Harvest Moon: Cosplay Madness SE

[Juxapose]

Hello everyone. I just got in contact with some of the mayor game retail companies. They tell me that the games Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility and Harvest Moon: Island of Hapiness WILL be in my hands on August 27, 2008. To celebrate this event that many of us has been waiting impatiently for a long time, I will rewrite the FIRST ever Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility fanfic, and post it here. I proudly call it:

Harvest Moon: Cosplay Madness
Special edition

This fanfic will be really short, 4 chapters. I am not expecting to be as great as my normal fanfics which takes lots of time to plan and create. Since I know so little about the actual game, I'll be making stuff up, and filling in the blanks. I hope everyone reads it.

Story:

Yuu, a young man who took up the job as a farmer in the small village of Waffle Town. Everyone welcomes him into the town with warm open arms. But at night, two cosplay beauties fight one another with different views of justice. Yuu steps in and tries his best to stop them from killing one another. Will Yuu be able to solve the mystery of the cosplay girls' past, and restore peace to waffle town?

Characters:

Yuu
Age: 25

A young man who took up a job opening in the small Village of Waffle Town. He's the type of person who likes to mettle in affairs that he may not be able to handle. Even so, he tries his hardest to help others in their problems.

Kotomi
Age: 21

A young girl who works in the Chiffon Tailoring company. She's always depressed, and never speaks to anyone. At night, her personality changes, but she never remembers what she does. She is very skilled at making clothing for the people of the village. Kotomi and her sister were not born in Waffle Town.

Rumi
Age: 16

A young teenager who dresses up to make herself look much younger than she already is. Because she is extremely short, people often mistaken her as a child. Rumi is Kotomi's younger sister, and she was also not born in Waffle Town. She is also skilled at making clothing, but she makes mostly clothing for cosplaying than casual wear. She made it her personal responsibility to keep her sister out of trouble.

Genre
Drama, comedy, action.

Notes:

Harvest moon: Cosplay Madness was first tought of in early September of
2007, and announced in September 10, 2007. That's almost a YEAR ago!! The first chapter was posted on September 23, 2007, and was finished on December 2007. The original draft had only 3 chapters in it, but the final draft rewrote chapter 3 to be far too long, so it was broken to chapters three and four.

Most of the characters will be severely off character. Juli is not really fruity, Kotomi or Rumi really has no martial arts training, and so fourth. Don't take the fanfic too seriously, it was really meant to stimulate a more unique story by using only bits of pieces of a game that was still in production.

The original Fanfiction was written in script format. The SE version is written in book format so it will be easier and more entertaining to read. Most grammar and spelling mistakes has been removed from the old draft, so I expect a nice read.

Contains some violence. Rated PG-13, so it'll be decent enough for our readers.

I hope everyone enjoys it. First chapter posted after the release of the two new Harvest Moon games.

[Pickle]

Somehow, every time I see the word cosplay, I reel back.

But I'm sure it'll be good.

[Juxapose]

Because of the game Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility has been delayed to September 16th, The fanfic will be delayed as well. But I might just write a new story for the Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness game as well.

[Juxapose]

The game Tree of Tranquility has been delayed yet again to September 30th. Because of the delay, I decided o not put any money on the game until later. Instead, I decided to buy the only game in the Harvest Moon series that is missing from my library. Harvest Moon: DS Cute. I'll probably play it for a few days, and then put it down for a while. Hopefully, I can make a fanfic about it.

[Juxapose]

Finally, the first chapter of Harvest Moon: Cosplay Madness!

Disclaimer: This fic was written over a year ago, so naturally, there will be plenty of off-character moments. I decided to keep the Japanese names because the story makes more sense in it's original names. This fanfic is modified from it's original format to be easier to read. Please enjoy!

Part 1

The Madness Begins

After some time traveling, Yuu arrives at the town that he has been looking for, a place known as Waffle Town in Waffle Island. Outside the small town in the Caramel River District is an empty farm that was abandoned by it's previous owner. A newspaper article offered a job as a farmer to whoever was interested. Yuu was born and raised in the city, but he needed a job so he decided to take the farm. The farm isn't that expensive, but Yuu emptied out his savings in order to buy it.

Yuu takes a good look at his farm. There wasn't much he could start with. A house, some land to plant some crops, and a barn and coop to keep some animals. He takes a big sigh, and checks his wallet. By how light it is, he knows that he is in trouble. There is barely enough to get himself started, and he has a lot to buy. Food, clothing, little knick-naks to entertain himself when he's bored. However, just like starting any business, he'll have to endure some hardship before he can make any money. It is a bit hot, so Yuu takes out his little sweat rag, and wipes his face. There's not much he can do today, so he puts all of his belongings inside the house, and sleeps the afternoon away. His first day starts tomorrow.

The next day, Yuu wakes up to the sunny Summer morning. Back in the city, he always depended on air conditioning to keep himself cool. Now he needs to get used to the Summer breeze to keep him cool. After taking a bath, brushing his teeth, and having some breakfast, he looks in his suit case for a fresh change of clothing. However, as he searches through his clothing, he notices that he has a small problem. All of his clothing are not suited for farm work, they are all casual clothing used to go out with friends, or business attire for his old job. Yuu never actually went shopping for new clothing before he arrived at Waffle Island.

Even though he doesn't have much money, clothing is what he needed the most. Luckily, he received a map from Waffle Town's mayor yesterday. So he pulls it out, and takes a look at it to see if there is some way to get some clothes. He notices a place called the Chiffon Tailor shop in the village not too far from his farm. There are no other places he can see where he can get some clothing, so he feels that he might as well try there. He only hopes that he will be lucky enough to get something cheap.

Following the map is not too hard, it's accurate enough for anyone to follow without getting lost. On the way to the tailor's he meets a bunch of new people. They are all warm and kind, greeting him with smiles, and giving him advice on how to get around. This makes Yuu quite happy, since he is a newbie at farming, he felt that the people may not welcome him so easily. But meeting so many kind people has put his soul at ease.

He arrives at the tailor's shop a couple of hours later. The place is nice, and full of color and cloth used for making clothing. Since the rest of the town was gentle, he assumes that the people who work here are normal villagers as well. Without hesitation, he walks in.

"Hello? . . . Is anyone here?" he asked as he walks around the shop.

Yuu cannot find the owner, but he sees lots of fabric thrown around everywhere, and half made clothing on the tables. As he checks the clothing on the tables, he notices that they look a little bit strange. Some of the colors used are a bit flashy, and the fabrics used are strange. The other villagers wears old fashioned country clothing, but the clothing on the tables are pretty unique. They look more like Halloween costumes, not actual clothing.

As Yuu walks around the shop, the shop owner walks out of the back and says, "Hello? Is someone in the shop?"

The voice shocks Yuu, he thought for a moment that no one was in. As he turns around, he sees a person wearing very feminine clothing approach him. The shop owner stops right in fron of Yuu, and takes a good look at him. As the shop owner buzzes around him like a bee, he can't help but to feel a bit creeped out.

The shop owner stops in font of him and says, "I have never seen you before. Who might you be?"

He feels a bit nervous about introducing himself to the shop owner. But to avoid being rude, he says, "My name is Yuu. I just moved into the farm close by."

"Ahh, I see. You are the new farmer. But. . ." The shop owner scans his clothing briefly once again, and says, "You don't look like a farmer."

Yuu is wearing a white casual shirt, and brown slacks. Nothing a proud farmer usually wears wears. "Yeah, I know. That's why I came, to see if someone cam make me some farming clothes."

"I see. So what exactly are you looking for?" asked the shop owner.

Yuu takes a moment to think about what type of clothes farmers usually wears. He needs clothes that are tough, and easy to clean. Since he'll be working with dirt and animals a lot, he knows that he can't wear anything delicate or dressy. So he tells the shop owner, "I need a shirt that is really thick and hard to tear. I prefer something very light blue in color. I also need some loose carpenter pants with huge pockets. Since I'll be playing around in dirt, I'll need some gloves too. I also need something that goes around my neck that'll keep the dirt from getting inside my shirt. If you can, I'll need some boots as well."

The shop owner places his hand on his chin, and thinks about Yuu's request for a moment. After a minute, the owner gets a good mental image of what Yuu needs. He runs to the back to get his tools, and then begins to take all of Yuu's measurements from head to toe. After he is satisfies with the measurements, he says, "Okay, I got it! I'll make you the most beautiful set of farming clothes you'll ever own."

A bead of sweat fell from Yuu's head as he says, "I see. . . Beautiful. . ." Remembering that he needs to keep a budget, he asks, "Umm, by the way. How much will this cost?"

The shop owner shakes his head and says, "Since you're a new customer, I'll do this job for free!"

Suddenly, Yuu's image of the shop owner changes from strange to cool instantly. "Are you sure it's OK?" he asked.

"Oh, it's perfectly fine. Just make sure you come back and use our services again." reassured the shop owner.

Yuu takes a bow. He is about to thank the shop owner, but he hasn't learned his name yet. So he asks, "Umm, I didn't catch your name yet."
"I am Juli, a fashion expert and jewelry maker." he answers.

"Thank you very much Mrs. Juli." Yuu said thoughtlessly.

"It's Mr. Juli." he said in a sour tone.

At this point, Yuu's jaw drops as he realizes that he was talking to a man, not a woman. He fears that Juli is not going to do him the favor to make his clothing anymore. He bows down again, and tries his best to apologize. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking! Please forgive me."

Juli smiles and says, "Don't worry so much about it. I get that all the time from new people. Just try not to let that happen again."

Yuu sighs in relief. Juli then heads to the back where he can start making the preparations to make clothing for Yuu. But before he leaves, he says, "Oh, by the way. I won't be able to finish until tomorrow afternoon. The other girls get up a little bit later, and I need their help to make everything.

"Girls?" asked Yuu.

"Well, they are not related to me in any way, but they do work for me." answered Juli.

Just then, Yuu gets a very disturbing image of who these girls might be. More men cross dressing as women that works for the tailor's shop. But since they are making his clothing for free, he doesn't have much right to complain.

Yuu then leaves the tailor shop, and continues to look around Waffle Island for the rest of the day. Eventually he finds himself near the blacksmith's shop. At the blacksmith's shop, a very brawny man leaves the building to get some air. At that moment, he notices Yuu walking around aimlessly. So he goes up to Yuu, and introduces himself. "Hi there! Are you the new farmer that moved in yesterday?

Yuu looks up at this enormous person. Seeing his massive body scares him. But he would rather be his friend than his enemy, so he greets, "Yeah, my name is Yuu."

"Good to meet you! The name's Oso, my father is the blacksmith. Nice to meet ya!"

Oso then asks a lot of questions to Yuu. Mostly about his hometown, and other common chit chat. But even though Yuu enjoys the little chat, he still needs to see the rest of the town before dusk. So he says farewell to his new friend Oso. But before he leaves the blacksmith shop, Oso has one last thing to say, "Yuu! Me and a couple of friends are heading over to the Kirch Inn. Wanna come? It'll be our treat!"

"Sure!" answered Yuu accepting his invitation.

"We always go to the Kirch Inn at 8:00 PM. Make sure you come, OK?" reminded Oso.

Yuu then tours the town for a while longer. After some time, the sun begins to set. He heads home so he can change clothes to go out. Since most of his clothes are made for hanging out with friends anyway, he has no problem picking out something to wear.

