“Beauty in the Breakdown”
Chapter Seven: Proof of Life
By Baine
Chapter 7
Finished: June 14th, 2007
Posted: December 16th, 2007
*—(number) Implies that there is a Japanese cultural note regarding the topic at the end of the story.
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Beauty in the Breakdown
Chapter 7: Proof of Life
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Usagi stared at the man walking toward her and could only scream, hoping that he would take the cue to jump out the window and leave. She knew having a climbable tree outside her window was a bad idea. Her face paled as he continued toward her, his hands hidden behind his back, concealing his weapon of choice.
Oh god, was she about to die? She gulped at the dark glint in his eyes as she observed his slow stagger. No, first he’d rape her, then he’d kill her. She would never see Motoki or her friends again. She reached for her nightstand, grappling for her lamp. It was her favorite one, but if breaking it meant saving her life, so be it.
Her attention was diverted from the lamp as her door flung open with a bang, revealing her baseball-bat wielding mother and her water-gun toting brother. Ikuko looked around the room, perplexed. “Usagi, what on earth is the matter? Stop that wretched screaming this instant!”
Usagi closed her mouth and gestured toward her window. “You mean the fact that there’s a strange man standing in my room isn’t enough evi.....dence.....” Her eyes widened and she glanced around the room. “Where did he go? Did you see him move?"
After perusing the room and seeing nothing, Ikuko placed a hand upon her hip as she swiveled to glare at her daughter. “Usagi, this is not the way to get our attention. We don’t need anyone else making up stories in this household.”
“But I—”
“Screaming at the top of your lungs is not the way to do things around here, young lady. Do you understand?”
Usagi glanced behind her mother, her scowl deepening as she took in her brother’s smug expression. Hanging her head, she stared at the floor and muttered, “Yes, ma’am.”
She stood in that position until her mother flounced from the room, Shingo right behind her as he turned back to stick out his tongue at his despondent sister. Tracing the pattern of swirls in the wood beneath her feet with her big toe, she slowly raised her head and peered around at her room. Nothing was out of place, her uniform wasn’t moving, and the window was still closed. Not counting the kittens, there wasn’t another living being in sight.
Kneeling on the ground, she reached into the small cat bed and pulled the two balls of fluff into her lap. Stroking their heads, she asked, “I didn’t make that up, did I? You saw him too, didn’t you?”
Her only response was a bleary yawn from Luna and a low, rumbling purr from Artemis. Frowning, she mused, “I guess not. You wouldn’t be this content if you had, right?”
Placing the kittens back into their bed, she stood and walked over to her window. Peering out the window, all she saw was the inky blackness of night. Shivering to herself, she pulled the curtains shut, picked up the discarded textbook lying at her feet, and walked back over to her bed. She had never been so grateful to have homework in her life. Maybe concentrating on math would chase her hallucinations away and she’d manage to overcome her nerves and get a good night’s sleep.
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Over the next couple of days, Usagi temporarily moved back downstairs to her old bedroom. She was too freaked out to stay in the attic by herself; every time she turned around, she kept thinking someone was lying in wait to attack her. She got goose bumps just entering the room.
After the third day of self-imposed exile, she decided it was time to stop being so silly. Even though the intruder had mostly likely been a figment of her imagination, it didn’t mean she couldn’t take precautionary measures for in case he hadn’t. She would make sure her window remained locked 24/7, even when summer came around again. Her face drained of color. Would she really still be here by then? Summer was so far away. Would her friends even remember her this time next year if she didn’t return to them?
Setting down the small box of stuff she’d brought back upstairs, she sank into the plush chair at her vanity stand and peered into the mirror at her pale features. She’d been thrilled to find out the small brass ensemble was light enough and thin enough to get up into the attic. She didn’t know what she’d do without it, since Shingo always hogged the bathroom in the morning. He was almost as bad as a girl, unlike whatever boy had once lived in this room. Before she’d moved in and spruced the place up, there hadn’t been a mirror in sight. Snorting disdainfully, Usagi bit her lip and pinched her cheeks to add some color to them. It was pointless to waste good makeup when no one was around to notice.
Feeling the hair at the back of her neck begin to itch, she glanced into the mirror and eyeballed the window, but there was nothing there. She was being paranoid again. Rolling a tube of nail polish between her palms, she decided it could double as a handy weapon should the need arise. She slowly pushed back her chair and stood, adjusting the strap of her thin nightshirt as it started to slide down her shoulder.
Kicking off her slippers and placing them into the small closet, she shuffled to her bed, freezing as she saw a man leaning over with his hand on Artemis’ back. Her voice trembling, she managed to stutter, “What are you doing to my cat?”
