Seimei no Shan AO Chapter 020

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Seimei no Shan AO
Written By: SeiferA

Chapter 020: “Is This Heaven?” The Swift Light Named Karma!
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PART 1
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“Hey!”

“HEY!!”

“HEEEEEEY!!! Wakey wakey!”



A set of black beady eyes opened very weakly. The individual in question, a pink car that seemed to be from the 1950s, felt like she had been asleep for an eternity, her senses barely coming to. As she tried to focus her vision, she saw in front of her a girl with light blonde hair which extended to the tip of her shoulders with light blue eyes, wearing a white jacket with a light green undershirt and thin black pants. She gave an energetic smile as she remarked, “Oh goodie, you’re awake! Didn’t take ya that long to wake up, huh?”

The car felt compelled to immediately ask, “Where... where am I...?”

The girl put the tip of her index finger to her mouth as she thought, “Hmmm... well, you’re in a garage right outside the outskirts of town. Found this place for a real good deal, which was TOTALLY fortunate for me considering I was able to round up only so much cash to begin with. I swear, humans here have a real silly way of placing homes for sale. You gotta find a freakin PAPER of all things to see whats around!”

As she realized she was rambling, she slapped herself on the forehead, “DOY! I’m sorry, I should’ve introduced myself!” She gave a proud thumbs up as she pointed to herself, “The name’s Karma! The Swift Light and Guardian to all less fortunate vehicles! A pleasure to meet you... um...?”

The car closed her eyes, trying to recall her name. It’s been so long since she felt like she woke up that almost all of her common senses weren’t coming to. But eventually, she recalled her name:

“My name’s... Pinky.”

Karma stared at Pinky as she revealed her name for a brief moment... before...

“GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Karma held her gut in laughter as the car gave a glare towards Karma, “HEY, WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING FOR!?”

Karma wiped away a tear as she chuckled a bit more, “I’m sorry, it’s just... you said it all serious like when your name is Pinky!” Pinky puffed up slightly in annoyance, with Karma responding to the action, “Aw, come on, I didn’t mean to be a tailpipe about it! Let’s forget I laughed about it, ok?”

While Pinky looked to the side in annoyance, she began to wonder how exactly she got here, much less what happened to her prior to getting here.

It was then that in a complete flash that she recalled everything... particularly the final moments with someone she held dear to her.

“They’re taking you away from here...”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re just a car! You still did so much for us...!”

“You worked so well for so long... and then when you broke down and needed our help to get better? Look what we let happen to you...!”

“I don’t want you to go!”

All of her memories from the time she was bought from the car lot up until finding herself in a junkyard began to flash through her. The final moments especially as she found herself in a conveyor belt, ready to be crushed as she saw the last picture she and her last owner had together...

... before being smashed by a smasher into a cube.

But it made no sense to her. Here she was... not as a cube, but as herself.

Was... she revived somehow?

No, that can’t be it. She still felt her body in shambles prior to being crushed. Her engine still out of commission. Her interior still moldy and her windshield still smashed to pieces. But... she wasn’t a cube. If she really was turned into a cube, there was no way she could’ve been rebuilt back to this shape at all.

Maybe she imagined being smashed?

That couldn’t be it either. The sheer impact, the sheer flash. Somehow she felt herself as a cube prior to losing the last bit of her life so she knew that wasn’t something she imagined.

There was only one thing she could think of as she tried to put down all the possibilities...

“Awwww! Isn’t this cute!!”

Pinky’s state of thought was broken as she saw Karma sitting on her moldy seats and looking at the very picture she recalled her and her owner taking prior to parting ways. The picture itself showed a brown bushy haired girl giving a heartbroken smile as she leaned on the car’s headlight. Seeing Karma grab the picture she exclaimed, “HEY! What are you doing!?”

Ignoring Pinky’s quip, Karma stayed focused on the pic, walking in front of Pinky, “She looks so adorable posing next to you like this! It’s like you two were a perfect team!” Her eyes looked at Pinky as she asked, “Hey hey! What’s this girl’s name? What was she like? Did she love cars too!? Oh I bet she did! Especially you, right!? The sheer emotion from that smile just PROVES she has a passion for cars! Oh what I’d give to meet her! Maybe after I’m done with all of this, I--”

“PUT THAT PICTURE BACK WHERE YOU FOUND IT THIS INSTANT!”

Karma freezed her perky and excited attitude for her new find as she saw Pinky glaring at her with the demand... before looking down, “P-Please...”

The girl blinked a few times before replying, “S-Sorry...” As she walked back to the passenger side and put the picture in the glove compartment, Pinky simply remarked, “Thank you...”

“S-Sure...” The girl nodded.

There was a bit of awkward silence for a bit. While Pinky was annoyed by Karma’s lack of respect for the things she held dear to her, at the same time, she couldn’t blame Karma. After all, how was she suppose to know that picture meant that much to her? So considering these things, Pinky decided to reinitiate the conversation, “... you said your name was Karma, right?”

Karma gave a smile as she looked over and nodded.

“You ask me what kind of name is Pinky, yet I should ask you the same thing about YOUR name...”

The girl giggled a bit as she shrugged, “Hey, that’s what my dad named me! He said he felt it was fitting. And really, considering what I’ve done lately, I guess it makes sense.”

It was at this moment that Pinky realized something about this girl, so she brought up, “You know, I was so caught up in the moment with everything that I only realized NOW that you can talk to me.”

“YEP! Sure can!”

“But... humans can’t talk to vehicles or any other objects when they become adults. Only children can, if anything. How can you do that?”

Karma closed her eyes as she raised her head up proudly, “Totally a secret for right now!” Her eyes then looked back to Pinky, her head still up, “ But anyway, I think we got off to a slightly bad start, so it’s time I got to the point of why you’re here; To make a very VERY long story very VERY short? I’m gonna rebuild ya back to your former glory!”

Pinky looked at Karma... and gave a dull response, “... really?”

“Yeah really!”

“You? A kid like you is gonna rebuild a car like me? By yourself?”

Karma gave a deadpan look to the pink car, “The heck is THAT suppose to mean?”

Pinky’s eyes looked to the side as she replied, “I don’t know. It’s just... you don’t exactly look like the automotive inclined to me. Not to mention this place, as nice as it is, doesn’t seem well set up to get proper work done to me. No offense, but if my previous owner’s dad wasn’t able to figure out what’s wrong with me, then I doubt you can do it too. You’re probably going to be wasting your time...”

