??????? ?? ?????: The Next Generation. {BOOK 1/2.}

"Yumi? YUMI?!" Trimika Sasaki yelled as she frantically looked for her daughter. The hedges and bushes were overgrown and she had herself to blame.

"I swear I hope she didn't get kidnapped! Or worse, bitten by a garden snake!" Trimika exclaimed as she looked all over for Yumi.  Until she stopped and heard small giggling coming from the bushes.

Trimika scrambled to find the voice until she found Yumi. Her kimono and obi were dirty along with her face and there was leaves and twigs tangled up in her mahogany hair. Her dimwitted smile and bright, blue eyes vaught her mother off guard and Trimika's facial expression softened.

"Yumi, what did I tell you about playing in the bushes?" Trimika sighed, mainly with relief. "Oh mother, I found a new friend!" Yumi exclaimed. Trimika looked around warily, scared a thief might have came in and Yumi mistaken them for a new friend.

"Who are they?" Trimika asked. "Mr. Scaly!" Yumi cheered. "Mr. Who?" Trimika repeated. The next moment a garden snake crawled out of Yumi's kimono and looked her mother dead in the eye.

"AHHHH SNAKE!" Trimika yelled as she pointed at it. "Mother, I would love to introduce you to Mr. Scaly." Yumi said. "Throw that dirty thing put of here!" She yelled. "Awe, he actually was great company." Yumi said, looking disappointed.

Trimika sighed again. "Mr. Scaly is a snake that needs to be in his natural habitat. Which is FAR from here." She smiled, hiding all of her fear while shaking slightly.

"Mother, he has no home. Can he stay here?" Yumi pleaded as she hit her mother with the puppy eyes. Trimika sighed. "No, he is not staying here Yumi... now please, for the love of God, let him back into the wild!" Trimika exclaims again.

"OK then," Yumi sighed sadly as she let the garden snake slither off of her palms and into the bushes again. Trimika finally eased out again. She smiled.

"Now why don't we make something to eat? Just the two of us?" Trimika smiled. She knew Yumi loved cooking. Yumi nodded her head vigorously and ran out of the bushes to join her mother.

"But first, get washed up." Trimika replied as she frowned.

🌌

The sun set low in the sky and the food sat perfectly on the table. Yumi's father, Ayatio Sasaki adjusted his glasses and patted his daughter on the head. "Well done Yumi for helping you mother cook tonight." He smiled. Yumi nodded as her eyes lit up.

A sudden cold breeze moved through the house through the window as the trees started to rustle and rain started to pour down on the family. "Well, looks like we have a storm coming." Sanako replied as he walked up to the window and shut it.

"I hope it is not a bad one like last time. That was horrible." Trimika said, looking worried as she put down glasses of water on the table. Yumi and Ayatio nodded in sync.

The family feasted on their shares of food. They ate like there was no tomorrow. But then there was a sudden knock on the door. "I'll get it!" Yumi exclaimed as she got up in a flash and ran to the door. She opened it and she was hit with a huge gust of cold wind and the smell of rain.

A woman was standing in front of Yumi that neither of them have ever met before. Ayatio got up from the floor and walked cautiously to the door as he ushered Yumi away. Yumi walked back to her mother and the two looked worried at Ayatio talking to the mysterious woman.