She was practically new around Ena, only arriving a moment after Hoono's death. Kawabe Hinata was invited to be trained to be a well-mannered country side girl by Hoono Fujiwara. But after hearing his death, she quickly changed and looked for her training to his brother, Hibiki Fujiwara.
When carrying the black kimono to Noelle, Hinata was greeted by everyone's smiles, welcoming her to the house. She was happy.
Then when she saw Hibiki wearing the black kimono that she prepared for him, she couldn't be more excited in her life.
"⸺⸺How is your black kimono?"
"It's warm. Thank you⸺⸺"
"Do you think...?" The girl shook in fear. Fear of the future.
"It's a vision?" Her hands covered her face as she closed both of her eyes.
"I really want to believe that… That it was all just…" A warm embrace wrapper around her. The flow of water from her eyes began to rage.
"⸺⸺A dream"
"⸺⸺!!"
Her back quickly straighten and her eyes was forcefully opened to escape the nightmare.
"W-what was that…?"
She was in her bedroom, sleeping after a long day of work. And now wake in the middle of the night, in darkness.
She has had weird dreams before, such as talking to a giant queen, watching a cube lifting up an island, and an out of this world king invading the world with his ice army. But this one, the one she just had, felt too real.
She felt her hot face as she cried out her worries. She felt her hands touching her face. And she felt a warm, caring, and lovable embrace from another. She felt all of that while being unconscious, deep in her slumber.
"..."
She walked out of her room, her head entering the hallway. It was dark, no one was awake.
She grabbed her geta, placing them slowly on the floor not to make a loud sound, and then she walked towards the front garden.
When she first arrived, she found the front garden of the house to be one of her most favorite places. The sound of the water fountain was calming and a small bell would chime every time a breeze hit.
After having the weird nightmare, she wanted to take her mind to a calm place. And the front garden was the place.
When she arrived on the terrace of the house, she sat down and took of her geta. Stepping on the rocks bare foot, she felt the cold and it made her mind calmer.
"Haaa…"
Below the moon light, a girl was hopping from rock to rock and slightly dancing her arms. While being watched by a gray kimono, who was leaning against a wall.
"…"
"⸺Hey!"
"Eep!!"
Surprised, Hinata stumbled and fell on the ground.
"Ow…"
"…"
The girl stood in front of the fallen Hinata, her face flat; without any emotions.
"What are you doing?"
"Ughh… Nothing"
"You're lying…"
"Well you saw me doing something! Why ask then?"
"…"
"…"
"Did you get a nightmare? 'Cause I heard a small girl gasping five minutes ago."
"…"
"So?"
"Yeah yeah… I did get a nightmare"
"And you're here to…?"
"To calm myself"
"It's the middle of the night and it's cold, you should go back inside."
Hinata then sighed, her head looking at the ground.
"Alright…"
Picking herself back up, she dusted off the sand and dirt that got on her nigh gown. She passed the girl in the gray kimono without looking at her.
While putting her geta back on her feet, she looked at the girl, now standing in front of the fish pond, not paying attention to anything else.
"…"
Hinata didn't want to get into more trouble, so the reasonable thing to do was to go back and continue to sleep, and possibly start the nightmare once more⸺⸺
"⸺⸺Hey!"
Hinata shouted.
"…?"
The girl in the gray kimono turned towards Hinata, tilting her head after that.
"Can you stay with me for the night?"
"…" The girl then stood up, walking up to Hinata and stopping in front of her. "Are you afraid that you will get the same nightmare again?"
"Y-yeah…"
"Ha… Sure"
"Yey! Thank you"
"2015. 05. 26"
The world around him slowly started to come to reality as his eyes open. And it was the day after Hoono's death.
The first thing that flew into Hibiki's mind was the feeling of having one of his best sleeps in a long time. Even though he was sleeping on the floor, it was one hell of a floor because it was the floor that gave him the best sleep of his life in a long time.
In the Fujiwara House, the furniture was kept to be traditional Japanese style with a sprinkle from the west.
"Good morning, sir"
As a good assistant should be, Noelle had already prepared morning tea and Hibiki's clothes.
"What did you do to my clothes?"
"They were dirty⸺ too dirty, in fact. No kimonos here wanted to clean it and the obvious thing to do was to throw it out"
"…"
"And also, sir. I already sorted your items in the closet. The dirty clothes are still being cleaned but there were some that were still untouched and is still inside their plastic."
"That's probably a gift from…"
"From who?"
"…"
"You have caught my attention, sir."
"Shit…"
It wasn't a pleasant memory for Hibiki. Not after what he did to her and what came after it.
"It's nothing… Come on! Breakfast is ready, right?"
"Yes, it is ready"
Hibiki got up from the floor and put on his new clothes as Noelle watched him from behind.
