The Remainings

The sky was still pitch black, coating the whole village with eerie darkness that seemed to last forever. Mutsuki, the eldest of the Tachibana Twins, had left both Mio and Itsuki alone after he reunited with his little sister. He figured the two of them needed a little time for themselves, that's why he decided to spend his time with Chitose in his house while Itsuki took Mio for a walk outside.

The white-haired boy was standing near the entrance gate of the village with Mio. He had his gaze locked at the girl next to him, who was staring intently at the gate before them, lost in her thoughts.

"Mio-chan?" Itsuki called out, making the girl jump in surprise.

"Y-yeah?"

"You know, you don't have to leave if you don't want to," Itsuki said. "You can always stay here with us."

Mio sighed deeply, turning around to take a good look at the village. The mere sight of it sent shivers down her spine. "I can't, Itsuki. This place holds so many… unpleasant memories…" she bit her lip hard. "…especially the one about my sister."

She started quivering and Itsuki couldn't stop his heart from aching at the sight.

"But it's not like it matters whether I stay here or not. I will always be reminded of my sister's death wherever I go. Because it was entirely… my fault."

"Don't say that!" the white-haired boy exclaimed, grabbing Mio by the shoulders. "She died for a good reason, Mio-chan. And you did what you had to do, you had no other option!"

"I could've escaped together with her, Itsuki, and you know that!" Mio yelled out. "You knew that we had a chance to escape, that's why you helped me by showing me the right ways to go!"

"Well then I was wrong! I thought you were Yae and I didn't realize that history was actually repeating itself. I didn't realize that those things we had gone through already happened years ago!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU REALIZE THAT, THEN?" Mio shouted, tears started forming in her eyes. "Why didn't you realize that everything I went through had already happened before? Why did you even give me hope to escape from here?" she panted, all of her anger, distress, and frustration came pouring out at once.

"So what if I did tell you then? Would you give up on your sister and escape from the village on your own?"

The moment he saw Mio tensing at his statement, Itsuki immediately regretted his words.

"Mio-chan, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"No, it's alright," the black-haired girl whispered out while staring at her feet. "You're right. Even if I did know that we didn't have a chance of escaping, I still would've done what I had done." She sniffed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry for lashing out at you, Itsuki."

"It's alright, don't worry about it," Itsuki smiled, reaching his right hand to carress Mio's tear-stained face. "Like I said, I know how it feels like to lose someone most important to you."

The girl nodded, looking up to meet Itsuki's gaze. As soon as their eyes met, she became lost in his alluring pair of blue orbs. She felt him wipe away the wet trail of tears on her cheeks, before moving his palm down to the crook of her neck.

"But what you had done did not only cause you to lose your sister. You have saved the whole village from disappearing, Mio-chan. You've saved me," the boy smiled. "And I know it's really selfish for me to say this, but…" Itsuki murmured, moving his face closer to Mio's. "But I don't want you to leave this place. I don't want you to leave... me..."

Mio gulped down slowly, trying to control the heat that was rising on her face. "W-why not?"

"Because," he inched closer to her red face. "Because I love you, Mio-chan." And with that, he closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against Mio's soft ones.

Mio's eyes immediately widen at the sudden contact, her cheeks flaring in shock and embarrassment. She felt Itsuki deepen their kiss and she slowly closed her eyes, trying to enjoy the moment.

Itsuki placed his hands on Mio's shoulders and pushed her lightly so her back was leaning onto the tree behind her. He licked her lips, wanting her to open them. When she did, he wasted no time on entering the sweet cavern of her mouth, coaxing her tongue with his own.

Mio felt her head going dizzy from the heated kiss, and she was trying so hard to keep her feet standing straight to support her body.

After what seemed like an eternity, Itsuki finally pulled away, leaning his forehead against Mio's. They were both panting hard, trying to regain their breath.

"S-sorry Mio-chan, I didn't mean to go that far," Itsuki stammered, face as red as Mio's own.

"I-i-it's okay… I don't mind at all," Mio answered. "And I… I… love you too, Itsuki."

Hearing what Mio had said, Itsuki grinned widely. He lowered his head to capture Mio's lips once more. This time, Mio wasted no time on kissing back, their tongues intertwining and dancing together inside their mouths.

Itsuki became bolder by the second. He lowered his hand to touch the girl's exposed cleavage, causing her to gasp into the kiss. Itsuki smiled, his right hand playing with the red bow on Mio's chest while his other hand slid down to grab the hem of her brown shirt. He slowly crept his left hand into her shirt, rubbing softly on Mio's stomach, making the girl shudder, when he suddenly heard a loud whistle from behind him.

