Chapter 2: Enma's Thoughts OR: Mami Really Doesn't Like Being Used So She's Going To Train Like Crazy And Hope For The Best Pt 2
Mami was Enma's little sister, and he wasn't quite sure what that meant. They shared the same parents, the same blood, but did that automatically make someone a sister? As a three year old, he wasn't too sure about family at all. His parents loved him-and that was a whole other ballpark, the concept of love-and he loved them back, probably. But Mami was different. She was learning words at an even faster rate than he did, but she had never he even uttered the word love. How did he know she loved him, if she never said it?
Despite his reservations about her, Enma really liked Mami. She played with him all the time, even when he knew she didn't want to. She made him float in the air with a wave of her hand. She made other things float too, and they had made a game out of it. Enma's task was to grab the red ball, and Mami had to make it more difficult for him by putting things in his path and lowering objects sporadically. It was a fun game, but Mami wanted to keep it a secret between the two of them.
Enma, of course, willingly complied with her request. He figured that she kept her ability a secret from their parents because she thought they would take it away, like that time they had been fighting over a toy and their parents took the toy as a punishment. She didn't want her strange ability to get taken like the toy, so he kept his mouth shut.
Truthfully, it excited him to share a secret with his sister. He felt closer to her, somehow, just by knowing that she could do something wonderful. Plus, he didn't want their special game to end. It was exciting when he floated around, free to move however he wanted. He didn't have to worry about tripping or falling on his face. Mami would catch him before he could anyway, he trusted her wholeheartedly to do so.
So Enma guarded their secret, kept it tucked close to his heart where Mami existed, because he wanted her to love him as much as he loved her.
Enma knew, without a doubt, that Mami could not see the specter floating in her room. She never acknowledged it, never even seemed to show that she knew it was there. She may have felt its' presence-it was warm and protective, like their father-but she probably didn't know that someone was there.
Enma did, though. He very clearly saw the specter dressed in ragged, funny clothes. He was scared of it, at first, but the specter hadn't bothered either Mami or Enma, so the little boy let it be. The specter was content to watch over them, and Enma thought that it may have been a guardian angel.
The specter also knew that Enma could see it, but it never tried to talk to him, only Mami. Mami couldn't see it, so she probably couldn't hear it either. Enma, too, couldn't hear a word the specter said. It was like the volume of a TV was turned too low, and Enma didn't have the remote to turn it up.
The redheaded boy watched the specter as it once more tried to talk to Mami. The girl didn't acknowledge it whatsoever, her brow furrowed as she concentrated on easing the pain in her gums. Today, however, something had changed. Enma strained his ears and heard to faintest whisper.
"Ma…..mi….cha…..n…," it said slowly, quiet as a mouse. Enma froze in fear, a foreboding of sorts settling in his stomach. Its' voice was raspy but concise, an unearthly quality echoing behind it. Enma's throat seized up, a small squeak managing to escape. Mami's attention turned to him, curiosity and worry mixing in her red eyes. She dropped her teething ring and crawled towards him, the specter following patiently.
"En-nii?" she questioned, using her nickname for him. It wasn't shorter than his name(in fact it was harder to pronounce than Enma)but for some reason Mami liked calling him that. He met the specter's eyes and his hands shook.
"Something-" he choked, tears gathering in his eyes, "something's behind you." Mami turned her head sharply, squinting at the space where the specter floated. She frowned and crawled into his lap, her tiny hands patting his shoulder in comfort.
"It ok En-nii. It ok," she slurred at him. Enma's arms wrapped around his baby sister numbly, hugging her to his chest. The specter frowned at him but Enma couldn't find it in him to wonder about it.
"Enma? Mami? What happened?" Haruka's voice broke the spell and Enma shook his head.
"Big spider!" Mami crooned quickly, pointing at the wall. "En-nii scared!" Enma huffed and wiped at the tears in his eyes roughly.
"I'm not scared! Mami was!" he defiantly argued. Mami giggled and patted his shoulder comfortingly.
"Mami not scared!" she retorted, bouncing in his lap. Enma smiled and tapped her still-chubby baby cheeks. The little girl blew air at him then squeaked when he pinched her cheek between his fingers. Their mother rolled her eyes at their antics but smiled all the same.
The specter, all but forgotten, matched her grin with a soft one of its' own.
Enma's fourth birthday party wasn't a quiet affair. His father had taken the liberty of inviting his friends over, and their children. Enma and Mami had met some of the adults before but neither had much experience with children other than themselves.
Mami had it easier than Enma. She was barely two years old, so she could escape to their mother's lap. Enma was four and the birthday boy. He didn't have to same luxury. Thankfully, his sister was the best two year old ever and clung to him throughout the entire party.
