Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Distance ~faraway memories~ ❯ Mei ( Chapter 3 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Chapter 3: Mei
"We know what we are, but know not what we may be. ."
I've always known this quote. It's one of those things you keep in the back of your mind, the ones that you don't want to remember. It's always reminded me of my past. A past I never wanted to experience again, a past I wanted to leave behind. . it was the sole thing that could cause me to cry. .
October 23rd, 1987. . I was six years old and a naive, stupid child. I was living in Okinawa with my mother and sister for a short while; I already knew it would be mere days before I would be thrust back into my father's home in Tokyo.
It was a sunny, perfect autumn day, with the trees a swirl of red, orange, and yellow. I was sitting outside at my mom's porch, a book in my lap, and watching a pair of kids playing across the street.
"Ryu-niichan!" The younger, black-haired girl cried, kicking the ball very hard. He clapped and winked at her, making her blush happilly. "Was it good?"
"Of course it was, little one!" The boy said, running over and twirling his sister around. I watched them ruefully, wishing my life was as perfect as that. Even if Lina, my older sister, was an awesome sister, she was always too busy for me. She was perfect. . I wasn't.
"KAZEKO! KAZEKO, YOU LITTLE TWERP, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" My mother's voice rang out from the kitchen. "KAZEKO! KAZEKO, GET IN HERE!"
"I don't want to," I whispered to myself, bringing my knees up to my chest. I heard her growl with frustration. The pair across the street were watching me curiously now.
"Kaaaaa-zeee-kooo! Get in here, dammit!" She screamed. I shook my head, feelings tears coming from my eyes. "Are you going to come in or not?!"
". .I'm coming," I stood up and went inside the house, trying to be as slow as possible. "I'm coming, don't worry. ."
Lina gave me a sympathetic gaze from where she sat, magazines all over her lap and the couch, a pen and a bunch of papers on her clipboard. "Don't piss her off.."
"I won't," I said softly to her and stepped into the kitchen. "Yes, okaachan?"
"Kazeko, you little brat, you made yourself pancakes for breakfast, and you made an entire mess!" She screamed, and I waited for the slap to come. Instead, I felt myself flying out of the kitchen. I hit the back of the couch, causing Lina to scream. She dropped everything and jumped to my side, and held me in her arms.
"Shoujo! Shoujo, shoujo, are you okay?" She asked, hugging me tight. My mother came into the room, an expression of guilt on her face.
"Kazeko. . oh, Kazeko!" She exclaimed, stepping forward. "I. . oh, my little Kazeko. ."
"It won't work!" Lina cried, standing up with me in her arms. "Just leave her alone, I cannot believe you'd go as low as KICKING her right out of the KITCHEN! Where do you get all these guts to hurt your own little girl?!"
I didn't hear anything else. The last thing I heard was a wail of sirens, and I thought maybe someone had come to take her away from me. .
September 7th, 1993. . . I remember that day like it was yesterday. Lina had just arrived from Osaka Grand College, and it was her second year dating Nagareboshi Ryu, a sweet guy who acted like an older brother to me. She was spending time with me, and we were both enjoying our ice cream cones. Lina was talking about Ryu.
"He's just so nice to me, I don't think I've ever had a boyfriend as cute as him," She said, taking a lick of her ice cream. "He has a little sister, and that's how he knows how to act with you. She's the same age as you. Anyway, he told me he's thinking of proposing to me. That's a bit forward, but it's just so sweet of him! What if he *does* propose to me? We'll get married, and then you'll have a sister to play with! How about that? You can come live with us, and our parents won't ever hurt you, cause I'll get documents to be your legal guardian!"
I grinned up at her. "Wow, Lina-neechan, that's awesome. I hope you do get married to him, he's such a great guy!"
Lina swallowed the last of her cone, and dropped down to meet my eyes. She had a serious look on her face. "Shoujo, I'm getting involved in very serious things, and I don't think I'll be seeing you very often anymore,"
I felt my heart drop and break into a million pieces. ". . But, Lina-neechan, you're the only one who understands me! Don't leave me, dammit!"
