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She saw the ones (Kamen Rider Ghost)
Fits in the same universe as Yelling Small Girl/Small Girl After All, but is futurefic featuring an original character, and some of my headcanon for the series. (Along with a darker take on Alain's relationship with the Fukami siblings, and assumptions that a certain character may not be redeemed as may happen in canon.)
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She saw them long before the rest of the world did.
Fukami Chiyo had seen the dark shapes slipping among the people. Occasionally saw monsters where others saw havoc. She asked her friends, but they didn't see either dark shapes or monsters.
Chiyo once let slip to her mother, who had grown thoughtful, and told her not to tell anybody else but family. So Chiyo didn't. Her uncle Makoto came by to her apartment one day, with her honorary uncle Takeru, and asked her about what she'd seen. She'd told them in full what she'd seen, did her best to give them locations and times, though she wasn't quite sure of some of them.
She thought about the meaning of her name. "Thousand Worlds", Chiyo knew, and she always assumed she'd been so named because her mother thought it pretty, not that her mother could have guessed what she could see.
Her uncles told her about the Ganma, how her uncle Makoto was essentially in a Ganma body with his human soul encased by a Ganma Eyecon. How the two of them had strengthened the walls between worlds so that no Ganma could come through anymore.
Except apparently they could once more.
And then her uncle Takeru had placed one hand on hers and gently explained why she could see. Her mother, like her uncle Makoto, had been trapped in the Ganma world. Chiyo had been conceived there, with a Ganma father. Nobody was quite sure how that had happened, even her honorary aunt Akari, but Chiyo had been born, and seemed so normal that it was easy to forget she was anything but human. Young-looking for her age, but human.
Her mother had given her that name to remind herself of Chiyo's origins. The identity of her father was a mystery, but she could tell from her uncle Makoto's expression that he had his suspicions.
Chiyo was to stay out of this, they both warned. Even though she seemed human for all intents and purposes, there was always the possibility that she might be recognized as or considered Ganma. Her mother and uncle Makoto were, despite human origins. And her uncle Makoto told her of the horror that was the Ganma world.
When the full Ganma invasion came, Chiyo stayed out of the way. But she did, upon seeing the higher level, human-looking Ganma, wonder which one was her father. She'd never ask, of course. Her mother had told her, one evening, that her Ganma parent would never regard her as his child, just another Ganma. It sounded like a life that she would never want, so she never looked for trouble.
She prayed each day that the trouble would never find her.
------
She saw them long before the rest of the world did.
Fukami Chiyo had seen the dark shapes slipping among the people. Occasionally saw monsters where others saw havoc. She asked her friends, but they didn't see either dark shapes or monsters.
Chiyo once let slip to her mother, who had grown thoughtful, and told her not to tell anybody else but family. So Chiyo didn't. Her uncle Makoto came by to her apartment one day, with her honorary uncle Takeru, and asked her about what she'd seen. She'd told them in full what she'd seen, did her best to give them locations and times, though she wasn't quite sure of some of them.
She thought about the meaning of her name. "Thousand Worlds", Chiyo knew, and she always assumed she'd been so named because her mother thought it pretty, not that her mother could have guessed what she could see.
Her uncles told her about the Ganma, how her uncle Makoto was essentially in a Ganma body with his human soul encased by a Ganma Eyecon. How the two of them had strengthened the walls between worlds so that no Ganma could come through anymore.
Except apparently they could once more.
And then her uncle Takeru had placed one hand on hers and gently explained why she could see. Her mother, like her uncle Makoto, had been trapped in the Ganma world. Chiyo had been conceived there, with a Ganma father. Nobody was quite sure how that had happened, even her honorary aunt Akari, but Chiyo had been born, and seemed so normal that it was easy to forget she was anything but human. Young-looking for her age, but human.
Her mother had given her that name to remind herself of Chiyo's origins. The identity of her father was a mystery, but she could tell from her uncle Makoto's expression that he had his suspicions.
Chiyo was to stay out of this, they both warned. Even though she seemed human for all intents and purposes, there was always the possibility that she might be recognized as or considered Ganma. Her mother and uncle Makoto were, despite human origins. And her uncle Makoto told her of the horror that was the Ganma world.