After he finished dressing up for the day, Noelle opened the door of his room, letting Hibiki out first.
The servants of the Fujiwara House were already moving and working, busy with their tasks. The red kimonos were cleaning the corridor, rooms, and the garden. Not leaving a single corner untouched. From the balcony of the third floor, Hibiki could see the aquamarine kimonos were already working in the rice fields. Hibiki saw a white kimono running through the hallway carrying a basket filled with vegetables.
This was a regular morning for the Fujiwara House.
Usually, after waking up, the head of the family would check how everyone was doing. But because Hibiki was new to this role, he had someone to assist him. And that is a gray kimono's job; to assist the Fujiwaras.
"Sir, there are some things that I need to ask you before starting this day"
"What is it?"
"⸺⸺⸺"
"…"
"2000. 11. 20"-04:25 A.M-
⸺⸺A word from our sponsors||
The television was on.
The windows were opened.
And the door was locked.
The apartment had an awful smell, and it was so strong that it made the neighbor below and next door complained about it.
The manager was called to ask the man who lived with his ⸺⸺⸺ what had happened. But when he turned the handle of the door, he realized that it was locked. He grabbed the back-up keys of the room but he couldn't find it in his office.
Weird.
Maybe he left it in his room?
No.
The keys of every apartment room was in a big ring that could hold fifty keys and he has never took any of them from the ring, always carrying them if a person forgot their keys.
He walked back to his office to check surveillance. Fortunately there was a camera on top of the front door that looked down to his office door.
"⸺⸺!?"
It was November 19th, 2000. At 11:11 P.M.
⸺⸺⸺⸺A man.
※
Fujiwara Hibiki was walking through the streets of Shinjiku, where many people would eat and buy souvenirs.
His eyes were tired, nearly bloodshot read for staying up all night.
And in his arms was a baby.
⸺⸺An illegitimate child.
A dream.
"⸺⸺A dead woman has been found inside of a room in an apartment near Shinjuku train station. The manager of the apartment found footage of the man in suspect. He's presumed to be 182 centimeters tall and has long hair. Here are the pictures from the cctv that the manager has shared with us. If you happen to see this individual, quickly call the local police and they will take care of everything from there"
A nightmare.
"It has been 2 days and there are still no signs of the suspect. The woman ⸺ Shimuzu Ayane ⸺ was found dead inside of her own apartment room. It was unclear if it was suicide or murder but we have a suspect that is associated with Shimuzu Ayane's death. A tall⸺⸺"
It continued.
Never stopping.
"⸺⸺I don't know what you did to my daughter. I don't know what you two have been doing behind doors. But please speak up⸺⸺"
No. It's no dream.
The fact that he was now alone, and homeless, was already clear. He has been wasting his life and made him what he was now. He had no one to go to, even his own family.
But a sliver of light might become a miracle. But not for him.
⸺⸺But for the child he was carrying.
※
He could hear people chatting and having a fun time. The majority of the voices on the other side of the gate were females.
\Knock! Knock!/
"?"
A red kimono heard the knocks and decided to check it.
Opening the gate, she left the front garden and walked into the front road. Her head looked towards her right and then her left, she couldn't see anything that could make the sound.
Before she could head back inside, a thud from below suddenly made her ear rang.
It was a small cradle that looked like a box with a soft blanket inside it⸺⸺
"?!"
⸺⸺But it was something else inside that made the kimono gasped.
※
Inside of the house's office, Hibiki was sitting beside Noelle.
"So where is this child now?"
"Hoono left her somewhere in Fujisawa when he was doing a business meeting. His reason was that he couldn't take care of that child and it was disgusting to him…"
"…"
"Honestly…" Remembering that past, where he was sleeping in a dark, murky alley way trying to keep the newborn Sara warm and alive. "I thought that it would be better that the child would die quietly because I had nothing."
"…"
"Knowing what Hoono had done to her, she would probably not survive alone in Fujisawa"
※
"2016. 4. 19"
The construction of the second building of the Fujiwara house was nearly complete. Hibiki couldn't hold his excitement because this was a step to a better future for him and the family.
The front gate opened and out comes a woman wearing a beautiful white dress. Carrying a small basket in her hand, she lifted her head and looked at her hard working master.
"Master Hibiki"
Noelle called her Master with a soft voice.
"What is it, Noelle?"
Hibiki turned towards Noelle, who was behind him. Noelle grabbed a book from her small basket.
When she was visiting the market, her eyes were caught by a book near the window of the market. And she thought it might be something her master would want to read.
"You should see this"
Noelle handed the book to Hibiki.
"Hm? Kamisato Shouta's Dream?"
"I do not know what is inside the book… But you should read the author's name"
"…The author's name?" Hibiki eyes widened as it read the kanji of the author's name.