Agent Gray, Red with Love

Koroko

Koroko Sugiyama was at a birthday party in her home city of Okinawa when her Aunt Hayashi had visited unexpectedly to pick her up, rather than her parents.

"Aunt Hayashi!" She squealed, bounding out of her friend's home. She went to hug her aunt, expecting a pat on the shoulder or a brief hair ruffle. Aunt Hayashi wasn't known for showing much PDA. However, this time her aunt bent down and not only hugged her back, but hugged her back tightly as if she were afraid of letting go.

"Hello, Koroko," she said softly, pulling away hesitantly. "Come to the car."

"I didn't know you were picking me up! She said as she skipped next to her aunt.

Looking grim, Aunt Hayashi responded, "It was all very sudden, I'll give you that."

"Where's mom and dad?" Koroko asked.

Aunt Hayashi contemplated this, as if scared to answer. Finally she said, "The hospital, Koroko."

The young girl paled, at first not believing she had heard her right.

"W-what?" She stuttered.

"A train explosion. They were in a train explosion," Hayashi told her, clearly not in the mood to elaborate further. That or she didn't have all the information yet. "Now get in the car, we're going to visit them."

She numbly stumbled into Aunt Hayashi's black Toyota Lexus, not fully having digested what was just said to her. Was her mom and dad alright? How'd the explosion happen? What was going to happen now? Could Aunt Hayashi drive in her grief?

Koroko usually enjoyed getting to ride in the backseat of her Aunt's car. For one thing, there was a screen at the front which sometime played "TV" of super spies conversing their plans for keeping the world safe. For another, the sleek black leather seats had cool buttons on them, such as one that made a small box of jelly beans appear, one that played music, one that made the seat turn into a bed... And one that she was forbidden to press that said "EJECT" in Japanese and English. She always wondered what that one did. There were other cool things about Aunt Hayashi's car too, but she had no time to think about it at the moment. She had bigger things on her mind.

|Two Weeks Later|

The rain pounded her umbrella as the tears streamed down her pale face. Koroko couldn't be any older than eight. She watched as her parent's coffins were lowered into the soft soil of a graveyard in Okinawa.

She hadn't gotten to say goodbye, hadn't gotten a last hug, and maybe she'd even forgotten to say "I Love You" to her mom as she was dropped off from the car, excited for the birthday.

Her dad worked long hours, so she didn't see him much in the morning. But later that day he was meant to cook her favorite dinner, tuck her into bed and sing their special lullaby as she drifted to sleep.

It was a long lullaby, so she didn't remember all the words. Yet she felt could faintly hear the tune, echoing in the wind. Ever so quietly she sang back...

La la la la....

The flowers of the cherry blossom trees seemed to die, the clouds darkened, the wind threatened to blow her hair into her mouth. The bitter sweet smell of incense smelled more like chloroform than anything else. Her aunt Hayashi put a sad hand on her shoulder.

Koroko's parents were dead. Someday her mother's smile, her father's voice would fade from her memory until she forgot the words completely. It was just her and her Aunt now.