[100 Themes Challenge][KIRIBANs][Commission and Art Information]

I am taking my story [Haze (My Heart Yearns for Kyoto)] down from my deviations, because it was clogging up a lot of space there, and wasn't getting read very often. But, because I still want it around, I'm posting it in this journal for you to read if you wish.

Enjoy!


Haze (My Heart Yearns for Kyoto)

"I held my arms out as I twirled, the wind tickling my face, the long golden grass tickling my legs. My little pink sundress swirled around me. I laughed, the gentle wind taking my joy and spreading it into the soft summer air. The same soft breeze that carried her laugh rippled through my braided pigtails. As I spun I saw my older brother, Akira, running towards me; he was laughing too..."

Akira kneeled beside his sister and put his hand on her cheek. He could feel the warmth of life slipping away. “No...! Kichi…lease…” he whispered into her ear. A single tear ran down his face and splashed onto her soft, pale cheek. Two men from the Emergency Medical Squad lifted her away from him, carrying her to the ambulance. Akira looked down at where his sister had just laid. His hands were stained with his sister’s blood. He trembled at his hands and flood of his tears soon washed her blood away. Akira looked up at the ambulance. The men were closing the back door, Kichi already inside. He heard the motor roar to life. The men switched on the sirens. The ambulance pulled away, racing down the road. Akira jumped up and tried to catch it, but like his sister, it just seemed to slip away... Akira ran after the ambulance, his body aching, his heart pounding, and his breath short. The blazing of the siren pounded into his head, making his thoughts race faster than his body. “It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault” he screamed into the air. At this rate he would be the last one to see her before she died. He had to make it in time...

"He grabbed me and lifted me up in the air. I giggled and he smiled, he had a soft twinkle in his eyes. He sat me down beside him under the nearby oak tree. In the warmth of the mid-afternoon sun, the giant tree’s shade gave me by breath back and made me feel fresh and new. He put his arm round me and we sat and we talked until the giant warm sun set on the horizon. And when the summer sun was gone, Akira showed me the stars. We lay on our backs, and Akira pointed up to the sky. I remember everyone he showed me; Orion, the big and little dippers, and my favorite, the North Star. He told me that from anywhere in the world you can use the North Star to find where you are. I was fascinated by every little thing he told me. I felt safe and warm in the cool night air; I had my brother to protect me..."

CH2

The ambulance pulled into the hospital. The men didn’t even shut off the engine or sirens before they jumped out. They ran to the back, flinging the door open. “Watch out!” one man yelled as they pulled Kichi out of the vehicle and wheeled her into the emergency room. A doctor took Kichi and slowly wheeled her into a stall. He pulled the curtain closed around her. “I hate it when they bring these to me,” he said in a low voice, referring to Kichi, “it’s the morgues job to deal with cadavers, not mine.” He pulled out a pen and began scratching on the paper, filling out Kichi’s chart. He pulled up the sleeve of his suit and looked at his watch, “hmm... time of death, two o’clock...” he sighed...

“Akira and I were really close even though there were three years between us. Akira was always so gentle and caring; he would play my silly childish games with me anytime he asked. All the other boys his age wouldn’t hang out with him because he hung out with me, but Akira didn’t care. He always told me that he would rather spend time with his family than ‘those other guys’ as he called them. This always made me smile. Akira was really mature for his age and was really smart, but he could also get down to my level and make me laugh. I think that’s why we got along so well...”

Akira reached the hospital, and after some frantic sprinting through the halls, he found Kichi’s room. He was out of breath, his eyes stung, his face was tearstained and red, his limbs were numb, but he made it. The doctor was gone so Kichi lay alone. Akira slowly strode to her side. He pulled up a chair and sat next to her. He took in a deep breath and reached out for her hand. His hands wrapped around hers and he waited to feel her warmth. But it did not feel like he had hoped; it was cold and blue. He looked around, everything was still. He could feel nothing. He didn’t hear anything; any respirators or heart monitors. His eyes stopped on Kichi. He thought she had looked pale before, but here in the hospital she looked, almost... “No,” he though, “she can’t be!” In a panic he called out. “Nurse! Help me! Anyone! Please...”

