U n l u c k y
By: R e s u r r e c t
I'm having trouble uploading the second chapter to Fade, so it'll take a little long to put up. Sorry!
But anyway, I thought of this story while riding home the other day, and I thought, 'Hey, why not?'
Insert text here - Thoughts.
Chapter 1 - C h a n g e I s F o r T h e B e t t e r
Magic? Fairy tales? Happy ever after? Hah. I've never believed in anything like that. Unicorns, spirits, vampires... especially vampires. If I can see it and touch it, then it's real. Of course I think there's a God, don't get me wrong. But has there ever been proof of apparitions and things like that? If there is, I'd like to see it.
When my father died last winter, my sisters and I went from poor to penniless. My sisters, of course, were able to find work. But I, the unlucky one, was unable to find work. Why am I unlucky? My mother died while giving birth to me, so most would say I'm an evil spirit or omen. My sisters, Tsuki and Hana, would usually blame me if mice got to the food or if the plants in the garden wilted, or if one of them got ill. "Haru, what have you done this time?" They would say. Tsuki was a two years older than I, and Hana was one year older. Tsuki would start the accusations, and Hana would back her up like a good little underling. But they meant well, they were my sisters.
My father was the one who wasn't the fool. He was wise beyond his years, and kind. But he was weak since he was a baby, which was why my mother's parents didn't want him to marry Hisakata, my mother. They wanted to keep strong bloodlines, or something like that. But they ran away together, and married. Then, they began their life here, in this small town.
Tsuki said that she was young when mother when mother died, but she could still remember mother's beautiful, unscathed face. She said that mother had long hair, and had once cut it and sold it for money without telling father. She had feared that father would be angry at her, for her hair was her most wonderful feature, as Tsuki would say. Of course, father was surprised when he found she had cut her hair to buy medicine for him, but all he did was hold her and say, "My dear Hisakata, you are too beautiful inside and out, too beautiful for words to describe."
"Dispose of that demon right away! She will bring misfortune upon all of us!" the midwife ordered the hour mother died. My father refused. He told the midwife, "No, I will not dispose of the child. I see so much of my wife in her... but I am speaking this on Hisakata's behalf. It is her daughter, and I am choosing what she would decide."
My name, Haru Kusabana, means "Spring Flower." I was born on the first day of spring, so naturally, that's what my father named me.
So, after he died, I traveled to a slightly large town located near the mountains, looking for work. I looked for work for a day, not finding anything promising. I had to sleep The next day, I wandered from place to place. After a while, I gave up. I went to an inn, sitting down at one of the oak tables. No food, no money... as most would say... I was a goner.
"What am I going to do?" I whispered. I felt so helpless. "Hey, lady?" said a voice over my shoulder. I turned my head to look at the one who spoke. There stood a man, he was slightly pudgy. His chubby cheeks were pink He reminded me of Santa Claus, except without the beard.
But right about then, I got really lucky.
"Are you going to buy something, or what?"
I shook my head. "I can't. I have no money. But, if I could please just stay here one night... I'll repay you, I promise."
"How old are ya, miss?"
"Nineteen."
He was silent. He studied me, rubbing his chin. He spoke up again, "I s'pose you can have somethin' ta eat... I don't 'spect nothin' from ya."
"Wait- you don't have to-" He cut me off. "Yer a nice gal. I can see that. Ya at least deserve somethin' ta eat, I don't mind givin ya tha food."
He then walked away, disappearing into the back room. "A gal like yerself shouldn't be wanderin' the streets, these days..." he said to himself as he went to the back room.
"Huh?" I uttered confusedly. What did he mean, 'A gal like yourself shouldn't be wandering the streets these days'?
He came back, holding a plate. On the plate was a hard-boiled egg, bread, and a hunk of cheese. Setting the plate down on the table, he sat down across from her. "Eat," he ordered.
He watched her as she ate hungrily. When she finished, he said, "You'll start tomorrow. Just 'cause yer a gal, doesn't mean I don't 'spect ya ta clean tha dirty places, s'well."
I cocked my head to one side. "Huh?"
He sighed. "Are ya deaf? I know ya don't have a place ta stay. 'Sides, we need someone to help out here."
"..What?"
"Are ya a parrot? Guess so. Anyways..." he scratched the top of his balding head. "Ya can work here, if you want. I'll pay ya, food and a room s'well. Call me Gurei."
