The Slow Trickle of Sand
Haruka was always overly conscious of her name, as a child she had been told off by irked teachers only for them to sigh that it was in her nature to be far off, distant and daydream away. She was teased mercilessly until the start of high school when a boy with terribly dyed blonde hair angrily stormed over and demanded that she be left alone. For weeks after, Haruka could only blush when anyone mentioned Kanzaki Akio.
It took two years before he asked her out and even then, she didn't really think it would work out, especially as her parents wouldn't be happy with her dating a half Japanese boy. Still, she did like his green eyes. And his hair was impossibly smooth to run her fingers through.
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Four years after that disastrous first date and she was carried across a threshold to a small company flat on the outskirts of Kyoto but she was Mrs. Kanzaki Haruka, she wanted her husband's name, screw Yui and Naomi at work who tutted at her anti-feminist ways. She was married and in love and no longer had to sneak her fiancé through her bedroom window. Her husband's grin as he tugged gently at the elaborate obi knot, she knew, would be engrained in her mind for life.
The appealing thought slipped as she screamed for a butcher knife to castrate the bastard was hushed by the midwife who muttered to the terrified intern that they'd never had an expectant mother who knew so many vivid swearwords or was so focused on removing her husband's genitalia. Akio wisely remained silent and kindly let his wife break his wrist. With one last strangled cry and a push that she thought would dislocate her hips, two things happened.
The first was that the sharp pain searing her lower half eased as the loud wail of her newborn baby followed her own cry. The second was the pale looking intern gasping as the baby was safely delivered, only to hit the floor in a dead faint. Haruka and Akio were far too fascinated by the tiny baby making whimpering noises, placed in her mother's arms a few gut-wrenching seconds later. Even though she wondered how she was still awake, the new mother was far more in awe of her baby daughter, blinking limpidly at her with her father's terrifically green eyes.
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Two years later Haruka found herself falling in love with her husband for the second time as he declared to their daughter running gleefully into his arms that she was going to have a garden to run around in. Hitomi's squeal lost Haruka for a moment before her husband shyly slipped his free arm round her waist and placing a nervous kiss to her cheek. She smiled ruefully at her husband thinking she'd be angry for getting them out of the cramped company housing apartment.
Nine days later she realized just why her husband was nervous when she recognized, with a shock, the house next door. Hitomi, only two years old had already undone her seatbelt and clambered out of the car, running up to the grinning, kimono clad woman, with the same piercing shriek, "Baa-chaaaan!" Haruka stared at her husband who seemed to be staring avidly at their new house. After a deep breath and a glance at her daughter leading her mother into the house next door, she decided maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have a babysitter next door.
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Another three and a half years after that, Haruka bit her lip as she hazedly recalled that her daughter was sitting outside with Akio's brother. There was no time for a wistful smile at the fact that Hitomi was no doubt driving her uncle Shinichi to distraction with all her questions, her little brother was seemingly desperate to join the party. Even without the screeching threats, she was happy that her husband had the courtesy to look sheepish. Two children were enough thank you very much.
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Tsukino Yuri died peacefully in her sleep years after that semi-blissful moment and Haruka was slightly disconcerted that Hitomi seemed to feel the loss more than she did. Maybe Hitomi was still shocked by it, making Haruka feel guiltier for keeping her mother's illness a secret from her children. Her eldest child had taken to wearing a pendant that Haruka had seen her mother wear every day of her life. Fretting over the melancholy her first born seemed to be mired in she decided to ring Yukari's mother.
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At fourteen Hitomi started high school and this time it was Akio who fretted over their daughter, telling her to keep away from strange boys, even the ones in her class that she knew as they would try to corrupt her. Haruka rolled her eyes as Hitomi asked what they would do to corrupt her and Mamoru piped up indignantly that he was a boy and he was perfectly well behaved. When Hitomi informed them that she had joined the track team and was one of three girls and thirteen boys, Haruka knew that her mother was still watching over them.
After six months of high school and two competitions where they had watched Hitomi come fifth and joint second respectively, Haruka was hardly surprised to hear their eldest child mutter the name of the track captain in her sleep. Her furious husband dementedly growled that this boy would be strung up by his pretty boy hair if he so much as touched their daughter. She coughed and muttered that her father had said the exact same thing about him.
