Sunday, February 12, 2006

Sam Shops & Hikaru Talks

“What should we get for food?” Samantha asked as she and Midori wandered through the market.

Midori said, “Perhaps we should have something made up at the inn for dinner. That would be easier.”

“True. I have no idea what most of this is. But we still need some kind of cake.”

“Why a cake?”

“It’s his birthday. Birthdays have to have birthday cakes. It’s just the way it is.”

“Ah,” Midori said. “Why don’t you cook something from America? That would be special.”

Sam had to stop herself from laughing out loud. “That would not be a good idea. I don’t cook. I burn things.”

“You’re right. That would be bad.” Midori was smiling. “Let’s see what we can find here.”

They continued around the market looking at different food venders until they found a pastry stall. There wasn’t anything quite like the cake that Sam had in mind, but she did find some small cakes that would do.

“Anything else, or shall we place our order with the innkeeper?” Midori asked.

Sam looked around at the various stalls in the market. “Well, I would like to get Hikaru a birthday present,” she said, “but I don’t know what he likes.”

“From what Takeda-san has said, they used to live in a sword arts dojo, but swords have been banned and would be too expensive. He probably has some as it is.”

“What else could I get?” Sam wandered from stall to stall. She stopped and looked at some prints of scenery. “These are pretty, but I don’t think he’d like them.”

“Sam-chan, I don’t think it will matter to him what you get. He probably isn’t expecting anything.”

“I know. I just want to get him something. Something to make him smile. He always seems so sad to me,” Sam said as she passed a pottery vender. Something caught her eye and she looked up at a brightly colored banner waving in the breeze. “I think I found it, Midori.”

Midori looked ahead at the stall where many brightly colored kites were hanging. “Yes, Sam-chan, I agree that would be a perfect gift.”

They looked at the various kites and finally decided on one with a bright red crane on a field of light blue. It looked as if the crane was soaring in a cloudless sky.

Back at the inn, Sam and Midori talked with the innkeeper’s wife about what to have for the meal. When asked about the occasion, Midori answered that the next day was Hikaru’s birthday. The innkeeper’s wife smiled and said, “Ah, yes, I had forgotten that his birthday was coming. Why don’t you have Hikaru-kun and Takeda-sensei come here to eat? The meal could be my treat to Hikaru-kun. He’s always liked my cooking, and it would be good to see him again. I have not seen him since his father’s funeral.”

With Midori’s help, Sam asked, “Are you sure? It won’t be any trouble?”

The innkeeper’s wife smiled and said, “It’s no trouble at all.”

“Arigatô,” Sam exclaimed. “Midori, what about an invitation? We need to send an invitation.”

“Of course, Sam-chan,” Midori said. “I’ll go get some paper and we’ll write one up.” She left and returned with pen and paper, and they soon had an invitation written in both English and Japanese. Midori found a young boy to deliver it to Hikaru. “Well, that’s done. Now it’s time for your lessons,” she said.

Sam sighed, “All right.”
***
“Who was at the door?” Hikaru asked, looking up from his dinner.

Takeda had a puzzled look on his face. “I don’t know,” he said, “but he had a letter for you.”

“A letter?” Hikaru took the note and read. “It’s an invitation. Sam-san and Midori-san are inviting us to dinner at the inn tomorrow evening in honor of my birthday.”

“Really? That’s nice of them,” Takeda said as he sat down to continue his dinner.

Hikaru read the invitation again. He was puzzled by it. “Why would they do that? I didn’t ask them to do anything.” He handed the paper across to his teacher.

Takeda read the invitation. “It’s all you could expect, Hikaru-kun,” he said. “But you should have thought of that before you told Sam-chan that your birthday is tomorrow.” He was smiling as he reached for his tea.

Hikaru was pushing rice around his bowl. “I realize that now,” he said with a sigh, “but I was just answering her question. I didn’t expect her to get so excited about it. It’s just a birthday.”

“Yes, but it’s your fifteenth birthday. Sam-chan thinks it’s something special and wants to do something for you.”

