Kaitou Magician Origins Chapter Four: Tanaka Miara

The weeks that followed their father’s death hit their mother the hardest. She was bed-lain most of the time, and the doctors were baffled at the cause of her illness. They attributed it to mental stress, anxiety and depression.

“Will okaa-san get better?” Miho asked, tugging on her brother’s sleeve.

“Shush. Don’t disturb her.” Mikai sighed. “Go to your room and finish your homework, okay?”

“Mikai, is that you?” Miara asked tiredly. “I’m sorry. I missed your archery competition today. How did it go?”

Shaking his head, Mikai replied, “That’s not important, okaa-san. I received a call from Kinomoto-san’s secretary. He told me that all of father’s debt could be canceled in exchange for the Princess Rosa Mirror.”

Miara turned her head sharply. “Did he say that? Impossible.”

“Mother,” Mikai reasoned, taking a deep breath. “I know that mirror is a family heirloom and therefore priceless. However, at this rate, we won’t even have a roof over our heads once the debt collectors come and mortgage our house. The best deal we have is give up the Mirror for now in order to cancel the debts, and I swear, okaa-san, that we’ll get the Mirror back. Just wait until you regain your health and I’m a little older. It won’t be that long.”

Shaking her head, Miara replied, “No, Mikai, you don’t understand the importance of the Mirror. We can’t give it up, no matter what. I’ll find a way to pay off the debts. I have my own savings, too.”

“No Mother, it’s not enough,” Mikai said, trying to hide the panic in his voice. His mother had not yet seen the sum of the debt that his father had been in. He could sell the house, all the furniture and paintings, and design computer programs for the rest of his life and not come up with enough money. One thing he did not understand was how his father, who had always been so prosperous and well-liked, who had been generous towards his employees and friends, could have fallen into so much debt. True, Tanaka Keisuke was not the best of businessmen, and he had lead a rather extravagant lifestyle without counting the spending, but the extent of debt that had stocked up over the years baffled Mikai; it did not add up. Yet, he knew that Kinomoto Fujishika had easily enough power to take away all of his family possessions and land them on the streets without second thought.

******

“Onii-chan, let’s sit in the back! It’s like we’re going on a field trip!” exclaimed Miho, climbing up the steps to the public bus.

“Be careful, Miho,” Mikai said, boosting her up the bus steps. The family Mercedes Benz had been confiscated by the creditors and this was the first time Miho had used public transportation to go to school. The Tanaka household no longer could afford a chauffeur, cook and maids. Only their old head housekeeper remained to care for Miara.

“How dare you tell me I can leave, bocchama?” she stated to Mikai. “You may not remember but I changed your diapers.”

“But you know our family situation—“ Mikai said.

“I’m not staying for money. I will stay until I am no longer needed,” the housekeeper replied. “Miara-sama’s state is fragile right now—the deceased master wants you to continue with school. Leave the house to me.”

“Thank you,” said Mikai, holding her hands in gratitude. “I will repay the debt some day.”

Meanwhile, after their long-time chauffeur bid a tearful farewell, Mikai told Miho, “The car’s getting repaired, so we’ll have to take the bus for a while,”

“How fun!” exclaimed Miho, swinging the plastic bag with the cold bento from the convenience store that Mikai had bought in the morning. Wide-eyed as she saw the students in various uniforms, the men in suits and mother with babies, she moved towards the back of the bus till she found a seat.

Mikai stood beside her, holding onto the metal rail with one hand and with the other ran a hand over Miho’s tangled red curls—he had to wake up early to get their breakfast and lunch at the convenience store and hadn’t gotten a chance to brush his little sister’s hair in the morning. From his pocket, he fished out a blue ribbon and tied her hair back in a ponytail. Miho looked up and held up her juice carton. “Do you want some, onii-chan?”

“It’s all right, Miho. You have it,” Mikai said. He realized that Miho’s coat was missing a button. Carefully, he ran his hand over Miho’s hair again to smooth it out—he had forgotten to bring a brush. When was the last time she had a haircut? She was growing again and would need a new uniform soon. How was he going to pay for their school tuition for next semester? He couldn’t even pay for Miho’s fieldtrip fees. He was running out of the cash prize from the gold medal in the Youth Archery Competition. 

