Warau Kisetsu
by: yumeneko
Author's notes: I got the kanji for Kana's name... I can translate the first kanji but I have problems with the second... Btw, I made a mistake, it's Kanan, not Kana.
Chapter 9: Kako No Hibiki
(Echo of the past)
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Hibi... Hibi... Echo... Echo...
Yes... She was an echo... And echo of a past twelve years ago... Or a past more farther back... May it be eons or centuries...
Or maybe 500 years.
It was raining that day. Hakkai's mother was brought to the hospital to give birth to a baby. A day passed and Hakkai was taken to the hospital to see his mother. His mother wore a smile on her face and whispered,
"I could have sworn that baby was born with a smile on her face."
The young Hakkai went off to the nursery to see his new sibling. As he peered through the windows, he couldn't find any baby with his family's surname, instead, he found a sleeping baby with the surname of his mother's secret lover, Hoshizora.
Her eyes were closed but she seemed to smile as she slept. Her hair was the same tint as his mother's her face was as innocent as his mother's. She looked like an echo of his mother's features.
Later on, when his mother came home, her mother was attacked by Hakkai's father. Brutally beating her until she ceased to live. Hakkai in tears called the police. His father was given a death sentence and he was sent to live with the Hoshizora's.
In the first few years, Hakkai never loved anyone. He didn't smile around his friends either. Sanzo and Gojyo stuck beside him with the occasional Goku who sometimes was too busy eating or playing something.
Yet, 18 months later, he finally started to love the Hoshizoras. It was a day when Hakkai was in his usual bad mood. The young Hibiemi didn't take notice of her silent brother until the ball she was playing with came near him. She picked up the bright red ball and smiled at her brother.
"Onii-chan!" The small voice awoke Hakkai. She had never said anything in her life. But all he could remember was the sound of Tenshin Hoshizora's voice addressing him as 'onii-chan' instead of 'Hakkai'. Those were the first words of Hibiemi.
"Onii-chan! Onii-chan! Onii-chan!" She delightfully repeated. Tenshin came into the room and laughed.
"Hakkai! I see she has finally known who her family is!"
The words touched Hakkai's heart. Tenshin said they were family. He smiled and hugged the two, "Otou-san! Imotou!" He laughed.
"'Tou-san! 'Tou-san!" Hibiemi laughed.
"Yare, yare... Hibi-chan..." Tenshin patted his daughter's head.
From then on, they never were estranged from each other and Hakkai accepted the surname 'Hoshizora'.
Yet, everytime Hakkai would hear Hibiemi, her voice sounded like someone in the past. He kept on remembering Hibiemi's favorite kanji... if he read it right the first kanji was 'hana' but when read together the word was... 'Kanan'. It was weird. But nonetheless... Her fascination with flowers went along with love for the word itself.
If there was anything Hakkai hated losing, it was someone hurting a loved one. Maybe it was because he saw this mother being tortured...
"Dakara... dakara..." Hakkai murmured under his breath, "I'll win this battle. Zettai ni."
~End chapter 9~