WARNING

This chapter may seem a bit lame at the end. I like to apologize ahead of time for this and another two. Thank you and I will try not to do this again in the future... TRY. QwQ

Repaired Beyond Recognition

Chapter 14

Thick heavy clouds hung over the sky and spilled snow at a fast and steady rate. Two men drove along a white blanketed road. The vehicle was slightly weighed down by a healthy tree.

"It's really pouring out there." Rye spoke for the first time since his twentieth joke about pine trees and Matsu and was passive aggressively forbidden from any further cracks. "It hasn't snowed this much since four years ago and two years before that."

"Their first Christmases." Matsu smiled to himself. "It'll be like this until New Year's and a full bloom of Cherry Blossoms in the spring. I'd have to wonder why it's happening now though." He looked up at the sky for a moment before turning into the driveway next to Kuji's. They got out and got the tree and took it into the house. It was simple to set up once they dressed midway into proper indoor attire since the stand was ready. It was a little late in the season than usual but now all it needed was decorating.

"Just in time. You didn't run into any trouble, did you?" Ka-Chan walked into the living room through the door connecting to the kitchen. She kissed her husband on the cheek before he answered.

"No, we didn't have any problems." She looked over to her brother with a skeptical for him to concur only for him to assure her everything went well. He then slipped into the kitchen as they talked.

"Alright lunch is ready for you hard working men. I still have a cake to finish making."

"You need a little rest missy. You always do too much."

The dining room was on the other side of the kitchen. Bowls and plates clanked together as the children helped make the final touches. As was the norm he opened and closed the door so quietly no one noticed he was there for the first few seconds. This fact use to lead to accidental scares and Kuji sometimes yelling at him if she was the victim but not so much anymore.

"Hi Papa!" The littlest hopped up from his seat and ran to him. Matsu kneeled to his level just as he stopped. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course Gacha…" He was a tiny bit hesitant until he saw Ryuto pull out his book.

"Can you pronounce this? Mama said you might be able to even if Auntie says it's not real." He flipped to the proper page and showed it to him.

He looked at it for a second taking the book in his hands. "Eustreptospondylus."

"Thanks-."

"How did you get that? No way!" Kuji took the book and looked at the name. "There's no way you could have gotten that on the first try. You must have researched it beforehand…"

"Um. Oneesan?" He rose to full height as he pointed at a colored bar on the page. "They tell you how to pronounce it right there, like in a dictionary."

"Oh, I didn't see that." Ryuto stood on his tippy toes as he tried to see around his aunt. Kuji only glared at her brother for a moment before handing the book back so he could put it away.

It was all normal for this time year. They sat down to a nice lunch and continued to chat amongst themselves. The adults caught up on what had changed since their last visit and the children talked about different stuff as well as what changed. Things were a bit chattier as they moved to the living room for some of those crafty traditions. Then in the midst of their ornament making there was a ringing of the cheery doorbell.

"I hope that's not Maki-San." Kuji frowned.

"She just wants to see you're having a Merry Holiday, but if it is to say you're not here." Matsu got up from his spot next to Ryuto and headed for the door.

"Thanks." He nodded with his smile as left into the hall.

"Hello?" He asked as he opened the door. "Doctor Maya?" The doctor smiled back at him as he moved for her to come in and warm up.

"I won't be long." She looked into the hall to see the living room with the only door closed in the hall beyond the open double doors. "Is your wife here? There's something I want to ask of you."

"Sure, hold on." He left for a brief moment into the living room leaving the doors open so that she could feel some of the heat as she stubbornly stood in the snow.

"Hello Dr. Maya, why don't you join us? We have plenty of room." Ryouko seemed concerned as she followed Matsu to the front door.

"I'm fine, but there is something you can do for me… I know it's a lot to ask but-." She looked at her car. "Can I show you?"

"Go on we don't mind." Maya nodded and waved a 'come here' motion at the car. The back door opened and a ten year old looking girl with pink poofy pigtails and starry maroon eyes walked up to them.

"This is Kane Tomo. She was… 'Born' a few months ago but we haven't been able to get any of the 'Companies' give her a home yet and we can't keep her in the lab so we were wondering if you wouldn't mind letting her stay with you." The girl looked up at them with a warm smile.

