Inu-Yasha
Second Chance
Scroll One
"The Shrine"
Mika was a slight woman... age 25, only 5'2" and very thin. She sighed as she began unpacking. It wouldn't take very long as she had only brought 2 boxes with her. One for clothing, the other for dishes and toiletries. When she had bought the house, they had told her that it was furnished, but as she looked around, she realized it was not... unless you could call the one chair and the TV stand furniture.
She set about looking around her new property. She had used all of her savings and the final amount of the insurance money to buy the house. She barely had enough to left over for food, so she was glad the School had fronted her money for the next month. They had paid her plane fair and provided a car, all of it included in the package.
This was her new life, she had left it all behind after the accident. She had finally decided to start over, she wanted to keep her promise to live... she couldn't seem to do anything else so she had decided to try, it was the least she could do. And besides, if she heard one more fake sympathetic comment, one more person with pity in their voice she would have gone crazy. She couldn't stand the fact that they blamed her for being the one who lived, they were the ones who kept her in death, she couldn't keep her promise when everything reminded her about the time before the accident... so she sold everything, changed her name and left. She had decided that it was the only way to move on, she had to become someone new, start a new life.
One of her old work acquaintances had often talked about the teacher's jobs that they offered in Japan. They seemed to be in desperate need of people who were fluent in English, at least that's what the pamphlet in the packet she received said. So her decision was made and she did it.
It was all new to her, she had been a designer in fashion before. It had taken her many years to be noticed though. Odd jobs here and there until finally someone had given her a chance. It had been like a dream, she had married her high school sweetheart, she had known him since she was 14, they'd been friends for so long. He was her best friend, always there for her. He had helped her through so many hard times, and even though her father had told her that she wasn't good enough and even though she had believed him, her husband had still loved her... and one day, she realized that she had loved him too.
They got married when she was 19, and a year later she had twins... the most beautiful children she had ever seen, one blonde like her, the other brown like him... the boy named Alexander, the girl named Victoria. She loved them more than life itself....
Mika slid open a door, it was a small bedroom, it must not be the master, she liked it though, and it had a bed... so there was some furniture at least.
Okay, she decided, this was going to be her room. She walked over to the lone window and opened it. It had a perfect view of the property. She could see the cut tree, the path to the archway and the stairs...and the odd little building that looked like a storage shed. Mika made her way back to the living room to get her box of clothing. She set the box on the bed, and began to rummage through it , at the bottom of the box she found what she was looking for. She pulled a small black velvet pouch free and sat down on the bed. Mika held it in her hands for several minutes before opening it up.
This was the only thing she had kept, the only reminder besides her memories and her dreams. She turned the pouch upside down and let its contents drop into her hand. It was a ring, platinum with a filigree design around a marquee cut ruby. She held it up to the light, it sparkled in the sun, she remembered the day he had given to her.
When they had gotten married, her father had cut her off, and he had no real family, so they didn't have much money in the beginning. They married in front of a judge, exchanging pot metal rings that they had gotten out of a store vending machine.
Mika smiled -then years later, after the twins were born, after he completed collage and they became a bit more established, after she had gotten her dream job to design for a theatre company, she's woken up one morning with the ring on her finger. She had cried because she was so happy...
Mika felt tears threatening to rise so she quickly stuffed the ring back into the pouch. She put the pouch into the pocket of her skirt and began hanging her clothes up. She wanted to continue the search of her house before looking over the grounds of the property.
"Anata," she said quietly to herself as she roamed through the house, "I'm trying to be strong... but it's so hard without you."
Mika familiarized herself with the house, finding the kitchen rather quickly, and the bathroom... odd as it was. She wasn't used to Japanese style tubs, but then again she wasn't used to anything Japanese yet. It would take a while, but she had the rest of her life...
She wandered out into the yard, the house was set on top of a hill and the stairway that wound up to it was nicely tapered. She walked over to the tree, it had been cut and the stump had been burned, there was a white string of paper decorations tied to a red and white rope encircling it. It was very close to the stairway and as she stood there staring at it she wondered why it had been cut. It was quite large and it looked old...
She turned and looked over at the storage shed, it was a worn building, quite the opposite of the house, the house was new, it had been rebuilt. She smiled , recalling the man who had sold the property to her. He was an older gentleman, small and nice. He had told her that the house was originally and ancestral shrine that dated back into the feudal era of Japan. The old house had been, before it had been rebuilt. Due to a family tragedy he wanted to be rid of it. He swore to her that there were ghosts. Mika had laughed a little...Ghosts, of all things... It seemed that most older people were a bit superstitious though, even her father had believed in such nonsense. Mika had no time for it, she had tried when she was younger, to find her God... a religion... a place. She had dreams when she was a little girl, of a life that wasn't her own, but as the years continued, her dreams had mostly faded, and when she met her husband, he had filled the void that a God couldn't.
So she had no time for it, no time for spirits or ghosts or superstition, but she didn't want to be rude so she humored the old man and listened to him ramble. He told her a story about his sister who had fallen in love and married a boy who had once been part demon. How years later a mysterious fire burned the old house down along with his sister and Brother- in-law. As Mika listened to him tell the story she wondered if he truly believed such a thing, demons... After the house was rebuilt he wanted to be rid of it, it had too many bad memories for him and he wanted to move on. He swore that their ghosts haunted the small building and so he had locked it up and put the property up for sale. Apparently no one would buy it because of the tragedy and mysterious circumstances of the fire. But it was that tragedy that had drawn Mika to the house.... It had a history that she shared. She had her tragedy, the house had its tragedy and together she felt it was a match... fate. Just like with her husband...
Mika shook her head, stopping herself from her thoughts and memories.
"Sorry Anata, you knew I was a weak girl..."
She smiled slightly and walked over to the shed. She reached out and tapped at the padlock that held all the chain around the doors. She reached into her pocket and pulled a ring of keys free. The man had given her about 20 different keys when she signed the papers, not one of them had been marked and when Mika first arrived it had taken her almost 30 minutes to find the key that fit into the house front door.
Patiently she went through the keys one by one, trying them all in the lock. After she had tried them all and they all failed to open the lock, she gave out a small frustrated sigh. She'd have to call a locksmith to open it... or resort to buying a set of bolt cutters, but either way it would have to wait until she got her first paycheck because she knew she couldn't afford them at the present.
She walked back to the house, a bit annoyed and very curious as to what the little shed held. Why bother giving her a set of keys when not one of them was workable...
Mika tried to eat dinner, but ever since the accident, she couldn't stomach that much. Before it happened, she had been chubby, especially after the birth of the twins. But after the accident... they had threatened to feed her through a tube if she didn't start eating on her own.
She took a shower, then decided to soak for a bit in the tub. She fell asleep shortly after, her dreams were filled with the faces of her husband and children. Sometime in the night she woke up and cried in the dark.
When morning came, Mika was awake to greet it. She sighed as she sat up in bed. She wasn't able to sleep all that much anymore and it bothered her greatly. It was orientation day at the school... they didn't waste time. She was to meet the principal and the teachers. Then they wanted to introduce her to her class. She was told she wouldn't be teaching for a week, but they wanted her to familiarize herself with the customs of the school. It was a local private school , she was excited about it because they had uniforms and everything.
She rubbed her eyes and got up, making her way to the bathroom for another shower. Her hair was very fine and it had the bad habit of molding itself into the shape of the pillow she had slept on. No amount of hairspray or gel would make her bangs stay down, it had to be brushed right after her shower, while her hair was still wet or she'd have bad hair all day. The shower would be short, since she had cleaned herself the day before, this shower was solely for the sake of her hair.
She wiped the steam away from the mirror and stared at herself for a moment. Her blonde hair was very light, almost white gold in color, but her roots were darker giving her hair the illusion that she bleached it. She laughed a little at the thought of her hair. She used to dye her hair all sorts of colors before, black, blue, purple... she had never cared for blonde hair, in America, everyone seemed to have blonde hair, whether real or dyed and she had always hated it. But after the accident, she had cut off her hair, and had it burned along with their bodies... She decided after that that she didn't want anymore illusions, no more makeup, no more dye, just herself. So she let it grow out, it had taken 3 years to get back to its length, but she didn't care anymore. She touched the small dimple on the side of her nose, she'd had her nose pierced when she was 16, they had called her alternative back then... sometimes gothic, she had many piercings and even a tongue bar... but it was all gone now and the only reminder of any of it was the small dent that a small amount of face powder could cover.
