The reality in between

Her heart ached.Her face had an irritaded look as she tried communicating with the Seishin master.Hanashi was ready to tell herself a couple of words for being so stupid.Why? she questioned herself Why did I question him?I feel so stupid.Dammit! Hanashi never thought that any words she would said would actually got to Hitoshi and affect him in the process.

Her cloak was on her.She didn't wear her the black hood over her head this time.Her sword was on her right hip.She had it hanging by her belt,that way it wouldn't fall.She bit her lip harshly,making it a little red.Where could he be?she was sure that he heard her.Her emerald eyes fell onto someone that was a little ways from her.Silver hair was immediatly noticeable.When she got closer she saw crimson eyes...

"Hitoshi!" she exclaimed happily as she ran towards him,hugging him tightly and looked like she wasn't gonna let go any time soon.Hanashi looked at him and a sad face came onto her face."H-Hitoshi I..." she couldn't speak.She wanted to scream 'Im sorry!' from the top of her lungs."I was stupid...I treated you so badly,Hitoshi.Could you ever forgive me?I don't care if you hate me or not,but I can't stand the thought of losing you again..."

By now her arms had retreated away and were behind her back.Hanashi was looking at him with a sad expression.She meant every word she said.She wasn't gonna lie when she did actually feel alone without him at her side.She wanted to stay by his side forever,but the way she acted back in Atrum's castle,she wasn't so sure he wanted to be with her anymore..

"I love you...." she whispered.She got on her toes,cause Hitoshi was taller than her and placed a soft kiss on his lips.Not caring if he wanted one or not.

Hitoshi view on the woman becomes closer and closer. Her face look quite familar to him and yet it didn't. He began to wonder what this woman wanted with him, espicially with a guy like himself who had fallen asleep on the ground and woken up from a seemingly drunken slumber. She was wearing a cloak but that didn't hide the fact that her body was something that he wanted to tap. She carried a blade on his waist, which meant that she was either a shinobi or an assassin of some kind. He didn't move a inch seeing her walk up to him and embrace his body. He didn't say anything. He just let her talk

"Hitoshi!" she said. She sounded estactic and very happy to see him. The woman looked at him and a sad face came onto her face. "H-Hitoshi I..." her voice trembled and Hitoshi felt sorry for what she was feeling .She looked so sad and wanted to burst out something but what was this something she wanted to say? "I was stupid...I treated you so badly ,Hitoshi. Could you ever forgive me? I don't care if you hate me or not,but I can't stand the thought of losing you again..." forgive her? Forgive her for what? How did she know his name and why was she saying all these feelings to him? He was getting so confused, more confused than he was already was. A pain began to tingle in the front of his head, he grabbed his forehead knowing it didn't numb it but it was better then fainting.

She looked so sad and Hitoshi had a feeling that whoever she was or whatever someone had did had hurt her badly. "I love you...." she whispered. She got on her toes. Hitoshi was taller than her and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

He pulled away from her and back up from her. She kissed him, now everything was going down the drain. This is too weird, even for him. He has experienced so many fucked up days and nights with woman but this woman really took the cake for wackiest person alive. "I'm sorry, its just..." he blushed before waving both his hands in surrender "I dont know who you are or what you are talking about. You saying stuff like forgiveness and love. I dont even know your name or even regonize a face. You might be mistakening for someone else. I guess you had a boyfriend named Hitoshi cause thats my name too but I dont know who you are...sorry..."

He looked puzzled and he knew his words would hurt her. Even if he did know her, he doesnt remember her by name "Listen, if its alright with you, Imma go back to the village hidden in rain. I gotta get some stuff from the hotel room and be on my way to Kirigakure no sato..." He turned away and begins to walk away from Hanashi

"Oooohh ho ho and just when things were getting good" a familar cutthroat voice said in Hanashi's mind "Man, this is something, you might wanna get him before he leaves but WAIT he'll probably think you are some crazy bitch and just run off then what are you gonna do, chase him down? Can you say "Crazy stalker lady"? it was Mystic voice in her head that kept on nagging her, teasing her, pointing at her with much hatred and resentment "Did you see his face. He didn't even regonize you at all. He look Sooo dumbfounded. I cant wait to see what you might do cause this is movie material...please run after him, I would love to see his face just look all surprise and run off" her voice continued to echo throughout Hanashi's conscious. It continued to echo throughout her mind, filling every memory that she had of Hanashi with her sick and awful voice.

It felt like her hand was on her chin, caressing her skin with lust. "I'll tell you what, I dont want to seem like the villian in all of this...how about I cut you a deal...hmm?"

