FOOTSTEPS LEADING NOWHERE CH 1
**I have decided that Destine and Mousse would take on the last name of Hibiki considering Mousse has no last name. **
^^^=Flashback / "Japanese" / ' Thought ' / :Chinese: / {English} / [written]
*TEN YEARS AFTER HIDDEN WEAPONS UNITED*
"That's great Megumi. You're doing splendidly.” Destine smiled at her daughter and watched Megumi go over her exercises. "Now try using one of your chains and wrapping it around my wrist."
Megumi nodded and extended her arm towards Destine. A thin chain with a ball on the end shot from her sleeve and hit Destine on the arm. Megumi frowned and signed that she was sorry for not getting the move right.
"It's all right, you're still just learning. Try again and then we can go have lunch.” Destine smiled as she watched Megumi draw her arm back to get the chain to return. 'She has a long way to go, but still she is doing better than most students twice her age. I just wish she didn't need to learn this art.' She held out her arm and smiled. "Ready?” Megumi nodded and tried again. This time the chain came sailing through the air and wrapped neatly around Destine's wrist. "Very good Megumi.” She undid the chain and walked over to her daughter. "You did wonderfully today in practice."
Megumi smiled and signed that she was happy. Destine smiled but inside she sighed. 'Why did it have to happen to you Megumi?’ Her mind went back to the day after Megumi was born.
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Destine lay in the hospital bed sleeping quietly. A nurse came in carrying Megumi in her arms. "Mrs. Hibiki? Would you like to hold your daughter?"
Destine yawned and sat up. She was still groggy from the medicine the nurses had given her to numb the pain the night before. "I would love to.” Slipping on her glasses she held out her arms to accept her child.
The nurse handed the child to Destine and stood back. "This is the quietest baby I have ever dealt with. I haven't heard her cry once. What do you plan on naming her?"
Destine smiled and held her child close. "Mousse and I are going to call her Megumi.” She stroked Megumi's soft black hair and sang quietly.
Suddenly Dr. Li burst into the room holding a long sheet of paper. "Mekana! I must talk to you at once.” He dismissed the nurse and shut the door. "I know this probably isn't the best time to tell you, but the sooner the better. It's about your child. I got the test results back and, I hate to tell you this, but we think she will be unable to speak her entire life. I can't see how this could be except for a faulty gene."
Destine looked down at her daughter. "Megumi, unable to speak?” She closed her eyes to hold back the tears that were forming. "Why her?"
Dr. Li sat down on the bed next to Destine and patted her shoulder. "Now Mekana, I'm sorry for having to tell you the bad news, but you would have found out at one time or another. Maybe she will grow up and be the best speaker in the world.” He smiled and kissed Destine on the forehead. "Don't worry about it right now. Just be happy that she has come into your life. I must complete my rounds, but I will come back to visit when I get off work. Remember that I love you Little Mekana.” He stood up and walked from the room.
'Unable to speak?’ Destine looked down at Megumi and began to cry silently. 'No, not my daughter. Why must she live with a curse?'
Mousse walked into the room holding a large vase of flowers. "Cologne has sent you some flowers Des-chan, she sends her blessings and hopes to be able to come and see Megumi soon.” He set them down on the table and put on his glasses. "What's wrong?” Walking over he sat down next to Destine and took her in his arms.
"Dr. Li just came back with the test results. Megumi may never be able to speak her entire life. He can't figure out why it's happened except for the chance of a faulty gene. He says that's probably why Megumi hasn't cried once yet. Her mouth moves as if she's crying but no sound comes out.” Destine rested her head against Mousse's shoulder and held Megumi close to her chest. "It can't be true."
Mousse sighed and leaned Destine back against the pillows. "You're still really tired Des-chan. Try not to think about it right now. Maybe you should get some more sleep.” He picked up Megumi and held her in his arms. "We'll be right here the entire time. Just get some sleep."
Destine nodded and fell into a fitful slumber.
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Destine took Megumi's hand and walked back into the house. "What do you want for lunch today?"