When the full Ganma invasion came, Chiyo stayed out of the way. But she did, upon seeing the higher level, human-looking Ganma, wonder which one was her father. She'd never ask, of course. Her mother had told her, one evening, that her Ganma parent would never regard her as his child, just another Ganma. It sounded like a life that she would never want, so she never looked for trouble.
She prayed each day that the trouble would never find her.
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----
"We should leave. I mean, not just out of here. I mean, get out of this city." Riko knew that her friend's sanity might rely on her not identifying herself partly as something she hated. Even if Chiyo was half Ganma, what did that really mean? That she could see them. That was it. If they got out of there, away from the city, that meant that Chiyo had time to redefine herself as something that was not causing her so much pain.
Chiyo seemed unusually docile as she nodded, a testament to how much this whole thing had impacted her. When Riko had put the clues together and asked Chiyo about them a while ago, Chiyo had sadly and reluctantly admitted that Riko was right. Then she'd broken down sobbing, and Riko suspected that it was because Riko was the first person who'd understood really what the whole thing meant.
"Chiyo," Chiyo's mother said, coming into the room, "I have to talk to you. In private?" Which meant Ganma stuff. Riko could see Chiyo straightening up.
"You can talk in front of Riko. She knows."
Chiyo's mother looked at Chiyo and then Riko. "It might be safer if she doesn't know."
Chiyo had told Riko that her mother had cautioned her about reacting to Ganma or telling anybody else. That caution had to have come from somewhere, but Riko couldn't help but feel a bit resentful.
"You can tell her anyway." There was a little bit of spirit back into Chiyo's voice.
"How much do you know?" Chiyo's mother asked - not Chiyo, but Riko.
"I know that her father's Ganma," Riko said, figuring sticking to the truth was the best. "And so she can see Ganma when she shouldn't be able to. And she doesn't like being part Ganma."
As if she'd passed some kind of test, Chiyo's mother smiled. "There's a little bit more to it than that, but yes." She sat down. "Chiyo, we're going to leave, your uncle Makoto, you and I."
Chiyo nodded. "I... I think that would be good."
"Prince Alain - the one that was here - is as obsessed with your uncle as always. And you and I along with him, to some extent. It's because we're Fukamis, not because of what you are."
She hadn't known that there was a Ganma obsessed with Chiyo's uncle. From Chiyo's expression, neither had she. Chiyo merely nodded again.
"He threatened us." And with that, Riko got a good look at Chiyo's mother's face. She was obviously the worse for wear. "He wanted to send us all back to the Ganma world. Mostly you and your uncle, I think."
It was a good reason to run away, if different from her own. Once Chiyo's mother was done speaking, she'd talk herself.
"Chiyo... I think you should know what Prince Alain said." Chiyo's mother paused, as if unsure how to deliver the news. "Your body is like your uncle Makoto's."
"My body is Ganma?" Chiyo asked, and Riko could see her cringe. She wrapped an arm around Chiyo's shoulders.
"Your body is human." Obviously, Chiyo's mother was trying to find a soft way to break it to Chiyo. "But it's wrapped around a Ganma Eyecon. Prince Alain told me that. Back when your uncles fought against the Ganma the first time around, Prince Alain tried to send your uncle Makoto back by reducing him back to an Eyecon - destroying his physical body and then sending him through the gate between worlds."
Chiyo shook. Riko gave her a squeeze, to remind her that she was not alone.
"I'm not going to let Prince Alain send either of you back." Chiyo's mother's tone was firm.
"I'm going with you. If he's figured out I'm Chiyo's friend, then he'd go after me to find you." It was the best time, Riko thought, to speak. "I know it's a sacrifice, but I'm willing to make it. She needs someone besides her family, Ms. Fukami."
"Or I could go with Prince Alain." It didn't sound like something that Chiyo was looking forward to, which Riko didn't blame her. From what she'd learned, it would be a bleak existance. "And then find my way back. He's my father, isn't he?"
"I can't tell you. But I can tell you, to quote your uncle Takeru, that it wouldn't be a good idea." Chiyo's mother's tone had gone soft again. "We're Fukamis. The only way he'd be satisfied if all of us were there... back there for your uncle and I. He'd never let you leave the Ganma world again."
Chiyo was shivering now. "I...."
"Let's just go with your family." Riko tried to sound decisive, without making Chiyo's choices for her.
