Shadows From The Past chpt5

Shadows From The Past
Chapter Five

"Mimiko.  Mimiko!  We have to go!"

The covers were pushed back away from her huddled form and she whimpered.  "No!"  She tried to grab for the covers, to hide under them again, but to no avail.

"Mimiko, we have to go," the voice spoke again, more urgently.

Other voices could be heard, loud footsteps on the hard flooring.  The sound of crashing furniture momentarily overwhelmed them, followed by angry cursing.  From outside, the loud crash of thunder reverberated through the air.

Mimiko cowered into an even smaller ball, the darkness surrounding both her and the shrouded figure by her bed.

"Mimiko, we don't have time for this!"

"But, momma!  The thunder!"  Another clash echoed from the sky.

She suddenly found herself swept up into a pair of strong arms, pressed firmly against the woman's chest, taking in the smell of ginger and apples, her mother's scent.  "Momma…"

"Shhh, it's all right, Mimiko," her mother soothed as she headed, not for the door, but the window.  "I won't let them take you."

Another round of loud crashing came from the main part of the house, causing the older Katsuragi to hesitate for just a moment.  Determination welled up in her once more as she opened the window and thrust Mimiko through the opening.

Mimiko landed with a thump, unable to move from the surprise.  Her small arms and legs were scratched by the many thorn bushes outside her window, the blood washed away by the sky's tears.  Their leaves had not yet grown to cushion the thorns and she began to cry in earnest.  "Momma!  Momma!  Momma!"

Her mother tried to make soothing noises as she climbed out the window.  "Shhh!  It's all right.  It's all right!"

The crashing inside stopped suddenly and the older woman looked back in horror.  She took one step, stooping down to sweep up her cowering child but her leg got entangled in the old growth they'd never cut away.  She went down.

"The window!" A harsh voice shouted from inside the house, a masculine voice.

Amaya Katsuragi turned to her daughter, putting her hands on the little girl's shoulders.  "Mimiko, you must run.  Get away from here.  Do you understand?  Run!"  She pushed her almost four-year-old daughter in the proper direction, then turned to free herself.  She looked up long enough to see if Mimiko was doing as she was told.  "Run, child!"

Mimiko stared at her mother's face.  The older woman's eyes were wider than she'd ever seen them, their dark chocolate mirroring the terror in her own.  The loud cracking of wood above them made her jump.  She turned away from her mother and ran.  Behind her, she could hear snarls, more breaking wood, followed by her mother's screams.

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Gentle arms held her from behind.  She couldn't see for the tears, not that there was much to see.  The light was dim and she wasn't sure she recognized where she was.

"Shhh.  It's all right.  It's all right."  The soft voice crooned in her ear as she was slowly rocked back and forth.  The gentle movement reminded her of the ocean waves.

"Momma!  Momma," she continued to sob, repeating the name over and over again in a small voice.

Jiro smoothed her hair with one hand, keeping the other firmly around her, supporting her.  "It was just a dream.  You're safe," he continued in her ear.  "It's all right."  He half expected her to fall back to sleep against him, but she didn't.  Instead, she turned into his shoulder.

"She's gone!  Momma's gone!"  Her slight frame shuddered.  "Why?  Momma! Why?!"

The blanket that had covered her slid to the floor.  Her legs were in danger of slipping off of the couch, something that would jar her injured knee.  Jiro pulled her in closer to his chest, turning her so that her legs were over his lap, propping them on the chair he'd fallen asleep on hours earlier while watching over her.

The anguish in her voice concerned him.  Hadn't she been an orphan for quite some time?  How long ago had her parents died, he wondered.  She never talked about it, only mentioning it just the once in a rather matter-of-fact way when he'd innocently inquired some time ago.  He realized he had no idea how they'd died.

"Mimiko," he called.  "Mimiko?"  He wasn't sure if she'd fallen asleep again.

Her shoulders were relaxed against him, her eyes closed, but the tears still leaked from their corners.  "Jiro," she said, surprising him.  "Why did they have to leave me?  Why did they have to die?"

