Author's Note: Let's get to know Chang Miya, shall we? I have sat on a few ideas for quite some time now. I thought I was going to be distracted with working on the Halloween special while writing this halo. Turns out, I was fine. I had one more bit with Miya talking about Asahara, but I decided to leave it off because I figured it would be revealing too much too soon. I already have next week planned out. This season will be getting good this month. For now, enjoy this week's halo.
Halo Nine: Miya:
-Miya-
Imagine if you will, you are ten years old. Your father has been looking forward to the Lantern Festival for months. He won't stop talking about it. So much so that your mother playfully threatened to cut him with her knife if she has to hear about it one more time. Your father has wanted for months to show off this festival to you and your mother. It's part of his culture he says. He is Chinese and your mother is Japanese.
So, here you are. He dressed you up like a little doll in a red kimono. Your mother is also dressed up in a kimono. Your father is dressed up in his traditional Chinese wear. You have never seen him this excited before.
"You're really going to love this!" he says.
"Yes, yes, dear," your mother says. The day starts off well enough. You all enjoy the festival activities. You rarely get candy apples. When you do, they feel like heaven dancing on your tongue. Your father bought you the biggest on that day.
"You'll ruin her dinner," your mother says.
"It's fine!" he says. "Loosen up a little bit. She rarely gets these." Your mother throws up her hands.
"Fine," she says. You pretty tune them out as you chow down on that candy apple. By sundown, the highlight of your father's evening is coming. He looks like a child about to open his Christmas presents.
"Come on! I don't want to miss the fireworks!" he says. You and your mother try your best to keep up with him.
"Slow down!" your mother complains. "My kimono feels heavy!" Your father doesn't listen. He's too lost in his excitement. You finally make it up to the hill that he picked up earlier in the day. He sets down the blanket for the three of you to sit and watch. Your father sits you down on his lap.
"You're going to love this," he promises. You can barely keep yourself still in his lap after he says that. Your mother sits besides the both of you. It doesn't take long for more people to take their seats for the fireworks. When it gets dark enough, you see the first burst of bright colors in the sky. Your eyes light up brighter than the fireworks themselves.
"Wow!" you gasp aloud. You are starting to understand why your father wanted to come out here.
But then, you happen to turn and look beside you. You see your mother cowering away. She recoiling in fear. Your father notices the panicked look on her face.
"What's wrong, darling?" he asks. Your mother doesn't answer. She jumps to her feet and starts running away.
"Darling!" your father yells. You and he get up and run after her. You end up chasing her down to the parking lot. Your mother grabs the sides of her head as she trembles. Your father slowly approaches her.
"Darling, what's the matter?" he asks.
"It's overflowing!" your mother cries. "The ground! The ground is going to swallow us up! It's opening up! It's going to swallow us up!" You look around. There is nothing. Nothing but the empty parking lot. The fireworks boom in the background. Your father has a worried look on his face. It's just as he feared. It's the curse. Your grandmother and great aunt were the same way too. Now, it's come for your mother.
Your father ends up putting your mother away in a home to take care of her. He can't handle taking care of a sick wife and a little girl by himself. So he decides to send you to China to live with his relatives.
I never made it there. Instead, I ended up in hell.
I sat in my room in the dark. Tiny feet walked on my shoulder. I reached up and patted Kobe on the head. He's the only one I can stand in this group. I can tell what he is thinking just by looking into his little grey eyes.
"Why do you stay here?" he asked. Honestly, I don't really know. I don't really have anywhere else to go.
There came a knock on my door.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"It's time to go!" Murata said. By now, I am not surprised. He won't give up on this quest of his. The best I can do is to keep his sorry ass safe. Not that I really wanted to. But what else could I do?
"Coming," I said. I turned and walked out of the room.
"I'm bored!" Yuuko wailed.
"Yes, I know," Daichi said, looking over the flowers. She sat on the sofa and frowned.
"I want something to do!" she wailed.
"I know, I know," he said. Yuuko pouted.
"I want to kill her now!" she wailed. Osamu rolled his eyes. Daichi lowered his clippers.
"Look," he said. "I know how you feel. That's why I went to the boss to fix it." Yuuko raised her eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Daichi turned his head.