"Hi, nice to meet you both." She said with a curtsy and giggle. Matsu looked at Ryouko sympathetically for what she thought. She smiled and nodded. They turned back to the two.

"Welcome to the family Kane." Her face lit up even more with her eyes filled with joy. It was a great first Christmas and one she wouldn't forget.

TIME

"Ryuto-Kun! Matsu-Sama? Where are you?" Kane ran out of the house into the crunchy snow that was slowly melting from the bright robust sun. She had on a the maroon coat the doctor had got her and wore some hand-me-downs that Ka-Chan and the others managed to scrounge up until they could get her more clothing besides her only dress, stockings, and shoes she came with. It was a combination of resized items and today it was a Kuji sleeved blue coat, Ryouko's black vest, purple undershirt, purple ribbon in her hair, and a pair of Ka-Chan's tan shorts. She found the two males under a tree, well, Matsu was sleeping under the tree and Ryuto was amongst its branches.

"Hey Kane-Chan, come up here." Under his coat was a purple and yellow stripped shirt with green cargo pants and his paperboy hat on his head.

"Ryuto-Kun?" She giggled to herself. "Is that the only thing you do when you go outside?"

"No sometimes I-ah!" The boy slipped as he tried to adjust himself and fell. Kane gasped running up to reach him once he hit the ground but he managed to miss most of the branches and finally landed on Matsu. His eyes shot open and looked down at the little boy rubbing the back of his head.

"Are you Okay Gacha?" He asked as the boy leaned against him. He could tell the child was tearing up a tiny bit.

"I'm Ok." He said in his cheery tone. He groaned as his father checked his head over anyway to look for any signs of damage.

"Do you need help Matsu-Sama?"

"I've got him but thanks any way Kane-Chan." He stood up with Ryuto and walked inside the house as pink haired girl followed.

"Sakura?" Ryouko walked into the living room turned to the back door as they took their shoes off. She had on a mid-shin green dress with one of those attached white aprons with the apron strings tied in a large bow in the back and three vertical yellow buttons on the chest. "I was about to go out there and you come back in."

"I thought we were going out today." Kane's hopes fell like a rock until she got her reply.

"We're leaving in an hour." She said with a laugh and smile. "Don't worry we won't forget." An hour later Kane was looking out at the buildings and people pass by through the car window. She could hardly contain the excitement that danced inside of her as her eyes soaked up every moment.

"Look at all the people! I've never seen so many at once!" She smiled wide as she saw someone walking a dog. "Ohh, A puppy!" She was still grinning and all around as they stopped at the garage.

"Kane-Chan really seems excited…" Ryuto spoke as his older female doppelganger adjusted his scarf again. "She's so happy just being here…"

"This is her first time in the city. You probably don't remember how excited you were since you were still a baby your first time in the big city."

"Um, Matsu-Sama, Ryouko-Chan?" Kane stopped in a moment of her excitement and turned to the two adults. "Can we visit Kuji-Chan on the way back? Since she lives nearby?"

"Mm, Kane-Chan we could try but she probably won't be back from work before we leave."

"That's OK. I just wanted to drop something off." She patted on her coat pocket. Ryuto tilted his head as he contemplated what it could be. He didn't bother asking since it always leads to a light scolding when he tried to pry in other people's personal business.

The first stop was the clothing store. She was allowed to get seven days' worth of clothes and one winter pair of shoes until spring rolled around. She ran excitedly into the girl's section and even ran around in the men's section so she could see all the interesting clothes and people walking about. She took so long people watching Ryouko had pick out some clothes for her as the other two tried to keep an eye on her every time she ran off again.

"She's worse than me huh, Papa?" Ryuto said with a giggle as he crawled from under a circular rack of skull printed Ts.

"I dunno, about that..." He picked up the boy as the thought slinked over him as they were finished spying and clothes shopping.

"Wow, I can't wait to try this one on!" She said as she looked in one of the bags.

"I just hope it's in your size…" Ryouko frowned. She was having flashbacks of when she had to chase her son around the store and she didn't have Matsu to help her back then. He was working a more demanding job back then.

