Kamui closed his eyes as he basked in his favorite weather.
The sky was blue, the clouds were fluffy white, and the grass was green. It was the perfect day to walk around and do nothing. The perfect day to be completative and rethink life. The perfect day to visit those whom we have not seen in a long time.
Kamui opened his eyes again to see the stone in front of him. He leaned forward, smiling, and carefully traced his fingers on the engraved letters.
“Well… I guess I’ll see you later, huh?”
He stood up, brushing the slivers of grass off of the knees his black pants as the wind blew his jet black hair away from his eyes.
It had been a year since the second War of the Elements. And, honestly, Kamui hoped it was the last. The sacrifices made at that battlefield had been enough.
More than enough.
Ever since that night, everyone had tried to get their lives back on track again. The good thing about being a Star is: despite what’s going on with the Elements, the rest of your life isn’t affected. The hard thing about being a Star, though, is: you can’t really confide in your friends when they ask why you zone out at times. Why, for seemingly no reason at all, you suddenly feel like you just want to shut yourself out from the world for a second. No, you couldn’t tell that to your friends, no matter how sympathetic they may be.
No, Midori and Rei will never understand. The whole deal about the Elements was just something to experience in order to be understood. What was so great about Midori and Rei, though, is that, eventually, they did understand even though they still knew nothing. They eventually just let it go. And for that, Kamui was thankful for his friends.
As for the rest of the Stars… Kamui didn’t see them much anymore, even the Kazetenshis, who lived so close to him. It wasn’t like before, when they would converge in an empty classroom in the afternoons to talk about the Roses’ next move, or when the whole Group would hang out in the Spazio practically every day. In fact, it had been weeks since Kamui himself had been at the Spazio. The Stars had simply become busy, and the intervals between their meetings grew longer and longer.
And today…
“Thank you, sir. Have a nice day!”
Kamui snapped out of his reverie at the greeting. He gave a small bow, smiling at the security guard, before he stepped through the gates and out of the cementary.
——–
And so, here he was again. It had been a while since he last stepped foot in this place; although he had, admittedly, avoided going there for a while. Honestly, he knew that the palace was quiet, especially since Kaji and Yuki had left to live on the Ground. But it never really bothered him. It was his home. And, even though he had lived alone, he never really felt alone.
Odd that, now that everything was over, now that everything seemed OK, now was the time that it felt wrong to stay there. Then again, maybe it was wrong to stay there, now that he had no reason to do so.
Eventually, though, he got over that eerie feeling he got whenever he thought of the palace. As Kamui had said, maybe it was just a psychological thing, that maybe the only thing keeping him from going there was himself. The girls had made it their project, then, to “warm” the palace again, and, soon enough, the rare visits slowly became frequent. And now, whenever he went there, what flooded his thoughts were fond memories instead of sad ones.
Ran looked up from staring at the table when he felt the sofa cushion shift. He smiled at the girl sitting beside him, holding a hot cup with both her hands.
“That smells nice,” he said.
She smiled, inhaling the delicious aroma of her coffee. “Yes, it does. Would you like me to make you a cup?”
“No, thanks. I’ll make some popcorn, though. Would you like some?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Coffee and popcorn?”
Ran raised an eyebrow, as well, his grey eyes smiling.
“Why not?”
“Uh…No thanks.”
“Suit yourself.”
Just as Ran left the room, he heard Sara’s cheery voice exclaim “Hikaru-kun!” as she bounced in.
“Hey, Sara,” Hikaru greeted her without looking up.
“You’re here! Long time no see! You didn’t get fired again, did you?”
The brown-haired boy then looked up, narrowing his eyes at the ever-smiling Sara. He wasn’t exactly sure if she was joking or not.
“For your information, no. As a matter of fact, I’m getting promoted. The boss just gave me a day off.”
“Ah, congratulations, then, sir.”
“Thank you. Now, if you don’t mind…”
Sara blinked, only then noticing what Hikaru had been doing.
