*Disclaimer: Skellig does not belong to me, but to the wonderful author, David Almond. Nor does Rurouni Kenshin; Watsuki-san has dibs on that*
~Skellig~
2
"Here, honey," says Kaoru's mother. She hands the wriggling baby over to Kaoru. "I just need to find the formula-"
"Where's Tou-san?" Kaoru asks, as she ajusts her hold on the baby. "Why isn't he helping?"
"Your father's outside; of course he's helping. He's scoping out the backyard again."
Kaoru frowns. That cannot be called a backyard, nor a garden. It is a wild jungle, probably full of ticks. Just like this can't be called a home.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"I'm sure it can be fixed," Kaoru said doubtfully, as they walked around inside the house. The paint is chipping and so is the wallpaper.
Optimism. That is what the family shares.
"Of course it can," says her mother, almost gushing. She claps her hand, delighted. "Just look!"
"That's right, that's right," says the real estate agent. "Just imagine! Imagine what can be done!"
Eventually, it was the real estate agent himself that made Kaoru dislike the house. And the fact that someone had died in it.
"Just use your mind's eye," said the real estate agent, spreading his arms and leading them to the dining room.
And then he tells them of Old Ernie Myers, who had been dead for nearly a week before they found him, underneath the kitchen table.
Kaoru is horrified. Yahiko is disgusted. Their parents don't care, and continue to survey the house happily.
~*~
The real estate agent, whose name was Mr. Stone, led them to the backyard. It was big, they could tell. But full of weeds and junk.
"Lots of space," says Mr. Stone proudly, putting his hands together as if snapping a picture. "Once all of this gets cleaned up, plenty of room. Maybe a swimming pool!"
"No," says Kaoru's father, shaking his head. "A training hall."
"Ah, yes, of course!" cries Mr. Stone. "A grand training hall for your students."
Kaoru's father nods and Mr. Stone leads them around. They come to what used to be the garage.
"Once this is torn down or repaired, probably can fit two cars," says Mr. Stone. He pats Yahiko on the head. "Or maybe it can be a little hideout for little Yahiko here, and his friends."
Yahiko scowls deeply, twisting out of Mr. Stone's reach.
They move on, but Kaoru's mother motions to Yahiko and Kaoru.
"Don't go in there," she says, nodding her head to the garage. "Mr. Stone says that it could collapse."
"Why would we go in there anyway," Yahiko grumbles, stomping off.
Kaoru is about to call out to him, reprimanding him for being so rude to their Kaasan, but her mother stops her.
"Kaoru-chan....is anything wrong with Yahiko-chan?" she says, worriedly. Kaoru shakes her head.
Code of honor. Keep it to ourselves.
Kaoru watches her mother still keep her worried look, patting Kaoru absently on the shoulder before wandering off to find Mr. Stone and the rest of the family, leaving Kaoru alone in the garden.
Why doesn't she ask how I feel? Kaoru wonders. The thought makes her feel hurt, so she brushes it off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Koshijiro Kamiya comes in, wiping his hands quickly on his trousers. By this time, the formula is already made and the baby is being fed.
He stoops over the baby, which is now being carried by Kaoru's mother, and strokes her cheek softly. The baby wriggles, then reaches up to seize his finger.
"You're getting her dirty," says Kaoru's mother, smiling. It's true. There is now a small smudge on the baby's cheek.
"Hmph," says Kaoru's father, absently. He steps back then goes to the kitchen, to wash his hands.
"Maybe we should name her Chiri," says Kaoru, musingly.
"No," says Kaoru's mother, firmly. She gives Kaoru a stern look. "Not this time."
"I was only joking," Kaoru mutters. She looks at the baby. She's staring back, sucking noisily on the bottle.
.......The baby has no name.
~*~
Kaoru can be loosely transalated as "Fragrance."
Yahiko's name can be transalated into "Bright Spirit".
The baby...still doesn't have a name.
You see, it's a ritual. The children are named after chosen incidences, involving them.
Weeks after Kaoru was born, she had knocked over a bottle of her mother's Jasmine perfume. Kaoru's mother had been carrying her at the time, and Kaoru was throwing a fit. It was morning, and her mother was trying her best to do her daily morning applications, while holding Kaoru at the same time.
Kaoru suddenly let out a loud shriek, and Kaoru's mother, startled, knocked something over. As Kaoru's mother bent down to pick it up, Kaoru was suddenly level to the dresser's surface. Her fists and feet struck out, and she knocked over her mother's Jasmine perfume, which she had just applied, and the cap was loose.
Ultimately, baby Kaoru was splashed with perfume, now wailing much louder because of the sudden wetness. Kaoru's mother had frantically raced her to the bathroom, washing her face quickly in case the perfume got into her eyes. They hadn't. But after that, both Kaoru's parents decided to name her after the incident. Thus, Kaoru got her name.
It took quite a while before Yahiko received his name. He ate, cried, and slept, but his parents waited patiently for something memorable to happen. Finally, his chance came.
