Kakeru is certifiably insane, I thought to myself as I watched him trying to convince a group of girls outside the ramen shop that he was an exchange student from America. His fake American accent and his exaggerated ignorance of social customs quickly gave him away, and amidst the hurled insults and thrown books, he came running back over to where I was sitting, laughing at himself and his crazy antics.
"Kakeru, what must your family think?" I said with mock gravity, shaking my head sorrowfully. He laughed and threw himself into the chair next to me, reclining back and resting his feet on the table. I sat up and pushed his feet down. "You nut job!" I said laughing, "People eat from off of that. Keep your dirty feet on the ground." The other patrons of the outdoor cafe occasionally glanced at us in both amusement and disgust, but neither Kakeru nor I paid them much notice.
"Yun-Yun, do you ever stop to wonder what you will be when you grow up, what new possibilities the future might bring?" he asked, sounding somewhat serious for once. I thought about what he asked. How could I possibly begin to explain to him that until recently when Akito underwent an unexpected and sudden change of heart, I had had no future. That all my future had held was the vision of a never ending banquet where myself, my brother, and my ten cousins would be held captive audience by the cruel and megalomaniacal head of our family.
But all of that had seemed to change over night without warning. I remembered standing there in the kitchen of Shigure's house cleaning off the counter top and suddenly it was gone as though it had never been there. The blood bond of the juuneshi gone. My eyes had welled up with tears and I suddenly knew how it must feel when a caged bird is offered its freedom; I wanted to take wing and fly, but I was so afraid that someone would cruelly slam the cage door shut in my face.
But no one ever did. I still didn't know the details of why the curse broke. Haru told me that it was by Akito's choice, but I found that a little hard to swallow. I had suffered too much at Akito's hands to ever believe there was any humanity left in him…oh wait…her.
Kakeru punched me lightly in the arm, shaking me out of my reverie.
"I asked you a question Yun-Yun!" he said, the slightest bit of impatience creeping into his voice. "What are you going to be when you grow up?" I looked up at the sky as I watched some pigeons fly up to the eaves of the building across the street.
"I think I'll be a bird." I said softly. Kakeru jumped up and began running around squawking and flapping his arms like he was a chicken until I was obliged to run after him and begin beating on him which got us both kicked out of the café. We walked home with Kakeru babbling on about anything and everything that crossed his mind.
Yeah, I definitely think I'll take that chance and fly out the cage door like a bird, I thought to myself against the backdrop of Kakeru's inane chatter. The future holds too many exciting possibilities for me to stay locked up in the past.