CAUGHT BETWEEN WORLDS:
Fourth Symptom: Just Beyond the Sky

A Magic Knight Rayearth story by Rob Barba

Magic Knight Rayearth is copyright a whole buncha people who could care less if I’m doing this or not.  Oh, I’m sure they do care, but I’m hoping it’s in that “Happy Happy Joy Joy” kind of way as opposed to the “I Love Lawsuits” sort of way.  Granted, the true answer is that they’re indifferent to the whole damn thing, but it’s always nice to hope for the best, even if it makes you look like Kasumi (who is, of course, copyrighted by another pack of corporate wolves, but we’re not going into that, are we?).

The rain fell down from the sky in sheets, blanketing Puget Sound and its environs in a shroud of gray.  It was an unusually dour April weekend and in the home of Clefton and Priscilla Shidou, there wasn’t much activity.  The house was mostly empty, as Clef had left for an author’s convention in Dallas; he wouldn’t be home for a week.  Likewise, Priss had been asked to be the Seattle representative at the annual US Cities’ District Attorneys conference in Chicago; that was also lasting a week.  Lance and Rick, the two lovable goofballs that they were, went camping for the weekend, Eric having declined the offer because he was just getting over a cold.  Allison was gone as well, her family having gone away to Las Vegas for the weekend.

That left Hikaru at home trying to catch up on her studies; her teachers had agreed that if she could catch up on her missing work before the end of the year, she would not have to attend summer school.  Taking that note, Hikaru put her nose to the grindstone and not only was catching up to her sister’s level, but was also churning out an impressive amount of extra credit as well.  Since it was Biology, Eric came over for the day to tutor his girlfriend, which left Hikari with the none-too-enviable task of babysitting Emily and Mutsumi while the younger girls were playing.

Tapping away while looking at some vital bit of information on the web, Eric soon stopped as the sounds of “PUU…PUU PUU PUU….” began to issue from the computer’s speakers, and the screen showed a familiar bouncing cartoon character.  “’Karu,” he commented as he lifted his hands from the keys, “I thought you fixed your computer.”  Turning away from it a bit, he revealed the monitor of her system, showing the “Pu Puu Puu Bunny” virus that had ravaged most of the world’s PCs four months ago.  Rumored to have started somewhere in Korea, it couldn’t be confirmed, and to this day global law enforcement agencies were still trying to track down who’d done it.

The redhead looked up from her books to the cyan colored screen and moaned.  “Man, I swear I just installed the newest Norton updates on it!  Aaargh!”  Though the virus was mostly benign and didn’t delete files, it was unusual in that it had to be deleted in DOS, and the viral signature mutated frequently.  Though the antivirus companies had already long since found the key elements that protected virtually all of the world’s terminals from this annoyance, somehow Hikaru’s computer always managed to pick it up again.  This was the third time this month that the virus had reappeared, much to the bafflement of Hikaru, Hikari, and anyone else who’d tried to help the redhead fix the computer.

“Well, if you’d taken the time to actually both to do it right,” he started, but soon found himself pelted by several of her stuffed animals.  In retaliation, he gleefully tackled his girlfriend, bowling her over, knocking her off the bed, and to the floor where they wrestled via tickling before dissolving into a series of romantic kisses.

Hikari casually took one look at the pair before huffing and commenting, “Hey, if you two are going to do that, at least have the decency to get a hotel in Vancouver for the weekend, okay?”  When both romantics looked up in shock, Hikari calmly went back to her laptop, a self-satisfied grin on her face.  The grin soon turned into a series of helpless shrieks of laughter as both Hikaru and Eric turned on the other redhead, burying her in every pillow and stuffed animal they could find in the girls’ room.  Soon enough, the room turned into a free-for-all, and anything remotely filled with down or stuffing was being tossed around the room at high speeds.  The three were laughing heartily, right up until the time a knock sounded at the door.

As the trio composed themselves, Emily peeked her head in, with a smaller girl behind her.  “Um, ‘Kari, c’n Mutsumi an’ I borrow your Playstation?  We’re tired of watchin’ TV.”

Behind her, Mutsumi Ryuzaki, the remaining daughter of Daisuke and Keiko Ryuzaki looked at Hikari and said, “Pleeze, oneesama?”  While Emily was putting on her best Bambi-eyes look for her sisters, it was Umi’s younger sister that truly had the talent.  In part, that was why both Hikaru and Hikari loved the little kid so much.  Also, there was the fact that since they’d been Umi’s best friends for the longest time, little Mutsumi looked up to the Shidou twins as older sisters of a sort and even called them that – though the only reason the older girls knew the meaning to the word was likely either due to Umi or anime.

Hikaru gazed at the girl with the short blue-black hair and not for the first time a word entered her mind: Aska.  A part of her felt ashamed of it; not even Umi’s little sister had been spared an analog in Hikaru’s demented fantasy world.  But at least now she knew better, and even though the memories of that time felt vibrantly real, she knew that it was all just the imagination of a wounded young woman that she used to be.  In any case, she felt she owed it to Umi’s memory to be a role model for Mutsumi.  With no real older girls to be there for her, it was up to Hikaru and Hikari to step in.

Meanwhile, Hikari had grabbed her Sony case and left the room to set it up for the kids.  Hikaru hardly noticed they were gone when she felt arms wrapping around her and a voice softly whispering in her ear, “You’re doing it again, ‘Karu.”

“Doing what?” she asked, her voice sounding even to her as though she were in reverie.

Eric turned her around and smiled at her gently.  “You’ve got that far away look in your eyes again.  You’re thinking about those problems…you had before we met.”  She spoke to protest, but he silenced it with a gentle finger to her lips.  “It doesn’t matter, ‘Karu.  Whatever happened to you back then won’t happen again.  You have dozens of people who love you and were there for you the last time.  Now, you’ve got me as well.”