He arrives at the Kirch Inn at 8:00 PM on the dot. Oso greets him, "Yuu, glad you could make it! Let me introduce you to my friends. The guy with the cowboy hat is Calvin, he's an explorer. And the other guy is Luke. The carpenter's apprentice with limitless energy!"

"Hey, welcome to Waffle Town." greeted Luke and Calvin.

"Hey guys, my name is Yuu." he responded shyly.

Oso places his arm around Yuu's neck and cheered, "Now that we've all introduced ourselves, let's find a table, and have a celebration!"

Everyone cheers, and then sit together in a table. In the Kirch Inn, Yuu also meets two cute girls working in there. The first girl was named Cathy, the village tomboy. Even though she is called a tomboy, Yuu couldn't see why they would call her that. Her dress was very feminine, but she does speak her mind. Cathy is Oso's girlfriend, so Yuu knew better than to make any moves on her. There is a younger girl named Mai working there as well. Yuu feels that she is very cute and cheerful, but she is dating someone else named Chihaya who also works at the Kirch Inn.

Even though Yuu didn't meet any single girls at the Kirch Inn, he had a lot of fun anyway. The other guys have a lot to drink, and tells lots of funny stories. Yuu can't hold his liquor very well, so he takes it easy on the drinking. Soon enough, Yuu starts to feel a little bit drunk, so he decides that it is time to leave.But before he leaves the inn, Oso asks, "Yuu, where you goin?"

He looks at Oso with his half drunk expression and says, "I need to call it quits for today. I need to start working tomorrow, and if I keep it up, I wont be able to wake up in the morning."

Calvin laughs and says, "That's fine. But watch out for Samurai Princess!"

"Who?" asked Yuu curiously.

"You don't know? There is a girl who guards the town at night. Even the slightest crime will get her blood boiling. She calls herself, the Samurai Princess!" answerd Luke.

Yuu thinks about it for a second. Is what they said really true, or are they pulling his leg? To Yuu, it sounds like something they just made up. But rather than spoiling their fun, Yuu asks in a joking manner, "So, is she some sort of super hero or something?

Everyone at the inn starts laughing as hard as possible. Yuu is now completely confused at everyone's reaction. After the laughter dies down a bit, Oso answers, "Yeah, I wish. She's the biggest trouble maker Waffle Town has ever had. Ha ha ha!"

Yuu taks the whole incident as some sort of silly joke. Even though he is slightly intoxicated, he is still able to march straight back towards the farm. But someplace outside of the village, Yuu's forehead becomes a bit sweaty from the heat. So he takes out his rag from his pocket, and wipes the sweat off. He tries to put the rag back in his pocket, but it falls to the ground instead.

As Yuu walks away without realizing that he dropped his rag, a shadow appears behind him. A young girl wearing a shinto priestess uniform watches Yuu walk away leaving the rag behind. She strokes her very long blue hair that is braided in a twin ponytail that almost reaches the ground. She waits for him to pick it back up, but as Yuu walks further away from the rag, the girl becomes very angry. She then unsheathes her large katana that she has hanging from her waist, and prepares to strike. As quick as the wind, she runs in front of him in a fighting pose, stopping him from proceeding to his farm.

"You there!" she cries out to Yuu.

Yuu takes a look at the girl in front of him, and then looks around to see if she was talking to someone else. Confused by her sudden entrance and her strange taste in clothing, he points at himself wondering if the strange girl was talking to him. Seeing that there is nobody else in the area, Yuu then asks, "Me?"

"How dare you litter in this town. I don't know who you are, but I cannot welcome disgusting swine in this town. For I am, Samurai Princess!"

A huge bead of sweat forms on Yuu's head. He feels that this young girl, who calls herself "Samurai Princess" can't possibly be serious. So he laughs it off, and tries to ignore her. "Listen, I have no time for games. I need to get back home now, so if you would excuse me."

Yuu tried to go past her, but she isn't going to let him through without some sort of punishment. She swings the sword dangerously close to Yuu's face. The quick flash of light from the blade freezes him out of shock. She then holds the blade close to his nose to show how serious she was. The luster of the blade shone brightly which made Yuu nervous. "Hey, is this thing real?" he asked.

The look of anger in her eyes as she points the blade dangerously close to his face only makes him even more nervous. "You better believe it is! Now repent for your actions, or I shall cut you down!" she yelled.

Yuu takes a few steps back and says nervously, "Hey, calm down! You're going to hurt someone! I have no idea what you're talking about!"

The strange girl moved forward, which forced Yuu to move further back. As Yuu gets close to the side of a nearby tree, another shadow appears on the branches of another tree. Suddenly, the shadow figure steps into the light and shows herself. She is barely four feet tall wearing a fancy scarlet red dress, a matching pair of red gloves and glossy sandals. On her face is a red feathered mask that covers everything from the nose up. In her hand, she had some sort of steel bat, but decorated with hearts and stars, and a large yellow star welded to the end . Her light purple hair was tied to the sides into a pair of thick spiraling pig tails.

"That's enough Samurai Princess!" yelled the smaller girl from the top of the nearby tree.

Yuu looks up at the tree, and notices the girl screaming from up there. His eyes pop wide open as he says, "What the hell is going on here? Is this some sort of screening for a very lame cartoon or something?"

The girl jumps down, and runs towards Samurai Princess. Samurai Princess swings her shining blade, but the little girl swiftly dodges the attack. In a flash, the little girl gets between Yuu and Samurai Princess. She holds up her bat as if she was trying to shield him.

Samurai Princess smirks and says, "Well, if it isn't my arch rival. Stand away, that man will be punished for his thoughtless actions!"

"You shall not harm this man, or anyone in this island! For as long as I am here with my magic wand! I am-" before she finishes her line, she does a silly magical girl pose and yells, "Magical Warrior Ruby!"

Yuu can't believe what he is seeing. First, a grown young lady carrying a large Japanese sword thinking she is the police and executioner. Then a petite overly dressed warrior with a iron rod she calls a "magic wand" appears. For a moment, Yuu forgets how serious the situation is. The girl that calls herself ruby nudges Yuu and whispers, "Hey, get out of here while you still can!"

Yuu is still stunned by what is happening. Ruby then stomps on his foot snapping him out of his trance. She then yells, "If you stay here, she will hurt you!"

Yuu has no other choice but to run away. Samurai Princess tries to stop him, but Ruby continues to get in her way. She feels very annoyed that she allowed Yuu get away. So she puts herself in a fighting stance, and prepares to attack Ruby. "I am getting tired of you interfering with my duty! Today will be the day that I strike you down!" she yelled.

"Bring it on!" provoked Ruby.

Both girls start to fight. Ruby's "Magic Wand" is made of hard steel, so she is able to block all of the attacks from Samurai Princess' blade. As Yuu runs away, the sound of metals clashing between the two girl stops hims. Even though both girls are very talented fighters, Yuu feels obligated to help Ruby.

He remembers that Samurai Princess mentioned that he littered earlier. He then looks around for anything that he may have dropped. After a monent, he quickly spots his rag that he dropped while he was walking home. So he picks it up, and runs back to the warring females.

Before Yuu arrives back at the scene, Ruby and Samurai Princess get into a deadlock between weapons. Samurai princess is taller and stronger than Ruby, so she is able to push her back. As she pushes, Ruby trips on a rock, and falls down on the dirt. She drops the bat, and it skids too far away for her to recover. Before she is able to get up, Samurai Princess pins Ruby down, and points her sword at her.

"I finally got you!" Samurai Princess yelled proudly.

"Darn! What do I do now?" Ruby thought to herself.

Samurai Princess grins cheerfully and says, "I'll finally get rid of you, and I'll deliver my justice in peace from now on!"

She raises her blade, and is only moments away from eliminating Ruby. But Yuu stands between then and yells, "STOP!!!"

The two girls look at Yuu who came back to stop them from fighting. They are both shocked to see him return so suddenly. "What are you doing here! I told you to leave!" whispered Ruby.

Yuu ignored Ruby and presented Samurai Princess with the rag that he dropped. He then yells, "I picked up the thing I dropped! I'm sorry for dropping it, it was a mistake! So stop fighting already!"

After seeing that Yuu had picked up his rag, Samurai Princess feels that her job is done. So she put away her sword, and walks off into the night. As she leaves, she says, "I'm impressed that someone was able to admit that they were wrong, and did something to correct it. But be careful, I'll be watching you!"

She then vanishes into the darkness. Yuu takes a deep breath, and falls to his knees. He thought that he was going to get hurt, but he is relieved that everything turned out okay. Ruby stands up, and pats the dirt off her dress. "You actually came back to help me?" she asked.

Well, you did help me out. I thought it was the least I could do." answered Yuu.

Ruby laughs and says, "Falling like that never happened to me before, so thank you very much. If you would have ran away like everyone else did, I could have been hurt really badly."

Yuu then asks, "What's going on anyway? Why is she acting so crazy, and why are you both dressed like that?"

Ruby winks and says, "Sorry, but that's a secret. But we shall meet again!"

In a heartbeat, she jumps into the air, and on a branch. She jumps off disappearing into the night like Samurai Princess did. But after she left the scene, Yuu asks himself, "How the heck did she do that? . . . Well, at least I now know that I'll need to be a little more careful about what I do at night."

To be continued.

[Juxapose]

Part 2

The Madness Continues

Yuu wakes up the next morning feeling Groggy from last night's adventure. He sits up in his bed, and thinks about the events that happened the night before. A young woman dressed in old fashioned Japanese clothes threatened his life with a sword. And a child wearing a fancy red dress waving around a decorated rod claiming to be a warrior of justice. None of it made any sense to him, so he thought that he just had a wacky dream from all the alcohol he drank last night.

That afternoon, he went back to the Chiffon Tailor shop to pick up his clothes. However as he enters the shop, he jumps out of fright to see something very familiar. The back of a young woman with very long blue hair in a twin braided ponytail that almost reaches the floor. But this time, she is not wearing a Shinto priest outfit. She has on a grayish blue shirt, matching plaid long skirt, and blue sandals with a pair of dark green socks. Even though her hairstyle is not very common, he is not sure that this was the same girl that attacked him last night.

Yuu approaches her slowly, not to excite her. He then asks, "Hello? Do you work here?" The girl turns around and faces Yuu. Yuu's eyes widen, and his skin turns pale as soon as he sees her face. The blue eyes and rounded face matched Samurai Princess exactly. The hair, facial features, body type, everything except the clothing matched Samurai Princess exactly.

Yuu was so terrified, that he then jumps back and shields himself yelling, "I didn't do anything wrong! I swear! I was just picking up some clothes, that's all! Please have mercy!"

The young girl tilted her head to the side in confusion, she has no idea what he was talking about. It doesn't take Yuu very long to notice that she isn't reacting at all. He slowly opened his eyes again, and takes a look at what's happening. The first thing Yuu notices is expression on her face. Rather than angry blue eyes and a vengeful frown, she now has a sleepy and depressed expression in her face. Yuu knows that this is the same girl as last night, but she doesn't look like she was capable of doing harm to others.

"Hey, are you OK? Samurai Princess?" Yuu dares himself to ask. She picks her head back up, but she still looked confused. Yuu then decids to get a closer look at her. He passes his hand over her face, but there isn't any reaction. Yuu knows that she can see him, but it's almost like if she doesn't even have a soul. He was still very sure that she is Samurai Princess, but he can't figure out why is she so different from last night. It's almost freaking him out.

Yuu places his hand on his chin, and thinks for a moment. "I don't get it. . . Could this be another girl after all? Is there like a twin running around in the village?"

