Editing Clannad Another Story:Another Story4

'''Me From Before'''
<br />
-----
<br />
'''In the middle of their date'''
<br />
"Talk to me."<br />
We were having lunch at a cafe.<br />
Drinking our coffee, he started off by asking me that.<br />
By "he," I mean Tomoya Okazaki, another student... Or perhaps I should say upperclassman?<br />
Oh, whatever.  He's the guy I'm going out with.<br />
"About what?"<br />
"How about your past?"<br />
"What kind of request is that?"<br />
Tomoya sighed in disapproval.<br />
"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."<br />
He was the type of guy to throw around such embarassing statements without hesitation.<br />
Making sure none of the workers were around, I sneaked a kiss in.<br />
"I suppose I'll tell you, then.  But, promise me you'll believe what I'm going to tell you."<br />
"Of course I will."<br />
"Alright, then let's begin.  Back then, I would do nothing but get in fights all day."<br />
I pointed to the pyramid of cubed suger at the side of our table.<br />
"It was just like those sugar cubes."<br />
[[Image:Anotherstory-04-01.jpg|thumb|right]]
"What was?"<br />
"The pile of bodies of the delinquents."<br />
"........"<br />
"You don't believe me, do you?"<br />
"No, no.  You're mistaken."<br />
"Really now?"<br />
"Really."<br />
He had a serious look on his face.  I grabbed and held his hand.<br />
"I guess it can't be helped......  This is a story of the one time I had resigned myself to defeat."<br />
<br />
'''The Past'''
<br />
THUMP!<br />
With a dull thud, another body was added to the pile.<br />
People who couldn't think of others.<br />
People who could think of none but themselves.<br />
People who lived with only thoughts of themselves.<br />
<br />
-----
<br />
It was they who were in that pile.<br />
"Annoying bastards..."<br />
I turned around... and she stood before me.<br />
Beneath the waning moon, a young girl in unfamiliar clothing stood waiting.<br />
She stared at me with the same piercing light as the moon.<br />
"Are you the rumored 'hunter' that is said to appear on the moonlit nights?"<br />
"Avenging someone?  Stop now.  I've seen many like yourself.  I've beaten them all at their own game."<br />
I scared her off.  Or, at least, I tried to.<br />
But, the glint in her eyes did not change.<br />
"This is not revenge for someone.  I just cannot forgive evil beings.  Especially ones like yourself, those who flaunt their overwhelming power."<br />
"I do try to only fight certain types of people."<br />
"I do not care.  You will part with your power here."<br />
She dashed towards me.  The distance between us closed.  She was here in but a moment.<br />
But it was easy to dodge such a straightforward attack.  I twisted my body.<br />
A sound of slicing, and then she was past me.<br />
I still remember the burning sensation in my shoulder.  It spread in an instant.<br />
I was bleeding.<br />
The sword she held in her hand dully reflected the moonlight.<br />
[[Image:Anotherstory-04-02.jpg|thumb|right]]
"I apologize for my unfair methods.  But you have no chance to win like this."<br />
My arm wouldn't move.  I couldn't stop it from bleeding.  It may have been just as she said.<br />
"Evil will always yield to justice.  Those who follow the path of righteousness are stronger."<br />
<br />
-----
<br />
"This is their divine gift.  Remember that."<br />
Not more than a moment after she finished speaking, a white flash came from above and to the right of me.<br />
I rolled away.  In my place was the light of the moon.<br />
"...... You could still dodge?"<br />
"If I see it, I can dodge it."<br />
"I see.  Then...."<br />
Muttering to herself, she closed the gap between us in a single bound.<br />
I moved to dodge the sword in her right hand.<br />
From the bottom right..... It was fast!<br />
In an instant, I threw myself away from the blade, rolling on the ground to evade the attack.<br />
One after the other, the attacks kept coming.<br />
Slipping past one of her swings, I let loose a spinning back kick.<br />
But, she wasn't there.  She had disappeared from before my very eyes... or so it seemed.<br />
A chill ran through my back, and, for a moment, my vision went dark...<br />
At the same time I noticed the moonlight being blocked, I twisted and instead kicked to my side.<br />
THUD!<br />
A hit.<br />
With that much force behind it, I was able to clear a fair distance between us.<br />
It would seem I scored a direct hit to her chest.<br />
