Clannad Another Story:Another Story4
Me From Before
In the middle of their date
"Talk to me."
We were having lunch at a cafe.
Drinking our coffee, he started off by asking me that.
By "he," I mean Tomoya Okazaki, another student... Or perhaps I should say upperclassman?
Oh, whatever. He's the guy I'm going out with.
"About what?"
"How about your past?"
"What kind of request is that?"
Tomoya sighed in disapproval.
"A normal one, of course. I want to know everything about you. I want to like everything about you. I want to know how you lived, how you were back before we met, everything. Even your plans for the future. We'll be together from now on, so tell me."
He was the type of guy to throw around such embarrassing statements without hesitation.
Making sure none of the workers were around, I sneaked a kiss in.
"I suppose I'll tell you, then. But, promise me you'll believe what I'm going to tell you."
"Of course I will."
"Alright, then let's begin. Back then, I would do nothing but get in fights all day."
I pointed to the pyramid of cubed sugar at the side of our table.
"It was just like those sugar cubes."
"What was?"
"The pile of bodies of the delinquents."
"........"
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"No, no. You're mistaken."
"Really now?"
"Really."
He had a serious look on his face. I grabbed and held his hand.
"I guess it can't be helped...... This is a story of the one time I had resigned myself to defeat."
The Past
THUMP!
With a dull thud, another body was added to the pile.
People who couldn't think of others.
People who could think of none but themselves.
People who lived with only thoughts of themselves.
It was they who were in that pile.
"Annoying bastards..."
I turned around... and she stood before me.
Beneath the waning moon, a young girl in unfamiliar clothing stood waiting.
She stared at me with the same piercing light as the moon.
"Are you the rumored 'hunter' that is said to appear on the moonlit nights?"
"Avenging someone? Stop now. I've seen many like yourself. I've beaten them all at their own game."
I scared her off. Or, at least, I tried to.
But, the glint in her eyes did not change.
"This is not revenge for someone. I just cannot forgive evil beings. Especially ones like yourself, those who flaunt their overwhelming power."
"I do try to only fight certain types of people."
"I do not care. You will part with your power here."
She dashed towards me. The distance between us closed. She was here in but a moment.
But it was easy to dodge such a straightforward attack. I twisted my body.
A sound of slicing, and then she was past me.
I still remember the burning sensation in my shoulder. It spread in an instant.
I was bleeding.
The sword she held in her hand dully reflected the moonlight.
"I apologize for my unfair methods. But you have no chance to win like this."
My arm wouldn't move. I couldn't stop it from bleeding. It may have been just as she said.
"Evil will always yield to justice. Those who follow the path of righteousness are stronger."
"This is their divine gift. Remember that."
Not more than a moment after she finished speaking, a white flash came from above and to the right of me.
I rolled away. In my place was the light of the moon.
"...... You could still dodge?"
"If I see it, I can dodge it."
"I see. Then...."
Muttering to herself, she closed the gap between us in a single bound.
I moved to dodge the sword in her right hand.
From the bottom right..... It was fast!
In an instant, I threw myself away from the blade, rolling on the ground to evade the attack.
One after the other, the attacks kept coming.
Slipping past one of her swings, I let loose a spinning back kick.
But, she wasn't there. She had disappeared from before my very eyes... or so it seemed.
A chill ran through my back, and, for a moment, my vision went dark...
At the same time I noticed the moonlight being blocked, I twisted and instead kicked to my side.
THUD!
A hit.
With that much force behind it, I was able to clear a fair distance between us.
It would seem I scored a direct hit to her chest.
She held her sword held oddly, and the hem of her skirt was torn just a bit.
"To be able to change your stance mid-air like that, it seems just like one of those joke martial arts...."
"It's not impossible to do."
But I had not the confidence I could do it again.
I wouldn't be able to do anything at this rate.
I would be down in a single blow, and I had not a clue how to attack her.
If I was just able to return even a single blow to her...
I had no time to think, the next attack was coming.
I could just barely see the blade. If I could use my arm, I could possible knock the sword to one side and counter attack. But my right arm had been cut and wouldn't move.
Leaning back to avoid the next blow, I took a large step back.
I felt something on my ankle. One of the delinquents who should have been knocked out was grabbing it and I lost my balance.
"How unfortunate. Prepare to die."
Without a second's hesitation, she brandished her sword.
.... I wouldn't be able to dodge it. At that moment,
"Use thiiiiss!"
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see something flying towards me at a high speed.
Even I thought I was clutching at straws, but still I reached out for...
"Wow.... Just like in manga."
Tomoya let out a sigh of admiration.
"What was it that came flying? A sword?"
"As if it would be so convenient. It was a steel pipe."
"Good enough of a weapon for me. I see. So, you took that and fought back."
"No, not quite. This part was almost like it came straight out of a manga."
I reached out, but I couldn't get to it. Instead....
A dull "thwack!" resounded as the steel pipe crashed into the side of her head.
"Oops, my bad..."
She crumpled to the ground on her knees and didn't move for a while. While I had the chance, I shook off the delinquents hand from my ankle.
"She might be mad at me for that."
It seemed out of character for him to act dumb.
Looking over, I saw a sloppily dressed man slapping the cheeks of the delinquents and calling out to them, trying to wake them up.
"Hey, Ebisu--! If you're awake, answer! If you're dead, answer as well!"
"Who are you?"
Still a bit shocked, I asked him that.
"The leader of these guys. But damn, what losers. Getting beat up by a single woman."
He talked to me without turning around. He seemed rather composed.
