Disclaimer: I just own my original characters and the story. Also, any song lyrics I use belong to their writers/artists. I will post where I got them as well.

Notes: O.o Thanks for the reviews. I guess I'll be continuing then. Ah, not a whole lot to say, I wonder if people actually read what I say up here… Whatever. I'm gonna leave that notice up for a couple of weeks or so, just for some other people to read, kay? That's all I think I wanna say for now.

Oh, yeah, from here on out, all speech in the flashback thing is in English 'cause Kei and the girls grew up in America an' I'm too lazy to constantly put stars in front of every sentence. Use you imagination and pretend that when the seishi are watching the screen, they see subtitles for everything.

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            Narrator's POV

The little 5-year-old Kei was lying on her bed watching TV. Occasionally, she would laugh at something she saw, but kept switching channels. She looked bored out of her mind.

"Tai Itsukun-sama, this is great 'n' all, watchin' Kei as a little kid, but what the hell does this have to do with anythin'?" Tasuki tapped his foot on the ground.

"If you were a little more patient, you'd see, you idiot!" Tasuki backed off a bit.

"Whatever…"

On the screen, Kei's attention was diverted from the TV to the window of her balcony. She slid off her bed and moved outside. She leaned over the rail and craned her neck to see something. A large white car had pulled into the driveway.

"Damn! He's home a day early! Mom's not home… Shigeru's gonna hit me… again…" Kei bit her lower lip and ran back inside. She ran downstairs and waited by the door for her stepfather to come in.

The doorknob slowly opened and a tall blue-eyed blonde stepped inside. He was dressed in a suit. He looked down at Kei.

"Kei, where's your mother?" He bent down and stared eye to eye with her.

Kei swallowed hard. "O…out…I dunno where she is… You're home early… She's…" She tried to avoid his eyes.

"Shut up." Kei closed her mouth. "You answered my question, that's enough." He stood up again and headed towards the kitchen. "Kei, come with me." She reluctantly followed.

As the Hotohori stared at Shigeru, he realized who the blonde reminded him of. "Chichiri, Tasuki, doesn't he resemble Nakago?"

"Oh my goodness, no da! He does!"

"Holy shit! They coulda been twins!" Tasuki was stunned.

"Yes, Kei did have some bad luck when it came to childhood." Tai Itsukun sighed. "Not only does he look like Nakago, but he has the attitude and disposition to match."

Kei sat across the table from Shigeru. "Is…is there something you wanted, Daddy?" Kei began folding and unfolding her hands in her lap.

"Are you afraid of me Kei?" Shigeru's eyes bore into her.

"Is there an answer you want to here?" Kei lowered her head, ready to be hit.

Shigeru smirked. "Rather quick, aren't we kid?"

"N…no, sir."

He stood up and stood behind her. She twitched slightly when he grabbed her shoulders. "Listen kid, you'd better watch it. I could easily get rid of you, but I can't because I love your mother, not you, but she loves you, so I'm stuck with you. You'd better not tell your mother what I say and do to you, otherwise I'll lose her. And I'll take out the loss on you. Got it?"

Kei was getting her nerve back. "Even if I told her, she wouldn't believe me… You know that."

As soon as she said that, she regretted it. Shigeru still had his hands on her shoulders and he gripped tighter and threw her off the chair. Her head slammed wall and she grabbed her head. She yelped in pain and felt her eyes tear up.

"You know better than to talk to me that way, bitch. I'll be leaving for another two months, so tell Sora when she gets home, got it?"

"Yes sir." Kei slowly sat up and rubbed her head. Shigeru was gone. She stood up and stumbled back upstairs. "Stupid bastard… Why does he hate me? I never did anything to him." The image faded away.

Tasuki cringed and felt his blood boil. He thought, 'That bastard has no right to touch her…I don't believe anyone could do such a thing to a kid, Kei no less. He'll pay for that.'

Chichiri noticed Tasuki's silent fuming. Chichiri had seen how close they'd become in the time that the girls had been here and wasn't surprised that he was piss. He wanted to protect her and there was nothing wrong with that, he just didn't want it to cloud his judgment.

