A/N: So this story/plot has been festering in my head for the longest time and just last night I had a dream about it. I started the first paragraph March 2009 and it's been rotting away in my computer... Until now.
I really do hope you guys enjoy the prologue to Her Many Facets. And just so you guys know, the terms that are in italics will be defined at the end of the chapter. Please remember to review!
It had only been a month since the end of the Hundred Year's War. A terrible war when all Alices fought for their lost freedom and for the downfall of the dictator, Lord Kuonji.
Lord Kuonji, a ruthless man with a complementary reputation, was an autonomous leader; paranoid of everyone and obsessed with his vision of a nation run by Alices. He was the type of man who entertained the idea that he was the reincarnation of a powerful leader like Hitler, or a god like the almighty Zeus. It was no surprise to discover that Japan suffered 25 years of tyrannical ruling as a result.
During his reign, nearly all factories and buildings that manufactured any form of machinery were bombed on Lord Kuonji's orders- who feared that his enemies would overthrow him through the use of technology- and houses, families, and schools "disappeared" from existence; wiped out by Lord Kuonji's secret police, the Anti-Anarchic Organization, for insubordination. In addition, due to his affiliation with unity, Lord Kuonji cleverly popularized the wearing of kimonos and yukatas, and "accidentally" burnt all factories and stores that pertained to modern clothes; resulting in everyone adorning kimonos and yukatas. As one may have guessed, the delusional ruler was quite pleased with his success in forming a sense of "harmony."
Thus, it was inevitable for every citizen and Alice to rejoice over the inauguration of the compassionate General Yukihara; a man of great munificence and loved by all.
However, the whereabouts of Lord Kuonji's locationis currently unknown, unfortunately, but most of the members who were apart of the AAO have been executed or will be.
Nevertheless, all was well and relatively peaceful compared to the taut silence of fear which once occupied the streets of Japan. But this ordinary and calm day would soon change Natsume Hyuuga's life forever.
As usual for a summer's day, it was raining in the Asagao prefecture of Kyoto.
A brooding young man slapped his way down the narrow street, sweating slightly from the humidity, the 'clack' of his geta dancing throughout the dusk sky. He took care to avoid the deep puddles that gathered in the cobbled street, not wanting to wash his dark blue yukata again for the -nth time. Or his new pair of tabi for that matter. Frowning deeply at the thought, he unknowingly agitated the premature worry wrinkles in his forehead, deepening his attractive features to emanate a weary aura.
His internal musings were broken when the thud of a thunderous noise caused him to instinctively look up at the sky for any fighter planes. With dilated eyes and a clenched jaw, he belatedly realized that it was only the sound of a dropped umbrella.
"So sorry, Hyuuga-san!" A woman profusely apologized, stooping down to pick up the umbrella. He studied her yellow yukata with its morning glory sash, remembering the day she asked for it. He also remembered her flaunting the stupid engagement ring the potter gave her.
He continued his hasty walk down the road and took a left; relieved to see that his destination, a fabric store, was still open. He opened the glass door, relishing the blast of cold, crisp air that hit his lean frame.
"Welcome- oh, Brother!" Aoi said with pleasant surprise, looking away from her customer. Her crimson eyes glittered with anticipation as he closed the door with a greeting, pausing slightly only to silently assess why his sister seemed ecstatic. Was it the customer?
On cue, the mentioned person turned around and gave the young man a curt nod, who returned it with equal primness. The two of them continued their bartering while the latter examined the various cloths which adorned the shop, covertly inspecting Aoi's customer from the corner of his eye.
The customer, an old man around his mid 70's, wore a formal black hakama despite the weather- indicating that he was a newcomer to Aoi's shop, and therefore wanted to leave a good first impression- while the back of his haori had the insignia of the Tsubaki prefecture- Asagao's sister district that was famous for its prestigious estates. The customer owned an air of dignity and his rigid posture screamed excessive dignity and pompousness.
No. It wasn't the customer. New fabric? His eyes darted about the small shop. It wasn't that either...
"Okay, we'll call you when it's ready. Thank you very much!" Aoi called to his retreating back. The door swung shut in his wake. "Well he wasn't a very agreeable customer. Probably has too much wood in his personality... so what can I do for you, Brother?"
A glint of victory sparked in his keen garnet eyes, pinpointing Aoi's reason, before regaining its blank sheen. He decided to let Aoi spill her exciting news when she wanted instead of spoiling it for her.
