A/N: Finally, Ib has her own fandom~! I am so glad that I nearly jumped out from my chair. Anyway, here's a the fanfiction that i've made since a month ago. Hope you like this, everyone!
I. (sadly) own. nothing.
The Game is (Not) Over
An Ib fanfiction by Mizumori Fumaira
Disclaimer : Ib©Kouri
Chapter #0~ Prologue
"Ib! We got back safely! We did it!" Garry shouted, then laughed happily. "Ahahaha…"
Ib just stared at him, but smiled gratefully nonetheless. Sure, she was glad that she could back, but something interfered her.
"There's so much more I want to talk about, but I've got to get going," he said apologetically.
And for a mere second, he saw that she was slightly… sad? Disappointed?
Somehow, he hated it when her face was like that. Maybe something would make her a bit happier? He wondered what…
"Ah… uh... Ib… Is it alright if I keep this handkerchief a while longer?"
Those words just slipped unconsciously from his lips.
Ib stared at him confusedly. He forced his brain to search any logical reason that should be spoken.
"It wouldn't do to return it as it is. But I'll have to make it clean, and then give it back," he spoke softly. Then, he saw a gleam at her crimson red eyes.
For Ib, she thought it would be nice to meet him in a better condition than in the first time they met. So, hearing that he'd give her handkerchief in some other time somehow made her happy.
And another words from Garry had successfully made her face lit up and adorned with a smile.
"Because we will meet each other again!"
"Ib! There you are!" Her mother exclaimed as she walked to the front desk.
"Sheesh, your mother was just afraid too much. See, Kaori? She is able to back, safe and sound," her father commented by a grin.
"Ano… just how long I've been separated from you?" Ib asked.
"Apparently one hour or so…" her mother said after looking at her wrist watch. "Oh, well, let's go home for dinner. I've bought something good for the dessert. Besides, it's better to eat at home than here. Is it alright Ib?"
"Un."
"Alright, then. Let's go home."
After finishing their dinner, her mother stood up from her chair and grabbed a box from refrigerator.
"As I remember, you haven't tried macaroon, right Ib?" her mother smiled, then placed five macaroons on Ib's plate.
"Someone recommended these macaroons for me, and it's sooo good! Just try it, Ib!" her mother then glanced at her father. "You should try it, too, dear!"
"ah… I don't think to eat something sweet…"
"No! no! Its cream isn't too sweet, just try it dear!" her mother insisted, placing five macaroons on her father's plate.
Ib looked at the macaroons. She wondered if they were the same macaroons that Garry had told er.
So, she took a macaroon, eating it, and let its cream spread in her tongue. She felt a perfect taste of the cream, not too sweet, she noted, but it could satisfy her front part of her tongue nonetheless.
"Say Ib, have you heard about macaroons?" He said out of sudden. Ib shook her head as a response.
"They're pastries, shaped like hamburgers," he smiled as he said excitedly. "And just the other day I had one at a café, and it was soo tasty!"
Suddenly his smile dropped into a sad smile.
"So, uh, if we get out from here, could we go together?"
Ib face lit up, her crimson red eyes brightened excitedly.
He couldn't help but smile.
"No, wait." His face lit up. "We WILL be going there! And we will get out!" he exclaimed/
"…I promise!" He smiled reassuringly.
"how is it?" her mother paused bit, being startled because Ib's tears silently streamed down her face.
"Ib?" her father called her concernedly.
If she was all alone back there, she was sure that she couldn't meet her parents again, or even saw the stars that decorated the dark night sky. But there was Garry. Although she knew that he wanted to curse every time back then, he didn't do it. He was there, right beside her, trying his best to reassure her whenever he could with his smile.
She couldn't have been brave if he had not been there.
"There… there…" her mother swept her tears.
"It really is good, kaa-san," she said softly with hiccup.
"Ara…" her mother giggled.
Ib opened her eyes slowly. She was surrounded by the darkness. Had nothing to do, Ib decided to go somewhere, walking aimlessly. Then, after walking for a while, she noticed that there was a light from the end of her way.
Her feeling told her not to go there, but it seemed that there was no other choice. It led her into unfamiliar hallway, but the atmosphere was strangely familiar for her.
Suddenly, she shivered, noticing that the temperature of the hallway was dropping significantly. Then, there was a door in the end of the hallway. She opened it, and was welcomed by a silhouette.
"Oh, my lovely rose has come," it said. From its voice, she thought it was a middle-aged man.
Ib stepped back. She felt an urge to get out from there as soon as she could. She gripped her red rose (which had been in her hand out of nowhere) tightly, and tried her best to sprint up to the door.
But her effort was going waste. The familiar headless statue blocked her way. And she tried not to scream when she realized that her ankle was gripped by The Lady in Red.
"Why are you so rushing?"
She felt she couldn't move her hand and her legs. She began to panic, and her fear became increased when The Lady in Red tried to grab her rose.
When The Lady in Red was nearly successful grabbing her rose, the silhouette yelled,
"Get out from her!"
Much to Ib surprise The Lady in Red obeyed him, and muttered under her breath.
"Yes, Ousama."
Ib could heard him smirked. As The Lady in Red crawled away from her, he approached her.
"It was amazing that you could escape from my 'amusement park'," he complimented sarcastically. "But you should kow that it isn't over yet, dear, especially for you," again he smirked.
Ib's eyes widened in shock. She was trie to look calm, but there was a fear in her eyes.
"HAHAHA, see? This is why I love all children. They could get fear easily!" he mocked right before her face.
Ib bent down her head.
"I have no fear for you," she said icily.
"Liar~" he said with a playful tone.
Ib lifted up her face a bit.
