Hey there! Okay, so this is the first part of my first ever DN fanfic. *party poppers* This chapter is more of an introductory one - existing characters and stuff will be introduced next part! ^.^ Please R&R, it makes me happy :)
In what was probably a dark time for most of the people in Japan, never mind the whole world, it seemed that a small child still never failed to bring a smile to their face.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The young girl beamed, clutching the battered panda toy to her chest and watching as the man straightened up. He had a faint smile, she had an expression of pure relief. Suddenly it was replaced by one of shock, and her head whipped around to look down the busy street. "Oh! I have to go! But thank you!" She gave the man a quick wave before taking off, running down the street and pushing through groups of people until she was suddenly stopped in her tracks. Namely, by another man reaching out and catching her around the waist, although this man she recognised.
"Keiko! Where did you go, my little star? I was getting worried!" At her father's voice Keiko giggling, wriggling against her father's grip until he relented and let go. Keiko's smile faded then to be replaced with an expression of pure innocence, holding the panda up by a paw so it dangled in her father's face. "I dropped Star Junior! But a nice man picked him up and gave him back to me and now we're back together again!" She quickly explained, burying her face in the toy's matted fur.
"Well, just be careful. You know not to go talking to strange men, Keiko. Remember when I told you where that got me?" A frown was on Keiko's face as she nodded. Of course, being five years old, she hadn't been alive to witness the event that her father was referring to, but she'd been told about it, and in the process had learnt that alcohol was Very Bad and fighting strange people with alcohol was Very Bad. Even if you were only doing something called self defensive. Keiko wasn't too sure about that part.
In response to her father's question Keiko simply nodded, before deciding to change the subject. That was the nature of her mind – always quickly flicking from one thing to the next. "Daddddd, I'm tired!" She moaned, rubbing her eyes with Star Jr's paw. "Can we go home now? Aren't you done shopping? I know I am!" She looked up at her father, tucking her toy underneath her arm so she could take her father's hand as she watched him mull things over, before sighing in defeat. "Alright, I guess I am done. Lead the way then." Keiko, suddenly looking more awake, cheered then, squeezing his hand before starting to walk, tugging her father along behind her so he had no choice but to follow.
And then her father suddenly stopped.
"Dad?" Keiko paused when she felt that her father was no longer moving, feeling his hand slip out of hers. "Dad?" Repeating the word, she turned around, frowning at her father. The hand that she had been holding had flown to his chest, almost as if he was trying to clutch his heart. His face showed just pure shock as he sank to the floor. Now Keiko's expression matched his. "Dad?" The word was repeated a third time as she knelt down beside her father, flinching as he tensed and began to twist, almost as if he was trying to turn around to look at Keiko. "K-Keiko..."
"Yes, dad?" No response. "Yes, dad?" Still no response. Keiko reached out and shook his shoulder. "Dad!" For the second time Star Jr was dropped to the ground as Keiko used both hands to shake her father's body, fully expecting him to jump up and take her home like nothing had just happened. A quick glance up allowed Keiko to see that people on the street had started to take notice and move closer, allowing her to pick up a few words of their conversations.
"...just happened?"
"Heart attack, possibly..."
"...Kira?"
"Poor kid."
"Yeah, the kid..."
"...he dead?"
At the mention of the word 'dead' Keiko's head snapped up, glancing around to see a small group had formed around her and her dad. "Dead?" She repeated quietly, looking back down at the still man on the floor. "No!" Just like that tears started flowing, and the young girl threw herself over her father's body as if she were trying to protect it from any more harm. "No no NO!" She felt a light pressure on her shoulder, probably someone's hand, but she jerked violently to throw it off. "DAD!" Keiko couldn't even pick out the voices and conversations any more – she was just focused on one thing: her dad appeared to actually be dead and not just playing a game like she'd thought.
He wasn't going to get up.
She was alone.
And she did the only thing a terrified, upset five year old could really do in a situation like this.
Scooping up her toy, a flustered Keiko got to her feet and ran.
"Hey, kid!" A flurry of movement as people noticed that Keiko was starting the process of abandoning the scene and some made a movement to catch her, but they lacked the practice of her father and so Keiko was able to dart past them and run off down the street. Blinking furiously to try and clear her vision of tears, Star Jr clutched to her chest much like her father had clutched his, she ran, past crowds of shoppers and into an alleyway once she was off the main street. It was then she had to stop, flopping against the wall and breathing deeply to try and regain her breath.
Hide. She had to hide. If she hid somewhere dark, and closed her eyes and thought hard, she'd wake up! Of course! Wiping her eyes, Keiko hurried further down the alley, eventually coming across something that looked like... well, she didn't know what it was. Standing right on her tiptoes, and then climbing onto a box and then a bin, she pushed open the lid, wrinkling her nose at the smell. Eugh. Still, it was dark!She could wake up now. "It's okay, Star Jr, it's okay." She whispered into the panda's head, receiving no response as she gently lowered herself into the dumpster. Ow! Wincing, Keiko withdrew all of her limbs so she was curled into a tight ball after shutting the lid, wiping away a few more tears that leaked before allowing her eyelids to slowly slide shut.