InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ For Souls ❯ Three ( Chapter 3 )

“Big Sister…” her voice waivered as she held her cellphone to her ear with both hands.

Kaede swiveled impatiently in her chair, staring at the peach-painted wall behind the desk in Kikyo's guestroom.

I know her group ended at 10pm, she thought, glancing toward her alarm clock and watching the digital numbers change from 12:30 to 12:31. Why wasn't she home yet?

I'm sorry. Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please…

Kaede grunted and ended the call, hit the redial button, and anxiously put the phone back to her head. Why did Kikyo have to keep doing this? After a month of attending that group shouldn't she be showing signs of getting better? Kaede felt her eyes begin to sting. She sat upright and pursed her lips together.

No, she thought. No tears. I have to stay strong for Kikyo.

“But why does she not answer her phone?” she groaned aloud.

I'm sorry. Your call ca—

“Dammit!” she yelled, slamming the lid of her phone closed and crashing it against the tabletop in anger. She let out a heavy breath and watched a yellow number two pencil roll off the desk and past her feet, into the dark caverns of the desk below.

“I swear to God, Kikyo…” she mumbled, climbing onto her hands and knees to look underneath the desk for the fugitive pencil. She pressed her face into the cream-coloured carpet, squinting with her right eye to distinguish between the shadows and shapes underneath the desk. It was a large, old wooden desk with four drawers on the left and a cabinet on the right. Kaede ran her fingers along the delicate details carved into the drawer and smirked at the memory of how much trouble this dumb desk had put her through when she helped her sister move into the apartment.

“It's so…ugly,” Kaede had said with wide eyes and an incredulous scowl when the delivery truck arrived. “Are you sure this is the desk you want, Big Sister?”

Kikyo had only nodded in response as she watched the pick-up truck back-in to the allocated space where Kaede and Kikyo could access the desk and move it into the building.

That was so long ago, Kaede thought, her mind fast-forwarding to the present.

The carpet began to scratch and tickle her right cheekbone, making Kaede sit up and rub at the skin feverishly. Sitting back onto her calves, Kaede's hands fell onto her thighs with a sigh.

She wouldn't have tried again, would she?

Despite her resolution to stay strong for her sister, she struggled to keep her mind from assuming the worst. Yes, the last two times Kikyo duplicated the entire process, and likely even the third would have taken the same path, but that did not mean Kikyo wouldn't attempt some other method if her thoughts backed her into a corner. Kaede knew her sister well enough to know that Kikyo did not respond well to desperation.

She even tried to use the same suicide note, Kaede heatedly thought, recalling the time she walked in on her sister, huddled over her desk, crying with pen in hand. At least that time Kaede made her sister do something about it, and she was accepted into the For Souls program a month later.

Would she try something else? Kaede's eyes turned towards her window as her mind instantly melted into a visualization of the city, tracing the steps Kikyo would take to travel to and from the agency.

What about that one bridge? Or there's that one intersection with the train tracks…Kaede shook her head. What was she doing? These thoughts were only making her stomach ache and mouth dry out, and completely unnecessarily. Kikyo probably just got caught up with a friend from group…or ran into him.

But Kikyo's not really the sort to make friends…anywhere, she rationalized, and what are the odds she would randomly bump into him after five years?

Resolute to reach her sister, desperately clinging to the thought that Kikyo was just late—for God knows whatever reason—Kaede stood and grasped hold of her mobile, flicked open the lid of the old Nokia, and punched in her sister's number with her thumb.

Kaede's eyes searched the room the moment she heard the ringing.

Please, please, please, please…she thought.

The ringing continued.

Pick up, pick up, pick it up, dammit…

I'm sorry. Your call cannot be—

“Kikyo!” she screamed, releasing her grip on the device, allowing it to drop to the floor, and put her hands on her flushed cheeks. “What the hell are you doing? Did you not think I would worry about you!?” Kaede cringed and moved her hands to her waist and squeezed as she felt the cramps returning.

