>From The Ashes

Chapter 4: Mysteries

	The wind rustled the trees uneasily.  They sensed that something was
coming.  Something that called out to them in a manner that had touched
them months before, but this time it was different.  Last time they had
felt something like this, it had been powerful, making demands of them to
hurt the animals that moved around them.  Now it was hesitant, as if the
caller spoke unknowingly.    Something new had been prowling and the trees
had not liked it.  It was wrong; not natural.  It did not belong among the
trees.  The one who was coming.  Yes, he could put things right.  He could
drive off the invader.  The trees' limbs shivered in a way that had nothing
to do with the dying wind.  It was almost a sense of anticipation.
	A car pulled into the neighborhood and stopped at the end of the street.
Three people climbed out of the car and looked around.  Mamoru Kusanagi
looked down at the printout in his hand and back to the numbers on the
walls.  He walked down the street until he came to one that matched.  He
stood there, staring at the house that rose behind the walls and began
trembling.  A girl with long brown hair moved up beside him and took his
hand into hers and squeezed.
	"What's wrong, Mamoru?" Momiji asked, looking up at his face concernedly.  
	"I'm scared, Momiji," Kusanagi admitted in a small voice. "I'm about to
meet a sister I never knew I had.  I'm scared that she's not going to want
a monster like me as her brother.  I'm not fully human anymore.  What if
she's afraid of me?"
	"Mamoru," Momiji said evenly, causing him to look down at her face.  "I'll
always accept you. You know that.  If she doesn't want to acknowledge you
as her brother, then she's not worthy of being your sister.  You've risked
your life countless times for my sake.  Does that sound like something a
monster would do?  You're the man I love, not a monster.  You may not be
fully human anymore, but that doesn't matter.  You just have to give her a
chance to get to know you like we do."
	"She's right, Kusanagi," Ryoko Takeuchi said as she approached the couple.
 "You're a very good man and none of us would be alive if you hadn't become
what you are.  You're a national hero, even if we haven't advertised the
fact like we did with Momiji, and you deserve respect.  All of us at the
TAC are your friends and we'll be there for you if you need us."
	"Thank you, you two," Kusanagi said, a smile smile spreading across his
face.  He sighed and turned towards the gate.  "I guess there's no reason
to delay this any longer."  He pushed open the gate and led them up to the
house, where he knocked loudly on the door.
	There was a long moment of silence as the sound of the knock reverberated
in the house.  Kusanagi's enhanced senses let him hear footsteps
approaching the door.  The door swung open revealing an older woman, maybe
in her mid-fifties, in a faded house dress.  She blinked at the sight of
these three unfamiliar people on the doorstep, before asking, "May I help
you?"
	Kusanagi opened his mouth a couple of times, trying to say something, but
no sound emerged.  Momiji looked up at him, rolled her eyes and said,
"We're looking for a Miss Keiko Kusanagi.  Is she at home?"
	The woman looked at them strangely for a moment before bursting into
tears.  "Keiko disappeared two weeks ago," she wailed.  "We've been
searching for her all this time.  Her husband, my son, has been out looking
for her as much as he can, given the curfew.  We're so worried."  She
seemed unable to speak further as her sobbing overwhelmed her.  Momiji and
Kusanagi looked at each other in shock.  <What's going on here?> they both
thought.
		*			*			*			*
	Koume Sawaguchi jumped into the helicopter, strapped herself into the seat
belt and took the control stick in her hands as she glared at her pilot in
a way that told him to let her fly and not to say anything.  He gulped and
drew his hands back from his controls, carefully putting his hands onto his
lap.  Sawaguchi pulled back on the stick, lifting the helicopter into the
air.  Her hand was shaking on the stick and the pilot's eyes grew wide as
he noticed her shaking.
	"Umm, Captain.  Maybe I should fly us back," the nervous pilot ventured.
<I just want to get back in one piece.  Please kami-sama, is that too much
to ask?> the pilot prayed silently.
	"Are you implying that I am not capable of flying, private?" Sawaguchi
asked archly.
	"Ah...No...not all, ma'am.  I was just....He, what's that?" the pilot
cried out as a black blur flashed in front of the helicopter.  Suddenly,
the helicopter lurched and began spiraling out of control towards the
ground.  Everything went black.
		*			*			*			*
