I was born in a month when everything started to get cold. November the 18th. My mother gave birth of me that day in a secret government research facility. She decided to leave the facility with me after I was three. Years and years I lived normal days with my mother but I never knew what my mother has been doing all this time. We moved to different places every year. In every house I and my mother lived, my mother never allowed me to get into the basement. My mother said sometime in the future she would allow me. All my neighbors and my friends were all boys so I got along with boys easier than girls. I started to have this tomboy persona. I kept my hair short for years.
"Maki-chan, wake up or you will be late for school!" My mother always woke me up every morning with a smile that could light my spirit for the whole day.
That's why I love to smile even it is saddening or stressing. She made me smile and gave a reason for stay alive. It's all for her happiness and mine. She was everything for me. I love her. I love my mother so much.
My life has been okay until one day, an unknown man came to my house. I was at my second year of junior high school. When I saw him for the first time, I knew he is one of my relative. When my mother met him, my mother yelled at him.
"SO FOR ALL THIS TIME, YOU COME FOR HER NOW? WHAT WILL YOU DO TO HER? YOU ARE NOT DESERVED TO BE HER FATHER!" She yelled.
At that time, I suddenly realized that he was my father. I lived for years without my father and now he came in just like that. I could see my mother's face full of anger.
"DON'T COME HERE ANYMORE! YOU ARE NOT WELCOMED!" She said her last word to my father.
Days and months passed by and my ability, Iron Fist, activated. I told my mother about my ability and she said that I must use my ability wisely. I used my ability for fighting crimes as a vigilante. If you remembered from the news years ago, there was a vigilant hero called Night Fist. Yeah, that was me. I was doing that for a whole year until one day, something happened.
That man I recalled as my father came again but this time he got five men behind him. I knew that they up to no good. My mother dragged me to my house's basement. I was never allowed to enter the basement. In the basement, I discovered what my mother has doing for this whole time. She was researching for a cure for ability users. She knew my father disagree with this, so my mother decided to run from the facility bringing me with her all along.
She took out kerosene from one of the shelves and poured it all over the basement. She must wanted to clear any traces behind. The men my father brought breaching in to the basement.
"I must stay to finish my work. You must go and escape." My mother said to me.
"No! I can't leave you, mother! I will stay and help you with my ability." I said to her.
"Maki! Listen to me!" She made me looked at her.
She made that smile. The smile that she gave me every morning she woke me up. My tears started to fall. She wiped those tears away for me.
"I have decided to trust you, Maki… Remember to come back to find me…" She said.
"Mother, we don't have to do this…" I said to her.
"You have to trust me, Maki…" She said and lit the lighter on her hand.
My mother gave me a key and made me hold that firmly. I wanted to ask what it is.
"Keep this, okay?" She said.
"THERE YOU ARE!" My father shouted.
My father grabbed my mother's weak body and forced her to get up. She looked at me and smiled at me. She threw the lighter to the floor and lit the whole basement in fire. My father's men grabbed me from behind. I struggled to let go but they stun gunned me and I fell weak.
"Why did you do this to me, Father?! Why did you do this to Mother?!" I yelled with my last remaining power left.
"I'm sorry but this is for your mother." He said.
My weakened body was dragged away by three men. My eyes started to become blurry in the raging fires but I still struggled to let go.
"No, no! Honey! Don't do that to Maki! Maki! MAKI!"
"Why talking sweet now, huh?!"
My vision gone dark and I fell into unconsciousness. When I woke up, everything was bright. It was the sun in a clear blue sky. Someone patted my shoulder. I turned and saw him. Otosaka Shunusuke. He was there with his brother, Otosaka Yuu. They told me the situation that the men who dragged me were neutralized and I was safe. But I never feel safe until now. My father is a traitor and my mother is still out there somewhere. I entered Houshinoumi Academy and joined the student council before my ability was taken away by Otosaka-senpai.
