InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Underground ❯ A Single Voice in the Darkness ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Summary: When the world is gone, where will we be? When all is destroyed, where will we go? When we are the only ones left, who will we turn to? If this is the end, what will happen when I close my eyes for the last time, does it just simply end in a blanket of darkness?


"Kagome-Chan! Hashire*!,"

The scene before me was nothing short of a nightmare, buildings aflame, buildings collapsing, hover transporters falling out of the air, people jumping from the windows, in hopes to live, only to be shot when they hit the ground. Women being dragged by their hair into alleyways to be raped and killed. The air tainted with the smell of death. The words of my mother were the only thing audible to me. 'Hashire!'. Run. Run fast, we had to find a safe place to hide. With air filled with gun fire and the sickening smell of blood, rocks were the least thing on my mind. But in the end, a misplaced rock was the cause of our downfall. The sole of my already worn out and tattered shoes caught on the rock, and ripped from the rest of the shoe causing me to fall onto the hard paved street.

"Kagome-Chan!,"

I couldn't hear anything after that, except the pounding of my heart in my ear. I saw my mother pulling at my hands, I couldn't hear her but her lips shouted "Kinasai*!"
She helped me to my feet but it was too late. I didn't hear the shot of the bullet, but I saw it take my mother down. She pushed herself up, in obvious pain, holding the wound on her side. She grabbed my hand and pulled me, still refusing to give up.

The soldiers yelled behind us, "Stop!". They shot again, this time, my mother fell, and she couldn't get up. She looked at me with eyes brimming with tears and said her last words to me.

"Ikinasai, hashire*,"

I tried to do as she told me. But I was frozen to the spot. The soldiers know stood at my mother's body staring at us both. My mother groaned in pain, still holding the wound on her side, the wound on her back bleeding freely. The one soldier put his gun to my mother's head and prepared to shoot.

"Jihi*!," I cried, pushing the gun away, and falling at my knees beside my mother's body. The man grabbed me by my hair and reached his hand back to strike me. I fell backwards when his hand made contact with my cheek. I heard him yell "look out" to the other man, I looked up in time to see wood, and burning debris about to fall on me. When it finally reached me, a board hit me in the back of the head and the last thing I saw was my mother's blood splashing the pavement. My last thought of that day was "If this is the end, what will happen when I close my eyes for the last time, does it just simply end in a blanket of darkness?".

He r eyes fluttered open. The pressure on her body suddenly hit her, she was lying beneath a sheet of debris. With all the strength she possessed she began pushing the boards, brick, and ash out of her way. She pushed away one final board before she stopped. The world was now visible behind the pile of debris she was trapped in. Fires, destruction, death. The soldiers were kicking around debris and kicking down doors searching for survivors. She saw a man, in an elegant business suit standing looking at what was left of the city. He smiled and laughed, before calling out to the soldiers:

"The takeover is complete! If there are any survivors, they will die living in the remains of this city, clear out men!"

She couldn't understand what he was saying, but somehow she knew she'd have to wait until they were gone until she could emerge from hiding. Though that didn't stop her from wishing they would leave faster, for the weight of the debris was starting to have full affect on her. She sighed and closed her eyes. Sleep was the only way to forget about the pain searing through her body.

She awoke to the sound of glass breaking, looking out of her small peek hole and saw a man and woman emerging from the remains of a building. The woman was holding a child tightly to her chest. She watched them take in the scene as she had, faces holding her same look of pain and sadness. Kagome watched as they started walking away from her, she felt the pain on her back becoming unbearable. She pushed a board forward and frantically tried to escape.

"Mate*!," She called out.

The man looked back and saw the pile of debris moving, boards being pushed forward, rocks being tossed aside. His wife pulled their son tighter against her chest as they watched in fear. He gasped when the head of a young girl became visible beneath the debris.

"Mate!, Tasukete*!," She called out.

He looked at his wife, and then down at his young son. This girl couldn't have been much younger than his own child, he knew he couldn’t just leave her there to be crushed. He stepped forward to the pile of broken wood and bricks, helping her push them aside to set her free. He grabbed the child's arms and pulled her free of her broken and dusty prison. He helped her stand and looked the girl over. Her raven hair was cloaked with dirt and dust, her face cut up and stained with dry blood, her dress ripped and torn also covered brown spots of dried blood, her legs and arms were in the same state as her face, bruised and cut. She wobbled for a second for a second or two before falling on her knees. The pile of bricks and wood that fell on her had bruised her back a great deal. He picked her up and sat her on his hip, her little arms wrapped around his neck, and legs around his waist.