Mika brushed her teeth and dressed. Quickly she brushed her hair, carefully forcing her bangs to lay flat. She had been born with wavy hair, but after she had cut it, it had grown in straight... all save her bangs that always seemed to want to curl.
She chose a simple long black skirt and a white dress shirt. A black suit jacket and black loafers. Even before it had happened she pretty much only ever wore black. She had always felt most comfortable in it, so when she went into mourning she didn't really need to replace much. She looked at herself. She looked very business-like which was good because she wanted to make a good first impression.
She pulled the pouch free of the skirt she had worn the day before and put it into her coat pocket. She grabbed her purse and keys and headed out the door. Taking a deep breath as she locked the door she looked up and sighed.
"Wish me luck Anata. "She turned and walked towards the stairway.
She glanced over at the shed and noticed something odd. It didn't register at first but as she got closer she realized that the chain and padlock were off and clumped in a pile next to the doors. Mika stood at the doors of the shed, staring at the chain. Her first thought was that she had been robbed, but she dismissed it because the lock hadn't been cut.
' One of the keys must have worked...' she thought to herself. 'It must have come undone after I went back inside.'
She reached out and slid the doors open. They creaked loudly as dust filled the air. Coughing, she waved her hands, trying to clear it away from her face. It took a moment to settle so she stood with her face turned away. She turned and looked into the shed. It was very dark but the morning sun spilled into it through the open doors. Almost immediately there were stairs leading down to a small squared area. In the center of the area was what looked like an old well. It was boarded up and paper scrolls with faded Kanji written all over them covered almost the entire well. Off to the side of the well was a stack of boxes, only a few, neatly stacked and taped. The ground of the area was dirt.
Mika sighed, "You don't have time for this..." she said out loud. But her curiosity got the better of her and she started down the steps.
She ran her hands over the well, she couldn't read the kanji too well, she had studied Japanese in school, but it had been so many years and she was still lacking when it came to the reading and writing side of it. She could speak it well enough though, which is why she chose Japan as her new home.
She peeled off one of the scrolls, it was yellowed with age and most of the kanji was worn away. She could make out "sacred" but that was all. She dropped the scroll and walked over to the boxes. Pulling the top one down, she pealed off the aged tape.
The contents amazed her, despite the outward aged appearance of the boxes, the inside contents seemed almost new. The first thing in the box was a small album. She opened it up and ran her fingers over the raised lettering on the inside parchment. The name "Higarashi" was printed in Gold. She carefully turned the parchment to the first picture. It was a young girl in a school uniform.
Mika wondered if it was the same uniform of the school she was going to teach at.
The girl wore a green pleated skirt with a white shirt and matching green sailor collar. It must have been summer when the picture was taken because the sleeves of her shirt were short. The girl was very pretty, her black hair was mid-length and down. She had large brown eyes and she was smiling.
The next picture was of the same girl and a boy. He had very long black hair and his eyes were closed, his mouth was open and it looked as if he was in mid-sentence. The girl was clinging to him and she was making a peace sign. They were both dressed casually. Mika smiled, they looked like the perfect couple.
As she looked through the album she recalled the words of the old man that sold her the house
"My sister who fell in love with a boy who had once been half demon..." He looked normal enough...
In each photo, they were in one pose or another, some of them I uniforms, others in casual wear. There was one picture of them with the whole family... a small boy, a mother and a grandfather, all in traditional kimono. There was one picture of them at a festival, the boy was dressed in yakuta and his hair was pulled back.
In every picture he had the same impatient look on his face, but always a slight smile, always together with the girl. The last picture in the album was of them, only they were older. The boy, who was a man in the last photo, his hair was cut short, and both he and the girl, were in traditional wedding ceremonial garb. They looked beautiful together.
It took Mika a moment before she put two and two together. She frowned...
"It must have been them, the older man's sister, and her husband. They died in the fire. They looked happy, it was just like with me..." Mika said out loud... "only I survived..."
Mika pushed the memory away again and pulled the last photo out of the album, she wanted to see if their names were printed on it. She knew from the cover parchment and the papers that she signed for the house that the girl's surname was Higarashi, but she wanted to know their first names. When she pulled the picture out she noticed that another one was hidden behind it. It was a small Polaroid photo, not like the others, and it was turned face down. She pulled it out and turned it over.
It was a picture of the boy, only his hair was silvery white and he was wearing full red hakama and kimono with split sleeves. He was seated and he appeared to be sleeping, in his arms was a sword, but what caught Mika's eye was that he had white dog ears...
Mika laughed, Cosplay, it must be a costume,
She knew cosplay was very popular in Japan and it seemed even the boy liked it. Mika couldn't understand why they would only take a Polaroid of it.... Why hide it ?
Absently she put the Polaroid and the wedding portrait into her coat pocket and closed the book. She set it to the side and continued on with her search of the box. The next thing she found was a bundle, it was wrapped neatly in paper with twine keeping it together. She pulled the twine free and carefully unwrapped the package. Neatly folded on the inside was the same red kakama and kimono top that the boy wore in the picture. It was unusually soft and very bright. She held the kimono up and was surprised by it's weight. It was very light, like paper, which made her wonder what kind of fabric it was, she turned it over, trying to find a tag. Unable to find one she slipped her arms into the sleeves and was surprised to find how warm it was.
Still wearing the kimono, Mika pulled the final content of the box out. It was a small rectangular wooden jewelry box. It seemed very old, like an antique. She opened it up to find a beaded necklace. Carefully she pulled the necklace out of the box to examine it. It was heavy, mostly blue beads that seemed to be made of glass, every fifth bead was interrupted with a small white bone claw. Mika reached into her pocket and pulled the Polaroid free. She looked at it and noted that the boy had the same necklace around his neck. She was astonished at the quality of the costume. She knew that the Japanese costume market was very different from the States, they even had whole shops that produced fabrics just for such a thing, but she had never seen it in person.
"Like a real garment..." she said out loud.
She stuffed the photo back into her pocket and put the necklace on. It was heavy for a piece of costume jewelry, but she supposed that it wasn't so bad because it was probably only worn for a few hors a day... She turned and looked at the other boxes, wondering which one held the wig and the ears. She looked at her watch and decided that the rest of the search would have to wait. She still had time but she wanted to open the well and see what was inside.
"Ghosts..." she said in a partial laugh, "they must have believed it to place so many scrolls around it."
She took the kimono top off and folded it up, placing it back into the box.
"Not quite a neat as I found it, but it'll do for now." She decided that after she got home, she'd bring the boxes inside the house so she could go through them all.
Carefully she started to rip the scrolls off the seams of the trap doors. There was a lot of dust and she was careful so she wouldn't get her clothing dirty, she wouldn't have time to change so she took it slow. She pulled the doors open, they were stiff but easy to move. She looked at her watch again, she had 20 minutes before she absolutely HAD to leave, which still gave her and extra 15 minutes just in case she should get lost on the way to the school. She had always given herself plenty of time, and with her sleeping habits, time was something she had plenty of...
She peered over the edge of the well and looked inside. There was a small metal ladder that didn't go all the way down to the ground inside, but there wasn't any water in it either, so that didn't seem to matter. It was a narrow well, and not too deep, only about 10 feet down.
"Why would..." she started to say when something caught her eye.
Half buried in the dirt was what looked like a small glass marble. It glinted slightly despite the fact that almost no light could shine into the well.
Mika made a decision without giving it much thought, she climbed over the edge of the well and carefully started to climb down the ladder.
"Please don't break on me" she said out loud to the ladder as she carefully stepped down.
She realized half way down that she probably shouldn't do such a thing in a long skirt, but since she had started, she figured she'd better finish. Reaching the last step, she carefully lowered herself down until she was left hanging there, her feet dangled a few feet from the ground as she realized that there quite a drop to the bottom.
