Old Ghosts and New Beginnings

The Kazamino New Revival Church was condemned.

That was nothing new. The once magnificent sanctuary, home to God's light, had become a house of condemnation years ago. At one point it had been the birthplace of a fledgling movement, a push to reform the greater Christian church into a faith founded upon love and compassion, and for a time it seemed that he might actually succeed. Though initially met with strong resistance, the good Reverend Sakura's teachings had begun to pick up steam, and soon his congregation was packed with eager disciples, all coming to hear this new gospel.

And then tragedy had struck. For reasons still unknown even after all these years, the bodies of the Sakura family had been found in their home. The police had ruled it as a mass murder/suicide, claiming that all evidence suggested that the beloved patriarch of their family had killed his own wife and two young daughters before taking his own life.

His congregation had been absolutely flabbergasted by the news, the shock almost outweighing the horror. What? Why? How could such a kindhearted man commit such an unforgiveable sin? What had happened to push him so far off the brink? Had there been signs that they all had missed? Why had he gone after his own family? Was it all a set-up? Had he been framed? Or had there always been a monster leading their congregation, a being of pure evil lurking behind those warm and friendly eyes?

Nobody knew the answers save for the dead, and the dead kept their secrets. In light of such a heinous act, the movement fell apart, with its parishioners scattering to the winds. Some found other churches, while others abandoned the faith entirely. And the once proud church was left to rot, forever a gloomy monument to the horrors its founder had wrought.

There was little doubt in anyone's mind as to the final destination of Reverend Sakura's soul. No matter what might have caused him to break, no loving God would ever look kindly on anything who had committed such a barbaric act of evil. As such, those who passed by his church's decrepit corpse were reminded of how its founder had condemned his eternal soul to damnation.

But now it had been condemned in another manner entirely.

There was now a sign in front of the building, one that proclaimed that the building was set to be demolished to make way for a new children's hospital, courtesy of the Puella Magi Enterprises, whatever that was. To many it was a relief. Finally, the grim reminder of those horrors was going to be removed. Finally, the blood of the poor Sakura family was going to be washed away, and its innocent victims would be allowed to rest. Finally, the last memory of that monster was going to be erased.

And yet, as she read the words on the sign for the third time, Noriko Sayama could feel nothing but sadness.

An elderly woman reaching the middle of her sixth decade, Noriko felt the tragedy of what had happened more acutely than most. She had not only been a part of Reverend Sakura's congregation, but she had also been one of the church's elders and a close personal friend of the family. She had babysat for both little Kyoko and Momo, had regularly attended their Christmas parties, and had even taken the poor family into her home for a time back when Reverend Sakura's message had been unpopular enough to render them homeless for a brief time.

For years she struggled with how such a devout reverend, devoted husband, and loving father could ever do such a thing. Had drugs been involved? An affair uncovered? Had he been secretly molesting his daughters and his wife had threatened to expose him? Space aliens, maybe?

Whatever the cause, all Noriko knew for certain was that it had all died that day. The Sakuras, the movement they had founded, and the church that it had been born in. And after years of confusion, anger, and even hatred, all she could feel now was sadness.

Noriko looked up at the church's corpse and sighed. In a way, part of her was sad to see the building go. Though she knew that it was probably for the best, it did feel like its demolition was going to be the final nail in the coffin for any good coming from her old faith. For as reprehensible as she found what the man had done during his final moments, she did believe in his cause. But now its failure was to be made official.

She was about to leave, but then she noticed that the front door was slightly ajar, probably due to inspectors preparing for the demolition or something. Noriko hesitated. Surely, she ought to just keep walking and let the dusty old ghosts rest, but instead, she found herself ducking under the yellow tape that now surrounded the building and heading for the door, if for no other reason than to bid that period of her life goodbye.

The inside of the church was had once been spacious and beautiful, with elegant stained-glass windows, oak pews, and a high ceiling held aloft by columns. Now, it was all decayed, the windows broken, the pews eaten by pests and dampness, and trash was strewn everywhere. The pulpit still stood, but one whole side was covered with mold. Whatever spirit of holiness that had once inhabited this place had left alongside its parishioners.

But then someone sitting in the first rows of pews stood up.

"Hello?" said a young woman's voice. "This place is off limits. Not to mention extremely dangerous. Seriously, the roof will probably cave in before the wreckers get here."

Noriko started. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone was here!" she said, cringing back from the door. "I saw the sign, and wanted to take one last look. I didn't mean to offend."

"Hey, don't worry about it," the young woman said as she walked down the rows of pews toward Noriko. She was very striking, a handsome woman who seemed to be in her mid-twenties, with sharp crimson eyes and long hair of the same color tied into a neat ponytail that hung around her shoulders. She was well-dressed, wearing a green turtleneck sweater, tight black pants, green boots, and a red leather jacket. A silver ring set with a red gem was on one finger. "I get it. Kind of why I'm here too, actually. Just wanted to see the old place one last time."

Noriko blinked. "I'm sorry, but you know this place. I mean, before?"

There was a pause, and then the young woman sighed. "Yeah. I was there, back when I was a kid."