CH3

“It was a cold winter day, a few days before Christmas. It was cold enough to snow, but the sky just wouldn’t share with us. So in my mind it was just “ointless cold.” My parents were out, my dad worked most of the time, and my mom had gone to the super-market. I was at home alone, except for Akira, my favorite way to be. We were sitting in his room, playing on his PlayStation2. “Aww, Akira, you beat me again” I whined. He gave me a big smile. “Fine, next time you can win,” he said. I punched him lightly on the shoulder. “But, then you’d just be letting me win!” He laughed. “You are so difficult,” he joked. I hit him again, and then tried to beat him on the game. I lost; he just smiled and swallowed his laughter...”

No one came, the hall was deserted. “No, no, no!” he yelled. He ripped the stall’s curtain down; both in rage and in the chance it would attract attention. He had no answer. There was no one there; there was no feeling anywhere. His whole body felt numb and his brain was spinning. He got really dizzy. All he could see was Kichi; he saw her with his eyes open or closed. He saw her as a small child, laughing and playing. Then he saw the accident, he saw her dying. The he saw her lying there, pale and lifeless. He saw his hands covered in her blood. He furiously tried to wipe it off, but then realized it wasn’t there. He took a deep breath and a few steps back. He saw Kichi again. He screamed, hitting his head on the wall. Everything went black as he slumped to the floor...

“Anytime people would ask me what my favorite holiday was I would tell them that I liked any holiday but Halloween. First of all I don’t like undead things popping up and scaring me, but I had other reasons for disliking the holiday. It was time for the Halloween party at my elementary school and I had dressed up as Dorothy from the “Wizard of Oz.” We got to wear our costumes at school; I had the red slippers, the basket, and my favorite part, Toto, a toy puppy. The morning was fun; my teacher passed out candy and read us a story. Then some boys, at lunch, stole my little puppy and hid it in the dirt. Then they followed me, ridiculing me. “Hey, where’s your dog” they’d ask. Suddenly one of the boys turned to me, pointed at my empty basket and started screaming, “I bet she killed it, Kichi’s a dog killer!” They all started pushing me around screaming “dog killer, dog killer!” I ran off crying... When I came home my Mom asked me what had happened. I was covered in dirt and one of my pigtails had come undone, my basket was broken and my toy puppy was gone. “Honey, where’s Toto” she asked. I just started bawling. Akira found me curled up in my room. “Kichi,” he whispered. I just groaned. “Right now, you need to calm down, things will get better,” he said in a calm manner. “Why’s it always about ‘right here, right now’. What about the future, are you gonna do something about that?” I yelled. “If you can not fix what is before you, what you can see and touch, how can you possibly fix what is beyond you, what is out of reach?” he answered, keeping the same calm expression in his voice. I scrunched up my face and grumped at him, my arms crossed; he had won, there was no way I could argue with his logic. “Hey come here, I have something you might like,” he said. I didn’t move. He started to make loud footsteps so I would think he was leaving; it worked. “Akira, wait!” I said as I scampered over to him, “What do you have?” He turned around and giggled as he handed me Toto. “I found him in the school yard as I was walking home...”

CH4

Several hours later a doctor came back. Akira was still unconscious on the floor. The doctor helped him up and set him in the chair next to Kichi. “Man, I guess he already knows about her...” the doctor thought as he picked up the curtain. After straightening up the stall and re-installing the curtain he went to wake Akira. “Excuse me, boy, wake up” said the doctor as he gently shook him awake. Akira blinked, slowly. He opened his eyes to the bright light of the hospital. He looked to see the doctor first, then Kichi. He stood up, yelling. The doctor pushed him back into the chair and looked him in the eyes. “She’s dead, son...”

"“Akira” I cried, one day after school. He nodded. “Some kids were making fun of me again” I sobbed. These things happened to me all the time. I was the kid that the other kids loved to pick one. I mean, I had no friends at school, I got good grades, and I hung out with my older brother all of the time. The other kids thought this was weird. “Akira” I asked, “Why don’t I have any friends?” Akira stood up and walked over to me. “What do you mean, ‘why don’t I have friends’, Kichi. You got one, don’t ya, kiddo” he said as he winked at me then smiled. “Yeah, I guess...” I said. “Huh, you don’t consider me a friend,” he said, trying to mock ‘sad.’ I turned my head away as I spoke, “It’s just the other kids think it’s weird.” He laughed. “Well, I think the other kids are weird, not you. They’re just jealous of us, of our family.” I looked up to him again, “really?” He nodded. “They might have friends,” he said, “but we have family.” Akira taught me many lessons as we grew up, but this one was the most important. I knew I would always have family..."