"No swearing, shoujo. I'm not leaving you, we're just not going to see each other as often!" She said, ruffling my hair and kissing my forehead. "Shoujo, don't you worry. I'll come and get you as soon as possible."
"But, Lina-neechan, please don't! Take me with you!" I couldn't block the tears anymore. They fell from my eyes like a waterfall. "Please. . onegai. . don't. ."
"Shoujo, don't you worry!" She said, a sad smile on her face. I collapsed into her arms, sobbing loudly. "Shoujo, don't cry, oh, shoujo, I'm not leaving you, I never will!"
"You always lie to me!" I screamed, jumping back from her. I turned and ran away, and I felt her high heels clattering behind me. "Go away, Lina! I hate you!"
"Shoujo! KAZEKO!" She shouted, and I stopped. I felt a sudden warmth, and I noticed light on my bare arms. "Shoujo, get out the way!"
I finally raised my eyes just as a very loud honk drowned out Lina's screams. I felt trapped.
*It's going to end. . just like this. .* I stared at the truck, blinded by the headlights. I noticed the driver frantically trying to find a way to avoid me, but it was a one-way road. *Just like I thought it would. . trapped. . hello, death. .*
Even over all the noise of the truck, I heard Lina's heels clattering and I turned to see Lina running towards me, short skirt and halter-top and all, hair flying behind her, eyes wide. She pushed me harshly out of the way just as the truck was only a few inches away. I fell to the ground, wincing as I felt the cold asphalt scrape my knees and arms. I rolled over quickly and saw the truck. . it had stopped. . the driver wasn't there. . there was a trail of blood. . I followed it with my eyes until I saw Lina. . she had flown over 5 feet. . her hair was now damp with blood. . the driver was leaning beside her. . he picked her up. . her eyes flew over to me. . she pointed towards me. . the driver hastily came to me and Lina smiled one last time at me. .
"Shoujo. . please. . love and be loved. Tell mom, dad, Ryu, and Akari I love them. . I love you, shoujo, please love someone, you don't know how far you can go. Goodbye, Kazeko. ." She said, and her bright green eyes just. . dimmed. She closed her eyes and I stared at her limp body.
I felt weary and tired, staring at my pretty sister limp and lifeless. This wasn't the Lina I knew, not the Lina I adored. Lina was somewhere else now; somewhere not here. The driver's words washed over me, but I caught some of his rambles.
"Sorry. . didn't see you. . parents?. . shocked. . okay?. ." I reached for Lina's hand, unaware of everything else. Her hand was already cold, and not the warm, comforting hand that always comforted me.
"Lina. . don't leave me. ." I murmured to her, then I felt the weariness taking over me and I fell into her chest, not wanting to live in this nightmare any longer. .
I woke up later in a hospital, meeting my mother's eyes. She stood up quickly and hugged me.
"Oh, Kazeko, sweetie, your sister. . she saved you! She's. ."
"Dead." I completed the sentence. ". . she said. . she said she was going to get married."
"Oh, dear, no, she wasn't. Your sister was never serious about these things." Her mother ranted.
"Yes. She was. Ryu-kun was different." I told my mother, sitting up and ripping the blanket away from me. I jumped off the bed. My mom shook her head.
"You're not leaving until you're fine," she told me. I glared at her as good as I could.
"Don't you dare. My sister's dead, and you never cared, and I don't even know why she even loved you! I'm not going to live with this any longer!" I ran out of the room, to where, I didn't know. As long as it was away from her. .
Hours later, I had wound up at a park. I wandered through it, and I bumped into an older lady.
"Gomen nasai," I apologized quietly, and was about to turn away from the lady, when she grabbed my arm. I shivered unvoluntary and looked up at her cold, blue eyes. She was smirking.
"You don't look like you have a home. . . is that a KNIFE you're carrying?" She asked, her grip on my arm tightening. I looked, dazed, at the knife on my belt.
"Yes, I inherited it from my grandfather and I'm running away from home," I said, not really caring if she turned me into a foster home or something. I didn't care anymore, not after Lina's death.