There was a small blackout in their area of town, and after comforting a wailing Kaoru, Kaoru's mother went to get Yahiko. He was gone. After getting the father, both searched around the house frantically, until they came upon Yahiko, who was fast asleep, clutching a flashlight to him, of all things. Further more, when his father came to pick him up, Yahiko wailed and struck him on the head with his new found toy.
Kaoru's mother said that they named him it because of the flashlight.
Kaoru's father said they named him it because it was a fitting name for a warrior, as he most certainly was after striking him on the head with his "weapon".
Now, all four were waiting for the baby to do something. They weren't in a hurry, though. It had been almost a month since her birth. And, she was frail.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Yahiko and Kaoru had attended the same school. During third period, each had been called from their classes to the office.
"What did you do, Kaoru?" Misao whispered as Kaoru gathered her things. She smiled. "Did you get into another fight earlier?"
"No," Kaoru smiled. Misao was her best friend, and they knew each other better than anyone. "See you later, I guess."
"You bet-" Misao started, but their teacher shot her a mean glare. Misao gave Kaoru a quick wave as she stepped out of the classroom.
Kaoru didn't bother to walk quickly. She took her time wandering down the hall, wondering what was wrong. Then she saw Yahiko leave his classroom, further down the hall. She jogged up to him.
"What did you do?" she asked pointedly. "You're always getting into scuffles."
"Nothing," Yahiko scowled. "What did you do? Don't act like you don't fight."
They walked side by side down the corridor, Kaoru's shoes making echoing tapping noises as they walked. She wondered why both of them were being called, when it struck her.
"Yahiko," she said slowly. "They called both of us because it's a family matter."
Fear filtered into her chest. Yahiko's gaze became panicked.
"The baby," they both cried, and started to sprint to the office. Fear seeped into both of them.
Is it the baby? It's not supposed to arrive for another week!
Maybe it's Kaasan. Maybe something's wrong.
Maybe it's not anything to do with that. What if Tousan is hurt?
What if-
What if-
Maybe-!
They burst into the office loudly, and their Tousan looked up from his chair.
~*~
The baby had been born too early. Kaasan was all right, but the baby was in trouble.
Their father had driven them to the hospital, where both family members were waiting. Both ran over to kiss their Kaasan, and then they went to see the baby. It was terrible.
The baby was in a glass case, tubes and wires everywhere. It's skin was deathly white. And it was so small...
"Oh," Yahiko had said, putting his hands on the glass, leaning forward and peering at the baby in shock. "Ungh..."
"This is terrible, " Kaoru said faintly, clutching her hands together. She approached the baby cautiously, looking down at it. It's eyes were closed, and it's chest rose ever so faintly as she breathed.
~*~
They had to wait for almost a week until the baby could come home. And then, they moved.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The baby was being fed, and Kaoru was no longer needed. She had already put her belongings in her new room. It faced their street.
Kaoru went back outside. Yahiko was already gone. "Tsch," she muttered. She didn't know why; she just felt that she and Yahiko should stick together, right now...
What to do....?
She spun slowly around, taking in her surroundings. Something caught her eye. The garage.
Kaasan said not to go in it... "Hmph."
She started to walk towards it. There was no door. Kaoru stood at the doorway, peering in. It was filled with things, but there were cobwebs, and who knows what.
"Kaoru!"
"What?" Kaoru spun around, her arm hitting the door frame. It wobbled. "Oh-!"
Yahiko ran forward and seized her by the back of her shirt, yanking her back. "Idiot!"
They stumbled backwards, watching the garage. It stopped wobbling. A bit of dust was rising, and a piece of rotten wood dropped off to the ground.
"Don't you remember what Kaasan said?! You're an idiot!"
"It was fine until you startled me!" Kaoru snapped, feeling a bit ashamed.
"Whatever." He walked off to the house. Kaoru stared after him. Then she turned back to the garage.
Rsssspch...shrrrch....
Something is moving in there. Kaoru stood there, frozen.
Scrrrsh.... The sound of something scraping against a concrete floor...
Something is scraping in there....
Schhhrrrrrrrr........... And then it fell silent.
~~~
Owari
~~~
Author's Notes:
Another chapter....ladidoo. ^^' I made it longer, hopefully that's a good thing?? I hope everyone can tell which things are flashbacks and which things were present. Please give me feedback if it's too hard to tell or something. 0_o'
Review Replies:
The Weird One2: I'm glad you think its good so far. If you do get the book, you'll see my version is actually pretty different. ^^ It's interesting. The whole thing about wings...erg, spoilers. ^^'
Saph: Ooh, no no no! Not a one-shot!! ^^' There's more! (Obviously. :P) Oh, finals...-_-' How terrible. Um, good luck!
*Chiri= Japanese for "dust, dirt"
-I got it from an unreliable online dictionary, people! ^^' It might not be a common word for dirt.