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It's a humid April evening and Haruka patiently sits with her son, trying to explain why he really should learn the kanji set for next week's test. She wanders up to Hitomi's room to get the book of poetry that belonged to her mother and Hitomi's grandmother in order to prove her point. Turning to leave the room she shivers and realizes that the window's not open and her daughter's taken Yuri's tarot cards to school with her again.
Hitomi is quiet three days later when she appears at the front door, her gym bag looking slightly worse for wear. Akio strides to his daughter and pulls her tightly into his arms, as if he can protect her from whatever had just happened, not saying a word. Mamoru stands by Haruka's side, clutching his mother's hand tightly and whispers that his big sister looks sad, before asking why she's so quiet. It is only when father and son go to the local yakitori stand and then for takoyaki that Hitomi rests her head on her mother's lap—something that hasn't occurred in years, all Tsukino women are fiercely independent—and cries.
On a breezy July afternoon, Mamoru is in the garden practicing his tae kwon do skills and Haruka smiles as she rolls the sushi rice into onigiri. With a smile she inhales to gently remind her daughter not to let the front door slam but Hitomi runs into the kitchen and throws herself into her mother's embrace, whispering that she saw him again. As a mother and hopeful confidant she dutifully asks the right questions and smiles encouragingly as Hitomi smiles brighter than she has since she joined the track team.
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On the evening of Mamoru's fourteenth birthday, Akio asks quietly when Hitomi will start packing for college. Mamoru pretends to play with his video game, still full of energy after his six boisterous friends have left and Haruka walks into the kitchen. She doesn't cry because she knows she should be happy, Hitomi is happy, she will be happy, but another planet is a great deal further than Busan University in Korea.
If the young man deserves any compliment, Haruka allows the acknowledgement that he is considerate, appearing a week after Mamoru's birthday and not tearing their family apart any sooner. Akio remains furious the whole time Hitomi carefully pleads and Van tells them they will be honoured guests in his home. Mamoru seems to be the only one impressed that his big sister will be marrying a King. The look on her husband's face is as clear cut as slate but she doesn't say anything, she can only see the love on the boy's face and recall the sound of her daughter joyfully calling out his name when he appeared.
Begrudgingly Akio agrees to come along to the wedding, she and Mamoru share a quick smirk, knowing the head of the Kanzaki family wouldn't dream of missing his little girl's special day. All three jaws drop in tandem as they wonder whether they've stepped into a fairytale. Haruka however is further stunned when Hitomi quietly tells her that it's been seven months on Gaea since they last met in comparison to the five weeks on Earth. For the first time in her life, she wonders whether she'll outlive her eldest child and it sickens her.
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Despite the awe and number of arguments that break out between members of the two planets, Yukari staunchly agreeing that Akio should walk his daughter down the aisle and whether Van is King or not he should respect his future wife's traditions, there is little animosity and the young King is begrudgingly faultless. Haruka hears the words of her mother as she sees her daughter looking like a goddess as she walks towards her future husband and can't help the tear that falls, gripping her son's hand with an unconsciously painful grip. Both she and Akio beam as their eldest child is bestowed with a tiara, reminiscing at the fact the new Queen of Fanelia never had any interest in plastic crowns when younger. Haruka has to bite her cheek to stop from laughing as she recalls that Hitomi had, however, several pairs of fairy wings.
Returning to Earth or the Mystic Moon as it was called by the overly courteous peoples of another world, the house feels glaringly quieter and even Mamoru's band mates practicing in the loft do little to soothe the gaping loss of one child. Even Akio seems to spend longer sitting in front of the TV and he is silent at night when she slips into bed beside him. Hearing her husband cry for the first time since Hitomi first disappeared three years beforehand, Haruka can only pull him into her arms and let him cry freely.
Slowly but shakily, the Kanzaki family get back to their daily lives. Haruka and Akio send Mamoru off to high school with a warning to behave and not pull a prank on his first day at least to which he cheekily asks whether he should stay away from girls trying to corrupt him. It's another first as all three laugh at the nuance towards Hitomi's first day of High School without any festering sadness or hastily wiped tears.
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Two years later and Yukari and Amano get married. They are invited and Haruka is stunned when Yukari says she wants her as head bridesmaid. After many gentle refusals and whining pleas over the phone, Yukari states categorically that she doesn't have to walk down the aisle with a man twenty years younger and she can wear a different style dress, but it must be the same shade and she'll have to read a prayer. Haruka accepts and cries once more, this time because her daughter has missed her best friend's wedding.
