Mariko and Kensuke lay together behind Hiromi's headstone in the early hours of Friday morning during a fairly heavy shower. Neither could feel the rain passing through, it still took some getting used to even six days after their deaths- repeating the obvious pattern of waking/sleeping they were used to, they didn't feel particularly tired but sleep was the only thing to do either once they'd ran out of things to talk about or if Kensuke could see that his daughter needed more time to think about what he was saying. Most of the time their little chats were happy but often the conversation turned back to Mariko's short life and the horrific tale leading up to it, and even though Mariko often professed that she'd gotten over the worst of things cracks still showed from time to time, especially when Saito decided to drop by. Mariko looked up to her as both the victim of her worst crime and her best friend, and every time Mariko looked on her anew she laughed and wept in equal measure. Forgiveness was divine, and he hoped that if somehow anybody ever wronged Mariko she'd be just as gracious as Saito.
Kensuke looked at his 5-year-old pride and joy curled up in his arms, eyes shut but still wide awake, gripping his coat hard. He looked on and remembered seeing Mariko sat in the middle of the street staring at a car accident the day Lucy came back- perhaps that had affected her even worse than everything else in spite of the fact that nobody was killed or seriously hurt. He remembered the way she looked at a woman who was caught up in the crash and revived by a man who he judged to be her lover, and the way that woman resembled Mariko. Was that the only reason Mariko was so shocked… was it reason enough? Right now he couldn't tell as in her faux-sleep she looked happy just to be with him.
"Are you still awake?" He asked her.
"Yeah, Daddy. Can you tell me again why we can't sleep in the same box yet?" Mariko asked.
"We haven't had a proper funeral yet, and that's because we've never been buried. I know there wasn't anything left of us to bury but it's more of a spiritual tie that needs to be done so that we can have a proper home. That's why Mommy has a nice, cosy bed and we're sat here in the rain we can't feel. Are you alright, Mariko?"
"Yeah, I guess. I don't mind this, but Mommy says it's really warm and relaxing in there, and when I tried to cuddle up to her I couldn't feel anything. That seemed to upset her a bit. What can we do about it?"
"I don't know. I suppose I could… naah, it seems too much."
"What?"
"I thought about asking Nana to hold a small service for us, but I think they can do without mourning for now."
"Don't they know we're OK? After earlier tonight?"
"Ah yes, that debacle. Thanks for reminding me, Mariko. They'll be too busy trying to clean the place up to worry about us!"
Mariko smiled, and slackened her grip slightly. "Still, it would be nice if they could do something. I keep talking to new people coming here, we've had about eight since Monday and they're all saying how good it feels to sleep all day and all night, and it bugs me a bit 'cause I'm a bit restless. You and Mommy having… ahem… 'talks' doesn't help."
Kensuke blushed. He and Hiromi had been barely able to keep their hands off each other and passions still burned deep inside. He knew how Mariko was frequently embarrassed, and that she'd never truly understand as she'd never had the chance to know about those aspects of life- how exactly could she learn? A thousand years later she'd still be five, no older than the day she died.
"I'm sorry, Mariko. It's just that we're still crazy in love, and after everything that's happened we're just happy to have each other again."
"I know, Daddy, it just feels… weird. It's like something everybody else knows and laughs about but I don't understand."
"Girls your age aren't meant to understand, not for a long time. One day someone will tell you I'm sure… Mariko?"
"Yeah?"
"That accident that happened in town on Sunday… is that still bugging you?"
"Yeah, a little. I saw the pretty lady knocked out on the floor, and she was there looking at me and crying. I didn't do anything but I still feel bad because… (sigh) she looks how I'd have looked as a grown-up, and she had someone who loved her. If she'd died then it would have been awful, I hope she didn't get hurt to bad…"
Kensuke held her up to his face, and recalled Hiromi talking to him a day or two after the fuss had died down about when she saw Saito the first time.
"Mommy's right. You're thinking too much about what could have happened if you'd lived, and it's messing your head up. What you need is more good stuff to happen to you right now, and a nice long sleep to start with. Is it okay if I leave you alone for a bit? I'll be back by morning, I just need to do something."
"Yeah, Daddy. I'll be OK."
"Mariko?" Hiromi's voice called out. "Wanna come inside?"
"Ok, Mommy. Even if I can't feel warm at least I'll be with you. Take care, Daddy."
Mariko got up and stepped down into the grave while Kensuke left the yard, jumping down over the steps and crossing the road through the fields, then down the hill towards the Inn.
"I hope they won't get too upset on the day. I know it's an imposition but Mariko needs all the warmth she can get after spending so long in cold nothingness."
---
The rain seemed to lift a little but it made not much difference as the moon was under cloud, leaving the field in darkness. Kensuke wondered for a second if he'd actually get lost and end up ten miles away before dawn, but he got his bearing upon seeing a light in the distance to guide him. Relieved and confused at the same time Kensuke pressed on.
"They're still awake? At this hour?"
