Disclaimer: I do not own the characters Joe Shimamura and Françoise Arnoul. I do, however, own everything else.
A/N: This is an AU fan-fiction. Therefore, the only things from Cyborg 009 itself are the basic characters themselves. As you read, you will find that this is very different from anything in the anime. For this, I do not apologise. You will see why soon enough…
XOXOXO
Chapter I: Joe
Joe Shimamura yawned and opened his eyes. The snowy sheets lay about him and the scent of his mother's roses drifted in through the open window, making him feel too warm and comfortable to move, so he simply closed his eyes again. The morning was still and quiet.
That was one of the reasons why he liked the little town of Tikao so much. Despite being on the outskirts of Tokyo, it was nestled cosily in a forest, one of the most peaceful places he had come across. He was born and raised in Tikao, and though he had often travelled, he had always returned. Even after his mother died.
People said he took after his mother, a beautiful English woman. He had inherited her unruly brown hair which always managed to fall into his uniquely coloured rusty brown eyes, his mother's eyes, no matter how much he tried to push it back. He had tried cutting it several times in his childhood, but it had somehow managed to grow back at the speed of lightning and re-assume its permanent position in front of his eyes.
Joe's father had hardly ever been around. Naturally, his mother had become his whole world, and when she died when he was ten years old, he felt like he had lost everything. Several times during his eleventh year, he had tried taking his own life. The last such attempt had come dangerously close to succeeding, and it would have if Yoshi-maru Shimamura hadn't been around for once. Since then, Joe and his father had been inseparable. Still, it was his mother who held the number one spot in Joe's heart.
Joe loved his mother's memory. Joe was also a young man of eighteen. And without a mother's guidance, an eighteen-year old often made many mistakes and choices that could have been much better. And his latest mistake was, at that very moment, standing in his mother's rose garden, looking up wistfully at Joe's window. Nestled amongst his sheets and pillows, Joe himself would have probably never known, if not for his father coming into his room, the expression on his face clearly indicating that he was trying not to laugh.
"Joseph Shimamura!" Reluctantly, Joe opened one eye and looked at the greying man standing in his doorway. "Are you aware that a young lady has gotten it into her head to take up residence under your room window? I understand that she is under the impression that you intend to marry her."
At that, Joe opened both eyes and sat up in his bed. Slowly and cautiously, he made his way towards his window and peeped out. Sure enough, among his mother's roses, a pretty girl named Karin stood…or was it Kyoko? He couldn't quite remember which.
He groaned and turned to face his father who had given up trying to hide his amusement. "Please, get rid of it!"
Yoshi-maru shook his head. "She's your problem. You deal with it."
Joe groaned again and headed for the bathroom. His laughing father followed him out of the room. "Seriously, Joe, have as much fun as you need to, but you need to be more careful with girls. They get silly notions in their heads sometimes, marriage is but one of them."
An hour later, Joe was sitting on the couch in his living room, the rose garden empty. "Her name was Jin, after all…" he mused aloud. "I really need to start remembering their names."
He leaned back and sighed heavily. While he was in the garden, his father had left, and now he was alone. He closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of the roses. They had been his mother's favourite flower, and he took special care of the garden she left behind.
He opened his eyes and got to his feet. The sun was already high in the sky and, as his rumbling stomach reminded him, he hadn't eaten anything since the previous evening. He headed to the kitchen. He was only eighteen, but was already able to efficiently prepare meals for himself and his father.
He heard the front door open as he set the frying pan on the stove. His father's slightly uneven footsteps echoed softly in the quiet house as he walked towards the kitchen. Joe turned towards the door as Yoshi-maru reached it and almost dropped the egg he was holding. His father's face was pale and ashen.
"Dad…" Joe began, but the man held up his hand. He dropped heavily into a chair at the little table where the two ate their meals, and held his head in his hands. Joe stood silently watching him, egg in hand, the rapidly heating pan of oil on the stove forgotten.
"Dad," he said again, "what's wrong? Did something happen?"
His father just sat there. After what seemed to Joe like an hour, he raised his head. "The stove, Joe." he murmured. Joe snapped his head around, suddenly aware of the smell of burning oil. Quickly, he turned the burner off, and slowly, he turned back around to his father.
Yoshi-maru's face was still white as a sheet and now he was staring straight ahead of him, eyes unseeing. "Tohru…" he whispered. "Tohru is dead. Someone's killed Tohru Otaki. Oh God!" And he buried his head in his hands.
The name sounded vaguely familiar to Joe. It didn't matter though. Someone had done the unspeakable, something that very rarely happened in the peaceful little town of Tikao. Someone had murdered.
XOXOXO
A/N: Next: Françoise