"...stupid" she said to herself as she hung there.
She took a deep breath and let go. With a thump she hit the ground, she reached out quickly to steady herself so she wouldn't fall. She turned around for a moment, trying to find the glass ball that had made her do such a stupid thing as to climb into a well with a ladder that didn't go all the way down to the ground. It glinted again and she bent down to touch it. It was rounded and she realized that it was half-way buried into the dirt, so she pushed her sleeves up and dug it free.
She held it up to the minimal light. It was larger than it had seemed it would be and was warm despite the fact that it had been buried in the cold earth. It was whitish in color as if it was crystal but as she looked at it she noticed a rainbow-ish shine to it.
Mika turned it in the light, "So beautiful... "she whispered.
Suddenly it flashed and she closed her eyes with a small gasp. Her eyes watered and she felt as if she had looked directly into the sun. After a moment she was able to see again, she looked at her watch and let a small noise of surprise escape her lips.
"Oh No ! I'll be late" she cried out.
Quickly she stuffed the stone into her skirt pocket and began turning about, trying to find the ladder. She figured she'd be able to jump for it, but she'd have to find it first and her eyes still weren't completely clear. She couldn't see the ladder and she began to get frustrated because she should at least be able to find it, even in the minimal light from the doorway.
"Dammit" she murmured, fingering the walls of the well.
She found some vines and tugged on them to see if they would hold her. After a few hard pulls she decided to take a chance. She pulled her skirt up and tied it in between her legs so it wouldn't catch and began the complicated task of climbing up the well. She felt foolish and cursed at herself quietly for not being able to find the stupid ladder.
So much for staying clean...she'd have to run to get changed and then hope to hell she didn't get lost because she'd lose her fifteen minute leeway.
She made it to the top and swung her arm out trying to find a secure place for a grip. With a great amount of effort she pulled herself up and over the edge of the well. Panting she stood there taking a moment to compose herself and catch her breath. She had been concentrating so hard on getting out of the well that it took her a moment to realize that the building was a bit different than when she had entered. She untied her skirt and looked up, noticing that the doors were closed and the boxes were gone. In a slight panic she ran up the steps and tried to open the doors. They were shut tight as if they had been locked from the outside. She rattled the doors and cried out
She had been so wrapped up with her curiosity of the well that someone must have come in when she was inside.
'Dammit, crime was everywhere' she thought, - her second day in Japan and already she had been robbed.
"HEY !!" she shouted as she rattled the doors, "HEY !!, is anyone there ?! I don't care about the stuff just let me out !!"
Again and again she shouted and banged on the doors. Finally she kicked them in frustration. She turned around and slid down onto the floor.
"You really screwed up this time" she said, tears welling in her eyes, "what a fine first impression this will make at the school, late on my very first day."
She put her head into her hands and cried for a few moments.
"Anata... "she whispered finally.
Mika looked up and wiped the tears from her eyes, that's when she noticed the inside. The trap doors of the well were gone, and the scrolls were all missing. The building didn't have all the dust that it had when she entered and seemed newer. Hanging from corner to corner and along all the walls was the same paper scroll decorations that adorned the tree stump on the outside grounds. She stood up and walked back down to the well. As she peered over the edge she noticed that the ladder was missing altogether, which would explain why she couldn't find it earlier.
"What is going on?" she said as she looked around.
She ran up the steps and started to bang on the doors again.
"SOMEBODY !! LET ME OUT !!" she started to panic a bit, she didn't understand what was going on and it scared her. But after her renewed attempts at the doors failed and her screams seem to go unheard she collapsed against the doors again.
She sobbed as she tried to make sense of it all.
"Calm down Mika..." she half said, half sobbed, "It's not like I actually looked around, and it's pretty dark in here... maybe I just didn't notice how it was in here"
She moaned a little and put her head on her knees.
'Maybe they'll send someone when I don't show up...' she thought to herself
Mika sat there and cried, waiting for the time to pass. She forgot about the stone that she had worked so hard to get, the stone that caused her to be in the mess she was in. She forgot about the necklace around her neck and the pictures in her pocket, she sat there and watched as the sun faded, her hopes of being found faded with it and she cried herself to sleep....
In her dream she was sitting on her couch. Her husband was sitting next to her and he was smiling. Their children were sitting on the floor watching their favorite show and she was happy and content. Her husband just stared at her.
"What?" She asked, feeling self conscious as he just sat there and looked at her.
"Stop staring at me..." she said, hitting him playfully. His smile widened and she blushed,
"Stop it" she said, pushing his face to the side. He turned back and smiled again.
"What ?!" she laughed, reaching out to push his face away again. He grabbed her hand and laughed.
"I was just thinking about how beautiful you were" he said quietly.
Her face flushed with embarrassment.
"I love you" he whispered as he leaned in for a kiss
"EWWWWW!!!" The twins said in unison.
They turned to see the twins staring at them with funny looks on their faces, both Mika and her husband laughed... caught by their children...
Mika awoke with a start , there were voices outside the building. She jumped up and started banging on the doors again.
"HEY !!" she started shouting, "Let me out PLEASE !! Can you hear me ? I don't care about the stuff, just let me out !!"
She paused, trying to make out what they were saying.
"...from inside ?!" Men's voices, but their accents were odd... "Get Sesshoumaru-sama !!"
She could hear horses and their voices started to become distant as the horses galloped away.
"HEY !" she shouted again, "don't leave !! Please!!" she rattled the doors again
"...quickly !!" Then they were gone.
"NO !! COME BACK !!" she cried out in English.
Once again she was alone and trapped within the building. This time she couldn't stop the tears, they flowed as she collapsed again, she put her face into her hands and cried. She was alone, it was dark and cold and the thin jacket she had on wasn't keeping her warm. As she sobbed she remembered the last words she had heard from her father
"Pathetic..."
After what seemed like an eternity of her huddled down, her face wet with tears and her body cold, she stood up and tried to calm herself down, she decided that she'd have to be stronger if she was going to get out of the building so she began to look around, trying to see another door or exit that maybe she hadn't noticed to begin with.
Suddenly a loud crunch pulled her from her thoughts with a start. Behind her the doors flung open and she spun around to see a figure standing in the doorway.
He was very tall, his hair was very long and silvery white. He had yellow eyes and his ears were pointed. The sides of his face were striped with a purplish paint... or tattoos, she couldn't tell due to the poor light from the outside In the middle of his forehead was a crescent moon, he was wearing a very fancy hakama and kimono and two swords hung on his left side.
He stood there for a moment staring at her with a cold gaze in his eyes. Behind him were some men, all wearing old style armor and their hair all done up in strange hair knots... they carried torches and peered in , looking at her with astonishment. Mika stood there, dumbfounded as the white haired man silently stared at her and the men began whispering behind him.
The man with the white hair narrowed his eyes and stepped towards her, without thinking she stepped back, something about him scared her...
"Who are you "he asked her levelly. It seemed to be more of a demand than a question to Mika...
She stared at him stupidly, her mind racing as she tried to speak. He took a step closer to her and she stepped back again, this time she hit the wall. Mika brought her hands up to her eyes and began to whisper to herself.
"This is a dream.... wake up Mika."
Suddenly in a movement faster than she could see, the man was next to her, he towered over her and Mika gasped. He reached out and grabbed the beaded necklace, she put her hands out instinctively and tried to push his hand away, but in another movement faster than she could see he grabbed her wrist. His grip was unbelievably strong and she winced a little as he held tight. Her eyes widened as she noticed that his nails were very long and sharpened... like claws.
"Let go of me !" She cried as she tried to pull away.
She brought her leg up and tried to kick him but he moved to the side and smiled, as if everything she did was a joke. He spun her around and pulled her arm up behind her, twisting it a bit. She cried out in pain as he forced her to the ground.
"STOP IT !" she cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks, "please stop it, you can have the stuff just stop !"
She struggled to break free of his grip, but he just pulled her arm up causing her to cry out in pain.
"Calm down" he said matter-of-factly
Mika's heart was pounding but her instinct to struggle and panic wouldn't let her stop.