“Oh, please, do continue,” she said apologetically. She then went to sit down on the sofa. That sofa was ultra-comfortable, really, and in perfect condition even though no one bothered to take care of it. Sara was the one who most frequently visited the palace — even more frequently than Ran — but she never really bothered to maintain the place. It wasn’t that she was lazy, unlike what Kamui had playfully accused her. It was just that everything in this place was in perfect condition, whether or not anybody maintained it. It was one of the mysteries of the Elementals that Sara gave up trying to figure out.
“Hello, Mai-chan!”
“Hello, Sara,” Mai answered, smiling at her.
The blue-eyed girl took a moment before asking, “So how are you?”
“I’ve been fine, thank you…” She paused, glancing at the table. “But I’ll spare the details. Oniichan forbade me to share stories with anyone while we’re not complete yet.”
“Ah,” Sara said, laughing. It was typical for Hikaru to say that. But it was great that Mai was doing well now. It had been a while before the raven-haired girl completely got over her loss. For the first few weeks, Mai didn’t even answer whenever she was asked how she was. It wasn’t until two month later that Mai actually said she was doing good, and was honest about it. Of course, Sara would know if she was lying or not.
Mai was taking another sip of her coffee when Sara slightly leaned towards her.
“How long have they been at it?” she asked.
“I don’t know, exactly. They’ve played six games since I arrived, but they started earlier than that, I think…”
“Are they ever going to stop?”
“I hope so,” Mai said, grinning, “I don’t want Oniichan to strain his brain too much.”
With that, a comfortable silence ruled the room until…
“Checkmate.”
“What?! No, it’s no— … Oh…Right, it is. Drat.”
“Want another match?”
A deep sigh. “Nah, I’m pretty tired already…”
“Finished already? But I just got here!”
“We’re only human, Sara-chan,” Yuki said, grinning, as she started picking up the chess pieces. “Besides, we just played to keep ourselves busy until your brother arrives.”
“Yeah, what’s taking him so long, anyway?” Mai asked.
Sara opened her mouth to answer, but she never got to, as Ran entered the room with two bowlfuls of popcorn.
“Come and get it while it’s hot.”
“Arayt popcorn!” Hikaru exclaimed. “I wish we had a movie to watch, though…”
“Who needs a movie as an excuse to eat popcorn?” Ran asked, as if defending his favorite snack. “Oh, are you guys done with your game? Did Hikaru lose again?”
“Of course.”
“Mai!” Hikaru exclaimed, looking slightly offended. “Don’t make it sound like I always lost!”
“Well, how many games did you lose?”
“…Uh…Well…” Hikaru frowned as Sara and Mai exchanged knowing glances. “So she got lucky!”
“Hey!” Yuki objected, quite uncharacterstically. “What is that supposed to mean?!”
“That you got lucky,” Hikaru answered calmly.
“She didn’t get lucky, Oniichan. She got really good, but that doesn’t mean you’re not good, either.”
This seemed to settle well with Hikaru, as he just shrugged before proceeding to eat popcorn and chatting with Ran and Sara.
“Always the diplomat, eh, Mai?” Yuki asked.
“I try what I can to keep Oniichan out of trouble.”
Yuki laughed a bit, but Mai only smiled, her eyes unconsciously drifting towards the door again.
“Don’t worry,” Yuki’s voice came once more, “I’m sure he’ll be here any minute.”
Mai quickly turned away from the door, a light blush creeping up to her cheeks. “Who said I was worried about Kamui?”
“Who said I was talking about Kamui?”
Mai’s blush deepened, making Yuki laugh again and say, “Mai, you’re so cute!”
“No, I am not!”
“Actually, yes, you are.”
At the sound of that cool voice, Mai sharply turned towards the door again. Chocolate brown eyes met cobalt blue, and Mai felt her cheeks grow even hotter.
