In search of a letter, the root of love failed.
When the root of love failed, a soul was split.
For that split soul, it festered in anger
For that anger soon scarred, a bandage soon covered.
For the bandage once covered, a new life began.
When this new life began, it was born of ignorance.
For that ignorance, a magical curiosity was born.
Through that curiosity, the witch was revived.
When the witch was revived, those two souls clashed and the bandage.
For the two fighting souls, brought the root of love back.
When the root of love came, that bandage was torn.
When that bandage was torn, the two souls combined.
When those two souls became one, that anguish returned.
As the anguish returned, it must be passed on.
For as the anguish spread, a family was torn asunder.
And all for the search of one letter.
One letter that killed many souls, who each sinned and despaired.
Without ever existing.
But minor sins forgiven, good and pure souls died for one letter.
Or rather the lack of one.
It takes two people to create a universe. When a universe is created one-sided, the Kakera is fractured.
But that letter existed. The second half of that universe inside a small envelope.
In 1983, that letter was.
In a probability so vast, there existed one Kakera.
One truth to the catbox.
In every Kakera, that letter existed.
But that universe inside was hidden away
In this Kakera, that weaves a tale of the creation of that universe,
The timeline read 1980
And 1983.
Who is the master of this new world? Why is this tale necessary? How did that ill-fated universe finally reach truth?
In this small tale we shall see.
For the one in want of one letter shall finally find it
In this last tale
Inside of the catbox of Rokkenjima.
If all truths exist there, none more true than the other.
Then maybe this tale contains a fraction of the truth.
One glittering spark in the realm of possibility.
All the way back in 1980...
The wind whipped and swept and bat Ushiromiya Asumu's hair into her face as she inhaled smoke that whispered down to her lungs. When she exhaled, it came out like sea mist, and was dragged away in the vacuum of air. The woman had one hand securely on the guard rail. One foot planted firm on the sea mist rotted wood. Underneath the other hand was the small, tussled hair of a small little red-haired youngster, too young to be a teen, and too old to be a child. As Asumu took in a small drag of smoke, the boy looked up to his mother, barely holding back a dizzied gaze and a fear-drawn mouth.
"M-mama…Am I g-gonna…fall?" The boy stuttered out in a whisper so that no one could hear. He blushed, turning as red as his light crimson locks.
Ushiromiya Asumu spat out an annoyed grunt of smoke as she drew her hand back.
"Battler-kun…You are too old for this stuff, really…"
Battler drew back, and looked incredulous. "But, But you used to be afraid of boats, and the train, and even when we get into a taxi! Aren't you a little old, too?"
Asumu looked surprised, almost angry down at her son, when the words finally sunk in. She let out a huge laugh, giggling to herself like the young woman she used to be and crouched down at her knees. "That's our secret, remember? I'm too old to be afraid, your father hates it. But, when I'm with Battler-kun, I can be afraid as much as I want." She smiled and grabbed Battler's hand. Battler grinned wide and whispered low. "If mama's scared then I'll be scared too. But both of us have to brave so we don't get made fun of!" Asumu nodded, looking back at the family that surrounded them on this boat. "Yeah, but I know something Battler-kun doesn't. How to get rid of those fear that we're both too old for."
Battler eyes shone, looking back at his blonde-haired cousin. She was inside, but he could see her through the windows. She was making stupid faces at him, trying to get him annoyed so he'd tell her who the person was that he met at Battler's secret place. Every time his cousin spied on him waiting, she waited and waited until she got bored. As soon as she would come back, to keep on spying, Battler would be gone, and there'd be no trace. Battler said it was magic. No matter how much she made fun of him or hit him, he never told her.
Battler looked back to the front of the boat. "Well…I don't want to be afraid of anything! I can face anything head on, if I know how-" Battler looked back at Asumu, whose ;light crimson hair hung down to her elbows, as her hair whipped about in the wind and even scratched him from time to time. She smiled, putting out her cigarette on the old, rotted wood and tossed it to the sea. Battler grinned. "-So teach me! How do I fight my fears, mama?"
"You have to dare them."
