Back Story #Kashi

The boy was climbing a tree.

“Kashi~! Kashi~!”

Narrowing his eyes in annoyance, the young boy climbed further up the tree, hoping that when she came by, she would not spot him. He panted for breath as he neared the peak, and looked at the next branch in his way. The distance between his position and the branch was longer than usual, and a mis-step could kill him. It could be very, very dangerous. Kashi smiled. He would have it no other way.

Balancing himself on the branch, Kashi spread his arms out to balance himself and bent his knees slightly in order to prepare himself for the jump that might or might not kill him. Swinging himself back and forth, Kashi mentally counted down. Five… four… three… two… o-

“KASHI! YOU GET DOWN FROM THAT TREE RIGHT NOW!”

The piercing voice came out of nowhere, causing Kashi to jump up in shock. His concentration destroyed, Kashi failed to reach the branch, and time seemed to stand still for a split second. The young boy’s eyes widened as he realized what had happened. Then, time returned back in full swing, and the young boy began his involuntary descent down the tree.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” yelped Kashi, flailing his arms wildly as he fell, fell and fell. Death seemed imminent, and the boy closed his eyes to mentally prepare himself for death. However, alas, no one can mentally prepare oneself from death. Death is like a mega ultra bitch who pops up and screams when you’re walking down a long long hall. With that in mind, Kashi began to scream again. “AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

A flicker, and a flash. As he watched, Kashi could see a blur rushing towards him. Was it death? Was he, as the old man who ran the market said, going towards the light? Or…

“Geeze, Kashi, you could have died, you know that? Stop making me worry about you all the time!”

Kashi looked up, realizing that he was in the arms of a girl his age, who had run up the tree to catch him before making her way back down by using the branches as steps. Ashamed that he’s ended up being saved by her again, the boy refused to look the girl in the eye and turned his head to the sound, pouting. “If you hadn’t shocked me, I could have made it, you know. Why do you have to keep bothering me? I hate people like you!”

The girl blinked in surprise and shock at Kashi’s words. Her lips quivered, and a tear formed on her eye as she landed on the ground. This, however, went unnoticed by Kashi, who continued to look the other way. Her face flushed red with anger, and she dropped the young boy on the ground. Unprepared for the fall, Kashi fell unceremoniously, and rolled on the floor before being able to stand up.

“What the hell was that for?” asked Kashi, annoyed.

“Hmph! I don’t know, you jerk!” Biting back tears, the young girl ran away, leaving the boy confused and alone.

“… You’re the jerk.” Kashi glared at a random stone on the ground and kicked it with vengeance. “Not knowing how I feel…”

— Back In Town —

“Ha ha ha… so you had a fight with Rin again, Kashi?” asked the old lady, patting the boy on the head. The old woman and the boy sat on the porch swing of a house, swinging – as people on swings are apt to do – with the wind. Though time had taken away the woman’s youth and vigor, it had yet to dim the light in her eyes or dull her brain. She looked down on the boy fondly, handing him a cookie as she continued speaking. “Now, why would you make such a nice little girl cry, my child?”

“But… she’s so annoying whenever she keeps looking for me! I could have reached the top of the tree if it hadn’t been for her!” whined the boy, looking at the cookie in his hands. Was he going to eat it? Was he going to stare at it? Was he going to eat it? Was he going to stare at it? Was he going to eat it? Was he not? It was an intense battle of wits and tension as Kashi glared at the cookie for a few more seconds before finally cramming the entire thing in his mouth at once. Then again, he was a young boy, and such acts are only to be expected of boys his age.

“Ahhh…” The old woman grinned, realizing what the child had been up to. “So that’s why you’ve been doing that.”

“D… don’t get the wrong idea, old lady!” yelped Kashi, his face red. “I… it doesn’t mean anything!”

The old woman smiled, unaffected by the boy’s blatant disrespect for her. She was not one of those shallow-minded people who took offense at every single little thing. Old age had given her wisdom, and it had also given her patience. “If you say so, child.” Standing up from her chair, the old woman walked towards the door of the home. “Well, I shall be making chowder today, if I do say so myself. Come in when you’re finished playing, dear.”

“Kay.” With that, Kashi stood up, his eyes resolute and determined.

“Where are you off to now?”

“I’m going to say sorry to Rin.” Then noticing the old woman’s smile, Kashi flushed. “I… it doesn’t mean anything! I’m just going to say sorry!”

The old woman simply walked into the house, her smile growing wider. “If you say so, dear.”

— Rin’s Home —

“Um… umm…” Kashi looked down at his feet, his hands behind his back, at a loss for words. It was strange. He’d had everything planned out as he’d walked over, but now that he was standing in front of Rin, he could not talk for some reason. Perhaps, just perhaps, it had something to do with the fact that Rin was angry. Kashi had never seen her this angry before. “I’m… um…”

“Hurry up and say what you were going to and go away, you meanie!” yelled Rin, her face red.

“Meanie?” At that word, Kashi forgot his original purpose and stuck his tongue out at Rin. “I was going to say sorry, but now I’m not going to! You’re ugly and I hate you!”

