Taking up a wilting daisy in her hand, Tsukumo was lost in her thoughts. Thoughts of the bright sun shining down on the dying flower in her palm, thoughts of her brother who was no longer by her side, thoughts of the party currently going on inside the house that she felt she was not welcome at though nobody directly told her. The grownups in the house always looked at her with dismay and disappointment. It had been two years since her brother had died. Well, that's what people said. He didn't just die. He was murdered; because of her. That's what people told her. People that she didn't even know told her that it was all her fault that her beloved older brother was taken away from this world.
Tsukumo couldn't understand how it was her fault at the time of the incident being only five at the time. As she grew older, she began to realise why people saw it that way. It was her fault. Someone had tried to kidnap her. They had gotten as far as the car door, about to throw her in the back seat which reeked of alcohol and cigarette smoke, before her brother grabbed her arm and began to run away. Their legs weren't fast enough to carry them away from their adversaries. They caught up and her brother acted as her shield against a bullet that blasted from the handgun. The children's bodyguards followed after the gunshot and managed to apprehend the men but they were not in time to save her brother who died instantly. His body was draped across Tsukumo's small body as she repeatedly called his name that he would never respond to. Once the family bodyguards had turned their attention to the children who were thrown on the ground, they picked up her brother's lifeless body and tried to resuscitate him; completely ignoring the little girl whose face was covered in her tears mixed with her brother's blood. She watched helplessly on the side-lines as the one of the men in the suits pressed down repeatedly on the young boy's chest before lifting his chin, trying to get air into his lungs. Tsukumo didn't understand why the man was doing this; not because she wasn't smart enough to figure out what was going on but because CPR won't help someone who has gotten a bullet to the back of the head. She couldn't really recall what happened after that except for her mother crying into her hands while her father slammed his fists repeatedly against the wall as the doctor told them her brother was dead before he even got to the hospital. She remembers holding her hands out to her mother to be picked up and her mother glaring at her through the tears telling her to get away.
Tsukumo slowly emerged from her thoughts when she saw a cicada slowly shedding its skin in front of her. What must that be like? To leave behind a part of yourself that is no longer useful. To leave something behind that is holding you back from advancing in life. The insect was so mesmerising that she nearly didn't see the man standing next to her. The man was older than her but not as old as her parents. She was glad. She was sick of dealing with older adults who looked at her with disgust. His raven hair swayed in the wind as the coat held under his arm did. This man's stare was soft and almost warm; something that she hadn't seen in quite some time. She was so hypnotised by the man's stare that she jumped back when he spoke.
"Are you perhaps…?" the man began but noticed that the young girl retreated slightly at the sound of his voice. He stopped, smiled and came down to her level where she was sitting.
"I was just leaving today's party" he smirked at Tsukumo who was basking in the smile she had not seen grace anyone's face when they looked at her in at least a year. "Crowds of people are tiresome aren't they?" Yes, they were, Tsukumo thought. Most of the people she knew were tiresome and boring. "And you? What are you doing?" he asked.
Tsukumo looked down and gestured to the insect in front of her. "The bug is shedding its skin." He asked if she liked bugs and she replied that she did. They interested her because of many different reasons; unlike people.
"How old are you?" the young man inquired.
"I'm seven, two months and five days." The young girl replied still looking at the bug on the ground.
"I see. I'm eighteen" the young man stated though Tsukumo had not asked. The young man's gaze darted between the insect on the ground and the stoic young girl staring at it. "You're the young lady of this mansion, aren't you? Is it alright for you not to attend the party?"
At that, Tsukumo flinched though she did not mean to. She noticed that she had moved because the young man's expression changed as soon as she did.
"It's better if I'm not there" Tsukumo replied and the young man inquired as to why that was. She began to recall what had happened to her brother repeating all of the lines that she had heard from the grownups across the last two years.
"My brother was an excellent person and he died protecting me. He would have made an excellent head of the household but he died protecting me. It would have been better if I had died but he died protecting me. I wouldn't have inconvenienced anyone if I had died but his death inconvenienced everyone. When he died protecting me. It's better if I don't go" she concluded.
The young man looked at her with what Tsukumo saw to be pity. That was something she had not seen on anyone's face when they looked at her either in quite some time.
"This is not where you belong because there is another place for you somewhere" the young man said while staring at the child. "You must find the door to that place. However, you cannot find it if you do not move forward. So one day at a time, walk forward." The man patted her head, grinned and began to get up and walk away. Tsukumo had not felt the warmth of another person in such a long time. This man had given her more human contact in the few minutes that they had conversed than she had received from her own family in the last two years.
She stood up, dusted herself off and began to run after the man. She reached out and grabbed the hem of his jacket which he carried under his arm. He turned with a confused look on his face. With an adamant face she very politely asked: "Excuse me but what is your name?"
His eyes crinkled with his smile towards the child and he replied with: Hirato.
The young woman breathed slowly in and out and her nose began to wiggle from the nostalgic dream she was currently having. The silken sheets beneath her body began to shift slightly along with the movement that stemmed from her dream. She did not wake and continued to dream. The captain of the Second Ship of Circus looked down upon the sleeping woman with a smile upon his face as he stood beside her bed. It was time to start the next mission in which Tsukumo was to take part in. People were busy with preparations for the mission so Hirato took it upon himself to go and wake the Second Ship's fighter but couldn't bring himself to do it just yet. This girl had grown so much since the first time he had met her at her parent's mansion. The young child who was crouched down among the flowers with a small insect in front of her which mesmerised her. He had encountered her by accident but it was something that had influenced his life to a great extent. This child who seemed to have lost her reason for living managed to become one of the most capable fighters within Circus; a trait that she seemed to share with the blond haired, violet eyed man who occupied the bedroom next to Tsukumo's. Hirato's fighters were just that. They were fighters in every sense of their lives. Tsukumo's lips began to twitch before curling into a smile as she continued to sleep. Hirato turned on his heels and began to walk out the door. The mission didn't start for a couple of hours. The sleeping girl didn't need to be woken just yet. He allowed her to sleep and remember the day that changed both of their lives forever.
A/N - Wow I completely and utterly suck. Heads up to people, it is difficult to do a Masters and try to write at the same time. So sorry about the wait. I will most definitely try to write more frequently than I have already. Sorry again. Hope you like this chapter. Based on 84/85.