"Oh, my dear," Noriko said with a sigh of her own. "I'm so sorry. I used to attend here as well, so I-"

"Wait, hold on," the young woman said as she went stiff. "You did? You went to my dad's church?"

For the briefest of moments, it was as if the young woman were speaking utter nonsense. Noriko understood the words that she was saying, of course, but the way that they were used made no sense to her at all. Her dad's church? But that would imply-

Suddenly, the young woman's face lit up with surprise and joy. "Holy shit!" she blurted out. "Mrs. Sayama? Is that you?"

"I-" Now Noriko was truly seeing the young woman's face. Those eyes, that impish smile, even that voice. It couldn't be…

"K-Kyoko?" she ventured.

Such happy embraces.

…

"I wasn't there when it happened."

The two were sitting in one of the moldering old pews, though it took them some time to find one that looked sturdy enough, though not as long as it took them to stop holding onto one another. Frankly, Noriko still wasn't convinced that this was real. She had accepted Kyoko's death, had grieved her along with her sister, her mother, and yes, even her father at times. But now, the girl that she had thought long dead was back, alive and well, almost thirteen years after her supposed murder.

"He did it when I was out," Kyoko was saying, her eyes affixed on what remained of her father's pulpit. "And I…Well, I…"

Noriko winced. "Oh, my dear. You were the one who found them, weren't you?"

Kyoko slowly nodded. "I didn't report it. That was the Okadas, next door. I think they found them the day after. But y-yeah. I found them first. I know everyone thinks that he killed me too, and I didn't bother correcting them. I just, you know, left."

A slight tremble developed in the lovely young woman's fingers. Noriko silently reached over and took Kyoko's hand in both of her own. "I am so sorry," she said, stroking the back of Kyoko's hand. "I don't blame you at all."

"Yeah," Kyoko said after a bit. She had yet to look away from the pulpit. "Anyway, for a couple years after that, well, things were…pretty bad. I was basically back on the streets. Kept moving around. Didn't stay in one spot for too long."

"But why didn't you go to any of us for help?" Noriko asked. "You know I would have taken you in a heartbeat!"

There was a long pause, and then Kyoko looked down. "I couldn't," she said. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Sayama. But I couldn't talk to anyone from the church. Believe me, there were reasons."

Noriko felt a trickle of dread seep into her heart. "Do you…know why he did it?"

"Yeah," Kyoko said after several more seconds. "I do. But I can't tell you that either."

"I'm sorry."

Kyoko slowly nodded. "Anyway, things got pretty nasty for a while. And I, well, I did some things that I'm not proud of to survive. Became a person that I don't really like."

Noriko winced. Though Kyoko hadn't specified, she could well imagine what a little girl, lost and alone in a cruel, unforgiving world might had resorted to just to keep fed.

But Kyoko must have noticed the look on her face, as she actually let out a small laugh. "Oh no, nothing like that. I just mean, I became kind of a nasty person. There was just so much anger and spite, and I kind of let it control me for a while."

"No one would blame you, either way," Noriko assured her.

"Well, I did, for a bit."

Noriko tilted her head. "What changed?"

Finally, Kyoko's mouth started to lift into a small smile. "I met someone," she said at last. "Several someones, actually."

"You mean, like a group home, or…"

"No, nothing like that," Kyoko said with a shake of her head. "I wasn't taken in by anyone or anything like that. More of, I met a bunch of other losers, other girls who had messed up lives, and we all sort got caught up in the same rotten situation together."

Ah, other street kids. That made sense, though it did sadden Noriko to be reminded of just how many children had been forced from their homes from some kind of tragedy or another.

"Anyway, things actually got kind of worse for a bit, but to my honest surprise, we got through it. We survived. And then things started to get better." Kyoko shook her head. "So much better, actually."

"I bet," Noriko said, looking Kyoko over. She seemed healthy and happy, to say nothing of how expensive her clothes were. "You're looking…amazing, actually."

Kyoko preened. "Hey, thanks!"

"So, this Puella Magi Enterprises. Is that yours, then?"

"Eh, sort of?" Kyoko said with a shrug. "More of it's ours. I'm one of the founders, so I'm on the board of directors, but Homura…er, that's one of my friends. Anyway, she's the CEO. It was her money we used to start the whole thing, after all."

Noriko frowned. "But I thought that you said you were all homeless."

"No, I said that they all got stuck in sucky situations, and that we all ended up together in one really big sucky situation, not that they were homeless too. Homura was mega rich, but a way, what she went through was way, way worse than my situation, believe it or not."

Noriko did have a hard time believing that, but then again, sometimes money wasn't enough to ward off the cruelties of life.

Then Kyoko pulled out her wallet and took out a small, glossy photograph. "Here we are," she said. "This is a couple years back, right after we got the company off the ground."

It was Kyoko, standing in front of a white marble building. Surrounding her were a number of other girls her own age.

