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Inori
Chapter Four - "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost"
Written by Kate "SuperKate" Butler
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"My, don't you look confused this morning," joked Hino Hito pleasantly, striding into the
kitchen with several grocery-filled sacks. The girl at the table just grunted a rather annoyed response,
and he found himself frowning in her direction. "What's wrong, Rei-chan?" he asked of his only
grandchild, setting the bags on the countertop before turning to look at her. "I've never seen you do
homework on a Saturday morning before."

Scowling, purple eyes paused, glancing up from the small, black-bond book to meet with her
grandfather's gaze. "I'm trying to study for my test Monday, but it seems as though nothing I do can
make this any easier." She pointed an accusatory finger at the tome in front of her. "This is all the
stupid Bible's fault!"

Hito laughed. In all his years, he had never seen the fifteen-year-old so absolutely annoyed
at something from her school. Her temper had gone from smoldering to a blazing inferno over the last
few meetings with her father, something that the older man had expected to happen. Seiji had plans,
plans that his child did not want to follow, and he would force them upon her until he was purple in
the face if it meant getting his way. And somehow, the priest was VERY fearful that his son-in-law
would win the battle at hand, and force the girl to fulfill his dreams...instead of her own.

Still, his smile didn't fade as he leaned across the table, peering down at the book before
her. "The Bible, hmm? Well, I can't say that I know a lot about that." He paused, squinting at her
worksheet curiously. "What are you learning about?"

"The Trinity," muttered the Shinto teen, resting her forehead in a hand as she stared down at
the blank sheet of questions before her. "How in the world can God be both the Father, Son, AND Holy
Ghost, ojii-san? It makes NO sense!"

He considered her question idly as he moved toward her countertop and began putting the
groceries away in their proper places. "Think of them as three machines that all work together to
produce the same result," he aided her after a brief moment, a bag of sweet potatoes in one hand a
container of green tea in the other. "Like you, me, and Yuuichirou, all working toward the happiness
of this shrine."

"Yo!" The shaggy-haired rocker suddenly popped into the room, broom in one hand and a bucket
in the other. "You beckoned!"

As Rei giggled at her pseudo-boyfriend's odd behavior, Hito rolled his eyes and waved the
young man away. "Sometimes, Rei-chan, I wonder why we keep him around," he kidded his granddaughter
with a small smile.

She smiled back at him. "Maybe because you're the Father, he's the Son, and I'm the Holy
Ghost," she replied with a shrug. "Though, if Yuuichirou is a divine prophet borne of the Virgin
Mary, I think mankind is doomed."

They both laughed at that.

------

Purple eyes gazed mournfully at the snapshot as she picked it up from her bedside table. Smiling
faces shone even in the dimming evening sunlight, the familiar happiness of her best friends warming
her heart as they always did. In fact, she was the only one who wasn't smiling; the picture had been
taken shortly after an archery tournament she had performed badly in. She regretted the fact that
she hadn't smiled for Mamoru's disposable camera. It very well could be the last photo she would have
with those same four girls.

She took her time with the frame, wrapping it in several sheets of tissue paper before adding
it to the cardboard crate with all her other belongings. Karaoke tapes, volumes of manga, and even a
few ancient stuffed toys stared up at her as she placed the picture on top and flipped three of the four
flaps shut. "There," she whispered, staring at the almost-closed box. Tears bit at her eyes as she
studied her affects. "I'm ready for your hopes and dreams, father. I just hope the cost isn't as dire
as it feels."

"Rei-chan, I brought you a cup of tea!" called a familiar voice happily, and the dark-haired
teen didn't need to raise her head to know her grandfather was bursting into the room, armed with a
tray and two mugs of steaming o-cha. She didn't need to turn around and look in his direction to know
that he froze in the doorway, gaping at the enormous box in the middle of the room and the barren,
lifeless bookshelves.

"You've packed, I see," he sighed after a long moment, kneeling at the table as he had so many
times before. "Ready to see him tomorrow, I take it?"

She snorted, still just staring at the box before her. For a moment, she didn't speak. No words
came to mind as an answer, no witty retort formed on her lips... Just silence, sweeping over the room,
heavy and uncomfortable.