	"Yaegashi, can I speak with you for a moment?" Kunikida asked as he stood
in the doorway of Yaegashi's office.
	"Yes, sir?" Yaegashi replied looking away from the computer.
	"We've been asked to investigate some unusual sightings in the Ginza
district.  I want you to come along on this.  You've been spending far too
much time in the office lately, and I think that going out on this
investigation will be good for you.  By the way, do you know where Momiji
and Ryoko went?  I can't find them anywhere," Kunikida said.
	"I think they went with Kusanagi,"Yaegashi replied as he rubbed his eyes.
	"Where did they go?" Kunikida asked.
	"Well, it seems that Kusanagi has a long lost sister.  I managed to dig
her name out of the public database and I think they went out there to meet
her.  Kusanagi and Momiji have finally worked out their relationship
problems, it seems," Yaegashi said.  <At least they have a relationship
left to salvage,> he thought sadly.
	"Well, I see," Kunikida answered, an amazed look on his face.  <I didn't
even think that Kusanagi had any living relatives.  I would have thought
that Orochi would have killed his family when he made Kusanagi into the
protector of the Kushinadas,> Kunikida thought.  <And now he and Momiji
have managed to work out their problems.  Strange, I'd have thought I'd be
happier about that, but I just feel kind of sad.  Maybe I think of Momiji
as my daughter now, because I feel a little jealous of the affection she
holds for him.>  He shook himself to break out of his reverie.  "I'll
contact them later then.  For now, the two of us will go out to the sites
where the sighting have taken place.  Gather your equipment and meet me out
at the van."
	"Yes, sir," Yaegashi replied, levering himself out of his chair.  <Maybe
this will take my mind off Koume for a little while,> he thought.
		*			*			*			*
	Momiji and Kusanagi sat at the table sipping tea while Ryoko talked to the
woman they had met.  Apparently, Kusanagi's sister had been married for
five years to one Yosuke Tanaka.  His mother, Ayako Tanaka, had been living
with them for the last two years.  Their house had survived the Aragami
assault on Tokyo, but most of the neighbors hadn't returned to the area yet.  
	Now that she had calmed down from her hysterical fit of weeping, Mrs.
Tanaka took an interest in her guests.  "I'm sorry about my outburst," she
said.  "I've been under a lot of stress for the last few weeks.  Keiko's
disappearance has been hard on us.  We managed to stay together throughout
that whole mess with the monsters attacking the city and then she just
vanished.  There was no trace of her and there was no reason for her to
disappear like that."  She stopped for a moment, trying to keep from
becoming hysterical again.  She turned to Kusanagi and Momiji and asked,
"And what is your business with Keiko?  I don't believe that I've ever seen
either of you before, although you do look somewhat familiar."
	Momiji looked at Kusanagi and took a deep breath.  "Well," she said, "my
name in Momiji Fujimiya.  You probably heard about me in the news recently.
 I was working with the TAC to destroy the Aragami."
	"My heavens, you're the Princess Kushinada.  The one that was responsible
for destroying those monsters," Mrs. Tanaka exclaimed, putting her hand
over her mouth.
	"Well, yes I am," Momiji said, blushing at Mrs. Tanaka's reaction.  "But I
wasn't the only one involved in stopping them.  All the members of the TAC
worked to destroy the Aragami.  And so did Mamoru."  She nudged Kusanagi,
indicating he should introduce himself.
	"Um...My name is Mamoru Kusanagi.  I was one of the people that kept
Momiji alive long enough for her to destroy the Aragami.  The reason I
could do so was because I was taken from my home as a baby and altered by
the Aragami.  All my life I lived without a family, but recently I found
out that my family was still alive.  You see...Keiko's my older sister,"
Kusanagi said, sweating nervously as he bared his soul to Mrs. Tanaka.  
	This was the point when, already stressed by the disappearance of her
daughter-in-law, the whole situation overwhelmed Mrs. Tanaka.  She fainted.
	"Well, that went well," Ryoko said somewhat sarcastically.

End of Ch. 4

Next Time:
Koume's fate?
What do Kunikida and Yaegashi find?
How will Mrs. Tanaka react?  How will her son react?

Author's Notes:
Well, this was the result of an intense spurt of energy and creativity.  I
wasn't planning on having this part out for at least a week or so, but oh
well.  And in case you ask, yes I'm being deliberately vague on some
things.  They'll be cleared up in later chapters.  
 
C&C Welcome

Tim Walsh   email: Walshtt@muohio.edu