A/N: Definition of FanFic: FICTION (a non realistic story) made by a FAN (an ardent follower and admirer) of another person's work, using that person's ideas to make an original story. As such, the only thing the FAN owns is their respective original story and original characters; NOT the object(s) of their FANdom.
...It was night, the moon and stars hidden from view by the dark clouds in the sky, snow falling softly from the sky. Saeko Mizuno was on her way home for the night, having stayed extra hours at the hospital to facilitate the training of the new interns. In the back seat of her car, a small child, barely five, slept as the car moved down the empty Tokyo streets, her blue hair that was so much like her mother's fluttering slightly from the warm air the heater was giving off.
She had just came to a halt at a stop light when she saw it. Street lights fizzled out as from the sky descended a massive shadowy hand, along with a cryptic voice. "We've found you."
Now, Dr. Mizuno was a down-to-Earth person. Much more so than your average doctor, who believed that if science couldn't explain it, something doesn't exist. And she had no doubt what was reality as she watched in horror, too shocked to move, as the hand plummeted down, crushing the small building that had been its target.
"Oh, my God..." Saeko was so in shock that she didn't notice the car door slam, and it was only when actually saw her little daughter running towards the shadow that she realized what she was seeing. "Ami! What are you- wait! STOP!"
Not stopping to listen, Ami ran up to the building, not noticing the shadow, that had turned its target to her.
"No!"
Just before the hand came down on her, something hit her from the side, knocking her away from the building as rubble flew everywhere from the impact.
Saeko had seen it. Just before Ami had been harmed, a small, golden blond figure had pushed her out of the way the monstrous hand falling upon her instead. The moment the dust settled, Ami began to rush towards the rubble again, only to be restrained by her mother.
"Ami, stop! We have to get away from here!"
"No! Let go mama! I have to help her!"
"No, you can't!"
"Mama, let go!"
Yet all the while, the hand had raised itself once again, and now fell forward to smash the rubble once more.
Saeko pulled her daughter underneath her, falling to the floor; determined protect her any way she could when it happened.
Before the hand could strike, a burst of powerful orange light enveloped the entire area, the shadow releasing a wretched cry as it disintegrated into the night sky.
For a while, nothing moved, as if time had come to a stop. Then, just as Saeko began to push herself up, something in the rubble moved. Remembering the blond child, Saeko and Ami got to their feet, the latter rushing over to the remains of what used to be an orphanage. "Hey, are you OK? Mama, come help!"
Rushing over to the scene, Saeko gave out a small gasp as she pushed aside a large chunk of rock Ami had been pulling on.
There was the blond child, half of her body trapped underneath the rubble. And Lying on top of her, protecting her upper body from the rubble that would have most likely crushed her was another child, with shoulder length raven hair. Her clothes were matted with blood from where the rubble fell on top of her, but she was still alive. They both were.
Pulling out her cell phone, Saeko praised every god she could think of that they were alive. The blond girl had saved her daughter's life, and that was something she would never forget. "Hello, this is Saeko Mizuno. There's been an accident."
Saeko sighed as she looked at her computer screen. It had been a week since the accident. Luckily for her, she didn't have to explain what had happened; it seemed it wasn't the first time something like that had happened, and the police chalked it up to a gas explosion. Some public servants, but, hey it worked for her.
Since then, she had been acting as both primary doctor and overseer for the two children. The orphanage they were at had actually been scheduled to be demolished, and had been closed down, but apparently the two children had been staying there for god knows how long- they were terribly malnourished.
Saeko's eyes narrowed as her thoughts turned to the children's health. Aside from the injuries they had from the accident, there were other, older injuries; cuts, bruises, scars. And... they had obviously been- the pen in her hand began to cry as it bent unnaturally- sexually assaulted.
SNAP.
Ignoring the now broken pen, Saeko's mind was still elsewhere. In truth, she knew very little information about the two girls. Not that this was for a lack of trying; quite the opposite, Saeko was a rather kind woman by nature, especially so when it came to children. Every time she would check up on the two or try to get them ready for an examination, she was always cheerful, talking kindly and happily to them about the nice day outside, how her daughter Ami had baked them cookies (with her help, of course); anything that she could think of.
Yet, it was to no avail. The two children were extremely guarded against other people, especially the black haired girl. In fact, the moment she had woken up, she promptly grabbed a nearby vase (Boda) and launched it at the doctor on duty (Saeko), who was preparing the blond girl for surgery. It was only after little Ami came in twenty minutes later with cookies that they managed to convince her they were there to help her and her friend; as well as to put down the statue of the goddess Venus (Botticelli).
