Ch 63
V 1.0
A/N 1 – the two songs in the main chapter are 'Inuyasha's Lullaby' (1) and 'Halo 4 OST: Atonement' (2) and can be found at YouTube; plug in the titles in the YouTube search field to hear them. You will have to listen to them to understand the songs since they do not have spoken word lyrics. The time to play them in another tab are marked by (1) and (2).
Pictures of the R/L cathedral can be found by Google/Yahoo searching the following (tripadvisor catholic yamate church pictures)
I have an announcement to make regarding how I am going to be writing chapters from now on; I'm sure most of you will be happy to hear it. Details are at the end of the chapter. This chapter will consist of one major segment with Keitaro, Nyamo and Sarah from her POV, and one serious omake and some humorous mini-omakes.
Sacred Heart Cathedral
Yamate-cho, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture
Metro Tokyo, Japan
late February, late Saturday morning
Sarah McDougal and Nyamo Namo stepped through the doorway, looking around curiously as Keitaro Urashima followed behind them and closed the wood side door behind him. It had taken them a while to get to Yokohama from Hinata City by trolley and train, but the trip had been kind of fun, if a bit chilly. Sarah had gotten a little too used to her woolen gakuran uniform, and wearing a skirt was starting to feel strange again, especially since she was not wearing tights under it to keep warm.
Seeing Keitaro dressed up in a dark blue suit and tie with a white shirt had been slightly unusual, especially since he was wearing clip-on shades over his squared off glasses and apparently creeping some people out around them. A couple of police officers on foot patrol at the train station had given them the hairy eyeball and had started walking toward them, presumably to ask why he was in the company of two young girls, but once they caught sight of the Urashima crest pin on the lapel of his coat they backed off post-haste.
Arriving at the last trolley station they had to walk about a block before they got to the cathedral. Looking up at the traditional architecture of the smallish church before walking up the steps to the main doors, Sarah was reminded of the much larger cathedral she and her mother had seen in San Francisco…in fact it had been just before the doctors in that city had come back with the diagnosis of what was wrong with her mom.
Mentally shaking her head, the girl looked around the interior of the church after she had tucked her rolled up light blue tartan beret under the flap of her purse. It looked much like the other churches she had visited in the States, but there was something slightly different about this one. It may have had to do with the fact that there was a raised pulpit to the side of the red carpeted altar platform, or that in spite of the stained glass windows the interior was well lit from the sunshine outside, but after a moment she figured out what it was; there was no crucifix above the altar. There was a smaller gold crucifix on a stand behind the altar table, but above the altar itself in a lit wall niche was a white statue of Jesus looking out toward the nave of the church, His hands reaching out palms up and waist high, which was a lot more inviting than the usual statue of Him crucified on the cross.
Sarah then looked back at her two companions, focusing on her roommate. Nyamo was not someone who would be considered a wasteful spender, especially when it came to clothes. The blonde was pretty sure that the clothes she had seen the islander girl wearing when she reunited with her and Seta in Osaka were the same ones she had seen her wearing on the island in Thailand, and it had drawn undue attention to her for two reasons; one, the garments themselves were more than a little ragged and two, Nyamo had been in the middle of a growth spurt and her t-shirt and cut-off jean shorts were a little too tight and short on her. In fact the dark haired girl had been wearing two shirts layered on top on each other to conceal the fact that her boobs were stretching the thin wash-worn fabric.
Sarah had loaned her some of her own shirts and shorts and trimmed the ragged ends of her hair to help her fit in better, and those clothes had pretty much been all she had until she had received the three sets of fuku school uniforms. Which was kind of the point now; Nyamo was wearing her school blouse, skirt, jacket, and shoes, missing only the jumper and neckerchief. Which was total bullcrap in her opinion; the dark haired girl was now receiving more than enough money from the trust fund to buy decent threads. The next time the pair had some free time she was going to drag her to the stores to go clothes shopping, even if she was kicking and screaming, unlikely as that was. It would probably be better to enlist Aki to help her, but after a moment's thought she reconsidered; she could just imagine what kind of clothes the older girl would select for her friend, not to mention underwear. Sarah shuddered at the thought; Seta had wimped out when they had been buying Nyamo undergarments, so the blonde had been stuck helping the store clerk measure the dark-haired islander girl for bras, (Sarah had mentally thanked the gods that her friend was wearing panties and did not need help buying them; she would have had a breakdown if it had turned out that Nyamo had been going commando under her jean shorts all the time she had known her up to that point) and then having to show the girl how to put them on and adjust them. Aki would probably have Nyamo wearing a black lace demi-cup bra and thong panties if she had a choice. Maybe it would be better to bring Hikari along instead.
"Sarah-kun." The blonde's head turned at the call. "This is Sister Agnes Tanaka, she is a friend of Granny Hina." Keitaro was standing next to a short elderly Japanese lady whose head was barely past his shoulder. She was wearing a long black dress belted around the waist by a white apron and a white collar, a thin dull silver colored chain and cross hanging from her neck to mid-chest level and a black and white headdress that covered her hair while leaving her face and neck exposed. It was not until the younger girl looked directly at the older woman that she saw the scars; there were faint burn scars on most of her face, not visible unless in direct lighting. But what was most noticeable was that her eyes were a cloudy white over brown irises. The woman was looking directly at her, but she could not be certain where her gaze was focused on.
"It is an honor to meet you, Sister Agnes." Sarah performed a medium bow, only for the nun to reach out with one hand toward her.
The blonde girl reached out as well, and the woman clasped her hand with both of her own before speaking. "There is no need to bow to me child, I am merely a servant in this great house." The lined and scarred face wrinkled some more when she smiled. "Blessed be all those who enter the House of God." Turning toward Nyamo she asked, "And who would you be, child?"
"My name is Nyamo, Holy Sister." The islander girl bowed as well.
