A/N: Part one of the Ta to Ka Arc! As a note, the chapter name for this chapter and following two will be names of the first segment of the chapter.
Warnings: Back stories—actually more of one BIG back story…
Other (possibly irrelevant): Just as a reminder, since this was only pointed out in one arc of the DC series (and since I've mentioned it about the same number of times in my own story), Masuyama Kenzou is Pisco…
And you'll recgonize a scene in this due to it being one of the Extras I uploaded some time ago.
Today's quote is: "Why can't I make funny mistakes like Tiffany?!"—Mari-chan
Double-M and KID vs. Conan: Beginnings
-17 Years Ago (May)-
At first glance, the mansion looked very ordinary. Walking in, one may marvel at the elaborate paintings or the ornate furniture, the beautifully polished spiral staircase. On one side of the entranceway were photographs of a crew of men—and women—crowding around brand new automobiles, smiles on all their faces, proud of their finished project. However, if one were to look carefully, they may stumble across one of many hidden switches which opens a secret passage way. Masuyama Kenzou, the owner of said mansion, walked down one of the aforementioned passage ways. Reaching the bottom of the steps, there came into view a hidden laboratory, a computer in the center of the room. A figure was sitting in a rolling chair in front of the computer, a soft, constant, tapping originating from the keyboard. Her brown hair never passed her shoulders and her brown eyes were focused on the screen in front of her. "Hiromi-chan, why are you down here?"
"Well, someone needs to be working on the Project. The higher-ups are frustrated with the little progress we've made on the Project," Takashi Hiromi answered, typing away on the computer.
"Where's Kouichi-kun?" Kenzou asked next, walking up to her and standing directly behind the chair.
"Buying some much needed supplies," Hiromi replied, laying a hand on her enlarged stomach, smiling as she felt the being inside kick.
"Ah, yes. You are due sometime soon, aren't you?"
"Yes. A few weeks in fact."
"Then all the more reason you shouldn't be working. You could go into labor any day now." Kenzou picked up a folder sitting next to the computer and skimmed through it. "What about asking Akvavit and Cachaca?"
"That wouldn't do," Hiromi shook her head. "Elena-chan's pretty far along as well. Maybe in another month or so."
Kenzou also shook his head. "I'm still surprised at Anokata's continued ignorance of this whole situation. What if someone… were to reveal your true state. The child would never be safe."
"By 'someone'… you mean Vermouth, right?"
Kenzou sighed, "You just can't always trust her. She could suddenly decide to tell Anokata about the child. She wouldn't be safe."
"No worries there, Kenzou-san," Hiromi reassured. "Vermouth has stayed quiet about my pregnancy."
"Speaking of Vermouth and her quiet tendencies… It seems she's gone and killed another Organization member," Kenzou murmured. "Someone from Waykamatayan again."
Hiromi sighed. "That'll be her what? Third one?" Shaking her head, Hiromi turned back to the computer and continued working.
-10 Months Later-
Laughter filled the stark room. The room was close to empty. About ten people were in the brightly lit room, most of them working on the computers that were lining the white walls. In the middle of the room was a large blanket, several small toys spread out across it. A group of five adults were standing around it—rather, two were sitting, one was sitting on the blanket, one was standing, and one was leaning against a nearby table. Vermouth, otherwise known as Sharon Vineyard, was leaning against the table, swirling the red contents of a test tube as her eyes focused on those on the blanket: a young girl of about nine years of age and two babies, one finding great interest in a red rattle, the other attempting to stand upright. "Hiromi-chan," she drawled. "You'd better keep an eye on that child of yours. She's gonna be a handful… she's already trying to give Akemi-chan a hard time." Just as she said this, Akemi was thrown backwards, the happy, brown-haired bundle falling on top of her.
"Mou… Kasuma," Hiromi sighed, lifting the laughing baby off of the young girl. She tapped little Kasuma's nose lightly, "Don't give Akemi-nee a hard time now… she's also gotta watch her baby imouto, ne?" In response, Kasuma giggled and swatted at Hiromi's hand.
