Home under the sun

[Hidamari]

Several years later.

It was another sunny day on Gran Canaria, with a mild breeze and a sparse fluffy white clouds here and there. Kiriko's home, named the Home in the Sun had always remained a relatively peaceful place, a kind of calming great sanctuary for Kiriko and of course for Cly too.

Due to intense and ever increasing amounts of work and responsibilities at Border World Exports, Kiriko found little time to respectively return to the place where she was essentially given a second chance in life. Being allowed to move on from her scarred past and start again with a new family, everything began to look up for Kiriko after that point in her life.

Kiriko stood on the end of the long driveway to her home, having been in space for a long time she didn't have any suitable summer clothing, her thick padded Bowex dress and bow were designed for cold temperatures and made her much hotter, and not having any head wear made the journey from the space dock seem much longer than usual as she had forgotten how hot it really gets. "Uuh.. Cly. we are nearly there, look" Kiriko pointed Cly in the direction of the large villa in the distance, Cly showed several water droplets resembling sweat and then a thermometer which displayed 312 degrees Kelvin at the top of the current level, Kiriko nodded, with sweat on her brow too, she felt sticky and horrid. "We should have bought a... a hat from that nice man at the port" *a sad face was showed for a moment* Kiriko laughed, "its okay, its okay.. we are there now"

Eventually making it to the front door which was heavily shaded by a extended roof over the marble flooring, *Cly showed a lock turning and opening* "Arigato" Kiriko said as Cly unlocked the front door for her as they both approached. It was so strange coming back home that Kiriko almost knocked on the door not being sure if she was still welcome, but since Cly could still open the door Kiriko quickly dispensed with that idea and pushed open the right side of the large front double doors to the villa, it creaked a little and Kiriko walked in.

"Tadaima!.... Okachan?" Kiriko called out announcing her return, eventually calling out to her mother Shizuma also, Kiriko wasn't sure if her mother would be home or not but had really hoped to see her. With Kiriko's voice echoing around the large open stairs in front of her and no sound returning right away, Kiriko's heart sank a little, really hoping to have a hug from her mother after so long.

::The premises appear to be unoccupied:: Cly said after a minute of silence, Kiriko nodded but then looked around, the place was very clean, there was no dust or immediate signs of aging on anything around in the hallway. Kiriko took her shoes off at the door and then remembered shoe rack, there was a few spaces and Shizuma's flats (shoes) were not present, only the big fancy heeled ones that she used to wear all the time. Furthering the realization that she was not home. Kiriko looked at the top of the shoe rack and there was another pair of heels whom she didn't recognize, they were a different size to Shizuma's too. and then there was some really small and cute pink laceless shoes.

Kiriko blushed and picked one up, "Aww.. look Cly" she said pointing Cly at the baby shoes "Hera-chan's shoes are reaaaaly cute.. Hyahaha... Aww, ahaa" Feeling better Kiriko stood upright with a big smile and looked to the hallway, and then up the stairs, "maybe they went out and we will see them soon?" *a thumbs up was seen and a smiling face sun with shining rays followed it quickly* "lets go and have a shower and get nice and clean again" she said looking down to Cly in her hands whom showed a bath house symbol for a moment with a thumbs up.

Kiriko walked to the stairs and slowly made her way up, she found it amazing how little things had changed over such a long time, the carpet over the marble flooring still felt really soft and gentle and the design of the villa meant that it was really well aired even on a hot day such as today. Kiriko reached the door to her bedroom looking down across the hall to Ali-neesan's old room before entering her own.

Opening the door and stepping inside her room the first thing that Kiriko noticed was the air, it was fresh, as though it had been recently cleaned, the long bedroom windows were both open slightly, her curtains drawn and neatly tied, and the violet flowery duvet cover was perfectly straight on the bed and her pillows placed on top of it. "Uwa.. Cly its like we never left, Okaa-chan has been making everything stay clean like usual" Kiriko said in amazement looking around, and really appreciating the feeling of the thick carpet through her socks, always being used to the hard cold metal surfaces on stations like Kings Cross.

Kiriko walked to the door to the bedrooms en suite bathroom, opening the door the smell was fresh too but she could tell that it had been unused for quite a long time, since nobody used this room it was to be expected. Kiriko turned the light on in the bathroom and walked to the bed, placing Cly down for a moment, *a love heart was seen and then a few z's crept onto the screen with a question mark shortly following* "mm, no its not sleep time yet Cly, besides I feel okay.. and.. we need a shower first, ne?" Kiriko said with a smile *a sun with shining rays was seen brightly* "Hyaha.. hai.. so lets do that first".

Kiriko pulled her one piece dress over her head careful not to get it caught on her arm plate, and smelt it a little, the fabric had a faint aroma of H-fuel and dirt from the constant loading and unloading of ore's onto Kings Cross. "Eew.." she admitted dropping it to the floor "smells strange..hyaha, come on Cly lets get clean now so we aren't icky for when Okachan comes home.." Kiriko chuckled, picking up Cly and walking into the bathroom closing the door behind her. "Brrrrrr" she shivered at the cool air on her skin whilst turning on the shower, "Should we have a cold shower...mm.. actually no a normal one should be okay.. ne?" Cly showed a pair of unbalanced scales, indicating she wasn't really sure, Kiriko smiled "never mind.. its okay" she assured, placing Cly on to the side near the shower and removing the rest of her clothing Kiriko stepped into the powerful shower jets.

"Cly! there is still bubbletown here too, hyahaha! thats good!" (a fictional shampoo brand) Kiriko picked up the bottle and squirted a little of the red marble coloured solution onto her hand, rubbing in on her hair it immediately frothed up an immense torrent of pleasant smalling foam and lather, "myahaha waah.. Cly theres so many bubbles!" Kiriko continued to play whilst showering, that brand of shampoo being her favourite and always managed to make her feel happy regardless of her previous mood.

