Yuuko Ichihara
Legacy Name: Yuuko Ichihara

Item not found: foxfire

As the man stared down at the woman lying on her bed, clothed in silks adorned by butterflies, he began to mutter to himself “Butterflies are a symbol of change…but this, this is something that will never change…isn’t that right, Yuuko?” The woman named Yuuko lay there, unmoved by his words. Her face frozen, eyes closed, and mouth turned upwards, slightly, forming a smile, as if there was something only she knew. As he stared at her lifeless form, tears began fall slowly, down his cheeks, onto his glasses. “Why,” he asked her? “Why now? Aren’t I the one who usually leaves? Are you punishing me, by leaving me, by going to the one place I cannot follow? Is this payback? As he gazed mournfully down at the woman, begging her for an answer, he wept. Not a man, woman, or child will miss you he thought…only me. Only I will remember and miss you, and for a split second he thought to himself, I wish you would remain here.

As he cried the woman’s mouth slowly began to change. Her upturned mouth began to droop as she slowly opened her eyes. As her eyelashes fluttered she turned her head towards the man and said, “your power was always too strong, Clow.”

The man froze, and slowly moved his eyes to meet the woman’s. “How," he asked? “How is this possible? How can you be alive again?

The woman gave him a sad smile. “Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to. How am I alive…because you wished it so.” As the man stared, his face began to pale. He opened his mouth to speak, but without even giving the man the slightest bit of acknowledgment, Yuuko cut through his unspoken words. “Do you know, for every wish there must be a price paid? An equal price…even for you, Clow.”

The man sat there in silence for what felt like an eternity. “What price," he finally asked?

The woman’s mouth moved to give him a smile, but her eyes filled with pity and sadness. “Too much," she said. Too much for just you to ever pay…even if you lived forever.” As she said this, a single tear rolled down her face “…you must go now…and never return.”

“And you” the man asked, “what will happen to you?”

“Me,” the woman said trying to hold back her tears, “I must stay here…and wait. I must wait here for the sake of two worlds, two futures, and for time to move again. My time has only been halted…I am nothing more than a memory…a dream. I must stay here and wait for the people who are you…and yet not you. But all dreams will come to an end eventually…even yours, Clow. I pray that it happens sooner rather than later. What you’ve done to me is no gift, remember that always for that will be the price you yourself must pay, and those children…those children will pay an even bigger price than you.”

The man slowly stood, and moved his hand closer to the woman, to touch her one last time. The woman silently shook her head. “As you wish” he said in a hushed voice. He turned away and walked out of the room as he did so he quietly said, “good-bye.”

***

In this world, there are mysteries that defy explanation. Mankind will always notice them, no matter what. It is always so. But these people. This “mankind” is the most bizarre out of all. No matter how strange or extraordinary these incidents seem if man is not present, if man does not bear witness, then these mysterious are nothing more than a phenomenon. They are no more than an affair that will simply pass.

There are people, in this world, who are…special. They have needs. They have wants. And they have wishes. They are people who exist along with everyone else, and yet they are different. My shop is here for these people. The only people, who can enter, are those who must. It will exist until it is no longer needed, until that one day when the people, who are not of Clow Reed’s bloodline…and yet are the same, visit, and my time once again begins to move.

This story…is about one of those people…one who needed to enter.

***

“Mistress” cried Maru “

“Mistress” cried Moro.”

You have a client mistress, said Maro and Moro together. A client for mistress, a client for mistress the two young girls sang as they skipped down the hallway, the client between the two.

Yuuko turned around and smiled. Welcome, my name is Yuuko Ichihara, a pseudonym of course. After all, names are paramount.

“Names?” said a confused woman.

Yes! Names have power. Names have purpose. They have a weight to them, and when you tell a person your name, you give them that power and weight. Once you have given your name to someone, you give that person the ability to take your soul. Likewise by giving that person your birthday, as well, you will allow that person to control your entire life. Every name has power to it even if the item is not living. By giving it a name, you have embodied that object with power. The same can be said for those living. And your name is?

“M…my name? It’s Sarah.”

