Chapter 1-Salvation

With an addled mind, I blindly followed my savior's advice, swimming as hard as I could towards the shore, despite the excruciating pain that felt like needles all over my skin. Her pale face framed with unruly black hair tied into an ponytail was burned into my mind. Her fearful eyes were poorly concealed by her plastic-rimmed eyeglasses. After I had woozily awoken from my surgery to silence my voice, she had whispered into my ear, "I'm trapped here, but what they have planned for you is just too cruel! When you wake up, swim for the lights! Look for kind humans there...I'm certain there are some of us that can be redeemed. I'm...I'm sorry I couldn't do more." A needle plunged into my neck and all was darkness again.

The water rushed over my unclothed body, and threatened to drag me under the moment I surrendered to sleep. But there was no way I was going to let my battered body give up now! A stranger had gone out of her way to save me, and I knew I would never understand why. There was darkness behind and above me, although I had no idea what it was as I had spent my life since birth shackled naked to a pitiless steel wall in a room that was constantly illuminated. Directly in front of me was an equally incomprehensible sight: a set of hundreds of artificial lights, some were attached to tall poles, others were glowing panes inset into a variety of large structures made up of myriad materials. Abruptly my bruised toes hit something solid and pliable. A few meters further in, it finally sunk in that I could stagger to my feet. I waded into the shallows and emerged onto the powder-coated slope. I started to violently cough out the seawater and desperately gasped in air. I had made it across the water! However the pain flared up again, and I tumbled facedown into the waiting darkness.

It felt like I was out for hours. Suddenly, something wet was dabbing at my nose, so I slowly opened my only eye that wasn't swollen shut. I was confronted by a tiny white creature with four legs, floppy ears, sparkling black eyes and an appendage in back that rapidly swayed back and forth. The strange beast stopped licking my face and exclaimed excitedly, "Yip! Yip! Yip!"

Overcome by an inexplicable desire, I slowly knelt upright, and reached out with a palm and started stroking its soft back. My strange acquaintance relished the backrub and started to comically attempt to climb my leg.

"Wanta! There you are! I've been looking all over for you! Why did you…?" My head shot up and I saw a human girl about my age in a white sweatshirt and dark shorts with short chestnut hair and wide brown eyes looking at me in stunned amazement. Wanta wandered back to his mistress who picked him up and eyed me with disbelief.

I felt the tears start to well up again, but for the first time, simple joy was mixed in with the ever present despair. Now twice in a single day I had been blessed with a kindness I was sure I didn't deserve! Nothing else in my short life had been anything besides ceaseless torture.

The young girl and her pet took a few steps closer, "Miss, y-your…horns. You have Nyu-chan and Nana-chan's horns. Are you here to hurt us?"

Robbed of my power of speech, I had to settle for a simple shake of the head as I wiped fruitlessly at my tears. I felt fear build up in my chest as I saw the girl walk right up to me.

"I'm Mayu. Wait right here!" She dashed into a tarp-covered alcove and came back after a few minutes with a blue plastic sheet and some rope. She quickly used a rusty knife to cut out a hole in the middle, and then draped it over my head, using the rope to tie off the improvised garment. Mayu finished by tying a white cloth bandanna around my forehead, "That's better. People will stare at you if you don't wear clothes. Make sure to hide the horns too."

On a strange impulse, I sighed and gently patted Mayu on her head, as I had no other way to repay her kindness.

Mayu blushed a bit but she smiled brightly, "I have friends that can help you. Please follow me."

That I couldn't do. I couldn't possibly burden this kind human with my own problems! Besides I had a gut feeling that two of my psychic, inhuman sisters wouldn't be as friendly as Mayu was. I gave the girl a sad look of gratitude and then ran off into the dark alleyways.

…

Hours later, as a warm brilliant orb illuminated the vast blue ceiling above my head, I walked barefoot on the warm concrete and gawked in complete awe of the busy thoroughfare bustling with humans. Most of the crowds ignored me, but a few shot disgusted looks my way. The scornful stares didn't trouble me much as I had endured far worse at the hands of that metal prison with its heartless workers. After leaving Mayu behind, I had used the leftover cloth to bandage several of my cuts, the scars on my throat, and crudely splinted two of my fingers together after resetting the dislocated joints. Abruptly a strange aroma caught my attention, and I stopped dead. I closed my eyes and blissfully inhaled. It was the most wonderful scent in the whole world! I suddenly felt a buzz and a compelling echo in my mind, as I turned down into a narrow back alley past a green, foul smelling metal canister with a hinged black lid. A door nearby suddenly burst open, and a harried looking woman came out holding a black bag. From the open doorway the warm, delicious smell wafted out into the confined space and I started to drool uncontrollably.

