Wish Upon a Star - Chapter 1: Unsolved Mystery.
It was a lonely day as the rain poured down in sheets upon the town a young girl named Yuki lived in. She sat at the window watching the incessant rainwater make pit-patter sounds on the hard surfaces of her home. She sighed and seemed to release her thoughts through her words. She knew no one was listening anyway, might as well.
"Today is such a boring day. I need to find something to do. I mean I doubt any of my friend will want to hang out with me today, the rain is too vigorous to do anything. And no doubt that my best friend is with her boyfriend. So much for being best friends."
Another sigh seemed to escape from her mouth as she then heard a beep echo from her computer to her ears. Oh right! She'd forgotten she'd left the computer on, maybe someone her and wanted to talk. Almost as quick as she heard the beep, she darted for the computer to check what it was. No, she was wrong, there was no I.M, it was only a stupid email. How disheartening. Might as well check it anyway, she shrugged.
As Yuki took the mouse in her hand, she clicked the button to open her email and went to view the new one that seemed to make the CPU beep in the first place. The email was from an institution nearby, weird. Curious more than anything, she read the email, it saying that there was an archeological dig experiment that the school was funding for and that they needed diggers and "historians" to inspect the grounds. Were they serious? This was awesome!
Any chance that Yuki got to go exploring and come into contact with any type of artifact or ruin, she took. She was a history geek and one that seemed to like the mystery of ancient items, she liked to solve them. In fact, in her school, she was voted 'most likely to crack the sphinx riddle.' I guess when you have a passion for something, it shows. Anyway, she wrote back immediately to the administrator that issued her the email as fast as her fingers could allow her to type. This was her reply:
Dear Chairman of Archeological Studies,
I would love to aid you in your experimental dig of the area nearby the park. It, no doubt, is bound to have some rare artifacts there, and definitely some mysteries. I appreciate the email and I will see you there, thank you very much.
Sincerely, Yuki Catarina Christopher.
Yuki, now with a smile on her face, got up from the computer and started to do a happy dance, could things get any better? Then another sound, this time it wasn't the computer. It was a grumbling sound, that which seemed to come from her stomach. She was hungry.
"Uh-oh. I guess I was so caught up in the excitement of the email I forgot that I didn't eat anything today. I should probably go get some dinner." Another sigh. "I guess, I'm going to have to bundle up for this one or I might get soaked."
With that, Yuki began to dress herself in her warmest clothes before slipping the raincoat on. She had chosen to wear a white hoodie with a hood that said 'Varsity' on the front of it, with the "y" looping the end of its tail around to form an underline under the letters of the word. After putting that on and putting up the hood upon her head, she grabbed her raincoat and put that on over it. After doing that, she slipped into her rainboots and made her way to the nearest Japanese food restaurant near to her house, a place named "Little Tokyo".
When Yuki arrived at the restaurant, she smiled, opening the door. The aromas filled the room and her nose with the sweet scent of things being cooked and grilled. Some were being put in a sweet sauce that she could smell from where she stood. It was like heaven in here to here, but she can't forget, she was here to order some food, not to sniff around. Lucky for her there was no line to wait on, yes! Food!
"Hello Yuki-chan, how may I help you today?" The workers here, even the cooks, they all knew her really well. Well, she did come here a lot, perhaps that was why. Yuki just smiled at the suffix being added to her name, she loved it. Why couldn't her American friends do that? They're so boring.
"Oh hello Aoi-san. How are you today?"
"I'm well, ariagatou. So, what will it be today, hm?"
"Oh, you can give me the usual. You know I love my sushi and rice. Oh and can you throw in some dumplings on the side? I'm kind of hungry tonight."
"Sure. It'll be ready in a minute. Are you going home or staying here?"
"I'll just go home. There's no use in staying here. I'm going to have to make my way back home in this weather some time anyway, why not do it sooner?"
As Yuki went to take a seat and wait for her food to be ready, she noticed that some people were also sitting in here; probably avoiding the weather. She just smiled at them, some noticed her and smiled back, some didn't and just continued on their meals or talking, whatever they were doing. But there was one girl that seemed to be sitting by herself. She seemed pretty tall and kind of young, maybe about 17 or so, Yuki's age. She was dressed quite nicely, as if she had come from a higher class family than most, but she did not seem to portray that characteristic, just by the way she sat there. She seemed to be thinking, but about what? It was then that Yuki began thinking to herself:
'She looks so lonely over there. All these people seem content with whom their with, friends and lovers and all. But, she's all alone. I...'