Her eyes were wide.Her mouth was opened slightly as Hitoshi waved his hands in surrender."H-Hitoshi..." she had the look that she couldn't belive this was happening."It's me..." he doesn't remember.It was Mystic's fault.If only she didn't stay in Atrum's caslte and left,this woyldn't have happened.Damn that shadow to hell.. she bit her lower lip again.

Hanashi whispered to herself "No...your name is Munashii Hitoshi.I could never confuse that name.I could never confuse your face with another's.." her eyes were looking at the ground.She was holding herself.Holding herself to go back to the castle and kill Mystic or die trying.His words stabbed her in the heart.It felt like she was dying a slow,painful death with his words.She started to cry silently a little.He turned away from her and began to walk to Amegakure.He said he was going to Kirigakure,eh?

Oooohh ho ho and just when things were getting good" a familiar voice said in Hanashi's mind.Damn that woman."Man, this is something, you might wanna get him before he leaves but WAIT he'll probably think you are some crazy bitch and just run off then what are you gonna do, chase him down? Can you say "Crazy stalker lady"? she hated to admit it but Mystic was right.If she conitnued to pester him he'll think she really is a stalker and probably get some anbus to search for her or something.She didn't care though.But she had to keep herself hidden in the shadows.She contiued to ignore Mystic's voice.The wench.

Hanashi felt her hand was on her skin,caressing it.It made her cringe slightly. "I'll tell you what, I dont want to seem like the villian in all of this...how about I cut you a deal...hmm?" the thought of cutting a deal with her made Hanashi snarl slightly but she was curious about this 'deal'.Tell me first,woman then I'll talk she replied codly as she kept an eye on Hitoshi as he went back to Amegakure no Sato.

Mystic smile turn into a lingering grin that would remain on her face. She felt that grin would make her go totally insane. She has sunken lower to actually torture a young shadow spirit and a young shikyo princess. All of this started just 160 years ago when Kyouken arrived at Atrum's castle. Kyouken was young then, aspiring after leaving the Akatsuki and coming to take the family title as "leader" of the shikyo clan. He had aspired a young twenty year old Hitoshi Munashii with him. It was two years prior that Hitoshi was defeated at the hands of the prodigy among prodigies. Hitoshi was set free to do whatever he wished after the long, agonizing training sessions of the young Kyouken Shikyo. Is was there Hitoshi met Mystic. A beautiful shadow spirit who was Atrums shadow spirit. It was in that moment that Hitoshi and Mystic had a affair of lust. For the many weeks Kyouken stayed with Atrum, the many nights Hitoshi was in Mystic's room making love to her. It was there Hitoshi said he loved her and she loved her back. It was in that moment where she was happy for the first time in her life

Mystic was never happy. Even after she became the well known shadow spirit for Atrum Shikyo, she was anything but happy. She hated being nothing but happy. She wanted to know what that feeling was like, ever since she was a child. When Hitoshi said that to her, she finally felt what it meant. Before long, Kyouken's training with Atrum was over. He had mastered the teachings of his past. Hitoshi had to leave with Kyouken. Mystic was sadden and never forgot Hitoshi but Hitoshi forgot her. In the end, Mystic could never be happy. The one man that said that loved her but loved someone else made turned her jealously to something far worst than anything else. She became a shadow devil, a shadow that have given up on humanity and now became something that even the kings of shadows hide in the past.

Mystic was giggling in Hanashi's head "Oh, Hanashi, Hanashi, Hanashi...when you stop moving, then I'll tell you what the deal is. I dont want you to cause anymore trouble than it already is...you've gotten too far in this mess, dont fuck up now." She was getting annoyed by Hanashi's persistance "Thats better...I can finally hear you think...now where was I? Oh yes, the deal. The sweet little deal that I would do to return Hitoshi's memories back. Hmmm" she pondered a bit, humming a tune in her head just to annoy Hanashi "I wonder what I could do...oh there are so many options. So many in fact that I dont know whether or not I should just let you suffer slowly and painfully or let it be swift and precise....Hmmm" he giggled I'm going with slow and long suffering"

"Now that my options are limited, I can see what I can do...Well, you have three options. See, I'm not so bad of a woman. I'm letting you have three options. Its better than one, two or none to be exact. So bare with me on this. The first one is to give back your memory but then let you slowly die. I can do that you know, a simple poison in the brain that will be very painful to endure. Your powers will be completely zapped away and you'll have no will to live after that. But in the end, he'll have your memories...let me give you an example of what it'll feel like"

First there was silence in Hanashi mind. Whatever Hanashi was anticpiating, getting her mind ready for the pain. It would be deam useless. The pain struck her fast, her heartbeat began to quicken faster and faster and faster. She felt the sting of her mind having very painful migranes that continued to throb in her mind over and over and over. Voices began to speak to her. Voices that she regonized and voices that did not seem human at all. They were speaking to her loudly, busting on her eardrums over and over and over.

