A Family Forgotten
Alright, it's the last chapter of the Kimiko arc. If the lack of Reviews are anything to go by, you're all bored and want to move on.
Rejoice, for we're moving on after this one.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or PJO
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Saturday came once again, marking the one-week anniversary of Kimiko's rescue off the street. Aiemi woke her up, bringing with her a glass of juice and a couple of pills, the antibiotics for the infection. She also brought the rash cream. The swelling of the skin was down, and the redness had all but vanished.
Kimiko's urine was also a much better color than what it had been, going from a disturbingly dark color, the signs of her bladder infection, to the normal yellowish. It sent the child over the moon to know that she was close to stopping having to put the icky cream on her, and take the nasty pills, and have someone watch her go to the bathroom and help bathe her.
She was nine, dang it!
She was a big girl and could take care of herself!
Aiemi was also glad, because where she did enjoy mothering Kimiko, and reexperiencing what it was like to take care of a small child, having to nurture them, look after them, and coddle them, Kimiko was also a growing child, and children, above all else, valued their independence. It was hard to be independent when you had someone making sure you ingested antibiotics and was hovering over you whenever you went to the bathroom to make sure you didn't start scratching.
It was a bittersweet feeling in Aiemi, knowing that Kimiko was close to leaving her intensive care, but was also close to leaving her intensive care. Of course, Kimiko was still going to be there, but she wouldn't be as close around as she had been.
At least, that was Aiemi's experience from raising three children already.
Anyway, it was Saturday, and come Monday, Kimiko would be going to school, much to the child's anxiety as she had never been in a school before and would be separated from all of her family, and as such, she needed uniforms, as the academy had a dress code that that would be followed, even by wealthy students. Hence, another trip to the Yasaka-owned mall.
All of Uzu's old uniforms had been outgrown and donated to clothing services.
The academy's uniform for girls was stereotypical of all academies, consisting of a pleated skirt, a button-down, a little bow, all under a blazer. Permissible footwear was limited to Mary Janes. However, for Kimiko's age group, nine and ten year olds, the uniform was a white button-down under a sleeveless dress. The bow wasn't required, but calf-high socks, colored white, were, as well as the Mary Janes.
Kimiko absolutely hated it, having grown up in the country on a rice farm, where her clothes consisted of tough material, usually denim overalls and a flannel shirt, and some boots, all perfect for getting dirty and nasty. This prissy schoolgirl monstrosity was restrictive, dainty, and couldn't handle a field of soft grass without getting ruined, and it smelled funny.
However, one hard look from Lord Yasaka reminded Kimiko of her place as his daughter, and her job, both as his daughter and as repayment for his generosity, was to do everything she could to uphold his public image, and so she sucked it up, and started trying on uniforms. It was all more for Aiemi's sake, allowing her another chance at watching her child play dress up, since Kimiko's clothing size was known.
As a reward for her good behavior, Daizo allowed his youngest child to pick out two things: where the family ate lunch together, and what new toy she wanted. Kimiko chose to eat at a bento restaurant. For a reason no one could explain, when she saw that shrimp and fish were being served in certain boxes, she started crying.
Aiemi took her to the restroom and let her have her cry, and after she had calmed down enough to speak, Aiemi had asked, "What happened, sweetheart?"
Sniffling, Kimiko answered, "T-They k-killed th-the poor fishies and shrimpies! I d-don't l-like it when f-fishies and sh-shrimpies are killed!"
Aiemi didn't know how to respond to that, finding it strange that Kimiko would care so much about fish and shrimp, and also finding it strange that where she cared so much about fish and shrimp, she didn't seem to care at all about the cows and pigs and birds that were also killed to make the bento boxes. Aiemi almost laughed aloud at the notion.
Her daughter, an animal rights activist that only cared for sea life.
A sea life activist, as it were.
Aiemi had to pull Kimiko to her chest so that the little girl didn't see the smile that tugged at the Lady's lips. "There, there," Aiemi soothed. "There are millions and millions more fishies and shrimpies in the oceans. The ones at the bento place are really happy to be served up like they are."
