!~My Immortal~!
14 February, Valentine’s Day. A day filled with chocolates, love and happiness but to him, it was a day filled with memories. Memories that he never wants to remember.
Sitting on a bench in a park, the teal net just stared at the ground and sometimes at any random couple nearby. There wasn’t much to do on that day since it was that day.
Rain was starting to pour. Heavier than what the weatherman reported yesterday. Kazemaru got up and walked away. Away from all of those memories.
Flashback
Touko was dribbling the ball towards the other side. She looked left and right, trying to find someone to pass it to.
“Touko! Over here!” Yuki was ready to take the ball so Touko made a pass to her. Before the ball reached her, Yuuya stole it from her.
“No fair Onii-chan!” Yuki stuck out her tongue at her older brother.
Kazemaru and the others just giggled at the two.
Yuuya made a pass to Kazemaru. He took the ball and dribbled it to Tachimukai’s side of the field. Kabeyama looks ready to do The Mountain but before he had a chance to do so, Kazemaru already did Dance of the Wind God.
“Nice work Ichirouta!” Endou yelled from the other side.
Kazemaru blushed a bit at Endou’s comment.
“T-thanks Mamoru!” At the exact same moment, Kazemaru wished he could turn back time and take back those words. Why in the name of God did he call Endou by his first name?
“Ooooh~ What’s this? Kazemaru-senpai and Endou-senpai are on a first name basis?” Yuki said from across the field. Kazemaru blushed harder.
“Uuumm uuhh…” Endou was lost for words. There was a hint of pink on his cheeks. Everybody was silent for a while before Tsunami stole the ball from Kazemaru and the training on that day continued.
End of Flashback
Unnoticed by Kazemaru, a teardrop ran down his left cheek. The rain had already stopped, the wind taking its place.
He looked left and right, he never noticed where he had walked until now. The river was only a few feet away from him. The soccer field on his left was the same.
The wind blew towards him as his hair responded by shifting into a peaceful swift. If only he wasn’t that stupid to stand in the middle of the road on that day, Kazemaru was sure that he would be standing next to him right now, grinning from ear to ear.
“Kazemaru-senpai!”
Kazemaru felt like killing himself, right here right now. The pressure was too big.
“Oi! Kazemaru!”
He only wanted to be with-
“KAZEMARU ICHIROUTA!”
Kazemaru stumbled backwards and fell on his back. Slowly, he stood up and looked around. There on the staircase were the Aoi siblings, in raincoats.
“Kazemaru-senpai! Are you okay?” Yuki asked while running towards him, worried written all over her face.
“That was quite a fall there Kazemaru.” Her brother, Yuuya came running behind her.
The teal net smiled but the siblings could see hidden sadness.
“Yeah, I’m fine. What are you guys doing here?”
“We were going to ask you the same question but…” Yuki said as she searched through her bag. Once she found what she was looking for, she handed it to Kazemaru.
“A box of chocolates? And I thought you were going to give chocolates to Ichinose.” Kazemaru took the chocolates, in the same time smirking as Yuki was pouting.
“She did.”
“But Urabe’s chocolate was way BIGGER!”
“You mean Rika?”
“Yup! Her chocolate was WAY bigger than Nii-chan’s ego!”
“HEY!”
“Hahaha! I can imagine that!”
Kazemaru laughed while rolling on the green grass. Having friends was certainly a blessing, but losing him was like hell.
Slowly Kazemaru regained his posture. He stared at the river in front of him with a frown attached on his lips.
Flashback
Yuki and Rika were known for their love in fighting with each other. 24/7, 335 days a year, make that 336 if it was a leap year. Today was not excluded from their schedule. Both of them were fighting over a Nintendo DS while Yuuya, Ichinose, Aki and Haruna were trying to calm them down which eventually drags them into the cat fight too.
Kazemaru and the others could only watch from afar, afraid that they would be dragged into the fight too.
“I FOUND IT FIRST!”
“NO YOU DIDN’T URABE! I WAS THE ONE WHO FOUND IT FIRST!”
“Guys! Calm down! GAAH! Alright! Who punched me!”
“YUKI! RIKA! STOP IT! STOP IT!”
“Everyone! Calm down! Please!”
“KYAA! ONII-CHAN! HELP ME!”
Hearing his sister’s cry, Kidou or “Superman” immediately joined in too. Kazemaru sighed while Kurimatsu was crying at the sight of his Nintendo DS being thrown out of the battle field. Soon a lot of other random things were flying through the air.