“I know,” she said, kissing his finger, then taking his hand in hers, holding it for strength.  “Believe me when I say I know.  But so many things have happened to me in the past few months, things I can’t explain.  Think about it: I took down Frankie Lassiter at school back in January, I’ve destroyed all my competitors in the state kendo championships, and for some reason, I’ve managed to pick up both gymnastics and karate, despite having no training in either.  I dress almost completely different than I did at the beginning of the school year, and sometimes I feel I changed so much I’m afraid I don’t have the same bond with ‘Kari that I used to.”

“Well, I can’t comment on the bond much, but I think you two have grown closer than ever.  Also, I’m no psychologist like your uncle is, but as a person, I think you’re doing fine.  I don’t know if I could’ve survived what you went through, but you did and are the stronger for it.  As for the acrobatics and karate, no I don’t know where that came from, but we’ve sparred enough for me to know you’re damn good – if it wasn’t for your kendo skills, I’d say enter in karate tournaments.  In any case, all the bullies and assholes at school have piped down since you dropped Lassiter.  And Mendoza.  And Carpenter.  And Chang.  And–” he continued, counting them all on his fingers.

“Okay, okay, I get your point,” she answered in exasperation.  “But thanks for being with me and being there for me.”  She leaned over and kissed him tenderly, her eyes filled with heartfelt love.

Eric grinned, his gentleness touched by this girl he’d been blessed to have in his life.  “You know, even if you weren’t my girl, I’d still be here for you.  You’re a great friend, ‘Karu, and I’d be lying if I said otherwise.”  He gazed at her again and knew there was just something special about her, something that was unlike any other girl he’d ever known.  If there was a quality he had to call it, he would have said angelic; just a sort of unearthly sweetness he’d never seen in any other girl before.  Granted, ‘Kari had similar qualities, but they seemed to stand out more in the older twin.

Hikaru gazed at the guy she found that was perfect for her.  In retrospect, it was a blessing that she’d never gotten back together with Dave LaFarga as she then never would have found stronger feelings and a bigger sense of respect for Eric Aguilar.  He gazed back at her in that way that she always loved, and her heart forgot to beat a couple of times.  The two found themselves inexorably drawn to each other once more, and as their lips brushed together…

…suddenly there was an ear-shattering crash of thunder outside, accompanied by a huge jag of lightning, and the power went out.  Both teens groaned and through the half-closed door one could hear the yipes of Hikari and the younger girls as they hadn’t expected the sudden blackout.  Hikaru rose from her place on the floor, turned and called out to her sister, “Hey, everything alright down there?”

“Yeah,” a voice called up.  “Just wasn’t expecting the breakers to kick in.  D’ya remember where they are?”  Just behind her were the voices of the two smaller girls, cheering as they thought the blackout was the coolest thing they’d seen in quite some time.

“Yeah, yeah, they’re in the basement,” Hikaru called back.

“Can you trip them for me?  I’ve got my hands full with the kids at the moment.”

“Yeah, sure I can do that.”  Turning back to Eric, she whispered a sheepish “sorry,” then both went downstairs to attend to the problem.  While Eric decided to help Hikari watch the kids, Hikaru grabbed the flashlight out of the closet then proceeded to the basement door.  Opening the entry door underneath the stairs, Hikaru descended the steps and plunged into the darkness of the basement, leaving the door ajar.

Within the basement, the sounds of the rain were amplified, now sounding like the attack of a thousand hammers against the earth rather than the soft patter that it had been in the rest of the house.  The whole of the chamber was several degrees cooler than the house, just enough to make the redhead shiver slightly.  Flashing the beam of light to and fro within the confines, she tried to remember exactly where the circuit box was.

It’s against the far wall, I know that much, Hikaru mused to herself as she instinctively reached for the basement light switch and came to the realization that it wasn’t going to any good in a house where the power was out.  Man, I wish Lance were here.  He’s better at this stuff than I am.

About halfway though the garage, there was a series of soft footfalls behind her.  “Flash?  Is that you, boy?”  The pet husky, being an indoor dog, tended to sleep in either the girls’ room, or in Lance’s and tended to wander at will, with no bother to the family.  But it dawned on her that Lance had taken Flash with him on the trip; the chances of it being the family dog were nil.  Maybe it was Mrs. Thompson’s cat from next door, she reasoned; the gray tabby was always managing to get into the house at one time or another, and it wouldn’t be surprising.  Perhaps it would even be the stray raccoon or somesuch, though she hoped the house didn’t have mice.

Arriving at the circuit box, she opened it and hit the master circuit breaker, to no avail.  She tried it a second time yet there was still no response.  The house was still darkened, and the rain continued to slam upon the ground in sheets, echoing though the basement, slightly louder now but obviously no need for concern.  Hikaru sighed in frustration, then reached for the switch once more.

“Here, let me help you with that,” Hikari replied from behind.  “You seem to be having a problem, and maybe we can solve it together.”

“Thanks, sis,” Hikaru said with slight relief.  That relief changed to puzzlement as Hikaru felt slender arms slide around her midsection, then grew to alarm as she found herself being groped and a person nuzzling her neck.  “Hey, what the–?  ‘Kari, what the hell’re you doing?  ‘Kari?”