"R-Really?"
'Oh, my God she's buying that?' Aiemi thought to herself. Even to her, it sounded like complete garbage, but her. Whatever worked in calming Kimiko down, right?
"Yeah. Those fish and those shrimp live to be cut up and eaten. It's their mission in life. It's how they get to go to the Pure World, the good place. If they didn't get to be cut up and eaten, they'd have to go to the Impure World, the bad place. You don't want them to go to the bad place, do you?"
Ah, nothing like bringing in religion to help get a child to understand morality and quell her qualms about killing her food.
"No…" Kimiko answered in a quiet voice.
"Then let's go eat us some fish and shrimp and make sure they get to go to the Pure World, ne?"
Kimiko shook her head. "I'm not eating any fishies or shrimpies."
"How about some steak or pork?"
"Steak!"
"That's my girl!" Aiemi beamed. "Let's go get us some steak, then."
The two returned to the food court, Kimiko being carried on her adoptive mother's hip. Upon arrival, they saw that food had been ordered and brought out for them, their family waiting for their return so that they could eat as a family. Aiemi set Kimiko down at her designated spot at the table, between her brothers and across from her sister, and set down next to her daughter. Daizo sat at the corner of the table, closest to the walk way.
Lunch was eaten with fervor, and not a word was said about Kimiko's sudden breakdown, until lunch was over, the trash disposed of, the table cleaned, and everyone was headed for the toy store, as Kimiko's second pick of the day, after lunch venue, was a new toy.
Lord Daizo pulled back, his wife falling in step.
"She's just a strange angel," Aiemi said lowly. "She saw that fish and shrimp were on the menu, and that's what made her cry. Not the steak, or the pork, or the various birds, but the seafood. She didn't care for the land and air animals, just the water ones. Like I said, a strange angel."
"Strange indeed," Daizo muttered.
Uzu silently concurred, having overheard the conversation due to her trained hearing. Part of being heiress was being taught how to maximize her senses, even without chakra. Uzu took two big steps and scooped Kimiko up in her arms, blowing a raspberry on the child's neck, making her squeal in surprise and joy.
"U-Uzu, stop it! What are you doing?"
"I'm just loving on the cutest baby sister in the whole wide world."
"I'm not a baby!"
Uzu's eyes gleamed. As it just so happened, a baby supply store was right next to them, and the teen stopped. "Are you sure? I think some of those clothes in there would fit you."
"No~," Kimiko whined.
Uzu brandished the girl at the twins. "What do you think, brothers? Is Kimiko a baby?"
Kaneda and Tetsuo put their heads together, crossing an arm over their chests to stroke the other's chin. "Hmmm~…yes!" they chirped in tandem.
Kimiko cast a look at her parents. Plz hlp me.
Aiemi decided to take pity on the youngest…in a way. "Now, now you three. All of you know how fussy Kimiko gets when you treat her like this. Now give her to me so I can burp her. She just had a big meal, and I want that gas coming out of her mouth and not into her pants."
Kimiko let out a pitiful whine as Uzu handed her over to Aiemi with a snicker. When Kimiko was put on Aiemi's shoulder, the woman whispered, "Don't worry. It's their turn now."
Kimiko grinned devilishly.
Lord Daizo sighed at the antics of his family. He would allow this to go on for maybe a minute or two longer, but then he would end it. They were a noble family in public; while fun was allowed, they still had an image to uphold, and a level of dignity to maintain.
"Now, Uzu," Aiemi said, getting her daughter's attention. "I noticed you're almost out of your night diapers for your bedwetting."
The color drained from the teen's face. "W-What?"
A few people had stopped to eavesdrop, curious of this sudden happening in the middle of the mall.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice how the package is almost empty? You may be seventeen, but I am still your mother and it is my job to know when you need more diapers. I don't want your mattress ruined again like the last one a month ago. After we buy Kimiko what toy she wants, we'll be heading for the pharmacy, and when we get home, we'll take out your diaper pail. It's getting full."