His arms tightened around her.  "I don't know, Mimiko. I don't know.  But I promise I'll find out."

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Rinsuke sighed heavily into the phone, one hand to his forehead as he tilted his head back.  "I'm sorry all this happened, darling, but really, what did you expect?  She is strong willed and always will be.  You should know that by now.  It was only a matter of time before-"

Jiro's angry voice came over the speaker.  "She was attacked, Rinsuke," he accused.  "You could have at least predicted that something like that was coming.  I'm sure that you and Jinnai have a lot more you aren't telling me."

The purple-haired man laughed nervously, waving a hand, even though he knew Jiro couldn't see it.  "Nonsense!  Listen to what you're saying! You make it sound like we're keeping secrets from you!"

"Not just sound," Jiro growled.  "I know you are.  I want to know what you're hiding and I want to know now."

Rinsuke pulled the phone away from his ear as Jiro's voice rose in volume.  "Jiro, darling, please!  I already told you everything I know!"  He walked over to a low chair and flopped into it.  "Do you really think I'd try to keep anything from you?"  

He found himself very glad that he wasn't talking to the Black Blood in person as he wiped at the sweat on his brow.  Over the phone was bad enough.  And he had been genuinely surprised about Mimiko's nightmares, though, admittedly, he'd known about the incident with the vampire, thanks to Jinnai.

"As to Mimiko's past, that's not something I can answer either," he said rather apologetically.  "If you want to know that, you'll have to ask Jinnai himself.  He's very closemouthed about it."

Another growl came over the line, followed by a string of low curses, which abruptly stopped.  He held the phone up in surprise.  "Jiro?  Jiro, darling, are you there?"  He let out another sigh.  "Don't tell me you broke another phone!"  Ah well, he decided.  There wasn't much he could do about anything right now.  He was under orders, after all.

He slipped his phone into his pocket, then turned towards the door.  "Was that all right," he asked the man standing there.

Jinnai Shogo nodded curtly.  "That's all he needs to know for now."

"I still think we should at least tell him about the connection we found between the vampire that attacked Mimiko and the one who was looking for her," Rinsuke intoned.

Jinnai waved the thought aside.  "He needs to focus on protecting her right now, not chasing after other Black Bloods," he pointed out.  "We'll tell him when we need to, and not a moment before, understood?  Or do I have to bring Kain in to assure it won't happen?"

Rinsuke put his hands out in defense.  "No!  No!  That's hardly necessary!"  He remembered the last time he'd had something similar happen, Jiro trying to get information from him with the Eye Raid.  He'd passed out cold and woken with a killer headache, definitely not something he wanted to repeat, but that meant he'd have to steer clear of the Old Blood for a while.

Jinnai nodded sharply, then left the room.

"I still think we should tell him though," Rinsuke said under his breath once he knew the Chief was safely out of earshot.

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Kotaro stared out the window moodily.  A whole day has passed since he and Mimiko were waylaid.  Dark clouds sifted across the sky.  If it started raining, there was no way his brother would let him go out and about, not with Mimiko as she was.  He couldn't protect her and hold his umbrella at the same time, could he, Kotaro wondered.

He headed towards the kitchen, stomach growling.  He wouldn't let the weather keep him down. After all, there were a lot of things he could do inside too, like beat his brother at a game of poker.  It was fun doing that.  Or he could always draw another picture of Lord Bowwow.  He could never have enough of those.

The metallic clack of a crutch caught his attention as he walked into the warmer room.  He stopped in surprise, staring at Mimiko as she tried to maneuver around.  "Uh…?"  He blinked up at her.  "Aren't you supposed to be resting, Mimi?"

Mimiko clutched a spoon in her hand, a bowl in the crook of her elbow.  "If I hear another person telling me I should be resting, they're going to get a spoon in the face," she warned, causing Kotaro to take a step back.  "I'm getting sick and tired of being told I need to be sitting around doing nothing!"

