The
End
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Some days change the entire course of a person's life, Hino Rei reflected, slowly, tiredly making her way into her room after hours of tending the Hikawa Shrine grounds. She smiled wistfully to herself as she remembered one particular day in December of the year before, when she and Yuuichiro-- The blinking of the message indicator on her answering machine stopped her fond recollections cold. For some reason, her instincts augmented the flashing, made it the singular point of her concious focus. The incessant red blink seemed magnified, somehow. Ominous. Trepidatiously, she reached out and moved to touch the "play messages" button, fingertip pausing for just a moment over it. Rei somehow knew that if she pressed it, her life would change again. And, even as her finger descended and started the playback, she knew what she was going to hear. "Rei-chan..." The voice was a gentle, soulful one, that of the long-trusted family physician, Dr. Ono Tofu. For him to come all the way down from Nerima--- Rei's blood ran cold. "Your grandfather is dying. I'm sorry." It was the one call Hino Rei had never hoped to recieve. But there is was, on her birthday no less. Rei didn't know at what point she simply lost conciousness and hit the ground. Nor when Ten'ou Haruka, who had been visiting from Canada (and secretly investigating ways and means to move back to Japan) had come to the shrine and found her, carrying her to the hospital where her Grandfather currently lay. The world achieved a kind of slow, blurry return, and eventually Rei regained conciousness, looking up into the concerned faces of Haruka, Dr. Tofu, and her fiance, Kumada Yuuichiro. "R-rei-ch-chan..." Rei heard the suddenly tired, frail voice of her Grandfather coming from alongside her bed. She tore her gaze from the gentle gazes of those above her and looked to the face of the one person who had been more like a parent to her than her own father. God, when had he gotten so old? Rei asked herself, seeing for the first time the grey in his hair and the numerous wrinkles on his face. She could still remember the day when her father had dropped her off at the shrine, about a week after her mother's death. She had been angry, so angry , lashing out at everyone and everything. Only her grandfather had had the patience to weather the storm of her rage; smiling and ruffling her hair even as she pounded her fists into his chest sobbing and crying and cursing fate. Her father had simply gotten back into the car and left. At first she had thought her grandfather was using her when he followed up her formal installation as shrine miko with an order to rake and clean the massive grounds all by herself; it was a job for someone else, she had thought. But later, after hours under the mild sky, watching the crows wheel and caw stark black against the shimmering blue, she had felt her heart settle, and had understood. But now, in the present, her heart was anything but settled. Her grandfather's eyes were barely open. She was tranfixed by the study of his face, barely hearing Dr. Tofu as he explained about how her grandfather's body had suddently started to shut down with no explanation, how it was probably old age at work, and how it would at least be peaceful. She did not feel Yuuichiro's hand gripping hers, or even hear her Grandfather at first when he began to force himself to speak. "Rest I need. Yes. Rest. " he croaked slowly. "Grandfather--" Rei forced out slowly, her own voice almost a broken whisper. "Soon will I rest, yes, forever sleep. Earned it I have. " Her grandfather forced himself to turn and look at her. Rei paled. "Grandfather! You c-can't d--" Her grandfather smiled softly. "Ah, strong am I with the way of Shinto, but not that strong. Twilight is upon me, and soon, night must fall. That is the way of things. The way of life. " From somewhere behind her, Rei heard Haruka mutter "where have I heard this before," but paid her no mind. "Please!" Rei pleaded . "Rei~" Grandpa Hino croaked, reaching out for her face. "You can't die!" Rei protested, trying to hold back the inevitable with her words. "W-who will run the shrine!?" Her grandfather pulled closer. "Rei, there is another...H-Hino." he pointed at her and then collapsed. At this point Haruka could be heard making a choking sound akin to spitting up her beer. Before Rei could process this, Doctor Tofu took his pulse and called the time of death. Then a cloud of purple ninja smoke burst out of the Elder Hino's location and he vanished. ".. the f[BLEEP]," Rei muttered dimly, eyes narrowing, sorrow instantly replaced with irritation. "Holy s[BLEEP]t, I knew some people s[BLEEP]t themselves at death but that was one hell of a fart," Haruka remarked in shock. "IDIOT!" Rei yelled, finding her strength once more. "HE OBVIOUSLY FAKED IT." She sat up in the hospital bed. "Faked a fart that disintegrated his motherf[BLEEP]ing body!?" Haruka protested. Rei slapped her forehead and pointed to the little footprints leading away from the death-bed which matched Grandpa Hino's tabi perfectly. "B-But I sensed all his ki leave his body!" Doctor Tofu protested. "He's a master of that sort of thing!" Rei shot back. "That b[BLEEP]rd just saddled me with the SHRINE!" She made her way to the window and saw her grandfather running off with another short, bald-headed man... the notorious panty-thief of Nerima... the Great Master of the Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts, Happosai. "Here's to Bermuda, Bimbos and Bikinis!" Happosai could be heard ejaculating happily. "Right on!" Grandpa Hino agreed as they piled into a car which sped off. Rei just sank to her knees in a curious mixture of absolute rage, confusion and relief. She had gotten her dual degrees in Business and Religious Study for the day when she would have taken over the shrine, but with her grandfather as healthy as he ever had been, that day had seemed forever far off. But the moment he had heard of her engagement to Yuuichiro, his health seemed to have "declined." Now she understood perfectly. He had decided to go and enjoy his twilight years and let her begin her life at last. He had left her the legacy of Hikawa Shrine. It was hers now, to protect and grow. "Baka," she said happily, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'll take good care of the shrine." "We will," Yuuichiro said softly, standing by her, holding her shoulder. "Yes," Rei assented, choking back a slight sob. "You'll start groundskeeping duties tomorrow." Yuuichiro sweatdropped. Haruka grinned and slapped Dr. Tofu on the back, cracking open a beer she had snuck in. All was right with the world again. Even as everything changed, it somehow stayed the same. END BREAKOUT PART TWO |