One Last Kiss [Harai.]

[Faye]

Rai had gone on his date with Miki Azuma and taken her to the Cafe Allegri, which he regret the moment he walked into the cafe. He remembered the look on Haruka's face when Miki mentioned him previously taking her there. She seemed so hurt that he had moved on so fast, when in fact he hadn't moved on, he still loved her as much as he had before, if not more. You never really know what you have until you lose it.

That was exactly how Rai had felt. So the following day, he had gotten up earlier than usual to head down to the Student Freedom Force office to perhaps find Haruka there as she was constantly doing work for Kyerin and working close by him ever since their seperation. He wanted to talk to her, there were so many things he wanted to get off his chest.

So dressed in his summer uniform and his bag packed he made his way down to the lobby and into the school. The morning air was crisp, perhaps he should get up earlier more often. It was nice and cool and the sun's ray cast beautiful rainbow illusions on the dew drops scattered around plants and the glass of buildings. With such a lovely morning, he felt more confident that nothing could go wrong.

He opened the Student Freedom Force office door to find it empty, it hadn't been touched since it was locked up the previous night. He slipped his key into his pocket, flipping on the light to see a letter in the middle of the table. His heart raced as he saw the handwriting.

It was Haruka's.

Gingerly he opened it, reading the first few lines before he had to look away. She had left. For Japan. He forced himself to read more, finishing the good-bye letter. However, he kept reading the last sentence over and over again. 'I love you'. She had said she loved him. He had waited so long for her to be able to say it back and now she couldn't. He clenched his fist, crinkling the paper she had used in the process.

How could he be so stupid!? He had let the one girl he wanted slip away. He had to find her. He had to bring her back, he had to tell her how sorry he was that he put her through all of that. He frantically searched for a pen and wrote underneath Haruka's letter, a message for Kyerin. He wrote in sloppy, but readable hiragana.

Saito. Gone to Japan.

Rai.

As he left the office, he walked briskly down the hall, withdrawing his cell phone from his pocket and dialled the number for the airport. "Yeah, I need to know the next possible flight to Japan," The receptionist rattled off the times and the places that they were going to. Then one of them stuck out to him, the same place he had gone to Japan with Haruka the first time. "That one, book me a seat, under the name Rai Aikaryu," The receptionist agreed and he hung up, rushing back to his dormitory to prepare himself for his second stay in Japan in the course of the year.

Once back at his dorm, he went straight to his bedroom, throwing his suitcase open on his bed as he began to throw clothes he wanted to take with him. He only took the necessities that he thought he would be needing, few pairs of jeans, shorts, t-shirts, clothes to sleep in, chargers, money and other various items. It was lighter than the previous time but he was sure he would be fine with the bare minimal. If he needed more, he'd just purchase some. He retrieved his toothbrush and other items from the bathroom and stored them in the smaller pockets on the suitcase and then zipped it up.

He took a minute or so to go over everything to make sure he had enough to survive over there. He then placed the suitcase onto the ground to wheel it behind him as he left the dormitory.

The flight would be leaving in an hour, more than enough time to get there. On his way down, he rung for a taxi to arrive out side the lobby. Though he had to wait a minute or so for it to turn up, he made it to the airport in time to relax a little on the seats after getting his tickets.

When the clock showed quarter to nine in the morning, he boarded the plane, taking his window seat. Now all he had to do was wait to arrive in Japan. He hoped he remember where her grandparents lived correctly.

[Nicolette]

Haruka arrived in Japan several hours after leaving T'zen Island. Her grandfather was at the airport, waiting for her arrival, and helped her load her things into the car when she finally did arrive. She sat silently in the passenger's seat, her expressionless mask placed perfectly upon her face. Her grandfather worried, but he knew better than to say anything at such a critical time. He drove on, barely obeying the speed limit, as they went on their way to the hospital where Tsukiko Amagi lay dying.

Haruka had received the call back in T'zen Island that Tsukiko had had some really bad flashbacks and was starting to become delusional and started to hallucinate, calling out Yuusuke's name and sobbing and destroying things. In the end, she had taken a whole bottle of medication and was found by her parents, having a seizure in her bedroom. She'd been rushed in the hospital and was still in critical condition. They feared she likely wouldn't make it through the night.

Seconds felt like hours and it felt like forever had passed by the time they finally parked at the hospital. Both grandfather and granddaughter moved as quickly as they could into the hospital, to the elevator, and to Tsukiko's hospital room. Haruka's heart pounded hard in her chest and she was absolutely scared of what she would see. When she entered, Yukari was sitting at her daughter's bedside, gazing sadly down with tears in her eyes. Haruka moved quickly to her mother's side and took her frail hand.