"What's there to watch, anata?" Takashi Kouichi asked with a brief laugh. "Shiho's too interested in her toy to do anything else."
"M-merlot…" one of the other scientists in the room walked up to the woman, extending a thin manila folder to her. "The results of the experiments have been completed." Hiromi stood and accepted the file, handing Kasuma to Vermouth, who was the closest to her. Hiromi pulled out the documents and spread them out on the table Kouichi and the other two were by. Vermouth relinquished the test tube in her hand to the woman sitting closest to her. The woman tucked her blonde hair behind one ear as she set the test tube back in an unused rack.
"So? What are the results?"
"As we expected… nothing," Kouichi sighed. "And I was so sure your theory would have gotten something, Elena-chan. Looks like it's back to the drawing board."
"Hiho! Hiho~!" Kasuma squealed, waving her arm in the direction of the carpet. Shiho looked up from her rattle then squealed as well, slapping the rattle against the floor, her wavy blonde hair falling in front of her eyes.
"You might as well let Kasuma-chan down, Sharon," Miyano Atsushi said as he looked down at his daughters. "Akemi can watch her for a bit, right?"
"Yeah! I got it, Tou-san," Akemi responded with a nod. Sharon shrugged and set Kasuma on her own two feet. The 10 month old child attempted to take a step on her own only to pitch forward into the awaiting grasp of Akemi.
"Anyway," Miyano Elena began, picking up the test tube with the red substance. "This sure is a troublesome liquid. It doesn't respond to anything we've tried."
"And if we can't figure out what it is, then we won't be able to duplicate it," Kouichi said, rubbing his temples as he let out a deep sigh.
Atsushi stood and walked past the three children playing on the blanket to a phone attached to the wall above one of the computers. "I suppose we should bring in more agents," he said as he lifted the phone off its receiver and inputted a number. "Akvavit here…"
"Don't tell me you're going to continue experiments with Akemi-chan, Shiho-chan, and Kasuma-chan in here? That hardly isn't a good idea," Sharon drawled as she examined a lock of her platinum blonde hair.
"We weren't planning to," Elena replied, pulling out several beakers and microscope slides.
"We were hoping you'd take them," Hiromi said then, turning and leaning against the table in order to face Sharon. "You're not obligated to stick around. In fact… you're not obligated to do anything… at the moment, at least."
"And by 'take them,' we don't literally mean take them," Atsushi butted in jokingly. "Hopefully Vermouth doesn't get any ideas. We'd like our children back."
Sharon smirked. "Now why would I want to kidnap your kids? They're troublesome on their own… to kidnap all three would be hell." Sharon then walked to the three kids in question, picking up Shiho and resting her on a hip. "Now then, Akemi-chan, do you think you can help me with Kasuma-chan? Maybe give her more practice on her own two feet while we're at it?" Akemi nodded happily and pulled Kasuma up, the girl eagerly clutching onto Akemi's arm.
"We'd better get them back, Vermouth," Kouichi said, imitating Atsushi's earlier joking tone. Sharon carelessly waved her right hand as she exited the laboratory, the door swinging shut moments later.
-2 Years Later-
Almost no work was getting done in the lab due to an almost 3 year old Kasuma running around, giggling and curiously prodding random objects in the lab. "Merlot… why haven't you gotten Kasuma-chan a babysitter?" one of the workers by the codename of Kilju asked her superior. Kilju snatched the child up and carried the giggling girl to her mother.
"Sorry," Hiromi said, taking Kasuma from her. "Anokata forbids it unless I were to choose an Organization member to watch her. Besides anyone in this lab, the only people I would choose would be Vermouth or Pisco but with their roles in the Organization…"
"You don't her being brought along on hits?" another scientist, Marsala, finished. "Well then, Anokata didn't give you many choices, now did he? You don't have many trustworthy acquaintances in the Organization besides those two."