He straightened and turned. In that moment, she saw that he wasn’t a man at all, but a youth on the brink of adulthood. He was about her age, give or take a year or two. Her eyes widened as she realized it was the same person who’d been at her window earlier that week.
Clenching her fingers around the bottle in her hand, Usagi took comfort in its smooth surface. Trembling and drawing on sheer nerve, she added, “—and how did you get into my room?”
He analyzed her thoughtfully, his dark eyes burning with a light similar to that of a gleaming ember. “You see me?” he asked, voice rough and low.
Usagi rolled her eyes. “Of course I see you. You’re standing right in front of me, aren’t you?” Stepping backwards as he moved away from the bed, she added, “Breaking and entering is illegal, y’know.”
He seemed taken back by her words. “And you hear me, too.”
She scoffed and tossed her head. “What, do you think you’re the Invisible Man or something? You’ve been reading too many American comic books if you do.”
“No, just...” he trailed off and glanced at the small white cat still stretched across the bed.
Seeing the action and noticing that Artemis wasn’t moving, she exclaimed, “What have you done to my cat?”
“He’s fine, he’s only...dreaming.”
“What, did you drug him or something? How do you—Wait. Say that again.” Her eyes narrowed. His voice, it was somehow...familiar.
“What? He’s asleep. There’s no need to get uppity, Princess.”
Drawing herself up to her full height, Usagi proclaimed, “You have no right to insult me in my own bedroom. You’re trespassing, after all.”
He stuck his hands into his pockets. The edge of his lips quirked into a semblance of a smile. “You always strike up a conversation with trespassers?”
“No,” she retorted sharply. Realizing the timing was just right, she launched the bottle of nail polish at him, watching in horror as it flew past and slammed against the wall. Luckily, the bottle wasn’t glass, so it didn’t shatter and spill all over the place. Her mom would have killed her if it had.
“That’s the best you can do?”
“If you hadn’t moved at the last minute...” Her eyes narrowed. Wait, he hadn’t moved. The bottle had gone straight through him—no, that wasn’t possible. She was just hallucinating again. Of course he had moved. He must have. What other answer was there?
Listening as he taunted her with a cynical response, everything clicked into place. She recognized his voice. Her eyes slid to the cat lying prostrate across her bed, then flicked back to the intruder. “I know you,” she uttered, eyes trained on his own as she awaited his reaction. Unfortunately, a raised eyebrow was her only response. Mustering together her thoughts, she breathed, “You’re Artemis.”
He frowned. It took a minute for the name to click. When it did, shock filled his eyes. “Your...cat?”
“You have his voice and everything. Plus, that bottle went straight through you.” A feral look flitted into her eyes as a triumphant smile rose to her face. “You’re his spirit, aren’t you?”
He laughed, bemused. “Do I look like a cat to you?”
“Well, no, but cats aren’t supposed to talk, either, so why can’t they take on a human form?” She shrugged nonchalantly, but inside, her heart was racing. “Besides, you knew that Artemis was the name of my cat. That’s an intimate detail an intruder would never know.”
“I’m no intruder,” he growled, eyes sharp as they pinned her in place. “And I’m sure as hell not a cat.”
Usagi shot him a shrewd look, pushing her fear out of sight. “So who—or what—are you?”
“The true owner of this house.”
She scoffed at the notion. “Please. This is my mom’s house. She has the deed to prove it.”
“But it wasn’t always your room.”
“No, but—” A knock sounded at the door. Sighing in frustration, Usagi turned as she heard her brother’s voice coming from the other side. Tilting her head to keep an eye on the intruder as she called out a response, she frowned upon realizing that he was no longer in the room.
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He furiously paced up and down the attic. What was going on? How the hell had she been able to see him? In all his years as a ghost, no one had ever noticed him before.
It was impossible. You could only see ghosts if you believed in them and had the mentality of a psychic. The pampered princess certainly didn’t. If anything, it should have been the boy who could see him. After all, he was a believer.
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Why her? Why now? He had been near her hundreds of times and she’d never so much as blinked. What was so different about this month?
First, she’d seen him at her window and freaked, even though it had only lasted a second before he fled to another room. After that encounter, she’d been on edge whenever he was in the same vicinity. He could sense her constantly glancing around as though trying to discern his location. Then tonight...
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Had he created some sort of connection with her due to the fact he’d possessed her cat so many times? It didn’t make any sense, but—
Wait. Her cat. That was it. He’d forgotten all about the fact.
