Tic Toc...
The clock in the dinning room always made that sound. He was so used to it. It was loud and always there. He got used to it. But now he found that sound terribly annoying.
The little six year old boy gave the clock another look. The small needle thingy was pointing somewhere between the numbers 2 and 3. The big one was between the 6 and 7. And the red one moved so fast and so slow at the same time he couldn't tell where it was pointing at. He assumed that it was that one making that annoying sound.
A long sighed. The little blonde boy was resting his elbows at the table, and his head in his hands. His feet were moving back and forth. Back and forth. His big black eyes were looking everywhere, searching something interesting to stare at.
At first he didn't think 5 hours would take that long. But now he could see he was wrong.
Tic Toc…
It was Friday afternoon and he had just arrived home from school. Like always Ryu came to pick him up in that truck. They arrived home at 2:07 PM, like always. It would seem like a normal Friday afternoon, but he was wrong; for the second time that day.
Tamao was the woman who took care of him. His parents left when he was just a few months old. Tamao became his guardian and Ryu helped the pink haired girl taking care of the child. During the next six years he thought Tamao was his mommy. It wasn't his fault. That was what they had told him. He could never guess that his mommy wasn't his real mommy. They told him the truth 3 months ago. It took Hana 2 weeks to get use to it, and another 3 weeks to forgive everyone. Now they were living as if nothing had happened.
"Tamao-neechan" he called. Before he would call her kaa-chan, but now he called he nee-chan. She was like his older sister after all "What are you doing Tamao-neechan?"
She didn't answer. Tamao was kneeling on the floor, both of her eyes closed and her right hand was touching a paper that was right in front of her. The front door opened to a hall, and that was where she was. Right in the middle of the hall, blocking the way to the other rooms and the stairs. Ponchi and Konchi didn't seem to be around her, like usual.
"She is making a reading, Hana-dono." Matamune, Hana's guardian spirit and best friend told him "She wants to know when your parents are coming back."
If you saw his face at that moment you would definitely he was surprise. Sure, Hana knew his parents would be coming back soon, everyone was talking about that. But it never seemed real. It was like a story to him. Just like when your teacher tells you that you soon would be a grown up and do whatever you want. Or when they tell you that soon you won't have to get shots anymore but a few months later there you are again. Something that was very far in the future.
"Yesterday, after you went to bed, Tamao made a reading." It was Ryus turn to say something "When she finished, we found out that Yoh-sama and Anna-sama were coming back today."
"Today?" the boy asked, still not being able to believe the news.
"Yes." Came the female voice of Tamao. She stood up and turn around to face them. She had grown into a beautiful woman. Her hair pink hair was longer and her figure was no longer of a 13 year old child, but of a 19 year old woman. Her face was now full of confidence, and recently she had assumed her old personality, which made her face very gentle and kind.
Very different from the woman she used to be, Hana noticed.
"They should be here in about six hours." She said, smiling.
"I can't believe Yoh-sama is finally coming back!" Ryu looked very happy at that moment "And Anna-sama… Oh man, I should start cleaning their rooms or else she will kill me!" and with that he left.
"Yoh-sama…" Tamao was with both her hands covering her smile, and tears of joy were coming out of her eyes "I will prepare a special dinner for him… I'll make all his favorite foods! And Anna-sama'ss as well! I… I have to make sure that everything is perfect for tonight… I have to do the dishes, I have to remember all those recepies and…" she kept talking to her self while she walked to the kitchen.
Hana just stayed there. So they were coming back. His mommy and his daddy were finally coming home. He would finally meet them and he would finally have a normal family. The parents he only knew in bed time stories and pictures were now coming back. Coming back to be with him. Coming back for him.
And that was happening today. In six hours. Hana smiled and ran to the dining room, where he would wait for them.
Tic Toc
Now his head was resting at the table, facing the clock. The stupid sound was still there. Now Hana was sure that it was the red needle thingy making that sound.
Time was so slow. Those moments he had spent looking at the clock seemed longer than his entire life. Matamune had once said that to those who are waiting, time will move slowly, but to those who are having fun or distracting themselves, time will move faster. That didn't make any sense. Hana thought time moved the same no matter what. Well, how would it be otherwise? The person having fun would be in the future and the one waiting would in the past? Then when the person waiting starts having fun he would catch up to the one who was having fun before and now is waiting?
