Kidan (part 3 of 6)
Back to Part 2Some time passed from that memorable August nineteenth. August faded
through September and October and slipped into November. During those
months, Hikari and Shinji spent as much time together as they felt was
comfortable. It was not a matter of spending as much time together as
was possible because things never ended well when too much time together
was forced upon each other.
Rather, they spoke over the phone if they wanted to plan what Hikari
blushingly referred to as a date. It turned to a pleasant habit for the
two to have a date on the Saturdays Hikari had off from school. These
meetings were typical of most young people's dates: excursions to the
park near the Odaiba Mansion apartments, trips to the Tokyo Tower, and
on one clear, cool night they had gone to a pleasant little restaurant
for dinner.
Occasionally, Shinji would be waiting at the entrance to the Odaiba
Mansion on school day mornings and would happily give Hikari a ride to
her school. Just as Shinji surprised her sometimes, Hikari would
surprise Shinji from time to time. She would visit the small shop
Shinji had leased to be a bookstore after school and talk with her. On
one day in November, Hikari had received a shock.
"Shinji, I was wondering: when's your birthday?" she asked. Shinji, who
was standing on a stepladder to shelve a few books, paused and turned to
look at Hikari. She tapped her chin with one of the books in her hands,
turning her blue eyes towards the ceiling.
"The eighteenth, I think," Shinji murmured.
"You think?" Hikari inquired. "How can you not know your birthday?"
"I stopped thinking about it when I turned twelve," Shinji answered,
reaching up and sliding a book into place. "That was the last number my
father cared about when I was younger. That was when he stopped
teaching me Shazaki ninjutsu-ryu. After that...well, that doesn't
matter. After that I stopped keeping track because I didn't really care
about celebrating something."
For a while, there was an uncomfortable silence. Hikari kept quiet-she
didn't want to upset Shinji about something that she already hated so
much. The one thing that Hikari knew never to ask Shinji about was her
family. She rarely mentioned them and when she did, she always stopped
smiling and didn't look Hikari in the eye. After the silence, however,
Hikari let out a sharp gasp. Shinji jumped in shock at the sound,
slipped on the step, and fell to the floor onto her back.
"If your birthday is the eighteenth, then it's only two days away!"
Hikari gasped. "It's the sixteenth today! What do you want to do?"
Shinji blinked at her, still lying on the floor in confusion.
"What do I want to do?" she repeated in utter bewilderment.
"For your birthday on Friday," Hikari explained patiently. "What do you
want to do for your birthday?"
"I don't know," Shinji replied. "It's not like I've ever celebrated my
birthday."
"You never had a birthday party?"
"Why? My father thought that my birthday was reason enough to keep me
home from school and train me until six twenty in the morning. I had to
go to school at six thirty."
"Then all the more reason to celebrate it properly now." By that time,
Shinji had stood up and walked to stand near Hikari. At Hikari's last
words, she reached out and laid her long fingers against the
seventeen-year-old girl's cheek. She had started to smile faintly
again.
"I suppose I know what I want to do," she murmured. "I'd like a nice
day off with you. I'd like to go to the Digital World and get away from
all the noise here in Tokyo. But most of all, I just want to spend a
nice, peaceful, and quiet day with you." She sighed with a sad smile.
"You have school. I'll be content with taking the day off." By then,
the clock ticked off to six forty-nine and Hikari bade Shinji goodnight.
----------
Hikari sat for a long time at the desk in her room after she had
finished what homework she had. She sat thinking, lighting tapping one
finger as she mulled things over. A few minutes before nine o'clock,
Tailmon strolled in and jumped into Hikari's lap.
"What're you thinking about?" the cat asked. "You look all serious."
Hikari hummed slightly, neither questioning Tailmon nor answering her.
Moments later, she blinked as an idea occurred.
"Tailmon, can you do me a favor?" she questioned. "I need you to go to
the Digital World and find Vandemon-"
"We already know that Mr. Pointy-Face isn't going to come to the Real
World," Tailmon snapped. "I'm not going to try and convince him!"
