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Background Stories	By : Meirav Category: +S to Z > X/1999 Views: 1721 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own X/1999, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Disclaimer: I do not own X.

Author�s Thanks: goes out
first of all to my beta Lani Reaper, To Lady Multi, Sakura (who directed me to
X Character Files for better understanding of what Clamp are trying to say to
us), Tanuki-dono and Lani-chan from Clampasque board.

Author�s note: this story is
an attempt to draw some kind of a background story for parts of X�s character�s
lives that Clamp did not light for us. It is not a statement but a mere
opinion.

**************************************************

Shiyuu Kusanagi: Nature�s Sounds.

A mechanized scythe roared
angrily across the large lawn stretches at Shinzaka children�s hospital. It�s
pair of rotating plastic wires mercilessly cutting through the freshly grown
grass shoots, mutilating the plants to suit the hospital�s patience and
doctor�s aesthetical wishes.

Up on the fifth floor, behind
lock and key, strapped to his bed, thirteen year old Kusanagi could do nothing
to block out the screams of pain from the grass. He couldn�t even cover his
ears because his already powerful arms were tied securely to the bed�s frame.

This is how life�s been for
Kusanagi since the first plant spoke to him.

*****************

At the age of five, little
Kusanagi and his parents took a stroll through Kusanagi�s grandfather�s large
farm land (and the home for Kusanagi as well). His grandfather was one of the
few farmers who still kept and grew rice fields all on their own with little
help from his descendants, kind neighbors and friends.

They settled down for a small
picnic on grandfather�s backyard lawn, allowing Kusanagi to roam free as he
wished.

Nothing pleased Kusanagi more
then running around freely. He was always an energetic boy, happy to go playing
rather then sitting to draw or learn how to read or even watch television.

Roaming free on grass, around
a nature resort or in the park was better then just roaming around. Kusanagi
loved feeling the soft grass under his bare feet, he loved climbing trees,
swimming in ponds and crossing the nearby stream.

When he�d walk across the
large forest by the village where he lived the animals would crawl out of their
dens and observe him. He�d draw near them and observe them curiously, patting
and cuddling them if any would come near enough for it.

His parents noted this mutual
fascination between nature and their boy and they always admired and praised
him for how well he�s behaving himself around the animals.

They never wondered why this
was happening. They were simple people, without much education and with little
intellect to begin with. But they loved Kusanagi and they were content as long
as their son was happy and didn�t harm anything or anyone else.

Kusanagi was such a good boy,
such a big boy, always busing himself with learning how to work his
grandfather�s field like his father, always trying to help his mother around
the kitchen before supper time.

The days before Kusanagi
discovered his powers were happy and golden.

They ended when, as he roamed
the grass happily, Kusanagi found an old tree stump.

In its better days the tree
must have been quite big because what was left of it�s trunk was wide and
complicated, it�s roots changing the landscape around it into little hills and
holes between the wood.

But now it lost its glory; it
was crippled beyond repair. Along the rims of the chopped part the bark was
swollen, where water from the tree�s roots were caught against the new
mutilation and froze there over the long years since the tree�s destruction.

Kusanagi stared at the stump,
fixated. He never noticed it here before but now he had to, now that the tree spoke
to him.

�I can�t grow� it said. Its
voice was that of an old man, older even then Kusanagi�s grandfather. It had a
low moan, its voice hoarse from years of silence, suffering and old age. �Why
can�t I grow? Why can�t I feed off the sun?�

Kusanagi�s eyes filled with
tears, his heart pounded pain in his little chest. The poor tree�.it can�t grow
anymore. �.it�s crippled�it�s hurt.

He neared the tree and wrapped
his small arms around it�s rough dry bark �I�m sorry Mr. Tree�.I�m so sorry for
you� he burst into tears as he leaned his forehead against the stump.

�I�.I can�t grow�.� The tree
moaned on, baffled and confused in his misery.

Kusanagi cried, apologizing to
the tree over and over again.

His parents found him in a
state of childish hysteria, refusing to let go of the tree no matter what. He
was screaming and kicking when his father picked him up and carried him away at
last.

�No!!!! Let me go father! The
tree is crying! It can�t grow anymore!!! Please let me go!�

At dinner time that day, after
Kusanagi had a bath and an afternoon nap, his family sat to dinner with him and
kindly asked him to explain what had happened to him.

Kusanagi told them.

They stared at him, puzzled.

�What? That old stump by the tool
shed?� his grandfather asked finally, coughing the words out (he was an old man
and his health wasn�t all that good anymore) �I cut it down when I first bought
this farm! But it was before the war, it was such a long time ago Kusanagi-kun,
surely the tree died since then�

�No! it�s not dead!� the boy
screamed, pounding the table with his little fists, his eyes streaming with
tears again �it�s still alive and it�s in pain grandfather! It wants to feel
the sun again, it wants to grow but it can�t�.� He curled himself into a
sobbing little ball �Grandfather, why did you cut it down? Why did you do such a thing grandfather� why?�

His mother wrapped her arms
around him and his father ruffled his hair awkwardly but to no use.