"She can't speak to you." said Juli, surprising him from behind. Yuu jumped out of shock. He suddenly appeared behind Yuu without him noticing. Yuu was concentrating on the girl so much, that he blocked out the rest of the world for a moment.
However, Yuu very confused about what Juli just told him. Since it seemed that he knows something about her, Yuu decided to ask some questions. "Do you know this girl?"

"Her name is Kotomi, she hasn't said a word to anyone since she moved to Waffle Town several years ago." answered Juli.

"Are you sure? She was talking pretty clearly to me last night." asked Yuu in a surprised tone.

"You must be thinking about someone else." snapped Juli. "You see, when she was younger, kids used to bully her all the time. Eventually, she lost the will to speak to anyone. There is no way that she could have spoken to you last night."

Yuu takes another close look at her. No matter what he wants to believe, he is sure that this is the same girl that attacked him last night. "Are you sure? Last night, she had on this strange dress on, and carried a big sword! Her face, her hair, everything matches her, there's no way I could have confused her for someone else."

Juli suddenly places his hand on Yuu's shoulder, and made a very serious face. This makesYuu quite nervous, so he kept quiet to listen to what he had to say to him. "Listen to me. Forget about what happened last night. You were having a strange nightmare, and you met someone that looks like the person in your dream. This girl works for me, and I protect her like if she was a member of my own family. So please, do not upset her in any way. Am I making myself very clear?"

Yuu trembles in fear. The look on Juli's face is so serius, it almost looks like a mother bear protecting her young. If Yuu says or does anything that may upset him, he may just get bitten. So he nods and says, "Uh. . . Yeah, sure. . . Anything you say."

Since Kotomi was no threat anymore, he decides to ignore what happened last night. He turned to Kotomi, and apologized to her. Kotomi's expression does not change, and Yuu wonders if she even understands what he is saying. Juli then hugs everyone cheerfully, and says "Okay, now that we've all made up, let's get you into your new clothes!"

Juli then goes to the back to get Yuu's clothes. As he waits, he takes another look at Kotomi. Her expression hasn't changed at all, still blank and confused. She seemed like she doesn't have any emotion at all, good or bad. Juli then comes back out with some clothing piled in his arms. He placed them on Yuu's hands, and pointed to a door on the side of the room. "The changing room is over there. Please try them on, I can't wait to see you in your beautiful handmade clothes."

Besides how much Juli was smiling, the way he was using the word "beautiful" to describe the clothes he handed Yuu makes him feel a bit awkward. But he goes into the changing room anyway, and tries on his clothes. As he dresses himself, he becomes quite impressed at how well they fit him. The measurements Juli took yesterday are perfect. After changing, he walks out and shows Juli and Kotomi how he looks.

The way Juli swung his body around at the sight of Yuu seemed a bit fruity. Kotomi just looked at Yuu with the same blank expression as when he came into the shop. By the way that they reacted, Yuu couldn't tell whether his clothes were suitable or questionable.

"Oh yes! Just simply beautiful! You look like a young and manly farmer with those clothes! So fabulous, you'll have all the women wrapped around your fingers!" cheered Juli.

"Yuu's face turns red as he says, "Uhh, great. . . Fabulous. . . Thank you very much Juli".

Juli shakes his head no, and says, "Now, now. All I did was help design the clothes. Kotomi here did most of the work."

Yuu is very surprised to hear that. Kotomi appears like she is not capable of doing anything, let alone tailor some clothes for him. So he turned to Kotomi, and thanked her as he bows. Juli wrapped his arm around Kotomi, and pinched her cheek. "Isn't she great? She's not too big on chatting. But when it comes to needles and threads, she's a real killer!" Yuu laughs nervously at Juli's odd choice of words.

"By the way, I wonder where's the other girl at?" Juli comments.

"Other?" asked Yuu. AFter a second, Yuu then remembers that Juli mentioned that there are two girls working for the Tailor shop.

Juli nods and says, "Yes, there were two girls working on your clothes. She was here before you came in, but she disappeared. I was hoping you would thank her too, it's not like her to vanish when we have guests."

"I see, I'll make sure that I'll thank her next time I come by." Yuu once again thank Juli and Kotomi for the clothing, and leaves afterwards. He was very relieved to get out of there as soon as he could, but he knows that he will have to come back often. But this is the life he decided to live, and meeting strange people is part of the job.

"Hey there!" said a high pitched yet familiar voice. The sudden voice that comes from behind Yuu surprises him. He turns around, and from around the corner of the shop stepped out a small girl. She was barely four feet tall, and wore a very light pink dress, and matching shoes. She carries a black stuffed rabbit with a light pink bonnet on it's head. She had very light purple hair tied to the sides like puffy curly pigtails decorated with small flowers.

She smiled at Yuu as she greeted herself. "It's nice to see you again. And you don't look like you got hurt either."

Yuu was very confused, he had no idea why she was acting like she knew him. He ponts at himself and asks "Excuse me. But have we met before?"

The little girl laughs and says, "I knew you wouldn't recognize me." She then pulls out a red feathered mask from her pocket, and placed it on her face. "Now do you recognize me?"

Yuu gasped as he finally realizes who the girl is. "You're that crazy kid from last night!" he exclaims.

She suddenly busted an artery, and grew instantly angry. Yuu quickly noticed this, and stepped back like if an atomic bomb was going to explode. "I AM NOT A KID!!!" she yelled to the top of her lungs.

The way she yelled at him, it almost felt like if fire was coming out of her mouth. Yuu was so shocked at how angry she became in such a short time that he fell on the floor landing on his rear. She turned around with a frown on her face, but she couldn't stay angry with him, he didn't know her situation yet. "I may look like this, but I am in fact 16 years old."

"Sixteen? . . ." Yuu can not believe what he had just heard. He stands up, and takes another alook at her. She is about half his size, and she is wearing the clothing of an 8 year old girl. The stuffed rabbit isn't helping much either. However since he knows that she is the same girl who helped him yesterday, he has a lot of questions to ask.

He clears his throat, and asks, "Uhh. . . Magical Warrior Ruby? What in the world happened yesterday?"

She then looks at him, but she still looks a bit annoyed. She then says, "My real name is Rumi, please remember that." Finally, she walks off saying, "Let's take a walk, we have a lot to talk about."

She walks into the road, and follows it to another shop in the village. Yuu knows that if he wants answers, he has to do what the petite teenager tells him. Rumi was silent for a minute as she walks, but then she started her odd explanation of the events of last night. "I'm sure you met Kotomi already. She normally can't talk to anyone because of what happened when she was younger. But at night, she adopts a different personality, completely opposite from her usual self. The next day, she doesn't remember what she did the night before. Call it a rare case of split personality if you have to. So, someone needs to make sure that she doesn't hurt anyone. I was the one assigned to keep an eye on her at night."

"Um, why you? Couldn't they get another person more capable to handle the situation, like the police or something?" Yuu asked.

"Where do you think you're at?" asked Rumi. "There is no police in Waffle Town. Besides, she is my sister after all."

Yuu suddenly stops out of shock. Rumi notices that Yuu stopped following her, so she turns around and checks on him. After taking a closer look at Rumi, he does notices a family resemblance. Mostly in the facial features and blue eyes. He begins to sweat bullets as he asks, "You're her sister? Are you kidding me? Last night, you almost killed each other!!"

Rumi sighs sadly, and says, "I guess we do get a bit carried away last night. But because of her personality change, she doesn't recognize me at all."

Yuu thinks for a moment. What Rumi is telling him is kinda making sense. He has never met someone with a case of split personality before. But there are still things he doesn't understand about the situation. So he continues to ask, "Why do you both have to dress up at night? Is there some type of meaning to that?"

Rumi sighs once again, and says, "Lets continue walking." As they walk, Rumi remained quiet for another minute. Answering Yuu's questions are not easy, but he does deserve some sort of explanation of what's happening. "That dress my sister wears. It's something that our mother left her, right before she died. When she wears it, she does become a little bit more confident, but it reminds her of mother too much. I guess the painful memories, and trying to fulfil the family's duties can be a bit much for her, and that's when her second personality was born."

"I see." said Yuu in a sad tone. Yuu has never suffered the loss of a family member as close as a parent, so he doesn't know how it feels. "I'm sorry about your mother. It must be hard on you both to lose a parent." But even though he got a proper explaination of Kotomi's dress, he has a hard time believing that Rumi's dress was for the same reason. "But. . . What's the deal with your dress?" he asked.

Rumi tilts her head up and says, "I think it looks super cute. Since my sister dresses up at night, I thought that I should too. It's called cosplay!"

That wasn't an answer Yuu was expecting. He thought that she would tell him about another tragic story that makes her wear a red dress and mask. But she only wears it for self amusement rather than obligation. "I designed that dress myself. Took me a while to complete it too. If I had my sister's help, I could have done it much faster, but I needed to learn to be a good tailor just like Kotomi."

Yuu then quickly remembers that Juli mentioned that Rumi also helped in making the clothes Yuu wears. "Speaking of that, Juli told me that you also helped make my clothes. Thank you very much."

Rumi smiles and says, "I didn't do much. Just sew a few buttons, and pin some fabric down. My sister did most of the work. She's so much better than I am at this type of thing than I will ever be."

Rumi suddenly stops in front of the Kirch in, Yuu also stops behind her. He scratched his head in confusion wondering why the sudden stop. "Why are we at the Kirch Inn?" he asks.

Rumi looks at him, and says, "Why do you think? Because I saved you last night, you could at least treat me to some cake." She then runs in giggling like a child. Yuu couldn't believe at how unrealistic the situation was.

Yuu sighs and says, "For a 16 year old, she sure does act like the age she appears. . . Well, I might as well accept that as being part of the community rather than argue about it." He then walks in the Kirch Inn, and treats Rumi to come cake. As they sit ogether, the other villagers were looking at him strangely. They all knew Rumi's true age, but it looked like if Yuu was on a date with a child. People were starting to question if Yuu had a lolita complex. All Yuu could do is hide his face out of embarrassment.

A couple of nights later, Yuu is out picking some wild crops from Praline Forest. It's pretty late, so he tries his best not to attract any attention, especially from a certain "Princess". But no matter how low he tries to lay, nothing slips past Kotomi's alternate personality without questioning.

From the shadows, Kotomi with her Shinto priest uniform and sword at her side walks up to Yuu. He stops, and tries not to panic. If he even made a single wrong move, it could cost him his head.

She points at Yuu and yells, "You there! Who are you, and what business you have in the middle of the night? Answer honestly, and you may go free!"

"Hey, calm down. I'm just walking back home from a long day of gathering herbs and berries. I don't want any trouble." answered Yuu.

Kotomi inspects his him, and then becomes enraged. Yuu notices that Kotomi is becoming angry without knowing why, then steps back out of sword's reach. Something in his neck is telling him that he might be in trouble.

Kotomi points at him with a horrifying anger in her eyes and yells, "It's you! I should have known you would come back to haunt me!"

At this point, Yu is prepared to run. He has no idea what he has done to anger the oddly dress young woman. "Hey, I don't know what you're talking about. Let's sit down, and talk about it like adults." begged Yuu.

She unsheaths her sword, and prepares for a fight. She then yells, "Enough! This is revenge!"

He had no idea what she was talking about, but his first reaction is to run for his life. Yuu may be a fast runner, but Kotomi was able to keep up with him very easily. Yuu then runs through the Maple Lake District where many people live, hoping to get some help from the locals. But noo matter how loud Yuu and Kotomi are, the other villagers sees it as something normal, and are able to sleep past it.