“Kamura-senpai, do you know how to sew?” Mikai asked, panting from running to the junior high section, breath leaving puffs in the chill air.

“Yes—why?” Karin, leaning against the willow tree, tilted her head up, scarf around her neck and hat covering her hair. Even though it was cold outside, it was better to sit out there in peace and quiet than going to the junior high cafeteria.

Mikai held out Miho’s coat that he grabbed from her locker during lunch break and a handful of spare buttons. “Can you sew on the buttons—I can’t seem to get them on straight.”

“Give it to me,” Karin replied.

Fascinated, Mikai watched Karin deftly sew on the buttons with black thread, then snap the thread with her teeth. “Wow, you’re really good,” said Mikai with a grin. “Thanks, Kamura-senpai.”

“Don’t you have a housekeeper?” asked Karin, handing Mikai the coat.

“Her eyesight’s not great, and she’s been looking after okaa-san, so I feel bad asking her,” replied Mikai, thrusting his hands in his uniform pocket.

Unwinding the navy-blue scarf from her neck, Karin stood up and wrapped it around Mikai. “Why don’t you have a coat on, silly? It’s freezing outside.”

“I don’t get cold easily,” Mikai replied, voice muffled into the scarf. It smelled like lavender soap.

“Sit down,” Karin commanded.

Mikai crumpled down next to her.

“Did you have lunch yet?” she asked, fumbling in her bag and holding out a plastic bento.

Slowly, Mikai shook his head.

“Here, eat this—I’m not hungry,” Karin said. She held out chopsticks and opened up the bento.

Taking the chopsticks and bento, he stared at the rice and egg rolls. Then, he began shoveling the food in his mouth. He had in his short years tasted the finest cuisine from all over the world, but nothing tasted as good as that simple, cold bento.

“Drink,” Karin said, pouring green tea from her thermostat and watched Mikai, the prince of Eitoukou who always sat upright and elegantly sipped tea, gulp down the drink like the rest of them commoners. “’Kai, did you have breakfast?”

Mikai shook his head.

“Did you even have dinner last night?”

Again, Mikai shook his head—he had been working last night and missed dinnertime.

“When was the last time you had a meal?” Karin demanded in disbelief.

There was a pause. Mikai tilted his head and replied, “I don’t know… I think I had a pork bun yesterday morning.”

“There are so many girls dying to make a bento for you,” Karin stated sharply. “You can just accept them instead of forgetting to eat.”

“I only want yours, Kara-senpai,” murmured Mikai, heavy lids shutting. “Please wake me when the bell rings. He rolled off on the dried grass and fell asleep. Gently brushing a lock of auburn hair from his face, Karin covered him with Miho’s coat and watched his boyish sleeping face.

******

“Tanaka-kun, I’ll leave the store to you,” called out the manager of the 24-hour convenience store. “The boxes need to be put away in the storage room and you’ll need to restock Aisle 5.”

“Sure, leave it to me!” replied Mikai, putting on the blue cap. He rolled up his sleeves then hoisted up the boxes to carry them to the back room. Night shift at the convenience store was the most convenient. Miho was asleep, and there was no chance that he would bump into students from Eitoukou. Since there were few customers past midnight, he could finish off his homework for the next day. He could also get discount prices for the deluxe bento set for Miho in the morning, when he got off from his shift, and sneak back home at dawn before Miho woke up, and maybe catch an hour of sleep before school started.

“Welcome!” he called out, hurrying to the counter when he heard the door open. A girl with pale blonde hair in an unbuttoned black coat over the Eitoukou Junior High uniform entered.

“’Kai, what are you doing here?” she asked. Then, she stared at the blue cap and the blue and white striped shirt. Surely Mikai couldn’t be working here? The coat buttons, the lack of meals, the bus… Karin realized then that the Tanaka household really must be in destitute—it had not been just a rich boy’s whining when Mikai stated that his family was in debt. She figured that even with debt, Mikai’s family at least had enough to live off of; maybe not as lavishly as before, but enough to sustain a livelihood. But could it be that Mikai could not even afford lunch? He bought the deluxe bento set for his little sister so that she did not know the financial situation the family was under and then cut all expenses for himself. He had outgrown his winter coats and could not afford a new coat; rather than let on that, he went around coatless and stated he was not cold. He was the Prince. The Ouji-sama did not get hungry or cold. He would not wear a coat with sleeves too short for him even to keep himself warm in the winter, and he would not let his sister lose face to her classmates and buy her all the things that ten year old girls desired.