The stress cramps were new to her, developing because of inflamed lymph nodes in direct response to the strain put on her body from years of extreme stress. Kaede never told Kikyo about the stress symptoms from Kikyo's actions, keeping her pain to herself anytime she tried to help her sister with her problems; Kaede was anxious about the negative impact it would have on Kikyo if she learned how much her sister had emotionally taken on by trying to be Kikyo's only support during her years of crisis.

Kaede looked down at her phone, nestled between the legs of the chair on the floor. Wincing, yet trying to ignore the pain shooting through her midsection, she let her weight fall into the seat. With a large inhale, she leaned her head back until the tightness under her chin refused to allow her head to tilt any further. She scanned her eyes in a “Z”-formation across the white speckled ceiling, allowing her eyes to eventually fall onto the crown-molding, browning from dust, and then towards the window. She had opened her drapes slightly to be able to see the roundabout in the front of the building, hopeful that she would see Kikyo walking home. Kikyo's apartment was located on the fourth floor in the west-most corner of the building, the whole structure shaped like a large “U,” with the front door located centrally in the arc and Kaede's window granting her a perfect view of the front doors.

Kaede thought about her current home, the humble-sized two bed/one bath apartment Kikyo rented since she graduated from the private school she and Kaede attended as children. Her graduation imminent, at the age of eighteen, Kikyo told Kaede she had gained access to the trust fund left to her by their father. Kikyo stated she planned on finding her own place to live now that she would no longer be under the school board's care. Kaede had been shocked by this news. At that time in her life, Kaede never could recall a time she ever lived without her sister. She remembered the anxiety she had felt knowing the second bed in their joint room would be empty, and that Kikyo would move out into the world on her own. Five years Kikyo's junior, Kaede had only been thirteen at the time, and would be discovering what it would be like to live alone, despite her sheltered living arrangements under the school board's care.

Kikyo had stumbled upon the apartment's availability in an advertisement she saw posted inside a bus shelter. Kaede had been sitting at her desk doing her schoolwork when Kikyo walked through the door to her side of the room and told Kaede about the ad. Kikyo explained she had called and arranged a viewing of the apartment and immediately offered a down-payment to reserve it in her name.

Kaede had been in the middle of exam studying when Kikyo stated she was moving—given that Kikyo no longer had exams for which she needed to prepare. Kaede hadn't been sure what was going on between her sister and that boy, Inuyasha, but Kaede was given the impression that things mustn't be going well. Kaede had turned in her chair and asked if he was helping with the move, but Kikyo simply stated she was moving without anyone's aid. Feeling sorry for Kikyo—and compelled to help her only family—Kaede offered her services to her sister, despite her impending examinations. Kikyo had initially rebuked the offer, scoffing, and saying, “You are too small to be of any use to me, Kaede.” However, Kaede's stubbornness overcame Kikyo's hesitation, and she finally gave in to her sister's demands.

Stupid desk, Kaede thought, pausing in her recollection, her eyes turning to stained hunk of heavy wood at her side. Kaede really had been a frail, small creature at the age of thirteen. Any time she sat behind the desk in Kikyo's guestroom, Kaede's mind always returned to that time when her younger self set eyes upon the ugly piece of furniture and became determined that moving the desk was the only way to prove to Kikyo that Kaede could be valuable to her sister.

What a failure, Kaede thought with a smile. Kaede remembered being in tears as she grasped, and lurched, and tugged, and gasped at the wooden frame, desperate to show her sister she could be useful. The desk squealed and groaned under the weight of Kaede's well-intended force, yet it never lifted or shifted off the truck's flatbed.

Big Sister needs my help…she had thought, tears brimming over onto her cheeks. I need to be able to help her. I need to be stronger. I am all she has.

Kikyo had warm-heartedly and gently laughed at Kaede's struggles and stubbornness to complete a task impossible for one her size. Instead, she put a comforting hand on the child's head and assured her that Kikyo would find someone else to help her move the desk inside.