Battler looked confused. He nervously grabbed at his tie - An odd X shaped broach more than a tie. Battler detested ties, since his dad always picked the ugliest ties he had to give to battler, and they were always embarrassing. Battler's secret best friend would make fun of his lame ties for hours - And he pulled on it instinctively. "…Dare…an ocean? How do you do that?"
Asumu stood back up slowly, and she turned to face the ocean at the front of the boat. She grabbed both handrails and planted her feet. She looked down at her son, and smiled at his odd look. She cleared her throat, breathed in wide, and-
"IIIIIIIII'M GONNA FAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!"
The whole family turned at looked at Asumu. Jessica, Battler's cousin, was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe, and all of the family members that were ranked so high in the succession order either gave a disapproving look or embarrassingly averted their eyes to choke down a laugh.
The seagulls crying up above sounded like crickets, and the moment was incredibly awkward. Battler just kind of stared, looking at his mom who had thrown her hands up in the air and looked incredibly silly.
After a long pause, she looked back at her son and winked. "Since I'm still here, that means the ocean chickened out. If I was gonna fall, like me and you are always afraid of, I would have fallen right there. So come on-" She scooched a little to the right. "-Go ahead and dare your fears." Battler came up to the front of the boat. He felt incredibly stupid. "Mom, do I…really gotta…" Asumu nodded. "Don't think about what anyone else thinks. This is between you," She threw her thumb back to point down at the water. "And that ocean."
Battler nodded. He smiled a toothy grin and opened his mouth wide.
"I…I-IIIIIIIIIIM GONNA, GONNA FAAAAAAAAAALLLLL!"
Right after Battler yelled out to the ocean, Asumu joined in
"YEEEEAAAHH, WE'RE BOTH GONNA FAALLL, WE'RE GONNA FAAAAAALLL"
Even though everybody else was laughing at them, Asumu and Battler broke into laughter with each other. They cackled and laughed at each other's silly blushing faces and at the Ocean too. Battler grabbed his mom's hand.
"You see, Battler? You didn't fall. Not even after I double-dog-dared it to. That's how you deal with your fears. You dare them, head on." Asumu squeezed her son's hand. "That's how you'll be a strong man. You'll grow up and make Sayo very happy." Battler looked up at his mom, embarrassed. "Mom, keep it down…that was a~ secret!" He whispered, not as if anyone could hear them clearly. Asumu rolled her eyes. "Every girl wants a man that can face their fears. Sayo is no exception!" She cupped her hand to talk quieter, as though someone was spying on them. "If you just hold back all your fears and don't be brave, you'll end up like George-Aniki."
Battler, confused, stood up on his tip-toes and whispered to his mom.
"So…I'll get fat?"
Asumu snorted and laughed heavy into the ocean wind, and tousled Battler's already-mussed hair. "Maybe. But you gotta dare to feel cool. You gotta say cool things, and don't worry about what they think. As long as you feel cool, other people will notice, especially girls." Asumu nodded, like she was reading a report on the facts of life. "Like this. And that's all I have to say. Thank you for listening, Have a nice day." Asumu said in a bad English accent.
Battler smiled. "You too, Have a nice day!" They both laughed softly together. Their bad English was a special joke between them. Nobody else got it, but that didn't matter.
"IIIIIIII'MMM GONNNA FALLLLLL INTOOOO A NICE DAYYYYY!"Both Asumu and Battler turned to see Rudolph beside them, smiling and yelling like he was part of their club. Battler scoffed. "Daaaaaaad, you always just copy me and mom, 'cause we're cool." Rudolph smiled and handed Asumu another cigarette before coming over and grabbing Battler's ear. "Hey, hey, I'm cool too! Watch." He pointed his finger out like a gun, and Battler immediately pulled out his hand and shaped into a gun as well. Rudolph nodded. "Ready?" Battler grinned and nodded back. "Aiiiiimmm…" Rudolph trailed off. Battler looked up and yelled "Fire!" They both pointed their "Guns" at Asumu and started making shooting noises. Asumu played along, bouncing back with every shot. "Oooooohh noooooooo, nooooooooo!" Asumu yelled, twitching and sputtering until she fell to her knees. "Howw….did you know….it was MEEEEEEEEEEEE?" Asumu overacted, laughing and hamming it up. "Just…finish me off. Ohhhhhhhhhh."