Then, reaching blindly for her mug of tea, she sighed and shook her head. "I could prepare for
what happens tomorrow until the day of my death, ojii-san, and I still wouldn't have enough time."
Purple eyes moved to glance up at the one picture that had not been taken down, a picture of a smiling
miko, no older than nineteen or twenty, bending down to feed two silken-feathered crows. "I just
wonder... What would she say if she could see me, ojii-san?"

Hito's brown eyes moved to look at the framed photo, and a sad smile crossed the old man's
lips. "Sora was a strong soul, Rei, but I don't think that she could have fared any better than you
against an adversary such as Seiji," he replied, his words hardly forming much of an answer. "She didn't
even think of fighting, though. Not against him. She thought that, perhaps, she could change his
ways."

"She died, thanks to those thoughts," mumbled his granddaughter almost inaudibly, raising a
hand to push away a falling tear. "She tried to do the impossible, and now she's gone because of it."

"No, Rei. She died because she loved him...and you." A gasp echoed through the room as the
young woman turned to gape at her grandfather, the man who had raised her from an infant. He scratched
the back of his bald head idly, suddenly a bit intimidated by her gaze. "She didn't have any regrets,
Rei-chan, except that she wouldn't be able to see you grow into the beautiful woman she always knew
you would be."

Tears bit the high school student's eyes as her guardian pressed on. "And maybe she's not here
to protect you, but I think that her absence has made you stronger." He reached forward, resting a
hand on Rei's shoulder. "You are my granddaughter, Hino Rei," stated Hito proudly, his head raised
high as he glanced beyond her, toward his daughter's photograph. "I don't care if you're really Nuzono
Rei, or if - someday - you're sitting in a Catholic mass, marrying to a Catholic school teacher." He
smiled as she raised a hand to her lips, trying not to laugh at his words. "What I care about is the
fact you have spent your life trying to make me - and your mother, as well - proud of you."

Sniffling helplessly, the girl dove toward her grandfather, wrapping her arms tightly around
his neck. The tears fell freely down her cheeks as she buried her face in his Shinto robes. "I'll
fight to keep going down this path, ojii-san!" she announced through her wracking sobs. "I'll make you
and my mother even more proud of me! You'll see!"

He smiled softly and wrapped his arms around his granddaughter's back, hugging her tightly.
"I don't think that's possible," he responded quietly, gazing sadly at the photograph hanging on the
wall. "We're both already infinitely proud."

------

"And I know, I know, you probably don't want parenting advice from the likes of us," put in
Usagi with the wag of a finger, "but we thought you might want our two cents."

Minako nodded eagerly, leaning forward until her blonde hair fell off the couch cushions to
rest on the carpeting. "After all, she's our FRIEND!" she stressed, as though their passionate
speeches hadn't made that fact painfully obvious.

The brunette at her side paled slightly, waving a hand. "But it's still your decision, sir,"
she reminded him, embarrassed by the duo of blondes. "We can't make it for you. We can just hope you
make the wisest decision."

Ami turned a page in her calculus text and said nothing.

Laughing slightly at the foursome, all of whom were seated on the enormous leather couch in
his parlor, Nuzono Seiji leaned back in his armchair. How was it that these girls - the four most
mismatched, silly teens in all of Tokyo - had become best friends with his precious daughter? And did
they really care so much to come all the way to his home and protest his decision to send her to
Tokyo University?

His smile turned to a frown as he glanced from teen to teen, analyzing them carefully. There
was Tsukino Usagi, who seemed to be adorably harebrained and unduly clumsy, almost like a child half
her age would be. Then was the other blonde, Aino Minako, a loving kindred spirit who was scarily
similar to her odango-headed friend. Beyond Minako was the tall, wavy-haired Kino Makoto, who was
trying desperately to make up for all the potential rudeness of both her happy-genki friends. And
lastly was the ever-silent Mizuno Ami, the daughter of the hospital commissioner, too busy reading a
calculus book to even say a polite hello.

"I'm sorry, girls, but my mind is made up on the matter," he informed them coolly, reaching
for his teacup. "Rei has many dreams, I'm sure you know, but I don't think they are proper dreams for
a girl of her stature. She should be involved in a real career, and help real people." He gestured off-
handedly to the blue-haired girl on the far end of the couch. "I mean, look at your friend Ami-chan,
here. She's going to be a doctor like her mother and help people. Perhaps she, too, will be hospital
commissioner, someday. And that is a responsibility that only a young woman of her stature can
adequately - "

There was a thump as a thick textbook slammed shut.