"Oh, Holy I am not. Blessed perhaps to be here, but I don't think I will reach that exalted status." The old woman peered harder at Nyamo before looking back at Sarah. "Are either of you Christian children?"
"I was baptized in the Catholic Church, if that's what you're asking," Sarah replied cautiously. "I haven't really practiced for the last couple years, ever since my mom passed away. She had problems with the pastor of the diocese we lived in because she had me out of wedlock and wasn't very repentful about it. We had to have her funeral and that of my grandfather done at another diocese because of it."
"That was not very Christian of that pastor to do." Everyone could see the disapproval on her face. The nun turned toward Nyamo. "What about you, young lady?"
"I was baptized by Christian missionary in village that grandfather and I visit when young, not stay there long. I pray to the spirits of the sky and the sea, they give me their blessings." Nyamo answered with no expression on her face.
"Hm." The sound the nun made was nether approving or disapproving. "But you live a good life treating others as you would want yourself treated?" The islander girl nodded. "That is what is important. There are many paths winding up the mountain to our final reward, how you get there is not as important as the fact that you arrive there."
"That doesn't sound like what that old priest would say," Sarah remarked.
"Perhaps." The elderly woman turned back toward Sarah. "How may I help you, Sarah-san? Keitaro-san tells me that you requested this visit."
Sarah gave a single shoulder shrug. "A few months ago some really bad things happened to the group I was in. Eventually Keitaro-san was able to get me out of it, so I figured that I owe some thanks to God as well, and this would be the place for it." The girl had paused for a moment at the end; her intended flippant words 'the Big Guy' did not seem very appropriate to use in a house of worship in front of a religious person.
"I am glad to hear that. Unfortunately it is not that common for young people to come to church of their own volition anymore, usually they come with their family out of obligation." The elderly nun glanced at Keitaro for a moment. "Feel free to look around the church, Keitaro-san and I need to speak for a moment."
The two adults watched as the two girls wandered off before the nun turned and looked up the younger man. "What can you tell me about them?" He could tell it was not a casual question.
Keitaro sighed. "Nyamo-chan is an orphan, she was living on her own in a small sailing boat for two years after her last relative died. Her grandfather had worked for my mentor Noriyasu Seta and she worked for him as well." He had asked for his wards' permission to tell the nun about certain parts of their lives, and after detailing what he was going to say the girls agreed. "Sarah-kun is an orphan as well, with what little family she has left not wanting to take her after her mother died. Seta-sensei gained custody and adopted her at her mother's request. We were all on an expedition in Thailand when we were attacked by pirates. One of the other members was fatally wounded, Seta-sensei was seriously hurt, and Sarah-kun was taken."
Sister Agnes stiffened at the last sentence. "And what happened then?"
"Another man and I went after her and followed her to Roanapur and took her back." Keitaro replied shortly. "Things were seen and done, and people died." He was not going to go into more detail than that.
The nun gave a slight shudder at the name of the port town and crossed herself. "A God-less place."
"I agree." Keitaro gave a thin humorless smile in response before sighing. "The problem is that while the worst that could have happened to Sarah-kun did not occur, it still affected her badly. She does not like being the center of attention and she reacts badly to bullying. She is having nightmares of what happened and could wind up hurting someone as a result."
"Hurting someone." Sister Agnes repeated. "How can she hurt someone while she is having nightmares?"
"On her own she learned how to tap into her chi, and I am training her on how to control it." Seeing the nun fix her full attention on him he continued speaking. "If I don't train her she will continue to access it unconsciously and that can result in Sarah hurting herself or someone else. She already accidentally hit someone trying to wake her from a nightmare." Sister Agnes nodded; she was familiar with chi and ki usage. "I was hoping that talking to you would help her."
"You realize that I am not a trained counselor," Sister Agnes said with a slight frown on her face.
"No, but you are the closest to one that I have on hand, and I don't want for what happed to Granny Hina after the war, or what happened to my cousin Haruka to occur. I don't think it would work if I made her go to a professional against her will. She really does need to talk to someone, and I am hope she will with you," Keitaro finished.
"I will do what I can, of course." The elderly nun turned to see that the two girls was standing before of a niche containing a painting along the wall, a wrought iron stand holding votive candles in front. "If you will excuse me?" Keitaro nodded and the woman walked toward the pair, coming to a stop alongside the blonde.
"You know, this is a little strange to me. The versions I'm used to don't look like this." Sarah kept her eyes forward and focused on the painting of the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus. While the basic premise was that of a young mother and child with halos around their heads, the two figures were visibly Asian in their depiction and clothing, with the background drawn as a Japanese style field.
"Christianity has been in Japan since the mid 1500s but it was prohibited shortly afterwards for political reasons." Sister Agnes stated. "Christians went into hiding until the Tokugawa shogunate was broken and the Meiji restoration in the late 1800s. Those that did not foreswear their faith and continued to practice in secret were known as Kakure Kirishitan, hidden Christians. One of the things they did was hide their faith in plain sight, such as praying to statues and paintings of the Virgin Mary that looked like Shinto or Buddhist deities."
"I see. It's just that the paintings of the Virgin Mary I'm used to have her either look white or Hispanic." Seeing the question in the nun's eyes Sarah continued. "Remember how I said that my family's funerals were held in a different church than the parish we lived in? The church we went to was attended by people who mostly spoke Spanish, so their version looked a lot like them." The nun nodded in understanding; the Virgin of Guadalupe had the appearance of a Hispanic woman.
Silence fell for a long moment before Nyamo quietly excused herself and wandered back to Keitaro. The nun stepped closer to the blonde girl but stayed quiet, waiting for her to speak first. It took a few minutes before she finally did so.