"Oh, just checking in on the blood knights," he said. Yuuko's eyes widened.
"Are you serious?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. Yuuko slowly covered her mouth.
"Oh my god," she said. "When?"
"Why don't you check your phone?" he asked.
"My phone?" she asked. Yuuko pulled out her phone and looked at the screen. She saw the first notification and her eyes lit up. Daichi smiled to himself at the squealing behind him. Anything for his princess.
The landlord had to unlock the apartment for the police. The victim's coworkers called them when she didn't pick up. This wasn't like her. She would've called if she was sick. Even then, she would still go to work.
The first thing the police noticed was how cold the apartment felt. This could be nothing. Still, the police had to have a look around. It didn't take long for them to find the body in the kitchen. Her face was all but gone, bashed in with what looked like a heavy object. She looked like she had been strangled too. From the look of her in her nightgown, she must have gotten out of bed for whatever reason. The forensics team took pictures of the body.
"Nobody heard a thing," one of the detectives said. His partner had a confused look on his face.
"How is that even possible?" he asked. The first detective looked around.
"Well, the walls are apparently thick here," he said. He walked over and gave one of the walls a tap.
"See?" he asked. "Plus, the majority of the neighbors here are elderly people. The two younger men who live on this floor work nights." His partner narrowed his eyes.
"And there's no security footage either?" he asked. The first detective had an odd look on his face.
"That's the thing…" he began to say. The men started talking when they heard a small shuffle.
"What was that?" the first detective asked. He and his partner took a listen. The sound was coming down the hall. The men slowly crept down to the source. They came to a closet. The partner put his ear to the door. He drew back with big eyes.
"There's someone in here," he whispered. The first detective had his hand to his gun. His partner nodded before he knocked on the door.
"This is IPD!" he shouted. "We're going to open the door!" The partner drew open his gun and grabbed onto the knob. He counted to three in his head. He opened the closet door. Both men's jaws dropped. A four-year-old little girl sat on the floor with her knees to her chest. She trembled as she stared up at the detectives. The men lowered their guns. The partner held out his hand.
"It's okay, honey," he said. "We're the police. Are you hurt anywhere?" The little girl shook her head.
"Okay, good," the partner said in relief. The first detective pulled out his phone.
"We're going to need an ambulance," he said. "We found the victim's daughter." His partner held out his hand to the child. As he helped her out of the closet, he couldn't help but get the feeling of déjà vu.
"Hey Yamada," he said.
"Yeah?" his partner asked. The other detective turned his head.
"Isn't this the third case where the parents were killed and the children were left alive?" he asked. Yamada lowered his phone.
"You can't be serious," he said.
"It seems that way…" his partner said with his voice trailing off. This looked at the scared little girl in front of them. Her eyes looked so empty. She must have had a long night.
-Miya-
After I got out of Chou Mori, I didn't have much going for me. I did manage to track down my mother. She was still in the home that my father put her in. It had been so long. Had she gotten better? Would she even recognize me? I had to try.
The receptionist looked uneasy when I said who I was visiting. He didn't want to come out and tell me what was going on.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
"Well…" he said.
"What?" I asked. The receptionist forced himself to smile.
"It's nothing," he lied. "I will let the nurses know that you are here." I didn't like the sound of that as he picked up the phone. I should've left.
A nurse led me down the hall. The bright lights and white walls gave me flashbacks. I grabbed my arm as I started to tremble.
"Are you feeling okay, miss?" the nurse asked over her shoulder. I lifted my chin.
"Yes," I said aloud. That nurse didn't seem to believe me. I tried to just keep my eyes on her back the whole time. The elevator ride felt so uncomfortable. I didn't make eye contact with her.
We made it up to Room 529. The nurse knocked on the door. She turned and looked at me.
"You have to keep in mind that we might not know what time of mood she is in," she said. "Just be prepared for what's behind that door."
"Yes ma'am," I said. The nurse turned and opened the door. The room was dark.
"Chang-san," the nurse whispered as she walked inside. "You have a visitor today." She looked around in the dark. I stayed close behind. Maybe I should turn on the lights. I felt around for a light switch.