Uzu was white as a sheet, yet her cheeks were rosy. There were people around snickering at what they overheard, and Uzu's own little brothers were getting a laugh at her expense. However, Aiemi was quick to cut her boys down to size.
"And you two!" Kaneda and Tetsuo stopped their laughing. "I found your dirty underwear in the hamper, the seats looking like you both had a field day with a couple of brown markers. It's one thing to have a messy accident, it's another to have a messy accident and then try to hide it from me. Clearly, there was a mishap somewhere in your potty training days, so we'll be buying some pull-ups and a new potty chart for the both of you, along with Aiemi's night diapers."
This time, there was laughter all around, the three oldest Yasaka children all very red. Aiemi smirked at their public humiliation. No one messed with her babies, not even her own children could mess with her children, even if they were adopted.
The crowd filtered out quickly, as they all had their own dates and deadlines and adventures to go about.
Aiemi closed one eye, grinning like a cat, her other eye sparkling. "And let that be a lesson in teasing your sister when she clearly doesn't find it as funny as all of you. If I find out it happens again, I may just go through with what I said. Come along, now, children. To the toy store!"
Kimiko pumped a fist. "Yeah!"
The Yasaka children looked to their father for support as their rug had been swept from under their feet, by their own mother no less. Lord Daizo just clasped his hands behind his back and whistled a merry tune as he followed his wife and youngest. When he past his biological children, he said, "You heard your mother."
With no other viable course of action, Uzu, Kaneda and Tetsuo followed, all of them effectively cowed.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The toy store was full of toys.
All kinds of toys.
The place was so toy-oriented that they called themselves "Toys R Us."
Their mascot was an elephant named Charlie.
It was a weird name and no one cared. It sent the kids over the moon to get a letter in the mail from Charlie the Elephant wishing them a happy birthday, along with a complimentary hundred-ryō gift card.
Anyway, Kimiko's eyes turned into stars when she first entered Toys R Us, and she vanished from Aiemi's arms, leaving a smoke-shape of herself. Kaneda and Tetsuo bounded after her, big grins on their twelve-year-old faces as they raced after their sister. Daizo was messaging the bridge of his nose, lamenting how his children were supposed to be dignified and noble, not hooligans.
Uzu had eyes swimming with nostalgia as she looked around, memories of her own self darting from place to place, looking at everything she could. Her mother touched her arm, breaking her of her reverie.
"Go after your siblings and make they remain civilized."
"Yes, ma'am."
Uzu found her brothers and sister in the boys' section, with Kaneda and Tetsuo bombarding Kimiko with their favorite actions figures, and all the toy weapons said actions figures used, grabbing swords, laser pistols, laser swords, laser swords that turned into pistols, the list went on. Kimiko's eyes were wide as this extreme wealth of information was poured on her, her arms laden with merchandise that she didn't want, no that the boys noticed.
They were just ecstatic to have the chance to envelope their little sister into their hero-worship.
"Alright you two," Uzu cut in when she saw her brother going for a box set that was going to take the both of them to lift properly, "that's enough of that. Kimiko, come on. I'll show you where the girl toys are at."
A passing train of thought entered Uzu's head. And in a few years, I'll show you where the really fun girl toys are at.
The boys both made 'blegh!' sounds at the thought of the girls' section of merchandise. Uzu told Kimiko to drop everything in her arms, and made Kaneda and Tetsuo put everything back on the shelves. With the boys occupied, Uzu took Kimiko to the aisles of pink and glamour.
The shelves were covered with boxes filled with plastic dolls, little play sets, dress-up sets with fairy and/or princess paraphernalia, play vanity sets, female action figures, and toys. Mostly wands and what-not, though there were even toy swords and guns. Kimiko was deeply unimpressed with the toys for the girls, and almost threw up when Uzu showed her all the play dresses and costumes.
