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Opening (Sakura Rock from KHR)
Hyouden no Densetsu~Snow White Princess, Snowflake
Chapter 2: Strength
“Shadow, you have failed me.”
“Forgive me, my lord.” The girl knelt before a tall man seated on a throne. His face was hidden in the shadows of a dark, deep hooded cloak.
He sighs. “Leave.”
“Yes, Lord Salem.” Shadow stands, bows, and leaves the dark room.
“Akane,” Salem says.
A young woman steps out from the shadows behind his throne. She is tall, with long red hair and a red, Chinese-style dress. “My lord,” she says, bowing.
“Shadow is useless to me until her wound has healed. In the meantime, I want you to continue with your usual job,” Salem orders.
“As you command, my lord.”
Kimi and Yuki walk down the street together on their way to school. Ami is chattering away about something while Yuki gazes off into the distance.
“Yuki,” Kimi says. There is no response. She waves her hand in front of Yuki’s face. “Yuuuuki.”
Yuki blinks. “Huh?”
“You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?” Ami asks.
“Sorry,” Yuki mumbles. Her eyes still have that glassy, far off look.
“You’ve been like this all morning. What’s up?”
Yuki offers a smile. “Nothing. I’m just tired, that’s all.”
“Uh huh,” Ami says. She doesn’t believe her, but it’s clear that she isn’t going to get anything out of the dazed girl right now.
Yuki’s gaze returns to the sky. They are approaching the school now. She flashes back to yesterday.
The girl attacks her. Knight appears and protects her. Knight stands before her after the battle.
“Snowflake, Princess of Ice…Together we are destined to save the world,” he says.
‘Knight…’ Yuki thinks. ‘Did I really meet him? Did all of that really happen?’ She fingers the lump of the jewel hanging beneath her uniform shirt.
“Um, good morning, Kiyoi-san.”
Yuki and Kimi turn around. Odayaka is standing behind them. His face is red as always.
Kimi grins. ‘Time for me to exit,’ she thinks. “I’m gonna head to class. See you later, Yuki!” she calls, waving as she runs off.
Odayaka walks nervously beside Yuki. “How are you?” he asks.
“Oh, I’m good,” Yuki mumbles, equally nervous. ‘That’s right, I have Odayaka-sempai. I shouldn’t be thinking about Knight,’ she scolds herself.
“Are we still on for today?”
“Yeah, of course!” Yuki says. ‘Crap. I completely forgot about our date! This is what I get for thinking about…’ She stops, staring with wide eyes. Amidst the students crowding around the school gate she sees a tall boy with blond hair in a low ponytail. Around his upper right arm is a bandage extending from his elbow to beneath the sleeve of his shirt. It is in the same place as Knight’s wound. ‘Knight,’ she thinks.
Yuki does not hear Odayaka try to start a conversation with her. “I have to go,” she murmurs as she goes on ahead into the crowd, her eyes and mind fixated on the blond boy. She is stopped by a crowd of squealing girls tightly packed around the boy. Before she can squeeze through, the bell rings. The crowd dissipates as everyone files into the school, but by the time it is thin enough that she can get through, the boy has already disappeared. Looking around, Yuki sees one of the girls who were crowding the boy. She is a girl in her homeroom class.
Yuki tugs on the girl’s sleeve. “Hey, who was that?”
The girl blinks at Yuki. “You mean Kachiki Arashi-sempai?” she asks. Her eyes go dreamy. “He’s the new transfer student into class 8A. He’s already popular among the first and second year girls. Of course, we first years don’t stand a chance,” she adds sadly. “It’s just not fair…”
“Yeah,” Yuki mumbles, not really listening. ‘Kachiki Arashi, class 8A,’ she thinks, making a point to remember the information.
“Isn’t she dating some older man?”
“No way!”
“Yeah! I heard that—”
“Shh! It’s her!”
The girls stop talking and stare as another girl comes in the classroom. She has auburn hair tied in a bun on top of her head. A barrette holds the left side of her bangs out of her eyes and her red uniform tie is hanging open at her collar. She catches the other girls’ eyes and grins unabashedly.
