Roses of Doom

  “Mizu” Kaji tried to comfort me, but he was himself crying. This was unfair, even more unfair than my E grade and going to boarding school. The volcano had destroyed everything in its way, just as it had destroyed Akumu. But we would always remember him. Although the lava had swallowed Akumu, but it could not swallow our friendship and love for him.

  Mrs. Daidouji and Seiya were weeping too. Mrs. Daidouji was feeling that it was her fault. I had never see her cry before. She was an adult and adults were not supposed to cry. Seeing her, I felt it was okay to continue crying.

  The sky had returned to normal after the eclipse ended. But our lives would never be normal again, not without Akumu.

  . “Why did Akumu have to do this Kaji?” I asked. My throat felt like a huge lump of pain and I couldn’t even swallow properly. My face was wet.

  Chapter 9

  A Miracle

  Why did things have to end like this? Why did we have to lose a friend? Couldn’t there be just happiness in the world? How were we supposed to tell Akumu’s parents about this? These were just some of the many puzzling questions that buzzed in my head. Sadly, there seemed to be no solution for even a single one of them.

  The sky was bright now. The night was over. It was morning. But there was no happiness where I stood. Not even a single smile. Mrs. Daidouji looked at me with her tear stained face. She had stopped crying now. “It is selfish of me to behave so immaturely.” She said.

  “There is nothing we can do about all this. Let’s do our best to tell Akumu’s parents about the situation.”

  “Will Akumu’s mother shout at us?” Kaji questioned.

  “I don’t think.” Mrs. Daidouji said.

  “I feel heavy. Like I am stuck to the ground. I don’t want to go anywhere now.” Seiya said.

  “Sadness weighs us down and stops us from moving forward. But we have no choice but to look at the future.” Mrs. Daidouji said. “Don’t disappoint Akumu. I am sure he would never have liked to see you all like this.”

  “That is true…..” Kaji admitted, his eyes straying towards the sky. He was looking up just to appear mature and stop his tears from spilling. His heart was wounded badly.

  I looked down at the brown earth. It was getting wet with my tears now.

  “Mizu, look up.” Kaji said, hurriedly. I didn’t want to look up and show him my tears, so I didn’t move.

  “Look up Mizu, it’s Akumu!” there was so much energy in Kaji’s voice, that I immediately looked up at the sky. And sure enough, amidst the blueness of the sky was a faint silhouette of Akumu. I couldn’t see it clearly because my eyes filled up with more tears.

  “Mizu, Kaji, and Seiya” we heard a familiar voice say. It was his voice. The voice I remembered so well. The sound was very soft and full of unhappiness.

  “Akumu” Kaji said, veering. He had recognized the voice at once. Seiya and Mrs. Daidouji turned around too. The sky was clear now and when I wiped away I saw everything clearly. Akumu’s silhouette was sitting one huge cloud.

  “Is that Akumu” I asked doubtfully, looking at Mrs. Daidouji.

  “It’s his spirit Mizu” Mrs. Daidouji replied.

  “Akumu” Kaji said emotionally. I had never seen him get so emotional.

  “Kaji” Akumu said softly. “Mizu, Seiya and Kaji; I wanted to thank you all for being such great friends and supporting me when I needed your support. Kaji, you have taught me what true friendship means. Mizu, I hope you will not forget me. I will always be appearing in your nightmares.”

  “No Akumu; a friend like you can never be a nightmare. You can only appear in my happiest dream” I said confidently. Akumu had tried to be good to me and it was I who had never been good to him.

  “I never thought I’d be so glad to hear you say that.” he replied. His eyes met Kaji’s and I could sense some sort of a connection. “Kaji”, he said, getting a bit emotional.

  “Akumu, you’re a hero. You have saved the whole world from evil. All of us owe thanks to you. Don’t we guys?” Seiya asked.

  “Yes we do” Kaji and I said together. I didn’t know why, but I was grinning now. Was that the power of friendship?

  Akumu’s silhoutte started disappearing. “My time’s up” he said. “I’ll have to go back”. He was turning into dust.

  “No, don’t go away” Seiya shouted.

  “Come back Akumu. Come back” Kaji shouted. Tears were flowing from his eyes. “Come back” he continued to say.

