Blue Seed: From the Ashes
by Tim Walsh
Chapter 1: The ties that bind

note: mitama- the blue seed-like objects that contain the soul and
          power of an individual Aragami. Kusanagi has eight
          of these, one of which was formerly Momiji's.

     It was raining gently as a man walked through a park in Tokyo. 
He looked around him, the darkness masking the state of the
buildings of the surrounding city.  Tokyo had suffered an
enormous amount of damage when the Aragami had tried to destroy
all the people in Japan.  They had been stopped, but the city had
suffered; thousands had died.
     Mamoru Kusanagi stopped and stared up at the stars.  The
Aragami had been stopped because of one person.  <Momiji,> he
thought.  <It was odd thinking that Momiji carried so much
power in her blood, since she was so sweet and downright perky all
of the time.>  A wistful smile cracked across Kusanagi's face as he
though about the girl he had sworn to protect.  His life had changed
drastically since she came into it and he wasn't sure what to do.  He
had loved Momiji's sister Kaede all his life, but she had turned
against everything he believed in and had helped the Aragami in
their bid to try and destroy humanity.  <'For the good of the planet,'
she said,> he thought bitterly. <Those monsters just wanted to take
control of everything again.>  When Kaede had disappeared, the
mitama had lead him to the other Princess Kushinada, Momiji.
     Kusanagi's smile widened as he thought about the times he had
shared with Momiji.  All of the fights that he had to save her in and,
most of all, how he had felt when she told him that she loved him. 
Since he had lost Kaede, Kusanagi had closed off his heart.  He had
never wanted to feel that kind of pain again, but somehow, this
perky little girl had cracked open his shell and made a place for
herself in the confines of his heart. 
     Kusanagi's smile faded as he thought.  <How could someone like
Momiji love him,> he thought darkly.  <After all, he wasn't human. 
Not any more.  Not since he had been a small child and Orochi had
given him seven of his mitama.  He had become something else that
day, when he had been charged with the protection of the
Kushinadas.  Something that wasn't human.  How could a freak like
him ever know love.  No>, he thought.  <It's better that I stay away
from Momiji.  She doesn't need a freak like me ruining her life...>
     Kusanagi stood there, staring at the stars a few moments longer
before sighing deeply and turning to leave the park. 
               *              *              *
     Momiji rubbed her eyes sleepily as she stared at the sunlight
pouring in through the window.  It had been almost six months since
she had released the power locked in her blood and destroyed the
Aragami.  Unfortunately, she had not been able to prevent
thousands of deaths, but Mr. Kunikida and his new wife Ryoko had
managed to make her realize that she had done everything she could
and that she wasn't to blame for their deaths, the Aragami were.
     Momiji stretched to get the kinks out of her back.  She was still
living at Mr. Kunikida's house, since her mother and grandmother
had been victims of the Aragami in the final fight.  Momiji had been
devastated when Mr. Kunikida had broken the news about her
family's death, but she had come to accept it like she had the deaths
of all the other Aragami's victims.  The only thing that was still
bothering her was Kusanagi's absence.
     Kusanagi had been missing for the last two weeks and Momiji
was worried.  He had barely left her side when she had been racked
with misplaced guilt.  She had cried herself to sleep on his chest so
many times.  When she had finally come to terms with herself, she
had told Kusanagi that she had loved him.  And then he had
disappeared.  
     Momiji was afraid.  <Did something happen to him,> she asked
herself, <or does he just not love me?  Maybe that's it,> she told
herself.  <After all, I'm only a silly schoolgirl.  I'm too immature for
him, and then there's Kaede,> she thought glumly.  Kaede, her older
sister who had betrayed humanity for the Aragami.  Kaede, who
had been the woman Kusanagi had loved all his life.  She sighed as
she climbed out of bed.  There was nothing she could do about it
until she found Kusanagi again.  She hoped desperately that he
would come back.  If he didn't, she wasn't sure what she would do. 
She couldn't imagine what her life would be like without him
anymore.
     Momiji got dressed and made her way down to the kitchen,
where Ryoko had breakfast ready for her and Mr. Kunikida.  It still
felt weird having Ryoko around the house.  Momiji had been
surprised when she had found out that Ryoko had been in love with
Mr. Kunikida, and even more surprised when they had gotten
married shortly after the end of the Aragami threat.  If only
Kusanagi felt the way she did, Momiji thought, her eyes misting
over slightly as she ate her breakfast.
     "Momiji, are you ready to go?" Mr. Kunikida said, tapping her
on the shoulder.
     "Hai!" Momiji said, jumping a little in surprise.  She hadn't
realized that it was time to go already.  She got up from the table
and gathered her things together before running outside to join
Ryoko and Mr. Kunikida in the car for the ride into the city.