"Are you trained with it?" She asked me, and I nodded weakly. She narrowed her eyes.
"Come with me. Manta was talking about having a new member of Schabon, anyway, so you might do." She told me, dragging me towards a building. I was too dazed to pay any attention to where she was taking me, but finally, we arrived in a small, dark room. She switched on the light, and a bunch of guys were sitting there, softly discussing something I couldn't hear.
"Manta, 'ere's the new member. She's trained with a knife. She'd be a good assasin," She told the red-haired man. He stood up, a pleased smirk on his face.
"What's your name, shoujo?" He asked, and I felt a twinge of panic at hearing the familiar nick-name said by another person. I looked at him with wide eyes.
". . R-Retsu. . R-Retsukari. . R-Retsukari Mei," I said softly, thinking up a new name quickly. I'd have to discard my old self to make sure no one knew it was really Retsuai Kazeko under the mask. "Retsukari Mei."
"Ah. . that's a perfect name, shoujo," He said softly. He advanced towards me, then he raised my chin with his hand and stared at me. I stared right back.
"You have menancing eyes, my shoujo. . you're perfect for the job." He told me quietly. I nodded.
I didn't even know I was getting myself to be an cold-hearted assasin who worked for Schabon.
A few years later, I had gotten cold-hearted and knew all the tricks of the trade. I was a perfect assasin, a punk and a sarcastic bitch. I had forgotten everything of my past. I was no longer Retsuai Kazeko, just perfect Schabon assasin Retsukari Mei.
I decided I would be able to find jobs without Schabon finding them for me. I was going to leave them for a while, and see if I could actually do well without them by my side.
"What do you mean, you want to leave?!" Manta exclaimed as soon as I had told him of my plan. "You're one of our best damned assasins, and you tell me you want to leave?!"
"Shush, Manta. I want to leave just for a while, I'll be coming back," I said, boridly twirling a strand of hair around my finger. "You have everyone else,"
"They're idiots!" Manta said loudly, banging his palms on the table. The rest of Schabon narrowed their eyes and glared at him.
"C'mon, Manta, don't worry," I said sarcastically. "You're not going to die or anything,"
"I won't worry! I'll be dead within two seconds as soon as you're gone!" He cried. I fingered my knife and walked over to the window. I slowly opened it and then I jumped out. All of Schabon gasped loudly except for Hammerhead. I giggled and poked my head back up.
"Manta. . you're not dead yet," I said and began climbing down the building. I heard Manta swearing his head off and grinned. That was my good ol' Manta.
Then two years after that, I heard Schabon was going to fight Weiss Kruez, and I immediately headed back to Tokyo. That's where Schabon had been seen last, and I was sure I could find them immediately.
After searching for two days, I was able to interuppt a serious discussion where Manta wanted someone to go after Calico, one of Weiss Kruez's members. I told them I would do it.
Then a while after that, there was a serious fight between Schabon and Weiss. I knew that Weiss were going to win this one, but I wanted to kill Calico before anyone else was able to defend her. Nagi, a friend of mine, interfered and ran out with me. He told me he didn't want me to get hurt. I knew that was the day I fell in love with Nagi.
Then I learned that my family, Schabon, were all dead and killed by Weiss. I wanted revenge. I wanted to kill the evil bastards for doing this to me; they obviously didn't realize how much it hurted me. . not after I lost Lina. Lina, my sweet, pretty older sister, who died just like my family.
But I knew I was happy with myself. Nagi and I were partners now, we were in love, we knew what it was like to lose someone.
I knew who I was, and had decided I would never change. It wasn't easy to change so quickly. I am my own person.
I am Starfish.
******************************************************** ***********
Well, yays. ^o^ That came out rather quickly, wouldn't you say? ;p Anyway, you can thank Meikari for that last chapter, as Mei IS her character, after all... ^^ Hopefully, this thing will give you summore insight about the new characters in Kuroi-Shiroi. And... I'm gonna start "Mei no Okaeshi" soon :o So YAY have fun ^________^
~flyingpinkbunny
"We know what we are, but know not what we may be. ."
