Deceitful Time
Chapter Thirty: Time
Time flows on after each and every death, no matter how cruel it might seem. It will never stop for one person, it will never bend to break the finely threaded chain of events that fate has so masterfully woven.
Her will would be granted by the jewel and the purity of it had vanquished the object that had caused so much heart ache and ruined far too many lives to vanish into the air even though she did not know it. She would never really know it, a part of her soul would always smile, but her mind would never appreciate that the wish she had made from the depth of her heart would be fulfilled, over and over again.
That she would find happiness over and over again and though she'd never be truly aware of that fact a part of her would always know it, through whatever troubles her other lives would bring her... she'd always have one thing to look forward to, one thing her soul beckoned for even when she was but a child, one thing that she knew she was always in search of but just couldn't seem to find…
And he, too, would share the same fate. It could give them that much, after all it had done to their souls—the sorrows it gave them not just once but twice—well… even fate knew they deserved peace. His soul would always whisper to him, no matter how young he was, that there was something out there that he needed to find. It would taunt him as he tried to sleep, it would urge him to do one thing over the other all so they would follow the proper path. All so they would finally reunite, so many decades after their deaths…
{xoxoxoxoxo}
"Amane!" An all too familiar cry called out for her, with a heavy sigh she blow some of her black bangs out of her face and removed her hazels from the well that they were so intently locked to. It was just so… odd, they had only been in Tokyo a few days but as soon as they passed the stairs to this shrine she knew she had to rush up the stairs and see it. Then the rebuilt hut whispered for her to open the door and see a stone well at the bottom of the stairs. Without knowing it she walked down the stairs and lingered there, just staring down at it… what was it?
"I'll be right there!" She shouted to her father before she took one last look at the well… it was right but wrong at the same time, how could that be? "Oh well," she whispered to herself with a shrug before she skipped up the stairs to see that her parents had come in search of her, she smiled broadly at them. Her parents… they were great.
"Tokyo's far too big," her mother fretted as she raised one of her hands to her lips and looked around at the home of the shrine keepers, "and your sense of direction has never been good, Amane, I am so afraid you will get lost all the time…"
"Mom," Amane laughed as she pulled out her ever so slim phone, "that's why everyone has GPS on the phone, don't worry."
"Can I help you?" A rather deep voice inquired as a man in his late thirties to mind-forties walked out of the house.
"Oh, no," her father replied as he sighed, "my daughter just saw the shrine from the street and couldn't help but run up to see it. I'm afraid she's obsessed with history like that…"
"Don't worry about it," the man chuckled before her eyes landed on Amane and for a moment his face went blank… there was something… something about the girl that seemed so… what?
"I'm sorry?" Amane murmured as she placed her hand on her face to check to see if there was anything on there, perhaps some food from the restaurant her and her parents had just left from?
"No, I am," he replied with the most sincere smile, "you just… look a lot like my older sister did when she was your age."
"Oh," Amane nodded as she smiled back to him, "I'll take that as a complement, then."
"You should," he assured, "she was a great woman."
Was, Amane couldn't help but catch… that's all it took to falter her smile, "I'm Ito Amane," she bowed her head lightly, "thank you for letting me see your family's shrine."
"You are welcome here anytime," he assured with a nod of his head, "I'm Higurashi Souta."
"It's nice to meet you," she countered as her eyes moved to the door of as the most adorable little girl skipped out of the house to grab at her father's leg, her big brown eyes staring up at her father as she fumbled through telling him that dinner was ready and that her brothers had gone to get grandma.
"Ah," Souta nodded as he picked up the little girl, "thank you, Kagome."
Kagome… that name sparked something in her but she couldn't put her finger on it as the Itos parted ways from Souta and his daughter with another smile and a heartfelt goodbye… she'd be returning to the shrine, week after week, and become very acquainted with the family there, she just didn't know it yet but at the very same time she did...
Again, her mother let out a small sigh as they entered Tokyo University's campus.
"Mom," she dragged out, "I'll be fine!"
"I know," her mother murmured, "but it's just so sad," her voice cracked as she blinked away tears, "our only child going off to college so far away from home…"
"I'll come visit all the time, every break, I promise," Amane assured.
"Yes, Misami," her father beckoned as he patted his wife on the shoulders, "this is a proud day for the Ito family! Our child got into the top university if all of Japan. I am so proud you, Amane!"
"Thank you, daddy," she giggled as he hugged her, an ever so rare feat.
"Well… we've already set you up in your dorm," he couldn't help but blink away the mild wetness that had began to threaten his eyes, "your mother and me won't be leaving the hotel until Tuesday so if you need anything you can reach us there."
"Don't worry about me," Amane smiled as she shook her dad's arm, "I'll be perfectly fine. You'll always just be a phone call away, right?"
"Right," he nodded with his stern voice, "you take care now, Amane, you are a woman now."
"Thanks dad," she laughed again before she kissed him on the cheek and hugged her almost bawling mother ever so tightly before she waved to them and watched them walk away.