"And of course we're not going to leave her in the hands of Gin or Vodka… or even Tequila or Calvados. That's just stupid," Kouichi said. He glanced over at Atsushi and Elena. "And your house is too far away for us to take her there. Not to mention Akemi would have a hard time with the two of them."
Elena smiled. "With that bundle of energy known as your daughter, she would be too much for Akemi to deal with. I don't even like leaving Akemi to watch Shiho on her own… she too young to be taking on that kind of responsibility but…"
"You're worried about Anokata coming across her," Hiromi finished. "Understandable." She removed several clean test tubes from a nearby cabinet using her right hand, Kasuma being held steady with her left.
"Down! Do~wn!" Kasuma protested, motioning hastily at the floor. With a sigh, Hiromi set the toddler down and she began running around the lab again.
"Anokata doesn't know of Shiho and Kasuma's existence so far but if someone were to report the workings in this lab besides Vermouth or Pisco, Anokata could find out and want to recruit them." Hiromi searched another cabinet for several chemicals, pulling out the ones she desired as she came across them. "At least this way, only one of them will be noticed… and if Kasuma's behavior as of now is any indication… Anokata would have an extremely hard time with her… with her being so stubborn." The scientist searched the room for said stubborn child, who was currently attempting to climb into a revolving chair that was sitting in front of a computer. "Oi! Icariine, stop her! Please!"
"Ryokai," the male scientist replied, jogging over to the toddler and grabbing her around the waist before she could do any damage.
-1 Year Later-
A small toddler jumped down from the low platform of the play-structure, grabbing some bark chips as she lost her footing briefly. Instead of whimpering like she saw another kid doing, she giggled to herself and stood up, shaking the loose wood chips off her hands. She rotated and caught sight of her parents, the two of them waving the girl over. She complied and rapidly headed towards them. Suddenly, her foot caught a random rock lying about and she pitched foreword. Before she hit the ground, however, one arm wrapped around her waist and she was hoisted back up on her feet. "Whoopies. Daijoubu?" a woman with short blonde hair and light blue eyes asked the girl.
"Un. Heiki da yo. Arigato gozaimasu, oba-san."
"Ah ra? Kono youna teineina ko!" the woman was cut off by a little blonde boy who was clutching the woman's pant leg. She bent down to the boy and nudged him saying, in English, "Why don't you introduce yourself?" the girl's parents appeared just then, talking to the woman in English as well.
The girl smiled brightly, "Konnichiwa! Anata no namae wa?"
The boy stared back blankly, clearly confused. "Nihongo o rikai suru ka?" The girl continued.
It was then that the blonde woman turned back and responded, "She asked 'What is your name?'"
"Saguru Hakuba." The boy said promptly after hearing the translation. "What's yours?"
The girl's mother translated for her. Smiling again she answered, "Takashi Kasuma!"
"What a pretty name… Kasuma." Hakuba's mother responded. She nudged her son again, "Go on. Don't be shy. Why don't you two play over there?" the woman pointed to the play structure.
Kasuma, understanding—at least to some extent— nodded and dragged the unsuspecting toddler of male gender to the play area.
Sometime later, if you looked around, you would see two toddlers, one bearing shoulder-length brown hair and the other bearing short blonde hair. The two of them were having the time of their lives… well as much as they could, considering the two of them couldn't understand each other. Well, scratch that, for it seemed the two of them understood each other perfectly… without the use of language. Not that language wasn't used; both Kasuma and Hakuba seemed to have learned something from the other. "Kaa-chan, Tou-chan, juu eigo o kaunto suru houhou o mananda!" One happy Kasuma exclaimed, "Soshite, Hakuba-kun juu nihongo de kaunto suru houhou o mananda!"
"Well, well, let's see what you two have, ne Helen-chan?" Helen and Hiromi crouched down and looked expectantly at their respective children. Kasuma took the initiative and started, "Won… tsu… tsuri… poru… paebu… sikusu… seben… eto… naen… ten!"
The two mothers giggled and smiled knowingly before Hakuba shyly began. "Itchy… knee… sun… she… go… rocku… shechi… hatchi… cue… ju."
