Chapter 2-A Shield of Fire and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hino Rei, now aged seven, was staring intently into the Great Fire. Usually Grandpa told her to be careful around it, but none of the other priests and priestesses allowed her near it. They thought she would be burned. Sometimes the friendly flame showed her pictures, and now it told of her "sister" Makoto cooking. She was confused, wasn't Mako-chan only nine, a year older? She vaguely
remember her mother cooking, but her father had always overturned the table and the dishes were ruined, uneaten. Confused, she tried to understand. Tendrils of crimson reached towards her, and unconsciously, her own small hands met them. Suddenly, pictures flashed in her mind, over and over. She shrieked and fell
into blackness, a comforting, clear black.
~ * ~ * ~
One brunette nine year old crept sneakily around the shrine until she reached the kitchen. Making sure that no one was there, she began rattling things around in the cupboards. Cookies, that was what she had decided to make. Without any cookbooks open, her green eyes stared intently at the items she had assembled: flour, sugar, eggs, chocolate chips. Frowning thoughtfully, she thought she was forgetting something. A few long strands of chestnut hair fell into her face,Makoto sighed, annoyed, and reached up to undo her ponytail.
And then she froze, hearing a scream from the room next door. She had always thought it blasphemy to build a kitchen next to the Great Fire, but it always kept her warm. Sharp senses alert, she stepped off the high school and ran into the next room, heart
hammering. That cry had been so familiar, it sounded like Rei. She stopped in the doorway, green eyes wide with shock. Rei's hands were intertwined with fire, and Makoto, mind hazy and numb from fright, reached over and tried to pull her wrists. The fire roared at her, angry and demanding, and suddenly her eyes flew open. Cowering but still attached to her friend's slim arms, green stared into
what should have been purple-now, it was a strange shade of red. The Great Fire proceeded on, Makoto could feel her skin drying. Her lips chapped, and she was horribly afraid she would catch on fire. But she couldn't move, her feet were glued in place. It came closer, quick and deadly. She closed her eyes, standing in front of Rei, hoping that if she died it would be painless. Her jaw muscles wouldn't work, she couldn't scream. The only thing whirling was her brain, and
it was unable to do anything.
Right before the blazing firestorm crisped her friend, Rei's hair turned to a color matching her eyes, and a shimmering shield, transparent and sparkling, held off the inferno. Makoto was then able to move, and she dragged Rei to the doorway. Before the now redheaded eight year old fainted into unconsciousness, she heard the fire whisper, "You passed the test,
child. Only one of many more."
Rei's grandfather raced into the room, panting. His panicking eyes fell on the
little girl in the robes of a priestess, and he scooped her up. "Mako-chan, what
happened?"
She pointed to the fire, shaking. "It...it....she was holding it....and when I
tried to pull her away, it got angry. But then before I got roasted, her eyes
and hair turned red. A strange thing went up, it was red and glowing. The fire
stopped, and Rei fainted." The green eyed child's voice sounded distant, still
shocked over the strangest display she had ever seen.
Grandpa's eyes lit with understanding, and he hugged Rei tightly. "It was a
test. But she passed, thank goodness for both of you. Makoto-chan, I think
Rei-chan needs to sleep. Can you find something to do?" 'Kami-sama help me, I'm
not supposed to explain anything to them.'
Nodding, the brunette trotted off to the kitchen again. Methodically, as if
she'd done it thousands of times, she set the oven time, mixed the dough for
cookies, added chocolate chips, scooped little circles onto sheets she had
gotten out earlier, shoved them in the oven, and sat down. Talking to thin air
for a moment, she said, "Kami-sama, this has been a very strange day. Most
confusing. I wonder what happened to Rei-chan? I feel she's going to be okay.
Did she send up that strange shiny thing? Was it magic? And why does the fire
act strange?" A tiny green bird lighted on her shoulder, out of nowhere. Makoto
stared at it for a moment and prayed devoutly, "Kami-sama, I think this dream
should stop now. A lime-green birdie just came out of the air, and it's very
pretty (it preened, pleased), but I'm getting scared."