Of course she was, though. She was a country girl who grew up on a rice farm, playing in the dirt, digging for bugs, and playing rough with the boys. All this girly-girl stuff was her polar opposite.
Still, it was Lord Daizo's word that Kimiko would get to pick out whatever toy she wanted from this store, and Lord Daizo was nothing if not a man of his word. So, an hour passed as they browsed the aisles, looking at more toys, looking at the Lego sets, at the puzzles, even at the video games. It got to the point where the joy was almost gone from the whole experience, and then Kimiko saw something that caused her eyes to light up once again.
A bin off to the side, a bin filled with stuffed animals. Sitting atop the small pile of stuffies…was a dolphin.
Once again, Kimiko proved just how much of a strange angel she was, because where she wanted nothing to do with any of the girly stuff elsewhere in the store, and she started crying over the discovery of seafood being served in bento boxes, she absolutely fell in love with a dolphin plushie.
The plushie was adorable, its underbelly white, its dorsal side light blue, almost the same shade as Kimiko's eyes, and the plushie's eyes, pieces of plastic sewn in, were a sparkling, happy black. The way the stitching was done about the facial area, one could make a case that the dolphin was smiling.
Kimiko decided that the dolphin was a he, and she named him Flounder.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lord Daizo paid for the dolphin, and the family departed the mall with all of Kimiko's new school uniforms, and Flounder.
In the carriage, the day's festivities took their toll on the children, and Kimiko decided a nap was in order. Lord Daizo and Lady Aiemi sat side by side on their bench, their chests swollen with pride and joy at what they were seeing. Uzu sat in the middle, her brothers on either side of her. Kimiko was sprawled across their laps, using Flounder as her pillow. Kaneda and Tetsuo's arms were securing their little sister, holding her across the back of her legs and across her shoulders, and Uzu was holding her brothers.
All four of them were sound asleep.
Aiemi had a few small tears of motherly love going down her face, and Daizo's own eyes were misty.
He couldn't have ever asked for a better family.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Yasakas arrived home in the late afternoon, and Kimiko's nap was enough to recharge her. She woke up wide-eyed and bushy tailed, her brothers just the same. Uzu was more lucid, her eyes cracking open, and then she wanted to go back to sleep for the rest of the night, but her parents wouldn't let her on account of if she did, she wouldn't go to sleep until early, early in the morning, and that would be bad for Sunday's festivities, which made Uzu groan as she remembered just what was happening tomorrow.
The kids were intentionally left in the dark, but their attention spans ran short and they disappeared somewhere in the network of secret passages that lined the estate. Uzu, needed to wake up and having nothing better to do, followed. Aiemi went to engage in her knitting hobby, and Lord Daizo…
Lord Daizo entered his secret room.
In the secret passages, Kimiko came to a sudden abrupt halt. Her brothers kept speeding down the way, heedless of their sister's sudden stop behind them. The girl's eyes turned emerald for a moment, the shadows cast by a nearby lamp crossing over her face. Oh, Shin'en felt that disturbance in the water vapor, and he could feel Daizo alone in a space that wasn't there before.
Airtight, like Arashi's room in the hideout.
"Kimiko," Uzu said from behind.
Emerald turned back to sparkling ocean blue. "Yeah?" she asked, turning around.
Uzu looked…strange. "You're strangling Flounder."
"Oh! I was remembering things, and…" Kimiko brought her plushie to her chest. "Sorry, Flounder."
Uzu tilted her head slightly. "Remembering what?"
Kimiko hesitated. "…that…that night."
"Oh." And just like that, Uzu's suspicion evaporated. She hugged Kimiko, who started to sniffle, and then soon enough she was crying her eyes out as the painful memories of watching her mother and father's murder before her eyes played through her mind.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kimiko cried herself to sleep, even though she had woken up from her nap not even two hours ago. Uzu carried her through the passages to her room, and she dropped the sleeping girl—and her plushie—on her bed, tucking her in for the evening.