Tai Itsukun looked at Tasuki. "Tasuki, you've got to calm down. This is all in the past and we have quite a bit more to see."

Again, Kei appeared on the screen. This was about a year later. Kei's parents were sitting in the kitchen, talking. Kei stepped in the doorway and waited for them to notice her.

"Oh, Kei. What is it?" Sora looked just like an older version of her daughter, but with short hair.

"Umm, I was just wondering if I could maybe take a walk?" Kei shifted her weight from one leg to the other.

"Of course you can. Just be back before sundown." Sora waved off her daughter and looked back at her husband.

Kei sighed and walked out the back door. She went through the yard and into an alley. She began to run as soon as she lost sight of the house.

"Feels good ta be outta th' house. I doubt if I'll be back before sundown. Hell, I might not go back at all…"

She soon reached a forest on the out side of town. She debated whether or not to go inside and decided to go. The forest had a lot of paths running through it. She followed random trails, paying no attention to where she went.

She soon found herself confused and out of the forest. She was in someone else's yard. There was a big garden and a pond in the middle of the yard. It was beautiful.

Kei, not realizing until now how tired she was, sat down next to the pond. She sighed deeply, not wanting to leave this place. It was nice and quiet. Kei began to relax, but she heard soft footstep in the yard. She ducked behind a bush and peeked out.

A small, silver haired girl was sitting at the edge of the pond, feeding the fish in it. She was slowly running her fingers through her medium length hair while she watched the fish for a bit, but then began to cry.

Kei's eyes widened. The little girl looked happy when she came out, but hell, Kei realized she always looked happy even though she led a miserable life too. Kei's thoughts drifted away from keeping herself hidden and her hand slipped on a wet rock and she fell from behind her hiding place.

"Oof!" The silver haired girl gasped when she saw Kei and stood up to run over to her.

"Are you okay? Wait…why am I worried about someone who I don't know? Who are you?" The silver haired girl stood up straight and placed her hands on her hips.

Kei stood up and brushed herself off. She was just a little shorter than the  "Yes, I'm okay. And I'm sorry I wandered over here. My name is Kei Koizumi, and I got lost in the forest."

"Oh, I guess that's alright. It's easy to get lost in there. My name is Taki Matsumoto. Um, were you in the forest with someone? I would think someone's looking for you…"

"Ah no. I was alone. I just needed to get away from home." Kei shuffled her feet on the ground.

"Oh. Um, I guess I can relate. What's wrong?"

"I needed to get away from my stepfather."

"Oh. That bad?"

"Hell yeah." Both girls began giggling madly over nothing.

Inside Taki's house, Taki's mother, Saori, looked out the window and saw her daughter with another person. She hurried outside.

"Taki! Taki! What are you doing? Who is that?"

Kei and Taki froze. "Oh Mommy. This is Kei. She was wandering around and got lost in the forest." Kei politely bowed.

"Hi, ma'am. Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude on you."

"Oh, well, I suppose someone as young as you didn't mean any harm. You must be tired. The forest is big. You must have been walking for a long time. Would you like something to eat?" Saori ushered both little girls back in to the house.

"Thank you ma'am. I was kinda tired." Taki pulled out a chair for Kei and herself. They both hopped up on the chair. Saori got soda and potato chips for the girls.

"So Kei, where do you live?"

"Taki! That's rude! You don't even know her very well."

"Sorry Mom."

"It's okay. I live in that big house on 84th St. The one that you hafta walk up all those stairs to get to the front door."

"Wow! You live up there? That house is huge! I always wanted to see it!" Taki smiled widely.

"So Kei you're Shigeru and Sora Koizumi's daughter?"

"Stepdaughter. Shigeru's not my real father. My real father died before I was born. Mommy just tries to hide it. She always told me Shigeru is my dad." Kei traced patterns on the table with her finger.

"Oh. I take it by your less than enthusiastic reply that Mr. Koizumi isn't a good stepfather…" Saori took Kei's hand in hers.

"Not unless you like being beaten for things outside of your control." Kei tried to stop herself from crying but she couldn't. "And I can't even tell my mom 'cause she'd never believe it. She's madly in love with him and can't see past that! If I tell anyone, he'll hurt me more! I've said too much already!"