It got to the point where most of the hospital staff was afraid to go into that room, and even more afraid to go near the raven haired girl's friend, for fear of flying statues. This fear lessened when said friend finally awoke three days after the two were admitted. She seemed to be less standoffish than her friend, her deep blue eyes holding the tiniest glint of innocence that should have filled both hers and her friend's. It was almost as if her eyes could see directly into your heart. And yet, even with that said, this girl was perhaps by far the more frightening of the two.
Because the child was utterly beautiful.
They both were, really, but the blond's beauty was on an entirely different level. An extremely dangerous level.
A level where, if you were not careful to restrain yourself, or you were not accustomed to being around her, her mere presence enticed people to touch her; an enticement that literally made people lose their sense of self, in an attempt to do something that they would regret for a long, very long time. Saeko had actually caught herself twice over the first couple of days glancing wistfully at the girl's sleeping figure. However, she quickly overcame such thoughts with genuine motherly love and affection as she continued to treat the child. But the most dangerous element of the girl's enticement, was that it was completely involuntary. The small child of course was not capable of even understanding the basic concept of human attraction.
And who in their right mind would expect her to? She and her friend were even younger than little Ami!
However, this was not to say she was a naive child. She was just as on guard as her younger companion, and she seemed very attuned to the disposition of others. A trait that Saeko believed was one of the reasons the girl was still alive. Along with her (Botticelli wielding) raven haired friend.
But even though Saeko was able to discern that much information about the two girls from observing them, she still didn't know a thing about them, not even their names. And it was all due to a simple reason.
The two children refused to speak.
In the entire week that the children had been admitted to the hospital, neither one had spoken a single word. Not even to each other. They refused to respond to any personal questions, and the questions they did respond to ('Does this hurt?', 'Are you feeling hungry?', etc) was answered with a nod or a shake of the head.
And yet somehow, they got along quite well with little Ami. Every time she'd visit, she'd leave happy and cheerful. The two bedridden children would listen as Ami told them about what she did that day, the picture she had colored, the little book she read all by herself, etc. And they would smile gently at her; the blond girl would wave Ami closer to her and pat her head whenever she told them something she was proud of. As a side affect, little Ami was the only one in the entire hospital who didn't have a chronic fear of Botticelli. Saeko was happy; Ami wasn't the best at making friends, mostly because she was always in the house while her mother was at work.
With a click, Saeko accessed the medical overview of the two girls. The raven haired had suffered slight head trauma, along with many cuts and bruises from the falling debris, but she was recovering nicely. Her friend on the other hand...
The blond that saved her daughter's life was not so lucky. On top of the cuts and scars, as well as head trauma, she had multiple broken ribs, her left arm fractured, and both of her legs broken. If that was all, she would have been counted as lucky, but...
She would never be able to walk again. Although the scars and cuts would heal, her legs would never hold her up and parade her around anymore. They hadn't told her yet, unsure how she would react to the news. After all, she was just a child...
Getting up from her desk, Saeko grabbed her purse, preparing to leave, and decided to check up on the two girls before she left. As she got closer to the door, she could hear the sound of movement, and before she could open it, the sound of voices brought her to a halt. Silently, she ever so slowly opened the door just enough so she could see what was going on, and felt her heart begin to beat rapidly at what she saw.
Sitting atop her friend, the raven haired girl was gently running her tongue along the blond girl's body; or to be more precise, she was running her tongue along every part of the girl that had a cut or scar, gently licking each injury. And the blond was doing the same to her, but stopped, suddenly gasping in pain for a moment.
"I'm sorry U-chan, did I hurt you! Maybe we're doing it wrong..."
Smiling slightly, the blond shook her head, "I'm okay. I think we just have to get used to it. Remember what the storybook said? 'Licking injuries help them to get better'. And see, we're getting better, too! It's just like the queen lady told us!"
But she said you can't walk anywhere anymore, too! I can't just leave you alone to go with that doctor lady! We can't trust adults! All they ever do is lie and hurt us! Hurt you! I can't protect you if we are away from each other!"
The blond girl hugged her friend, patting her head gently. "I believe the queen lady, Ho-chan. I don't know why. I don't trust adults. They're all bad. But, I think we can listen to what the queen lady said. She seemed so kind, that-!"
