Precious Days Chapter Thirteen, a d n angel fanfic

Precious Days

Chapter Thirteen:

Two sets of wide, teary hazel eyes looked over at the elderly woman, "Krad-san died?"

"Yes he did…"

Risa wiped the tears out of her eyes, "what happened to Dark-san then?"

"Well, while the leaders were planning their next move, he just sat there…trying to figure out how he was going to tell the other two. But most of all, he was trying to figure out what to do with himself and his future…"

Dear Daisuke and Satoshi…he frowned and crossed it out. Dark gave an irritated sigh and crumbled up the piece of paper, throwing it to the other side of his new tent. Niwa Daisuke, Hiwatari Satoshi, yesterday…he crumbled it up and threw it away again. He'd been sitting there for hours, trying to put his thoughts into words, it wasn't working as well as he'd hope it would.

Daisuke, Sato, Krad has…the image of dead childhood friend flashed into his head, he clenched tightly at the paper and ripped it up. The sergeant flopped back onto the bed, closing his eyes momentarily; allowing memories to flood his brain before they became too overwhelming and he had to open his eyes again.

Propping onto his elbows, he stared at the pen and paper, he sighed and picked them up again. Krad…Krad…Krad…He took a deep breath and began writing…

To Daisuke and Satoshi,

For the life of me, I couldn't save him.

When we infiltrated the place he was already wounded beyond help…I was lucky enough to spend his last moments with him. This doesn't seems like a dream, a really bad dream. Walking into the building, walking back out empty-handed. Watching the building collapse in flames. None of it seemed real Please be strong and carry on, for his sake, carry on. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't save him.

Dark Mousy

He looked at his letter, it no longer made sense to him, but he didn't care. Amethyst eyes lingered on the last sentence, I'm sorry I couldn't save him. Suddenly, everything seemed to have hit him head-on. It wasn't a dream, everything that happened, actually happened. "I…I couldn't save him…I…" he choked back a soft cry, "I couldn't save him…"

Outside the tent, his friend stood, back facing the door, making sure that no one disturbed him. The maid walked by and looked over, sullenly, he shook his head. She nodded and continued walking.

A couple weeks passed by as the weather began growing colder. The army was going to start moving again and the two had been ordered to escort the maid to the nearest village after she'd been questioned and they were satisfied that she wasn't a threat. Their journey was quiet and heavyhearted for most part, then a distant village came into view.

Their horses stopped.

Dark looked over at the girl, "Sorry, this is as far as we're allowed to take you, there's a village not too far from here, it'll probably only take you twenty minutes by foot."

The maid nodded and got off the horse, "thank you."

He shook his head, "no, thank you for keeping Krad company all this time."

"Krad-san…" the two looked at her, "he always talked about you. So fondly…he always talk about you in such a fond manner, I thought that, surely, he was in love with you. And I was right…" a sad smile, "right up until the end, you were the only person he thought about."

Dark remained silent as he watched the girl sadly.

She looked directly at him, "All those stories he told me, all the pranks you played on each other, all the trouble you two got into, it made me jealous of you for all the fun you had, for all those precious moments you shared…please don't forget them, Dark-san. For Krad-san's sake, cherish them."

He dipped his head, "Thank you…I will, until my last breath I will, I promise…"

Kin looked over at his friend worriedly before nodding his goodbyes to the girl.

The two turned around and headed back to the camp as she began walking towards the village that was meant to be her new home.

That was the last time they saw her.

"So what are you going to do now?"

He looked over at his friend and blinked, "what do you mean?"

Kin shrugged and looked up, "I mean are you going to go home? You joined the army for Krad, didn't you? There's no point in you being here anymore. You don't have to risk your life anymore."

Dark stared at the other for a long moment, he knew that his friend merely wanted him back home and safe. And he was right. Krad was the reason he joined, and now that he lost the blond, was unable to protect him as he'd promised to, there was no point in staying in the army anymore. "I…"

Dear Daisuke and Satoshi,

I've decided to stay in the army. I know I have nothing holding me back from going home except for one thing. What happened to me, what happened to Krad…I know I'm not the only one who's had to experience this loss. I've gotten past the despair and the idea of anyone else having to go through what I went through is unbearable. I'm going to stay in the army so that, even though I might not be able to save them directly, I will at least be part, however small, of the reason that justice was brought to the enemy.

Even if I were to come home now, it wouldn't be the same. For obvious reasons, but more than that, I won't be able to live with myself. I've lived this life as a soldier for far too long to be able to go back to my old life. Even while I'm writing this, I can hear the sound of guns and screams, they're so real it scares me. A life of a soldier means living to die, but for a cause, and now, I know what my cause is.