Heading through the grass he approached the Inn and entered through the front gate. As he got close he could make out strange noises from inside. Recognising them and blushing again, he wondered if this was really the time for such a sombre intrusion. As he turned away he heard Wanta barking behind him excitedly. Smiling at the dog's ability to sense him he petted Wanta lightly on the head, placating his nerves. Moments later the door opened, and Nana staggered out.
"(hic) I'll never talk, do your worsht you rotten monkeys!… Oh, Papa, it'sh you again."
Kensuke wasn't ready for that and he stumbled backwards. Had she been…?
"Nana? What's going on in there, it's the middle of the night… what's wrong with you, are you OK?"
Nana struggled to stay on her feet and began to explain things with the put-on voice of a solider-
"Earlier on thingsh had eshcalated to the point that our beshtesht shaké wash due up for shacrifishe. Whilsht Offisher Mayu and myshelf were willing to continue hoshtilitiesh, Lushy and the folksh elected to hold talksh. And conshidering the NOISE they're making, whatever the hell'sh going on thingsh appear to be going well. And I didn't care to intrude sho along with my companion I deshided to indulge with whatever wash left of the grog. Would you care to come insh.. inside?"
-
Making the effort to straighten her voice out Nana guided Kensuke indoors. He observed the utter devastation through the hallway, remnants of dinner and dessert over the walls replete with a now-broken dining table. In a way he couldn't help but smile and agree with Mariko's perception that when it got down to celebrating the good times things may get a little… excessive.
She beckoned him to wait outside the kitchen whilst she walked inside to find Mayu out rock-solid, slumped by the cooker. Not wanting to carry her to bed just yet in case she interrupted the adults during their 'negotiations' she picked her up to carry her back onto the 'battlefield' with Papa in tow, kicked over a cushion onto its cleanest side and placed her to rest on it. Mayu merely rubbed her reddening nose and returned to slumber.
With a listing smile Nana picked two more cushions, flipped them over and sat on one of them uneasy while Kensuke reciprocated. He watched her straighten herself up a little, like even in this state she knew whatever he had to say was important.
Genus didn't matter- she was still a little girl not a little plastered trying her very best not to shame him, yet even though she reminded him of those kick-ass days of University with Hiromi – amongst other things trying to turn Tokyo into a dry city by force – he could have done without seeing Nana in the same vein. To him, for now, she had to remain innocent.
He started to chastise her- "I must say it's very irresponsible of them to let you drink that stuff, Nana. You're far too young and you can't tell what you can do, especially with your vectors."
She looked him dead in the eyes and gave it some thought. "You're prolly right, Papa. I don't feel too good right now, and I don't wanna sleep through what ya got to say."
"I'll make you some coffee, then."
"You can do that in your condition?"
"Sure, it'll just take me a bit longer."
"I'll come with you, I think I need to keep moving."
Returning to the kitchen for a moment she observed him go through the motions like someone who'd done it a thousand times, but the notion of a dead person doing such a thing troubled her drunken mind- she wasn't sure if the fog that drink had given her was affecting her eyesight, but she decided to stick with it just a little longer. He fixed the drink, adding a dash of cold water from a jug to make sure she wouldn't scald her tender mouth, and gave it to her. She took a sip then supped on it not a little.
"MMMmmmm… yummy. Much better than that crap at the hospital when we took Lucy in." She brushed her drooping hair back from over her eyes and exhaled forcefully- betraying her ruddy, dishevelled looks.
"Anyway, what is it you wanna talk about?"
Kensuke crouched down to her level and began- "It's a bit difficult to explain. You see, you know us ghosts can't feel anything, right?"
"Yeah?"
"That's pretty much true, except that when dead people sleep in their own graves, I'm told it's really nice and warm in there, like sleeping under a really big blanket. The thing is that Mariko and I weren't given a proper funeral so even though we're sleeping together in the same plot it's still only really my wife's grave, so only she can feel warm. I don't really mind either way but I feel sorry for Mariko. She's spent her whole life and a few days sleeping in spaces without feeling safe and wanting to sleep at all, and it's making her kind of nervy. I feel…"
Nana interrupted him, her mind burning- "That even though there wasn't anything of you to get buried after you got blown up, if there was still something to mark that you belonged there it might help?"
"You don't have to sound so blunt…Yes, Nana, that's right."
Nana gave it a moment's thought whilst returning to her coffee- "I don't know what we can afford to do right now, money's a bit tight. I know I got this letter that says you've left me something…"
He looked afraid for a second. "How did you get that? I only recorded my will last week back at the facility…"
"Someone from the company came around to deliver it. Kohta said that since the Director got killed they didn't really want to press it much more."
He shook his head. "I don't know, Nana. They still know where you live, and it's worrying."
"Papa, we'll cross that road when it happens. All I wanna know is if I can take care of what you want for Mariko with what you've given me."
Kensuke smiled. "Yes, I think you can do that."
