Hello, Itsyoursis-Artemis here! I know I said I was going to release this in two days but I realized that chapters 1 and 2 are basically prelude/introduction! I'd rather release the intros early first before I make my readers wait for the main plot.
So without further ado, enjoy!
About four hours later, the 17-year old girl finally arrived in Namimori town in the middle of the day. The warm air of late May welcomed the countryside girl upon exiting the subway station. Her sense of fashion which included a baseball cap while her hair in a ponytail; a baggy, white v-neck t-shirt tucked in a light-colored denim shorts; and a gray, fly-knit Nike shoes definitely concealed her rural image. Fashion was something that Ayano has been interested in pursuing since the age of ten. Thankfully, Vesta house had access to internet, where she obtained inspiration and ideas. Her forte in fashion allowed her to be able to confidently blend in with the Namimori people.
It didn't take her a long time to find the house of her aunt. The address was located at an affluent neighborhood in Namimori. Therefore, she assumed that her aunt must be rich as she stood in front of a black, estate gate. The huge front yard had a unique work of garden art with well-maintained rich floral combinations that Ayano could identify such as dahlias, marigolds, and lilacs. The architecture of the house was evidently western; although she couldn't tell as she lacked the knowledge regarding styles of architecture. However, there were two statues at the opposite side of the front porch, just before the stairs that led to the front double door. The statues reminded Ayano of the famous renaissance sculptures that she learned about in her history class. Despite remembering this, she still failed to realize that the design of the property was heavily inspired by a European style.
The teenager rang the gate bell. Three rings later, the gate suddenly opened inward. She seeked for an instruction, yet there was no verbal invitation. She knew better not to enter an unknown territory. She stood still and waited for that invitation. One minute later, a feminine voice from a speaker by the gate finally spoke.
"I don't bite. Just come in."
Ayano was startled, but there was something about the voice that made her trust and accept the invitation. She slowly walked towards the house. The front door opened and she was met by a female adult with a wavy mid-length caramel hair. She was wearing black, pointed, closed-toed heels, a black pencil skirt with red blouse tucked in and a long, white, lab coat over. Her fair complexion completed her foreign look.
"I've been expecting you for many years, Ayano."
"And you must be...Agatha," Ayano answered back with slight uncertainty.
The older adult stared at the teenager nonchalantly, then she replied. "Come in. We'll talk inside."
As Ayano stepped inside, the adult signaled to follow her. They walked until they reached the kitchen which was situated at the back corner of the house. The woman in the lab coat handed Ayano a glass of water, then the two sat down by the dining table. Ayano was about to initiate the conversation but the older woman beat her to it.
"You look SO much like my sister."
"I take that statement as a confirmation, that you are my aunt Agatha," Ayano said, then quickly looked down, as Agatha's stare was starting to intimidate the teen.
There was a long pause.
"Indeed, I am Agatha. However, for the 'aunt' part, I am—kind of—your aunt… Yoshino is my half-sister, so I guess, that makes me your half-aunt?"
Half-sister? Ayano wondered. Does that mean that there was a some type of affair? Ayano mentally noted this possibility. Agatha continued, as if on cue she knew exactly what her niece was thinking about.
"My Greek dad—your grandpa—fell in love with Yoshino's mom—your grandma—when he went to Japan to establish a some type of business relations with some dude. Mind you, he was only 20 when he met your grandma. Then you can probably guess what happened next. Your grandma developed feelings, they got married, yada yada… And if you are wondering about me, I was merely a product of a one night stand with a prostitute before your grandpa went to Japan."
Agatha finished her very short, unenthusiastic, narrative with a sip of her coffee. She scrutinized Ayano once more, then finally spoke in a more serious note. "You know, I'm very glad that you got almost all of your attributes from your mom, and your eyes from your grandpa Dimitri. Nothing about you reminds me of your despicable, useless dad."
"My dad? You know my dad?" Ayano asked in a genuine tone.
"Well, no, not really," her aunt scratched her head. "All I know is that your dad—he's Japanese by the way if you were wondering—was an alcoholic piece of shit, who tried to lock your mom up when she tried to break up with him, then your grandpa found out about how your dad abused your mom—" Agatha suddenly paused, and decided not to reveal the rest of the story.
"My grandpa found out that my dad abused my mom, then what happened?"
"Oh I don't know, it's very dramatic, I wasn't really there, you know, I was in med school, studying."
"Oh… I see," the teen said with a gloom on her face.
The truth was, Agatha couldn't just reveal to Ayano that Dimitri killed her abusive dad and made it look like an accident. It was not the right time to say that to the parentless girl.
"It's your time to talk," Agatha demanded. "You've been quiet this whole time."
"Well, I don't really know where to start," Ayano confessed.
"Start from where you are from and why you are here today."
"Uhm, okay. I grew up in the House of Vesta which is an orphanage in a small, rural area in Toyama. Recently, the head of the orphanage, Tara Fujioka, revealed to me that my mom abandoned me when I was a baby. They were close friends since middle school, I guess."
Oh...Tara... Yoshino's best friend… Agatha reminisced.
"My mom apparently gave me inheritance that I was supposed to claim once I turned 17," Ayano revealed a folder and placed it on the table. "I am not really interested in my inheritance. I just want to know about who and where I came from."
Ayano wasn't lying. She only wanted to learn about her mother. To her, this meant that she was not an abandoned nobody; she felt that her existence actually had a value. Agatha reached for the folder and looked through the documents that stated Ayano's inheritance.
"So basically Dimitri Nicolaou's gift to his first grandchild, is the title of this house," she pointed down.
The sudden news caught Ayano off-guard. It took the teenager ten seconds to recover from it. "This house! Oh no, I can't possibly," she refused.
"I will still be living in this house even if you claim the title," Agatha pointed. "This was my home too. Besides, the last time I talked to my sister, she asked me to be your guardian and to watch over you once I met you."
"She asked you that? Where is mom? What actually happened to her?"
"Oh, I don't know. She moved out after she finished college and never contacted us again," Agatha revealed with a slight, angry tone. "Honestly… I have zero idea on what happened to that woman. All I got was a random call from her several years ago about expecting to meet you."
"Did anyone at least attempt to find her?" she wished Agatha would say yes.
"Your grandpa did, but he's been missing in action since then. The last time I saw him was before he left: he told me to continue with my studies and never to get involved in his business."
Ayano was saddened by the lack of solid answers she seeked for. The two became quiet for several minutes before Ayano spoke.
"I… want to move here," she firmly declared.
Before, she was a teenager seeking for something she couldn't explain.
Now, she finally found that something.
It was a goal.
Ayano finally found a goal.
She wanted to find her mother.
She knew her mother wanted her to be safe and sound.
But now, it is her daughter's wish to find her safe and sound.
There yah go, Ayano is moving to Namimori and going on a hunt!
I posted a teaser for chapter 3 on my tumblr side blog, if you want to check it out, please head to my profile as the link is there.
I will also post more teasers there as I have written up to 8 chapters. So stay tuned!
Please review and I will see you in 2 days!
ps: Also please let me know if I have any spelling,punctuation, and grammar errors on my writing, I will quickly fix them!