"For a long time I didn't have a lot of respect for the Church." Sarah kept her eyes forward. "That jerk priest had a lot to do with it, especially when he refused to officiate my grandfather's funeral, at least without my family paying him a lot of money." Sister Agnes twitched slightly at those words. "We didn't even try asking when my mom passed on. Padre Ricardo took care of everything, I owe him a lot for that." Memories came to mind of sitting in church for the funeral with Seta and the few little old ladies that seemed to be at every service, yet feeling utterly alone. Memories of standing next to the open grave in the cemetery and looking down at the coffin being lowered. Memories of going off to live with her uncle in San Francisco, who patently did not want her there.
"Things started to look up when the custody paperwork went through and I was sent off to be with Seta." Sarah thought back to her uncle walking her through the airport check-in and security checkpoint before turning her over to the boarding agents at the plane gate before walking away with a short and terse farewell. The near twelve hour flight alone on the jumbo jet from San Fran to Tokyo, to be met by a smiling unshaven Russian pilot at the gate, one who's picture she had been sent by Seta. The flight on his plane from Narita to Koh Samui, finally reuniting with her new adoptive father and his new dorky assistant. "And everything went downhill from there." The blonde girl turned to look at the nun, who was looking back at her with an impassive expression. "How much of what happened did Keitaro-san tell you?"
"Not much. That there was an attack, that your father was seriously injured and another died." Sister Agnes replied quietly. "That you were taken, but that Keitaro-san and another were able to eventually able to get you back, thankfully without the worst happening to you."
Sarah nodded before looking forward toward the portrait again. "I was in that basement for what I later found out to be almost a month. It felt much longer. One of the things I learned is that you can't be full blast scared for so long without it wearing down to a numb fear. But I tried praying to God, to Jesus, to whoever was listening, but it did not give me any comfort. I felt so utterly alone, sitting there in that bright light."
"It's called desolation." Sarah glanced over at Sister Agnes' words. "Jesus felt much the same the night before He was arrested by the authorities. It is also known as the dark night of the soul."
"It fits." Sarah looked forward toward the portrait before her again. "It got to the point where I was looking forward to being back together with my mother and grandfather." The next few words almost did not come out, but they finally did. "One way or the other."
Sister Agnes looked at her sharply. "You weren't going to…"
"That would be a grave mortal sin, Sister." Sarah glanced at the nun out of the corner of her eye. "But it didn't come to that, because I finally got an answer to my prayer."
"How so?" Sister Agnes turned squarely toward her.
"When I was praying to my mother, I heard something." Sarah answered. "It wasn't audible words, but it was like someone whispered in my ear and it gave me the strength to hang on."
"What did you hear?" Sister Agnes' eyes were fixed on her at this point.
"Stay strong, we are coming," Sarah glanced at the nun again. "And a few days later Keitaro-san and Gaz got me out."
"Gaz?" The nun blinked at the name.
"Gaz Shaw, the other guy that went in with Keitaro-san. He died during the escape." Sarah kept her eyes forward.
"May the Lord have taken him into Heaven." Sister Agnes crossed herself.
"Hope so. He died rescuing me, and Yuri died trying to keep me from being taken. If that doesn't qualify them for Heaven I don't know much else that would." Sarah bowed her head and rubbed her eyes and the bridge of her nose. Knowing what the next question was she continued speaking. "Yuri Orlov was the other guard on the island, the one that was fatally wounded in the attack that got me."
"I see." Sister Agnes could that the young girl's shoulders were bowed as if under great weight, and she could understand the reason why; Sarah blamed herself for the deaths of the two men she had been speaking about.
"I have a question Sister." The older woman turned toward her. "How can you tell if your life is worth what others have spent on it?" asked Sarah.
"I beg your pardon?" The nun blinked again.
"I was a bratty pain in the ass wiseass to everyone in my life, including my dad, and especially Keitaro-san, and they all risked and spent their lives to save me." Sarah's head was still bowed. "I can't help but think that they shouldn't have. People died because me, and I don't think I was worth it."
A hand with a grip like a vise grabbed her on her arm and turned her to the side; trying not to gasp in surprise Sarah was now facing a visible angry nun.
"Those men made their own choice in going to rescue you. If you cannot see the reason why they would do so, the least you can do is respect them for doing so." Being glowered at by those white-filmed eyes was almost as bad as being glared at by Keitaro without ki projection. "If you don't think you are worth being saved, then earn your worthiness. Don't let their sacrifices be in vain." Sister Agnes let go of her arm and took a deep breath. "Forgive me for touching you and losing my temper." The nun performed a deep bow toward her.
"There's nothing to forgive, I was the one wallowing in guilt and depression here. At least you didn't smack me for it." Sarah smiled slightly to put the nun at ease. "And what you said makes a lot of sense, you're just the one to put it into words. I've already started doing some of it, now I have a name for it."
"How so?" The nun had a curious look on her face.
"I really hate bullies, and there's a lot of that going on at my school. I became a Class Representative so I can try and help put a stop it. I just have to keep my temper under control." Sarah could see the curiosity intensify. "I saw a bully about to kick a friend of mine who she had knocked to the floor. I lost my temper and rushed her but I didn't hurt the bully in the end. Just have to make sure it doesn't happen again, and Keitaro-san is helping me with that."
"That is good to hear." Given what Keitaro had told her about his training his ward to control her chi, the nun could see why it was necessary; while it was not common for chi users to lose control, the instances where they did tended to be spectacular.
"If you don't mind Sister Agnes, I have a question. How did you get those," Sarah made a vague gesture toward her own face. "I've only seen marks like that once, and they were on a military-type person."
"Then we probably got them the same way." Sister Agnes was not disturbed by the query, although it was usually asked by very young children who had not learned to be polite, at least by Japanese standards. "When I was about two years old the city I was living in was firebombed during the war, and the house my family lived in was hit. The fire caused the house to collapse, and I sustained second and third degree burns on my face and hands. I was medically evacuated to the countryside with my mother to our great fortune. My mother, who's family had been Kakure Krishitians, found work with a Catholic medical order treating the wounded and orphaned and we survived the war where the rest of our family did not. When I became an adult I joined the order and became a nun."
