Since no one seemed to have gotten this the first time I posted it, here it
is again:





>From The Ashes 
Chapter 3

     A Military helicopter wove among the buildings of downtown Tokyo.
Normally, an aircraft of this sort wouldn't be flying quite so low, but its
pilot and sole occupant was more concerned with speed than saftey.  There
was an important meeting today and she was LATE!.
          *              *              *              *
     Kusanagi closed the door to Yaegashi's office with one arm, taking
care not to let go of Momiji.  As if he could, with the death-grip she had
on his arm.  As they moved down the hallway, he looked down at the printout
Yaegashi had given him.  His sister.  The gods only knew how long he had
desperately wanted to have somebody, anybody, who could give him the
unconditional support that you got from a family.  Now he had Momiji.  His
mind wandered at that point.  <Who would ever have thougfht that Momiji
would be the one to give that kind of support to me?> he asked himself.
<After all those jokes I made about her when we first met, about her
panties and her body; who would ever have thought she would fall in love
with me?  It's almost like a dream.>
     "Mamoru?" Momiji asked, tugging at the arm she was latched onto.
     "What is it, Momiji?" Kusanagi replied, looking down into her eyes,
losing himself in their depths.
     "How are we going to get there, Mamoru?  Neither of us can drive." she
asked, pointing to the address on the printout.  
     Kusangi wrenched his gaze away from her eyes and looked at the
address.  <That's halfway across the city!> he thought.  <How are we going
to get there?>  "Well, I could fly us over there fairly quickly, but that
would attract a lot of attention," he said hesitantly.
     "Maybe we could ask Ryoko if she'd be willing to drive us.  She wasn't
very busy earlier and I'm sure she'd appreciate a distraction," Momiji
offered.
     "Well, it doesn't hurt to ask," Kusanagi said, pulling Momiji closer
as they headed off to find Takeuchi and convince her to drive them halfway
across the city.
          *              *              *              *
     Yaegashi stared at the picture he had pulled out of his desk drawer.
<Koume-chan, I miss you so much,> he thought sadly.  <I can't believe I
listened to my mother when she told me not to see you anymore.  You were
the best thing that ever happened to me.>  As he sat there regretting, he
remembered the fateful night it had all happened...
          *              *              *              *
     "You are not to see her again, Yoshiki.  Have I made myself clear?"
Yaegashi's mother said firmly as they stood in the kitchen.  Yaegashi had
finally brought Koume home to meet his mother and all was not going well.
     "But mother..." Yaegashi started.  <This is going like I expected,> he
thought.  <How could I have missed my mother being so stubborn and
hide-bound.  She holds to those antiquitated traditions like they're worth
something in this modern age.>
     "But nothing, Yoshiki," she interrupted.  "She comes from a common
family and your ancestors were powerful samurai.  You cannot marry a girl
like that.  Besides, she's so violent and crude.  However could you think
that such a woman would be acceptable?"
     "But mother..." Yaegashi started again.  He had to make her see that
he loved Koume.
     "Please, Yoshiki," his mother pleaded.  "Do it for me.  I can't bear
to lose you to someone like her.  Don't you love your mother anymore."
     Faced with his mother's tear-ridden face, Yaegashi's resolve crumbled.
 Now he just had to figure out how to deal with Koume.
          *              *              *              *
     Yaegashi sighed and set the picture back in its drawer.  He took off
his glasses and wiped away the tears that his rememberences had brought
forth.  <How could I have done that to her?> he asked himself.  <Koume
opened herself up to me and I threw away what she offered me.  And for
what?  Because my mother asked me to?>  Yaegashi leaned over and shut the
drawer, locking it carefully.  He wound up looking at that photo of him and
Koume virtually every day, but he was extremely reluctant to let any of the
others know that he had it.  <Why did I listen to my mother?> he berated
himself.  <She made it impossible for me to live like an ordinary boy,
always talking about our samurai heritage and how I was so much better than
all the other children.  It's no wonder I turned to computers for a way of
life.  My mother made it impossible for me to relate to other people.>
     Yaegashi leaned back in his chair and a ghost of a smile flickered
across his face.  <I always found myself attracted to girls like Momiji.
Girls who were safely out of reach,> he thought.  <And then I met Koume and
everything changed.  Finally, I had met a woman who was actually interested
in me.  It was so wonderful and I threw it away because of my mother.
Gods, I'm dispicable.>  Yaegashi sunk his head in shame as the tears
started flowing again.  <All lost...>
          *              *              *              *
     Kunikida sat at the conference table, staring at the other people
seated around it.  He had been in meetings like this almost daily since the
