Through the forever shattered mirror (open)

[narret]

High noon, the hottest point of the day. Especially in a clear summer sky day in the bustling city of New Jersey. With it also being the weekend it seemed like the entire city had gone into a state of constant summer fun. It was like the everyone was partying to the beat of summer. Crowds of roaming teens and kids playing games and making noise, everyone was having a fun time in the sun of summer.

Well, almost everyone.

In the shadows of an alley, a small child`s head peaked out from behind a large garbage bin. The small child, upon closer observation a small girl could be no older then twelve years old. The small four foot frame of the girl was obscured by the clothes she wore, a very large long sleeve shirt and a pair of pants. Both articles of clothing would probably belong on a person three or four times her size. The girls long silver hair flashing in the light, and her very pale skin making it look like it was the child`s first time out in the sun.

The girl looked started, if not scared of all the people out on the street. Her amber eyes darting rapidly about at the people walking to and fro on the streets, like as if she was expecting someone to jump out and get her. With a shallow breath, the little child quickly hopped out from her place behind the bin and quickly darted out to the street. Her small body quickly slipped into the tide of people. The girls amber eyes more focused on the ground, trying to avoid the occasional stare from those around her. One of the people in the crowd, rather curious as to why a small child was about on her own, gave the girl a small tap on the shoulder to get her attention.

That had been a mistake.

The small girl let out a panicked, but hushed yelp. Like as if the man that had tapped her had punched her or worse. The mans eyes widened at the strange reaction as the silver haired child bolted. Darting past and through the legs of the people around her, and even running across a busy street and nearly causing an accident to get away. She ran non-stop, for a good ten minutes before she finally ducked into another alley. Running to the very back, away from all the eyes of the people did she finally stop. The child then collapsed against the wall of the alley, her back to the wall as she wrapped her arms around herself tight. Her panicked eyes looking about, making sure she had not been followed.

[faiz]

Takumi looked around the place as he had to admit that America was a lot better then what he originally thought it would be as he rode on Auto Javin feeling the wind rushing past him. He had met up with that strange man, Faust, as well as having a tour of the school which Takumi had to admit was very strange because he had never seen such a school before and the powers that the students possess were almost impossible. However that would be an understatement since Takumi had seen the impossible been done before, the destruction of Smart Brain proved that, as he smiled as people were having fun in general.

Takumi didn’t know whether it was a special occasion or it was because the sun was high up and it was really hot, Takumi had to take off his jacket when he reached New Jersey, this place was hotter then Tokyo. Perhaps that was the reason why people were out and about, they were probably going to go to the swimming pool or something like that, Takumi wished that he could go to the swimming pool as that would be really good right about now but unfortunately Takumi didn’t have much in terms of money and he needed to save what he had now for food later.

He would need to get a job somewhere around here, that wouldn’t be too hard, he was used to taking jobs in towns until he had enough to by with; it wouldn’t be the first time nor the last. Although the longest stint he had was with Mari and that had brought a lot of danger and perhaps peace to his life as he now knew that he was not alone and that he didn’t always need to run from whatever plagued him before he had met Mari.

As he rode down the street he then saw a girl, normally he would have just ignored it and went on thinking that it was just a simple girl, however he noticed that the girl was scared. Very scared. Like she was running away from something, Takumi stopped as he considered his options, he could simply ignore the girl and keep on going but then what if the girl was being chased by evil people? Although he had never directly intervene in such affairs he knew he couldn’t let this one go, he had changed too much for that to happen, his dream was to make everyone happy and why not start now with the girl? Sighing he rode back to where the girl was and parked Auto Javin before slowly approaching the girl so as to not scare her before he stood some ways away from her and crouched down, ”Hey, are you okay?” he asked as softly as possible.

[narret]

After checking about for a few more minutes, the small child pulled her knees up to her chest, holding herself into a little ball. It was like she was trying to shield herself from the world, to block out all that would do her harm.

And then a soft voice called out to her.

The girls head snapped to the source so fast, one might wonder if her neck would snap. Large, fear-filled amber eyes locked on too the strange man that had spoken out. She didn't speak, she didn't move, she was just barely breathing. Like a deer caught in the headlights, she simply stared at the man. It wasn't for a few minutes before even the tiniest of sounds came from the girl. And what she said would probably break the heart of most mothers of the world.

"A-a-are y-y-you g-g-gonna hurt me m-m-mister?" She spoke with a voice just a few decibels above a whisper, her tone more accepting then curiosity. It was like the small child was expecting someone to just come out and hurt her. "I j-j-j-just don't w-w-want to g-g-go back..... D-d-d-do w-w-whatever y-y-y-you want...... J-j-j-just d-d-don't take m-m-me b-back"

She had come to a sad generalization; if the man that had spoken to her was one of the people that wanted to hurt her, she had no escape. It was better to just accept it and hope that he did not return her to the place where she had spent her life.

