Ito Ai: A New Dawn

Both Ai's parents and Mai's parents looked at Ai confused. Seiji was the first to speak up as he asked; "What do you mean, rules?"

"By rules, I mean the rules that need to be followed from this day forth and will become somewhat of the law of the future. I will explain more on how I know all of this later on but for now, listen to what I have to say.

"First law is that the law of survival of the fittest applies not just for animals anymore. We humans will fall back into a state of lawlessness. Think of it as a world were if no laws were applied things like murder, rape, and any other horrific crime you can think of would happen."

"Ai! How can you say such things?" Shizune yelled out. She wondered what had possessed her daughter to talk about such disgusting things.

"What? I was talking lightly and not going into detail. People using others as shields, cutting people's limbs off for fun, watching people eat the intestines of their fallen comrades as if it was the best meal of their life, all of this will become a fact in the future!" Ai yelled, her voice cold. She did not care if she scared her mother. In fact, she wanted to scare her mother because her mother was too nice. If someone with bad intentions came asking for food, she would be robbed, r*ped, and left for dead or taken back to be used as a pig on a grill. Ai had even seen more horrific sights than this.

"Ai! Shut up!" Seiji yelled out. "You're scaring your mother!"

"Good! She needs to be scared! Because this is, fact. This is the life we will have to survive through from now on. Do you think I like talking about this shit? Fuck no! If it was not for the fact that I had to go through all of this fucking shit once already, we wouldn't be safe and sound inside this bunker. Mai and her parents would not be here either. Fuck, I don't even know what the fuck happened to them when shit went down. All I know is this. I lived ten years in hell and since I know what is to come, I will use it to my advantage. I do not want to see my mother and father dying before my eyes once again. I spent the past six months working my ass off to make sure that didn't happen. You think things are bad now, wait until one month has passed. That is when the real nightmare begins!" Tears streamed down Ai's cheeks as she let out everything she was holding back. She did not care for what language she used at this time all she cared about was trying to let them understand that what is going to happen is real and that there were things they needed to watch for.

Shizune was stunned watching her daughter cry and by the words that were coming out of her mouth. She didn't understand what she meant when she said she had already gone through all of these things already. "Ai, what do you mean you have been through this already?"

"Do you not find it strange that everything I have said so far has come true. Do you not find it strange that I knew to build a bunker for this day? The reason I know all of this is because I lived ten years in that living hell. Escaping for my life from humans and from the machina. You do not know what true hell is. When you are almost raped and the only means of survival is to kill your attacker or when you are using your own comrade as a shield to block a blow from a machina, just so you can live another day. I lived a life where you only worried about yourself, only to die at the hands of the new type machina. Those things..." Ai's whole body shivered remembering the despair she had and the bit of happiness that her hellish life was finally over. Never did she think after dying she would be reborn in the past to be forced to relive the same things over again.

Shizune quickly got up from her seat and pulled Ai into her arms. She had no idea if what was said was true or not but from the things that have been happening she could only take it as truth. She hugged Ai tightly causing Ai to tear up even more. In her past life, she was emotionless. She fought the machina in hopes that one day humanity would be set free. Unforntalty she died early on and never got to see the day that humans regained their freedom. But now being with her parents again she had finally regained her emotions and tears uncontrollably rained down her cheeks. Ten years of anguish all let out at once. This was different from when she talked with Mai her cry was loud and sorrowful.

Mai and Kazumi, both began to tear up as well as they watched the fourteen-year-old girl crying in her mother's arms. Their hearts couldn't help but tug and want to do something for her. Seiji and Yasuhide also looked at the Ai wishing they could do something to comfort her. Seiji was feeling guilty for yelling at her just now. But he had no idea about any of this. He was still having a hard time believing his daughter now after everything that happened so far.

Once Ai finally calmed down, her watery eyes glanced at the clock and her frail demeanor went back to normal as she yelled out: "Grab onto something!"

A violent shaking began as the canned food started to fall all over the floor. Everyone quickly reached out to hold on to something. The sound of her house collapsing in on itself could be heard from upstairs. Ai quickly grabbed the small tv and placed it on the floor under the table, she had put it on. She unsteadily ran over and grabbed the radio as well. These things were essential and could not be broken for the time being. After securing these two things she made her way back to the couch but her heart sank as she saw the ceiling of her bunker beginning to crack.