“Good morning!” she says cheerfully.
“Good morning,” a couple of the other girls mumble back.
She walks to the other side of the classroom and takes her seat, setting her backpack down and starting to fix her tie. Two of the girls approach her hesitantly. “Um, Tsuyoi-san?” one of the girls starts.
“Hm?” Tsuyoi Hotaru glances up at them.
“Well, there’s been some rumors going on about you and we were wondering if, um…”
“If they’re true?” Hotaru finishes. The girls nod. She grins and shrugs her shoulders. “Yeah. What about it?”
The girls’ eyes widen. “No way! Really?”
“Yep. He’s cool and nice and handsome and buys me whatever I want and the best part is,” she grins, “I don’t have to do anything except go out on dates with him every so often.”
“Wow,” one of the girls says. “When you put it like that, it doesn’t sound all that bad.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind having one of those,” the other adds. The two girls giggle and Tsuyoi joins in.
“Well I think it’s disgraceful,” a cool voice cuts the three off. They look up to see a tall girl with straight black hair glaring down at them.
“K-Kigurai-san,” the two girls stammer, backing up. The girl advances on Tsuyoi. Tsuyoi meets her gaze unflinchingly.
“What’s it to you what I do outside of school?” Tsuyoi asks.
Kigurai narrows her eyes. “Wherever we are and whatever we do we are always representing the school. Do you want to give our school a bad name with your questionable habits?”
“I don’t really give a damn,” Hotaru replies. “It’s only ignorant, superfluous people like you who are always placing judgments and sticking their noses into other people’s business. Why should I care what you think?”
Kigurai slams her hands on the desktop, making a loud thud that gets the whole class’s attention. “You should care,” she says in a slow, threatening voice, “because I’m the class president and I can make your life miserable.”
“You can’t do anything to me,” Tsuyoi says.
Kigurai opens her mouth to make a smart reply, but the bell rings before she can. Instead she grins and says, “Watch me,” before turning around with a flip of her hair and walking to her own seat.
Hotaru sighs, settling into her seat as the teacher comes in. ‘What have I gotten myself into now?’ she wonders. ‘Me and my big mouth.’ Out of the corner of her eye she glances at the girls who were talking about her so conspicuously before she came in. ‘Whatever,’ she thinks. ‘I don’t care about if the teachers or my parents get mad. He’s the only one who really understands me anyway.’
“Good afternoon, Tsuyoi-chan!” the elderly driver calls cheerfully as she climbs on and pays the fare. She rides the bus so often that he knows her well. “How was school today?”
Hotaru smiles. “The same as always, of course,” she says.
“Ah, of course, of course. I should know better than to ask now right?” He grins. “Well, take a seat.”
She sits down in an empty seat and pulls a compact out of her purse, holding it open while she applies mascara and lipstick. She is still in her school uniform, she realizes as she lets her hair down and combs it to the side. He doesn’t like it when she does that. ‘Oh well. Too late now,’ she thinks as the bus pulls up to her stop. She waves goodbye to the bus driver and hops off.
He is sitting on a bench reading the paper today, trying to look inconspicuous as always. Once the bus drives away he puts the paper down and stands up to greet her. “Gousei-san!” she calls with a wave, forgetting for a moment that she’s supposed to be acting like a mature woman who would be seen with a man of his age and stature. She quickly drops her hand, clearing her throat and smoothing down her skirt. As always, he is dressed in a smart black business-suit, his black hair neatly combed.
Gousei eyes her with a frown. “You’re still in your school uniform,” he comments. “You know I don’t like it when you do that. I can’t have people knowing that I’m seeing a junior high student.”
“I know,” she says. Her tone is apologetic. “Some stupid girls in my class were giving me a hard time. I had to get away fast in case they told the teachers so I didn’t have time to change.”
“Hmm. Well I guess it’s okay for today. But don’t let it happen again.”
