SplitxEnd

Split 7: Miracles

"The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it."

-Mother Teresa

Magic.

After learning about the Zodiarts and the War of the Stars, I thought that it would be impossible to top that. But, the old "Seeing is Believing" saying came back to me and the magic did save me from becoming some sort of guinea pig for those scientists. It was still a lot to take in, though.

"Yayoi," said Haruto, waving his hand in front of my face. "Are you there?"

"Um, yeah," I answered, shaking my head. "I mean, this is still all so much to take in. How long have you been using magic, Haruto?"

"He's had the ability to use it for the past six months," Koyomi answered. "It all started with a ritual formed during a solar eclipse. He and other people were chosen as 'Gates'."

"Gates?"

"Those who fall into despair that can create Phantoms," Haruto elaborated. "The person dies and then a Phantom takes their place, causing despair to other gates. Only those who can keep hope alive in them can withstand the despair, and thus can become magic wielders."

"And that's what happened to you two?"

"Sort of," Haruto picked up a donut from the box in his hand and began to eat. After a few seconds, he swallowed. "I was saved by a man known as the White Wizard, who gave me the ability to use magic. He also told me to keep an eye on Koyomi, because she doesn't have any magic ability at all."

"Did she have a Phantom?"

Haruto shook his head. "She doesn't know whether or not she's even a Phantom to begin with. It's a shame, really." he patted Koyomi's head like she was a cat. "But I promised the White Wizard to give her hope, just like I did to you."

"W-what do you mean by that?" How was I asked such a thing like that? Especially from someone like him? Now that I think of it, when I stared into his eyes, he reminded me of someone familiar...

"So," said Haruto. "Can you explain to me why you were being chased after those men in white?"

"I honestly don't know myself," I answered back. "I hope it wasn't because of the information I've looked up regarding Ophiuchus."

"Ophiuchus?" Haruto and Koyomi repeated. That reaction was justified, however. The only people who would've known about that name were the Kamen Rider Club and their associates. To anyone else, they probably would've been just like those two.

"It's a bit of a long story," I explained. "Just don't say anything until I finish speaking...I don't know how long I'm going to be telling this story."

0-0-0-0-0-0

About forty-five minutes later, my tale regarding Gentaro Kisaragi's death, his resurrection, the War of the Stars, Ophiuchus, and everything else in relation to those subjects was finished. Haruto and Koyomi never said a word. Instead, they were rather entranced with my story-telling regarding the whole mess. I didn't delve in my own past of being a Zodiarts, but that was for the best. The less they knew about me, the better.

As I glanced at the grandfather clock, I felt worried. What was JK doing at that time? He was Kamen Rider Den-O: Gun Form, and he and Ryutaros were going to be firing guns at bad guys. I never would've thought that JK would touch one of those—at least he wasn't using knives as weapons.

"So," I said. "Do you understand my worries now?"

"I do," said Haruto. He took my hands into his and added, "And I can see that you're still worried. You need to relax."

Relax? Kani-san got attacked by hiding me, JK is doing who knows what in Kyoto, and those scientist guys are still out there. How am I supposed to relax?

Just as I was about to vocalize my fears, the door opened. Entering the little antique shop was an man in his 50's with groceries in hand. Koyomi went to his side.

"Wajima-san," she said. "You're back! Let me help you with the groceries."

"Thank you, Koyomi," said Wajima. He then turned to where I was sitting and said, "Oh? Do we have a customer today?"

"She's bunking with us for a while Wajima-san," Haruto answered. "I saved this fair maiden from the evil cultists."

"Very funny," I said. "My name is Yayoi Tokuda. It's nice to meet you, Wajima-san."

"The pleasure is mine," Wajima replied. "Does your dad know you're here?"

"Somewhat. The father of my childhood friend has no idea where I'm at, but I'm gonna call him when he gets off of work. Then, I need some time to look up something."

"Oh?" Wajima placed the groceries on the counter and began unpacking them. "What type of research?"

"She's looking up something regarding Ophiuchus," Haruto answered. "She says he's some sort of giant serpent with the power of resurrection."

Wajima was holding onto a jar of pickled daikon radish that suddenly fell onto the floor with a clatter. He then turned to me as if I had grown two heads.

"Ophiuchus?" he whispered. "He's here? How?"

"Like Haruto said, I'm trying to find that out," I said. "All I know is that it involves the death of Gentaro Kisaragi from a few days ago. Gentaro's birthdate falls under the sign of Ophiuchus instead of Scorpio for some odd and unexplained reason."

"No, there is a good reason for that," Wajima whispered. "He's a descendant of Asclepius, the original Serpent-bearer."

"How do you know that for sure?" It just seemed like pure coincidence that an ancient snake goes after a delinquent like Gentaro when there could've been other people born under the sign of Ophiuchus filed under 'recently deceased' in Japan. Why was it specifically him?

