A Painful Uniting: Our First Meeting [Closed]

Subject: A Painful Uniting: Our First Meeting [Closed] Mon Nov 25, 2013 4:14 am

It was around two o'clock, the sun was high in the sky, and it was hot. It wasn't hot for anyone else, but Misa. Instead it was hot because of how nervous Misa was. The news she had received recently was devastating. Her sister had died giving birth to a baby girl. Not only that, but this knowledge was kept from her for eighteen years. Now, after one massive fit of rage, Misa was able to figure out that Michiko had run away. She had to find out whether this young woman at the same place that just offered her a new job was in fact her niece. Now, pacing back and forth in the admissions office of Hephaestus, Misa felt butterflies in her stomach. She hadn't even eaten today because of how she thought this might go. She asked the Principal to call for her niece, explaining the situation to her. Since classes for the day were almost over, the Principal agreed and called her in to make sure that Michiko wouldn't head off to quickly. "Alright, Ms. Aihara. Michiko has been called to the office." a young woman came to her with a kind smile, "Normally I would not allow something like this because of our students privacy, but seeing as you soon may become one of the staff and are quite well known in Japan for your amazing Medicines... I will allow it." Misa nodded back with a smile, but quickly looked away and thought to herself. She was so nervous about meeting her niece. How does she explain herself? How does she explain that she just did not know?! Living with her Mother was never a walk in the park for her, she couldn't imagine how Michiko was treated when completely alone.

"Oh god... I hope she can forgive me..." Misa sat down in one of the near by chairs and wrapped her arms along her stomach, leaning over as if she were in pain. She almost couldn't handle the thought of being rejected by her niece. Now, only time would tell. How would Michiko react? How was Misa going to tell her who she was? Did Michiko even know that she had an Aunt out there? She wouldn't be shocked if everything about her was kept secret. It was her Mother taking care of Michiko, so her being left out of any family stories would not be surprising. "I swear to god, if she's brain washed that bitch to be just like her... I'll kill the old hag myself." a momentary look of anger came on her face, but dropped when she heard a door open. Her head snapped up to see who it was, but it was just some young man. Taking in a deep breath, she sighed it out and leaned back in the chair, her head being placed against a wall behind her. She closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing, waiting for Michiko to arrive.

"Hasegawa Michiko, please report to the Faculty Offices," was the call that came over the intercoms within her classroom. She looked up from her desk, as her mathematics teacher looked back from what he was writing on the board. "Looks like you're up, Hasegawa." She could feel the piercing stares of the students around her, wondering exactly what this young lass could've done to get called to the offices. A few students whispered menacingly behind her, while others looked left to right and received the attention of their mates in class. She slowly stood up from her desk, slid her papers back into her bag and nodded to her teacher--"I'll be back as quickly as I can, sir! If I'm taken for a long time, I'll get the homework next time." She bowed slightly and skittered from the room, making certain to escape the judgemental eyes of the people she left behind.

Her mind was a-flutter as she questioned the possibilities of everything that she could've done around here. Could she be in trouble for doing something she shouldn't have--wait... As she wandered through the halls and towards the tall building at the very center of the city, she stood still. "Has Grandmother... finally found me?" Her heart began to beat faster, her thoughts flitting back and forth, across different scenarios. She was frightened. She could be taken home. She would have the face the cane once more. She shivered, stepping over cracks and lines while she bit her bottom lip. "This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!" She swallowed back bile, continuing on with the walk. Each of her steps resonated in her mind, jarring her out of her thoughts as the view lengthened. She stepped outside and into the burgeoning sunlight, holding a hand up over her eyes. Recalling the direction of the Faculty Offices, she started in that direction.

The Faculty Offices were in the direct center of the city, and could definitely be called the most modern of all of the buildings. They were rather intimidating really--a spire that pointed up almost all the way to the top of the cavern that Hephaestus was built into--but for good reason. Not only was it the seat of the School's Faculty, but it was also home to the City's Faculty--and at the top, the Headmaster. The Headmaster did, for some reason, take the role of both Headmaster of Hephaestus Academy and Mayor of Academy City; so it was definitely certain that they had a lot of power--but even then, there were rumors that they were not the highest power. Michiko had been told, once, of 'Hephaestus', a shadowy organization that had plans for the Academy that even the Headmaster had no idea about. What those plans were, or even if they existed, Michiko could not say.