“Rrrrrrrr! I hate you too, Kashi!” screamed Rin, slamming the door in his face.

“… Damn it! I messed up!” Kashi raged, and kicked a tree with his foot, before grabbing his foot in pain and falling to the ground.

— Four Years Later —

“Yah!” Kashi leapt forward, reaching for the final branch. The greatest hurdle in his path. For some reason, the distance between the two last branches was over two meters, something that was impossible for Kashi to reach. This time was no different. “AAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!”

THWACK! SNAP! CRASH!

Branches snapped as Kashi fell to the ground in a fall that would have killed any normal human. Not Kashi, however. He might not have been the best athlete in the world, but years and years of falling down a tree had given him an incredible amount of durability and stamina. Pulling himself up, Kashi glared at the tree and shook his fist at it. “Tomorrow, asshole! Tomorrow I’ll get to the top!”

— In Town —

“Hey, look, Rin. It’s Kashi. He’s all beaten up as usual,” observed a girl to Rin, as the two of them drank lemonade while sitting on a fence.

“Hmph! I don’t care about him!” Rin did her best not to pay attention to Kashi, whom she had not spoken to since that day they’d fought. Despite that, her eyes betrayed her, straying to the side and watching as Kashi stumbled towards his home, and against her own wishes her face turned red. “I… I don’t like him! Really!”

“… If you say so.” Rin’s friend took a sip of lemonade, and focused on other things.

— Five More Years Later —

“Rrrrrgh! GOTCHA!” A yell of triumph! Kashi could have cried in joy. Finally, FINALLY he had managed to reach the top of the tree. Grinning, the young man looked down at the small flower on top of the tree. A flower of myths, a flower of legends. One of incredible beauty. Legend had it that this flower bestowed upon its owner happiness and eternal love. The flower that had taken him nearly ten years to get to. With trembling hands, Kashi reached down to pick the flower, thinking of the circumstance that had allowed him to reach the top.

— A Few Minutes Ago —

At first, it was no different than any other time. Kashi stood on the second top branch, looking at the top branch. The branch that had plagued his dreams. The sole thing that stood in his way. To be truthful, Kashi was on the verge of giving up. Nearly ten years of disappointment. A long long time of pain and torment. If he failed this time, he felt that he would not have the will to attempt it again. This time. This time, he would get it. He WOULD get it.

Kashi hopped slightly on the branch, planning to use the springing force of the branch to reach the top branch. Bouncey bouncey bouncey… With a “Hup!” the young man leapt upwards… upwards and upwards… and his hand failed to reach the top branch, just centimeters short of it. His mouth open in a small ‘o’ shape, Kashi realized that he had failed yet again. But this time, it was different.

“Shit! No, not this time! I’m not going to give up! NEVER!” With a yell, Kashi reached forward with his other arm, and something inside him snapped. Was it just him, or did the branch seem to be… closer? He concentrated even harder, and Kashi realized that he was not hallucinating. The branch was getting closer, yet he was falling. Why? No time to think! Kashi spent his entire force into shortening the distance between himself and the top branch, and finally, he was able to grasp it. As he did…

“The fuck?” Kashi gasped. When he had last checked, the distance between the two top branches had been over two meters. Now, it was less than a meter. It was as if… the tree had shrunk? Or… Kashi looked at his hands. The feeling had been real. Exactly what was it?

— On The Ground —

In joy, Kashi began to run towards the village, a smile etched on his face. Finally, he had it. An effort that had taken ten years, but he’d finally done it! It seemed as if he could travel faster than ever now – it was as if the distance between him and the village was shrinking at an extremely fast pace. It was then that he saw the smoke rising from the horizon. Smoke… why? There had been no event scheduled for the town, no reason for there to be so much smoke…

Feeling uneasy, Kashi increased his pace and ran at full speed to the village.

— The Town —

“Old… old lady?” Kashi fell to his knees, looking at the corpse in front of him. The house that had served as his home since his childhood had been burnt to the ground, and all that remained was the dead body of the kindly old woman who had fed him, cherished him, cared for him and taught him. “This… this is a joke, right? It’s… it’s just a really bad joke, right?”

He shook the corpse, as if believing that doing such would bring it back to life. Tears dripped down from Kashi’s eyes as the truth set upon him. “No… no no no no no no no!” He stood up and began to step away, unable to take his eyes off the corpse. It was then that he remembered something. “Rin!”

The old lady was dead, but perhaps, just perhaps, he could save her. The flower forgotten, Kashi ran and ran and ran, stopping in front of her house. It was then that he saw her. “R… Rin?”

“Ka… Kashi?” Rin lay on the ground, her entire body covered in blood. A large gash ran down her arm, and blood blossomed on her chest like a crimson flower. “Thank… God… you’re… safe… At least… you…”

“No! NO!” With a wail of anguish, Kashi knelt down beside her and held her by the hand. “No, Rin! You’re going to make it! Please tell me you’re going to make it!”