I don't plan on becoming a hero or anything of that sort, I just want to see all of them saved. All the people suffering out there, all the people who've been torn from their loved ones, all the people crying.

And all the people looking to the moon, waiting to be found.

I'll come back and visit when I can, but until then, this is the life I plan on living. Don't worry, I'll stay in touch, after all, you two are still my precious little brother-like figures.

Take care of yourselves,
Dark Mousy

"Are you sure about this?"

Dark looked over and scoffed, "have I ever gone back on my word, lieutenant?"

Kin frowned, "You…you're not allowed to call me that. Only you're to call me by my name, sergeant."

He gave a small smile, "the same goes for you…jerk."

His friend laughed, "You know, it's selfish of me, but I'm glad you stayed. I'm not sure what I would've done if you'd decided to leave and go back home."

"That's another reason I couldn't leave, I mean how could I leave an idiot like you by yourself, you'd probably get yourself shot or something. Two idiots are better than one."

"Like how two halves of a brain make a whole?"

Dark smiled, "Exactly."

They suffered through a long, harsh winter.

Many died to diseases and hunger before they reached the battlefield. Kin was one of the many hundreds and thousand that fell to disease.

There were no last words or last messages.

They just found him asleep in his tent in the morning. A sleep so deep they couldn't wake him up, ever again.

Dark stared at the letter of condolence in his shaking hands only to realize,

He didn't have anyone to send it to.

"War is a terrible thing, it takes away your loved ones without any warning at all, the two of you are lucky. So lucky…this is an experience you two will never have to live through, living in a time when families aren't being torn apart and friends aren't sent off to die……

The younger twin sniffled, "So Kin-san was gone, just like that? Doesn't that mean Dark-san was all alone in the army then?"

Rika nodded, "he was for the rest of the time he was there."

Riku blinked, "what do you mean?"

Their grandmother looked at the faded picture of the young man with eyes older and more jaded than he really was and sighed, "Dark Mousy did many heroic deeds and received many honors while he was still in the army."

Risa stared at the elderly woman with wide eyes, "do you mean…"

"He died in battle."

Almost a year had passed since Kin's death and he stood there in the snow, illuminated by the moon. Across the vast field of white was the enemy. Dark turned and looked at the army behind him, the boys seemed to be getting younger and younger…his eyes lingered on a single boy who looked about Daisuke's age. His eyes were wide with fear and his hands were shaking while he held his gun.

"Sergeant Mousy…"

He blinked and looked over at the little boy he was observing a moment ago, "what is it, private?"

"…do you think I'll ever go home again?"

The words stung him.

He looked around at the rest of them, wondering if they were all wondering the same thing he did when he was standing on the field. They were so young he couldn't help but hesitate when sending out his orders. Even as he called for them to attack, he felt it eating away at his heart. He was sending children to their deaths.

That was me once…but I lived…

He watched as they got shot down one by one and looked away. He yelled out orders that even he couldn't hear above the explosions and guns. They continued advancing. The enemy was retreating, he exhaled in relief. Suddenly, he was standing there, beside the boy that reminded him of the redhead at home.

A bit away, there were guns trained right at them.

Without thinking, he shoved the boy away.

He never felt it, never realized what'd happened.

"Sergeant!"

He was on his back, too numb to feel the pain he thought he'd feel, he wasn't even sure where he'd been shot. The boy was kneeling by his side, shouting at him while the rest of the army continued advancing. The figures continued passing them and falling as they did. He wasn't sure how long it was until finally, the sounds moved far enough for him to hear again. He could hear his heart beating and the wind whistling.

The boy beside him was crying, "Sergeant Mousy…"

Dark looked over, "hm…?"

"You can't die! Why'd you do it!?"

He gave a small grin, "don't be stupid…" coughed a bit as he tried to inhale, "everyone's going to die eventually…you shouldn't be here…go home. I've done enough…seen too much…I can finally go…"

"Don't say that, please, what are we supposed to do without you?"

He glanced over, "live. Keep going."

There was a long moment of silence between them.

"My pocket…"

"What?"

Dark didn't bother to try moving, "…my right pocket…there's a…letter…" breathing grew more difficult, "send it…"

Is this what Krad felt before he died?

The private took out the letter and nodded, "I'll send it, I'll make sure it gets to them. Please hang on, the medics will get here soon!"

He grinned and looked up at the moon, his vision was slowly blurring. "The moon…"

The boy blinked and looked up at the glowing orb in the sky.

Dark smiled.

The moon had always connected them together…

…are you still waiting?