The 24-year-old reached and took out a small phone, which was issued to every household by General Yukihira the previous week. Pressing the buttons of this contraption with enviable ease, he said, "I need the morning glory fabrics you gave me last time, since the festival is next month and people have been commissioning for morning glory yukatas; brown textiles in the combination of cotton and polyester; and fifteen yards' worth of hydrangea cloth in silk. Pig Lady wants one for her ugly daughter-in-law for the hydrangea festival in Ajisai. They're coming in tomorrow."
He gave an irritated sigh at the insufferable mother and daughter pair, who were both quite spoiled and turned into drama queens when bored... which meant all the time.
Aoi gave a sympathetic look to her handsome brother, having spent an entire day with the two of them, which nearly resulted in her stabbing the lot to death.
She headed to the storage room while he strolled over to the mini alter erected in the corner of the store. As he kneeled down to pay his respects, he smiled sadly at the picture of a beautiful couple, who smiled incandescently back at him. He was glad that his parent's joyful bliss was never tainted by the Hundred Year's War.
The man's eyes became haunted as he was transported back to the battlefield- the shrieks and bombs that rattled his ear drums; the frenzied bursts of Alices shooting to and fro in a grotesque light show; the coppery smell of blood and smoke staining in his nostrils...
A clattering noise signaled Aoi's return, which snapped him out of his flashback, and saw her heave a bulky box onto the counter. She turned to the cash register, plugged some numbers in, and held her hand out with a beam. The troubled male rubbed his face wearily, locking away his memories of the war, before turning around, and handed over a plastic card with a convincing sigh of resignation. He didn't want to worry his baby sister.
Aoi, with a smug look, strutted over to the cash register while her brother absentmindedly stared out the window.
"Remind me to give you an umbrella. It'd be a shame if these fabrics got soaked." Aoi called.
"Yeah." He answered despondently, scanning the sky by habit. "Sure."
Without warning, the man's lean body tensed defensively and stepped to the side of the window, as he unconsciously reached for the gun hidden within his yukata. Flattening his body against the wall, he peered out at the street, searching for the Alice he sensed, until a staggering figure captured his attention. Cocking his pistol, he carefully aimed, but something held him back from shooting. An inexplicable feeling shot through his heart as he watched the figure stumble to the ground helplessly; and with that same feeling in his being, the man tore out of the store, despite his sister's terrified shouts, and into the rain... Not giving a damn about getting his yukata dirty.
He stood over the figure, barely noticing that the rain had evolved into a vigorous downpour. He examined the Alice and estimated her age to be 21, since she looked to be about two or three years younger than he. His expression grew grim when he spotted her AAO uniform. Despite this last detail, he knelt down beside the female with an inward groan, hating himself for not killing her. He unnecessarily rechecked his surroundings for other Alices to gratify his paranoia, already aware that she was most likely teleported here. Satisfied that they were under no imminent threat, he reported his findings to Aoi, who found her place under the overhang of her store. With the Alice's silky auburn locks sprawled out on the cement and her heart-shaped face an abnormally pale color, he wondered whether she was very ill, very rich, or both. Checking her pulse, he swiftly picked up her slender body when he realized she was still alive. Aoi opened the door for the pair with a look of intense concern.
They all headed upstairs to Aoi's and her husband's large apartment, dripping on the carpet in the process. A bewildered Youichi stared at the trio, soup ladle in hand. He opened his mouth to form a question, before Aoi hurriedly explained everything to her husband, as the shivering female was gently placed on the couch. The raven-haired man frowned thoughtfully; for the strange emotion had not disappeared since encountering this AAO member. Rather, it intensified every time he looked at her vulnerable expression. Aoi wrapped the stranger in two comforters and touched her forehead.
"She's got a really high fever. Youichi, can you get a thermometer and some medicine?" Aoi asked as she clipped her short, black hair back.
The man stared down at the bundle skeptically, knowing that she'll never get warm if she stayed in her wet clothes. Apparently Aoi was thinking along the same lines, because she ordered her older brother to lock the store up.
He willingly obliged, stepping out of the room with a relieved exhale. He mussed his already untidy hair wearily as he walked downstairs. Sitting down on the stool behind the cash register, he gazed around the room to force his mind away from the sick girl who caused his heartstrings to feel awful. He took comfort in the familiarity of his surroundings. Aoi's store always contained an array of fabric patterns and were arranged by color on the shelves, which adorned the wall. The exception being the new cloths Aoi got, which hung from the ceiling like wind chimes. Enchanting calligraphy decorated parchments of golden wheat and red that sporadically appeared around the small shop, marking the fabrics that were on sale or popular. The man's eyes landed, once more, on the window. It was dark already. With one cursory check around the store, the brooding male locked up and went back to the apartment when finished.
