her night table. She looked at it for a moment, with a resentful look in her eyes, and then slammed it back on the table, shattering it. I placed the tray of food on Aoi's desk and walked next to her bed to look at the now ruined picture...my jaw dropped in shock when I saw that it was a picture of Aoi and Bankotsu together, the same one I had taken on my cell phone.

Now I know this must have something to do with Bankotsu. I thought.

I sat down next to Aoi on the bed and hugged her comfortingly, “What's happening, Aoi?” I asked.

She didn't answer, but just kept sobbing.

“Please tell me what's going on Aoi. Everyone's worried sick about you...”

She still said nothing, but kept cuddling her little gray rabbit.

“Aoi,” I said trying to talk to her once again, “Is this something about Ban-“

But before I could finish saying his name, Aoi squeezed my arm tightly, as if she didn't want me to say anything else. She then looked me directly in the face for the first time since I got there, puffy-eyed and pale looking. I then heard her say, in a barely audible whisper...

“Bankotsu...and I...we...aren't together anymore...”

 

Aoi's POV

Hana slapped her hand over her mouth in shock. “What?!”

I repeated what I said yet again, my heart aching with every word.

 

Hana started speaking in incoherent gibberish due to her state of shock, “Aoi...what happened?!”

 

I explained to her everything that had happened the night before: searching for Bankotsu, finding him in jail, the things he said to me, the things I said to him...

 

Hana laid her head in her hands as if what I was telling her was too much to comprehend.

 

“Aoi...I don't know what to say...I'm sorry...”

 

At that moment I couldn't take anymore...I broke down in Hana's arms and started crying even heavier than I was before. I could feel that I was getting her clothes wet, but she didn't complain, which I truly appreciated. I was lucky to have a sister like Hana.

 

“I feel so confused...” I said, still unable to control my sobbing, “I love him so much it hurts. But seeing him going through what he goes through, and doing the things he does...that hurts even more. I feel like I can't go through it anymore...”

 

For a minute we were both quiet, but then Hana said, “I think, maybe, Bankotsu feels bad about what happened too. Maybe, if you two just talked...”

 

“Oh whatever,” I interrupted, knowing what she was about to say, “By now he's probably over me. By now, he probably found himself another girl to seduce with that charm of his, another girl to trick into believing that he loves them...”

Deep down, I didn't really want to believe what I was saying. But the words just came out.

 

“Well, I said that because he wasn't at school today either.”

 

He wasn't in school either? I thought

 

“Nope,” I heard Hana say. I forgot for a moment that she could read my mind. “I really think, like I said, if you two could just talk...”

 

“No, Hana.” I said firmly, “I really think that...we're better off without each other.”

 

Hana sighed and rose up from my bed to retrieve the tray of food sitting on my desk. She handed it to me and I took it, hesitantly. I really wasn't in the mood to eat, but I figured since Hana went through the trouble of making so much food for me I should eat at least some of it. As I took a bite of the sushi, Hana said, “I have to go home now...but just...try to cheer up for me? I know it might be hard but...”

 

I simply shrugged my shoulders.

 

“Hope I see you at school tomorrow...” She said. She then gave me a brief hug and headed out of my bedroom door.

 

Alone again... I thought when I heard the front door slam shut. I fed a piece of bread to Kotsu-chan who chewed it right up. I smiled grimly and said, “Well cutie, I guess I'd better come up with a new name for you.”

 

 

Hana's POV

 

As soon as I got home, I conducted a phone conference between the whole gang. The topic of course, was Aoi.

 

“I found out where she was today.” I said once everyone was on the line.

 

“She was hooking up with Bankotsu in the closet wasn't she?” Miroku said, “I told you...”

 

“MIROKU SHUT UP!” Everyone said, including me. He whimpered but then fell silent.

 

“Well, where was she?” Sango asked.

 

“Yeah Hana-chan, was she sick?” Kagome asked.

 

I sighed and explained to them what Aoi told me when I went to check on her.

 

“What...?” Sango and Kagome said at the same time.

 

“Damn...” Inuyasha said.

 

“Those are the last two I imagined breaking up.” Miroku said, finally being serious, “But Aoi's tough, she'll be back to normal in a day or two.”

 

“But you didn't see her Miroku,” I said, “She looked so miserable, like, like she would never be happy again. It wasn't a pretty sight...”

 

“I think Miroku's right.” Inuyasha said, “Shit happens, people break up, Aoi's gonna get over it eventually.”

 

I was getting really frustrated with the guys' attitudes, but I tried not say anything about it.

