Dawn of Rebirth
Profiles:
Name: Miaka
Nickname: Mia
Age: 7
Birthplace: Unknown
Family: She was abandoned, then adopted by a family in Eiyou,
Konan. Her adoptive family was suddenly wiped from the face of
this earth.
Current Home: Cherry Blossom Orphanage
Hobbies: Visiting her friends
Short History: She was abandoned at age 4, like Naka, and Soi.
She was at the Cherry Blossom for a little while before being
adopted, now she is back at the orphanage again.
~¤~
Chapter Three: Longing A Place to Belong
"What do you mean?!?" Tama asked in surprise.
"Really, I knows everyone there but they didn't know me..." Mia sniffled.
"And your family... They're all just... Gone?" Doukun asked.
"Yep, the house was all empty and darky. It looked like no one ever lived there," Mia sobbed.
"Well... Let's talk in the morning," Juan sighed, crawling back to Tama-neko.
Hotohori moved away from Tama and Genro to join the still-crying Mia. He drew her into his arms.
"Mia, if you don't sleep you'll be tired tomorrow," Hotohori whispered, as not to wake the others up.
"I feel really lonely... I want my niichan," Mia pouted.
"Well, then we'll be lonely together, okay?" Hotohori's efforts to be quiet were in vain. There was first the rustle of cloth moving, then the sound of something metal tipping over, then the clatter of many hollow object scattering about the room.
"CHIRI!" Hikou and Tomo shouted. Tama-neko purred happily as he snatched one of the fallen clam shells.
"Itai, no da...."
The rest of the children shared a nervious laugh.
~¤~
Dawn broke in the valley where the Cherry Blossom Orphanage rested. Golden light silhouetted the small structure. There was a main house, where they ate. Then it branched off into two miserable little rooms. The kitchens and employee residential area was behind the main house. The building was a brown-stained white and the roof was thatched with straw. Walls surrounded the orphanage, the only way in or out was the main gate directly across the playground, facing the door of the main house.
In the main house were three wooden tables placed together into one big table. Sixteen stools were placed around the table, two to each side.
The kitchens and the employee residential area was nothing special, but it was in much better shape than the orphan's room.
To the left was where the girls slept. It was an empty room save a few tattered lengths of cloth they called blankets. To the right was the boy's room, it was much like the girls room except it was far more spacious. The roof was in better shape as were the walls. It still got cold there, but not as bad as the girl's room. Not too much better though. Both rooms could be accessed without going into the main house.
The playground consisted of a swing set, a sandbox, and a flower box. The swings were almost new. Hotohori had it bought for them. The sandbox was four slabs of wood placed in the shape of a square. The sand wasn't quite in the box... The flower box was halfway up a wall, Kouran loved picking flowers from it, but never could quite reach the flowers. To the side there was a rather large oak which Kou would climb on to the top of the wall and play his flute.
The orphanage was more of a prison than anything. Their daily lives were almost routine. Breakfast, exiled to the playground until dinner, bed. Next day, the cycle begins all over again.
(Please allow me to re-subtitle this to:
JAILBREAK!!!!
Just kidding, Longing is a much more poetic title, but do keep Jailbreak in mind)
Tomo's tear-stained cheeks glistened in the sun's rays. He shot a sulky look Chiri.
"Tomo-kun, gomen nasai, na no da! Onegai, forgive me, no da?" Chiri begged. Chiri had broken his entire collection of clam shells over the course of two days save one. Of course, Chiri had that clam shell. It was Tomo's favorite shell. He had named it too. It was called shin.
"I've had shin since I got here. I think my okaasan must have given it to me and you broke it!" Tomo started crying again.
"Tomo-kun, onegai, don't cry, no da!" Chiri begged, giving his friend a short hug, "I didn't break shin," Chiri told him.
"Nani? Where is it?" Tomo asked.
"I'll get it right now, no da. Just don't cry, Tomo-kun, no da. Onegai, no da?" Chiri smiled. Tomo nodded, wiping the tears from his face. He sniffled a few times, then stopped. Chiri grinned and walked off. Several moments later a loud crash sounded.
"Itai, no da..." Chiri moaned, "Nani?!? Everyone, come here, no da!" Chiri's tone was a blend surprised and excitement.
"What's the big deal?" Nuri asked as he and the rest of the children caught up with Chiri. They were surprised to find a large hole in the wall, but no Chiri. The wall seemed to lead to a dense forest, quite dark and frightening for younger children. Suddenly, a face appeared in the hole, super-deformed.
"DAAAA!" Chiri shouted. All of the children shreiked in terror, "Hey, I'm not that scary, no da," Chiri scowled. Then he smiled and said brightly, "I made a hole in the wall, no da!"
"We noticed,"
"As if that wasn't obvious,"
(Sarcastically) "Really?"
(Sarcastically)"I didn't notice,"
"Tell us something we don't know,"
"Come on, no da! Let's explore, no da!" Chiri beckoned. As the children clambered through the small opening, Naka whistled for Ashitare. Ashitare bound out of the house with Tama-neko on his back. Tomo was the last to climb out. When he did, Chiri stopped his and pressed a small object in his hand.
"Shin!" Tomo cried happily, he gave Chiri a big hug before following the others down the small path that had been only a few feet from the opening. Chichiri followed as soon as he picked up his kasa and placed it securely on his head.
"Hey! I think I see a clearing ahead!" Tama's voice called.
"What the heck, Ashitare?!?" Genro hollered as the dog knocked him over, "Naka! Get your stupid dog the freak off me!" Naka didn't hear him.
"Hey, Tama! Guess what? I think you're in loooove with Mia!" Naka teased. Tama blushed.
"Nani?!?! Where did you get that stupid idea? I knew you were stupid, but I didn't think you were that stupid!" Tama clenched his left fist. Naka ignored his statements.
"Weeell, I saw Hotohori hugging her! Are ya jealous?" Naka leaned over and nudged his gently with his elbow.
The following scene has been removed due to extreme violence in a child's story Yes, we are just kidding
Tama tackled Naka and Naka tackled back.
"Tama-san! Naka-san! Can we please get going?" Kourin asked politely. Grumbling, both boys released one another and got up, "Arigatou,"
"Whoa..." Juan's voice called.
"It would do you all well to see this," Doukun's head popped into vew briefly and motioned for them to come into the clearing.i
~¤~
"Whoa...." All of the children stared in awe. It looked like something right out of a storybook to them. It was a small house. It had a real roof, tiles and all. A carpet of flowers lead to the small house and dragonflies danced all around them.
"Let's go check out the inside!" Naka declared.
"Hai!" Everyone followed their self-proclaimed leader.
As it turned out, no one had lived there for what seemed to be years. The inside was dark and damp, the air was so heavy that they had trouble breathing. The inside turned out to be quite spacious. It had a main floor and an attic. There was a fireplace and many windows.
"Ya know what? I wish I could stay here forever," Genro mused.
"Well, why not?" Mia asked.
"Nani?" Tomo asked.
"Yeah, let's stay here! We're just orphans, no one will miss us," Tama agreed.
"Yeah!" The others cheered. They had finally found a place to belong.