A/N: I probably didn't mention this earlyer, but some of this is from the flashbacks in Inner Universe, the other chapters I added are supposed to weave it all together... Let me know what you think!

Simple Beginnings

By: Jun-kei

Chapter 8: A different surprise

Three knocks sounded on the metallic door. Motoko could hear her mother's voice calling down from upstairs telling her to check whom it is.

"Mom, it's some guy in a business suit!"

"Oh, that must be Ishigo-san!" Yuki called down as she ran down the steps opening the door. "Ah, Ishigo-san! Do come in, I was expecting you!"

"Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you at last, Yuki-san. Where's your husband?"

"Oh… he's at work."

'Ishigo', a red haired man, with chocolate brown eyes shook his head.

"It's a pity. The man says that ever since you went off work, he's been the single source of income."

"Yes, that's true. Ever since I had to get a prosthetic body, he hardly gets a chance to see our daughters now. He's been working straight sixteen-hour shifts. It's no good for him, but he wants what's best for our girls." Yuki sighed. "He wasn't even here for May-chan's first birthday last week."

"I'm sure he misses them as much as they miss him."

Yuki nodded. "Ishigo-san, do take a seat." She motioned him into the kitchen, and they sat at the table. "So as we were asking,"

"Yes, your two daughters…are you sure about "Mayuka" she seems far too young for such a feat."

Yuki nodded. "Both Motoko and Mayuka would get along fine in your private school. Perhaps the only disadvantage Mayuka might have is that she'll be so much smaller than the other kids."

Ishigo nodded. "May I ask that you call both girls down here for now?"

Yuki nodded. "Mayuka, Motoko!"

Motoko walked in from the living room and bowed deeply.

"Hello, I'm Motoko, and-" Motoko turned around and sighed to see her younger sister jumping up and down excitedly. "She's Mayuka."

"Hello! Hello!" Mayuka greeted enthusiastically, before noticing the look Motoko was giving her. Mayuka suddenly sobered up, and stood straight and tall.

"Wow, how full of energy you are Mayuka! And how polite you are Motoko! My name's Ishigo Watari!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ishigo-san."

Motoko answered. Ishigo nodded, and took out two laptops. "You're mother's admitting you into my private school. But first, I want you two to take a little test." The computers turned on and Ishigo smiled. "Take your time."

An hour later both girls stopped typing. "We're done!"

"Already! Amazing, even the smartest of adults take hours to do this test! Now, it doesn't matter how well you did, as long as you try your best!"

Motoko nodded. She had a funny feeling she might have flunked the test. Ishigo looked over at the test results and smiled.

"Motoko Kusanagi. You got seventy five percent of the questions correct, and another ten partially correct. Your score is two hundred ten. Mayuka, you got eight-five percent right, another five partially correct, and the other ten percent were unaccountable. Your score is two hundred seventy-five. This is your IQ score. Mrs. Kusanagi, you've got yourself a deal. I'm impressed. So impressed I'll even pay for them to attend my school."

Chapter 9: Accident

It was rather cold outside; it was mid-December after all, as it snowed heavily. Despite this, Yuki Kusanagi sat outside to watch her two daughters play with a ball.

"Over here!" Yelled a winter coat clad Motoko. Her hair was tied up back into a ponytail as she shouted to Mayuka.

"Now be careful you two." Warned Yuki as she watched her two daughters play with the ball. "Ok O-kaa-san." Mayuka replied before passing the ball to her sister. As Motoko tried to catch it, she slipped on ice and fell; the ball had escaped her grasp, and rolled out into the busy street near by. "O-nee-san? I'm sorry …are you ok?"

Mayuka asked. Motoko nodded, as she rubbed her ankle. "Does your ankle hurt?"

"I'm fine May, really." Her sister replied as she tried to stand, but failed miserably as she was about to fall, until her mother caught her. "You should be more careful now. Did you hurt yourself?"

"It's just my ankle mom…"

"It's all my fault…" Mayuka cried as she fell to the ground crying. "Mayuka, stop crying. She's fine, ok?" The little girl smiled. "You mean nothing b-bad's gonna happen to O-nee-san?" Yuki raised an eyebrow in question. "Now why would you think that May?" May shrugged, as she got up. "I'll go get the ball."

Forgetting about their conversation, Yuki quickly helped her daughter stand and trying to prevent a disastrous event from happening. "May! Wait! Don't" But it was too late. The little toddler managed to get herself to the middle of the road, and grab the ball Yuki realized what would happen next as a van speeded down the road in Mayuka's direction.

"MAY! GET OUT OF THE ROAD! NOW!" May looked at her mother in confusion. "Huh, but why?" She stopped dead when seeing the vehicle coming towards her. But she was too short for it to see her. The toddler simply stayed put, unable to move from fear.

"MAY! YOU HAVE TO MOVE NOW!"

"MAYUKA!"

Motoko screamed as she bolted across the road, forgetting about her injured ankle, barely making it across when the van saw her and tried to skid to a stop, barely missing Mayuka but hitting her sister. Mayuka sank to her knees, crying, as Yuki ran out into the road, picking her up and hugging her as she too cried.