 

“Anyway,” I said, “Aoi may or may not be at school tomorrow. But if she is, please, please, don't bring up Bankotsu when/if you see her. Understood?”

I smiled when I heard a unanimous “Yup!”

 

“Well, I gotta go, see you guys tomorrow!” I said.

 

“Bye!”

 

“Bye.”

 

“Farewell!”

 

“Peace...”

 

After I hung up the phone I went to my room and started doing my homework (for the classes that I didn't skip that is...). Once I finished, I changed into some more comfortable clothes and took Aki with me on a walk, so that I could clear my head. However, by the time I came back home, my head wasn't any clearer than it had been earlier when I left Aoi's house. I didn't have the energy to do anything else, so I changed into some pajamas and went to bed early. Before I drifted off to sleep, I thought about Aoi yet again.

 

I really think that...we're better off without each other....

 

That's what she had said. But she had stayed home from school. She refused to come out of her room. She refused to eat. Her shimmering tears, poured out of here eyes like waterfalls. She looked miserable, tormented, like she had almost lost the will to go on.

 

You're wrong Aoi, I thought, you aren't better off...you two need each other.

 

 

 

The next morning, I didn't feel like driving to school, so I caught the morning bus and rode there. When I arrived at the school entrance, I saw Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, who had been arriving as well.

I surprised Sesshomaru by pulling on his unnecessarily long hair from behind. He scowled at first, but when he realized it was me, his expression softened.

 

“Good morning, Hanako.” He said.

 

“'Morning, Sessho-chan!” I said happily. He was about to lean forward to kiss me...

 

“Too early, lovebirds...” Inuyasha said interrupting, “Wait `til later to do that, or at least when I ain't around.”

 

“Then go away!” Sesshomaru snapped. I decided not to say anything. Inuyasha almost left, but I called him back.

 

“Remember what we talked about last night, Inuyasha.” I told him.

 

“Uh-huh...” he said briefly then turned back around to go on about his business.

 

Once Inuyasha left, Sesshomaru planted a kiss on my lips then asked me what I was talking about with Inuyasha.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell Sesshomaru, I thought. I explained to him what happened with Aoi and everyone's `code of silence'. As I expected, Sesshomaru's reaction was totally indifferent.

 

“I guess that's too bad.” He said.

 

“Mmm.” I didn't know what else to say. I wished he could've at least sounded like he cared a little bit about Aoi. But then again, I knew the two didn't get along that well to begin with.

 

 

Later that morning, Sesshomaru and I were walking along the hallways before first period started. And who did we see walking by herself - ?

 

“Aoi!” I yelled down the hall to catch her attention. She turned in my direction and a noticeably forced smile spread across her face as she walked towards me and Sesshomaru.

 

“Hey!” She said with a forced smile once again when she reached us.

 

“Good morning, are you feeling better?” I said brightly, not daring to say anything else.

She nodded, “Yeah, much better. Thanks so much for coming to see me yesterday, Hana!”

I didn't know who Aoi thought she was kidding. Her false happiness was so apparent it almost made me sick. But I knew better than to point it out.

 

“So...are you gonna walk with us to class?” I asked in order to prevent any awkward moments.

 

“Sure...” Aoi kept looking downwards, but I couldn't figure out why. It took me a minute to realize that she was bothered by the fact that Sesshomaru and I were holding hands. When I did notice however, I instantly let go and put both of my hands in my pockets.

 

“Well let's go then!” I said with even more perkiness.

 

 

Aoi's POV

 

I could tell that Hana was trying to make me feel better about what happened on Wednesday. But I didn't think anything was going to lift my spirits that day. First period passed, then second period, and all I could think of was him, the person whose name I would never again speak aloud. As the bell rang signaling the end of second period, something dawned on me...

 

Dammit, I have class with him next...!

 

I moaned as I got up out of my seat and walked as slowly as I could to my next class. The late bell rang as soon as I arrived and sat in my seat right next to the entrance (since it was a new semester, and the teacher changed the seating charts, I at least didn't have to worry about sitting next to him). For whatever reason the teacher hadn't arrived yet, so I decided to study some equations until he did. I was okay for a while...

 

But that's when I saw them...

 

Out of my peripheral vision I saw him, uncomfortably close to another girl who I didn't recognize. It felt like my heart had dropped to my stomach, I quickly looked away.

 

He recovered quickly...I thought, I knew he would...

 

As soon as I finished that thought, the teacher walked into the room.

 

“Who are you?” he said to the girl who was with him, “You're not in my class, so get out.”