  “Don’t worry Kaji. You will make new friends” Akumu said.

  “Mom this can’t be happening. Can’t you do anything to bring Akumu back to life?” Seiya protested. His throat was sore but he was trying his best to appear normal.

  “Please do something, Mrs. Daidouji.” Kaji pleaded. He looked depressed, as if he had lost the most precious thing. Mrs. Daidouji looked at Seiya, determination filling her eyes.

  “Seiya, if you help me, I can try to do something.” She said.

  “I will give it my all.” Seiya answered optimistically.

  “Can I do something to help?” Kaji asked, looking at Mrs. Daidouji hopefully.

  “Just pray that we succeed.” She instructed.

  Mrs. Daidouji and Seiya held each other’s hands and closed their eyes. They started muttering strange words. Few sparks of light started appearing from the sky. Were they succeeding? I looked at their faces which seemed drained of energy now. Was it such a powerful spell that in one second it had drained them of so much energy? Their faces were in agony. They couldn’t go on any longer. Seiya shouted out in pain once but he didn’t give up. Mrs. Daidouji tightened her grip on his hand. I saw that Kaji was still praying with all his might. He had really loved Akumu a lot. Still did.

  Seiya’s scream pierced once more through the graveyard before he collapsed on the ground and fainted. “Are you okay?” I rushed to his side. He was breathing but he couldn’t open his eyes. Mrs. Daidouji continued to try even without him, until she too, fainted. Kaji opened his eyes then.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked. Mrs. Daidouji looked up at him, opening her eyes slowly.

  “I’m sorry. My powers have been completely drained. I cannot do anything now.” She said. “Very powerful magic is needed to bring someone back from the dead. I don’t possess that kind of magic. No one has that kind of power.”

  “Thank you for trying.” Kaji said. “And what do we do now?”

  “We will have to inform Akumu’s parents. I feel really bad for them.” I said.

  “Mizu is right.” Mrs. Daidouji said. “They have the right to know about Akumu. I think they might also want to have his funeral though there is no body left.”

  “We will go to the funeral, won’t we?” I asked Kaji. He nodded silently.

  Chapter 10

  The Funeral

  The next few days were terribly gloomy. Mom, Mrs. Daidouji and Mrs. Alexander were busy with the funeral. Mom had told Kaji and me to take a few days off from school so that we could recover. I was getting bored at home. Kaji had stopped talking. He was always locked up in his room, looking at a photo of Akumu and him during the school trip.

  Even when he came out of his room to eat, there was no sign of happiness on his face. He was eternally looking at that photograph and weeping. I had tried talking to him many times but he had ignored me. Seiya was much the same. He had a photo like that too. He had called up Kaji yesterday.

  I was the only one who was still sane. I was working hard to be cheerful but sometimes, I couldn’t help feeling that way Kaji did. At such moments, I also looked at Akumu’s photo. But not more than once a day. If Akumu saw me sad too, he would feel horrible.

  Mom was away from home, helping Mrs. Alexander all the time. Akumu’s dad had been very sad to hear the news of Akumu’s death. In fact, when Mrs. Daidouji had told him for the first time, he was so utterly shocked that he couldn’t move.

  The funeral was in the evening. I looked at the huge wall
clock. The time was two p.m. in the afternoon. Sakura had come to visit me and insisted on going to the funeral with all of us. She wanted to be a representative of the class at Akumu’s funeral.

  It was five in the evening when Kaji emerged out of his room. He was holding that photo.

  “It’s time.” I said. I already had my coat on. “Let’s go Kaji. We cannot be late.”

  Kaji put on a brown jacket and stuffed the photograph into his pocket. He wiped his tears with the sleeve of the jacket. Sakura tried to comfort him by putting an arm around his shoulder, but he shook her off. That was so rude of him!

  It was the beginning of winter and the air was cold. It numbed our already cold and expressionless faces. Trees had lost their leaves. The road from our house to the graveyard was a long and empty one, with only the howling wind keeping us company.

  We passed a lot of restaurants and bakeries on our way. Even though the windows displayed a multitude of tasty treats, I had no appetite. Kaji noticed nothing. His head was bowed. The expression on his face was indescribably miserable. I wanted to say something to make him feel better but all that came out of my mouth was: “Hurry up. We are going to be late.”

