The sun was rising as Shinjiro sat at the table, sipping from a cup of coffee. He normally didn't get up this early, but he hadn't been sleeping well recently, and it worried him. "The last time my sleep was this troubled was right before Hamuko died …" Shinjiro noted to himself, grimacing as he glanced at Hamuko's picture, grey-brown eyes worried. Worry flashed across Shinjiro's eyes again, and he stared out the window at the rising sun. "… Come to think of it, things have been almost too quiet recently … even for here in Inaba. Did they finally give up?"
Shaking his head, Shinjiro took another sip of coffee. "… I wonder how Aki's doing…" He mused, staring out the window as the light slowly grew brighter. He and his best friend had kept in contact over the years, now that the issues from their teenage years had been resolved or forgotten. "I suppose that I should give him a call, see if anything strange is going on in Iwatodai." Sighing, Shinjiro stood up and finished his coffee, placing the empty mug in the sink.
As if reading his thoughts, the phone rang. Half wondering if it was someone from work calling in sick again and looking for a sub – Shinjiro didn't work Saturday afternoons and Sundays normally – he wandered over to where the phone was. "Heh, talk about timing, it's Aki." Smirking in spite of himself, Shinjiro picked up the phone and answered it. "Did you have the midnight to six shift at the station, Aki? You're normally not up until ten on Sundays." He joked into the phone, grinning when he heard Akihiko laughing on the other end of the line.
"And you sleep in until eight in the morning every day of the week; I know your work hours too, Shinji." Akihiko retorted, still chuckling. The two of them had long discarded the typical 'hello' when calling one another, mainly because it annoyed Shinjiro to have to say it when he knew who it was. "Did Aiko get you up super early again for some bizarre reason, or did you just fall out of bed again?"
"No, I just woke up at midnight." Shinjiro responded, rolling his eyes. "I went to bed earlier than normal last night, and I couldn't get back to sleep when midnight hit."
"No sleep at all? That's not good; the last time you were like this was … After Hamuko-chan's funeral …" Akihiko tapered off, but the chuckles had escaped his voice. "You're normally not the sort of person who has a hard time sleeping, so for you to be restless …" Shinjiro could almost see Akihiko now; still dressed in his uniform from work (the tie probably undone by this point), leaning against a table with one hand while lost in thought. Hell, he was probably drumming his fingers while he talked – he'd always done that when thinking. "… Has anything of 'that' sort happened recently?" Akihiko asked after several moments of silence, voice cautious.
"No. Hell, I haven't had that sort of problem for five years now, and personally, that's what worries me." Shinjiro responded, looking up towards Aiko's bedroom again. "I doubt they've given up completely though, but what would make them back off so suddenly?" A new thought flashed through Shinjiro's mind, once that made him shudder just thinking about it. "… Do you think that they might be up to something big?"
"Actually, to be completely honest, Shinji …" Akihiko paused for a moment, making Shinjiro's nerves worse. "They've gone dead quiet over here too. Right after that last incident you had with 'them', we haven't been able to track anything like them. Not even Fuuka can find a trace of them. It's like they vanished off the face of the earth for some reason." At this, Akihiko stopped again. "… You didn't-"
"No, Aki, I didn't." Shinjiro shook his head with a heavy sigh. "I'm not stupid. If I had, they would have swarmed the place. Do you think I want to risk that?"
"No, no, you don't. I didn't think that you would, if only because of the fact that Aiko doesn't know yet." Akihiko sighed in return, and Shinjiro suspected the other man was shaking his head. "If there's one thing that's changed since you became a father, it's that you lost your reckless streak … mostly." Shinjiro snorted.
"Hey, I ain't letting them get my daughter, Aki." He retorted, chuckling darkly. "There's no way in hell that's going to happen."
"Don't say that Shinji; we've been through hell, remember?" Akihiko was rolling his eyes as he spoke, Shinjiro could just tell. "Anyway, how are things over there? Still working at the diner?"