"Mako-chan, don't be scared. And this isn't a dream. Rei-chan went through a
test, the fire, her grandfather, and the two ravens outside said so. She has
magic, and that was part of it. The fire likes Rei-chan. It bonds with her. It
doesn't bond with you, though. You go better with something else." She stared at
the green eyed bird for a moment, its eyes the same hue as her's. "By the way, I
think your cookies are done." Makoto promptly fainted from hearing the bird
talk, not like parrots, but like humans did. "Oh dear, I wish they wouldn't do
that. Now I have to get the cookies out." Chirping angrily, the bird was
replaced by a little girl with light green hair and eyes. She carefully took the
done cookies out, set them on cooling racks, and became an animal again.
Sighing, she flew out the door and perched on a branch that looked into Makoto's
room, intending to continue their 'conversation' later.
~ * ~ * ~
Aino Minako, now becoming Mina Love in London, stared at her failed test and
sighed. Maybe it didn't matter to her mother, but it mattered to her. She had
studied so hard the whole week, and now it seemed that she didn't have any
brains at all. Her mother had, at first, shrugged off the test and told Mina
that looks were more important than smarts. When the blonde had started crying
and telling her how much she studied, she had gotten angry at time wasted. Mrs.
Aino wanted her daughter to become a model, or an actress. School didn't matter
as long as they had money and a little girl who would star everywhere. And that
was why she was working so hard, brushing Mina's hair out every day, making sure
she was just the right height and weight, putting cream all over her skin, and
other things like that. Mr. Aino was a business man, working away at his office
in London. He did nothing every day but scream over the phone at workers who
failed to send in shipments on time, and that was it. His pay was enough for
them to live very comfortably, strangely enough, but he and his wife were
counting the days until they could live in the lap of luxury. When their
daughter reached age twelve, they would start making her a child star.
Meanwhile, Mina was in her room, crying. She didn't have any friends here, even
though she was starting to speak English fairly well. She hated her parents at
the moment yet loved them deep down, missed her friends in Tokyo, and wondered
how Seishou Kouseinou was doing. She hadn't seen him for two years but still
kept the image of the lonely ten year old. The blonde with the heart bigger than
the sun hoped that he had made friends. Drying her tears, she started when a
slightly-scratchy male voice said, "Hello, Mina."
Blinking, she turned towards the window and saw a white cat sitting there,
looking very proud of itself. An ardent admirer of fantasy and anime, she was
not at all surprised at seeing a talking cat, or at least hearing it speak.
"Hello. Excuse me, how did you get it?"
"I opened the window, of course. That was obvious," snorted the cat.
"You're very proud of yourself, you know that? Somehow, you remind me of
Kousei-kun. At least, two years ago. Do you have a name, cat?"
"Artemis."
"Interesting. Sounds like I've heard that weird name before."
Coughing indignantly, he leaped down and perched on her shoulders. "I happen to
like my 'weird name' very much, Mina. In fact, the Queen of Venus named me."
Staring at him oddly now, she felt a strange emotion run through her. "Um,
yeah. The Queen of Venus. You ARE aware, Artemis, that there aren't any aliens
discovered on Venus?"
Annoyed, the cat said, "Don't talk about things you don't know. It was a
thousand years ago."
"And the next thing you're going to say is that I was there too, as a princess
and a warrior, right?"
The cat and the girl blinked simultaneously and stared at each other. "MINA??
Do you remember.....anything?"
Losing that train of thought for a moment, she glared at him and said, "Yeah, I
just failed another test. I'm Aino Minako, formerly of Japan, and I don't like
living in London or sarcastic cats. By the way, what's that strange mark on your
forehead?"
"It's a crescent moon, Mina. I KNOW you came from Japan and that you don't like
London. Now come on, we've got to talk your parents into keeping me."
Following him, feeling slightly dazed, she said, "But my parents never let me
have a cat before. Or any pet."
