Mina's face shown distraught. "WHAT?" She shouted.
Akira rubbed the back of his spiky, bed styled hair. "Well yeah… no need to freak out Princess, it's only for summer break."
"W-what do you mean only for summer break?! You mean the ENTIRE break?!"
Akira nodded with uneasy strain in his face. "I mean, that's what I told her. Besides I haven't seen her in so long…"
Earlier, Akira wrote a letter text to his mother stating that he would be coming to visit and stay for summer break. As he figured, however, Mina was not pleased at all.
She whined to this response. "But you promised me that we would spend more time together. The Bund is established, and the cleomes are still in bloom. You said you'd view them with me!"
He bowed his head. "Look I'm sorry, Princess. I really am… err, how about this; I'll come back a week ahead of time and in that final week, we'll do whatever you want to. Ahh… Whaddaya say? Sound fair, right?" He said scanning back to her piercing eyes.
Her silence and glare made small beads of sweat appear on his face as he smirked hard awaiting her response.
She finally looked away with poked out lips. "No, it doesn't… but I'll accept it just this once. Stay the length you agreed upon." She then shot a side eye. "But next break, Akira, you'll spend the entirety of it with me, Got that?"
He bellowed. "Yeah yeah, I got it..."
"Do you promise me?"
He nodded again. "Yes I promise."
"Good." She started towards the door. "By the way, be sure to give my regards to your mother."
He continued putting clothes into the duffel bag on his bed with closed eyes. "Will do."
On the train ride, Akira sat silently in his seat with his earphones in. When his cell phone vibrated in his pocket he took it out and saw that a message from Mina appeared, wishing him well and that she was missing him already, creating a soft smile on his face. When the last stop of the route was announced, Akira grabbed both the duffel bag and his backpack as he stood and came to the doors. With the outside slowly coming to a complete stop, the train doors opened, and after walking into the platform he glanced at the station before him, worn from age with no one inside; a clear indicator that he was home at last.
As the train started back towards civilization in the distance, disappearing from sight, Akira took a deep breath of fresh air and looked to the tree lined path before him that led to a distant town.
"It's been a while since I been here. A couple things may look different but it really all looks the same way it did when I left with dad years back. The same houses, the same town that they surround. But I gotta admit; it's good to be back. No skyscrapers, no bullets flying at me and no threats; just heat, crisp air and cicadas…"
Akira reached his childhood home, a nice sized house with Japanese and European charm surrounded by shade giving trees in the front and tall ones in the back. He entered through the front gate and without warning, two vibrantly blue butterflies cross his path. He watched how they danced away in the breeze towards the sky, reminding him of the story of The Butterfly and The Flower. "Good to see that the story isn't always ending in tragedy." he thought. Smiling, he continued to the door and knocked firmly. The door opens and a finely dressed woman stands before him.
"Hello, Akira, nice to see you made it." She said with a smile, lending a guiding hand towards the inside.
"Nice to see you're well, Saiya-san. Is mom able to see me right now?" he said as he stepped inside.
"Oh yes, she's been waiting for you. She's out in the garden. Shall I take your bags?"
He raised a hand with a blush. "No no, I'm good. I'll take them up, thanks though."
"Alright, suit yourself." Saiya smiled.
Outside, in a wheelchair stationed near a decorative table of tea and snacks, Lady Kaburagi Regendorf typed on her cell phone. However, as soon as she looked up and saw Akira approaching from the house, she finished swiftly and sent the message before closing the phone and sliding it between the inside of the chair and her thigh.
"Hey Mom." He called with a raised hand.
"Akira." She said gently with relief. "My darling Akira, welcome home." She said as she embraced him into a hug.
"I missed you so much."
"And I've missed you more than you know; but now you're here, that's all that matters."
He looked over to the tea cup. "You've never changed your habits huh."
"Oho," She chuckled. "You know this is what I'm into nowadays."
"Yeah, I know..." He said before frowning. "Are you feeling any… better these days?"
She nodded. "Mhm."
"You sure?"