Akira knew this, he had held her hand, he had felt no pulse, and he knew she was dead. He took in a deep breath and steadied himself. The doctor explained that she died of severe impact trauma. “Severe impact...?” Akira asked. The doctor nodded, and pointed to her head. “That’s where her blood came from” Akira thought, with a shiver. Chief then looked at Akira, one eyebrow raised, “But, you should know that, you were there when she was hurt, right?” Akira grew pale. He began to shake. He had seen the whole ordeal, he had been there. He managed to nod, slowly. The doctor sat down on his stool. “So, son, how ‘bout you tell me a few things?” he said, calmly. Akira slid over to the chair and pulled himself up on to it. “You ready?” the doctor asked. Akira remained still, but the doctor continued anyway. “I am the head doctor on this floor, but to make things simple, you can call me chief,” he said. Akira eyes took in Chief; he was an older man with cropped silver hair with streaks of his original deep brown. He had a big build and wore a clean suit that didn’t quite fit. He had on a tie and a lanyard holding keys and badges. On his chest was a name tag, but it was old and worn to the point that you couldn’t read his name. Akira was interrupted by chief’s next question. “So, boy, why don’t you tell me your name?” Akira shook himself and turned his head away from Chief, “My name is Shinjo, Akira... this is my little sister, Shinjo, Kichi...” Chief scribbled on a clipboard that he had grabbed from the table beside the bed. He cleared his throat before continuing, “So, Akira, why don’t you tell me what happened...”

CH5

“One winter day that year, it did snow. I got out my sled and we all piled into the car. We drove out to the countryside, out to an old ruined building on a hill. I love to sled, and I look foreword to it every winder. Akira loved to sled also and we would play games together as we traversed down the slippery surface of the hill. We both had green wooden sleds, we got them on year for Christmas; they were personalized in bright red paint with our names. I remember one year Akira broke his green sled, so he had to improvise. He decided he was going to sled down the hill on one of the plastic bags we had used to carry our picnic. He quickly figured out how to use the plastic to easily maneuver down the hill. I was so jealous of his new “sled” that I decided to give it a try, but on the way down the hill, I slipped off the bag and split my pants. Everyone had a good laugh but I also got a big bruise. I was sore and tired that day, but Akira was full of laughter and it made the whole day great..."

Chief nodded as Akira finished telling him how Kichi was killed; he wrote down every word on the clipboard. “I see...well, it was an accident, right?” Chief asked, calmly as he signed his name on the paper work he had just filled out. Akira froze. “Akira?” Chief asked. Akira slowly breathed in and then exhaled. He blinked then slowly turned to Chief, “Yeah... an accident...” he sputtered. Chief stared at Akira for a second and raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. He set the clipboard back down on the table. “Alright,” he said as he stood up and stretched his arms out over his head. “So, Akira...” Chief started, “We’ll need to make preparations, for Kichi.” Akira looked up and nodded, his mind somewhere else. “Well, how about you call your parents, get them here.” Chief said as he handed a phone to Akira. He nodded, slowly and took the phone between his shaking hands; after misdialing a couple times, he finally heard a ring on the other line. “Hello...” a voice answered. Akira dropped the phone...

“My favorite breakfast was rice with cream, cinnamon, and sugar. It was an easy recipe, but the only person I thought could get it right was Akira. He mixed in cinnamon until the mixture was just the right shade of brown, he added sugar until it was perfectly sweet, and he got it to just the right consistency with the cream. I would obsess about how he made it perfectly, but he would just smile and say “It’s a secret.” This would drive me crazy, but I would have eaten his “secret recipe” for every meal if I could. Akira knew this so anytime I had a bad day he would make this for me, in his “erfect way”, and I would eat it with him until I felt better; which with him, didn’t take long...”