“Not exactly,” the voice responded.  Hikaru broke free of the grasp and turned the flashlight on the other, finding herself staring straight at Hikari, an oddly aggressive look on the redhead’s face…

…assuming Hikaru’s younger twin had hair that shaded towards pink, and ears the length of an elf’s.  “Hi, sweetie, did you miss me?” Nova asked, stretching languidly in her black one-piece bodysuit, taking the time to show Hikaru the curves of her sensuous, well-toned body.  Continuing in a husky voice dripping with desire, she said, “Because I sure missed you!”  With that, she pounced on Hikaru, arms locked around the others, and mouth insatiably clamped onto Hikaru’s own.  Both girls fell to the ground, the flashlight lost from Hikaru’s grasp and clattering to the ground with a metallic crash.

Hikaru desperately tried to break from Nova’s grasp, but the other girl was stronger.  Finally with a desperate kick, Hikaru kneed Nova in the stomach, which gave the redhead enough time to break free and scream for help at the top of her lungs for help.

Light exploded around Hikaru Shidou as Nova was swallowed up by the expanse of ivory luminescence.  The last thing Hikaru heard was Nova’s gentle call of, “I will be with you always,” and light turned into the sweet darkness of unconsciousness.

“And that’s what happened, Dr. Choi,” a nervous Hikaru said two days later, lying on the couch in the office of her counselor, Dr. Janice Choi.  After she’d gotten out of the institute, it was insisted by Tom Zagard that Hikaru continue to be in therapy for a year following her release.  Tom’s old friend and colleague was more than up to the task, and as Hikaru had gotten along well with the woman (even though she initially called her Kuu Hououji, a name from the delusions), Janice graciously volunteered to be there for Hikaru during the year.

“So, let me see if I got this straight, ‘Karu.  You were down in the basement of your house, when you came up against the person you call Nova,” Janice repeated.  “She fondled and kissed you, but you managed to knee her and crawl away.  The lights came on and you passed out, but when you came to, there was no one around except for your sisters and your boyfriend.”  She bit the end of her pen, hrmed softly.  “There was no sign of Nova leaving?”

“You don’t believe me,” Hikaru said, dismayed.  “I know it sounds odd, but it happened!”  Hikaru hugged herself, shivering as though a stiff wind poured through the area.  Her voice was trembling, and the young woman seemed to shrink within her clothing.  “I know what I saw!  As impossible as it seems, I know what I saw!”

The psychologist reached out to place a comforting hand on Hikaru’s shoulder, but when she got a look of the fear in the redhead’s eyes, she stopped involuntarily.  There was something both ageless and timeless in that look of hollowness, and for a fleeting moment, Janice’s mind wandered to the old statement that Zagard had given her on Hikaru’s original condition: she thought she was a goddess.  There’s something profoundly sad in that look, like a deity that’s lost her final devotee.  Instead, the doctor looked at the clock and found that their session was at an end for the day.  Noting so, she added, “Hikaru, as uncomfortable as it is, I want you to think about the Nova incident for the next couple of days.  We’ll talk about it on Wednesday, okay?”  Both women stood up, but Hikaru seemed to bolt of out of the room like a rabbit in flight, eager to be out of the office and the ward.  Janice looked at the space where Hikaru had been for just a few seconds, then turned to her notes.

A knock came at the empty door.  “Care for some coffee, Jan?”  She turned to find Tom standing at the door, holding two cups of Starbucks’ finest. 

“You always knew how to hit my weak spot, Tom,” she said, flashing him a smile as she gratefully took one.  “So, ethical violations aside, what do you want to know about your niece?”  Before he could protest, she added, “Don’t deny it – you and I have know each other for nearly twenty years, Tom.  Of course you’re going to be worried about your family, rules be damned and all.  I mean, you did move your family out here just for Hikaru’s sake.”

“I know, and that girl means a lot to me, just like my own kids.”  Tom’s brows furrowed, a clear sign he didn’t want to ask what he was, even though he’d done it a thousand times in other cases.  “What’s your professional opinion, Jan?”

Janice adjusted her glasses slightly.  “Personally, I think she’s having a resurgence of certain portions of her fantasy world, in particular the vamp persona known as Nova.  She thinks that Nova’s out to get her again, and that the ‘clone’ is out to get her and subsume her.”

“And you think that somehow ties into Hikari, as you’ve said before,” Tom asked.

“I think that may manifest itself in Hikaru as a latent sexual desire for Hikari combined with a fear that the younger twin is trying to take over her life.  It’s not a common thing, but there is a preceding case in regards to it,” Janice noted.  “In 1986 in a suburb of Cleveland a twin raped then butchered her twin sister on the belief that the younger twin was trying to become the older one; it was also revealed that the pair were lovers.  Since then, it has been termed Demanes Syndrome, after Laura and Meredith Demanes, the pair of twins.” 

“Yes, I read about the case,” Tom replied, setting down his coffee atop the magazine on the table.  Crossing his fingers, his eyes twitched slightly as he calmly added, “It’s hardly what I’d call common.”

Janice saw the expression on her old friend’s face and quickly added, “Of course not, but studies have shown that more likely the instance happens between female twins rather than male or even fraternal.  We could be seeing a slighted case of that now.”

Tom’s face was still professional, but the look of confusion in his eyes said it all.  “Janice, I think you’ve got that wrong.  Frankly, I’d believe that of my own daughters before I believe that of ‘Karu and ‘Kari.  Both are very naïve when it comes to that sort of thing, even with the exposure they’ve had in ambient sources.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t think Hikaru’s seducing her sister on a nightly basis.  What I meant was that it’s an unhealthy fixation brought on as a coping mechanism of what she’s gone through.  In many ways, she’s still suffering from her ordeal, and every so often it slips on her.  I think the Nova concept resurgence is mainly due to her budding womanhood, since she now says she has a boyfriend?”  Janice gave Tom a knowing look, the look that she’d gave him many a time when they were lovers back during their first year of pre-med.  “But everything will turn out okay.  Just watch.  Hikaru’s stronger than she seems, and I think she’s for the most part doing fine.  She just needs to get past this Nova issue, is all.”