Hikaru’s ears turned pink. “But why? She doesn’t even know me.”

“True, but who can tell? Maybe she’s doing it to be nice, or maybe she wants to get to know you.” Takeda looked over at Hikaru and smiled. “Why are your ears turning pink?”

“They’re not!” Hikaru said as he covered his ears.

Takeda laughed at Hikaru’s reaction. “In any case, I suggest you enjoy yourself tomorrow. Sam-chan is going to a lot of trouble, and it would be rude if you don’t enjoy yourself. And are you going to eat that or just play with it?” He indicated the bowl of half-eaten rice and oden.

“Sorry, I guess I’m just not hungry,” Hikaru said and pushed his bowl away.

Takeda looked at Hikaru. He couldn’t help but worry about the boy. So much had changed in the past few weeks. There was the loss of his father and the discovery that his mother may still be alive. Then the revelation that his mother was a demon, and the changes that were happening because of that.

“What?” Hikaru asked. “Is there something on my face?” He rubbed his nose as if it were dirty.

“No, there’s nothing on your face, Hikaru-kun,” Takeda said with a sigh. “It’s just that I need to know if everything is all right with you. I’m worried about you.”

“Worried? Why?”

Takeda set his own bowl aside and said, “I’m worried because of how you’ve been since the accident at the dojo. You’ve become quick to anger. You don’t sleep anymore, and you eat very little. I don’t want anything to happen to you. Your father would not forgive me if something happened to you.”

Part of Hikaru wanted to lash out and deny all that Takeda said, but another part realized the man was right. “I understand what you mean, sensei,” he said. “It worries me, too. I don’t like the temper, but it’s almost as there is a flame burning within me that lashes out at anything. It actually did that the other day, and it scared me.”

“I don’t know who was more frightened,” Takeda said, “you or I. It was a very unsettling thing to see you burst into flames. But what about the sleeping and eating? What do you have to say about that?”

“I’m just not tired at night. I don’t feel the need to sleep, and in the morning I still don’t feel tired. It’s been that way since the night we moved into this house.”

“And the eating?”

Hikaru avoided Takeda’s gaze.

“Please, Hikaru-kun, this is what worries me most about you. I don’t wish to see you starve. It is not a pleasant way for a person to die.”

Hikaru looked down at his hands. “But I’m not starving, not anymore,” he said quietly. “Normal food doesn’t satisfy my hunger. I eat to be polite, but sometimes that doesn’t even appeal to me. There is something else I need.”

“And what is that?” Takeda feared the worst.

Hikaru said nothing, but stood and went to one of the lanterns. He took off the paper cover and brought the lamp to the table. He sat down, put the burning lamp in front of himself and put his hand into the flame.

“Hikaru-kun, what are you doing? You’ll be burned!” Takeda exclaimed. He reached over to pull the lamp away, but stopped as he saw the flames move around Hikaru’s hand.

Hikaru let the flames dance around his hand until they slowly turned green. He had turned silver at the same time. He held up his hand with the green fire flickering about, then closed it to a fist and drew the flames within. He stared at his clenched fist and said, “It seems that I need fire to keep living now. I discovered this the night I went out.” He looked over at Takeda and continued, “I’m sorry. I wasn’t very nice to you that night. I don’t really know why I was so rude. I shouldn’t have treated you so badly.”

Takeda sighed. “Thank you for finally talking to me. It’s not been easy for me to see you going through so much in such a short time. It’s been almost a month since the accident, hasn’t it?”

Hikaru half smiled. “I haven’t really thought about that. I’ve just been trying to get through each day. I actually had to think about it when Sam-san asked how old I was.”

Takeda smiled as well. “I noticed you had a little trouble with your age. However, it still stands that tomorrow you turn fifteen and Sam-chan wants to make it a special day for you.”

Hikaru groaned. “I’ll be nice. I promise,” he said.

Takeda laughed. “Of course you will, Hikaru-kun,” he said. “Of course you will.” He smiled at that which only he knew at this point. He knew that Hikaru had a crush on Sam-chan, even if Hikaru was unaware of it himself.

Comments (0)