"She's a soldier from Tokyo."
He looked at his younger sibling with an indifferent expression, noting the mistrust which laced her tone.
"She's got some really faint scars all over her body and her uniform is of synthetic fiber. Which is only produced in the bastard's Tokyo headquarters." She harshly said, then nodded over to a pile of drenched clothes.
The young man bent over the pile and carefully scanned the articles of clothing, dismissing the feelings of hatred that bubbled at the sight of the despised lightweight uniform reserved only for the dogs of the AAO. Memories of the war fought to cloud his head, but he took a deep breath; reminding himself bitterly that those days were over. Carefully, he looked into the pant's pockets for any identification, and found it in the back pocket.
"Sakura Mikan is a one star." He announced, looking up at the couple.
Youichi and Aoi both exchanged glances. He plowed on.
"Which is a lie. These clothes are perfect; they have no rips in them, meaning no one has managed to shoot or cut her. How could a one star do that? And the scars you found on her body, Aoi, were most likely from training, because her face is undamaged. These boots aren't wet on the inside, meaning she was teleported, so someone must've helped her get here... judging from her erratic breathing and pained expression, she was attacked and then saved by a friend. "
Silence met his diagnosis, but it was soon punctuated by Youichi. "Well, she should be fine by tomorrow morning. Why don't you stay the night?"
The keen man hesitated for a moment, debating whether or not it was worth putting up with the couple's loving kindness, giving in at the sight of his little sister's pleading face. She cheered childishly and rushed off to the kitchen to warm up a late dinner for everyone.
"Can I see her I.D.?" Youichi inquired politely.
The young man nodded, handing the card over whilst recollecting that Youichi used to live in Tokyo.
"She's from Kanagawa." Youichi said with surprise.
"You know the place?"
"Yeah, kind of. Kanagawa is just a small residential area in Tokyo, it wasn't a place where people visited if they wanted to have fun. It's a really quiet place, but-" Youichi furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "I don't recall there being an Alice."
"Brother! Dinner's ready!" Aoi shouted from the kitchen. Her brother got up from his seat with a fleeting look at the striking woman, wondering what happened to make her like this.
Evening melted into dawn when the brooding male awoke with a start. He glanced up from his spot on the floor at the vanilla colored couch, alert, and saw a dark bundle stirring fretfully. Standing up so quickly his head spun, he examined her alarmed face, discovering that she had dark gray eyes.
"Where am I?" She whispered hoarsely.
The man trickled some water into her mouth from the side table.
"You're in Asagao, Kyoto. Are you Sakura Mikan?"
She nodded in response, crinkling her face up in concentration, before inquiring, "who are you?"
"My name is Hyuuga Natsume. Do you remember anything about what happened to you yesterday?"
A twinge of recognition flashed in her eyes, "I- I remember..." She clutched her head in pain and curled up in a defensive ball, "... it h-hurts to remember..." She moaned with agony before shrieking shrilly; her sobs making her screams sound raw and cracked like a soldier being tortured.
"What the fuck?" Natsume cursed, hearing Youichi and Aoi rush into the room with exclamations.
His disquieted ruby eyes flew all over her face. What was making her like this? Amnesia? Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? Insanity?
"Make it stop! Stop it!" Her slender frame uncurled itself and twisted into grotesque shapes. "It hurts... so much! Mom? MOM HELP... Please..." Her screams halted abruptly as Natsume shook her cautiously.
"Are you okay, Sakura?" He asked urgently.
Sakura opened her eyes, and instead of frightened gray, they were replaced with cold amethyst ones.
"I'm Imai Hotaru, you idiot. And you're hurting me."
Natsume's eyes widened with ghastly comprehension as he realized what was wrong.
Sakura Mikan did not suffer from anything but a multiple personality disorder.
A/N: What do you think? Remember to review! :)
On another note, I might go over this later in the far, far future to edit it.
EDITED. If any of the readers can tell me what Asagao , Tsubaki, and Ajisai means in English, I will give you a cookie. Hahahahaa.
-Geta: wooden sandals worn with yukatas
-Yukata: a light-weight version of a kimono, worn only during the summer
-Tabi: socks worn with geta
-Hakama: a very formal variation of the kimono typically worn by men.
-Haori: a kimono-like jacket, worn on formal occasions