Megumi smiled and signed. "Rice and Mommy's ramen."
Destine laughed and pulled two pots from the cupboard. "Very well, rice and Mommy's ramen it is.” She pulled up a stool next to the stove so Megumi could watch. "You can sit up here and watch me if you want."
Megumi climbed up on the stool and leaned on the counter. "What you make first?"
"Well since rice takes the longest to cook, I'm going to get the rice set up and then after a while I will start the ramen. Do you know the first step to fixing rice?"
Mousse stepped up behind Megumi and smiled. He took her hand and raised it in the air. "She knows! She knows!"
Destine laughed and watched Megumi laugh as well. Though Megumi had no voice, she would mimic the motions so it would look as if she were laughing. "Very well then, what is the first step?"
Megumi smiled. "You have to grow it first."
Mousse smiled and hugged Megumi. "My aren't we silly? So how's my little girl today?"
"I'm fine. I messed up some during training though.” Megumi sighed and tapped her arms. "I couldn't get the chains to do what I wanted."
"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. When I was your age all I could do was throw things. I didn't learn the chains until I was thirteen. And your mother didn't learn until she was ten. Remember you're only eight Megumi, we don't expect you to be perfect.” Mousse smiled and patted Megumi's cheek. "By the way, Uncle Ryoga's coming over tomorrow."
"If he doesn't get lost.” Destine washed the rice and set it in the pot. "When did he leave?"
Mousse picked up Megumi and spun her around. "He left last week, that’s why I said he was going to show up today. He’s usually about a week late. He said he was also bringing Lipstick with him."
"Well good thing we have that extra bedroom. Megumi, will you help your father get the room ready for company?” Destine poured some water in the pot and set a lid on top. "The bed clothing should be in the closet."
Megumi nodded. "Do I have a cousin?"
"I don't know Megumi. Maybe.” Destine turned around and hugged her daughter. "You'd better hurry if you want to help your father. He's already left."
Megumi grinned and ran down the hall. On her way to the bedroom she ran past Tide. "Hi Tide!"
Tide smiled and walked into the kitchen. "You have a wonderful and very promising daughter their Destine. She's going to make you very proud."
Destine smiled and sat down on one of the stools in the kitchen. "She's moving along faster then I did. It's rather startling. I still can't believe the school requested to put her on home study. They told me that they weren't going to pay for an interpreter unless there were more students who needed one or unless Megumi was deaf. I even offered to work for them but they turned me down.” Destine shook her head and sighed. "It's a good thing I was able to start up a business here instead of having to go into town to work. Now I can teach her and still get my job done."
Tide nodded. "You make a very good point there. While you were home schooled for your safety, Megumi is home schooled because of prejudice and penny pinchers."
Destine smiled and started cooking the ramen. "I know, but I just can't understand it.” There was a knock at the door. Destine looked over at Tide. "I'm going to get the door, could you start the ramen broth in a bit?” She untied her apron and set it on the counter. 'They couldn't be here already.’ Opening the door she smiled. "Brother, Lipstick, you guys are here earlier than we expected."
Ryoga stepped inside and hugged Destine. "It's good to see you again sis. Sorry for not stopping by until now."
"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you guys didn't get lost."
“Oh we did, I just ended up finding a short cut.” Ryoga grinned.
Megumi stepped up beside Destine and looked up at Ryoga. "Uncle Ryoga!” She ran forward and hugged him.
"Hey there Megumi, my you're tall.” Ryoga picked her up and spun her. "How's my little niece doing?"
"I'm doing fine. Do I have a cousin?"
Destine turned bright red and put her hand behind her head. "Umm, Megumi, that is not the type of question you should be asking right now."
Lipstick looked over Ryoga’s shoulder. “What did she ask?”
“She asked if she had a cousin.” Destine laughed slightly and smiled. “You can come inside Lipstick. I promise you it’s safe.”
"Hey Lipstick, what's new?” Mousse walked up next to Destine and rested his hand on her shoulder.