There was a short applause as Helen and Hiromi giggled again. "Yoi shigoto o tsugi no futari tomo. Hijou ni yoi shigoto gengo o shiyou toshite, saisho no jikan o." Hiromi praised as Helen said, "A job well done, Kasuma, Saguru. We're proud of you two," simultaneously.
Kasuma grinned brightly then proceeded to drag Hakuba back over to the play structure with an excited, "Ikuzo, Hakuba-kun!"
-1 Year Later-
"I hope this means you're letting us in and not getting lazy," the man called out into the seemingly empty house as he and his companion toed off their shoes.
"I doubt that's the case," the man's companion replied, flicking some stray platinum blonde hair away from her face. "They know better than to leave the door unlocked."
"Tou-chan, Kaa-chan, I'm going over to Hakuba-kun's!" a little girl yelled as she rounded the corner. She stopped when she noticed the two new visitors. "Masuyama-san… Ms. Vineyard… What are you doing here?"
Masuyama Kenzou knelt down in front of the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder, "We're here to talk with Montrose and Merlot."
"Oh," the girl looked downcast, "And here I thought you were visiting for personal reasons."
"We are, darling," Sharon Vineyard answered, "Pisco shouldn't have used those names."
"I could say the same thing to you, Vermouth," a new voice remarked. Takashi Hiromi appeared from the kitchen doorway, rubbing her hands dry with a towel. "If this is about the Project, you could have spoken with Akvavit and Cachaca. They're second highest in the Project's hierarchy."
"This isn't about the Project," Kenzou said, straightening.
"Now you've got me curious," another voice remarked. Takashi Kouichi entered just then, peering at the two visitors. "What's this about?"
"Anokata has expressed worries about your recent involvement with the Hakuba family," Vermouth began. "Were you aware of Hakuba-san's position in the police as Chief of Police?"
"When we first met, no," Hiromi answered. "Hakuba-san's wife had helped Kasuma and after that, Kasuma and their son just bonded. We couldn't pull them apart. It was only revealed to us later about his position."
"Well, Anokata highly suggests that you cut all ties with the Hakubas," Sharon replied. "You know how he is… paranoid."
"You can't!" Kasuma exclaimed. Sharon looked shocked before her Poker Face replaced it again.
"And why is that, Kasuma-chan?" Kenzou asked, again kneeling in front of the girl.
"Tou-chan and Kaa-chan haven't even met Hakuba-ojisan! I'm the only one who's met him and even then it was very brief."
"When did you meet him?" Sharon asked, crouching down to level herself with Kasuma.
"Sometimes during lunch, Hakuba-ojisan comes home and gets a bento from Helen-obasan but he leaves for work right away."
"And you haven't told any of them about the Organization?" Sharon inquired.
"No! I'd never do that! Tou-chan and Kaa-chan always tell me to stay quiet about it… especially since they found out Hakuba-ojisan's with the police."
"And you're not lying to me?" Sharon asked.
"Sharon! You know Kasuma wouldn't lie about that!" Hiromi exclaimed.
Sharon stood up, "Good. I'm just checking. Well… Kasuma-chan, dear, you are one stubborn child so even if you're forbidden, you'll find some way to still play with your new-found friend. I won't stop you." Sharon shrugged her shoulders. "I'll see what I can do about Anokata."
Kasuma exhaled, letting out the tension in her small body. She beamed at Sharon, "Thank you Ms. Vineyard!"
"Oh? Your English's getting better, Kasuma-chan," Sharon drawled. "Oh… that reminds me. Hiromi-chan, Kouichi-kun, you'd better keep a close eye on your daughter. Anokata has expressed interest in her. He's been thinking of recruiting her into the Organization when she gets older." Hiromi and Kouichi both stiffened at Sharon's words, Hiromi unconsciously moving a hand to Kasuma's shoulder.
"You'll have until she's about ten or eleven before she'll being training," Kenzou elaborated. "That is, if Anokata still really wants her in the Organization."
