Chapter Twenty-One
The All-Seeing Eye

Jin awoke in the middle of the night, his lungs squeezed down to an impossibly small size, his breath coming out staggered as he clinched his chest. “Breathe…” He whispered to himself, commanding his lungs to expand and take in air as his hands clinched the sweat drenched nightshirt. “It isn’t real, it isn’t real.” He shook his head, his messy black hair spraying sweat everywhere; the dream was just that, a dream, nothing more. There were no swords, or white eyes looking down upon him.

“Rina?” His mind quickly turned to his five-year-old daughter, finding her sleeping soundly next to him, undisturbed by his outburst.

He gave out a soft sigh in relief and rose from the small bed, walking through the two-room apartment, which doubled as a personal studio. Supporting a young child had proved challenging enough, now it seemed almost impossible with his only source of income being a part time photographer for some less than reputable people.

“And I am out of food.” He sighed, placing his head on the fridge, his stomach already rumbling for an early morning snack. Worse yet Rina would be waking soon and wanting breakfast.

His eyes glanced to his sleeping daughter in the next room, and then to the manila folder that had been slipped under his doorway. “What is this?” He mumbled, picking up the folder. “Another politician job, or a celebrity?”

He reached into the folder, pulling out a check and a photo for a pretty young girl, no older than twenty, wearing a professional baseball uniform. “Celebrity.” He noted that the folder came from one of his more usual customers, a small tabloid magazine that loved embarrassing photos. “Naiya Koyama.” He read the name off the picture, studying it for a moment before placing it down on the table.

“Daddy?” Rina stepped into the room, clinging to her teddy bear.

“Did I wake you?” He stepped over to her, scooping her up into his arms before returning to the picture and flipping it over to see a note listing where she would be appearing and when she would be appearing. “Daddy is going to go take pictures of this girl.”

Rina shifted around a bit in his arms, sleepy and uncomfortable as she tried to see the photo. “Can I come too?” She gazed back up at her father.

Jin gazed around the empty apartment, it was already the weekend meaning he couldn’t just drop her off at day care, and the apartment itself was no place for a child of her age. If anything she could be more of a “help” toward his mission than a hinder by providing a distraction for Naiya while he snapped a few shots.

“Okay you can come.” He smiled, patting her head as Rina squealed in glee.

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Naiya moved the pen with effortless skill, following the motions that Touko had taught her to sign her name like an adult would. After countless hours of sitting at a small table, and signing countless pictures. She was able to get the motions down with near perfection. “Thank you for coming.” She nodded, flexing her cramping hand as a man walked away from the autograph table and the next one came up.

On days like these in which the team was off playing an “away” game, Naiya was forced to attend appearances and autograph signings to keep up the team’s image. As embarrassing as appearances were, she was able to hand them with ease. Autograph signings on the other hand became a test of patience as she forced her hands to sign countless pictures and keep a permanent smile on her face.

“I think I am going to go insane from all the smiling.” She mumbled through clinch teeth between people, glancing over at Li who remained at her side, shoulders slumped in boredom. “And you are not helping.” She added, her voice at a near whisper.

“I’m bored.” Li whined, waving a paw around the small coffee shop that the appearance was being held at. “The food here is horrible, they don’t even have chocolate to help keep my energy up.”

She gave him a quick roll of her eyes, checking her watch before acknowledging the next person to step up. “Only one more hour.” She whispered to Li, quickly signing the picture and handing it back.

“It’s already been seven hours!” Li waved his paws around frantically, practically shouting in frustration. “I can’t keep up the transformation forever, especially when I am starving!”

The last line gave her something to pause and worry about. He had to keep up the transformation, if Li didn’t it would put her in a very embarrassing situation of having to run out of a packed coffee house while her body changed back to the thirteen year old she actually was.

“And what is your name?” She quickly banished the thoughts from her mind, and focused on the young child and her father that was standing in front of her.

“Rina.”
“And how old are you Rina?”
“Five…”
“And do you like the Tokyo Tigers?”
“I kind of like watching Kyoto more.”

Naiya took in a deep gulp, trying to hold back her embarrassment and a small laugh as she signed the picture. “Well I enjoyed beating them.” She winked playfully handing the picture back to the young child.

Rina looked down at the picture and then back at Naiya, trying to understand what Naiya said and what she should say in return. Naiya in turn just smiled and waved, watching the two walk off.

“Ahem.” The next one in line cleared her throat, drawing Naiya’s attention back to the line as the woman stepped up to the booth.