I've always known this quote. It's one of those things you keep in the back of your mind, the ones that you don't want to remember. It's always reminded me of my past. A past I never wanted to experience again, a past I wanted to leave behind. . it was the sole thing that could cause me to cry. .
October 23rd, 1987. . I was six years old and a naive, stupid child. I was living in Okinawa with my mother and sister for a short while; I already knew it would be mere days before I would be thrust back into my father's home in Tokyo.
It was a sunny, perfect autumn day, with the trees a swirl of red, orange, and yellow. I was sitting outside at my mom's porch, a book in my lap, and watching a pair of kids playing across the street.
"Ryu-niichan!" The younger, black-haired girl cried, kicking the ball very hard. He clapped and winked at her, making her blush happilly. "Was it good?"
"Of course it was, little one!" The boy said, running over and twirling his sister around. I watched them ruefully, wishing my life was as perfect as that. Even if Lina, my older sister, was an awesome sister, she was always too busy for me. She was perfect. . I wasn't.
"KAZEKO! KAZEKO, YOU LITTLE TWERP, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" My mother's voice rang out from the kitchen. "KAZEKO! KAZEKO, GET IN HERE!"
"I don't want to," I whispered to myself, bringing my knees up to my chest. I heard her growl with frustration. The pair across the street were watching me curiously now.
"Kaaaaa-zeee-kooo! Get in here, dammit!" She screamed. I shook my head, feelings tears coming from my eyes. "Are you going to come in or not?!"
". .I'm coming," I stood up and went inside the house, trying to be as slow as possible. "I'm coming, don't worry. ."
Lina gave me a sympathetic gaze from where she sat, magazines all over her lap and the couch, a pen and a bunch of papers on her clipboard. "Don't piss her off.."
"I won't," I said softly to her and stepped into the kitchen. "Yes, okaachan?"
"Kazeko, you little brat, you made yourself pancakes for breakfast, and you made an entire mess!" She screamed, and I waited for the slap to come. Instead, I felt myself flying out of the kitchen. I hit the back of the couch, causing Lina to scream. She dropped everything and jumped to my side, and held me in her arms.
"Shoujo! Shoujo, shoujo, are you okay?" She asked, hugging me tight. My mother came into the room, an expression of guilt on her face.
"Kazeko. . oh, Kazeko!" She exclaimed, stepping forward. "I. . oh, my little Kazeko. ."
"It won't work!" Lina cried, standing up with me in her arms. "Just leave her alone, I cannot believe you'd go as low as KICKING her right out of the KITCHEN! Where do you get all these guts to hurt your own little girl?!"
I didn't hear anything else. The last thing I heard was a wail of sirens, and I thought maybe someone had come to take her away from me. .
September 7th, 1993. . . I remember that day like it was yesterday. Lina had just arrived from Osaka Grand College, and it was her second year dating Nagareboshi Ryu, a sweet guy who acted like an older brother to me. She was spending time with me, and we were both enjoying our ice cream cones. Lina was talking about Ryu.
"He's just so nice to me, I don't think I've ever had a boyfriend as cute as him," She said, taking a lick of her ice cream. "He has a little sister, and that's how he knows how to act with you. She's the same age as you. Anyway, he told me he's thinking of proposing to me. That's a bit forward, but it's just so sweet of him! What if he *does* propose to me? We'll get married, and then you'll have a sister to play with! How about that? You can come live with us, and our parents won't ever hurt you, cause I'll get documents to be your legal guardian!"
I grinned up at her. "Wow, Lina-neechan, that's awesome. I hope you do get married to him, he's such a great guy!"
Lina swallowed the last of her cone, and dropped down to meet my eyes. She had a serious look on her face. "Shoujo, I'm getting involved in very serious things, and I don't think I'll be seeing you very often anymore,"
I felt my heart drop and break into a million pieces. ". . But, Lina-neechan, you're the only one who understands me! Don't leave me, dammit!"