"Don't!" the nurse yelled. The tip of my finger touched the light switch. The slightest movement made it go up. The lights flickered on. When I looked across the room, my heart sank. My mother sat on her a bed, a shadow of her former self. She used to have long silky black hair. Her hair looked like it hadn't been combed in months. Her eyes looked so empty. They hadn't changed her out of her gown yet. I could feel my heart breaking my chest.
"Mother?" I asked, stepping forward. "It's me, Miya." Her gaze shifted over to me. My heart caught in my throat. She glared at me.
"Devil!" she screamed, pointing at me. "You're the devil! You're the devil!"
"Mother, it's me! It's Miya! Your daughter!" I pleaded with her. She started kicking about and slamming her fists against her bed.
"You're the devil! You're the devil! You're the devil!" my mother screamed. She picked up an empty glass and hurled it at me.
"Mother!" I said. "Mother, I—" The nurse patted me on the shoulder and shook her head.
"But…" I said.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered. The gravity of the situation sank in as the nurse walked me out of the room. I left my mother screaming at me and calling me the devil.
"I'm so sorry," the nurse said to me in the hallway. "It seems to have gotten worse over the years."
"Isn't she on her medication?" I asked.
"She won't take it," she said.
"Why?" I asked. The nurse just shook her head. This was what I feared the worst. I had been gone for so long. My mother had gotten so bad that she doesn't even recognize her own daughter. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. This was how it was going to be, wasn't it? I didn't even know where my father was. Did he abandon his wife and go back to his homeland? Would he recognize me if he saw me? Does he even know that I was still alive?
I left the care home disheartened. That's been the last time I saw my mother.
Yuuko could hear a faint neighing in the distance. A twisted little smile came onto her face. Daichi happened to look over his shoulder and notice the expression on her face.
"You seem to be in a better mood," he said.
"Uh-huh," she said. Yuuko leaped to her feet from the couch.
"I've always wanted to know something," Daichi said. The angelic girl tilted her head.
"Hm?" she asked. Her handler sat down his clippers.
"How exactly do you find your horse?" he asked. "Do you go out and meet up with it or does it find you?" Yuuko giggled.
"He will come and find me," she said.
"Does he just know?" Daichi asked.
"Of course, silly," Yuuko said. She giggled again.
"I see," he said. The girl looked at her phone.
"Ah! It's time for me to go!" she said.
"Saitama again?" Daichi asked.
"Uh-huh! I have another drama unfold with another member of the Toramaru. It's going to be hot!" she said. Her handler nodded.
"Have fun," he said. Yuuko bowed and disappeared.
"Heh," Daichi said.
"You sure that it's okay to let her go off like that?" Osamu asked. The younger man shrugged.
"It should be fine," he said. "The blood knights are starting to do their part. Plus, she's distracted for the time being." Daichi clipped off another flower.
"Speaking of which, when is yours coming?" he asked. Osamu shrugged.
"He'll come when he's ready," he said.
"Why am I not surprised?" Daichi asked. The men went back to work with his flowers.
Three different cases. All of which where the parents were killed, but the children were spared. The first case had the mother stabbed twenty-eight times in her bed. The dad was strangled and stabbed thirty times. Their son was hidden in his closet and told to wait there until the police arrived.
The second case had a father stabbed and strangled in his bedroom. His wife had died years earlier. The two little girls were hidden in the hall closet. They too were told to stay and be quiet until the police arrived.
Then there was the mom and her daughter.
All three cases didn't have anything in common with each other. None of the parents ever treated their children poorly. They didn't have any enemies. They seemed to be chosen at random. No one tried to harm the children either. The police were stumped, but they were starting to see a potential pattern. The question was could they stop it before the killer got to the next victim.
-Miya-
So how did I end up with Asahara? It happened a year ago. I was in Okinawa at the time. I managed to track friends of my father. Maybe they could help me somehow. The couple was really nice to me. They helped me get a job and let me stay with them for a while. I asked them if they had any way to contact my father. They hadn't heard from my father in three years.