"Leave that to me."
"I'm getting tired of your arrogance. Wait....where did that word come from?
Anyway, who said I wanted YOU for a pet?" asked Minako indignantly.
"I did. Now come on!"
~ * ~ * ~
One seven year old Mizuno Ami was angry. Very, very angry. Number one, her
mother had enrolled her a year ahead than she should have been (second grade,
instead, she was in third). Number two, Mrs. Mizuno wasn't home, she was at
another hospital emergency. Her bus route had changed, and she didn't know where
to go. Shrugging off tears that were coming to her eyes, Ami sighed, grabbed her
backpack, a piece of toast, and her lunch-made by your's truly. Glancing at her
watch, she began to run in the general direction of her school, praying she
wouldn't get lost. It wasn't actually that far away, but she lived in a
neighborhood of spoiled, rich children. The school for all of the Juuban kids
from grades one to five was located there. Thus, a bus was sent needlessly and
wastefully for the occupants of Ami's neighborhood. Panting, she was nearly to
the school when her bus passed by her. One of the unruly boys in the back seat
pulled down one of the dusty, dirty, and extremely unhygienic windows down and
yelled, "HEY!" Turning to his friends, he asked, "Who's that little twerp on the
sidewalk?"
Answering and trembling under the eyes of the fifth grader, one of Ami's
previous peers replied, "That's Mizuno Ami. She hasn't got a father, but her
mother works in the hospital. She's got blue hair and blue eyes. And she's a
nerd, everyone says so. She's always reading and never talks to anyone."
Taking a deep breath and hoping he wasn't going to get a beating, the child was
relieved when the fifth grader smirked and said, "Well, then, we're going to
have some fun with the little nerd. See if we can get her out of her shell."
Later that day, Ami sadly took her obento outside and sat alone. No one invited
her to sit with them, and she preferred reading peacefully under a tree than on
hard benches in the cafeteria. This time around, she rubbed her shins and tried
not to cry again. She was becoming such a crybaby, she thought to herself. In
the morning, all the third graders that were a year or two older than her had
stared at her and isolated her. They thought she was a goody-goody and a brain
to skip a grade, they didn't want to have anything to do with her. In the halls,
she had mysteriously tripped and fell many times. And she was sure they weren't
accidents, catching sight of snickering students and black shoes, right before
she threw out her arms and hit hard walls or fell on the tiles. No one helped
her up, they just hurried on. No one got in the way of that infamous fifth
grader, they knew he had a new target-everyone was relieved it wasn't them. As
long as they didn't come between him and his prey, nothing would ever happen to
them. Just the little brain who was too smart for her own good. Ami rode the bus
home, reading again. Once she let herself in to the empty, expensive, large
apartment, she set down her backpack, did what little homework fourth grade
required of her, did next week's assignments (that had become a habit two years
ago, even though it was only learning numbers then), then went to her room. Ami
stared at the blue walls, empty except for one framed sketch. She didn't like
looking at it, it reminded her painfully of her father. Her bed was blue, blue
sheets, blue covers, pillowcases, everything. Sitting at her desk, she stared at
the wall and thought about everything and absolutely nothing.
~ * ~ * ~
The first day of school, one hot September day, Tabiki Kasen dragged his
brother Kouseki Yosouya through the halls. He had managed, for once, to get up
at the right time. Yosouya, although two years younger, was going to be in the
same class as his brother-sixth grade. It was really too early for him to start
sixth grade, he should have been in fourth grade. But there went the unfortunate
exams every student took at the end of a year. It embarrassed Kasen to no end,
but he was good-natured enough to shrug it off and not get too resentful towards
his brother. Hey, the kid was a genius, and it wasn't his fault he was born that
way, so he skipped two grades. "Souya-kun, hurry up! I want to see Kyosei-kun!
And also Kouseinou-kun, even though he just nods and talks rarely. Sounds like
you."