"Hmm? Who do we have here?" The matronly looking woman had short dark brown hair held back with a yellow band, and matching eyes. Her outfit was pink, with a light blue garment that only covered the front part of her body.

I felt panic rapidly bubble up and I took a step back, ready to run away. I never meant to be a bother to this lady!

The woman dropped the bag and sighed. "Looks like poor Mayu-chan and Wanta-chan weren't the only ones in Kamakura to fall on hard times."

I knew those names! I tried in vain to scream out Mayu's name, but all that came out was an agonized hiss.

The kind-eyed lady look a bit taken aback, but she did not retreat, "Easy there, young lady! No need to be frightened! I won't hurt you. I'm Atsuko. Houjo Atsuko." She took a rag out of her apron and started to wipe the dirt off the my face. Suddenly she gasped, "Wait, were you trying to tell me you met Mayu-chan?"

I nodded vigorously, and pointed to my jury-rigged outfit insistently.

The woman's eyes were misting up, "That sweetheart helped you, didn't she?"

My eyes started to tear up again, as I remembered her kindness. I then was taken completely by surprise when Atsuko enveloped me in a welcoming hug.

I stood as rigid as a pipe, not knowing what to do. I had never been embraced before, not even once.

"You poor dear! I'm so sorry you and Mayu-chan had to suffer so! Let me get you some leftover bread rolls!"

In a dreamlike trance, I reached over with my unbandaged left hand and gently touched the stranger's face. There was a sensation like a jolt of electricity, and suddenly dark, tumultuous memories flooded my mind!

I could now see a teenage version of the same woman sitting in a padded bed, covered with fabrics in a room with sterile white walls and a tile floor, crying her eyes out. "I-I-I'm so sorry Hiroshi! I prayed to the gods for a miracle! The doctors tried so hard to keep our daughter alive. I couldn't help it she was born prematurely! I'm so sorry!"

The thin young man in a black uniform looked at her with anguish and rage. "It's all your fault! It's your fault our child died! I was going to name her Haruko!" He stormed off and slammed the door behind him.

"Hiroshi! Hiroshi, don't leave me!" She broke into convulsive sobs, "I wish I had died instead!"

The contact was broken, and the lady staggered backwards woozily, "H-how did you do that?" She groaned and collapsed into my shaking arms.

What had I done?

…

In the kitchen of the shop I knelt on the tile floor, and watched after Atsuko, sobbing uncontrollably. My tarp was serving as a pillow, and I was only wearing the bandanna and a spare apron. The lady softly moaned and her eyes looked puzzled, "Hey there."

Miss Hojo had showered me with tenderness and all I had done is hurt her! I would never forgive myself! I deserved to go to hell for my sins!

"You found out my secret, didn't you, young lady? About poor lost Haruko?"

I shifted position slightly and nodded contritely, deeply ashamed. My prison wardens had often complained that I lacked the power to create some kind of valued weapon they called 'vectors'. Only yesterday the arrogant man with the dark glasses had called me a useless hunk of meat before he had hurt me. Was linking to the lady's repressed memories my power instead?

Atsuko sat up and wiped my tears away with her rag, and soothed, "Don't cry my dear. Now you know why my heart bleeds for anyone in need. Every scared, hungry face I meet reminds me of my lost child."

I bowed deeply in apology.

She helped me to my feet, "What is your name? Can you write it out?"

I looked around and saw a mixing bowl filled with a strange lumpy substance coated with a very fine white power. I saw some of the powder on the metal prep table, and traced my finger in it, mimicking out the only legible figures I had ever seen in my cage.

"Twenty eight? That's your name?"

I gave a sad smile in confirmation.

Atsuko grimaced, "Do you like that name?"

I answered the shopkeeper's question by wiping away the number and sighing dejectedly.

Miss Hojo put a hand on her hip and patted my shoulder, "You definitely need a better name than that!"

I knew what exactly which name I would be most honored to be called, but I knew full well it would be too much to ask for! Still, I pointed at the shopkeeper hopefully, knowing full well how unworthy I truly was.

"My name? You want to be called Atsuko?"

Defeated, I turned away in shame and dropped the issue.

"Oh! Ha-haruko?"

Yes, that's what I desired more than anything else!

Atsuko apparently read my elated expression and wiped a tear away. "I can see now it was fate that brought you to my door, just as it did with Mayu-chan." She took my hands in her own, "I will do all I can try to find you a home, but please stay with me until then, Haruko-chan!"