"I'll write it down and see what I can do. Better not tell the folks about it and interrupt their little scene right now, I'll tell them in the morning. More likely the afternoon, depends on how they're negotiating… one second"
Nana rushed out of the kitchen and ran wobbly upstairs, cupping an ear to the master bedroom for a brief second. Grinning, she rushed back to Kensuke and merely replied with "Still going on, fierce enough. Could be all night." He shied away, embarrassed, and she broke out laughing.
"I'm not stupid, you know what they're doing as well, don't ya?" she asked. He couldn't answer her, and she chuckled some more. The thought hadn't crossed her mind until a few moments ago and even if she didn't know precisely what it was all about she could tell enough that it wasn't something you'd hear in everyday conversation.
"Don't worry, Papa, I think they're going to be friends after all. Gimme a few days, I'll sort this out for you."
He placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her forehead- "Thank you, Nana. I'll see myself out. Best get some sleep because your little head will hurt in the morning, trust me. And I don't want you to make a habit of doing that, you're still a child."
"Yessir!" she saluted him, even knowing he was serious. As he turned to leave she stopped him- "That gives me an idea though… perhaps if I buried something that belonged to you it might help?"
"I don't know, Nana. I don't think I had anything of Mariko's left…" This troubled him.
"I'll manage, Papa. You best get back home, don't dwell on it too much. I just wish those guys wouldn't enjoy themselves so loud, it's making my ears sting… goddamn, what's that smell?"
-
Kensuke left Nana behind in a puzzled state- even if she had a clear head she couldn't really figure out exactly what to put in that symbolised Mariko. Would a mere name on the headstone suffice, and if not what else would do?
Nana entered the hall and scrambled to find some paper in a drawer when Kohta staggered downstairs, sweating.
"You shtill awake, Nanny?" he asked.
"Thanks to you, yes. Seen any paper around here?"
"Notepad'sh in the kitchen. Who wash that you were talking to?"
"Papa came back, he wants me to do a favour for him."
"Oh, Okay. G'night."
Kohta returned to the bedroom while Nana stumbled back to the kitchen, glancing at Mayu still asleep in the dining room. She began to write her note on the kitchen notepad, squinting whilst trying to maintain steady hand movements. The words "Find something of Mariko's, get headstone for Papa" came into view slowly but surely, Nana's eyesight maintaining an unerring grip on the pad in spite of the growing hammering feeling in her brain. She heard swift footsteps from behind her but refused to let her concentration lapse. Once finished she let the pen drop beside the pad on its plastic holder, satisfied. She turned behind her to find Lucy, dressed in a blue T-shirt and yellow skirt, standing over the sink clutching her wrist under a tap whilst cursing. She could see blood flowing through the water.
"Are you alright?" Nana slurred.
"It's nuthin'" she replied. "Just a little scratch, haha. Those two are a riot."
"What were ya doing? You were makin' a lot of noise, I wondered if something was up…"
"Firstly we all got out of those yucky clothes and we finished off that weird drink while swappin' stories about that one summer when we were kids before all this bullshit started. Well, she did more talking to be honest which I was glad of because even now I don't feel like saying too much about it, y'know?... say wait a minute Nana, what did you think we were doin', huh?"
Lucy looked behind her with an evil stare. Petrified, Nana couldn't find an answer as Lucy turned towards her, clutching her still-bleeding wrist. Nana sensed Lucy's vectors appearing from her back.
"AHAHAHA, just messin' with ya." Lucy broke out into a smile, sheathing her claws. "I like Yuka, but I don't dig her that way. She's a cool girl, a funny girl, I can see why he likes her. Anyway, we were laughing and joking and suddenly she gets this big box out of her closet, full of all these strange stones with animals drawn on them. She then takes this sharp knife-like thing and (miming) starts cuttin' around the shape, see? She messes the first one up, and because of that somewhere around the world there's a chick running around without an ass."
Nana laughed hard.
"Alright alright, she takes another stone and she gets it right this time, and it's a cat. So Kohta pulls one out of the box and starts cuttin' it, he gets the job done first time and it's… um… this animal with a big neck that I saw at the zoo once, I can't remember its name."
"Giraffe?"
"Sounds good to me. So I get one out of the box, it's another chick. But instead of cutting it on the floor like they say I should, I try cutting it in my hands. I do it alright for a second but coming around its ass I jerk it to the left too much and I've clipped my wrist. It ain't too deep though… Seen the kitchen paper, Nana-chan?"
"Yeah, it's in the middle cupboard above the sink"
Lucy reached for the paper and wrapped two sheets together, holding it on the wound for a moment. Lucy then regarded the notepad, squinting at it.
"'Find something of..' What's that about, Nana?"
"Papa came back a few minutes ago, he asked me a favour."
"Headstone… sounds expensive, sure he wasn't drunk as well?"
"He was perfectly serious. He said Mariko can't sleep well out of a grave and she doesn't have one."
Lucy mulled it over, then slumped her head. "… … It makes sense. I feel sorry for that girl, she could throw a good punch or twenty."