Aragami had been destroyed, and had always seen the same faces.  Today,
though, was different.  A  new representative had been chosen for the JSDF.
 Someone he knew quite well; Koume Sawaguchi.  
     To say Kunikida was surprised would be an understatement.  When
Sawaguchi had left the TAC to return to the JSDF, she had been fairly low
in rank and not exactly in favor with her former superiors.  Now she had
been promoted to the rank of Captain and made liason for the JSDF involved
in the Reconstruction and Provention Committee.  Kunikida snorted in
amusement, <Obviously the JSDF's ranking officers had been decimated by the
Aragami.  Otherwise, Sawaguchi's...unorthodox methods and lack of respect
for her superiors would have prevented her rising that high.>
     "Sorry I'm late, gentlemen," Sawaguchi said as she plopped down in her
chair.  "I was delayed at the airbase."
     "Glad you could come, Captain Sawaguchi," Kunikida said wrly.
Punctuality had never been one of her habits.  "Now, as I was saying
before, we only have one issue to deal with today.  That is the recent
sightings in the Ginza district.  We've had reports from the demolition and
removal crews of unusual occurences.  I'd like the committee's approval to
investigate this, as well as support from the JSDF."  He paused waiting for
a reply.
     "I see no reason why we shouldn't agree to this," one of the men at
the table said.  "After all, keeping strange occurrences under control is
why we kept the TAC around after the Aragami were destroyed. As long as
your requests for aid are reasonable, I think the JSDF should be able to
accomidate you.  Isn't that correct, Captain Sawaguchi?"
     "I see no problem, sir, as long as the requests do not detract from
the forces we are using in the rebuilding and peacekeeping efforts," she
replied.  
     "And how have the peacekeeping efforts been progressing, Captain?" one
of the men at the table asked.
     "Reports of looting have finally been reduced to nothing, sir.  Since
we instituted a curfew in the areas where rebuilfding was occuring and
started patrols in the currently abandoned areas, we have seen a sharp
decrease in crimes.  The newly recruited police forces have been adequate
for the rebuilt areas, so I see no need for the military to worry about
them any longer," Sawaguchi said.
     Very well.  Since there is nothing else on the agenda for today, I
suggest we adjourn until our meeting next week," the man who sat at the
head of the table said authoritatively.
          *              *              *              *
     "Sawaguchi, can I have a word with you?" Kunikida said as the meeting
broke up and people started leaving.
     "Sure," Sawaguchi replied as she finished dumping her papers into a
briefcase she had brought with her.  She slumped back down into her chair,
losing the rigidity that she had as a military officer in front of
civilians.  She relaxed, since she trusted Kunikida.  She had few friends
and most of them were members of the TAC.  There had even been one who had
been something more than a friend... She ruthlessly suppressed that
thought.  It was over between them now.  He had told her that he couldn't
be with her anymore and that had hurt badly.  It had been the first time in
years she had opened up to someone and that stinging rejection had sent her
crawling back into the shell she had hid herself in for years.
     "We missed you at the party, Sawaguchi," Kinikida said, snapping her
out of her introspection.  She grimaced as she remembered missing the party
that had been thrown in honor of Momiji's birthday two weeks before.  She
had been avoiding all her friends at the TAC for the last few months,
burying herself in her work.  Ever since that night...<Damnit,> she
thought.  <Why do I keep dragging that up?  Why can't I just move on with
my life?>
     "I'm sorry about that," she said, straightening in her seat.  "I got
caught up in some paperwork and lost track of the time..."
     "Is that what you want me to believe, Koume?" Kunikida asked her
softly.  She jumped a little at hearing Kunikida call her by her first
name, something he had never done.  "You've been avoiding us for months.
Ever since your breakup with Yaegashi.  We're your friends, Koume.  After
everything we've been through, can't you trust us to help you with your
problems?"
     Sawaguchi just sat there, staring at him in shock, her mouth opened
and closed as if to protest the things he was saying, but nothing came out.
 Perhaps he was right.  Perhaps sheshould talk about this to someone...but
not now.  "I have to go," she muttered, grabbing her bag as she jumped out
of her chair and left the room.   Kunikida stared after her, sadness in his
eyes.

End of Chapter 3

Next Time:
Finally, we get to Kusanagi's sister
Maybe a little action
Lots more with Koume

Author's Notes:
Whew!  At long last this chapter's done.  I had some major work going on
here at school and now that I have a chance to relax, I 've managed to
start writing again.  I wanted to finish this part soon, before I forgot
what I intended to do with Koume and Yaegashi's relationship problems.
C&C Welcome
Tim Walsh  email: Walshtt@muohio.edu