Ghosts of Wonderland

Harbingers

Halo Ten: Harbingers:

-Sonomi-

"I'm not that little girl you left there to die anymore."

"I know."

I am doing this to save the life that he once lived. I have seen the desperate look in his eyes. He's lost friends. He lost his home. He lost his family. He lost the woman he loved. It's like he's not really alive. Just a living dead man with living swirling around him.

Somehow, it just wasn't right.

I have to fix it.

"Oh, you're back," Kyoka said. I turned my head. She sat at the table with a smile on her face. I sheepishly smiled back at her.

"Yeah..." I said. I sat down in front of her. Kyoka was so nice. I remember the first time I met her. It was raining that day. She was the one who found me standing outside of her house. Kyoka stood under a deep red umbrella in a heavy gray coat.

"Are you lost, miss?" she asked. I stared at her with a strange look on my face. She held out her hand.

"Come inside, dear," she said. "You look so cold." I did feel a little cold. At first, I stared at her. Kyoka-san didn't force me to go with her. I took her by the hand and she led me into the house. She handed me a towel to dry off. I couldn't remember the last time I felt something so soft. I dried off my hair, wings, and body. Kyoka-san hung up my dress in the bathroom. I wore an old fluffy robe as I sat in the living room. Her house looked rather nice. It felt like I had been in a room like this before.

"Are you hungry?" Kyoka-san asked in the recliner.

"I guess..." I said. She rose to her feet.

"I have just the thing. Wait here," she said. That old lady got out and walked out of her living room which smelled like moth balls. I don't remember how I ended up in Shinjuku. At the time, I still didn't understand the mechanics of my powers. I didn't know exactly where I wanted to go. I had the idea of what I needed to do. But I didn't have much else. All I knew was that I had to go back to the source and stop the bleeding. I shouldn't have been there. I just didn't know how or where I was going to go.

"Food's ready!" Kyoka-san said. I leaped to my feet and walked out of the living room.

That was the best bowl of katsudon I ever had. I don't think I ever had anything like it before. I stared at the bowl for a few seconds. Kyoka-san raised an eyebrow at me.

"Something the matter, dear?" she asked.

"I don't know how to eat this," I said.

"You never had katsudon before?" she asked. I slowly shook my head.

"Here," she said. She got up and came up behind me. She had to put the spoon in my hand and have me dig into the bowl. Oh! That first bite exploded in my mouth. I couldn't explain it. I just had to have more. I couldn't stop eating.

"How is it?" she asked. I lifted my head as I chewed on the breaded meat.

"Mmm!" was I could say. She chuckled as I stuffed more food into my mouth. I could've flown away right then and there. Kyoka-san said some other things, but I was too lost in the meal to hear her.

Kyoka-san never asked me about my wings. She never asked me much of anything at first. The more I came to see her, the more she got curious.

"Have you found what you are looking for yet, dear?" she asked today. I shook my head.

"No," I said.

"What are you looking for?" Kyoka-san asked. Gary asked me the same thing too. I leaned back in my chair.