“HA! Is that a challenge!?” Karma exclaimed as she raised her fist forward towards Pinky, “Well I’ll show you! You’ll soon learn that NO VEHICLE I’ve ever worked on has ever turned into a total hopeless failure! Watch me, The Swift Light, bring you back to shape!”

It was clear to Pinky now: Whatever she imagined happened to her at the Junkyard didn’t actually happen. For a brief moment, she thought she had an idea as to what happened. But if she was still in this broken down state and still needing to be worked on, it was obvious she was still alive.

And while Pinky had her doubts about Karma, Karma in turn was showing her full determination to get Pinky back in shape. The challenge itself was daunting: Broken windows, faded paint, destroyed interior... and above all else, an engine that was completely dead as a door nail. But the mysterious girl felt that she could do it. So she began by tackling what she felt was the most important step: The Engine.

The process itself took what seemed like a period of 4 days as she had a handy guide fitting for Pinky’s vehicle model. First, she attempted to replace the battery with a new battery and get the wiring tied together so there was no longer any fray wires. Once hearing how the engine was cranking without any firing up whatsoever, she decided the next step was to replace the fuel tank.

After going to the local auto parts store and picking up the fuel tank and appropriate fuel lines, another hour or two worth of work was done as she replaced the lines and the tank, tossing out the old parts outside.

She cranked the engine again; Same results.

Then she decided to replace the spark plugs and spark plug wires, and even decided to replace Pinky’s distributor, which acted as the directing source of power to the appropriate spots in the vehicle, even making sure she had the timing right.

Another crank; Same results yet again

Then she decided to replace the fuel pump with an electric pump to further aid in fuel getting to the engine, also replaced the intakes with the engine and even got the generator and generator belts replaced, all the while taking the carburetor out of the engine (which in itself is possibly one of the most important parts of an old engine) and kept it in a bucket of carb cleaner for several hours.

After reassembling the carb back in, she tried another crank... and yet the exact same results.

After trying several times, Karma ruffled her hair in annoyance, “GAAAAAH WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOUR ENGINE!?” She got out of the driver’s seat as she paced around, fuming, “I tried EVERY SINGLE TRICK I can possibly think of, especially with what I learned from dad and his friends, and your engine isn’t even TRYING to fire up! BY THE GODS!!”

“I told you it was a waste of time.”

Karma briefly stopped pacing around as she looked to Pinky, who’s depressed eyes looked down, “I don’t know how you found me when you did, but I was at the junkyard for a reason. No matter how many times my owner’s dad would try, no matter how much work he tried to do... I just couldn’t seem to get started. I don’t know what kind of crazy idea you have about trying to fix up a car like me, but whatever money you paid to get me? You’re honestly better off just trying to get your money back and letting me meet my fate that I’m suppose to meet back at that Junkyard...”

Pinky’s headlight eyes closed in heartbreak, “... I’m worthless.”

A shadow loomed over Pinky as she looked up...

WHACK!

“OW! What did you--”

“DON’T EVER CALL YOURSELF WORTHLESS!”

For the first time since arriving, Pinky was taken completely off guard by Karma’s sudden action as the girl gave a determined glare to the car, “Cars like you serve their owners until they feel that they can’t go any further. That’s for sure.”

“BUT! The true magic of a vehicle is when their owner doesn’t give up on them and works to the very end to help them back up! There’s no limit to what a vehicle can accomplish! There’s no such thing as a car simply breaking and being worthless! And trust me, I can see it in your eyes:”

“You’re not worthless at ALL!”

Pinky’s eyes shrunk slightly as she realized what she was being told. Not once did she ever consider the fact that she wasn’t worthless. For far too long, even before being sent to the junkyard, she thought and felt like she was worthless. But yet for this girl to come up to her and say that she wasn’t worthless...

Just what kind of person was she?

Giving a deep sigh, Karma put her index finger to her forehead in thought, “Ok, now think... think... there’s gotta be something I’m missing. The engine is rotating fine with no issues or lock up, so the pistons and gaskets have to be fine. We took care of fuel, power, ignition, intakes and any possible source of vacuum leaks that could cause compression issues... we checked compression too inside the engine and that seemed fine... carburetor... we cleaned but...”

Karma’s eyes immediately lit up in realization, “OMG THAT’S IT! A CARBURETOR REBUILD! THATS WHAT WE GOTTA DO!” As the girl walked towards under the driver side to lift the hood, Pinky asked, “Wait, a carburetor rebuild?”

“YEAH! Like, we dunked it in carb cleaner, but there’s always a chance there could be some massive gunk in one of the jets that the liquid couldn’t access with everything assembled the way it is! So we gotta totally disassemble EVERYTHING in it and clean everything individually!”

Pinky wasn’t too sure about this idea, but to be fair, this was one thing that her owner’s dad seemed to have not done. So she was willing to see how far this idea would go.

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About 3 hours had passed since Karma started to dissect the carburetor. While most of the parts were removed, she was still in the process of cleaning each part with care. During this time, she stayed focus on one specific part as she air dried with a can of air.

“... Violet.”

Karma looked over her shoulder towards Pinky, “Hm?”. Pinky kept her focus on the ground as she explained, “... you asked what was the name of the girl in that picture. Her name was Violet.”

For a brief moment, the girl put the piece to the carburetor away as she looked to Pinky, giving a warm smile, “Violet, huh? Hehe, cute name!”

Pinky simply gave a nod, “I knew her since the day she was born.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Her mom and dad were my original owners. But there was something special I realized about Violet back at that time; She could actually talk to appliances, including myself. I didn’t learn this until much later, but apparently children have an expansive mind of sorts that allow them to speak to us freely, unlike with the adults. While I felt a connection with her parents, it was Violet that I spent the most time with speaking to. In fact, she actually had the habit of calling me ‘Momma’. I admit in one hand it sounds a bit silly, but in another, she grew with me for so long that she saw me like an extended part of the family. We had our share of memories together; I could tell you so much about them. Like the time she couldn’t sleep because she had a nightmare, so she slept with me for the night. Or the countless times she pretended to drive me until she was old enough. I could even tell you all about that silly time she played make up with me.”