She nods. “I won’t. I’m sorry.”
“Well, did you have anything in mind for today?” he asks as they walk down the street.
“No. Whatever you want to do is fine.”
He pulls a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and slips one out before offering the open end of the pack to her. She glances up at him questioningly for a moment. Usually he doesn’t offer them to her, probably because she’s still only thirteen. Today is different for some reason. Not really wanting to, but thinking it would be rude and childish to refuse, she takes a cigarette. He drops the pack back in his pocket and pulls out a lighter, lighting his first and then hers. Watching carefully as he takes a drag on the cigarette, she imitates him. The foul tasting smoke fills her lungs and she coughs, accidentally dropping the cigarette.
Gousei chuckles as she sputters, gasping for precious breaths of clean, fresh air. “I guess it’s too much for you,” he says.
She blushes, embarrassed at her own inability to handle something as simple as smoking. ‘He probably thinks I’m such an idiot.’
“Don’t worry about it too much,” he says, as if reading her mind. “I didn’t start until I was out of high school.”
“Yeah,” she says, not really comforted. A flash of orange catches her eye and she jerks her head up. A boy and a girl from her school are walking towards them. She panics, forgetting that her secret is already out, and without thinking drags Gousei into an alley on their right.
Gousei raises an eyebrow at her when she meets his eyes. “Sorry,” she says. “I saw someone from my school and I just…freaked…” She stops as he leans towards her, staring into her eyes. He grabs her waist, pulling her into a kiss. She feels her heart start to race like it always does when he kisses her. This time, he surprises her by deepening the kiss and without realizing it she jerks back. He tightens his hold on her waist.
“I want you to come to my apartment today, Hotaru-chan,” he whispers.
She struggles to pull back from his grip on her waist. “I’m not—I don’t…”
“I’m tired of waiting on you,” he says. He backs her against the wall. “I’m a grown man and I have needs which you are supposed to take care of.”
Fear courses through her body as he kisses her again. ‘No,’ she thinks as his hand starts to move up her shirt. She struggles to get away. ‘No!’ There is a bright flash of light and he jerks away from her. She hears him cry out in pain, but she doesn’t stay to see if he’s alright or to find out what happened. She races down the alley, hearing his angry calls after her. Her heart pounds in her chest. She turns a corner and keeps running until she can no longer hear him calling after her, and finally she slows to a stop, leaning against the wall of one of the buildings and sliding down to sit.
Burying her face in her knees, she begins to sob.
“Yuki-chan,” Odayaka begins. He blushes as soon as the word escapes his lips. “Um, is it okay if I call you ‘Yuki-chan’? Since we’re dating and all now…”
“Sure,” Yuki says, thinking that it sounds nice coming from him. She has completely forgotten about Knight.
He grins. “Oh, good. Then you call me ‘Akihiro’ as well.”
“Akihiro-sempai,” Yuki tests the name. She smiles up at him. “Akihiro-sempai!”
He laughs and she giggles a little. “Um, are you having fun?” Odayaka asks. He is watching her hand out of the corner of his eye, trying to decide if he should hold it or not. Would she get mad if he tried?
Yuki nods. “Yeah,” she says. “Um, thanks a lot for taking me…” She blushes a little bit.
Odayaka scratches his head, deciding to give up on holding hands for now. “S-sure! I’m having fun too. Do you want to go grab a bite to eat now?”
“Yeah!” Yuki agrees. She stares at the ground. Her face is red with giddiness and embarrassment. They fall into silence. Suddenly, she feels a strange sensation as they walk past an alleyway. She stops, turning around. ‘What was that?’
“Yuki-chan? What’s wrong?” Odayaka asks.
“I, um, I…I think I forgot my purse at the arcade,” Yuki says. It’s a lie, but for some reason she knows she can’t tell him about this. The memories of the previous day she has pushed aside for this date are fresh on her mind again.
“Your purse?” Odayaka asks, staring at her quizzically. “Did you have a purse?”
“Yeah, of course,” Yuki lies. “Can you run get it for me while I get us a seat at the restaurant?”