“So what do you recommend?  Medication?”  It was clear that Tom didn’t care for the idea at all.

“Not just yet.  Let’s see how therapy pans out a bit more.  Maybe we can steer her clear of the wrong road,” Jan answered, her tones indicating she too thought pills were not the desired choice.  “But I think you may want to bring that possibility up to Clef and Priss.”

“Hey, ‘Karu, cheer up, ‘kay?”  Allison adjusted her eyeglasses, then gave her friend a pat on the shoulder.  “C’mon, we’re here to shop, not play Freud Does the Mall.”

“They think I’m nuts, Allison,” Hikaru responded in a sullen voice.  “Maybe I am totally crackers and need to be locked away.”  Holding a top to herself, she quickly dismissed it, muttering, “Makes my eyes look red.”

“You are not gonna be locked up again, or else they’ll have to throw me in there, too!” Hikari piped in, handing Hikaru a similar shirt of a different color.  “We’re twins, ‘Karu.  Where you go, I go.”

“Thanks, guys,” Hikaru sighed.  “It’s just…the look on Dr. Choi’s face when I mentioned what happened the other day…I swear you’d think she thought I was going lesbo or something.”  Settling on the blue shirt and an oddly patterned sweater, she placed the rejects back on the rack and took her selections to the cashier.  Hikari and Allison, having already made their purchases, patiently waited by the entrance to the store.

As Hikaru and the store clerk did the time-honored ritual of purchase, Allison turned to Hikari and asked in hushed tones, “What really happened?”

“Well,” Hikari responded sotto voce, “we don’t know what it was that scared the hell out of her, but she screamed at the top of her lungs as the lights came on.  Eric and I went down there, but when we got there, we found her passed out.  When we brought her to, she launched at me at first but managed to realize who I was in time.  She then broke down crying, talking about that ‘Nova’ chick she had in her…y’know.  I had to take the kids upstairs because I didn’t want them to see ‘Karu losing it, but I think Emily and Mutsumi think they did something wrong to ‘Karu.”  The ponytailed redhead would have added more, but piped a quick, “Okay, here she comes,” and said nothing more.

“Okay, now that we got the shopping done,“ Hikaru chirped, happy to be done with exhausting a goodly portion of her allowance, “I have to swing by that collectables store to check on the sword, okay?”

Hikari groaned, while Allison had a confused look on her face.  “Look, just because Grandpa gave you that antique pigsticker….”

Hikaru’s eyes flashed annoyance.  “Hey, that ‘pigsticker’ is important!  He was a member of the 442^nd and the Japan Occupation Forces when Japanese-Americans weren’t allowed to be there!  That sword was passed to him when he married our grandmother, and it’s been in her family since the old Shogun times!  Dammit, ‘Kari, show some respect, okay?”  While Hikaru would never harm Hikari intentionally, she saw a flash of fear in her twin’s eyes and backpedaled a bit.  “Look, ‘Kari.  You know what a proud man Grandpa is, and if he and Grandma feel it’s time to pass that heirloom on, then I can’t argue with that, can I?  So if the sword’s mine now I hafta take care of it, right?”

“I guess,” Hikari answered, feeling slightly ashamed for her words.  “Look, I just don’t see why you had to go to the need of having it restored.  It’s just an antique!  I mean, Mom gave me her mother’s ruby earrings, and just because they’ve been in the family since they moved from Europe doesn’t mean that I’m rushing off to the store to get them appraised and remounted, ‘kay?”

Hikaru merely shrugged and said in an earnest tone, “I don’t expect you to understand.”  With that, she concluded the conversation and walked towards the other end of the mall, not taking the time to wait for the others.  Had she taken the time to look, she would have seen a cast on Hikari’s face akin to a person having been slapped.

Allison, who’d merely been silent all this time, stared at Hikaru’s retreating form, then turned to see the heartbroken look on Hikari’s face.  Having no siblings of her own much less a twin, Allison couldn’t comprehend the bond between the two redheads, but the naked expression of pain on Hikari’s face told the older girl far more than she really wanted to know.  “Hey, ‘Kari, you okay?”

“I dunno, Allison,” Hikari whispered.  “All my life I’ve always sort of known what ‘Karu was doing, one way or another.  Maybe it didn’t make sense to me, but I could always know it.  Now, I can’t even do that.”  She turned her reddish-brown eyes to her friend and the look of emptiness was strong enough to make Allison unconsciously step back, lest she get lost in them.  “Months ago, I was afraid I was going to lose her.  What if it’s coming true?”

Hikari made to catch up to her sister, but was caught by Allison’s arm.  “Give her some time.  She’s still hurting in many ways and even though you want to help her, rushing to her aid all the time isn’t going to do it, and it can only make it worse.”  Allison gave the ponytailed redhead her most wicked smile and added, “Look, ‘Karu can find us if she needs to – it’s a small mall.  What’s say you and I go see about getting us some tickets for that No Doubt concert coming up next month?  You can get her one and call it a peacemaking gift.”  Hikari nodded her assent and the pair headed off towards the other end of the mall, where the record store was.

Allison and Hikari weren’t the only ones to notice Hikaru’s direction.  Across the way, unseen by the two girls, Dannielle Caldina leaned over the upper deck railing, watching the pigtailed redhead make her way down the mall alone.  “There’s that little shit,” Danni seethed, a murderous look in her eyes.