"Ikimashou ka*?," He asked, turning to his wife and son. His wife joined his side and placed a hand on his shoulder looking at him a long while.

"Doko e*?," She asked looking around at the wasteland. He looked at her and shrugged, before giving her a small smile, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. He looked down at his son, and then at the girl in his arms, before staring up into the midnight sky.

"Kinasai, arashi ni narimasu*," He said softly, taking a step forward, the first step in the family's first journey into the new world, the world of the Wasteland. They walked along the destroyed roads of their demolished city.

"Ashimoto ni ki o tsukenasai*," The man warned, leading them around a pile of burning metal. To Kagome it seemed like a million years they walked, she yawned. She looked up at he man that still held her. His face and hair covered in grey ash, his clothes ripped and spotted with his own blood, probably from that glass.

She turned gaze to the woman and child beside him. The woman was wearing a tattered yellow dress embroidered with pink flowers, dirty yellow flip flops on her feet, the woman’s stomach protruded greatly, Kagome had seen this before, and understood that this probably meant the woman was going to have a baby. She held the hand of her son, a young boy Kagome assumed to be her own age. His purple shirt was ripped from the right side, from under the arm to the end, his jeans dirty and ripped at the knees. She couldn't stop from staring at his eyes, they were the most peculiar color of violet. She gasped when his head turned to look at her, he had a cut under his eye, and dirt in his black hair. She gave him a half smile which he returned, before looking straight ahead again. She turned back to the woman, there was something odd about her, she did not look like a traditional Japanese woman. Her hair was the brightest of oranges, like the scales of a koi fish, and her eyes were a bright green.

"Kokuseki wa doko?*," She asked. The woman looked at her with those big green eyes and smiled.

"Amerikana," She answered softly. Kagome yawned once more, her lids becoming all the more heavy. She took one last glance at the scene before her, before closing her eyes and resting her head on the shoulder of her savior.
Kagome awoke to the voice of her savior, talking in a language she did not understand, she did know that the language he was speaking was spoken by the soldiers that killed her mother.

"We should stop and rest, the children are tired, and it's not good for me to be on my feet to long " The woman said, she now was carrying her son on her hips, his face buried in her hair.

"I know, dear, but I'm not just leading us around the town, I'm looking for something in particular," He said gently.

"What is it that we are looking for?," She asked. He chuckled softly as if finding the whole thing a bit ironic.

"To the mall," He answered.

The woman looked at her husband confused and after a few moments of questioning his sanity she understood. The Tokyo mall was one of the biggest and safely structured buildings in Tokyo. Though the bombing would have left it a bit demolished, given that some of the less greater built apartment buildings were still standing, then the mall would probably be in at least in acceptable condition, and it could provide for them many of their needs. The woman smiled and took her husband’s free hand in her own.

"I am lucky to have married such a wise man, what would this family do without you?," She said cheerfully. Somehow to her, her husband had opened a hopeful door, even given the situation they were in.

"So, how long do you think it will take to get there?," She asked.

"Well, from our apartment, it was about an half our ride by hover transport, on foot that would be about a two to three hour walk, and we've been walking for almost 2 hours now, so I'm going to say pretty soon actually, another half hour or so," He explained.

She nodded, she could hold in for that long, if it meant getting them all to a safe place with supplies they could use to keep her family safe, then she could manage. They walked on for another forty-five minutes or so, and stopped in front of there destination. The man smiled bright, he had been correct in his theory that the mall would still be standing enough to serve as a temporary home. All of a sudden, things looked a little brighter. Together they walled to the entrance and opened the shattered glass door, and up the marble stairs. As they reached the last step, the man stopped his wife with an extended arm.

"Let me go first, you and the children stay here," He told her. He sat the young girl down beside his wife, and continued further into the abandoned mall.

The woman sat her son down beside the girl, and grabbed the railing of the stairs to help lower herself into a sitting position. She sat with her back facing the direction her husband had left in, hoping that there were no soldiers hiding inside the establishment, ready to ambush any survivors. She wrapped her arm around the shoulder of her son, and pulled him closer to her. She looked over at the little girl that had just hours ago become part of their small family. She smiled and pulled her closer as well now holding both the young children close. Her head snapped back suddenly hearing the fast pit pat of running feet coming closer.

"Elaine! Elaine!"

The woman gasped, she heard her husbands voice calling, she used the rail to pull herself up, preparing herself to have to make a run for it. But she soon realized her husband was calling out to her in warning but in excitement. She turned around and saw her husband jogging towards them, a smile plastered on his face.

