Chapter 1: Well That Escalated Quickly: Say Goodbye

"Mommy, Daddy, Where are we going?" Ryoko sat in the back of the car, looking out at the trees that they pass.

"We're going to that festival you wanted to go to, remember?" Her mother looked back at her through the rear-view mirror, a smile on her face.

"Really?!" Ryoko beamed. The festival was the biggest event in the summer. It opens on the last few weeks of school, and has rides, games, and a lot of rare foods! "I thought daddy said I couldn't go!"

Her father looked back at her. "It's the last day of summer for you. I might as well give this to you. Besides, you've been very sad lately." He looked back to the front again, his voice calm and monotone as usual.

She smiled happily and looked in the direction of the festival. "Thank you." She said calmly. She couldn't wait. She was just about to start second grade, and she's finally able to go to the festival she'd dreamt of going to. Ryoko rolled down her window and closed her eyes as the wind blew back her long, dark blue hair. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and thought for a moment before turning toward her parents once again. "Um… Why isn't Uryu coming?"

"He's busy training with your grandfather, and said he didn't want to go." Her father replied.

"Oh…" She said, "Okay." She looked out the window again in deep thought. She knew her father was a quincy, and she also knew her brother had been training to harness that power. She, however, was unable to have those powers. She tried and tried, time after time, but every single time, nothing happened. She finally gave up, saddened. Her brother could do it, why couldn't she? She was only a few years younger than him… she didn't understand it. And she hated it. But despite that, she still had a good relationship with Uryu.

Suddenly, everything around Ryoko went black. She couldn't see, but she could hear a sound… _What's that sound?_ She thought, _It sounds like… It sounds like a car and… fire!_ Her eyes were closed, and she wasn't able to wake up, but she could hear someone yelling. It was faint, though.

"…ko! …oko…! Ryoko!" Her father yelled for her and looked at the flaming upside-down car, his arm shielding his eyes from the flames. His body had patches of third degree burns on his arms, legs, and face. He was the first to make it out, and the only one. He ran to the car and broke the window next to Ryoko, and pulled her out. As soon as he grabbed her, he shielded her with his own body as the car exploded. He looked down at Ryoko, then picked her up and ran to the other side of the road and hid in the trees. He looked down at Ryoko. "Ryoko! Wake up, Ryoko!" He shook her lightly, then violently, hoping she would wake up.

Ryoko laid unconscious, half of her body completely burned and bleeding. Her left arm had no skin on it, just embers and burns. Finally, after three minutes, she finally woke up, opening her eyes faintly. One of her eyes was different. Instead of the usual light blue, it was red with the white part of the eye black. She looked up at her father. "F….a….th….er…." Her voice was shattered, barely audible and cracking up everywhere. "It… hurts…." Tears swelled up in her eyes, which only made them burn intensely. She cried out, tears streaming down her face.

"Shh…" He replied in a calm voice. However, he didn't know what to do. An ambulance should arrive soon, but he didn't know how much time Ryoko had left. Even if the ambulance did come when she was still alive, she has a 3% chance of surviving this. Her little body couldn't handle this much damage, that much he knew. He knew it all too well. "Stay with me. Don't close your eyes, Ryoko." His voice was calm, but was quivering as well. She looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"It… hurts….. da….ddy….." She groaned in pain, her voice much weaker. "M-make…. it…. s-st…op…." At this point, the burns on her started to move to the spots where she still had skin, and started eating those up as well. However, she could feel nothing. No pain, no sadness, just nothing. Her tears stopped, and she stared at her father, one eye wide, her bad eye twitching slightly. The last sounds she heard was the ambulance's sirens blaring, rushing toward them.

"Ryoko?"

No response.

"Ryoko?!"

No response..

"RYOKO!"

…Silence…