"Great fortune?" Sarah asked uncertainly.
"The city my family had been living in was Nagasaki. Our home was in the Urakami Valley half a kilometer from the epicenter. My mother and I were evacuated two days before the atomic attack." It was now Sister Agnes' turn to be staring at the portrait.
"I'm sorry." If there were a totally inadequate phrase in any language known to Sarah, it was that one. "Pardon my rudeness."
"Ever since I became aware of what happened, I wondered why it was that I was spared when others were not." Sister Agnes continued speaking. "When I was about your age I decided that I need to thank the Lord by helping others, so I started studying to join the order and to become a nurse. For over fifty years I helped and taught others until my eyes started to give out on me." The nun waved at her white-filmed eyes. "So now I do what I can to help others however I can."
"You've been a great help, Sister." Sarah lightly touched the nun on the arm, and when turned to look at her she gave a deep bow. "Thank you for speaking to a confused girl."
"You're welcome." Sister Agnes returned the bow. "Feel free to come speak with me whenever you feel the need to."
"If you will excuse me, there is something else I have to do here. Thank you again." Giving a slighter bow Sarah straightened and walked toward the front of the cathedral, with Keitaro and Nyamo walking up to the nun a few moments later. The young man merely raised an eyebrow and the older woman knew what he was asking.
"We talked." Sister Agnes stated. "She was able to get some things off her shoulders, hopefully it helped. I invited her to come talk to me again whenever she wants."
"Thank you Sister Agnes. You've been a great help." Keitaro bowed toward the nun, who returned it.
"I've been helping people for many years, it's what I do." Sister Agnes replied. "And if the Good Lord permits it, continue to do so a few years more. You have my phone number, please be sure to give it to Sarah-san if you would." The nun would have said more, but all three stopped in place when the sound of singing began to echo throughout the cathedral, coming from the front of the church.
Sarah stood at the head of the nave facing the altar and the statue of Jesus behind it. Today had been the first time she had been in a church since her mother's funeral years ago, and it had not been something she had been planning to do until recently. But it was hard to deny that something greater than herself had been responsible for getting her out of Roanapur, and she felt she owed it to whoever that was. She knew she owed a great debt to Keitaro and her father, but she also owed it to whoever upstairs was responsible as well; whether it was the spirit of her mother, a guardian angel, or God Himself.
What Su has said some weeks ago about singing being the way her people prayed was not the first time she had heard of that concept. One of her earliest memories had been her mother Cynthia sitting next to her bed singing a lullaby, and she occasionally sang around the house while doing chores. But one of the last times Sarah had really heard her mother sing had been a hymn at her grandfather's funeral, which brought everyone to a complete standstill. The last time she had heard her was at her bedside while she was dying of cancer, singing that lullaby one last time while she was laying in the bed with her sobbing. Cynthia had passed away a week later.
Until recently it had almost been too painful for her to sing. It had only been when she had been in the depths of despair in Roanapur that she had done it again, and these days it did not hurt so much anymore. She had been gradually doing more of it here in Japan, and while she was probably never going to be comfortable enough to do it in public of her own free will she was probably going to do it more often, especially if her friends had anything to say about it.
Looking up at the statue Sarah closed her eyes. While she still remembered some of her childhood prayers, they did not feel appropriate for the moment. She wanted to give her thanks to whoever had saved her, and the only way that seemed right was the way her mother had shown her. (1)
The song began to echo throughout the cathedral, instantly drawing the attention of the three people standing behind and to the side of the blonde girl. The wordless melody sounded like something that a mother would sing to an infant cradled in her arms, both beautiful and sad at the same time. They could only see Sarah from behind so they could not see her face, but her head was tilted back and she was swaying back and forth slightly as she sang.
Keitaro glanced from Nyamo to Sister Agnes beside him. While the younger girl was smiling in enjoyment, the older nun was enraptured. The young man did not say anything; there really was nothing to say, until the melody changed.
Sarah stopped singing after a couple of minutes. While the lullaby her mother would sing could go on indefinitely, it was not the reason she was doing this. That song had been a source of comfort early in her life, but it was now linked to her mother's passing, which usually produced a bout of melancholy if she thought too much on it.
This other song had been heard by her only once. It was similar to the song Cynthia had sung at her grandfather's funeral, but where the religious hymn brought everyone to a standstill, this song was a time-stopping siren call. Cynthia had sung it one night standing in the back yard of their house in the hills near Lake Tahoe right after her father's death, having heard her own mother Evangeline sing it before she passed away herself, and by the time she was finished the night had been completely silent; even the insects and birds in the woods had gone quiet. It was not in English, Spanish, Gaelic, Welsh, or any language she had been exposed to, but the young girl had understood the intent behind the words. The song was a lament for those who had passed on before them, praising their memory; it was a plea that they reunite in the next life.
And with that thought Sarah began to sing again. (2)
"Oh my Lord," whispered Sister Agnes.
The song Sarah was now singing had words, but they were in a language that was not commonly known. It sounded like a Gregorian chant in Latin but it was not; due to her religious schooling Sister Agnes was at least at a basic conversational level for that language but this was not something that was widely heard, at least for hundreds of years.
"Keitaro-san? Did you teach her this?" Nyamo whispered. She had heard singing like this before on the Higgins boat during Yuri's Viking funeral. Her dark brown eyes were fixed on her blonde friend, along with the eyes of every person in the cathedral, including some that had heard the previous singing from the church offices and came to see the source.