A pair of girls, both athletically built and giving off the appearance of ladies that no sane individual would want to mess with watched the half-Japanese girl with a critical eye.  Finally, the taller of the pair, a Nordic-looking blonde with short blonde hair looked at Danni and answered in a bored tone, “You think she’s a challenge?  Oh please – if you’re going to pay us to dent someone’s face, at least make it someone worth a challenge.”  She looked at her partner, a black girl with the sleekness and lethality of a panther.  To most people they merely appeared to be cheerleaders at a rival school to Seattle Hills High.  In truth, they were also a pair of highly talented athletes.

“Look, I don’t give a damn about whether you think she’s a challenge or not,” Danni snapped.  “Since that freak came back to school, she’s been getting all the attention, especially since she decked Frankie Lassiter, and–”

The dark girl in the back snapped her head up at that, turning away from her copy of Jane.  “Wait – she’s the one that took down Frankie?”  Danni nodded a terse yes, and that was all the other girl seemed to need.  “Okay, she’s got some payback coming then.  When I got the note from Frankie in Juvie, he told me about that girl, but he didn’t give me too many details.  Now I got a face to place with the threat.”

The blonde looked at her friend.  “She good?”

The other shrugged.  “From what I hear, took down Frankie with one punch.”

“Well, Hikaru’s a kendo expert and her brother’s a martial artist, too–”

The blonde nodded, her arms folded and one hand delicately resting on her chin.  “I thought she looked vaguely familiar.”  Not really looking at anyone, she said, “That’s Lance Shidou’s younger sister, right?  The guy who took second place in last year’s All State Karate Championships?”  The blonde turned and walked away from Danielle, headed on a rough intercept course.  As the other girl fell into step, the blonde said, “Okay, you’ve got our attention.  We’ll bash your little friend for you.  But it’s gonna cost you extra, Danni.  If she’s good enough to deal with Frankie, and her brother’s Olympic class, then I could break a nail on this girl.”  Turning to the black girl she said, “Get the bat out of my car, and meet me over in the bathroom by Macy’s.  I’ll grab her and drag her in there, and we’ll just work her there.”

As the two ladies left, Danni gave herself a self-satisfied smile.  That would teach Shit-dou a lesson, and it would be worth the 300 she paid the two.  Hikaru had to be put in her place, or else she might get popular enough that she might give Danni a run for her money.  Worse, the combination of tough girl and fragile sweetheart that she was putting on was breaking hearts left and right, and even though she was dating that dweeb Eric Aguilar, Dave might shift his attention from where it was supposed to be back to Hikaru, and that was something Danni was not going to stand for.

“Enjoy your next few breaths of freedom, bitch,” Danielle seethed under her breath.  “It’ll be the last few you’re going to have outside of a hospital for a while.”

“Man, I just can’t take you two anywhere, can I?” Lance groaned.  At the moment, he was hanging with Eric and Rick, the three of them deciding to make a quick stop by the mall to hit the sports store before going back to the school, where Eric had baseball practice and Lance wanted to do some laps around the track.  Rick, the typical slacker, decided to tag along just for the hell of it, since it would be less boring than just sitting around on his computer and trying to hack into the Pentagon or something.  Currently the three were debating the benefits of beer and which brand was the best.

“Look, I’m just going to say it once and once only – Guinness is the best beer around,” Rick pontificated with the voice of a preacher addressing his flock.  “The stuff rules, not like that other piss you guys drink.”

“Speak for yourself,” Eric answered.  “I don’t drink.”

“Good, ‘cause then you don’t have to be like the alkie back there,” Lance answered, jabbing his thumb in the direction of Rick.

“Hey, I’m not an alcoholic, I’m a drunk.  Alcoholics are anonymous,” Rick shot back in jest.  “Of course, since you’ve taken one too many punches to the head in your competitions, Lance, then you would know–“  Rick suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking across the way.  “Hey, isn’t that Danni Caldina?  And who are the babettes talkin’ to her?”

“Yeah, that’s her,” Eric verified, taking a look, “but I don’t know who the other girls are.”

“I do,” Lance responded coldly.  “The blonde is Barbie Marrs – she took silver medal in the State Taekwondo championships last year.  The other girl’s Tyrisa Jackson, a walking bad attitude not to mention Frankie Lassiter’s girlfriend and mother of his kid.”  Lance didn’t look very happy.  “Danni’s been on ‘Karu’s case all year, and maybe I’m overreacting, but I don’t like it.”

“Aw c’mon, Lance,” Rick countered.  “Granted, I’d be worried about ‘Karu and ‘Kari, but Danni’s not that stupid!”

“‘Karu told me that she, ‘Kari and Allison were going to be here at the mall,” Eric revealed.  Turning to Lance, he said, “You’re right – maybe we should follow them.  Might be nothing, but I’d rather waste my time than see the girls get hurt.”  As the trio split, with Danni remaining where she was and the girl named Tyrisa heading in the opposite direction, there was something uncomfortable about the way Barbie was moving towards the Macy’s end of the mall – it seemed as though she were stalking someone.  “I think we should follow her,” Eric suggested.

“My thoughts exactly,” Lance agreed.

“Well, what the hey – let’s get going then,” Rick said, resigned to the fact that while his conversation on the superiority of Guinness had been ruined, at least it wasn’t going to be an uneventful afternoon.

As she walked to Barbie’s car, Tyrisa entertained herself with wickedly malicious thoughts of what she would do to the little bitch that got her guy locked up.  Bad enough that Frankie would now be in Juvie until they decided if they were going to try him as an adult for the gun incident, but now he couldn’t see his baby, and that was something that Tyrisa didn’t like.  Admittedly, it wasn’t like they were married or anything (or dating, for that matter), but when he got around to it, Frankie was almost a responsible father for little Shawn.  Now that had been ruined by some stupid redhead who couldn’t mind her own business, and payback, Tyrisa decided with some satisfaction, was a definite bitch.