 

“Fine,” the girl said twisting her long hair around her finger in an oddly flirtatious way. She took her time walking out of the classroom (making sure she `switched') and when she finally left, the teacher locked the door behind her and started class as if nothing had happened.

The minutes passed by like hours as I waited to get out of class. I wasn't even paying attention, so there was no point in me being there anyway.

 

Equations...pi...square roots...why does all of this stuff matter?

 

By the time the end bell rang, it felt like I had been in Algebra for days. I made sure I was the first one to leave, so as not to cross paths with anybody. The noise of hyper students talking and giggling made my ears ring as I stepped into the hall. I envied them and how they were able to be so happy when I couldn't be. Most of them were probably headed to lunch, where they could eat and see their friends, or whatever else they wanted to do. That's where I was supposed to be headed. But instead I made a detour...

 

I felt like being alone, so I made my way up to the rooftop where I knew no one else would be at that time of day. It was cold and extremely windy outside, but I didn't even care. I felt bad enough already and it wasn't like the weather was going to make anything better or worse for me. As I laid myself up against the chain-link safety barrier, all of my unwanted memories came flooding back to me randomly, as if I were flipping channels in my mind with an imaginary remote control...

 

“My name's Bankotsu, as you've probably guessed, Nice to meet ya!”

 

“Are you paying attention?”

“Not really. It's kinda hard to pay attention when I've got such a beautiful girl sitting right in front of me.”

 

“I love you Aoi.”

“I love you too.”

 

“I admit I'm still dealing with some things but I'm gonna change and I'm going to put an end to it all…just for you.”

 

“You know I don't even know what the hell your problem is! Why do you even care about what I'm doing when I'm not with you?! It's not like it's any of your business!”

“Why do I care? I care because I love you! And if you got badly hurt, or got killed because of something unnecessarily stupid, I'd be devastated! I figured you'd understand that by now, but it looks like you don't! And if that's the case...then maybe we shouldn't be together!”

“Goodbye, Bankotsu.”

 

When the last of my so-called `memories' ended I snapped back to reality. I once again came to grip with the fact that what happened wasn't some terrible nightmare that I had to wake up from.

I was alone.

 

I crouched down low on the ground, and just like the day before, I started crying as hard as I possibly could, no matter how hard I tried to stop, I just kept sobbing. I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard a familiar voice talking to me.

 

“What happened to you?”

 

I looked behind me and saw Kagura staring at me with a somewhat pitying look on her face. I had forgotten that she sat on the roof during lunch too. When I turned to face her I tried to wipe my eyes of evidence that I had been crying.

 

“There's no point,” she said, “I already saw your face and heard you...what happened?”

 

I sighed and said, “Some...serious relationship problems...that's all...”

 

“Ah, so the perfect couple finally broke up, eh?” She said with, what sounded like a slight interest. Ignoring her sarcasm about the `perfect couple' I continued, “It's just...I thought we would be together forever. I thought he loved me...”

Kagura gave an empty laugh and muttered something under her breath. It sounded like she said, “Join the club, princess...”

 

“And it's only been a day, less than a day, and he already found himself another girl...”

At this point Kagura was beyond intrigued. It was unusual considering how I usually saw her act.

“That doesn't sound like the Bankotsu I know...” I flinched at the sound of his name, “What did the girl look like?” Kagura asked.

 

“Well,” I said, “She had long blonde hair...”

 

“Kinda short, has glasses, the girl who got kicked out at the beginning of class last period?” Kagura asked, perfectly finishing off the description of the girl from earlier. I forgot that Kagura and I had the same third period class.

 

“Uh...yeah...her.” I said.

 

“Kame.” She said shortly.

 

“Hm?”

 

“That's her name, Kame. She's Bankotsu's -“

 

“Can you...not refer to him by his name please...?” I said sensitively. Kagura rolled her eyes and said, “Okay, you-know-who's ex-girlfriend.”

Now I was the one who was intrigued, “Ex-girlfriend?”

 

“Yeah, she's a nasty piece of work, broke the guy's heart not too long before he met you. I guess she somehow found out about the two of you and was trying to get back with him, which I highly doubt will happen.” She said.

Unexpectedly, she knelt down next to me on the ground and put her hand on my shoulder again, “Look, I don't know all of the details or whatever, but I think that maybe you two still have a chance. As much as I hate to actually admit it, you two were kind of a...cute couple.” She said cringing. “And even if it doesn't work out, it's not the end of the world, princess. You'll get over it.”