As soon as Yuu was in range, Kotomi jumps into the air, and was about to split Yuu in two halves. But right before the blade lands, Rumi jumps in, and blocks the attack that would have ended Yuu's life instantly. He falls to the ground as Kotomi struggles with Rumi dressed in the red dress and mask in an arms lock.

"You again!?" Kotomi growled. "How many times must you interfere with my work!?"

Rumi pushes back as hard as she possibly could and says, "This man is not the one from your past! Leave him alone at once, he is innocent!"

"Never!!" answered Kotomi in a frantic tone. Using as much force as she can muster, Kotomi throws Rumi through the air, landing on her face. Kotimi then runs after yuu with her blade in her hand ready to end his life. Yuu then takes out a log that he was carrying around from the Praline Forest, and uses it to block Kotomi's ruthless strike. The log gets suck on the sword, and it takes her a moment to get it off.

"Don't just lie there you idiot! Hide somewhere!" yelled Rumi. She then runs back to challenge the outraged elder sister to give Yuu time to find somewhere to hide. As their steel clashed, Yuu found an empty barrel to hide in behind one of the homes nearby.

As soon Yuu was hidden, Rumi decids that it is time to end the battle. "Give it up Samurai Princess, you'll never defeat me."

"Don't bet on it!" yelled Kotomi. "After I finally strike you down, I'll get my vengeance on that coward who teases little girls for his enjoyment!"

"Oh really? How will you get your revenge if he's gone?" asked Rumi. Kotomi then takes her attention away from Ruby, and notices that Yuu is gone. Rumi then pulls down her lower left eyelid, and sticks out her tongue at Kotomi. With all her might, she pushes Rumi with her sword sending her flying into the air once again. Desperate to find him, she runs off looking for Yuu into the darkness. The battle was over for now.

Rumi knows where Yuu is hiding, so she knocks on the barrel where he hides to tell him it's safe to come out. Yuu pops his head out, and noticed that Kotomi is gone. He takes a deep breath, and sighed in relief. "If I were you, I'd go home before my sister comes back." said Kotomi.

"Wait a second, why is she acting crazy now? I have never met her before in my life, and she claims that she knows me." asked Yuu.

"Meet me at the back of Chiffon Tailor shop tomorrow. I'll explain everything then. But for now, just go home." Before Yuu says anything else, Rumi jumps onto the rooftop of the building, and hops away. Taking Rumi's advice, he runs as fast as he could back to his farm. He slams the door shut, and locks it tightly. Last time he met up with Kotomi's alternate personality, it was a very close call. This time, he was only inches from getting killed. All he could do now was rest for the next day, hoping that events like this would never happen again.

The next afternoon, Rumi and Yuu went back to the Kirch Inn where she demanded ice cream as payment for rescuing him again. Once again, people were thinking that they were on a date. Yuu just shook his head in embarrassment. He felt that at this rate, any chance at romance was completely ruined. However, Yuu doesn't complain at all. Rumi had a few briuses and scrapes from last night's figh, so the ice cream was well deserved.

"What's wrong? You don't look too good. . ." asked Rumi. "Hey, you're not getting the wrong idea and think this is some sort of date, right?"

Yuu sighs and says, "Please don't say weird stuff like that, I have enough problems with your sister chasing me around at night, like a cat chases a mouse."

"Rumi laughs a bit, which makes Yuu feel quite peeved. "Well, it can't be helped. Everyone in the town has already got used to her, and avoids walking alone at night. Since you're new, you're an easy target."

Her speech was not making him feel any better. In fact, he felt like if she was saying that Yuu is the bad guy. Since they are on the topic, Yuu feels that he might as well ask about yesterday's events. "By the way, what was bothering Kotomi this time? I didn't do anything wrong, but she still wanted to kill me! She said something about me coming back to haunt her, and someone picking on girls for their enjoyment."

"It's your clothes. Those farmer's clothes are upsetting her." answered Rumi.

"Upsetting her? But why?" asked Yuu.

Rumi takes another bite of her ice cream before answering, "When Kotomi was about 12 years old, there was a group of kids that picked on her. The leader of that group was the son of a farmer that lived in our home town. Ironically, the clothes Juli and Kotomi designed together resemble the clothes that the young boy wore a long time ago."

"Are you serious?! So you're telling me that she thinks I'm the guy who teased her when she was a kid?"

Rumi nods and says, "Yep! That boy was so terrible too. Besides being the leader of that group, he called her all sorts of names, and threw stones and sticks at her, and hit her. You can't blame her for getting upset."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? Even worse, why did you even help make these clothes if all they would do is cause me grief?" yelled Yuu. Everyone in the inn was staring even more, but Yuu didn't care at this point.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't think she would remember the boy in her "samurai" personality. She does remember his clothes well enough to help Juli design them the way they are, but not well enough to know why she does. Samurai Princess usually carried no memories of Kotomi, but it seems like I was wrong. She seem to carry Kotomi's painful memories, which is why she is so harsh to punish people for doing even the simplest things."

What Rumi says made perfect sense, and the he slams his head on the table. He almost cries knowing that the attacks might actually continue for a long time. "So what do I do now?" he asks.

"You'll have to ask Juli make you a new set of clothes. Something different from what Kotomi remembers." Rumi answers.

"Are you kidding me? I don't have enough money to buy new clothes. And Juli won't make another set for free, it was a one time favor."

"Well, then you'll have to stay indoors at night. Either way, getting new clothes or treating me to sweets each time I rescue you is going to cost money." said Rumi, before she continues with her ice cream. He couldn't believe his situation. As a farmer, he is sometimes obligated to work after hours, especially since he needs money to live. But because of Kotomi, he might have a very difficult life ahead of him.

"Darn it all, isn't there something I can do to end this whole mess?" Yuu said thoughtlessly.

Rumi takes an interest in what Yuu just said. She poked him in the head with the spoon to get his attention. He lifted his head up, and saw that Rumi was looking hard at him with interest. "Hey, are you willing to do ANYTHING? Anything at all?

"Sure! If there is a way to end this, I'm willing to do whatever it takes." Yuu answered without knowing anything what she had planned.

Rumi nods and says, "I think there is a way to help my sister recover from her condition. But we'll have to do some cosplay in order for it to work."

Yuu sighs and says, "Fine, it's a lot better than being killed by your sister."

Rumi took a scoop of her ice cream, and put it in her mouth. Suddenly she remembers something that her grandmother told her when she was younger. Yuu was growing suspicious at Rumi who was looking in the air lost in thought. "I wonder. . . Could you be the one?"

"Hey, if you're planning to dress me up in a girl's outfit, forget about it!" yelled Yuu.

Rumi busted another artery. Yuu saw stars after she hit him with the spoon as hard as she could. Yuu was fine, but he had a bump on the top of his head. "What was that for?" yelled Yuu.

"That was for having a smart mouth!" answered Rumi. "Now listen up buster! Meet me behind the Chiffon Tailor shop at 9:00 PM tonight. Do not come dressed in your farm clothes, I don't want you attracting any attention before my plan. Got it?"

Yuu sighs rubbing the bump on his head. "Okay, okay. Fine, I'll be there."

Yuu continued his farm work for the rest of his day. He was a bit nervous about what Rumi has planned for him. She told him nothing about the plan, and how will it work. All she did tell him was, "Just act natural, everything will fall into place on it's own." He had no idea what that meant, but he was willing to try almost anything.

That night, Yuu arrived at the Chiffon Tailor shop at 9:00 PM exactly. But Rumi was nowhere to be found. Since Rumi lived there, he knows that she will come out eventually. After a few minutes waiting, Yuu finally hears Rumi's voice, "Hey, I'm over here!"

Yuu turns around, he was shocked at what he saw. Rumi is now wearing the school uniform of a kindergarten girl. As young her light pink dress made her look, she even looked younger now. The costume came complete with the yellow hat, and a school backpack.

"R...R...R..RUMI!!! What in the world are you wearing?" Yuu yelled nervously.

"It's the costume for my plan to work!"

Yuu sighs once again and says, "Okay, I give up. What kind of plan is this anyway?

Rumi then throws him a small sack with clothes inside of it. Yuu pulls out the clothes, inside is a brown trench coat and a brown hat with a brim. Yuu still didn't understand why is Rumi giving him these clothes, and what purpose did a kindergarten uniform have with them. "Am I really supposed to wear this?"

Rumi places her arms on her hips and says, "Quit your complaining, and hurry up! My sister might find us any minute now."

Yuu nods, and quickly puts on the trench coat and hat. At first, he thought that she was dressing him up as a detective, but he soon found out that he was wrong. The coat and hat had some oil and other unidentifiable stains on it. Rumi then puts a thumb up and says, "You look great! You'd make a natural stalker in that coat."

"Stalker!?" asked Yuu. "What are you planning on doing?"

"You'll see. . ." Before Yuu protests, she jumps on his chest and held as tight as she could. She suddenly screamed as loud as she could, obviously to get some attention. Yuu freaked out, if anyone caught him in his uncomfortable situation, things will become very hectic.

"Oh please, don't touch me there Mr. Pervert! I'm only an innocent child! Please someone rescue me!" Rumi acted, trying to attract attention on purpose.

Yuu panics and yells, "Rumi! What are you doing?! Get off of me before someone finds us!"

"What's going on here!?" yelled a very familiar voice. Yuu suddenly becomes very terrified upon hearing that voice. He slowly turns around to see his worst nightmare come true. Samurai Princess stood there with her blade already drawn, and her blue eyes burned with anger. He looked down at Rumi who was still holding on to him in a very awkward way.

Yuu then points at Rumi and says, "Umm. . . This is not what it looks like. I can explain, I swear."

"Silence Lecher! Not only are you dressed to hide in the shadows, and prey in innocent children. But you have the nerve to make excuses?!" Yuu already knows that he is in trouble. If small crimes like littering can get you killed. He can't even begin to imagine what Kotomi might do to him at this point.

Rumi felt that she has enraged her sister far enough. She jumped off his chest, and skipped away. "I'm done here, you can handle the rest. Just remember, act natural."

"Hey wait, don't leave me here alone with her!" begged Yuu.

Just about as he is about to catch up with Rumi, Kotomi stops him with her blade. She had him against a corner with the edge of the blade close to his throat. There was no way Yuu could talk his way out if this one.

Kotomi grins and says, "Still think you can explain yourself? A little girl cries for help. And when I come by to check, I see a stalker with a little girl in his arms. For this, you shall die! Now, do you have any last words?"

At this point, Yuu's life begins to flash before his eyes. He is almost sure that he is going to die. But he quickly came up with a clever idea after remembering yesterday's events. He points at the opposite direction, and yells, "Look over there! It's that farmer who bullied you when you were a kid!"

She turns around to the direction Yuu pointed at, but she finds nothing. She faced Yuu again, but he had already ran away. Samurai Princess was not going to let him escape this time, so he jumped to the top of the Chiffon Tailor shop to find him running to the directon of his farm. She isn't going to let him get away, so she jumps off the roof, and chases him. Rumi watches them run off, and feels a bit angry. "That idiot! He was supposed to keep her busy until I get things ready!" She then pulls out her scarlet costume, and says, "Looks like I'll have to play a different role today."

Kotomi is much faster than yesterday, and she is able to catch up in no time. She grabbed her blade, and drives it into the concrete road. She lounges the blade forward, releasing energy that splits the road in two. Before it hit Yuu, he was able to jump out of the way, but he almost wets his pants while witnessing the destruction left behind. The road is completely destroyed, bricks and debris flew in every imaginable direction.