“Find something your size to carry,” she had said, motioning with her head towards a desk lamp and a box labeled “blankets.” Silent tears had run down Kaede's cheeks as the result of her failure. Later that afternoon, two boys from the apartment were on their way out and Kikyo had approached them asking for their aid. Kaede sheepishly and ashamedly trailed behind them with cushions in her hands, watching the two boys walk away with Kaede's failure in their hands.

Kaede smiled in spite of the memory, remembering how long after she had licked her wounded pride. Even eleven years later, at the age of twenty-four, Kaede recalled the memory with ease, identifying it as the catalyst for Kaede's desperation to help her older sister; everything Kaede had done in the last eleven years had been to protect her small family. Kikyo's unstable relationship and its impact on her life had been a thorn in Kaede's side since she was very young. Any leeway she made with her sister over the years and successful attempts to bring the two of them closer—despite Kikyo's coldness and tendency to shut herself off from others—was always undermined by Inuyasha's coming or going into Kikyo's life. Kaede could barely recall a time when Kikyo wasn't orienting her thoughts, aspirations, and behaviours around Inuyasha.

Kaede's eyes began to glass over at the thought that all the anxiety she felt, and her stress cramps, were his fault. Kaede promised herself she would never dote on the memories of her sister's suicide attempts; it had taken years for the nightmares to cease, for the images and memories of her sister's actions and fury to disappear. After the first attempt, Kaede learned quickly that Kikyo would not open up about her emotions and state of mind; Kikyo's hubris and anger prevented her from disclosing her weaknesses to her younger sibling. Thinking back about her sister's growth over the years, Kaede always recognized her sister as being too proud and, as such, refused to allow anyone to think her weak.

Kaede sighed. The silent fury Kikyo had directed at Kaede after her return from the hospital the first time still seemed to hang heavy in the air, like a stale odor that had not quite dissipated despite years of trying to remove it.

“Big Sister, I did it because I was scared for you!” Kaede had cried at her sister from the doorway, the indifference and hardheartedness Kikyo directed at Kaede began to make her feel like she was suffocating. “I knew he would come for you! I only did it because I knew he would help you if he thought you were in trouble. I did not mean anything by it. I was scared. I thought he could help! I'm sorry, Big Sister…I'm so—”

“That's enough!” Kikyo had shouted, turning from her position gazing out the window, her wrists wrapped with sand-coloured gauze. “Not one more word out of your feeble, backstabbing little mouth,” she spat. She turned her red, swollen eyes toward her wounds and delicately traced her fingers over the bandage. “Leave my room, immediately, Kaede. As far as I am concerned, I don't have any siblings.”

Kikyo…Kaede thought, her mind turning to the present. Kaede sighed and scratched at the cheek that had rubbed against the scratchy carpet. Maybe she should try Kikyo's phone again? She knew Kikyo would be upset with her for asserting a maternal watchfulness over her actions, but Kaede didn't know any other way of being. Ever since she was a small child, she made her world revolve around her sister. Where is Kikyo? How can I help Kikyo? What can I do to prove myself to Kikyo? These were the questions that came to Kaede as easy as breathing.

Kaede never made friends easily, always finding it difficult to relate to others her age. Her teachers always called her very mature and grown up for her age, which Kaede attributed to spending all her time with her older sister and having an irregular childhood. Despite years of trying to relate to other children, Kaede finally got tired of answering the same questions about not having a mother or a father, and yes, it really was just her and her sister on their own. So eventually, she just decided she would make Kikyo her only companion.

The earliest memories Kaede could recall were from when she was seven years old. She and Kikyo were sitting in the backseat of a car with their father in the front seat; the world was dashing by Kaede's window like a whirlwind, and Kaede recalled her legs ripping off the seat like Velcro. Trees pranced by the window as they drove by them, an assortment of greens smearing into pink and cream-coloured flowers like a pallet whose paint had been intermingled. The window was down slightly and the breeze felt crisp and stark against her cheeks and nose.

“Kaede, roll up your window!” her father had barked. “I don't have time to deal with you should you get sick.”

