"Shiroi Hane"

Written by Calis

Chapter Two: Remnant of Memories

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Hane woke with a start, her body bolted upright as her eyes flared wide. Clenching a fist against her pounding heart, her breath came in short gasps as she tried to calm herself down, fighting off the remnant of her nightmare. Hane closed her eyes, burying her face in her hands as the tresses of her long hair fell over them like a fragile barrier. A temporal shelter for her to gather her strength before she faced the word again.

As her composure returned, the feel of gauze against her cheek brought her attention to her immediate surroundings. As Hane opened her eyes, she could see that she was lying in one of the beds in the infirmary and her wounds had all been dressed and bandaged. For a moment, she had no recollection how ended up here. There had been the fight with the demon in the rose garden...

" Hane-san! You're awake! "

" Watari-san? " She looked up to see the grinning scientist doctor with 003 perched on his shoulder.

" You scared the hell out of me last night. I almost thought you were a thief, you know? " Watari prattled on cheerfully.

" I'm sorry, Watari-san. I was trying to dress these... " Her memory came back as she regarded the bandages on her arms.

" Whatever you tangled with last night marked you pretty badly. In my humble opinion, you really need a partner, Hane-san. "

" It's too dangerous... You knew what happened the last time they assigned someone to work with me... "

The unwanted vision flashed across her eyes as Hane recalled the unfortunate incident. Her last partner had been almost died because of her inability to protect him. 003 fluttered over and landed on her palm, hooting softly to comfort her. Hane rubbed the tiny owl's face with one finger, grateful for the creature's concern.

" But still shinigami are mean to work in pairs. That's the rule. "

" I do know about that. It's the rule so that the privilege of traveling between Meifu and the living world is not abused for personal agendas. After all, we each have our own selfish reasons for continuing to exist as a shinigami."

" But..." Watari started to protest.

" Don't worry about me, Watari-san. Even though I don't have a partner, JuOhCho is very much aware of what I do. I'll be more careful next time and I can patch myself up. After all, I used to be a doctor too when I was alive even though it's animals I treated. "

Hane ruffled the feathers on 003's head as she handed the small owl back to Watari. Throwing the covers back, she got out of bed. A glance at the wall clock told her that it was ten o'clock in the morning. She was however stilled dressed as she was last night. Knowing Watari's obsession to learn more about the female body, she was secretly glad to find herself not dressed in an infirmary gown.

" Thank you, Watari-san. "

" No need to thank me since I didn't do anything much. You did pretty much of the job before you fainted on me. " He sounded a little disappointed at that.

" Better luck next time. Now I better get cleaned up before I make my report. I don't think Chief Konoe-san or Tatsumi-san would appreciate seeing me like this. " Hane fingered her tattered and bloodstained coat.

" I don't think Tatsumi-san would reimburse you for that though. He hates to deal with unplanned expenses. " Watari adjusted his glasses.

" I'll see what I can do. Never thought this job would be so tough on clothes. I'll see you around then. "

Waving goodbye, Hane left before Watari could engage her in another conversation.

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Watari glanced at the scanty information on the computer screen and frowned thoughtfully. He doubted that most shinigami in the Shoukan Division even knew of her existence with the exception of Chief Konoe and Tatsumi. The beautiful shinigami with silver hair and eyes was a mystery. She worked independent of Chou and as to what exactly she did, Watari could only guess but observing the wounds she bore in their last encounter, her job went beyond bringing the dead to Meifu for judgement.

If not for an accidental visit at the division office to see if he could pester a free meal off Tatsumi, he would have never met her but he remembered that Chief Konoe had not seemed too pleased to introduce them. There was also the incident of her partner who had almost died on a mission with her. He had arrived at the infirmary one night after an urgent call from Tatsumi to find her working feverishly to save her partner's life. Watari could still remember the gruesome wounds on the shinigami who looked as if he had been torn apart. Though they were the Gods of Death, they would still die again if wounded too badly beyond the inherent power to regenerate. It was a testament of Hane's skill as a doctor that she was able to save her partner. He had transferred to another department after that and as far as Watari knew, Hane had operated alone ever since.

Watari was thinking about her name as he disconnected from the JuOhCho network.

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Hane pushed open the door and stepped into the quiet and dark office, which was illuminated by the moonlight shining in from the windows. It was late in the night, long after working hours and she would not meet any of her fellow colleagues. She knew there would be a day when her existence could not be kept quiet but at the moment Hane preferred to keep it secret for as long as it could last. There were things about her that certain individuals were better off not knowing. The knowledge would only cause more grief and Hane was not sure if she was ready to deal with those feelings.

Her report was done and she had came to hand it in. Walking towards Chief Konoe's cubicle, her gray coat barely making a rustle as she brushed past the desks that were neatly arranged in the room. Slipping into the cubicle, she placed her report on the table and picked up the folder that had been left for her. Her silver eyes glanced through the few sheets of papers but the folder's content failed to surprise her. Another case of suspected demonic possession. It appeared that she would soon make the acquaintance of another of Hell's denizen.