Kusanagi never spoke to his
grandfather again. Only on his deathbed, as the dying men called for his
grandchild did Kusanagi come to say his farewell, but nothing more.

Why he held such blazing anger
towards his grandfather, because of one tree which he spoke to once, Kusanagi
didn�t know. All he knew was that from then on he simply could not look at the
old man with the same affection as before; everything changed.

*****************

Kusanagi�s ability to hear
nature speak to him was not always such a horrible torture as it started. Often
it made the world around him into a magical kingdom, a happy place for a happy
child to grow in.

In summertime the insects
would come to his bedroom window and buzz about their search for mates, of the
flowers and dung they fed on that day, of the wonderful sun heating them during
the day, of the sunflowers with their heads held high.

In spring the sakura petals
would rain down on him, singing a silly �Tiddle, tiddle, tiddle tiddle� as they
descanted to the ground in small circular movements. Kusanagi loved spinning on
his bare toes with the petals falling all around him.

The cherry trees would tell
him about their upcoming sweet fruits and of their pride in how the humans
regard their blossom and of a far off tree amongst them who lived in a city and
ate human souls.

Kusanagi loved flowerbeds most
of all. He loved to sit by a flower and listen to its idle chit chat, mostly
incoherent drabble about silly things that made Kusanagi giggle loudly.

He liked bushes and their
strange pride of how they�re not quite simple plants and not quite trees but
they�re big and strong and surviving. He liked how they�d �psst� at him
whenever he was playing hide and seek with his friends, offering him a
sanctuary amidst their small branches.

Kusanagi loved climbing trees
(constantly reminding himself not to scratch their barks or snap any of their
twigs) and cuddle on a branch, listening to the tree�s slow humming about the
breeze through their leafs, the birds amongst their branches and the little rodents
nesting in their bark�s cavities.

Animals spoke to Kusanagi as
well.

He loved sitting at a riverbed
listening to the fish, snails and underwater insects make a whole cacophony of
different tongues and conversation dimmed by the flowing water.

The fish spoke of nothing
much, their miniature minds allowing only some creativity beyond everyday
survival.

Cats fascinated Kusanagi with
their cunning, scheming minds and their constant bipolar behavior between
loyalty and love to humans and the same love towards themselves.

Dogs often gave Kusanagi a
headache as they could spend hours on end talking about the things that excited
them today and of how wonderful their owner is and about the latest scent trail
they discovered; on and on they went.

Birds sang beautifully about
the insects and worms they caught today and of how beautiful it was to hover in
the sky with the sun on their wings.

From the birds Kusanagi
developed a dream for his future: He wanted to be high in the sky, all alone in
mid air between heaven and earth. He promised himself that one day he will be
there and spread his arms sideways to feel the sun on them like the birds.

Kusanagi spent many school
recesses at a far corner of the schoolyard, where a huge wisteria tree slowly
plotted to take over the school fence completely.

At first, like any other child
in his school Kusanagi was sure the long draping branches only hid the tree�s
trunk. But as soon as he walked past it the wisteria beckoned him over,
inviting him into her embrace.

Inside was a small room
surrounded by wild flowers and branches. This was heaven for Kusanagi and some
of his happiest moments he spent there, embraced by nature.

He sat listening to the
insects visiting the tree�s breathtaking flower clusters, to the birds twitting
amidst the branches and the silent fungi that lived on the tree�s bark.

Of course hearing the sounds
of nature bore a pain filled side as well.

Every winter Kusanagi would
become a gloomy silent child, his head bowed with the heavy load of so many
frozen plants under the snow, so many animals too weak to survive dying of cold
and hunger.

No matter how much he sat
under the trees asking them if they were cold and how could he help them, they
never answered back. Nature only spoke to Kusanagi but it never answered his
words to it.

Autumn was hell. All around
him the animals would disappear, preparing for hibernate or slowly dying.

The rustling, brilliant bright
green leaves he so adored lost their color, shriveled and died. When other kids
would go and kick around in the piles of fallen leafs, Kusanagi would silently
kneel at their side to mourn for them.

Eventually Kusanagi began
realizing that all this pain was a part of the cycle of nature. He realized
that what shriveled and died was soon replaced by a fresh new being which will
die in time and be replaced all over again.

This understanding calmed
Kusanagi and lessened his pain every year when the weather grew cold around
him.

*********************

There was one pain Kusanagi
was never able to block out; the pain humans inflicted upon nature.