"No swearing, shoujo. I'm not leaving you, we're just not going to see each other as often!" She said, ruffling my hair and kissing my forehead. "Shoujo, don't you worry. I'll come and get you as soon as possible."
"But, Lina-neechan, please don't! Take me with you!" I couldn't block the tears anymore. They fell from my eyes like a waterfall. "Please. . onegai. . don't. ."
"Shoujo, don't you worry!" She said, a sad smile on her face. I collapsed into her arms, sobbing loudly. "Shoujo, don't cry, oh, shoujo, I'm not leaving you, I never will!"
"You always lie to me!" I screamed, jumping back from her. I turned and ran away, and I felt her high heels clattering behind me. "Go away, Lina! I hate you!"
"Shoujo! KAZEKO!" She shouted, and I stopped. I felt a sudden warmth, and I noticed light on my bare arms. "Shoujo, get out the way!"
I finally raised my eyes just as a very loud honk drowned out Lina's screams. I felt trapped.
*It's going to end. . just like this. .* I stared at the truck, blinded by the headlights. I noticed the driver frantically trying to find a way to avoid me, but it was a one-way road. *Just like I thought it would. . trapped. . hello, death. .*
Even over all the noise of the truck, I heard Lina's heels clattering and I turned to see Lina running towards me, short skirt and halter-top and all, hair flying behind her, eyes wide. She pushed me harshly out of the way just as the truck was only a few inches away. I fell to the ground, wincing as I felt the cold asphalt scrape my knees and arms. I rolled over quickly and saw the truck. . it had stopped. . the driver wasn't there. . there was a trail of blood. . I followed it with my eyes until I saw Lina. . she had flown over 5 feet. . her hair was now damp with blood. . the driver was leaning beside her. . he picked her up. . her eyes flew over to me. . she pointed towards me. . the driver hastily came to me and Lina smiled one last time at me. .
"Shoujo. . please. . love and be loved. Tell mom, dad, Ryu, and Akari I love them. . I love you, shoujo, please love someone, you don't know how far you can go. Goodbye, Kazeko. ." She said, and her bright green eyes just. . dimmed. She closed her eyes and I stared at her limp body.
I felt weary and tired, staring at my pretty sister limp and lifeless. This wasn't the Lina I knew, not the Lina I adored. Lina was somewhere else now; somewhere not here. The driver's words washed over me, but I caught some of his rambles.
"Sorry. . didn't see you. . parents?. . shocked. . okay?. ." I reached for Lina's hand, unaware of everything else. Her hand was already cold, and not the warm, comforting hand that always comforted me.
"Lina. . don't leave me. ." I murmured to her, then I felt the weariness taking over me and I fell into her chest, not wanting to live in this nightmare any longer. .
I woke up later in a hospital, meeting my mother's eyes. She stood up quickly and hugged me.
"Oh, Kazeko, sweetie, your sister. . she saved you! She's. ."
"Dead." I completed the sentence. ". . she said. . she said she was going to get married."
"Oh, dear, no, she wasn't. Your sister was never serious about these things." Her mother ranted.
"Yes. She was. Ryu-kun was different." I told my mother, sitting up and ripping the blanket away from me. I jumped off the bed. My mom shook her head.
"You're not leaving until you're fine," she told me. I glared at her as good as I could.
"Don't you dare. My sister's dead, and you never cared, and I don't even know why she even loved you! I'm not going to live with this any longer!" I ran out of the room, to where, I didn't know. As long as it was away from her. .
Hours later, I had wound up at a park. I wandered through it, and I bumped into an older lady.
"Gomen nasai," I apologized quietly, and was about to turn away from the lady, when she grabbed my arm. I shivered unvoluntary and looked up at her cold, blue eyes. She was smirking.
"You don't look like you have a home. . . is that a KNIFE you're carrying?" She asked, her grip on my arm tightening. I looked, dazed, at the knife on my belt.
"Yes, I inherited it from my grandfather and I'm running away from home," I said, not really caring if she turned me into a foster home or something. I didn't care anymore, not after Lina's death.