Everyone that was not in the fight had to duck just in case a random object would be flying into their direction. Kazemaru was unlucky though.
When he was just about to continue practising, a soccer ball went flying into his direction and hit him straight in the face, knocking him unconscious.
There was a pregnant silence for a while before everyone screamed, some even shrieked.
“Kazemaru!”
Endou, who was inside the clubhouse, immediately dashed into the field and to the unconscious Kazemaru.
“Ichirouta? Ichirouta! Wake up!” Endou shook Kazemaru with all his might, trying to wake him up but nothing happened.
Natsumi and Fuyuka had already gone to the infirmary to call the nurse while Yuki was being scolded by her brother for using a hissatsu technique.
“You DO remember that we DO NOT use our hissatsu techniques on other people right?”
“B-but I was kicking it to Urabe! And she dodged the ball!”
Rika was laughing on the ground at the sight. Unnoticed by her, three figures were cracking their knuckles behind her.
“Rika…” Kidou, Haruna and Aki said in a menacing tone. Soon, another fight was occurring on the field, this time involving Kidou, Haruna, Aki and Rika and all hell broke loose once again. Ichinose, however, was sitting on the bench drinking lemonade.
Despite all the chaos, (and someone relaxing on the bench) Kazemaru still hasn’t wake up and Endou was still shaking him hard. The others ran around in panic, someone brought water but threw it onto the wrong guy.
“SOMEOKA! LOOK WHERE YOU THROW THAT WATER YOU BASTARD!”
“GAAH! SORRY GOUENJI! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!”
Endou didn’t know what to do and the nurse STILL hasn’t come yet. Without warning Endou pressed his lips firmly onto Kazemaru’s soft ones. Kazemaru, feeling the pressure on his lips, immediately woke up. His eyes widened in shock as he saw what Endou was doing but soon enough he started kissing back.
The people around the two didn’t seem to notice what they were doing. Both of them were in their own little world, kissing each other.
End of Flashback
Before Yuki and Yuuya could see his tears, he immediately wiped them away with his sleeve.
“Hey Kazemaru-senpai! You are going to the dance tonight right?” Yuki asked out of the blue.
“Dance?” Kazemaru blinked at Yuki, clearly confused.
“You know, the Valentines Dance!”
“But I thought it was only for people with dates?”
“Didn’t you read the poster or even listen to Aki yesterday? It said that EVERYONE can go.”
Yuuya explained to Kazemaru, who clearly didn’t listen to Aki when she was announcing it during the meeting with the soccer club yesterday.
“Well I don’t think I will be going this year…” Yuuya can clearly hear the sadness, hidden deep in Kazemaru but not his sister though.
“But you always go! Every year! With E- Oh…” Yuki fell silent. Her smile turned into a frown. Before long it started raining again so the trio ran to a nearby tree since this time it was raining cats and dogs.
The three of them fell silent, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Kazemaru suddenly burst coughing. His right hand covered his mouth while the other free hand on his chest.
“Kazemaru!” Yuki and Yuuya said in the same time, worried about their friend.
Kazemaru finally stopped coughing but when Yuki and Yuuya saw his right hand they widened their eyes in horror. Kazemaru’s hand was covered with blood.
“Kazemaru! You haven’t been eating your medicine right!” Yuuya literally screamed at him.
“It’s no big deal… really… I’m already fine.” Kazemaru said while wiping his hand with a tissue. It was clearly a lie. Kazemaru was NOT fine.
“Yo-You’re lying! Why aren’t you taking your medicine?” This time it was Yuki’s turn to scream at him. She was starting to tear up.
“I’m really fine. You guys don’t need to worry about me.” Another lie escaped his lips. Kazemaru was looking down, unable to face his friends.
“Stop lying Kazemaru…” Yuuya was furious.
Before Kazemaru could tell any more lies, the sound of thunder could be heard. An eagle’s cry reached their ears.
“Wind!” Yuki screamed as she ran into the rain, into the direction of the staircase and onto the bridge. Yuuya was hot on her heels but Kazemaru was left behind. It has been a year since he played soccer or ran around. He hasn’t even touched a ball ever since he left…
Flashback
“EEHH? A DANCE?”
“Don’t tell me… you slept during the meeting right?”
“Ehehehe…” Kazemaru scratched the back of his head nervously.
“I knew it…” Aki sighed as both of them walked out of the school building. Although both of them are in the soccer club, they were somehow chosen to join the Student Council too.
“The school is going to hold a dance this Valentine’s Day.”
“So… we need to do what exactly?”