Yuuko smiled at her two assistants, “tell Watanuki to prepare some tea for our guest. Sarah was it?” She asked as she looked back at the client. “And why have you come Sarah?”

“I…I…I’m not sure why I’ve come.”

“You’ve come because it was necessary. You need to be here…it was inevitable.”

“What? …But…I don’t even know where here is. I just…found myself….at your door.”

“Oh, my dear,” Yuuko said with a smile. “The very act of finding my shop means that you knew where you were, and where you needed to be. My shop, after all, is a bit…special. Only those who have a need of it may enter, and you certainly have a need.”

“N…no. It was only a coincidence. Ye…yes, that’s right. I was on my way to work, and I just happened by your shop.” As she talked the woman moved her hand into her purse. “I really should get going now, or else I’ll be late.”

“No, everything that happens in this life has meaning or purpose,” said Yuuko, “because nothing is coincidence….everything is inevitable.”

“Inevitable? But I don’t even know where here is. How could I have meant to come here? What is here even? What type of shop is this? What do you sell…I don’t see any merchandise?”

Yuuko smiled at her client as she said “…why…we sell wishes. Don’t you have a wish?”

“Wishes? Don’t be absurd,” said the woman finally getting some of her nerve back. “No one can sell, wishes, that’s something that belongs in fiction, not reality. I see what type of shop this is. You prey upon people’s hopes and extort money out of them.”

“The world looks very broad, doesn’t it? But in all actuality the world is very narrow. There are limits of sight, limits of hearing, limits of touch, and the limits of feeling. The world is created from a different place entirely. Are you telling me that you see, hear, touch, and feel all? You know everything in this world that there is to know…there’s nothing that ever surprises you? In this narrow world for those who know of its secrets…these things exist and are reality.”

As Yuuko talked the woman’s hand never left the inside of her purse, it only held tighter.

“And what’s that….what do you have in your purse,” Yuuko asked with an expressionless face?

“I…I…I don’t have anything in my purse….nothing that concerns you,” the woman said, her face changing from suspicious to scared. “I…I’m late…and I better leave now.”

“Late,” asked Yuuko? “Late for what?”

“I…I’m just…just…late” the woman responded her voice slowly rising to a shout. “Just late that’s all!”

“Oh,” Yuuko said? “If you’re late then you should go…shouldn’t you?”

“I…I…will you’re…just keeping me here”

“Who’s keeping you? Me? Are you not able to leave my shop?”

The woman’s hand began to tighten around the object in her purse, even more. “You…you just…just…keep asking me silly questions. And I’m late!”

“If you wish to leave, then by all means…leave. But I think you should know…you will be back eventually. It’s inevitable.” As Yuuko talked the woman stood up, her chair fell behind her, with a loud clatter. Yuuko smiled at her, as she turned to face the doorway. “Ah good, the tea’s ready, come in Watanuki and serve our guest.”

A young man dressed in his school uniform walked through the door, his short black hair rested neatly on his head as he looked at the startled guest. “It’s an Indian tea. Ashwaganda. It helps relieve stress and anxiety,” the boy said “….I thought it would be a good choice.” As he set the tray down on the table between the shop owner and her customer, his eyes looked towards the woman’s purse. Black smoke poured from it as he watched.

The woman clutched the object in her purse harder than ever. “I don’t need tea,” she said. “I…I need to leave…now.”

“Then leave,” the shopkeeper said. “No one is keeping you here.”

As the woman began to back away from the tablet, her hand began to come out of her purse slowly. “I will then…yes…I’ll just leave” she said her face forming a smile. “Yes that’s it I’ll leave.”

“Maru. Moro.” Yuuko called, “show the guest to the door please, she seems to be late.”

Maru and Moro appeared at the door and answered in unison “yeeeeeeeeeees” and led the customer out of the room.

“Is it really alright for her to leave,” Watanuki asked as he picked up the chair?

Hmmmm, yes…she’ll return…it’s inevitable for her to. “Now then, Watanuki, more importantly” the woman said an expression of excitement upon her face, “what have you prepared for snacks?”