"Shit, flip the couch over and get underneath it!" Seiji and Yasuhide did not hesitate to follow through with Ai's commands and flipped the couch over and quickly pulled the rest underneath. Seconds later a big portion of the ceiling fell down crashing down onto the floor below. Dust and debris filled the bunker causing everyone to cough.

The earthquake did not stop for a good five minutes, only when it was over did Ai Climb out from under the couch to survey the damage. Parts of the ceiling and walls had crumbled due to the faulty construction. But Ai did not care about that. There were going to be aftershocks but they would not be as bad. "Alright, lights are still on so we still have power. Turn the compressors on so we can vent out the dust. For now, we are safe. Dad, come with me real quick. I might need your help in pushing the bunker hatch open. Mai, you and Uncle help carry the debris to the bunker entrance while our moms will do inventory and check for any damaged items. Once the hatch is open my father and I will then work on clearing the vent and camouflaging them. We can not let anything know there is a hiding spot here."

This was the true beginning of hell. Although things would get worse, this was the time when people's true nature came out. Survival of the fittest. Famine will quickly strike soon and people will begin searching for food. Unlike other countries that were destroyed by nuclear missiles that killed millions, Japan now had more people. This was the time people would raid the supermarkets and begin hoarding food. As food supplies disappeared people would go house to house raiding whatever they could.

As Ai expected she needed her father's help in pushing open the hatch. Luckily the shield she used to keep the hatch from being completely blocked off worked well. After getting it open Ai climbed out and looked around. It was just as she remembered it. The whole house was destroyed. At this time in her past life, her mother and father would bring her out of the house to try to find shelter someplace. Once she did, she was never able to return again.

"Dad let's quickly clear the vents and get them disguised. These pillars here, we will keep near the hatch and if we take this cloth and stuff it here so when we close the hatch again it will make it hidden unless someone actually picks the cloth up." Although it sounded like Ai was giving orders she was actually doing all the work as she talked leaving Seiji standing wondering if he should laugh or cry.

As she worked a thought came to Ai's mind. "Dad… I need to go out for a bit. Help the rest get the debris out of the bunker. I will be back in three hours. If I am not back, close the hatch and lock it."

"Wait Ai where are you going?" Seiji looked at his daughter, he was dusting her hands off and getting ready to walk away.

Pausing her steps, Ai turned her head and looked at her father and said: "To get a gun."

She could hear her father yelling for her to come back but she continued walking causing Seiji to get up and chase after her. She had just climbed out of the rubble when she heard her father behind her. She turned around and said: "Dad if you come with me you will be in my way. For now, just wait for me to return. I shouldn't be long. I am only going to go check out one place. And it's still day one of the apocalypse. Nothing bad will happen just yet trust me."

Seiji stopped chasing after her as he watched his daughter climb up over the rumble and disappear. When she said to trust her he couldn't help but think of everything that had happened up until now. He decided he would trust her this once and would make sure to search for her if she was not back in a few hours.

As he returned back to the hatch Mai was coming up with a bucket full of debris. "Uncle Seiji where is Ai?"

"She said something about going out to get a gun… Mai, tell me will she be okay?" Seiji asked.

"Ai? Yeah, she will be fine. To be honest I feel pity for anyone who tries to do anything to her. They will most likely end up in a bad situation. You must be wondering where all the materials came from for this bunker right?" Mai knew that Ai went out every night for the first five months gathering everything they needed. She knew to steal so much that it required quite a bit of skill. Not to mention her martial arts was very good as well.

Hearing Mai's question, Seiji could only think for a second before nodding his head. Mai smiled and said: "Ai stole it all. Do you remember the serial theft case on the news? That was all Mai. The security guards and cops who were all knocked out at the scene were knocked out by her. Now that the world is what it is I do not think she will hold back if someone tried to do anything to her."

Seiji's face turned pale. He now understood that his daughter was not who he thought she was. He started to believe that his precious daughter had truly lived ten years in hell. How else could you explain all of her current skills? It was a crazy thought but he could only take it as truth. He looked at Mai who was emptying her bucket and asked: "Mai why did you trust Ai at the beginning?"

"Why? Because everything she predicted came true. Her character completely changed overnight. She saved me from being punched in the face from a full powered punch from a senior at our school. Plus… as her sister, her family, if I don't believe in her who will?" Mai gave a bright smile before climbing back down the ladder leaving Seiji standing there stupefied.

Seiji closed his eyes and repeated what Mai said: "Her sister, her family if I don't believe her who will. These are good words. As her father, I should believe in her as well."