She gave a smirked. "Akira, sweetie, I'm fine. Besides, I can still go places, I have Saiya, and I have visits from friends so it's not like I'm alone here ya know?"
"But mom," He knelt to her. "I can't help but to think you're here all alone now. I mean Dad has taken me away and now, Yuuhi… I mean come on, are you really sure you're okay with that fact? Sorry but... I don't understand…" Tears started to form in his eyes and his mother took notice.
"Akira, please don't be upset or despair at your father. I'm sure he told you, that we mutually agreed to what we would do as far as what we thought was best for Yuuhi. Besides, I'm not a werewolf, and I wouldn't know the first thing on how to help him best understand that part of himself. He was happy to come live with you and your father too; he missed you both very much."
"But that meant that you wouldn't have any of us here with you now. I swear it's not fair for you..."
His mother leaned and touched foreheads with him. "Now now, calm yourself. No need to get worked up on my account, I'm just fine as you can see. So ease yourself the worry… relax, and let's get started on your summer vacation, mm? Besides, I think that's what vacations are for, right?" She said with a wink and warmth in her voice.
Akira felt light and serene; with a nod he sank into his mother's lap and stayed there for a while, eventually falling asleep.
The following morning, Akira awoke in his dim lit childhood room with only the crack of dawn seeping in from the closed curtains. Getting out of bed, he went to them and spread them open allowing the warm morning sun to grace his body in an embrace. Seeing out the window glass he saw the surrounding murky forestry with clouds of mist congregated all around leaving pebbles of dew on leaves and flowers in their wake.
Plopping to his bed, he stared at the ceiling above. As he gazed, he thought about everything that he'd been through. The memories and moments of happiness and sadness whirled in his mind; meeting and making the seemingly eternal promise to Princess Mina, gaining and losing so many friends new and old... which pained him more as there were more of those he lost that accumulated. He felt pressure in his chest as he even crossed the memories of the deaths of his friends; Graham, Sanin, Hiko, and more recent, Mei Ren.
The pain from grief almost consumed him into making him scream, until he heard front door being knocked on downstairs. Saiya answered it with a joyful tone and an unfamiliar, sweet female voice arose with equal elation. After a while footsteps softly patted up the steps but went faint when they reached the top, and the voice spoke again on the other side of the house. Akira opened his door, but saw no one, only the smell of Saiya, his mother and a strange yet pleasant scent that he knew smelled familiar but had difficulty recalling whom it belonged to. Laughter could be heard in the direction of the other hallway across foyer passed the stairs.
"Who's that at this time of day?" He thought in bewilderment.
He came close to the door of his mother's room, seeing it was cracked he tried to eaves drop as a way to figure out who was in the house visiting with her. Suddenly, startling him stiff, the door opened and a girl with dark auburn hair peeked out from within. He blinked in confusion but couldn't help but be struck by her light violet eyes. Observing her further, he saw that her marigold yellow dress that was thigh length and revealed a slender leg. When he beheld her face again he saw that a sultry smile was formed from her shiny glossed lips. After gazing one anotherin awkward silence, she eventually broke in laughter that calmed to soft giggles before looking to him again.
"Geez, you never cease to amaze. I see you haven't changed at all, Akira-sempai." She chirped.
"You know me?"
"Tch! Duh!" Her eyes rolled. "How can I not remember you?"
He raised a brow. "Interesting, somehow I don't can't seem to remember, or know for that matter, exactly who you are."
Subtle shudders ran through her making her jump and shake her head. She duly noted his confusion and tensed meekly, sinking further into the room before eventually disappearing making Akira come to the doorway. He found the girl crawling onto his mothers bed and curling up next to her, both looking to him in unison before smiling, making him even more befuddled at the situation.
"Wow... you warned me but still... I see he doesn't remember me at all… his amnesia must've been really bad… looks like it still is too... Poor guy..."
White fluffy clouds drift by in the blue skies above. In the back landing Lady Kaburagi was finishing breakfast and the girl sat on the edge with slender legs hanging.
Lady Kaburagi placed her fork on the table. "From what Wolf explained, it was really severe. He remembered practically no one, not even Princess Mina herself."
