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Dear diary..

A gift from a friend.

Spring is the time for the birds and the bees.

A continuation. part 2 of 2

"You obviously have the wrong person!" Kimiko stated angrily, after listening to the happy teller's rambling for five minutes straight. There was a silence as she realized that all eyes were on her, and she cleared her throat. The businessmen returned to their chatting, the residents returned to their ATM machines, and a very annoyed Kimiko tapped a sneakered foot impatiently as her gaze bore down on the poor teller's forehead.

"Ahem... Very well, then." The redhead mumbled, adjusting her glasses nervously. Making a mistake was rather embarassing for her already, but being snapped at as well? That was humility in its purest form. "How much would you like to withdraw from your account?"

"10,000 gold, please?" Kimiko replied, breathing slowing to a calm pace after the scene she had just caused.

"Yes, ma'am." The teller nodded furiously, not wanting to experience any more of the teenage girl's rage. One dose for the day was quite enough. She quickly handed the girl her money and her reciept, and sighed with relief as she watched the lady leave. She wasn't going to keep herself updated with those silly conspiracist theories, at least, not anymore.

"Alright!" Kimi pumped her arms into the air upon exiting the cold building, half-walking half-skipping down the steps of the bank. "Now that I have some cash in my wallet, it's time to investigate! I also would like to do some more research on the Amakuras, after what that lady had said.." Thinking out loud, she noticed a group of tourists looking strangely at her and hissed at them to go away. They fled the premises of the bank immediately.

"First things first, however, I need food." she said to herself, hearing her stomach grumble with hunger. She quickly found a fast-food store, and after downing a burger and a soda laced with sugar, began on her perilous quest of self-discovery.

She made her way to the broken-down mansion on the other side of the city, kicking aside pieces of rubble as she snuck past the gates. She didn't even need to sneak, really -- the mansion was unguarded. No one would go near the old place, and no one had even cleared out the rubble from the disaster. Onlookers had seen a flash of red light fill the windows for a split second, and it was enough to drive most of the crowds away. The braver ones that had lingered behind to see the mansion collapse on its foundations had also heard a terrible scream, and then eerie silence.

A rescue squad had gone to check the place out a day later, bless their hearts, and found nothing. No bodies, no nothing -- it was like the people in the Amakura mansion had simply disappeared without a trace. And then, eyewitness reports of the dead rising from the ashes began sirculating around town. Everyone left the mansion alone, after that.

On the same day, little 11-year old Kimiko remembered waking up on the shining sidewalks of Gambino, having nothing but the clothes on her back, and remembering nothing of her past except her name.

She wasn't quite sure why she had returned to this place after the four years that had passed. It could have been a tinge of nostalgia that had brought her back to the coastal city, or just a spot of curiosity and recklessness. Whatever the reason, however, it seemed like she had made the right choice.

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Why? Why? Her calculations were perfect! The minerals had been weighed down to the hundredth gram! Why had this happened?

The alchemical rebound was.. strong. It shook the building on its foundations, weakening the already-aged rock. The collapse was inevitable. The servants had realized the disaster minutes before it had happened, luckily, and had gotten the family out of the house safely. Little Kimiko was nowhere to be found, and despite the master and the lady's protests, had been left behind.

They watched from a safe distance as the windows filled with white light, then nothing. The shingles began to fall shortly after. The lady had begun to cry as this time, and the master sobbed along with her.

From just several hundred feet away, the little Kimiko was sobbing as well, but for a different reason. She backed into a corner, shielding herself from the shattering glass as she watched the play of events. The calculations had been perfect, the ingredients selected with a careful eye.. so what was wrong? The question echoed in her mind as she watched her monster rise up and shake the very foundations that had held the mansion up for so long.. and then fall. It was unstable, the flesh and bones sizzled away as it let out one final shriek before its inevitable demise.

The building collapsed not soon after that. Kimi was indeed glad that she had installed the extra-strength shelves on the wall, they had protected her from most of the large debris and she had only gained a few shallow gashes. One notable piece of rock had dislodged itself after she had made her way upstairs and to the collapsed hallway, however. Blackout was imminent.

