Old Reflections

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Kikaider, or any characters thereof. I am making this out of pure imagination and creativity, without money involved. Read on! ^_^ (AN: I do not know the woman's name that traveled with Jiro after he left Mitsuko. You know, the one who was in 'custody' of Akida? I never found out her name, hopefully I will now.) Storymind~

Chapter One: Memories like Snow

Mitsuko packed up the last of Masaru's childhood toys, laughing occasionally as she remembered just when he played with them. She labeled the box and put it aside with the others, moving on to the things underneath his bed.

"Masaru. such a scatter-brain!" Mitsuko laughed once more.

Her hand brushed something else, almost square, like a book. Dragging it out of the dust and old toys, she found it was a book, but not quite. It was a photo album, from not too long ago. In the pictures were Hadori, and Etsuko, some even had their father in them, newly restored to health. Then Mitsuko came upon a few she had never seen before.

"These must be Masaru's own pictures he'd taken himself." She mumbled, "Why did he hide them from me?"

A few showed Dr. Komyoji's destroyed lab, and even the place they'd hidden Jiro when he was wanted for murder and terrorizing the city. It hurt for her to see these pictures, but she went on, page and page, picture after picture. memory after memory. She came to the last picture of the unfinished book of memories.
It was a copy of the original she had. It showed a group of people who were once united in the event to stop an evil organization from doing bad things. Hadori, Etsuko, Jiro, Masaru and herself.

The door opened and she heard Masaru gasp. "Mitsuko. what. What are you doing?"

She set down his photo album, turning to face him, "While you were at school, I was packing your things."

Masaru had grown up a lot since Jiro had come and gone into their lives. When Jiro had come to them, Masaru had been but a child, barely seven. Now, he was almost thirteen. And five long years of waiting had kept her going.

"I would have let you have the picture, you didn't have to take it you know." She said calmly.

Masaru captured a guilty look on his face, "I didn't know. I thought you'd be mad."

"Masaru, I could never be mad at you, especially if you wanted to see Jiro again. I do, too." Mitsuko said.

Masaru looked down, "That's not all."

"What is it?" Mitsuko asked, confused.

Before Masaru could answer, the doorbell rang. Their father being out, Mitsuko left the room to answer it, while Masaru trailed guilt-filled behind him. Moving a few boxes out of the way, she opened the door with a gasp and small scream.
Standing just beyond the steps was Jiro, looking exactly the same as he had when he left. Without another thought, Mitsuko practically flew down the steps of the once-dark porch and into Jiro's arms. Masaru just stood in the same place, looking at the ground like he was caught red-handed at the cookie jar.

"Oh this is great!" Mitsuko exclaimed, slightly muffled through Jiro's jacket.

"I'm glad you think so." Jiro said softly, looking the tiniest bit guilty himself.

Mitsuko looked playfully angry when she pushed herself away from Jiro far enough to look at him, "What took you so long?"

"I had to. help someone with something." Jiro said vaguely.

Mitsuko just squeezed herself to him once more, "This is just great though."

"Masaru, aren't you going to say hello?" Dr. Komyoji said behind Jiro.

"Oh, hi dad." Masaru said, ignoring his request that Masaru should greet Jiro.

Masaru knew why he was here, and it wasn't for reasons he wanted it to be. Why, why couldn't Jiro have come back on his own terms, wanting to be with them again, as a family? Masaru choked back his longing yell.

In a terse voice he said, "Hello, Jiro."

"Masaru." Jiro nodded back to him.

"What is this, a family reunion?" A black-haired boy came out of the forest, "Nope, not here, Jiro."

"Are you sure, Ichido?" He asked, looking grim.

Another black-haired boy came out, "Yes, she's not here and neither is Akida."

"Let's get inside, there is much to explain, my Kikaiders." Dr. Komyoji said, motioning to the door.

"Kikaiders?" Mitsuko asked, "They're both Kikaider too?"

"Let's get inside, first, and explain later." Dr. Komyoji said, once more motioning to the door.

Masaru went inside, and sat on the couch with the others, exactly where he had so long ago when he had first come to meet Jiro. Only now, things were so different. Masaru was no longer the little boy he had been, and Jiro was no longer the confused android.

"So." Dr. Komyoji said while sitting down beside Masaru on the opposite couch now, "Why exactly are you here?"

"Why? He promised to come back to us, daddy." Mitsuko said, still smiling the world for Jiro.

Jiro took his hand from Mitsuko's and covered his face, leaning on his knees bent over the couch and Masaru said, "That's not the reason, as much as I'd like to believe it. I've been sending letters and email and stuff with Jiro for almost two years now."

Mitsuko looked shocked, surprised, appalled, and outraged, "No one told me?" Her voice was shaking with anger, "No one bothered to contact me? Or. at least tell me what's going on?"

"It's not like that, lady." Ichido said, standing with his hands in his pockets, usual cocky grin on his face, "Things happened."

"Things? Things?" Mitsuko asked quietly. "What kind of things could have stopped you from keeping that promise."