The young vampire looked up at her.  "You're sick and tired?  Then you really should be resting!"

Mimiko took one look at his earnest face, then cracked up.  She couldn't help it.  Loud laughter spilled out of her and she had to put the bowl down or drop it as she leaned weakly against the counter.

"Well, that's the most cheerful sound I've heard in quite some time," Jiro commented as he, too, entered the kitchen.  "What's this all about?  I enjoy a good joke as much as anyone else does."

"Sick and tired!"  Mimiko crowed, tears of mirth streaming down her face.  Her shoulders heaved with laughter.  "Kotaro!  You're too much!"  She tried to wipe away some of the tears with the back of one sleeve.

Kotaro sulked.  "I didn't think it was that funny."  He folded his arms, pouting.

It took Mimiko another couple of minutes to calm herself and tell Jiro about the misunderstanding, but he, too, enjoyed the joke.  He had to wipe a few tears away as well.  "Kotaro, what Mimiko meant was…"

The loud crash of thunder filled the air.  Mimiko jumped, knocking the metal bowl off the counter, spilling the contents in a large puddle of batter across the floor.  Her eyes went wide with the second boom that followed less than five seconds after the first.  One of her crutches landing in the mess and she had to hold to the countertop for balance.

"That was silly of me," she said, trying to sound wry, but Jiro noticed that her hands were shaking ever so slightly, her muscles tense.

Thick rain began beating against the window and walls, making a quick rat-a-tat sound against the building.

"Wow," Kotaro commented as he turned to look out the window.  "It's really coming down, isn't it?"

"Mimiko."  Jiro watched the young compromiser as she tried to recompose herself.  He gingerly picked up the fallen crutch, wiping it off with a dishcloth, then handed it to her.  "Kotaro, will you clean this up, please."  He didn't take his eyes off of her face as he spoke.

She was slowly counting under her breath.  "One.  Two.  Three.  Four.  Five."  When she reached ten, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, then accepted the support from her vampire counterpart. "Just a storm," she said quietly to herself.  "It's just a storm."

Jiro didn't say anything, but moved in closer as she continued to stare into space.  He wasn't sure if she would hear him if he did speak.

Light flashed across the sky as Kotaro finished wiping up the spilled mess, heading to put the dirty towel into the wash.  Thunder crashed through the apartment, louder than before.  Mimiko gasped as the lights went out.

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"Run, Mimiko."  The words echoed in her head as the rain came splattering down.  Her nightgown stuck to her like a second skin as water streamed down her face, the wind whipping up behind her as she ran for all she was worth.

In the distance, she heard a wolf howl.  Her stride was thrown off and she went down into a puddle of water, mud splashing in her face.  She shivered as another crack of thunder filled the sky, lightning flashing.

A man she didn't know walked towards her, visible only because of the occasional flicker of electricity across the sky.  The light played across his face, making his eyes glow red.  The little girl cowered.

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Light flickered as Jiro lit a candle.  "It looks like the lights are out all along the block," he observed as he set the candle on one of the many shelves in the living room.

Mimiko blinked, wondering when she'd moved back to the couch.  The last thing she remembered was the first crack of thunder as it shook through the apartment.  Hazily, she thought she remembered a second crash but wasn't sure.  She wondered why the lights were off, noticing as Jiro lit a second candle.

The rain continued to pound against the walls but no more thunder sounded.  She struggled to push herself up, arms sore from the crutches.

Jiro turned upon hearing the sound.  "Ah, you're awake again," he noted.  He set the second candle down so he could move to her side.  "Kotaro went to fetch more candles," he added.  "How's your leg?"

She looked down at the brace, seeming almost confused at it being there.  "It's numb," she answered in surprise.  

Jiro frowned.

"No, wait."  Mimiko moved her leg, stuffing another cushion under it.  Blood flowed down her starved veins as the circulation returned.  Pins and needles pricked up and down.  She grit her teeth.  "Oh I can feel it now," she said, her voice heavy with irony.  "And I almost wish I couldn't.  That really smarts."