His pacing began anew. It wasn’t just intuits who had an ability to see him. If a person was lonely enough and had a big enough void in his or her life, those tendrils of emptiness were sometimes able to reach out to the spirit world and make a connection.
That must be it. There was no other possibility. He knew she’d said her cats were her only friends and that she had nothing here, but he hadn’t realized she was being serious. He thought she was once more over-exaggerating her circumstances and having a pity party for herself.
His head spun at the notion. After all these years, he’d once again made contact with another human being. It was a powerful thought. He had to wonder, though, why that person had to be her.
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Knocking softly on her brother’s bedroom door, Usagi gently poked her head into his room. “Hey, Shingo, you still have all that crap from upstairs in here, right?”
Shingo eyed her warily. “Yeah, but you said you wouldn’t dump it if I kept it in here.”
“I won’t, promise. I was just wondering if there might be an old yearbook mixed in with everything.”
He eyed her and pursed his lips. “I think so, why?”
“I’m just curious. Don’t you ever wonder what the boy who once lived here looked like?”
Shingo furrowed his brow. “We don’t know his name, though.”
“Bet it’s on a trophy or something.”
“Smart,” he mused, casting her an appreciative look. Every now and then, she managed to come up with a good idea or two. He pulled a plastic bag out from beneath his bed and dumped the contents onto the rug. Picking up a dull red book, he blew off a layer of dust still clinging to its surface. “Here we are. What grade do you think he was in?”
“I dunno,” she replied, attention diverted as she lifted a tarnished trophy from the ground. “Looks like his name was Chiba Mamoru.” Her lips curved. “Protector, huh? Is that why your ghost is still hanging around this dump?” *--1
Throwing his sister a speculative look, he slowly flipped through the book. “Here we are, Chiba Mamoru. Looks like he was a senior at the time, not that this is the year he necessarily died or anything.”
Licking her lips to wet them and wiping her damp palms against her pants, Usagi slowly took the book from her brother. Her skin tingled and her heart beat a little faster. Her eyes widened as she zoomed in on a young man with dark hair and a crooked smile. She didn’t even have to look at the name. It was him. She’d been talking to him just last night. She swallowed at the thought. She’d been making conversation with a dead man.
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Cultural Note #1: Mamoru is the Japanese word for the verb “to protect.”
Author’s Note: The next chapter will be out…sometime in 2008. I’m actually caught up to what I’ve written. Well, that’s not completely true. I have a bit written for a few chapters down the road, but I have to get there first. You’d think the next chapter would be the easiest to write since I’m finally getting to the crux of the story, but it hasn’t been. Then again, my muse seems to be more focused on “As We Stumble Along” and original stuff, so I need to whip her butt into shape. (Speaking of AWSA, if you go through withdrawal due to waiting, please go read this story! It has very few reviews, and I’m sad because I’m enjoying writing it. The chapter that I just posted, Chapter Seven, is my absolute favorite so far. Granted, it’s not a Usagi/Mamoru story, but they’ll have a sub-plot, and chapter eight is almost entirely U/M, as will be a couple of future chapters. I’d really like to have more readers for that story, so if you enjoy my work and don’t mind reading about other characters, please check it out! ^_^
As for this story, if you have any ideas to get my ball rolling again, please drop a line. If it’s something I decide to use, I’ll credit you when I write it. ^_^ I can’t guarantee that I can do what you want because I already know my major story plot arcs that are molding my framework, but it’s the in-between that’s going through a lull, so any ideas to kick my muse into gear are highly appreciated. :) I might not get to it right away, though, because my goal for January is to do JanNoWriMo b/c November was too hectic for me, and I’m determined to finish my novel! I’ll try to write a bit this week, though, but I can’t make you any promises. I’m so sorry!!
[I’ll also be posting a brand-new story that I finished writing in April or May come Jan/Feb, and it WILL be a Usagi/Mamoru story—and only four chapters+Pro/Epi, so please watch out for it. I think it’s another of my better works, and I’ve been putting off release for so long because I want it to be perfect. Please look for it!]
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, everyone!!!! “Omedetou gozaimasu!”
And, as always, thank you to my lovely betas, especially Nephthys Moon, since she’s really busy and still manages to squeeze time in for me. *loves her Squishy*
Like it? Hate it? I’m the one to talk to! Hit the little review button or e-mail lady_baine (at) yahoo (dot) com today! (As a holiday/New Year’s present, please send me a review! So many people are adding this story to alert/fave/etc, and there aren’t so many people reviewing it. Please send this story—and me—a little love if you’re enjoying it!!! Onegaishimasu!
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