Part 16

Mitsui and Kogure materialized themselves beside the Ferris wheel ride in stealth mode, both of them in their original forms. Kogure had his white wings out and long brown hair flowing, while Mitsui had his black wings tucked comfortably on his back as he tied his hair into a ponytail, since he was used to having his hair short. He looked at the cart below them and cursed silently. Inside the cart were Hanamichi and that girl named Haruko, and at the moment, Haruko was asking Hanamichi for a kiss. Mitsui grinded his teeth together when Hanamichi nodded at her request. "Damn it! We're too late!"

Kogure observed the pair inside the cart, and a small smile crossed his face. "Hisashi, can you go back to Sakuragi-kun's house?"

"Eh? Why?" Mitsui asked, confused by his lover's request.

Kogure eyed Hanamichi's face. "Don't worry. He'll be there. You can be sure of that."

Mitsui watched Kogure's eager face, then nodded. "Okay." Then, before he turned away, he caught the back of Kogure's head and pressed their lips together. Kogure uttered a small sound of protest at first, but gradually, he responded. Mitsui leaned away and smiled. "Good luck." With that, he turned around and disappeared into thin air.

Kogure smiled back. "You too." Then, he turned to face the two and murmured, "Here goes." He place both his hands over Hanamichi's head and closed his eyes. "Forgive me Father for what I am about to do..." A strange light formed under his hands and circled Hanamichi's body.

* * * * * *

This is what I want...right?

Hanamichi didn't understand himself anymore. He wanted Haruko from the beginning, got her, and now, he couldn't even lean forward to kiss her. He was stiff as a board, his heart steady and beating normally as if waiting for a kiss was like waiting for a bus. Not exciting, not exhilarating, nothing. He felt dead. He opened his eyes partially and saw that Haruko's face was already close to his, her lips about 4 inches away. He closed his lips again. What is wrong with me? I love-

Hana...

What? Hanamichi opened his eyes partially again, and blinked when he saw Rukawa's face instead of Haruko's in front of him. He stared in stunned silence as that beautiful face drew closer to his and whispered his name lovingly over and over again. He leaned back, making Haruko open her eyes and Rukawa's face disappear. Hanamichi leaned back even further as he place one hand over his mouth, his heart racing. What?...

"Hanamichi-kun?" Haruko inquired tentatively, placing one of her hands over Hanamichi's.

Involuntarily, Hanamichi drew his hand away from her touch, as if she was made out of fire or she was some vile creature. He stared back at her, then, he stared at his hands, shocked at what he did. "Wha-What is wrong-"

Hana...

Hanamichi looked up from his hands and felt his eyes trained on the ghost-like face of Rukawa in front of him. Rukawa gave him a loving smile then came over, cupping Hanamichi's face in his hands as he whispered, "I love you..." Then, he gave Hanamichi a small kiss and disappeared, leaving Hanamichi breathless and wanting more.

Hanamichi opened his eyes slowly, as if he was waking up from a pleasant dream, when he felt that airy presence disappear. He saw Haruko talking to him, concern masking her face as she looked him over for any injuries. But Hanamichi couldn't hear her. He was in a dream-like state, and he was falling into that state more and more. He heard someone softly as in his ear, Who do you love, Hanamichi?... And he whispered just as softly,

"Rukawa..."

The Ferris wheel stopped right on time just as Hanamichi shot up from his seat. He opened the door swiftly and ran outside, glad for the cool air that invaded his suddenly hot system. He bent down as he gasped for air, suddenly feeling like he hasn't had any air for the last 3 minutes. He heard Haruko come up behind him as she asked, "Hanamichi-kun, daijobu desu ka?"

Hanamichi slowly regulated his breathing, glad for the air that surrounded him. When he finally got his heart to beat normally, he straightened his position, his back facing Haruko, as he said, "Gomenasai, Haruko-chan..."

"Eh?" Haruko clasped her hands together when Hanamichi said that. She swallowed nervously as she twirled her fingers around each other. "A-ano, Hanamichi-kun, I don't understa-"

"And you don't need to." Hanamichi interrupted, tilting his head back to look at the moon. He then saw Rukawa's smiling face etched on the surface of the moon and smiled to himself. Suddenly, his heart felt lighter. "Thank you, though."

Haruko eyed him curiously. "For what?"

Hanamichi turned and hugged her to him. He kissed her temple lovingly and whispered, "You're a great person, and I'm grateful that you told me that you love me, but..." He drew away from the smaller girl and cupped her face in his hands. "I love someone else." Haruko stiffened in his arms, but Hanamichi held her to him, fearing that he may break her heart. "I thought I loved you at first. I've always watched you from afar, and I even tried to talk to you, but to no avail, I backed away. When a certain someone appeared in my life, he helped me get you, and I thought that my wish was finally granted." Hanamichi sighed and closed his eyes as he rested his head on top of Haruko's. "But I was wrong..."

Haruko remained silent and still at that, her arms limp against her sides.

Hanamichi shook his head. "I fell for that person. I may have know that someone for just a few days, but, every minute with that person was..." He looked up at the moon as he smiled. "Wonderful...And, I know that I have given that person a lot of wrong accusations and fights, but..."