“Well, okay I guess,” Odayaka says. “I’ll be right back.”
Yuki waits until he is out of sight before walking back to the alley and peering down it. There is a man slumped against the wall. He is moaning and clutching his face as if he is in pain. She starts to walk towards him to check if he is alright. Out of nowhere a red-haired woman in a Chinese-style dress appears. Yuki stops. ‘Was she there before…?’
Hotaru lifts up her tear streaked face, hearing a strange yet familiar voice calling her name. “Who’s there?” she asks, even though for some reason she knows the voice is coming from somewhere deep inside her.
‘Hotaru, you must go back,’ the voice tells her. She shakes her head. “I can’t. I can’t; he might still be there.” She feels an oddly warm sensation, almost like a gentle hand resting on her shoulder. ‘I know you are afraid. But you must go back. You are needed. We are needed.’
She nods, slowly pushing herself up. “Okay. I understand.”
Wiping her cheeks, she runs back to the alleyway, where she sees something that makes her eyes widen. A woman stands before Gousei.
“Shadows of the Earth,” the woman says, “feed upon the darkness of this man’s heart.” As her words end, the smoke swirls out of her hands, reaching with dark tendrils into the man’s eyes. His eyes turn black and his body lifts into the air of its own accord, hovering for a moment, and then the blackness emerges from his body, growing firmer, warping into something that could be called a creature. The man’s body slumps lifelessly to the ground and the woman fades away into the shadows.
Yuki watches with horror as the creature stumbles clumsily to its feet. Red eyes blink open like two pin pricks of blood against the dark emptiness of the creature’s body. It begins to lumber in Yuki’s direction towards the busy street outside. There is no time for fear. Her hand moves to the stone about her neck.
“Snow Crystal Birth!” Yuki shouts. Blue light flashes from the stone, momentarily blinding the creature as Yuki transforms. When the light fades, Yuki stands in the form of Princess Snowflake.
“Stop right there, monster,” Yuki says, holding her hand out. “You aren’t going anywhere.” The creature leers at Yuki with its immense black mouth, as if taunting her. It lunges at her and she jumps aside, just avoiding the long black claws trying to rake across her back. She stands up, hoping to attack before the clumsy monster can recover.
Holding her hands out before her, she begins to chant. “Pure Crystal St—” With surprising speed, the creature whirls around and lunges at her again, cutting off her attack. It knocks her in the stomach, sending her flying backwards. Yuki lands painfully on the ground. As she starts to stand up shakily, the monster comes at her again. She throws herself out of harm’s way.
She feels the warm sensation again and a glowing red jewel comes out from her chest. ‘That’s right, Hotaru,’ the voice says. ‘Follow your heart.’
Hotaru reaches for the jewel, clasping her hand around it. “Flame Spark Birth!” she shouts.
“Fervent Spark Invocation!”
Flames hit the creature, knocking it backwards. It lets out a scream, writhing in pain, but the blow is not fatal. The flames begin to disappear, leaving the monster wounded but still alive.
“Damn. Didn’t kill it,” Hotaru says, offering Yuki her hand and helping her up. Her hair hangs loose and flaming red about her shoulders, matching her bright red dress and thigh-high boots.
Yuki blinks at the flame-haired girl, but knows she doesn’t have time to ask questions. Despite its injuries, the monster is quickly recovering. She holds her hands out again. “Pure Crystal Storm!” she shouts.
Ice shoots out from her hands, and the second attack is too much for the creature. It lets out a final hiss and its body disappears into a wisp of smoke which fades away.
“We did it!” Hotaru shouts. “In your face, dead beat monster thing.”
Yuki tilts her head at Hotaru. ‘Who is this weirdo?’ she wonders.
“Oh, I’m Tsuyoi Hotaru,” Hotaru says. “Nice to meetcha!”
“Um, I’m Kiyoi Yuki,” Yuki says, a little put off by the girl’s straightforward behavior.