Several minutes later the front door was pushed open, a lady had entered and briskly placed down a large amount of shopping just inside the door to keep it from spoiling in the sun, an automobile having been also pulled up there with the boot open and plenty more shopping still to come. The woman placed down the groceries and stopped, noticing a pair of shoes that she didn't recognize at the door. stopping in her tracks the woman looked upstairs, to her knowledge Miss Sakuragi was out on business and would be for a while, moving to the base of the stairs the woman called up the stairs instinctively in Hispanic, "Quién anda ahí?" (who's there?) Nobody responded "Hola? ..Senorita Sakuragi?" She said again and listened waiting for a response. Kiriko however was too busy in the shower to hear her.

The woman heard the sound of running water, she cautiously made her way up stairs and the water stopped causing her to stop dead and listen again. After a few more moments she continued up the stairs, stopping outside next to Kirikos room door she ducked back and froze as Kiriko opened the bathroom door into her room, wrapped in 2 brightly coloured towels, one for her hair and one for her body, she walked over to her bed and sat on the corner, then using a hand towel she carefully began to give Cly a 'bath' by wiping her down and making sure there wasn't any dirt in the small gaps along the PDA surface. Still hiding the woman swallowed and peeked in.

Cly's screen rapidly changed and began displaying a blinking red exclamation mark with a flashing yellow background and arrow then appeared pointing to the direction of where Cly could hear the woman breathing, Kiriko had never seen Cly become alarmed like that and it actually made her panic "W..what is it Cly?" she shook looking at the arrow and then at the door and seeing the Hispanic woman standing there herself looking flustered. Kiriko screamed a little and jumped up right away moving quickly behind the bed from the door "W..Who are you!!?" she yelled in panic. Kiriko's quick movements startled the woman whom had gone back round the corner thinking about what to do, she spoke in Bretonian with a thick Hispanic accent recognising that Kiriko was speaking Bretonian also.. "That is my line senorita! you don't want to mess with the owner of this house.. si.. si you don't, it would be very unhealthy for you senorita! If you leave now i wont mention it ever happened si?"

Cly was at a loss, there were very few electrical devices in the area that she could remotely connect to to help Kiriko. Kiriko was stood behind the bed holding her towel and crouching down on the opposite side of the bed from the door she listened to the woman as she spoke about Shizuma, whom was indeed somebody who it would be unhealthy to cross were you not a family member. ::she may be an employee here, to keep it clean when mother is away:: Cly surmised quickly placing the pieces together, working overtime to try to find a way out of the situation, Kiriko looked down to Cly and then back to the doorway quickly, the woman still hiding to the right of the door. Kiriko had heard that accent so many times in space that it was extremely difficult to be as casual about it as Cly, especially as it always meant trouble whenever she had heard it. "M.. my mummy will come and get you!.. you shouldnt be here corsair-san!" Kiriko yelled at the door, being called a corsair really got under the womans skin quickly and she instantly shouted back "I'm not a criminal, senorita! and thats my line again si?! who are you!?"

Cly placed an arrow pointing to Kiriko's bed side table with a question mark next to it and a symbol of a handgun. Kiriko suddenly remembered the handgun she was given when she started at the BPA those years ago, and how she had put it into the drawer because she didn't want to look at it. "W.. We are Hidamari Kiriko! We live here! you.. you just wait until mummy comes back you'll be sorry!" Cly couldn't find the time between searching for things to help to correct Kiriko's grammar. The woman suddenly became calm outside in the corridor frowning to herself adding up all the pieces, "Aaaaaaaah... senorita Hidamari!??" she sang coming to a realisation and clapping her hands together and revealing herself, "I have heard about you from senorita Sakuragi, you are her treasured daughter! ooh its so nice to finally meet you senorita. I am the maid for your home, my name is Ana Ortega" Kiriko looked at her fiercely still not trusting her an inch and unable to shake the negative feelings associated with the accent and language. Cly located and began to search the local network of the house to find proof of this, coming up with it quickly she displayed the identification image and name of the woman, who was apparently a "live-in Maid" named Ana Ortega.

Kiriko looked down very cautiously ::let me see her, please, Kiriko.. I think its okay:: Cly said very quietly, Kiriko turned Cly around to let her scan the woman whom was a bit puzzled and then chirped up again "aah, and the Cly machine too, we have heard about you too from senorita Sakuragi, shes really always talking about you, im sorry that I have made such a fuss for you, I did not expect to see anybody in the house for some time and you startled me i just came back from the supermarket w-with, oh.. oooh!!!" she wailed turning and running out of the door. Kiriko heard her descending the stairs with great speed, puzzled by this Kiriko turned Cly around, *a thumbs up was shown* ::she is telling the truth as far as I can see, I will keep searching but please don't be mean to her.. we remember what its like when that happens to us too..:: Cly pointed out, her words struck a chord with Kiriko, she eventually nodded softly and tried to mellow out a little taking a deep breath, standing up still holding her towel, "Gwaah! now im all sweating again.. that really scared me.. Cly".

After a second quick shower Kiriko dried herself and got dressed, unfortunately most of her clothes still fit her, which meant that she hadnt really grown an awful lot in the time that she had been away. That made her feel a little sad inside as Kiriko wondered if she would be small forever. Dressed in a knee length white pleated skirt, a light pink t-shirt that had a white rabbit illustration printed on the front with a sparkly pink nose, and a white headband to replace her usual hair bow, Kiriko picked up Cly and walked out of her room and slowly downstairs, Ana was at the bottom now with Hera Sakuragi, Kirikos younger sister, whom she had left in the hot car by accident after all the commotion.

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