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Three years pass by and Mamoru returns from Toudai for Golden week with a moustache. He shaves it off a day later after persistent teasing and a visit from a heavily pregnant Yukari who steps into the kitchen and falls into a chair with a fit of giggles that lasts a good while. Returning to the kitchen clean shaven and with a pink tinge to his cheeks, Haruka sighs at the realization her son has a crush on a married woman. She and Akio had never encouraged their children to fall for unreachable people.
Amano and Yukari return for Sunday lunch, questions are asked about the pregnancy, Mamoru at college and the English evening course Haruka is taking. The pristine tablecloth is spoiled in a second as a pillar of light appears in the garden and two extremely memorable figures with identical sheepish smiles step into the house. Silence reigns as Haruka shoots up to embrace her daughter and pulls back a second later, gasping at the slightly rounded stomach of her daughter. Only when Yukari squeals and stands up with her husband's help does noise burst into the room.
Mamoru goes to bed earlier than he has in years with a grin, bounding up the stairs at the fact he's going to be an uncle. Akio hums as he brushes his teeth and is rather amorous when she joins him in bed. She allows herself to sigh and let one measly tear slip as she remembers the whispered question to her daughter as to how much time had passed. She falls asleep with the sadness on her daughter's face and shame—it damn well should be—on her husband's.
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Ten months follow surprisingly quickly, too quickly for Haruka's liking as Akio and Mamoru, with his new girlfriend both discuss when Hitomi will be able to come and visit. Yukari arrives with her wriggling mass of a delightful son and Haruka turns away to gather her strength before she takes baby Nico and coos at him. Akio grins as he takes the child and informs the bright eyed baby that he will have a friend from another world to play with soon and they all laugh. No one hears the hollow tone to Haruka's.
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It is Nico's second Shichi-Go-San festival and there is no longer any mention of a playmate. Yukari and Amano were kind enough to invite her quietly and out of Akio's hearing, so she tells him she's off to visit Kaoru for the afternoon. Yukari squeezes her hand and the little boy in a bright blue kimono runs to his Aunty Ruka full tilt with a broad grin. Haruka no longer feels sadness looking at the little boy as she knows the truth and is patient. Her smile broadens when her husband sheepishly turns up and presents Nico with a kite.
The two families return on Akio's insistence to their home and finds the door is opened by a teary eyed Hitomi. Yukari runs to stampede her missing-in-action best friend but is quietly chided by Mamoru that they'll wake the baby.
As Akio holds his newborn grandson for the second time, Mamoru hovering not unlike a child, staring at his sleeping nephew, it is mother and daughter who carefully explain the difference in time between Gaea and Earth. Van seems a lot more relaxed and is openly apologetic, offering the idea for them to visit once a month by their marking. Yukari, silent for a short while can only remark that she knew her best friend would never grow old gracefully. Nico falls asleep between the two best friends, seemingly fascinated that his Aunty Ruka has a daughter who is a Queen and has a baby.
The goodbyes this time are more solemn and concrete. Haruka kisses her grandson, her daughter and then the cheek of her son-in-law who looks amusingly startled before smiling at her warmly. No promises are made as they all know just how shaky their comparative future is, but it is unspoken that they will meet again.
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Haruka is eighty-nine and has discovered why her mother loved wearing yukata as she grew older. Akio is asleep in a chair whilst Japan wins the World Cup Semi-Final, she makes a note to keep him awake for the final. Mamoru is still with his girlfriend as they still refuse to get married but are happy living in Taipei for six months, then back to Nara for the summer. Their four adopted children are still a handful, with three at university and the youngest on a gap year, disguising the fact he doesn't actually want to go to university.
Sighing she walks slowly over to the garden and smiles as her youngest grandchild appears without any ethereal fan fare, dragging along a book that is probably double her body weight. She takes her grandmother's frail hand and tells her that she had found a new story book that her kaa-chan told her to bring with her. Haruka smiles and listens as Hye-Jin complains about her older siblings and in a disapproving tone informs her that Daisuke is courting the younger Asturian Princess.
Well, it's something different. Yes I like random letters as page breaks.
Worlds posted next Sunday. Promise, it's all ready and waiting. So review for a faster update ;) Of Worlds that is.
Suils