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Do either Chiyo or Riko have jobs and/or go to school? Riko seems quite willing to pack up her life and flee with her friend, although it does seem like she's known the family for a long time and is putting on a brave face for Chiyo. Maybe she's not particularly settled in life, either. Or maybe she's just really singularly devoted and is full of Youthful Passion or something.
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Chiyo is kind of freaked out too, and trying to put a brave face, which is why she even brought up going with Alain. She thinks it's a fate worse than death, but it might save her family. (She takes after Makoto, definitely.) She'd definitely lose her life in the human world, and I don't know how well she'd take the very different culture that is the Ganma. She knows that her Ganma father won't acknowledge her as anything other than one of his kind.
(I'm assuming Alain left Kanon some way to contact him, just in case, though he's probably planning to force all of them back now.)
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I'm sure Riko is also freaked out by the prospect of a long-time friend disappearing into another world with no way to escape or contact anyone. That sort of change is scary, and it must be even moreso if she knows Chiyo will be just as upset there.
I can see Kanon having a way to contact Alain. Her response to the Ganma world seems a lot more balanced and mature than her brother's.
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Riko is currently hoping that Chiyo will run with her family. Riko will join them if needs be. And deliberately not know about where they're going if she does't join them, so that the Ganma can't find out. Chiyo herself is really hoping for something that doesn't involve running or being sent to what her father says is a hell dimension.
Kanon, it occurs to me, could at least introduce Chiyo to Alain and ask him to talk about his world for a while. She'd present it to the others as a way to keep Alain off their backs for a while, but she also kind of hopes that Alain will bond with his daughter somehow.
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I think Riko's probably safe by herself at the moment. Most Ganma are probably not great at remembering individual humans (especially if they don't wear a particularly distinctive item/style), and Alain was busy with other things when he could've noticed her.
Maybe! Chiyo would at least be safe with her mother around, probably. Alain definitely has a sense of how to behave (even if it is different). Kidnapping someone in front of her mother is not particularly appropriate, and I think he would recognize that.
(I can also see Akari and Onari wanting to listen in, but hopefully they wouldn't out of respect.)
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Yeah, I doubt Alain got a good look at Chiyo, much less Riko. (And Akari and Onari will want to know what Chiyo and Kanon learned at the talk.)
---
Chiyo still wasn't sure why she'd agreed to all this. She supposed it was better than being taken away immediately, her mother having arranged to meet up with the Ganma she'd met briefly earlier.
"Remember," her mother said softly. "He's a member of the royal family there, and even if he wasn't, he's your father."
She really didn't want to meet her Ganma father, even if she'd never have to call him that. But it would keep Riko safe, and it would give her family time to come up with a plan to at least get away, if not reseal the gateways. Her mother had reluctantly and briefly told her about the relationship, and asked her to tell nobody else.
As they walked up together, Chiyo got a good look at him. He looked slightly older than she did, a youth wearing strangely stylistic clothing. He wasn't what she expected a prince would look like.
"Prince Alain!" her mother called. The man - Ganma - turned towards her mother, a smile clear on his face.
"Kanon," he said, and he said Chiyo's mother's name with a fond diminutive. He could be temperamental, her mother had told her, but apart from a few incidents he'd been pleasant to her.
"Prince Alain, this is my daughter, Chiyo." Chiyo remembered to bow as her mom introduced her. "I was pregnant with her at the time you were last here."
Prince Alain looked at Chiyo appraisingly. "This is the one who took so long?"
"And that I wasn't sure I could carry to term." Chiyo's mother was still smiling. "Ganma reproduce so much faster than humans."
He nodded. "Have you decided to come home?"
"I hope we can just talk today, Prince Alain." The smile hadn't left her face, but Chiyo could tell she was tense. "There's so much Chiyo doesn't know about the Ganma and I'd rather she learn more before we come."
"You mean that Makoto has been filling her head with rubbish." He frowned briefly. "Very well, what do you want to know?"
They stayed for far longer than Chiyo would have preferred, wishing just to rush back home. Prince Alain's attitudes were frustrating and fit with what her uncles had told her. There seemed to be no family bonds outside maybe the royal family. It was the worst when her mother had wandered away from the conversation, though she stayed nearby.