The girl held a laugh in surprise, “S-Seriously?? Wow, even I never did that with Ghia!”

“Ghia?”

“Oh! She’s my other car. I’ve been meaning to introduce you. Maybe I’ll do it later. But continue on!”

Pinky nodded, “Yes... anyway, as the years went on, she just... LOST that ability to speak with me and the rest of the appliances. I don’t understand why, but they told me it was just an “inevitable thing”. Still, as she inherited me and I became her car, there were still many memories we continued to share. From her first date, to her first boyfriend and even going through some fun cruises... but...”

“... then eventually, you broke down, right?”

Pinky nodded, “I think I expressed enough how much her dad tried to fix me. And unfortunately, I wasn’t there to help her during most of her years in high school. But on the morning of her graduation from school... she was gifted a new car.”

Karma’s eyes showed a hint of surprise while Pinky went on, “Deep down, I knew that day would come. But those years I was sitting out there, I was hoping onto a small glimmer of hope that MAYBE someday I’d be fixed. Maybe someday I could be in Violet’s life again. But on that morning, in one instant.. all of it was shattered. As I saw her happy and ecstatic to be getting a new car, I couldn’t help but wonder: ‘Is she that happy that I’ve been replaced? Had I caused her so much hardship not being there for her that she’d be THAT happy?’ “

“To make matters worse, the new car was nothing short of an absolute jerk. He kept teasing me about how I was ‘Old news’ and gloating about how superior he was to me. It... wasn’t exactly happy times...”

“P... Pinky...” Karma squatted down towards Pinky’s level while the car continued on, “I was left out there for several more months. A broken tree stump from a lightning storm smashed my windshield and got water all over my interior. I was left to just rot out, all while the Little One--I mean, Violet, and her family just forgot me... and then the day finally came.”

“But... it’s interesting. For a very, VERY brief moment... she regained her senses enough to remember the times we spent when she was a child. I think she even noticed my presence once or twice. Though she wasn’t able to hear me or see my eyes, she still expressed how much regret she had for not realizing what was going on sooner. And before I was towed out... she took that picture you found in the glove compartment.”

Karma couldn’t help but walk over to the glove compartment once more, “Do... you mind?”

Pinky simply shook her head, allowing Karma to grab the picture once more and bring it in front of Pinky, as the two of them looked at said picture. Karma eventually remarked, “I honestly didn’t know you two went THAT far back. That’s... truly amazing. In a way, she kinda reminds me of me.”

Pinky showed a hint of curiosity, “Really?”

“Uh huh!” Karma replied, giving a smile as she walked back to the glove compartment, “Ghia knew me since I was a kid too! We spent a lot of time together whenever she was taken around for cruises. It was always relaxing to take a nice evening drive with her and then when my dad and his friends would hang out with the Volkswagen club, we’d just stay together as I slept in the backseats in the full moon night sky. It was honestly amazing times.” She then walked back in front of Pinky while she continued, “Though the difference with me and Violet is I never forgot who Ghia was. I kept my DNATA abilities to speak with her to this day, even after I inherited her and we became road partners.”

Pinky blinked in confusion, “What do you mean ‘DNATA Abilities’?”

“It’s what my dad called it! The ability to speak to that which cannot be seen but can be felt in the heart! Only an extreme few amount of humans are able to keep their DNATA Abilities when they turn into teenagers.”

“Guess you were one of the lucky ones then, huh?”

Karma scratched her head, “Yeaaah... you... could say that...”

As she continued to look at Pinky, Karma felt like saying so many things. To hear that the vehicle went through THAT severe of a heartbreak... it honestly sounded far worse than anything she’s ever seen with any of the other vehicles she’s personally fixed up so far. She raised her hand towards Pinky...

“... you... still got a carburetor to finish dissecting, don’t you...?”

Karma stopped, “O-Oh... Yeah.” As she turned around, the girl couldn’t help but remark, “Hey Pinky? Everything will be ok. You’ll see soon enough, ok?”

“Sure...”

The girl felt far more compelled now to prove this vehicle wrong that she could be brought back on the road. And as she gave a serious look to the remaining pieces needed to be cleaned, she knew now wasn’t the time to slack around.

So she resumed her work. And another two hours would pass...

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“Annnnd THERE! FINALLY DONE!”

Karma posed proudly as she looked over all of parts that was the carburetor littered all over the work table in the garage, “Every single nook and cranny to this thing has been disassembled and cleaned out! I can’t believe how much gunk was in so many of these parts. I’m sure that was the problem this entire time!”

Pinky asked, “So... no fuel was going in at all because of all of that?”

The girl gave a sage nod, “Yep, yep! And there’s no doubt about it now; I’m sure once we get this reassembled, your engine will finally come back to life!”

The car glanced over the work table, looking at all the pieces to her carburetor, “Well I’m certainly glad you know how to disassemble and reassemble these things because wow, this looks like a puzzle to me...”

The girl stopped in her track, then gave a slow head turn towards the car, “Y... Y... You mean... you DON’T know how to reassemble this...?”

“... why would I?”

“I THOUGHT YOU KNEW!!”

“AGAIN, WHY WOULD I!? THAT’S LIKE ASKING YOU HOW TO REASSEMBLE YOUR ORGANS!”

Karma’s face immediately freaked out as she held her head, “GAAAAHHHH!!! WHY DIDN’T I THINK ON ALL OF THIS BEFORE TRYING TO DISASSEMBLE THE PARTS!?” She immediately got on her knees and held them as she sulked feeling an immense amount of dread, “I’m such a failure... oh jeez, oh man, oh jeez, oh man...”

Pinky gave a deadpan look towards Karma, “I thought you were the one who had the never give up attitude...” Karma snapped back, “I’M NOT GIVING UP! It’s just... GODS, what do I DO!? None of the auto stores around here have a carburetor for you either, hence why I decided to just rebuild this thing!”

“Why don’t you just use the manual for me that you’ve been using for everything else?”

“ARE YOU KIDDING!? Have you SEEN the chapter on carburetor reassembly on this thing!?” She then brought out the large book in front of Pinky which showed a mass diagram of all the parts but with instructions not exactly written too well, with the car commenting, “... jeez... It’s like this thing is written in Greek...”

“THAT’S WHAT I SAID!” Karma gave a heavy sigh as she sat down on a nearby stool, “Jeez, what do I do now...”