"Mother... It's Haruka..." She whispered, her voice gentle. She couldn't raise her voice much higher, in fear of it breaking. She gripped her mother's hand tightly as the woman's eyes rolled around lazily, not exactly able to focus on anything for more than half a second or so. But she eventually found her eyes catching Haruka and she smiled a very weak, very cheerful smile.

"Oh, Ruka-chan, I'm going to go see Papa now."

"No, Mama..." Haruka begged, pulling her mother's hand closer. "You can't go see Papa yet... You have to stay here with me, and Grandma, and Grandpa... You can't go see Papa yet..."

"Oh, Ruka-chan! I'm going to go see Papa! I'm going to see Papa again!" Her voice became louder and louder, her excitement rising. The heart monitor's beeping became faster and faster and Haruka felt panic rise up within her. "I'M COMING, YUUSUKE! I'M COMING FOR YOU!!" Tsukiko shrieked before she collapsed back in her bed, shaking again.

"No, Mama! I love you! You can't go!" Haruka begged more, but it was no use. Tsukiko continued to scream her husband's name, even as doctor's came in and tried to calm her down. She eventually screamed herself into another seizure... but this time... she didn't make it out successfully.

"We're sorry... There is nothing more we can do..."

Half an hour passed, and Haruka was sitting alone at her deceased mother's bedside, staring emotionlessly at the shell that had been left behind of what had once been her mother. She was pale, now, and soon wouldn't begin to look like herself.

"Was my love not good enough for anyone...?" Haruka finally asked, looking at the dead woman. "My love could not satisfy Rai-kun... And it could never please you, Mama..." She slowly rose from her chair, her heart suddenly racing.

"DID I EVER MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU, MAMA?! DID I?!?!" She shrieked, her arms whipping in front of her for emphasis. Tears spilled from her eyes and she let out a scream as she felt her whole body begin to shake.

Then... Something happened...

The next thing she knew, her grandparents were clutching her and dragging her back as she sobbed uncontrollably. The room was absolutely saturated and the machines were giving off sparks of electricity. Her grandparents took her away before the doctors could arrive to see the destruction.

Haruka sobbed the whole car ride home.

A whole night passed after that. Haruka had bee placed in her empty bedroom, all of her suitcases and things still remaining in the living room, in fear that whatever Haruka had done before would happen again. Yukari and Ryotaro sat in their kitchen together, sipping coffee with red rimmed eyes and broken hearts. And Haruka sat in her locked bedroom, sitting against a wall in the corner of the room, staring at the wall across from her, void of all emotion, with a large bottle of water, half-empty, between her legs, clutched between her thin, frail hands.

[Faye]

Rai stared at the window the entire plane ride, he didn't fall asleep or anything, he was too busy thinking about what he was going to say to Haruka when he saw her. If he saw her at all. He hoped he would find her, so he could tell her that he was wrong, that he could handle not being able to hug her properly in public. He didn't care, he just wanted her, he wanted her to be his again.

The plane finally landed, a nice, smooth landing on the tar sealed run way. He got off the plane and went to collect his luggage, plus he brought a drink from one of the many cafes to quench his thirst that he had developed on the plane ride. He then set out into the streets of Japan, racking his brain for Haruka's grandparents address.

"Maybe I could try hear her.." He spoke to himself, in English so the many Japanese citizens couldn't understand. He listened carefully, but had no luck, Japan was an overcrowded country so there were far too many voices to concentrate on just one. He shook his head, searching for a particular street.

It felt like forever, but only a couple of hours had passed, Japanese was more or less in the same time zone as the T'zenshin Island so there wasn't much difference in the time. He checked his phone, which had adapted to the zone changes, telling him it was around one in the afternoon. He had been searching the entire time, and he had finally found the street that just seemed to draw him in.

He stood outside a particular house, staring at it. It was her grandparents house, he knew it, he remembered when he and Haruka had sat outside that morning after everything had happened. Tears threatened to fill his eyes but he blinked them away and slowly approached the home, walking up the steps.

When he stood just in front of the door, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to try and calm himself down. He then brought up the back of his hand, knocking firmly on the door. Now he would await a reply.

[Nicolette]

Ryotaro and Yukari jumped a little at the sound of the knock on the door. Had the hospital come to question them about the destruction of the hospital room? Was it the police, come to take their darling granddaughter away? They shared worried looks and clutched at each others hand for a moment before Ryotaro stood and walked to the door. Yukari stood a few feet behind him. The man slowly brought the door to open, and both let out relieved sighs when they saw it was just a young man...

A familiar one, at that.

"Can we help you, young man?" Ryotaro asked before his wife moved forward to gently hit his arm.

"Ryo-kun, it's Ruka-chan's friend, from the last time she came down to visit." Yukari said, wrinkling her nose at her husband before offering a small smile at Rai. "Please, come in."

They let him in and Yukari led him to sit at the table. She brought him a glass of water and then she sat back with her coffee. Ryotaro went back to the counter, but stood next to his coffee, rather than sat.