When he hiked across the
nearby hills around his grandfather�s farm Kusanagi would often encounter a
tanuki. These raccoon like creatures would sit and speak to him of their dwindling
territories, of the mange human�s pet animals spread around them, of the prowling
cats and vicious dogs unleashed upon them, of the city suburbs spreading into
their homes like cancerous tendrils.

Whenever a tree was cut down
or trimmed to ease the life of the humans around it Kusanagi would suffer
pounding headaches from the screams and whimpers in his ears.

Lawnmowers were his mortal
enemies, exerting such agonized shrills from the grass they hurt. Kusanagi
would make a long detour around his village�s big park whenever the
municipality unleashed gardeners upon the park.

His parents grew to be constantly
weary of their son�s mood swings.

They thought it must be
because of school exams that their son constantly swung from happy and cheerful
to sad and miserable.

He developed the bad habit of
throwing tantrums whenever something cruel happened to nature around him
earlier that day. He�d lock himself up in his room and sit there, pouting,
breaking into tears about the misery he heard today.

He was a fast growing boy, expanding
in width as well as height. Helping his father in the field turned him into
quite a muscular young boy at the age of 12.

He used it to bully other
kids. Well, bully is a rather ugly word to describe the Robin Hood type of boy
he was.

He shooed kids away from
abusing a puppy or kitty might he run into such a scene.

He�d tackled kids who maliciously
danced on ant mounds to squash the poor insects.

He once terrorized a teenage
couple who insisted upon carving their names on a tree�s bark in the park, chasing
them wherever they tried to leave their mark.

Kusanagi�s parents heard about
it from his teachers and acted as any other parent would do with a slightly
violent yet still relatively good at school child. They�d ground him, scowl at
him, lecture him and deprived him of television/sweets/a trip to the cinema if
the felony was serious enough.

*********************

When Kusanagi was thirteen the
village municipality, along with a panel of worried parents, decided to cut
down the big wisteria tree Kusanagi so dearly loved.

They said its bark was covered
with fungi that could proof poisonous to children roaming the schoolyard.

Kusanagi burst into a fit of
anger.

As soon as he heard his
beautiful wisteria�s first panicking shrills he shot to his feet and tried to
dash out of his classroom.

His home teacher would have none
of it, blocking the door with her own body.

Kusanagi rampaged. He grabbed
tables and chairs, hurling them powerfully at the windows to try and hit the
lumberjacks hurting his tree and worked under his class�s window. He punched
and kicked any classmate who tired to stop or reason with him. He ignored his
teacher�s shouts to calm down and stop.

He was shouting, roaring like
a wounded animal, foaming at the mouth. This big bulky boy, his eyes almost
popping out of their sockets with anger, his forehead creased with pulsing
swollen veins, his words maddened, was a terror to look at.

Usually he was such a silent
and calm boy when he wasn�t kicking other kids to behave themselves, his teacher
was too shocked at this complete change in his behavior she simply stood and
stared at him.

Other teachers soon came into
Kusanagi�s class, trying to grab hold of the child and calm him.

As soon as Kusanagi noted the
opening door he shot out of the classroom, kicking and biting his way through
whatever teacher coming against him and trying to stop him.

As he reached the ring of
workmen attacking his beloved wisteria Kusanagi discovered yet another power
within him.

As he stood trembling with
anger before the pack of tree haters he felt energy gathering into him.

The energy came from the
ground he stood on, the very earth that fed the trees and plants to which he
was such a tentative listener and loving friend. It was a power given to him by
what only he could know, understand and love. It was nature finally speaking
back to him, finally answering all those questions he gave it. Nature was
giving him this power in gratitude for recognizing and caring for it�s
creatures.

The energy streamed from his
feet, through every fiber in his body, flowing into his fists as he clenched
them.

�Leave her alone!� he roared
at the working men who turned to see a maddened young boy screaming at them.

The men�s manager put a kind
smile on his face and neared Kusanagi �Little boy� he said with his fake sweet
tone �this tree is not good for you so we�re cutting it down�

�But�.but�.� Kusanagi tried to
clear his vision from the anger blinding him �But I love that tree�.she�s a
good friend of mine��

The man ignored his words,
filing them as silly kid�s talk, though Kusanagi knew nothing of it.

�She has birds amongst her
branches now, with three eggs in their nest�.If you cut the tree down they�ll
die mister� Kusanagi started begging, telling nature�s energy in his fists to
wait a little bit.

�And�.and there is a nest of
ants under her; it needs her roots to keep their colony�s walls firm�.�

�And how would you know such a
thing boy? Reading a lot of kid�s nature books then?� the man�s fake smile
began fading as this chat began boring him and lunch break drew nearer.

��No�� Kusanagi never
encountered such scorn for what he said. It stung like acid.

The kids in his school feared
his might and agreed to anything he said. His parents wished for a happy calm
domestic environment and nodded at anything their son mumbled about.

But this man�.. And the other
work men�.they looked at him like he was crazy�.they didn�t believe him�.and
worst of all�..

