Ito Ai: A New Dawn

Ai, Mai, and her father returned to her house and stood outside the bunker hatch. "Dad I think you should go first and hold mom back. Because as soon as she sees my eye she will freak and pass out."

"Yeah, I will. I will try to explain things a bit more. Mai, help her down, one of her arms is not able to move right now until it heals." Seiji let out a sigh. He felt horrible that his daughter had lost her left eye and even got wounded. What made it worse was that she acted as if it was no big deal.

"You can count on me. And Uncle… I'm sorry..." Mai gave a deep bow, her eyes began watering up again.

"Ai said it wasn't your fault so it wasn't your fault. As she said, she did not mention the last stand program that activates like that and you had no way of knowing. Just take care of Ai for me while I take care of the rest." Seiji said, patting Mai on the head. Mai looked up at Seiji and nodded her head as she answered: "I promise to take good care of her."

"Can you two stop acting like I am dead? All I did was lose an eye, the same eye I lost in my past life, it's no big deal." Ai was very used to only seeing with one eye, so she had no issues doing anything at all.

Seiji looked at his daughter and wanted to say something but decided to leave it be. The look he saw on his daughter's face was so calm it pained his heart. He wondered what she had to go through in her past life to end up the way she was now. Letting out a sigh he turned around and gave the special knock on the hatch before opening it so that no one would shoot him. The night before they had decided on a special knock in order to make sure no one would accidentally get shot. This came about because Ai made one very firm rule. If someone enters the hatch without knocking, shoot to kill.

"Your back!" Shizune's face bloomed into a smile as she walked over and helped Seiji with the bags he was carrying.

"Mhm. Nene I need you to sit on the couch and not move from there." Seiji said as he looked at Yasuhide. Who then gave a knowing nod and moved Kazumi to the couch as well.

"What? What is going on? Where is Ai and Mai? Did they get arrested!?" Shizune quickly jumped the gun and assumed Ai and Mai were arrested for doing something they shouldn't have. "Seiji tell me where is Ai?"

"Shizune shut up and sit down or I will tie you to a damn chair. Just listen to me!" Seiji yelled, his voice full of anger. He had released his anger on Shizune by accident. He was mad at himself for being so helpless while his daughter fought and got hurt. He was mad cause he couldn't prevent his daughter from losing her eye. If you combine the stress that piled up and the annoying nagging from Shizune it was a matter of time before he released his anger.

Shizue quickly shut her mouth. She had only seen Seiji get mad a few times to the point that he would yell like that. Normally he was a clam as a small pond on a windless day. But now he was like a raging storm ready to destroy everything in his path. "Dad if you yell like that you will make mom cry."

"Ai! You got down okay good..." Seiji turned his head, a worried look replacing his furrowed brows.

Shizune felt as if time froze when she saw Ai with her left eye bandaged and her arm bandaged up as well. "Ai, what happened to you!?" She finally yelled out.

"Dad take that thing out and show it to them." Ai said not even paying attention to her mother. Seiji dropped the duffle bag in his arms and unzipped it before reaching in taking out a large metal construct. "The thing dad is holding is a first type machina. I do not know why but this thing was in the store we ransacked today. It is almost a full month too early for these things to be out. So from now on, we will need to be more careful. Uncle, I will be starting training with my father today, you used to be in the military. How about you join us?"

"Ai should you even be moving? You're kind of covered in blood..." Yasuhide looked at Ai with a worried expression. Her entire shoulder and the front of her shirt was covered in her blood.

"Yeah, the shoulder is just a flesh wound, my eye is not something I have to worry about. It might be gone but keeping it covered as it is now will eventually heal. Most likely be about a month though before its healed. As for my shirt, I can just change." To Ai getting hurt while fighting machina was a given. Normally you tried to fight them in more open spaces but this time she had no choice. But if she can get everyone ready to fight these things that would be for the best.

"No! Ai you need to rest. You will not be going back out from now on. You went out twice so far and on the first day you killed a cop and on the second day, you came back completely injured! You're not allowed ou... " Shizune's scolding was interrupted by Seiji.

"Nene stop now! If not for Ai today, you would have less one husband and Yasuhide and Kazumi would be less one daughter! Things are not as you think they are. Everything Ai has said is completely true. You did not see the movements of this damn thing. Ai is amazing because she was able to defeat it all on her own. And her losing her eye, was an accident. Well more like Ai's fault for not telling us important information. But if not for her, Mai would have been pierced through her head by this damn thing's claws." Seiji explained everything that happened, leaving everyone else pale in the face.

"Are these things really that bad?" Yasuhide asked.

"Brother that thing was so fast I couldn't even follow it with my eyes. Ai is amazing for being able to fight toe to toe with that thing and only receive a flesh wound. As for her eye… Those damn things have a secondary program that will use the last of the juice in its energy source to launch a final attack. Unfortunately, Ai forgot to tell us this information and while saving Mai, the damn things claw slashed her eye." Seiji explained.

"So now that everyone understands we need to prepare for the worst of it. I have no idea what is going on with these things showing up so soon but we still have to gather resources. Let's just hope this is only a testing phase for these things. We need a bit more time to finalize our preparations." Ai looked at everyone until her eyes fell on to her mother whose face was so pale that it almost looked as if she was dead. "Mom… If you can not handle things as they are now what are you going to do when things get worse? You have to accept reality. Dad I am going to go change my shirt in the bathroom. You and uncle get ready for training. Mai you as well."

Ai went to go grab a clean shirt when she heard Kazumi calling out to her from behind. "Ai… Can you train me as well?"

"If Aunty wants to train I can train you but my training is very tough are you still willing?" Ai asked.

"If it will allow me a better chance at survival I am willing to undergo any hardships." Kazumi did not even have to think about it. To her no matter what she needed to endure as long as she can survive she was fine with it.

Ai nodded her head and told Kazumi to go up topside and wait for her. After changing her shirt she came back out of the bathroom to find her mother sitting motionlessly on the couch staring at the wall. When she heard Ai she turned her head and looked at her before asking: "Ai am I the only one who finds this all crazy? Why is it everyone else is accepting things so easily? Am I the strange one here?"

"Mom, you need to understand one thing about this new world. To survive you need to be prepared for anything. Death is as common as breathing. If you are not going to adjust you can just sit here in this bunker until you die. But let me say this now. That machina that took my eye today tunneled up from underground. I have metal in place to keep them from entering this place. But that might not work so well. You may still come face to face with these machina's. If you wish to be able to escape, then I would suggest taking a deep breath and accepting reality. Everyone else is waiting for me. If you wish to come then come. If not, I will block the hatch door with a heavy object." Ai wished her mother would snap out of it. Shizune was in a deep state of denial if she wished for things to be a dream then so be it. But deep down Ai did not know if she would be able to or willing to protect her mother if she was going to end up getting everyone killed.

Topside Ai pulled her father to the side and said: "Dad… You need to talk to mom and try to get her to come to her senses. Otherwise..."

Seiji sighed… "Ai, she is your mother, so please do not ever think like that. But you are right, your mother needs to come around quickly. I will say something to her." Seiji knew he had to do something about his wife. He knew he could not let her go on like this. He also knew that Ai was most likely not going to let things go on like this for much longer either. He would prefer to be the one who dealt with the issue than letting her do it since Ai seems to rough around the edges when it comes to using delicacy.

"Then try to talk some sense into her. Come let's go to the nearby ally." Ai she looked back at the hatch that was now hidden. Under her breath, she whispered: "Hurry up mom. I do not want to see you like this much longer."