"Don't I know it!" Nana winced with a smile, remembering both fights they had last Saturday. "But I've only got one thing that belongs to Papa and I don't know what she had on her when she died."
Lucy examined the cut, it appeared that the bleeding had stopped. Smiling, she discarded the paper into a waste bin. "Wanna go look up at the tower tomorrow? That's the only place I can think of. Might be able to find my broken horn as well."
"Cool. Thanks, Lucy."
"No problem, I owe you plenty. (yawning) time to pack it in, I think. Good night."
"Good night, Lucy. Sweet dreams."
Lucy left, while Nana took a quick look at the notepad to affirm her duty to grant Mariko eternal rest. Returning to the Dining room to pick up a dozing Mayu she hoisted her over her shouder and carried her up the stairs. She found Lucy standing in the entrance to the master bedroom, staring. She placed Mayu down by their shared room and joined Lucy.
She beheld Kohta and Yuka locked together, half-naked and kissing whilst frantically tearing each other's clothes off ready to get down to business in front of Lucy. Nana was shocked rigid, afraid to make any move as it could prove fatal for more than one person- she looked at Lucy, whose own stare looked of stone whilst her fingers trembled. This close to painting happiness on a pane of glass and it shattered before their very eyes.
---
Hiromi and Mariko lay huddled together in the safe darkness of the casket, far removed from the cruel world a few feet above. Hiromi was happy to share the warmth she'd been treasuring every moment since she was laid to rest even though she knew it could not be truly appreciated for now - although she could tell Mariko could feel her pressed against her form. She didn't need to see her daughter to know she was happy enough to be there for the moment.
Just after Kensuke had left them Mariko talked to her about her need to feel good about her situation, whilst still feeling bad about the events leading up to her death even though the victims of her psychosis and rage were more than willing to forgive her; mainly down to the fact that there was still little she could do to make up for them.
"Mariko, can I say something? Promise you won't interrupt?"
"I promise" Mariko replied
"You're the first person I've met here that isn't happy to let things that trouble you go. You're still mindful of what you need and I think that's a good thing as long as you don't become obsessed with it. I've heard stories of good souls that have driven themselves mad because they can't finish their business and each time I hear one I pray I never have to see it for myself. I know we're going to be together for a very long time to come and I know Sunday was a rough day for you. I just think you need something to take your mind off things, Mariko."
"I know, Mommy, but what can I do? It's not easy for me to do things that living people can do and if they see me they'll get scared."
"You can still see things without having to touch them, right?"
"Yeah."
"Your Daddy and I met up in University about 7 years before you were born, and together we've pretty much been around the whole wide world. It's a big place out there and there are places that take… a whole day or two just to get to them."
"Like?"
"… Ha! Machu Picchu, in South America. We went there not long after I became pregnant with you. We were taking some time off our studies and we wanted a holiday that took a lot of effort to get the most out of, and instead of taking the train up to the city from a nearby village we decided to walk it. I ain't lying to you Mariko, guess how long it took us?"
"How long, Mommy?"
"A full week. Just to get from the bottom to the top, over… you know how tall this box is, Mariko?"
"Yeah, about two feet."
"Put six thousand boxes on top of each other. That's how high we had to climb."
"Whoah." Mariko was pleasantly stunned, not just because her mother was a great storyteller.
"It was actually supposed to take us just 4 days but… don't tell him I told you this… Daddy became a bit sick so we had to take it slow. The air got a bit thin for him to breathe and his face was greener than the grass."
Mariko couldn't help but laugh.
"When we got there, he just spent the full day with his jaw on the floor. These people that were there many, many, many years ago lived a lot simpler than we did but they built stuff with a lot of hard work that's lasted a long time, and we can still see a lot of what they did all by themselves today. I bet in a thousand years' time down here you'd barely be able to see a lot of this city, and if the sea levels rise anywhere as bad as what people are saying then there's a good chance you'll have to fight for room in this box with the fish!"
That set Mariko off into hysterics, so much so that a neighbour sternly asked them to keep the noise down.
"You see, Mariko? That's something we can do together, and who knows? All these wonders to take in and you'll have a nice warm box to sleep in when you come home. Wouldn't that be something?"
"Yeah, Mommy. It really would."
"Daddy's home!" a cheerful voice called from above. "Are you coming out?"
"Nope!" Mariko said, happily.
"Then I'm coming in!"
---
Nana saw the dreaded vectors pull out of Lucy's back, this time with an intent too real, and she started to cry- a happy life with a family that loved her seemed to elude her once again, a dream this close to reality. Even knowing that she'd seen how Kohta looked with Lucy at the hospital, why did he have to do this to her? Why now? And once finished with the traitors, what would Lucy do about Nana and Mayu? Innocence was a concept long dead to the tortured Diclonius.
The vectors roughly hauled the couple from their positions to standing upright in front of her, and they both looked at her in shock with red faces, deeply ashamed of that display. Lucy looked into Kohta's eyes and then Yuka's, with tears welling up in her own. She took another vector and held Yuka's face to her own, and Yuka shook her head slowly, as if to say she didn't mean for it to happen… or for it to happen like that at the least.