     The government was spending itself dry trying to repair the
damage down to the country by the Aragami.  Enormous sums of
money had flooded into the country from the UN and other
international relief funds for reconstuction.  This had caused
contractors from around the world had flocked to Japan to bid on
the lucrative reconstruction contracts.  The TAC had been
dissolved, but Mr. Kunikida had been given a new agency to run to
ensure that nothing like the Aragami invasion occurred again. 
Ryoko, Momiji and Yaegashi still worked with Mr. Kunikida. 
Koume had gone back to the army and had risen several grades in
rank (many officers of command rank having been canned for
incompetence during the Aragami Incident) and Matsudiera had
been needed more working with the medical relief agency that the
government had established.
     The drive into Tokyo wasn't a pleasant one.  Momiji felt odd
watching the crews clearing the streets.  There were still a lot of
bodies in the rubble and the giant mitama pods had to be chopped
down and removed.  She could also see the surveying and
demolition teams, busy deciding which buildings were stable enough
to just repair and which building had to be torn down and cleared.
     Perhaps it was a concession by the government, or just a
lingering doubt of the people about the validity of the claims by the
Arigami that humans were destroying Japan, but more areas
were being set aside for parks and the shrines and temples had more
land given to their care.  Momiji sighed as she thought about the day
ahead of her.  It would be just like the last two weeks.  She would
be working with Yaegashi to set up a computer database that would
monitor every law agency in the country, looking for odd
occurences that could be supernatural in origin for them to
investigate.  She wondered if she would ever be just a schoolgirl
again.  Just a year ago, she had been a perfectly normal junior high
student with nothing bigger on her mind than school and getting a
boyfriend.  She had been responsible for the fate of Japan, and was
now a part of ensuring its continuing safety.  It would be a lot more
bearable if only she had Kusanagi with her.  He had always been so
strong before when he had rescued her.  It was almost enough to
make her long for the days of the constant Aragami attacks.  At least
then, Kusanagi had been there for her.
               *              *              *
     Mamoru Kusanagi sighed as he dug through the rubble in front
of him.  He stood on a street  full of shattered buildings, digging into
the front of an old house.  He barely remembered this place.  This
was where he had been born.  This was where he had lived for the
short time before Orochi stole his life and his humanity.  Since then,
he'd been a slave of his mitamas and his duty (and later desire) to
protect the Kushinadas.  
     As Kusanagi cleared the rubble, he wondered what it might have
been like to have grown up with a family, rather than watching over
Kaede from a distance.  Kusanagi had been watching over
Kaede and Momiji for as long as he could remember and had
known nothing else.  He lifted chunk after chunk of concrete out of
the fallen house, hoping that maybe some evidence remained
of his parents, his family.  <That phone book listed their address as
here,> he thought.  <Maybe there's something here still.  At least I
can find out if they died in the house or if they might still be
alive.>
     Kusanagi cleared the rubble for hours, turning up clothes and the
occasional piece of furniture, but (thankfully!) no bodies.  As the
sun started to fall towards the horizon, he uncovered an old, rusted
lockbox.  He pulled it free, setting it clear of the rubble.  Carefully,
so as not to disturb the contents, he pried the top off.  Inside were a
bundle of papers and a small book.  Looking through the papers, he
found receipts and tax forms dating back years, with the family
name Kusanagi on them.  He smiled slightly, realizing that he had
found something of his family after all these years.  He looked at the
book, curious, noting its plain black cover.  He flipped it
open and read the first page, his eyes growing wide.

          August 18
          I found out I was pregnant today.  Kentaro was so excited.
          He's been wanting a child since we got married, but he never
          put any pressure on me.  I'm glad it finally happened too.  I
          have wanted a child for the past year.  Ever since Reiko had
          her baby.
          December 12
          We've been talking about names.  Mamoru if it's a boy,          
          Keiko if it's a girl.
          March 3
          I feel like a balloon.  I'm due next month.  Kentaro asked if I
          wanted to get a sonogram to find out the sex.  I told him no. 
          I want to find out when my baby's born.
          April 19
          I delivered two days ago.  I'm so happy.  I'm exhausted, but
          all the pain and effort was worth it.  Oh, I love my little
   
          Keiko.

     Kusanagi stared in shock as he read his mother's journal.  I have
a sister, he thought to himself, stunned at this unexpected revelation.

To be continued...

Next time: An unexpected reunion with a little help from some old
friends