"Are you trained with it?" She asked me, and I nodded weakly. She narrowed her eyes.
"Come with me. Manta was talking about having a new member of Schabon, anyway, so you might do." She told me, dragging me towards a building. I was too dazed to pay any attention to where she was taking me, but finally, we arrived in a small, dark room. She switched on the light, and a bunch of guys were sitting there, softly discussing something I couldn't hear.
"Manta, 'ere's the new member. She's trained with a knife. She'd be a good assasin," She told the red-haired man. He stood up, a pleased smirk on his face.
"What's your name, shoujo?" He asked, and I felt a twinge of panic at hearing the familiar nick-name said by another person. I looked at him with wide eyes.
". . R-Retsu. . R-Retsukari. . R-Retsukari Mei," I said softly, thinking up a new name quickly. I'd have to discard my old self to make sure no one knew it was really Retsuai Kazeko under the mask. "Retsukari Mei."
"Ah. . that's a perfect name, shoujo," He said softly. He advanced towards me, then he raised my chin with his hand and stared at me. I stared right back.
"You have menancing eyes, my shoujo. . you're perfect for the job." He told me quietly. I nodded.
I didn't even know I was getting myself to be an cold-hearted assasin who worked for Schabon.
A few years later, I had gotten cold-hearted and knew all the tricks of the trade. I was a perfect assasin, a punk and a sarcastic bitch. I had forgotten everything of my past. I was no longer Retsuai Kazeko, just perfect Schabon assasin Retsukari Mei.
I decided I would be able to find jobs without Schabon finding them for me. I was going to leave them for a while, and see if I could actually do well without them by my side.
"What do you mean, you want to leave?!" Manta exclaimed as soon as I had told him of my plan. "You're one of our best damned assasins, and you tell me you want to leave?!"
"Shush, Manta. I want to leave just for a while, I'll be coming back," I said, boridly twirling a strand of hair around my finger. "You have everyone else,"
"They're idiots!" Manta said loudly, banging his palms on the table. The rest of Schabon narrowed their eyes and glared at him.
"C'mon, Manta, don't worry," I said sarcastically. "You're not going to die or anything,"
"I won't worry! I'll be dead within two seconds as soon as you're gone!" He cried. I fingered my knife and walked over to the window. I slowly opened it and then I jumped out. All of Schabon gasped loudly except for Hammerhead. I giggled and poked my head back up.
"Manta. . you're not dead yet," I said and began climbing down the building. I heard Manta swearing his head off and grinned. That was my good ol' Manta.
Then two years after that, I heard Schabon was going to fight Weiss Kruez, and I immediately headed back to Tokyo. That's where Schabon had been seen last, and I was sure I could find them immediately.
After searching for two days, I was able to interuppt a serious discussion where Manta wanted someone to go after Calico, one of Weiss Kruez's members. I told them I would do it.
Then a while after that, there was a serious fight between Schabon and Weiss. I knew that Weiss were going to win this one, but I wanted to kill Calico before anyone else was able to defend her. Nagi, a friend of mine, interfered and ran out with me. He told me he didn't want me to get hurt. I knew that was the day I fell in love with Nagi.
Then I learned that my family, Schabon, were all dead and killed by Weiss. I wanted revenge. I wanted to kill the evil bastards for doing this to me; they obviously didn't realize how much it hurted me. . not after I lost Lina. Lina, my sweet, pretty older sister, who died just like my family.
But I knew I was happy with myself. Nagi and I were partners now, we were in love, we knew what it was like to lose someone.
I knew who I was, and had decided I would never change. It wasn't easy to change so quickly. I am my own person.
I am Starfish.
******************************************************** ***********
Well, yays. ^o^ That came out rather quickly, wouldn't you say? ;p Anyway, you can thank Meikari for that last chapter, as Mei IS her character, after all... ^^ Hopefully, this thing will give you summore insight about the new characters in Kuroi-Shiroi. And... I'm gonna start "Mei no Okaeshi" soon :o So YAY have fun ^________^
~flyingpinkbunny