[faiz]

Takumi looked at the girl and knew that this girl had gone through a lot of hardships, the clothes that she was wearing first of all were too big for her meaning that she stole them from somewhere, he sighed as he wondered about his own life. He had seen some people in the rural part of Japan having to resort to stealing, although it should never happen and most of the time it did not happen it still does, it was the sad part of the world and Takumi instantly felt sad for the girl. He wondered where she had originally come from and whether or not she was unhappy at where she had been kept, perhaps the girl was an orphan.

What she said next did melt Takumi’s heart, he had seen many sad things in his life, heard the cry of the poor and the suffering but never before had he heard an innocent girl talk the way the girl did. He sighed more as he went towards the girl and patted her head with a small smile, ”Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you…whoever is hurting you, I won’t let them touch you” Takumi said as he wondered if he should take the girl with him. Feeding two mouths was a lot of work since Takumi didn’t have a lot of money so he’ll need to work but if he was right then the girl probably wouldn’t even want to let go of Takumi. Of course this depends if the girl even wanted to come with Takumi, she was shy of strangers and extremely scared so she might run off now and he would never see her again, a sad tale but it happened sometimes.

[narret]

At first, the girl looked at the man confused. her silver covered head tilting to the side. "Y-y-you're not g-g-gonna hurt m-me?" She couldn't comprehend it, for the first time for as long as she could remember someone wasn't out to get her. Her amber eyes softened a bit as her body relaxed, no longer tense and awaiting pain. "I....." The girl started, trying to think of something, anything to tell the man.

"T-t-t-the b-b-bad people......." she managed to mutter out. "T-t-there's a lot of them....... I d-d-d-don't t-t-t-think y-y-you c-could stop t-t-them......." She managed to finally squeak out with her hushed voice. Her memories of the ones who harmed her clawing away at her mind. A glint of steel, a flash of red, and those grins. Those sick and twisted grins that those people looked down at her.

She shook her head violently, banishing the memories from her mind. Although she figured the man that had offered to help her would be curious as to why she shook her head so. "S-s-sorry..... S-s-s-sometimes pictures s-s-s-show up in m-m-my head...... O-o-of the b-b-b-bad people....." The girl slowly stood up, the pant cuffs shifting from the move, revealing the child didn't even have shoes. "I d-d-d-don't like t-t-t-thinking about t-t-t-them....." she muttered out, her arms still wrapped around herself. Like a small barrier to try to keep the pain away.

[faiz]

Takumi looked at the girl with extreme sadness, ”No I’m not going to let them hurt you” Takumi said as he wondered who would want to hurt a girl like her? Perhaps she possessed some sort of power that was sought for, it wouldn’t be the first time, Smart Brain experimented on tons of people trying to find the perfect Orphenoch not to mention the genocide that they were planning to do. It sickened Takumi that there were people out there that would be willing to destroy every shred of morals and humanity in them in order to do something or to gain something…people like them should be destroyed and never be let out in the world ever again.

The girl then said that there were a lot of bad people that wanted to hurt her and that he couldn’t possibly stop them all. That depends on what kind of bad guys they were, if they were human then he’ll just blow them away with the Faiz suit, if they were something like the Orphenoch then it would be a difficult road but Faiz would still destroy them regardless of what kind of abilities they possessed as he smiled, ”Don’t worry, I’m a super hero. I can destroy anything that tries to hurt you” he said, it might sound cliché but it was the truth and he patted the girl’s head again as the girl then shook her head violently.

The girl then explained that she had visions sometimes, were they visions of the future? Takumi had heard of such things but they were mostly fake, he didn’t believe that the future was set in stone and that anyone could change it if they tried hard enough. Or perhaps the girl thought about the bad men and that they were visions of the past, in that case then Takumi couldn’t do much but he would try to help her, ”It’s okay, I won’t let anyone come near you. I’m Takumi Inui, what’s your name?” he asked.

[narret]

The man seemed to embody something the child had never experienced before. One of the many things she had been denied almost her entire existence, kindness. She had no idea how to react to the way she was being treated by the man known as Takumi Inu, her whole life filled with shadows and horrors. It took nearly a full minute before her brain could finally grasp that not everything was out to get her, and that there were some people that could be like the man before her.

"Um..... I t-t-think I h-h-have a n-n-name....." She said, her mind seeking the info that had been barely used in her so far short life. "T-t-t-the b-b-bad people..... T-t-they c-c-called me a l-lot of t-t-things, t-t-they didn't use m-m-my name m-m-m-much....." Her small brow furrowed slightly, until a small smile formed on her face as the memory returned to her. "Narret...... M-m-m-my name's n-n-n-narret" The pale child said, a little proud that she was able to tell the nice man her name.

"Um...... M-m-m-mr Inu....." Narret stuttered out quietly. "W-w-why are y-y-you being s-s-so nice t-t-to me?" The child asked with genuine curiosity.

[faiz]

Kindness…it was one of the most endearing trait of humanity. Without kindness it was not possible for many things to be possible, without kindness the world would be a much worse place, without kindness the world would fall into chaos and everyone would hate each other. Kindness was an important trait for a human to have and one that embodies it was the ultimate hero, Takumi didn’t have a lot of kindness at first but over time he was able to learn about kindness and he decided that people deserve kindness and that kindness was a powerful thing to possess. Therefore that was why Takumi tried to be kind to other people as he was to Narret at the moment.