"Stop it, please stop.." she sobbed, "please, I won't say anything just let me go !!"
He tightened his grip and she winced.
"Calm down" he said again, "tell me who you are and how you got that rosary"
Mika tried to think rationally, but it was hard because she was in pain and afraid
'Be strong' she thought desperately, 'be strong and answer!'
"Mika..." she tried to stifle the sobs that came, "my name is Mika, I bought the house from Mr. Higarashi, I've only been here for a day, I found the necklace in a box at the well... I've only been her one day..."
"Tou-Sama !!"
Mika was interrupted suddenly, she looked over to see a girl push her way past the men in the doorway. The girl was slightly taller than Mika, her grayish hair was very long and slightly flipped at the ends. She was dressed in a simple brightly colored yakuta and her face was very young despite the color of her hair. She had the same stripes on her face and her ears were pointed as well. She had deep black eyes and very pale skin.
"Tou-Sama!!" She stopped when she saw Mika.
"Shouka" the man said calmly, his grip eased a bit, "go back to your mother, this does not concern you."
"But Tou-Sama , who is she ?" Shouka asked as if the man hadn't spoken at all
"Shoka..." he let Mika go, she gasped as her arm was free. She stared at them, stunned. The man walked over to Shouka,
"Do not disobey me on this child..."
"Father..." Shouka began.
Mika stood there, unable to say anything as the two argued slightly back and forth. She felt her world spin, and in the next moment it overwhelmed her. She grabbed her arm as the pain shot through it.
"A... Anata" she whispered before she fell, passing out.
When Mika awoke she was on a large futon. For a moment she thought she had been dreaming, but the pain in her arm reminded her that she was not. She tried to sit up, but her head was heavy and she fell back onto the pillows. She reached over and touched her arm, wincing slightly with the pain.
"You're awake !!" She heard Shouka say.
Mika turned her head trying to focus in on her surroundings. She was in a large room, it didn't look modern at all. It was decorated richly and the doorway that Shouka stood in was made of paper. There was no glass anywhere in sight. Shouka was holding a large bowl, she walked over to Mika and knelt down. She pulled a cloth out of the bowl and wrung the water from it. She patted Mika's head carefully.
She seemed very gentle to Mika, not at all like that man... Shouka had called him Father.
"T-thank you..." Mika said quietly, her voice wasn't as strong as she meant it to be.
"It's the least I can do" Shouka said with a smile, "I'm sorry about father, he isn't very good with humans..."
'With humans ?' Mika thought 'what a strange thing to say..'
"My name is Shouka" she said, noting the look on Mika's face, "please tell me your name"
"Mika, my name is Mika.... Shouka, who is he...?" She asked, wincing at the thought of the white haired man.
Shouka blinked "Tou-sama ?? ah... he is Lord Sesshoumaru, regent yokai of this land-"
"Yokai ?" Mika interrupted, "as in demon ?!" she laughed despite the pain in her arm, "this is a joke right? Does the old man regret selling me the house ?? This is a stupid joke..." her laughter turned to small sobs
"Why are you people doing this to me?!"
Shouka stared at her with surprise, she reached out to touch Mika's head but Mika slapped her hand away and turned over, forcing herself to rise.
"Don't touch me!" she sobbed, "if you wanted the house so damned badly, why did you sell it to me??" tears streamed down her face.
Shouka calmly looked at her as she struggled to stand.
"Mika-chan, please calm down... I don't understand what you mean-"
"NO! I won't calm down !!" Mika yelled as she stumbled towards the doorway
Shouka stood up and watched her, "Mika..."
"Just because I'm foreign you people think you can play these games ?! Have a big laugh at the stupid American?!" she sobbed, " watch and laugh as you scare me half to death ..." Mika reached out to steady herself on the doorway but missed and started to fall forward.
Just as she was about to hit the floor Shouka was there to catch her. The movement made Mika gasp, it was the same as that man.... Sesshoumaru, lightning fast.
Mika couldn't understand any of it... she sat there, in Shouka's arms and cried. Shouka held her and sat silently, allowing Mika to cry. After a while Mika began to calm down, her tears all spent she looked up. Shouka smiled... there was something about her that seemed so gentle. She reached out and wiped the tears from Mika's face.
"Mika-chan" she said softly, "I am so sorry, father scared you more than I thought, you have to understand that I won't let any harm come to you.... I just want to know... how you got into the shrine... it's been sealed ever since..." Mika blinked at Shouka's hesitation.
"Mika-chan , where did you come from ?" Shouka asked.
Mika looked at her earnest face, unsure of how to answer her, she smiled
"...'Chan'... I'm older than you..." Mika said with a small laugh
Shouka looked at her and then started to giggle.
"I highly doubt that" she said , laughing at what seemed to be an inner joke.
"Shouka-sama..." A voice from behind them.
Standing in the doorway was a servant girl with her head bowed "Hime-sama requests an audience with her..."
Mika noticed that not once did the girl look up, it seemed as if she was afraid to. Shouka sighed,
"Tell Okaa that we'll be there shortly"
"Hai" the girl said as she bowed deeper, stepping back a few times before she turned and walked away.
"Mika-chan" Shouka started , lifting Mika's chin "Okaa is very kind, she will ask you what I have asked you, answer her truthfully and you will have nothing to worry about."
Mika nodded, wondering why she would have to see anyone else. She wanted nothing more than to be home... to be in the arms of her husband, to hear the laughter of her children.... She felt the sting of the memories and tried to quickly push them away. She wanted to be strong.
'Now was the time to be strong' she told herself
Shouka helped Mika up and with more difficulty than she let on, she stood up straight and tried to ignore the pain of her arm. Shouka offered her arm to Mika but Mika shook her head
"I'm fine, thank you..." she said politely.
'Strong..' Shouka thought, 'she's very strong for a human...'
Mika followed Shouka as she led her down a hallway. She was astonished at the size of the house, it seemed more like a mansion. She could see many servants, both male and female as she passed by opened rooms. They turned a corner to an open yard. Mika's jaw dropped as she walked past the enclosure. It was huge, the size of her new house, many trees and a pond adorned the grounds. There were several small boys playing games, all dressed in yakuta. On the far side was a stone bench positioned under a huge tree, There were several older men seated on it, they all had swords and they seemed deep in discussion. Off to the side, seated under the tree was a boy that stood apart from the others. He was different than the men. He sat there staring off into the sky. He was dressed in a fancy Kimono and hakama, his long black hair tapered in the back, his bangs and long side hair curved slightly, framing his face. His ears were pointed just like Shouka's and Sesshoumaru's.
'Like an elf...' Mika thought as she continued to walk past.
His leg was brought up and his arm was resting casually on it. Mika noticed his fingernails were long and pointed like Sesshoumaru's were. The boy turned his head suddenly, noticing her. His eyes were very light brown...almost gold. Mika turned her head away, not wanting to be rude by staring and a little embarrassed that she had been caught doing it.
The boy watched her as she walked past, Shouka glanced at him and smiled, he nodded, narrowing his eyes slightly as he turned his attention back to Mika.
"Oi" he called out to one of the man at the bench
"Yes Tenkai-sama ?" the older man asked humbly
"Who is that strange girl?" he asked as Mika disappeared out of sight
"Tenkai-sama doesn't know ?"
"Listen old man," Tenkai smirked, "if I knew , why would I ask you?"
"Sorry, sorry" the old man said with a smile, "they say she's a spirit, Sesshoumaru-sama found her within the shrine."
"The shrine ?!" Tenkai said sitting up, "that's impossible!" He stood up and started towards the house
A spirit...he thought , she smells human enough... but even so, I've never seen a human like her.... she looks so different. Pale like a ghost and her hair....the same gold color of the sun. and her eyes...
Tenkai stopped at the entrance of the house and turned back to the yard, looking up to the sky,
'... blue like the heavens...'