CH6

Akira shook himself; he had to tell his parents to come see Kichi. He slowly bent down and grabbed the phone; it was still connected. “Hello?” the voice said impatiently. “...D-dad...” Akira sputtered. “Akira? What’s wrong?” his father answered. Akira’s heart stopped and skipped a beat; his breath became short. “Akira?” his father repeated. His throat closed and he choked, unable to breathe. “Where are you, son?” the phone screamed. “...the hospital, come quickly...” Akira spat in to the phone. He didn’t wait for an answer; he hit the disconnect button and put the phone down. Chief picked it up and placed in into the pocket of his jacket. He reached down to a pager on this belt and hit some buttons. Then he helped Akira stand up. “Okay, son, we’re going to take her out in the hall so your parents can see her, okay?” Akira followed Chief out the door. Twenty minutes passed, Chief had left, and for Akira the wait seemed unbearable, “What are they going to think…” he whispered to himself. He wished that his parents would come soon; yet, he wasn’t ready to thrust this into their lives. As if his words controlled reality, Kitai and Fujita Shinjo burst in the door. “Akira!” they shouted. Akira spun around to see his parents enter the hall. “Akira, what’s wrong? You sounded so strange on the phone,” Fujita said. “Dad, its Kichi” he answered. “What?” his mother, Kitai, exclaimed.

“It was early in the spring; we started a garden in a little patch outside of our back door. We had been tending the little sprouts indoors for weeks and today was the day to move them outside. I chose to grow carrots and Akira chose corn. My mother helped us move the delicate seedlings from their tiny pots to the rich soil of the outside world. I took us manly hours to finish transplanting the seedling, but seeing the new garden, with its neat rows of green, was well worth the work. Spring always seems so, captivating to me; when everything grows and the world is full of life. That night, after everyone was asleep, I snuck out to the garden; I vowed to stand guard over the plants all night. I woke up the next morning with a blanket over my shoulders and my teddy bear in my lap…”

Akira stepped aside to reveal the rolling hospital bed on which their daughter and younger sister lay. There was a strange silence that seemed to take away everyone’s breath. They stood eyes locked on the motionless figure. “...Kichi...” they gasped. Kitai put a hand to her mouth, “…oh my… Akira, what, what happened? Is she going to be alright?” Fujita walked over to his daughter, “She’s as cold as ice…” Akira opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He started to shake and tears streamed down his face. “No!” he screamed, “She’ll never be okay! She’ll never be okay…” he gasped, his words fading. His parents looked at him, eyes full of both confusion and the painful understanding of what was going on. Chief walked back into the hall. “Mr. and Mrs. Shinjo, I am Kichi’s doctor. I am sorry, but there was nothing we could do…”

CH7

“I got a brand new bicycle after getting perfect marks on my report card. It was red and polished to a shine; Akira said that is was “brighter” than I was, but I could tell he was just kidding. I laughed, we had a little bit of a rivalry when it came to school, so whoever got the highest grades, also got bragging rights for the quarter; this time, I won. I guess Akira was just bit jealous. On the last day of school, all I could think of was my bike. I ran off the bus, inside the front door, grabbed my helmet, and darted out into the street with my bike. The next thing I knew I was laying on the sidewalk, Akira shaking me awake. “Kichi, you could have been killed!” he yelled as he pulled the remains of the bike on to the sidewalk. I was crying. “I’m sorry Akira...I don’t know what happened” I sobbed. He put his arm around me, “Let’s go inside... are you okay?” he asked. I nodded. “You blacked out and almost got hit by a car...” Akira explained. I could hear my mother lecturing the driver down the street. I snuggled into Akira’s side, “I’m glad I didn’t...” I whispered.

They stared with disbelief. “You mean…my Kichi is…dead?” Fujita sputtered. Kitai remained silent with shock. “Akira…?” she finally said after her nerves settled enough for her to form words. Akira nodded to confirm his father’s question. Chief strode past Akira and Kichi and walked over to Kitai and Fujita. He asked them to follow him into the room that Kichi had just been. As they walked in the door Chief flashed Akira a gentle smile that said, “Say god bye to her, son… say good bye…” Akira walked over to the side of the hospital bed. He carefully took Kichi’s hand into his. He sat and stared at her serene face; despite everything, she seemed so calm. “Kichi, I’m gonna miss you…” he whispered to her. “I wanted to be there for you, and now… well, I can’t stop blaming myself for everything that happened… You can’t argue, Kichi, it is my fault. I just want to say that I’m sorry…” Akira gripped her hand harder; for a second it felt like it was warm. Akira’s heart raced for a second, “She’s dead, the warmth must have just been from me, right?” he thought. Just to check he felt for a pulse but there was nothing. “Well, then, I guess this is it, Kichi.” He said as he walked away, leaving her alone…