"Let me finish!" Hikari protested. "It's Shinji's birthday on Friday
and I want to take her to the Digital World for the day. She said she
wanted to spend the day with me in the Digital World for her birthday,
but she doesn't expect anything because I have school. I want you to
find Vandemon and ask him-nicely, Tailmon-to make sure that no digimon
bother us when we're there. She wants a day away from all the noise and
craziness in Tokyo."
"You're going to skip school and run around in the Digital World
completely alone with your girlfriend for the whole day?" Tailmon purred
with a smirk. Hikari blushed and looked up at the ceiling.
"Well, I'm just going to go with her to celebrate her birthday," she
muttered. "She said she wanted me to come, so I should." Tailmon gave
her another smirk. Hikari blushed further. "Stop twisting my words
like that! It's not like that at all!"
"Sure it's not," Tailmon teased relentlessly. "I'll go tomorrow
morning. Don't worry. We'll make sure everything's all right in the
Digital World for you." She smiled at the human and Hikari returned it
with a smile of her own.
----------
It was eight in the morning when someone knocked at the door. Shinji
looked up from her book at the door to the room as if someone was there.
For a moment, a flicker of a face lingered in her memory. In her mind
she recalled an instance where her mother had stood in the doorway,
alerting her daughter that she needed to leave for school.
Someone knocked more insistently this time. Shinji jumped and marked
her place before walking out of the room, down the stairs, and opening
the door. Hikari stood there with a bright smile on her face. Shinji
stared at her for a moment before her presence registered in her mind.
"Hikari?" she asked. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be going
to school?"
"Oh, I'm not going to school today," Hikari replied, still smiling
brightly. "We're going to the Digital World like you said." Shinji
continued to stare at her, absolutely confused about what was happening.
"What?" she muttered. "Hikari, wait, what do you mean?"
"It's Friday, isn't it?" Hikari asked in return. "Happy birthday."
Shinji blinked, suddenly realizing what was going on.
"You shouldn't be missing school for this," she protested. "Hikari, you
don't have to do this." Hikari responded by lacing her arms around
Shinji's neck and kissing her.
"I know," she laughed when they parted. "But I want to, so I will."
Knowing that there was no deterring Hikari, Shinji nodded as her faint
smile curled her lips.
"So what have you been planning?" she asked. "And what on earth do you
need such a large backpack for?" Hikari smiled again.
"Well, if we're going to be spending the whole day in the Digital World,
then we should bring something to eat, shouldn't we?" she said as if it
were obvious, which it really was. Shinji rolled her eyes and shook her
head at her own obliviousness.
"The whole day," she murmured. "I've never been in the Digital World
for a whole day without having to fight something." Her smile faded as
she looked towards another room. Hikari took a quick guess at what she
was considering and took her wrist.
"You don't have to worry about it," she said swiftly. "Really, I made
sure we wouldn't be attacked by rampaging Monochromon or Airdramon."
Shinji gave her a blank look at the names of the digimon.
"No, never mind," she said as Hikari opened her mouth to explain. "I
don't think I want to know. Well, if we're going to be there the whole
day, then I think I know the best way to get around."
----------
The Digital World had its own beauties when observed by walking about.
With the defeat of evil digimon, the Chosen Children were able to enjoy
this untainted splendor more often until it became a normal thing for
them to go on small excursions to have fun, get together with fellow
Chosen Children, or simply sit and watch the clouds go by. Hikari had
never thought that riding a bike through the Digital World could be so
lovely.
Shinji pedaled for a long time; she didn't seem to get tired from it.
The longer she rode, the calmer she became. Hikari had wrapped her arms
around Shinji's waist, her cheek pressed against her back. Shinji had
loosened, her muscles relaxing over time. Hikari smiled and closed her
burgundy eyes. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered that
she once hoped for a moment of calm like this.
She had hoped to be given the feeling that she was safe; that despite
everything, someone's presence would make her feel secure and happy. At
that moment, with her arms draped around Shinji, Hikari felt that safety
and contentment. After quite some time, they came to a grassy ridge
looking out over the endless blue of the Digital World's seas. They
slid off the bike one at a time and sat on the grass.
"This is the first time I've been near an ocean willingly," Shinji
murmured. "The first time in the Digital World doesn't really count."
Hikari looked at her in surprise.