She entered through one of the four large glass sliding doors and stepped into a lobby that smelled definitively of clean air conditioning. The cold air tickled her nose, and she approached the receptionist, who smiled blandly at her as if this was just some other kid wandering in. "Michiko Hasegawa." The lady nodded and opened her mouth into a full grin, showing off the red lipstick tinges on otherwise perfectly white teeth, before pointing towards the elevator. "Tenth floor, follow the signs to the Faculty Waiting Area. There's someone here to see you." Michiko nodded in thanks and made for the elevator with haste; she didn't want to spend more time in that sterile environment than she had to.

She entered the elevator and pressed the {10} button. As the doors began to close, a young man slipped into the elevator next to her, wearing a similar uniform. She smiled briefly at him, and as he made no motion to press any buttons she figured they were going to the same floor. The elevator rose into the air, the potentially awkward silence broken by the horrendous elevator music played in the background. Michiko had her hands in front of her and shuffled from side-to-side as the elevator finally reached floor ten and they departed. Of course, this wasn't to be the end of it. As she looked past the signs, she noticed that they were going in the same direction--towards the Faculty Waiting Room.

Finally entering the room, she was then told to go into the Principal's Office, as her visitor was there. She blinked a couple of times, but complied--wandering into the Principal's Office, not even noticing the familiar-looking woman on the seat beside her, instead bowing and smiling--"You wanted me, Madam?" The Principal stood there--she was in charge of the general running of Hephaestus and its faculty, but she still answered to the Headmaster. Michiko thought that the Principal was exceptionally pretty and grand, quite honestly.

The wait was killing her. Misa's eyes stayed closed for just a moment before she heard a sweet young voice. "You wanted me, Madam?" Misa's heart skipped a beat. She was frightened to even open her eyes, but she did. She looked over to this beautiful young woman and was instantly reminded of her deceased sister. There was no doubt about it. She had found her niece. There was no way in hell that any other young girl would look so much like her sister and share the same name. Misa felt her heart skip a beat. "Michiko, correct?" the woman brought Michiko over to Misa, "This woman's name is Misa Aihara. You two have a few things to discuss, alright?" The Principal gave an assured nod to Misa and then smiled to Michiko before she stepped away from the two. Misa, the moment Michiko was lead to her, stood up from her seat and looked down to her niece with tears forming in her eyes. She fought them of course, but her heart raced and her throat choked up. "O-Oh my god..." she said with a rapid inhale of air. Misa closed her eyes, squeezing out a few tears before she glanced away for just a moment, "I-I'm so-sorry... Just.. Just give me a moment." She took a few deep breaths and placed her hand on her heart, using her other to wipe the tears from her face. After taking just a few moments, she got up the courage and looked back to Michiko with a smile. She looked the girl up and down, tears once again pushing themselves from her eyes and falling down her cheeks.

"You're beautiful..." she said without really thinking. Shaking her head, she cleared her throat and said in a stressed tone. "Michiko... I don't know if you've ever even heard of me..." she began, doing her best to keep calm though the battle was getting harder and harder, "...but I...*throat clear* I am... your Mother's sister. I am your Aunt." At this point, Misa was shaking in fear, excitement, happiness, and in guilt. She was overcome with emotion, though had yet to decide which one was going to take over. Looking at this young woman before her, thinking about what she had gone through, and knowing that she had to go through it with her grandmother (Misa's mother) was just a horrifying thought. Honestly, Misa hoped that she'd have a few kind stories to share. She hoped that her Mother did not treat Michiko the way she had attemped to treat her and her sister.

"Michiko, correct?" She nodded, even though her name had already been spoken. She confirmed this anyway, simply because she had to do so for sake of politeness. "This woman's name is Misa Aihara. You two have a few things to discuss, alright?" Aihara? Michiko turned around and finally noticed the woman, before feeling her heart stop momentarily. It was as if she was seeing someone return from the dead--she had only seen a couple of older images, but there was no doubt about it: this woman looked exactly like her mother. "I..." The woman stood up and looked over her, Michiko looking up with tears brimming at the edges of her eyes.