The pain stopped. Her mind was clear and her body was regulating properly. Mystic was laughing in th background "How was that!? Fun right? That was just the first stage of the poison, the second, third and final stages are alot funner"

"Too painful? Maybe a bit something like taking another person's life would do the trick. Someone close to you. A long time friend that you cared for in the past that you so happen to 'forget' just suddenly appeared and tried to kill you. I could just let them suffer a bit. Oooo oo oo, even better...." a hand pressed against her stomach. The crying of a baby echoed in Hanashi's head. It was her babies. She had an feeling it was her baby. "Ooo, that would be a bummer no? Killing off the life inside of you with just a quick switch. That would be so hard on Hitoshi. I think he'll try to either kill me or you. Whatever it takes to make him go mad...oh, I just blurted out a secret that I shouldn't. Whoopsee" she was giggling

"Or maybe something a bit more ongoing...something that would torment you forever and ever. Maybe....oh, I like this deal. How bout this deal? I give him his memories back if you become my slave. You know, just like a shadow spirit. I'm powerful enough to harness your power. It would be interesting for me to see what powers you have. You'll be free to roam around with him, but I can call you whenever I want. Make you do whatever, I want, make you kill whomever I please. All for Hitoshi's memory"

A soft whisper then replied "If you love Hitoshi so much to give up your life for me, then I would understand completely. What do you say, little princess. Which one of the deals would you like for me to sign for you?"

Three options?The wench sure knew what she was doing. "Now that my options are limited, I can see what I can do...Well, you have three options. See, I'm not so bad of a woman. I'm letting you have three options. Its better than one, two or none to be exact. So bare with me on this. The first one is to give back your memory but then let you slowly die. I can do that you know, a simple poison in the brain that will be very painful to endure. Your powers will be completely zapped away and you'll have no will to live after that. But in the end, he'll have your memories...let me give you an example of what it'll feel like" The pain struck her fast, her heartbeat began to quicken faster and faster and faster. She felt the sting of her mind having very painful migranes that continued to throb in her mind over and over and over. Voices began to speak to her. Voices that she regonized and voices that did not seem human at all. They were speaking to her loudly, busting on her eardrums over and over and over.She couldn't scream.It hurt that much and as quickly as it came it went.She heard Mystic laughing in the background.Oh god,if she was only stronger...

"Too painful? Maybe a bit something like taking another person's life would do the trick. Someone close to you. A long time friend that you cared for in the past that you so happen to 'forget' just suddenly appeared and tried to kill you. I could just let them suffer a bit. Oooo oo oo, even better...." a hand pressed against her stomach. The crying of a baby echoed in Hanashi's head. It was her baby. She had an feeling it was her baby."Ooo, that would be a bummer no? Killing off the life inside of you with just a quick switch. That would be so hard on Hitoshi. I think he'll try to either kill me or you. Whatever it takes to make him go mad...oh, I just blurted out a secret that I shouldn't. Whoopsee" she was giggling.That option was quickly eliminated by Hanashi.There was no way she was gonna kill her child.She was human,unlike the shadow that was nagging her.The child she and Hitoshi conceived,she wasn't gonna do what the witch said.

"Or maybe something a bit more ongoing...something that would torment you forever and ever. Maybe....oh, I like this deal. How bout this deal? I give him his memories back if you become my slave. You know, just like a shadow spirit. I'm powerful enough to harness your power. It would be interesting for me to see what powers you have. You'll be free to roam around with him, but I can call you whenever I want. Make you do whatever, I want, make you kill whomever I please. All for Hitoshi's memory" the third option...scared her.All the options seemed so..irrational.But then again were talking about a crazy shadow woman who's having a jealous rage towards her,then it seems weirdly reasonable.

She closed her eyes.Thinking about the situation at hand.The woman gave her three options.All sounded like hell to her.She cursed herself for being so weak.She was death's daughter for god's sake and this was her power?She couldn't even face off against a woman like Mystic?How about this Hanashi replied If I can't find another way to break the genjutsu that you put on him....I'll either... she took a deep breath and prayed her father will forgive her.I'll choose between option three....or..t-two.. she closed her eyes,feeling disgusted with herself knowing that she would actually kill her own child or even be Mystic's slave but it was like a game of chess,Hanashi couldn't find a way out of it.She had to make a plan on her own.She had to meet up with someone.Someone that may know what to do with Hitoshi.