  When Sakura, Kaji and I made it to the graveyard, most of it was already over. We were late. Sakura started praying. Kaji’s gaze was fixed on the coffin which was empty.

  Mom and all the adults were standing close to the coffin. Mrs. Alexander opened her mouth: “I would like to thank all of you for coming here. I have a request for everyone. Please close your eyes and say whatever you want to say to Akumu in your hearts. I am sure it will reach him.”

  Then she and everyone else except me closed their eyes. Tears rolled down Kaji’s cheeks through his eyelids. I knew what he was thinking. He was saying ‘Thank you for being my friend. I sometimes wonder what kind of person I would have been if I had not met you. I would probably very different. I would not have been as happy as I was able to be with you. Even in the end, I was smiling all the time you were with me. Although you are not here now, I will not forget. All the feelings that I could experience by being close to you are etched in my memory forever.”

  I looked at Seiya whose face was tense. Sakura was about to cry. So was Mrs Daidouji. I was the only one at least attempting to not let grief overcome me. I had to be stronger now.

  “I promise to get you flowers every week.” I said, as my last words to Akumu.

  People were beginning to open their eyes and Mrs. Alexander thanked everyone for taking the time to talk to Akumu.

  Then the formalities stretched on for long. I started feeling drowsy until I unknowingly dozed off on Kaji’s arm. A few minutes later, I was woken up by a violent shake.

  “Get up, everyone’s gone now.” Kaji said. I looked around. Mrs. Daidouji, Seiya, Sakura, Kaji and I were the only people standing. Everyone else had left. There was a sorrow in the air. I wished I could go back and prevent Akumu from dying. I closed my eyes and prayed sincerely. I prayed that Akumu would come back. Mom had told me that I prayed sincerely, god would listen to me. When I opened my eyes, nothing had changed. I looked up at the sky, where I had last seen Akumu. I heard Mrs. Daidouji say something and then my eyes were blinded by a bright flash of light. I kept my eyes tightly shut for some time, and when I opened them, I saw something unbelievable. It was Akumu. He was sitting on a cloud like the last time and looking at me intently. I could not see very clearly but there were tears in his eyes…..I was not sure they were tears.

  Kaji could not believe his eyes either. He rubbed them twice to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. His tears froze the minute he realized he wasn’t dreaming. A bright streak of light shone from the cloud Akumu was sitting on to the graveyard. A lady started appearing bit by bit. Was she an angel? Her form became clear and I was left stunned at her beauty. She was enveloped by light.

  “Thank you, Akumu.” She said, looking at Akumu. Akumu watched her. He didn’t recognize her . “I’m Heria, queen of gods.” She said. Her lips barely moved but her words were crystal-clear. “We the gods have been trying to destroy Won but he always managed to escape us. We could only turn him into a spirit. But you have performed a miracle by destroying Won.”

  As she spoke, other gods appeared beside her. The goddess of love smiled at me. A beautiful ruby-studded, golden staff was in her hand. Her dress was sparkling like a thousand diamonds.

  “And to thank you all,” she paused to look at Kaji, Seiya and me. “I would like to return your friend to you.”

  “You mean…..” the rest of the words didn’t make it out of Kaji’s voice box because he was mersmerized by what he was seeing. All the gods and goddesses gathered around in a circle and shot huge bolts of light.

  “Thank you!!!” Kaji shouted at the top of his lungs. Seiya and I joined him. Heria smiled at us. “You have already thanked us by obliterating Won.” Then, all the gods disappeared from the sky.

  Chapter 11

  Return

  “Hey guys, missed me?” a familiar voice asked.

  “Akumu!!!” Kaji and Seiya yelled together. But there was excitement and happiness in their scream. It indeed was Akumu. He was standing before our eyes, looking perfectly fine. “Akumu...” Kaji said softly. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. His cheeks were already quite wet. “You cannot imagine how much I missed you”.

  “I was away just for a few minutes” Akumu said but he knew exactly how Kaji must have felt. He had felt the same. The thought of not seeing Kaji again filled him with horror. I was grinning to the best of my potential. Mt heart could burst with excitement and joy anytime.