"Elaine, darling you're not going to believe this, come!," He commanded, grabbing her hand and pulling her forward. She followed in tow behind him, going towards whatever it is that excited her husband so. Behind her the two children were hobbling along together hand in hand, her son steadying the little girl. She gasped when she saw the site before her, at least seven other small families were standing in front of her, apparently her husband wasn't the only one who thought of this place as a haven. She looked at her husband and smiled, and leaned forward giving him a loving kiss.

"Koichi, what could we ever do without you my love," She cooed.

He smiled, and squeezed her hand and led his family forward. He lead them towards the other families to become introduced. After taking some time to share stories, Koichi stood.

"There is about twenty-five of us, seven families, and a few that are alone, we need to think about living arrangements," He began "On the next floor above there are twelve stores, filled with supplies we can use, and four unused stores that are empty, each family can have their own store as a living space, does that sound fair?,"
There was a murmuring of answers and nods of agreement. Elaine smiled, her husband was a wise man, and an idealist to boot.

"I thought you might like the idea, I do know for face that there is a bed and mattress depot on this floor, and there is enough for everyone to have a warm bed to sleep in. Down here there is a clothing store with pillows and comforters and such," He said warmly.

"But there are many supplies that we can use down here, why can't we just stay down here and the men can bring the bed parts down here?," A man spoke.

"You do have a good point, down here we can find clothing and house supplies that we might need, but from seeing that I was not the only one who thought of the idea of coming here, others might come, and it may or may not eventually draw the attention of soldiers. And above the second floor is mostly sporting good stores, which include some weaponry incase we need it, also in desperate times, comes desperate measures, survivors will become hungry, and when hunger strikes, some will do anything to get it, though it may sound cruel, we can only house so many with limited supplies we can't take many more into the group. All the food courts are on the second floor, which will allow us to protect it if needed,"

"He's right, he has made many great suggestions, do we all agree with this plan?," Another man said, standing next to Koichi, a hand resting on his shoulder.
There were many shouts and mummers of agreement. Koichi smiled and hugged the man beside him, who returned it.

"Alright, lets migrate to the second floor," He said, returning to his own family. He took his wife's hand and they made their way up the flight of stairs. Once they were all gathered in the center of the second floor, Koichi stepped forward once more.

"Alright, should we decide now which families will be staying where? So we can see how many beds we'll need to get for each home?," He asked.

"Yes that sounds most reasonable," The man from earlier replied. The others nodded and listened for their next instructions.

"Well, I believe we should be fair about this, and let each family choose which place they want to call home, as well as first pick to any bed and supplies they want" Koichi stated.

"That's reasonable, but how do we chose which is first?," The other man asked.

"I know it sounds a bit old fashioned, but how about we draw straws?," Koichi said with a chuckle. A few others joined in on the laugh, and talked amongst themselves.

"That sounds fair," A woman said, smiling brightly.

"Alright then," Koishi said, "Miroku my boy, could you please go over to that stand and grab the cup full of straws? And could somebody please locate some scissors?,"