She couldn't help but let out a little squeal when they were finally gone and jump a bit, finally, after eighteen long years she'd be living on her own in Tokyo like she had always dreamed! She sighed contently to herself as she began on a small stroll of campus before she'd head back and make friends with her mahogany eyed roommate who's name escaped her at the moment. She was sure she'd become good friends with the girl, after all, they were roommates, right?
That was when she felt a thud upon her head, "ow," she muttered as she reached one hand up to the top of her head to rub the assaulted spot and bent down to pick up the phone that had dropped upon her. "What the…?"
"Hey, can you give me that back?" She jumped from the rather rude voice as she looked around… there was no one there…? "Up here, moron!"
She clenched her teeth as she looked up to see a boy sitting in the tree, one hand grasping a branch to support him as the other reached out to take back what was his. "What are you doing up in a tree?" She ridiculed as she held his phone away from, "dropping things on people without even saying sorry, how awful! Apologize, now!"
"You shouldn't have been walking there," he protested stubbornly as he narrowed his auburn eyes with just a hint of amber on her.
"What's with the hair?" She grumbled as she, too, narrowed her hazel gaze upon the boy that had dyed his hair silver.
"It's a fashion statement," he growled back, "now give me the goddamn phone, woman!"
"No," she turned her cheek, "not until you apologize for your rudeness!"
She could hear another deep throated growl from the boy but refused to alter her stance whatsoever, how hard was it to say 'sorry' anyway?
"Don't make me come down there," he warned.
She gasped as she looked back up at him with an opened mouth, "are you threatening me now? How much worse can you get! You demon!" He just kept his molten gaze upon her until she reached her hand to grasp his, "if it's so scary then why don't you come down here, huh? Instead of sitting up in that tree like some sort of weirdo!"
"Let me go!" He protested as he pulled just as she did.
"No! You rude boy!" She yanked with all her might and won the tug-of-war match; if only she had thought it through though… then she would have known that she was prying him from the tree only for him to fall right on top of her. A groan escaped her glossy lips after she was slammed to the ground with and ever so hard thud.
"Damn, woman, are you stupid?" He accused as he pushed himself off of the ground to hover above her.
It was then, when their eyes met, when their bodies were so close, that something pulsed through the both of them… something that they couldn't put their fingers on exactly but their souls stopped for the first time from silently yearning for something… did they finally find that thing that they had always been looking for? Though, they'd never talk about it aloud, they'd never admit it even to their own family, but every choice they ever made was to come to this moment…
And it was for such a rude boy and stupid girl?
"Keh," he spat out with reddened cheeks as he got off of her, "I…" he obviously had trouble talking as he closed his eyes and held out his hand to help her up, "guess… I shouldn't have let my phone slip from my pocket and drop on your head."
Was that really the closest she'd get to an apology? She couldn't help but pout a little as she took his hand and let him pull her to her feet, again their eyes met. It seemed… right, so very right to have their hands grasped like that.
"I'm… Ito Amane, I'll be a freshman this year," she confessed without really thinking about it.
"I'm… Inoue Shiro, I'm gonna be a freshman, too," he replied. "Um," he started meekly after their hands parted and he tucked his securely in his pockets, "are you heading back to the dorms?"
"Yep," she nodded, "are you?"
"Yeah… I'll walk you…?"
"Sure," she swiftly stated with a smile as she opened his phone and dialed in a set of numbers ever so quickly, "that's my number, OK?"
"Alright," he smiled back as he took his phone before they headed off towards the dorms and a brand new life together… they hadn't any idea then that they'd be college sweethearts, that they'd journey to the shrine the Higurashi's took care of together once a week, they hadn't planned the wedding that would take place at there or picked out the names of the three children they would have together, they didn't know that they'd live a long and joyful life together only to die old and merry in the house they'd buy, silently in their sleep together with fingers interlaced but… they had an idea of what might come and that's all it took to spark what fate had set in motion.
Their souls had paid the debt they did not know they carried, that they really hadn't any reason to have been thrown in and now forever more they would find each other to live a long and loving life together, over and over again…
Just like they had promised one another all those years back… just like they had wished for upon the shikon jewel…
Amane couldn't help but let her smile grow as she looked over to the boy beside, was this what they called love at first sight? She had never really been one to believe in it but then again she obviously hadn't met the right person yet... even though she was a pretty girl and she was told so often by her family and friends, she had never had a boyfriend in all eighteen years of her existence. She had never felt that click with someone and what was the point of a relationship if their was no chemistry? Even if all her friends constantly pestered her about how terrible it would be for her to go to college in Tokyo as a virgin...
"Eh," she sputtered as she jumped, what was it that just brushed against her bum?
"Minoru!" Shiro shouted as he leaped in between her and the perpetrator, pushing them far away from each other, "you perv!"
"I am very sorry," the violet eyed boy with short black hair and golden earrings apologized with a sincere smile and nod of his head.