"First off, do you know what his name means?"

"Duh," I had to roll my eyes. "'Kisaragi' means February, while my name means 'March'."

"In the times of Ancient Rome, February was a month of purification." Wajima climbed a step-ladder resting against a shelf. "Now, the Romans looked up to the Greeks and declared that anything they did was a hundred times inferior to Greece. Are you following me?"

"Hold on," I pulled out my laptop, turned it on, and then began to type everything Wajima told me. "Go on."

"Take into account that Asclepius was a healer, and February means purity, then we can conclude that Gentaro's bloodline were those of healers in a sense. What was Gentaro like?"

"He's not a healer in the physical sense, but if you count making 'friends' as a form of healing, then I guess he does use some sort of magic to heal people."

"Spiritual and emotional healing then. Interesting..." I heard Wajima mutter something under his breath, Koyomi tying the plastic bags into knots, and the sofa across from me squeaking from Haruto standing up. I then felt Haruto resting on my shoulder...and my embarassment levels rising.

"I don't like boys being so close to me," I hissed at him. "So please...let me be."

"I just want to know what you're up to," Haruto replied, smiling at me. That grin made me realize why he was so familiar...he reminded me so much of JK and how I would call him "Cheshire-puss" when we were little. But romance was the last thing on my mind.

"Yayoi," said Wajima, interrupting the flirting comments from Haruto. "Asclepius was the son of Apollo, God of the Sun, Light and Medicine and Coronis, a princess whose famous for the legends of the crow."

"The crow?" I repeated, lifting my head up from my laptop. "What does a crow have to do with this?"

"Crows used to have white feathers," Koyomi explained, cupping onto a white stone bird in her hands. "Apollo used a white crow to spy on Coronis while he was away, because Coronis was having an affair with another prince. When he learned that the crow didn't pluck the prince's eyes out, Apollo became angry and the feathers turned black."

"I know what happens next. Coronis is sent to a funeral pyre, Apollo learns the error of his ways, cuts Asclepius out of his mother's wound, and Coronis is sent to the Underworld. What does this have to do with Gentaro Kisaragi?"

"This," Wajima slammed a book onto the table and flipped it to a page depicting many people handing offerings to a statue. Most notably, the tops of their heads were white. "Specific descendants of Asclepius styled themselves as crows in one way or another. A person who is a pure descendant of Asclepius is born with his hair white as the white crow. Then, after a certain age, or a traumatic event in their lives, their hair becomes black as the darkness itself."

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" said Haruto. "One's hair turns white from shock. Why it becomes black is beyond..."

"Wait a minute..." I typed something on my laptop, bringing up Gentaro's old school profile. I pulled up a photo of Gentaro with his hair slicked back as a pompadour. From a certain angle, it looked like the feather of a very large crow. I showed it to everyone else. "This is Gentaro prior to his death."

"Eh," said Koyomi. "He has a beautiful smile..."

"Born on November 30th, 1994 with a blood type of B." Wajima read out loud. "Nothing on his parents, though."

"They died when he was around eight years old," I explained. "JK told me that his parents were proud on him making friends and stated that those friends would help him when he fell. The only way this can work is if I can get a picture of Gentaro in his youth. Even his funeral picture had him with black hair."

"There is a way to check," said Haruto. He pointed to the ring on his finger. "After dinner, we'll use my motorcycle to sneak into Gentaro's old room and see his old baby photos. We'll use that for analysis."

"Can't you just teleport me to Gentaro's room?" I asked. "You rescued me from those scientists, so shouldn't it be easier to just drop me at the doorstep and then pull me out later?"

"It took a lot of mana to pull you out. To refill it, I'm going to need to eat a lot of food and rest up a bit before I can try something like that again. Plus, I don't have a clue where Gentaro lives—the only reason I was able to pull you out was because I knew the general area of the croquette stand." Haruto sighed and patted his belly. "Can you cook?"

I really wanted to sock Haruto across the face. He wants to eat while my close friend and his allies are getting themselves killed? How insensitive!

Still, I didn't have much of a choice. Going back to the Jingu residence wouldn't be a good idea if Keizou wasn't there, and those strange men probably wouldn't expect me hiding in an antique shop. If I was going to survive this weekend, I had to trust these people to help me out.

I looked at Gentaro's school photo before looking back at the page of the white-haired men. It was such a kooky theory, but then again I've had nothing but kooky theories to help me understand Ophiuchus. If Wajima was correct, then this would've been ground-breaking news that JK needed to know. I would've love to go through the book and find more and more information that matched the stuff that KRSwan and I went through, but that would've been for later. Right now, it looks like I was going to help cook dinner.

I turned to Haruto and asked him, "What do you like to eat?"