"Where else would I be working?" Shinjiro was glad that they had changed the subject, if only for the sake of his nerves. "I had enough with risking my life for a living after we got through with Tartarus and the Abyss of Time, and we both know high school and college didn't agree with me. I'm happy in the kitchen, so that's how I'm making a living. That and the pay's damn good."
Akihiko just laughed. "Considering how good of a cook you are, it better be a damn good pay. I know Mitsuru would pay you to cook if you still lived here in Iwatodai. Hell, most of the time I'm the one that's doing the cooking, if I can chase the regular staff out of the kitchen for more than half an hour."
"You needed the practice anyway."
"Hey!" chuckling a bit, Akihiko seemed to sober up a bit. "But how's Aiko doing? Has she shown any signs of …?"
"Not that I'm aware of." Shinjiro shook his head. "She's got the potential, but she hasn't woken up to it yet." Not bothering to fight off the sigh of relief in his voice at the thought of it, he looked into his tea. "Although there's also the chance she's a demon summoner, but I don't know if that would be better or worse for her …"
"Knowing her, I'd say worse. From what you've said about Hamuko's extended family …"
"It's not so much her siblings and 'ojii-sama', it's the rest of them." Shaking his head, Shinjiro looked out the window. "It's why Aiko and I rarely go to family meetings that involve said extended family." Frowning a bit, Shinjiro searched around to find a new topic. "… I know that this is a long shot, but have you guys found anything …?"
"…No, Shinji. I'm sorry." Akihiko's voice was heavy. "We've been keeping our eyes peeled, and Yamagishi's been looking, but we haven't found anything yet. I'm sorry."
"It ain't your fault, Aki. Get some sleep." Shinjiro looked at his empty coffee mug again as he spoke, relaxing when Aki sighed and said goodbye before handing up. Getting up and putting the mug in the sink, he leaned on the windowsill, watching the sun slowly rise in the distance. The mist that lingered around the home seemed to flicker and dance in the growing light, almost like there was something dancing in the mist.
A flicker of movement near the peach tree out front caught his eye. Frowning, he moved the window curtain aside to get a better look.
Nothing.
A second flicker came a few seconds later, but it turned out to be a doe with a pair of fawns, getting up from where they appeared to have been sleeping at the foot of the large tree. The sight made Shinjiro relax a bit; there were a lot of deer in the area, and the doe was one Aiko had nursed when the poor thing had broken a leg. 'She probably needs some food for herself and the babies …' Getting up to get some food, Shinjiro heard a faint noise going on upstairs. "Ah, she's awake."
Aiko groaned as her phone started ringing; she had seen enough of the caller i.d. to know that it was Jiri calling her. "Crazy kung-fu junkie with his stupid five a.m. training times asking me if I wanna fight him instead of realizing I need some fucking sleep …" Grumbling more, she picked up the phone. "Th' hell you callin me at six in the morning on a SUNDAY for, Jiri?"
"ah, I always forget how cranky you are when you get woken up early." Jiri was laughing a bit, wide awake. "Well, I'll let you get back to sleep, but just letting you know that Rin has a softball game later on if you wanted to tag along and come spectate with me."
"Did that really require callin me at six?" Aiko raised her voice a bit, grumpy.
"Alright Sleeping Beauty, sorry I woke you up. Go back to hugging Tookie-chan and sleep away until noon~!" Jiri hung up before Aiko could reply, making her scowl and shove her phone under the pillow. She wasn't as mad as she let on; the two of them often had conversations like that, with her waking Jiri up after midnight to pester help on English homework out of him, or him waking her up early asking for a spar or a jog.
"I'm gonna kick his ass when I go see 'im later on …" Mumbling, the auburn snuggled under her covers more, not wanting to get out of bed yet. The first week of school had been a pain, and she wanted to enjoy what little bit of extra sleep she could get, her orange-haired friend calling her again or not.
She had almost faded out when she groaned and was jarred back to wakefulness.
"Dream of Butterfly, or is life a dream?
Don't wanna wake up, coz' I'm happier here."
