Nijiame (Rainbow rain)

First chapter. Hikari's Autmn

           

A shadowy world moves in slow motion. Same patterns and same cycles in this unlit place. How lonely…I wait…waiting for the light…

 

            “Hey ma, I’m going,” I said, tying my dark blue sneakers and shifted my backpack higher onto my shoulder.

            “Already? But you still have ten minutes, Ryoto,” my mother protested, wringing her hands on her apron.

“It’s fine.”

She sighed, turning back to the kitchen. “Okay, then. Be safe and come back early, ok?”

As I opened the door, the fall wind quickly sent the chilling song to wrap around me, causing some of the dead leaves to jump in surprise. I swept my brown-black hair back and walked to the bus stop a few blocks away. Drawing out a book out of my jacket pocket, I began to read. I ignored the freshman girl, who shifted nervously beside me, continuing to read about statistics that I will be learning about next year as a senior.

As the bus came to a screeching stop, I glanced up in the direction of my house just in time to see an unknown car pull into the driveway. Strange…

I sat in the window seat and gazed into the distance. Clouds of thoughts crowded around, demanding my attention. So crowded that it blocked out all of the other sounds. I searched and began to unweave my mess until it was clear enough to think of other things.

Glancing out of the window, I watched the scenery rush on by. I wish my life could be more like that, I thought. Swift and exciting. Every day something new…something to look forward to…

 

2:30 unfailingly came and I found myself on my bus again, heading home. I began to sort through the new wave of things a day at school could bring.

Homework…

Tests…

Projects…

Most other people worried about some love or another. I didn’t. For me, girls were nothing but burdens, giggling and flirting. I disliked them, but, being a maturing teen, I did fall in love. I never pursued those loves and they eventually faded into the ever-changing currents of life…

“Have a good day,” my bus driver called as I climbed down. I nodded. The door closed and the bright yellow vehicle vanished into the distance.

“Um…bye, Ryoto,” the girl said, blushing and unable to meet my eyes.

As much as I disliked girls, I didn’t hate them and had some as friends. I couldn’t ignore her nervousness and felt that I should at least respond to her attempts. With a quick nod, I said, “Bye, Anna.”

I turned my dark eyes towards my house. I saw the car was still there. Might be a friend of mom’s, I thought. I should go from the back. She will kill me if I didn’t.

Dead grass and leaves crunched and crackled under my sneakers. I slipped around and began to walk around the wall when I heard a voice. It was soft and melodic. I stopped, and then decided it wouldn’t hurt if I went to see. Shifting through trees shedding their feathers, I realized it was a girl’s voice and she, whoever she was, was singing.

I walked out from behind a tree. There was a young woman. Her long untied black hair fell in soft ripples past her waist. She wore a dark blue jacket with a light blue shirt underneath. A knee length purple skirt flowed with the wind. Boots clicked together as she danced with her song. A necklace hung at her collarbone and shone a dark green briefly when she swayed.

I leaned back against a tree, watching this mysterious stranger with a beautiful voice. My dark eyes watched her every moment, noting a graceful body. The song calmed my eyes in closing and the notes of the song wrapped around me.

The last note trailed into eternity, still ringing in my ears. The silence afterwards echoed, mingling with the song to create quiet harmony. She sighed and smiled, still gazing into the rainbow of color.

A sudden gust of wind threw her hair back and I stifled a gasp of wonder. She was very pretty with lightly tanned skin. Her nose was straight and her lips were full. But the most amazing were her eyes. They shone in the afternoon sun and were a deep violet.

“Did you like it?” she asked, still watching the rain of leaves.

“It was nice,” I said, walking out from the shadows. She smiled and turned towards me. “How long did it take you to notice me?”

“I just heard a noise when I was done,” she said, eyes glinting. “Silence makes everything sound louder than it is.” She looked at the leaves. A leaf floated down and she caught it. “Wow. Tokyo doesn’t have leaves this beautiful.” She turned back and took a few steps. She held out a hand. “I’m guessing you’re Ryoto? I’m Hikari, nice to meet you.”

I hesitated to touch that hand, but good manners told me otherwise, so I reached out and held it. To my surprise, it was callused and smelled faintly of perfume. Another fall wind blew. “Nice to meet you…Hikari.” Her smile caused the corner of my lips to try to turn into a smile. I brought it down and I returned to my stone face.

 

“So, because of family problems, Hikari will be staying with us for a while until things settle down.” My father said in the living room. Hikari and I sat on the couch and my parents on the one across. “We will tell Kazuki when he comes back to visit. Well, that’s all. Ryoto, can you take her to the guest room?”

I stood up and led her upstairs. Thoughts whirled. Mom never told me about this, I said to myself. I mean, a girl? In our house? Seriously, this is such a bother…

“Ryoto?”