“Kamura-senpai!” He dunked the cap brim lower over his face.

“You’re an elementary student—you can’t be working this late at a convenience store!” exclaimed Karin.

“Please don’t tell anyone—I can’t afford to get fired from this job,” Mikai exclaimed. “I lied—they think I’m fifteen.”

“I guess you look old for your age,” Karin remarked skeptically. “Goodness, what will your classmates say if they could see you now? The Prince of Eitoukou working the graveyard shift at a convenience store, moving heavy boxes. It’s heartbreaking.”

“What are you doing up at this hour?” asked Mikai, restacking the cup noodles on the shelves.

“Getting some fresh air. I had to get away from home,” replied Karin. “I’m at my limit.”

At this Mikai sighed. “I know what you mean.”

Grinning, Karin, bent over and helped unbox the cup noodles onto the shelves.

“What are you doing?” asked Mikai.

“Two hands are better than one,” replied Karin. “When does your shift end?”

“Five.”

“I’ll stick around and keep you company.” Karin grinned. “Then, let’s escape.”

“To where?”

“Anywhere.”

Mikai gazed out at the sparkling cobalt blue ocean and the girl in the Eitoukou Junior High uniform of gray pleated skirt and navy blue vest over a white shirt. Her legs were bare, and the waves lapped at her feet. He took a deep whiff of the salty air and then exhaled.

“Come in!” called out Karin, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand.

Seated on the sandy shores, Mikai shook his head. “The water’s freezing! You’ll get frostbite!” Karin ran up and then sprinkled the icy salt water at him, taking a seat beside him on the white sand.

“I love the way the sand feels beneath my feet,” stated Karin, wriggling her cold toes into the sand. “In my past life, I bet I was a mermaid. But they say I’m descendant from fairy-folk, I heard, straight from the Lady of Avalon.”

At this, Mikai chuckled. “Mermaid don’t have feet, so they won’t feel the sand. But you do have pointy ears—like a fairy. And you can make things appear and disappear too.”

“Finally you smiled!” exclaimed Karin. “You’ve been looking like a dying puppy these days.”

“Is that how I look like these days?” Mikai buried his head in his hands. “How pathetic. I thought I was keeping up a good appearance.”

“Well, your body will collapse sooner or later if you continue skipping meals and depriving yourself of sleep,” remarked Karin. “You’re not like me. You’re a prince. You’re not cut out for this kind of lifestyle. You’ve had food handed to you on a silver platter and slept on satin sheets.”

The winter sea was so brilliant, it could have been summer if the water lapping at their feet was not ice-cold. Mikai thought he could spend the rest of his life staring out at the every shifting ocean that yet eternally remained in the same position. “I’m no longer the Eitoukou ouji-sama. I’m no longer the son of the president of Kinhoshi Electronics. I’m not even archery champion anymore—I missed the final round, and I heard someone called Tsukishiro Yukito won. I’m just Tanaka Mikai now.”

“Too bad,” remarked Karin. “You’re the closest thing to royalty I know, the great Tanaka-sama. Though okaa-san used to convince me that my father was of British noble blood.”

At this, Mikai turned to Karin—it was the first time she had voluntarily mentioned her father whilst he had to probe for information before. He had always known she was mixed, so now it ascertained that her Western blood came from her father.

“’Kai, do you remember the first time you brought me here?” Karin looked out at the ocean nostalgically. “I asked you to take me anywhere, and you brought me here.”

“Ah, that was the first time I skipped school,” remarked Mikai.

“Did you get into a lot of trouble because of me then?” asked Karin, tilting her head. “I ended up dragging you here again.”

“I think both times I brought you here,” Mikai replied with a crooked smile. “Funny, I used to think school was so important. But another day away from school doesn’t seem to matter anymore.”

“Well, I’ve always hated this school,” replied Karin. “If it weren’t for you, I probably wouldn’t have continued to attend Eitoukou.”

“You were a scholarship kid, weren’t you?” Mikai asked wryly. “Which means you’re pretty smart.”