The girl turned to her direction. "Ah, the vampire princess he serves?"
Her ladyship nodded. "However, she managed to get him to remember her not too long ago, but it's still a work in progress."
The girl sighed as she stretched, and lies down to the cool cement below her, kicking her legs from the edge they hung from. "Poor guy… This seriously wouldn't have happened if I didn't have to go home… I could have protected him... I mean that's what I swore I'd do... I'll take the blame for this for sure..."
"Yet from the looks of it, it couldn't be avoided dear."
She shot up, looking to Lady Kaburagi, "I know but-"
"Don't worry too much more on it, sweetie. He'll remember you soon enough. Besides, recovery takes time, and a bit of patience, he'll recover. So please don't blame yourself or even take the blame. Even with your abilities, you have your limitations. What happened to him was no fault of yours nor the fact of you having to return to home, you had no choice; it was due to safety reasons if I recall."
The girl nodded. "Yeah... stupid mercato was targeting me again…" She fidgeted with the hem of the dress' skirt. "I had to flee the country and be gone to the world for a while… and of course when that happens all hell breaks loose, and the one I cherish the most gets caught in the crossfire and is not only hurt but... uugh... what a time to be alive... I really hate my life, I swear…"
"Don't say that. It's not a good thing to say." Lady Kaburagi snapped.
"But I do!" She whined laying back down. "It's a pain, a huge pain! Seriously…why couldn't I have been born a normal human being, with a normal life, and could go anywhere freely like normal people without risk of being kidnapped, shot at or blown up… I mean was that too much like right? Seriously!"
Lady Kaburagi smiled. "You've asked that many times before, and I'll keep telling you, you have been given a special task in life and you were meant to be a very special individual in this world. You may think of it as unsavory now, but I have a feeling that it won't always feel and be that way for you, and you'll be glad to live and be alive soon enough... trust me."
The girl groaned then blew at her shaggy bangs. "… And yet again, you're right. I guess I'll try not to gripe too much... As much as I want to..." She looked to her ladyship. "I hate it when you go all mom on me."
Lady Kaburagi chuckled. "Well, how long have we known each other in order for me to do that?"
"Way~ too~ Long~" She sung causing them to both laugh.
"Hey." Akira was approaching them, coming out in his white tee shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers. "I miss the joke?"
"Nope." Said the girl sitting up again only to hop on the deck followed with stretches.
"We talk like this all the time. It's a normal thing, don't mind us." Lady Kaburagi giggled.
"I guess, if you say so." He said before turning tot he girl. "So, mind telling me who you are exactly?"
She stared for a moment before emitting a raspberry.
"Hey!"
Lady Kaburagi only shook her head laughing at the two.
"I only asked you a question!" He said raising his voice.
The girl poked her hip. "Hm, no need to get all pissy. Besides I'm not the one walking around here like a senile old man. I'm also surprised, I didn't think you remembered well enough to form sentences, ya know with the brain loss and what not. I mean I see some, but I know not all the lights are on~" She grinned brightly with canines.
"Why you little- Get back here!"
The girl paused in the middle of the yard waving. "Heehee, if you can talk me back, oh wait, can you do that without getting me lost, grandpa!"
Akira growled as he darted from the porch starting the chase.
Lady Kaburagi only sipped her tea, getting a kick out of the teens running around the yard. By the looks of things, they could last into the next day. The girl bested Akira without difficulty as he only tried his best to nab her every chance he got. Akira leapt into bushes and got stuck in them from attempts to pounce his taunter only for her to yank at his pants revealing his butt causing him fight loose and go after her again. It passed his mind, however, at how fast she ran and could understand how she was able to avoid being caught along with her inhuman acrobatics. But his determination prevented him from asking this of course.
Seeing them smile and hearing them both laugh as they played surged a tender touch to Lady Kaburagi's heart, as two friends were once again enjoying each other's company, just like the young children they were once did.
**Sorry for the long delay, so much has happened, but writer's block is lifted and story proceeds. On to the next bit I go :3**