Saori pulled Kei into her arms and gently rubbed her back. "It's alright honey. Tell your problems to Aunt Saori. I won't tell anyone what you say to me, and neither will Taki." Taki got out of her chair and moved over to her mom and Kei.

"Mommy, can Kei spend the night? I don't want her to leave."

"She can if she wants. I certainly can't say no to her or you."

Kei looked up at Saori. "Thank you. I'd like to stay here tonight. But don't call my mom."
            "But Kei, won't she worry?" Taki cocked her head to one side.

"Well, Shigeru won't leave for a two month trip until sometime tonight, but I want Mommy to get a little scared for once. She never thinks about me first."

"Alright then, we'll call your mother when you want to." Saori set Kei back on the ground. "Taki go take Kei upstairs and fix up a room for her." Both girls ran upstairs, leaving Saori.

She smiled to herself. She whispered, "I must be insane. My husband disappears and I go loopy. I don't know who this girl is, but I can't turn her away. She needs help. I can at least give her a place to speak her mind." She sighed. "She's so scared and alone. Just like Taki. Maybe there's a reason why she came here… Maybe they were supposed to meet." Saori laughed softly. "Now I know I'm crazy… I'm talking as if I believed in something like fate. Heh heh." She smiled when she heard Taki and Kei laughing loudly upstairs.

It was getting dark. Sora was beginning to worry about Kei. Shigeru had gone off on another trip and she was in the house alone.

"Where is she? It's after 7 and I told her to be back by sundown…" Sora picked up the phone and called the police to try and report it. They of course told her that Kei had to be missing for 24 hours before anything could be done. Sora thanked them and hung up. "Stupid rules… In 24 hours, she could be dead…"

But Kei was anything but dead. She was upstairs with Taki, having a pillow fight.

"Hey! Quit it!" Kei threw another large pillow in Taki's face while giggling.

"NEVER!" Taki swung the pillow and knocked Kei into the bed.

Both little girls broke into another fit of giggles after a few more swings at each other. There were feathers everywhere from the pillows. Kei propped herself up on her elbows and laughed at Taki. She had a bunch of feathers in her hair and on her clothes.

"You look funny." Taki stuck her tongue out at Kei.

"Yeah, like you look real great yourself." Taki pointed to a mirror on the wall. The white feathers stuck out more in Kei's black hair than Taki's silver hair. They both laughed again.

"Of course I do! It's so me!" Taki tossed a pillow at her and flopped down in a beanbag chair.

"Whatever… You're weird."

"Tell me what's normal. Whatever it is, neither of us are it."

"Touché. Point taken." Taki ran her fingers through her hair, pushing the feathers out.

"Um, Taki, if you don't mind me asking, where's your dad?"

Taki bit her lower lip. "Well, I guess simply put, he's gone."

"Dead?"

"No, he walked out on me and my mom. Mommy doesn't know that I know he walked out. She always told me he died." Taki rolled her neck. "Every so often, he sends money that Mom tries to hide where it came from, but I know. I just can't tell her know."

"Oh." Kei rolled over onto her back. "Did you ever just wanna run away from it all?"

"Yeah, a lot. But Mom took it hard when Dad left, so I can't leave. I love my mom too much to do that." Taki stood up and walked over to a window. "Enough about our lousy lives. We should talk about other stuff."

"Yeah. You're right."

Taki and Kei talked late into the night and Saori had to tell them to go to sleep more than 5 times. The next morning, Saori made a big breakfast for the three of them.

"So Kei, are you ready to go home?" Saori gave her a glass of orange juice.

Kei sipped it. "I guess. I've probably driven Mom crazy enough."

"Your stepfather isn't at home, is he? I won't take you back if he is."

"No, he won't be home for another 2 months."

"Then it's safe for you to go home?" Taki took a big bite of her pancakes.

Miaka watched the food. "I'm hungry."

Everyone glared at her. "SHUT UP!"

"Yeah."
            "Well then, you girls go get washed up and we'll go to Kei's house." Saori hurried the girls upstairs and cleaned up the breakfast dishes.

Saori and the girls drove from Taki's house to Kei's. Kei and Taki ran up the stairs in a race to see who was faster. Saori took her time. When they reached the top, they silently waited for Saori to join them.

