I do not own Prétear in any way!
This is the speech key:
"the" - Orally speaking
'the' - telepathy
"the" - Knight talking when transformed with Himeno.
'the' - thoughts.
AN: This is just a tiny side-story I decided to put up, so that I could get my ideas for my next REAL chapter worked out. So enjoy!
White Destiny
oO~Mother~Oo
It's been about three days since the attack on Himeno at the radio station. Unbeknownst to the rose-haired ten, the Knights all suspected that it was someone close to Himeno that was causing the attempts on her life.
However, for now, Himeno was just entertaining the three curious child Knights in their earth clothing.
"Himeno-neechan, can we go and explore?" Hajime asked, tugging on Himeno's skirt.
White~Destiny
Himeno wore a cream-colored off-shoulder shirt with a knee-length evergreen tiered skirt that flared out at her hips.
She also wore an evergreen ribbon around her neck; the bow tied off to the side, a pair of evergreen ballet flats with a slight heel. Her hair was held back in a half ponytail.
White~Destiny
'I don't know much about this place, so I guess this could be a good chance to see what's here...' Himeno thought before agreeing to show the children.
"Where are you taking us first, Onee-chan?" Mannen asked.
"I don't really know," Himeno shrugged. "I just moved here a little while back, so I don't know too much about this place. For now, I think we should just choose a direction and follow it."
All three children closed their eyes for a moment before heading to the right. Himeno sighed softly before following the trio to make sure they didn't get into any trouble.
It wasn't until a while later that, Himeno, Mannen, and Hajime heard a muffled sound.
"Huh? Where'd that come from?" Mannen asked as he looked around for the source of the sound.
"Where's it coming from?" Hajime asked, looking around.
The rose-haired girl looked around at their group and realized something. "Where is Shin?" She asked slowly.
Noticing that the youngest Knight had gone missing, the three began to look around for the little blonde.
"Help!" A muffled voice shouted.
Himeno listened closely and walked over to a patch of bushes that surrounded the grassy path. She pushed aside the bushes to see Shin tangled in a net that was most likely a trap Mayune had set for Himeno. Himeno chuckled as she went over to the young Knight and started to untangle him from the ropes he'd gotten caught in.
"Thank you, Onee-chan!" Shin said, hugging her legs.
Himeno gave Shin a pat on his head before taking his hand and leading him back to where the other two were.
"Shin!" both Knights whined. "How'd you get caught in that net over there if we were over here?!"
Shin just giggled just like the young child he was.
"Just what do you four think you're doing?" a familiar voice asked.
The four turned to see Hayate jumping down from a tree.
"Himeno-neechan is showing us around!" Hajime exclaimed happily as Shin and Mannen bobbed their heads in agreement.
Hayate just turned to Himeno with one eyebrow raised, to which Himeno just gave a small, sheepish smile. "They insisted."
"C'mon! Let's go!" Hajime and Mannen shouted as both boys tugged one of Himeno's hands, while Shin tugged the other.
Shaking his head at the childrens' antics, the Knight of Wind followed them to keep them out of trouble.
A while later, the Knight, three children, and the rose-haired girl stopped when Shin pointed at something.
Himeno turned to look at what Shin was pointing at, and her eyes softened at the sight of her mother's grave.
"Himeno-neechan," Hajime asked, "Whose is that?"
"This is my mother's grave," Himeno told them, walking up to stand in front of it. "Natsue had it moved here so Papa would feel more comfortable."
"Look!" Mannen exclaimed, "There's a picture on the stone!"
Himeno smiled softly. "That's my mother."
"She's beautiful," Hayate commented.
"Isn't she?" Himeno asked rhetorically. "Papa always used to say that people called Mama a 'fallen angel'. A lot of the books he wrote were for her."
"You look a lot like her," Mannen observed.
"Do I?" Himeno asked softly in surprise. "Some people that knew Mama used to say the same thing. But I could never really see it."
'She really doesn't know, does she?' Hayate looked on at the girl. 'She really doesn't know she's beautiful.'
"Hayate," Himeno looked at the Wind Knight in worry, "is something wrong?"
"Nothing," Hayate snapped lightly, turning away so that no one could see the light bit of pink that had spread over his cheeks.
Himeno looked confused before shrugging and letting the subject go. She looked up at the sky to see it an orange-pink color with splashes of lavender in between.
"We should head back now," Himeno said, taking Shin by the hand and walking back to the mansion, the other three Knights following behind.
Adieu,
TsukiyoTenshi
