Natsumi sat quietly in the back seat of the car with her brother. They were on their way home after a long night. Aki played a simple selection of soft atmospheric electronic music. Fuyuki watched everything outside his window and smiled, slightly bobbing his head to the music. Natsumi looked down at the crystal in her hands.
"You should keep it Natsumi." Akina suggested as Natsumi tried to return the gem.
"I'm sorry I broke it." Natsumi looked at the black center. It was blue when Akina gave it to her.
"I don't think you broke it. I think you made it stronger." Akina smiled.
"I promise to take good care of it." Natsumi nodded and have a small smile in return.
Natsumi knew that it wasn't her that changed the shard's color. Even though she desperately wanted to remember it as a terrible nightmare it was impossible this time. The red monster was the one who altered the crystal. Looking at the small piece, Natsumi can still feel his anger. She traced her fingers over her cheek where the monster tried to reach her. There was a small scratch and it stung. Natsumi touched it to remind her not to forget this time. To be ready for his next visit, even if she didn't know how to handle him.
"We're almost home and I think everyone should have a bath. Fuyuki you want to go first?" Aki glanced at the children.
"Yeah." Fuyuki nodded with a big smile. He had been trying to take a bath all by himself and this was his first chance.
Once they were parked, Aki helped Fuyuki out of the car and let him into the house. Natsumi continued to stare at the crystal. Aki returned to the car and opened Natsumi's door.
"You comin' hun?" Aki leaned down. Natsumi nodded slowly and unbuckled herself before hopping down from the car. She walked into the house and stopped before the step. Aki closed the door behind them and softly pat Natsumi's head before walking past to check up on Fuyuki.
Natsumi looked down the hall with a different feel for her home. She didn't think it was possible for the place to feel any different than it had for her entire existence, but now it did. She looked down to the black core of the white crystal once more and felt a harsh presence from it. It made her feel angry and scared. This was the first in very long time that she had something she couldn't handle on her own. She couldn't even ask her mom. She knew her mother wouldn't know what to do about a monster. Most adults understood... or believed that they didn't exist, just as Natsumi did.
Natsumi kicked off her shoes and ran up the stairs. She stuffed the crystal into her pocket before quietly opening the door to Fuyuki's room. She ran her fingers over his small shelf of books until she found what she wanted.
"A collection of monster stories." Natsumi skimmed the pages until she turned to the back of the book. There wasn't anything about the monster she saw. "Come on there has to be something."
Natsumi left the book on the floor and pulled a few more. Flipping through each one, and always finding nothing. Fuyuki's books didn't know anything about her particular monster. Natsumi sighed. At least the monsters Fuyuki knows about might still just be fairy tales... unlike mine.
The door down the hall opened up. Natsumi could hear Fuyuki and Aki leaving the bathroom. She quickly shoved all of the books back on the shelves and waited by the door frame. Just like when she would try to scare him she held her breath and stood as still as possible.
"You did very well Fuyuki. I think you can handle it all by yourself now." Aki praised Fuyuki.
"Heck yeah!" Fuyuki eagerly ran down the stairs. Aki followed him down. Natsumi released her breath and stepped out of Fuyuki's room, careful to close it quietly. She softly padded her feet down the stairs and peered around the door frame. Fuyuki was watching t.v. She walked into the room and looked around to see Aki working in the kitchen.
"Natsumi, do you want to take your bath before lunch?" Aki asked as she started chopping vegetables. Natsumi shook her head to the side. She didn't want to be alone for too long at a time. A bath would at least be half an hour. Aki gave a small smile. "Alright, then after lunch."
Natsumi sat on the couch with Fuyuki and silently watched his hero cartoon. There was an action scene. Kicks and flips round the field as the bad guys were easily beaten. Maybe I should learn to fight? Mommy always says fighting's bad, but I have to do something against that meanie.
Natsumi leapt from the couch and started mimicking the hero's moves. Each punch and kick, minding not to hit anything or jump into the tv itself. Fuyuki jumped up and followed her moves. He had the biggest grin as he stumbled and wavered with the strange actions. He wanted to be like the main character too and thought it was a fun game.
"Kids, don't get too rowdy in there ok?" Aki called out from the kitchen.
"Ok mom." Fuyuki called back but continued to try his hardest to copy the cartoon. Natsumi focused on punching harder each time and kicking until she didn't wobble from the force. Fuyuki was in awe at his sister's determination. He never saw anyone so focused on anything that wasn't an a tv show.
"Sit at the table if you want lunch." Aki spoke up once the credits rolled on the show. She smiled as Fuyuki ran up to her.
"You should have seen Natsumi! She was fighting like the hero guy and it was super cool!" He dashed to the table and climbed up his chair.
"Oh really? That sounds cool." Aki smiled at her son's enthusiasm. Natsumi let her arms fall to her sides as she straightened up. She took a deep breath and felt her muscles tingle, almost burning. It was new but it felt kinda good. "You ok Natsumi?"
Natsumi turned to see her mother had walked closer with a caring smile. Natsumi gave a quick smile in return. "Yeah."
"Good, but if you ever feel like you're not ok come talk to me." Aki knelt down and looked Natsumi in the eye.
"I will. I promise." Natsumi gave a real smile this time. She remembered that she couldn't hide much from Aki. They sat at the table with Fuyuki and enjoyed a beef stew lunch.
By the end of the day Natsumi was glad she had a bath. Her muscles ached slightly and the bath helped. She wasn't used to physically pushing herself like she did today. She collapsed onto her bed and sighed. "Maybe if I keep doing that everyday I can actually fight."
She thought back to how much she cried and hated it. She wanted to be able to defend herself. She was a grown girl right? I'm not four anymore. I can do a lot of other grown up things so this shouldn't be different.
Suddenly the light flicked off. Natsumi sat up in her bed and saw Aki in the doorway. "Good night Natsumi."
"Good night mom." Natsumi crawled under her covers. She griped the blankets tightly. I need to be grown up tomorrow. Come on Natsumi, grow up strong. She forced her mind to clear but it wasn't easy. The fear from the previous night still lingered.
She jumped out of bed and searched underneath all of her furniture. She looked through all of her clothes and tossed her stuffed toys around until she cleared each inch of her room. She looked through her window and glared down every space she could see. After she deemed the space free of monsters she climbed back into her bed and finally fell asleep.