Lipstick smiled and stepped inside. "We've been married for five years now. Shampoo got married three months after you left, and Gel is now the proud mother of twins. She got married last winter. So yes, you do have a cousin Megumi, two of them.” She hugged Destine. "Why didn't you come to visit?"
Destine sighed. “To make a long story short, we got married nine years ago. Then nine months later, I gave birth to Megumi, and now we spend most of our time teaching her and working. Mousse runs a breakfast cafe in town and I started up a business selling my metal creations. I also learned to forge weapons.” She smiled at Megumi. “I made all of the weapons that Megumi uses. She began to learn hidden weapons at the age of seven and is already getting close to learning the expert techniques.”
“But I still can’t get the chains right.” Megumi sighed.
Mousse smiled and kissed his daughter on the cheek. “You’ll figure it out soon. Just keep practicing.” He turned to Ryoga. “So when did you decide to let your hair grow out?”
“Last year. The barber in the village is dangerous!” Ryoga laughed. “I kept thinking I would come out of there every time a few inches shorter. I finally told myself it wasn't worth it.”
Destine smiled and looked at her brother. His hair was shoulder length and pulled back in a pigtail. His skin had tanned slightly and he seemed to be more muscular than the last time she had seen him. He still wore his yellow bandanna and attached to his backpack was his iron/bamboo umbrella. “How about we go into the living room instead of standing in the entry?”
Ryoga and Lipstick nodded and set down their backpacks. Slipping off their shoes they followed after Destine and Mousse into the living room. “Does Tide still live here Destine?” Ryoga looked around and smiled. “Hasn’t changed much.”
Mousse sat down and laughed. “Tide still lives here. The only things that have changed are the bedrooms. We remodeled Destine’s room to make it into our bedroom and made the other one into a guest room. Usually it’s where Destine gives Megumi her school lessons, unless she’s working in the shop. We also built a room next to ours for Megumi. Word of warning, we do have a rather interesting pet.” Megumi jumped from his lap and ran from the room. “Cologne gave it to Megumi as a present. She spoils her sometimes.”
Megumi came back into the room carrying a ferret on her shoulder. “This is my pet Ryoku. She’s a ferret.” Ryoku looked over at Ryoga and chittered. “Now Ryoku," Megumi reached up and patted Ryoku on the head.
Destine smiled and stood up. “I’m going to go check on lunch. Megumi, why don’t you put Ryoku back and let her sleep? You know she’s a night creature.”
Megumi nodded and trotted back to her room. Ryoga stood up and followed after Destine. “Does she read lips?”
Destine walked over to the stove and lifted the lids to the pots. She added the noodles to the ramen and stirred the rice. Replacing the lids she turned to Ryoga and sighed. “No she can hear just fine. She just can’t talk. No one can figure out why it happened. I taught her sign language so she could communicate. She learned much faster than expected. I’m home schooling her mainly because of the fact that the school would not hire an interpreter for Megumi. They said that unless she was deaf she didn’t need one.”
“Well who needs to go to a school like that? Megumi has two wonderful parents who love her.” Ryoga smiled. “You and Mousse haven’t changed a whole lot.”
Destine looked down at what she was wearing. She had on a blue sleeveless shirt, her blue bandanna, and black pants. Because of Megumi's lessons she had decided to not wear her robe. Her hair was just below shoulder length and she almost always had it tied up in a ponytail. Because of her job she was wearing her contacts every day. Looking back at Ryoga she noticed that she was the same height as he was. “Oh I may not have changed too much but Mousse has changed a whole heck of a lot. He now wears contacts almost all the time, which made me happy. Now I don’t have to worry about him leaving his glasses somewhere. As I said before, he runs a breakfast cafe known as The Bamboo Rose. He is also training a young boy named Akito.”
Tide walked in through the back door and bowed to Ryoga. “Good to see you again my boy.”
“And it is good to see you again too.” Ryoga bowed back and smiled. “I hope you are doing well.”