"It is so nice to see you again, Rai-kun." Yukari said, smiling kindly and politely to the boy. "I hope you have been well." She was trying so hard to keep her smile. Everything weighed down on her, but she had to keep up her strength; she couldn't give in.

[Faye]

Even though it was only a few moments before they answered the door, it felt like forever. He was startled a bit when they opened the door as he had been in his own world about Haruka, he wanted to know if she was okay, normally she would only be called back to Japan if something was wrong with her mother.

"Thank you, Amagi-san," He bowed his head to both of Haruka's grandparents and stepped inside their house. There was a strange, depressing air in the house, as if someone had died or something rather unfortunate had occurred recently. He glanced around his surroundings, seeing no sign of Haruka in the first story of the house.

He nodded and said thank you to the glass of water that was given to him, taking a seat at the table. "I have been, thank you," He brought the glass to his lips, taking a sip of the water. Then he noticed something about the two of them, their eyes were blood shot, bags sat under their eyes, the signs all pointed to sleep deprivation. What had happened?

"Are you two alright? You look like you haven't slept in weeks.." He commented, before a tiny gasp escaped through his lips, "I-is.. is Haruka alright...?" He asked them, his eyes and expression desperate.

[Nicolette]

Ryotaro and Yukari were quiet for a moment after the question Rai asked. They exchanged sad glances before Ryotaro nodded, knowing his wife wouldn't be able to hold herself together if she had to tell him. He let out a deep breath and looked sadly at the teenager across the counter.

"Haruka is upstairs in her room... This house is in mourning. Last night... Our daughter, Tsukiko, passed away at the hospital."

Yukari sniffled a little, reaching out to take her coffee cup. She brought it to her lips and took a long sip before slowly placing it down.

"Rai-kun..." She said, her voice soft and careful. "The school you attend... Is for gifted students, yes...? For students that have special abilities beyond those of a normal person...?"

"Yuka..."

"Ryo, please... We need to know..."

[Faye]

Anxiously, he awaited their reply. He only grew more anxious when he saw the sad glances they shared between them before they turned to him. He gasped at the news, "O-oh.. oh dear... I'm so sorry to hear that.." His heart went out to the Amagi family, he knew how scared they were for Haruka's mother.

Except, Yukari's following question confused him. He rose an eyebrow at the woman and then turned his attention to Ryotaro as he went to stop her. "Yes, it is.. the institute is a place for students who have special gifts, whether that be an academic gift or being able to manipulate an element," He explained, still rather confused about the question.

He continued, "What's going on? W-what happened..?" There was so much rushing through his head, he wanted to go up and see Haruka but he wanted to know the story first.

[Nicolette]

Yukari was quiet for a moment before she began to speak again. Ryotaro seemed like he wanted to protest, but Yukari placed her hand up to prevent him from interrupting, looking at the boy across the table with desperate eyes.

"We... We are unsure of what exactly happened last night... But shortly after her mother's passing, Haruka began to show some odd behavior, and then began to scream at her mother's... corpse... While she was screaming.. She began to shake.. And..."

Yukari couldn't speak anymore, as she, too, had begun to shake a little. Ryotaro placed a hand on his wife's shoulder, but knew he would have to be the one who finished the story.

"It is very hard and difficult to explain... But... Water, suddenly started forming around her, from her hands, and surrounded her, almost like a storm. It was as if a hurricane had engulfed out granddaughter... And then, a tidal wave hit the room with incredible force. We managed to get her out of the hospital before too many people could see the damage... But... It wasn't normal. And since then, she began to beg for water, and would start crying and screaming if she didn't get it, as if she were in pain."

Yukari suddenly rose from her seat and moved to Rai's side, a few feet away. She then slowly dropped to her knees and went into a low bow, her forehead nearly touching the floor.

"Please, Rai-kun... Please convince my granddaughter to return to that school with you... They may be the only people who can help her..."

[Faye]

He listened to Yukari speak, his eyes softening and growing with concern as she couldn't finish the story herself. The more it dragged on the more difficult it got to stay still and calm. However, Ryotaro soon cleared things up for him.

When the man was finished, he stared at the two. Haruka Amagi had magical powers? When.. how...? He blinked, his mind flooding with confusion and many burning questions. Then he found Yukari on her knees and begging him to help Haruka, to convince her to go back to the T'zenshin Institute. He bent down on the floor, taking Yukari's hands to help her stand up.

"Of course, I'll try my best, Yukari-san, Ryotaro-san," He turned to face the other man as he spoke his name. He then rose from the table, shifting to walk up the stairs, "I'll see what I can do," He wasn't sure about the odds of trying to convince her. What if she didn't want to see him? What if he had caused too much damage to her already and she didn't want anything to do with him? He swallowed, forcing himself up the stairs. He had to know, he had to figure this out.