She held her sword held oddly, and the hem of her skirt was torn just a bit.<br />
"To be able to change your stance mid-air like that, it seems just like one of those joke martial arts...."<br />
"It's not impossible to do."<br />
But I had not the confidence I could do it again.<br />
I wouldn't be able to do anything at this rate.<br />
I would be down in a single blow, and I had not a clue how to attack her.<br />
If I was just able to return even a single blow to her...<br />
I had no time to think, the next attack was coming.<br />
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.<br />
Leaning back to avoid the next blow, I took a large step back.<br />
I felt something on my ankle.  One of the delinquents who should have been knocked out was grabbing it and I lost my balance.<br />
"How unfortunate.  Prepare to die."<br />
Without a second's hesitation, she brandished her sword.<br />
.... I wouldn't be able to dodge it.  At that moment,<br />
"Use thiiiiss!"<br />
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see something flying towards me at a high speed.<br />
Even I thought I was clutching at straws, but still I reached out for...<br />
<br />
"Wow.... Just like in manga."<br />
Tomoya let out a sigh of admiration.<br />
"What was it that came flying?  A sword?"<br />
"As if it would be so convenient.  It was a steel pipe."<br />
"Good enough of a weapon for me.  I see.  So, you took that and fought back."<br />
"No, not quite.  This part was almost like it came straight out of a manga."<br />
<br />
-----
<br />
I reached out, but I couldn't get to it.  Instead....<br />
A dull "thwack!" resounded as the steel pipe crashed into the side of her head.<br />
"Oops, my bad..."<br />
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.<br />
"She might be mad at me for that."<br />
It seemed out of character for him to act dumb.<br />
Looking over, I saw a sloppily dressed man slapping the cheeks of the delinquents and calling out to them, trying to wake them up.<br />
"Hey, Ebisu--!  If you're awake, answer!  If you're dead, answer as well!"<br />
"Who are you?"<br />
Still a bit shocked, I asked him that.<br />
"The leader of these guys.  But damn, what losers.  Getting beat up by a single woman."<br />
He talked to me without turning around.  He seemed rather composed.<br />
"Ahahahaha!  You got a footprint on your face.  Damn, I shoulda brought a camera.  Would've been priceless."<br />
He seemed quite different from the rest of them.<br />
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.<br />
"Come on, you guys.  Get out of here and stop messing with their fight."<br />
The guy looked happy, sitting there in the middle of the embankment, with his can of coffee in his hand.<br />
"This isn't a show, you know."<br />
"Don't say that.  Seeing two girls going at each other with all their might?  This isn't something to miss!"<br />
Saying that, he let out a loud laugh.  Strangely enough, I didn't really mind.<br />
"And who do you think was the one to interfere!?"<br />
She finally stood up and let out that outburst.  I could understand her feelings.<br />
"Yeah yeah.  I got it.  I've finished my business here, so I'll be leaving."<br />
"What business?"<br />
"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."<br />
He laughed.  Looking around, all of them had their heads hanging.<br />
"If you're displeased, I'm always up for another round."<br />
"Oh, what a pleasure.  It's their fault for being weak."<br />
"What, weak!?"<br />
"We're not weak, Kazu!"<br />
A torrent of complaints arose.<br />
"What?  You all lost to a single girl.  That's what people call 'weak.'"<br />
With that statement, all the complaints just stopped.<br />
"And that's how it is.  Also, sorry about that."<br />
"About what?  There's nothing for you to apologize about."<br />
"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."<br />
<br />
~<br />
<br />
"And the man left."<br />
"Who was that guy...?"<br />
"Who knows?  I still don't know who he was even now."<br />
I would have liked to have met him again, but I have yet to cross paths with him ever since.<br />
".... So, was the fight over?"<br />
Putting down his glass, he turned towards me and asked that.<br />
"No, she just had a light concussion.  She recovered in that period of time and we started once again."<br />
<br />
~<br />
<br />
I had lost count of the times I had dodged her attacks, and the times I had thought I was done for.<br />