Scowling and grabbing the phone, Aiko went to look at the caller I.D to see if it was Jiri calling again –noting that it had been about ten minutes since he had called – and groggily shook her head when she just saw a Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ instead of a name, or even an 'unknown'. Not knowing what else to do, she answered the phone. "… Hello?"
"Ah, good, I was able to get a hold of you." It was a young man's voice, oddly polite and well polished. It was certainly not one of her friends, that was for certain; not even JIRI could talk like this and keep a straight face. Puzzled, Aiko could only listen as the man continued talking. "I would have gotten a hold of you earlier on, but unfortunately, more severe circumstances have pressed upon me, so I'll be unable to reach you for some time after this."
"… Who is this?" Aiko finally managed to get out, voice confused. Normally, spam callers at least referred to her by name and didn't act like they had known her for years. "Why are you calling me?"
"All will be shown in time …" There was a soft chuckle from the young man, who hung up before Aiko could ask him anything else.
Scowling and glaring at her phone, she tossed it onto the floor. "Friggen spam …" Snuggling under the blankets and grabbing her stuffed wolf again, she felt sleep creeping up over her again. The soft rattling downstairs puzzled her, but it wasn't worth crawling out of bed and getting dressed. The cracked window let in the soft breeze, the scent of mist and peach blossoms lulling her to sleep again.
Shinjiro found her like that two hours later, dressed and ready to go about to do errands. There were circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep, but he didn't have to work for the next couple of days. Shaking his head in amusement at the sight of Aiko half out of the covers in a night shirt and hugging her old plush, he walked over and shook her shoulder. "Aiko. Time to wake up."
"…Fine …" Grumbling, she pushed herself upright, hair a mess. "Jiri asked if I'd go to Rin's softball game … idiot didn't realize he didn't have to call at the crack of dawn."
"That explains why I heard you swearing." Shinjiro deadpanned. "I thought you had fallen out of bed again." Smirking a bit at Aiko's scowl, he shook his head. "I'm going to run about and do some errands today, Aiko. Do you need me to pick up anything for you while I'm out?"
"Just a new charger for my laptop; the old one finally died halfway through my homework last night." Stretching as she yawned, the teen noticed her father's state. "And you don't look like you slept well either, Dad. Something wrong?"
"Just didn't sleep well." Shaking his head, Shinjiro smiled and ruffled Aiko's hair, ignoring her protest. "I'll be fine; just expect me to crash after dinner tonight." Aiko's knowing smile made him relax, and he turned to give her some privacy. "Alright, I'll be headed out then; don't forget to grab your keys today."
"Gotcha." Smiling, Aiko got out of bed and started getting dressed as her father closed the door.
In the hallway, Shinjiro leaned on the wall for a moment, gripping near his heart area. There had been a small flare of pain the night before, so his 'errands' included checking in with a doctor. He knew Aiko would panic and insist she come along to the Doctor's with him instead of hanging out with her friends. His health had always worried her, but he was doing fine.
"Just gotta keep out of fighting too much … But knowing my luck …" Sighing as he headed out the door, he glanced at the small gap between the wall and the fridge. When he made sure everything there was in place, he nodded, heading out into the sunlight as he stuck his keys into his coat pocket. Aiko's bedroom window was still open, and Sumizome was eating on the windowsill. "I hope she won't get into any trouble."
A few minutes of walking later, Shinjiro went rigid. He felt like something was following him, but turning around just showed other people heading to and from the shopping district and downtown. Nobody seemed to stand out as a threat, and it didn't seem like anyone in particular was following him … Still on his guard, he began walking again, a hand slipping to his inner breast pocket.
Aiko smiled and shook her head, enjoying the crisp air outside. "It's starting to warm up a bit~" Stretching her arms out over her head, she felt an eyebrow tick as a peach blossom flew into her face. "… I could have done without that, wind." Picking the blossom off of her face, she blew it away as she walked, checking her phone for the time. "Okay, I've got a few hours until I have to head out and meet Jiri and the Hanamuras … oomph!" caught off guard as someone small tackled her legs, she glanced down into a bright pair of hazel eyes against dark brown hair.