"But you only live in Akasaka," she said. "Right near the Prime
Minister's home and the Shuto line. You still have the Hibiya High
School boy's uniform in your closet. Don't you ride over the Rainbow
Bridge to get over to Odaiba?"
"I hate bridges," Shinji replied. "I ride as fast as I can over the
bridge when I go to Odaiba for work or to see you. I get worried when
I'm on a bridge. It's this idea that my father always told me-rivers
are places that assassins can use easily to vanish after killing
someone, but bridges are dangerous because of the fall even if it's into
a river or some kind of water." There was a small pause. Hikari didn't
know if she was able to ask her burning questions, but decided to dare.
"Shinji, was your father...did he really try to train you as an
assassin?" she asked. "And what was your mother like? What did she do
that she didn't mind your father's...'training'?" Shinji sighed,
looking up at the sky. "You don't have to tell me. It was rude that I
asked." Shinji shook her head and looked at Hikari.
"Let me put my head in your lap and I'll tell you all about them," she
sighed. "I won't get very mad-I promise." Hikari watched Shinji's blue
eyes, waiting to see if she could find any signs that Shinji honestly
did not want to talk about her parents. When she could find no such
thing, she nodded. Shinji smiled slightly and easily lay on her back,
her head in Hikari's lap.
"The Shazaki family goes back a very long time," she began to explain.
"We used to be a line of extremely honorable samurai. Our daimyo put
total faith in us for everything they ordered us to do. Until the
daimyo Chisha Shihaiteki, my family was completely loyal to the Chisha
family of daimyo. Shihaiteki wanted Shazaki Jigyoku to kill his
daughter Aikan because Jigyoku wanted to teach Aikan swordsmanship.
"Aikan was the firstborn in that generation, and Jigyoku had a lot of
faith in her. Shihaiteki thought this was some kind of revolution
within the Shazaki family because women weren't really supposed to
become samurai. They were supposed to be pleasant little geisha for
their husbands. Jigyoku couldn't believe that Shihaiteki wanted him to
kill his beloved firstborn, even if she was a girl. Because of this,
the Shazaki family broke from the Chisha daimyo family and became ronin.
"It was around this time that a monk came from China and met with
Jigyoku in Iguweno. The monk offered to teach Jigyoku a new martial art
to rival the swordsmanship of the samurai. The monk called it ninjutsu,
and that started the Shazaki family's eternal line of ninja. What made
Jigyoku so fond of ninjutsu was that it didn't exclude his daughter from
learning it. He and Aikan became two of the first ninja masters in the
world, and the Shazaki family is the longest bloodline of ninja masters
in history even if it's not mentioned.
"We did not accept Tokugawa Ieyasu or even the idea of the shogun. The
Shazaki family stood on the same side as the Ishin Shishi during the
Bakumatsu, were onimitsu for them, and even fought alongside Kawakami
Gensai during a few battles between the Ishin Shishi and the
Shinsengumi. At least, that's how my father's stories went. After
Emperor Meiji came into power, my family acted as his onimitsu and as
assassins for him. My family became the shadow of Japan's government.
"During times of war, my family stood as bodyguards for the emperors and
prime ministers in case they uncovered a plot that was directed to
attack the emperor or prime minister. They also worked as spies inside
enemy armies-usually masquerading as Americans or Britons-and leaked
information back to our army. Granted, it really didn't help because
there wasn't any way to avoid the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the
fire bombing in Tokyo. The government didn't blame my family for the
damned American army's disgusting brutality. They might call me one day
to deal with the bastards down in Okinawa.
"My mother married into the Shazaki family, was taught to be an onimitsu
but not a full ninja. Things worked like this so my mother could work
as the Prime Minister's personal secretary and pass news to my father if
we were needed. That's part of why I wasn't sent to a foster home eight
years ago. It wouldn't be a great idea for me to practice ninjutsu in
front of civilians. The reason I have my own bookstore-other than my
personal love of books-is to keep the image of a normal, hard-working
Japanese woman. Even though ninja are romanticized and said to be gone
now, I am one.
"So, yes, my father trained me as an assassin. I learned ninjutsu
willingly and gladly. My mother encouraged it. Now that you know all
of that-" Before she could finish her sentence, Hikari lay two fingers
over her lips and smiled at her.
