Prologue:
Day: Monday, March 22nd
Year: 1989
Place: London, England
Time: 10:32 p.m.
As were most days in the overcrowded, noisy city of London, It was cloudy and a light breeze was playing through the tall buildings.
It was thundering and rain was falling.
Raiku Sohma, a tall, pretty, Japanese business woman was supposed to in London on a business meeting, but instead she was sitting in a hospital with a magazine propped up on her lap, cursing the company that sent her here while she was exactly eight months pregnant.
There was no doubt she was in labor, but the doctors had assured her it would be a few hours before anything happened.
Her husband, Uzaki Sohma, was also in London. She had called and told him what was going on.
That was an hour ago.
'He shoulda been here by now…' She thought. 'Even if he walked.'
And for the next four hours, Raiku stared out the bay window, looking over the city, waiting for her husband.
Four Hours Later
A tall, black-haired doctor walked into the room pulling on cobalt blue medical gloves.
Raiku was now in full-blown labor. Her bangs were drenched in sweat and her sweet brown eyes were filled to the brim with tears.
She gave her final push while a supposed-to-be-silent scream of agony escaped her throat.
And then she heard it, her baby's cry, the world's most beautiful sound.
"A girl Mrs. Sohma." The nurse who had cleaned off her child, handed the little girl to Raiku.
A different nurse was at her side almost immediately with a birth certificate to be signed and questions to be answered.
"Do you have a name for her, Mrs. Sohma?" The nurse asked kindly.
"Yes. Hiroku Li Sohma." She looked at her new daughter and smiled.
She had striking green eyes and quite a bit of jet-black hair. She was six pounds and four ounces, twenty-three inches long.
Raiku held the baby a little while longer and then handed her back to the nurse with a tired smile.
She closed her eyes as the nurse left, but did not fall asleep.
She was finally overcome with worry and she let herself cry a few tears for her husband. He had missed the birth of their very first child. 'Why?'
Fifteen minutes later, her nurse walked back in. her big blues eyes told Raiku all she needed to know about what was written on the tiny yellow post-it not in her hand.
"Mrs. Sohma, a Detective Elizabeth Pettyfer has just called and message for you." The nurse went over to Raiku and took her hand. She looked into Raiku's eyes with regret. "She said that your husband was recently found dead in an alley. They guess he was mugged. I'm so sorry. If there is anything I can o for you, let me know, m'kay?"
Raiku choked back more tears. "Can I have a glass of water and can you make sure that all my calls get sent straight to my room please? Thank you."
"Sure, I'll be right back."
The young nurse left and returned within five minutes. She handed Raiku the water and left her alone.
Not two minutes later, a call came through and Raiku picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey it's Kiki from Sohma house." The usually energetic girl's voice seemed sad and distant.
Raiku held back a hiccup. "What's up Kiki? Is something wrong at Sohma house too?"
"What time was your baby born today?"
"Exactly 2:45, why?" Raiku thought this was a strange question.
"That was the exact time Rin died today. And your daughter, I assume, was born exactly one month early? You know what that means…"
"She's not going to be…"
"Yes, she will. I have to go, Shigure and Ayame are fighting about something again. Oh yes, and sorry to hear about Uzaki. The detective called here and told us right after she called the hospital. I can't wait until you get home. We need you here." And then Kiki hung up.
Raiku put down the phone and once again stared out the window, tears slipping gracefully off her perfect porcelain cheeks.