"I have no fear for you."
"Li…"
Ib looked right at him, sending her most deathly glare.
"I HAVE NO FEAR FOR YOU!" she shouted.
There was no more fear in her eyes.
"LIAR!" he yelled angrily, grasping some petals from her rose.
"!"
She felt her body ached badly. Some wounds, like she was being scratched, appeared in her skin. The pain became unbearable just in seconds. She felt her body was limp, and she fainted, but managed to keep her consciousness.
"Seems I still can make you suffer, you little pathetic annoying brat!" he smirked again. "Oh well, back to why do I invite you here," his tone much settled. "As I've told you, for you the game is not over yet."
"Why?"
"I want your rose."
Ib looked down to the rose on her palm.
"Not that silly!" he mocked. "The rose which you had yesterday and now just nothing but a symbol. That's why, it doesn't matter if that rose all its petals. Yes, it could make you feel unbearable pain, but the worst thing that could happen just makes you fall in a really deep sleep, much like a comatose state, or in other words, it couldn't make you die."
Ib looked at him confusedly.
"The rose that I want is in your body."
Suddenly he was behind her, touched a part of her back which connected to her heart.
Then, she felt something fell from her chest. Before she realized what it was, she felt her body was going numb. And she took a purler.
It was nothing but a bud of crimson red rose.
He picked the rose, sucking its smell and smirked.
"This, is the rose that really connected to your life. I have no idea why a brat such like you can have this beautiful rose," he mumbled as he stroked the rose. "But I am not a cunning person. I want this rose, but for now I just want to lend it."
He walked to a table and put the rose on a glass jar which filled by some water. Then he clapped his hand, and suddenly many red roses came out of nowhere in front of her. He grabbed all of them, and placed it on her back.
She felt something rushed in to her back. Somehow it was really painful, yet as long as it continued she felt slightly better than before. As the pain had gone, she felt really better and could stand on her feet again, even though she felt her body was different than usual.
"Those roses will take its place for a while," he said. "But they have a limit. It only could support you until your sixteenth birthday. Unlike your rose, which lives as long as you live, those roses are just going to die one by one. So, I give you a chance to get your rose back, begin from three days before your sixteenth birthday. If you can't manage to get it before your sixteenth birthday…"
He smirked. Then, he whispered right into her ears.
"You will die!"
She fell on her feet unconsciously.
Somehow, she suddenly sat in the middle of the hallway. She stood up, trying to search any door that led into her bedroom again.
She ran and ran , but something grabbed her ankle, making she fell to the ground.
There it was. The Lady in Red smiled wickedly.
'Help…' she said on her mind, as she couldn't speak any words.
Then, someone flashed on her mind.
'Garry…'
"Let me taste your rose…"
Ib screamed with all of her effort.
"GARRY!"
"IB!"
Ib jumped from her bed. Her breath was still unstable, due to the shock which had not gone yet.
"What's wrong dear? And who's Garry?" her mother asked concernedly, a bit surprise because she never saw her daughter had a nightmare.
"He… *pant* s…ole*pant ... my rose!" Ib said incoherently, as her hand stroked her own chest.
"Wait, dear, don't be rush. We don't understand," her father stroked her back softly.
Suddenly Ib realized. There was no point to tell them.
Because they would never understand.
"Sorry, okaa-san, otou-san. I just had a nightmare. And Garry… was a cat near my school."
"Alright, then. Better get some sleep, dear," her mother said as they left Ib alone.
She couldn't let herself to sleep. She was afraid that dream would come again.
Maybe it was nothing but a nightmare, she thought. But when she climbed out from her bed to get some snack, she saw a handprints on her ankle. There were many thin scratches on her legs and her hand, too.
It wasn't only a dream…
She fell on her feet, tears streaming down her face. She cried silently, as her eyes spotted something shiny on the floor.
She reached for it. It was a candy, a lemon candy.
She popped the candy into her mouth, letting the sour yet sweet candy melted on her tongue.
…
She knew. There was someone that could understand…
She wiped her tears, and stood up. She looked at her reflection in the mirror.
"You are not alone, Ib…" a sound from her mind reassured her.
Yes. She wasn't alone.
She should meet him, no matter why.
Because he was the only one that she could depend on.
"Huh? The store where I bought the macaroons?" her mother asked. Ib just nodded.
"Well, it's only several blocks from museum, taking five minutes by walking to the east from the museum. It is near a high school, so you probably won't miss it," she explained. "Why do you ask?"
"I… want to meet my friend."
"Oh really?" As far as her mother knew, she was somehow… a difficult child for her age. Ib was extremely silent, and it made her difficult to have any friends. "By the way, Ib. I couldn't find your handkerchief anywhere. Did you lose it?"
"No. It just… my friend was wounded and I lend it to… him."
"Wow, a boy, huh? Let me meet him next time right?" her mother said excitedly.
"Un."
Ib got off from the bus, right in front of the gallery. She shivered a bit, remembering when she was caught in the scary parallel world.
She wondered if there was anyone that was getting caught too.
She shook her head, and continued to walk to the macaroons café. It was a bright afternoon. She guessed it would be nice to meet him in such a good day. But she didn't know what was going to happen.
When she arrived in front of the café, her eyes widened.
There was him. In the café. Talking happily with a girl who probably his schoolmate since she wore a same blazer as him.
And he laughed freely. She never saw him as free as that time.
Suddenly, she felt a pang on her chest. She felt a pain, a pain that made her didn't want to go near him.
A pain that she didn't understand yet…
A/N : oookaaay! So, how is it? good? bad? Let me know with your review, guys!
Arigatou (_ _)
#flames, constructive criticism, etc are welcomed :D