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Through the looking glass	By : walkerofdarkness Category: +G to L > IS: Infinite Stratos Views: 4540 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos or the characters from it. I do not make any profit from this story. I do own my OCs though.

Chapter List
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Chapter 2

Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.

-George Eliot
The sound of birds chirping outside the windows seemed to scream at Chifuyu as consciousness returned. The soft sunlight in the windows burned her eyes as she opened them to the world. Chifuyu tried to sit up, but that merely set the world spinning and caused the rock concert in her head to crank up the volume. A groan escaped her lips as she flopped back level.
“Chifuyu-san, are you awake?” Maya stuck her head into the room, getting a weak wave from her friend in return.   “How do you feel?” she whispered, noticing a wince at each word.
“I feel miserable, so please stop yelling at me Maya-san.” The hand that had waved landed on her face, covering her eyes. “That’s nice...”
Maya blinked slightly at being told she was yelling instead of whispering. Lowering her voice to an almost inaudible level, “Is this better?”
“Yes, thank you.” A shift in the hand let one eye peek out. “So Batou-san called you about me, eh? Feels like I really partied last night. But at least I didn’t find myself in the street when I woke up.”
Maya nodded a moment. “This time,” her voice lacking any condemnation, but laden with concern. She moved out of the doorway, trying to stay as quiet as possible with all the junk lying around. “You just stay there for minute, I’ll go get some water and something for your head.”
Chifuyu let the hand cover both eyes again. “Yeah, sure. Not going anywhere.”
A couple of minutes passed before Maya walked back in, carrying a plastic sports bottle with a straw, and a smaller bottle of aspirin. Helping Chifuyu sit up, she managed to get a mouthful of water and several pills down. Letting Chifuyu hold the sports bottle, Maya recapped the aspirins and dropped the bottle on a dresser.
Chifuyu felt the weight of Maya’s eyes on her for several minutes as the silence hung between them. Getting more water down, she started to feel a little stronger. “So....how bad was it? Last night doesn’t have much meaning to me.”
Maya pursed her lips hard, the color fading out of them. “You weren’t at your worst, but it was pretty bad. Batou told me you were ordering potent stuff, even if it wasn’t a lot. Apparently a couple of guys tried to pick you up, and...” her voice started to crack, “you beat them up when they wouldn’t take ‘go away’ as an answer. Batou suggested to me that they got what they deserved, but it still bothers me.”
The revelation of being in a fight last night pushed down on Chifuyu, slumping her shoulders and threatening to bring her to the mattress again. “I....don’t even remember any of that. To think the person who won the Mondo Grosso would be brawling in a bar...”
Maya knelt down next to Chifuyu, wrapping one arm around her friend’s shoulders. “I know why you were out drinking heavily. Today’s the anniversary after all. I’m sure you knew it , even if you didn’t want to admit to it.”
Chifuyu shrunk in further, giving the appearance of her being a child and not a full grown woman. “Yeah, I think I did know about it. It’s been four years since it happened, but the pain of that incident, “ Chifuyu’s voice breaks and tears start running down her cheeks. “The pain hasn’t diminished at all. All the doctors told me it’d get better.” Her voice drops down to barely above a whisper. “I just want it to get better already.”
Maya blinked hard at that last statement. If she hadn’t been so close to her friend, she doubted she could have heard it. Slowly grabbing Chifuyu’s head, she pulled it to her chest and held it there as she cried. “I wish I knew what to tell you, some perfect words to help you. But I don’t know what to say, or if there’s anything I COULD say that would help.   I just don’t know.”
They stayed like that, the shorter, younger woman holding her friend for minutes; comforting as best she could. As the tears started to stop, Maya just kept holding Chifuyu’s head, stroking the hair softly. Chifuyu finally pushed her head away from Maya, her eyes watery and red. “I’m sorry to put you through this. You’re my subordinate, but you have to deal with me like this.”
Maya smiled at her friend, hoping the worst of the day was over. “Just because you are my boss doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. And as your friend, I’m happy to help you with this. Now if you’re feeling up to it, I think you should go get a bath and clean up. I’ll get some lunch ready for you.”