Amane was... speechless, in all her yeas no one had ever done that to her either.
"I'm afraid I have a cursed hand," he sighed as he wiggled the thing around.
"Stop saying shit like that," Shiro growled, "you're just a perv."
"No, it's true, it's been passed down to the first born male in my family for generations upon generations!" Minoru protested with the greatest of grins, "it can be traced back all the way to the feudal era and my great ancestor--"
"You are so full of shit," Shiro groaned, "sorry about him, Amane... Amane, Minoru. Minoru, Amane." He nodded back and forth between the boy to his left and girl to his right, "he's my roommate. I've only known him for a few days but apparently if you let him he'll go on and on about his ancestors and blah blah blah."
"Shiro, you are an ass," Minoru sighed with a shake of his as he bypassed his roommate to take Amane's hand and kiss it, "it's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Amane."
"Back off, Minoru," Shiro warned as he pulled his friend away from her, "leave her alone."
"Alright, alright, she's yours, I understand," Minoru assured as he raised his hands in defeat.
She couldn't help but laugh as she nodded to Minoru, "are you a freshman as well?"
"Yes, I am, I'm a religious studies major. I had originally planned to go to a monastery and become a monk, it's been a tradition in my family for--"
"We get it," Shiro grunted.
"Why didn't you?" Amane inquired as she held her hands behind her back, somehow being around the two of them seemed... perfect.
"I realized I enjoyed sex far too much," he laughed.
"At least your honest," she giggled, "Shiro, what's your major? Being a monkey?"
"What?" he muttered with narrowed eyes.
"Who climbs in trees but monkeys? Oh, squirrels!" She gleamed.
"He was doing that again?" Minoru awed as he leaned forward to see Amane, "you are so strange, Shiro."
"Shut up," he barked, "so sue me, I like nature."
"So...?" Amane dragged out, "what's your major?"
"I'm engineering, what about you?"
"Engineering?" She awed, "that means you have to be smart and like to build stuff, huh?"
"I like to blow stuff up," he countered with a smirk, winning another laugh from her.
"I'm folklore and history with a biology minor," she declared.
"That sounds like a lot of work," Minoru dragged out, "I have a feeling you got straight As throughout high school and were an overachiever all your life?"
"How else do you get into Tokyo U?" She questioned with the most innocent of expressions, Minoru only laughed again and mentioned something about family money being his key.
"What the hell are you going to do with that?" Shiro snickered.
"Become a doctor," she gloated.
"How the hell are you going to do that with a folklore major?"
"Shiro," Minoru nudged him harshly with his elbow, "that's great, doctors make a lot of money."
"It's not the money," Amane mused as she looked up to the setting sun, "I've just always liked to help people... and, for your information, Shiro," she snapped as she glared at him, "medical schools love an applicant that majors in something besides sciences yet still manages to fulfill all the requirements they have to apply."
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," he grunted as he opened the door for them to walk into one of the dorms.
"I don't feel like retiring yet, the night is still so young," Minoru complained as they started up the stairs.
"We can get my roommate and then head out to do something, do you guys know Tokyo well?"
"I grew up here," Minoru nodded.
"I'm from Kyoto," Shiro shrugged, "but my dad lives in the Shibuya district so I've spent most of my summers here."
"Oh," Amane muttered as she found her key to her door, "hello, roomie, I brought some new friends, I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all," the brunet replied as she slid off of her desk, "this is my friend, Kira," she said as she nodded to the blonde haired blue eyed girl.
"This is Minoru and Shiro, we're going out to do something fun... we're not sure what yet but would you like to come with?"
"Sure," she smiled, "I'm San, by the way."
"San, what a simple yet beautiful name," Minoru mused as he took one of her hands only to get slapped in the face for his wondering one.
"Perv," she growled.
"This is going to be amusing," Amane mumbled to Shiro, who just chuckled in responds.
"You are from a small town, aren't ya'?"
"Is it that obvious?" Amane asked as she looked over to the smiling boy who could make her heart go bump-bump with such ease.
"Just a little," he replied as his auburn with a hint of amber eyes moved back to the fuming San and cowering Minoru, "you wanna head out before these two?"
"Sure," she gleamed as they slowly and silently made their way out of the room without anyone the wiser so they could go on their first of many dates to come.
-Fin-
A/N: Well, I hope few if anyone saw this ending coming (the last two chapters, I mean). I just got the idea after reading the manga Gekka no Kimi, it's a good read and you can find it on onemanga[.]com but it does sort of just fall apart at the end... Still, I thought it was the most romantic concept, two star cross lovers making a promise to meet in another life so they could be together. Isn't that sweet? I know it's not the traditional happy ending but I think it's bittersweet, I prefer endings like that anyway :)
I've been doing far too many straight up happy endings lately that I had to break away from that...
Anyway, thank you so much for reading and reviewing throughout this story. It was really great, I hope you enjoyed DT and continue to review.
Thanks,
Desenchatner.