The boy beside Elaine rose to his fathers wishes and ran over to the abandoned ice cream stand and took from it a clear cup full of colorful straws, and returned to stand beside his father. A moment or two later another young man came back and handed Koichi a pair of orange scissors.
"Ok, can we all group into our families, and we'll give one straw to the oldest of each family. And to be fair, I'll let this young lady right here cut the straws and distribute them," Koichi said with a smile, holding his hand out for Kagome to take it. Kagome looked at his hand in disbelief, did he really expect her to fulfill such a important task.
"Why does she get to choose?," A woman asked.
"Because this young lady here is the only one here without a family, she has no attachment to any of us, so it will be a fair distribution," Koichi answered smartly. The woman nodded and smiled. Koichi bent down to the girl's level and handed her the scissors and seven straws, and led his son back to his wife. Kagome looked at the scissors in her right hand, and the straws in her left, and gulped. She sat down on the floor and placed the straws on her left side and picked one up, closed her eyes and randomly snipped it, and placed it on the opposite side. She repeated her actions another six times before standing and holding the newly cut straws. She pointed at the man furthest to her right.
"Close your eyes and pick one, don't look at it until everyone has one please" She stated nervously. The man nodded and stepped forward eyes closed, and took a straw from her hand and walked back to his family.
"You next," She said pointing to the father of the next family, this continued on until the end and each family had a straw.
"Alright, every family now has a straw right?," Koichi asked, everyone nodded,"Ok now who has the longest, each oldest member of each family stepped forward and compared straws. The first to choose was a single mother with her two children.
"Alright, ma'am you get first choice of any home and supplies you want," Koichi said with a smile, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. The woman smiled brightly, and pointed to the right at one of the larger empty stores.
"May I have that one?," She asked.
"Of course, you earned if fair and square, go stand next to it so we know who's it is " He said with a chuckle. She and her three children walked over to their new home and stood in front of it.
"Ok who's next?" He asked. Once again the eldest of each family gathered together and compared straws. The next was a large family of seven, they chose the another one of the large empty stores, and stood in front of it. Koichi's family was the family with the third longest straw, he and his family stood forward to make their decision.
"I want that one," Elaine said, pointing at a baby supply store, with a smile, "It'll have everything we need,"
"Alright, if that's the one you want, darling," Koichi said, leading his family to their new home. For another half hour families compared straws and chose their new homes, until only Kagome alone. Koichi stepped forward and turned to face everyone.
"I believe this young lady should be able to choose whichever family she wishes to live with, is that ok?," He asked. There was a large reply of yeses, so he turned around and faced the little girl before him.
"You heard them little one, you can stay with whoever you want to, you're still welcome to stay a part of our family if you wish," He said kindly. Kagome looked around her, taking in all the kind faces, but in the end she chose to stay with her saviors family.
"Now, we'll dedicate the rest of the day to getting the supplies we need each family at a time, according to order by which we drew straws, men we'll help put together the beds for each family, while the women help carry back the blankets and pillows from the first floor. And, since my wife cannot do much in her state, she could keep an eye on the children while we work, is that ok?" Koichi said, taking the lead once more. Again everyone came to agreement that Koichi's idea was best.
"Alright children, how about we go to the toy store and you guys can take your pick on what you want to bring home with you," Elaine said with a gentle smile, leading the children away from the working adults. Kagome followed closely behind the red headed woman, she wondered to herself what would become of her, her saviors family had taken her in yes, but the loss of her mother still burdened her deeply. She felt something light touch her right hand, and turned to see the young son of the man who saved her.
"You miss your mommy don't you?," He asked, softly, not moving his gaze from straight ahead of him. She nodded, and sighed softly, she gasped at the feel of his hand enclosing hers in his grasp.
"You don't have to be sad, ok? I'll share my mommy, and you'll be my sister, and when my little brother comes, you'll be his sister too, and nobody will hurt you again, I promise" He said, turning and giving her a smile. She looked into his peculiar violet eyes and smiled back. For the next hour or two, Elaine kept the children preoccupied with toys and games.
"Elaine?,"
Elaine raised her head from the game she was playing with the kids, to see her husband walk in, a woman in tow.
"Kanna has offered to watch the other children while take our turn in choosing our supplies," He explained. Elaine nodded, and took Koishi's hand and hoisted herself to a stand.
"Miroku, you two come with us, it's our turn," She called to the two children playing in the corner. Miroku took Kagome's hand, following after his parents.
"First we're going to pick out our beds, and me and the rest of the men will set them up, Elaine while you and the children are escorted downstairs to pick out blankets and such," He explained. They entered the bed depot, and began searching for what they wanted, and decided upon two single beds for each child, and one large king sized bed to share between Koichi and Elaine.
"Alright, Kowin will escort you downstairs, and help you carry what you choose," Koichi stated, before helping the other men carry the bed frames and mattresses to their new home. The three were taken downstairs, finding a vacant shopping cart, they went down each isle filling it with everything of their choosing. After an half an hour, they returned upstairs with their supplies, and for the first time stepped into their new home. The walls were white with various stickers of bottles and rattles decorating it.
"Alright kids, lets get this place feeling like home," He said warmly. Miroku and Kagome's beds were against the left wall, a 3 foot gap between them. Koichi pulled the cart of supplies over to the beds and picked up a pink comforter set and sat it on Kagome's bed, then reached in and took out a blue comforter set and placed it on Miroku's bed. He emptied four pillows from the cart and divided them amongst the two children.
"Alright, kids let's get to work!," He chirped, and opened the plastic bags of each child's set, and helped them make up their beds. The job was finished in a matter of minutes, and then they went to work helping Koichi with his own bed. Elaine joined them about the time they finished after picking every piece of furniture she wanted. Koichi helped her arrange it where she wanted, and in a matter of only twenty or so minutes they now stood in their newly furnished home. At the end of the day, every family now had it's first pick of supplies, every home now arranged and furnished, and they all gathered outside their homes to take in what would be for a long while their haven of safety.
Koichi stepped forward once more for the day, and stood before his friends and neighbors.
"We've done a good job for one day of work, and it hasn't gone unappreciated, we now have shelters, plenty of food, and all the supplies we could need as of now, now that we all have our essentials, I don't think it's necessary to have to continue to break off into groups to get what we want. As far as clothes we are now friends and neighbors, we can share what we have, so I should think it's safe to say that whatever else you want, you can have since we have taken what we felt we needed, now the rest is ours to share, am I right?" He asked, looking amongst them. There was a large clutter of agreements and approving shouts, today and proven that Koichi's words were golden, and would be taken seriously by his neighbors from then out.
Kagome stared at the ceiling a long while that night, so many things reflecting on her mind, most of all, the loss of her mother still tortured her thoughts. She jumped when she heard the shrill screeching sound from her left, she sat up and saw Miroku pushing his bed closer to hers, until they were touching. He climbed back onto his bed, slipping under the dark blue comforter and scooted to the middle right beside her. He wrapped his arm around her pulled her closer.
"I didn't think you would want to be alone," He said just above a whisper.
"I didn't," She said with a smile, turning around and wrapping her arms around him. Both fell into a deep sleep, cuddled together like brother and sister, that's what they now after all.
"M iroku, hunny try these on," Elaine said, handing her son a pair of denim jeans, "And this," adding a green shirt. She helped him pull his tattered old shirt over his head, and slid the new one.