“There was no way my family could afford such a posh, private school,” stated Karin. “I studied really hard in elementary school, and I wanted to make my mother proud of me. I didn’t want to be a burden to her, because she tried so hard on her own to raise me. She gave up her youth, her life for me. So, I managed to win a scholarship to Eitoukou Junior High to make her proud of me, to lessen the burden for her.” She looked at Mikai. “I know. My school records are not great, considering I’m a scholarship student. I’m surprised they haven’t expelled me yet.”

“Why did you stop trying?” asked Mikai. “You worked so hard to get into this school.”

“In my first year of junior high, my mother remarried. Before, we were poor and barely scraping by, but we had each other. It was just my mother and me. But that man came in and changed everything.” A dark shadow came over her eyes. “He hated me from the beginning. Because I look different, because he was scared of me, perhaps. Said I looked like I was possessed by something, that my fascination with the occult and Tarot Cards was heathenish. And my mother drifted apart from me, spent less time with me. I hated my step-father so much. That day you were at my house, I was going to leave for sure. I never wanted to return home again. But you convinced me to go back. For my mother’s sake.”

Mikai frowned. “He hasn’t beaten you again?”

“I’ve learned to dodge better,” replied Karin with a short laugh. “I can’t wait till I’m an adult, and I can leave that house. Someday, I’m really going to run away from that place and the wretched town and see the world.”

“But your mother…”

“She has the baby. It’s me that’s the problem. I’m in the way.” Karin tucked wisps of her golden hair behind her ear. “You’ve always had everything. I’ve been envious of your family. It was a perfect family, the kind you would see on a Christmas card.” A twisted smile came over her lips. “But now, you’re the same as me. The only difference is I never had anything in the first place.”

“That day I brought you to the beach, you mentioned that your father left your mother,” said Mikai. “Do you know where he is?”

“No,” replied Karin. “He left me nothing. Just a faded picture and my name. He named me ‘Karin.’”

“So, is that why you hate your name?” Mikai asked.

Karin nodded. “It’s a reminder of him. Why give me a name when he planned to abandon my mother and me and run off like that? I hate him the most in the world.”

“You mentioned before he’s a magician, though,” remarked Mikai. “You love magic too.”

Her lavender eyes narrowed coolly. “Well, his blood lies deep within me whether I want it or not. And someday, maybe this magic can lead me to him.”

“You want to meet him.” Mikai smiled crookedly. “You do want to see your father.”

“I do,” replied Karin. “I want to see what kind of wretched man abandons a teenage girl and their helpless baby out of his own selfishness.”

“And then?”

“And then?” Blinking her long lashes, Karin stammered, “And then… I would want to know why. Why he abandoned my mother and me.”

At this Mikai closed his eyes. “I see. Because there is a reason behind everything.”

Sighing, Karin leaned her head against Mikai’s shoulder, watching the sun set lower—had the day passed already? Time slipped away like the grains of sand between her fingers. “I brought you here to talk about your problems. But I’m just talking about myself again.”

“I’m happy you told me about your father, Kara-senpai” replied Mikai softly. “You may hate him now. But at least you have the hope of maybe seeing him someday.”

“’Kai.” Karin placed her hand over his large hands.

“I’m all right. I’ve come to terms with it. Otou-san will never return, and I’ve got to save my family, somehow.” Mikai’s voice broke. “I just don’t know how.”

“You’ll manage, Prince,” said Karin, her eyes a tender violet like the ocean at twilight. “Because you’re strong.”

******

That was the last time Mikai saw Kamura Karin. He was not surprised when he turned up to the bare-branched willow tree the next day and did not find her there. When he went to her homeroom teacher, she stated that Kamura Karin had withdrawn from the school.

He visited her house for the second time. This time, he knocked on the door. A mousy woman with black hair pulled back in a loose bun, holding a sleeping toddler, answered the door. In her face, Kai saw traces of beauty that was lost in a youthful face that had aged too fast. He realized that physically, Karin must have completely taken after her father since she had little resemblance to her mother.

“I’m sorry to bother you. Is Kamura Karin-san home?” Mikai asked.

The woman glanced at Mikai’s uniform. “Are you from Eitoukou Academy? You must be a classmate. Karin is… no longer here. She went to… live with her father.”