When Maki finished her story, her tears have streamed from her eyes. She sobbed and could not hold her tears any longer. All this time, she hid her pain and lived on. She locked her heart away when her heart felt the pain. Her smiles were all camouflage so she could live on. Ushio felt heart broken when she saw Maki in this state. She could feel her tears streaming, too. She walked closer to Maki and gave her a comforting hug. Maki cried in her embrace.
"Let's stop training for a while and find your mother, Maki-kun." Ushio said.
Maki shocked and looked at Ushio.
"Well, we will have a team challenge, too, right? So why don't we strengthen our bonds?" Ushio said and gave Maki a smile.
"Thank you, Ushio-chan." Maki returned her smile with a much relieved one.
"So, this was your house?" Ushio asked Maki while reached at Maki's old burned house.
"Yeah, I remember my mother said about come back. So, she must be leaving a trace in here." Maki said.
"It's weird to have your house unexpectedly tidy even it burned." Ushio said.
"Remember few days ago when you found me getting out from infirmary? Yeah, I was clearing this place from any possible threats. I cut the wild grass and made them less creepy. There was few gangsters holed up at this place but I beat the crap out of them." Maki said.
"That's Maki style for me." Ushio said.
They walked into the house and searched for anything that could lead them to Maki's mother. Ushio walked in to a room. From the burned shelves she could identify that this room was a library. She browsed each burned books and found a book that has not damaged too much. She could still read that book. The title said, "The Girl in Illusionary World". She recalled that was the title of her parents play before she was born.
"What did you found, Ushio-chan?" Maki asked.
"A book. Have you read this book?" Ushio asked Maki.
"Oh, I loved this book very much. But I never knew about the ending since it was torn away." Maki said.
"Can I keep this? My parents used to have a play with the same title. My mother said someone told her about a story of a girl in the world that has ended. But she could not recall where she heard that." Ushio said.
"Sure, you can. Think that as my gift for you." Maki said.
Ushio took the book and placed it inside her bag. She wanted to give this book to her parents.
"My mother kept all her experiments down in the basement. Maybe we could find a clue there." Maki said.
They headed to the basement and found everything was burned. Maki sweep all the ash from the floor and found a floor safe.
"I noticed this safe when my mother brought me here for the first time." She said.
Maki let out a key that was around her neck all this time. She crouched and tried to open the safe with the key. Thankfully the key opened the safe. They found a framed photo inside. It was untouched by anything and completely intact. The photo was Maki with her mother smiling into the camera. Maki smiled when she saw the photo.
"I'm home, Mother." She said unconsciously.
Ushio noticed that Maki unconsciously said that. She looked at the photo in Maki's hand. It was a photo when Maki was around 7 years old. Maki has a wide smile the same as her mother's. When Ushio looked at Maki's mother photo she could not resist but remembers Maki. Her resemblance was too much great.
"You are a carbon copy of your mother." Ushio said while looking at the photo
"Yeah, many people said that and I don't know why but I feel happy about peoples saying that to me." Maki said.
"By the way, why this photo is in that safe?" Ushio asked.
"I wonder why." Maki slipped out the photo from the frame and found a small piece of paper behind the photo.
She opened it and found numbers on the paper.
"Coordinate number. It must be where your mother has been held." Ushio said.
She entered the number in her phone and found the location was nearby.
"I am going to give thanks to your mother for leaving such clue for us. Let's go!" Ushio said.
Before they left, Maki quickly folded the photo and shoved it into her pocket.
"Ushio-chan, wait for me!"
They found a secret duct hole at the exact position of the coordinates.
"So, they holed up inside the mountain. It's pretty impressive."
"It must be from the exhaust system or something." Ushio said and opened the grating that covered the hole.
"It's pretty big. We can fit in. Come on." Ushio entered the duct hole with Maki.
"How do we find your mother, Maki?" Ushio asked.
"Let's find a way to sneak in and acquire information from the inside." Maki said.
They crawled through the duct hole and found a vent grating that led to guard's locker room. The room looked empty. They sneakily entered the room and searched anything so they could cover up into disguises.
"Ushio-chan, this locker is unlocked and there are two guard uniforms inside. Let's change and blend in." Maki said.