"Spirit, huh ?" he said out loud, "nonsense ! "
Notes and such
anything between the ' ' is a thought
There's alot of ponts where I used some japanese words, but since Mika is in japan, assume they are speaking it all the time unless it notes where she speaks english .... I put them in there because it sounds better in my head really -laughs-
Second Chance
Scroll One
"The Shrine"
Mika was a slight woman... age 25, only 5'2" and very thin. She sighed as she began unpacking. It wouldn't take very long as she had only brought 2 boxes with her. One for clothing, the other for dishes and toiletries. When she had bought the house, they had told her that it was furnished, but as she looked around, she realized it was not... unless you could call the one chair and the TV stand furniture.
She set about looking around her new property. She had used all of her savings and the final amount of the insurance money to buy the house. She barely had enough to left over for food, so she was glad the School had fronted her money for the next month. They had paid her plane fair and provided a car, all of it included in the package.
This was her new life, she had left it all behind after the accident. She had finally decided to start over, she wanted to keep her promise to live... she couldn't seem to do anything else so she had decided to try, it was the least she could do. And besides, if she heard one more fake sympathetic comment, one more person with pity in their voice she would have gone crazy. She couldn't stand the fact that they blamed her for being the one who lived, they were the ones who kept her in death, she couldn't keep her promise when everything reminded her about the time before the accident... so she sold everything, changed her name and left. She had decided that it was the only way to move on, she had to become someone new, start a new life.
One of her old work acquaintances had often talked about the teacher's jobs that they offered in Japan. They seemed to be in desperate need of people who were fluent in English, at least that's what the pamphlet in the packet she received said. So her decision was made and she did it.
It was all new to her, she had been a designer in fashion before. It had taken her many years to be noticed though. Odd jobs here and there until finally someone had given her a chance. It had been like a dream, she had married her high school sweetheart, she had known him since she was 14, they'd been friends for so long. He was her best friend, always there for her. He had helped her through so many hard times, and even though her father had told her that she wasn't good enough and even though she had believed him, her husband had still loved her... and one day, she realized that she had loved him too.
They got married when she was 19, and a year later she had twins... the most beautiful children she had ever seen, one blonde like her, the other brown like him... the boy named Alexander, the girl named Victoria. She loved them more than life itself....
Mika slid open a door, it was a small bedroom, it must not be the master, she liked it though, and it had a bed... so there was some furniture at least.
Okay, she decided, this was going to be her room. She walked over to the lone window and opened it. It had a perfect view of the property. She could see the cut tree, the path to the archway and the stairs...and the odd little building that looked like a storage shed. Mika made her way back to the living room to get her box of clothing. She set the box on the bed, and began to rummage through it , at the bottom of the box she found what she was looking for. She pulled a small black velvet pouch free and sat down on the bed. Mika held it in her hands for several minutes before opening it up.
This was the only thing she had kept, the only reminder besides her memories and her dreams. She turned the pouch upside down and let its contents drop into her hand. It was a ring, platinum with a filigree design around a marquee cut ruby. She held it up to the light, it sparkled in the sun, she remembered the day he had given to her.
When they had gotten married, her father had cut her off, and he had no real family, so they didn't have much money in the beginning. They married in front of a judge, exchanging pot metal rings that they had gotten out of a store vending machine.
Mika smiled -then years later, after the twins were born, after he completed collage and they became a bit more established, after she had gotten her dream job to design for a theatre company, she's woken up one morning with the ring on her finger. She had cried because she was so happy...
Mika felt tears threatening to rise so she quickly stuffed the ring back into the pouch. She put the pouch into the pocket of her skirt and began hanging her clothes up. She wanted to continue the search of her house before looking over the grounds of the property.
"Anata," she said quietly to herself as she roamed through the house, "I'm trying to be strong... but it's so hard without you."
Mika familiarized herself with the house, finding the kitchen rather quickly, and the bathroom... odd as it was. She wasn't used to Japanese style tubs, but then again she wasn't used to anything Japanese yet. It would take a while, but she had the rest of her life...
She wandered out into the yard, the house was set on top of a hill and the stairway that wound up to it was nicely tapered. She walked over to the tree, it had been cut and the stump had been burned, there was a white string of paper decorations tied to a red and white rope encircling it. It was very close to the stairway and as she stood there staring at it she wondered why it had been cut. It was quite large and it looked old...
She turned and looked over at the storage shed, it was a worn building, quite the opposite of the house, the house was new, it had been rebuilt. She smiled , recalling the man who had sold the property to her. He was an older gentleman, small and nice. He had told her that the house was originally and ancestral shrine that dated back into the feudal era of Japan. The old house had been, before it had been rebuilt. Due to a family tragedy he wanted to be rid of it. He swore to her that there were ghosts. Mika had laughed a little...Ghosts, of all things... It seemed that most older people were a bit superstitious though, even her father had believed in such nonsense. Mika had no time for it, she had tried when she was younger, to find her God... a religion... a place. She had dreams when she was a little girl, of a life that wasn't her own, but as the years continued, her dreams had mostly faded, and when she met her husband, he had filled the void that a God couldn't.
So she had no time for it, no time for spirits or ghosts or superstition, but she didn't want to be rude so she humored the old man and listened to him ramble. He told her a story about his sister who had fallen in love and married a boy who had once been part demon. How years later a mysterious fire burned the old house down along with his sister and Brother- in-law. As Mika listened to him tell the story she wondered if he truly believed such a thing, demons... After the house was rebuilt he wanted to be rid of it, it had too many bad memories for him and he wanted to move on. He swore that their ghosts haunted the small building and so he had locked it up and put the property up for sale. Apparently no one would buy it because of the tragedy and mysterious circumstances of the fire. But it was that tragedy that had drawn Mika to the house.... It had a history that she shared. She had her tragedy, the house had its tragedy and together she felt it was a match... fate. Just like with her husband...
Mika shook her head, stopping herself from her thoughts and memories.
"Sorry Anata, you knew I was a weak girl..."
She smiled slightly and walked over to the shed. She reached out and tapped at the padlock that held all the chain around the doors. She reached into her pocket and pulled a ring of keys free. The man had given her about 20 different keys when she signed the papers, not one of them had been marked and when Mika first arrived it had taken her almost 30 minutes to find the key that fit into the house front door.
Patiently she went through the keys one by one, trying them all in the lock. After she had tried them all and they all failed to open the lock, she gave out a small frustrated sigh. She'd have to call a locksmith to open it... or resort to buying a set of bolt cutters, but either way it would have to wait until she got her first paycheck because she knew she couldn't afford them at the present.
She walked back to the house, a bit annoyed and very curious as to what the little shed held. Why bother giving her a set of keys when not one of them was workable...
Mika tried to eat dinner, but ever since the accident, she couldn't stomach that much. Before it happened, she had been chubby, especially after the birth of the twins. But after the accident... they had threatened to feed her through a tube if she didn't start eating on her own.
She took a shower, then decided to soak for a bit in the tub. She fell asleep shortly after, her dreams were filled with the faces of her husband and children. Sometime in the night she woke up and cried in the dark.
When morning came, Mika was awake to greet it. She sighed as she sat up in bed. She wasn't able to sleep all that much anymore and it bothered her greatly. It was orientation day at the school... they didn't waste time. She was to meet the principal and the teachers. Then they wanted to introduce her to her class. She was told she wouldn't be teaching for a week, but they wanted her to familiarize herself with the customs of the school. It was a local private school , she was excited about it because they had uniforms and everything.
She rubbed her eyes and got up, making her way to the bathroom for another shower. Her hair was very fine and it had the bad habit of molding itself into the shape of the pillow she had slept on. No amount of hairspray or gel would make her bangs stay down, it had to be brushed right after her shower, while her hair was still wet or she'd have bad hair all day. The shower would be short, since she had cleaned herself the day before, this shower was solely for the sake of her hair.
She wiped the steam away from the mirror and stared at herself for a moment. Her blonde hair was very light, almost white gold in color, but her roots were darker giving her hair the illusion that she bleached it. She laughed a little at the thought of her hair. She used to dye her hair all sorts of colors before, black, blue, purple... she had never cared for blonde hair, in America, everyone seemed to have blonde hair, whether real or dyed and she had always hated it. But after the accident, she had cut off her hair, and had it burned along with their bodies... She decided after that that she didn't want anymore illusions, no more makeup, no more dye, just herself. So she let it grow out, it had taken 3 years to get back to its length, but she didn't care anymore. She touched the small dimple on the side of her nose, she'd had her nose pierced when she was 16, they had called her alternative back then... sometimes gothic, she had many piercings and even a tongue bar... but it was all gone now and the only reminder of any of it was the small dent that a small amount of face powder could cover.