Lucy took a breath and began to talk, sullen - "I've been chasing that man for almost nine years, Yuka…"
She then kissed Yuka tenderly on the lips in full view of Kohta, Nana and now Mayu; holding a hand behind Yuka's head and smoothing her hair down whilst cradling her back. Nana and Mayu's jaws dropped to the floor and Kohta couldn't register a reaction in the slightest, while Yuka was also afraid to do anything whilst at the mercy of the woman she'd just wronged. She certainly didn't expect that to happen in any event.
Parting from Yuka's lips she smiled without a trace of anger, brushing Yuka's hair from over her still-rigid face.
"I think I can bear to wait one more night." She said, her voice trembling. Yuka didn't know how to react at all but before she could Lucy pecked Kohta on the cheek, grabbed his butt and left the couple behind, taking the children back to their room. The couple just stood and stared at each other for a moment.
"Did that just happen?" they bleated.
-
In the children's bedroom Lucy calmly tucked a sizzled Mayu into her own futon, ruffling her hair whilst cooing Lillium childishly to the drunken kid as Mayu's doomed struggle with consciousness was short-lived but pleasant. Nana got into bed of her own accord and tucked herself up nice and tight, hoping that before the next week was out Mariko could be snuggling up just as good.
"Lucy!" she said.
"Yes?"
"… well played." Nana said, smiling. That was pretty much all she could say.
Lucy laughed back at her. "Watch and learn, and some day you might get the chance to make that mistake with your man and his other woman. Now, you get some good sleep and I'll try to get them to keep it down a little."
Nana smiled as she lowered her head onto her pillow to get to sleep, with Mayu dozing away happily into her own. Lucy left the room and went to wait outside the master bedroom, wondering if she truly did the right thing there. Blocking the noise coming through the walls for a second she looked back to the first time she saw Kohta and Yuka together at the festival, knowing the outcome full well. Her ultimate triumph had arrived and was about to be stolen from under her very nose- by her own doing, it seemed.
Again she felt guilty for all the deaths that came as a result of that sight, but now she felt even worse for wanting to kill Yuka now that she'd gotten to know her just a little, alcohol notwithstanding.
Harking back to the hazy memories of her time as Nyu she remembered dozens of jealous looks and reactions Yuka gave Kohta as Lucy struggled to regain her innocence, realising that maybe she had more in common with Yuka than she thought. Truth be told she desired nothing more than to lock Kohta away in a room with her for all time, but it seemed that Yuka had the same plans all along.
She stayed her weapons moments ago because she knew that – for different reasons – Kohta felt just as strong for Yuka as he did for her. The raw passion occurring a thin wall away from her was testament to this, and as it reached a crescendo she bowed her head, allowing the indecision to swamp her. An all-too-familiar apparition appeared in front of her and started to speak:
"Lucy, I'm surprised. If I were you I'd have…"
Lucy grabbed her bandaged self by the throat with a vector, said "You haven't been me for a long time. Now piss off" under her breath and threw her forty feet through the end wall and out of her mind, hopefully for good. As the noise died down she looked on and sighed.
"I can't be mad at either of them anymore. I'd sooner share him than not have him at all" Lucy acquiesced. "But if Yuka feels how that fiend inside me would like me to feel, what am I to do? At the very least if I want to accept him I'll have to accept her…"
Suddenly Yuka opened the door from the other end, wearing a thin towel and looking flushed. Lucy, stunned, began to say "What's the matter?" but Yuka kissed her hard on the lips for a couple of seconds and hugged her, giggling.
"He thinks you're worth it, that's good enough for me!" she drunkenly laughed, attempting to drag Lucy into the bedroom by the hands. "We're going to have to work this out together someday but for now, you deserve him. And let's try to keep it down, the kids are sleeping!"
Grinning, Lucy stopped her brief struggle as Yuka shoved her into the bedroom, shut the door behind them and went to stand in a corner laughing with her fingers in her ears, waiting for Lucy to take her up on her offer. Kohta did little more than smile weakly, praying that Lucy understood that he couldn't choose between them.
Fear of rejection allayed for the moment, Lucy tried to resist that cheeky look but broke down and joined him on the floor. She couldn't help the way he felt either. Yuka turned around to look at the couple lost in each other, shed a tear and gave them the privacy Lucy graciously let her have minutes earlier.
Pumping her fist in the air and looking to the ceiling she mouthed "Thank you!" and went downstairs to the bathroom for a short while.
---
The following morning was spent in its entirety by the headache-ridden family setting their house to rights with brushes, squeegees, cleaners and dustpans whirling into life without stopping for an age. Lucy busied herself collecting the wrecked table and throwing it out of the front door whilst Kohta and Yuka set to the dining room carpet. Nana and Mayu worked the hallway with plenty of elbow (and plastic)-grease, the previous night's merriment a distant memory. Nana in particular relished her new-found usefulness, never letting the hard work show itself in her face. Mayu, sporting the Arctic Circle in a paper bag on her forehead, struggled on but looked on happy to see Nana get stuck in. It didn't take too long to finish the job off and once done with the floor Nana took her cloth to the remains of blood that her nemesis Delta had left on the walls the previous weekend.