BEEP BEEP

Pinky gave a curious look as Karma looked over to the garage door, “Huh? I wonder what Ghia wants...”

Pulling out a remote with a red button, Karma pressed said button, allowing the garage door to open up. As it did, Karma pushed the table to the side, allowing for Pinky to see in front of her a white classic volkswagen roadster with large fog lights on it’s bumper. This model is known as a Karmann Ghia. The car’s green eyes, also on it’s headlights, looked to Karma with a bit of concern, “I heard you giving a panic attack. What’s the trouble?”

“OH! Maybe you could help out, Ghia!” Karma exclaimed, but stopped in her tracks immediately as she saw Pinky give a curious look to the classic vehicle, “Oh, before I explain though Ghia, I haven’t had the chance to introduce you to our new friend yet! This is Pinky! Pinky, this is my road partner I was telling you about; Ghia!”

Ghia gave a warm smile towards Pinky, “A pleasure to meet you, Pinky!”

“An... import? Wait, you’re her car too?”

“You COULD say that, but considering she’s been taking care of me for 10 years now, we consider ourselves road partners more than anything else.”

Pinky blinked several times, “T-T-TEN YEARS!? Seriously, she’s had you AND maintained you for that long!?”

Ghia chuckled in response, “Aw, it’s not THAT big of a deal, but yeah! Haven’t had many issues on the road thanks to her well observant attitude on my maintenance. You could say she learned a lot from her dad.” The white car then looked to Karma, “Anyway, back to the matters at hand. What’s ailing you, dear?”

Karma nodded as she gestured to the table she moved to the side, “Well, I just disassembled Pinky’s carburetor and KIIINDA forgot that I don’t know how to reassemble these things...”

Ghia rolled her eyes with a smile, “A bit eager to get Pinky back on the road, aren’t you?”

Karma gave a meek nod as Ghia continued, “Well, I can only assume that manual you bought for Pinky did a whole lot of nothing, so there’s only one thing I can think of to rectify this situation. The very source you go to whenever you need advice on fixing up a classic car:”

“Find a car club!”

Pinky and Karma both looked at Ghia curiously for a moment before Karma tapped her chin, “Hmm... a car club... kinda like the old Volkswagen car clubs I mentioned a while ago... But how can we find a classic car club around here that’ll be able to help us with this?”

“Actually... I think I have the answer for that.”

Karma looked to Pinky as she explained, “If I remember right, me and my previous owner use to drive past a classic car club that would gather every week at a nearby shopping mall’s parking lot.” The girl gave an eager smile, feeling they were back on track, “OH PERFECT! You remember the name of the mall at least!?”

Pinky gave a nod. And as she began to explain, Karma felt like they were once again back on track...
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PART TWO
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While Karma had a good lead on finding a classic car club in town, she would later learn that the group only hosts their car shows once every month and would have to wait two weeks before they would have another one of their events. Though Karma was a bit impatient, she ultimately had no choice but to wait. However, two weeks would come and go almost instantly for her and on one particularly beautiful Sunday morning, she arrived with Ghia at the car show, seeing a mass amount of classic cars of various makes and models lined up and parked all around.

As Karma walked down the event, with her arms behind her head, she took a gander at the owners of these vehicles chatting it up with other owners or visitors whom showed interest in the cars they were showing off. While no one else could see it, Karma could easily see most of these vehicles showcasing their own pride at these events, chatting up with one another as well unbeknownist to their owners. It was an amazing sight and truthfully one that Karma missed as it had been far too long since she and Ghia attended their own car club meet ups.

Glancing around for a bit more, her eyes suddenly spotted what she was looking for; A vehicle that looked nearly identical to the same model that Pinky was. The only differences she noticed was that the body was black instead of pink and an intriguing emblem atop the vehicle, with several lines crossing through the oval shaped emblem. She looked at it curiously, “Huh... what kind of Emblem is THIS?”

“It’s a Edison Cross Emblem, made for 1,000 of these vehicles between 1954 and 1955. It’s signifies how rare this particular model is.”

Karma looked over her shoulder, seeing a slightly overweight yet friendly man with curly hair as he continued, “I get asked about it all the time. By the way, my name’s Jim!” Karma smiled as she introduced herself, “Karma! It’s a pleasure!”

As she got up, Jim scratched his chin, noticing how different Karma looked, not only with the triangle mark on her forehead, but also with the way her eyes looked, “You know, you don’t seem like one of the locals from around here. You’re from out of state?” The girl rubbed the back of her head, chuckling, “Y-Yeah! Kinda came from... er... overseas!”

“Ah... I see.” Disregarding the comment, Jim gave a nod as he put his hand on his hip, “So what brings you out here? Fan of classic cars I take it?”

The girl gave a nod, “You could say that! Actually, I’m kind of a bit of a bind and maybe you could help me. See, I’m trying to find someone who knows how to rebuild carburetors made for cars like the one you own. I got one completely disassembled but I got no knowledge at all on how I could reassemble it; You know anyone who could help out?”

“Well... I could do it for you. But I’d appreciate a bit of compensation if I do it.”

Karma immediately brought out a large set of bills, “Would... 500 dollars suffice?”

Jim immediately stammered, “WHOA WHOA! Not THAT much! Just cut it down one zero from that’ll do!”

“You sure?”

“Totally sure!!”

While it took 2 weeks to wait for this one brief moment to come up, the deal was quickly done and arrangements were made for Jim to come by Karma’s garage the very next day.

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One particular set of memories that Pinky had nearly forgotten about with Violet resurfaced briefly before she was awoken by the garage doors opening once again. It was a memory that struck a cord with her, as her depressed headlight eyes showed. However, the two individuals who were in front of her, Karma and her new acquaintance Jim, were unable to see this; Karma especially since she was continuing to chat with Jim about the history of Pinky’s model type. She quickly regained her composure despite this, however, as Karma looked over to her after the fact... and gave a warm smile.

That smile...

Despite recalling memories that felt like a betrayal to what should have happened, Karma’s smile showed a sense of comfort. Almost as if Karma somehow knew she was feeling down. Almost speaking in a tone that things would be fine now. Something about that smile made her absolute depression ease up a bit.

