Umarekawaru: Chapter 3

Author's notes: Okay, so thank you to my loyal reviewers! I promise that this will be a good story, and not confusing I hope, when I am done! When I am finished though, if you wish, I'll redo it so it is a better read, and not quite so boring and short! But right now I guess I'd better get to writing.

"What happened?! What happened to my Himeno?!" Kaoru howled, throwing his head back in an inhuman howl. Natsue came up behind her husband, not seeing Himeno's lifeless form right away.

"What's wrong, Kaoru?" she purred, ignoring the stranger in front of her. Kaoru pointed to both Dawn and Himeno, still in shock. But was it from Dawn, Himeno, or both? Maybe Dawn shouldn't have come here. Maybe the shock from Himeno's death was enough, and now here, Kaoru's dead wife was standing in front of him, holding his daughter.

Onkan remained stiff, as he had been before. Dawn wondered why he was so calm. Come to think about it…he hadn't been too sad about Himeno from the beginning. He was serene, like he knew this was going to happen. Who was he, and was Onkan his real name?

That week, Himeno's funeral was held, and Dawn cried the remainder of her tears out silently as the man droned on endlessly about how good a daughter Himeno was, and that she'd rest in peace with her mother. Dawn almost laughed at that. She was standing right there, not three feet from the preacher! And yet he did not notice her…

Onkan was silent, perhaps grieving to himself? Or…what was he doing there anyway? Dawn had seen him walk away from the mansion, a…was it a smile…?…on his face. How did he get back here? Mr. Tanaka hadn't said anything about there being a visitor, so…he must have snuck in. But she guessed he was welcome here, since he did help her get here and all.

Earlier on in the week, after Kaoru had recovered from his shock, Dawn had explained the entire thing to him. At first he was skeptical, but if his dead wife was alive again…it wasn't under normal circumstances. She wasn't released for good behavior or anything like that, like in a prison. The only reasonable explanation was the one Dawn told, that Himeno had sacrificed her life for Dawn's. Hard to understand, but right now it seemed true.

However, Dawn had left out one thing. Onkan. She figured Kaoru had known about him already, and it wasn't important at the moment, anyway.

The night of the funeral, Dawn sat in her former daughter's room, examining the walls and the furniture, every detail, small and big. She only wished that she was visiting her daughter's room under better circumstances…not this.

A journal caught her sight, and she began to move towards it. Suddenly she stopped, thinking that reading Himeno's diary was an invasion of privacy. Even if Himeno was dead, it was her journal, and Dawn had no right to examine it.

So she turned away, towards the desk near the wall. She wondered where Onkan had gone. After the funeral, he had just disappeared. She had had the urge to run to his house and check up on him, but then she had thought that maybe he had gone somewhere to cry. Perhaps he had known Himeno, after all…?

She couldn't keep her mind off of the journal as she ran her fingers over the wood of the desk, looking over at the small bedside table the book of words sat. She wanted to read it so badly…to experience Himeno's pains and joys as if she had been there. Finally she gave up against the urge and walked over to the diary, lifting it with little strength. It wasn't locked, as if she had been destined to read it.

At the opening of the book, a small photograph fell out. There was Himeno…! And some other people…who were they?

"Oh my!" She cried out, recognizing the face.

Author's notes: So I can just hear you screaming for this cliffhanger to end. So I will try and write something tonight and post it tomorrow, okay? Oh, I just love where this is going! Keep reading, and reviews are appreciated! And for those who don't know yet, I have a poem called Sasame's song that Sasame fans might wanna check out. It has nothing to do with this story, but it could keep you occupied until I post the next chapter… And as a warning, I think I might work on that Sasame/Himeno pairing that I said I would. So watch for it, whenever I even start it!