Yuka stepped out into the hallway to view the result, looking suitably impressed. She spotted the bag on Mayu's head and asked Nana what was up, confused.
"After you went upstairs you left two full bottles on the counter… Sorry." Mayu protested. Yuka began to chide her but stopped short, remembering what she did under the influence and blushing.
"Have you been feeling sick?"
"No, my head hurts a bit but I'm alright."
"Don't do that again, OK? I shouldn't have been that careless. Still, it was a damn good night last night, wasn't it? I'll make a start on breakfast, we'll just have to be careful eating in the kitchen as the carpet'll take a while to dry out in the Dining Room."
The kids smiled at her as she entered the kitchen, then they stopped work for a few minutes. Lucy passed them clutching her own head, almost slipping on the polished floor, reaching the kitchen and observing Yuka who was busy reading Nana's note while tending to breakfast. Catching an unfamiliar taste in her mouth she asked Yuka if they actually managed to eat any fish before the fight started. Yuka thought for a few seconds and then nodded without being entirely sure, returning to the note while Lucy observed a skillet with a strange horn-shaped dent in the middle. Again she caught Yuka reading, then told her Kensuke's request to Nana.
"I don't know if we can afford it just yet, are you sure Nana said she could?" Yuka asked.
Lucy shrugged her shoulders- "I can't remember. Didn't she say something yesterday about Dr. Kurama leaving her some money?"
"I wouldn't ask her to pay for it but from this it looks like it's what she's planning to do. Wait a minute… when does the reading take place? Get the letter, Lucy."
"I will, in a second. About last night…"
"Yes?" Yuka turned towards her.
"I don't know about what happened between us or what's going to happen, but I'm sorry I pulled that stunt in front of the kids. Last time I got jealous over you two blood was shed and I just didn't know how to.."
"sshhhhh." Yuka put a finger on Lucy's lips. "I don't know if it was the drink but I'd been waiting since I was a kid as well and I just couldn't wait any more. I know how it must have looked to you and I know how you feel, I guess it's… I don't know. You suit him because he's just as ill-tempered and spur-of-the-moment as you but I think he feels he needs me because he knows that attitude can get him into trouble too easy. I know I get mad at him but that's just the way he is."
Lucy understood where Yuka was coming from, even if she wasn't apologising. She took Yuka by the hands.
"I think I need someone like that in the same way, if I'm ever going to put my old life to rest for good I need a kick up the ass now and then. But Kohta's the only…" Lucy stopped to correct herself- "the first person I knew that didn't drop shit on my head from a great height. I owe him for everything, especially after what I did to him. Without you he'd have fallen to pieces, you're so good for him."
Yuka smiled. Ego aside that made her feel on top of the world.
"Let's just lay off him for a while, OK?" Yuka said, upbeat. "It's not like he's complaining about this mess but if either of us start rushing to grab him he's going to have a tougher time making his mind up. And we should definitely leave the drink out of it, haha."
"You mean we should let Nana finish it off out of safety's sake?" Lucy suggested mischievously. Yuka shook her head with a grin.
"Spoilsport. I'll go and get her letter. Oh, we'll have to sort out bedtime arrangements as well."
"Let's not quarrel over that, Lucy. First sign of snoring and that jerk can sleep in the yard."
"Good call!"
Lucy went to look in the passage, taking more care over the floor than before. She found the letter under her music box and read it for a few seconds. She then went pale, turned to run back to the kitchen then slipped, landing head-over-heels on her rear end with a loud yelp. Nana turned around to tend to her.
"Are you okay?"
"Never mind me, you've got to get ready, Nana!"
"Why?"
"Your Papa's will is being read today at 1PM!"
---
A few days later the Kurama family was taking a stroll on the hillside late in the morning, admiring the honest calm as usual. Unlike the last weekend in town there was no bedlam, no chaos and no showdown in the offing. Just three souls who found each other and appreciated the quiet.
Mariko and Hiromi looked out over the bay, trying to spot where Daddy worked in the distance while he held no such concern, instead trying to make out individual faces in the town below. It was early July in the bay and even though the three of them could no longer tell the temperature summer was here with a vengeance- holidaymakers were out in force wearing little of any description, taking time out from their busy lives to let off some steam and work on their tans, amongst other things. This was nothing new to Kensuke as he'd been doing the same whenever he could go to the trouble of crafting a sick-note (Tuberculosis being his Magnum Opus, something Kakuzawa laughed his ass off to). This time, things were a little different- Kensuke could now see people from Hiromi's end of the mortal coil joining in the proceedings on the beach. Men, women, boys and girls (and even pets!) meshing and flowing through each other like spaghetti with reckless abandon. Hiromi caught his look of amazement.
"Is this your first time seeing a spectre sunbathe, honey?" she asked.