I jumped. “Yeah?”

Dark violet eyes searched my blue ones. “You look like you’re thinking about something difficult.” I tried to look away, but her eyes held me tight. She leaned forward, eyes unwavering. “You know,” she said quietly, “the eyes are the mirrors of your soul. Your eyes are…lonely…”

My heart leapt and my eyes widened for a second. “I-I’m fine.” The spell was broken and I looked away, heart still beating fast. For those few moments, it did feel like she was looking inside of me and examining my soul.

“Here is your room,” I said, opening the door. “It was my brother’s-”

“Wow!” she cried, dropping her bag and dancing around the room. I closed the door behind me and sat onto the bed. As she surveyed every corner, I bathed in the familiarity of the room and submerged into memory.

 

“Kazuki! Kazuki! Let’s play a game!”

“Okay, okay! Calm down, Ryo. Hmmm…” he looked around his room. “Oh! How about Monopoly? We haven’t played that in a while.” I saw him reach up and brought down a battered box from a tall shelf.

“I call the car!” I shouted as I jumped around.

“Hey! No fair! Come here, you!” Long arms grabbed my waist and brought me into a bone-crushing embrace. “Why do you always get the good ones?”

“Heehee!” I giggled helplessly as he tickled me.

“Alright. Let me sort out the money.” I sat across from him, watching him adoringly. This was my brother, Kazuki that I loved and admired so much. He was three years older and was great at everything. How I wanted to be just like him…

 

“Ryo…Ryoto? Ryoto!”

I blinked, snapping back into reality. Hikari was kneeling beside me, watching me curiously. Under her violet watch, I suddenly became self-conscious. “Y-yes?”

“You’ve been spacing out a lot. Is this normal for you?”

“How should I know?” I said angrily, catching myself. I shook my head. I hadn’t meant that to sound angry. She stood up and picked up her bag. I went to the door. As I turned the handle, I muttered over my shoulder, “Good night.”

“Oyasumi[1].”

 

Click. The light squeaked as I turned it off. I fell back onto my bed, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, despite the cool weather outside. Moonlight filtered through my window and bathed me in pearly light. As I lay among the gentle folds of my blanket, I gazed into the blank ceiling, remembering Kazuki.

 

“Hey, look its Kazuki! Wow! Did you see that dunk? He’s amazing!”

“I love Kazuki so much! He’s so cute, good at sports, smart, and nice to everyone!”

“That’s hard to beat. Sorry guys.”

“Man, I wish I was at least half as good as him. He’s such a great guy.”

“Kazuki is such a good student. And he’s so involved in school. It’s a wonder how he manages to do all those things and still keep a good grade in all his classes. I mean, he does swimming, tennis, running, basketball…I also hear he’s a great martial artist. That kid is amazing.”

I felt myself swelling with pride at his greatness. I never felt jealousy, just wonder and love at the man only I was allowed to call “brother.” Every day, I would wake to a new feeling of wonder at this person and fantasizing the day I would be like that, too…

 

I rolled over on my side and stared at the window. Kazuki is gone now. But when the spring wind flies again, he will be back. My eyes closed. My breaths slowed and my body relaxed. Outside another fall wind blew, showering my world with rainbow rain and memory.

---

[1] Japanese for “good night”

Author's Note

Any suggestions?

Reviews

[OutToLunch]

OH MY GOD! that was really good...
to be honest, i didn't really want to read this. two paragraphs, and i was hooked.
i'm trying to learn japanese, so that was also a perk when reading...
your character development is very good. details were adequate and placed in very good spots. over all, i think this is a really, really good start.

[Jemma]

The imagery is really good. The flow is almost perfect all the way through. all up it is a very beautiful write.

Ps. thanks for joining my group. Again. A great write.

[unspokenguilt]

It's very good and the imagery is great! It seems Ryoto wants to be just as good as his brother and in the process of doing others proud he's missing out...a most interesting story!

:) elyssa

[Queen of wands]

This, to me is a well penned piece that shows a true gift of an eye for beauty. Very much meticulous thought and care goes into the detail of your writing in a way that is atypical of anything I have ever seen. If I were to suggest anything it would be to continue with this as an element of your individual style. Your work flows very gracefully and is a relaxing and enjoyable experience. Thanks for posting this.

[Leah Elisabeth]

I enjoyed this quite a bit, you certainly do have a way with words. There were a few awkward sentences, such as, "He pulled out a book out of his pocket." The first out is unnecessary and redundant. I think this is very well done and I hope you continue with this idea it need some exploration and continuation. Keep up the good work!

[Samuel Dickens]

It's a wonderfully told tale and it held my interest all the way through. It could use some light editing, but overall, it's a fine piece of story-telling. Good job, Aldora Sparrow!