They were going to cut her
down!!!!

�DON�T HURT HER!!!!!� He roared at the top of his lungs, launching the
gathered energy from his fists to the ground.

A huge slit opened in the
earth, splitting the ground under the working men�s feet, hurling some of them
down the pit, throwing them off their feet, breaking their equipment and
scaring away those who remained unharmed.

Kusanagi ran to his wisteria
and hugged her bark, refusing to let go no matter what, crying and screaming at
anyone who tried to reason with him.

They didn�t reason with him
much. After the work party was thoroughly evicted in ambulances and cars the
only people Kusanagi encountered were policemen and strict angry teachers.

They forced him off his wisteria;
they dragged him violently away, dodging his raging fists and calling his
parents over immediately.

Kusanagi was in the hospital�s
psychological ward before he could gather his wits together again.

*************

Japan is not a nation with the highest tolerance for
mental problems. As a mere child the doctors treating Kusanagi tried to do all
they could to keep him away from being sent to a real mental hospital.

For now he was strapped to his
sickbed, constantly visited by his frightened and ashamed parents, looked down
upon suspiciously by frightened nurses and agitated doctors.

They reasoned with him and
tried calming him with words as best they could.

All he gave in return was
constant demands to know of his wisteria�s fate. No one around him had the
courage to tell him the truth and start him into another violent tantrum.

Much like an imprisoned animal,
Kusanagi soon learnt that if he will not behave himself he received a needle
prick and was sent into chemical induced slumber or into a foggy zombie state
where he couldn�t formulate a single coherent thought.

He calmed down and learnt to
control his anger, to shut his mouth about any more sounds from nature, to suppress
any need to help what was calling him from the other side of his sickroom�s
well locked window.

Any doctor sent to interrogate
him about his nature hearing ability received nothing from Kusanagi. He either
refused to cooperate at all or denied what he said earlier, claiming it was all
a dream he had once and tried to hold on to.

After a while they untied him,
even allowed him to take a stroll around the hospital garden. He had to fight
himself to stop trying to talk to plants and animals when other people were
around him.

He was released back home a
month later. He came back older, wiser and a lot sadder.

When he was still strapped to
his bed in the hospital he came to a realization that saved his life from
turning into long imprisonment in a mental hospital.

Those who have
"powers" not those of normal humans have "pains" different
from normal humans.

But, there is �happiness� that
he�ll feel because he has those �powers�.

*****************

After being hospitalized like
that Kusanagi�s life could never return to the easy going countryside way it
was before.

He was sent to a boarding
school mostly containing semi-criminal youths so he won�t repeat his violent
acts and to ease the burden off of his frightened parents, already at their
wit�s end with his behavior.

Despite the fact that he grew
to be quite a big strapping guy Kusanagi kept his core of innocence and
tenderness within him, despite constant offers to join this gang of youths or
the other in the strict, prison like school.

After he graduated with medium
to low scores (he wasn�t very good at many subject, often a victim of day
dreaming during class and the deafening sounds of nature interrupting his
education) there weren�t many places he could go to.

University was out of the
question, he didn�t even consider it.

Working in a store, in a horse
farm, in an amusement park, even in a cemetery, all passing seasons in his life
that flew by too quickly, starting out nice and hopeful only to end in bitter
disappointment. Kusanagi would forget to do something and screw up something
important for his boss. He�d be a little too rough on an important piece of
equipment and break it�..so many mistakes Kusanagi felt like an elephant in a
china store, constantly rampaging around unable to stop destroying things.

The defense force, or the
brute squad as Kusanagi liked to call it, was just the place for him.

Filled with able bodied men and
women with big warm hearts and little to none formal education, helping
citizens with tasks for titans. They�d help dig up rocks where machines couldn�t
reach them, shoveled snow for snow festivals, helped in disaster areas, aided
firefighters might a forest blaze erupt.

Amongst these men and women Kusanagi
found his home and friends, all of them a bunch of kids trapped in giant�s
bodies. They were hardly as tough as they seemed and the only drawback they
ever had was their random boozing outs.

Until the year 1999 Kusanagi
found a place to work, socialize, get a date or two over the years and most
importantly; always be at nature�s earshot.

And his childhood dreams of
hovering above the earth, letting the sun shine down upon his arms as if they
were the wings of a bird?

If you�ll look at the various
framed pictures Kusanagi brought with him to his barrack wherever he was
stationed you might stumble across a picture taken in his first parachuting
drill.

You can see him under his
round canopy of white silk, his eyes close serenely, a sweet smile on his lips
and his arms stretched sideways like a child in an amusement park slide.

It is the picture in which
Kusanagi looks the happiest, even if you can�t really read it off him; believe
that he�s the happiest in his life there.

The happiest until he met
Yuzuriha�

(end)
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