8A/N: Hi, this is the edited version of the story. I've fixed the confusion in grammar. There might be some I have missed but I did it as best as I can :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Konjiki no Gash Bell or Zatch Bell, Makoto Raiku does.
Till We Meet Again
"Kiyomaro, someday we will meet again. I will find a way to get to the human world, and I'll meet Kiyomaro. When we meet again, we'll show our pride, having both grown up. I promise, Kiyomaro"
Gash Bell was sitting in his room, a large circular room that mostly dominated by tables, chairs, shelves, and papers. The room was meant to be his office for he was always doing his kingly duties there. The chair he was now sitting on was large, beautifully designed and polished. There was a large and shiny brown table in front of it, though you couldn't tell whether it was shiny or not because there were many piles of papers and books covering the surface. Gash himself almost could not be seen from the door by the towering piles of papers on the table, you could only see a little the top of his golden head.
He was now facing a proposal about building a new school in the area far away from the kingdom, waiting to be approved or rejected by him. Well, he was supposed to be considering about that matter, yet he just stayed there with his chin rested in his palm while the other hand was playing with the quill, not realizing that the ink was splashing everywhere, some on his cheek. From the look of the towering papers before him, every minute was valuable, yet he stayed like that for almost ten minutes. His eyes were glued to the small, pathetic-looking robot toy made from iron; his Vulcan 300. Well it was originally made of a pocky box with chopsticks glued as its hands and legs, but since he couldn't find pocky boxes in the Mamono World, it was then made with iron.
Despite the heavy-loaded table, Vulcan 300 would always have its place near Gash. It was his beloved toy and the most precious commemoration he received from the also most precious person, Kiyomaro Takamine. It always brought Gash joy every time he saw it but it also brought sadness as well. A hundred years have passed since he claimed the throne and left Kiyomaro to rule over the Mamono World. He had grown up. He grew a lot taller, he assumed he was at the same height as Kiyomaro the last he saw him. His face was no more round and chubby. His golden eyes were also changed; they showed not only childish look but a more mature look due to his high responsibility to manage his kingdom. As the years passed, one more look could be seen in his eyes; sadness.
Looking at Vulcan 300, his mind rolled back to a certain time a hundred years ago, when he wrote his first and last letter to Kiyomaro. He had promised in his letter that he would come back someday to Human World. He meant it, yet he hadn't found a way to do so. Not because he wasn't serious, he had tried almost everything he could think of but still fruitless. He was so depressed every time his attempt failed and now he could not think of any other way possible. Desperation crossed his mind and he was nearly giving up, but the thought of Kiyomaro and his promise stopped him. He missed Kiyomaro so much. He missed his voice, his smile, the warming look of his hazel eyes, his arrogant self the first time he met him, even with his oni-look when he was mad; everything about Kiyomaro. He wanted to meet him so badly, showing his pride of growing up and how he was able to manage Mamono World to get along in peace as a kind king.
He was wondering of the grown up Kiyomaro. Kiyomaro would be so much older by now. He pictured in his mind the adult Kiyomaro; tall, muscular, handsome, and wearing glasses like his father. He imagined if they walked together, they wouldn't look as friends anymore but more like parent and son. He was so deep in mind that he didn't realize someone entered his room and patted his shoulder gently.
"Hey."
Gash snapped out of his mind and found his silver-haired twin brother standing beside him, looking at him with stern look on his face. His height was pretty much the same as Gash, but his skin was paler, his eyes were sharp and violet and he was wearing his usual white attire.
"Ah, Zeon." Gash said, putting down his quill.
"What are you doing?" Zeon asked, eyeing his brother like that police do when interrogating a criminal.
"I'm working on my duties of course." the blonde-haired King replied, turning away from his brother's gaze.
Zeon narrowed his brilliant purple eyes. "You mean playing?"
"Ah," Gash said as he realized the scattered ink on the papers in front of him. He saw Zeon raised his eyebrow demandingly and sighed.
"I'm sorry Zeon. I've—Ouch!" Gash cried out as Zeon's palm met his cheek, rather hard.
Tears began to form in Gash's eyes. Even though he was a king and a hundred years have passed, he still feels afraid of Zeon as his older brother and as his advisor, who's always strict about his job. 'Do not wasting time' and 'Do jobs as soon as possible' were Zeon's favorite lines he was always saying to him. "Unuu… Zeon you're a meanie. I already said sorry yet you still hit me…"
"Wipe the ink off, you idiot!"
From Zeon's palm, Gash found a piece of cloth that stained black and knew the ink must have gotten onto his cheek as well, and that Zeon meant no harm. He smiled, thinking it was cute. They had been going along pretty nicely so far, though Zeon still haven't gotten fully used to having a loud and cheerful brother in the house.
"So," Zeon continued, folding his arms over his chest. "why aren't you doing your work?"
Gash's expression saddened and he looked down, "It was Kiyomaro."
"What about him?"
"I miss him so much and I really want to see him."
Zeon looked at his twin brother, concern in his eyes. He sighed. "You know you can't, don't you?"