"O-Oh my god..." She shivered, staring directly into the eyes of the woman standing over her. "I-I..." "I-I'm so-sorry... Just.. Just give me a moment." Michiko nodded, still pretty much totally speechless at this point. Who was this woman? Who was she to her mother... to her grandmother? She felt her entire body freeze up momentarily--had the witch decided to send this woman who looked so strikingly like her mother to bring her back? She stepped back a single step, almost beginning to appear frightened at the potential that this woman had to destroy her life.

"You're beautiful..." She stopped short. That seemed... unexpected. Michiko held her hands over her chest, stepping back a little more but not looking quite so worried about the potential of this woman's cruelty. "Michiko... I don't know if you've ever even heard of me..." Well this was true. "...but I...*throat clear* I am... your Mother's sister. I am your Aunt." Her heart skipped a beat once more. "I... um.. what?" She'd never heard of such a thing. She had... no, it was impossible. Her Grandmother had said that she was her only family... she had... no, it didn't shock her. Grandmother had lied enough to her that nothing was surprising anymore. At this point, she couldn't hold it in--tears dripped down her face and she lunged forwards, wrapping her arms tightly around the woman, bawling now. "Y-y-you... came for me." She couldn't say much else, this was all she could do.

With every step back that Michiko took, Misa felt her heart sink more and more. Of course, it was understandable that the young woman would be skeptical of the entire situation. Misa not being able to speak out at first was not helping. Finally she said what she needed to say and just looked at Michiru. What would she say? How would she react? Michiko's first reply was of confusion, so Misa repeated her final line. "I... am your Aunt, Michiko." she said to reassure her that she wasn't telling lies. The reaction she got was the exact one she was hoping for. Michiko did not run from her, instead she ran to her. Michiko's face soaked with tears, the girl ran into Misa's arms. Feeling Michiko's embrace caused a thankful smile to form on Misa's face. She wrapped her arms tightly around Michiko, holding her firmly and close. She heard Michiko's only statement and couldn't help but let out a small chuckle while tears continues down her face. "Yes, I did." she said as she leaned back, loosening their hug. She looked down to her niece and wiped the girls tears away. There was something warm about their interaction. It was like a missing part of Misa had just been filled. At least through out all of these years, Misa could finally understand why she felt like she was missing something. Not only had her sister passed on, but this wonderful young woman, her niece, was living without her Aunt. No more.

"I am so... so sorry I have not been there for you, Michiko." she told her, brushing her niece's hair back a bit, "If I had known you were even born... I just... I can't even imagine what my Mother put you through... I do hope she was kinder to you than she was to me..." It was then that school ended, the bell rang, and the students were released. Misa pulled out a small wipe and handed one to Michiko. "We don't need the other students seeing us all teary eyed. If you want... use this." Misa wiped her face a bit, dabbing around her eyes so her make-up wouldn't mess up. The wipes were slightly wet to allow for a decent cleaning, but there were no chemicals. Once she was done, she tossed the wipe into a near by trashcan and looked back to Michiko. "Michiko, if you would allow me to... I would love to get to know you." Misa said with a smile, having calmed her tears for the moment, "Maybe share a few stories? Tell me how your life has been? I know it's not fair for me to show up in your life so suddenly, but... I just... I couldn't keep going knowing that I had a niece... and I do hope that one of these days you can forgive me..." Her small smile got even smaller as a sad expression moved onto her face. Eighteen fucking years? Seriously? She had never gone to visit her sister through out this time and because of that Michiko lived without any one but her god damn Grandmother. The thought angered her. She was absolutely ashamed of herself for that fact. She should have been here sooner.

Last edited by Dai on Tue Dec 17, 2013 8:03 am; edited 1 time in total

Her cheeks were wet with the warm tears that had been flowing non-stop from her ducts. She held her arms around Misa's body, tightening her grip with each shuddering bawl. She didn't know what to think right now. Everything was weird, but at the same time? Everything felt amazing. Michiko felt happiness--more than she had in a long, long time. Her body shook as the tears flowed to a stop, and she finally looked up into Misa's face with red eyes and cheeks. Her bottom lip quivered as she quietly whimpered away the last of her feelings. Chin up, Hasegawa! Fingers wiped away the last of the tears on her cheeks, and she almost felt like crying again. Everything was so lovely. Her grandmother hadn't found her. She was still safe.