Jiro involuntarily chuckled at her tone.  It was typical Mimiko all over.  "Do you need something for the pain," he asked.

The compromiser grunted.  "Give me a minute or two to decide if what I feel is more from lack of circulation or something else," she requested.  "I just wish it wasn't quite so… "

"Persistent," he added for her, a question attached.  He looked at her face, trying to judge just how much it was affecting her.  The flickering candlelight wasn't the most helpful, throwing shadows into high relief.

"Potent is the word that comes to mind," Mimiko stated.  "But what do you do?  By the way, did I pass out or something?"

"More like a temporary black out," Jiro responded.  "Long enough for me to carry you here and hunt down a few candles."  He stood and started to leave.  "I'd better find out what's taking Kotaro so long."

With Jiro moving away, Mimiko suddenly felt vulnerable in the low light.  Her heart started to accelerate, though she wasn't entirely sure why.  Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a dark figure, eyes gleaming red at her in what had to be blood lust.  "Jiro!"

The vampire swung around at the panic in her voice, back by her side in an instant.  He knelt on one knee so he could be at eye level with her.  "What is it, Mimiko?  What's wrong?"  He could sense nothing but her sudden terror as the rain continued to pound down outside.

She grabbed his arm with one hand, not looking away from the darkened corner.  She could still see a hint of those eyes glaring at her.  "Don't leave me."

Without thinking, he put one hand over hers, feeling each knuckle through his gloved fingers.  Was it the storm that affected her so, he wondered.  He knew she didn't show fear for much of anything so why would something like this cause her such agitation?  Had she had another nightmare in the short time she'd been out?  "It's all right," he said after about half a minute.  "I won't."

They both lapsed into silence, listening to the storm while Mimiko's heart returned to its normal pace.  Her grip loosened but Jiro continued to hold her trembling hand.

"I'm sorry," she said, breaking the silence.

He looked up in surprise, coming out of his own reverie.  "For what, Mimiko?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, then returned his gaze.  "For tonight," she answered.

"It was nothing you could help," Jiro soothed.  "You have nothing to apologize for."

Mimiko sighed, putting her free hand over her eyes.  The candlelight flickered off her skin eerily.   "When I was a little girl," she said quietly, "I used to have terrible nightmares.  I would wake from sleep, screaming almost every night.  Jinnai would comfort me as best he could, but he could never make them go away.  I guess I eventually grew out of them as I got older, but I still remember having them."

Jiro pursed his lips in thought as he reached across to gently massage her shoulders.  Her muscles were so tense!  "What kind of nightmares," he prompted.

She moved her hand in surprise.  "Usually I was hiding under the covers when something came in my room, something dark with glowing eyes.  It would slowly approach me.  And just before it would reach me, I would wake screaming for my mother."

Jiro blinked.  It was a typical bad dream for someone young.  But he sensed that it held more than just the typical meaning behind it, though he wasn't entirely sure why.  "How old were you when Jinnai took you in," he asked before thinking.

"I think I was almost four," she replied, stretching a bit.  "Jinnai took me in right after my parents died, though he never told me how it happened.  I just know that my parents both worked for the Company.  My mother was one of the first compromisers.  I'm not sure what my father did."

The vampire paused in surprise.  "Is that why you became a compromiser?"  He was trying to remember the names of the first compromisers, the ones he'd known.

Mimiko's mouth twitched into a smile.  "Part of it.  It makes me feel closer to her somehow.  And Jinnai also encouraged it.  I guess I don't do too bad of a job either."

Jiro had to return the smile.  "No, not a bad job at all.  If you weren't good at what you do, I doubt Kotaro or I would be here now."  

The compromiser sat up.  "Speaking of Kotaro, hasn't he been gone for a while now?"