"And also watch out for that young son you have," Sharon continued, moving her gaze to Hiromi's enlarged stomach. "That new child of yours may also catch Anokata's eyes… if he'll be anything like Kasuma-chan."
Hiromi took one glance at the baby growing in her stomach before turning to Kasuma. "Kasuma, dear, go on to Saguru-kun's house okay? And be careful." Hiromi, however, didn't have anything to worry about for the door opened slightly and Hakuba Saguru peeked his head in through the door.
"Come on, come on, Kasuma!" he said in his accented English.
"I coming! Taku," Kasuma replied, running out the door, following the British boy down the street. Down the street, Helen Hakuba was standing outside a foreign-made car, the driver's seat open and a duffle bag visible through the rear window.
"Hi, Kasuma!" Helen greeted brightly. "Would you like to come with us to the pool?"
"Pool? Like a swimming pool?" Helen nodded. "Yes! I've never been to one!"
"Really?!" Helen exclaimed, taken aback. "Well then, we need to remedy that. C'mon, hop in." Hakuba was already seated in his designated car seat, Kasuma climbing into the second one in the car, Helen fastening the buckles on both of them.
Twenty minutes and a quick stop at a department store later, the two children were playing around in the water of a nearby recreation center, Helen keeping a watchful eye on the two of them. Helen couldn't help laughing a little when her son was thrown backwards into the water due to Kasuma directing a water spout in his direction. Kasuma began laughing as well as Hakuba sat up and shook his head, rubbing his eyes briefly before scurrying over to exact revenge.
"It would seem that the Child wishes to learn how to swim," Vermouth said after she had closed the door, shutting out the only light source in the dark office. Accustomed to the dark settings of the room, Vermouth saw the black chair behind the desk rotate, the figure sitting in it almost indistinguishable. However, she had no need to see the figure to know who it was, so used to his methods as she was, Anokata was easily recognizable.
"Hmmm, yes… that would be very useful for the Child to use." Anokata murmured. There was the sound of shifting around and Vermouth could make out Anokata as he leaned forward, resting elbows on the desktop. "Inform Montrose and Merlot of my wishes. And make sure the Child isn't exposed to the dangerous families of her neighborhood... especially the Kudo household."
'That may prove to be difficult,' Vermouth thought. 'Their houses are very close.' Nevertheless, Vermouth nodded, "I'll see to it personally."
-2 Months Later (July)-
Silence floated out from one of the hospital rooms. Inside were all the things one would expect in a hospital room: a few couches, a small station for the building's employees, chairs scattered around the room, bedside tables, and the hospital bed itself. Takashi Hiromi was lying in aforementioned bed, another smaller form in a separate but nearby crib. Her husband, Kouichi, was seated in the bedside chair, attempting to read a book that had been grabbed off one of the shelves of the Takashi residence library at the last minute. Sharon Vineyard was seated in the couch across from the bed, her hand gently rubbing a sleeping Kasuma's back.
"What about 'Atsushi?'"
Hiromi shook her head. "That's my brother's name… besides, I don't see him as an 'Atsushi.'"
"I take it you don't want an English name?" Sharon asked as clarification. Hiromi shook her head again. "How about 'Daichi?'"
"I don't know about that. Oh, Sharon," Hiromi began as a new thought popped into her mind. "You didn't tell Anokata about him, did you?"
"Of course not," Sharon said. "I don't go back on my word. Oh, what about Yuya?"
"I don't think so." This time, it was Kouichi who answered. Just then, Kasuma rotated then sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"Oops… I was supposed to keep her asleep," Sharon murmured.
"Kasuma… do you have any ideas about names for your otouto?" Kouichi asked the five year old.
Kasuma blinked several times, then rubbed her eyes some more. "…Takeo…? It means 'strong like bamboo!'"
"And he'll have to be strong to make it through what the Organization puts him through," Sharon said more to herself than anything else.
"Takeo it is."