Kaede had rolled up the window as told and pressed her forehead against the cool glass, continuing to watch the world race by outside.

Kaede remembered the drive being quiet and uncomfortable. She turned to her sister to speak but Kikyo shushed her, shaking her head. Kaede couldn't understand why everyone was being so silent or why the air felt heavy. She began to hum to herself while she patted along on her lap. She remembered hearing sirens and being scolded by her father for being noisy and restless. In response to his telling her to stop making so much noise, Kaede asked him why all trees didn't produce flowers.

“Kaede! For heaven's sake, be more like your sister and learn to keep your mouth shut!” he had shouted from the front seat. He had taken the next turn quickly and Kaede's head bashed into the window. Her hand flew to her head and she opened her mouth to cry out when her father spun around in his seat—as the result of a red light—and grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her towards him.

“Do not make this any harder on me, Kaede, or I swear to the Lord above I will lose it. Do not fidget, keep it down, and shut - your - mouth.” With the last word and a shove he released Kaede's arm, throwing her back into her seat. Tears began to form in her eyes and she turned to seek comfort from her sister. Kikyo gave her a pitiful glance and reached out to hold her younger sister's hand.

Later, when Kaede was old enough to understand, Kikyo explained they were following the ambulance that contained their mother; they were heading towards the hospital. Their mother had had a heart attack.

Despite years of trying to recall past times, Kaede never had any memories of her mother, somehow always being drawn to remember the look of the trees, the feel of the wind, and the wrath of her distressed father on the day that her mother died. From how little Kikyo spoke of their mother, Kaede did not have many stories of her either. Most of Kaede's childhood memories were oriented around Kikyo, and Kaede's desire to impress and protect her sister.

Kikyo was never forthcoming with information about their family. Over the years, Kaede would bide her time and plan when she would harass her sister to provide the information so Kaede could get to know her parents. The first time Kikyo disclosed anything about their mother was after a “parent-teacher” event, when Kaede cried on the way home, asking her sister why they didn't have a family to care about them and their education.

It was through badgering Kikyo that Kaede learned how sternly religious their parents were, as well as how her mother was born with Pectus Excavatum, or a concave chest that made it difficult for her to breathe. Similarly, it was because of her faith that Kaede's mother never sought medical treatment.

“She thought God would fix it,” Kikyo had claimed one day while the girls walked home together.

“Why wouldn't Father help her?” Kaede had asked.

“They both thought God would intervene if she was meant to get better.”

Looking back on her memory of that car ride, Kaede scoffed at the ridiculousness of her mother's actions, and for the stupidity of prioritizing a faith and a God that allowed her to die so dismissively. Kaede never understood the details regarding how it happened, or why. Whether it was the heart attack itself or some result of her mother's condition, Kaede didn't know, and similarly had the suspicion that Kikyo also did not understand the full details.

“Her heart suffocated,” Kikyo had said absently to Kaede one day while the two girls were in their room doing schoolwork.

“How can your heart suffocate?” Kaede inquired further.

Kikyo sighed. “I am not a doctor, Kaede. I don't know.”

From the time Kaede was eight years old, she and her sister were enrolled in a boarding school system where the two girls' needs would be looked after by the school. Kaede never remembered seeing her father after that car ride to the hospital.

“Oh, please, Big Sister,” Kaede had begged when she was fifteen. “When was the last time he saw us? I would like to remember. Please!”

“Kaede, please,” Kikyo had begged, putting a hand to her forehead. “Haven't I told you enough about our past? He dropped us off at our student dormitory, explained we never had to worry about money, and that is the last we ever saw of him. Now, please, Little Sister, let the past lie.”

“Oh, Kikyo,” Kaede sighed, removing her head from the past and spinning in her chair to face the window. “Do you not ever think about me? Or give any thought to how I am after all you've put me through?”