…

A few minutes later after I had torn through a dozen bread rolls, and chugged down several cans of iced tea, Atsuko had brought down a change of clothes from upstairs and had seemed puzzled why I had no idea how to put it on, but had patiently persisted into dressing me in a pair of denim overalls, a dark maroon shirt, white socks, and a pair of sneakers. "There we go. You look so cute my dear!" She flicked on the light to the room containing a small toilet and sink at the back corner of the kitchen. "Go check out your new look, and then go upstairs. You've had a long day." She smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry but I have to reopen the shop again. Rest, okay?"

I nodded obediently as I was used to following orders blindly. I watched the wonderful shopkeeper return to the front of the store and open up a window above a counter. I stepped into the tiny room and gasped. For the first time in my life I saw my own face. My reflection revealed a bewildered girl with sad, deep blue eyes, pale skin, and pastel indigo hair. My neatly parted bangs framed my face. My face and body were dotted with multiple bruises, although the swelling in my right eye had mostly receded. After using the bathroom, I carefully flicked off the light, walked up the wooden stairs and sat on the top step with my back to the wall. I had no shackles to restrain my wrists, but the hard surfaces were the closest approximation of my former home. However, I had always been cold, and the warmth in the stairwell was making my head droop in drowsy fatigue. I have to stay awake, I commanded to myself! What if the mistress needs me for something? However, my exhaustion soon sapped my will to stay awake and I rapidly nodded off.

"Good morning sleepy head!"

I woke up with a panic and looked around in fear. Where was my cold metallic cell, restraints or captors? I gaped and saw Miss Hojo rubbing sleep from her eyes from the padded mattress next to me.

"Did you sleep well, Haruko-chan? I'm sure your futon beat out the stairs as a place to sleep."

I swelled with joy to realize that my escape hadn't been a dream or a hallucination.

Atsuko giggled and rubbed her finger over a hard protrusion sticking out from my hair, "Your horns are adorable, you know."

Oh no! Mayu had warned me to keep them hidden, and I had just been exposed!

Atsuko winked, "It's not like you could have hidden them from me for long." She stood up and stretched, "The fact that you could read my mind like it was a book was a tipoff that you're a special and unique young lady."

I sighed and nodded, as the squeezing in my chest eased off.

"Let's get you cleaned up. After breakfast, you could help out in the shop if you like."

I couldn't help myself! I gave my benefactor a crushing hug, trying my best not to end up bawling again.

After using a tiny washroom with hot water, I carefully watched how Atsuko used her chopsticks to delicately eat her meal, instead of using her hands. Overnight, all of my bruises had healed up, leaving only the scars on my wrists and neck from as mementos. I was still in ecstasy from the caress of actual warm water on my skin instead of the ice cold sprays I had received daily at the facility. Miss Hojo had braided my hair into a neat ponytail and tied blue ribbons on my horns to conceal them. After a few clumsy attempts to use the chopsticks, I was able to awkwardly eat the simple but delicious meal as long as I kept the bowl right below my mouth.

It was still dark out as Atsuko turned on the bank of ovens and started expertly working on various breads, rolls, and sweets. I did my best but my attempts to ape my mistress ended up in spectacular failures. I ended up with cuts, burns, and being covered from head to toe in flour for my troubles. Defeated, I ended up mopping up and cleaning the kitchen as that proved easier than baking the products to sell. The sky was just starting to lighten as she unlocked the green wooden door leading into her shop in the indoor pedestrian mall. Several other shopkeepers were busy setting up their stalls. One grey-haired gentleman looked over to his neighbor and chuckled, "Who's the cutie, Atsuko-san?"

Astuko smirked, "Good morning Taro-san. This is Haruko-chan, my cousin from out of town. She's staying with me and working in the bakery."

The wrinkled gentleman chuckled, "I've already got one babe across from my store. Now I get to watch two! Lucky me!"

I had no idea how to handle the compliment except to turn beet red from embarrassment!

My employer shook her head, "Get busy, you old rascal. I've got work to do."

I was soon busily engaged in sweeping the floors and cleaning off the shelves with a careful attention to detail as my boss sold her breakfast and lunch breads to numerous children dressed in identical outfits. I felt the eyes of many of the boys on me, and I started to feel very uncomfortable.

One of them was dressed in a dark jacket and matching pants boldly went right up to me, "Heya miss! I'm Akira!"

I looked up at him in shock, and flushed deeply red. His brown eyes looked amused at my panic.

A young girl's voice chided him, "Nakahara-kun, stop being a bother to that girl!"

I turned and saw a familiar young girl wearing a white shirt with a blue color, red cravat, and blue skirt. Then I realized it was Mayu!