"Aiko-chan! Momma 'n' Poppa don't work today, so they brought me 'n' Kaede down for a picnic!" Laughing, the little girl hugged Aiko around the waist. "I was gonna bring you some flowers from the riverbed for fixin up my bun-bun toy." Aiko shook her head in amusement, ruffling the girl's hair and peeling her off of her waist.
"Hi to you too, Rukia. And you'd want to give those flowers to Conan, not me. I just brought the toy for him." Shaking her head in amusement, Aiko looked up and smiled as she saw Rukia's mother running towards them. "You lose this little girl here, Officer Dojima?" Picking up the five-year-old, Aiko grinned as the woman gave her an exasperated smile, brown hair falling in her face.
"Aiko, I've told you before that I'm married now. You don't have to keep calling me Officer Dojima." Smiling as she hoisted her daughter onto a hip, she bopped Aiko on the head despite the height difference. "Besides, I babysat you when you were Rukia's age; you can call me by my name, girl." Wincing and rubbing her head – leave it to an officer to pack a punch – Aiko nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry Nanako-san …" Shaking her head as she gave Nanako a smile, she noted that the woman looked different out of uniform. A magenta and white sweater with tan pants set off chocolate brown hair that hung down and long for once instead of the tight braid she wore for work. Rukia's clothes were hidden by her too big raincoat decorated with sheep and stars, but it was cute. "So your family's here for a picnic?"
"Yeah. Ken's back from overseas work, and I had the day off. Dad's at a providential meeting, so today's the day to raise a ruckus if you want." Aiko just laughed at that.
"And get a lecture on the phone from the Chief? No thanks; I'll be with the Hanamura family all day today anyway."
"Ah, good, Chie-senpai can keep an eye on you then." Nanako's grin turned wolfish, making Rukia laugh at Aiko's sulking. Shaking her head more, Nanako laughed a bit. "Seriously though, you're not that big of a bother, Aiko. Hell, you make it easier for us half the time. Have you ever considered going into the police force when you're done with school?"
Aiko flinched a bit. "Ah … Once when I was little, but not so much anymore …" Shaking her head, she gave a wry smile. "Besides, I'd drive everyone else in the force outta work." Both women laughed at that, with Rukia giggling. A man shouting from nearby made Nanako turn, and Aiko just gave a small smile. "Well, enjoy the family outing, alright? I've gotta go run off towards Jiri's place and pester him for a bit, okay? I was invited along to Rin's softball game."
"Ah, gotcha. Have fun." Waving goodbye, Nanako smiled and watched Aiko head off, hearing her husband run up to stand by her with their toddler on his shoulders. "What's wrong, Ken?" She asked, able to tell that something had shocked him. Turning to look at him, she felt an eyebrow raise as his look of pure and utter shock.
Ken's face was one of pure shock, not easy for him to hide even now as an adult. "Was that …?"
(Evening …)
Shinjiro groaned a bit, setting his bags down on the kitchen counter. He had taken longer than he would have liked at the doctor's office, but the place had been swamped. "At the least, nothing's too threatening at this point. Just gotta be careful they don't tear any new holes in my lungs." Taking his shoes off as he walked into the den, the man sat down. Aiko was still out with her friends, judging by the lack of her boots, and the fact that there was no food out on the counters.
"I hope she's doing good." Chuckling, Shinjiro shook his head and picked up Hamuko's picture, smiling at it. "I worry about her a lot, Hamuko … it really makes me wish you were here to help raise her …" Sighing and setting the picture down, he felt his eyes slip shut; the lack of sleep the night before had begun to catch up to him.
The sound of the door opening slightly made him jolt awake.
Knowing it wasn't Aiko due to the dead silence, Shinjiro tensed, reaching behind the sofa. "Who's there." The growl in his voice wasn't easy to miss, and most thieves realized the hard way that they had wandered into the lion's den right away. This seemed to be one of the bolder ones, as there was the sound of shoes coming deeper into the house. Frowning, Shinjiro grabbed one of the knives he kept hidden for this sort of concern, watching as the intruder stopped in front of the stairs leading to the second story.
