Clandestine Prequel Arc: Makoto

(1) The World Changes (Miano)

Tokyo 20 years ago:

           Miano smiled as she headed down the busy street. The conditions were perfect really, a perfect summer day for the perfect vacation. Miano Anderson was on vacation from school in the states, she had always wanted to visit Japan, ever since she was in Elementary school, something about the culture just really excited her, and now, for the first time, her University had started a new exchange program where students could sign up for slots to go to different countries. The list consisted of countries like, Europe, South America, even Africa. But she didn't care about any of that, the only place she cared about was exactly where she was. She had even learned the language. Although, maybe one of the reasons she felt such a connection was that she herself was half Japanese.

                   She kind of chuckled inwardly as she passed a small karaoke bar, she reminded herself that she wanted to try that sometime, although, unlike most people who know their bad, she didn't want to just go by herself. She would have died if she was forced to do that. No, she wanted a group, not a large one, maybe like 3 or 4, but still a group. She shook her head slightly as she tried to chase those thoughts. She had to pay attention, this was still a new place after all, and she had only been there about a week. Her focus must have failed her because all of the sudden she heard something.

                   "Hello.... Hello.... Hey, Miano Chan!. Jeez... are you daydreaming again?! I swear, you're such a spaz."

The word must have been like the equivalent of a light switch in her mind because in an instant she had swung her elbow like a bat into the male that towered over her and brought him to eye level, she then snatched him up by the collar of his shirt glaring daggers at him. "Call me a spaz again and you'll be sipping udon through a straw, you got that!?"

The boy shot his hands up in surrender... "Ok... ok, I'm sorry! Cool it, just calm down Mia...." The boy's voice cracked slightly as he looked at her.

Miano sighed letting go of his collar and shoved him away. "Whatever, nothing can ruin my mood." Her smile returned to her face almost as soon as it had disappeared.

"Man, you really are crazy about this place, I've never seen you smile so... girly..." This time he received a smack to the back of the head. "Oowwww!..." He rubbed the back of his head with frown.... "Jeez, that hurt!" Miano suddenly walked past him a smirk on her lips.

"That's what you get for being an ass.... Jared." She looked back at him and nodded, "hurry up, I'm hungry!" She whined.

                    Miano and Jared Williams had been friends since they were little, their mothers were best friends and the two just followed suit. Although, their friendship did mostly consist of him putting his foot in his mouth and then receiving a slap to the back of the head or, an elbow to the stomach or even a punch to the lip once or twice. But still, she enjoyed his company.

                "Come on you slowpoke, I swear, you're like a damn turtle!"

Jared smirked as he sped up a bit making it nose to nose with Miano. "You were saying?" She chuckled a little as her eyes wandered around the streets again. "Hey look, they have Wendy's here!" Jared called out as he ran ahead of her.

"Oh come on, can't we try something a little more.... Original?"

Jared looked at her with a grin. "You can get whatever you want, I'm getting a nice juicy all American burger!" Miano sighed breaking off from him.

                      "Fine, then I'm gonna go check out that place!" She hollered out pointing to a mall restaurant that kinda looked like a small temple. As she got closer she could smell the aroma of noodles, egg rolls, rice, chicken and even some seafood. The different smells started to meld together, including the seafood, it kinda smelled like, rotten eggs. Miano wrinkled her nose as she stepped inside.

                    The inside wasn't really all that impressive, in fact it actually looked smaller than the outside. It was a small place, no tables just a small bar type area that faced the kitchen. A young girl probably about 16 or 17 was at the counter. She looked to be about 4 or 5 years younger than Miano and she was wearing a brilliant red Kimono. "Kon'nichiwa, watashi wa ika no bōru o onegai shitai to omoimasu.." Miano said in her best Japanese accent. The girl chuckled softly.

"I'll gladly give you a bowl of squid but, would you rather have a bowl of Udon?" Her thick accent made it clear she was the genuine article. But, the fact that she spoke English made Miano feel even more embarrassed.

"Ummm.... Yes, one bowl of Udon please..." She said as she sat down.

About 10 minutes later, the girl at the counter came back and set down a ceramic bowl down in front of Miano. She probably would have laughed if she saw the grin she had in a mirror at that moment. The noodles were definitely fresh because there was a thick stream of steam coming from the bowl as she picked up her chopsticks and picked up a few slurping them into her mouth.

'I wonder how Jared is doing, is he enjoying that burger?...' She had a dissatisfied smirk on her face with that thought. Still, she thought she had better get back to him soon. In another few minutes she had the whole bowl empty. After putting the appropriate amount of currency on the bar and headed for the door.

As she opened the door she squinted slightly from the sunlight, as her eyes came back into focus she noticed Jared waving from across the street. She rolled her eyes slightly before making her way over. "Did you enjoy your totally cliche meal?" Jared shook his head;

"Really, cause, if you ask me, a foreigner eating Japanese food her first time in Japan? That's the cliche." Miano narrowed her eyes at him making a cold chill run down his spine.

"Whatever...." She said as she shoved him out of the way. "Come on, let's go, we need to get to the...."

She was cut short as a young man seemed to suddenly just appear in front of them. He looked to be about her age with a black sweatshirt pulled over his shapely frame. But the most noticeable thing about him, other than his strange fashion choice, were his eyes. Even though the hood he had on covered most of his face, they both could still see his pupils. Maybe it was because of the way the sun was reflecting, but Miano could have sworn she saw a red hue. Not only that, but, she seemed to be being pulled further and further away from her surroundings, everything started to blur....

"H...hey.... Mia... Miano.... Mi...on... At first her eyes turned as she heard Jared's voice, but each time, the voice got quieter and quieter....

(Ok, so yea, that's all I can tell you about that part, I mean, I wasn't there after all, I only heard about it years later from a few sources, one of which was a very choppy news reel... and yea, I filled in some of the content, most of it though, was information from actual bystanders but, you already knew that, all I can do is tell you what I know, still with me?.... Good..)