#kairi kiyomizu

[nikko-the-melody]

Here’s another group of magical girls and magical boys based on fears. This magical group is known as the Yumes or Dream Warriors and their job is to rescue the world and beyond from the God of Fear, Phobos’s reign Kisumi Arakawa is Yume Aisuru Kairi Kiyomizu is Yume Umi Nezumi Miyamoto is Yume Gesshirui Kumo Yamaguchi is Yume Arakune Mitsuki Arashi is Yume Inazuma Nekoda Arakawa is Yume Tora Fear For Thought © Me

[phoenix-downer]

Till Death Do Us Part Chapter 3 - Come With Me

Sora/Kairi. Romance, fluff, reincarnation, rebirth, pining. ~1880 words. 

Chapter 1 / 2 

The years passed, and Kairi graduated first from high school and then from university. She had a good job lined up at a prestigious company starting in April, but the month of March was hers to do with as she pleased. 

Maybe waiting wasn’t good enough anymore. If her shadow couldn’t come to her, she should go find him. 

“Mom, Dad, I want to travel,” she announced one morning over breakfast. 

Her parents exchanged glances. 

“Any reason why you can’t wait till Golden Week?” her father asked before snatching a piece of tofu out of his miso soup with his chopsticks. 

“Because I’ll be working then, and I don’t know if the company will let me have much of a break. You know how it is for new employees.” 

“Well, you do have some money saved up, don’t you?” her mother said. 

“Yup, from my part-time job. And I can get a Seishun 18 Ticket to keep costs down.” 

“Where are you thinking about going?” her father asked. 

“Well, Selphie’s family is from Osaka originally, and she offered to let me stay with her. So I figured I could start out with Kansai first, and maybe hit up Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara while I’m with her?” 

“Why not?” her mother said with a sparkle in her eye. “One last hurrah before starting working life.” 

Her father nodded. “Heaven knows you’ll need it, sweetheart. The first year at a new job is always rough. They really put you through the ringer with training.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, then handed her several crisp ten thousand yen bills. “Our treat.” 

Kairi’s eyes went wide. “Father, I can’t—”

He just smiled at her. “Yes, you can. Go on your adventure. Have fun. Just keep Selphie with you. Not because I’m worried about you, but because I think her parents might worry about her,” he joked.  

“Maybe you’ll find that young man in the painting you made back in high school,” her mother said with a teasing smile.

“Maybe so.”

With all the logistics settled, she boarded the train for Osaka. Because she was using the discount ticket, it was going to take longer than normal, but she didn’t really mind. She loved seeing all the beautiful sights outside her window, all the sleepy towns and misty mountains and pretty flowers as the coming of spring brought the world back to life. 

When she finally arrived in Osaka, Selphie was there to greet her at the station.

“Welcome to my neck of the woods!” Selphie said with a grin as she took one of her bags. “Now that we’re here, I’ll have to take you to get Osaka-style okonomiyaki, and we’ll have to eat takoyaki at some point too, and we should also go to Universal Studios Japan and the Kaiyukan Aquarium and—”  

“Actually, I was wondering… could we go to Kyoto tomorrow?” Kairi asked. “I was thinking… Kyoto tomorrow, Osaka the next few days, and then Nara?” 

“Sure, that works. But I really wanna take you to my favorite okonomiyaki place tonight!” 

“Deal.” 

The okonomiyaki place was just as good as Selphie had promised. The savory meal with its pork and cabbage filling and delicious toppings was more than enough to fill her up, and she was about ready to crash by the time they got back to Selphie’s house. She made sure to greet Selphie’s family and give them a thank you gift before excusing herself to take her evening bath, but once she was lying down on an extra futon in Selphie’s room with Selphie sleeping soundly beside her, she couldn’t sleep. 

Something major was going to happen, she just knew it. She’d had this gut feeling ever since she’d decided to come here, and it only grew stronger the closer and closer she got to Kyoto. That was why she wanted to go tomorrow instead of waiting several more days. She didn’t know why, but she had to get to Kyoto no matter what. 

The next morning, she and Selphie got up early so they could catch the train. Despite the restless night she’d spent, she was feeling energized and awake.  

“You haven’t been to Kyoto since our high school trip, have you?” Selphie asked as they watched the scenery go by. “Any particular places you want to visit?”

“Are the cherry trees blooming yet? I’d love to go somewhere that has a lot of them. Maybe one of the temples?” 

“How about Kiyomizu Temple? We’ve had an early warm spell this year, so at least some of the cherry trees should be blooming by now. I’d love to get some matcha ice cream on the way back down in Higashiyama, too.”

“Sounds good.”  

Kiyomizu Temple was as splendid as Kairi remembered, and the view from the mountain was gorgeous. All of Kyoto spread out below them, and she made sure she and Selphie got some good shots together with the cherry trees peppering the mountainside. After praying at the main hall, Selphie insisted they stop by Jishu Shrine. 