When Uzu left, Kimiko's eyes opened, emerald green and piercing.
Now it was just a waiting game.
And he waited. Shin'en waited and waited and waited, keeping tabs on everyone in the house. For hours, he tracked everyone. The clock ticked by, one hour, then two, then three, and then the clock struck ten-thirty. The twins were asleep, the skeleton crew that operated the estate at night were doing their sparse duties, Uzu was reading a book, winding herself down for the night, Aiemi was asleep, and Daizo, after so many hours in that secret room, finally left.
Shin'en wasn't sure what Daddy—er, what Daizo had been up to in there, besides smoking, a bathroom break, and extensive reading of papers. If the ninja's guess was correct, that room was where all the good stuff was at. But more waiting had to be done.
Over an hour later, one slow, agonizing hour, Daizo's body finally shut down next to his wife as entered sleep, and that's when Shin'en moved.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kimiko woke up in the middle of the night, parched, throat dry. She did have a bathroom connected to her room, just like ever bedroom in this house did, bud she didn't want a glass of water. No, her little nine-year-old self determined that a glass of juice was the best choice of beverage, and unfortunately, her room had no glasses of juice.
The kitchen fridge did, though.
Kimiko slid out of her bed, still clad in her day clothes as Uzu hadn't changed her out of them when she put her down after her cry. Kimiko grabbed her dolphin plushie, Flounder, exited her room, and toddled quietly to the kitchen. It would've made more sense to take a secret passage, but those places were scary by yourself.
Not that the dark halls with the statues and samurai armor mannequins were any friendlier.
But that's why Kimiko brought Flounder, because Flounder was awesome, and he would keep her safe.
Indeed, Flounder the Dolphin did his job well, and Kimiko made it to the kitchen safe and sound. She hopped up onto a counter, opened a pantry door and grabbed a glass, and then she hopped down, barely making any noise through the whole process. Glass in one hand, Flounder tucked under the same arm, Kimiko pried open the refrigerator door, and light spilled across the kitchen area. Inside was the jug of the desired juice, and Kimiko grabbed it, set it and the glass down on the counter, and poured her drink.
She downed three full glasses before she decided she wasn't thirsty anymore, and she put the glass in the sink, grabbed the juice jug, and made for the still-open fridge door. As Kimiko was putting the juice back on the shelf where she got it, she saw something at the back of the fridge that caught her eye.
It was the thermostat.
She didn't know that, having never seen a thermostat in a fridge before, as the fridge in her old house had not been anywhere near as elaborate or complex as this technological monstrosity was. Because Kimiko didn't know what the thingy at the back of the fridge was, or what it did, but she was curious, and like all curious children that didn't know better, she went about trying to figure out what the thingy did by touching it.
What she didn't know was that Shin'en had been monitoring Daizo, and so he knew that there was something in the back of the fridge that contained a code, and that thing happened to be the thermostat. Kimiko's button pressing was the subconscious instructions implanted by Shin'en.
After Kimiko hit a certain string of the buttons, there was a very quiet beep, and she jumped back in surprise, dropping the juice. It hit the ground and busted open. The fridge door swung shut, making not a sound, and then the fridge itself was lifted from the ground along with the floor it was on, and the wall it was attached to. A staircase was revealed.
Swallowing, Kimiko obeyed her curiosity and descended. The fridge, floor, and wall came down without a sound, but lights lit up along the stairway's path. Swallowing again, clutching Flounder tight, Kimiko followed the stairs, only dropping maybe ten feet, before it evened out into flat floor that took a sharp turn to the left into a tight passage.
Kimiko followed it, followed it to where it took another left, went down a little bit, then took a right, and then one more left, and then one more right, before finally opening up into a room that was plain. Filing cabinets were along one wall, a white board was along another, the white board covered in marker, making out into some kind of list that Kimiko couldn't decipher, and along the third wall were book shelves, only a few books on each, and the fourth wall had a blank canvas on it. In the middle of the room was a big desk, one that was simple, and on it were papers, a projector that was aimed at the canvas, and knives.