A sigh can be heard from Aki before she continued explaining to the teal net.
“Both of us have to decorate the gymnasium for the dance, sleepy head!”
“ME? Decorate the gym? Is the President nuts?”
“Alright, fine! I’ll think of the theme and decorate the gym while you help me with the posters!” Aki handed a mountain of posters to Kazemaru,who almost fell because of the weight of the posters.
“But-“
She gave him a glare which immediately shut him up. Reluctantly, he went to the notice board to paste the first poster onto it.
Just as he was about to paste the first poster onto the board, Kazemaru suddenly realized he didn’t have any tape or stapler with him.
“Damn it!” He facepalmed himself as he wondered where to find any tape or even a stapler at a time like this.
The sky was turning a mix of colours, red, orange and yellow. He was starting to get worried when a hand took the first poster and stapled it onto the notice board.
“A dance huh?”
“Ma-mamoru?”
Endou grinned which made Kazemaru blush.
“W-what are you doing here so late Mamoru?”
“Waiting for you…” Endou replied. He took another poster and stapled it onto the notice board. He didn’t notice however that Kazemaru stood frozen next to him, red in the face.
“W-why?” The teal net was still blushing.
“I thought we could walk home together.” Endou’s grin got wider
“S-s-sorry for keeping you late.”
“No biggie.” The grin was still attached on Endou’s face. “Wanna be my date for the dance, then?”
Right there, on the spot, Kazemaru leaned in and kissed Endou on the lips. His way of saying,
“Yes…”
End of Flashback
Tears shed as he slowed to a stop. Why did he remember? He didn’t want to remember any of this! He couldn’t take it. More tears started to fall, racing down his cheeks. Yuuya turned his head to Kazemaru but his feet still moving towards his sister. “Move forward, Kazemaru…” That was all Yuuya could say about Kazemaru.
Yuuya turned to look at his sister, who was now walking towards him while cradling something brown and white.
“How’s Wind?”
“His wound re-opened but he’ll be fine.” Yuki replied, noticing the sobbing teal net behind her brother. Returning her gaze back at her brother, both of them nodded at each other.
“Anou, Kazemaru-senpai… H-here’s chocolates for him too… can you please give it to him for me?” Yuki asked rather too politely, as she laid a box of chocolates beside Kazemaru.
Kazemaru didn’t say anything. He just cried and cried. Knowing what to do, the siblings left him under the cold and bitter rain.
Kazemaru continued crying, unaware of the eagle, watching him with its bloodshot eyes.
After what felt like hours, Kazemaru finally stopped crying. His eyes red and puffy. He hesisated but picked up the box of chocolates that was beside him and walked home slowly. It was starting to get dark, the sun setting on the edge of town. Even the rain had stopped.
He walked past the park. He walked past Rairaiken. He kept on walking until he reached a rather too familiar place. Raimon Jr. High…
The school looks like a Christmas tree. Aki’s done a really good job. Twinkle lights are strung all around the school, and sparkly streamers and glittery confetti too. Everyone seemed happy.
He scanned the field. This year the dance was held outside the school building, on the soccer field. He smiled a little as he noticed the members of the soccer club laughing and making fun of each other. He continued to watch his friends having fun from outside the school grounds.
“Hey, has anyone seen Kazemaru?” Ichinose took note of the teal net’s disappearance.
Kazemaru froze a bit. Not wanting to be seen by his friends, he ducked behind the wall.
“I haven’t seen him since… since last week. Is he sick or what?” Domon asked his other teammates.
Everyone shrugged and shook their heads, everyone except the Aoi siblings. They were amazingly quite tonight.
“Hey, you two alright?” Kidou asked the two siblings.
“Y-yeah we’re fine.”
“Didn’t you hear that Kazemaru-senpai caught the cold?” Yuki lied. She and her brother knew what was really going on with Kazemaru but they didn’t dare to mention it, afraid that they’re friends would suddenly burst running towards the direction of his house.
Kazemaru, on the other hand, was rather relieved that the siblings kept his secret safe. The others didn’t know about this. Only Yuki and Yuuya did, since they were there with him at the hospital when the doctor confirmed him that he… he has this… sickness.
Flashback
Kazemaru was walking around town. He was wearing his baby blue jacket since it was rather chilly in this month of February. Valentine’s Day, his favourite day of the year.
His white boots clinked and clanked on the pavement as he window shopped, roaming another store and another. Where is he? He thought as he continued walking down the streets of Inazuma Town.
“Ichirouta!” He heard someone calling him. He turned to his left. There, on the other side of the road was his beloved Mamoru-kun, waving to him.