“Hi,” Kamui said, smiling, as he walked towards them.
“Hi.”
“Naaaa, Oniichan! You missed seeing Yuki beating Hikaru at chess countless of times! Well, actually, I did, too, but that’s not the point.”
“It wasn’t countless times!” Hikaru wailed. “It was just… Just…”
“A hundred?”
“Sensei!!!”
Kamui laughed before taking a handful of popcorn. “Good work, Yuki.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you, though.”
“AHA! So you’re the one to blame!”
Kamui rolled his eyes as he took his seat. “I just taught her the basics, Hikaru. Besides, you better be happy she actually got better at chess. I almost lost hope when I was teaching her, at times.”
“HEY!” Yuki objected, this time, while Hikaru laughed and exchanged high fives with Kamui.
“OK, OK, guys, settle down,” came Ran’s voice from the head of the table. “Everyone— I mean…almost everyone is here… Let us, therefore, begin our meeting.”
“Don’t make it sound so formal,” Hikaru stated.
Sara snickered, saying, “That’d be something Kaji would say…”
It was just a simple statement, a harmelss one, but, suddenly, it seemed like everyone’s mood changed. Sara bit her lip the moment she realized what she had just said, while Yuki turned to her in slight surprise. Mai suddenly found her shoes to be the most interesting thing at the moment, and Hikaru’s fists clenched, his eyebrows furrowing angrily. Only Ran and Kamui didn’t react.
“OK,” Ran said, clearing his throat. “I’ll make it sound formal, because, as you know me, I like to make things dramatic. Life is, after all, a drama.”
At this point, the serious air had lifted again. Sara scratched her hair, while Hikaru rolled his eyes as Ran continued.
“We are, undeniably, the actors in this huge production. But, we must remember that we are still at the dress rehearsal. The main production is our life still ahead of us. We are to embark on a journey, and each of us has a road to follow. Our roads may not be side by side all the time, but, thankfully, there are corssroads where we can meet friends, old and new. This, my Stars, is one of those crossroads.
“And, from one crossroads to the other, we may encounter bumps along the way, and let me tell you: it may be a pebble, a rock, or a boulder, but never fail to learn from them. Sometimes we take things for granted… We only realize their importance when they’re already gone.”
“Well said,” Yuki quipped, half-joking, half-sincere, matching her Master’s half-exaggerating, half-serious speech.
“Thank you. Well, then, we shall commence. Being the Sensei, it gives me the privelege to go first. The investments I’ve previously bought are, thankfully, doing well, and are providing for my needs quite nicely. The Potentials are behaving well, and I see no need to take anyone in at the moment. My observations are continuing without a glitch, and that, by itself, is a very good thing.”
“You got that right,” Kamui agreed.
“Next… Hikaru, being the eldest of the group?”
Hikaru nodded. “College is… well… college. It’s hard, but I’m surviving. Uh… I finally gave up my one job as a student assistant, and just focused on the one at the cafe near my house. It’s doing real well, and I’m hoping to reach the managerial staff soon.”
“Don’t overwork yourself, though,” Yuki told him.
“Don’t worry, I’m not. But I really AM working hard for it so I could move to a better apartment. The one I have right now just isn’t condusive to studying… And…yeah. That’s it.”
“Yuki, would you like to go next?”
Yuki cleared her throat, smiling at the Stars with her. “I’m pleased to announce that I have improved my chess game—”
“Oh, man, not this again… Rub it in, will you?”
“Calm down, dear, let me continue,” Yuki said, placing a hand on Hikaru’s shoulder to stop him from possibly standing up and walking out. “I was, in fact, invited to the chess club. But, seeing that I’m at the bottom of that club while I’m practically at the top of the skating club, I decided to stay with where my gifts are.”
“Wise decision,” Ran said.
“I’m also pleased to announce that my parents—”
“Lord and Lady Mizuno,” Hikaru whispered under his breath, making Sara give a muffled laugh.
