Wednesday, June 15, 2005

   If olive oil comes from olives, and peanut oil comes from peanuts, where does baby oil come from?

Tuesday....Flag Day for those in the US.

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Well, then. Today was nice and cool. The temperature didn't get too hot at all. It felt so good.

I did another chapter in Java! Whee! I think I may be getting the hang of this thing called Java. Well, a better grip than when I had my class back in March. It may be the slower pace at which I am attacking this. The first day of class we covered six chapters. Just plowed through the stuff like there was no tomorrow. Now that I'm going at my own pace, things seem to be clicking into place.

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Okay. I've been threatening y'all with it for the past few days, so here's the next part of the story. So those of you that don't read it, just scroll down to the end and comment on anything. Maybe answer my question or leave me a question you think I need to answer. (Okay. I got that idea from Panda. I admit it)

I've been doing a lot of writing the past couple days, so there's actually a lot more ready. I just have to get it all figured out as to what order things go. Everything is happening at once and I need to get the continuity just right. Okay... enough babbling. It's story time! (It's also a long one tonight!)

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The waning moon was hanging low in the sky over Kamakura. Satsuo paid it no attention as he sat on the rocks at the seaside. He stared out at the waves, yet did not really see them. There was too much on his mind.

He had run to the shore from the dojo after being frightened by the unnatural figure in the garden. That had been earlier during the afternoon. Now it was dark and he had best be returning to the inn. His parents would be angry. He stood and turned to go back to the village.

Satsuo snuck into the in with no problem, but when he got back to his own room, he was surprised to find his father waiting.

“Where have you been, Satsuo?” his father said.

“At the shore,” he stammered. Satsuo looked at his feet.

“Your mother has been sick with worry, and I am angry. Takeda-san was looking for you."

Satsuo’s heart skipped a beat. “I’m sorry, Father.”

“In the morning, apologize to your mother. I will send for Takeda-san and you will apologize to him as well. He was very upset with you for some reason. He would not tell me, but said you would know the reason.” His father started to leave. “Now go to sleep,” he said as he approached the door. “Tomorrow you are to stay here at the inn and work. You will not be permitted to see your friend Hikaru.”

“Yes, Father.”

Satsuo got ready for bed. Hikaru, he thought. Hikaru does not know about the thing in the garden. He put out the candle by the door and crawled into bed. As he pulled the covers up, another thought struck him. The thing in the garden was wearing Hikaru’s clothes. Hikaru’s clothes…Hikaru’s voice… Hikaru?

Satsuo did not sleep well that night.

The next morning, Satsuo had to work at the inn. His mind was not on his work. What if things had been different? he thought. What if I had looked closer at the practice sword?

“Watch what you’re doing, Satsuo!” his father yelled. “What is your problem today?”

“Sorry, Father,” Satsuo said as he started to clean up the bowls he had dropped. As he picked the pieces up, he didn’t notice Takeda approach. He turned to take the pieces back into the inn and nearly knocked Takeda down. The already broken bowls shattered into even more pieces.

Satsuo’s father looked over at his son and shook his head. “My apologies, Takeda-san,” he said. “My idiot son has been breaking things all morning. What can I do for you?”

Takeda smiled and said, “Do not worry, it is Satsuo-kun that I have come to see. May I speak to him, please?”

“By all means, please do. Perhaps I will not lose any more bowls that way.”

Takeda did not like the way Satsuo’s father was treating the boy, but said nothing. He took Satsuo aside to talk. They sat at a table out of the way of the main crowd.

“What can I do for you, sensei?” Satsuo asked.

“I need to talk to you about what you saw in the garden yesterday,” Takeda said.

Satsuo said nothing at first. “I didn’t see anything,” he whispered as he avoided Takeda’s gaze.

Takeda looked at his student. “Please, Satsuo-kun, this is important. I need to talk to you about this.”

Satsuo seemed at the verge of tears. “I’m sorry, sensei,” he said. “I should not have gone in like I did. I just wanted to talk to Hikaru.”

“I know. You’ve been so worried about him since the accident. But remember, Hikaru has always been stronger than he looks. However, right now he’s hurt in a different way. He thinks you won’t come to see him anymore.”

“But, sensei, why would he think that? I want to visit him, but Father says I must work at the inn today because of yesterday.”

“You told your father what you saw?” Takeda was suddenly afraid for Hikaru’s safety.

“No, after that I did not come home. I stayed on the shore until after dark.”

Takeda sighed in relief. The boy had told no one of Hikaru. “It is good that you said nothing of what you saw in the garden, and I thank you for that. But you should have gone home.”

“Yes, sensei.” Satsuo thought for a moment before asking, “Sensei, that… that person in the garden, was that?”

Takeda answered before Satsuo could finish, “Yes.”

“But why? What has happened? Will he stay that way?”

“I do not know if he will stay like that. I do know something of why it happened, but I cannot speak of it now. Please, say nothing of this to anyone.”

“Of course, sensei. I will keep this to myself.”

“Thank you, Satsuo-kun. Will you come visit again when you can? Hikaru will be happy for the company of someone his own age.”

“I will come tomorrow, sensei.”

“Good. I will speak to your father and let him know that it is all right for you to visit Hikaru, and I will tell Hikaru that you will come. That should make him feel better. He was so sad yesterday.”
Takeda stood up to leave and went to talk to Satsuo’s father.

