"Songbirds"
She stared at the wall across from her with blank, lifeless eyes. It was terrible seeing such a lack of expression in such a beautiful young girl—or was she a young woman now? She wondered how old she was. She had certainly grown since she had been caught by that human. A few tiny knotches in the barren walls showed that she was nearly two feet taller. Her pale turquoise locks had lengthened, too, though only by a few inches. Tarukane had been surprisingly kind about her appearance and had sent someone to trim her hair every three weeks.
The girl sighed, her large ruby eyes dimming and focusing on the floor. Yesterday, it had been made quite obvious why her unwanted host had so diligently preserved her beauty.
She clenched her hands into tiny fists, furiously battling a sudden need to cry. She couldn't allow it. If she cried, that horrible man would know how this kind of torture affected her. Then it would happen again. The entire purpose of her captivity was to collect her tears, the precious teargems which could only be created when she showed emotion.
Emotionless. She had to be emotionless. Oh, but she couldn't!
A lone tear rolled down her cheek and landed in her lap. It sparkled in the weak sunlight filtering through the window, tinted pale blue just like the cloth on which it had settled.
She had long since grown out of her old clothing, the short white kimono she'd been wearing a few years ago, so Tarukane had offered her this yukata to replace it. It was a simple, floor-length garment of a solid pale blue, some cheap thing the human had bought because he didn't want to waste too much money on quality clothing. It was degrading, but she had little choice about accepting the gift. She would either wear the clothes her enemy gave her or she would wear nothing at all.
The girl shuddered at the thought, slender fingers closing around the teargem. No glass had been installed between the wooden latticework of the window—she had no sense of temperature, so there was little point in keeping the cold air out. She stood, moved toward the window, and glanced down. There were a good seventeen meters to the ground. Holding her breath and carefully avoiding the talismans pasted to the wood, she flung the stone. It caught in the sunlight, glittering prettily before landing in the hedge below.
She smiled faintly, noting the place where the teargem had fallen. Tarukane loved to surround himself with beautiful things from the makai, so he had had several bushes of flowering blue roses planted beneath her window. But demonic plants were rarely defenseless, and makai roses were no exception. If he wanted her tears, he could climb through those thorny, poisonous hedges to get to them.
A soft noise distracted her from her vindictive thoughts. She glanced up with a hint of curiosity, watching as two creatures—judging by their size and color, she'd say they were songbirds—soared through the air. How beautiful...
The girl imitated their little chirruping sounds hopefully. Abruptly, the songbirds changed direction and arrowed toward her window. They fluttered in the air for a moment, watching her with two pairs of large brown eyes. She chirped again. The two birds landed, perching on her sill and the back of her chair, hopping around excitedly.
Surprise and confusion widened the girl's red eyes, returning some of their former innocence. These kind of birds didn't exist in the ningenkai. Surely these were the precious species kept in the menageries of the reikai...
"Hello," she murmured uncertainly. One of the birds fluttered over and hopped onto her shoulder, and her face broke into a small, confused smile. She brushed a finger along its diminutive head, ruffling the soft brown feathers. "What are you doing so far from home, little one? Are you lost?"
The bird warbled in response, and she sighed, eyes taking on an almost maternal gentleness.
"Of course you aren't lost. You are lucky, little one. You've never been lost, have you?" the girl asked.
The bird cocked its head at her, letting out a little chirp. The girl let out a quiet giggle, fancying that the creature understood her.
"You needn't worry about me," she murmured, nuzzling the songbird's tiny body against her cheek. "Just... Please, don't leave me? This cage of mine is so lonely..."
© 2005 by Little Sadako. This story is not authorized, prepared, approved, licensed, or endorsed by Yoshihiro Togashi, Jump Comics, Shueisha, or any other individual or entity associated with the YU YU HAKUSHO series.