When Sayu Yagami was eight years old she realised that villains and heroes existed in real life.
The school day was over, at last! Sayu, unlike her sibling, was not a big fan of lessons and homework. And she had homework tonight, so unfair! ("You must pay more attention, Sayu!" Her teacher had nagged her today, "or you'll never surpass your brother!" Why did people always assume they competed? Sayu had stuck out her tongue as soon as the teachers back had turned.) She waved good bye to her school friends who, she walked home with, and ran up to where her house was.
And then she paused.
It was the height of spring and Japans national pride and joy, the sakura blossoms, were out in all their glory. One neighbour had such a tree hanging over his garden wall. Great garlands of bright pink and white flowers floated down to their ground, decorating the entire street. It looked like nature was celebrating.
Carefully, she walked through the water fall of petals and reached up to a low reaching branch, plucking the best and prettiest bunch of blossoms.
Mum would love these!
As she walked up to her front door, she saw Light walking with his friends in the opposite direction. Like she had been, he was surrounded by people from his school. However, whereas Sayu had been interacting and engaging with her friends, Light looked strangely separate; almost as if he was walking home alone and simply putting up with them tagging along.
But maybe it was that way Light had about him that made him so cool. He just never seemed to need anyone.
She smiled and waved at him. She genuinely was happy to see her older brother. Yet…yet part of her suddenly felt afraid and she clutched the blossoms. Without fully understanding and refusing to analyse why, she suddenly realised that she wanted, needed, to get into the house first to see her mum and show her flowers. Skipping slightly to make it seem natural, she bounded into the house before he was even half way up the road, his chattering friends slowing his progress.
Inside the cool hallway, Sayu pulled off her shoes and neatly lined them up with the rest of the families. She put on her slippers and allowed her grin to grow. There was a real sense of victory and relief. She had been first.
"Mama!" She called skipping into the kitchen.
"I'm here, and Sayu please don't yell in the house," mum's warm, honeyed tone berated softly from the kitchen. Sayu stood and watched her for a while. Mum was slightly plump (due to age and from having to children) but in a comfortable, motherly way. She stood at the kitchen sink, humming softly as she peeled carrots for their dinner. She always started their meals early and took a lot of effort in making sure the food was fresh and local. Little things like that were what Sayu appreciated in her mother.
"Mama, I have something for you."
Mum turned and saw Sayu holding the humble and beautiful plume of flowers. Her face little up. She dried her hands and walked to Sayu, lowering herself so she could look into her child's eyes. "Sayu, thank you they are beautiful!"
The mother-daughter resemblance was remarkable as they beamed at each other silmultaneously. A moment between the two held times still.
Suddenly Sayu thought she heard the front door open and close again.
Her mother had heard it also. Turning away from Sayu she called, "Light is that you?"
"Hypocrite." Sayu thought bitterly before she could even stop herself. She bit her lip as punishment.
Light swept into the kitchen, looking elegant and unaffected. Light had a grace that Sayu would never match. Even at eight years old she knew that.
Mum had suddenly become active. She practically danced over to her son. "How did you do in the test today?" She cried. She always asked the same question and the response was always the same. What was the point?
Light smiled softly, but Sayu detected the weariness of it underneath. "I did fine, here." He passed their mother his test paper, and mum, as always, squealed childishly in delight.
"I must call and tell aunty Rika!"
Light gave that same deceptive smile. He turned to go to his room, just after sparing Sayu a glance. She had not smiled at him and he did not smile at her. It had been an empty look on both sides.
"Mama," Sayu trailed after her mother, who had forgotten dinner and was trundling into the hallway to phone up aunty whoever. "Mama, I got-I got these flowers from next door and-"
"Not now Sayu." Without looking at her daughter, Sachiko waved her hand towards her in a shooing motion. She focused on finding the telephone number. On finding it she looked down briefly to see her youngest still staring up at her, muddied plants in her hand. "Sayu, go put those in the bin and wash your hands." She dialled the phone. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour." She continued absentmindedly. The phone began to ring and she smiled excitedly. "Go, go Sayu."