“—are finally convinced that I, indeed, did not elope with Hikaru.”
“Really?” Kamui asked, smiling. “What made the Lord and Lady decide that?”
“Please refrain from calling my parents Lord and Lady with the underlying meaning of them being dominant and scary, guys… They’re actually very nice.”
“I’m sure they are, Yuki,” Sara said, “But, it’s just…Well, whenever they’re trying to chop off Hikaru-kun’s head…”
“Well, they won’t. Not anymore. I convinced them that my cover story — of course, I didn’t call it a cover story in front of them — of going off to attend an exclusive school was true. I suppose they saw that I was ‘refined’, though they didn’t say it like that. And then I reminded them about Kaji, who came with Ran to pick me up all those years before, and they went, ‘Ah, yes, that delightful nice boy with wonderful manners?’”
“They have GOT to be sarcastic about that,” Kamui stated, laughing.
“Actually, no. They literally lit up when I mentioned Kaji. I think that pretty much convinced them, plus the fact that I finished high school among the top 25 students of my class.”
“Oh, that’s cool, isn’t it? So does that mean that Hikaru-kun can officially visit you at your mansion now? That he doesn’t have to climb up your balcony just to see you?”
“I never climbed up her blacony!” Hikaru protested, looking absolutely flustered in an instant.
“Yeah, you flew up,” Mai stated.
“Wha—” Hikaru started, but stopped as he glanced at Yuki, who, at that same moment, just happened to glance at him, too.
“All right,” Ran cut in again, “if Yuki doesn’t have anything else to add, let’s move on. Kamui?”
“Finished top of the class, I’m sure,” Hikaru said.
Kamui only smiled. “The competition has been tough, but, yeah, I did. And I got into Tokyo U, too.”
“Really?!” Hikaru exclaimed, just as the others also expressed their congratulations. “That’s awesome! Wanna be roomies?”
“Sure. I was just about to ask you about that.”
“That’s just so awesome!” Hikaru repeated. “Mai, how come you didn’t tell me?”
“I haven’t told anyone yet,” Kamui answered for Mai before she had a chance to defend herself. He then nodded to Ran, indicating that he was done.
“Typical that school is all you’re going to report about,” Ran commented, smiling. “Sara? Do you have anything to share?”
“I don’t think I have anything that interesting to tell,” Sara started. “I mean, I’m still in high school, I haven’t dropped out. I’m still in the gymnastics club, and I’m likely to be the president next year… I think that’s it. Everything’s pretty much the same.”
“No boy problems, Sara-chan?” Yuki asked.
As everyone expected, it was Kamui who answered.
“Well, she does have that annoying kid following her all the time.”
“Oh, Oniichan, don’t speak about him as if he was a stalker,” Sara told him. “Besides, he isn’t following me around. He just happens to be in the places where I am. And it’s not like we like each other or anything. That’d be, like, yuck.”
Kamui snorted, crossing his arms. “Of course he won’t tell you he likes you. And, really: he just most conveniently happens to be where you are? Yeah, right. Do you honestly think that I don’t know what a guy does just to catch a girl’s attention?”
“Well, I don’t see YOU trying to catch Mai’s attention.”
Mai blushed deeply, while Kamui — his face also an attractive shade of red — opened his mouth to retort, but Yuki beat him to it.
“He doesn’t need to catch Mai’s attention, Sara. He already has it.”
“Yuki-chan!” Mai exclaimed.
“Mai, would you like to go next?” Ran interjected, effectively stopping anybody else from saying anything. Kamui then resigned to glowering at Yuki and Sara, while the two girls grinned at each other.
“Um… Well… I’m… I don’t have anything to report, really,” she said, fiddling with her fingers.
“Yes you do,” Kamui objected. “C’mon, Mai, tell them.”
When Mai just blinked innocently at Kamui, Hikaru leaned on the table, eyebrows furrowed.
“Tell us what?” he asked, eyes narrowing at his black-haired friend.