“Summer, to me was joy: campfires, road trips, sunsets, and an escape from reality. Akira and I were spending the summer together at summer camp; it was the first year I was old enough to go. Our counselor was telling us a “scary story” about a camper who strayed too far from the camp and was gobbled up by a ferocious monster. Both Akira and I could tell she just wanted to warn us about straying to far, so we weren’t scared at all. “Ferocious monster, eh?” Akira laughed. We joked about the monster all day; but when we got separated after dinner, it suddenly seemed a lot less funny. It was my fault, though; I had taken the wrong path out of the cafeteria. Fifteen minutes later (it seemed like a lifetime) Akira found me, crying along the back wall of the building. “Hey, Kichi, it’s okay, I got ya.” He said picking me up. I gave him a big hug, “Never leave me, Akira?” I said, smiling up at him. He patted me on the top of the head, “Don’t worry, kiddo, I’ll be here, I’ll never walk away.”

CH8

Chief finished speaking with the Shinjo’s. He walked out the door, followed by Kitai and Fujita; he saw Akira had left so he led his parents to the door. As they left, he handed them his card, “If you have any further questions, give me a call.” Kitai nodded and tried to force a kind smile onto her tear stained face. The Shinjo’s left, hearts heavy. Chief walked back inside and hit another button on his pager. He slumped down against the wall, his head in his hands. He took in a deep breath and sighed. “I haven’t had to do that in a while…” he thought. Chief’s thoughts were interrupted as a tall, skinny, young man stood in front of him, arms at his sides; he seemed to be waiting for an order. “Yes, Chief?” he said. Chief didn’t look up, “take care of her, Kyoto,” he said motioning to Kichi. “Yes sir,” he answered as he rolled the heavy bed down the hall.

Kyoto looked down at Kichi. “Man, I don’t even know you and already I feel sorry for you…” he said as he placed his hand on her wrist. Kyoto gasped. “What the…” he exclaimed as he placed his stethoscope on her chest. “Chief gave me cadaver duty today! I can’t have a live patient!” He took her pulse three times to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. He started to get scared; his breath sped up. He slid own the wall. He put his hand on his forehead. “Great…” he sighed. Kyoto stood up and looked around. It was a slow day today, and no one was in sight. “What am I supposed to do with you?” he sneered at Kichi, “That is the last time I feel sorry for a patient, you know that?” He grabbed the handle to the bed and rolled Kichi into an empty storage room. With a deep sigh he reached into his pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and locked the door. After checking the hall one last time, he walked back to chief.

“Uh, Chief? What’s the status on the girl you just sent me?” Kyoto asked. Chief stared at him with disbelief, “You’ve graduated collage and have had four years of medical school. Do I need to tell you she’s dead, or can you figure that out on your own?” Kyoto shook his head, “No sir, uh... Yes, sir... I know, sir…” Chief ignored Kyoto’s mumbling. “And, after you go get me the patient in room 245’s chart, go down to the break room and get me some coffee... it is going to be a long day...” Kyoto nodded, “No kidding...” he thought. Kyoto turned and walked down the hall, thoughts numbing his mind. The only thing he heard was his the gait of his own footsteps as he ambled along the hall alone.