At the sound of a creak, the two girls spun around and glared at the door. Realizing she had been caught, Saeko quietly walked into the room, her eyes on the two girls.
Noticing she was looking at them, the raven haired girl's, 'Ho-chan's' face turned dark as she realized that they were still partially naked. "See U-chan? This lady is just like everyone else."
Covering her friend, 'U-chan' with the bed sheet, 'Ho-chan' slowly got off of the bed and approached Saeko.
Surprised, Saeko didn't resist as the girl pulled her to an empty bed nearby. Then, suddenly, 'Ho-chan' pushed her onto the bed.
"Wait, what are you-mm!" Her words were cut short as the shirtless girl's lips pushed against her's in a kiss. A very sensual kiss. For a moment, Saeko's mind went blank. It was only when she felt the girl grab her hand and pull it onto her chest that she regained her senses.
Gently, but forcefully, Saeko pushed the girl off of her, sitting her down on the bed. "What in the world are you doing!"
'Ho-chan's' face was still dark as she glared at the woman with absolute hatred and disgust, "This is what you want, isn't it? Just like all the other adults in the world. What's wrong, shouldn't either one of us be good enough? Well you'd better be happy with me, cuz I won't let you get anywhere near Usagi-chan!" Getting up, 'Ho-chan' walked over to the bed that Usagi was on, and spread her arms out protectively, all the while still glaring at Saeko.
Sitting on the bed, Saeko took a moment to take in what the girl had just said, as well as what she had just done. The depth of which these two girls had been physically and mentally scarred was far beyond what she could have imagined.
They had been abused to the point where there was only hatred and distrust towards all adults. These children were less than five years old, and yet had been exposed to sexual abuse so much that they expected abuse from any adult who approached them, and the raven haired girl was willing to initiate it herself to avoid her friend being targeted. This was just too horrible. This was something no person, let alone child should have to deal with.
Saeko could see it in their eyes. They were not the innocent eyes of children who were naive of the evils of the world. No, they were the eyes of those who dwelled in the darkness. Eyes that had seen the darkest of the world, and had learned to survive through it. And yet, their eyes still held a bit of the innocence that four year old children should have. It was truly a heartbreaking sight.
Slowly, Saeko got off of the bed and approached the raven haired girl. And ever so gently, she wrapped a bed sheet around the young child. "Children like you shouldn't have to face such terrible things," And before the child could react, She had grabbed her in a tight hug, tears in her eyes, "We adults should be protecting you, not causing you so much grief. I'm sorry. For all the things that you two have been through, I'm sorry. I know I can't take away the pain and suffering you two have gone through, but I promise that I can make sure that you never have to face those things again..."
After struggling for a few moments, the girl finally stopped resisting and simply let the woman continue to hug her, the woman now openly crying into the girl's small shoulders. The girl was feeling conflicted, unsure of what to do. She had never been in this kind of situation before, Nervously, she looked to her friend.
The blond girl, Usagi smiled softly at her friend and spoke softly, so softly that only her friend could hear, "Maybe we can try to believe this lady. The queen lady said that we should trust her, so I think that we should give her a chance, Hotaru-chan."
Saeko must have heard, because she moved over and embraced her as well, still sobbing all the while. Hotaru looked at her for a moment, and then replied to Usagi just as softly.
"I don't trust her, but I trust you, Usagi-chan. If you believe in her, then I will too."
A/N: And with this, we have finished part two of the opening of Duty of the Heart. I'm want to make sure that everything is properly explained before I completely launch into the heart of the story. The next chapter will be the last of the opening, subtly named the Darkness Arc.
This chapter is rather dark, touching on the darkness that is a reality in the real world, a darkness that most people either choose to ignore, or are completely unaware of. While some people might be 'offended' by the actions of Usagi and Hotaru thus far, it is important to understand what they have gone through up to this point of their lives.
When children face abuse at a very young age, they respond in one of two ways. Either they lose touch with reality, not caring what happens to them anymore, or they learn to survive through the darkness, finding ways to protect themselves any way that they can.
This means either becoming subservient willing to get the pain and suffering over with as soon as possible, or learning to hate; distrusting and rebelling against all adults in general, attaining a mentality that all adults want to hurt them, and that they can only rely on themselves and the other children who are their self-proclaimed 'family'.
At any rate, this chapter is finished, and as usual, your opinions and comments on the story this far are greatly appreciated. Any questions, feel free to PM me, I'm always up to answering any questions that you may have.
Until next time!