And the rest.. was history.

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The girl crawled into what was once the ballroom, shoving aside the more larger pieces of rock to made a nice path for herself to walk through. The building was oddly familiar to her, though she couldn't quite place it on her tongue just yet..

"Curiouser and curiouser," she muttered, brushing off some marble-dust from her shirt. "This is like entering the rabbit hole."

She had gained a seriouser personality upon entering the secluded area, finding no reason to keep up the sugar-coated sham she had always put up for strangers and other people, in general. It helped her concentrate, really, as meditation did for other people.

After what had seemed like a wild goose-chase over countless piles of destroyed marble that had trailed halfway through the mansion, Kimiko had found her jackpot. Without so much as a glance down the dusty old stairs, she began to descend into the ever-so-familiar darkness.

The cellar, as it seemed like (though she couldn't really tell if it was just a lower floor, the building was so demolished), was pitch-black save for the light peering down from the staircase above. Kimiko shuffled aside the broken glass and began to skim the surroundings. Curious, it looked like someone had set up some sort of laboratory here some time ago.. Perhaps a dabbler in the same research she had delved into now?

She had to find out more, but there weren't enough clues. The girl's eyes noticed specks of blood splattered carelessly against an uncovered wall, and she found herself looking up. She fell to the ground carelessly (luckily, in an area where there was not broken glass) and gawked at the ceiling with wide eyes, before hesitantly looking at the cement floor.

The blood stained into the gray stone was a horrible sight. Kimiko wasn't squeamish by a long shot, but she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness.. which was, perhaps, the best thing that had happened to her on the whole trip. At least she wouldn't have to face the ordeal now, she would deal with it later.

How did they know? How did they...

And then, the darkness took over.

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The child woke up hours later to darkness, turning over and watching the stars glimmer through the night sky. She wasn't sure where she was, or where she had come from, or where she had gotten the stinging pain in her forehead.

The only thing she could remember was a name. She didn't know whose it was, or why she knew it, but it was there -- and so she kept it. Shuffling through the remains of the mansion, she made her way out to the large marble stairs and descended, little feet pattering all the way. Through the wrought-iron gates she went, onto the golden streets of Gambino city, and down the road. A spotlight shined upon the town center as if it was proclaiming the city's wealth 24-7, even if the pedestrians and tourists had all but disappeared into their cosy homes and hotels and other dwelling locations.

She smiled, finding a spot to sit against the hard brick, and looked back up to the sky.

"Kimiko," she muttered quietly, and fell asleep.

The next few days were like a dream. For nourishment she would pad around until some stranger bought her a serving of food and then thanked them profusely, for entertainment would window-shop in the shopping district of Gambino. She lived life like this for the next week, never looking back and never wondering where she had come from. And then, she had met them.

The Japanese couple were looking for a retreat from taking care of their teenagers, bless their little hearts, and happened upon little Kimiko as she was scavenging the town for her daily needed breakfast. She had pawned a crepe off of a kind woman a day before, and a biscuit off of a timely gentleman another time.

Of course, the two sat her down and bought her a full-sized meal. After much fussing over the little girl's unruly hair and tattered clothes, the couple -- the Hinasakis -- decided to take her under their own wing. Kimiko never protested.

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The teen woke up hours later, rubbing her head and grumbling. She felt another wave of nausea wash over her as she remember the array that had been stained into the floor with blood, and stood up slowly, stumbling forward slightly as she attempted to steady herself.

She hobbled towards the stairwell, giving a last look of repluse at the room before making her way back upstairs.

Someone else had attempted to make a homunculus. That was why the Amakura mansion had collapsed. Someone else was after her same goal.

"I swear.." Kimiko chuckled, ducking beneath a fallen pillar. "People these days are really insane."

And with that statement, she left the mansion, never looking behind.

They had come in the dead of night. While the stars shimmered overhead and a sleepy moon hung in the night sky, they had come and gone without making so much as a sound.

The two figures -- a woman and a man -- perched upon the now-toddler Mayu's windowsill silently. They were hidden by the shadow of the neighboring house, invisible to bystanders and the occasional insomniac. The lady, scrounging in her sidepack, scanned the perimeter slowly then turned to face the man.