Suddenly feeling sorry for herself, Kaede stood and walked towards the bed, sitting on the side and then letting her body tumble down towards the mattress, her feet still on the floor. Despite having stayed with her sister for almost four years, the bed still felt foreign to her. Kaede never did feel welcome in her sister's apartment.

Five years ago, upon receiving notice that it was time to renew her rental agreement, Kaede had made the decision she would not keep her own apartment and would instead stay with her sister. Kaede had felt heavy with the decision, but she knew that if she left it long enough she could guilt Kikyo into giving in and allowing Kaede to stay with her. And that's exactly what happened: out of pity for her sister Kikyo told Kaede she could have the guestroom for now.

Kaede smiled at the memory of claiming the guestroom as her bedroom from then on or at least until Kikyo demonstrated she was stable enough to live alone again. Kikyo couldn't be trusted, Kaede had convinced herself. Kikyo was so fragile after her last episode with Inuyasha that Kaede wouldn't forgive herself if Kikyo ended her life and Kaede failed to prevent it from happening. She would feel especially guilty if Kikyo was successful with her attempt due to Kaede's being too afraid to stand up to her older sister.

The sound of her phone ringing made Kaede jump off the bed and practically out of her skin. She stormed towards the desk, clambering around for the phone, trying to locate the source of the jovial bell chime, before remembering its tumble beneath her chair. In a swift motion, Kaede grasped the device into her hand and flicked open the lid with her thumb. She put the device against her ear before it registered to her that she should have checked the call display.

“Kikyo!?” she probed hopefully.

“Hello, Kaede,” returned the serene and nonchalant voice of her sister.

“Where have you been?” Kaede barked into the phone. “Do you not realize how crazed I have been for the last few hours? Are you okay? Where are you?”

“You are always so animated, Mother,” her sister sniggered. “I am fine, Kaede. You don't need to worry. My phone was simply muted.”

“Big Sister,” Kaede sighed out of irritation but also relief, “what is the point of having a mobile if you do not use it practically?”

“Why did you call so many times, Kaede?” Kikyo responded, ignoring Kaede's previous lament.

“Because I was worried about you! Are you on your way home yet? Where are you?”

A small pause followed on Kikyo's end; Kaede thought she heard another voice in the background. “Yes, I will be leaving shortly.”

“Are you still at the agency? Where have you been for the last few hours?”

“Kaede, please…” Kikyo strained. Has she been crying? Kaede thought upon recognizing the hoarseness in her sister's voice.

“You're not…” Kaede paused. “It's not because of him, right?” The name Inuyasha dangled from Kaede's lips but she didn't have the heart to speak it for fear of how Kikyo would respond to hearing it.

“Little Sister,” Kikyo warned. Kaede knew that tone well, recognizing Kikyo was on the edge and would not be willing to comply with any more questions.

“I'm sorry,” Kaede mumbled. “You know I worry.”

“Yes, I know,” Kikyo sighed into the phone. “I am leaving shortly.”

“I will meet you halfway,” Kaede stated. She meant for it to sound like a question; however, it came out like an unarguable fact. Kaede wanted Kikyo to feel badly for making her worry, yet this same desire made Kaede feel incredibly guilty. Kaede knew that despite her desire for Kikyo to think of Kaede's feelings first, she knew that Kikyo had probably not given any thought to the fact that Kaede was putting herself second to her sister's needs—again—despite Kaede having to work at 7:00am the next morning.

“Kaede…” Kikyo began, the faintness of a warning in her tone.

“We are not going to argue about this,” Kaede interrupted. “Where are you? I will leave now.”

Kikyo provided the nearest intersection and Kaede agreed to meet her about ten to fifteen minutes down the road, near the two-storey house with the beautiful front garden that Kaede always admired on her bus ride to work.

Without a goodbye Kikyo ended the call and Kaede speedily grabbed a zip-up jacket, a small umbrella that would fit into her pocket, and headed for the front door. Putting on her shoes, Kaede grabbed her keys off a hook and walked out into the hallway.

I wonder if it's normal to be this selfless for family, Kaede thought as she walked down the stairs and then out the front door into the cool night air.