He felt his eyelids grow heavy as time continued to pass. The last thing he saw as the world faded to black was the moon.

Krad, are you looking at the moon too?

…don't worry, I'll find you.

We'll be together again.

Dear Dai-chan and Sato,

If you're reading this, then that means I'm no longer around.

I'm sorry.

There are so many things I want to tell you two, all those things we've been through. I can't find any way to express them, not with words. I wish I could put it down in words, more than that, I wish I could see you two one last time…everyday, I think about how glad, how lucky I was to have met you two, I want you to know that you're irreplaceable to me, and I'll cherish all these precious days we've shared.

Please promise me that you'll take care of yourselves.

For all these years of putting up with and taking care of me,

Thank you.

We'll play together again someday,
Dark Mousy

"…what happened to Daisuke-san and Satoshi-san?"

Rika sighed and folded her hands in her lap, "a couple years later, the Sengoku troops passed this town while retreating…I was out of town visiting my own grandmother at that time…very few people were left alive."

"What about Takeshi-san?"

"He was lucky enough to have left town as well…"

"So when you got back…"

She nodded sadly, "It was too cruel, I remember it, running around only to find everyone dead. I lost everyone that day…"

It was strangely quiet when she got back. She was in her mid-twenties by then, and she didn't notice anything wrong until she entered her house to find all the maids and butlers dead. Rika screamed and ran into every room only to find that they were all dead. Desperate, she left the house and began looking through the buildings of the town. Lucky for her, she managed to find a couple people hidden in cellars and closets, very few though, a mere handful.

The first person she found was Kosuke by the entrance, the man had obviously tried to protect his family and failed. Inside were Daiki and Towa on the floor, a pool of blood formed around them. As she ventured further in, she found Emiko lying against a bed, barely breathing, blood was pouring out of her stomach as she ran over, "Emiko-san!"

"…Rika-chan…?" The woman turned her head weakly, "Daisuke…is Daisuke…?"

She wiped the tears out of her eyes and shook her head, "I don't know, I'll go look for him. He's probably at Krad's place, right? With Satoshi-kun, maybe they…maybe they survived…"

Her words fell upon deaf ears as the mother gave a soft sigh and went limp. Covering her mouth to suppress her own screams and cries, she ran out of the house and headed towards the Hikari estate. Deep inside, she desperately hoped that at least those two had survived. She ran up the path and stopped.

The house had been burnt down.

Rika stared in disbelief and ran up the path towards the remains. She dug through the burnt wood with her hands and called out to the boys, wishing that they'd somehow survived. She screamed when she came across a burnt figure. It'd been burnt except for a charred necklace that she recognized as their maid's. "Izumi-san…" she stopped digging and collapsed onto her knees, "no…"

Suddenly, a bit away, some of the remains collapsed into what appeared to be a hole. Staring through blurry eyes, she forced herself up and walked towards it. If she couldn't save them, she swore to herself that she'd at least find their bodies and give them a proper burial. As she approached the hole, she came across another figure, but it was a soldier with his medals burned onto his skeleton.

It was terrible.

She kept walking and soon, stairs became visible. Taking a deep breath, she tried the stairs to see if they were stable. A couple of them gave away but most of them somehow managed to stay intact.

When she finally made it all the way down, she could see that part of it had somehow escaped from being scorched. Then red caught her eye, her eyes widened at the two figures propped against the wall under the staircase, "Daisuke-kun! Satoshi-kun!"

The two weren't breathing.

They were both blackened with soot but they weren't burnt like the other bodies were. The blue haired boy had blood stains on him whereas the redhead was unharmed. They were holding each other, and in between them, there was a little wooden chest.

Then she realized with dread that they must've suffocated to death.

"Satoshi-kun, what are we going to do!? They're coming!"

Someone broke through the backdoor. It was a lone soldier, too eager for action. Satoshi pushed the shorter boy behind him protectively as they watched the door.

There was a shot.

And a scream was heard.

"Izumi-san!"

The two ran into the kitchen to find the maid on the floor, bleeding, "Run…run you two…he's there…"

Satoshi looked over and tackled Daisuke to the ground as a second shot was fired. "Satoshi-kun! Your side-"

The other didn't respond and pounced at the soldier. The two were on the floor within seconds, wrestling for control over the gun. Daisuke stared, there was no way his friend could win against a soldier, especially having been shot. Looking around, he found a rolling pin and as hard as he could, swung it at the man. A loud crack was heard as the soldier's eyes widened and he went limp. The redhead stared at his hands, "I…I just killed someone…"

Outside the window, fire could be seen.

Satoshi grabbed him by the hand, "this isn't the time for that, they're going to torch this place!"

