Uhm... So... New fandom for me. Right.
Basically, this was a plotbunny that my roommate brought up and I wrote it. If I have my way, this will be pretty big and probably take forever to write. I hope you can be patient and follow along for it.
A bit on Magoichi: I took some liberties with her name. I'm very aware that the Japanese don't have middle names very often, but I don't particularly care. I wanted to keep all of her names involved and you'll see why shortly.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sengoku Basara.
Reminiscing by Fireflies
The fact was that things always seem bigger when you're small. Parents were benevolent-to-seemingly-capricious giants. A large glass of milk was something worth diving into, a swimming pool of lactose. Elementary schools, with their simple hallways, were labyrinths. This was all to say nothing of the majesty of proper miracles; mountains, oceans, large creatures like lions. It was for this reason that Magoichi Saica was pleased to see that some things didn't lose their dignity over time. The towering oak tree was still, for all intents and purposes, a wonder given form. Boots brushing against the dead leaves, Magoichi approached the trunk and smiled at the pine blocks, held firmly to the trunk by nails. How many times had she scaled the blocks, always mindful that the third one up would twirl around, on her way up to the sanctuary that was the old tree house? She was not bound by any obligation to actually enter the tree house, but old times' sake demanded that she do so. Magoichi looked for the pulley system and found that the rope had worn away, making the leaf-covered platform useless. "Well, nothing can last forever," was the bitter thought that crossed her mind before Magoichi resolved to climb the tree with her bag in hand.
The tree-house's interior had clearly seen better days, days that Magoichi remembered fondly. The loveseat in the corner was worn, probably covered with mold, and Magoichi elected not to sit on it. She sat down on the dry leaves that carpeted the tree-house, stared around the room that used to be her whole world. There was that stupid stone dragon Masamune loved so much. There was the old rope that led to nothingness now. There was that jar that they would catch fireflies in during the summer, telling stories around the lit jar. Magoichi took the jar in her hands. Nothing but bug corpses now. She shook it and thought back. She thought back nearly fifteen years, thought back to boats, VHS tapes, and the loveseat back in its prime days. She remembered her childhood and how it could have gone so much differently if it hadn't been for a badly-placed tree branch and a stuffed rabbit named (as Magoichi recalls) Mister Bubbles. Magoichi inhales, letting the woods' pine scent and soothing lapping of Lake Maxwell carry her back to her first day in Katasuna Elementary School.
At age six, the concept of death was something that Sayaka (not Magoichi quite yet. She hadn't renounced the name Sayaka yet) was already acquainted with, though not quite on the familiar terms people took her silence for. On the car-trip out of Colline, Sayaka Magoichi Saica was informed of several things in what felt like rapid succession. One was that she would be living with Aunt Tomitaki for "a while." Another was that her parents were "no longer with us." Sayaka was taught to say that they had "passed away" in a car accident. Sayaka had nodded in the back of her Aunt's Prius, holding Mister Bubbles tightly to her frail shoulder. Magoichi grew to dislike the term. As she grew from Sayaka to Magoichi, she decided that "passed away" was too submissive to explain what had happened to her father and mother.
Aunt Tomitaki, the widowed sister of Sayaka's father, lived in a cul-de-sac with other well-to-do families. She was the obvious candidate for guardianship for little Sayaka, since her grandfather was too frail and her uncle on her mother's side simply didn't feel like having her. Aunt Tomitaki said that she was fine with having Sayaka, that they could be dear friends and Sayaka could help her with the wash every day. It was a good prospect for Sayaka and she came to like the idea.
She started school after the funeral, an affair that Magoichi can't remember very well. Mister Bubbles became a constant companion, a floppy backpack buddy, and a recess friend that the teachers were very careful about keeping her from. On one hand, the girl's social skills would suffer badly if the "fixation" on the rabbit went unchecked, but on the other hand, she had just lost her parents and it might be unhealthy to remove it from her. Sayaka didn't hear any of this. She sat at the stairs, stroked the rabbit's soft fuzz, and watched the other kids run around.
It took a week before the local play-ground bullies took notice of the little redhead sitting near the building, stroking a stuffed toy and not talking. First they crowded around her and laughed about it. Then they kicked dirt at her, which prompted no response from her. Finally, after a week of reprimands from the playground aide and no response from Sayaka, the boys took action. One of them, exceptionally tall but the name escapes Magoichi to this day, took the bunny away and began running. First, he was flanked by the other boys in his posse while Sayaka sat stunned, as if trying to realize what had just happened. As realization struck, Sayaka stood up from the steps. Taking her first steps towards becoming a new person, a new self—Magoichi—Sayaka got off the steps and went running after them.
The boys had stopped in front of a rather impressive tree that flourished at the edge of the playground, well out of the sight of a playground aide. This was kids-versus-kid and the numbers weren't adding up in Sayaka's favor, but she was too concerned about Mister Bubbles to really care about odds. She stood two feet away and tried the six-year old version of reasoning.
"Gimme him back! He's mine!" The boys all laughed and the one holding the bunny starting tossing it up and down, Mister Bubbles' floppy body hitting the boy's palm with an inaudible hush on each throw. "Give him back!" The laughter, as well as the tosses, intensified. Sayaka made a swipe for it, only for the boy to shuffle back further under the canopy of the tree.
"It's her toy," a new voice, boisterous and proud, rang out over the conflict. Two more boys, one in blue and another in purple, joined the conflict. Sayaka didn't recognize them, but they seemed to be on her side. "Give it!" On one last toss, the boy in blue rushed from Sayaka's side of the battleground and jumped onto the boy who held Mister Bubbles in his grasp. The boy in purple rushed in as well, tackling one of the boys in the posse. As if caught in the moment, Sayaka leapt on the nearest and began smacking at his face.
This was enough to catch the playground aide's attention. Before Sayaka could do any sort of real damage, she was pulled off the boy and hauled aside. In the past, Sayaka might have cried, or tried to defend herself. Instead, she did nothing. She only watched as the boys were hauled away, the one in blue holding Mister Bubbles by the paw. Fortunately, when the aide saw that the little girl wasn't listening to her, she led her to the principal's office, the same as the two boys.
Outside the office, sitting in uncomfortable plastic chairs while the playground aides explained the situation, the boy in blue leaned across his friend. "Here." He held Mister Bubbles out by a tawny paw. To Sayaka, the bunny seemed to be suspended over a cliff by the hand. "I got him back for you."
She took the bunny, clutching him into the usual position, cushioned between her shoulder and hand. "Thank you."
"What's your name?"
Sayaka. The answer came up, easy as breathing, but she no longer felt like Sayaka. She wasn't sad, little Sayaka, sitting on the steps of the playground. She was different now. She needed a new name.
"Miss Sayaka. Time to go."
"Is that your name," the boy in purple asked. "Is it Sayaka?"
"No," she insisted.
"Sayaka, we don't have time for games."
"I'm not Sayaka," she insisted. "That's not my name anymore."
"Sayaka, really—"
"No! I'm not Sayaka! I'm- I'm-… I'm Magoichi!" Sayaka, now and only now was she Magoichi, turned to face the boys. "I'm Magoichi Saica."
"I'm Motochika," the boy in purple said proudly.
"I'm Masamune."
Before Magoichi could do anything, she was brought away by the secretary and told to face her misconduct. The secretary made her leave Mister Bubbles behind the big, imposing desk before she entered the office. That was fine. Magoichi had something else to keep her hopeful now.
TBC. :D