It would take the remaining half of the day for Jim to reassemble the carburetor for Karma, all while she assisted him with getting the pieces of the carburetor together. While it felt like a long and endeavoring process, eventually the carburetor was put back together again and reattached to Pinky’s engine.

“WHEW!” Jim exclaimed as he wiped a bit of sweat, “That should do it! Hopefully that’ll help this beauty finally fire up!” Karma gave an eager nod, “I’m sure it will! Thanks Jim!”

Jim couldn’t help but chuckle as he remarked, “Don’t thank me until we see that thing run! Go ahead and crank her over!”

Karma gave a mild fist pump as she pulled out the keys and walked over to the driver seat. As she took her spot in the driver seat, she attempted to once again crank over the engine...

...

... but despite the carb rebuild and after several tries, the engine sounded the same as it had been.

Jim scratched his head, “I don’t get it, Karma. I know I got we got that carb rebuilt right. And... what did you say you replaced again?”

Karma continued to try to fire up the engine as she listed out, “The fuel lines, fuel filter, fuel tank, fuel pump, ignition wires, spark plugs, distributor among like several other things that Im sure were just precautionary replacements. Not to mention I adjusted the points and made sure the timing was right.” As she released the key, she gave a sigh... then realized one last thing could be the problem.

“Hey Jim... I’m gonna try a few more things and see if maybe that’ll fix her. I’ll let you know if I get her running, ok?”

Jim gave a slight nod, “O-Ok... honestly though, I was hoping to hear this thing run again.”

Karma gave a smile as she tilted her head, “If I get her running, I promise I’ll bring her to next month’s car show looking all spiffy and new again, ok?”

Jim gave a chuckle in response, “Alright, you better hold up to that! I’m sure the others in the club would love to make you a member with this beauty! But please let me know if you need anything else, ok?”

The girl gave a nod as Jim made his way out. As he did and noticed him leaving off the driveway with his own car, finally seeing that the two were alone (with Ghia, as she was near the opening looking at the scene curiously), Karma rubbed the steering wheel...

“Pinky... the problem isn’t just your engine, is it?”

The car looked down, offering no response as her eyes showed depression once more.

“Violet truly meant the world to you, didn’t she?”

Pinky’s eyes looked up as Karma continued, “You’re afraid to start up. Afraid that if you do, you’ll be on the road again without her. I know your heart is broken because of all of this. Not only did your story tell me this, but your engine is telling me the exact same thing.”

The girl’s eyes closed as she continued on,  “I’m sorry if in the beginning of all of this, it seemed like I just care about getting you on the road for my own accomplishments...”

“But that’s just it: Me making you happy is my accomplishment.”

The car’s eyes blinked in surprise as Karma raised her head, giving a determined smile, “And you sure as heck won’t find your happiness just sitting around here. You don’t know what the future will hold if you just continue to stay around here. So trust me and come on! Stand up and give it your absolute best so you can find that happiness you lost. Because that’s what I’m here for: To help you find your purpose again!”

Pinky was completely surprised by the statement Karma was making. She was doing all of this... to help HER? Was this the true passion of a car fanatic? Or did Karma honestly just respect her that much?

While Karma’s actions made some sense to her, especially through her own story with Ghia as well as being able to talk to her to begin with through these “DNATA Abilities”, there was one bit of absolute truth to her statement: The pink car has somehow been given a second chance. And fact is she wouldn’t be happy if she stayed around here.

“You ready?”

Pinky looked up and gave a nod, “Yeah.”

Karma cranked the engine once more, this time with Pinky giving it her all on her end to start... and suddenly, the engine began to catch a few times.... before...

VROOOOOOOMM!!!

Pinky was in absolute disbelief.

“I... I... Started...?”

It felt like an eternity since she last heard her engine running. It almost sounded foreign to her. For the first time, her smile grew wide, then gave a heartfelt exclamation of joy, “I STARTED!! I CANT BELIEVE IT!!!”

Ghia gave a proud smile to the pink car as Karma gave a gleeful laugh, “Told ya you could do it! The only other thing that was holding you back was yourself!” As she left the engine to idle a bit, she got out of the seat as she patted the open hood, “And now that we got the hard part out of the way? Why don’t we getcha looking spiffy, shiny and looking like you came from the assembly line again?”

Pinky still couldn’t believe the situation she was in. What seemed like a hopeless eternal dark tunnel suddenly had a light at the end. Even though what Karma was proposing sounded like it too would be impossible, her confidence in this girl was suddenly increased; She was absolutely eager now to see how things would turn out. As such, her response was immediate and swift:

“YES! PLEASE!!”

*********************************
======================
Insert Song
Willie Nelson - On The Road Again
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBN86y…
======================

A perfect clear blue sky was the weather scene on a cool Sunday morning in the outskirts of town, down a quiet single lane road with grassy hills and a lone forest in the distance. The sound of a healthy engine from the 1950s could be heard racing down a few gears. As third went around 4,000 rpms, the engine got ready to shift as the vehicle in question jumped over a small hill as it shifted to fourth gear.

It took approximately 2 more months for Karma to do it, but through persistence and through several sources in the local classic car club, she was able to restore Pinky back to her glory days once again. And Pinky couldn’t help but be absolutely happy with her current situation. She truly had her doubts with Karma’s words in the beginning, but yet here she was, roughly 3 months after waking up from what she now considered a simple nightmare, back to her pristine state once again.

As the radio blared out country music with appropriate lyrics for the moment, Karma exclaimed out loud as her hair ruffled a bit from the brisk wind, “How’s your engine holding up!?”

Pinky looked over towards Karma, “It’s holding out great! I haven’t felt this good since the 1950s!”

The girl gave a hearty laugh as she patted the driver side door with her hand, “Good to hear! Though I think we could still test out your suspension and steering on these tight corners. What do you think? You’re up for hugging a few corners?”

“Absolutely!”

Karma pressed down on the throttle a bit more to speed up Pinky as they took the corner as close as they could without drifting. The sheer g-force they felt from the turn was fun for both of them as they smiled, taking corner after corner as such.

As the last corner was taken, Karma laughed once more, “Ok! I don’t know about you, Pinky, but THAT felt awesome to me!” Pinky laughed as well, “I admit that that’s the first time I took those corners that fast! Wow!”