They quickly changed into guard's attire and stored their clothing in the locker. Maki locked the locker so no one notice. She put on a helmet and a goggle so no one suspect her as her mother's daughter.
"Here, take this." Ushio gave Maki a rifle and some ammo from the gun cabinet.
"But I never use this thing. And I never want to kill anybody." Maki said.
Ushio reloaded two handguns and put one inside the holster on her attire and gave another one to Maki. She took a rifle and some ammo, too.
"Maki, hear me. They are not hesitating to kill you if they spotted you. They are not some cops on the road. They are soldiers here. We must prepare for the worst but still avoid violence as possible." Ushio said.
"Well, I don't know why Doctor Aramaki wants this woman so badly." A woman guard who entered the locker room said.
"If the other side gets her, we could not conduct any experiments. They paid him so high just for this experiment. Not to mention, our payment." Another one said.
"Yeah, you are right. But why locking up the woman for years in that same cell?"
"I don't know but maybe the cell number has some meaning. Not to mention the blood that smeared all over that place before she came here."
"1118, right? Maybe… Hey, intruders!" Ushio and Maki knocked the two women guards unconscious. They searched the body and dragged the unconscious body to a small locker and put them there.
"I got the access key." Ushio said.
"Okay, cell 1118. I don't know why but maybe my father has some grudge over me. Come on let's go before they woke up." Maki said.
They searched for cell 1118 immediately. The facility was so huge that they almost lost but finally found the way to the cell. The cell was unguarded leaving Maki anxious.
"This is strange, why there are no guards here?" Maki asked.
Ushio swiped the access key and opened the door. The room was dark and they saw Maki's mother sitting on the floor in chains and blindfolded. Ushio and Maki entered the cell and closed the door. Maki's mother flinched away from their footsteps.
"Wh… What is it? I won't tell you. Don't come closer." She said.
Maki was trembled to see her mother like this. She borrowed Ushio's stolen access key and walked closer to her mother. Her steps echoed in the room. Strangely, her mother stopped flinching like she knew who came. As she came closer to her mother, her mother seemed to have more curiosity over her.
"Maki-chan?" Her mother said. Maki froze.
"I could hear your footsteps. Is that you?" Her mother asked again.
"What am I talking? I must be hallucinating." She said.
Maki swiped the card and unlocked the chains. Maki's mother wondered with what just happened. She took off her blindfold and saw it all. Her daughter was in front of her with tears streamed from her eyes. Maki's mother wiped those tears away from her face.
"It's not usual to see you cry, Maki-chan. I remember you as a strong girl. So, be a strong girl, Maki-chan." She said to Maki.
Maki's mother embraced Maki to comfort her. Maki cried in her embrace for a while and gave a huge grin smile to her mother. One weight lifted from Maki's heart. Ushio smiled as she saw this. Maki's mother noticed Ushio who was standing in front of the cell door.
"Are you Nagisa-chan? No, you must be not. Furukawa Nagisa-chan must be around my age." Maki's mother said while looking into Ushio's eyes.
"Furukawa Nagisa? You know my mother?" Ushio confused.
"You have your mother's eyes. I got along with your mother when I was a little." She answered.
"Is she your friend, Maki-chan?" She asked Maki.
"Yes, she is Okazaki Ushio. Ushio-chan, this is my mother." Maki introduced.
"Just call me, Hana-san. You must be as kind as your mother, Ushio-chan." Maki's mother said.
"Umm… Thanks but we have to get out from here." Ushio said and let Maki help her mother stand up.
Ushio opened the cell door and shocked as the guards already surrounded them. A fairly old man stood in front of the guards.
"Well, isn't it my daughter, Maki? I was reckless to leave you with my guards back then. If I escorted you by myself maybe I could discover the secrets behind the abilities and manipulate it into my own. But I think now it's too late. That boy, One-Eyed Shinigami, must has taken your ability and every single other abilities away. Now we could not stand a chance against One-Eyed Shinigami. But still, you bring me the last ability wielder here, Maki. That's good." Maki's father said. Ushio expression started to change.