"There we go," She said softly, she turned to Kagome, while letting Miroku put his pants on himself, "Now let's find you something sweetie, you can pick anything you like,"

She lead Kagome over to the girl's clothes and flicked through the racks for something for Kagome to wear.
"What's your favorite color sweetie?," Elaine asked, looking through a rack of asorted colored dresses. Kagome looked at the floor, thinking to herself for a moment, before answering.

"My mother liked for me to wear blue," She stated quietly. Elaine moved her gaze down to Kagome, she frowned and kneeled as far as she could, cupping Kagome's cheek, and smiled softly.

"You know, Kagome, your mother will always be with you," She said warmly.

"I know, she'll always be right here," Kagome said softly, her hand placed over her heart, "Daddy and Sota are there too,". Elaine pulled the girl close and hugged her to her chest, her heart felt for this poor child, she'd lost just about everything even before the war, and now she had lost the last thing she had.

"Kagome-Chan, you know, I've always wanted a daughter, and I know Miroku loves having you around, you could be our daughter you know, if you wanted," She said. Kagome didn't remove her gaze from the marble floor beneath her.

"Maybe," She said. Elaine stroked the girls hair, and released her from her hold.

"So, something blue huh?," She questioned to no one in particular.

"What about this?," Miroku piped in, he held up a little thin strapped blue dress, decorated with yellow flowers around the waistline "This one is pretty, Mommy,"

"That it is," Elaine said, taking the dress from Miroku and pulling it off the hanger, "This looks about your size,". Without help, Kagome pulled her old dress over her head and let it pool on the floor. Elaine helped her slip the new dress on, pulling it down so it stopped at her knees.

"Well don't you look cute," She chirped. Kagome looked down at the new item of clothing, it was a soft sky blue, her moms favorite color, so she decided it was acceptable.

"Alright, can you two pick out a few more outfits, some pajamas, and underwear by yourselves, while I go find some things for me and your daddy to wear?," Elaine asked, earning two nods yes from each child.

"Alright, Aiko and Koharu are right over there, don't wander out of this section ok, I'll be right back," She said. Kagome knew she could manage by herself, her mother used to let her choose her own clothing, she knew what she was looking for. She walked her way around each clothing rack examining the clothes presented, and finally chose upon a blue floral shirt to go under a denim overall dress, along with a white t shirt to go with a blue plaid skirt. She walked to the pajama and underwear section, and grabbed three plastic packages, one each of underwear, socks, and one containing a set of pink and blue long johns. Carrying her items she went in search of Miroku, finding him still looking for another outfit. She saw the outfit his mom and picked, accompanied by a navy shirt laying on the ground beside him while he flicked through the rack.

"Do you not know how to find clothes?," She asked, after watching him a minute or two. She was surprised when he jumped slightly when she spoke, he turned around to face her.

"Not really," He answered shyly. Kagome smiled and approached him and sat her items down beside his, and picked up the green shirt his mom had chosen and looked at the size on the tag, and then did the same with the jeans. Kagome knew that sizes were color coded on the hangers, so she went through each rack of clothing looking at the items with green tabs. She grabbed a dark blue shirt from the rack and held it up for him to see.