"No, I didn't." Keitaro could understand why the younger girl would ask him this; what Sarah was currently singing was a form of Spirit Song, one that she had heard from another source or even more incredibly came up with on her own. He had heard this melody once, in Roanapur; it had been one of the ways they were able to confirm that Sarah was alive and nearby. But where he had heard a form of psychic echo, now he was hearing the full effect, and was enough to set his chi senses on fire.
"Keitaro-san, how did Sarah-san learn this?" Sister Agnes asked in wonder. "This is the Llanto al Cielo, the Cry to Heaven. This is what solo singers and choirs have strove for centuries, it's the highest form of sung prayer there is. This form of song has the power to turn the tide of battles."
"I know." Keitaro's flat empty tone drew Sister Agnes' attention, but only for a moment. Everyone's eyes snapped forward when the pitch of Sarah's singing changed.
Up until now Sarah had been singing in her usual mezzo-soprano voice; now her voice had an alto echo. But it was not just the doubled voice that was different, it was the emotion and the experience in it; her voice now sounded older, sadder, and much more experienced. It was as though there was someone singing alongside Sarah in unison.
If the girl's previous singing had drawn attention, this had doubled down on it. By now there were a dozen people in the cathedral that had not been there previously, a mixture of both religious and lay persons, and they were all spellbound and wide-eyed. Among them were some clerics, with one of them wearing the purple waist sash of a bishop.
By now Sarah's voice was filling the structure as though she was singing into a microphone. The echoing melody had so much power and emotion that some of the onlookers had to sit down in the pews before they collapsed to the floor.
While everyone else was frozen in place, Keitaro slowly made his way up to the head of the nave and was standing a couple of paces behind Sarah, looking not as her, but slightly to one side. This was because he could see something with his chi sight that everyone else probably couldn't; there was a spirit beside Sarah singing along with her, a spirit that looked like an older version of the girl. A spirit that was very probably Cynthia McDougal, her deceased mother.
Finally the singing ceased. As silence fell in the cathedral, Sarah stayed still, her head still tilted back slightly and her eyes closed. But the ghost turned toward him and silently mouthed the words, Please take care of my little girl.
Keitaro silently replied, I will.
The spirit smiled at him in response before looking back at her daughter. With a look of love on her face, the spirit leaned over and kissed Sarah on the cheek before fading away. It was not a moment later that the girl began to collapse, only for Keitaro to instantly move and catch her before she fell to the floor, winding up on one knee with Sarah in his arms.
"Sarah-chan!" Nyamo ran up to the pair, with Sister Agnes a few moments behind her, nowhere near as spry as the islander girl. "Is she hurt?!"
"No. She's chi exhausted." Keitaro could see Nyamo's eyes get huge at that statement. "Not as bad as last time, she just needs to sleep." He had scanned her with chi sight after she collapsed; right now her chi level was the same as though she had run up and down the Hinata-sou stairs a couple times at a sprint, not like when she had saved Shinobu and gone into hypoglycemic shock.
"Young man, does she need help? Should we call an ambulance?" By now the bishop and a couple of clerics had hurried up to them with the elder man speaking. One of the younger clerics was European and the other looked to be Filipino, with the bishop appearing to be native Japanese.
"No, she needs to rest at home." Keitaro stood up straight, sweeping the unconscious girl up into a bridal carry. "Nyamo-chan, call Jiro-san, tell him we need an immediate pick up."
"Please, tell us her name, tell us your name!" The desperation in the European priest's voice caused Keitaro's eyes to narrow as he focused on them.
"I am Keitaro Urashima. This is Sarah McDougal, my ward and the daughter of Noriyasu Seta, my sensei and mentor. We are taking her to my family home at the Hinata-sou." He was frowning at the three clerics, the two younger ones unconsciously taking a step back at the tone of his voice. The bishop stood in place, but just barely; the look on Keitaro's face would give anyone pause.
"Urashima-san." It was all the senior cleric could do not to bow; even though he was much older and higher in social rank, the younger man was radiating such presence that it was almost a reflex. "If there is anything we can do, please don't hesitate to ask."
Keitaro looked at him for a long moment before glancing over to Nyamo, who had her mobile phone to one ear and speaking softly into it. A few seconds later she looked over at her guardian and spoke in a louder voice. "Keitaro-sama, Jiro-san is thirty minutes away, but his dispatcher can have another taxi van here in five minutes."
"Do it. We'll be waiting outside," Keitaro ordered. Nyamo spoke a few words into the phone then ended the call. He then turned to the nun standing off to the side. "Sister Agnes, thank you for all your help today but we have to get going."
"You're welcome, Keitaro-san. Please call if you need my assistance. My prayers will be with you all." The nun reached over and touched Keitaro's shoulder as a gesture of support.
"Thank you, Sister. If you will all excuse me…" Keitaro gave a brisk nod to the clerics that was on the bare edge of polite before he turned and walked quickly toward the front of the cathedral with Sarah in his arms, Nyamo trotting to get in front of them to open the double doors.
As the other people in the cathedral began to drift off the Filipino priest asked in a wondering voice, "Who was that man?"
"That was the heir to the most influential and connected family in Kanagawa Prefecture," the bishop replied in a distracted tone of voice while looking at the doors the trio had just walked through. "Keitaro Urashima is the grandson of Hina Urashima, the head of the family, someone you absolutely do not want to cross."
"What are they, yakuza?" The European priest's question caused the bishop's eyes to snap toward him.
"No they are not." The bishop's voice was now cold. "They are an honorable family, and the Church owes a great debt to the Urashima for actions in the past."
"But Your Excellency, you know what that girl is, what she can do!?" The European priest's question caused the bishop's expression to get even colder. "We need to report this!"
"You will do nothing of the sort. I will deal with this. Understood?" The two younger priests nodded in response. "Sister Agnes, if you will come with me, I wish to speak with you." The bishop read the nun's suddenly blank face and continued talking. "You are not in trouble, you are to be commended. So if you will come with me to my office?"