Yuu's face turns completely white as he says, "Holy crap! Where did she learn how to do that? This can't be possible!"

The distraction left Yuu open and vulnerable for an attack. Samurai Princess jumped into the air, and was about to end Yuu's life. "Prepare to die!!" she screamed as she is about to land a final attack. As his life flashed before his eyes once again, Rumi dressed as Magical Warrior Ruby jumps in, and blocks Samurai Princess' attack. He almost cries at the sudden sight of her. "Oh my god, I'm saved." he said to himself.

Kotomi points at Rumi, and asks, "What are you doing? Do not stop me from punishing this man! I personally saw him stalking little children, this is punishable by death!"

Rumi laughs and says, "Stopping you? What are you talking about? I'm only here to punish this man for preying on young girls as well. You just got in the way of my attack."

"WHAT!!!" screamed Yuu. At this point, he only thought of the worst possible outcome. Yuu quickly stands up up, and steps backwards. Both Samurai Princess and Ruby were walking up to him with a murderous fire in their eyes. Yuu had no idea what's going on, this was Rumi's plan, but she's going to help Samurai Princess this time.

Rumi points at Yuu and yells, "You mister are a very bad man. And by the name of justice, I will punish you. For I am. . ." She then does a silly magical girl pose as she says, "Magical Warrior Ruby!"

"Come on! Two against one? That's not fair!" Yuu compleined.

"Silence you molester of children, and just die!" yelled Kotomi.

At this point, he feels that they both had lost their mind.Yuu then runs as fast as his legs could move while Rumi and Kotomi chases him around town. Yuu was screaming like a little girl as he run through town waking up everyone he passed by. Instead of helping Yuu, all he could hear was complains from the villagers like, "Hey, can you keep it down! People are trying to sleep here!" They all saw Yuu running down the road in a trench coat, and two girls chasing him, but to them it was normal behavior.

"What is with this town? People try to kill you, and nobody cares? Is this some sort of cruel joke?" compleined Yuu as he continues to run around Waffle Town.

Yuu quickly turns left between some houses to hide in the shadows. The two sisters follow him between the houses, but they lost Yuu for a moment. Rumi looks back, and knew where Yuu is hiding. She then whispers in Kotomi's ear, and they both split up. Yuu thought he was safe, so he turns back, and tries to walk back home.

But as he moved around the corner of the house, he found Kotomi standing there waiting for him. She was too close to run away anymore, Yuu is caught. "I got you now! Have you said your prayers yet?" said Kotomi as she points her sword at his throat.

Yuu had another idea, and says, "Uhh, no. How about if you let me go now, and you can kill me after I said my prayers!"

Kotomi laughs like a maniac and says, "That trick wont work on me! Prepare to die!"

"Go to sleep!!" said Rumi. Right before Samurai Princess had the chance to end Yuu's life, Rumi jumps off the house right over them. From her back, she grabs a second bat decorated with flowers and cute animals. At the exact same time, Rumi hits both Yuu and Kotomi in the head knocking them out simultaneously. They both collapse,Rumi then puts away her bats waiting for the results of her cosplaying to pay off.

She then drags both Yuu and Kotomi close to one another and says, "Okay, I did exactly what Grandma told me to do. I hope this works." She then sits nearby, and places her hands together, almost as if she is praying. Finally, she begins to chant some words her grandmother taught her. This is all she can really do for them at this point.

To be continued.

[Juxapose]

Part 3

Story of the Madness

Yuu wakes up shortly after getting hit by Rumi's second bat He stands up heavily rubbing his head where he was struck moments ago. As he rubs his head, he notices that it didn't hurt at all, and there isn't a bump on it either. After rubbing his eyes, he gasps loudly at the sight of where he is. At first, he beleived that the village appears dark because it was still night. But after fully waking up, he realizes that he is no longer in Waffle Town.

The last thing he remembers was Rumi jumping off the roof of the closest house. Yuu felt that he wasn't out cold for too long, but there are no signs that he was either carried, dragged or moved from where he passed out. All he can see is endless darkness, no colors, walls, buildings, or people in sight. Even the floor that he stands on is pitch black. He then assumes that he was moved into a dark room without any light, but he could see his hands and legs very clearly.

After randomly guessing his location several times, he hears a child crying nearby. He turns around, and sees a young girl sitting behind him hugging her knees. Yuu didn't see her there moments ago, she just suddenly appeared out of thin air. She has medium-long blue hair, and she is wearing a junior high school uniform. By the way she looks and dresses, Yuu assumes that she is about 12 years old.

Yuu doesn't know who she is at first, but he feels that he can at least ask her where they are. But even so, Yuu hesitates to do so considering how upset she is. If he makes her any more upset than she already is, then he may attract the attention of Samurai Princess again He walkes up to her slowly, trying his best to avoid any sudden movements or sounds. He stops several feet away from her, far enough to give her personal space, but close enough to talk to. He then takes a deep breath, and speaks in a clear and calm voice. "Hello? Excuse me, but do you know where are we? My name is Yuu, I really don't know how I got here."

The young girl suddenly stops crying, and turns around to see who is talking to her. Yuu gasps at the first sight of her face. The blue eyes, facial features, blue colored hair matches Kotomi perfectly. However, she is much younger than he last saw her.

"Kotomi? Is that you?" asked Yuu curiously. "What happened to you? Why do you look so young? What's going on here?"

Kotomi sniffles a bit before answering, "Who are you? How do you know my name?"

Kotomi is just as confused as Yuu is, but they are that way for different reasons. Unlike Yuu, Kotomi isn't surprised by where she is, rather she is more shocked to see that someone is with her. This gives Yuu the impression that Kotomi has been sitting there for a long time.

What surprises Yuu the most is that Kotomi is actually speaking to him normally. In her normal state, she couldn't talk at all, and in her "alternate" state, she only wants to kill him. Rather than exchanging questions all day, Yuu feels that he should just talk to her instead. "I'm a friend of your sister Rumi. I really don't know how she did it, but I think she sent me here to help you."

"My sister did?" said Kotomi in a near crying tone.

Yuu reaches out to Kotomi and asks, "Tell me, why were you crying?"

Kotomi answers, "Because. . . Mother and father died. These bad kids keep picking on me, so I ran away to this dark and lonely place. It happened so long ago, but no matter how long I wait for the bad people to go away, it still seems like it happened only yesterday."

"Happened only yesterday? . . . Kotomi, where are we?" asked Yuu.

Suddenly, the young Kotomi vanishes without a trace. Yuu gasps, then takes a quick look around. He yells to the top of his lungs trying to get a reply from anyone. But all he can hear are his echoes of his voice in the distance. He isn't getting any results just standing around, so he starts to run in the direction he is facing. He has no idea where he is going, but he doesn't care. All he wants to do is find some sort of clue as to where he is.

After several minutes of running, he stops to catch his breath. Taking deep hard breaths, and eyes shut tightly, he feels that he might be dreaming. As far as why is his dream pitch black, and why Kotomi was the only other person in it is beyond him. But a new surprise awaits for him as he re-opens his eyes. All the darkness that he saw only moments ago is gone. He finds himself in a small town, but he is very sure it was not Waffle Town. Yuu remains standing in place, and looks around in all directions trying to figure out where he is now. He sees a lot of cherry blossoms blooming, so he is sure it was Spring. There are no cherry blossoms in Waffle Town, so this was a hint that he is not there, or anywhere nearby.

After some time, he starts to walk down the concrete sidewalk. Soon, he notices a small city in the distance near the horizon. Since he is looking down at it, the town he found himself has to be located near or on the side of a tall hill. To his right, he finds a huge traditional Japanese style house with a tall wall bordering around it. The gates of the house are open, so he lets himself in.

He did say "Hello!" and "Can I come in?" before entering, but no one heard him. Desperate for answers, he walks in anyway. After walking around for a minute, he hears the voice of a middle aged man over at the side of the property. He follows it hoping to find someone who can tell him something. He is shocked at who he finds instead. A hefty powerful looking middle aged man with dark brown hair sitting on a cushion. In front of him is a little girl who looks remarkably like Kotomi.

This time, Kotomi is even younger than the last time he saw her. Based on Kotomi's height and childish features, it was obvious to Yuu that she was about six years old. The man in front of her has to be her father.

As he stands by, Kotomi's Father says, "Kotomi, I have something I have to talk to you about. Since you are now six years old, you are plenty old enough to learn our family's trade."

"Family trade? What do you mean father?" answered young Kotomi.

Kotomi's Father answers, "Our family business has always been involved with tailoring. We make only the finest and highest quality clothing. This has been how our family found success in finances for the last 10 generations. As my oldest daughter, you are the next in line to take over as head of the family business after me. So, your mother and I will start teaching you the secrets of the mastery of tailoring starting tomorrow. Do you understand what I am telling yo Kotomi?"

Kotomi nods and responds, "I understand father. I'll do my best!"

Kotomi's Father is pleased that his daughter has accepted her role in the family trade. So he continues, "Also, I will need to teach you the art of the blade. The shrines in the temple hidden in the forest behind our house is where our late ancestors rest in peace. It is our family duty to protect them from evil as well."

Yuu approaches them, and tries to say something, but no matter how loud he gets, they can not hear him. He even walks up to them, and passed his hand over their faces, but they can't see him either. For a moment, he believes that he may have died, and he's watching flashbacks of his life. But he quickly remembers that this is not his life he is watching. All he could do is watch them, and try to figure out what's going on.

There is a sword resting beside Kotomi's father. He picks it up, and places it on Kotomi's hands. However, the sword is too heavy for her to hold, but she still tries her best to carry it in her arms."Your grandfather passed me that sword when I was your age. I was hoping to give it to you later, but considering that your sister Rumi was born last year, I feel that I should give it to you now. Not only am I counting on you to protect our family temple, but I also want you to protect your younger sister as well. Do you understand Kotomi?"

Kotomi continues to struggle with the weight of the sword, but she still answers, "Yes father!"

Earlier, Yuu learned from Rumi how Kotomi got her clothes, but this is the first time he learns where how Kotomi gets her sword. When Yuu met Kotomi for the first time, he thought that it was a fake, or a prop from a bad cartoon show. Now he understands the reason why the sword is so important to her, because it was a precious momento from her father.

Soon after Kotomi receives the sword, Kotomi and her father vanishes from the scene. The setting changes a bit as well, the air gets warmer, and the cherry blossoms are no longer in bloom. In only a moments time, Summer has arrived.

A door opens nearby, and an even younger girl steps out. At first glance,Yuu assumes that it was Kotomi who is even younger. But he quickly realizes that it is not her. Rather than a deep blue hair color, this girl had bright purple hair color which are tied up in twin pigtails, and she carried a black stuffed rabbit in her arms. Soon enough, Yuu figures out that this girl is Rumi when she was a child, not Kotomi.

Yuu then hears the sounds of loud grunts, and the sound of a sword swinging through the air behind him. He turns around and sees Kotomi swinging the sword her father has given to her earlier. She is now wearing a Karate Gi, which is customary for training martial arts in. She is now about three years older than the last scene which makes her about nine years old. Within the last three years, she has already learned how to carry the sword with minimal difficulty.

Rumi walks past Yuu. Just like Kotomi and her father, Rumi can't see or hear Yuu either. She stops near Kotomi with a bored look in her face. "Sissy? What're you doin'?" Rumi asked her sister.