“Yeah, tell us what?” Sara echoed. “Did Oniichan finally ask you to be his girlfriend?”
“Noooo,” Kamui said, once again glaring at his sister, who just smiled cutely. He turned back to Mai, who still looked clueless. “Didn’t you take the entrance exam to Tokyo U, too?”
At this, Mai flushed. “Well…Yes, I did…”
“How was it?” Hikaru asked, finally stopping from eyeing Kamui suspiciously.
“I…don’t know,” Mai finally said. “I haven’t checked.”
“What?” Kamui asked, blinking. “Why not? The results came out yesterday, didn’t it?”
“Yes, but I didn’t check it yet. I was planning to do it tomorrow. I just…” Mai paused, sighing. “I didn’t want to come here disappointed, that’s all. Just in case I didn’t pass…”
To her surprise, Kamui laughed.
“No way! Really? But you did pass, Mai. I looked for you on the list, too.”
“Arayt, sis!” Hikaru cheered, while Mai simply stared at Kamui, dumbfounded.
“Are you serious?” she breathed. Kamui just continued smiling at her.
“This is great!” Ran exclaimed, this time. “This calls for a celebration, ne?”
“Oh, definitely,” Yuki agreed.
“Well, Mai, do you have anything to add?”
“Um…” Mai started, again. This time, though, she was smiling widely. She laughed a bit before continuing. “I think that’s it. Unless you want to include the fact that people still call me Aiko.”
At this, Hikaru laughed. “I don’t think you’ll get out of that, Mai. It comes with being twins.”
There was a pause, now that everyone in the room had shared their general stories. There’s still much to be said, that’s for sure. But most details come a little while later, probably during lunch. Or perhaps after a spar or two.
“How is Aiko?” Ran asked, breaking the silence.
But then, there was silence again. Yuki turned to Mai with her full attention, while the smile on Hikaru’s face disappeared once again to be replaced by a scowl. Mai, Kamui and Sara glanced at each other, unsure of what to say. Kamui was very tempted to cheerfully say “Well, she passed Tokyo U, too!” But he knew what Ran had meant. Everybody knew what Ran had meant.
It was Mai who finally spoke.
“She’s holding up,” she said with a small smile.
“When I get my hands on that idiot,” Hikaru said, his fists clenching, “I’m gonna kill him.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, Yuki, I will. Seriously. I mean, what on earth was he thinking, leaving like that?! Without a trace, without even the slightest bit of warning! And before Aiko woke up, too! I always knew he’s impatient, but come on! Is one week too long for him to wait?!”
“Apparently,” Sara said. “It’s hard to know what’s going on in his head sometimes.”
“He has his reasons, Hikaru, I’m sure,” Ran provided.
“Yeah, well, I’m still gonna kill him,” Hikaru insisted. “You can’t just kiss someone and then leave them! Didn’t he know how affected Aiko was going to be when he left?”
“Maybe he didn’t,” Ran said. “Listen, Hikaru. Not to put you down, but there’s a lot about Kaji that you don’t know, OK? He may look confident, even over-confident at times, but he’s got a number of skeletons hidden in his closet. He’s been through things that you — and even I — might never know. So cut him some slack, yeah?”
Hikaru sighed, crossing his arms. “I know…” he said after a moment. “It’s just that… Well, she’s my sister…”
“I know, kid,” Ran said, smiling. “I understand, and I’m sure Kaji will also understand your desire to kill him.”
“I think Aiko’s going to beat you to it, though,” Kamui added, making Hikaru laugh.
“Yeah, most probably.”
“Where is Aiko, anyway?” Ran asked, finally noticing just how late Aiko was.
“She’s on her way,” Kamui said. “She just had to make a quick detour.”
——-
It was here.
Aiko took a deep breath as the wind blew. She tucked stray locks of her midnight blue hair behind her ear as her grey eyes scanned the horizon, her necklace glistening in the morning sun.