But what kind of name is Narret? Takumi didn’t know what kind of name that was and it sounded more like a nickname then an actual name, but it wasn’t his place to question that as he smiled, ”That’s a nice name, I like that” he said. Takumi then heard her question and wonder if this girl never heard of kindness before or perhaps no one had ever shown her kindness as he smiled, ”Because other people show each other kindness, everyone does that, only bad people don’t show kindness and I’ll protect you from them.”

[narret]

The small smile that was on the pale child's face slowly grew with the words that Takumi spoke. Even though to most, it was just about a full smile on Narret's face, it was clear she had never smiled this much before. However, just as she was about to speak something crossed the child's mind. And whatever that thought had been, it was clearly a dark one. As the thought had struck the smile right from her face, going back to the mildly fearful face that seemed to be the norm for the little girl. "Um..... T-t-t-t-there's m-m-more t-then the b-b-bad people after m-m-m-me......" The stuttered out quietly. "T-t-t-there's a m-m-monster t-t-t-to......." she spoke out, not expecting Takumi to believe her about the monsters that followed her.

Unknowingly made by her.

Narret looked off to the side, clearly nervous about the aspects of the monster that followed her. "I d-d-d-don't know w-w-w-why t-t-the monster f-f-f-follows me...... C-c-c-chasing me....... B-b-b-but it a-a-always f-finds me..... A-a-and it n-n-never l-looks the s-s-same....." The little girl shuddered suddenly, as if a cold wind passed down her spine. "B-b-b-but I know i-it's the s-s-same monster..... T-t-t-the eyes...... And t-t-t-the s-s-sound......." The girl wrapped her arms around herself again, going back to the fragile shell that she was.

[faiz]

Takumi saw the small smile and wondered if the girl had ever smiled before in her life, it looked like she never smiled and to her this would be smiling, it saddened Takumi to see this because he wondered just what kind of hardship the girl has gone through. It was clear that she must have escaped from someplace horrible or perhaps even from a research facility, it wouldn’t be the first time that something like that has happened as he smiled at Narret. Then she said that there was a monster after her as he tilted his head, a monster? Although he did believe in monsters as he had fought a lot of them in the past he had to think if she meant a literal monster? She was still a child and therefore it could be her imagination of someone that she thinks is a monster but in actual fact is actually still human. Still whatever it is Takumi would defeat it and if it was a monster it was simply another hurdle.

Takumi listened to Narret’s description of the monster which to him sounded like Orphenochs as they could switch identities, perhaps from human to monster, and their voice…they can’t really change their voice much but perhaps it was just Narret imagining it. Takumi then went and slowly hugged the girl, ”It’s okay, don’t worry, I’ll protect you from the monster. I’m a super hero” Takumi said with a nod.

[glenn]

Not too far from the position of Narret and Takumi, several gruff voices -harsh and demanding- barked out. Amongst them was the voice of a women, calm and steady; lacking any signs of nervousness or even fear. "Hey there lady, care to donate to a charitable cause." The head of the group spoke up, his scarred visage peeling back into a nasty lecherous smile, the knife in his hand large and imposing; a butchers knife to be sure.

But Kaitlyn did not show unease or fear at the blade, merely she cocked an eyebrow and made her reply short and sweet. "Oh, what is this charitable cause then?" Her normally ice blue eyes seemed to crackle with a faint spark of electricity, her body lax and loose, anticipating the strike that was to come. Her thumbs hooked through the belt loops of her hip hugging jeans, she seemed to examine them for a few tense seconds as he finally spoke up, in true thuggish fashion. "Why, the us charity of course."

He was being jovial and cheerful, but Kaitlyn wanted to see just how fast he'd go from cheery to enraged. She turned her back on them and began to leave. Which, true to her thought process, certainly did elicit the exact response she had in mind; hostility. She felt the man grab her by the arm, knife brushing against her cheek soft and slow. "I forgot to mention ma'am, but, you see, the donations are mandatory. Now fork over the cash if you will," Kaitlyn's response was as simple, as simple could be. As she unhooked her thumbs from the loops of her jeans she whispered into the man's ear. "Do you think it wise to bring metallic objects near active power lines?"

Confusion and bewilderment shot across his face as Kaitlyn grabbed hold of the blade of his butchers knife. At first it wasn't obvious as the mans face contorted into a thing of agony, his body shaking as he managed to grunt out his pain through gritted teeth, gums bleeding before she finally let go. His body falling to the ground, twitching and convulsing as she casually picked up the knife and weighed it in her hand.

"Heavy and unbalanced, but I suppose it will serve it's purpose well enough." A more notable spark of electricity traveled across her hand, inching it's way down and across the blade before leaping off the tip of the knife.

(Now to let you all have some fun since Deus needs MOAR PEOPLE!)