Hotaru turns to Gousei. Yuki notices the girl’s manner become more serious as she looks at the man slumped on the ground. “Should we call an ambulance or something?” Yuki wonders.
“Hmm,” Hotaru says thoughtfully. “Nah, I know just the thing for him.”
“What?” Yuki’s eyes widen as Hotaru lands a hard, well aimed kick right between his legs.
“That should take care of him and his manly needs,” Hotaru says. She turns back around to see Yuki staring at her in shock and grins. “I’ll explain later, I promise. But first, how do we change out of these outfits?”
“Oh, you just focus on the jewel,” Yuki says. She closes her eyes and demonstrates, and Hotaru follows suit. They look at one another and at the same time, point at each other.
“Hey, you go to my school!” they proclaim in unison. The two girls blink and then start laughing.
“So, you’ve already found the second one,” a voice says behind them. “I’m impressed.”
Turning around, Yuki sees the blond boy from school earlier leaning against the wall watching them. Her eyes widen. ‘Can it be…’ “Knight?” she says.
Ending (Dawn from .hack)
-Omake-
Dressed in light blue, snowflake covered pajamas, Yuki flops onto her bed. ‘Man,’ she thinks. ‘Fighting monsters and saving the world is tough.’ She turns out the light and slides under the covers, snuggling up with her stuffed cat.
She sighs, thinking about her date with Oda—Akihiro-sempai. ‘Akihiro-sempai,’ she thinks. ‘I would much rather be on a date with you than fighting evil.’ She hugs her cat, closing her eyes and preparing to slip into dreamland.
A moment passes. Yuki’s eyes snap open and she shoots up. “Oh no!” she cries. “I forgot Akihiro-sempai!”
*earlier*
Akihiro walks into the restaurant. “Yuki-chan, are you sure you had your purse? I couldn’t find it anywhere.” He stops, looking around the restaurant for Yuki. All he sees are faces of people he doesn’t know. “Yuki…chan?” He casts one more look around and then heads back outside with a sigh. ‘She probably got tired of waiting on me and went home on her own,’ he thinks. He gasps as a realization hits him. ‘If that’s the case, there’s no way I can show up at school tomorrow without her purse! She’ll never forgive me!’ He runs back to the arcade to resume his search.
Several hours pass while Akihiro looks for the purse. Finally, the manager approaches him one last time. “Hey, kid. I’ve told you before, there’s no purse here,” he says.
“But it has to be here!” Akihiro exclaims. “What will I tell her if I can’t find it?”
“Look, I don’t know what to tell you, but we’re closing now,” the manager says.
Akihiro sighs and, shoulders sagging, leaves the arcade. ‘What will I do?’ he thinks. ‘Yuki-chan will definitely hate me forever…’
*present*
“Oh, how am I going to explain this one?” Yuki cries. “He’ll definitely never forgive me…”
-Omake End-
Yuki’s Character Profile
Name: Kiyoi Yuki (written in Japanese style with surname first, followed by given name)
Name Meaning: pure snow
Age: 12
Grade: 7th, Junior High 1st year (class 7B)
Birthday: February 22nd
Zodiac: Pisces
Blood Type: AB
Family: mother
Alias: Princess Snowflake
Traits: shy except when friends, gets nervous easily, persistent, something of a whiner, tends to daydream
Bio: Yuki lives alone with her mother, since her father died when she was very young (she doesn’t remember him at all). She seems like a pretty happy-go-lucky type of girl, but that’s probably because nothing bad has really happened to her. She doesn’t have a lot of friends; before the story begins, Kimi is really her only friend. Of course, the list is starting to grow rather fast if you add Akihiro-sempai and Hotaru-chan. Akihiro-sempai is her first love. Her shy nature really comes out around him. I think they’re budding relationship is very cute. ^^ She’s had a crush on him ever since she was in 5th grade, and he actually liked her too. They were good friends in elementary school, but since he was a year ahead of her, they started to grow apart once he started Junior High. Fortunately, they’re back together again and Akihiro found the courage to profess his love!