"How about this one?," She asked.

"That one is good," He answered, watching her in amazement as she breezed through each rack. Once shirts were covered she showed him another pair of jeans and cargo shorts that he accepted. She returned to the pajama and underwear section, and grabbed a bag of socks, underwear, and blue long johns, and handed them to Miroku.

"Are you guys finished?," Elaine asked, returning with a couple of outfits draped over her arm.

"Yes, mommy," Miroku answered for the two.

"Is there anything else we need?," Elaine asked, running a hand over her son's head.

"A bath," Kagome said. Elaine laughed and patted the young girls hair.

"You do have a point, darling," She said, as the walked out the clothing store she looked around, they really hadn't thought about a water supply. Where would they bathe and wash their clothes, and what would they use to prepare food?

"Come on sweets, we're going to talk to daddy," She said, leading them back to the second floor center. Seeing Koichi, Elaine approached him and tapped him on the shoulder. Koichi turned and smiled at his wife, and then frowned at the expression she held on her face.

"Koichi, we haven't any water, what are we going to do without a water supply?," She asked frantically. Koichi frowned, she was right, they had not thought over what to do about the loss of water, electricity was one thing but he doubted they would want to go without bathing and clean clothes. Koichi turned from his wife and jogged to a group of men that were gathered by the food stand, and began conversing with them. Elaine watched their faces drain from contentment to worry. Kagome watched with curious eyes, she hadn't meant to worry them, she had only meant to suggested she wanted a bath. She turned her gaze towards the ground, but something from the corner of her eye caught her attention.

"The fountain," She whispered.

"What did you say, Kagome?," Miroku asked, turning to look at her.

"The fountain downstairs," She repeated. This time Elaine had heard her and turned to look at the girl, She walked to the rails and looked below, sure enough the fountain was there. Though the shallow pool was brimmed with remaining water, it wouldn't last very long, and they needed to think seriously about finding some. Elaine reproached her husband and told him of the fountain, and conserving some for preparing food, and the rest for bathing and laundry until they found another source of water. Koichi ran this by the other men, and agreed, that if they were going to survive, they had to look beyond the contentment of temporary comfort, and thinking ahead.
They planned a meeting later that night on the third floor do discuss matters, while the women and children slept.

"I didn't mean to make them worry," Kagome said. Miroku looked over at her from his spot on the floor, her legs dangling off the side of the bed, her gaze set on the ground. He abandoned his game to accompany her on the bed.

"Don't worry about it," He said.

"Children, come, we're going to have our bath while the men are gone," Elaine said, poking her head into their home. They gathered a change of clothes, and headed downstairs, accompanied by a few other women. Elaine who had earlier gathered bath products divided them amongst the other women. Slipping out of her clothing, she dipped one foot into the freezing water, which sent a shiver straight up her spine. She knew she would have to rough it, and carefully with the help of another woman, squatted herself into a sitting position, before offering a hand to help each child in.

"Come here, Miroku," She said, pulling him towards her, she sat with him between her legs, while she used a cup to pour water over the top of his head, and then lathering the shampoo into his hair. Once she rinsed the shampoo from his hair, she repeated the process with conditioner, and then made him stand so that she could wash him. Kagome watched this act, she couldn't help noticing the slight difference between Miroku and herself, and found herself staring baffled. Elaine tried not to giggle at the young girl staring at her son's unmentionables with curiosity, and guessed her mother obviously never told her about the birds and the bees. She smiled and motioned to Kagome to come to her. Switching places with Miroku, she sat between Elaine's legs, whilst Elaine repeated the routine earlier used on Miroku. Kagome could have sworn she felt something bump her, looking back suddenly she caught gaze of Elaine's smile.

"Did you feel the baby kick too?," She asked, getting a nod in return.

"He does that every once in awhile," She said "It means he's getting ready to come out soon,"

"Tomorrow?," Kagome asked, looking back at Elaine.

"Not that soon, sweetie. But soon, and you and Miroku will have a little brother," She said warmly, "All done, are you two ready to get out?"

"Yes, mommy," Miroku said, standing up, once again curiosity tugging at Kagome’s mind. Elaine, using the edge of the fountain to help push herself up, stepped out of the fountain and helped the two children out. Elaine wrapped each child in a towel and began drying herself off, before slipping a silky pink nightgown over her head and pulled it down. She helped each child slip into their long johns before gathering up their wet towels and dirty clothes, allowing them to be taken by another woman who offered to clean them.