Kotomi stops swinging and finally notices her sister right behind her. "Oh, hi Rumi. I'm practicing the moves our father taught me a little while ago. You'd better step back, you might get hurt if you're too close."

Rumi puts her finger on her cheeck and says, "Is it fun? Can I try?"

Kotomi knows that her sister wants to spend some time with her. She returns the sword in it's sheath tied around her waist. She then checks her watch, and takes a deep breath. She looked at Rumi, and smiled. "It's about lunchtime. I guess it's time for a break. Want to join me Rumi?"

Rumi jumps around happily as her sister shows her boxed lunch to her. Inside the plastic container are a bunch of rice balls that gives Kotomi the energy she needs to train. Rumi grabs two of them, one on each hand, and starts eating them. Kotomi laughed at how impatient her sister is. They both moved to the same place where Kotomi and her father sat in the last scene.

Yuu was really amazed at how happy and cheerful Kotomi is when she was younger. Usually, he has seen her in her "samurai" self, or an empty shell of a human being. Watching these flashbacks of Kotomi's memory, Yuu almost finds it hard to believe that this was the same person he met back in Waffle town.

Rumi asks with her mouth full of rice, "So, is 'tat knife really that much fun?"

Kotomi laughs and answers, "It's called a sword, not a knife. It's not exactly fun, but I guess it's not boring either. I guess I would rather call it 'challenging'."

Rumi looks down sadly and says, "Really? It must be a lot more fun tan what I do. Daddy teaches me nutin', and you get to do all the fun stuff."

"Rumi, you're only four years old. Father never taught me anything until I was at least six years old."

"But daddy no wanna teach me nutin'. Daddy tells me 'tat 'It's your sister's duty.' or sumthin' else I dun get. It's no fair. . ." responds Rumi kicking a nearby pebble.

Kotomi knows where Rumi is going with this. She places her rice ball back in her box, and lays her right hand on Rumi's head playing with her hair. Rumi giggled at Kotomi's playful gesture. Kotomi then says, "How about if we do this? . . . When you turn six years old, I'll teach you what father taught me."

Rumi gasps cheerfully and says, "Really? Pinky promise?"

Kotomi giggles and says, "Of course! Would I lie to my own sister?"

Rumi stands up, and starts running around in circles, jumping for joy. She is really excited to learn about what Kotomi does every day. Soon afterwards, the both vanish. The setting doesn't change much, it was still Summer, but time definitely had passed.

Yuu then hears some more grunting coming from behind him, this time it was not Kotomi's voice he hears. He turns around, and sees Kotomi and Rumi once again, both dressed up in Karate Gi uniforms. They both have aged a little since the last scene, Kotomi is now eleven years old, and Rumi is now six. The grunting Yuu heard earlier was coming from Rumi who was throwing punches at the air. Kotomi stands nearby supervising Rumi's form.

Kotomi hits the tip of her sheathed sword on the ground and scolds, "Your technique is too sloppy! When you throw a punch, you have to step forward, and turn your fist counterclockwise!"

Rumi then falls to the ground completely exhausted. Kotomi placed her hand on her own head, and shook her head as if she was saying no. She then yells, "Get up Rumi! I thought you were serious about this?"

Rumi takes a deep breath and yells, "Give me a break! I didn't know this was going to be this hard!"

Kotomi sighs and yells, "You only have been doing this for only thirty minutes! When father started training me, he did not let me rest for at least five hours!"

Rumi then stands back up, and continues her training. But after only a few minutes, Rumi becomes fed up, and yells, "What is the point of all this? Punching the air? I thought I was supposed to be learning how to swing a sword?"

"You can't learn how to handle a blade before learning the basics. Father taught me this a long time ago." said Kotomi.

Rumi stamps on the floor and yells, "Basics? What's so basic about this? All you do is wave dad's sword around, what's so special about that?"

Seeing that Rumi needs to be taught an important lesson, she takes the sword, and carries it with one arm parallel to the ground. She holds it out to show Rumi why the basics of martial arts are very important. Rumi walks up to Kotomi, and stares at her serious face nervously. "Take our father's sword, then you'll understand." said Kotomi in a stern manner.

Rumi holds out both of her hands, and waits for Kotomi to place the sword in them. Kotomi gently places the sword in Rumi's hands, and releses it. Rumi then suddenly falls forward on her face, the sword is far too heavy for her to carry.

Rumi rubs her nose that hit the ground and tells, "OWWW!!! This thing weighs a ton! How on earth do you hold this with one hand?"

Kotomi picks the blade up and says, "It took me a year of punching air to get strong enough to carry it. Another two years to learn how to wield it properly. It's not easy, but I did learn how to do this the hard way.

Rumi stands back up, and dusted off her uniform. She then placed her fists on her hips, and looked at Kotomi with an annoyed pout on her face. "Isn't there an easier way to do this? Something a little bit more fun?" asked Rumi.

Kotomi then begins to think for a moment. She runs back inside the house looking for something she created for herself some time ago. She then finds her wooden sword that she made in a chest in her room. Finally she walks out of the house, and hands it to Rumi.

Rumi looks at the wooden sword awkwardly and asks, "What is this piece of junk? It's definitely not a sword."

Kotomi laughs and says, "I used this to develop my my technique a little bit faster. Father always got angry when I used it, but I'm sure he won't mind if you do."

Seeing how it can help her, Rumi waves it around to get a good feel of it. The wooden sword was much lighter and easier to handle than Kotomi's sword. She feels almost powerful wielding it with no effort. She smiles and says, "This feels so cool! It's like swinging a sword, but it looks more like a bat!"

They both laughed cheerfully. But as quickly as they appeared, they vanish again. Yuu quickly turns around thinking that the next scene was going to happen behind him again. But in the blink of an eye, he finds himself in a completely different place. This time, he finds himself in someone's bedroom. He also find Kotomi sitting on the carpet in the bedroom. At this point, she is about the same age as the Kotomi he met when he first arrived into the strange world of empty darkness. Sitting in front of Kotomi, he saw an older woman who resembles her very much. The blue hair, eye color, and facial features matches almost perfectly. He is quickly able to tell that this other woman is Kotomi's mother.

"Kotomi dear, how has your training been coming along?" asked Kotomi's mother.

Kotomi bows gracefully, and answers, "Father has been very strict and hard on me. But because of his diligent training, I have learned so much within the last six years."

Kotomi's Mother smiles and continues, "I'm glad. Your father has been very proud of you as well. If you keep this up, you'll be a great head of family in the future. But now, I have a gift for you."

Kotomi's mother shoves cardboard box that contains some sort of clothing to Kotomi. When she opens the box, both Yuu and Kotomi gasps at what they find inside. It is the Shinto Priestess dress that Kotomi has been wearing when Yuu met her for the first time back in Waffle Town.

Kotomi asked in a shocked tone, "Mother, this is the dress that you always wear when you pray at the family temple. Why are you giving this to me?"

Kotomi's Mother answers, "I'm sure your father has told you already. As the future head of this family, you will also be the future guardian of our family temple as well. With your father's sword and my garments, It will be up to you to guard the temple from evil. And do not forget to protect your younger sister Rumi as well."

Kotomi bows gracefully once again, and says, "Yes mother. I will protect them from evil. This I promise you."

To be continued.

[Juxapose]

Part 4

The Madness Ends

The scene quickly changes, Yuu finds himself outside once again. But this time, he finds himself in the small city that he saw earlier outside of Kotomi's house. It doesn't take long until Yuu realizes why this place is very important to Kotomi.

From the other side of the street, Yuu is able to see Kotomi walking down the street with two other young girls. She hasn't aged since the last scene, which means that this event that Yuu is witnessing occurred shortly after Kotomi received her mother's dress. She is also wearing the same exact school uniform that Yuu saw when he first woke up in the darkness. He can already tell what is going to happen next.

As soon as Kotomi gets close to the end of the block, a loud screeching noise fills the air, followed by a sudden crash. An accident occured on a street very close to where Kotomi and her friends were walking. Curious to know what happened, they all run over to see what had just happened. Yuu follows them to see if what he fears is about to become a reality.

At the crash site, Kotomi immediately recognizes one of the cars that was involved. Inside the car are two people who did not survive the accident. Just as Yuu thought, both of them are Kotomi's parents.

Kotomi goes insane when she sees her parents in the wreckage. They had already died, but she still tries her hardest to go to them. About six people had to restrain her before she jumps into the fiery crimson flames that took two people that were most dearest to her. Even though she kicked, screamed, and cried, everyone saved her from hurting herself trying to save two people who have already died. The scene was so sad, even Yuu was driven to tears.

Suddenly, everyone vanishes. The people, Kotomi, and the crash had disappeared, but there is still damage to the road proving that the accident had already happened. Time has skipped ahead, but only a few days. Yuu then hears some noises coming from the street that he was on earlier. A group of teenagers are screaming, and Kotomi's yell can be heard over them.

He follows the sound of everyone's voice, and finds a crowd of teenagers in a large circle in the middle of the street. He passes through everyone to see what was going on in the middle of the circle, what he sees horrifies him. A young teenager only a year older than Kotomi is pushing her around. The other teenagers are calling Kotomi horrible names, and throwing sticks and stones at her. Yuu tries to stop them, but nobody can see, hear, or feel his presence. All he can do is watch this nightmare happen helplessly.

After the bully throws Kotomi around some more, he says, "Have you had enough? You're not so tough without your mother and father to protect you, huh?"

Yuu quickly notices the clothing the bully is wearing. They are almost exactly the same as the farming clothes Kotomi made for Yuu at the Chiffon Tailor shop. The same clothing that Samurai Princess hates so much.

"What's wrong Kotomi? Why don't you use some of your "Karate" that your daddy taught you? It's not much fun to pick on someone who won't fight back!" taunted the bully.

Kotomi tries to get up, but she is already pretty beat up. There are bruises all over her arms and legs, and she is bleeding from her lip. She is also breathing heavily, she wants to fight back, but she restrains herself from doing so. "My father did not teach me 'Karate'. He taught me discipline, honor, and the way of the blade. . . I would never disgrace my father's name by using what I was taught on pitiful people like you."

The bully kicks Kotomi in the shoulder, causing her to fall in her face. She struggles to get up, but she is seriously hurt. He walks up to Kotomi, and picks her up by the collar of her shirt, and yells, "You love your mom and dad so much? How about if I send you straight to hell! Then you can be together with them forever!"

He raised his hand to strike her again. Yuu tries to stop him, forgetting that his arms passes through the boy's body like air. All he can do is just look away, and do nothing. The events he is seeing has already happened, and there is nothing he can do to change it.

Just before his fist lands on her, another boy stops him. "Haven't you've done enough to her already? It's bad enough that you're hitting a girl, but if you don't stop, you might kill her!" said the boy stopping the bully.

The bully drops Kotomi, then pushes the boy down, and grabs him instead. "You stay out of this! It's because of her stupid family that my dad is about to loose the farm! My mom used to work for her company, but she was suddenly laid off. Now my parents are in a lot of debt, and it's all her fault!"

"So, it's all my fault that your father was a good for nothing drunk?" asked Kotomi. She stands up bravely showing that she is not afraid of the bully. She is in pain, and blood drips from her cheek. She trembles while holding her injured arm that the bully kicked earlier, but she still stands bravely to confront him.

"I heard all about it. Your mother used to work for us to pay all the bills of the farm. Your father spent most of the money on alcohol, and constantly abused his wife. Even after your mother lost her job, your father never stopped drinking, and spent all the money your mother saved up. He truly is the worst, and you are just like him. If you ask me, you deserve it!"