Prince Alain didn't seem to understand why her uncle Makoto had left, or much about humans. As far as he was concerned, the Ganma had a perfect world, and Chiyo was sure he didn't understand why her family wasn't rushing to return.
She, on the other hand, would gladly run if it meant not being like her father. There was no way she would ever set foot - or other appendage - in the Ganma world willingly.
Once her mother had finished talking to Prince Alain, she was out of there. "What did you think?" her mother asked on the way home.
"I couldn't live there." Chiyo shook her head. "He'd have to send me there by force." Reduced to an Eyecon, if she remembered what her mother had said correctly.
"Which he would." Her mother sighed. Her words made Chiyo shiver once more. "But I won't let him take you, and neither will your uncle."
She had faith in her mother, and her uncles. They would keep her safe, and the world safe. They'd done it once, and they'd do it again.
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Where are they meeting? Some kind of neutral ground, I gather. Does Alain know that Chiyo is his daughter? I can't quite tell with him. I doubt he thinks Kanon was sleeping around, but maybe he doesn't quite connect sex with reproduction or something.
Additionally, the tone of Alain's dealings with Kanon don't seem to have changed. Did Kanon keep herself apart from the events of the previous conflict? It would make sense, as a non-combatant who was also pregnant. And Kanon is young enough that being pregnant might get her some unwanted human attention, too. I don't know how teen pregnancy is seen in Japan, but it can be hard not to notice something uncommon, even if it isn't a negative thing. And I find Kanon's actor to be very young-looking in general.
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For the location, I think that they chose a park (or a riverbank), someplace where they could discuss things but was deserted enough so that they wouldn't be overheard.
Alain isn't too familiar with human pregnancy, so he wouldn't exactly figure out that sleeping with Kanon had results. (He also can't comprehend Chiyo as his child because of the huge discrepancy between the few days for Ganma and the nine months for humans.) He knows that Chiyo is in some way Ganma, but that's about it. That being said, he's not stupid.
Makoto did run into problems because Kanon was pregnant so young, but I'm not up on teen pregnancy in Japan either. Both Takeru and co and Alain (because he still got along with her) were careful not to involve her. As far as Alain is concerned, Kanon is still his friend. Even if she's stubborn sometimes about coming home.
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Anyway, being in kind of an in-between age is probably pretty helpful for Chiyo. How long has she known that her father might not have been human? Not necessarily Ganma, but Other. And I'm sure someone out there has assumed that one of her unrelated uncles is the father.
Does Alain know she has a Ganma father period, or does he think it could have been some weird remnant in Kanon's body or something? And unless Ganma don't reproduce sexually at all (sexually = including things like having eggs fertilized outside the body, because my brain is weird and said hey what about sexual reproduction that doesn't require contact), Alain will probably figure it out eventually, even if it's not particularly important to him.
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Alain knew before Chiyo was born that Makoto thought that a Ganma fathered Kanon's child. Which he thought was ridiculous, because of the whole lengthy pregnancy. But since Chiyo has a Ganma Eyecon encapsulating a human soul (a Ganma tried to possess her, that's how Alain found out), he's come to the conclusion that Makoto had to be right and the other parent of Kanon's child had to be Ganma. Which should be impossible, but it happened.
He will eventually figure out that he's Chiyo's father, it'll just take him a lot of time. Kanon is hoping he'll lose interest and not pursue the matter. She knows Chiyo wouldn't want to go to the Ganma world.
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Poor Chiyo. Hopefully a Ganma didn't try to possess her at work. Since she can see them, it might be easiest for them to catch her when she's very focused-- something like reading a book or watching a movie, maybe. Or while taking a nap, if Ganma can do that. Or maybe hanging out with friends, if it's before she starts seeing Ganma everywhere. Has Riko's aunt ever said anything to Chiyo about being special in some way, or is she just particularly attentive?
I wouldn't be surprised if Alain just assumed that Kanon and Makoto would know about a strange human with a Ganma Eyecon, even if he didn't know Chiyo's relation to them.
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The attempted possession took place while Chiyo was distracted, being social with friends. And then said Ganma realized that there was a Ganma soul already in there that felt strange. Riko's aunt has told Chiyo she's special, but before the whole occurrence with the Ganma Chiyo has just assumed that's a compliment.