Kaede zipped up her jacket all the way to her chin and buried her hands in her pockets. It seemed unnatural for it to be this chilly for a spring evening. Trying to seal off her thoughts, Kaede inspected the trees as she walked, taking note of which trees were sprouting buds and which were still stark. She always looked forward to walking around in the spring, thoroughly enjoying seeing how the homeowners and storeowners took care of their lawns, gardens, and flower displays. Kaede had had a love of botany, gardening, and all things ecological since she was a small girl. It was thanks to her older sister that Kaede got her job at the Botanical Garden of Everyday Life at the National Museum of Japanese History.

Right from school, Kikyo was initially hired to organize the Special Exhibitions and Events at the museum; however, she acquiesced to be a last minute stand-in as a priestess for the museum's many historical reenactments. Kikyo was asked by the Museum Curator to take on that occasional role on top of her normal job.

“It's like the role was made for you,” the Curator commented during Kikyo's interview. “Please, Lady Kikyo, you would be doing me the greatest favour in taking on this role. I am willing to be flexible in compensation and to ensure there is no conflict with your current duties.”

Kikyo had consented and gave in to donning the priestess persona four times a year. While playing the part, Kikyo would facilitate tea pouring demonstrations, ceremonial archery and historical recreational events, and a tour of the Botanical Garden, highlighting several of the medicinal and edible herbs found throughout the grounds.

Kaede only had to visit the gardens once to discover it would be her dream to work there. After gaining access to her trust fund, Kaede immediately applied to local colleges, eager to obtain a double major degree in Japanese History and Botany. Five years into her degree, and a fortnight before her graduation, Kaede had been asked by Kikyo to accompany her to work one Saturday, and Kaede happily complied, relishing in Kikyo's willingness to spend time with her. Kaede recognized the Garden's Director immediately upon walking through the museum's front doors. The Director addressed both the females, and then asked Kaede to accompany her for a walk through the Garden. Kaede ecstatically agreed and left her sister waiting for her at the Information Desk by the front doors. With a small smile, Kikyo stated she would wait for Kaede there. Kaede had never felt such love and appreciation for her sister at that point.

To think she asked this favour for me, her little sister, Kaede had thought admiringly. I will never be able to thank her enough.

Along the walk, the Director asked Kaede's opinions about arrangements, and probed her for knowledge about different displays. Kaede launched into a commentary about her love for the Sukiya style in the Edo Period and the use of shakkei in promenade gardens. Upon entering the part of the gardens dedicated to review of medicinal plants, Kaede launched into a discussion of how it was Professor Ekido's presentation on the role of plants in Japanese culture that ignited Kaede's passion for herbalism. When re-entering the building, the Director turned to Kaede with a smile and offered her an entry-level job to look after the grounds. It would be very basic work; however, it would be a foot in the door to the museum. The Director stated that Kaede demonstrated significant potential and, through hard work, could find herself as the successor to the Director one day.

“Happy Graduation, baby sister,” Kikyo had called as Kaede walked towards her sister at the front, having said her thank you's and goodbye's to the Director. Kaede walked right into her sister arms and held her in a tight embrace.

“I don't know what to say,” Kaede mumbled into her sister's blouse, tears welling up in her eyes. “Thank you so much.”

Kaede smiled at the memory, feeling happy tears start to sprout from the corners of her eyes. She quickly blinked them away, and stopped at a crosswalk, allowing a train to pass.

It hasn't been all that bad, Kaede thought to herself, watching the train roll by, listening to the rhythmic ebbs and flows of its movement. There are some warm memories of her.