"Oh," I said. I was finally stable and had some sense of normal in my life. Still, I felt so alone. For some reason, I had the feeling of the people staring at me. I tried not to pay attention to it. Now, I wasn't desperate or lonely. Still, I just needed a connection. It didn't help that my tadpole powers had started to develop. (That led me to try and isolate myself from people.) My father's friends were nice, but I just couldn't connect with them. The wife saw the problem herself.
"You need friends your age, dear," she said. I didn't have an argument about her concerns. I did feel a bit lonely. Up until that point, I had been keeping to myself. The wife took out a small sheet of paper and wrote something down on it.
"Here," she said. I took it and read it with a confused look on my face.
"A social center?" I asked.
"It couldn't hurt, dear," she said. "Just do a little volunteer work and you might find your own tribe."
"My tribe?" I asked. It couldn't hurt, right?
I made it out to the social center on a Saturday morning. I hadn't expected much out of my trip. I was going to help with a children's program. I think I was to help out with the puppet show. I remember I was the one who came to Murata. I was on my way to the social center when I saw him coming out of one of the store fronts. On the surface, he looked cheesy. He wore those Elvis-like suits that he wears today with his hair slicked back with too much gel. Still, I couldn't take my eyes off of him. Something about him drew me to him. That's how he gets you. You think that he is cheesy and lame, but you end up being drawn in. That's how I ended up walking over to him.
When he first saw me, he didn't seem interested. I could see it on his face. Still, I had to talk to him.
"Hello," I said when I approached him. Murata looked me up and down.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"I need some help," I said. Why did I say that? I didn't really need this man's help. It just came out of my mouth. Murata raised his eyebrow at me.
"What is it?" he asked. He didn't show interested in what I had to say. I could tell what he was thinking. He was probably thinking of some generic advice to give me and send me on my way. I didn't tell him about my time at Chou Mori or my tadpole powers.
"It's my mother," I said.
"Need to sit down?" Murata asked. I nodded like one of those women he's trying to recruit from what I would later see. He walked me over to a bench in the street and we sat down.
"Now, tell me about your mother," he said. He looked me in the eye as he spoke. That's how he gets you. I lifted my chin and started talking. I couldn't stop. My woos about my mother came spilling out. Murata sat listening the whole time. Never said a word. I felt spent when I was finished. He rested his hand on mine. My mind went blank for a second.
"Your mother sounds like she has her own problems," Murata said. "There isn't much you can do for her. You are better off letting her go." That's just like what that nurse said. I should've known.
"I get it. You love your mother," he added. "But sometimes, you have to let them go for the better. You would be doing her a favor if you didn't try to contact her." Even though he wasn't trying, the way he said actually made sense. Part of me started to agree with him. That's just how he works. He was about to send me on my way when the situation took a turn.
"Murata, you bastard!" someone yelled. Murata and I looked up to see a guy in his twenties running towards with a knife. Yes, the rumors about him being a womanizer are true. Looking back, I think this was about jolted man angry that Murata probably stole his girlfriend or seduced a female family member. Murata looked like he was ready to run away and duck somewhere in fear. I don't know what it was, but I ran forward, held out my hands, and separate out my arms. A light pink force field formed just as the young man got close enough. His blade broke against the surface. I watched the knife break into tiny pieces. He fell to the ground, grabbing his arm. He swore through clenched teeth. Murata walked over to his would-be attacker with big eyes. I sank to my knees, panting. He looked at the man on the ground and then looked at me.
"What was your name again?" Murata finally asked.
"Miya," I said once I got my breath back. "Chang Miya." He held out his hand.
"I'm Murata Kichizo," Murata said. "It's nice to meet you, Miya-san. Have you eaten yet?"
"No…" I said, taking his hand. He helped me to my feet and grinned.
"Come with me," that old bastard said. "We have so much to talk about." He pulled me along before I had a chance to piece together what was happening.
Pretty soon, I became his personal bodyguard. It just happened, really. I just saved the guy's life that day and suddenly I became an asset to him and his church. I do give Murata one thing. He may have been a playboy, but he never once tried to hit on me.
Osamu's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the screen.
"Heh," he said. Daichi looked up from his work.
"So he's decided to show up after all?" he asked. "When?"
"Soon," his partner said. Osamu shoved his phone back into his phone and went back to work. The younger man went back to work as well.