"Yes, I do still care about you even though I know all of that," she
said. "I know that you won't like it if I feel sorry for you for
anything, but I'm still a little sad that you never got to have a nice,
calm childhood. I'm a little sad that you've had to destroy so many
digimon for any reason, even to help me. But I'm glad that you love me
even with a harder past than mine. I'm not going to worry about all of
that, OK?" Shinji looked, to Hikari's amusement and pleasure, a tad
embarrassed, but she still nodded. "So what do you want to do now that
you've told me all of that?"
Shinji looked up at the sky, blue eyes watching white clouds skimming
across the ocean of the heavens. Just beyond the edge of the ridge, the
waves crashed against the rock face in a constant, calming cadence. She
closed her eyes for a moment before sitting up and turning to face
Hikari.
"Would you like to know what my favorite birthday idea is?" she asked,
opening her eyes and smiling at Hikari. Before Hikari could nod in
assent, Shinji had carefully tackled her and caught her lips in a firm
kiss. Hikari lay on her back, rather enjoying the kiss, while Shinji
leaned over her, supporting Hikari's head in one hand and her own body
with the other arm. It was a good while before Shinji gently parted
from her. Hikari looked up at her, a delicate blush coloring her
cheeks.
"My favorite birthday wish would be you on my bed with nothing but a
silk red ribbon around your neck and that adorable blush on your face,"
Shinji murmured with a smile. Hikari blushed a deeper red, but did not
dislike this idea. "But I'll content myself with a nap with you for
now." With that, she simply placed her head on Hikari's stomach, closed
her eyes, and went to sleep. Hikari looked up towards the sky, still
contemplating Shinji's words. She smiled, still blushing a bit.
"That's really not a bad idea," she murmured to the air. "It really
isn't." With little else to do, she closed her eyes as well and drifted
off to sleep.
----------
The sun was starting to set by the time that Hikari and Shinji woke from
their slumber. After a leisurely ride back to Odaiba (Hikari did notice
now that Shinji seemed to go pell-mell over the Rainbow Bridge), the two
parted ways with one more lingering kiss and fond look. Hikari watched
Shinji leave as she rode off in the direction of the setting sun and
made her way rather absentmindedly up to her family's apartment.
"Hikari," her mother's terse voice snapped when she closed the door.
"Your school called me today and asked where you were. Why weren't you
at school?" Hikari did not know how to answer this question. She was
not ashamed of how she felt for Shinji, but was worried unto the point
of fright. Taichi and Yamato had been living together for almost two
years, but they had never said that their relationship went much farther
than simple roommates. They had no idea how Mrs. Yagami would respond,
and thusly, they said nothing.
"Today's my friend's birthday," Hikari replied truthfully. "She doesn't
go to school anymore, though, and I thought one day couldn't hurt." Her
heart was beginning to beat faster in worry.
"She?" Mrs. Yagami barked. "As in Shazaki Shinji, she? According to
the school, you've already missed one day for her. You both lied to me
back in August about where you'd been, Hikari. What is your
relationship with her that you feel so compelled to skip school for
her?" Hikari swallowed and curled her fingers to her palms; they were
damp and clammy with her sudden fear.
"I," she stuttered. "I...I like her. And she likes me. I wanted to
give her a happy birthday." Before she realized that her mother had
moved, she had been struck hard across the face.
"So you gave her a happy birthday by fucking her like the slut you both
are?" The question made Hikari whirl about and slap her mother in
return, rage filling every inch of her body.
"How *dare* you say that!" she hissed. "I spent the day with
her-nothing else! Don't you ever call Shinji a slut! She's lovely and
tender and loves me with all of her heart! And I love her too!"
"Get out." Hikari paused, taken aback at the furious look in her
mother's eyes. "I said get out! I don't care where you go-just get the
hell out of my house!" There was a moment's silence. Hikari's eyes
welled over with tears and she turned and ran into her room. She flung
the door open, blowing by Tailmon as she rushed for her computer.
Without a word, she thrust her digivice at the screen. The red message
blinked to green, the screen overflowed with light, and before Tailmon
could leap after her, Hikari was gone.
Onwards to Part 4
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