"Summertime really is eternal for some people!" he chuckled. "But you got other plans, right? Involving a certain trip to the Incas a little birdy told me…"
Hiromi playfully nudged her daughter. "Traitor. Still, at least some people around here won't get sick this time…"
She suddenly fell to her knees and looked short of breath. Both Kensuke and Mariko held her up, concerned.
"Are you OK?" he asked her.
"I've gone a little cold" she replied. "I'm alright, but I feel a little strange. Can we sit here for a moment while I catch my breath?"
"Sure, but I don't know why you suddenly felt…"
Kensuke then found an answer- "Your grave."
The three of them swiftly left the hillside and walked urgently through the woods back home to find that Hiromi's headstone was gone and her grave was open for all to see. Six people stood above the hole in the ground, one of them wearing a priest's habit and the others dressed in black- a young man, two young women and two teenage girls. Kensuke reached the pack first, took all of half a second to recognise the mourners and raced back to his wife and daughter.
"She did it! Nana actually pulled it off!"
"Did what, honey?" Hiromi asked confused.
"Wait and see, baby. Wait and see. Mariko, you need to see this as well."
-
The tallest child in the group took out a handkerchief and blew her nose into it. One of the ladies touched her on the shoulders but she looked up at her, smiling.
"I'm not crying, it's hayfever" Nana exclaimed.
"Bullshit" Lucy replied. "Even you know he's alright and you're still crying for Papa."
"Alright, I am. It's just… closure, I guess. Got your present?"
"Yep. Got yours?"
"Yep. Let's get this party started. Reverend, if you please."
The priest read from a hastily-prepared script: "We are gathered here today to celebrate the life and memories of Hiromi Kurama as well as mourning the passing of her beloved husband Kensuke and her loving daughter Mariko, both of whom left us very recently. On the off-chance that their souls are witnessing this occasion, the people gathered here would like to thank them for their understanding of our situations, for the past two weeks in particular were filled with enough pain, strife, joy, heartache and happiness to last us several lifetimes. But one life is all we will get so we shall make the most of it, and we ask that the three people interred here - whose presences are cherished for all time - understand that at the end of our bitter struggle to work towards a happy ending of any shape we will be joining them soon enough, be it in five years or fifty. We have gifts that we would like to commend to your immortal memories, and we bear them to you now. In your name, Amen. Now… ladies?"
Nana and Lucy stepped towards the priest with two meagre items- Nana with a purple silk tie, and Lucy with a broken horn.
Nana spoke up first- "This was given to me by Mrs. Kurama's husband, we had a mutual bond that spanned all kinds of pain and trouble. It's only right that he gets it back, for I am no longer afraid to show what I am. Here's to you, Papa." Kensuke's spirit smiled in the distance.
Nana cast her tie into the grave, while Lucy held up her broken bone and spoke in a deliberately similar voice-
"This was taken from me by Mrs. Kurama's daughter, we had a civil disagreement that spanned a brief skirmish not long before her demise. It's only right that she keeps this, for I had my rear end handed to me on a platter then. Here's to you, Mariko." She cast the artefact into the grave, adding the word "bitch" mixed in with a cough. Mariko laughed and clapped in the distance.
Nana spoke again, standing next to Yuka and Kohta- "And finally, we have a collective gift to the three members of the Kurama family, donated in grateful appreciation for a thousand memories. If you please, let's put it in position."
The three of them withdrew for a moment, and the ghosts looked puzzled. They returned carrying a large object of black marble, struggling with its weight. Hiromi looked pale even for her own complexion and said in shocked wonder "Wow, would you look at that?"
They shifted the new headstone into position and then dropped it into place behind the grave. The three spirits fell to the ground overcome by a sudden, pleasant burst of heat. Excited, Hiromi took Kensuke's hand and rushed forward, with Mariko trying to catch up. The three of them looked on in awe.
Their names and dates stood in gold calligraphy above each other-
"Hiromi Kurama, 1975-2000; Kensuke Kurama, 1975-2005; Mariko Kurama, 2000-2005; No matter how far apart they remained close, trusting who they were until the end no matter what else happened. Rest In Peace."
Hiromi looked at her husband with a slight frown. "Cheesy as you like. That's a lyric, isn't it?"
He slumped his head. "Yup. I left her my discs."
"I hope you left her some cash as well, that beautiful stone doesn't look cheap."
"Three million…"
"Should last them a couple of years, I hope" she started to say, but Kensuke interrupted her.
"… Three million US Dollars. I sold our house not long after you died and I moved into the facility, I couldn't face living there anymore. I barely had the nerve to tell my parents, it was their place after all…"
Mariko looked up at him and placed her hand into his. "Don't let it get to you, Daddy. We all have a home together at long last." Hiromi held his hand and echoed her sentiment, lying her head on the side of his shoulder. He sighed and looked on as Mariko looked genuinely excited.
"Yeah, honey. But let's let them cover our box up before we go diving in. I'd like a word with Nana."