"I am so... so sorry I have not been there for you, Michiko. If I had known you were even born... I just... I can't even imagine what my Mother put you through... I do hope she was kinder to you than she was to me..." Michiko pulled away for a second, removing herself from her aunt's arms and placing her hands upon her hips. "I--""We don't need the other students seeing us all teary eyed. If you want... use this." Michiko accepted it, wiping down her cheeks with more quivering going on. "Misa-obasan, I should be honest with you. I have it... I-I have the family's power. N-not the n-normal medium stuff, b-but the other one. Th-the power of the contracts." She rubbed her right arm, looking to the side. "That... Woman tried to make me scared of the outside world--she wanted to keep my power for herself. Every week or so she would bring in more horror stories of the outside, and whip me when I didn't believe them to be true. I only managed to escape when I heard about Hephaestus... she doesn't know I'm here, and I'd rather she never found out." She nodded with a little more passion and confidence, before looking out the window over the students walking between their classrooms. She spied Ai in amongst the rest, orange hair standing out.

"I know it's not fair for me to show up in your life so suddenly, but... I just... I couldn't keep going knowing that I had a niece... and I do hope that one of these days you can forgive me..." She shook her head. "Nothing needs to be forgiven. You didn't know about me... and I didn't know about you. It's not your fault. But if it means anything, I forgive you anyway." She directed a weak smile in Misa's direction, before returning her gaze to the window. "I'm just happy to finally have at least one friend in my life, and one family member I can trust..."

"So I have a new goal. I want to make one hundred friends! I want to share good times with them, and I want to share bad times. I don't mind if I only make it to twenty friends--or even just five close friends--but I'll aim for the stars so I can land in the sky." She nodded to herself and put her fingers on the cool glass, "I already have one... so it's a start, right?" Michiko turned her face towards Misa, and smiled brightly, and with confidence for the first time in months.

[EXIT Thread]

"Already?" Misa was shocked that Michiko was accepting what was just told to her so easily. She had heard of cases like this with closer family members, such as Mother's and Daughter's, and the daughter would reject. It was something Misa was fearing, but it had not happened. Thank God. Not only that, but she was already calling her Aunt, as if they had known each other for years before. It was a wonderful feeling. Michiko started talking, mentioning the family power. At first, Misa was confused and didn't understand what she meant, but once she began recalling a few of the old family teachings, her eyes widened in shock. That woman? Her Mother, right. That saddened Misa a bit. The fact that Michiko was calling her that meant that her Mother was not kind to Michiko. And hearing what her Mother had done to her only angered Misa more. "You don't have to worry about that." Misa said in a serious and assuring tone, "That woman will heard nothing of your location. In fact, if you don't mind and can confirm with these people, I would like to be put down as your emergency contact. From what I understand, you have none." Misa noticed the glance out of the window, but paid no mind to it, though the smile warmed Misa's heart.

Michiko was definitely no way near similar to her Mother. This was wonderful. Michiko was a kind and understanding human being. Misa held her tongue for Michiko's sake, but the thought entered her mind multiple times. "She takes so much after her Mother..." Seeing Michiko's gaze move towards the window again, Misa followed. Though she saw nothing out of the ordinary herself, she figures Michiko did. Something suddenly changed in Michiko's tone and Misa looked back to her. "Oh?" she blinked a few times and listened to this new goal of hers. A big smile moved onto Misa's face as Michiko explained to her and she could not help but giggle. "You are adorable!" Misa pulled Michiko into a tight hug and let her go soon after. "Why don't you and I get something to eat, huh? Show me around the place a bit. You know... They did just offer me a job here. That is how I found you. So if I choose to take it, I'm gonna need to know my way around." Misa began making her way towards the exist, glancing to a certain woman on the way out and giving her a nod. "Go ahead and do it." Misa said with a cheerful tone and then continued out of the building with a relieved intake of breath. In the other room, the woman she had just nodded to was Michiru Takenada. Without any hesitation, the brown haired woman pushed 'confirm' on her computer screen and chuckled before leaving her office.

Thread Closed! Ended perfectly.

» Almost There [Closed]
» Two Can be as Bad as One [Closed]
» You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You [CLOSED]
» And It Begins... [Closed]
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