Satsuo watched his teacher as he spoke to his father. He had been right about what he had seen in the garden. His main concern now was what had happened to cause this. He spent the rest of his day working at the inn. Nothing more was broken as the day went on.
***
Hikaru fell asleep at the table with his father’s swords nearby. Takeda found him there when he returned from his talk with Satsuo. Good, he thought, the boy needs to rest. Takeda found a blanket and put it across Hikaru.

Takeda went to the main house of the dojo and found the family shrine. Carefully he removed the items within and carried the empty shrine to the guesthouse. He returned to the main house for that which he had removed and brought them to be put in their places within the shrine. Hikaru still slept.

After he had the shrine set up again, Takeda took his place in front of it and began to reflect upon the life of his friend Yoshihiro.

Nakamura Yoshihiro was a good man. An honest man. He lived for swordsmanship and wished to continue teaching the art to those willing to learn the art, despite the ban on swords. He had survived the Revolution nine years earlier, only to be called to arms again in the Satsuma Rebellion. Leaving had been hard on him.

Takeda knew in his heart that Yoshihiro had a feeling he would not return from battle that time. That was why Takeda had been left behind to take care of the boy. “Be strong for Hikaru,” Yoshihiro had said the night before he left. “He will need your strength in the future. He is more fragile than he lets on.”

Fragile. The word lingered in Takeda’s thoughts. Yes. Fragile is a good word.

Takeda finished his meditation and went to Hikaru and gently lifted him and put him to bed. You may be fragile right now, Hikaru, he thought, but you will be strong one day. Stronger than your father ever expected. You will have to be strong.
***
Hikaru was somewhat surprised to wake up in bed, as he had fallen asleep at the table. He knew that Takeda must have moved him. What actually surprised him more was that Takeda had moved the family shrine to the guesthouse. The stand for his father’s swords was sitting in front of the shrine. A sad smile crossed his face as he placed the swords there.

“I’m glad you found the stand,” Takeda said. “Your father would be pleased to see his swords there.”

“Sensei,” Hikaru said, “I didn’t hear you come in. You startled me.”

“Forgive me.” Takeda set a tray of food on the table. “I didn’t mean to scare you. You haven’t eaten all day. Here, come and have some ohagi. Satsuo’s mother sent it over. She’s worried about you as well.”

“She makes good ohagi. I…” Hikaru’s voice trailed off as a question formed in his mind. “Takeda-sensei, what was my mother like? I don’t remember her.”

Takeda was mildly surprised by the question. “Well,” he said, “she was a demon, of course. From what she told your father and I, her clan is silver like you are now. She was very kind and loved your father very much.”

“But weren’t people frightened of her if she looked like this?” Hikaru held his hands out, a look of dismay on his face.

Takeda laughed quietly. “I’m going to tell you a little secret,” he said. “Your mother was one of the few members of her clan that was able to change.”

“Change?”

“Yes, change. She could change her appearance to be able to pass as human.” He reached for another ohagi.

“Pass as human,” Hikaru repeated.

Takeda nodded and said, “There was, however, one feature she could never disguise, and that was her ears. They were pointed instead of round.”

Hikaru felt his own ears. He’d always been a bit self-conscious of the slight point to his ears, but never considered why they were pointed. “Pointed…like mine?”

Takeda shook his head. “Yours can almost pass as normal. Shizuyo’s ears were very pointed. She always wore her hair down so no one could see.”

“Ah,” Hikaru said and fell into thought.

Takeda watched his young master for a while and then asked what he was thinking.

“I was wondering if I have the ability to change like my mother. If I can change back to myself… how I used to look.”

Takeda said, “There’s only one way to find out. Try to change back.”

“But how?”

“I don’t know how Shizuyo did it. She would just turn from one form to another.” Takeda thought about this for a bit. “Maybe if you close your eyes and relax. Think about what you want to look like. Think about being flesh instead of metal.”

Hikaru closed his eyes and pictured himself as he was a few days earlier. “All right,” he said.

“Good. Now relax and keep that image in your mind. You’re going to be normal again.”

Hikaru kept the image in his mind and told himself he could change back to normal. He repeated it as a mantra.

Takeda watched with interest as Hikaru slowly changed from the silver-colored demon back to the human boy he had known for years. “Open your eyes, Hikaru-kun,” he said with a laugh.

Hikaru opened his eyes and looked at his hands. They were back to normal. His arms as well, even though the marks of fire and metal were still visible. “I did it!” he exclaimed. “I changed back! What’s so funny?”

Takeda smiled and said, “You’re right, you did change back to normal…almost. Take a look at your hair.”

“My hair?” Hikaru kept his hair long and in a braid. However, there was the part that framed his face. The part that he kept about chin length. The part that was still as silver as it all had been. “What has happened here?” he asked as he held part of it in front of his face. His eyes crossed slightly as he looked at the silver hair.

“It didn’t change back,” Takeda said laughing. “But don’t worry, it actually looks good. I like it. It’s different.”

Hikaru looked at his teacher and began to laugh with him. Things were definitely different now.

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Well, there you have it. Takeda has changed a few things around in the house, Satsuo has come to terms with what he saw, and Hikaru is back to "normal." For those of you that are wondering about Sam, she'll be making an appearance again one of these days.

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Now I think I will go do something truly constructive: SLEEP!

Laters!

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Additional: The contest has officially ended now that it's been shoved into the archives. Winners will be announced tomorrow. And there's still one day left on the minipoll, so scroll down and vote if you haven't!

Good grief! I was rather long winded today!

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