She was going to Kirigakure as well,besides the fact that Hitoshi was going there too she wanted to go and see her little brother,Riku.Maybe he knew anything about this.She was desperate,that's for sure "Now,If you kindly accept my offer,we can commence this,shall we?" she was playing with fire.And she was dangerously close to it.Hanashi will try everything she can to find a way to break Hitoshi out of it.

Mystic was displeased. Not by the fact that she wanted to find another way out of the so called "genjutsu" that she had placed on Hitoshi, but the fact that she wanted to make her suffer some more just for her amuzement. She loathed Hanashi to a point where it would make her sick to even think about her but at the same time, she envied her so. There wasn't any ability that she had in store that could easily break the so called genjutsu off of Hitoshi. It was meer improbable. But she was sadistic enough to let Hanashi suffer a little bit more, she wanted her teeth to cringe as she tried to figure out how to deal with such a power level beyond Hanashi's own

She twisted in the throne, crossing her leg over her knee. Putting a well placed elbow on her cheek, she was pouting but it was a subtle. She had nothing else better to do than to watch her attempt the ways of manipulating her shadow "Well....I suppose you could could find another way. I dont know any other way, but why not? It'll be fun to see what you can pull out of your little bags of tricks" She sounded a bit cheerful in her voice. Hanashi could hear in her head the cheeriness of this ever so violent and deranged woman "Alright, you have a deal. You may find another way to get find his memory" she said. She reached over her arm and Hanashi could hear her sip away at some liquid. It was wine. Mystic took small sips letting the cool yet warm drink go down her throat. She lets out a soft sigh "Now that hit the spot, would you like some....oh, thats right. I'm here and your there trying to get your man...so sorry" she giggled.

"Oh and like I said, the longer you take to find a way to get his memory, the farther away his memory will become. When the shadow finally consumes his memory, it'll be completely erased for good. Nothing will be able to retrieve it, not even my own power would be able to get it. I dont know how long you'll have" With her tongue, she made the tick tock sound from a clock "Time's a wasting little princess, time's a wasting. You better hurry..."

Far into Amegakure no sato, Hitoshi had already exited out of the hotel that he was staying. He felt very odd when he enter into the room though. He looked around to see that everything was still messy. He made a good assumption that the cleaning people have yet to reach this room. They were not kidding when they said the hotel was not up to par, they were entirely slow with staffing. It didn't matter to Hitoshi, he was more incline to apartment buildings and cheap motels that would have very poor service and low detailed staffing. He gotten use to the wide variety of smells that every hotel had. The cheap air freshner that the cleaning people would spray in the room to make the atmosphere appear homely, the cleaning bed linen that smelled of fabric softner and maybe the smell of cheap liquor or beer.

But the smell in this motel was much different than the one's he been into. The smell of perfume. He knows the smell from somewhere but he couldn't recollect where he had smelt it before. It wasn't heavy and overwhelming, Hitoshi could almost barely smell it out but he has been around the smell of woman for so long that he can differeniate the types of perfume a woman would wear. This smell had a slight rain feeling. The type of smell after a rainfall had stopped and the only thing that remained from calm form of nature was the smell of mist. Hitoshi actually liked the smell, although never admitting it.

He walks over to the bed. It had the same smell as well. That and his sweat. He back away from it and he closed his eyes. He could see a wall of memories flood back into his head. A woman with black hair, green hairs, mild skin and flawless feature kept on appearing over and over again. He shook his head, but it only made him feel disoriented. He knew this woman but at the same time he didn't. He seen her before but where and when he had no idea. He looks around and see's an pizza box left open with a grease stain in the middle. No doubt about not remembering about his pizza consumption that he so pleasantly enjoyed. He looks around again and see's nothing of value here. Only the scent of the rain was in the air. He didn't want to leave but at the same time, he had to go back to Kirigakure no sato. He didn't have any idea why he had to, he just had an odd feeling about going there. He knew Kyouken wasn't going to be there, he knew he was gone and was away. He would seek Kyouken out for wisdom but because he was gone, he would have to find another means to find wisdom.

He walks out the room and closed the door behind him. He checked out at the hotel counter and said his goodbyes to the manager. He walks out the building but squats down and jumps forward and high up into the buildings. Landing on a rooftop, tentacles of shadow came over his body. It devoloped over him and he sunk into the everlasting darkness travelling to the one person who might know what this feeling is about. Who was this missing woman, why did she continue to pop up over and over again? She was beautiful to him. He felt as though he had loved this woman in the past but now she was gone.