I jumped up from the chair, practically knocking it down. "ARE YOU SERIOUS! I CAN WORK HERE!" I screeched.
He recoiled back slightly, shocked by the sudden outburst. "Er, yeah. Ya can help the others. Just take the customers their orders, and help clean the place up."
I jumped with joy. "Hooray!" I smiled for the first time in what seemed like days. "I'll work really hard, I promise!"
That's how I started working here, at the Silver Pony Inn.
Morning sunlight illuminated the room, waking Haru from her slumber. She hadn't slept this well since she didn't know when. She sat up, stretching her arms and yawning. She smiled as she looked out the window at the rising sun. She slipped out of bed, walking over to the dresser in the corner of the room. She frowned at she looked at her reflection. Long, light pink hair that went to her waist, and blue eyes.
She never knew what to do with her hair. She picked up a brush from the dresser and ran it through her tangled hair, wincing at the brush yanked and pulled out the strands hair. Someone grabbed her wrist, and gently took the brush.
"That's not how you do it. You're going to go bald. Here, let me."
Fuyu jumped, and whipped around. A girl was standing there, right behind her, with a frown on her face as she held the brush. She looked about the same age as Haru, if not younger. Her curly brown hair stopped at her shoulders, and her curls perfectly framed her pale face.
"I can't brush your hair when you're looking straight at me. You're weird," she said calmly.
Haru was silent for a moment, her jaw dropping. "ME weird? How the HELL did you get in here!"
The girl rested a hand on her hip, tapping her foot impatiently. "I work here. And I just came in. You must be as stupid as a jack ass not to notice me."
A jack ass? A jack ass? Sure, Haru was not much of a morning person, but how could this... this girl compare her to a donkey! How could she be so blunt! The girl sighed, sounding annoyed. She walked around Haru, stepping behind her and beginning to brush her hair.
"You've got so many tangles. It's like a rat's nest. But I can get them out. By the way, my name's Rikka."
Haru stayed silent while Rikka brushed her hair. "Wait, you work here?"
"I already said that once. You're stupider than I thought."
She whipped around to face Rikka. "Really! We work together!"
Rikka frowned. "I wasn't done brushing."
"Oh... sorry." she turned back around and Rikka began to brush her hair again. After a while, she said, "Alright, I'm done. Take a look."
She looked in the mirror, and gasped at her reflection. Rikka had brushed her hair thoroughly (from what she could see) and put it in a neat bun. Locks of hair that refused to be tamed framed her face.
"Thank you so much Rikka! My hair has never looked this nice," she said, turning to face her.
Rikka was silent. She was smiling deviously, as if keeping a secret. "You're late to work, you know." Haru's jaw dropped. "WHAT! But I was up when the sun was rising!" she argued.
"Well, you have to get up at five. Every day, except Sunday. Gurei asked me to come get you, he thought you were dead."
Haru hadn't noticed that Rikka had, all this time, been wearing a uniform. It looked like a maid's. "M-My uniform! Where is it!" she cried hysterically, searching through drawers, in the closet, and even under her bed.
"You mean this? Gurei didn't give it to you yesterday. He asked me to give it to you." Rikka was holding a uniform identical to hers. It included little black shoes, which looked uncomfortable. Haru ceased her frantic searching. "Oh."
Rikka held the uniform out to her. "Here. Take it. After you put it on, get downstairs immediately. I have to get back to work."
With that, she walked out, shutting the door behind her. Haru looked at the uniform. It looked fit for a maid. She slipped out of her nightgown, and slipped on the uniform and the shoes. Surprisingly, the shoes were actually quite comfortable. She looked at herself in the mirror. The uniform was a perfect fit. "Here I go."
She slowly peeked her head around the door, looking slightly embarrassed, and quietly walked down the stairs. Rikka was cleaning a table, she didn't notice Haru walk into the room. She was totally transfixed on cleaning the tables.
"Well, good mornin'!" said Gurei, who was behind the bar, cleaning cups. Haru smiled. "Good morning."
"I hope the uniform fits well?"
"It fits fine, thanks."
"Right then. You'd best start cleanin' the tables now. Myou'll handle the dishes," he said, picking up another cup to clean.
"Myou?" she echoed.
"Myou, reporting for duty! Myou's heeeeeere!"
In the blink of an eye, something fell on top of her, knocking her down. "Oof!"