Kaede heard laughter behind her and she turned her head around to see a young couple in an intimate embrace also waiting for the train to pass. Kaede felt her face flush realizing that she made eye contact with the female, and quickly turned around. Thinking of how happy and in love the two behind her looked, Kaede wondered whether her sister and Inuyasha ever looked like that in public. The thought made Kaede feel melancholy for her sister. Kaede had never been in a serious relationship so she found it hard to understand or empathize with her sister's relationship with Inuyasha. However, Kaede knew well enough to know that theirs wasn't a normal relationship. Kaede had heard them argue before, and even behind a closed door Kaede felt afraid. The temper on Inuyasha always terrified Kaede and occasionally made her fear that he would strike her sister. Fortunately, throughout their history, there had been many close calls, but his hand never came into contact with her sister in an abusive way.

There had been many times when Kaede felt beyond her depth when she wanted to comfort her sister after one of these arguments. What should she say? How should she help? Should she call someone? Under what grounds should the police be called? Kaede remembered many evenings spent in internet search engines looking up the definitions of domestic abuse. She had even created a pseudonym and went into a mental health chatroom to ask the advice of the “E-Shrink.” She felt a tug on her heartstrings when Kikyo's relationship was anonymously diagnosed as unhealthy by both the E-Shrink and the other chatroom inhabitants.

Kaede desperately wished there was someone else who understood Kikyo—another family member—who could help with her sister. Kaede was comfortable being on her own; however, when it came to helping her sister, Kikyo felt unbelievably isolated. What she would have given for another sibling, or a parent, or even a cousin who grew up with the two girls, to offer Kaede assistance or advice in how to handle her fragmented and damaged older sibling. Someone who knew Kikyo well enough to know what would work and what Kaede should do.

The idea of a far-off cousin made Kaede's mind suddenly reel to when she was in her junior year at school and had received a letter at her front door from the in-school mail. It had been sent by a boy named Souta Higurashi. Kaede remembered sliding to the floor—her legs having given out—at the declaration of a long-lost family she never knew she had. Tears had tumbled down her cheeks as she read the letter in its entirety:

Hello Kaede,

We've never met, but my name is Souta Higurashi. I am 15 years old, and writing to you because of a school pen-pal project to find out about our family ancestry. My gramps helped me with the project and he told me about you and your sister. Apparently we're cousins! Well, half-second-cousins if you want to get technical. Gramps said he was the older half-brother of your mom. Apparently they never really got along (which I totally understand since my big sister sometimes drives me nuts…) because of their differences in religion, so that's why we've never met. I don't know if your mom ever told you about us or not, but my gramps ended up giving me the address of your school to send you this letter for my project. I wonder why he never told us about you guys before…

My sister and I both didn't know my grampa had a half-sister. He said he was a lot older than her, almost by 10 or 15 years! Gramps is the owner of our family shrine, and over here it's just me, my sister, Kagome, our cat, Buyo, and our mom. Isn't it funny how we only live a few hours away from each other and didn't know the other existed?

Anyway, you don't have to respond, I just have to prove to my teacher that I sent the letter to my family pen-pal as part of my assignment. You could write back if you wanted to though! I think it'd be pretty neat to get to know my cousins.

Souta Higurashi

Kaede's thoughts were diverted back to the present at the sound of the warning chimes stopping and the train barrier-arm ascending. Kaede watched as the couple walked around her, and then, snapping back to reality, Kaede continued her walk to meet her sister.

I never did write him back, Kaede thought guiltily. Kaede had eagerly confronted her sister as she walked into Kikyo's apartment for dinner. Kikyo seemed dubious about the whole thing and told Kaede she was too gullible for taking the words of some strange boy as absolute truth. Feeling small and embarrassed, Kaede had agreed with her sister and put the letter out of her mind.

I wonder if they still live at the same address, Kaede wondered, turning a corner and trying to visualize where in her keepsake box she had put the letter. Despite her sister warning Kaede about the falsity of the letter, Kaede didn't have the heart to throw it away.

In the distance, about six blocks away, Kaede could see the intersection signalling she was almost at the meeting point. She would recognize her favourite two-storey house anywhere. She sighed at the relief of almost reconnecting with her sister after a stressful evening of worrying. Walking at a steady pace, Kaede squinted and thought she could make out the form of a person standing a few houses away from that intersection, on the side of the street opposite Kaede. Unfortunately it was still too far away for Kaede to make it out clearly, and looking around her and seeing garbage cans on the curb, she realized it could have been a heap of garbage for all she knew. If there was a person standing there, though, Kaede thought it naturally had to be her sister—who else would be waiting outside, at that specific location, at almost 1am on a Friday morning?