Kazemaru’s face brighten up.
“Mamoru-kun!” He ran across the street happily.
Out of nowhere, a car was heading towards Kazemaru, honking. Everything was in slow motion.
Kazemaru turned his head towards the upcoming car. He didn’t have time to turn around.
“ICHIROUTA!”
SKRRRREEEEECCCCCCCHHHHH! BOOM!
“Ma-moru-kun…” His legs, he couldn’t feel them. He tried to turn his head around but he could only feel pain.
“I-it’s alright, Ichirouta… I’m right h-here.” Kazemaru felt someone smelling his hair. He looked in front of him. A shattered glass with a reflection of Endou in it. He could see Endou. His face was covered in blood. His eyes slowly closing.
“Ma-mamoru? P-please… don’t… don’t leave me!” He cried out but it only managed to come out as a whisper. Kazemaru couldn’t move his body. Even if he tried to move, he’ll only feel pain.
“As long as… you keep playing soccer… I’ll always be… by your side, I-chi-rou-ta…” Endou managed to smile as his hands wrapped around Kazemaru’s weakening body. His eyes closing.
“Mamoru? Mamoru! Ma-mamoru…” Endou didn’t answer.
The siren of an ambulance could be heard as Kazemaru closed his own eyes.
End of Flashback
Kazemaru covered his face with his hands. He sobbed quietly on the ice cold pavement. Why couldn’t he be the one that died on that day? WHY?
“Why…?” Kazemaru asked no one. His body felt so weak, due to the non-stop crying and his sickness.
His body was skinny. His skin was pale. He has been coughing blood for weeks now. The doctor said it was nothing serious as long as he took his medicine but as the days increased his condition worsens.
He has been suffering. But he wasn’t suffering because of his sickness. He was suffering because he lost his beloved Mamoru-kun. (A/N: Shi: Bleh! Why did I write that? Flo: JUST CONTINUE WRITING BAKA!)
He clearly remembers Endou’s bloody face, his last smile for him. He still remembers everything about him.
More and more tears started to fall. A voice behind him froze him.
“Hey, do you guys hear that? It sounded like someone’s crying.” A familiar voice, a very familiar voice… Hi-hiroto? Oh God.
“Now that you mentioned it, I’m hearing it too.” Another voice… Fubuki? Damn it! They heard him!
Slowly and quietly, Kazemaru got up and ran. He didn’t know where he was heading but the road seems to be familiar. But he didn’t stop. He continued running into the darkness of the night.
Panting, he slowed to a stop. He coughed blood… again. As he was wiping his hands with another piece of tissue, he suddenly noticed the eerie aura around him. He was at… the cemetery…
He looked around feeling scared. The sound of an owl made him jump. But something struck him. He… was… at… the… CEMETERY. Once again, he looked around. His eyes stopped at a familiar grave stone… Endou’s grave stone…
Kazemaru ran to it. As soon as he reached it, he dropped onto the ground, pulling the grass and sobbing.
“Why do you have to leave me? WHY?” Kazemaru said in between tears and sobs. The rain was pouring again. Heavier than ever. He didn’t care at all. He just sat there, crying himself to death.
His sickness came back again. He coughed non-stop. His nose was bleeding, his body shaking due to the cold. His eyes were getting heavy. He felt sleepy although he was coughing. He slowly rested his head onto the grave stone.
“Kazemaru! Oh God! Kazemaru!”
Memories of him and Endou came rushing back like a movie film. Those happy memories of him and Endou.
“Somebody call the ambulance! Kazemaru-kun! Wake up!”
“Kazemaru!”
He felt someone shaking his body. A-aki? Haruna? How did they find him?
“911! We need an ambulance at XX Cemetery NOW! Please! Hurry!”
Someoka? So all of his friends are here… But he still can’t stop coughing.
“Kazemaru-senpai… Please hold on you’re gonna make it!”
Kazemaru’s vision got blurry. He couldn’t see any of his friends faces. But with all the racket he can still hear someone calling him.
“Ichirouta… I’m waiting for you!”
Ma-mamoru-kun… Kazemaru used his energy left to open his eyes. There on the entrance of the cemetery was Endou, grinning and waving to him as if gesturing Kazemaru to come with him.
“Where the hell is the ambulance? Urgh! Kazemaru! Kazemaru!”
“Kazemaru!”
“Kazemaru!”
“Ka-kazemaru…”
“Ichirouta…” Endou grinned wider as his boyfriend took his hand.