The something was a girl who looked to be about eleven, maybe ten. Her hair was tied in two pig tails. There were soap suds all over her arms and hands. "Wow! Myou's fall was stopped by a squishy-ishy thing!" She looked down at Haru. "Hello Squishy-Ishy Thing!"
"Would you mind... getting off me...now..."
"Oh! Myou is very sorry!" she jumped up onto her feet. "You saved Myou's life, Squishy-Ishy!"
Haru stood, brushing herself off. "Um, I have a name, too." Myou giggled. "Then you should have told Myou your name, silly Squishy!"
"Er... it's Haru..." she replied. "Oh! Okies, Miss Haru! I'm Myou!" she said happily. "So I've heard."
Myou giggled, "Myou has to get back to washing dishes now!" she went to the backroom.
For the rest of the of the day, Haru helped clean tables and wash the floors. She was a little slow, which Rikka criticized. She attempted washing dishes, but dropped a few. That's when she decided that she should avoid washing dishes for a while.
But after the day was done, she was really tuckered out. She was heading upstairs, thrilled by the idea of the warm, comfortable bed awaiting her in her room.
"Haru, can ya do me a favor?" said Gurei from downstairs. She sighed. I'm just too nice. Ok, polite... be polite... keep your job...
She walked downstairs again, dragging tired feet behind her. "Yes Gurei..." she said, letting out a yawn.
He was putting away cups for the night, and cleaning the counter. "I'm a little bit tied up at the moment, so can ya go buy these things from Lettie's Market? It's not too far from here, ya can't miss it. I'm sure they're still open," he handed her a list of items and a handful of coins. After looking over the list and putting it in her pocket along with the money, she nodded to him. "All right. I'll be right back."
After grabbing a scarf, she headed out the door. The cold night air felt refreshing, but only slightly. The sooner she got this done, the better. But, since it was her first job that Gurei had assigned her, she figured it'd be better not to mess up. She retrieved the piece of paper from her pocket, and looked it over once more.
Eggs
Milk
Cheese
Apples
Cigars
She smacked her forehead after she read the last one. Well, I'll just leave that out of the list. He shouldn't be wasting money on those kinds of things anyway, thank you very much.
She stopped walking when she got to the town square. "Now, where...?" She looked around for "Lettie's Market" as Gurei had mentioned. She spotted a wagon, with a sign adorning it, labeled in fading letters, "Lettie's Market."
"There it is," she said, heading toward it. In back of the wagon there were crates of various sizes, filled with produce and plump vegetables.
An old woman was retrieving people's orders from the wagon, hurrying about in such a manner that most old woman wouldn't dare try.
"Thank you, come again. Ah, what can I do for ya, dear child?"said the old woman as Haru went up to the wagon. "Er.. Are you Lettie?" Haru asked.
"Well, there ain't no other Lettie's around here, so I guess I am," said Lettie, laughing slightly. "What can I do for ya?"
"Hold on," said Haru, searching her pocket for the list. "Here it is." She retrieved it from her pocket, and handed it to the old woman. Lettie looked over the list for a minute, the said, "All right. Just a minute."
She hurried about in that same manner, retrieving everything Haru needed. As she was putting the packet of cigars in the bag, Haru stopped her, saying, "Wait, leave those out. Gurei really doesn't need those."
Lettie smiled, nodding in understanding. She handed the bag to Haru. "Here's everything ya need, child. That'll be fifteen pancs."
She handed Lettie the amount needed, and took the bag. She bid goodbye to the old woman, she started to make her way home. The streets had gotten darker since she had left the Inn, and without the dim light of the street lamps, she probably wouldn't be able to see at all.
As she walked down the quiet streets, surroundings began to become more unfamiliar to her. She hadn't remembered going past that Flower Shop... questions began to fill her mind, but the most frequent question that popped in and out of her mind as she tried to find the way back was: Where was she?
She had been walking for a while, and her feet her beginning to grow tired, and she was afraid that the food might spoil. She spotted a bench that was placed under a streetlight. "There.. I'll rest over there."
She hurried over to the bench on tired feet, and sat down. She sighed. It felt good to sit down. As she relaxed a little, she began to become more aware of her surroundings. Crickets were busying in song, and the moon shined a dim light above her. But despite the peaceful atmosphere, she was beginning to grow scared. How would she find her way home?
That's the first chapter! And a cliffhanger, too! Muahahaha! Please, leave reviews! Still wondering how this links to DN Angel? Find out in the next chapter of Unlucky!