-1 Year Later-
"You'll get dizzy!" Hakuba yelled at his friend who was spinning around in circles as the two of them headed for Beika Park.
"Will not!" Kasuma yelled back. "I like spinning!"
"Ah…!" Hakuba sped his pace to a run. "Stop! Stop moving! Someone's behind you!"
Not catching everything he said, Kasuma screeched to a stop, curiously raising an eyebrow. "C'mon, Shinichi! Let's go to the park! Otherwise, those riddles your Tou-san made would be for nothing!"
Kasuma looked back in the direction of the speaker, only catching the backs of two brown haired children running into the park—rather, the female was practically dragging the male behind her. 'That's one of the kids I can't play with…' she thought, eyes focusing on the male with the (mostly) tame, brown hair.
"How are you not dizzy?!" Hakuba asked, coming to a stop in front of her.
"I'm used to it," Kasuma answered with a shrug. "When Tou-chan and Kaa-chan bring me to their work, I don't have anything to do so this is one of the ways I keep myself busy."
"Lucky," Hakuba murmured. "At least you get to go to their work. My father won't ever take me with him."
"But he's a police officer right? Wouldn't that be why he doesn't take you?"
"But police officers are cool," Hakuba replied. "They help other people and stop the bad guys!"
"It's dangerous to be with police!" Kasuma retorted.
"No, no, no!" the blonde six year old exclaimed, glaring at his brown-haired companion. "It's police, not purishi!"
"…Po-ri-su?"
"Closer, but not quite."
"Sorry Hakuba, but English is so confusing. It took me years to finally understand it, let alone speak it." Kasuma exclaimed in her native language.
"And I could say the same thing about Japanese," Hakuba said slowly, pronouncing the sentence as best as he could. "That's why we're practicing, Kasuma," he continued in English.
"Can you say that again? Something sounded wrong in that sentence," Kasuma asked, flicking her brown tresses away from her face.
Hakuba looked confused, then repeated, "And I could say the same thing about Japanese."
"You're intonation is strange."
"No it's not," Hakuba retorted, crossing his arms and turning.
"Oh chill out, Hakuba. It's con-struc-tive."
"Why do you call me that anyway? My name's Saguru. Not Hakuba."
"So…?" Kasuma smiled, "Saguru sounds weird." Kasuma ran from the grassy field they were in to the neighboring patch of cement. Picking up two large pieces of bark chips, she handed one to Hakuba and sat herself down on the pavement. "Now, you write all the Japanese characters three times each in Hiragana and I'll do the same for the English alphabet." She immediately began her self-assigned task. Hakuba imitated his companion and, using the bark chip as a pencil, began running through his six years of experience in order to find and write down the Japanese characters in hiragana or—as he and Kasuma preferred to say 'gana.' Likewise, their nickname for katakana had been appropriately shortened to 'kana.'
"I hate writing gana… there're so many of them," Hakuba whined.
"Oh just shut up." Kasuma admonished quietly, "Or I'll have to steal your lunch."
Hakuba stopped in mid stroke to glare at Kasuma who, was staring intently at the ground, and was busying herself with slowly writing a third 'G' in the cement. "I thought you didn't like peanut butter?"
"Oh, was that brown stuff peanut butter? I thought it was Nutella." Kasuma shrugged and moved on to 'H.'
"Nutella's darker… and you're weird," Hakuba stated.
"Thank you but… you've got no proof," Kasuma said, quickly finishing the last 'H' and swiftly moving onto the next letter.
"Here we go again. You and Agatha Christie," Hakuba rolled his eyes.
"Like you should be talking Mr. I'm-A-Holmes-Freak," Kasuma retorted, "And why aren't you finishing your job? I'm gonna beat you."
"That's not fair! English has twenty-six letters. Japanese has… forty-six! At least!" Hakuba whined once again.
"Not my fault." Kasuma shrugged, "Besides, if you work twice as fast, you should be able to beat me… maybe. You better start now, I'm already on 'O.' Oh and the stroke order on 'a' was wrong. It's like this," Kasuma held her finger up in the air drawing the character on the invisible canvas, "One... two… three. Like that."