“Her father?” Mikai’s blue-grey eyes rounded.

“You’re such a good-looking boy—I didn’t know Karin had friends at school. She seemed to be doing better lately…” Karin’s mother smiled nervously.

A short, balding man came towards the doorway. “Who is it, Umiko? Is it that witch-brat? Even if she comes back crawling and begging on her knees for mercy, I’ll not have her back. How dare she take my money and run away after all the generosity I showed that fatherless good-for-nothing she-thing?”

“She’s my daughter,” Kamura Umiko cried out, turning around. “She’s my daughter too…”

Mikai stared at the old man’s bloodshot eyes. He used that large, hard hand to strike Karin. The man caught sight of Mikai then quickly looked away, unsettled by the young boy’s cool, penetrating gaze. “Heh, is that kid the girl’s boyfriend? Like mother, like daughter.” He quickly stomped into the kitchen, picking his ear with his thick pinky finger.

With an apologetic nod of her head, Umiko said, “I’m sorry. If you were her friend, you would already know why she left. She left a note saying she went to find her birth father, and I couldn’t stop her. I didn’t deserve to stop her. But she’s a smart girl, and it’s not her fault that she has such a weak mother, and I couldn’t hold her back any longer. If I was a little stronger, maybe she wouldn’t have hated me.”

“She doesn’t,” Mikai said.

Kamura Umiko looked up with her dark eyes at the prince-like boy who appeared in her front door like a messenger from heaven. “What?”

“She doesn’t hate you,” Mikai repeated. “She’s always loved you and has been grateful to you. That’s why she left.”

Suddenly, the harsh lines on the woman’s forehead eased, and she returned to being a woman merely in her early thirties. “And who may you be again?” asked Umiko to the boy who had an unsettlingly familiar grace about him.

“A friend,” replied Mikai. He bowed, then walked away. Karin’s mother was weeping by the doorway in relief and with the relief a sense of empty loss that only a mother who lost a child knew.

It was when Tanaka Mikai reached home again that he realized that now, he was really alone. Even Karin had abandoned him.

******

Life continued on and with the never-ending winter came bills and more bills. There was no more pretending with Miho anymore. He could no longer hide their financial situation when there was no money to pay the utility fees to heat the large house. All the rooms were shut off except for Miho and their mother’s bedroom. Miho now helped out with household chores, or the best she could manage, for even she could see the strain that her always-composed brother was under. She knew that he snuck out at night and came back early in the morning and that he always bought her the best bento and ate the 100 yen onigiri himself. She did the dishes and braided her own hair. While the teachers were vaguely aware of the Tanaka family situation, it was most difficult to keep it hidden from schoolmates. With Karin gone, there was no longer a haven in school. He had taken to programming for Kinhoshi Electronics, now personally managed by Kinomoto Fujishika and missed school more often than not. Mikai would have dropped out long ago if it weren’t for his little sister’s sake. Rumors circulated in school that the Ouji-sama was busy training for Olympics. Meanwhile, Miara’s condition did not improve in the months after husband’s death. If anything, Mikai felt like he was losing her fast—she needed to be hospitalized.

Over the month, Mikai had sold five computer programs to Kinhoshi Electronics through a fake name and had learned how to invest in stocks—on lucky days, he could make ten-fold what he made off a month sweating and breaking his back at the convenience store within an hour. School was useless—he had to make money, fast, to pay off the debt. Evaluating the Tanaka tax forms, Mikai realized all the mistakes his father had made in financing. But his father had been an honest, trusting man—perhaps too trusting. He had mortgaged off the house and all his belongings for a loan from Kinhoshi Capital. He had been a generous lender in his lifetime and never collected interest.

“I can do it. I can manage,” Mikai whispered to himself, shivering as a gust of cold air filtered inside. He brought his blankets to Miho’s bed and spread it over hers. She was fast asleep. Poor Miho. For his sister’s sake, he had to find a solution. He glanced at Kinomoto Fujishika’s business card and reached for the phone.

******

“Okaa-san, can you sign this document and stamp it?” Mikai handed a document to his mother. His heart thumped.

“What is this?” Miara asked, blurry-eyed.

“Just some bills,” Mikai said, swallowing the lump in his throat. Forgive me, Mother.