CH9

“Beep, beep, beep, beep!” the alarm clock yelled. A hand flopped from the bed and struck the clock, knocking it off the table; the clock still making noise. “Err...” he groaned, pulling off the blankets and stumbling out of his bed. Kyoto’s hands gripped the alarm clock and he switched it off; the blaring noises stopped. His sleepy eyes slowly focused on the small numbers and the hands on the face of the clock. “7:30?!” he screamed, shaking himself awake and he scurried to find his uniform. He ran into the bathroom, simultaneously brushing his teeth and his long black hair. Kyoto fumbled around for his glasses, looking in the mirror as he put them on; the glasses muted his deep brown eyes to a dull tan. He smeared a washcloth across his face, left the bathroom, and looked around for his lanyard and keys. After grabbing his briefcase, he ran out the door, barely locking it in his hurry to get to the hospital. The only sound on the street was the whirring of a red bicycle as it rode rapidly down the street.
“Kyoto!” Chief yelled, as the pale boy ran into the medical locker room. Chief glanced at his watch, “It is 7:55, Kyoto, you are late.” Kyoto said nothing as dialed the combination to his locker and pulled out his clothes, catching several items as they fell. “I have until 8:30 to be here...” Kyoto thought as he rolled his eyes. He pulled a deep purple scrub over his head, smoothing it over his body with his hands. Reaching back into the locker he pulled out a long white lab coat, which he slung over his shoulder. He slammed the locker shut and latched his padlock onto the door, giving the knob an extra twist. “So,” started Chief, “You have a busy day today, Kyoto.” Chief handed a slip of paper to him. “Huh?” asked Kyoto. Chief motioned to the paper, “Your list of things to do today.” Kyoto took the list, folded it up and placed it in his pocket. “Weird, Chief’s not normally this organized...” he thought. “First meeting’s at 9:30, Kyoto,” Chief said, noticing that Kyoto did not look at the list. “Okay,” Kyoto said as he left the locker room. “...then why am I here so early?!” he whispered as the door closed behind him. Kyoto yawned as he pulled out his wallet; he slipped a dollar into the coffee vending machine. The machine coughed and sputtered, producing a thick syrupy liquid. “At least it has caffeine...” He thought as he took a swallow. Looking around, and at his watch, he found that he was alone and had time. “Here we go...” he thought as he walked down the hall to “Kichi’s Closet” as he now called it. He grabbed a key from his pocket and unlocked the door, slipping inside. The room was bare; Kichi and her bed, along with some old boxes and crates were the only things inside. Kyoto walked to her side and took her vital signs. He scribbled them down on her chart. She seemed to be doing okay. With a sigh he sat down on a box next to her, slamming his coffee on a table by her head. “Stay here,” he said to her, “I’m gonna go get some equipment to monitor you and keep you alive, okay?” He began scribbling on a sheet of paper, writing down all the things he’d need. “Alright, I’ll be back soon, okay?” he whispered. Kyoto looked at Kichi, then threw his hands up in the air and walked out, “Great! Now I’m taking to her!”

CH10

Over a few months Kyoto went from store-room, to hospital-room, to closets, to abandoned offices in search for the equipment he would need to treat Kichi. The day after she came to the hospital Kyoto had already smuggled in enough to keep her alive, now he wanted to unravel her secrets and wake her up. He did this, while balancing his increasingly difficult schedule. “Man, something’s up with Chief, being this organized, it just isn’t him.” Kyoto thought as he read over his schedule and hooked up the last few wires to Kichi. “There!” he said as he stood up, admiring his handiwork. He brushed his hands off on his lab coat. The once-desolate closet was now filled with medical equipment; the whirring and beeping drifted over the air with a subtle sound. It could have been his lack of sleep, but as he turned to leave, he thought he saw a calm smile breach Kichi’s lips. He smiled back and left the closet, locking the door behind him, a warm feeling in his heart.
“Hey, kid!” Chief yelled down the hall, just as Kyoto finished locking the door. Kyoto jumped, “...yes Chief...?” he answered shakily, quickly hiding the key. Chief looked un-phased and continued talking, “Take this, complete it, and don’t ask any questions,” he said as he handed yet another set-schedule to Kyoto, who groaned. “But, Chief...” Kyoto began. “I said no questions!” Chief snapped, “Besides, I have some things that I have to take care of...” Chief finished as he walked away. Kyoto gazed at his schedule, “Oh Man! All paperwork! This is Chief’s job!” he threw the schedule down and stormed off to get something with caffeine.
Kyoto returned to ‘Kichi’s Closet’ a few hours later; a soda and a stack of paperwork lay before him. “Does the hospital meet your expectations?” he said as he read the evaluation in a monotone voice. He scribbled down an answer: ‘sure.’ He finished the rest of the paperwork in the same unenthusiastic manner. “Ya know, Chief can’t give me all of this work! I’m just an intern! I shouldn’t be making executive decisions.” He laughed as he finished his sentence; the forms he had filled out were mere fill-in-the-blank evaluations. He pushed the forms aside and sat back in his chair. Sighing, he looked at his watch; it was only 7:30. “I can sit back and rest a little...” He said as he slowly fell asleep.

---- “Kyoto! Help me!” Kichi called; her outstretched hand reaching to him. “... Kyoto!” ----

Kyoto woke with a start. “Kichi!” he exclaimed, looking around. She was there, lying in her bed, motionless and unharmed. Kyoto shook his head, panting heavily. “I guess... I guess it was only a nightmare...” he whispered.


This story, title, and characters (c) MayugeSeishou


Thank you to [link] for their CSS guide. Images (c) =MayugeSeishou