"En-nii! Cake!" she murmured impatiently, just as a five year old by the name of Kaoru approached them. Enma smiled apologetically at the boy and dragged his sister over to the table. He grabbed a paper plate with a small, square piece of cake on it that Mami could eat and handed it to her.
That was how it should have gone. Instead, Enma tripped on his shoes as he reached for the cake, tossing it into the air. Mami pursed her lips and waved a hand discreetly, manipulating the gravity around the cake. The adults and other children were much too occupied to notice, except for Kaoru.
"Mi! You shouldn't do that in front of everyone!" Enma hissed nervously. Mami pouted at him, her cake gently floating onto her plate. She released her manipulation and grabbed a plastic fork.
"Cake!" she retorted, stabbing her fork into the cake and shoving a small piece into her brother's mouth. He frowned but chewed it. Satisfied, Mami took her own bite of the cake. Kaoru, as tall as a seven year old, sidled up to them. Enma seized up, fear taking over. What if Kaoru had seen what Mami did?
"Mami-chan," Kaoru began, squatting in front of the two year old, "is the cake good?" Mami nodded, unafraid of the looming figure. Enma gulped, his hand grabbing Mami's arm.
"Kao-nii want cake?" she asked around her fork clumsily, eyes bright with interest. She'd only ever interacted with Enma and was curious about his future Guardians. Kaoru had seemed like a nice enough boy, if she remembered correctly. Kaoru nodded and smiled at her. He turned wary eyes towards Enma, his lips a thin line.
"Did Mami-chan do that?" he asked in a low undertone as Mami busied herself with the task of providing cake. She was the daughter of the host after all, and besides, Enma should connect with Kaoru without Mami intervening.
"Do what?" he questioned dumbly. Kaoru gave him a disappointed look and Enma flinched.
"The cake was floating," Kaoru murmured even lower, aware that Enma probably didn't want others to know about Mami. Said girl hopped onto a chair and carefully made a paper plate float onto the ground. Once she got off it, she shakily picked up the plate and meandered over to Kaoru.
"Kao-nii cake!" she gurgled, handing him the plate. He smiled at her, patted her head, then stood to his full height.
"Mi-chan," Enma said, "K-Kaoru-kun saw." Mami blinked at him then waved her hand. Kaoru floated about two centimeters off the ground before she set him down. She smiled mischievously at his pale face.
"Shhhhh Kao-nii!" she said, putting a finger to her lips. Kaoru nodded slowly.
"Please don't tell Mama and Papa," Enma quietly asserted. "Mami doesn't want them to know."
"I won't," he promised solemnly.
"Love you En-nii," Mami cooed at her brother, nuzzling his side affectionately. Enma stiffened in surprise and looked down at his two year old sister.
"Love you too, Mi," he murmured, hugging her awkwardly. Mami giggled brightly at him and tugged his shirt excitedly.
"Mami knows. Enma aaaaaalways love Mami," she chirped. Enma nodded, and his heart felt lighter at her words.
A/N: Woo, chapter 2~! Thank you to all you who reviewed, favorited, followed, etc! I was out with my dad picking up our brand new Ford Escape and when I came home I had a ton of emails notifying me about this story! And to the Guest: I love you for catching that!
I explored more on Enma's end of things in this chapter. ALSO KAORU BECAUSE THAT BOY NEEDS LOVE TOO. I hope everyone liked it! Mami is already two-ish and Enma is four, so Mami has three years left to go. I can't WAIT till I get to the Flood of Blood Incident(which will span two chapters-the direct aftermath might be two as well, depends on how much I draw stuff out lol). And after that? Well, who knows?(I DONT, I HAVE TWO CONFLICTING IDEAS THAT I HAVE TO NARROW DOWN. IT REALLY COMES DOWN TO THIS SENTIMENT-HOW MUCH DO I WANNA FUCK WITH CANON?)
I would've updated sooner, maybe, but I was catching up on YGO Arc V. So many things happened in the span of 20 episodes, gosh. Also, the new ending is literally so cute and I'm just going to keep screaming about Arc V until Monday when the new episode comes out. I have so many faves it's not funny.
IDK about updating schedules, they'll be sporadic at best. The Flood of Blood is coming regardless of updating stuff. ALSO: Following the trope that Adults Are Stupid, Mami continues to escape notice. But, seriously, she's not using her Flame, just the ability, so I reckon it's hard to sense that sort of stuff unless you're suuuuper sensitive to Flames or something. At first everyone thought Enma was psychic until the truth was revealed in the manga.
Next chapter: More cute moments with Kaoru, Enma, and Mami!
Don't forget to review and let me know what you think!