“Don’t you remember how the legend goes?!” Selphie asked with a pout. “If you can find your way from one stone,” she said, pointing at the one currently in front of them, “to the other,” she said as she jabbed a finger at a second stone a little ways away, “AND you can do it with your eyes closed, you’ll have good luck with love!” 

“Oh, I remember now.”

“So,” Selphie said with a grin, “you gonna try it?”

“Sure, why not,” Kairi said. She had nothing to lose, right?

“Maybe this will summon your dream man.” Selphie giggled and grabbed Kairi’s hand and put it over her eyes. “No peeking, or the magic won’t work!” 

“Right.” 

It was a pretty straight shot from one stone to the other, so if Kairi was careful not to stray too far to the left or right, she’d be okay. Of course, this was easier said than done at a place as popular as this, because she had to make constant little detours to avoid running into people, and people still bumped into her all the same. But she carefully counted her steps and used the sounds around her to guide her. Maybe this was just a silly superstition, but a part of her really wanted to do this right. 

Please, please let me find him, she prayed. Let me reach the other stone so I’ll be lucky at last. 

She had to be getting close, right? How long had she been wandering around without her sight? 

“Selphie? Am I hot or cold?” she called. “I think… I’m kinda lost…” 

She felt an arm loop through hers. “Nah. You aren’t lost. You’re right where you need to be, Kairi.” 

She gasped. That voice. She knew that voice—

She felt a hand go over her eyes. “Don’t look just yet. Can’t have you unlucky in love, now can I? Just follow my lead, and I’ll tell you when we’ve arrived.” 

She nodded, unable to speak. Her shadow. Her shadow was really here. He was here and he was real. He gently led her to the stone, and when her feet bumped up against it, he removed his hand from her eyes. 

“See? You did it!” 

But she didn’t care about the stone anymore, not one single bit. There was something far more important than all the stones in the universe. She turned around so she could see her shadow’s face. He was as beautiful as she remembered, and the smile lighting up his face was radiant. Around his neck he wore a necklace, her necklace, and his blue eyes reflected the longing that she had carried with her her entire life.

No, this life. It was all coming back to her. Their old life, their old memories, everything. 

“Sora,” she cried as she burst into tears. In another moment his arms were around her, holding her tightly. But he was crying now too, and she wasn’t sure who was comforting who.

“I’m back,” he choked out. “I kept my promise.” 

“You’re home,” she said with a sob. “You’re really here.” 

He pulled away a little so he could look her in the eye. “I looked everywhere for you. My whole life I’ve longed to see you again. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.” 

He brought a trembling hand to her face. “I still can’t believe you’re really here. Feels too good to be true.”

“It’s not, trust me. This is real.”

He smiled through his tears. “Yeah, it is. My journey is over at long last. And to think, we’d meet each other here by chance, What are the odds?”

She shook her head. “It wasn’t chance. It was meant to be.” 

The breeze picked up, lifting cherry tree petals into the air and making them float past. She caught one and smiled. 

“It’s gone.”

Sora tilted his head. “What’s gone?”

“Mono no aware. Sehnsucht. That feeling that something was missing my whole life. That I was longing for something more. You.”

“Kairi,” he said, ever so softly and tenderly. He gently brushed a strand of hair out of her face, and she sighed happily. Their last kiss had been when the world was ending, but this, this was about to be a kiss of beginning—

“Um, hello?” came a voice, interrupting them. “I’m still here. Got everything on camera, too,” Selphie said with a giggle as she lowered her phone. “So you’re Kairi’s dream guy, Sora. Can’t believe I didn’t remember you till now.” 

Sora scratched the back of his neck and laughed. “Not the first time that’s happened.”

“Hey now!” 

Kairi giggled and Sora grinned. “Glad to see you haven’t changed, Selphie.”

“Well, I know when to make myself scarce. Meet me back at Kyoto Station this evening, you lovebirds. Matcha ice cream awaits me.” 

They said goodbye to Selphie, then looked at each other again. Kairi would never tire of seeing his spiky hair, his beautiful eyes, his charming smile. 

“Well, now that we’re alone in a sea of people…” 

He led her a little ways away from the crowds, then dropped to one knee. A lump built in her throat as she watched him fish a little box out of his pocket. 

“Kairi,” he began, the biggest smile on his face as he opened the box up, “will you marry me?” 

Inside the box was an engagement ring just like her old one. She burst into tears as she nodded and said yes, over and over again. He was a little teary himself as he slipped the ring on her finger and then kissed her hand. She pulled him up into her arms and kissed him over and over again, each kiss to make up for all the lonely years they’d spent apart.  

“I love you,” she choked out between kisses. 

He smiled. “Love you too.”   

She kissed him one last time, a long, lingering kiss that promised him everything. Now that they were together again, she never wanted to be apart from him. 

He found her hand once more. “Come with me,” was all he said, and that was all she needed to hear. 

They were together again, and she wanted to savor every moment. 

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A big thank you once again to @seaberry-siren for the original prompt, @angel-with-a-pipette​ for reading it over and providing input, and @rapis-razuri​ for her support as well! And thank you to everyone who reblogged, left comments, etc., I really appreciate it!