“Thank you for…” Naiya’s mouth went completely dry, unable to form words as she gazed upon her mother walking up to the booth with a picture in hand. “Mom.” She found herself saying out loud.

Sakura gazed at the woman in front of her with mild annoyance, her arms crossed as she waited for the picture to be signed. She had used her lunch break to stand over an hour in line for the signature of the player her daughter endured. “Excuse me?”

Naiya remained slack jawed for a moment, struggling for the words to say. “I, you, I…” were the only things that were coming out.

“Naiya.” Li hissed, bringing her back to reality just long enough to write her autograph on the photo.

“You just remind me of my mom.” Naiya handed back the picture, her hand shaking as Sakura grasped it. For a moment their hands touched, their eyes met, in that moment Sakura felt a feeling only a mother could feel, the recognition of their child. “Thank you for coming.” Naiya added her eyes quickly darting away.

“Uh huh.” Sakura stepped away, still dazed from the entire experience as she found her way out of the shop.

Naiya returned to trying to sign her autographs, although her attention continued to waver. Had her mother recognized her, she still could not get over the look in her mother’s eyes as she handed back the autograph. “Li I need to go.” She rose from the table, scooping up the pale lion cub. “I just… I need to go.” She turned, walking through the side door to her left and out into an alley way beyond the store.

“Naiya…” Li whimpered in her hands.

Naiya pressed her body against the cold brick wall of the alleyway, trying to gather her thoughts the best she could. “Li the way she looked at me, that look in her eyes, I have to get back to the hospital.”

“Naiya I can’t hold the spell.” He cried out in pain, the familiar lights and sensations rushed through Naiya as she transformed back into the child she was.

“That was so cool!” A young voice piped up, filling the alleyway with excitement that only a young child could do. “Do it again!”

Naiya turned, finding herself looking at the young child who she had just met moments before. Along with her father who held a very nice, very expensive looking camera in his hands, snapping pictures every few seconds.

“Please don’t.” Naiya stepped forward, trying to reach for the man who stood at the other end of the alley.

Jin tucked the camera away under his jacket, grabbing Rina’s hand and exiting the alleyway before Naiya could get even half way down it. He had possibly the biggest story of the century, beyond the century, probably the biggest story in the universe. “Come along Rina.”

“Wait.” Naiya screamed rushing out of the alleyway, only to find that the man and his daughter had already merged into the normal pedestrian traffic and disappeared from sight.

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The room was dimly lit, not in a dark or spooky sort of way, but more in the way a person keeps his office while working into the evening hours. The entire ambiance of the room was enough for Jin to keep the camera close to him. “I was told I needed to see you.” He said, stepping toward the nicely carved desk.

“About what?” The Yukaza representative adjusted his glasses, his ice blue eyes shown ever so slightly when he moved them.

Jin stepped forward to the desk, his hands shaking ever so slightly as he flipped through the pictures on the digital camera. “I was told the Yukaza have ownership over her.” He held up the camera, showing the first picture of Naiya standing in the alleyway.

The man rose from his desk, taking his glasses off and looking directly into Jin’s eyes. “She did this thing, this transformation.” Jin continued, flipping through the various pictures to show a continuous transformation sequence.

If there was any sign of shock on the man’s face, he didn’t show it. Instead he just took the camera, examining the photos over and over again before looking up at Jin. “Are these the only copies?” He asked, placing the camera down upon the desk. “Of course they are…”

“I am going to expect some sort of payment, unless you want these photos to go to the press.” Jin snatched the camera off the table; suddenly wishing in his haste he had made several copies.

The man shook his head in disgust, holding out his hand toward Jin’s chest. “Naiya, her transformation, her role as a baseball player, those are all things you cannot possibly understand.” The air around his hand wavered, twisting and folding upon itself until a medieval sword appeared.

“They are beyond your comprehension.” He continued, thrusting the sword into Jin’s chest in one smooth quick motion. Just as what had happened with the sword, the air around the man wavered for a moment, twisting and turning, as the room seemed to distort for only a brief second. When it ended the smooth talking Yukaza man wasn’t standing there anymore. Instead was a tall, proud, Shinigami with wolf ears, the eyes though, the eyes remained the same ones he saw in his dream.

“And you never will.” Kuroe pulled the sword out of the man, the electricity of Jin’s soul flowing through the sword as he picked up the camera and deleted each and every picture that was on the disk drive.