4.
"I still don't think this is right,"
"You think its right to leave a ten year old out in the cold? What is wrong with you? She needs guidance and shelter. I am sure she could make a great miko. The high priests will not question her past---"
"If she stays here, you might as well give yourself in! The young girl knows who you are; I cannot just pretend to be this child's father! Just look at her eerie cerulean eyes; they are evil spirits within her! She holds the powers of that evil witch. She will expose her powers and will become your downfall! Are you willing to lose everything for this bastard child?"
The young girl whimpered silently as she hid herself behind her father. "She is my daughter."
"Dear brother, do understand this scenario! Set your priorities straight; your present is essential in this shrine. People need your wisdom and guidance! It would be quite selfish to sacrifice everything for this mere child!"
"She is my daughter!"
The older man stared at him for a moment. The young priest picked up his daughter and held her closely.
"Very well," the older priest snorted as he stood up and made his way towards the door, "I will go along with your plan. But when she develops those uncontrollable evil powers, I cannot do much more than to turn her in."
"Thank you,"
Three years later, she studied vividly under a cherry blossom tree. The punishment was tedious once again; her training as a miko was quite demanding and difficult. Her uncle was harsh and kept telling her how fortune she was to be his brother's father or she would have been executed long time ago.
She was a calm teenager. She followed every order and accepted every punishment without questioning. Her beginning years as a miko introduced her to the famous Mitsuko Yasu, her father's first child. She too lifted her father's name with great pride. They were fifteen years apart; Mitsuko Yasu was always in the spotlight and she was always in the shadows. Mitsuko knew about her sister's dark past and took it to her advantage.
One night, the thirteen year old woke up from a starting dream. She snuck out from her room and ran through the woods. She stopped and fell on her knees next to a split leafless tree. She buried her tiny hands into the soil. Her white and red robes were filthy the moment she stopped digging. Her eyes widen as she reached down and laid a large textbook across her lap. She blew the dirt off and opened it. In the middle of the book was a small jewelry box. Once opened, she reached into it and gazed at its beauty. She wore it around her neck and was about to amble back to the shrine until her eyes flashed black. The evil energy within was released beyond her control and soon the enchanted forest was under the flames of fiery hell. She fell back and made a run for it. Suddenly, someone fell right on top of her---
Kimiko shot up from her bed. She breathed heavily; cold sweat slowly rolled down her forehead. The room was unrealistically messy; she shook her head violently. She panicked; her wrists started to burn and she started to cry out. Rolling up her long sleeves, the scars were still there.
As she calmed down a bit, Kimiko averted her attention towards the lazy ceiling fan and took another deep breath. Her attention went abruptly from her endless thoughts to her dream. Kimiko suddenly recognized the place where that ten-year-old girl found that book.
She gazed at the window intensively.
In the living room, Raimundo gazed at the oversized polo shirt and the pin strip over coat. It had dried bloodstains and tears all over the right shoulder. He laid out the orange suspenders, black dress pants, the oversized mossy pants, a pair of large smelly dress shoes and one clown shoe.
Man does he need clothes.
Clay leaned against the doorframe and made his way towards the sulky Brazilian. He could not help himself but to laugh at him. "From the looks of it, I reckon you take care of them rubber ducky boxers ya wearing because that's all you have left."
Raimundo glared at him and then sulky looked at the articles of clothing that lay on the couch.
"Ah, cheer up, Raimundo! Once we figured out where Dojo is, we can pass by your place and get some clothing."
"Wait, Dojo isn't here?"
"He disappeared from sight ever since that strange Kimiko incident that occurred last night. Speaking of Kimiko, what are we going to do with her? If we planned on finding out what was going on, we have to keep her at close range at all times. We reckon we don't want a repeat of yesterday."
"Should we worry about Dojo?"
"He's probably off to see Master Fung," Clay shrugged, "I doubt he would get any more information about what happened to Kimiko than what he already gave to Omi."
"Wait, what did he say to Omi?"
"Some old Japanese tale about some creepy miko whatever committing suicide and other stuff,"
Raimundo raised a brow, "Wait, what! What's a miko?"
"Exactly,"
"Well anyways, we can't be separated either," Raimundo, sighed as he sat down, "whatever they are, they're way too powerful. We barely escape that last battle! What if---"
"Clay, Raimundo, we have a situation!"
Raimundo rolled his eyes, "Um, Omi, where were you the night when we were attacked by Kimiko's psychopathic cousin?"
"No I am at most serious!" Omi exclaimed, "We should worry about Kimiko!"
"We've been worried about her since day one, partner" Clay sighed, "are you sure you didn't fell on your head during that last battle?"
Steam came out from his ears as he narrowed his eyes, "I did not fell on my head! Kimiko is missing! She is not in her room!"
"WAIT, WHAT!"
All three of them rushed into Kimiko's room and found nothing else but an open window.