“I am doing just fine my boy. How’s life in the Amazon village?”
Destine snickered. At Ryoga’s glare she grinned. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself. I’m going out to the shop. I’m experimenting with glass blowing techniques.” She slipped on her shoes and stepped outside. The air was colder than usual for the middle of summer. Destine looked up into the sky and sniffed the air. ‘It’s going to rain later on.’ Shrugging she walked over to the shop and opened the doors. Hanging up the open sign she set up her equipment and got out her glass rods. ‘What should I try making today?’ She lit her torch and set it so she could use both hands freely.
Megumi stepped quietly into the shop and sat down next to Destine. “What are you making?”
Destine smiled and set down her equipment. “What do you think I should try making today? I can’t come up with any ideas.”
“Make a dog.” Megumi wrinkled her nose and smiled. “One of the ones who look like this.”
Destine laughed. “You mean a pug. I can try.” She slipped on a pair of tinted glasses, picked up the glass rods and began to form the body.
Megumi tapped Destine on the shoulder and waited for her mother to face her. “Mom, there’s someone here.” She pointed to the storefront where there was a man standing looking at the different weapons Destine had on display.
Destine removed her glasses and looked over to the shop front. “May I help you sir?” She turned off the torch and walked over to the man. “Or are you just browsing?”
“Actually I came here looking for someone. Are you Mekana Hibiki?” The man removed his sunglasses and stared at Destine.
“I am she. Who’s looking for her?”
“My name is Zashu Koto. I am with the police.” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge. “I need to talk to you.”
Megumi ran up to Destine and wrapped her arms around her mother. Destine looked down and rested a comforting arm on Megumi’s shoulder. “Go back inside Megumi. I’ll be in soon.” Megumi gave the man a questioning look and ran back to the house.
“Is that your daughter?” Zashu smiled.
“Yes. Now what is it that you needed to talk to me about?” Destine looked Zashu in the eyes.
“It’s about the men Yosho and Yoshi. We believe that they are going to try to attack you. One of their prison mates overheard a conversation on how they were going to get their revenge for you sending them to prison. I need to know what happened.”
Destine sighed and walked back over to her workbench. “You can have a seat if you like sir.” She moved some boxes off of the stool across from her. She sat down and relit her torch. Picking up the glass rods she related to him what had happened ten years ago that ended up in Yosho and Yoshi, along with the entire Yokohama dojo, being sent to jail. The entire time she was explaining, she continued to form the dog figurine. She looked up at Zashu. “I wouldn’t be too worried about it sir. If something does happen I will be sure to call you guys. Though I must say that I’m surprised their sentence is up already.”
Zashu put on his sunglasses to block out some of the light from the torch. “If that’s the way you feel about this miss, then I will respect your wishes. But I really think that we should have someone keep watch on this place just to be safe.”
“Oh please, right now in my house there are two people from a Chinese Amazon tribe, my brother who is a martial arts master, and my sensei who is a master of hidden weapons. Plus there’s me. I am trained in armed as well as unarmed combat and there is a security system on this house. I know the moment someone steps on my property when it’s on. I turned it off today because I’ve been working outside for most of the day and therefore was able to see the entire yard. Though if you think it's the safest thing to do," Destine finished the head on the dog and lifted the glass from the flame. “What color do you think it should be?”
“Umm, brown and white.” Zashu shrugged.
The phone rang and Destine reached over to answer it. “The Blue Dragon Metal Shop how may I help you...Oh, calling to tell me lunch is ready? I’ll be up in a sec.” Destine hung up the phone and turned off the torch. “I’ve got to go. I’ll see you later maybe.” She cleaned her hands on a rag and shook Zashu’s hand. “Pleasure meeting you sir. Drop by anytime during the day.” Smiling she flicked her wrist and a business card appeared in her hand. “If you have any other questions or concerns you can reach me at both of these numbers.” She led Zashu out of the shop and closed the doors. She took down the open sign and walked up to the house. ‘Looks like I’m going to have to be on my guard for a while.’