"Don't hear him, Ushio-chan. He just wanted to play with your mind. You trust me, right?" Maki said.
The armosphere became awkwardly silent. Maki's father grew a smile as he thought this was a victory.
"You think she brought me here, sir?" She said.
Ushio's expression was unreadable and suddenly turned into a furious one.
"You are wrong, sir! I'm not here because she asked me to. I'm not here because she told me about her life story. But I'm here because I want to see Maki smile from her heart. I want her to be free!" Maki shocked from Ushio's words but quickly snapped after Ushio threw a smoke grenade to the guards.
Ushio grabbed Maki and Maki's mother wrists and dragged them to the locker room.
"Run in front of me! I will slow them down!" Ushio yelled and turned her body to face the enemies.
She fired the rifle she was bringing along to the guards until the last bullet. She threw the rifle away after the rifle out of bullet. She switched into hand gun and tried as fast as she could to slow the enemies. They arrived at the locker room. They picked their clothes fast but…
"Well, aren't they the intruders we met earlier?" Two guards were blocking the way out. They were the ones who knocked unconscious before.
"There you are!" Maki's father yelled from the front of the locker room. They were trapped.
Ushio felt panic and fear through her body. She could feel her heartbeat increasing. She knew what would going to happen to her. Her bloodlust would activate. Her eyes started to change color into blood red. She could feel energy flowing through her whole body.
Before she could lose it, Maki's mother held Ushio's shoulder.
"Please, save my daughter. You want her to be free, right? Leave me be. Drag her as fast as you can. Take care of Maki-chan, please." Maki's mother said to Ushio.
"Please, Ushio-chan. Tell her, I'll be okay and I will always love her." She said again.
Ushio turned away so she could make her guts into leaving Maki's mother. Ushio activated her bloodlust and threw fists to the guards surrounding them.
"THAT KID'S ACTIVATING HER ABILITY!" Maki's father yelled.
Ushio fought them and tried as she could to clear away the path. Suddenly, Maki's mother snatched away by one of Maki's father guards.
"MOTHER! NO!" Maki yelled.
"Go, Ushio-chan… Take care of her…"
"I'M SORRY MAKI!" Ushio carried Maki's body away and exited through the duct hole as fast as she could.
Ushio continued to run until they reached the town. She stopped and let Maki down. Ushio was facing down unable to see Maki in her eyes.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, USHIO?!" Maki started to yell.
"WHY ARE YOU LEAVING HER?!" She yelled again and grabbed Ushio's collar.
Ushio was crying with her eyes still in blood red color. Even in her bloodlust, she could not hold her tears. Maki was stunned by this.
"I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY…" She said repeatedly until her eyes turned into normal.
"Your mother wants me to take you with me and leave her. She wants me to make you safe. She… She…" Ushio still cried.
"She wants you to know that she will be okay and she will always love you. I'm sorry, Maki-kun. I'm sorry, Maki-kun." Ushio continued.
Maki let Ushio go. She felt wrong about herself. She was rushing with herself. Yet, she was feeling a bit relieved when she knew that her mother would always love her. She couldn't help herself but smile as a huge weight lifted from her heart.
"Thank you, Ushio-chan. I'm sorry that I have doubted you. Let's continue with our arcade training, shall we?" She said giving Ushio a smile from her heart while letting out tears of happiness.
Then again, Maki realized that Ushio wanted to make her happy and free. She said that pretty clearly when they were cornered. Maki wanted Ushio to trust her and she wanted to trust her back. She suddenly has a childish idea popping inside her head.
"Promise to me that starting from now, you will trust me with your heart and I will do the same." She raised her pinkie.
"I promise." Ushio said as she intertwined her pinkie with Maki's.
Ushio replied her smile and laughed together with Maki. That day, Ushio started a new page called best friend with a girl named Azumaya Maki and she will remember this forever.
ARC 1 : BEHIND THOSE SMILE - TO BE CONTINUED...