Half an hour later and seated at her own kitchen table, Chifuyu kept telling herself the only reason she didn’t look around was the fact her head was still pounding. Supporting her head with one hand, she kept lifting the glass to her lips, continually sipping the chilled water. “Well, it looks like you’ve been busy Yamada-kun.”
Maya didn’t even pause as she put the fish, miso and rice in front of Chifuyu. “I had some spare time and just felt the need to do something.”
“Something, huh?” Chifuyu’s eyes tracked as far as she could see without moving her head. The counters were devoid of clutter, the garbage can was empty. She couldn’t see a single liquor bottle anywhere. The rest of the lower floor had been similarly cleaned and organized. “Well, either I was more out of it, or you’re really good at cleaning quietly.”
“A bit of both.” Maya took a depth breath, trying to summon her courage. “Chifuyu-san, I would like to ask you two things, and I don’t want you to be upset by it. May I?”
Chifuyu’s chopsticks stopped midway to her mouth. “After this everything you’ve done for me by now, I can’t really deny anything to you. Go ahead.”
Maya relaxed her face into a supportive smile, concern apparent on her eyes. “First off, I’d like to ask why you drink so much?”
Stopping mid-chew, Chifuyu blinked hard for a moment over the question. Swallowing, her face grew a bit pained as her voice came out quietly, “You know my history right?” Getting a nod from Maya, she continued. “Drinking is about the only thing anymore that helps quiet the voices at night.   The ones who keep blaming me for what happened. Even though my rational mind says it’s not my fault, there’s still those doubts that keep me awake. After four years, I still can’t sleep through the night if I’m not one step from passing out drunk.”
Maya nodded, thinking to herself: Is it going to be fine to ask that? She’s already so fragile that it might do more harm than good. Steeling herself against any possible reaction, she kept her voice soft for Chifuyu’s sake. “My second question would be that since today is the anniversary, were you planning on going out to see Ichika?”
Dropping the chopsticks now, Chifuyu’s normally pale complexion went ashen. Her head started to waver and her eyes grew watery. “I....” Chifuyu’s voice cracked and broke, showing the pain she was in. Maya reached out and grabbed at her friend’s hands, trying not to notice the scars along her wrists. “I guess I knew deep down what the date was even if I didn’t admit it to myself.” Chifuyu closed her eyes for a moment, trying hard not to completely break down at her kitchen table. When she spoke again, her voice was stronger but still laden with pain. “I guess it wouldn’t be proper of me to not go. He is my brother after all.”
Storm clouds hung low in the sky, their presence adding an ominous feeling to the quiet atmosphere. The rain came down strong and hard, fat blobs that sent people running from safe spot to safe spot.
Chifuyu failed to notice any of that. Rain. Seems like it’s always raining when I’m out here. Moving ahead of Maya, she waved at her friend from under the umbrella. “Just stay here, I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Are you sure? At least take the umbrella while I wait at the station...” Maya drifted off at Chifuyu’s shaking head.
“The rain is rather comfortable, and it’ll help to keep my head clear. Besides, it suits my mood right now.” Clenching down on the bouquet of flowers purchased only moments ago, Chifuyu headed through the walls at the gate.
The rain was steady, the sound of it muted even in this place. Taking a path her feet knew by heart, she quickly arrived at the spot she dreaded coming to, even knowing she would be coming here again.
The stone was grey and rectangular with edges that were slightly worn from exposure to the elements. Set onto a small pedestal, the whole arrangement barely came up to her knees, but it still managed to dwarf Chifuyu somehow.
Taking in the stone’s appearance, Chifuyu found herself crying, the tears running down her cheeks lost in the rain. Collapsing next to the pedestal, her hand almost grazed a dark spot that marred one corner as it came up to trace the engraving on it:

Ichika Orimura

Brother & Friend

You will be missed
Resting her head on Ichika’s gravestone, Chifuyu cried harder now, her wails of pain lost in the patter of the rain.
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Through the looking glass