All it was going to take was one bat.  A few swings to bust a nose, break an arm, maybe do a few more interesting things with the handle, and that should teach the little tramp a few lessons about keeping her opinions to herself.  Satisfied that was going to be the case, Tyrisa headed into the dimly lit parking garage, hoping to get back as soon as possible.  After all, Barbie shouldn’t have all fun, should she?

“No, she shouldn’t,” a voice lilted from behind Tyrisa.  The girl suddenly found herself slammed painfully against one of the support pillars that held the parking garage up.  Someone grabbed her by the back of her head and plowed her face into the pillar three more times, until Tyrisa’s nose burst in a bloody spray.  Deciding it was enough, the stranger dropped her victim to the ground, dazed, bloodied and shocked.

Tyrisa weakly turned to face her attacker and found herself staring at a pair of burning red eyes.  “Be careful of what you do, or else it could be costly,” her attacker said, and with a vicious kick to the face, Tyrisa knew no more. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to sell this sword, Ms. Shidou?” the dealer asked.  “I mean, not even having it appraised, I can tell this thing is ancient and it has to be worth a fortune!  I hope you don’t mind, but I had it appraised for you – no cost – and the expert said it easily dates back to the Oda shogunate.”  The fact that the dealer had the sword independently appraised easily meant that he was seeing grand amounts of cash in front of his eyes, the sort that was available usually only through museums or private collectors.

“I’m sorry, but the sword’s been in my family for generations, and we couldn’t part with it,” Hikaru answered.  The look of complete disappointment on his face made her smile inwardly; it served him right for counting the proverbial pre-hatched chickens.  “So, how much longer will the rewrapping on the handle take?”

“Well, for what you’re asking for, we’re having to import some fabrics from Japan itself; the restorer didn’t have that particular shade of red and gold that was on the original binding.  I would say it would take about a week or two more.”  That caught Hikaru’s attention, as it sounded suspicious, but the vendor clearly caught that and showed her a receipt.  “We have a regular company that we do business with in Kyoto.  Yours, although the oldest I’ve ever seen, isn’t the only ancient katana in the US.  I have a couple of customers down in California too, so….”  He shrugged.  “Anyway, it’ll take a couple more weeks before the package comes in and the swordmaker sits down with your blade.  I would say it would be ready in about a month, tops.”

“Well, if you insist,” Hikaru answered, not entirely happy with the answer, but at least satisfied that she wasn’t blatantly getting ripped off.  “I’ll pop in a couple of weeks then and see if things are going well.  In the meanwhile,” she answered as she held up a small blue pewter dragon that held a crystal shard, “I’ll buy this.”

Barbie patiently waited as Hikaru stepped out of the store, headed in the direction she originally came from.  There was a restroom on the way, and if the blonde moved fast enough, no one would see as she pulled the redhead into the room for some well-deserved comeuppance.  Leaning against the side railing reading a magazine and appearing to wait for someone else as the half-Japanese teen walked by, Barbie casually folded up her mag and slowly began to follow Hikaru.  As the blonde walked, slowly catching up to the shorter girl’s strides, she flexed her hands, moving her arms ever slow slightly and limbering up for a short and blunt conflict.  She almost felt it a shame, as by the time Tyrisa got there, not much would be left of Hikaru Shidou.

As the pair reached the restroom area, there was zero time for Hikaru to react as Barbie dashed up to and pushed her to the right, then the blonde dived in after.  Taking a split second to see if anyone caught her in the act – the least thing she needed to do was to end up before a judge again – she bodyslammed Hikaru through the door and into a nearby stall.  Hikaru’s bags flew to the four winds as Barbie moved quickly, throwing a neck-snapping palm uppercut followed by a deep knee thrust into her victim’s stomach.  As her opponent slumped to the ground, the blonde threw a well-aimed kick to the side of the head, drawing blood from a split lip and a cut on the back of Hikaru’s head as it impacted painfully against metal.

“And you’re supposed to be tough?  Put some action into it, bitch!” Barbie laughed derisively.

From the floor came a bloodied murmur: “Who are you?  And why are you doing this?”

“I’m doing it to get my jollies,” Barbie answered, “and if you don’t put up a fight like you’re supposed to, you’re going to hafta get used to whatever coma I’m gonna put you in!”  As if to punctuate her point, she yanked Hikaru off the ground, grabbed her by the shirt and took a swing straight at the center of Hikaru’s face, firmly intending to dent the redhead’s visage and make it every bit as ugly as the dire grimace on the face of Barbie’s own.

With the ease that seemed to be a minor trifle, Hikaru reached out and caught the oncoming fist, enveloping in her smaller one.  She held the fist and the pressure behind it, even as she was still being held in place by Barbie.  Hikaru leaned her face in to look point-blank at the other girl who had attacked without provocation, and in a tight, horrifically calm voice she said, “I don’t appreciate being hit.”  With that, Hikaru raised her left hand and delivered a high-speed slap that shocked the other girl into letting go.  Dropping to the ground, Hikaru moved back to her feet with the speed of a cat preparing for a nasty alley conflict.

“YOU FUCKING CUNT!” Barbie roared as she leapt towards her opponent, enraged at the humiliation of being bested at something as simple as a punch counter.  Swinging with all her might, she aimed straight for Hikaru’s nose bridge.  She was going to snap the redhead’s head off and take the proverbial dump down her neck.