Saori rang the doorbell and the three waited patiently. Sora opened the door and stared at Saori, not noticing the two little girls.

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

"Ah yes. Last night your daughter happened to wander to my house. I brought her back." Saori pushed Kei forward.

"Hi Mommy."

"Kei! Where have you been!? I've been worried sick!"

"At Ms. Saori's house. I got lost and it was too late to call. I stayed the night at her house." Kei shuffled her feet on the porch.

Before Sora could answer, Saori interrupted. "Please Mrs. Koizumi, don't be mad at Kei. It's my fault. I should have brought her back last night when she found her way over to our home. Kei and my daughter Taki got along so well, I did not think it would hurt to let her stay."

Taki and Kei looked at each other. That wasn't exactly the truth, but Saori probably knew what she was doing.

Sora took a deep breath and sighed. "Ah, why don't you all come in and Kei, take Taki upstairs while Ms… Um… I didn't get your name."

"Saori Matsumoto."

"Yes, while Saori and I talk about what happened."

"Okay Mommy. Let's go Taki." Kei ran inside followed by Taki. Both of them went zooming up the stairs.

Saori smiled. "Energetic, aren't they?"

"Yes I suppose they are." Sora closed the door and the two mothers went into the kitchen. "Would you like some coffee?"

"If you don't mind."

"You seem so calm about this. I'm a nervous wreak today."

"Well Sora, it wasn't my daughter that wandered off. If you like, you can sit down and I'll make that coffee."

"No, no. I'm fine. How do you know my name?"

"Children talk a lot. Usually about the things they aren't supposed to." Saori crossed her legs and smiled. "Now shouldn't we get back to the matter at hand? The whole child-wandering problem?"

"Yes. You'll have to tell me everything that happened."

Saori thought about everything Kei told her and Taki and sighed. "In due time Sora, in due time…"

Tai Itsukun stopped the image and made it fade. Tasuki was in deep thought. He had always considered his life bad. Growing up in a family of 5 older sisters and all, but Kei's life had been so much worse. He had never been flat out beaten for anything. He looked over at Hotohori. He was deep in thought also.

Hotohori was thinking about Taki's father walking out on them. It made him mad of course. 'That man must have been a fool to leave women like Saori and Taki. He doesn't deserve to be associated with them.'

Chichiri looked at Tai Itsukun. "Um Tai Itsukun-sama, is there a reason why you stopped it again, no da?"

"Yes, there is. I need to give you all some information." Tai Itsukun faced all of them. "How many of you know who Kazama Hikari was?"

Hotohori knew enough history to answer. "She was the most powerful miko to ever appear in out world. She was also a miko of Suzaku. Why?"

"Well, after she left Konan, she did settle down and had children. One of her daughters' names was Sora. Ring any bells?"

"That's Kei's mother, right no da?"

"Precisely. Kei is Hikari-sama's granddaughter. Kei will also end up either saving us or destroying us all. It depends on what happens to her here."

"Why her? Even if she is Hikari-sama's daughter, what does that have to do with her killing or saving us?" Hotohori asked.

"Kei's body holds two spirits in it, her own and the spirit of a powerful goddess. The goddess is more commonly known as the Uchu no Hogosha, but when Kei was little, and even now, she saw the goddess in the refection of a mirror when she chose, was able to talk with her and nicknamed her Hoshi-sama. Hoshi-sama has protected Kei since she was young so that she would eventually come to Konan and save whomever she chose. Who Hoshi-sama saves depends mostly on Kei."

"So if we dun treat her good, will get our asses fried?" Tasuki asked.

"Put crudely, yes. If Kei is kept safe and happy, we'll be fine. Hoshi-sama's power will be, in a sense, given to the side Kei feels safest with."

"That should be us, right?" Taka asked.

"It will be us, provided you stay away from 'er, Obake-chan." Tasuki chuckled.

"Shut up, you idiot!"
            "Make me!"

Tai Itsukun's eye twitched. "You two can kill each other later. We have more to see." She waved her hands across the screen again.