As Pinky and Karma continued to drive down the roads and entered into the city limits, Pinky eventually slowed down to match the speed limits as Karma remarked, “Ok, so after this, we should probably check to make sure there’s no oil leaks. I don’t know how your engine works, but Volkswagen engines kinda have a habit of dripping oil if they get overworked.”

Pinky looked over to Karma as they stopped at a red light, “Well that’s a Volkswagen engine you’re talking about, dear.”

“Hey, you never know! Better safe than sorry!”

While Pinky and Karma continued to chat, the opposite traffic soon passed by Pinky and Karma. However, in the mix, a brown haired girl looked towards the pink car... and for a moment, her heart stopped.

And as the light turned green, the pink car purred down the lane... with the girl making her red 85 chevy camaro take a quick u-turn.

==============================
***********************************

Several blocks later, Pinky was parked next to a small mom and pop restaurant. As Karma engaged the emergency brakes, she stepped out and looked under the car, looking very carefully at the view. While she did, the girl driving the red camaro parked nearby. The brown haired girl’s nerves were bundled around like crazy, unsure on how to approach the other girl. But as she took a deep breath, she got out of the driver seat and walked towards Karma.

“Hmmmm... NOPE! No leaks, Pinky! You’re good to go!”

“Um... e-e-e-excuse me...?”

Karma got up from the ground as she turned her head towards the girl. The girl looked to have slick brown hair while wearing a tanktop shirt with pink wristbands and tight leather jeans. Karma looked to the girl and gave a positive smile with a warm greeting, “Hi!”

“T-This is going to s-sound like a w-weird question, b-b-but... where did you find that car?”

“Oh, this girl?” Karma looked over to Pinky as Pinky tried to focus her mirrors to take a glance at the unknown woman, “I found her at a place called Ernie’s Disposal. Did a complete rebuild of her engine and her whole body too! Actually, I just finished today to begin with!”

“D-Did you say... Ernie’s Disposal...?”

Karma gave a positive nod as the girl, without thinking, walked past Karma and examined the dashboard. As she did, Pinky was able to finally adjust the mirrors to catch a glimpse at the girl...

And Pinky’s soul stopped for a brief moment.

“L-L-Little One...??”

Recognizing the nickname, Karma’s tucked ears wiggled ever so slightly. She wasn’t able to immediately recognize the girl due to having a fashion change, but as she looked closer, she suddenly recognized the face as well as eyes. Noticing this, she asked, “Do... you recognize this car?”

The brown haired girl looked to Karma, “Well... I... that is to say... m-maybe...? I mean...” She gave a frustrated sigh, “I don’t know... I’m sorry, it’s just... your car... it reminded me of a car I use to own.”

Karma walked over to the passenger side, making the girl slightly confused.

“Is your name ‘Violet’ by any chance?”

Violet’s eyes shrunk a bit, “H-How did you...?” Karma then opened up the glove compartment...

And revealed the picture to the girl.

Violet held her mouth, letting out a gasp, then looked over to the car and unintentionally let out under her breath, “Oh my god...!”. Her doubts were now erased; This was indeed her pink convertible.

Violet looked over Pinky’s body and to her, it was absolutely an impossible sight: The very car that she witnessed being towed away by Ernie’s Disposal was standing in front of her once again... completely clean and completely restored, “I... I can’t believe it...” She then looked at Karma, “You... you...?”

“Did this?” Karma completed for Violet as she walked over, “Yeah, pretty much! Though I had some help from some friends I made around here.” She then patted the closed roof top on Pinky, “Preeeeety hard to do this sort of thing otherwise. Anyway, the name’s Karma! Pleasure to meetcha at last, Violet!”

The girl showed an immense amount of confusion, “How... do you know my name?”

“Long story!” She then handed over the picture to Violet, “Why don’t we talk about it over a burger and shake? I haven’t had one from this place and it seems pretty quaint.”

Violet looked over to the business, “O-Oh, Jerry’s Burger Joint? Yeah, they got some good food here. I use to come here a few years ago while I was in high school.”

Karma giggled as she wrapped her right arm around Violet, taking her by surprise, “You’ll have to tell me what’s the best burger they got here then! Come on!”

As Karma pulled Violet over, the girl couldn’t help but continue to look over towards Pinky, as Pinky looked to her unknowingly. Both almost felt the exact same in that neither of them felt that they would ever get the opportunity to see one another again. But somehow, someway, this event was indeed happening.

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

The two were able to obtain a window seat next to Pinky as Karma began to chow down on a large double patty burger. While she was doing this, Violet had her own burger and soda with fries but wasn’t paying attention to her food at all; Rather, her eyes kept looking at Pinky, still in absolute disbelief that this car was in front of her.

“MOFTHER OF FOD, FHIS FURGER IF FILIFIOUS!”, Karma remarked with half a burger in her mouth. As she swallowed what was in her mouth, she continued, “You totally were right, Violet! This burger is beyond amazing!!”

“Huh?” Violet was taken out of her trance as she looked over to Karma, “Y-Yeah! The Double Crossover Burger is probably this town’s best burger for sure!”

Karma put down the burger as she giggled a bit, “You’re thinking about Pinky, aren’t you?”

Violet gave a slightly embarrassed look to the side, “Y-Yeah... I’m sorry, Karma it’s just... I haven’t seen this car in four years. I really thought she would’ve been junked away completely by now.”

“That’s cool! I understand!” The light blonde girl replied as she slurped down on her shake, “I’m just glad to meet you! That picture you and Pinky took was just absolutely adorable! Though...” Her energetic smile leveled off a bit showing a bit more respect, “I kinda also saw how sad you seemed to be in that.”

Violet blinked a bit as she looked to her burger, “Heh... yeah. It’s funny how a picture really can be worth a thousand words, huh?”

“No doubt.” As she took another sip, she decided to ask, “So you wanna hear how I got her back together?”

“Y-Yeah! Seriously, I thought my dad did everything he could to fix her!”

“Well he certainly seemed to! Though I did find the one thing he overlooked. Anyway, I’ll start from the beginning...”

For the next several minutes, Karma began to explain to Violet on how she found Pinky, stating that she found Pinky at Ernie’s Disposal and managed to recover her before being crushed. As she proceeded to tell the rest of the tale (omitting conversations with Pinky of course), the pink car overheard most of the conversation... but was still confused by how she was recovered. Pinky certainly remembers being at Ernie’s Disposal, waiting to be destroyed. But from there? Aside from the memory she deemed as a nightmare was the only thing she could recall happening.

