http://clampfix.fanworks.net/kenichi/magi4-2.txt </head><body><pre> "This is most strange, That she whom even now was your best object, ...should in this trice of time Commit a thing so monstrous to dismantle So many folds of favor. Sure her offense Must be of such unnatural degree That monsters it; or your fore-vouched affection Fall into taint." King Lear, I:1 Chapter Two The icy morning air bit into my face. My teeth were gritted, but not due to the cold. Hot spurts of breath became puffs of fog that blocked my view with every step. I was thankful for my Wushu training, as I reached into my psyche and shut out the feelings of cold. But try as I might, I could not shut the images---The truth---that ran through my head. The land. The elements. The Princess. A lamb to the slaughter. I slid to a halt at the foot of the Tower. In some way, it seemed more ominous to me now. Misgivings trembled from within my soul. What if this is all a mistake...? I steeled myself for the worst as I stepped through the doors of the elevator. I absentmindedly stuck my hands into my jacket pockets. My fingers grasped something... and fished out a black orb. I blinked absently. Wasn't this the same black orb I left in my school pants pocket? I scratched my head, wondering how it got all the way there. I definitely didn't recall taking it along... The elevator halted at the observation deck, knocking my senses back to reality. I stuffed the orb back in my pocket and took a deep breath. The doors slid quietly open. I peered around, hoping to catch a glimpse. Odd, there were so few people around this sunday. Just as well. Didn't want to create a scene. Hikaru was nowhere around. I scoffed to myself. Of course Ken, you fool. Relying on a dream, and some funny ideas based on a bump on the head. How do you even know that her name is Hikaru? I walked to the binoculars where I first saw her. I threw my hands over the railing and sighed. No hope. No way. Absolute nonsense, all of it. I banged my head against the railing and made a hollow sound. I cursed under my breath. Smart move, Ken. Really smart. Some little feeling nudged me. I turned my head out of pure reflex, gazing over my left shoulder. Spirits alive, I saw her. All three of them. I turned the rest of my body to view them, planting my elbows back on the railing. I bit my lip to stifle a laugh. Interesting that, for four years, I had not known a thing about them. Now, I knew more about them than I wanted. Watching them all as they discussed among themselves something. I was fairly sure it was about that mysterious land. Cefiro. The girl in the blue blouse and jeans was chattering incessantly. The long blue hair led me to surmise that she was Ryuuzaki Umi. And the girl wearing the greenish overcoat---The kind look on her face could only be Hououjii Fuu. But my eyes were first and foremost centered on the girl in the middle. Black pants and a red jacket framed her petite face. Shidou Hikaru. Girl with the eternally cheerful smile. Soon I found myself admiring her looks. Damn, when she smiled, I couldn't help but smile with her. "Shouldn't you be speaking to her, now?" I whirled around and found myself staring out the window. Zagato. It could not have been anyone else. At best, my feelings were mixed about the entire thing. Part of me could not believe that she could do that. Another part demanded to know the truth, straight from her mouth. I pondered what to do. "Excuse me sir, may we please use those binoculars?" I looked up to the gentle face of Fuu Hououjii. A faint blush came across my face as I got up. Umi and Hikaru were right behind her. I had my misgivings, and almost decided to forget about it. But my conscience wouyld just not let it go. "Houjii Fuu-San?" Fuu's eyes snapped to attention. "Yes...Do I know you?" I stood up and noticed that Fuu and Umi were fairly taller than I was; At first I felt threatened, but one look at Hikaru and her small build gave a new sureness to my cause. I would see this storm through to the end. "Your friends are Shidou Hikaru and Ryuuzaki Umi, ne?" Umi stiffened visibly, while Hikaru's eyes widened questioningly. Fuu smiled. "Yes, but who are you?" I swallowed deeply, and put up my best front. "My name is Kaeda Kenichi." Another swallow broke my voice. "I know of you three, of your link to Cefiro..." I bowed my head low. There was no way I could look into their eyes. "...And how you killed Zagato and Emeraude." Stunned silence followed. I raised my head slowly, to look into Umi's crystalline pupils. Her indignation was written all over her face. I was about to apologize when I heard a loud slapping sound. All of a sudden, I found my face looking to the side and my left cheek feeling as if it had been set on fire. I looked back at Umi. She had her left hand raised, as if in an on-guard position. It took me awhile to realize that I had been struck. "Umi-Chan!" Hikaru's voice. I felt red as ever. She was coming to my defense, even after I declared my doubts. She turned to me with those clear, shining, questioning eyes. "How did you know...?" Fuu and Hikaru listened intently as I related my dream. About my first dreams. About my encounter with Zagato. How I learned of their calling. And the two times they had traveled to the land. I knew the hows. All I needed now were the why's. That was why I had to talk to them. Three Magic Knights. "I know what you did. I want to know why..." Umi did not flinch. "Zagato's spirit..." She spat it out like a curse. "...How can we trust him? He's probably allied with Zagato..." "Umi-San, I don't think so." Fuu's voice seemed to have a cakming effect on everyone. Like the reassuring tone of an older sister. "Zagato wasn't evil, you know that." She turned back to me. "Ken-San, we..." She put a gentle hand on my shoulder. "...we did not know. All three of us, we were young and idealistic... We thought that we were doing the right thing." It was getting dark. I spent practically the most of the day talking to Fuu. She seemed the best equipped to deal with a young fifteen-year old such as I was. Umi was fairly distrustful; I could not blame her after the way I blatantly confronted them. Hikaru... I wondered what she must have been thinking. I excused myself from Fuu and faced Hikaru. I came all this way to meet her after four long years. I would at least talk to her. "Shidou-San..." She looked into my eyes with her own. Her arms folded absently around her chest, as if she wished to grasp something dear to her. I noticed that she and I shared the same height. "Shidou-San..." Blast, why was it so hard for me to say something? "Kaeda-San. There's no need for you to apologize for anything." Her smile brightened my heart inside and out. It was hard for me to believe that she was three years my senior; In fact, it felt more like we were the same age. I smiled back at her as warmly as I could. "Thank you for understanding..." I turned to Fuu and Umi. "All of you, for understanding." My smile faded slightly. "It isn't for me to judge what you did or why you did it...I wasn't there..." I noticed Umi's face soften visibly as I spoke. "...I wish that I was." "Be careful what you wish for..." I no longer turned to the voice. I knew it to be Zagato's. "Isn't it kind of late already?" Hikaru and I looked at Fuu in unison. I nodded. "Agreed." I turned to Hikaru and smiled. "Take care of yourself, Hikaru-Chan." Only then did I recall that I had broken with formality and called her "-Chan". I felt really stupid...No idiotic...That had to be dumbest one in the books. Luckily she hadn't noticed. Hikaru grinned brightly. "You too, Ken-Kun!" Or did she? I wanted to burst out, tell her how I felt. I turned my back on the open windows. "Hikaru-San, I..." I started to lean back. Hikaru's scream came a bit late for me. It took a full two seconds for me to realize that there was no railing for me to fall back on. At the back of my mind I remembered that the Tower was undergoing repairs to it's observation decks today. I flailed my arms around frantically, hoping to grab something, all in vain. The last thing I saw was Hikaru's face. Something akin to a mix of shock and...sadness? As if she was about to lose another person she cared about. I'm sorry Hikaru-San... Her face rushed away from me at a million miles per hour. Oh God, how I hate falling... </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>