Kimiko swallowed again, driven by curiosity.
She went to the table and looked at the topmost paper. With her dyslexia, it was difficult, but through a calm mind, perseverance, patience, and logical thinking, she deciphered the title of the page:
Antique Weapon Delivery Report
Kimiko was going to try and read further, but a voice tore her from everything. At the voice, she was startled, but she was more than just startled. Her ocean blue eyes flipped to emerald green, Shin'en's self-preservation taking over everything. In the blink of an eye, he grabbed a dagger from the table and rushed, plunging the blade into the chest of the one that had surprised him.
It was instinct.
It was reaction.
It was nothing more than a firing of synapses.
It was the chest of Lord Daizo Yasaka.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kimiko blinked, not sure what had just happened, but what she saw had her with her jaw open and tears brimming: her hand on a knife that was plunged into her daddy's chest. Blood was spilling from the wound, coating her hand.
She tried to speak, but a lump had formed in her throat, blocking her voice. She tried to overcome the lump, but it persisted.
Daizo coughed, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth. His eyes were swimming with so many emotions. Surprise, sadness, hurt, betrayal….It was the last one that finally gave Kimiko the push to speak.
"Da…Daddy…I…I…I-I…" but she still couldn't form words.
With a shaking arm, Daizo reached up and gently put a finger to her mouth. He was not fool. He had seen the way her eyes had changed color, and he felt the change in her. What she had done had not been by her hand, but someone else's. A split personality, a demon, or maybe even a very elaborate jutsu used for whatever purpose. But what he saw before him was his distraught daughter, his innocent, sweet, angel of a daughter that was absolutely devastated by what was happening.
Daizo was devastated too. He was awoken by a quiet alarm that alerted him to entry to this secret room, where he managed the legal acquisition and selling of antique weapons. After traversing the passage, her arrives to the confusing sight of his adoptive daughter struggling to overcome her dyslexia and read one of his papers.
Then he said her name, and it was easy to tell that he startled her…but then her eyes changed color, the air changed, and she moved with inhuman speed.
Daizo's eyes crinkled as his lips curled into a sad, bloody smile. He tried to speak, tried to say that he loved her, but all that came from his mouth was blood. He could see Kimiko was also trying to say something, but she was literally choking from the muscles in her throat tightening too much to allow air passage.
Daizo's hand moved from Kimiko's mouth to gently cup her cheek, and he gently brought her forward to kiss her forehead. He pushed her away far enough that she could see his eyes, so that she could see the pride in them, the happiness that came from their recent times together, and the lack of regret for bringing her into his home, even though this was the ultimate fate.
Kimiko was starting to lose control of herself, and unknown to both of them, a storm had gathered, the heavens ready to weep and rage.
As the edges of his vision began to brighten, the fabled light coming for him, Daizo summoned his will, and was able to say clearly three words. The three most common words you ever hear, but never fully feel the weight of until moments like these.
With one last look at his beloved daughter, Daizo Yasaka passed from this world a confused, heartbroken, sad, angry, and proud man.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kimiko's mouth formed a perfect "O," her eyes wide and face tear-stained. It…it just wasn't possible. She had just been adopted, just brought in by these very kind people, and then…and then-!
She saw the light fade from her daddy's eyes.
She saw him become still.
She felt his hand slip from her face.
Kimiko was about to scream. She was going to scream so loud the birds would take flight. She was going to scream and wake this house, and bring everyone to where she was so they could help her bring Daddy back to life.
But, with his death, a subprogram was activated. A subconscious little tick that kickstarted upon certain conditions. In this case, the condition was the killing of a member of the Yasaka family.
Kimiko's blue eyes dimmed, becoming dull and lifeless. Her body regained homeostasis, her eyes ceasing in their crying, her muscles becoming slack in her throat, allowing her to breathe easily again.