She was the logical choice to assign to these cases being without any jurisdiction of Chou. Furthermore, besides the few shinigami who had the ability to summon shikigami guardian spirits, not many could survive a one-on-one fight with a demon. Her first and last partner had been the proof of that and from her few encounters, the elemental powers she wielded were much more effective against an unholy foe. She did not come out of these skirmishes unscalded but Hane had not objections. It did not mattered if she got hurt or injured as long as those she protected were safe.

Closing the folder, she was about to leave when she heard the rapid staccato of someone at typing on a keyboard. Hane was surprised, as she had not seen anyone when she arrived. As soon as she stepped out of the cubicle, she felt the keen regard of a pair of vivid blue eyes. The secretary of the Shoukan Division was seated behind his table, fingers flying as he put finishing touches to a report. Hane did not doubt the razor sharp intelligence that lurked behind those sapphire eyes. She was sure that very few things happen without the man having knowledge of it. Tatsumi Seiichiro was not nicknamed the shadow dictator of the Shoukan Division for frivolous reasons.

" Watari-san told me you were hurt. " He got to his feet and closed the narrow distance between them to stand before her.

" It was nothing serious just a few cuts. I'm fine. " Perhaps sensing skepticism in the way Tatsumi regarded her, Hane lifted her right hand and drew back the sleeve to show him that the wounds had fully healed.

" That's good. Do be more careful next time. " Tatsumi's tone was mild.

" Thank you. I'm sorry to have made you worried. "

" Good night, Tatsumi-san. "

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hane fled from the room like a startled deer, not realizing what she had done until she stopped in front of grand parliament building that housed the EnmaCho bureau. She stood on the pavement, a lone gray shadow beneath the dim illumination cast by the streetlights. She had not run because she feared Tatsumi but rather it had been the tone of his baritone voice. It was the way he spoke to her that made Hane instinctively recoiled. Like a zephyr that kindled sparks from smoldering embers, the gentle timbre of his voice stirred up the ghosts of her past. The words had been different then but the concerned manner had been the same. It haunted her still and so did the pain that shredded her heart into myriad pieces.

She had been deeply shaken when she first heard Tatsumi's voice for the first time. It had sounded entirely too familiar for Hane's peace of mind. Self-doubt reared its ugly head and daunted her resolve for a moment but it also pricked her pride. Hane had made a promise and she would see it to the end. Taking a deep breath, she gazed into the vast darkness that was the night sky. The perennial stars remained like diamonds scattered carelessly across ebony velvet and on a night like this; Hane had held a glittering shard in her hands. Yet, the gem along with the future it symbolized was long gone. Pulling the collar of her coat up against the night chill, Hane released a soft sigh over her unhealthy tendency to dwell in the past. Taking a moment to get her composure back, she departed to start her new assignment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Another month in the red... Time to implement more cost cutting measures... "

Tatsumi muttered to himself as he saved the latest financial report before shutting down his computer terminal to call it a day. Draping his suit jacket over one arm and picking up his briefcase, he switched off the table lamp to plunge the office into a word of moonlight and shadows. As he walked by the windows, Tatsumi glanced out and caught the sight of a new moon. Looking at the pale silver crescent suspended against the night, Tatsumi raised a hand to his face. His expression became thoughtful as he contemplated the brief encounter between Hane and himself.

The woman interested him and there was nothing Tatsumi liked more that unraveling puzzles especially when the puzzle was related to the Shoukan Division under his supervision. With each and every successful completion of her assignments, Hane was becoming the major contributor to division. Due to her extraordinary duties, Hane received considerable sums as her bonus besides her normal remuneration yet for some unfathomable reason she had chose to inject the money back into the division's operating budget. She was definitely footing the bill for some of Tsuzuki's mistakes since with his miserable salary, Tsuzuki would probably work for free for another one or two hundred years.

While Tatsumi was not a man who cared about vanity in appealing to women, he had been surprised greatly by Hane's reaction to him. Every time they interacted, he had the impression that she was trying to flee or avoid him. Tatsumi was no adept at dealing with women but he had no problems with Yuma and Saya. The two girls seemed to like him but then again, Yuma and Saya liked everybody. He also got along fine with Wakaba so it was bothering him a little that Hane had ran from him again.

The moon reminded him of the color of her eyes and their expression when she had looked at him. There had been a sense of wariness but behind that Tatsumi was sure there was also a vague sense of melancholy. The hand, she raised to him as she made light of her injuries, appeared entirely too fragile. Tatsumi was curious about the reason behind Hane's decision to become a shinigami and he had checked up on her but the information available was too scanty for his satisfaction. He suspected that Chief Konoe knew something but the old man was being tight-lipped about it.

As Tatsumi let himself out of the office and locked up, he vowed he would know more about the woman called Kimura Hane.