O
1999
O
Tokyo
Rei couldn't care less what people thought of her, especially her classmates. They could laugh at her and be mean, Rei was strong enough to ignore it.
She knew she was better than them, she knew so much more about life than them, about things that they couldn't even believe in.
Phobos and Deimos came to welcome her home when she passed the torii, and she smiled at them. They were big now, even bigger than the other crows, and weirdly attached to her. Rei didn't explain it, but she was sure that they were special, not ordinary.
A little like her.
Rei's smile intensified when she felt presences around her. Two… no, three. They were hiding, but she walked toward her home without showing that she knew they were there. And suddenly, the three kids ran toward her, screaming happily, trying to scare her or catch her, or both.
Rei laughed and turned to welcome the young children in her arms.
"Hello Nana, Kanade, Riku!"
"Hi, miss Rei!"
"Hi, Rei!"
"Rei! How did you know we were there?"
"That's because she's magic," Nana explained with the biggest grin the three year old was capable of.
The two five year old nodded.
"Rei, you're so awesome!" sweet Kanade exclaimed.
Laughing, Rei shook her head.
"Not really."
"Can you play with us? Senji is there too with his mom, you know, and you promised you would teach us how to do origami!"
"Alright, let me change first."
"Yeah!"
With a smile, Rei turned to go toward the part of the shrine that held their living quarters, greeting a few people she knew on the way. She had a lot of work to do lately, because of the festival, but she'd do it later. Taking care of the kids was part of her job, and it was fun too.
She had always loved to spend time with them, unlike with people her age.
O
Minako sighed, brooding.
The other girls of the institute had come back from school too, and they were playing basketball in the yard. As always, she hadn't been invited.
They were more or less twenty to live under the care of the educators. Two or three had been raised here since early childhood. The majority were in the Institute temporarily, and a lot even went home to their parents every week-end. One day, their family would be judged capable of taking them back fully, and they would leave the children's home for good.
For Minako, things weren't like that at all. She had been living there for seven months, and it wasn't going to change. Something to do with the fact that a mother wasn't supposed to let her child alone for extended periods of time, and with neglect, and with irresponsability. Finally, Kire had given Minako up, abandoning all her parenting rights in front of the judge or whoever, papers signed and all that. Just like that.
It wasn't that Minako hadn't seen it coming. She was good at analyzing a situation, after all, but still, in a way, she hadn't seen it coming. But after all, she could do without Kire, hadn't she always done without her? She had been able to dress herself very early on in her life, able to prepare herself her breakfast, prepare her things for school alone, dine alone, prepare herself for bed alone. She was sure she could properly take care of herself completely alone. Even the educators had noticed it, she was far more capable than her peers, so they rarely bothered with her anymore, she knew perfectly how to do things on her own.
Of course, the girls kind of knew that Minako's mother hadn't fought for her and had left her there gladly, and that the authorities had apparently been unable to find her estranged father. It didn't help. They despised Minako for a lot of reasons: her looks, her maturity, her way of intimidating them when they annoyed her, the way the adults left her be, the way she excelled in every activities they did. It had become worse when they had noticed the nightmares she had sometimes. A chance they couldn't know what she saw in them!
But Minako didn't really care. She was only counting the years now. One day she would leave, she would be free, and then she would show them all who she was. Kire, her classmates, her teachers, the girls from the children's home, all of them would see! She didn't know yet what she would do or become, and she didn't care, because something in her was sure of it, she knew that she was more than them, that she held in her hands something far greater than what they all thought they had and she hadn't. She didn't know what it was, she didn't understand why she was feeling different, but it had to be for a reason.
It had to.
And one day, all would fall into place, and she would do things right, and show them, and especially her parents.
She might be an orphan with bad grades, more or less no friend, no home, no things, she might be weird, but she wasn't weak, she wasn't a loser, and she knew.
The world was vast, the universe was far more than that, and humanity didn't end with a bunch of stupid children. Minako could feel it every time she walked in the streets, some people were beautiful inside, strong, kind, warm. They weren't black or white, all of them were grey, even the girls Minako despised so much, she could see the potential there, in humans, the greatness they could carry together, along with all the anger, the malice, the evil, the violence, the egoism.
What choice did she have, but to believe with all her heart in that part of them that they ignored?
It was that, or drown into the darkness and let despair take over her.
Because she had nothing but that, this faith, and the hope that, one day, she would have her answers.
O
Okinawa
"When are you coming back?"
"In a week. Don't worry, we'll call you."
Masashi smiled to his daughter.
"And we'll bring you back one or two things from New York, of course."
Makoto nodded, and her parents kissed her goodbye.
"Have fun with your uncle."
"Yes, mom. Have fun, too."
"Of course."
"And take care of the baby."
Sakura smiled, a hand coming to her belly.
"You know, right now it's just a tiny little thing, and it's as safe as it could be."
Makoto smiled.
"I hope it'll grow up fast!"
"Thanks again for…" Masashi began, but his brother stopped him.
"Don't. I was saving this money for something that didn't work out, and you know what I think of money, the little we have is there to be spent. You both deserve this trip. Have fun."
"Okay. Thanks again. See you in a week, Mako!"
"See you, dad!"
O
Tokyo
"Here. You can sleep in Kanade's room, since she's at a friend's home."