When she had “woken up” after her accident — the accident that changed her life as she knew it — she was several hundred feet above the very spot she was standing on. She smiled, remembering how she felt when she realized that she was floating in mid-air. She couldn’t remember what she had yelled in panic, but she was sure that it was something senseless. But before her adrenaline could even subside, she had been startled out of her wits again when Kaji suddenly appeared behind her, saying…
“Kazetenshi Aiko, ne, ojoosama?”
Aiko’s smile faded as her eyes widened ever-so-slightly. That sarcastic, confident, smirking voice was unmistakable, but she didn’t dare hope.
He’s not there, Aiko, she told herself. This wouldn’t be the first time you hallucinated.
Cynical as it may sound, she knew she was right, out of experience. When she had woken up a week after their fight with Youko, Kaji was nowhere to be found. Nobody knew exactly when he left, where he went, and why he did. And for the first few months after that, there were times when Aiko would imagine hearing his voice saying something sarcastic about what she was doing. Mai had said that maybe she was showing withdrawal symptoms from seeing Kaji everyday. Maybe she was right. Hikaru had said that she was dangerously close to going into depression, although Aiko didn’t want to think so — it wasn’t like her whole world revolved around Kaji, right? But it was just unfair. Whenever she would hear his voice only to be slapped in the face with the reality that he wasn’t there, she just felt hollow. Good thing Kamui was always there to snap her out of it…
Better get this over with, she thought, sighing, as she turned around, half-expecting to see no one.
Aiko had never been one to cry so easily. It would always have to take something really serious to make her cry. But, at that moment, tears stung her eyes as she suddenly felt a lump in her throat. The wind blew again, and, with her legs suddenly feeling like they had turned to mush, Aiko smiled.
“Hao…”
Seven young people.
Two separated brothers.
One beautiful, unpredictable life.
————–
From the Author
Blue Star is officially finished…
But the story continues! Harhar… Sorry, I just can’t seem to make myself put a lid on it. To tell you the truth, I didn’t know how to end this story with a bang. So the epilogue turned out like this. Hope you guys aren’t wanting to shishkabob me right now. Who knows, maybe I’ll change it later :Þ
Please gimme comments about the epilogue: Was it clear, what had happened with each of the Stars during the past year? Was Aiko’s part too short? Was everyone suddenly out of character? Did it suck? Should I scrap this and just make another one? Speak, people, and I shall listen.
And, oh yes: If you read Episode 24 before November 26, 2005, you might want to reread it. I added a scene. Instead of just Mai thinking about the dream, I added the dream itself.
Since I love my brainchild so much, I’ve been considering turning it into a series of “books”…sort of. Since we already have Ribbon as a side story, I was thinking of making optional prequels and sequels. By ‘optional’ I mean they can be read as a prequel to Blue Star, or they can be read as a standalone. But they’re all under one umbrella story.
Here are the arcs I was considering writing…I haven’t decided on the titles yet
- A prequel revolving around Ran, Youko, Yume, and all the other original Elementals
- A prequel telling the story of Rieka, Megumi, Ken’ichi and Nobuyuki
- A prequel exploring Yuuji and Fuu’s back story
- A prequel about Yuki’s past
- A sequel which reveals just where Kaji disappeared to
- A sequel following Sara in high school
- A sequel that puts Hikaru in the limelight
- A sequel continuing Mai and Kamui’s story
If you notice, Aiko isn’t mentioned anywhere… Maybe it’s because she’ll inevitably make an appearance in almost every single one of these arcs… Also, she has the most exposure in Blue Star anyway, so… Ehehehe. Yeah.
So, drop me a line! It’d be awesome if you can write a review, even a small comment, about how Blue Star turned out as a whole story. Also, vote for which side story you want me to write, or if you think I should just stop with Blue Star and continue on to other fics. :Þ
I’ll release a final word from the author by next month (I think).
