A Beautiful Day |Books#1-4| Unedited Version

Chapter Nine: Dead Cherry Blossom

Above you, is a music that'll be playing called Bloom Nobly, Ink-Black Cherry Blossom ~ Border of Life. This is just for an experiment, so I'm not going to leave this here for so long. Please do listen to the music while reading to get some vibe feeling inside of you. If you don't get that feel, then please do request me to remove the video as soon as possible. Furthermore, enjoy the story of this chapter. 

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Flying through the skies, Kotaro saw a gate ahead of them. He wondered what was past it. "It's really warm," Melissa commented. Both Noel and Melissa entered through the gate. As they entered, their flying abilities were disabled. They descended to the ground, unable to fly anymore. Kotaro looked around the place. There were pink cherry blossom trees all over the area. Ahead of them were stairs, just like at the Shrine of the Gods. Together, they climbed the stairs. Noel and Melissa grew exhausted from constantly climbing.

The only one who was able to climb the stairs without being exhausted was Kotaro. Melissa decided to have Kotaro carry her while going upstairs. Kotaro carried Melissa, and even that wasn't enough to exhaust him. Noel was impressed he was still able to keep moving. It was like he wasn't even human anymore. Nowhere near close to the stairs, Noel was near dead from exhaustion. Her breathing became restless, unable to keep up with Kotaro.

Finally, they reached the top of the stairs. Melissa climbed off Kotaro's back. Despite her heavy weight, Kotaro had enough stamina to continue moving, but sweat drenched him. Noel, on the other hand, had been dead from the start. Unable to keep up with the former track member, her legs grew sore, and her body nearly gave up on her. Glad to reach the top, Noel rested upon the stone road.

On the top, a lone apparition was formed into a human shape. The person wore green and white clothing, and his height, including his faintly ghostly hair, was small. The person spotted Kotaro. He disappeared, and then he reappeared in front of Kotaro.

He had two swords that were attached behind him. One of them was a katana while the other was a wakizashi: a small katana. Kotaro didn't fret but stepped forward. "You must be Kotaro Nishiki, am I wrong?"

"That's me," Kotaro responded. He didn't tell the ghost his name. "How did you know my name?"

"Please, you may call me Gouki. Gouki Mato is my name," he said. He seemed kind and polite to Kotaro. Kotaro didn't receive his answer though. "Lord Yuuki told me an unusual human would come over here. He ordered me to wait for your arrival and test that sword of yours!"

Kotaro's Runeblade appeared in his hand. He finally understood what was going on. "Oh, I see now!"

Gouki took a few steps back from Kotaro. "Shall we start?"

"Oh, this is going to be interesting! I guess I can wait a little longer!" Melissa commented. Not wanting to interrupt the pointless fight, they watched for entertainment. Judging by this fight, Gouki had the upper hand: he was dead already, and both Noel and Melissa had experienced fighting this apparition before - he was one formidable foe.

The only chance of Kotaro ever winning was if he unleashed Noel's power, which resided inside of him. Though Noel wasn't sure how much the impact would do, there was nothing else she could think of for Kotaro to win.

The match started with their sharp steel clashing into each other. Gouki fought so swiftly, swinging his blade from left and right, giving Kotaro a hard time to react. The katana on his right was used for swinging while the wakizashi on his left was used for stabbing, with a few swings from time to time.

Gouki left no room for Kotaro to counter. It was time to take a risk. Kotaro hoped something happened on one swing with his new sword. Unfortunately, Gouki evaded such a predictable attack. He placed his katana on top of Kotaro's Runeblade to keep him still, and with his wakizashi, Gouki aimed for Kotaro's neck to finish the fight. This was the end, as both Noel and Melissa had expected from the start.