"Yes, Your Excellency." Sister Agnes replied, her expression not relaxing a whit.
"If you will excuse us?" The bishop looked toward the two younger priests, who nodded again before turning and walking toward the side door and the administrative offices beyond it, the nun following behind him. The two priests looked at each other and silently shrugged before following behind them at a much slower pace.
Omakes
As always, the music can be found on YouTube.
Omake 1 – Hearing Music in Your Head (And Not Annoying Earworms)
"I have a question." Sarah was training with Keitaro in the backyard of the Hinata-sou. Given that she had fainted *again* when she used up her chi while singing back at the cathedral, she did not have to wait until her sensei told her to know what was going to happen; more endurance training. After she woke up back at the Inn and heard what had happened, the blonde was resigned to it. So on this day Sarah did not have to be told what to do and started running up and down the stairs. She was now doing four round trips at a run before she had to rest, which let her start worrying about what Keitaro would do to increase the difficulty… like doing the runs with a weighed backpack. But sitting on the grass at the top of the hill catching her breath gave her time to think, which resulted in her asking about something wondering about. "Why am I hearing music in my head when chi is being used?"
"Eh?" Keitaro looked at her with a curious expression on his face. The erstwhile dorm manager and clan heir had been sitting next to her on the ground flipping through a paperback study book while she had been resting, and the question apparently had caught him by surprise. "You actually hear music? Melodies?"
"Yeah, it's kinda weird. As soon as you start molding chi the music pops into my head." Sarah replied. "It's like the background music from an action movie. And it's usually instrumental, that's why I think of it like a movie soundtrack."
"Interesting. It is probably because you have such a strong musical talent." Keitaro shifted around so he was sitting facing her. "When did this start happening?"
"About the time I started hanging out with you." Sarah grinned for a moment before it faded away. "Now that I think about it, the first time I heard it was during the fight through the market square in Roanapur. I wasn't paying too much attention at the time, I was too busy being scared shitless." Keitaro nodded silently. "But since then when you show me the chi techniques I hear bits and pieces of instrumental music. I didn't start hearing full blown music until you did that fight demo with Haruka-san and Kanako-san. It's like I had earbuds in and had tunes playing while you and the others were fighting."
"Were you hearing any music in particular?" asked Keitaro.
"During the teaching parts, no, it was kinda random. During the fight though…" Sarah blushed slightly. "When you looked up at Haruka-san and Kanako-san with that empty look on your face, it's like someone cued up 'Stinkfist' by Tool."
"Stinkfist? Tool?" Keitaro was looking confused; while he pretty much spoke English fluently and understood the words she had said, he did not understand the context they were used in.
"Tool is the name of a hard rock band from the U.S. Stinkfist…" here Sarah blushed again, "…is something that will take a while to explain and is kind of dirty too. Anyway, Tool does a lot of music with wailing guitars and pounding drum beats." The blonde pulled out her mobile phone, and since she was in range of the Wi-Fi set up by Kaolla Su at the dorm, she was able to download the song and play it on the speaker of her phone. After a few moments of listening to the beginning of the song Sarah stopped it and continued speaking. "When you looked up with those hollow eyes it's like the guitars started screaming at the beginning of the song."
"Okay, that's a lovely thought," Keitaro grimaced. "But why are you bringing this up?"
"Well, I've been hearing the music as bits and pieces, but now I am hearing the actual songs," explained Sarah. "So I want you to ki project at me to see if there are any differences."
Keitaro's eyebrows went up. "You sure about this?" He had talked to Sarah about the different emotions that would affect chi and ki projections, but he had not deliberately exposed her to it…yet. It was a part of chi training that normally took place further down the line.
"I felt the ki projection you did in the fight getting out of Roanapur, I doubt what you are going to do is worse than that." Sarah was looking unconcerned as she spoke, but Keitaro knew better. Plus there was no way that he was going to repeat what he had done in that battle; what Sarah had felt was not ki projection per se, but part of a summons, one that was worse than what he had done at Yuri's funeral.
"Very well. Turn around and sit on the ground cross-legged facing toward the house." Keitaro turned so that he was sitting in seiza facing toward Sarah and the woods behind her.
"Sure, but why?" Sarah shuffled around so she was sitting in the directed position, her sensei sitting facing her but three meters away.
"One, because the ki projection I am going to do is in a relatively tight beam and I don't want it to felt by the residents in the Inn, and two, because if you faint and fall over I don't want you to tear your thigh muscles if you fall backwards and you are in seiza." Sarah nodded in acknowledgement. "Before we start, can you tell me what you remember from the demonstration that Haruka-san, Kanako-chan, and I did?" asked Keitaro.
"I really didn't hear music per se with Haruka-san and Kanako-san when they were using their chi," Sarah responded. "It was more like I could hear the ground rumbling and flames crackling when they were molding their chi. I guess it has to do with their elemental affinities. When you were doing the hand signs for your flash step I could hear the wind, but that was literal, not just in my head,"
"Correct, the base chi moldings are usually formed with your affinity," Keitaro replied. "When other people feel it is usually in the form of the element, so they feel cold, hot, wet or sand blasting again their skin. It's only when it is overly emotional that it feels different.
"There are exceptions to the emotions you feel with ki. The main one is when a technique called the Soul of Ice is used, it feels like you are buried in snow or dunked in ice water. It's used for emotional suppression, but it has severe side effects and can permanently affect the user.
"The emotions that affect ki projection are anger, fury, and rage; I am not going to do rage today. I have to overload that emotion to use it, and if I did it here, not only would the tenants at the house feel it, but probably the people in town as well. You already have an idea what it is like from the fight in Roanapur," finished Keitaro.
Sarah nodded furiously. That sort of ki projection was one she was in no hurry to experience again; it had felt like the Gates of Hell had opened and she could hear damned souls wailing, although it was more like in reality the bad guys that Keitaro had been tearing through that had been screaming.