Jiro was about to comment when the door to the stairs was flung open and Kotaro ducked inside, closing the door behind him.  He clutched a flashlight in one hand.  With a rapid shake, he flung water across the room from his wet clothes like a dog after a bath.

"Kotaro!"  Jiro spoke sharply as several drops landed on him, causing his exposed skin to steam.

Kotaro stopped mid shake, his face filled with contrition.  "Oops!  Sorry, brother!"  He looked towards the couch, jumping in sudden excitement.  "Mimi!  You're awake!"  He ran over, braking just before he ran into both vampire and compromiser.  "It's a good thing brother was there to catch you when you passed out."

"Kotaro," Jiro repeated, tapping a warning finger.  "Weren't you supposed to bring something back with you?"

The younger vampire jumped, his hands nervously near his mouth, flashlight waving.  "Uh… about that, brother.  I looked.  Honest I did!  I even went outside to look, but I couldn't find any!"

Jiro rubbed at his forehead.  The steaming had stopped, the small blotches regenerated.  "What am I going to do with you," he asked rhetorically.

Kotaro felt his pockets.  "Oh yeah.  I found this taped to the outside door," he said and handed over a wet piece of paper.

Jiro took it gingerly, letting go of Mimiko's hand.  "Remember," he read.  He thought he caught the faint hint of blood from the ink.

She leaned forward to see.  "What does it say down at the bottom," she inquired, trying to make out the running letters.

Jiro turned the paper every which way to try and get some better light, but the letters remained illegible.  "I don't know," he finally admitted.  "The rain's washed it out."  He turned to his brother.  "When did you find this?"

Kotaro tried to think, pressing one finger to the corner of his lip as he looked upwards.  "Um… when I couldn't find any candles inside, I went out back to see if there might be any there and it was on the door when I came back in so maybe a few minutes ago?"

Mimiko watched Jiro's brows furrow.  "What does it mean?"

Their eyes met.  "I don't know," he responded.  "But I think this is something Rinsuke should see."  He stood to place it carefully on a flat surface where it could dry.  "We'll have to call him in the morning.  It's getting late."

Mimiko checked her watch.  "Midnight already?  Ugh!"  She put both hands over her face as she leaned back against the cushions.  "I feel like all I've done since yesterday is sleep!  And now it's time for bed again."

Kotaro yawned.  "I sure am sleepy though," he said as he stretched.  "I'm going to bed."  He headed to his room, flashlight bobbing.  "Night!"

"Good night, Kotaro," Mimiko called after him.

Jiro resumed his seat by the couch.  "You don't have to sleep if you don't want," he reminded her.  "If you'd rather talk or do something else, I'll keep you company."

She chuckled mirthlessly.  "The sad thing is that I really do feel tired.  But you'd think that with all the sleep I've had lately, I wouldn't be."

"Hmmm."  Jiro studied her.  It really wasn't a surprise to him, but she did have a point.  "It's not entirely unexpected," he finally responded.  "After all, you are injured.  Speaking of which, are you in pain?"

She peeked out from behind her hands.  "Nothing I can't handle," she said in more of her usual tone.

"Mimiko."  He looked at her with disapproval written across his face.

"I'm fine," she defended lightly.  "It's just a dull ache now.  You don't need to worry so much."

Part of him wanted to disagree but he decided against expressing that.  "Shall I carry you to your room," he offered.

She pretended shock.  "What?  And give up this perfectly good perch on the couch?" She chuckled to let him know she was joking.  "It could always be worse.  But you're right; I'd probably be more comfortable there.  At least it's not as easy to fall off my own bed."

Jiro chuckled with her as he gently lifted her into his arms, one leg dangling.  He moved so smoothly she almost didn't feel the transition.

"A girl could get used to this," she admitted.  "I may never want to walk again."

"What a sight that would make," Jiro mused.  "We don't need to make your coworkers any more jealous than they already are."

"Ha!"  She stared up at his face, the smooth but strong chin, his dark eyes and the dark hair that threatened to cover them.  "As if!  They'd all love the gossip, especially Hibari."