"N-n-no! O-nee-san… O-NEE-SAN!"

Chapter 10: The first prosthetic body

The only thing she heard were the blaring of sirens, soon replaced by dead silence. Motoko never knew what was going on. It seemed like she was in a deep black abyss for an eternity. That was until she heard muffled voices.

"Will she be ok?" The voice was soft, familiar. It was her mother's voice she heard. Yuki Kusanagi.

"Kusanagi-san, only time will tell." Came a second voice. "But-!"

"I can't give you an answer yet. We must wait and see." The other voice was unfamiliar to her. Soon, the other voice resumed talking. "The poor child. She really did love her sister didn't she? Mayuka seems to be fine, other than a few scratches and bruises… Amazing…self-sacrifice…. And the older one got the short end of the stick too…" The voice, a man's voice sighed. "If anything, being so young, Mayuka may suffer more mentally than physically. We've already run some tests; she seems to be fine now, but rather traumatized. Until she gets over it she may need sleeping pills to help her sleep better."

"Ok, thank you very much doctor."

Motoko could feel her eyes opening. She caught a glimpse of a young man in a white trench coat. His dark eyes widened when she moaned slightly.

"Ah! Motoko-chan, you're awake…how do you feel?" Motoko didn't answer at first, suddenly noticing how much heavier her body felt than it use to. She struggled to get up, with her mother's help, noticing she was on a hospital bed.

"What happened?"

"Well Motoko hunny…" The doctor cleared his throat. "You were in an accident. You were so badly wounded that we had to give you a prosthetic body."

"You didn't have to say it like that!"

"Well sugar coating the truth would be no good for her either!"

The doctor growled. Motoko looked around. "Where's the mirror?"

"Now hun, don't push yourself…you might not want to-"

The doctor gruffly handed Motoko the mirror. Motoko peered in, shocked, and filled with dread she dropped it immediately. The mirror hit the ground, shattering.

"I'm sorry kid, but that's the new you. You're going to have to get used to it."

Chapter 11: By my side

Motoko suddenly felt like an outsider by all of this. She immediately noted how all her classmates looked at her differently. They immediately knew something happened to her.

The bloody prosthetic bodies they had for children were too artificial. It just made them stand out.

And constantly, Motoko was ridiculed for it.

For outsiders, they no longer saw Motoko Kusanagi, but rather, a doll impersonating her.

And the loathed every second of it.

But despite that, she never said a word to anyone about it.

Yet some how, she knew.

Some how Mayuka knew how she felt, because Mayuka did what ever she could to stay by Motoko's side, and help her out with anything she could.

Even though, Motoko could see that all this extra work, took a toll on Mayuka herself.

Yet, every time Motoko would question her about it, Mayuka would give that nonchalant smile of hers.

"It's ok, Motoko."

She said it every time. But Mayuka was still young. Nearly two years old, yet she pretended that the whole ordeal of her sister getting a prosthetic body was nothing.

Perhaps the fact that she did didn't bother Mayuka.

But what did was that if Motoko didn't try to save her, she wouldn't need a prosthetic body. She didn't need to say it out loud, but Motoko could tell anyways. Even now Mayuka had troubles sleeping, and were still on those pills.

The whole ordeal worried their parents greatly.

But Mayuka tried to pretend it was nothing. She was trying to grasp something. Trying to grasp the very thing that mattered most to her. Their parents couldn't see what it was Mayuka was trying so desperately to hold onto.

Motoko did however.

Mayuka was trying to hold onto the past. Hold onto the times when things weren't as troubled as they were now. Hold on to the time when things were just beginning, and all of it was simple, pure, and undisturbed.

Motoko knew she would never be able to do that. Never. Simply because the past was the past. And to keep living in the past, one might as well be dead, because you can't be in both past and present.

Yet at the same time, Motoko couldn't bring herself to tell Mayuka that, because if she did it would shatter Mayuka. And Mayuka was far too young and impressionable, so for now, it was best she saw things in her own simple-minded view.

Chapter 12: A mother's embrace

Motoko could feel the car rock, skidding all over once it hit ice. She heard the alarm in her mother's voice.

"Kyosuke!"

"Yes, I know Yuki!"

Their father replied back.

It was supposed to be a trip up to the cottage for the winter.

But what they got instead was worse.

Much worse.

The car span out of control, and before they knew it, it began falling off the ridge. Motoko could hear a seat belt clip being unbuckled, and seconds before impact, Yuki jumped into the back of the car, a determined look on her face as she hugged both of her daughters.

"Take care of yourself, and her, Motoko."

Motoko could hear the terrible sound as sparks flew; metal hitting ash vault and being dragged along it.

She couldn't see what happened. But the car suddenly seemed tight and uncomfortable.

Silence filled the air, until Mayuka's cries broke it.

Motoko sighed in relief, and quickly regretted it when she looked up at her mother.

She wasn't breathing.

A/N: I'm crule, I know it. I just had to end it there.

Ja-ne!

Jun-kei!