"Urusai," Hakuba mumbled.
"Finally you pronounce something right. Too bad you chose that word… You do realize that your lunch is in my backpack. I can easily 'misplace' your lunch sack in a garbage can nearby. And if you tattle, I'll just focus my sweet little girl charms on your parents and BAM!" she snapped her fingers, the sound carrying a good distance away before she went on, "It's instant 'Saguru! You apologize to Kasuma this instant!'" The last few sentences flowed by in a scarily accurate Mrs. Hakuba tone.
"Are you kidding me?!" Hakuba exclaimed, "Where was that English when you were trying to say 'police'?"
"Well what do you know? That was some pretty good English if I must say so myself. I didn't know I had it in me."
Hakuba pouted, "You must have gotten help from your parents. I always hear Mum and Dad talking to them in English."
"So? Just because my parents help me with the language doesn't mean I understand it half the time. I still say it's confusing. There, all done." Kasuma finished off the third 'Z' and set the worn down bark chip onto the cement but not before writing out her name in very neat kanji just below the last row of letters: Takashi Kazuma, it read.
"Ne, I was always confused about that," Hakuba began. "Why do you write your name like that? I thought it was Kasuma."
"It is. Kaa-chan said there was some misunderstanding when they named me and the nurse wrote down Kazuma instead of Kasuma. It was probably the way it was pronounced..." Kasuma smirked, "And this is why you need to master your pronunciations, something like that could happen to you." Kasuma frowned at the characters of her name then crossed out the last two kanji and wrote her given name in hiragana. "Although, I like how this looks better." Kasuma pointed to the three characters she had written. "Kaa-chan said she'd try and get it changed on my birth certificate… whatever that means."
"Yeah, yeah. Pronunciations are important, I know. Now stop rubbing it in my face." Hakuba said, writing out his own name in his own sloppy kanji, then rewriting it in English.
"Hopefully your handwriting gets better too. That's extremely close to illegible."
"Stop mocking me Kasuma!" Hakuba chucked the make-shift writing utensil at the laughing girl who easily ducked out of the way.
Kasuma dug through her bag and pulled out a brown paper bag, tossing it to the six year old, who barely caught it. "What happened to accidently 'misplacing' it?" he muttered almost to himself.
"Don't make me rethink it," Kasuma warned. "Besides, you're always so picky!"
"That's because most of the food here looks so weird!" Hakuba retorted.
Kasuma grinned, pulling out her bento from her backpack. "Well, you'll have to get use to it if you're ever to survive in Japan. And haven't you heard the phrase 'Don't judge a book by its cover?' Or even the phrase 'Looks can be deceiving?'"
"Of course I've heard of them! They're English in origin! Even still… who puts eel in their food?!"
"It's better than grasshoppers," Kasuma shrugged. "I heard some countries eat those as well as other insects."
"This is why I like England's food… there's nothing weird in it," Hakuba murmured.
"Then what do you say about putting flowers in tea? That's gross too."
"You're not supposed to actually eat the flowers!"
Kasuma shrugged in response, turning over onto her stomach to eat her food. "While we're over here… you should see the Ferris wheel at the Haido Shopping Mall. It's huge! Tou-chan's working but I'm pretty sure Kaa-chan can take us."
"Haido? That's pretty far, isn't it?" Hakuba asked as he took a bite out of his sandwich.
"Far from Ekoda, yes," Kasuma replied. "But since Beika's in between them, that puts Beika closer to Haido than Ekoda.
A bit off in the distance, a series of bells chimed and Hakuba looked around for the source. "What was that?"
"Either the clock tower in Ekoda or Teitan High School and going from the sound and how far away it sounded, it was probably Teitan… Tou-chan said they had some sort of test going on while the younger grades got out of school and said to stay clear of them."
"Why?"
"I don't know," Kasuma shrugged. "Probably 'cause they're waaay older than us and might be mean."
