Work Text:
Somewhere in the American countryside, a young girl is seen standing near the tall grass fields, stretching her arms and legs to warm up.
After she finished stretching, she grabbed the scythe that is about the size of her petite height using both her hands, stepped her left foot forward, and turned the scythe 12 degrees to her right.
"I got this…" The girl mumbled and took a deep breath.
She let out a roar as she stepped her right foot forward and swung her scythe, and let the blade do the work as she made a clean cut at the first row of the grass, the girl took a little break before she readied her stance and continued to cut the remaining grass.
The smoothness of the cut, the precision, and the way she handled the tool while controlling its weight is all she needs to finish the job in the shortest amount of time possible.
Once she cut the last row of the grass, the girl loudly exhaled and felt her legs were about to give up.
Realizing this, she tried to dig the bottom end of her scythe into the ground. Unfortunately, the bottom end hit the small stone instead, causing her to lose balance…
"KYAAAAAA!"
And fell straight into a large muddy puddle.
"Ow…" The blonde gets up and wipes the mud off her eyes, she looks down and sighed "Just a mud, it should be fine, I can get out of here in no time." When the girl tried to get up, she slipped and fell into the puddle again.
The fall was so nasty that the feeling of hopelessness and desperation took her over as it felt like she was not going to get out anytime soon.
"Ma…ma…"
"Mama…Mama! MAMAAAAA!" With no other choice left, she cried and cried, she kept screaming and crying, hoping someone would hear the cries of the little girl…
"Kirikaaaa! Over here!"
The girl named Kirika looked up and she was now filled with hope as the woman who almost resembled her, found the poor girl fell into the muddy puddle.
"Oh my god! My baby girl, hold on! Mama's gonna save you!" The woman stretches out her hand "Grab my hand!"
Following her orders, Kirika grabbed the woman's hand and the woman immediately pulled the little girl out of the mud, saving her in the process.
The woman sighed in relief and hugged her daughter "It's okay, baby girl, Mama's here now." She gently patted Kirika's back to help her calm down for a bit "See? I told you to not go on your own!"
"Sorry" Kirika slowly stopped crying and calmed down for a moment "I just wanted to help you and Papa…"
"I appreciate it but you're still young, it's my responsibility as your mother to protect their child." Kirika's mom let go of her hug and smiled "Come on, let's go home, your Papa's going to make your favorite dish today."
Kirika stopped crying completely and hearing this made her excited "Really?"
"Yep, but first of all…" Kirika's mom pointed her finger at her "You're a mess, go take a bath before we eat."
"Yes ma'am!" Kirika saluted.
The woman chuckled, "Let's go, we shouldn't keep your Papa waiting."
With the situation resolved, the two blondes walked away.
—
Kirika is peacefully reading an encyclopedia in her own room, fascinated at what the world outside from her hometown looks like. She always wanted to explore the world but she needs to wait a couple years because according to her mother, she isn't ready to go on her own.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock from the door before it opened, revealing to be her mother, Kiriya Akatsuki.
When Kiriya entered the room, she noticed her daughter reading the encyclopedia "Sorry for interrupting you at this moment, there is something I wanted to tell you." She asked.
"Sure, what is it?" Kirika nodded her head and wondered what her mother was going to say next.
Kiriya gave her a smile "Can you check the drawers?"
Confused at first, Kirika did what she was told and opened the drawer, she checked and saw a small paper placed inside, which Kirika clearly hadn't placed before.
As soon as she picked the paper, her eyes and mouth widened and shake her head to see if it's actually what it was.
"W-Wait, is that what I think it is?"
"Surprise! We are going on a trip to Japan. I figured that your father and I show you what it feels like going on the other side of the world!"
Responding to the news, Kirika quickly gets up, rushing to her mother and hugging her very tightly "This is the best day ever, thank you Mama…" She is so happy that she lets out her tears of happiness.
"No problem my little reaper." Kiriya embraced her hug and teared up as well.
Both Akatsukis hugged for a little while until they stopped and Kiriya left the room to prepare for the trip. As for Kirika, she is now happy that her longtime wish came true…
—
It's been 2 days since the Akatsuki family arrived in Japan, Kiriya and her husband, Ritsu, managed to have a fun trip with their only daughter. There may be inconveniences along the way but they managed to make their day more memorable.
"Mama! Let's go this way!"
"Sweetie, hang on, you might get lost."
Kiriya chased after Kirika, it's because they're in a cruise ship in Japan and Kirika could easily get lost if she is left unsupervised. They kept running and running until the younger Akatsuki stopped her tracks when she reached the specific store that took her interest.
"Geez, can you please slow down, this is not your hometown y'know." Kiriya stopped running and looked where her daughter was looking. "So you wanted that hair clip from the accessory store, am I right?"
"Yes!" Kirika nodded "It looks cool, isn't it?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure, but if it's for my little reaper, I'm going to fulfill your request." Kiriya takes out a couple coins and bills from her pocket and asks the store for the said hairclip. The cashier takes the money and grabs the X-shaped hair clip from the glass shelf before giving it to Kiriya.
"Thank you very much." Kiriya takes it and goes back to Kirika "Here ya go, sweetie, let's see…" Kiriya adjusted her daughter's hair and fitted the hair clip into one of the side bangs, once she was done, she backed away and took a look at Kirika's appearance.
"Is it cool?" Asked Kirika, nervous as to what her mother would comment.
"Kirika, it is…it is…" Kiriya's eyes shined like a star as she squealed "So much better with the hair clip on! Just look at you!" She pulls out her pocket mirror from her pocket and showed it to the younger Akatsuki "It's very, very, VERY, cute!"