"But if we go outside, they'll just shoot us!"

The blue haired boy chewed on his lower lip, "we have to go to the cellar then, it's the only place we might survive…"

Daisuke nodded and took off up the stairs, "I'll be right back! I have to get something!"

"Daisuke! Now's not the time!" But the boy had disappeared already, "whatever it is that you're getting can't be more important than your life-" he winced as pain hit him. He looked at his side to find the blood soaking through his clothes.

A minute later, the redhead reappeared and helped him down the stairs. Once they were in the cellar, they hid under the stairwell and sighed. "Here," Daisuke took out bandages and began wrapping them around the other's wound, "I…I don't want to survive if Satoshi-kun isn't going to survive with me…"

Satoshi gave a small smile, trying not to wince at the pain, "stupid…that's just…stupid, is this what you went up there to get?"

The redhead shook his head, "I went to get this too," he showed the other the wooden chest, "I don't want to lose Dark and Krad, this is all we have left of them."

"So the four of us are together, even in the end, hm?"

They could hear yelling upstairs, it was soon followed by the roars of flames. The cellar door was opened and something was thrown down the stairs.

It was a torch.

Soon, the far end of the cellar lit up into flames. Satoshi narrowed his eyes and held the other close, "Daisuke…"

The redhead hid his face into his shirt, away from the flames. He was crying. "Satoshi-kun…I…I don't want to die yet, I want to see kaa-chan and everyone…I wish Dark and Krad were here…"

Satoshi didn't know how to answer that, he could only hold him closer. "We'll be fine…we'll be fine…" he muttered, coughing as smoke entered his lungs.

Daisuke looked up, "when we die…will we see Dark and Krad again?"

Not wanting the other to see his own tears, he pulled the other in close and nodded, "yea…we'll see them again, and we'll all play together again, just like Dark promised."

Daisuke nodded and clutched the chest tightly, coughing like the other boy as smoke began stinging at his eyes and started choking him.

They were all crying when the doorbell rang. Riku got up and answered it, "Takeshi-san?"

"Hello, I'm here to see Harada-san," the man smiled, "what's this? You've been crying? What happened?"

She shook her head, "obaa-san was telling us a story…"

Takeshi pursed his lips and walked into the room where the other two were at. He looked at the chest, "reliving old memories, hm?"

Rika gave a weak smile, "what are you doing here, Takeshi-san?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

The woman nodded and looked at her granddaughters, "you two go wash your faces and go play, I have to go somewhere with Takeshi-san."

The twins nodded and disappeared through the door.

"Are you ready to go?"

Rika nodded.

She sighed as she stood there, "I can't believe it's been fifty years already…"

Behind her, Takeshi nodded, "Daisuke and Satoshi would've been my age…and Dark and Krad would've probably turned all old like you. Even though these graves are empty, do you think they found each other in the end?"

Rika looked over, "they did, they definitely did."

Takeshi gave a relieved smile at that and looked at the graves, "I wonder…if they were still alive today, would they still be together?"

The woman looked down at the graves and smiled, "yes, I think they would."

As the wind blew past their graves, rustling the flowers as it did so, the two looked up at the sky, "it's almost like they're still here…can you hear them?"

Rika nodded, "they're happy, aren't they? They're finally all together again…"

"Dark! Wait for me! I don't want to play anymore!"

"Too bad, Dai-chan! You're just whining because you're it again!"

"But that's because you always make me it!"

"Because you're the slowest!"

"Am not!"

"Here Daisuke, tag me."

"What!? That's not fair! That's call cheating, creep!"

"Don't call Satoshi a creep."

"What!? Krad!? You're against me too!?"

"I'm not against anyone, just don't call people names, Dark."

"But he's cheating!"

"Tag, you're it, Dark."

"See! That not fair at all! Come play with us Krad, we can cheat together too!"

"I don't want to."

"Come on, Krad-kun!"

"Yea come on Krad!"

"Even I got dragged into playing…"

"Yea, even the creep is playing!"

"…please?"

"…fine, fine, you guys win, I'll play…"

"Yea! Tag, you're it, Krad!"

"What!? Get back here, Dark!"

"I love you!"

"Get back here!"

Owari

Nya

Well it's over! I finally finished this fanfic! Sorry, it took a long time typing out all of this and trying to get all my ideas straight, see, I was goign to split this up into two chapters but then I couldn't decide on where to cut it off and I couldn't stop typing so it ended up like this. But it's done, and I hope you've all enjoyed reading this because I had a great time writing this. Thanks to all the people who reviewed and everyone who cried and laughed. I hope this was a good ending! Enjoy!