Walking down the hall, he felt the pressure sink in over him, the hall way appeared even longer than it was. Finally, he had come to Haruka's door, he went to open it but found it was locked. He rose an eyebrow in confusion, knocking on the bedroom door.

"Haru..-chan, it's me, Rai."

[Nicolette]

Haruka sat in the empty room, staring at the wall across from her, saying nothing, hearing nothing, seeing nothing... There was nothing around her but the emptiness of loss. Suddenly, however, her body tensed up and she gasped before grabbing the water bottle and opening it, taking a long drink of it. She only stopped when she heard a knock at her door.

Frowning, she slowly stood, her legs shaking. She had been changed from her clothes from the previous night, since they had been soaked. She wore a cotton nightgown that only came to about her knees, but it showed everything. It showed her bandaged arms, it showed faded cuts on her legs, and if one were to look at her stomach, her thighs, her chest, they would only see more.

She walked to the door on weak legs and she managed to unlock it, pulling it open slowly to look up with dead eyes at the male before her. Was this really Rai? Or was she going to go insane like her mother, and hallucinate the things she desperately wished to see. Her eyes narrowed into a glare and she uncapped her water, shoving the bottle forward to splash water on the illusion.

"I will not be fooled by hallucinations!!" She cried out, her eyes wide and wild. However, as she noticed that rather than disappear, the now-wet boy only looked at her with shock and confusion, her own eyes widened in confusion. She slowly stepped forward and reached her hand out, letting it connect with the boy's chest and press against it.

"You.... You're real...?"

[Faye]

The boy could only grimace when the door was opened, seeing Haruka's frail body, the fading cuts all over her once perfect flesh. The bandages all up her arms, the emotionless glint in her eyes.

Then he felt something wet hit him in the face, he flinched, shaking his head, throwing water droplets around him. He brought up a hand to wipe his face, "Hu-huh!?" What the hell was that for?! He stared at her, listening to her scream about not being fooled. Had it affected her that badly? He swallowed, glancing down at her hand as she poked him in the chest to check if he was real or not.

He then averted his gaze back up the girl in front of him, his face still dripping with water. "Y-yes.. I am, Haru-chan..." He remained outside the room, afraid to step inside, "I came to speak with you.."

[Nicolette]

Haruka quickly brought the water up to her lips to take a quick gulp before capping the bottle and putting it behind her back, as if to pretend it was never there to begin with. She cleared her throat and looked around a little before stepping back and looking down.

"A-ah... You rather surprised me with your arrival, Aikaryu-kun... I apologize for the.."] She coughed, embarrassed, "er... water.... But... What is it you wish to speak to me about?"

She couldn't appear weak in front of the person that she told she could be strong on her own. Even if all these things suddenly happened... She had to be strong... But...

"Wait..." She interrupted him before he could start, looking up at him with a confused look. "What are you doing in Japan?"

[Faye]

His grey blue eyes watched her gulp down the water and suddenly hide it behind her back, he stared at her in confusion. What was all that about?

"Don't apologise, I-" He was interrupted by her asking yet another question, about why he was even in Japan. He paused, his gaze falling to the ground. "I.. I found your letter in the SFF office, and I caught the next available flight over here to see you," He swallowed, now what would he tell her? Could he spill his guts out to her even when she was in a state like this?

"I.. I was wrong... to think that we could ever be apart, Haru-chan.." He spoke softly, barely attempting to make eye contact with her. The request Yukari asked of him wasn't forgotten, but he would try sneak it in somewhere in their conversation.

[Nicolette]

Haruka watched the boy for a long moment as he awkwardly tried to speak to her. She watched him carefully, and felt a small beat in her chest upon his words. She turned and she slowly started to walk over to her bed.

The biggest difference Rai could see about her would be the fact that she was showing so much skin, as well as her bandaged arms (which had yet to be shown underneath the bandages). She had gone for so long, hiding the self-inflicted injuries from him, but now, she had no more power to hide herself. She was just weak and tired...

"Was my love not good enough...?" She asked quietly from her bed, looking up with pained eyes. "Is that why you left...? Is that why Mama left...?"

[Faye]

Rai continued to stand in the door way, watching Haruka with concerned eyes, watching her return to her bed. He dared to take a step or two into her bedroom, feeling the depression, confusion and many other unexplainable emotions in the room, they were much more immense than out in the wall or downstairs.

The pained look in her eyes and questions cut him through the heart. How could he do this to her, how could he be so selfish? He approached her, kneeling in front of her, gingerly taking her hands in his. "No.. no that's not true," He looked her directly in the eye, swallowing the lump in his throat, "I should never have left you, you're always going to be more than enough, I was just.." At a loss for words, his gaze fell from hers and he looked to the side. A few moments passed before he turned back to her.

"I was just blind.. I couldn't see that it was so wrong to even think about leaving you."