"All right, you two, time for bed," She said, grabbing the hand of each child and leading them up the stairs and back home. She sat at the end of Miroku's bed, while each child scurried into their beds, before tucking them in. She made the movement to get up, but sat down once more feeling her son tug at her sleeves.

"Tell us a story, mom?," Miroku asked. Elaine smiled and ran a hand through his wet hair, then extended the blankets back and slipped in beside him.

"A long time ago, the God of the sky, Ten-Kou, had a daughter called Ori-hime. Everyday she wove cloth for the Gods with a special machine called the Tanahata. Ten-Kou was worried about his daughter, she worked every day and did nothing but weave. So one day he took her across the ama no gawa river, to meet Hikoboshi. Hikoboshi took care of cattle and was also a workaholic. When Hikoboshi and Ori-hime met, they fell in love immediately, and spent all their time together. But as a result, the cows became sick, and the God's clothes became worn out, but there was no new cloth to make more. This made Ten-Kou very angry and he stopped Ori-hime from meeting Kengyu anymore by taking her back across the ama no gawa. This made the two lovers so sad that they couldn't work. Ten-Kou then felt very sorry, so he decided to let them meet each other once a year if they worked very hard. They worked as hard as before, and looked forward to seeing each other only once a year," She told them. When the story was finished only Kagome remained awake, Miroku cuddled up beside her inside his blanket cocoon.

"I know that story, the Tanabata, my mom used to sing the Tanabata song every year on the day that Ori-hime and Hikoboshi met, she told me that we had to wish for a clear day on that day, or the river would get too high and Ori-hime could not cross, so we wrote the wish on paper, and hung it on the bamboo tree in our kitchen," Kagome explained. Elaine looked at her surprised, though she had not come to Japan a born Japanese woman, from her husband she learned many of the old ways, traditions and ceremonies, she had heard of the story of Tanabata, but she also knew that it was a tradition that was like many others, a tradition that not many celebrated any longer.

"I miss the song," Came Kagome's voice, interrupting her thoughts. Elaine gave a small smile and leaned back against the wall.

"Why don't you sing it for me?," Elaine suggested. There was a moments pause, Elaine assumed the girl didn't want to, but once again her thoughts were interrupted by Kagome's small voice.

"Sasa no ha sara sara, nokiba ni yureru, ohoshi-sama kira kira, kin gin sunago," Kagome sang in a quiet melodic tone. Once she went quiet, the rest of the room soon followed, Elaine sat with her eyes closed, replaying Kagome's song over.

"Your mother must have been a very traditional woman,"

Kagome's head snapped towards the doorway, where the voice had came from. Seeing Koichi, she lowered her head to her blankets, but she felt the bed lower as he sat.

"I thought those traditions were long gone, not in thirty years, have I heard that song," Koichi said,
"It's such a sad thing, that our way of life was altered because of indifference. Many said the war began because some could not simply give in and give up their way of life,"

"My mother said she would rather die than forfeit the ways she was born in to. She said too long had they took away the teachings of our ancestors, too long had they altered our beliefs and changed our culture, that she could no longer see Japan, but a sickening likeness to something we weren't. She kept to old ways, I liked her way," Kagome said, "She made us wear kimono, and have tea ceremony, like a traditional Japanese family. We weren't allowed to use hover transportation, especially after the accident,"

"The accident?," Koichi asked. All was silent for a moment, Koichi turned his eyes to gaze at the girl, her eyes still focused on the fabric of her comforter.

"The accident that killed my father, Higarashi Ken," She explained "It was rainy, and the gridlines were failing, they told us not to use them, but dad was convinced they would last. He was picking up my brother from school, and the gridlines did fail, the transporter lost magnetic push and fell. They both died,"

"Your father, was Higarashi Ken?," Koichi asked, somewhat surprised, he smiled and ruffled Kagome's hair, "No wonder you're such a bright child, daughter to such a brilliant mind,"

Koichi smiled at the girl, before standing and making his way to the other side and helping his wife to a stand, before leading her to their bed. Kagome sighed and rolled over facing the glass doors. Her thoughts turned back to Koichi's words, 'No wonder you're such a bright child, daughter of such a brilliant mind'. Her father was a brilliant mind, a corporate wonder, the want of every business. He put his company on the map with his brilliant ideas, many of the technologies Japan had were because of her father, artificial intelligence programs built into the walls of each home, that could clean, and maintain order, serving a modern family. Kagome remembered watching her father in his study, he always shared his ideas with her. She remembered his last project, the one her mother always said would have saved his and her brother's life had it been completed. He knew how dangerous it was to be using hover transportation when there was bad weather, because the grid would give. He wanted to replace a power ran grid with an iron one and the transporters would be built to work like hover boards. Hover boards had a built in reverse magnetic sensor that used iron to keep itself suspended in air. As long as it was on a grid of iron, it hovered, and it wouldn't give out during a storm. He worked so hard on that project, he was to present it only a few days after his death.