"But…" tears formed in Gash's eyes as he retaliated, "but maybe there is another way…"
"We've tried everything." Zeon cut him off. He knew how Gash felt for he too also missed Dufort. "We have tried the Faudo teleportation device, looking for the hidden path to Human World all over this one hundred year with no avail. Even you, the King of Mamono World don't know the whereabouts of the spellbooks."
Gash bit his lip, all Zeon had said was true, but he didn't want to give up. He kept thinking that there must be a way they somehow skipped through their searches.
"Besides," Zeon continued, "If we did find one, it will be too late."
Gash froze. "What?" he asked as he shot Zeon a serious look.
"You know humans are fragile beings and they have short life span, not like us that can live up to thousand years. Humans can live at approximately sixty to ninety years, very few that can survive past ninety. We have left Human World a hundred years ago, so…"
"But," Gash interrupted, not liking the idea Zeon was going to tell him, "Kiyomaro is really smart. And so is Dufort. They wouldn't be so careless about their lives. They couldn't have eaten something suspicious that would endanger their lives, could they? It's true that they may now be really old men but I still want to see Kiyomaro! Don't you want to see Dufort too?"
"Face it!"
At this, Gash looked straight at Zeon, whose expression was forlorn.
"The difference between the humans and us was so great!"
Gash just stared at him, speechless, and Zeon continued, "A hundred years have passed. Kiyomaro would be 116 years old by now and I doubt humans can live that long. You understand now? Your bookkeeper and mine were already dead! I was going to tell you this many times in the past but I didn't have the heart to break your hope and feeling, but now I can't stand it anymore. You'll know sooner or later even if I didn't tell you. Face it, it is the truth!"
Zeon's words were stabbing him like thousands blades. Every word had awakened his memories, memories of the time he had spent with Kiyomaro. The happy and the sad times he had gone through with Kiyomaro were flowing like a roll of a very long film and flooding in his head. He felt like it was yesterday, as he could feel the warmth of the house in the morning, where he, along with Kiyomaro and his mother sat and had breakfast together, where he would be having arguments with Kiyomaro when he was about to leave for school, and where he would follow him with a sport bag afterwards. He could still feel Kiyomaro standing beside him when he fought. He could still hear Kiyomaro laughing merrily with him when they played. Kiyomaro's presence felt so close to him, yet Kiyomaro was no longer alive. Before he knew it, he was crying so hard in his palms, his shoulders were shaking vigorously that even the sympathetic touch from his twin brother couldn't make him stop.
Gash was absent from doing his work for two days in grief; Zeon had volunteered to handle the paper works while he was away. It'd have been longer if he hadn't realized that he had an entire Mamono World to take care of. He was going to get back to his work when Zeon spoke that he needed some more day off. He said, "Too much working isn't good physically and mentally and would cause you to stress. You need to relax your mind once in a while". Gash thought why he didn't tell him that even once in his very hard work a hundred years earlier. But Gash knew that these days off had nothing to do with work and he thanked Zeon for that.
Having the entire day for himself, Gash decided to go to his former school that stood high into the sky. It was just like how he remembered the place the last time he was there. It was full of Mamono children of all kind who played full of spirit, just like he did back then. He came back to the school just after his coronation ceremony but then his works began to pile up and he simply didn't have time to play around anymore. He remembered Tio chasing him as he strolled on one of the pathway in the school yard, and of Kyanchome who cried when someone took his candy, of Umagon who kept chanting 'Meru meru me'. A smile crossed in his face. Those times were fun and he wished he could feel it one more time.
Gash then walked to another pathway and enjoyed the scenery of the nature. Being imprisoned (that's what it's like to Gash) for a hundred years in the castle had made him cried out in awe for every beautiful flower he found, for every fantastic-looking tree that sprouted food. He looked down at a blue-colored rose and thought it'd be nice if placed on Tio's or Koruru's hair. He was about to pick it up when someone run past and brushed against him, causing him to fall on the grassy ground. He looked at the culprit; he was a boy about seven years old with messy white hair and pale skin like Zeon. He ran with another boy and suddenly they stumbled onto a root above the ground. A number of children ran past Gash and shouted in delight when they saw the two fell on the ground. Soon they were surrounding them.
"Bullies." Gash thought as he got up and moved closer to the crowd of children. He heard the white-haired mamono boy yelling something about not to bully his friend. The children surrounding him just sneered at him and then the aura suddenly changed. Gash looked as the white-haired boy glowing dark aura around him and sprouted a pair of wings from his back and horns from his head, making him look creepy. It was like Gash's imagination of the oni-Kiyomaro. His heart was beating hard against his chest. He then watched him being beaten by the crowd of children and he rushed to save him. The children ran away upon seeing him approaching. The white-haired boy transformed back to normal and was on his hands and knees, looking down and panting slightly. Gash kneeled beside him and, with his heart beating faster, asked, "Who are you?"
The white-haired boy looked up at him. Gash's heart skipped a beat. A pair of hazel eyes he knew so well stared at him unscared, and his face… his face…
"My name is Kiyo." the boy replied.
Such coincidence…
Soon Gash was laughing his head off, so hard until his stomach hurt, like all burdens have finally been lifted off of his shoulders. That's it, he has fulfilled his promise.
"We have finally met again, Kiyomaro."