Battler and Rudolph stood side to side and put their gun hands together. Both of them pointed at Asumu. Battler smiled and said "Father/Son ultimate final striiiike! BANG." And with that, they both raised their gun hands as Asumu fell. Rudolph blew into his finger, like blowing the smoke away from his 'gun.' He looked at Asumu and said "Have a nice dream. See you in hell."and put his gun away in his holster. Battler collapsed on the ground next to Asumu, who was laughing at Rudolph's cheesy line and had flipped over. Rudolph sat down against the railing and pulled Asumu close to him on his right and Battler on his left. "I guess all the evidence points to us being a pretty cool family, you know?" He said, in between bits of laughter. Rudolph kissed Asumu as Battler laid his head on his dad's lap. "Yeah, dad. I guess we are." Battler smiled and looked up, seeing the motion of the boat finally starting to slow down.
Asumu seemingly spoke first. "I guess we're getting close." They all turned and saw the dock that they we're approaching. Asumu's hair settled into its natural curly ponytail on the right side of her head, going down to her shoulders underneath her elegant black long coat. She wore it because she thought Rudolph was into this style, at least, that was the only reason he hung around that business associate of his. He'd introduced her a few times as Kyrie, and sometimes Kyrie would come to play with the children and watch those lame western movies Rudolph and Battler were so fond of. . Needless to say, Asumu was kind of rude, and it was unbecoming. She really should apologize to her for acting so unkind, especially after Kyrie's loss. She didn't seem all that bad.
As the boat drew close, and they started to see the familiar features of Rokkenjima, Battler looked at the shrine of priests that protected his family from 'Evil Spirits', or some mumbo jumbo. Battler didn't believe for a second that a pile of stones protected his family, but either way he was glad it was there. As they pulled farther in, he saw something he was ten times as glad for as the Rokkenjima shrine. Sayo was waiting at the end of the docks, like she always had, with several other servants. Even among the other pretty girls, with white or green or straight black hair, Shannon stood out among the servants. Her eyes were sparkling back at the boat, like it held the biggest treasure on it, while the other servants looked distant and annoyed. Battler held his backpack, unzipped the zipper and held up a book in a sly way like he was reading the synopsis on the back. A big red bookmark, towards the end of the book poked out and drew attention. To anyone else, this would have meant nothing. But Shannon saw it, and met his gaze. She didn't even bother to hold back a giggle and a blush, since no one was particularly paying attention to her.
'He came back…Already, he came back…' Shannon smiled sweetly, as the boat reached the docks. Battler's heart started thumping in his chest.
Battler looked at Asumu, who truly looked happy at Battler, for she knew Battler's secret message and she read the gazes of the two happy children. Asumu tugged on Rudolph's jacket, and they started off in the direction of the cabin. Battler stayed, holding his book to his chest. He smiled bigger than he noticed, and calmly took one last look before he followed his parents. To Shannon- No, to Sayo, that's all it took and she understood him. They both had been waiting for this day.
Battler wasn't afraid of the ocean. Battler was afraid of something much deeper. A little root of love. Battler decided that this year, he was going to dare to make it grow. He was going to face this wonderful feeling heading on. As he carried his luggage down the exit ramp to the boat, having Captain Kawabata help him as he reached the end, Battler thanked him. As he past by the dock, the shrine, the outer crust of Rokkenjima, he heading straight for Sayo. As he almost reached her, his ears were filled with a familiar sound. The Rokkenjima Seagulls cried loud as he walked under them, and Battler couldn't help but feel every time he heard those seagulls cry, it was his favorite sound. When the seagulls cry in two more days, he'll have told Sayo the truth. He traced the edge of the book in his hand, walking down the dock. Battler's eyes met hers, and the spark of the universe started to burn between the two.
When the seagulls cried on October 6th, 1980, more would have happened then either of the two small lovers knew. The pieces that lined up looked the same as every other game board. In this Kakera, there was one additional piece that had never been seen before. This piece was going to change this worlds outcome, as the king and queen had changed as well. In this Kakera it was still a game, but a game of first loves. A game of the past played in mystery, to foster the lost chance in want of a letter.