As they ate, neither of the children noticed (or paid any attention to) two figures dressed in black and hiding behind a brick wall lining the park, watching the young friends.
-1 Year Later-
Kasuma bounded into the Takashi residence followed closely by an unrecognizable Sharon Vineyard. As soon as the door was closed, Sharon ripped off her mask and pulled off the brown wig she had been wearing. "Hiromi-chan, where are you? I've got your daughter!"
"What were you two doing today?" Hiromi asked as she exited the kitchen. Kouichi appeared from the library carrying a two year old Takeo, who was happily swatting at his father's hat, giggling all the while.
"Oh just some voice manipulation," Sharon answered nonchalantly.
"Sharon-san said I have great vocal chords!" Kasuma said then, smiling brightly.
"That she does," Sharon agreed. "Your daughter's got a gift… I can tell you that much. Being able to imitate almost anything around her is no easy feat… I know from experience. Of course," Sharon shrugged. "That makes your job harder if you still wish to shield her from Anokata's recruitment team. She'll attract much more attention with the revelation of this talent."
"She'd become the new you," Kouichi mumbled with a scowl.
"That she would," Sharon replied tersely, smirking briefly. "In any case, I should probably get going… any longer and Anokata may get antsy." With that, Sharon turned and walked out the door, closing it behind her.
"C'mon Kasuma, let's get you ready for dinner," Hiromi said, taking Kasuma's hand and leading her up the stairs to her room.
"Tou-chan and Kaa-chan's jobs are so cool! I wanna be just like Tou-chan and Kaa-chan!"
Hiromi stopped, Kouichi looking up the stairs at that exclamation. Hiromi knelt down in front of her daughter. "Kasuma, don't say that! You do not want this. You can be whatever you want… a doctor, an actor, a dancer, a teacher but please… please do not follow in our footsteps. Understand?"
"H-hai…" Kasuma mumbled, suddenly confused at her mother's change in attitude. The two continued into Kasuma's room. "K-kaa-chan?" Kasuma began quietly.
"Hmm? Nani?"
"Can I go to Hakuba's house after dinner?"
"I'm afraid not, dear," Hiromi said, pulling out a clean shirt and skirt (or would it be better to say skort). "Saguru-kun's family is moving back to London and they're in the process of packing up."
"What?! They're leaving!? Why?" Kasuma was suddenly slouched on the floor, looking as if she was about to start crying. "Who am I supposed to play with now?"
"Come now… don't cry. A strong girl is never supposed to show her weaknesses," Hiromi said as she walked over to the girl and stroked her hair. "Otherwise, people will take advantage of you. The Hakuba family is moving because Kouhei-san was asked to come back by his superiors in Scotland Yard. They need him to assist the police there. Don't worry… I'm certain you'll see each other again." Hiromi helped Kasuma into the clothes she had picked out. "Now, how about some dinner?"
Final Notes: Well, I suppose this cutoff works just fine. The next chapter will have a slightly larger jump since I'm only really covering the most important aspects of Kasuma's life…
Translation
Japanese
Un. Heiki da yo. Arigato gozaimasu, oba-san. (Yeah. I'm fine. Thank you, Miss.)
Ah ra? Kono youna teineina ko! (Eh? Such a polite child!)
Konnichiwa! Anata no namae wa? (Hello! What is your name?)
Nihongo o rikai suru ka? (Do you understand Japanese?)
Kaa-chan, Tou-chan, juu eigo o kaunto suru houhou o mananda! (Mom, Dad, I learned how to count to ten in English!)
Soshite, Hakuba-kun juu nihongo de kaunto suru houhou o mananda! (And Hakuba-kun learned how to count to ten in Japanese!)
Yoi shigoto o tsugi no futari tomo. Hijou ni yoi shigoto gengo o shiyou toshite, saisho no jikan o. (Good job you two. Very good job for your first time trying out the languages.)
Ikuzo, Hakuba-kun! (Let's go, Hakuba-kun!)