The rain started to pour profoundly. It took Kimiko a while to reach her father's house. She quickly brushed off her old nannies, entered the large backyard and made her way into the woods. Childhood memories rushed into her mind as she made her way through the distorted forest. Her great grandmother used to tell her many fascinating Japanese tales of gods, priestess, brave samurais and heartfelt love stories. She remembered one tale in particular called the Double Sighted Miko. Her great grandmother stressed out how the novice miko blessings lived forever upon this very ground. Her father never believed his grandmother's stories; he would tease her like the rest of his family.
She ran faster; among the whole family, she was the only one who believed her great grandmother stories.
Her curiosity got her into trouble because of it.
Kimiko halted right in front of a dead tree. Suddenly, everything around her seemed to turn back to her dream. The rain suddenly stops; she was dry. The woods gained back their youthful greens and the expired ashes around her turned into healthy soil. Her long raven hair was now short and tied back with an old handmade ribbon. Her outfit suddenly became looser and smaller. In fact, she became smaller.
Her hands were suddenly filthy. The scar disappeared and a necklace rested softly between her immature breasts. As she was about to touch it, a slender girl was right in front of her.
Kimiko squealed and fell on her bottom, "W-who are you?"
The young ghastly girl slowly smiled. She pointed at her locket. Kimiko gazed at it and was confused, "Wait, you were that little girl in my dreams! You were here before. Why are you pointing at this locket? Are you going to help me?"
She blinked a couple of times and looked up into the grey skies. Kimiko barely stood up. Leaning her body weight against the tree, she ignored the pain from her ankle. "I-I don't understand."
Suddenly arrows shot from every direction towards Kimiko. She cringed and was about to face the agony of her death until the young girl stopped it midway. Kimiko slowly peeked up to find a force field around her. An army of dead looking samurais turned into ash the moment she shot her arrow . . .
Raimundo fell right on top of her, protecting her from the creatures around her. Clay used his element to isolate the two from the zombies. Omi cleared the area by flooding the distorted forest. Raimundo carried Kimiko over his injured shoulder and ran out from the woods as fast as he can. Kimiko managed to gaze back at the aftermath of the ambush.
The little girl disappeared.
They stopped to the closest secluded place near Kimiko's apartment. Raimundo slowly place Kimiko onto the ground and told Omi to shut the rusty door. She faintly heard rainfall once more; her clothes were drenched. Clay turned pale the moment he realized what the place truly was. Kimiko sat up and gazed at a shivering Raimundo ripping off a piece of his mossy clown pants to wrap around her ankle. Even with his lips trembling, he managed to glare at her. Raimundo was about to yell at her but Omi rushed between them and angrily ran his mouth at Kimiko so fast it gave her a migraine.
"First of," She winced a little when Raimundo elevated her leg on his lap, "I'm sorry I did that."
"I-Is that all you can say to us! You must b-be out of your mind running off like that under the pouring rain! A-After many h-hours of running a-around Tokyo like l-lunatics," Raimundo managed to say, "We were a-ambushed and were a-almost killed until we managed to flee thanks to some little girl!"
Kimiko eyes widen.
"Then," Clay added, "that same pale young girl led the way. She barely said anything. She led us to you. We saw you talking to yourself. We were about to approach you and wake you up until an army of dead looking samurais came out from the ground and attacked us. Raimundo dove right in front of you and saved you. We managed to flee from that one too."
"Wait, you guys saw a little girl too?"
"Um, y-yea, why?"
'How is that possible?' she thought as she gazed at the locket that rested on the palm of her hands. 'How can the little girl be in two places at one time? Man, this stuff is getting more confusing----'
"Um, Kim," Clay flatly spoken, "I hate to break your little staring contest with that thingy that you're wearing but its getting pretty dark. Raimundo here barely has any clothes left to wear. The least we want right now is Raimundo catching a cold---"
She zoned out Clay and gazed at Raimundo. He wore his clown pants, orange suspenders and had no shoes. He looked paler; he was tired and goose bumps became visible all over his body. Kimiko wanted to slap herself. She had been worried about her problems for so long that she had forgotten her friend's well-being. She zoned out the fact that Raimundo had literally dropped everything for her and all she had been doing in return was giving him a hard time.
Guilt stuck her throughout the rest of the night as she guided them to her apartment.
Raimundo, Omi and Clay took turns using the bathroom. Kimiko quickly went out and bought Raimundo's clothes, take out and three twin size inflatable mattresses. One she reached home, all three of them were in their under garments watching TV. She sighed and mumbled how it reminded her of the good old times back in the Xiaolin Temple. Setting the food up in front of them, no one hesitated to grab a plate. Raimundo took the opportunity to change into nice comfortable pajamas and sat back down. He gazed at Kimiko as she inflated the mattresses and set numerous bags of clothing on top of his mattress without saying a word. His eyes never left her; she limped back into the room, started to lay out bed sheets, and set out neatly folded blankets. Once everything was set, Kimiko said her good nights and went straight to the bathroom. No one dared questioned her strange and impulsive behavior. Instead, Raimundo got their attention by revealing a soiled ancient book that he found lying next to the dead tree.
Kimiko gazed at the locket one more time before she submerged herself in a tub filled with warm water and colorful bubbles. For the rest of the night, her thoughts went back to the little girl and her dream.
