Main / Fics / 02.14.03
disclaimers
I'm Home
by Maru
Shisouko_09@yahoo.com
Note:
This is a record-breaking story. I finished it in 15 minutes only! I'm so happy! Happy Valentines Day everyone! :)
"Here you go." A young boy said as he handed a pink flower to his little sister. The little girl happily took it and said with a beaming smile,
"Thank you, oniisan!"
The boy took the flower and placed it behind her ear. "There. It looks good on you. Peonies always look good with your blue hair." He then took her hand as they walked together in the park.
As they strolled, the little girl tugged her brother's sleeve. " 'niisan, Happy Valentines!" The girl happily greeted.
Her brother smiled at her. "Happy Valentines to you too. But don't you think it's too early to say that? It's only the13th."
The girl shook her head. "I just wanted to greet you before everyone else. Besides, I felt that I needed to say that."
"And why is that?" the boy asked.
The girl just stared at the clouds. "I feel like I won't be home for Valentines, so please greet Kaasan and tousan for me too."
The boy nodded and patted her head. "I really don't understand you sometimes but I'll do what you want me to do."
The little girl smiled and then turned her eyes to a stand across the street.
"Do you want some ice cream?" the boy asked as he noticed her looking far ahead.
"Hai!" the girl answered. Her brother decided to treat her to an ice cream cone.
As they crossed the street, the boy saw an old lady drop her wallet. He picked it up and took his sister safely to the other side before going back to return it to the old lady. He didn't notice that the lights turn green, however, and before anyone knew it, a truck came swerving from a corner. He tried to move but his body was frozen in fear. The last thing he knew was the truck coming at him and his little sister running towards him screaming his name. Then everything turned black....
======
"Where am I?" the little girl asked. All that she could see was the clear sky above her. She then remembered her brother. "Onnisan! Onnisan!" she called but nobody answered. Quieting again, she looked around and saw that she was still at the park where she and her brother had gone that day. Everything appeared fine, except for the small commotion happening across the park. She paid no notice to it. She was too occupied on finding her brother and going home.
She walked and walked for hours at the park but she couldn't find him. It was already getting dark when she decided to go home. There was just one problem. She didn't know how.
She walked some more, trying to retrace the way she and her brother had taken from their home to the park. It was no use. She just kept going in circles.
As she passed by the playground for the fourth time, she noticed two children by themselves, talking.
"Yuusuke, let's go home." the little brown-haired girl stretched her hand to the boy. The boy seemed skeptical at first but later took it with a smile. They left together like that, hand in hand.
Seeing all this, the lost little girl reached to the side for her brother, but all that she touched was air.
"I forgot. He's not here to take me home."
She turned and walked away.
The sun had set but the little girl was still walking, trying to find her way home. She saw more interesting things that day but they only reminded her of her home and her family.
One such incident was a small boy being carried by his sister. He had been placed on her shoulders while he himself struggled to escape.
"Shizuru! Please put me down. I promise I won't skip dinner today," the little boy wailed, but his sister took no heed and continued carrying him home.
Another time, she heard a loud crash coming from one of the houses. She ran to the window and peeked to see what happened. Inside was a mother hugging her shocked son as her arms dripped with blood.
"Oh Shuuichi. My Shuuichi. Are you alright?" the mother asked. The little boy just nodded, tears flowing down his cheeks. He hugged his mother who hugged him back despite the pain she was feeling at that moment.
The girl walked all night, all alone in that city. She passed by dozens and dozens of houses, hoping that each one would finally be her own. Tired and weary, she stopped in front of a house deciding to sleep there and continue the next morning. It didn't take long for her to fall into a deep slumber.
======
The sun came up and the girl was awakened by the loud roar of an engine. She caught sight of her parents in a car. Excited, she called to them but they didn't seem to hear her. She tried to run towards them but the car left before she could even reach the curb. She called out to them again but they never turned back. She had been left behind.
Silently she turned back and went to the house the car had come from. Her home. She entered. Inside, the house felt empty. Almost all of the furniture was gone.
"Tadaima!" she called but nobody answered. Walking to the fireplace, she saw their family pictures upon the mantel. They were pictures of her parents, her brother and herself in a pink kimono with a pink peony behind her ear. There was a tattered flower in front of her picture. It was a familiar pink peony, but it was already withered. Some blood was splotched on it. She took the flower in her hand and wondered how it happened. Just then she heard someone coming down from the stairs. Her brother!
"Oniisan!" she cried out to him, but he didn't react. He didn't seem to even hear her. He came to a stop beside her and started gathering their family photos.