She had no recollections of Karma recovering her, nor placing her in the garage she was put in.

Something about Karma still didn’t add up. And she couldn’t help but wonder once more what kind of person this girl was.

When Karma finished her story, Violet showed a great deal of amazement, “That’s... absolutely unbelievable! And after ALL of that, you got her running...” Violet looked towards the car again, “I know you said you did most of the mechanical work yourself, but you also said you talked to the local car club to get help with her too. I don’t think me or my dad ever thought about that!”

“Well, if you ever wanna learn, I could teach ya!”

Violet looked at Karma, whom was giving an absolutely energetic smile. While she felt compelled to take on such lessons, the reality of the situation struck with the girl as she replied, “I’d love that... but I really don’t plan on getting another classic convertible.”

Pinky looked down as she heard this. She too realized the reality of the situation: Karma was now Pinky’s owner. And after investing so much time and money on rebuilding her, she’d likely wouldn’t show any sort of interest in selling her back to her owner, especially after gaining such a powerful friendship with her by communicating with her. Both of them understood that this girl would be insane to even offer to sell the vehicle back.

Karma tilted her head with a bit of confusion, “So you don’t want Pinky back?”

Both looked towards Karma in surprise as Violet remarked, “I-I... I would! I really would! But... you worked so hard on rebuilding her. I’m sure you’d ask for a lot of money in response...”

“Who said anything about money being involved?”

...

A brief moment of silence hit as both of them were completely speechless by Karma’s last sentence. Violet eventually asked, “I... I’m sorry, but... I must be misunderstanding. You want to offer her back to me but without any money involved?”

Karma gave a smile and nod, “Yep! That’s what I said!”

Pinky couldn’t believe what she was hearing and neither could Violet. Was this girl absolutely INSANE??

“I-I-I-I-I-I ABSOLUTELY COULDN’T!” Violet retorted back, completely bewildered by the situation, “You’re just OFFERING to GIVE my old car back to me??”

“Mm-Hmm!”

“But... why?? Why would you do that!? After all that time and effort you did to rebuild her, why would you just offer to give her back to me??”

In response to this, Karma simply replied, “Same thing I told a certain someone: Me making them happy is my accomplishment. And I know both of you would be far happier together than she would be with me.”

Violet gave a confused look once again, “I... I don’t understand...”

“You wondered how I knew your name, right?” Violet simply gave a nod as Karma pointed towards Pinky, “She told me.”

“... y... you’re joking, right?”

Putting her two hands behind her head, Karma thought, “Well... let’s see... unless the stories I heard about her being with you since you were a baby, you playing hide and seek with her, you staying with her when you had nightmares and you calling her momma were j--”

“SHHHHH!!!” Violet covered Karma’s mouth as she looked around in embarrassment, noticing no one hearing their conversation, “I get it, I get it!!” Violet gave a sigh as she looked towards Pinky, then back to Karma in a bit of amazement. The stories she just listed off were all true... if that was the case, then on that day when Pinky was towed away... was she really NOT imagining things?

Violet asked in a lowered volume, “Did... she tell you about the time we played jump rope?”

Karma nodded, “Yep, and everything that happened during your teen years too. Though the thing she told me about the most was when you got that Camaro and... well... you know. That faithful day and all...”

Violet looked down, “... does she still hate me for that?”

Karma looked to Pinky, whom in turn shook her head, then looked back at Violet, “Not in the least bit. Broke her heart then, I won’t lie to you. But it seems she’s forgiven you for it.”

“Would she really mind if we became partners again?”

Karma looked to Pinky again, whom again shook her head, “Not at all!”

“Even after everything my family did to her, would she--”

“Oh boy...” Karma rolled her eyes as her smile was intact, “Look, if you really wanna ask these questions, you should totally ask her yourself!”

“M-Me? Ask HER?” Violet looked down, “Are you crazy?? I mean, I don’t know how YOU could communicate with her, but I haven’t been able to talk to her since I was a kid. And I thought back then it was me just playing imaginary friends!”

“You still have the capability of doing that, Violet!” Karma remarked, “Sure, I admit, I’m... a bit special, without getting into too much details. But someone like YOU? You totally could do it again!”

Karma finished the last bit of her shake as she leaned back on her chair, “So here’s the deal! I’ll give you Pinky back. Don’t worry about money, don’t worry about paybacks or IOUs. There’s only two things I ask from you in return before she comes back to you.”

She brought out her index finger, “One: You learn the basics on how to keep her maintained. I think your family did a decent job looking after her, but simple things like the carburetor rebuild would have easily dodged this situation that happened. If you can be independent and at LEAST learn the basics? It’s gonna take your partnership a long way.”

“And... what’s number two?”

Karma brought out both index and middle fingers, “Number two might be the trickiest but I feel like you can do it: I wanna see you and Pinky talking with each other. Though... there MIGHT be a shortcut to that goal.”

“Y-You think so?”

Karma gave a smile, “Yep! And the funny thing is it’s something that can only be done right now.” The energetic girl brought out Pinky’s keys as she twirled them around, “Come on! Drop off that Camaro at your place and I’ll take you to mine!”

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

One hour later, Karma and Violet were inside the garage where Pinky was being worked on, as Pinky was parked inside. Though nostalgia was hitting ever so slightly during the trip back as she felt like a kid again, sitting in the passenger seat of the pink convertible, Violet’s thoughts were more and more on how crazy this whole thing was. When Violet got out, she couldn’t help but sigh, “Karma, I don’t know. I mean, I know you talked to her. I believe that. After all, you listed all those memories and the fact that you know my name alone proves it... but... I mean, ME? Talking to a car? I have to ask you again: Do you realize how crazy that sounds?”

Karma giggled as she got out of the driver side, “Yep! Totally do! Which is why I told you the golden rule is to avoid doing it in public at all costs! Last thing you’d want is to be considered a crazy person!” She then began to walk out, “Anyway, if you need me I’ll be outside!”

Violet blinked a few times, “W-Wait! Seriously? You’re just gonna WALK OUTSIDE? No technical instructions on how to do this?”

“Nope! Normally I’d tell you to just focus on bringing out your inner child self and channel it and focus on hearing Pinky through that and all that hard junk, but right now? Just tell her your feelings and listen back!” She then paused as she lifted a finger, “Though... doing those other things I just said might help too! Anyway, let me know how it goes!”