Kirika touched her hairclip and giggled "It really fits my style!" Without a warning, Kirika rushed to her mother and hugged her tightly "Thank you, Mama!"
"Oh..ugh…you're welcome." Kiriya said while struggling to catch her breath when Kirika's hug was too tight for the older woman to handle "Hey…your hug…"
Hearing her pleas, Kirika lets go of her hug and scratches the back of her head because she doesn't know what she did to her mother.
"Whoops, sorry."
"Just be careful with your hugs next time." Kiriya exhaled and looked at her watch. "Well, it's perfect timing, because we are heading out!" She immediately carried Kirika in piggyback style and started running back to the room where Ritsu said he would be waiting.
"Weeeeeee!" Kirika enjoyed the piggyback rides while the unfortunate soul that is Kiriya, has to endure the pain from her back because she forgot how heavy Kirika is.
Just as Kiriya is about to turn to another hall, an explosion sets off right in front of their path, and before she knew it, everything around her turned black.
3 minutes later
Kirika's POV
"Mama…MAMA!"
I don't know what's happening but…Mama wouldn't wake up! I tried my best to wake her up but to no avail, she won't wake up! …Why of all times, does this happen to us?!
The explosion…the screams of people…it hurts, it's too painful to remember, no one came to us, not even Papa…I'm sure that we will die before he can even find us.
When I heard a strange sound I couldn't describe in my own words, I looked up and to my shock and horror, what I saw is those monsters that Mama often told me to get away from them if I ever saw one:
Noise…
I wanted to run away at first, but I can't leave Mama behind! She was the best person I can rely on ever since my childhood! I can't just abandon someone who supported me throughout my childhood…
…I realized that…desperate times call for desperate measures, and I must make do this, even if it costs something I hold dear!
"I-I'm sorry…"
Standing up and turned my back on her and…I ran and ran, as fast as I can, holding back the tears and the guilt of what I just did…but I kept running, running, and running like a coward I am until I get myself to safety-
CRASH
I took another step and I felt nothing solid, then everything…just felt like I'm going on a skydive, except that the place I'm falling from…came from the ship itself, my eyes clearly see that I didn't watch another floor that could help me land safely, but instead, its a large hole that leads me to god knows where…
Mustering my strength to say my last words, I said…
"Mama, Papa, I'm sorry…"
I closed my eyes and embraced my impending doom…
3 hours later…
A group of mysterious armed men searched everything they could find inside the near-destroyed cruise ship. One group entered one of the rooms to do their job until one of the men saw something…
"Hey! There's a human stuck in the rubble, get your ass up there and help me get rid of it!" The group heard their fellow member's call, approached the said rubble and proceeded to get rid of it until they managed to remove enough rubble and drag the body out.
One of the men checked the pulse of the body by placing two of his fingers on the neck. "Unidentified body confirmed to be female, supposed to be younger, her head is bleeding, probably suffering from a heavy concussion." He stood up and crossed his arms "Despite the injuries she sustained, the girl is still breathing."
"Copy, you know the drill, give this girl medical attention, I will take care of everything afterwards." Another man, who seems to be the leader, takes out his phone and opens the contacts, he scrolls his way through until he finds one contact that has the name…
Dr. Ver.
—
Kiriya opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was white but it soon became clear that she was looking at a ceiling. She raised her hand, noticed an IV attached into her forehand, and blinked a couple times.
Then, all of a sudden, memories of what happened during their trip caused her heart to uncontrollably beat faster.
"Kirika!" She jolted from her bed with a horrified look on her face, the feeling of losing something spreaded her mind like wildfire "Nononono, please…" She hoped that her daughter managed to get out safely.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a door opening to her left, she turned her head and saw her husband and an older man wearing a white coat entering the room with a sad look on their faces.
After entering the room, the first thing Ritsu sees is his wife waking up, causing him to tear up and cover his mouth with his hand "Kiriya…" He mumbled and Kiriya wondered if there was something he had to say "I'm glad that you're alive…" He added.
"R-Ritsu, w-w-where am I? Am I dying? Where's Kirika? Is my daughter fine? Where is she…where is she?!" Kiriya wanted answers, no questions.
The doctor exhaled and looked at Kiriya "Ms. Akatsuki, a Noise attacked the cruise ship that your family boarded and your husband found you unconscious during the chaos. Consider yourself lucky that you never sustained life-threatening injuries." He explained.
"I DON'T FUCKING CARE ABOUT MYSELF, WHERE IS MY DAUGHTHER?!" Kiriya shouted at the old man.
The doctor looked away for a moment before facing her again "...I'm sorry Ms. Akatsuki, a rescue operation was sent to find the remaining survivors but they found…nothing. No one was found from the operation."
"...No, no…"
At this moment, Kiriya realized the truth and her heart sank, eyes widened in shock, she felt like the truth was choking the life out of her, all the emotions she kept to herself cannot contain any longer.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Kiriya screamed and began mourning for the death of her daughter while Ritsu could only watch his wife going in that state.
It was that one moment we will never forget, and this will scar us for the rest of our lives. I always wanted to give everything I got to make my little reaper happy, then everything went to waste…
Years later, in Japan…
Kiriya is walking on the streets while listening to her headphones, she still manages to pay attention to her surroundings even if her hearing is occupied with something else like music.
It's been years since that happened, it took me a while to recover but the nightmares of that incident still plagued me, the feeling of regret over not saving her still lingers till this day.
Then, one day…
At the corner of her eye, she saw something that is all too familiar for the woman, a blonde hair with an X-shaped clip. Kiriya took out her headphones and turned around to see if this wasn't just some mere hallucination manifesting from her trauma.
It's still here and Kiriya gasped…the only person who wore this is…
"Kirika?"
A mystery sets up, just for me… to either confront it, or run from it.