"I may be following in my mother's footsteps, Nuzono-san, but I do it of my own free will."
Navy eyes snapped up from the closed book cover to glance at the man, narrowing slowly as she focused
in on his face. "Being the daughter of the hospital commissioner does not make me any more qualified
for the career than if I was the daughter of a salary man, a Shinto priestess, or a politician." She
rose quickly to her feet, book clutched in her arms as she glowered down at her friend's father.
"If you force your child down a path, she will never truly be happy with what she's doing, and she'll
end up bitter and regretful...just like you."

The parlor door slammed shut behind her.

Minako, Makoto, and Usagi rushed to gather their things and follow their blue-haired friend
out the door, calling out hurried thank yous and goodbyes as they pulled on their shoes and surged
onto the street. It had begun to rain, the dark sky of early evening even more dark as the cool
spring storm pounded down around them.

Sighing, Ami leaned against the first lamppost outside the Nuzono residence, staring idly into
the street. "Gomen nasi," she smiled sadly, blushing a bit as her three friends gaped at her. "I
wasn't thinking about what I was saying until it was too late..."

The brunette chuckled slightly and held out her umbrella toward the dripping wet genius. "It's
alright, Ami-chan," she assured her, smiling widely as the smaller teen accepted the shelter. "I think
he needed someone to tell him that."

"Maybe so," sighed Usagi, face screwed into a frown as she watched the lightning flash across
the city, "but we may never know if it made any difference."

The thunder echoed ominously behind her.

------

"Ara ara, Rei-chan, are you really afraid of the thunder?" he laughed, watching as the girl
shrunk away from the balcony window, choosing to watch the storm from a safe distance. "That's not very
fitting of such a smart little girl!"

Scowling indignantly, the three-year-old made a face at her father. "What would Papa know, huh?"
she challenged, tossing her long hair as she spoke. The week-long stint of living away from the temple
had been upsetting for her, Seiji knew, but her grandfather had obligations out of town that needed to
be dealt with. Still, the child never seemed so self-righteous and haughty on their Saturday afternoon
visits. He chuckled as another clap of sound made the girl jump. Maybe there was a bit of Sora in her,
after all.

Crouching down, he leaned against the cool pane of glass, resting his cheek on it gently.
"Try this, Rei-chan," he encouraged her, using a hand to pull her a bit closer to the window. "The
storm can't get you, not in here. It's super glass."

"Papa is crazy," observed the child with a wrinkle of her nose. "Papa made that up to get
Rei to not be scared of the thunder anymore!"

But, despite her protests, she couldn't help but take another step closer to the doorway,
her purple eyes wide. Trembling, she reached forward and touched a hand to the cool surface, flinching
in preparation for the fright that would come.

The thunder sounded, and nothing happened.

"Sugoi!" she grinned, following the man's lead to lean against the glass. "Papa was right!
The thunder can't get Rei!"

Seiji smiled sweetly and ruffled her hair, saying nothing.

------

"Papa..."

She pulled her face away from her bedroom window, listening to the thunder rumble across Tokyo.
Her purple eyes filled with tears, and she struggled to choke them down. "Papa, I..."

Her words were whispered, hardly audible over the sound of the storm.

"Gomen ne, Papa."

------

"Gomen ne, Rei."

Nuzono Seiji stared out across the city, his cheek rested against the glass of his balcony
door. He didn't need to look at his reflection in the glass to see years of wrinkles and eyes full of
sadness. They were there, sure as the sun shone in the morning and the moon in the evening.

The blue-haired one's words echoed in his ears. "If you force your child down a path, she will
never truly be happy with what she's doing, and she'll end up bitter and regretful...just like you,"
Mizuno Ami had admonished him before stalking out of the house.

How right could she be?

The politician frowned. "Just like you?" Could he really be setting his daughter up for a
life that horrible?

He pulled away from the window and sighed, shaking his head.

It was time to make the hardest decision of his life.

------
End Chapter 4.