Mika brushed her teeth and dressed. Quickly she brushed her hair, carefully forcing her bangs to lay flat. She had been born with wavy hair, but after she had cut it, it had grown in straight... all save her bangs that always seemed to want to curl.
She chose a simple long black skirt and a white dress shirt. A black suit jacket and black loafers. Even before it had happened she pretty much only ever wore black. She had always felt most comfortable in it, so when she went into mourning she didn't really need to replace much. She looked at herself. She looked very business-like which was good because she wanted to make a good first impression.
She pulled the pouch free of the skirt she had worn the day before and put it into her coat pocket. She grabbed her purse and keys and headed out the door. Taking a deep breath as she locked the door she looked up and sighed.
"Wish me luck Anata. "She turned and walked towards the stairway.
She glanced over at the shed and noticed something odd. It didn't register at first but as she got closer she realized that the chain and padlock were off and clumped in a pile next to the doors. Mika stood at the doors of the shed, staring at the chain. Her first thought was that she had been robbed, but she dismissed it because the lock hadn't been cut.
' One of the keys must have worked...' she thought to herself. 'It must have come undone after I went back inside.'
She reached out and slid the doors open. They creaked loudly as dust filled the air. Coughing, she waved her hands, trying to clear it away from her face. It took a moment to settle so she stood with her face turned away. She turned and looked into the shed. It was very dark but the morning sun spilled into it through the open doors. Almost immediately there were stairs leading down to a small squared area. In the center of the area was what looked like an old well. It was boarded up and paper scrolls with faded Kanji written all over them covered almost the entire well. Off to the side of the well was a stack of boxes, only a few, neatly stacked and taped. The ground of the area was dirt.
Mika sighed, "You don't have time for this..." she said out loud. But her curiosity got the better of her and she started down the steps.
She ran her hands over the well, she couldn't read the kanji too well, she had studied Japanese in school, but it had been so many years and she was still lacking when it came to the reading and writing side of it. She could speak it well enough though, which is why she chose Japan as her new home.
She peeled off one of the scrolls, it was yellowed with age and most of the kanji was worn away. She could make out "sacred" but that was all. She dropped the scroll and walked over to the boxes. Pulling the top one down, she pealed off the aged tape.
The contents amazed her, despite the outward aged appearance of the boxes, the inside contents seemed almost new. The first thing in the box was a small album. She opened it up and ran her fingers over the raised lettering on the inside parchment. The name "Higarashi" was printed in Gold. She carefully turned the parchment to the first picture. It was a young girl in a school uniform.
Mika wondered if it was the same uniform of the school she was going to teach at.
The girl wore a green pleated skirt with a white shirt and matching green sailor collar. It must have been summer when the picture was taken because the sleeves of her shirt were short. The girl was very pretty, her black hair was mid-length and down. She had large brown eyes and she was smiling.
The next picture was of the same girl and a boy. He had very long black hair and his eyes were closed, his mouth was open and it looked as if he was in mid-sentence. The girl was clinging to him and she was making a peace sign. They were both dressed casually. Mika smiled, they looked like the perfect couple.
As she looked through the album she recalled the words of the old man that sold her the house
"My sister who fell in love with a boy who had once been half demon..." He looked normal enough...
In each photo, they were in one pose or another, some of them I uniforms, others in casual wear. There was one picture of them with the whole family... a small boy, a mother and a grandfather, all in traditional kimono. There was one picture of them at a festival, the boy was dressed in yakuta and his hair was pulled back.
In every picture he had the same impatient look on his face, but always a slight smile, always together with the girl. The last picture in the album was of them, only they were older. The boy, who was a man in the last photo, his hair was cut short, and both he and the girl, were in traditional wedding ceremonial garb. They looked beautiful together.
It took Mika a moment before she put two and two together. She frowned...
"It must have been them, the older man's sister, and her husband. They died in the fire. They looked happy, it was just like with me..." Mika said out loud... "only I survived..."
Mika pushed the memory away again and pulled the last photo out of the album, she wanted to see if their names were printed on it. She knew from the cover parchment and the papers that she signed for the house that the girl's surname was Higarashi, but she wanted to know their first names. When she pulled the picture out she noticed that another one was hidden behind it. It was a small Polaroid photo, not like the others, and it was turned face down. She pulled it out and turned it over.
It was a picture of the boy, only his hair was silvery white and he was wearing full red hakama and kimono with split sleeves. He was seated and he appeared to be sleeping, in his arms was a sword, but what caught Mika's eye was that he had white dog ears...
Mika laughed, Cosplay, it must be a costume,
She knew cosplay was very popular in Japan and it seemed even the boy liked it. Mika couldn't understand why they would only take a Polaroid of it.... Why hide it ?
Absently she put the Polaroid and the wedding portrait into her coat pocket and closed the book. She set it to the side and continued on with her search of the box. The next thing she found was a bundle, it was wrapped neatly in paper with twine keeping it together. She pulled the twine free and carefully unwrapped the package. Neatly folded on the inside was the same red kakama and kimono top that the boy wore in the picture. It was unusually soft and very bright. She held the kimono up and was surprised by it's weight. It was very light, like paper, which made her wonder what kind of fabric it was, she turned it over, trying to find a tag. Unable to find one she slipped her arms into the sleeves and was surprised to find how warm it was.
Still wearing the kimono, Mika pulled the final content of the box out. It was a small rectangular wooden jewelry box. It seemed very old, like an antique. She opened it up to find a beaded necklace. Carefully she pulled the necklace out of the box to examine it. It was heavy, mostly blue beads that seemed to be made of glass, every fifth bead was interrupted with a small white bone claw. Mika reached into her pocket and pulled the Polaroid free. She looked at it and noted that the boy had the same necklace around his neck. She was astonished at the quality of the costume. She knew that the Japanese costume market was very different from the States, they even had whole shops that produced fabrics just for such a thing, but she had never seen it in person.
"Like a real garment..." she said out loud.
She stuffed the photo back into her pocket and put the necklace on. It was heavy for a piece of costume jewelry, but she supposed that it wasn't so bad because it was probably only worn for a few hors a day... She turned and looked at the other boxes, wondering which one held the wig and the ears. She looked at her watch and decided that the rest of the search would have to wait. She still had time but she wanted to open the well and see what was inside.
"Ghosts..." she said in a partial laugh, "they must have believed it to place so many scrolls around it."
She took the kimono top off and folded it up, placing it back into the box.
"Not quite a neat as I found it, but it'll do for now." She decided that after she got home, she'd bring the boxes inside the house so she could go through them all.
Carefully she started to rip the scrolls off the seams of the trap doors. There was a lot of dust and she was careful so she wouldn't get her clothing dirty, she wouldn't have time to change so she took it slow. She pulled the doors open, they were stiff but easy to move. She looked at her watch again, she had 20 minutes before she absolutely HAD to leave, which still gave her and extra 15 minutes just in case she should get lost on the way to the school. She had always given herself plenty of time, and with her sleeping habits, time was something she had plenty of...
She peered over the edge of the well and looked inside. There was a small metal ladder that didn't go all the way down to the ground inside, but there wasn't any water in it either, so that didn't seem to matter. It was a narrow well, and not too deep, only about 10 feet down.
"Why would..." she started to say when something caught her eye.
Half buried in the dirt was what looked like a small glass marble. It glinted slightly despite the fact that almost no light could shine into the well.
Mika made a decision without giving it much thought, she climbed over the edge of the well and carefully started to climb down the ladder.
"Please don't break on me" she said out loud to the ladder as she carefully stepped down.
She realized half way down that she probably shouldn't do such a thing in a long skirt, but since she had started, she figured she'd better finish. Reaching the last step, she carefully lowered herself down until she was left hanging there, her feet dangled a few feet from the ground as she realized that there quite a drop to the bottom.