Sayu stormed into her room, huffing angrily. She kicked a cuddly bear on her floor, then felt instantly guilty and picked up, hugging it tightly. Stupid mama made her kick her beloved bear. Tears welled up.
"Why am I upset?" She murmured. She climbed onto her bed and looked out the window. Outside she could see the cherry blossoms. Her heart pulled and instead she focused her gaze onto her reflection; skinny body, tanned skin, dark brown eyes, dark brown hair; typical little Asian girl. Why was she so boring? Light's eyes were like honey, and his hair had actual tones of red, bronze and amber. She touched the glass, and it looked like her reflection had reached out to her.
"You're angry," it said, "because no one pays attention to you. It's always 'Light this' and 'Light that'. I hate it. It isn't fair."
It was then that Sayu decided to do what so many young children do. The ultimate act of rebellion, of striking out…
"I'll run away," she sniffed. "That'll show them!"
Dinner was a subdued affair. Mum was still high from Light test scores. Daddy was happy, but work, as usual, had him worn down and tired. He could only muster so much enthusiasm. This seemed to suit Light, who sat next to his father to watch the news after dinner. Light seldom hung around the family; he always had homework to do.
Sayu usually matched her mother's cheerfulness, and between them the pair bought the house alive. This evening however, all Sayu kept thinking of were her amazing blossoms, sitting in a lowly mug of water on her window sill. She should never have picked them. They should have been allowed to stay on the branch on of the blossom tree, proud and free, the Queens of the Blossoms. Now they were stuck in a boring old mug, looking out as all their sisters danced in the sky and lit up the neighbourhood.
She sniffed and dug at her food angrily, determined not to cry.
If anyone had noticed her sullen mood, no one asked, though Light did look at her a few times. She felt angry with him, (even though she knew it wasn't fair on him) and so avoided his gaze.
After dinner, she went immediately to her room, claiming she felt a little ill and wanted an early night. Her father and mother kissed her and she allowed herself to enjoy it. When would be the next time she would feel their fickle love? Probably never. She was planning on doing a good job of running away.
She had already got a plan. She would pack her favourite clothes, her toothbrush, flannel and favourite teddy bear (she wept for the ones she would leave behind). She would then get on a late train to her friends house, Chika, who lived on the other side of town. Chika's mum was super cool, and was always really nice whenever Sayu stayed over. She would always say that Sayu could 'stay over any time' so Sayu was certain that she would not be intruding. After hiding and storing up supplies, she would then go on to Tokyo where she would get a job and earn her way through life. Sort of like Kiki's Delivery Service. Sure, it'd be hard, but Sayu was sure she could cope.
She packed her things and waited patiently on her bed for everyone to go to bed.
Sayu woke an undetermined time later. All was dark. She wiped a line of spit away from her mouth with an 'ew'. Darn she had fallen asleep! What time was it now? The whole house was quiet so it must have been pretty late. Could she still go to Chika's? Sayu common sense began to nag at her, telling her the whole thing was dumb, that she should just go to bed and forget about her plan. Sayu frowned. No, she would do this! Running away wouldn't be another thing that Sayu could not do.
Grabbing her torch, (which she had never needed to use until now) she double checked she had all the right change. Then she slowly snuck onto the landing. Her heart beat in her throat as she passed her parents room. She could hear their soft snores. Light's room was completely silent. He didn't snore or make any noise as far as she could remember. Now that she was leaving she didn't feel angry with Light, just sad. She would come back, one day and see them all. Especially Light. But then she would be older, and wiser, and fabulous from her success, and so she would not feel the way she often felt around Light, like she was something dull and simple in comparison to him.
The hallways were always kept clear thanks to their mother's studious housework, so Sayu crept through the dark with no problems. She went down the stairs carefully, skipping lightly over the ones that creaked. Finally, she slid on her pumps and opened the front door.
The cold night air greeted her. She looked back. This was her last chance. She could turn back right now, get back into bed and never do something like this again.
Sayu stepped outside and carefully closed the door behind her.