With little effort, Hikaru moved her head slightly, Barbie’s fist whistling as it cut through the air in the space where it had been only a few seconds beforehand.  As the fist impacted harmlessly against the metal, Hikaru’s eyes changed into burning embers of red.  In a tight, controlled voice, she vowed, “You’re going to regret that.”  Running on instinct, she raised her hands towards her opponent and screamed, “AKAI INAZUMA!”

By the time the trio had noticed what was going on, it was too late.  To the shock of the guys, Hikaru was shoved into the restroom area.  Crying out her name, Lance and Eric raced at full speed towards the site, Rick not too far behind.  If they were lucky they’d be able to prevent what was about to happen to her.  If they weren’t lucky….

But of course as the old saying went, they needn’t have worried.  Flung out into the mall as though she were nothing more than a rag doll, the boys caught the look on the face of Barbie as she began to realize that she was challenging something a lot more than her average situation.  The confirmation came a second later as Hikaru, eyes blazing with fury and blood staining her shirt, didn’t even give the taller girl a chance to recover.  Hikaru belted a fierce right cross along the face of Barbie, pounding the girl against the metal railing.  The redhead turned and slammed the girl viciously against the wall while roaring incomprehensibly.

“HIKARU!!!!!!!!!” Lance cried, seeing the blood on her shirt and fearing for the worst.  Eric blanched at both the sight of the girl he loved being injured as well as her ferocity; the martial arts had taught him uncommon calm and watching Hikaru now was like seeing a raging volcano on full volume.  As for Rick, noticing Hikaru’s injuries flashed into his mind that Allison and Hikari were also here–and if Hikaru was the sole of the three who could fight, what happened to the other two?

Meanwhile, distracted by the call of her name, she turned and left herself open.  Grinning fiercely, Barbie reached behind her, not willing to put up with such a vicious insult that had just been delivered upon her.  A blur of silver jutted out towards the smaller girl, with little time to react towards the sliver of metal.  Hikaru had just a pulse of a heartbeat to react, and in that eternal span of an instant, she felt no qualms about succumbing to violent tendencies.

“LOOK OUT!!!!” two men screamed at once, while their minds synchronized in thought as well: Ohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigodohmigod….

A splash of bright red splattered to the floor, and a female’s scream pierced the air, for all in the mall to hear.

From not too far away, Allison and Hikari jerked their heads, hearing the bellow of pain.  Fear flashed in Hikari’s eyes, her instincts somehow attuning to her sister’s situation.  Dropping everything, she blindly raced out of the record store, headed in the direction where crowds were gathering and mall security was already headed towards, fearing the worst.

From where she could see, Hikaru let go of Barbie’s broken wrist, watching the bloodstained knife fall to the floor.  Turning with slight pain, she woozily saw the terrified look on Eric and Lance’s faces, could feel the strong arms of her brother propping her up.  Both guys were saying something, but she couldn’t make sense of it through the serenade of buzzing that welled up from just beyond.  Her vision glazing, she looked towards the ceiling and the darkness that seemed to float in front of her eyes…

…Holding onto a glowing white pole in the darkness, dressed in a simple white cloth, Umi looked down at Hikaru, her face kind and loving.  “We’re waiting for you, Hikaru,” Umi said, motioning her head towards the ebon ether just beyond her.  “Fuu and I are waiting just beyond the sky.”

…Hikaru reached out and whispered, “I’m coming, Umi.  Wait for me,” then blanked out, never hearing the anguished cry that Lance uttered as he held his sister, fearing the worst.

“No, I have no idea what occurred,” Hikari said for the hundredth time to the questioning police officer.  At the moment, she was sitting beside a nerve-frayed Lance, with Rick not too far from his girlfriend.  “Allison and I were at Sam Goody’s when it happened, she can verify.”

The officer, a plainclothes detective, scribbled a few more notes onto a small pad, then looked at Hikari balefully.  “Ms. Shidou, your friend already vouches for your presence as well as several other people in the store, the employees, and the security cameras.  And I am not trying to make you confess to something you’re guilty of, we already know you’re innocent and we have enough witnesses who vouch that your sister was attacked initially and defended herself.  What I want to know is with the story of the girl’s friend, who was beaten viciously by a suspect who the victim claims matches your and your sister’s features.”  He fumbled back a couple of pages, then added, “Specifically, because of your hairstyle, you’re more of a match then your sister, but the attack occurred at a time when both of you were nowhere near the incident.”

Hikari looked puzzled.  She was already feeling overwrought, partially from guilt that she hadn’t been there for Hikaru when she’d been attacked, and partially ashamed for arguing with her earlier in the day.  There was so much that the younger redhead wanted to take back, but the situation was already played out and all she could deal with were the aftereffects.  “I don’t know.  Like you said, the only ones who fit that description are me and Hikaru.” 

More strikes of the pen against the paper, followed with, “Okay, I think I have enough information.  Thank you for your time, Ms. Shidou, Mr. Shidou, and please give your sister my regards.”

“We’ll be sure to do that,” Lance breathed as the officer walked away, escorted to the door by Rick.  As he left, he directed his attention towards his younger sister.  “Hey, you okay?”

“No, no I’m not.” Hikari was torn, unsure if she should be by Hikaru’s side or stay with Lance for comfort.  Finally she decided to gravitate towards her brother, feeling in definite need of some comforting herself.  “I’m so ashamed of myself, Lance–I should have been there for her!  Instead, I pissed her off, made her storm off on her own alone and she got hurt!”  Tears welled in Hikari’s eyes, making her sienna brown eyes appear more red than usual.  “She got stabbed, and it’s all my fault!”