"See? Here's Homura," she said, indicating a raven-haired girl in a smart suit with a solemn face. "She's, well, I wouldn't call her team leader, but it was her money we were using, so she ended up as CEO." Then she pointed to a cheery-looking young woman with shoulder-length pink hair, smartly dressed in a matching pink skirt and blazer over a crème blouse. "And here's Madoka, our vice-president! She's the best. Like, an eternal ball of sunshine. I can't tell you how many times she carried us just through being the only one willing to keep going."

Then she pointed out a beautiful blonde girl with elaborately curled hair. "And here's Mami! She's the first one I met, back even before everything went to shit, and-"

"Oh, I do remember her!" Noriko exclaimed. "Was she the one you were spending so much time with?"

"Yup! That's her!" Then Kyoko winced. "Um, we actually had kind of a nasty falling out after everything went down. But we met a couple years later, back when the group was being brought together, and we made up. It was nice, being able to be friends with her again."

Noriko smiled. "I'm glad."

"Yeah, anyway, she was the actual team leader at the beginning, but over time that role kind of went to Homura. I think Mami was glad of it, though. She had her own bad stuff to deal with. Anyway, she's our president now, and is very happy doing that."

She then pointed to an energetic young woman with long blue hair, one who was wearing black slacks and a blue tie over a white button-down shirt. "And this is Sayaka, the team dumbass, and official pain in my butt! But when she's not doing that, she likes to pretend that she's our treasurer."

Despite the desponding words, Noriko saw how Kyoko's eyes lit up when she talked about this Sayaka, as well as how soft her smile had gotten. "You seem very fond of her," she noted.

"Yeah, well, she has a way of growing on you. Like a fungus. But don't tell her that. The last thing she needs is a bigger ego." Then she pointed at herself. "And here's me, the COO. Basically, that means I'm in charge of the nuts and bolts, though I do come up with a lot of the ideas, including this one."

"I'm so proud of you," Noriko said, giving Kyoko's forearm a friendly squeeze. "I mean, just look at you! Rising up from all of that to becoming an executive of a big company!"

"We're not that big," Kyoko said, though there was no mistaking the pride in her voice.

Noriko looked around at the remains of the sanctuary. "And now you're going to turn this place into a children's hospital."

"Yeah," Kyoko said, putting the photograph away. "I figured, well, this old place has been rotting long enough. I figured it was time that it be used for good again. Besides, I was sick of my family's name being attached to a curse. Kind of wanted to turn that around, too."

Noriko paused, and then said, "Kyoko, I don't know what happened or why, but I did know your family for a long time. And I know this for certain: the man that I knew, the kind and loving man that he was before he fell, would be so proud of you."

Kyoko's throat tightened. Her eyes began to glisten, and she wiped them with her wrist. "Thanks," she whispered. "I really hope so."

Then she checked her watched and frowned. "Ah, damn. My ride's gonna be here soon."

"Right," Noriko said as they both rose up from the pew. "I need to head home too. It's getting dark."

The two of them headed for the front door, leaving the ghosts behind. "I am so happy I ran into you, though," Noriko said. "All this time, I thought you were lost, but just look at you now! It's amazing!"

"Yeah, me too," Kyoko sighed. "Hey, you want me to introduce you to the rest of the girls? I'm sure they would love to meet you."

Noriko was tempted, but at her age, it was getting harder and harder to remember new faces. "Well, tell you what: how about you invite me to the commencement ceremony, and I can meet them all then."

"You got it," Kyoko promised. She gave Noriko another hug. "Man, I'm glad I ran into you."

"Me too," Noriko responded. She could feel her throat tighten with emotion. "I'm so proud of you, Kyoko."

Finally, Kyoko favored her with that devil-may-care grin, the one that Noriko had grown to know so well.

Noriko watched as Kyoko headed down the street. There, a large SUV was parked, and around it were the same girls that Kyoko had shown her in the photograph. The blonde one was seated in the driver's seat, while the other three were standing outside of the car, talking together.

As Kyoko approached, they all turned to Kyoko with big smiles. Or at least, the bluehaired and pinkhaired girls did. The darkhaired one's smile was much smaller, but it was there. The bluehaired girl broke off from the others to hurry over to Kyoko.

Noriko had a smile of her own as the bluehaired girl greeted Kyoko with an affectionate kiss. So, it was as she had suspected. Noriko knew that there were many in the faith (and several outside of it) who would disapprove of such a relationship between two women, but Noriko was proud to say that she had never held such backward views, and say what you will about Reverend Sakura, but neither did he or his message. And it warmed her heart to see that Kyoko had not only found friends, found a family, but also found love as well.

Then she noted how the pinkhaired and the darkhaired girls' hands were entwined, and her smile grew. It seemed that Kyoko was not the only one. She wondered about those girls, what their own stories had been if Kyoko considered some them to be more harrowing than her own…but no. That was none of Noriko's concern. It was enough to know that Kyoko was alive and thriving.

"You really would be so proud of her," she said to the ghosts behind her. After all, in a way Kyoko was carrying on her father's message far better than he could ever hope to.

Her heart now feeling lighter than it had in years, Noriko began the rest of the journey home, leaving behind the dead church for the last time.