"...stupid" she said to herself as she hung there.
She took a deep breath and let go. With a thump she hit the ground, she reached out quickly to steady herself so she wouldn't fall. She turned around for a moment, trying to find the glass ball that had made her do such a stupid thing as to climb into a well with a ladder that didn't go all the way down to the ground. It glinted again and she bent down to touch it. It was rounded and she realized that it was half-way buried into the dirt, so she pushed her sleeves up and dug it free.
She held it up to the minimal light. It was larger than it had seemed it would be and was warm despite the fact that it had been buried in the cold earth. It was whitish in color as if it was crystal but as she looked at it she noticed a rainbow-ish shine to it.
Mika turned it in the light, "So beautiful... "she whispered.
Suddenly it flashed and she closed her eyes with a small gasp. Her eyes watered and she felt as if she had looked directly into the sun. After a moment she was able to see again, she looked at her watch and let a small noise of surprise escape her lips.
"Oh No ! I'll be late" she cried out.
Quickly she stuffed the stone into her skirt pocket and began turning about, trying to find the ladder. She figured she'd be able to jump for it, but she'd have to find it first and her eyes still weren't completely clear. She couldn't see the ladder and she began to get frustrated because she should at least be able to find it, even in the minimal light from the doorway.
"Dammit" she murmured, fingering the walls of the well.
She found some vines and tugged on them to see if they would hold her. After a few hard pulls she decided to take a chance. She pulled her skirt up and tied it in between her legs so it wouldn't catch and began the complicated task of climbing up the well. She felt foolish and cursed at herself quietly for not being able to find the stupid ladder.
So much for staying clean...she'd have to run to get changed and then hope to hell she didn't get lost because she'd lose her fifteen minute leeway.
She made it to the top and swung her arm out trying to find a secure place for a grip. With a great amount of effort she pulled herself up and over the edge of the well. Panting she stood there taking a moment to compose herself and catch her breath. She had been concentrating so hard on getting out of the well that it took her a moment to realize that the building was a bit different than when she had entered. She untied her skirt and looked up, noticing that the doors were closed and the boxes were gone. In a slight panic she ran up the steps and tried to open the doors. They were shut tight as if they had been locked from the outside. She rattled the doors and cried out
She had been so wrapped up with her curiosity of the well that someone must have come in when she was inside.
'Dammit, crime was everywhere' she thought, - her second day in Japan and already she had been robbed.
"HEY !!" she shouted as she rattled the doors, "HEY !!, is anyone there ?! I don't care about the stuff just let me out !!"
Again and again she shouted and banged on the doors. Finally she kicked them in frustration. She turned around and slid down onto the floor.
"You really screwed up this time" she said, tears welling in her eyes, "what a fine first impression this will make at the school, late on my very first day."
She put her head into her hands and cried for a few moments.
"Anata... "she whispered finally.
Mika looked up and wiped the tears from her eyes, that's when she noticed the inside. The trap doors of the well were gone, and the scrolls were all missing. The building didn't have all the dust that it had when she entered and seemed newer. Hanging from corner to corner and along all the walls was the same paper scroll decorations that adorned the tree stump on the outside grounds. She stood up and walked back down to the well. As she peered over the edge she noticed that the ladder was missing altogether, which would explain why she couldn't find it earlier.
"What is going on?" she said as she looked around.
She ran up the steps and started to bang on the doors again.
"SOMEBODY !! LET ME OUT !!" she started to panic a bit, she didn't understand what was going on and it scared her. But after her renewed attempts at the doors failed and her screams seem to go unheard she collapsed against the doors again.
She sobbed as she tried to make sense of it all.
"Calm down Mika..." she half said, half sobbed, "It's not like I actually looked around, and it's pretty dark in here... maybe I just didn't notice how it was in here"
She moaned a little and put her head on her knees.
'Maybe they'll send someone when I don't show up...' she thought to herself
Mika sat there and cried, waiting for the time to pass. She forgot about the stone that she had worked so hard to get, the stone that caused her to be in the mess she was in. She forgot about the necklace around her neck and the pictures in her pocket, she sat there and watched as the sun faded, her hopes of being found faded with it and she cried herself to sleep....
In her dream she was sitting on her couch. Her husband was sitting next to her and he was smiling. Their children were sitting on the floor watching their favorite show and she was happy and content. Her husband just stared at her.
"What?" She asked, feeling self conscious as he just sat there and looked at her.
"Stop staring at me..." she said, hitting him playfully. His smile widened and she blushed,
"Stop it" she said, pushing his face to the side. He turned back and smiled again.
"What ?!" she laughed, reaching out to push his face away again. He grabbed her hand and laughed.
"I was just thinking about how beautiful you were" he said quietly.
Her face flushed with embarrassment.
"I love you" he whispered as he leaned in for a kiss
"EWWWWW!!!" The twins said in unison.
They turned to see the twins staring at them with funny looks on their faces, both Mika and her husband laughed... caught by their children...
Mika awoke with a start , there were voices outside the building. She jumped up and started banging on the doors again.
"HEY !!" she started shouting, "Let me out PLEASE !! Can you hear me ? I don't care about the stuff, just let me out !!"
She paused, trying to make out what they were saying.
"...from inside ?!" Men's voices, but their accents were odd... "Get Sesshoumaru-sama !!"
She could hear horses and their voices started to become distant as the horses galloped away.
"HEY !" she shouted again, "don't leave !! Please!!" she rattled the doors again
"...quickly !!" Then they were gone.
"NO !! COME BACK !!" she cried out in English.
Once again she was alone and trapped within the building. This time she couldn't stop the tears, they flowed as she collapsed again, she put her face into her hands and cried. She was alone, it was dark and cold and the thin jacket she had on wasn't keeping her warm. As she sobbed she remembered the last words she had heard from her father
"Pathetic..."
After what seemed like an eternity of her huddled down, her face wet with tears and her body cold, she stood up and tried to calm herself down, she decided that she'd have to be stronger if she was going to get out of the building so she began to look around, trying to see another door or exit that maybe she hadn't noticed to begin with.
Suddenly a loud crunch pulled her from her thoughts with a start. Behind her the doors flung open and she spun around to see a figure standing in the doorway.
He was very tall, his hair was very long and silvery white. He had yellow eyes and his ears were pointed. The sides of his face were striped with a purplish paint... or tattoos, she couldn't tell due to the poor light from the outside In the middle of his forehead was a crescent moon, he was wearing a very fancy hakama and kimono and two swords hung on his left side.
He stood there for a moment staring at her with a cold gaze in his eyes. Behind him were some men, all wearing old style armor and their hair all done up in strange hair knots... they carried torches and peered in , looking at her with astonishment. Mika stood there, dumbfounded as the white haired man silently stared at her and the men began whispering behind him.
The man with the white hair narrowed his eyes and stepped towards her, without thinking she stepped back, something about him scared her...
"Who are you "he asked her levelly. It seemed to be more of a demand than a question to Mika...
She stared at him stupidly, her mind racing as she tried to speak. He took a step closer to her and she stepped back again, this time she hit the wall. Mika brought her hands up to her eyes and began to whisper to herself.
"This is a dream.... wake up Mika."
Suddenly in a movement faster than she could see, the man was next to her, he towered over her and Mika gasped. He reached out and grabbed the beaded necklace, she put her hands out instinctively and tried to push his hand away, but in another movement faster than she could see he grabbed her wrist. His grip was unbelievably strong and she winced a little as he held tight. Her eyes widened as she noticed that his nails were very long and sharpened... like claws.
"Let go of me !" She cried as she tried to pull away.
She brought her leg up and tried to kick him but he moved to the side and smiled, as if everything she did was a joke. He spun her around and pulled her arm up behind her, twisting it a bit. She cried out in pain as he forced her to the ground.
"STOP IT !" she cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks, "please stop it, you can have the stuff just stop !"
She struggled to break free of his grip, but he just pulled her arm up causing her to cry out in pain.
"Calm down" he said matter-of-factly
Mika's heart was pounding but her instinct to struggle and panic wouldn't let her stop.