In a literal trance, Kimiko pulled the knife from Daizo's chest, still clutching onto her dolphin plushie with a death grip, and she started walking. She walked through the secret passage back to the kitchen. Her bare feet plopped through the spilled juice without a care. One of the night maids saw her and attempted to stop her with a gentle grip and a soft voice, but Kimiko's slashed the woman's throat with blinding speed, the cut so deep the maid was almost beheaded.
Kimiko walked dazedly through the halls until the found her brothers' room, and she opened it, the doors moving with nary a sound. She crept across their floor, quieter than a mouse, and got to their bed. She raised the knife and brought it down through Tetsuo's neck. He didn't stir or jerk, or even open his eyes. The blade was wide enough that it went right through his brainstem, his carotid artery, and generally almost severed his head.
Kimiko pulled the knife out and did the same to Kaneda.
The twins slept in a bed together.
There was enough of Kimiko's mind that was still active through the murderous trance that allowed her eyes to leak just a few tears in recognition of the fact that she had just killed both of her big brothers.
Still entranced, Kimiko left the twins' room, and continued through the halls. She happened across three other maids, and she killed them all without a blink of an eye. An uncountable amount of time passed, but she found herself before the master's chambers, and she opened the grand doors.
Inside, Aiemi stirred and awoke. She rose in bed. "Kimiko? What are you doing up this late?"
The woman's senses were dulled from sleep, and as such, she failed to realize her adopted daughter was holding a bloody knife, one that she raised and threw. Aiemi didn't scream when the blade was buried in her skull, as the aim was so precise that death was instant. Kimiko retrieved her knife and left for the room of the last remaining of her loved ones.
Uzu was asleep when Kimiko entered, and after Kimiko left, Uzu would never wake again.
Entranced still, the girl traversed the estate, listening to the rain batter the roof and the walls and the windows. The occasional flash of lightning provided brief instances of illumination in the dark halls. The thunder rattled the glass and the wood, and the wind whistled lowly. Kimiko noticed this all just barely, as if she were merely dreaming it all.
She walked down the central staircase of the estate, and went right out the front door into the weather.
There world suddenly turned bright, and Kimiko froze. The bright faded, and she opened her mouth to scream as the hypnosis vanished, and the full force of what she had just done came bearing down on her.
The world brightened again, suddenly, and all of Kimiko vanished. In the tiny moment of luminance, she changed, her body transforming into that of him. The dark returned, and he began to head for the forest at a neutral pace.
The third time the world flashed white, the Yasaka house erupted in flames, and the black-clad form of Shin'en was silhouetted against the inferno, his white mask grinning its evil grin.
But his face held no smile.
Inside his head, he could hear Kimiko's laments.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the end of Xenophobic in Backup Plan, one of the scenes is Asteria being forced to break up with Annabeth on a stormy night. As Annabeth ran away in tears, the song "Too Late for Love" by Def Leppard plays in the background…technically speaking. I wrote in the lyrics. Anyway, the original idea for that scene actually comes from this scene which I had planned in my head a long, long time ago. I was originally going to save the song for this scene, but Xenophobic came first, and the song fit the atmosphere.
You can play it in your head and reread it if you feel like.
On an unrelated note, one that will completely derail from the effect of this chapter, on July 24, 2018—for those reading in the future—I was informed that my maternal grandmother contracted pancreatic cancer four months ago, unbeknownst to all of us, and it moved to her liver. The diagnosis was terminal. All it is now is a waiting game until she passes.
I feel it necessary to inform you of this because the next chapter of a fanfiction will not be the biggest thing on my mind for a while, so do not expect any updates anytime soon. That being said, I may just write furiously to take my mind off things.
Anyway, Fav, Follow, and if you do Review, Review the chapter. I don't want my inbox blown up with Reviews of "I'll pray for you," "I'm so sorry," "Take you time on the next chapter," etc.
This is the advance thank you for all your concerns and condolences.