I gasped for breath.  The tension was leaving my mouth and throat parched.<br />
... You're going to lose.<br />
A part of myself whispered that to me, over and over.<br />
Even so, I was still calm for some reason.  But, little by little, I was resigning myself to my fate.<br />
I wonder if this is what it's like to lose.  Slowly, but surely, having your hopes whittled away.<br />
And suddenly, I lost consciousness.  Or what felt like it.<br />
I could feel nothing but the slight pain and heat from my right arm.<br />
I stopped and turned around.<br />
<br />
-----
<br />
She was basked in moonlight, as though it were natural for her to be there.<br />
Brandishing her sword, she walked towards me with a light gait.<br />
<br />
The wind started blowing.<br />
The yells matched the howl of the wind perfectly.<br />
[[Image:Anotherstory-04-03.jpg|thumb|right]]
<br />
With my last bit of energy, I turned and dodged.<br />
The sound of metal rang clearly.<br />
<br />
A cherry blossom fluttered onto her shoulder.<br />
There was a cherry tree.<br />
From where I dodged, the trunk of a cherry tree stood.  Her sword was lodged deeply into it.<br />
Using my knee, I broke off the handle of the sword.<br />
"I have... lost to evil?  But... I am one of justice..."<br />
Dropping the handle, she said that with a dumbfounded look on her face.<br />
"Is there a strength that transcends both good and evil...?"<br />
"Don't know.... But I was stronger.  Isn't that all it is?"<br />
"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..."<br />
"Well, I guess this means I'm not evil."<br />
I said that with a grin on my face.<br />
"Leaving that aside, there's no way you can't be evil!"<br />
An immediate comeback.  She seemed like a really interesting person.<br />
"Would you tell me one thing, before you go...?"<br />
She asked me that as I was about to leave.<br />
<br />
-----
<br />
"What is it... that you seek?  Authority?  Even more power than you have now?  Or perhaps only to satiate your thirst for violence?"<br />
"I do not know."<br />
Still facing away from her, I answered.<br />
"All I know... is that it somewhere, sometime that is not now."<br />
"So... you seek the future."<br />
She summarized it so.<br />
It was only then that I noticed.<br />
What I sought for... was the future.<br />
A place different from now.<br />
<br />
'''At school'''
<br />
"You beat a girl wielding a sword with your bare hands?  ... Are you serious..."<br />
"You don't believe me, do you?"<br />
"No, no.  You're mistaken."<br />
"Really now?"<br />
"Really."<br />
He gave me a serious look, and held my hand tighter.<br />
"I guess I'll let that go..."<br />
Outside the shop, there were a number of people waiting.  Looking around, the shop was full.<br />
Noticing this, Tomoya picked up the check.<br />
"I guess we ought to leave now."<br />
"Yeah."<br />
We picked up our bags and stood up.<br />
I left the check to Tomoya.  A girl's supposed to have her boyfriend treat her.<br />
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.<br />
<br />
We returned to school.<br />
As we were passing the gates, Tomoya got an uncomfortable look on his face.<br />
"What's wrong?"<br />
"We're going arm-in-arm into the school?"<br />
"Why not?  The whole school already knows about it."<br />
"Whatever... When did I become such a boy-in-love type of character...?"<br />
We walked arm-in-arm.<br />
There was a group of students gathered in front of the gym.<br />
"Oi, what's happening?"<br />
Tomoya stopped and asked the nearest student.<br />
"The winner of last year's inter-high kendo matches came to challenge our kendo club.  You know how weak they are."<br />
"What, that's boring... Let's go, Tomoyo."<br />
Tomoya turned away and started walking towards the school.<br />
<br />
-----
<br />
I was pulled along by Tomoya.<br />
I was a bit happy; this was girlish.<br />
The only one I'd allow to do this is you, Tomoya.<br />
I left that unsaid.<br />
But I couldn't control myself and smiled.<br />
I probably look like an idiot in love right now.<br />
[[Image:Anotherstory-04-04.jpg|thumb|right]]
<br />
We passed by a girl wearing another school's outfit.<br />
"Heh."<br />
She laughed.<br />
"So that's the future you were looking for."<br />
I was pulled along by Tomoya, not stopping.<br />
I wonder if I knew her.<br />
Well, it doesn't matter.  Let's go.<br />
The time I pass with Tomoya is more precious, and brings me more happiness, than anything else.<br />
<br />
''The End''