 

No, I won't I thought, I can't get over it, not that easily...

 

Plip...

 

I felt a drop of rain touch my face. Then another, then another, and soon it was drizzling along with the brisk cold wind.

 

“It was nice talking to you Kagura,” I said getting up from the ground. I was making my way back to the stairs, but I noticed that Kagura wasn't following behind me. I then called back to her, “Kagura aren't you coming?! You don't want to get wet...”

 

“I'll be alright, just go inside and leave me alone,” she replied back with a total change in attitude. For the first time in what seemed like forever, I smiled. Even though she probably didn't feel the same way (she probably felt the exact opposite, actually), I could honestly say that Kagura was a really good friend.

For the most part the rest of the day went pretty well. Hana and the others hadn't mentioned him, nor did I run into him but of course I still couldn't stop thinking about… him. I tried to do a lot so I wouldn't have to focus so much on my thoughts (I even went as far as asking for extra work) but that didn't help. As always, I was relieved when the school day ended. But I knew this was only one of the many days I would have to struggle to avoid him.

 

I sighed as I unlocked my car.

This is not going to be easy. I thought.

 

Just as I was about to get in the car, someone called my name. I froze when I recognized the voice. It belonged to someone whose voice I did not want to hear.

 

“Aoi!”

 

A part of me was saying to just get in the car and drive off, another part was saying to just stay and hear him out. Either way…my feet wouldn't move.

 

“Aoi!”

 

The voice got closer and closer until finally it was only a few inches away from me. Very hesitantly I turned around to face none other than Bankotsu.

 

There was an awkward moment of silence, and then Bankotsu spoke up. Sort of, “Ah…hi…”

 

“Ah…hi…” I repeated, my throat feeling totally dry.

 

There was another awkward moment of silence. I found my eyes drifting away, as it was still hard to look him in the face.

 

“Ah…how ya been?” he asked.

 

A part of me wanted to be normal and say something really sarcastic like `Oh I'm great! I mean we just broke up so why wouldn't I be fine?'

 

But…instead I just gave a total and complete lie, “I'm fine…”

 

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bankotsu give me a particular look…almost like he knew I was lying. Maybe my lack of sarcasm gave me away…

 

There was yet another moment of silence after that. During that period, I suddenly recalled something.

 

“Um…Bankotsu…” I said struggling with his name. It still seemed weird calling him by his actual name.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Um…I just remembered…those tickets Jakotsu bought us.”

 

“Oh yeah…I guess you don't want to go with me…”

 

I tried so hard to deny the sadness I heard in his voice but it was almost too obvious.

 

“Well…I wasn't going to say that…” I said in almost a whisper.

 

Bankotsu's eyes lit up with hope.

 

“What I was I going to say was…we could still go…”

 

There was another moment of silence, only shorter this time before Bankotsu said “R-really?”

 

“Yeah…I just don't want those tickets to go to waste.” I said quickly, trying not to make it seem like I wanted to be with him. “And…afterwards we don't have to talk to each other or see each other ever again…”

 

Bankotsu didn't say anything, but I could practically sense his disappointment.

 

I don't understand why he would be disappointed…it's not like he really cares about me…I thought.

 

When I managed to make myself look straight at Bankotsu again, I found that his back was towards me.

 

He was slowly walking away but then he stopped to look back at me and said, “I remember what you said before…about us not being together…but honestly…I still love you…and even if you're not with me…I just want you to be happy…for my sake…”

 

As he disappeared further and further from my sight, I felt a strong tightness in my chest as those last words sunk in.

 

Normal POV

 

Later that day…

 

“Gosh Watanabe-kun is so useless…so what if he' sick with the flu, that doesn't mean he can't drive, does it…? I'll just ask Daddy to hire someone else…my car is in the shop on top of that…sigh, what a day…” a preppy high school girl, better known as Kikyo, complained as she waited a stop light.

 

Her patience was growing thin as minutes passed and the light was still red.

 

I'm gonna be late for my hair appointment! She thought angrily.

 

Kikyo looked both ways in the street and saw that there were no cars coming or going. Whatever, there aren't any cars so it shouldn't matter. Kikyo thought as she stepped into the street.

 

Halfway across the street, she suddenly heard a loud honking noise. When she turned she gasped as she saw a truck heading her way. Her body froze in shock. The last things she heard were people yelling for her to move and the screeching sounds of the truck.

 

Only seconds later did the sounds of the truck colliding with her body and peoples' screams fill the air.

 

(AN: Kukuku…that's what she gets…stupid bitch.)