"Whoa, I left you two for a moment and this is what you're doing?"

Itsuki immediately pulled away from the kiss and turned around to see his brother standing with Chitose beside him. "M-Mutsuki! What are you doing here?" he asked, obviously flustered after getting caught by his twin brother.

"I thought you guys have finished your business, but it seems like you just got busy," Mutsuki smiled slyly. "Good thing Chitose couldn't see what you were doing there, or you'd be in big trouble."

Both Mio and Itsuki blushed hard at this.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you two alone. Have fun then!" Mutsuki added with a wink before taking his sister back to the village.

"Wait a minute, Mutsuki!" Itsuki yelled out. "We weren't doing anything you thought we were!"

"Like I'm gonna buy that lame excuse, little brother," Itsuki retorted without stopping his steps.

Once he was out of sight, Itsuki turned to face Mio who was still red from what had happened earlier. "Er… so anyway, Mio-chan…"

"Y-yes?"

"Have you decided what to do then?" he stared down at her hopefully. "Do you still want to leave this village?"

Mio glanced at the gate behind her, and then back at the dark village in front of her. After a long thinking, she finally nodded her head before smiling up at Itsuki. "I think I have an even better idea."



"Mio! Hurry up or you'll be late for school!"

"Coming, Kei ji-san!" Mio yelled out before dashing out of her bed room and knocked the door across from hers. "Itsuki! Mutsuki! Come on out before I leave you guys behind!"

"Coming, Mio-chan!" came the answer from behind the door, followed by 2 identical boys running out of the room, halting in front of Mio. "Okay, we're ready now!"

"Well, let's go then!" Mio said as the three of them ran down the stairs and into the dining room.

"Good morning, everyone," a little shorthaired girl greeted from inside the dining room, putting the toasts she had made onto the plates on the table.

"Morning, Chitose-chan!" the three teens answered in unison, taking turns on ruffling Chitose's hair, before grabbing their breakfast from their plates and ran out of the door in hurry. "We're leaving now!"

"Take care!" Chitose called out while preparing another breakfast for Mio's uncle.

"Don't get into any trouble!" Kei added. "And that goes for you, Mutsuki!"

"Ugh…" the dark-haired boy groaned as he closed the front door behind him. "Why does Kei-san always say that everytime we go to school?"

Mio rolled her eyes at this. "Because you always end up at the principal's office every week."

Mutsuki only chuckled while entering the school bus with his brother and his friend. "True, true."

The three of them took their usual seats as they got inside the bus, Mio sat with Itsuki while Mutsuki sat at the very back with his friends.

The pale girl stared out of the window as the bus went down the road. So many things had happened in one year. She had made the perfect decision to not only leave the lost village along with the memories behind her, but to also bring Itsuki and his siblings along with her. Now the four of them – 5 with her uncle – were living together in her uncle's house. The man was really generous to let the Tachibana siblings live with them after Mio explained to him everything that had happened during her time away at the forest.

"Mio-chan?" she heard her boyfriend called out from beside her and she turned to her right to face him. "You're spacing out. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking…" Mio smiled up at him.

"Thinking? About what?"

"Nothing important," she answered before receiving a soft kiss from Itsuki on the lips.

"Hey you two! Get a room, will you!" came Mutsuki's voice from the back of the bus.

Itsuki pulled away and laughed together with his girlfriend. "I could never figure out how he always manages to catch us every time we kiss."

"Me neither," Mio giggled, leaning her head on her now-black-haired boyfriend's shoulder before staring out of the window again.

She had gone through a lot of things after her sister's death, some of them were not that easy to deal with. But with Itsuki beside her, along with Mutsuki and Chitose, Mio felt lonely no more, and living became easier with the three of them around, even if her sister wasn't there with her.

A glowing crimson butterfly suddenly flew by the window where Mio was at. Her eyes immediately widened when she spotted it fluttering right in front of her. 'Mayu?'

She then heard a voice that belonged to no one other than her sister's. 'I'm glad that you're not lonely anymore,' it whispered into her ears as the crimson butterfly flew high to the sky before finally disappearing from sight. 'Now... I can finally go.'

Mio pressed one hand on the window glass, gazing at the blue sky above her, a soft smile grazing her lips.

"See something interesting, Mio-chan?"

Mio shook her head at her boyfriend's question before leaning back to rest her head on his broad shoulder. "No, it was nothing." she closed her eyes as an image of her sister appeared inside her mind. But this time, she didn't feel the usual burden on her shoulders. This time, she felt at complete ease.

'Rest in peace, onee-chan.'

*****