Both girls appeared on the screen again. It was another year later. Kei was 7 and Taki was 8. There was a thunderstorm outside and they were watching horror movies inside. Everything and everything was making them jump and scream. Kei kept hiding under a blanket.

"TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF! I don't wanna see this no more!" Kei was shrieking under her blanket.

"Not yet! It's just getting to the good part!" Taki grabbed another handful of popcorn.

 Kei peeped out. "There are no good parts! Everyone is getting their heads chopped off! It's gross!! EWW! Make it stop!" Kei pulled up the blanket again. "I'm never gonna get to sleep tonight and it's your fault!"

"Don't be a baby… oh gross…" Taki buried her face in her hands at the next decapitation. "Now it's time to turn it off." Taki grabbed the remote and turned off the VCR.

"Told ya…"

"Shut up. I'm sorry. That was gross."

"Hey, the news is on. Turn it off."

"Wait, hang on… Their giving an update on that girl that survived that huge fire last year…" Taki got off the floor and onto a couch, and then pulled Kei up.

"Oh okay." They both listened intently.

"…In other news, reports on Alana Reddinbaour recently came in. Alana was the only survivor of that terrible fire in Chicago last year. She is now 8 and living with an aunt and uncle in New York. Her severe burns are almost healed, but she still fights with the doctors when they attempt to help her." A picture of Alana appeared on TV. She was a relatively tall girl for her age with very short dark blonde hair. Her hair had been burned after the fire and it all had to go. Her dark green eyes stared off into nothingness. (AN: For anyone who hasn't figured it out, yes, that is Lily.) "We recently had a chance to speak with her. Why don't we look at the interview? Though I hear it didn't go well."

A tall reporter was sitting in a room with Alana. She still had a lot of bandages and red marks on her arms. "So Alana how have you been?"

Alana didn't want to talk to anyone. "Fine."

"How's life with your aunt and uncle?"

"Fine." Truth be told, she hated it.

"Is something wrong?"
            "Isn't it obvious? Would you want some reporter prying into your life after you lost your parents?" Alana began to cry. "I… you could never understand anything I went through or am going through! Leave me alone!"

The reporter was taken aback. "Now Alana, we all just want to help…"

"Help? Help! You think askin' me a bunch o' questions is gonna help? Where'd you go to school? I wanna be left alone! Is that so hard to understand?"

"No, I suppose it isn't but…" Taki turned off the TV. She didn't want to watch anymore.

"Wow. That is one angry girl." Kei was upside down on the sofa.

"Yeah, but I think I'd be too if that was me." Taki flopped down next to Kei.

"Hey Taki?"

Her eyes were closed. "Yeah?"

Kei pulled herself up. "Do you think my grandma will be nice? I mean I've never met her an' she's gonna move in next week."

"I hope so. I spend so much time here that it would be really bad if she wasn't. I wouldn't worry though. I don't think your mom would let her move in if she didn't like kids."

"I know she doesn't like Shigeru. That's a plus."

"Well, who would? He's a bastard!"

"Woo-Hoo! Someone who agrees with me!" Suddenly Kei stopped and ran to the window. "Someone's here."

"It isn't Shigeru is it?"

"Nu-uh. That ain't his car. I've never seen that on before."

Sora voice came form downstairs. "Kei! Taki! Come down here and meet someone!" Both girls hurried out of the stairs.

Sora was hanging up a coat and an older woman was standing in the doorway.

"Kei, this is your grandmother, Hikari. Mom, my daughter Kei."

"I thought you weren't coming for another week." Kei didn't move.

"That was the original plan, but I changed it."

"Oh, okay." Kei bowed to her grandmother.

Hikari noticed Taki, keeping her distance. "Sora, did you have another child without telling me?"
            "No Mother. This is Taki. She's one of Kei's friends. Taki come here."

Taki walked slowly and bowed. "Ma'am."

"Hello child. Well Sora, these girls are more polite at their age than you were." Hikari looked at Sora. Taki and Kei tried to keep themselves from laughing.

Sora's face went red. "Mother! I don't believe you!"

"Whatever. Kei, Taki, you two can go now. That's enough for talking right now. It's late and I'm tired. Sora, where am I sleeping?"