Minako nodded and walked inside the room. It was pretty, a bed, a desk, a little couch with a coffee table and… a piano! She raised an eyebrow. It seems that the cousin she had never met was a lucky girl. The room wasn't decorated like other children's room that Minako had seen before. No posters and such, not many toys in sight. But Keiko was a net freak, so it wasn't really surprising, all was neatly put away in the closets.
Minako put the little bag that contained her things for the week-end on the bed and turned toward "aunt" Keiko. Technically she wasn't her aunt, but apparently that was how Minako had always called her, so... Her aunt seemed ill at ease, and Minako wondered why she had asked that she spend a week-end per month at her house, with her husband and her. Apparently, the authorities had just agreed, and Minako, who had been curious about it all and who was rather glad to spend a night or two away from the dormitory, had said yes.
"So, hmm, you can use everything here of course, and tomorrow we'll go to the mall and to the park."
"Ok, thank you."
Minako knew her aunt didn't really know what to say to her. She barely knew her anyway, and the girl guessed that Kire's actions had shocked her, maybe because Keiko was a mother too now. It wasn't that hard to be better at it than Kire anyway.
"Sota will be home shortly. Then we will have dinner."
Minako nodded as she followed her aunt inside the living room.
"Do you want something to drink?"
"I'd like water, please."
The situation was awkward, to say the least. Her aunt had trouble looking at her in the eyes, it was obvious she felt obliged to be there for her niece now that she was alone, that she felt sorry for her but at the same time she was wary of her. Minako wondered why. She didn't remember having done anything to cause such a reaction, but Keiko had always acted that way the few times they had seen each other.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. You can sit down, you know."
"Thank you."
Her politeness put a little smile on Keiko's face. Minako was rather amused herself with the mixed feelings her aunt was projecting. It was clear to both that they would never be close, it was too late for that, and too many things seemed to stand between them, but still.
The situation was really ironical.
"They said that Kire doesn't give any news."
God, they weren't going to talk about that, were they? Minako still remembered too vividly all the questions the social workers asked her when they were trying to determine if yes or no they had to worry about her health if Kire kept raising her.
It had been humiliating, difficult and annoying.
"She hasn't since her last card, three months ago," Minako answered easily, calmly. She knew the way she talked (a little too much like people thrice her age) made people uneasy, and she liked it. "Did you talk to her?"
"No," Keiko answered quickly, and Minako kept herself from smirking. It almost sounded like she was defending herself. "I… I'm not even sure she's still in Tokyo."
"I see."
It was that perfect moment that Keiko's partner chose to come home. Minako stood up to greet him, it was the first time they saw each other, but her mind was elsewhere.
Keiko and Sota had a beautiful home in a nice neighborhood. Apparently, the woman had lived there alone before meeting the love of her life, because on the portal was a plate engraved with only the name 'AINO'.
Minako had noticed it immediately.
And she couldn't help but think that, in another life, if things had been different, if her parents had been in love and had loved her, that house could have been similar to her house.
A nice home, with the name of her family on it.
O
Okinawa
"Hi, mom, dad. I just wanted to see you before Christmas. I miss you, you know."
Makoto closed her eyes and swallowed her tears. She almost couldn't feel the coldness of this early December.
"I'm living with uncle Akihiro, he stopped doing his business trips for now. It's nice, but I'm a little lonely without you. You know, Akihiro, he's angry with himself. He feels really guilty, because he was the one that gave you the plane tickets. I told him it's not his fault. It isn't, right? You think so too, right?"
A sob broke her voice, and she sniffed. She put the flowers she had brought with her on the grave, and tried to smile.
"Well, I love you both, and the baby too, because even if it was really really little, I think about it, too. I… I try to be strong, and to be a good girl. I want to make you proud. Goodbye."
O
Tokyo
"Minako, I asked you a question. What is the capital of Egypt?"
The teacher's eyes narrowed when the pale girl didn't answer. Minako Aino wasn't the most attentive pupil, more often than not she was late, she 'forgot' to do some of her homework and daydreamed in class. But geography was one of the very few subjects the girl liked, and therefore mastered.
Now that she thought about it, Minako had been quiet all week long, and quite pale too. Right now, her gaze seemed too bright, and she apparently had trouble focusing it on her. Her inner alarm sounded, and the teacher frowned despite the giggles of the rest of the class.
"Silence," she ordered them, never turning her eyes away from the girl. She took a few steps toward the end of the class, where Minako was. "Minako, what is the capital of Egypt?"
The girl frowned.
"The… err…"
She knew Minako had the answer, it wasn't like her to act that way, and she almost seemed to be unable to form the words, or to find them in her mind. When Minako didn't know the answer usually, she wasn't scared to tell it. Punitions didn't bother her, the child was a free spirit, polite in a detached fashion, gifted in ways that only attentive people could understand, and the woman knew that she was also arrogant enough that when she had the good answers, she was rather satisfied with the chance to show off.
"The capital of England?"
When the girl kept silent again, it was clear that something really wasn't right.
"Minako, are you feeling… Minako!"
The children gasped and stopped giggling when their classmate fell from her chair, barely conscious.
"Hiro, go get the nurse!"
"Huh? Ah, yes!"
"Minako?" the teacher asked, putting the child in a more natural position.
"My head… hurts…"
"Since when?"
"Few days."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"It happens sometimes," the girl whispered.
"You have a fever."
"I threw up this morning too… I'm cold."
"Minako?"
No use.
The girl was unconscious.
O