  Kaji put his hands around Akumu and embraced him. His tears were dripping on Akumu’s shirt and wetting it, but Akumu didn’t seem to mind it. “Kaji, come on. I’m back now” he said comfortingly. But Kaji didn’t seem to listen.

  “He’s missed you a lot Akumu” I said. “It was stupid of you to do that Akumu” Seiya said. “Do what?” Akumu asked.

  “To try to defeat Won by yourself” Seiya replied. Akumu said nothing. It was okay this way.

  “Come on Kaji that’s enough” I said pulling Kaji away from Akumu. “He’s not going to run away now” But Kaji had no intentions of listening. He hugged Akumu even tighter. “I’m with Kaji” Seiya said. He too hugged Akumu.

  “Now this is something I can’t do” I said sarcastically. “I am not going to hug him like a small child.”

  “Why not?” Akumu asked. I blushed. “I was just kidding Mizu” he said laughing. “Mizu did you really think…”

  “No, I thought nothing” I snapped rudely. Kaji smiled at me. So did Seiya. I looked away. Then they all started laughing at me. I couldn’t help it, so I joined them too. This was the best thing that could happen to me. I would never forget this instant.

  “What about your promise, Mizu?” Kaji asked , out of the blue.

  “Which promise?” What was he talking about? I couldn’t remember any promise.

  “The one you made to mom. To get a better grade this time.” Kaji prompted. I had completely let that slip out of my mind. I didn’t want to recollect it. I was going to gget an E this time too.

  “You still have time.” Seiya said, as if he had read my thoughts. “The finals start next week only, after all.”

  “Next week!” Kaji and Akumu exclaimed together, like it was already the day of the test.

  “I’ll meet you at five tomorrow in the cyber café.” Akumu said to Kaji. They were already thinking of studying? What about partying? And were they sure they could wake up by five?

  “Can I join too? I have missed a lot of studies due to club activities.” Seiya asked.

  “The more the merrier.” Kaji answered, laughing.

  “I’ll join you at seven.” I said, albeit loudly. There was silence for a moment. Kaji and Akumu stared at me in surprise. They blinked and then pinched themselves to make suure they weren’t dreaming.

  “Is this you, Mizu?” Kaji pinched my
cheek to see whether I was the real Mizyu or some mixed-up clone. “Hey!” I retorted.

  “It’s hard to believe.” Akumu said. “So you’re going to give up watching horror movies? I thought it was the first-time-television-premiere of Zombies from underworld tomorrow.”

  “I’ve had enough horror for the rest of my life so no more horror movies for me.” I declared.

  “I never thought I would hear you say this.” Seiya said.

  “But I’ll have to leave at eight for the release of Aliens from Venus.” I informed.

  “But didn’t you just say that you’ve had enough of horror for the rest of your life?”

  “Enough of horror but not enough of science fiction.” I answered, smiling.

  “At least she’s changed her interests.” Kaji remarked.

 

  ************

  “Do you believe in friendship Daidouji?” Heria asked Mrs. Daidouji. Mrs. Daidouji nodded. She could only hear Heria’s voice. “These children are very close” Heria said gently.

  “Thank you for giving Akumu a chance” Mrs. Daidouji said. “It would not have been possible without you and your magic” “It’s not my magic but their friendship and desire that made it possible” Heria replied. Saying this Heria vanished. The bright sky turned normal again. Mrs. Daidouji looked at us.

  “I understand” she said softly to herself.

  Chapter 12

  Graduation

  I was nervous. That’s right. I was really nervous. It was graduation today. And that meant grades which the principal would announce to the whole school. Our school had this really weird custom of announcing the grades of all the students during graduation day. Kaji and Akumu were looking ahoy. They knew they were going to get an A again. I knew I was going to get an E. It was the only alphabet I had seen in my report card ever since I could read. I clutched my pink watch tightly. It was lucky for me. I always wore it on graduation day. I wanted to get a B this time. I had studied really hard with Kaji, Sakura, Seiya and Akumu. Akumu had helped me with math, Kaji had taught me science and computers and Seiya had made me master Japanese.