"This way Mom. Let me get you bags." Sora reached for them but Hikari stopped her. "Mom?"

"Sora I said I was tired, not disabled. I can carry my own things. Just lead the way." Hikari picked up all three of her bags and followed Sora upstairs, leaving the girls in the hallway.

"Wow Kei, you got a power house grandma over there. Cool."

Kei was in a bit of disbelief. "Whoa. That was different. She's the last thing I expected for a grandma."

"Me too. She seems nice enough."
            "She's funny too. She mad Mom freak out."

"I know. I never see your mom get annoyed like that. Not even with you."

Kei sneered at Taki. "Ha ha. Real funny. Let's go."

"Fine, fine. Your grandma's right anyway. It's late and I'm tired too." Taki headed upstairs, followed by Kei.

That image faded out and again they appeared. Now Kei was 10 and Taki was 11. They were leaving school after their first day. Kei looked totally bored.

"I forgot how much I hated school. Why couldn't I still be home schooled?"
            "Quit complaining. We have other things to worry about." Taki motioned to all the guys that were closing in on them.
            "Oh damn. Well, now we get to see what we've learned from Oba-san."

The one who was the leader looked to be about 13. "So you two new here?"

Taki sneered at him. "Who wants to know?"

"Weren't you taught never to answer a question with a question?" He advanced.

Taki looked annoyed. 'He just did what he told me not to.' "Weren't you? Practice what you preach."

Now he was mad. "Look, we ain't lookin' for trouble, we just wanna letcha know whose in charge around here. You really don't wanna mess with us."
            Kei looked t all of them. "Are you the toughest this place has to offer?"
            "None tougher."

"Then we ain't got a problem."
            The leader was steaming. "That's it! Boys, get 'em!"

The 15+ boys all advanced on the girls. They came out swinging. Kei and Taki noticed how slow them were and easily dodged the punches thrown. Kei and Taki had each gotten 4 each when the leader called off the group.

"Guys stop! It's the Blonde Bomb!" All the conscious boys retreated behind their boss. They cowered in fear at the tall blonde girl who had made her way in between the girls and guys.

"Jake, Jake, Jake… How many times do I have to tell you to leave the new kids alone? You don't seem to learn do you?"

"Ah, uh… no ma'am, sorry ma'am. We weren't picking on them, we were just talkin' really." He was scared stiff.

Kei and Taki watched as the 'Blonde Bomb' scared off all the guys. She had knocked out about 5 more. She turned to them. She was wearing black jeans with the knees torn out, black shoes, a black tank top that said 'Don't annoy the bitch' on the front, pitch-black sunglasses, and black nail polish. She hair was pulled up in a tight ponytail.

"You two alright?"

Taki nodded. She was a little mad. "Yeah. We're fine. We didn't need help, ya know. We were doing fine."

"I know."

"Say what?"

"I said 'I know.' Just 'cause I wear sunglasses dun mean I'm blind. But I'm trying to stop them from picking on the new kids who transfer here. I could see perfectly well that you two can hold yer own." She motioned to the 8 fallen guys.

Kei stared at her. "So, I'm guessing the 'Blonde Bomb' isn't yer name. I'm Kei and this is Taki."

"Just call me Lily. I never use my given name anymore." She took off her glasses and stuck them in her pocket. Her emerald eyes almost glowed. "However since I know yer gonna ask, my given name is Alana."

Something in Taki's head clicked. "You mean you're?"

"Yep. Alana Reddinbaour, the only survivor of that terrible fire a few years ago. The one and only." She took an exaggerated bow. "Not something I'm proud of mind you."

Kei though for a minute. "Where'd you lean to fight?"

"Here there, everywhere." Lily yawned. "You?"

"From my grandma. She's stronger than I thought."

"Impressive. Well, I gotta go. Maybe I'll see you two later." Lily left Kei and Taki who went to find Kei's mom.

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            Wow, that was long… And I ain't done yet. This flashback movie thing is gonna last for probably another chapter or so. Ah, I think the next chapter will be up in a couple of weeks, 'cause I gotta split my time with my Star Ocean fic, so don't be impatient if you want more of this. Ah, thanks to those who reviewed.

~*~Shadow Hawk~*~