Without looking over the papers, Miara stamped the document with her seal and handing it back to her son.

“Thank you, Mizuki-san,” a man in a dark gray suit who had been standing in the hall said, entering the room and bowing slightly. The man next to him took the document from Mikai and slipped it into a manila folder.

Miara’s eyes widened. “Kinomoto-san.”

“You have just entitled the right to the Mirror of Truth to the Kinomoto family. We are very grateful for your cooperation. In return, we have canceled all of your husband’s debt,” Kinomoto Fujishika’s secretary stated. “Your son has chosen wisely. Our men will come to remove the Mirror tomorrow—it shall be handled with the utmost care.”

Giving a cocky nod of his head, Kinomoto and his secretary departed.

Bolting out of her bed with her last strength, Miara stared at her son in horror. “Tanaka Mikai, you dared trick me?”

Kneeling in front of his mother, Mikai pleaded, “Forgive me, Mother; it was for the best of the family. We would never have been able to repay the debt. We would have ended up on the streets. There was no other choice!”

Face contorted in anger, Miara slapped her son sharply on the cheek, the first time she had laid a hand on her child. “You are not my son. If you only knew what you have just done, you would have known it was better to end up on the streets.”

“Onii-chan!” Miho exclaimed in horror from the doorway.

“Miho, go to your room. I need to talk to Mother,” Mikai said gently, standing up and staring at Miho imploringly.

“NO! I want to be with onii-chan,” Miho stated, stamping her feet.

“Please, Miho, be a good girl and listen to onii-chan,” Mikai said.

Sulkily, Miho walked away.

“Mikai, my head hurts,” Miara sobbed, collapsing back into bed.

“Should I call the doctor?” Mikai asked, alarmed.

Shaking her head, Miara said, “It’s no use.”

“Mother, what’s ailing you?” Mikai suspected whatever disease had struck his mother was no normal one. The doctors said it was post-trauma symptoms and their housekeeper insisted that it was merely nerves. He told Miho that it was the flu, but Mikai knew deep inside that his mother had a disease that the best of doctors could not cure, and it was eating her from inside out. Sometimes, his mother and father had spoken of olden days that often seemed like some supernatural fantasy. They hushed up when he or Miho were around. But Mikai knew about the unnaturally early deaths of his parents’ good friends, someone named Amamiya Nadeshiko and Li Ryuuren. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had been terrified that those two deaths were linked, and that perhaps his mother and father were a part of it too. “Okaa-san, please speak to me.”

Miara turned her head away, still refusing to meet her son’s eyes.

“Mother, I swear I will bring the Mirror back to you. I swear by my father’s name that I will bring it back. So, please, regain your health, and I’ll make sure that everything returns to the way it used to be.” Mikai, kneeling against the bed, buried his head in the sheets.

“Leave me, Mikai. I do not wish to speak to you at this moment,” Miara stated, turning her head away from her son.

Slowly, Mikai withdrew. He slowly took off the veil covering the golden-framed oval mirror hanging on the wall. The cost of his father’s debt and his mother’s trust in him.

What more can I do? How could I have changed things?

At that moment, he heard a deep, silvery and melodic voice say, “Heavy burdens for such a young shoulder to bear, isn’t it?”

Mikai looked up. His mother was sleeping. Was he hearing voices in his head now?

“I must say you are one of my better-looking ancestors, though the Mizuki’s have always been a fine-looking bloodline. I like your eyes. Serious and pensive eyes,” the female voice continued. “You have my eyes.”

“Who are you?” Mikai demanded, looking around. There was no one. He looked again into the Mirror of Truth as a pale white figure materialized within the glass. She resembled his mother greatly, though her long auburn hair was straight and she wore the traditional miko apparel. If he were superstitious, he might have been frightened, yet he remained calm as the woman gazed at him with shrewd charcoal eyes.

“I am Mizuki Mayura, of the Great Five Force Magicians,” the woman replied. “And I am your ancestor.”

Mikai blinked. “Are you a ghost or a dream or a hallucination?”

“I am more of a stored memory,” Mayura replied. “My actual body does not exist in this world, but I have saved the last trace of my soul in the Mirror, for this sake.”

“What sake?”

“Training my successor of course. Look at me in the face, boy,” Mayura commanded. “Now listen to me carefully.”

