The Day of Thunder

[Reiko Ohta]

Reiko didn't see herself in her dream. The future she saw... it was distant, but beautiful.

She felt like she was watching from above, following a few students as they walked through the streets of a busy city, the mon of the Spider visible on their kimono, two Hisomu, a Matsu, and a Reiko; the other mon she had never seen, but she knew it, somehow - the Ohta school. They were dressed in kimono and hakama, as one would expect for students, but they wore oddly shaped boots and had collars that stood high on their necks and low on their wrists under their kimono. Each of them carried elaborate bags, and one was holding several sheets of loose parchment. Or was it paper?

"Ugh, do any of you have yesterday's anatomy notes?" one of them, the one with the papers, asked.

Another looked amused. "The one on the cell types in the brain? I know the nervous system isn't your strong point, but did you really fall asleep?"

The girl with the papers shot the other, the Matsu a half-hearted glare. "I was up late helping Mom."

"Is that why you were up late...?" One of the Hisomu tittered.

The girl with the papers turned red. "Shut up!"

"Did he really compare your looks to Reiko Ohta?"

She turned even redder. "... Yes."

The last girl that had spoken sighed. "I wish I had that sweet of a boyfriend..."

The dream moved back to show the school they were going to, which had her name emblazoned on it - Ohta Medical School. That's right... they were learning the skills and techniques she had developed after the Day of Thunder. Her school had gone on to be at the forefront of medical research as they had learned more and more about the human body. Shugenja no longer superseded medicine, but worked in concert with it, because of her work.

She could do it, she knew. This felt solid, like the future.

She was... missing something, though. She still had weaknesses that kept it from being a reality.

She could get rid of it, though, and gain what she needed.

All she needed to do was reach out.