Which was why Alain showed up at the temple in the first place. It was complete coincidence that he followed Chiyo and Riko in when he intended to look for Makoto and Kanon, and Kanon didn't precisely tell him that one of the girls that had appeared just before he did was the one he was talking about/looking for.
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Kanon didn't know, but it didn't surprise her. Alain was quick to realize that the mystery person was Kanon's daughter. And later that said child might be part Ganma. (He was actually kind of pleased, because despite Kanon being turned into a human again, her heart was still with the Ganma. Or something like that.)
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Poor Chiyo spends a lot of time freaking out. It must be really exhausting. It's really good for her sanity that she lives in a relatively secure and protected place.
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(And now Alain has come to take Chiyo to his world, and Kanon if she's ready. He figures that Makoto might not have to be forced if his family is already there. I'm not sure Chiyo would cone quietly.)
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Unfortunately for Alain, he doesn't realize that she takes after Makoto far more than she takes after Kanon in personality. He figures that Chiyo will just let him send her through a gate.
(Which results in a lot of yelling and Chiyo punching and kicking her father before getting out of there.)
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Does Chiyo know that he's interested in her for her connection to Makoto? How close is she with him? I'm sure he loves her a lot, at least.
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She's very close to her uncle, he taught her to fight and generally loves her a lot. Kanon didn't tell Alain about how close the two of them were because she didn't want Alain targeting Chiyo.
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I'm not sure enemy is the best word to use, but Chiyo might not realize that. Definitely not an ally, and she definitely didn't inspire any warm feelings, but I don't think Alain particularly wants anything terrible to happen to her. He quite possibly wouldn't lose sleep if something did happen to her, but it would definitely piss Makoto off.
Do you have a sense of what Alain wants from Makoto? Does Alain know himself? I have a sense personally that it's some kind of weird cross between friendship and a really interesting pet.
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(He headed off to talk to Kanon after that, though he didn't try to send her back. She told him that Chiyo was quite close to Makoto. He didn't quite tell her that next time he'd use force, but I think she could figure that out.)
And here's more, because muse won't shut up.
----
"I think there's something happening," Candide said, in the language that the three of them shared. Alexis nodded, form bobbing up and down in the air.
Chiyo looked at her siblings. She was the only one of the three that normal people could see by default, unless the other two made themselves visible. She'd sometimes envied that, especially when she didn't want to go to school or be in class. Of course, her father could see all of them regardless.
Candide and Alexis could both assume a humanoid form, but they didn't look human, so they normally just accompanied her to school and learned over her shoulder. Candide was a bit older than her, Ganma gestations being quite a bit shorter than human pregnancies, carried to term within their father's body. Which would have weirded most people out, because their father appeared male, and yet her siblings had been born that way.
"I agree," Alexis chimed in. They were working on schoolwork. Their mother had insisted that Alexis and Candide practice even if they couldn't live in normal human society. That way, the three of them could work together even if most people could only see one.
Their father tried to teach them how it would be like to live in Ganma society on the Ganma world. Chiyo wished sometimes that her siblings could go there to have a normal life for them, instead of having to practically stay with her. She herself had no desire to live there, given Ganma views, though she could probably survive in Ganma society.
"Maybe the seal is becoming undone?" she asked. After all, her family was tense, from their parents and uncle to her honorary aunt and uncles. Something was happening that they didn't want to tell Chiyo, Alexis, and Candide.
"Maybe," Candide allowed.
It was good news and bad. Good for her siblings, bad for the world. If the Ganma could reach Earth again, there was a good chance that they'd try to invade. Her family would fight back, protect the Earth, though it would pain her Uncle Takeru, who only wanted peace between the two.
Her mother had told her that Uncle Takeru had been the happiest when each of the three of them had been born, unions between human and Ganma. It hadn't mattered to him how each of them had been born, either out of their mother or their father.
"Let's find out," Alexis said, and Chiyo nodded. Candide bobbed. They'd always tried to act in consensus. It was, in some ways, an important way in both of their worlds.
Chiyo got up, and not looking back, knew that her siblings would follow.
Re: And here's more, because muse won't shut up.
Re: And here's more, because muse won't shut up.
Alain definitely changed sides and sided with Takeru and Makoto. Which means that he's a traitor to the Ganma. Sometimes the human world confuses him, but he's getting used to it. Chiyo and the others don't realize how Ganma they are in some ways because Alain gets quite homesick.