Completely outraged by Kotomi's speech, the bully runs up to her, slapping her back to the ground. Kotomi was already weak, so she falls very easily. Everyone quickly backs away, seeing that things are getting far out of hand. He picked her up by her hair, and pulled back his hand. There is a look of burning hatred in the bully's eyes as he says to Kotomi, "I'm going to kill you, you stupid brat!"

Suddenly, the police arrive. Determined to finish what he started, he delivered one final blow to Kotomi. The bully then tries to escape, but he is caught along with everyone else who was involved. However the damage has already been done, Kotomi lays in the middle of the street out cold. Nothing can ever take back the painful memories that had occurred that day.

Everything suddenly vanishes once again. Yuu finds himself in a waiting room of a hospital. An elder woman who Yuu has never met before is pacing back and fourth nervously. It wasn't long until a doctor walks out to the waiting room. Yuu isn't sure what is happening, but he is about to find out soon enough.

A doctor comes out of the back and calls, "Seraph?"

The elderly woman named Seraph answers, "Yes doctor? Is she going to be okay?"

The doctor shakes his head no and answers, "I'm afraid I don't have any good news. It's been three years since the fight between Kotomi and the farmer's son. Since then, she has not said a word. She hasn't smiled, cried, or shown any other emotions either. She was already going through a lot after the death of mother and father. I don't think she'll be able to recover from this type of trauma."

Yuu is very surprised to know that Seraph is Kotomi's grandmother. Not once have Rumi ever mentioned any relatives other than her sister. He is able to see a family resemblance, Kotomi looks a lot like her mother, but Rumi looks more like her grandmother. Seraph's hair and eye color match Rumi's perfectly.

Seraph tilts her head down sadly, and asks, "What about Rumi? What is happening to her?"

The doctor checks Rumi's records, and answers, "Kotomi is not the only one who is suffering emotionally from the loss of her parents. Rumi is also severely depressed, and it's affecting her growth. Sadly, it looks like Rumi will remain the same height permanently.

Seraph places her hands on her face, and cries for the suffering of her granddaughters. Since the passing of their parents, nothing has been going well for either of them. Kotomi has gone mute, and Rumi will remain as a child for the rest of her life.

After Seraph finishes crying, she visits Kotomi in the hospital room. She sits on the bed with her head tilted down with a sad blank look on her face. Seraph tries to call her several times, but the best Kotomi could do was look at her grandmother. Not even a sound utters from her lips. After a while, Seraph hugs her tightly shedding tears of sorrow for her.

The scene fades once again. After everything clears up, Yuu finds himself in a fancy restaurant. He sees Seraph and Kotomi sitting on a table with a young gentleman. Kotomi has aged a bit more than the scene in the hospital, she is now about 17 years old. Seraph is growing old, and her hair is turning gray.

The same blank expression can be seen on Kotomi's face. But this time, she is wearing a fancy dress which makes her look very attractive, and her hair is now done in twin long braided ponytails. A single flower close to her ear decorates her hair to give her a boost in feminine charm. By the way they were dressed up, Yuu can tell that this is a ceremony for an arranged marriage. However, Kotomi's blank expression is not helping her in the least.

The bachelor looks into Kotomi's blue eyes, and asks, "So tell me Kotomi, what are your favorite hobbies?" Kotomi remains silent. "Can you tell me something about yourself?" Kotomi still remains silent. "Can you tell me anything at all?"

Kotomi nods, but doesn't say anything. She can understand what he is telling her, but she is unable to respond. The bachelor looks at Seraph, and shakes his head no. They both get up, and walk out of sight leaving Kotomi behind. Yuu is curious to know why did they leave Kotomi there alone, so he follows them. He finds them around a corner not too far from where they were sitting talking.

The bachelor shakes his head no again, and says, "I'm sorry Seraph, but I can't marry your granddaughter. I admit, she is very beautiful. But I have been trying to talk to her for over 2 hours, she doesn't look like she has any life left in her."

Seraph bows before the young bachelr, and begs, "Please reconsider. I know she's not very exciting, but she is a good person. Just because she can't talk, that doesn't mean she can't understand you."

"I'm sorry, but the answer is still no." answered the bachelor.

Seraph continues to beg, "But you're our last hope. Kotomi needs to lead our family business, but she can't do it in this state."

The bachelor shakes his head no one last time, then leaves the restaurant. Yuu feels even sadder for them, he knows it wasn't Kotomi's fault that she became this way. But most people will never understand that, and will not be patient enough to help her.

The scene fades once again. This time Yuu finds himself in a executive room with a group of people sitting around an enormous round table. Kotomi is also there with the same blank expression as before, nothing has changed yet. Seraph stands next to Kotomi with a serious and depressed look on her face.

Seraph sighs deeply, and announces, "I'm afraid I have some terrible news. Our next head of family is unable to perform her duties, and no one is willing or able to take her place. I'm afraid I have no choice but to shut down our tailoring company."

The executives look at one another in shock. They all then mumble to one another trying their best to find a way to save their jobs. One of the executives then stands up and asks, "Are you sure that nobody can take over? What happened to our plan to find a groom for her?"

Seraph shakes her head no and explains, "I've already tried to find a suitable husband for her, but nobody is willing to agree to the wedding. Kotomi is now 18 years old, but she is in no condition to take her father's place. I am also too old to continue working as the head of family as well.

"What about the younger sister? I'm sure we can wait five more years until she becomes old enough to take the office." asked a different executive.

Seraph shakes her head no again, and says, "Ever since the death of my daughter and her husband, Rumi has yet to grow an inch. Nobody is going to be willing to take her seriously, much less take her hand in marriage. Without a successor, there is no hope for this company. . . I'm so sorry."

Yuu almost cries for Kotomi's misfortune. Ever since the death of her family, nothing has been going well for her, or her sister. She is emotionally frozen, and Rumi still cannot grow any taller. It's like their lives were shattered, and no matter how hard anyone tries, they cannot fix it.

The scene changes again. Yuu finds himself in front of Kotomi's family home. Something is happening, movers are loading their possessions into a truck. Seraph, Kotomi, and Rumi are waiting for the job to be completed.

Rumi looks up at Seraph, and asks, "Grandmother, why are we moving away? Where are we going?"

Seraph answers, "We are going to live in a small town far away from here. This place is called Waffle Town. I know it's an odd name, but we'll be able to start our lives over, and give you and your sister a chance at a future."

Rumi tilts her head down sadly and asks, "But why so far away? Couldn't we just start over right here?"

Seraph sighs, and kneels down to Rumi's height. She then pats her on the head, and says, "Rumi, listen to me dear. I was praying at our family temple, and I heard a voice. I believe it was your father talking to me. He told me that if we go to Waffle Town, Kotomi might meet someone special. Someday, this man will help her recover from her condition. That is why we are going there."

Rumi looks up and asks, "Are you sure? Will big sister be able to talk once again?"

Seraph smiles for her granddaughter, and says, "I'm sure she will."

Rumi jumps into the truck with hope in her heart that Kotomi will recover and speak again. Yuu starts to wonder if he is the person who was foretold to help Kotomi recover from her depressed state. At that point, everything starts to make sense to him. He closes his eyes, and thinks about everything that has happened since he met Kotomi and Rumi.

When he opens his eyes, he finds himself back in Waffle Town, but not yet in the present. Seraph, Kotomi, and Rumi are right outside the Chiffon Tailor shop with Juli. By the way they look at one another, Yuu sees that this is the first time they were meeting. Kotomi is still 18 years old at this time.

Juli shakes his head no and says, "Are these the girls? . . . I'm sorry, but I don't think I can use them."

"What do you mean? You promised us that you would hire them. They are the daughters of your mentor who trained you when you were younger." complained Seraph.

Juli sighs and says, "Yes, I know. But look at them. Kotomi looks like if she doesn't have a soul, much less any talent. And the younger sister is a definite no-no. I'm afraid that I don't hire kids in my shop."

Rumi busts an artery instantly. She runs up to him, and kicks him in the kneecap as hard as she could. Juli falls down holding his knee in pain. Yuu cringes as he knows how hard Rumi can strike when she's angry. Rumi then yells, "I AM NOT A KID!!!"

Juli stands back up and yells, "What is her problem!?"

Seraph pulls Rumi away and says, "Please forgive her. She's a little sensitive about her little height problem."

Juli places a hand on his chin, and asks, "Her height? What do you mean by that?"

"She may look seven years old, but the truth is that she's really thirteen. She hasn't grown in six years. But please reconsider, they may not look like much, but they are very skilled tailors." explained Seraph.

Juli takes a second look at them. Kotomi's expression still doesn't change. Rumi crosses her arms, and looks away. He sighs, and makes a final decision, "Okay, fine. I'll give them a shot. You all can move in the second floor of the shop."

Seraph thanks Juli, then everyone starts moving into the shop. The scene changes once again, and he finds himself in Kotomi's bedroom. It is now evening, Kotomi is in her bedroom sitting completely still. She is still the same age as before, but her belongings are already moved in. About a week has passed since the last flashback.

Even though Kotomi is sitting still, she is staring at her mother's Shinto priest uniform, and her father's sword that are resting on some sort of display stand. There is silence for a minute until a knock on the bedroom door is heard.

Juli opens the door slightly, and says, "Kotomi? Are you there? . . . I'm coming in."

Juli opens the door slowly. He sees Kotomi sitting there by herself staring at her father's sword, and mother's dress. He walks up to her, and sets down a tray of food Juli prepared for her. Kotomi makes no effort to eat, or even look at the food set before her.

Juli then asks, "Not hungry? I wouldn't be either if I were in your shoes. Your grandmother told me everything that happened. It must be tough losing your parents at a young age, then getting bullied soon after that."

Kotomi shrugs, but her expression does not change. Juli sighs, and tries again to speak to her. "Your grandmother also told me that you'll meet someone special here in Waffle Town. Who knows, maybe that special person might be me. If I could help you in any way, all you need to do is ask."

Kotomi tilts her head down, and stares at the food that Juli brought her. Juli gives up, and leaves the bedroom so Kotomi can be alone. "I'm leaving now. If if you ever need to talk to me, I'll be in my room. Ciao!"

He closes the door behind him quietly. At this point, Yuu thinks the event is over, so he assumes that he is just going to jump ahead in time again. However, that isn't the case yet. Nothing happens for a few minutes. Yuu then starts to feel that he got stuck in that time for a while. But soon enough, something starts to happen.

Kotomi suddenly stands up, and walks to her mother's dress. Without much of a reason, she starts taking her clothes off starting with her shirt. Yuu turns around so he wouldn't see Kotomi undress. He hears noises coming from Kotomi, the sound of someone changing clothing. After the noises cease, he turns around and sees Kotomi dressed in her mother's Shinto priestess dress. She then grabs her father's sword, and looks deeply in the patterns on the sheath. She then unsheathes the sword, and stares at the shining blade. The expression on her face starts to finally change. Her sad and empty eyes were now filled with anger and determination. Yuu is now witnessing Kotomi's horrifying personality change for the first time. He has always seen her either calm or confident, but never switching between the two.

Samurai Princess then smirks, and says, "I will protect them from evil. . . This I promise you."

As quick as the wind, Kotomi jumps out of her window, and lands on the ground with ease. Yuu looks out the window, and watches Kotomi run off into the distance. Knowing what she is capable of, Yuu knows that Waffle Town won't know what's going to hit it that night.