"Very well, first off we are going to start off with hot anger. Prepare yourself." Keitaro's dark brown eyes locked into Sarah's blue eyes, and suddenly all she could hear was a distorted drum beat in her ears, then yowling guitars, then the two combined in a dropping wail. The sound abruptly cut off and it was all the blonde could do to not pant audibly.
"Yeah, definitely 'Stinkfist'." Sarah glanced back at Keitaro after looking down at the ground for a moment to see that his eyes were still on her. "You used this in the fight against Haruka-san and Kanako-san?"
Keitaro nodded. "I know I've said that letting your emotions control you in a fight can be dangerous, but small amounts can be used to kick-start chi usage, the trick is to not use too much, and that comes from practice. You ready for the next one?" Sarah nodded. "This one is cold fury."
Looking into her sensei's eyes again, Sarah abruptly heard what could only be described as a metallic, mechanical moan dropping from a high to a low tone, to be replaced a drumbeat again, only this one to be pairs of beats in a grouping of three. The blonde was able to withstand this for a while longer, finally pulling her eyes away from Keitaro toward the ground, who immediately ended the projection.
"You're kidding." Keitaro watched as Sarah looked up at him, disbelief on her face. "Your cold fury chi sounds like the theme from the Terminator movies?!"
"I guess?" The quizzical look on her sensei's face made Sarah crack a smile.
"Well, I guess it fits, with that look on your face you look just like that liquid metal terminator, the one that pretended to be a cop." Sarah's smile grew for a moment before fading. "One more to go, right?"
"Yes. This last one is the Soul of Ice, it used for internal emotional suppression, but if the user doesn't keep it tightly bound it can be felt by others. It's a waste of chi to do it that way, but it can be used to disorient people. Ready?" Keitaro asked.
The chi that Sarah felt was nothing like what she had experienced earlier. There was no music to this feeling; instead what she felt was a crushing cold sensation. Keitaro had been right, it was as though she was buried in snow in addition to hearing wind roaring around her. It immediately brought to mind a phrase she had heard somewhere; the howling dark.
Sarah was beginning to shiver from the perceived cold when the chi projection suddenly cut off. Looking up at Keitaro she could see the concern on his face that faded away once he saw that she was ok. "That one had no music, it was like I was in a blizzard with the snow pressing down on me."
Keitaro nodded. "The Soul of Ice was one of the first chi techniques that the Urashima developed for use in battle. It is said that Taro-sama was the one to come up with it."
The blonde nodded. Among her other lessons Keitaro had told her the story of Taro Urashima and how he had raised his clan from low-ranking bushi to noble status in the Tokugawa army. There were still additional chapters of the story that her sensei had put off telling her, saying that Nyamo had heard the first part of that saga and was probably interested in hearing the rest of the story as well. A thought suddenly occurred to Sarah.
"Keitaro-san, I want to try molding my chi and see what happens, is that ok?" Sarah could see a cautious look form on her guardian's face before he replied.
"Very well, but cut off the chi when I tell you, the last thing I want is for you to pass out again." Sarah nodded before she bowed her head and concentrated.
It was not difficult to find the chi in her core, it was like a blue glowing sphere of energy inside of her. She could cause it to expand and flow throughout her body to reinforce and strengthen it. What was difficult was molding and forming it; a water balloon slathered in dishwashing soap would have been easier to grasp. But then Sarah remembered what Keitaro had said about using emotion to kick-start chi molding and decided to try it. And there was one emotion that came very easily to her.
Thinking back to standing in that school hallway and seeing Junko Himura about to kick a sprawled out Shinobu cause anger to flare, and suddenly the blue energy in her core flashed to red. Heat burned throughout her and she began to visibly shake. It was all Sarah could do to hold still as the wind began to moan and guitars crashed in her ears as the fine hair on her arms began to stand on end.
"Sarah-kun!" A hand grasping her shoulder with a hard grip snapped it out of her trance. Looking up the blonde could see that Keitaro was now on one knee beside her, concern on his face. "Sarah-kun, can you hear me?"
"Yeah, I'm back." Sarah took a deep breath and let it out before repeating the process, her heart rate gradually slowing. "That emotion trick works a little too well, sensei."
"Which is why it is not recommended for beginners, Sarah-kun." Relief was visible in Keitaro's eyes now. "Your chi reserve dropped almost by half doing that."
"Well, that's something I'm not going to try anytime soon again." Sarah took another deep breath again. "I got my answer to my question though." She could see the query in his expression. "The music I heard when I molded my chi. Its from an old American cartoon series I watched when I was a kid, Transformers. You guys call it anime." Keitaro nodded in understanding. "The song is called 'Instruments of Destruction' and it was in one of what you guys call anime movies. It really freaked me out when I saw it as a kid."
"Why would you get 'freaked out'?" The quotation marks were almost audible in Keitaro's question.
"In American cartoons you normally don't see characters get killed for real, they would just bounce back from whatever happened to then, no matter if you dropped a boulder or a piano on them," Sarah replied. "In the start of this movie the bad guys attack and board a shuttle with some of the good guys and they just flat out killed them. One of the wounded good guys even got head-shot by the main bad guy." Sarah took a deep breath again. "It was a hell of a thing for an eight year old tomboy to see." She looked up at Keitaro, who had a look of sorrow on his face. "Quite a few characters, both good and bad died in that movie, and new characters replaced them. Of course what was worse is later I read that the reason characters were killed was so the toy company could sell more toys based on the new characters. Bastards," Sarah finished by saying in disgust.
"Language, Sarah-chan." The blonde shot him a sardonic look but otherwise stayed silent. "Since you still have some chi left in you we'll go up and down the stairs at a walk a couple times then call it a day," Keitaro said.