"Stop it, please stop.." she sobbed, "please, I won't say anything just let me go !!"
He tightened his grip and she winced.
"Calm down" he said again, "tell me who you are and how you got that rosary"
Mika tried to think rationally, but it was hard because she was in pain and afraid
'Be strong' she thought desperately, 'be strong and answer!'
"Mika..." she tried to stifle the sobs that came, "my name is Mika, I bought the house from Mr. Higarashi, I've only been here for a day, I found the necklace in a box at the well... I've only been her one day..."
"Tou-Sama !!"
Mika was interrupted suddenly, she looked over to see a girl push her way past the men in the doorway. The girl was slightly taller than Mika, her grayish hair was very long and slightly flipped at the ends. She was dressed in a simple brightly colored yakuta and her face was very young despite the color of her hair. She had the same stripes on her face and her ears were pointed as well. She had deep black eyes and very pale skin.
"Tou-Sama!!" She stopped when she saw Mika.
"Shouka" the man said calmly, his grip eased a bit, "go back to your mother, this does not concern you."
"But Tou-Sama , who is she ?" Shouka asked as if the man hadn't spoken at all
"Shoka..." he let Mika go, she gasped as her arm was free. She stared at them, stunned. The man walked over to Shouka,
"Do not disobey me on this child..."
"Father..." Shouka began.
Mika stood there, unable to say anything as the two argued slightly back and forth. She felt her world spin, and in the next moment it overwhelmed her. She grabbed her arm as the pain shot through it.
"A... Anata" she whispered before she fell, passing out.
When Mika awoke she was on a large futon. For a moment she thought she had been dreaming, but the pain in her arm reminded her that she was not. She tried to sit up, but her head was heavy and she fell back onto the pillows. She reached over and touched her arm, wincing slightly with the pain.
"You're awake !!" She heard Shouka say.
Mika turned her head trying to focus in on her surroundings. She was in a large room, it didn't look modern at all. It was decorated richly and the doorway that Shouka stood in was made of paper. There was no glass anywhere in sight. Shouka was holding a large bowl, she walked over to Mika and knelt down. She pulled a cloth out of the bowl and wrung the water from it. She patted Mika's head carefully.
She seemed very gentle to Mika, not at all like that man... Shouka had called him Father.
"T-thank you..." Mika said quietly, her voice wasn't as strong as she meant it to be.
"It's the least I can do" Shouka said with a smile, "I'm sorry about father, he isn't very good with humans..."
'With humans ?' Mika thought 'what a strange thing to say..'
"My name is Shouka" she said, noting the look on Mika's face, "please tell me your name"
"Mika, my name is Mika.... Shouka, who is he...?" She asked, wincing at the thought of the white haired man.
Shouka blinked "Tou-sama ?? ah... he is Lord Sesshoumaru, regent yokai of this land-"
"Yokai ?" Mika interrupted, "as in demon ?!" she laughed despite the pain in her arm, "this is a joke right? Does the old man regret selling me the house ?? This is a stupid joke..." her laughter turned to small sobs
"Why are you people doing this to me?!"
Shouka stared at her with surprise, she reached out to touch Mika's head but Mika slapped her hand away and turned over, forcing herself to rise.
"Don't touch me!" she sobbed, "if you wanted the house so damned badly, why did you sell it to me??" tears streamed down her face.
Shouka calmly looked at her as she struggled to stand.
"Mika-chan, please calm down... I don't understand what you mean-"
"NO! I won't calm down !!" Mika yelled as she stumbled towards the doorway
Shouka stood up and watched her, "Mika..."
"Just because I'm foreign you people think you can play these games ?! Have a big laugh at the stupid American?!" she sobbed, " watch and laugh as you scare me half to death ..." Mika reached out to steady herself on the doorway but missed and started to fall forward.
Just as she was about to hit the floor Shouka was there to catch her. The movement made Mika gasp, it was the same as that man.... Sesshoumaru, lightning fast.
Mika couldn't understand any of it... she sat there, in Shouka's arms and cried. Shouka held her and sat silently, allowing Mika to cry. After a while Mika began to calm down, her tears all spent she looked up. Shouka smiled... there was something about her that seemed so gentle. She reached out and wiped the tears from Mika's face.
"Mika-chan" she said softly, "I am so sorry, father scared you more than I thought, you have to understand that I won't let any harm come to you.... I just want to know... how you got into the shrine... it's been sealed ever since..." Mika blinked at Shouka's hesitation.
"Mika-chan , where did you come from ?" Shouka asked.
Mika looked at her earnest face, unsure of how to answer her, she smiled
"...'Chan'... I'm older than you..." Mika said with a small laugh
Shouka looked at her and then started to giggle.
"I highly doubt that" she said , laughing at what seemed to be an inner joke.
"Shouka-sama..." A voice from behind them.
Standing in the doorway was a servant girl with her head bowed "Hime-sama requests an audience with her..."
Mika noticed that not once did the girl look up, it seemed as if she was afraid to. Shouka sighed,
"Tell Okaa that we'll be there shortly"
"Hai" the girl said as she bowed deeper, stepping back a few times before she turned and walked away.
"Mika-chan" Shouka started , lifting Mika's chin "Okaa is very kind, she will ask you what I have asked you, answer her truthfully and you will have nothing to worry about."
Mika nodded, wondering why she would have to see anyone else. She wanted nothing more than to be home... to be in the arms of her husband, to hear the laughter of her children.... She felt the sting of the memories and tried to quickly push them away. She wanted to be strong.
'Now was the time to be strong' she told herself
Shouka helped Mika up and with more difficulty than she let on, she stood up straight and tried to ignore the pain of her arm. Shouka offered her arm to Mika but Mika shook her head
"I'm fine, thank you..." she said politely.
'Strong..' Shouka thought, 'she's very strong for a human...'
Mika followed Shouka as she led her down a hallway. She was astonished at the size of the house, it seemed more like a mansion. She could see many servants, both male and female as she passed by opened rooms. They turned a corner to an open yard. Mika's jaw dropped as she walked past the enclosure. It was huge, the size of her new house, many trees and a pond adorned the grounds. There were several small boys playing games, all dressed in yakuta. On the far side was a stone bench positioned under a huge tree, There were several older men seated on it, they all had swords and they seemed deep in discussion. Off to the side, seated under the tree was a boy that stood apart from the others. He was different than the men. He sat there staring off into the sky. He was dressed in a fancy Kimono and hakama, his long black hair tapered in the back, his bangs and long side hair curved slightly, framing his face. His ears were pointed just like Shouka's and Sesshoumaru's.
'Like an elf...' Mika thought as she continued to walk past.
His leg was brought up and his arm was resting casually on it. Mika noticed his fingernails were long and pointed like Sesshoumaru's were. The boy turned his head suddenly, noticing her. His eyes were very light brown...almost gold. Mika turned her head away, not wanting to be rude by staring and a little embarrassed that she had been caught doing it.
The boy watched her as she walked past, Shouka glanced at him and smiled, he nodded, narrowing his eyes slightly as he turned his attention back to Mika.
"Oi" he called out to one of the man at the bench
"Yes Tenkai-sama ?" the older man asked humbly
"Who is that strange girl?" he asked as Mika disappeared out of sight
"Tenkai-sama doesn't know ?"
"Listen old man," Tenkai smirked, "if I knew , why would I ask you?"
"Sorry, sorry" the old man said with a smile, "they say she's a spirit, Sesshoumaru-sama found her within the shrine."
"The shrine ?!" Tenkai said sitting up, "that's impossible!" He stood up and started towards the house
A spirit...he thought , she smells human enough... but even so, I've never seen a human like her.... she looks so different. Pale like a ghost and her hair....the same gold color of the sun. and her eyes...
Tenkai stopped at the entrance of the house and turned back to the yard, looking up to the sky,
'... blue like the heavens...'
"Spirit, huh ?" he said out loud, "nonsense ! "
Notes and such
anything between the ' ' is a thought
There's alot of ponts where I used some japanese words, but since Mika is in japan, assume they are speaking it all the time unless it notes where she speaks english .... I put them in there because it sounds better in my head really -laughs-