And with that, Karma walked out, leaving the garage door partially open.

Violet looked over to the pink convertible, towards the front. The last time she attempted to speak with this vehicle, she had no luck in hearing her back. Though like Karma pointed out, she did feel her presence.

Was this going to be the same thing?

“H-Hi again... car... or... is it Pinky?”

The only thing she saw, as before, was just the headlights of the vehicle in front of her. She gave a depressed sigh, “I feel like this is deja vu... but honestly, if Karma was able to talk to you, then... I should be able to... right?”

Again, she heard nothing.

Remembering what Karma told her, she tried to channel that same spirit from her childhood as she spoke, “... I honestly thought we’d never see each other again. But you know... for all of this to happen... heh, it’s a bit coincidental, don’t you think? I mean, a lot of what she told me about seeing you doesn’t make much sense. Not to mention with four years passing since then... I can’t help but wonder if there’s something she’s not telling us.”

As she looked to the convertible once more, the memories she shared with said car started flooding in. And as that happened, her eyes started to tear up, “... I’m so sorry. I’m glad you’re here but I feel like I’m not even worthy of being your driver again if I let you down like before. I know Karma said she’d help, but... if I do the same thing to you again...”

Her fist clenched.

“No... I swear, I won’t let this chance pass.”

Her eyes closed as a trickle of tears fell, “I’ve learned from our mistakes in the past. Momma... or... Pinky... whatever your name is! I swear to you I won’t let you down. So please, tell me you forgive me!”

Silence fell for a while.

...

“I forgive you, Little One.”

Her eyes opened wide as she saw in front of her Pinky’s eyes where the headlights once were, with a gentle smile being given to her. And as she realized this, Pinky too showed an immense amount of surprise. Instantly, Violet realized the truth:

She never did imagine those moments. Those weren’t simple childhood memories.

Somehow, in this world, appliances are alive when adults aren’t looking. And that included the very car she grew up with.

Violet’s eyes teared up even more as she ran up to the car and embraced the best hug she could possibly give her. The vehicle, in turn, brought out her tire to comfort the girl, “It’s ok, Little One... I’m... I’m here...”

As the two had their tender moment, Karma looked out from outside the garage door and gave a content nod at the situation. When Violet got up, she turned around towards the girl as she stepped up, giving a smirk, “Well that was a lot easier than I thought it’d be for you! I knew the emotional levels in you would allow for your previous trait to come back out, but I honestly didn’t know even then if it’d still work.” Karma gave a sage nod as she went on, “Anyway, with talking to Pinky, I think now’s the time I teach you the basics of car mechanics! The first of wh--”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Karma felt a powerful hug being given to her by Violet, catching her by surprise.

The girl looked up towards Karma, “... I... I don’t know how else to thank you for all of this... You don’t know how much this means to me.”

Karma provided a gentle smile in response, “Believe me... I can imagine.”

As Karma returned the hug with a hug of her own, however, a glow of light suddenly shone from Pinky. Taking out of the moment briefly, Karma and Violet looked towards Pinky as the light merged into a ball of light, then floated upwards... and down towards Karma. As Violet moved out the way, Karma brought out her open palms as the light landed on it... revealing what looked to be a multi-colored medal, showcasing Pinky and Violet on it with what looked to be a toaster symbol on the bottom of the medal. Karma gave a huge smile and exclaimed out, “YES! THAT MAKES FOUR!!”

Both Pinky and Violet were both confused by what just occured, with Violet eventually asking, “What’s... that exactly?”

“Oh, this little thing?” Karma showed off the medal with her two fingers before she started flipping it like a constant coin toss, “This is a Nakama Medal! You see, where I come from, my family use to go to worlds like this all the time to help out those who needed help by inviting them to what we called “Our Heaven”. BUT! A lot of stuff kinda happened and... well...” Karma then rubbed the back of her head, “It’s KIND OF a very long story.” She then presented the medal once again, “The short story is this: This medal signifies our friendship, or as my family use to call it, our nakama link. Think of it as a memento sort of speak.”

Pinky asked, “So... you AREN’T from around here, then?”

“Most definitely not!” She then pointed towards her black mark on her forehead, then moved away the bangs on her hair to reveal the pointy black animal-esque ears, “I mean, all of this should be proof enough as is!”

“Well, as... nteresting as that is, all I care about is one thing.” Violet remarked, “You brought me and... Momma... back together. And for that, I’m majorly grateful to you.” Pinky in turn also gave a nod, “Same here. Thank you Karma.”

“Think nothing of it, you two! Anyway, those basic lessons! Ready to learn them?”

Violet gave a content nod in response. It felt like a dream; Being back with her old car once again and much less being able to communicate with it like how she did when she was a child. But this was indeed no dream; For her and for Pinky, this was their reality. And both would make use of this chance to the absolute fullest.

For them, this truly was their heaven.

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

As Violet and Pinky drove off the garage, Karma gave one last wave to the two, while Ghia equally gave a content nod towards the two. And as they drove off into the sunset, Karma gave a dejected smile, “Annnnnddd finally several months of renting this place is finally completed...”

Ghia looked over to Karma and asked, “How the heck did you even manage to keep this place longer than you planned anyway? I thought we were only gonna be here for one month!”

“I saved up a lot more money with those races with Herbie than I really anticipated... still, I hope staying here for too long isn’t going against Dad’s plans....” As Karma walked over to Ghia’s driver seat and got in, Ghia asked, “So you finally got the last Nakama Medal you need.”

Karma fired up Ghia’s engine, giving the engine a powerful VROOOM!!!, “Yep! The absolute last one! I’m just glad the idea of unlimited realities of worlds exist. Preeeety sure this isn’t the prime reality we just walked into here. Kinda wonder if Pinky mentioning remembering herself being crushed had to do with her seeing the prime reality.”

“... you’re kinda losing me with this dimensional talk, dear.”

“Oops! Sorry!”

Ghia giggled a bit as she asked, “So we get to go back home now?”

Again, Karma nodded as she pulled out her own picture and stuck it in between the front dash and the windshield as she shifted gears and quickly drove off the garage lot with Ghia.



“Yep... it’s finally time to meet with Shinsei. My little brother...”

TO BE CONTINUED