Kaede could hear emergency sirens blaring and horns intermittently blasting in the distance to the east. She turned her head to her right, as if she could see through all the houses and low-rise buildings, to identify from where all the commotion was coming.

Something big must have happened, Kaede thought, hearing more sirens from other parts of the city join the collective clamour. Kaede stopped at a red light, waiting to cross, and turned as she heard an yowling siren come up from behind her. She spun quickly to see the fire truck dash through the red light and turn onto the street where Kaede was supposed to meet her sister. The light signaled that Kaede could continue on her way; however, she apprehensively turned to look down the empty street to her right, eager to see if she could piece together all the commotion. For the first time that evening, an uncomfortable and unnerving disquiet was rising within Kaede's stomach.

“Something is not right,” she whispered aloud to herself.

She turned her attention back to her route ahead, and this time became confident that there was someone standing motionless at the intersection up in the distance. For some unknown reason, Kaede quickened her pace. The more she heard the sirens wailing, the more discomfort she felt. She needed to get to her sister. Approaching another red light, Kaede looked both ways before deciding against waiting and crossed the barren street.

Kikyo, I hope that's you up there, Kaede thought, continuing to quicken her speed. She was almost jogging.

The sound of squealing tires and the sound of a car hitting something large came from the east, closer than where the sirens were coming from. The foreign sound made Kaede stop moving. She turned around to look behind her, and then hesitantly crept towards the upcoming street. There was no sign of a negligent driver.

Kaede was afraid, she could feel her heart in her ears. She placed a hand over her heart as if the action would sooth its pounding, and redirected her attention to the figure standing a few blocks before her. This time, she ran.

“Kikyo?” she called shakily, hopeful that the figure would turn towards Kaede and identify herself as Kaede's sister.

Kaede squinted and still could not make out any discerning features of the person. I don't think they heard me, she thought. Is that black hair? I think she wore pants today…or was it a dress?

“Kikyo!” she exclaimed again, this time a little louder. Kaede kept her eyes on the small homes surrounding the street; she felt badly shouting in a residential area at this time of night and didn't want to disturb anyone.

The sound of squealing tires and sirens sounded closer than before, and Kaede's heart leapt into her throat, a tight dryness starting to envelope her mouth and esophagus.

“Kikyo!” she cried again, much louder this time, using her hands to create a megaphone around her mouth, completely disregarding where she was and forgetting about her previous concern for who she may disturb. Kaede was scared for her and her sister's life.

Before Kaede could shout her sister's name once more, a black Lincoln screeched around the corner at the traffic light ahead. It rounded the turn so sharply the car went up and over the curb, running through small shrubs and bushes decorating the front lawn of Kaede's favourite house on the corner. The car's windows were all down and, despite not being able to make out any specific figures, Kaede heard yelling, screams, and laughter echoing across the street from its source.

“KIKYO!” Kaede screamed, throwing all her energy into moving her legs as fast as they could possibly move. The car turned down the street and was rocketing towards where the figure stood.

“Get out of the way!” Kaede hollered at the person. This time, Kaede was close enough to see the figure look up from where they were standing, and jump to their right. The Lincoln pummeled a garbage can beneath its wheels and propelled itself onto the lawn of where the figure stood.

Kaede felt her body grow cold and her legs froze at the sight of the body hitting the already-dented hood, and the scream that echoed out into the bleak, cool night.

As Kaede sunk to the stony sidewalk, it took her a minute to register the police cars heaping onto the street, and the residents rushing out their front doors, and the driver lunging out the car door and running off into a backyard. It took Kaede a minute to register the female voice that screamed, and a minute longer to try and deceive herself into thinking that the voice didn't sound like her sister.