Yosouya grinned sneakily and said, "That's 'cause he's smart. Anytime someone
else talks, you start shooting off your mouth with them."
"Why, you little...nevermind, there's Kyosei-kun!" Kasen was left with no time
to get irritated as he ran over to his brown-haired friend.
The green-eyed one smiled and trotted up to them, looking for Kouseinou-kun.
For some strange reason, although he was three years older, they got along very
well. The silver-haired boy took a liking to small, delicately built boy when
he'd first met him, and they had become fast friends. "Konnichiwa, Kyosei-kun,"
said Yosouya.
"Konnichiwa, Souya-kun. Hey, if you want to talk to the silent block of stone,
he's at his locker. Hey, Kasen-kun, d'you hear about......"
Rolling exasperated emerald-green eyes, the blonde went over to his friend's
locker and said, "Konnichiwa, Kouseinou-kun."
"Konnichiwa, Souya-kun. You're looking awfully small this morning."
Glaring at the silver-haired one, who was actually smiling for once, he
protested, "Your name is SUCH a mouthful. Ever try to shorten it? And it's not
my fault I'm three years younger than you. You're too tall for your own good."
Silver eyes darkened sadly when he remembered the little blond-haired girl that
had called him Kousei-kun. Ever since, he had allowed no one to call him that,
hoping he would one day see her again. 'Silly,' he scolded himself, 'you were ten,
she was four years younger.' "Nope, no shortening. I know it's not your fault,
and I like being tall. C'mon, squirt. I've got class and so do you, find that
*ugh* cheerful and talkative brother of your's and get him and Kyosei-kun to
class."
Blinking, Yosouya asked, "Aren't THEY supposed to take ME to class?"
Scanning the chattering crowd, he shook his head and said, "Souya-kun, I told
you many, many times-ah, see? They already went off! Now come, I'll get you
there. Hurry up, excuse me, pardon me, no, yes, okay, here we go. I've got to go
now. Have fun, and tell anyone who beats on you to see Seishou Kouseinou after
class."
"Arigato gozaimisu, Kouseinou-kun."
Shrugging, he said, "Ah well. Someone's got to watch out for you." 'We've got a
strange bond, I swear. Cute kid, studies too much. Me? No comment. We won't
discuss Kasen-kun and Kyosei-kun, either. Off to the seventh grade hall...dum,
dum, dum, dum, dum! Seishou Kouseinou, I swear those video games you kept
playing with Kasen-ken and Kyosei-kun rotted your brains.'
~ * ~ * ~
Rei yawned sleepily and opened her eyes to find herself in her own room. After
her slightly-blurry vision cleared, she saw a worried old man sitting by the
edge of her bed. "Ojii-san? What happened?"
Her grandfather, so relieved that she was all right, hugged her tightly and
wiped away tears on his cheeks. "Rei-chan, I'm so glad you're awake. Do you
recall what happened?"
Frowning and furrowing her brow, she concentrated for a moment. Then she said,
"Um...I was looking in the fire again. It showed me a strange picture, then it
was all black. But then I don't remember anything else except holding some
fire." Blinking up at him, she asked, "Isn't that strange? I thought people got
burned when they held fire."
"Most people do. That's good, Rei-chan. You probably just felt a little dizzy.
Now I want to tell you something. You have the power to hold fire, but almost no
one else does. You have to be careful that no one tries to copy you, or they
will get hurt. Do you hear me?"
She nodded and said, "Hai. Do I have to stop seeing pictures in it now?"
He laughed and reassured the nervous girl, "I don't think it'll let you. Now
come on, Mako-chan managed to bake cookies, but she seems to have fainted from
the shock of seeing you hold fire. She'll be fine, just lying in bed and
grumbling after I woke her." Rei got up shakily, clutched her grandfather's
strong hand, and made her way to the kitchen. Together, they went into Makoto's
room with glasses of milk and chocolate chip cookies, talking and laughing. The
brunette was now totally convinced that the second part of seeing a fire shield
form was a dream, and since Rei didn't remember that, she thought the bird that
had talked to her must be nonexistent too. So, the three were back to living
like normal people-except for the times the raven-haired one saw visions in the
Great Fire. And the fact that Makoto was able to cook without any previous
instruction and without cookbooks. Altogether, a typical "family" was living at
the shrine, ne?