Lance held his sister, giving Rick a helpless look as he returned.  Rick took a look at the pair and nodded solemnly before moving towards the kitchen; though he was a close friend, he knew that this was a family moment that his presence wouldn’t be needed.  Mildly thankful for his friend’s foresight, Lance paused for thought then spoke with words of great weight and deliberation.  “It’s not your fault any more than it is Allison’s.  Neither of you could have known that someone meant to attack ‘Karu.  Hey, we don’t even know why, much less the cops–and they don’t believe that Danni Caldina had something to do with it, so that’s a wax.  But the important thing to remember was that it wasn’t your fault, and in many ways, not being there made it easier for her.”

“Huh?”  Expression changed in an instant from sober to puzzled once more.  “I don’t understand.”

“Well, if you two were there she would have had to protect you.  That would have left her at a disadvantage.”  Lance did his best to try to cheer Hikari up; it would be a preliminary for what he had to do with both Allison, who was also distraught; and his parents, both of whom he’d have to call tonight and explain.  Inwardly, he winced at that thought.

Why is this happening all to ‘Karu?  She hasn’t been the same since her accident.  Lance brushed that thought away; now was not the time for worrying about Hikaru…or at least about that issue.  Gently, he spoke to Hikari, trying to figure what his parents would do in this situation.  “’Kari, maybe you should keep ‘Karu company upstairs.  She should be waking up soon, and the doctor said that we should keep a regular eye on her.”  Hikari nodded and said nothing, merely letting go of Lance and heading upstairs.

As that occurred, the phone rang in the distance; Rick answered it.  Coming back into the living room, he held the handset up mentioning, “Hey, it’s your Aunt Rachel.  She says she’s on the way back from the hospital with a few more things for ‘Karu, and that she and your uncle want to know what happened.  They’ll be here in five minutes.”

Lance brushed the hair out of his eyes; his aunt was not happy to have Hikaru back in her hospital for the second time this year, and their uncle was going to be equally less than amused about the whole situation.  Then again, I guess maybe having Aunt Rachel or Uncle Tom tell Mom and Dad will be easier than me.  Maybe they’ll feel better.  I dunno.  Lance took the phone from Rick and asked him to call Allison on the other line to see how things were going on that end; she’d taken Emily to the movies while the police were here in order to prevent exposure of the youngest Shidou to unneeded chaos.  “Yeah, ‘Karu’s okay,” he said into the phone.  “I’d appreciate it if you called Mom and Dad and told them – I’m not sure how they’d react if I told them….”

It was finally about ten in the evening when Hikaru woke up with a groan.  The first thing she felt was unnaturally tired and sore, especially around her chest.  Reaching for the nightlight, she turned it on, planning to get up.

“No, don’t move.”  Hikari’s voice filled the air, and in the dim darkness, Hikaru could see Hikari leaping out of her bed towards, her face worried and stained from tears.  “The doctor says you have to be careful while moving for the next few days until the stitches heal.”

“Stitches?”  Images and sounds flashed in Hikaru’s head for a couple of seconds, but a hammering headache crowded them out almost instantaneously.  “Ow…headache….”

“I’m glad that’s all you’ve got right now, instead of being in Intensive Care,” Hikari added gently, sitting on Hikaru’s bed and setting her sister back down.  “That fight you got into almost got you killed, ‘Karu!  What did you do to that girl to piss her off?”

The fight….  The battle with the stranger came back with violent clarity, enough to make the pigtailed girl wince.  “She a-attacked me – I didn’t even know who she was, and she attacked me!”

“Oh, ‘Karu, I’m so sorry, both me and Allison.  If I had known that was going to happen, I wouldn’t have pissed you off and made you walk to the store alone and–“

“No, it’s okay, really.  I’m glad you weren’t there.  If you had, she might’ve attacked you, and then I’d be the one worrying.”  Hikaru reached over and gently, despite her pain, took Hikari’s hand in her own.  “I’m not mad, ‘Kari, nor was I about earlier.  I know you didn’t mean it.”  Hikaru added, “But if you feel you have to make it up to me, you can start by getting me a glass of water.  I’m parched.”

“More than happy to.  You just rest yourself and I’ll be right back.”  Happy that Hikaru was okay, Hikari rushed to the kitchen to get her sister a glass of water.  Rushing down the stairs, she passed the antique mirror on the way, thinking out loud, “I’m glad she’s okay.  Wonder if she wants a piece of fruit, too; she didn’t have dinner, and–“

The hairs on the back of her head rose, and something made Hikari stare into the mirror.  For the most part everything was normal in the nocturnal confines of the house, except for one thing.  That one thing was the woman dressed in the black body armor at the top of the stairs, merely leaning against the railing as if it were the most natural thing in the world.  The truly creepy part was that as she looked at Hikari, she had the same face as both Shidou twins, framed by slightly lighter hair and elfin ears.

Nova?  Hikari spun around to face the apparition, but when she turned around nothing was there.  Staring for a few seconds at the space where the figure had been, then shook her head in confusion.  I must be getting too frazzled.  For a moment there, I could have sworn I saw…. 

The enigma remained in Hikari Shidou’s head as she returned with the water and fruit for her sister, and even into a night of a fitful, restless sleep.

Author’s Notes:

A caravan went by one day
Onwards towards old Mandalay.
Placed in simple rows of two,
Leaving grand old Timbuktu.

Research Notes:

Demanes Syndrome does exist, but not by that name.  There is a psychological condition that meets the Demanes description, but I do not know the clinical name for it, and at the advice of a fellow researcher, I have omitted the “common name” for the malady.  The “Demanes event” listed above matches a known occurrence of the situation during the mid-80s.  Statistically, it is more likely to occur between female identical twins rather than male, though the latter does occur.