Whoever they were, they dressed like they were from the Taisho Era. A black trench coat covered whatever the person was wearing, and a fedora was pulled low over his face, showing only pale lips. Even more on guard – how had the person not been nailed by the police yet – Shinjiro kept his eyes locked on the stranger.
The stranger lifted their head enough to show one eye, a flash of pure gold shining from the paper-white skin. "There you are." The voice sounded mercilessly hollow, sending a chill down Shinjiro's spine. "The one who safeguards the Key … How you managed to hide in such plain sight for years is impressive." A smirk seemed to appear across his face, combined with the eyes and white skin making it look purely unnerving. "Too bad it has all been for nothing."
With that, the man lunged, a spear of light appearing in his hand to impale Shinjiro. Shocked, it took a stroke of luck for Shinjiro to block with the knife he now had in his hands. He needed to get the stop sign out of the closet, but parrying a spear with a knife wasn't the easiest thing to do. Perhaps he could pin the coat …
Eyes widening as the spear came at him again, the man ducked, ignoring the flare of pain near his heart. Dammit, why did this have to happen …? Driving the knife through the attacking man's pant leg, he rolled and darted for the closet. Gripping the worn metal of the old stop sign, Shinrjio drew it out in time to block the spear being thrown at him. The weapon pierced through the metal part of the sign, stopping an inch before his face. Not taking any chances, Shinjiro drew it out and dropped it, rolling up and taking a swing at the other man.
He landed a direct hit to the man's head, knocking off the fedora to reveal blood red hair that reached the man's shoulders. It fell over his face in a tangled mess from both the hit and from being under the hat for so long, but those golden eyes didn't notice. "So you still have some fight in you …" Creating another spear, the man attacked again. "Too bad it will not save your life this time!"
Caught off guard, Shinjiro parried as best as he could, focusing on the attacker. He needed to end this as fast as he could, but how …?
"Dad, I'm home!"
Shinjiro paled.
"Aiko, get the hell out of here!" He shouted, kicking the attacking man in the stomach. "Get to your aunt 'n uncle!"
"Dad, what the hell are y-" AIko chose that moment to enter the living room, eyes widening in shock when the man's spear came dangerously close to her. "What the hell!?" Sounding far more scared than normal, she fled backwards a bit, dropping the bag she had been carrying. "Who the hell is this?!"
"Dammit Aiko, run!" Shinjiro tackled the other male as he spoke, trying to give Aiko more time to bolt. However, the red-haired male tossed him aside with ease, turning to look at Aiko as the teen hit the door to the outside, eyes wide in shock. Standing up, the man leveled the spear at Aiko, the blade inches away from her neck.
"So you have returned after all, lunar princess. That makes my job that much simpler." A smirk grew over the white face once more. Aiko couldn't move, paralyzed by fear, staring up at the gold eyes with something akin to sheer horror. The smirk grew more, and the spear was drawn back for what could only be a fatal thrust.
The man was stopped when a primal roar hit his ears, and Shinjiro tackled him from behind. The weapon had been dropped in favor of pure, adrenaline-fueled brawling. Aiko's cry of shock and fear only added more fuel to the fire, and Shinjiro found himself fighting harder, ignoring his body warning him of stress and strain from lack of practice.
Before long, however, his felt sharp pain in his left lung, making him freeze and cough. He could taste copper in his mouth; shit, the shrapnel …! The stranger took advantage to twist around, palms placed at Shinjiro's stomach. A small flare of silver and metallic blue fire appeared in the gap, exploding with a loud bang.
Completely caught off guard, Shinjiro went flying. Hitting the coffee table with enough force to break the hardwood, he let out a shout of pain and blacked out, hearing Aiko's scream of pure fear stabbing him in the heart.
So I was supposed to update yesterday ... but then Fire Emblem: Awakening arrived and consumed my soul
Sorry.
Anyway, this is where things start changing up big time. I greatly prefer this version, honestly.