“Heh… why are you crying… you… jerk? I… though… you ha… ted… me…” Rin slowly closed her eyes as the embrace of death came upon her, her grip on Kashi’s hand loosening. She smiled slightly, accepting her incoming death. She beckoned for Kashi to come closer, and the young man obliged. She put her free hand on Kashi’s cheek, and whispered, “You know… the truth is… I always…”

Tears fell from Rin’s eyes, and the young woman’s hand fell to the floor, never to move again.

“No… NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Please, Rin, please!” Kashi tried in vain to shake Rin awake, to no avail. Tears flowed from his eyes and the young man punched the ground repeatedly, screaming.

“Heh heh heh heh heh… So, there are more survivors?”

Kashi’s head snapped up, and he turned to face a group of large men with a great deal of weapons. “What… did you just… say?”

“I’m saying, I’m shocked to find out that there are more of you bastards alive. I thought I killed them all! Like that bitch here! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” The man in the lead laughed, and the men behind him laughed along with them.

“You… you… you…” Kashi slowly stood up, his arms hanging loosely and his face devoid of emotion. “You… BASTARDS!”

In a flash, Kashi was standing in front of the leader, and his hands were a blur as they snapped the man’s neck. In a split second, Kashi had taken the sword from the man behind the leader, and disemboweled him. With a roar, he tore the throat off the next man, and glared at the remaining ones, who ran away in fear.

None of them made it out of the town alive.

— The Next Day —

Kashi stood in front of a gigantic graveyard, one that had been dug overnight. Each of the deceased had been buried, with special care to the graveyards of the old woman and Rin. A tombstone rested in front of each grave, with a simple name on each one of them. Standing with Kashi were a group of children, who had survived the assault on town. It seemed as if their parents had hidden them in order to spare them, and now Kashi was all they had left to look up to.

“Rin… I’m… sorry.” Kashi reached into his pocket, bringing out the flower that he had picked. “Guess what? I found this on the floor while burying everyone.” Kneeling down, Kashi placed the flower on Rin’s grave, and smiled sadly. “You know, it seems kind of stupid. I spent ten years trying to get this flower to prove my love for you, and it turns out that I never needed to do such a thing. Funny how people never realize these kind of things until they’ve lost what’s important to them. But you know what? As long as I’m alive, this flower will never wilt. Cause it’s my love for you… and stuff. I’ve never been… good at this kind of… crap.”

A child tugged on Kashi’s sleeve, a somber expression on her face. “Kashi… will I never see mommy again?”

Kashi pat the girl on the hand, and smiled sadly. “I’m sorry, Eliza, but… she’s gone to a better place now.”

Eliza nodded, and her lips quivered as the truth finally set on her. With a small wail, the girl flung herself onto Kashi’s chest, followed by the rest of the orphans, joining in one gigantic group hug.

— Two Years Ago —

“Kashi, are you sure that you want to do this?” asked Eliza, balancing a pile of towels on one hand while holding a child by his hand on the other. “I mean, it sounds really dangerous.”

Many years had passed since the massacre of their hometown, and Kashi and the orphans had settled in the center of Sniperville, making a life for themselves. Each of the children were now fully grown, and the home that Kashi had bought was now a miniature orphanage, where they took in lost children regularly.

Kashi nodded. “The pay’s good, and this Q guy seems to be decent. If the job goes through, then we won’t have to worry about financial problems anymore. I’m counting on you and Albert to take care of the rest while I’m gone, okay?”

Eliza sighed. “Fine, fine, fine. But you better return, okay?”

Kashi smiled. “Eh, no worries. Who do you think I am? I’m fucking Kashi, the greatest man ever!”

“Woah, the ego,” muttered Albert under his breath as he walked by. He was promptly smacked upside the head. “Ow!”

“Well, youngsters, the man of the house is off!” With a flamboyant motion, Kashi grabbed a top hat from the hat rack and walked off into the night.

— Present, Night —

Q stood on the roof of Kashi’s home, sighing. In his right hand was a briefcase full of money, the same briefcase that he had taken from Rick the day he’d left. On his left was a letter. And on his head was a top hat. The man made sure that no one was around to see him, and jumped down. Placing the briefcase, the letter and the top hat at the doorstep, he pressed the doorbell and vanished from sight. None too soon, for the door was opened a few seconds later by Eliza.

From the roof of the house across the street, Q watched as Eliza picked up the letter and read it. The young woman trembled, and fell to her knees, sobbing. Then, Albert appeared and held Eliza to prevent her from breaking down completely, half-carrying and half-dragging her inside, while another young woman carried the top hat, the letter and the briefcase inside.

“I’m… sorry you had to die, Kashi. If I could turn it back, I would. But… such a thing is beyond my power. This… is the least I could do for you.” Q bowed his head down, and then slipped into the shadows.

Nothing stirred in the night.

— Kashi’s Hometown —

On a grave, with a tombstone with the words Rin on it. While everything else in the town has crumbled and withered, the flower remains in perfect condition. However, suddenly, it begins to wilt, and it’s petals float away in the air.

There is no one to witness, and the flower fades into nothingness.