"Ahahahaha! You got a footprint on your face. Damn, I shoulda brought a camera. Would've been priceless."
He seemed quite different from the rest of them.
The group of delinquents started waking up. When they saw the guy, they looked ashamed and just sort of shrugged their shoulders with a bitter smile on their faces.
"Come on, you guys. Get out of here and stop messing with their fight."
The guy looked happy, sitting there in the middle of the embankment, with his can of coffee in his hand.
"This isn't a show, you know."
"Don't say that. Seeing two girls going at each other with all their might? This isn't something to miss!"
Saying that, he let out a loud laugh. Strangely enough, I didn't really mind.
"And who do you think was the one to interfere!?"
She finally stood up and let out that outburst. I could understand her feelings.
"Yeah yeah. I got it. I've finished my business here, so I'll be leaving."
"What business?"
"Came to stop these guys. I heard they were all going to gang up on you, and I don't like that kind of method. Didn't except every single one of them to get the shit beaten out of 'em, though."
He laughed. Looking around, all of them had their heads hanging.
"If you're displeased, I'm always up for another round."
"Oh, what a pleasure. It's their fault for being weak."
"What, weak!?"
"We're not weak, Kazu!"
A torrent of complaints arose.
"What? You all lost to a single girl. That's what people call 'weak.'"
With that statement, all the complaints just stopped.
"And that's how it is. Also, sorry about that."
"About what? There's nothing for you to apologize about."
"Thought I had bothered your fight. Well, if ever you feel like it, try talking to these guys. They're really not that bad of a bunch."
~
"And the man left."
"Who was that guy...?"
"Who knows? I still don't know who he was even now."
I would have liked to have met him again, but I have yet to cross paths with him ever since.
".... So, was the fight over?"
Putting down his glass, he turned towards me and asked that.
"No, she just had a light concussion. She recovered in that period of time and we started once again."
~
I had lost count of the times I had dodged her attacks, and the times I had thought I was done for.
I gasped for breath. The tension was leaving my mouth and throat parched.
... You're going to lose.
A part of myself whispered that to me, over and over.
Even so, I was still calm for some reason. But, little by little, I was resigning myself to my fate.
I wonder if this is what it's like to lose. Slowly, but surely, having your hopes whittled away.
And suddenly, I lost consciousness. Or what felt like it.
I could feel nothing but the slight pain and heat from my right arm.
I stopped and turned around.
She was basked in moonlight, as though it were natural for her to be there.
Brandishing her sword, she walked towards me with a light gait.
The wind started blowing.
The yells matched the howl of the wind perfectly.
With my last bit of energy, I turned and dodged.
The sound of metal rang clearly.
A cherry blossom fluttered onto her shoulder.
There was a cherry tree.
From where I dodged, the trunk of a cherry tree stood. Her sword was lodged deeply into it.
Using my knee, I broke off the handle of the sword.
"I have... lost to evil? But... I am one of justice..."
Dropping the handle, she said that with a dumbfounded look on her face.
"Is there a strength that transcends both good and evil...?"
"Don't know.... But I was stronger. Isn't that all it is?"
"There's no way that should be.... I even got a surprise attack off... and after that, I was the only one attacking... I should have been the stronger one..."
"Well, I guess this means I'm not evil."
I said that with a grin on my face.
"Leaving that aside, there's no way you can't be evil!"
An immediate comeback. She seemed like a really interesting person.
"Would you tell me one thing, before you go...?"
She asked me that as I was about to leave.
"What is it... that you seek? Authority? Even more power than you have now? Or perhaps only to satiate your thirst for violence?"
"I do not know."
Still facing away from her, I answered.
"All I know... is that it somewhere, sometime that is not now."
"So... you seek the future."
She summarized it so.
It was only then that I noticed.
What I sought for... was the future.
A place different from now.
At school
"You beat a girl wielding a sword with your bare hands? ... Are you serious..."
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"No, no. You're mistaken."
"Really now?"
"Really."
He gave me a serious look, and held my hand tighter.
"I guess I'll let that go..."
Outside the shop, there were a number of people waiting. Looking around, the shop was full.
Noticing this, Tomoya picked up the check.
"I guess we ought to leave now."
"Yeah."
We picked up our bags and stood up.
I left the check to Tomoya. A girl's supposed to have her boyfriend treat her.
I felt a little bad about leaving him with the check, but I make him lunch and stuff on our days off. I guess we're even then.
We returned to school.
As we were passing the gates, Tomoya got an uncomfortable look on his face.
"What's wrong?"
"We're going arm-in-arm into the school?"
"Why not? The whole school already knows about it."
"Whatever... When did I become such a boy-in-love type of character...?"
We walked arm-in-arm.
There was a group of students gathered in front of the gym.
"Oi, what's happening?"
Tomoya stopped and asked the nearest student.
"The winner of last year's inter-high kendo matches came to challenge our kendo club. You know how weak they are."
"What, that's boring... Let's go, Tomoyo."
Tomoya turned away and started walking towards the school.
I was pulled along by Tomoya.
I was a bit happy; this was girlish.
The only one I'd allow to do this is you, Tomoya.
I left that unsaid.
But I couldn't control myself and smiled.
I probably look like an idiot in love right now.
We passed by a girl wearing another school's outfit.
"Heh."
She laughed.
"So that's the future you were looking for."
I was pulled along by Tomoya, not stopping.
I wonder if I knew her.
Well, it doesn't matter. Let's go.
The time I pass with Tomoya is more precious, and brings me more happiness, than anything else.
The End