"Yay." Sarah's voice was completely flat as she spoke, slowly coming to her feet. "Let's get this done with, I already starting to feel hungry and Shinobu-chan has a sandwich or three with my name on them." Keitaro nodded in agreement and the pair headed for the stairs leading to the bottom of the hill.
Omake 2 – Vote for Sarah or She'll Kick Your Ass!
These are snarky remarks made by my beta readers AZ MkII, PCH and WalkerOfDarkness when they read my previous chapter where Sarah gave a short speech when she was appointed Substitute Class Rep for her homeroom. Ironically, both AZ and PCH independently based them on the character Taiga from the anime Torodora. Walker's is based on Ash from the movie Army of Darkness.
AZ's Remarks
"…Blood, tears and terror; your high school memories will be nightmares! Vote for Sarah McDougal for student council president!"
"…Bow before your master, nameless slaves! You are mine now, and I will do as I see fit! For your sakes, you best learn to obey. That is all!"
"…I'm Sarah McDougal. I took this job because I wanted to help out my friend Hikari Horaki-san and to also help people here at the school that need it; especially those who need help falling off the roof, or tripping in front of trains..."
"…So I look forward to working with you all. Thank you." The blonde gave a slight bow, smile and breathy giggle then stepped back.
(A/N - How odd is it that I find GigglingSarah scarier than DomSarah?)
PCH's Remarks
"…To my adoring fans whom are legion in number, I vow to let bygones be bygones and be a fair and just ruler and role model to you all..."
"…But I can tell you one thing, if I see people messing with or pushing around people who can't defend themselves… I will come down upon you like the wrath of a valkyrie goddess of legend and we will have words."
Walker's Remarks
"Okay, listen up fuckheads. My name is Sarah McDougal, and this," she held up her left hand, "is my boomstick!" The hand curled into a fist tight enough to make bones pop ominously in the classroom. "And from here on out, I'm going to be helping Hikari-san. Now that we're introduced, let's not go asking me to give you...a more personal introduction shall we?"
A/N 2 – It's been too long since I last updated, but I have a semi-good reason for it; I was hospitalized for three days about a month ago for respiratory problems, and then I was off work for a week and a half on home rest. It is only a semi-good reason because I presumably had plenty of time to work on this chapter, but I had doctor appointments, paperwork to complete and send out, resting to do, and then getting cleared to return to work. It really sucks when you have respiratory problems since you feel tired a lot more. I am feeling much better now and I am on meds for the problem. Hopefully it won't reoccur again, at least in a serious fashion (knock on wood), since we now know what the problem was.
As to the announcement I am making; due to popular demand (or complaints to be more accurate) I am going to increase the number of Keitaro segments in upcoming chapters. I am going to do this by writing at least one Keitaro POV segment per future update, with one Sarah POV segment and a third person/other character POV segment to fill out the chapter (the next Keitaro segment will have a lemon sub-section involving Natsumi and Miyuki, FYI.). Hopefully this will make the readers of this story happier. So this will be the last mostly Sarah-centric chapter (which I had planned for some time) for a while. This might have the side-effect of me getting to the Roanapur arc faster, since I will wind up Keitaro's and Sarah's current problems sooner.
More good news; only seven more reviews until I pass the 1000 mark! That will put me over the 1K mark for Reviews, Alerts and Favorites, which puts me in the top five Love Hina stories on FFN (actually number two for Reviews and number one for Alerts and Favorites). I thank all my readers for this noteworthy achievement, since I would not be writing so much if I did not know there were people wanting to read my story.
I am going to try to have the next update out before the end of June, as Anime Expo 2017 will be in LA from July 1 to 4. This will probably be the last year I go with a Premium Pass, as they are now too damn expensive (if you have to ask how much they are, you really can't afford it). I will still attend future ones, but just with a regular 4 day pass.
For anyone who wants a giggle or two, remember the joke where if you look up a word such as 'stubborn' or 'ugly' in the dictionary it would have a picture of a person next to it? Well, if you look up 'Tomboy' at the TVTropes website, at the top of the main page you will find a RL picture of a girl that looks just like we would imagine Sarah McDougal to be at that age. Be warned, the pic is kinda kawaii.
Also, for those that are wondering why I am making such a big deal about Sarah's singing, it is not because I want to Mary Sue her. This is essentially Sarah's major ability, one that is magnified by her unconsciously using chi while doing it and is partially a result of her family background. This is going to be an issue besides what you would normally think and is going to draw a lot of attention, which she will not be happy about. If you want to have an idea what it is like to hear Sarah singing when she is using her ability, imagine a similar effect to hearing Christina Aguilera singing the song 'Hurt' or Sarah McLachlan singing the song 'Fear', only for the effect figuratively grabbing you by the throat.
The phrase Llanto al Cielo is Spanish for Cry to Heaven, which I used instead of Italian or Latin because I think it sounds better. Keitaro and Nyamo know it as Spirit Song, and the Catholic Church know it as something else, something they are not happy about because of the possibility of misuse.
Sister Agnes is an OC I came up with to have Sarah talk to about her issues, both regarding faith and otherwise, and will probably reappear in the story. I chose her name from the statue of Saint Agnes of Rome that survived the atomic attack on Nagasaki; the statue and the Catholic Cathedral of St. Mary's it was located at were 500 meters from the epicenter of the detonation, which destroyed the cathedral (it was later rebuilt). The statue of St. Agnes is now on display at the UN Headquarters in NYC.
As always, many thanks to my beta readers AZ MkII, PCH, and WalkerOfDarkness for all their help proof-reading my work.
This chapter's Most Unusual Place Reading My Story Award goes to the Netherlands. The runner up prize goes to Hong Kong.
As of 0200 02Jun2017 this story has 390k Words, 845k Views (next stop 1M views!), 993 (!) Reviews, 1433 Favorites and 1309 Story Alerts.
Thanks again to everyone one for reading. *peace sign*