" 'niisan, it's me. Can't you hear me? I'm home," she said but still he paid her no attention. He continued taking the pictures down, one by one. When he came to his sister's photo, he paused and said,
"It's all my fault." Tears started to brim in his eyes. She watched him touch her face in the photo and then embrace it tightly to his chest. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry.," he cried as the tears continued flowing from his eyes. She took a step back not understanding any of this nonsense. Why would her brother cry like that and why was he saying sorry to her picture? And why didn't he notice that she was beside him all that time?
Many more questions filled her mind when she suddenly noticed the date on their calendar. It showed February 15th.
"How did that happened? I was away for a day?"
Suddenly, the memory of what had happened that day came back to her...
======
As they crossed the street, the boy saw an old lady drop her wallet. He picked it up and took his sister safely to the other side before going back to return it to the old lady. He didn't notice that the lights turn green, however, and before anyone knew it, a truck came swerving from a corner. He tried to move but his body was frozen in fear. The last thing he knew was the truck coming at him and his little sister running towards him screaming his name.
"Onnisan!" she screamed as she desperately tried to reach her brother. The truck swerved to avoid her brother and barreled into a tree. Another car lost control trying to avoid the truck and before anyone could react, it slammed into her tiny frame. Her body flew as her brother, regaining his will to move, ran towards her. He cradled her bleeding body in his arms as he desperately cried for help. The ambulance came a few minutes later but they came too late. They had already lost her.
======
"So that's why..." she uttered to herself. She was dead. She didn't need a home now. She was already gone.
As she realized this last thought, a circle of light opened up behind her. A pretty girl with black hair and dark blue kimono came out.
"There you are. I've been looking for you. I know it's not your time yet but your body already gave up your soul so the Reikai can't fix that. All that we can do is to get your soul now and wait till you can go to the ways of destiny." The girl reached out her hand. "Come, I'll take you to a place where you can belong."
The girl looked at her for a moment before taking her hand. She took one last look at the crying boy before entering the portal with the girl in the kimono.
Before she knew it, she was sitting behind her on an oar as they entered a kingdom the girl called Reikai. The black-haired girl opened a large door and led her inside to an equally big office. In the farthest corner, she saw a child with his pacifier in his mouth stamping on some papers.
"Koenma-sama, she has arrived." the girl announced as they came in. The one named
Koenma looked up and looked at the girl who was now fidgeting behind the pretty girl. He nodded and said, "It's not yet your time to walk to the ways of destiny. You can't go back to your family either. You have no place to go now." He told her factually. She just nodded in response.
Koenma continued. "We can't bring you back to your original body and a new body could take a thousand years. So I guess you could be a ferry girl."
The little girl looked at the little boy in puzzlement. "Ferry girl?" she asked.
"Yes. Ayame-san could teach you the basics. You can train with her to be a ferry girl. And from now on, Reikai would be your new home. That is, if you want." The boy looked at her questioningly. The girl nodded with a smile on her face. "Very well then. Ayame, this is now your new ferry girl student," the boy told the girl in the kimono.
Ayame smiled and nodded, her black hair bouncing. "Hai, Koenma-sama. But what will be her new flower name?" she asked.
The boy looked at the little girl and noticed the pink peony she was still holding.
"You can call her Botan."
======
"Botan! Where are you?" a blue one called, his voice echoing throughout the palace.
"In here, George!" Someone yelled back. He followed it.
"Koenma-sama is looking for you. Where have you been?" he said to a girl with blue hair and a pink kimono. She hovered above the balcony on her oar.
"Just somewhere. I have to go now George. You know how impatient our boss is." She took off before George could say another word, and flew around to Koenma's office balcony.
"Tadaima!" she called as she entered his office. Koenma was stretching after a long day's work, which was nearly over. It was obvious it had been a busy day, since he was in his teenaged form. He never transformed unless there was a lot of paperwork. His older form was easier to move in because of how much longer his arms were in comparison to that of his child form.
"Where have you been?" he asked without even looking at her.
"I just went to see my brother. It's Valentines today." Botan answered. Koenma just nodded. Botan looked outside, feeling slightly guilty. She knew that it was against the rules to see her relatives once she became a ferry girl but she couldn't help it. She couldn't break free from her family, her home... but Reikai was now her home. Still, somehow she couldn't make herself feel it. She was longing for something more...
"I guess I have to go now Koenma-sama." She turned to leave. "Oyasumi nasai." she uttered before opening the door.
"See you then tomorrow, Botan. Oyasumi." Koenma then turned to his paper stamping again. Before Botan could completely close the door Koenma called to her again.
"Yes, Koenma-sama?" she poked her head back into the room. Koenma smiled at her.
"Happy Valentine's Day," he said.
Botan smiled. "Happy Valentine's too, Koenma-sama." she greeted back. And before she fully closed the door she heard him say,
"And Botan, okaeri nasai."
Botan smiled as she finally shut the door. It was as if Koenma had said the magic words. She felt that Reikai was now truly her home.
Sequel >
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