Kagome's eyes widened, as she bolted upright, and threw her blanket from her tiny body. She looked around the darkness, and was responded by the soft snores of her savior and his wife. Quietly she made her way to the glass door of their home, and opened it carefully, stepping out into the main walk of the second floor. She turned to the stairway that lead up to the third floor, and ran to it, climbing each and every step as quick as possible. She stopped when she reached the top, bent over panting for air. Once she caught her breath, she looked around until spotting what she was looking for and walked forward. She pushed open the door of the sports shop and peaked inside. She stepped inside and looked down each isle for what she was looking for, before she spotted the rack of hover boards. She counted out thirty seven and smiled, that was more than enough. Struggling she pulled one down, and sat it on the floor, before flipping it over. She flicked the power switch and the board responded the lights on the board glowing a neon blue and green. She moved her finger over to the weight setting button, and clicked the lowest setting, before flipping it back over to let it hover inches above the ground. She walked away from the board to a rack at the wall grabbing a box of safety bracelets, tearing them open. She applied bracelets to each of her arms and then walked further down the isle and stopped at the box of gripper shoes. She squinted trying to read the size labels in the dark room, and finally found a set that were almost her own size. She stood on her toes and swatted her hand at the box until it fell to the floor, then sat beside the shoes. She grabbed the left shoe turned it to the side were the switch was, pushing the small read button, the shoes reacting in the same way as the board, strips of light glowing a bright neon blue. She repeated her action with the right shoe, and then slipped both boots onto her small feet, before standing. She walked to the board pulling it close to a shelf so she could use it to balance as she stepped onto the hovering board. Carefully placing one foot onto the board that, the boots reacting the way they were programmed stuck to the board like glue, then using the shelf as leverage, placed her second foot onto it. Still holding on to the shelf she slowly corrected her posture so that she could stand balanced on the board. She smiled and again grabbing the shelf turned herself to face the stores door.

Swallowing hard she used her left foot to push forward gently, the board complying by slowly making it's way to the door. Once she reached it, she placed a hand on the glass, and pulled the door open before slowly making her way out. She stood on the board still hovering in mid air, and smiled bright, slowly leaning down to switch the boots off. Once both were off she carefully hopped off the board, stumbling slightly. She turned the board over and switched it off, before taking it in her little arms, and partially dragging it along down the stairs. Reaching the second floor she, looked towards her home, then continued down the next flight of stairs to the main floor. She walked past the fountain, and down the stairs to the mall entrance, opening the door and stepping out. She looked out across the ruined city and sighed, setting the board down she drew her attention to a pile of debris. Piles of brick, drywall, and metal littered the streets of the once beautiful city, she struggled to pull a few iron rods from the debris, after becoming successful she set them down in a straight line. She pulled the hover board over to the iron rods and placed it right on top of one before turning it on, sure enough, the board hummed as it hovered a inch or two from the bars. She looked from the board to the ruins of the streets, that went on for miles, and she knew miles along these roads was lake Yamanaka. Switching the board back off, she picked it up and dragged it along as she made her way back inside. She left the board sitting against the stairs of the entrance way, and continued on up the flight of stairs to the second floor. She walked quietly to her home, and quietly opened the door, and stepping inside, once again the quiet snores of the two echoed through the room. She tip toed her way to her bed and climbed back in, only to meet the very open eyes of Miroku. She gasped loudly, then covering her mouth, looked at him, noting the small smirk creeping its way onto his face.

"What took you so long?," He whispered, soon answered by her silence he spoke again.

"Well, what were you doing?," He coaxed. She sighed and laid back against her pillow, looking straight at the white ceiling, still feeling Miroku's eyes upon her, she let out another small sigh.

"Making daddy proud," She replied softly.


Hashire- Run
Kinasai- Come
Ikinasai hashire- Go run
Jihi- Mercy
Mate- Wait
Tasukete- Help
Ikimashou ka- Shall we go?
Doko e- Where to?
Kinasai, arashi ni narimasu- Come, a storm is approaching
Ashimoto ni ki o tsukenasai- Watch your step
Kokuseki wa doko- What nationality are you?