"Don't do that, idiot."

"Why not?"

"You'll wake them all up."

"I don't see you coming up with any brilliant ideas."

"Or do you?"

"... No."

The seconds ticked by agonizingly. After a few moments more, the woman's shadowed hand withdrew a hairpin from the pack, and she began working on the window's lock with swift movements. Within seconds, the sealed latch clicked open silently. Kimiko had painstakingly oiled every hinge, lock, and knob in the house herself. More luck to them.

Lying in the crib was a sleeping toddler, her silver hair delicately framing her face. She had been tucked in lovingly, and was snoozing away in dreamland as her soon-to-be kidnappers watched her quietly.

A nightlight shimmered from a low fixture, illuminating the room slightly as to give it a dim feel. The man, hunkered over the crib lightly, crooned ever-so-quietly as he watched the Legend sleep.

"Aww .. Aren't you such a cute baby?"

"Quiet, you dunderhead!"

With a sharp smack to the noggin, the woman bent over the crib's edge and hoisted the baby up from her sleeping position. Hugging the sleeping child lightly, she slunk back to the open window and motioned for the man to follow.

"Put down that blanket, Hermes."

"But Nyyyyyx .. Won't the baby get coooold?"

Sighing, Nyx raised a hand to her head and massaged her temples lightly. Working with Hermes gave her the biggest migranes. She wondered why the boss had always picked him to be her partner -- probably had a grudge against her or something.

"I suppose, yes. Just take it. We've probably already woken up the dogs."

With a smile, Hermes retrieved the blanket from the crib and stuffed it ungracefully into his own side-pack. She had a soft spot for him, it was so easy to tell. Following after Nyx and the babe (ladies first, because he was such a polite gentleman), he climbed out the windowsill and down the ladder.

Mission accomplished. Like stealing candy from a baby, or more accurately; stealing a sleeping baby from a crib.

The awakening. part 3 of 11

It was the blasting music that had woken the small Legend up. Infernal hip-hop blasting from downstairs, and at a time like this? Classical music and even the nightly channel-surfing she could handle, but hip-hop? She would have to give Kimiko a firm scolding in the morning.

A flutter of eyelids brushed the dream dust off of her eyes, and the Legend sat up, looking about her. It was unusually dark for the girl, because although she had woken up in the dark of night plenty of times before, she had never been without her trusty nightlight. The only illumination came from the slight crack in the door and the moonlight, throwing long shadows across the dark walls. Her eyes took a while to adjust, and even then, she could barely see through the dim light.

The truth hit the toddler square in the face after a few moments of silence -- she had been kidnapped! The unfamiliar room suddenly became soffocating, and Mayu was washed over in panic .. what would she do? Would she survive until Kimiko had found her?

Resisting the urge to cry, Mayu pushed away her blanket and rose, crawling down from the futon on which she had been sleeping. It was time to use her intuition, skills, and knowledge to escape ...

She was determined to make it out alive.

The hallway. part 5 of 11

Now, the rational side of Mayu literally screamed at her to not take the chance, to quit now and wait in her comfy room until the feds found her, but the daredevil side of her did just the opposite.

Babbling in confusion, the toddler shook her head to clear the loud, angry, and intimidating voices clouding up her head. She would make the dash -- and she had to do it perfectly.

The voices downstairs had all but died down, and a slow bossanova beat sounded gently over the hushed morning sounds. The pursuers had all fallen to the gentle allure of sleep, leaving Mayu an easy way of escape. Well, not that easy -- a baby's pudgy hands could hardly open a latch, save turning a doorknob.

The toddler tiptoed into the hallway to the best of her ability, feety pajamas concealing her footsteps on the laminate floor. They were a tad bit slippery, having just been waxed. Passing doorway after open doorway, Mayu stopped at the end the hallway, bending over to pick up the small footstool .... and just happened to look to the left.

It was a casual glance, but the Legend's eyes widened in shock -- she released her hands from the stool and stepped into the dark room.

The sun peeked out from the horizon, illuminating the skies.