“Generations before you, the Great Five were the most powerful in our world, the magician’s world. Amamiya Hayashi, Li Shulin, Reed Landon, Chang Ruichi and myself, Mizuki Mayura. Each of us had our expertise, each of us had our flaws. With no doubt, we were a mighty quintet. However, due to conflict in interests and personal dispute, we were torn apart. I have been waiting for a worthy successor, for things have begun to move again. The power of the stars is moving and you have been chosen to join the new circle forming by Clow Reed’s successor.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand the meaning of your words,” Mikai said flatly at the ethereal woman whose face looked so familiar yet so godless-like.

“Do you not want to save your mother?” Mayura asked.

“Yes.”

“Then you must trust me and do as I say,” Mayura continued.

“How do I know to trust you?” Mikai demanded.

“You have no one to trust but me,” Mayura replied. “The silver locket that your sister has is engraved with my initials in English, M.M. Those are my initials.  And your first task would be to take that locket. You will find me at Mount Kumatori. Tell no one where you are going. And from now on, your life is in my hands. I promise that if you follow my words, you will learn of the means of saving your mother’s life. Now, do you trust me or do you not.”

Say, Kamura Karin. So is this what it if feels like to sell your soul to devil? Mikai replied, chin up, “I have no choice, do I?”

It was the dead of night, and Miho had finally fallen asleep, tightly holding onto her brother’s hand as if she sensed something was amiss. Carefully, he loosened her grip on him.

“Miho, don’t reproach me,” Mikai whispered as he stroked his younger sister’s auburn curls fanned out on the pillow. “If I can save mother and you, I would do anything. So, please forgive me. I didn’t want to leave you.” Gently, he reached behind Miho’s neck and removed the silver locket. He examined the back of the heavy locket. It was engraved with a cursive M.M. For Mizuki Mayura.

That cold winter’s day, not too long before his elementary school graduation, Tanaka Mikai forever left the Tanaka mansion, leaving behind everything of his past twelve years in the house that he had grown up in with naught but the silver locket and a duffel bag with basic toiletries and change of clothes. There was no going back now.

“Good-bye Miho. Good-bye okaa-san.”

A fierce look came over Mikai’s steel-gray eyes as he gazed off to the distant bluish mountain slopes enshrouded in smoky clouds. He would cure his mother and get everything that Miho had lost back for her, what ever the cost. Tanaka Mikai, the old Tanaka Mikai, was no more.

******

Continue to Chapter Five: Mizuki Mayura

Back to Kaitou Magician Origins Page

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Wish-chan: November 18, 2008

Finally I have posted up chapters of the Kaitou Magician Special I’ve been promising for years. Actually, the bulk of this special has been sitting on my desktop for about five, six years now, waiting for a chance to be released. Since we’re finally in Arc Four of New Trials of Card Captor Sakura, I thought it was due time to finally reveal something about Kaitou Magician’s past. It was weird going back and editing Part One because some of it was written so long ago, and I’ve just constantly tinkered with it over the years when I had a writer’s block with the main New Trials plotline. (For record, I have a whole bunch more of chapters that I can’t release yet until we reach the right point in New Trials to prevent spoilers. >.< Gomen.) Besides, New Trials has always been my priority.

I think the flavor and tone of Kaitou Magician Origins should be a tad bit different from New Trials. I will rate it PG-13 because I think it’s a bit darker themed than most of New Trials. Part One of KM Origins has just been sort of a regurgitation of what we already know, and the new material really starts from Part Two: Thief of the Night. Like with the Legacy of the Five Forces Special, Kaitou Magician Origins exists to sort of highlight Kaitou-kun’s life, not to unfold everything. (I cannot make another novel-length story for Kaitou Magician when New Trials is long enough!) If anything, this fanfic has been useful in grounding me as to who “Mizuki Kai” is, and I think it should be interesting to see how he progresses from Part One to Part Two. Thank you for reading and please contact me at hopeluvpeace@hotmail.com as comments are what has sustained the longest existing Card Captor Sakura fanfiction and Kaitou Magician’s own spin-off (KM: Thank you, thank you! From now on, let us rename the fanfic, New Trials of Kaitou Magician and Sidekicks!) and please join the New Trials group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newtrialsring/ if you haven’t already.