The next stop was much simpler. They were getting things to decorate her room and she was much more cooperative since most shoppers were someplace else. She picked out her sheets, pillow cases, and blankets. Oddly enough she wanted the comforter, curtains, and pillows to be light purple even though her favorite color was pink and maroon. She thanked them multiple times throughout he trip like she did the first night and soon they were done. The final thing purchased there being a stuffed rabbit that would be the second edition of her extensive stuffed animal collection. The first being a stuffed T-rex Ryuto had given her for Christmas. It was originally his but it's the thought that counts and it was pink for some reason so that all worked out.

"Thank you so much! She's so soft!" She felt the soft brown synthetic fur as they loaded the car up with softness and color filled bags. "She's almost as soft as Matsu-Sama and Ryuto-Kun's hair."

"I'm glad you like her but I can't help but wonder if we're forgetting something." A low growl emitted just as they stopped to contemplate followed by another smaller one.

"Um, Sorry?" Matsu held his stomach as it made its emptiness known.

"I'm hungry too…" The second smaller male frowned as his harmonized with the other one.

"Mm hm. I guess after we put this in the car lunch it is. What do you feel like K-Kane? Where'd she go?"

A thin silky ribbon flew through the air as if taunting the girl trying to retrieve it with her free hand. Her pink hair was completely undone and fluttered in the wind as she ran after the piece of cloth. The cold chill touched softly upon her red cheeks. It was difficult to believe this child was purely synthetic as her breath came out in puffs of quickly dissipating fog. She came to a full stop when a fancy-suited man snatched the material out of the air and looked at her with a grin.

"Thank-." She went to reach for it but the man pulled it out of her grasp and tried to snatch her arm. She pulled back and turned to run only to slip on some stubborn ice. She held in her breath as a cry of pain climbed up her throat. She cursed the scientists that thought it was a good idea to give her pain receptors.

"C'mon precious, I'll take care of you."

"No, I'm fine, please go away." She tried to get up but her foot wasn't cooperating. The man grabbed her arm as she tried to struggle. "Please stop you're starting to hurt me!" She was begging to wish she built more like Android 18 and less like Sana Kurata.

"Don't be so rude, I only want to-."

"How 'bout you buzz off pal? She says she doesn't need your help." A young man came out from the shadows. He had his black fingerless gloved hands in his jean pockets and wore a jean jacket, a black T-shirt, tan work boots, a red bandana on his head, and red rimmed sunglasses that completely concealed his eyes.

"Take off punk. This isn't any of your business." The man hissed.

"Oh yeah?" The mystery teen raised a pink brow as he sized the man up. His teeth were more like fangs as his mouth hung open for a brief moment. "Bet ya feel like a real man picking on a nine year old, and ya call me a punk?" He moved closer to them and took his hands out of his pockets.

"You urchin!" He let his grip on her go. "Get out of here you brat, back to the rock you crawled from!" He spat.

"Hm, funny, I was gonna say the same about you, only without all the melodrama." He frowned deeply as he raised a tightly clenched fist at the man. "Make tracks, or I'll make it so you can't anymore pal." The man didn't say anything as looked at the boy and bolted out of the building, dropping the thin cloth on his way.

"Thank you." Kane held her ankle as she watched the teen pick up the ribbon and kneel to her level.

"Don't worry 'bout that. Can you walk?"

"My ankle…" She shook her head. She lifted her hands from it. "It hurts."

"Probably just a sprain. Are your parents nearby?" He took the ribbon and with her permission wrapped it around the wounded area as tightly as possible. His glasses slid down his nose as he leaned over. She noticed his pure red irises were similar to Matsu's. "Sorry, but you gotta compress it." He explained as she winced.

"Thanks again mister."

"You don't have ta call me that. I'm no mister and I don't deserve your thanks neither." He pulled his glasses back up once he noticed he was looking at his eyes. "Anybody with working brain would of done the same thing, I'm not special." He rose back to his feet and looked around. Kane watched him in awe for a few moments but her attention was dragged away by shouting.

"Kane? Kane! Where are you?" The family quadruple looked about franticly for their missing fourth member.

"I'm over here!" She waved for them. They bolted to her once Matsu pointed her out.

"Are you alright honey?" Ryouko and Matsu kneeled once they reached her.

"I am thanks to-." She turned and her smile vanished as the mystery teen had vanished, back into the shadows. "Um, he was here. He even tied up my hurt ankle…I, wish I knew who he was."