"Mitsuko.." Jiro started. The doorbell rang solemnly through the house.

Jiro got up and rushed to open the door. Mitsuko didn't move, nor did her father or brother. Ichido and Ray where the only ones to acknowledge something had happened. Their voices from the hall echoed as solemnly as the doorbell, filling that gaps of loneliness this house seemed to radiate. and this was why they were on the verge of leaving this all behind them.

"I'm just glad you're ok. And Akida?" Jiro said.

"Fine. He's right here. Thanks for your concern, I really appreciate it." A female voice sounded.

"You're welcome. Come on. Ichido and Ray are here. And a few other people I knew once." Jiro stated, leading whomever it was into the room.

Jealously erupted in Mitsuko, though she knew absolutely nothing about this woman. She looked like she could be Mitsuko's sister, or even a twin. The woman was holding a little boy who looked really quite frightened, and clung to her shirt.

"Miori, Ichido, Ray," Jiro said, pointing to them all in turn for the Komyoji's benefit, "This is Mitsuko, Masaru, and Dr. Komyoji."

"Nice to meet you all." Miori said.

"Same here." Ichido mirrored, smile still in place. Ray and Akida said nothing, so Mitsuko was compelled to speak instead.

"And who is he?" She asked.

"Oh, that's Akida." Jiro said quietly. Miori put her hand on Jiro's arm lightly, making Mitsuko's blood boil. Quickly, she left the room.

"But-." Jiro said, so quietly almost no one heard him. Almost. Masaru, who was right behind him now, looked up and then went to comfort Mitsuko.

Ichido sat down, lounging on the couch looking out of place. Soon following, Ray, Miori and Jiro sat, too.

"I suppose you should tell me now, just why is it you came?" Dr. Komyoji began what was going to be a long talk.

__________*

Mitsuko sunk down on the bed, while Masaru sat down beside her gently.

"I'm sorry, Mitsuko. I didn't mean to keep it a secret, really." Masaru apologized.

"It's not that, Masaru. I can understand your wanting to keep it secret."

"Then what is it?"

"That woman. I don't like her, not one bit!" Mitsuko said suddenly.

"But you don't know her!" Masaru protested weakly.

"She.. She.." Mitsuko kept searching for something to use against the apparently offending woman.

"You believe she took him away from us?" Masaru supplied quietly.

Mitsuko looked up, "In a way, yes. He promised after Hadori and I left him at Gill's lab that he would come back. He promised, so why would he not?"

"Did you ever think about it, really and honestly, Mitsuko?" Masaru asked.

"Of course I thought about it!" Mitsuko exclaimed crossly, "I think about it every goddamn day, and it never gets any easier, the hurt never disappears because he'd never come back like he promised!"

Appalled that she had emptied her emotions in a tormenting flow, she laid back onto the bed. Masaru rested against the headboard.

"Mitsuko, it'll never get easier." Masaru said, acting as if twenty minutes ago Jiro had never come back, that no one strange had entered and once again shook up their lives and shrouded them in darkness, "I don't believe it will for an instant. But how do we know what happened down in Gill's lab when we left? I mean, apparently, I was so young I didn't even get past bushes, let alone see Jiro in the last moments before he left. You yourself believed he was still alive, why was it so impossible Gill hadn't been defeated?"

Mitsuko sat up slowly, "What do you mean?"

She was also realizing at this time that Masaru had grown up more than he let on. He had the mind and skill of a seventeen-year-old, not just the age of thirteen. How could she have missed that?

"What makes you believe that Gill ever really died in the explosion? In my eyes, if Jiro could survive it, so could Gill given the chance."

A soft knock on the door reached their ears.

"Come in." Mitsuko said automatically.

Jiro came in, looking shy, "I already know everything the doctor is telling Ichido and Ray."

They didn't say anything, so Jiro came in and leaned against the closed door, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." Masaru lied.

"Masaru.. Mitsuko. It's not like what you think." Jiro pleaded them to listen.

"And what is it you believe we think? For that matter, who are you to even come here? You don't know us, or who we really are anymore. You have no place among us!" Mitsuko said angrily, voice rising.

"I know that when I was first created you wanted to destroy me!" Jiro said, his own voice rising with mounting passion, "I know that when you left me in Gill's lab only five years ago that you loved me, as I did you!"

"Are you sure that's love? Are you so quick to believe we loved one another, if you were so quick to leave us forever?" Mitsuko asked, yelling now.

"I'm not sure what love is, but if you hate me now, that wasn't it. at least on your end. You may not have loved me, but I loved you!" Jiro said, quieting to a dangerous sort of voice that quivered with indignation.

"Please, c'mon, we all make mistakes!" Masaru pleaded them to stop, "We don't need to fight, we just need to explain what really happened!"

"Masaru, you may wonder if Gill really is alive, you may wonder why Jiro will never come back to us, but I don't." Mitsuko said, and almost running flat out to get out of the house that was loneliness.