Kensuke crouched down to Nana's level and waited for the priest to leave before whispering "Heya" into her ear. Nana smiled.
"¥350,000,000 and you buy us that lump of crap?"
Nana hit him back with a doozy-"I bought that stone, some more saké, some crack and a limousine full of muscle-men. The rest I just wasted."
He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you with all my heart, it was a wonderful service."
"No, Papa, thank you, and I mean it. Thank you for my life, and for everything that happens from now on. Don't be a stranger, my place is yours."
"We'll be in touch, if Mariko doesn't get too attached to eternal rest. We'll be going away for a little bit though, I've still got a mountain or two left in me to climb."
Lucy caught onto the conversation. "Doctor, are you there?"
He stood up and faced her "Yes, Lucy. How are you?"
"I'm alright. Is Kisaragi buried here?"
"Yeah, she's a few plots down in this yard. She wasn't in this morning though, she might be on the beach working on her tan, hoping against hope."
Lucy smiled. "I'll catch up with her one of these days. Again, I'd like to say sorry for… you know…"
"Don't apologise, Lucy. Every time I see you calm and happy against what's thrown at you it brings warmth to my heart."
Yuka spoke up next. "We're glad you enjoyed this, Doctor. Take care now, and enjoy the rest of time together!"
Mariko couldn't stand the wait anymore- she got up out of her wheelchair and swan-dived into the box before any diggers could arrive to cover it. A few moments later she left out a satisfied "Mmmmmmmmm" while Hiromi and Kensuke looked into each other's eyes.
Nana kneeled down to ask the obvious question. "Havin' fun in there?"
"This is so nice. It's the first time I've been warm, ever. Nana?"
"Yes?" Nana responded.
"Thank you very much for this… big sister." Mariko cried out with true pride, and Nana shed a tear.
Mayu sidled up to Nana discreetly and whispered into her ear. "Nice description. You couldn't have told more blatant a lie to him, I could tell."
Nana whispered back, grinning- "I wasn't lying- I stashed some more drink in our dresser."
The families kissed and hugged each other and after a short while the live collective departed the scene whilst the gravediggers arrived to fill the Kuramas' plot, none-the-wiser about the whole deal. Mariko got up out of the box and stretched herself, then climbed out of the closing grave and jumped up into her mother's arms. Hiromi stroked her hair and spoke to her without a care in the world-
"Now you know what it's like don't you, my noodle-armed angel? I've passed five years like a heartbeat waiting for the day you two can share this with me, that we can all sleep in the same bed all day and all night."
"Mommy… don't you get bored?"
"Not now I won't. But still, I made a promise to you last Friday and I intend to keep it. Kensuke?"
"Yes?"
"Could you be so kind as to head into town and find out how to get to Peru?"
"Aww alright. But I'd like… a little talk when I get back."
"Not in there, please." Mariko squeaked, rolling her eyes to her parent's giggling.
-
That evening the three of them slept in their new home, paradise attained at last. Between them - in spite of all the tragedy, regret and guilt be it warranted or not - they made promises to each other and kept every last one of them with unwavering devotion. Mariko slept undisturbed while Hiromi and Kensuke's lips met in the darkness moments at a time, only touch registering on their minds. Hiromi's arms reached through her daughter's body and circled Kensuke's head, and she wept under her breath- for touch was all that they needed to know that they were there together, nightmares a world away. There would be no more in store for them.
From above they heard an urgent whisper trying to attract their attention, breaking the harmony for a second. Agitated, Mariko got up from her slumber to raise her head above the earth. Nana's dishevelled face greeted her annoyed stare.
"Heya, Shish."
"What are you doing here… are you OK?"
"I'm alright, honeshtly, Mayu and I are jusht having a shelebratory drinky in your honour. I wouldn't have dishturbed your blishful resht but I have shome preshing newsh. Kohta'sh in deep trouble."
"What's happened.?"
"… Lushy and Yuka are both ecshpecting."
"WHAT?" a voice cried out from inside.
"Expecting? Expecting what?" Mariko asked, puzzled.
"This better not be a joke, Nana." Kensuke talked in a stern manner.
"Thish ain't no joke. I'm gonna be an Auntie again. G'night"
Nana got up to walk away from the yard, Papa's laughter ringing in her ears. Mariko climbed back inside and cuddled back up with her parents to return to sleep, but not before asking her dad what Nana meant.
"Let's just say that children cause accidents, and that's true the other way around. Get to sleep, Mariko."
"Good night, Mommy & Daddy. I love you."
Once Mariko returned to her lull, he nuzzled his nose on Hiromi's lips to check he was facing her, and she playfully bit it.
"Kensuke?" she whispered.
"Yes?"
"It all worked out in the end, didn't it?"
"Hiromi… we're here together in a warm coffin, Lucy and Nana are free of their wretched pasts and now that boy has the mother of headaches coming his way soon enough… You know what this proves?"
"What, honey?"
"'The End' doesn't exist. There's no such thing."
THE END… FOR NOW