A bell reverberated its sound to her ears and her head pivoted from looking at the girl to the counter where her eyes seemed to open a little more. She was startled by the bell. But, Aoi was standing there with a smile on her face and a bag that contained Yuki's food in it. Aoi made eye contact with Yuki as the young girl got up to get her ordered food.
"Thank you very much, Aoi-san, I appreciate it."
"It is no trouble, Yuki-chan. I hope that bell didn't scare you."
"No, it didn't. Oh right, now I have to pay for... uh-oh."
"Is something wrong dear?"
"No, I just... can't find my money. Don't tell me I left it at my house. Oh boy, do I have to walk all the way back there and get it..? Ah, nevermind, you know what I'll go do that... I'll be back, Aoi-san-."
"I'll pay for it." A voice that seemed unfamiliar to Yuki's ears sounded, as the girl that she was looking at before seemed to stand up with a hand on the table. Her eyes met Yuki's straight on. They seemed to be emotionless from a distance, but full of mystery as well. She approached the counter slowly and not taking her gaze of Yuki, softly asked,
"How much?"
"Well let's see. For that, it's sushi with rice and dumplings. It's... $12.80."
"No problem, here you are." As the girl reached into her pocket and took out the money, the bill was paid; all of this while she never seemed to move her gaze from Yuki's eyes, a soft smile painted the mysterious girl's lips.
"Alright." Aoi nodded and put the money in the cash register, only then realizing that she had gone over the price, paying thirteen dollars instead of the actual price. "Um, excuse me, you.."
"Keep it." Spoke the mysterious girl once more, never leaving Yuki's eyes. This, in turn, made Yuki become slightly flushed. She was embarrassed. Soon Yuki spoke in a meek voice.
"Thank... you." The girl just gave a nod before heading out of the Japanese restaurant. (Might I add: Without a hood or boots.) Into the night she walked until her form disappeared completely from view of Yuki's green eyes. Yuki found herself in a trance, that is, until she found her name being called by Aoi.
"Yuki-chan?"
"Oh, what? Sorry, I was in a daze for a minute there."
"I was wishing you a safe trip home. Be careful in this weather."
"I will, thank you."
But all the way home, Yuki couldn't get the girl off her mind. Her mysterious aura seemed to plague her mind with wonder. Her blue eyes seemed so deep and kind and yet all the same, cold and emotionless, mysterious. The way her brown hair seemed to fall onto her jacket, it wasn't that long, made her want to know what it felt like. And her clothes, where was she from? She didn't recognize her from anywhere around this area. Oh well, she shrugged. Maybe they'd meet again.
Before long, Yuki seemed to make it home in one piece with her food. Nonetheless, she got out of her wet belongings and hung them on the rack by the door, well, everything except the boots, those she put below the hanging raincoat. She put her food on the table and got herself something to drink. Now, her meal was complete, she sat down and ate it peacefully, with a smile. Then another thought:
'Wow that was awfully kind of that stranger to do that for me, I mean, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have my dinner. Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen her around here before, she doesn't attend my school. Is she new? No, she couldn't be. This is so weird, but ... ah I have to find her. I have to see her again and thank her truly for the meal. I mean, what was wrong with me back there? '
"It was like I couldn't speak or move or anything. Like her eyes had some sort of mystical power in them to immobilize me with their stare. And I got all tongue-tied, what's that about? Real smooth Yuki! Goodness, I'm such a loser. Oh well."
After having her little spasm of thought and word, she continued to work on something that she had been working on for some time now. It seemed that there was this ancient gold artifact and to it, there was a stone that contained a riddle. She had deciphered the text into English and yet still, she couldn't seem to figure it out. Why was this stumping her so much? She should be able to crack the mystery of it no problem, why was this one any different?
"Uh, the day I crack this mystery is the day that I fall in love. I can't seem to find the answer to this riddle, nor can I ever seem to find love. Maybe it will come to me one day." She yawned. Tired.
"Well I suppose I'd better be going off to bed, I'm beat." She stretched as she stood from the chair she was sitting in, her body stiff from working so hard. Soon, she headed up to her room and changed into her pajamas, looking out to the starry sky. Another sigh. (She sighs a lot, is she perhaps depressed?) Her eyes turned from a determined gaze to an innocent and hopeful look as she found a star she was looking at twinkle.
"Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight. ... I wish... I wish to find love. If you can grant me at least that wish, I'll be forever grateful. What histories you tell stars, anyway, goodnight." With the click of her lamp light shutting off, she laid in her bed cuddling the sheets that lay atop her. Soon, she rest her head against the comfortable pillow and drifted into her dreams.