Wednesday night and this is what I saw earlier:
... but without the red circle and letters, of course.
So, if I'm excited by a nice round number like 180,000... it must not have been a terribly thrilling day.
It was outrageously nice out again. Temperature a little above yesterday's, which meant we were in the mid 70s again. I wish it would stay like this the rest of the summer...
So, in honor of the nice weather, which is probably going to end really soon, I post another part of the story. Enjoy!
“I still don’t know just what it is that Samantha is looking for,” Murphy said. He and Midori were sitting on a rock at the shore watching Samantha as she waded looking for shells. “But I do know this, if she doesn’t find this mysterious boy soon, I’m taking her back to Yokohama and putting her on a ship back to America.”
“You care for her very much, don’t you, Murphy-san,” Midori said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes, even though I’ve known her for about two months. She’s my little sister’s youngest child and I feel that I’d be letting her mother down if anything happened to her.”
“But she feels just as strongly about her purpose here in Japan.”
“Yes, and that’s probably why I won’t put her on a ship if she doesn’t find that boy soon.” Murphy stopped talking and watched the waves lapping at the shore. “She has the same stubborn streak that I do. It’s… What is she doing?” He pointed at Samantha, who was looking up at something only she could see.
“Midori shaded her eyes against the sun. “It looks as if she’s speaking to someone.”
“You’re right, it does.” He got up and started out to where Sam was. “Hey, Sam,” he called. “What’s wrong?”
Samantha stood and looked at her uncle and then back at something it seemed only she could see. “No, wait!” she said to whatever she had been looking at. Then to her uncle, she said, “You scared him off! Now he’s running.” With those words she chased off after the silver boy.
“Sam, wait,” Murphy called. “What is wrong? Who are you talking to?” It was to no avail, for Samantha was running after something only she could see.
“Hey, wait,” Samantha called after the silver boy. She could hear
Murphy and Midori calling after her from the beach.
Hikaru was confused. He could remember being at the funeral and then the pulling sensation. Shortly after that he found himself at the beach facing a strange yellow-haired boy. The boy started to speak to him and he realized that the boy was actually a girl. A strange foreign girl. Where had he seen her before? Then a man on the beach started to yell, and that was when Hikaru ran and the girl ran after.
He ran back into town through the marketplace. Instinctively he ran to the dojo. Still the girl followed him. She had kept up with him and was yelling after him in that strange tongue. People in town were unsure what to make of this foreigner running past them yelling at nothing. Many muttered disapproval and some young mothers pulled their children close.
Hikaru stopped outside the dojo. He remembered it was no longer his home. The girl stopped nearby and caught her breath. Hikaru watched her with mild interest. She was dressed as a boy and had her hair short to complete the illusion. She was leaning against the wall of the dojo watching him. She smiled and said something he couldn’t understand. For some reason, he felt safe with this girl, and he wished he could talk to her.
The foreign man caught up with them, followed by a Japanese woman. Hikaru wanted to run, but the girl reached for his arm to stop him. Neither of them was quite prepared for the fact that she could actually touch him. They looked at the place where her hand rested on his arm and then at each other. She smiled again and squeezed his arm.
Murphy was a little out of breath as he caught up to Samantha. “What is wrong with you? Why did you go running off, Sam?”
“Uncle Pat, I found him,” Sam said. “I followed him from the beach after you scared him.”
“What are you talking about? There’s no one here.” Murphy felt Sam’s forehead. “You’re not running a fever, but I think you should lie down a while. You’ve been so worked up about this boy. Let’s go back to the inn and get something to eat. It’s almost suppertime.”
“I don’t want to lie down. Don’t you understand? I’ve found him. He’s right here.”
“Samantha, that’s enough. There’s no one there. You’ve been under a lot of strain and you need to rest.” He held out his hand. “Come along now, it’s time to go back to the inn.”
Samantha knew she wasn’t going to be able to convince her uncle that the boy was there. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll go back to the inn. Midori, how do you say ‘Come with me’?” Midori told her, and Sam held her hand out to Hikaru and slowly repeated, “Issho ni kite kudasai.”
Hikaru took her hand and followed her to the inn.
***
The evening after the funeral, Nakamura sat alone in the dining area of the inn. He had told Ashida and Yonaha that he wanted to be alone and they understood. For once, Ashida actually obeyed his orders and did not try to dig up anymore about what had happened at the funeral. Nakamura was beginning to have some doubts about Ashida’s interest in his grandson.
The large youth that worked at the inn brought over his food. Nakamura could see that the boy was concerned about Hikaru. He wished he had some words to say to the boy to comfort him, but Hikaru’s collapse had worried him as well. He thanked the boy for his meal and began to eat. A few minutes later, when he saw the boy was not busy, he called him over.
“Yes, sir, what can I do for you?” Satsuo said.
“Do you have a moment?” Nakamura asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Please, have a seat.” Nakamura indicated the chair across from him. “Let’s talk a while. I know you’re friends with my grandson. What is your name?”
“Satsuo, sir,” he said. He looked around to make sure no one needed him and then sat down across from Nakamura. “Yes, Hikaru is my friend.”
Nakamura smiled. “I can see that you’re very concerned about him. How long have you known him?” He took a drink of tea and pushed a bit of rice around the plate.
“All my life, sir. He stayed with us for a while when we were very young. I don’t really remember how old we were. I remember Hikaru-kun cried a lot.”
“Where were his parents and Takeda-san?”
“I don’t know. My father may know, but I can’t say for sure.”
“But why was he crying?”
Satsuo shrugged. “I don’t know, sir. I just remember him crying. That’s my earliest memory of him. Mother says I awes the one that got him to stop crying. She said I was his protector.”
Nakamura mused about the absence of Hikaru’s parents. That was something he would have to ask Takeda about, if he could get to talk to him again. “Has Hikaru always been small? He looked so small and weak at the funeral.”
Satsuo smiled. “Yes, he’s always been small, but don’t call him weak. Hikaru is not weak.”
“So he’s not weak, that’s good to hear. He must have collapsed because of all the strain he’s endured lately.” Nakamura looked at his dinner. He had hardly eaten any of it. “I’m sorry. I find I have no appetite right now. Please apologize to the cook for me. It’s very good, but I just don’t feel like eating right now.”
Satsuo said, “That’s all right. I didn’t feel like eating, either. I’m worried about Hikaru. I keep thinking that he’d be all right if I hadn’t hit him that day. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t hit him.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. I meant nothing.” Satsuo stood and picked up the unfinished meal. “I have to get back to work. I’ll tell my mother what you said. Sorry.” He hurried back to the kitchen before Nakamura could say anything.
That boy knows more than he’s letting on, Nakamura thought.
But how much does he know? He couldn’t possibly know about Hikaru’s demon side, could he? Nakamura went back to his room, his mind suddenly filled with worry.
A big
Thank you!!! goes out to Panda for helping me with the solitary line of Japanese in this segment. You're a real hero for helping me figure that one out.
Well, I'm gonna go study the inside of my eyelids for a while.
Laters!
Life is a placebo masquerading as a simile....