~ * ~ * ~
"Mm....." murmured Aino Minako as she gobbled her sweet snack in obvious
delight.
Artemis shook his head, seeing his young mistress stuff herself. "Mina, your
parents are going to be angry if they find out you finished all of the
cookies....and I want one, too. Besides, it isn't ladylike to gorge yourself."
Glaring at him, the blonde retorted, "You're so mean, Artemis! You should be
glad I actually agreed to keep you. And they won't find out. Here......uh oh."
Panicking, Mina held up the empty cookie jar and stared. She clutched her
stomach and moaned, "No....Artemis, I don't feel so good anymore.....and there
aren't any cookies left." For an agonizing minute, the world spun as her stomach
rebelled. The yellow walls of her room whirled spitefully, and she clutched her
head.
Mrs. Aino, hearing her daughter groan in pain, ran in. "AINO MINAKO! What in
the world did you think you were doing?" She grabbed the empty cookie jar and
smacked her daughter painfully on her behind many times. The white cat winced
and hid under the bed. "How are you ever going to a model or an actress if you
stuff yourself like this? Just look, you've probably gained ten pounds just from
this junk!" Without giving another thought to how much Mina's stomach hurt, she
dragged her daughter into the bathroom and weighed her on the scale. Minutes
later, she came out mumbling and went to her room, leaving her daughter in the
bathroom. Artemis crept out of Minako's room, trying to cover up the glowing
crescent moon. He was furious and that affected the golden birthmark, but there
was nothing he could do about it. Jumping onto a stool, then the counter, and to
the top of the toilet, he licked the blond girl's cheek sympathetically as she
threw up from stress, overeating, and shame. When she was done and flushed the
toilet, she propped herself up on Artemis and crawled back to her room and into
her bed, tears trailing down flawless cheeks. Any girl would have loved to be
her, because of her looks. But no one knew the truth about her life.
~ * ~ * ~
Mizuno Ami sniffled angrily and rebelled against herself, wishing that school
could be more pleasant. Sure, the learning was fun....still boring, most of the
time, but she hated her classmates. She was still being tripped everyday, or at
least there were attempts, but she was getting careful and watched the floor
perpetually for sneakers that stuck out of the crowd of large and small shoes.
At an early age, Ami had realized that people didn't like her, they were, in
fact, jealous and hated her. So she sat by herself every day and was on her way
to become one of the loneliest, saddest children in the world. "Mizuno Ami! What
is 3 times 9?" asked the teacher sharply, and that was another thing. All the teachers
tested her continuously, looking for a crack or missing part of intelligence.
Stiffly, she stood, with her head bowed, and answered, "27, sensei." The class
and teacher just murmured angrily, knowing she was always correct. She sat down
again, wondering if it would be better just to give the wrong answer.
Multiplication tables were the easiest thing in the world to her, and she spent
most of class sneaking peeks at books that she kept in her desk. So far, she
hadn't gotten caught, but it taught her to be always on her guard.
After school, her mother wasn't ever home, just for dinner. And that wasn't all
the time anyway. Once she was home after another dull day, Ami grabbed a bag
with her swimsuit, goggles, and a few other things. Remembering to take her
house key from the hall table, she slipped her feet into shoes and closed the
door to an empty apartment, her footsteps echoing. The pool used by everyone in
the neighborhood was currently deserted, all the children were too lazy. Most of
them were over friends's houses, playing video games, eating, and other
time-wasting activities. As she slipped into the chilly water, for September
wasn't as hot as everyone expected, she grinned. Ami had always felt comfortable
in the water, especially cold water, but she didn't know why. Ice skating was
also fun, but rinks were far away, her mother never had time to take her.