Yuu decides to run after Kotomi. He runs out the bedroom, down the stairs, and out of the house through the front door. However, something odd happens when he reaches the door. As soon as he gets out of the house, he can see daylight. Between the time Kotomi jumped out her window, and Yuu escaped the house, time has moved forward about 12 hours. Juli, Seraph, and Kotomi are outside with an angry mob of villagers screaming and yelling. They are all upset for their own reasons, but it all has something to do with Kotomi.

Calvin yells, "What do you mean, 'It wasn't her?' We all saw her chasing us all night long!"

Oso points at Kotomi and yells, "That girl is insane! I almost lost an arm last night!"

Juli looks at Kotomi, and says, "But look at her! Does this look like a girl who is capable of doing such horrible things to people?"

Mayor Hammilton steps forward, and says, "I'm sorry Juli, but I also witnessed the whole thing. I'm afraid that we are going to have to ask her to leave Waffle Town."

Seraph bows and begs, "Please give her another chance. She's been through a lot already, and she'll only get worse if you all throw her away. The only way she can get the help she needs, is to stay here in Waffle Town."

Mayor Hammilton thinks hard about his decision. He may be a serious man, but he is quite forgiving. "Well, since nobody was really hurt, I would be willing to give her a chance. But someone needs to watch her at night."

"I will!" yelled Rumi's voice. She then walks past Yuu wearing the same red dress, and feathered mask that he had seen before when he first met her. As soon as she walks out, everyone laughs hysterically at her.

Luke points at Rumi and yells, "Are you kidding us?! This little kid will protect us from that crazy woman?!"

Rumi busts another artery, and does her usual screaming. "I AM NOT A KID!!!" Rumi yelled so loud, all the villagers become stunned in silence. Some of them even fell to the floor out of shock. After getting the respect she needed, she pulls out her steel bat to show them how serious she is.

"My name is . . ." After thinking about a heroic name for herself, she does silly magical girl pose, and announces, "Magical Warrior Ruby! I am the only one who can protect the citizens of Waffle Town. I know all of my sister's moves, and how to stop them!"

Everyone stares at one another, mumbling could be heard from the back of the crowd. But rather than pulling her magical girl routine, she put down her bat, and makes a proposition, "Mayor, if my sister actually hurts anyone, I swear that we will leave Waffle Town peacefully. We're willing to pay for any damages done to the villagers if this happens as well. But please, I also beg you. Let my sister stay."

Mayor Hammilton sighs and says, "Okay, fine. You have a deal. I hope that you are up to the task."

The scene fades, Yuu finds himself back into the darkness. In a matter of a few hours, he has seen Kotomi's life from the age of six. When he first arrived in the darkness, he was confused, and terrified. After seeing the flashbacks, he now knows what he has to do. He isn't sure why he knows, it felt like instinct to him. Something he was born to do.

"I see. At first, I did not understand why was Kotomi acting the way she did. Even after Rumi explained it to me, I still could not grasp how serious the situation was. This was something I had to see with my own eyes. Look into the mind of the one who suffers deep in her own heart. Kotomi, you hide yourself here during the day because you are afraid you might get hurt. No one was there to protect you, your friends abandoned you, and you feel alone. Unless I saw for myself how much you suffered, I would never know how you feel." said Yuu out loud hoping Kotomi would hear him.

He then turns around, and sees Samurai Princess standing right there. With her blade in her hand, she was ready to attack Yuu. Yuu smiles at her, he knew she was standing there all along, knew that she was watching him the whole time since he arrived.

Yuu then continues to talk, "Samurai Princess, you are Kotomi's determination. Kotomi is afraid of coming out of the darkness, and facing her fears. But she still wants to fulfil her duties to her family. Your personalities have split, and they overlap one another. Am I right?"

She raises her blade, and moves into attack stance. Yuu knows that she wanted to slay him. He even takes a good look at himself, and notices that he is wearing his farming clothes that she hates so much. But no matter how threatening the situation is, Yuu remains calm. All he needs to do is calm Kotomi's soul.

"Stop talking foolishness. I shall protect them, and cut down those who are evil. Be prepared, for I shall take your life!" yelled Samurai Princess.

Yuu spead his arms out, and walks up to her. Seeing that Yuu is no longer afraid of her, Samurai Princess begins to feel a bit nervous, and takes a few steps back. "If you want to take my life, go ahead. But before you do, please tell me one thing. . . What are you trying to protect?" asked Yuu.

The question surprises her. She tries to think of an answer, but she can not come up with anything. Samurai Princess then takes a spep forward, and threatens, "That is none of your concern! Stop talking to me, and fight!"

Yuu closes his eyes, and says, "You promised your parents that you would guard the family temple is that right? But they are gone now, there is no need to protect them anymore."

Samurai Princess anger slowly fades away. A look of shock overwhelms her as she says, "My. . . Parents?"

Yuu nods with his eyes closed, and continues, "That's right. But there is something else you should protect. You also promised them that you'll protect your little sister."

"My little. . . Sister?" asked Samurai Princess.

"Her name is Rumi. Try to remember, you taught her everything you know. You are her idol. You are the most important person in her life right now. You promised that you would protect her, but she is protecting you instead. Every night, she stays awake and tries her best to make sure you are okay. Even if it means risking her own life." explained Yuu.

Samurai Princess then drops her sword in disbelief. She knows everything Yuu is telling her is true. She trembles in shock, she never realized before that everything she has been doing was the polar opposite of what she wanted to do. Instead of protecting her sister, she's been attacking her all this time. She then tilts her head down in shame, and a tear rolls down her cheek. "What. . . What have I been doing all this time? How can I face my sister now? How will I explain this to her? What do I do now?"

Yuu walks up to her, and embraces Samurai Princess. He allowes her to cry on his shoulder, and vent any feelings of guilt and grief. In the blink of an eye, her clothing changes into the ones she usually wears while working in the tailor shop. Her voice and expression changes as well into something Yuu has never seen or heard before.

Kotomi whimpers as she says, "Why? Why did mother and father had to die? Why do people have to be so mean to me? All I wanted to do was to make them happy, but they're gone now. What do I do? I'm so scared Yuu."

Yuu strokes her hair like a child and says, "It's okay. Nothing that happened was your fault. But it's time to come out to the light now. Everyone is waiting for you back in Waffle Town. Rumi, Juli, your grandmother Seraph, and even the villagers would like to see your smile too."

Kotomi looks up at Yuu, and asks, "And. . .You?"

Yuu laughs and says, "Yeah, me too."

Suddenly, a flash of light consumes the whole area. A bright warm light that refreshes souls engulfed them, purifying fear and unhappiness. A light called courage, and hope.



Rumi waits as the two sleep right beside one another. After hours of waiting, Kotomi startes to wake up, she feels the pain on her head where she was struck. Rumi approaches Kotomi slowly, she isn't sure if Yuu was able to help her or not. But she still wants to know.

"Big sister?" asked Rumi curious of her reaction.

"OWW! my head hurts. What in the world just happened." answered Kotomi. After a moment, Kotomi takes a good look at her sister. She is surprised to see her dressed in her red dress, and feathered mask. "Rumi? What on earth are you wearing? She asks while pointing at her. But she quickly notices that she was wearing her mother's Shinto priestess dress. "Why on earth am I wearing mother's dress? What just happened to us?"

Rumi is so happy to hear Kotomi speak again as a normal girl, and not Samurai Princess, that she just jumps into her arms, and cries tears of joy. Kotomi doesn't know what's going on, but she just holds her sister gently, and allows her to cry.

Soon, Yuu starts to wake up as well. The first thing he does is yell in pain, and rub the bump on his head. "Geez Rumi, what was that for? Who's side are you on anyway?" complained Yuu.

Yuu soon realizes that he is sitting next to Kotomi who is still wearing the Shinto priestess uniform. He jumps up, and takes about ten steps back, trying his best not to provoke Samurai Princess.

Yuu then yells, "Samurai Princess! Please have mercy on me, I didn't do anything wrong!"

Kotomi looks at Yuu awkwardly, and asks, "Samurai Princess? What are you talking about? And what's the thing about your outfit? Were we having a costume party?"

Yuu takes a good look at himself, and notices that he is still wearing the trench coat that Rumi made him wear to fool Samurai Princess. He quickly takes off the coat, and runs back to his farm. "What happened to him? It was like he saw a ghost." asked Kotomi.

Rumi then stands up, and holds Kotomi's hand saying, "Lets just go home big sister. I'll tell you everything later."

Epilogue

A few days later, Yuu is working in his farm peacefully. Samurai Princess has never appeared again after that night Kotomi started talking, and Waffle town is now at peace. Yuu is still unsure what happened after he passed out after being hit by Rumi, but he is just plain happy that he could work or play in peace at night.

As Yuu works, Rumi came over to his farm for a visit. She is carrying her stuffed rabbit in her arms, and her usual pink dress. Yuu notices her when she arrived at his field. He smiles, and greets her warmly. "Hey there Rumi, welcome to my farm! . . . Are you okay? You look sleepy."

Rumi yawns, and rubs her eyes. Because she no longer has to say up all night watching her sister anymore, she needs to adapt to a new sleeping schedule. "I'm fine, I just woke up."

"I see. By the way, how is Kotomi?" asked Yuu.

Rumi nods and says, "She's great! She really surprised Juli and grandmother when she started speaking again. There was a huge celebration that day, I really wish you could have joined us, but you were too busy. After all, it was you who helped my sister speak again."

"I really don't think I did anything at all. All you did was hit us on the head, and Kotomi started speaking after we woke up."

Rumi shook her head no. "You may not remember what you did, but trust me. It's all thanks to you." Rumi then walks closer to Yuu, and asks, "Could you kneel down a second, I wanna tell you a secret."

Yuu kneels down. Before Rumi did anything, she takes a good look around to see if anyone is watching. Then she quickly gives Yuu a kiss on the cheek, and steps back. Yuu jerks up shocked at what Rumi just did.

Rumi blushes and says, "Don't get the wrong idea, that was just my way of saying thank you."

Yuu was speechless. Rumi's face turns red, then she runs off. But before she leaves the farm, she turned around to say one last thing to him. "Yuu!! I'm counting on you to take care of my sister, okay?"

"Huh? What does that mean?" asked Yuu.

"You don't know?" asked Rumi. She then winks at Yuu, and answers, "My sister really likes you."

She then turns around, and leaves the farm. Yuu is still confused, but everything ended well, so he is happy. He then turns around to continue his work, but he jumps in shock when he sees Kotomi standing behind him. She stands there watching him with a happy expression on her face.

Seeing that Kotomi has recovered from her depressed state, Yuu has nothing to worry about. Kotomi is not in his farm to kill him anymore. So he bows before Kotomi, and greets, "Umm. . . Hi there. Welcome to my farm, what can I do for you?"

Kotomi blushes a bit before saying, "Thank you. . . Yuu."

The end.

This Fanfic is based off the Harvest Moon Tree of Tranquility game. Juxapose4ever or Harvestmoon4ever does not assume ownership of copywritten materials or names belonging to Marvelous Interactive, Marucome, or Natume.

This entire Fanfic was Written by Juxapose4ever for fans of Harvest Moon, or other people who just love to read. Thanks for reading.

[Pickle]

*claps and all that jazz* I'm finding it harder and harder to find cute stories. Thank you for that.

[Juxapose]

Awsome, thanks for the comment! I'm glad you like the story, even if it's a bit different than the game's storyline.

I just noticed in one of the final paragraphs, I wrote "Yumi" rather than "Rumi". Makes me go LOL.