"You love him."

"What?" Hanamichi drew away from Haruko's head, and when he looked down, he saw her looking up at him with a few tears in her eyes, but with a smile on her lips. He gave her a confused look. "Haruko..."

"Rukawa..." Haruko replied as she wiped her tears away. "You love Kaede Rukawa, right?"

Hanamichi tipped his head back. "How'd you know?"

"You said his name back there in the Ferris wheel cart." Haruko shook her head when more tears started to flow out, but she pushed Hanamichi's hand away as he raised it towards her face. "No, it's okay" She blew her nose against her handkerchief, and when she was finished with that, she gave Hanamichi a smile. "Well? What are you waiting for? Go to him."

Hanamichi narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at her. "Wh-what?"

"Go to him. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I just...need some time to be alone, but you don't have much time left, do you?" Haruko gave Hanamichi's stunned look a small laugh. "You said everything in the desperately, so I thought that he may have gone away or something."

Hanamichi laughed in relief and hugged her to him again. "Thank you! You sure are a special girl. I think that's the very reason why I fell for you at first glance."

Haruko smiled. "Thank you." Then, she gave Hanamichi a hard push towards the exit. "Now GO!"

"Hai!" With a relieved laugh, he extracted himself from her hold and ran out of the carnival, leaving Haruko looking after him.

She sighed and felt another tear slide down her face as she whispered, "Good luck, Hanamichi-kun."

* * * * * *

Sendoh approached Death from behind as he said in a loud voice, "Yo, Death."

Death turned around from his crystal ball reading and regarded the smiling demon curiously. "Ah, young Akira, may I help you with anything?"

Sendoh smirked diabolically as he stepped forward. "Yes, I think you can." He motioned his head to one side as he continued. "You see, one part of the hall's decoration isn't quite right, so I was wondering if you could help me go all the way to New York to ask your cousin for the materials."

"New York?!" Death gasped out as he stood up. "Why all the way there?"

"That's the only place that has the best quality of the curtain we need for that wall." Sendoh shrugged back, then, he smiled. "And I'm sure Kaede's father would want the very best quality of merchandise for this occasion."

Death stopped short at that and thought it over. He made some sounds under his breath, murmuring a few things to himself once in a while, then, turned to look at Sendoh's grinning face. "Don't you think we will be late if we do that?"

"Oh, no." Sendoh assured. "I think we'll be right on time."

Death sighed, then finally, nodded his head. "Yes. I'm sure that Satan would want the very best." He grabbed his scythe from the wall and stood beside Sendoh. "Shall we go?"

Sendoh nodded, a small, satisfied grin on his face. "Ready when you are."

* * * * * *

Hanamichi ran down the road towards his house, his mind racing already as he jumped over fences and climbed over walls. All the while, he kept on whispering one word over and over again.

"Rukawa...Rukawa...Rukawa..."

He wanted to see Rukawa. He wanted to tell Rukawa how he felt, and how sorry he was. He wanted to tell Rukawa EVERYTHING that he felt, and hoped in his heart that Rukawa would still love him after all that he has done. Finally, he got home in what seemed like an eternity for him but what had only been 3 minutes, and ran up the stairs and into the room Rukawa slept in. He looked around and noted that everything looked fixed and untouched, as if Rukawa had never slept her before. He went inside the bathroom and looked around. No sign of Rukawa.

Feeling energized, he searched the entire house form the basement to the attic, from the top room to the last room. When he finally checked the last room, his hope of finding Rukawa waiting for him or simply just to be there was slowly disappearing. He slumped down on the bed he saw in front of him, and covered his eyes as tears welled up. It's all my fault...if I only told him how I felt...now it's too late...

"Hanamichi..."

Hanamichi opened his eyes at that voice. "Mitchy..."

Mitsui had no idea where that nickname came from, and he certainly didn't like it, but the look of helplessness and defeat in Hanamichi's eyes made him push that issue away as he moved towards the redhead. He stood in front of him and asked, "Hanamichi, I know how you can get to Kaede. Though it may be risky, it can be the only way."

Hanamichi lifted his head off the bed and regarded Mitsui with tearful eyes. "Kitsune?..."

Mitsui nodded. "Aa."

"I'll do it!" Hanamichi shouted, suddenly getting a small part of his energy back at that name. "I don't care if it's dangerous or whatever! As long as I get to see Kitsune and tell him that I love him, then I'll take the challenge!"

Mitsui smiled softly at Hanamichi's answer. "That's what I thought you'd say." Then, he got a black robe from his back and handed it over to Hanamichi. Once Hanamichi held that in his hands, Mitsui dumped another set of clothing on top of the robe. "Okay, these are the clothes you'll be wearing. Now change! It's already 7:30!"

Hanamichi held the clothes in front of him and gave Mitsui a perplexed look. "Why the hell do I have to wear these things?"

Mitsui gave him a small grin. "You want to see Kaede, right? Well, change into those, coz you and I are going to go to the Underworld, and you'll be a candidate to be Kaede's bride!"

TBC