For a minute, Ami just sat on the bottom of the pool and let her mind wander.
For some reason, although she liked water cold, whenever her bath water got
cold, it would just suddenly warm up when she thought about it hard. She shot
out of the water five minutes later, trembling. No one had ever been able to
breathe under water, but she was pretty sure that her mind had registered
bubbles. That made her turn cold, very cold. Humans weren't adapted to breathe
under water, only fish. Hands shaking, she touched boiling warm water and
winced, forgetting that she'd wanted warmer water. Ami began swimming laps, she
had done so ever since Kouseki Yosouya had taught her to swim to years ago. Now
she was able to do many more laps, almost ten per day, and if she really pushed
herself, eleven or twelve were possible.
Floating on her back for a minute, the blue-haired girl wondered how her friend
was doing. She had always regretted leaving her old neighborhood, she had had
one friend there. Yosouya's face remained in her mind, slightly fuzzy, for Ami
had always had an excellent memory for information. Wet blond curls appeared in
her mind's eye, smiling, kind green eyes. A sharply cut face, slim body, and he
had been taller than her even then, maybe two to four inches. Sadly, Ami thought
about the people here. How come her blonde friend had been eager to make friends
and teach her how to swim when everyone here alienated her? Maybe it was
something in the water....she then giggled and dove under again.
~ * ~ * ~
Kouseki Yosouya found school perfect for him now, not too challenging yet not
too easy. Now that he had almost all of his classes with his brother, he could
force him to do his homework correctly, and Kasen's grades improved. Kousei
Kyosei came over often to play with the siblings, and he was also pushed into
doing his assignments. Seishou Kouseinou didn't come over the two blond boys's
house often, but when he did, they had much fun and many laughs. Thoughtfully,
he clambered into the car next to a reading Yosouya, Kasen was sitting in the
front seat next to his stepfather, and Kyosei got in the car after Kouseinou.
Souya and Kasen's parents had allowed them to finally get pets, provided they
would take care of them.
In the pet store, both avoided fish for some odd reason. Green eyes searched
the Lizard House excitedly, a silver-haired friend close behind. Suddenly,
Yosouya stopped and bent down to a small cage near the ground. It was a green
iguana, halfway through camouflaging to a granite gray. He grinned curiously as
the lizard stopped its job and turned an emerald green again, matching his own
eyes. Kouseinou's eyes widened as he witnessed the exchange. He put a large hand
onto the slight boy's shoulder and asked, "Souya-kun, d'you like that one?" He
nodded eagerly, and they both went to the front of the store to wait for Mr.
Kouseki.
Meanwhile, Kasen and Kyosei wandered along the birds. One fellow, although they
weren't sure of its sex, they just generalized it as a male bird, screeched away
at the top of its lungs until they approached it cautiously. Kasen looked
through the golden bars of the cage at a medium-sized bird, bright blue except
for red markings on its face. "Konnichiwa. I think you're going to be my pet.
Hey, Kyo-kun, what do you think of him?"
"IF it's a him. Kawaii bird, nice red. You know, Kasen-kun, his fur is the same
color as your eyes."
"I know, but like him. Any ideas what to name him?"
The brown-haired boy, two inches taller and slightly less impetuous, laughed
and advised, "Why don't you ask your dad if you can get it first?"
He shrugged and said, "Otou-san agrees to anything I want, almost, unless it's
way out of the question. Let's go meet him and see what Souya-kun wants."
Animatedly, he dragged his stepfather off, two other boys in tow, to see the
merrily chirping bird. Yosouya laughed and said, "That bird is just like you,
Kasen-kun. Never shuts up." The bird and Kasen squawked indignantly while
everyone else howled with mirth. In the end, his brother made fun of the little
lizard, saying it was just as puny as Souya. However, both were satisfied with
their purchases, and everyone went home. The two blonde boys climbed into their
bunk beds, trying not to kill each other before the day was over, and discussed
names the whole night long.
~ * ~ * ~
Paths of Thorns