"That makes no sense…" Hana said to himself. Why was he even thinking about that anyway? He dosen't like to think that hard. He is the best student in his class, but that didn't mean he enjoyed doing math or thinking about stuff like Matamune. Maybe he was bored. No, correction, he was bored. Not maybe, he was bored. That's why he was thinking so much. He was trying to find something to do.
Ryu was cleaning the house and Tamao was studing some old recipes. Were they having fun? They liked doing those stuff. So yeah… They are having fun. Or at least distracting themselves.
But if they are distracting themselves, then time must be going faster to them… Right? That was Matamune said. And Matamune is always right. So if time is going faster to them than it is to Hana… They must be in the future… So maybe Hana's mommy and daddy were back already to them?
"It dosen't hurt to check…" with that the boy went upstairs. The floor was shining. He could see his own face reflected in it. After making some faces he started to look for Ryu. The second floor only had one bathroom and three rooms. One was Hana's, the other one was Tamao's and the third one was from Hana's parents.
The first room you would see was Tamao's. Hana opened the door and saw nothing but his face on the shining floor. Then it came his parent's room. Hana never once went inside it. He was afraid for going in. Slowly he opened the door and looked inside it.
The room was empty. Nothing. Just the floor and a futon in the middle of the room. He closed the door and went to see his own room. Ryu was there cleaning everything.
Hana looked surprised at first. Ryu was cleaning everything up. The drawings Hana had left on the floor, his school stuff and his parents' stuff that Hana wanted to keep.
"Little boss, why didn't you clean up the room when Tamao told you? Your room was a mess!" Ryu said. Hana didn't even answer. He knew Ryu didn't want him to answer. He was just talking while cleaning. But his parents haven't arrived to Ryu yet. Well, cleaning up is not that fun so…
"Maybe cooking is fun…" Hana said to himself as he closed the door. He was six years old and he has no idea how to cook. Sure, Tamao was starting to teach him, but he still had no idea how to do anything but a sandwich. Maybe it was fun. And if it was fun then his parents arrived to Tamao, who was in the future!
With that in thought he ran downstairs and went to the kitchen. Tamao was sitting and looking at some books. She was too distracted to notice the six year old arriving.
"hum… Tamao-neechan…?" Hana called.
"Yes, little Hana?" she looked up with a smile.
"Is… Is cooking fun?" he asked.
"Yes. I have lots of fun when I'm cooking. And I have even more fun when I'm cooking to the ones I love."
"I see…" he started to look around "Are mommy and daddy back yet?"
"No Hana. " Tamao said, looking at the boy with a confused expression " I told you, they will arrive in about six hours." She then looked at the clock that had the big needle pointing between 8 and 9 and the small one was almost touching 3" About four hours and fifteen minutes."
"Oh…" he then went back to the dinning room. He knew that that didn't make any sense. Matamune was crazy for saying something so weird.
Hana sited down again and heard the annoying sound again. Tic toc, tic toc, tic toc… Will it ever stop?! When did time became so noisy and annoying? Hana couldn't figure it out. Maybe it always was, but he only noticed now.
A deep sighed. He was bored again. Another look at the clock. Nothing had moved. Maybe it was broken? No, he could see the red needle thingy moving and he could hear the sound of that the clock made.
Why was he even looking at the clock? He can't tell time! Sure, thy were teaching at school, but Hana still didn't learn it.
Tic Toc…
It was annoying. That sound was annoying. It gave Hana hope that the time was moving faster but then when Hana would look at it nothing had changed. And it was so loud! Did it need to be ticking? Couldn't they make a needle thingy that could keep it's mouth shut?!
Needle thingy… That's what Hanna called those things that pointed at the clock. He knew they had names, but… Hana still didn't know what they were called. He knew that the teacher talked about it at class, but Hana still couldn't remember the name.
Not that he was stupid. No. Hana was the most intelligent student in his grade. He was the first one to learn how to write his name and the two alphabets. He could even write his name, Asakura Hana, in kanji and then write in hiragana! He had to help students with some class work. Hana only had a problem with telling time.
That actually worried Tamao and Ryu. The teacher had tried to teach Hana during recess many times, but Hana still didn't know how to tell time. Tamao and Ryu had also tried at home to teach him in various ways, and even Matamune tried. That's when Matamune said those things about time going slow to some people and fast to others. Hana was starting to think that Matamune knew less about time than Hana did.
Either way, no one could teach Hana how to tell time. All the other students were learning and getting the questions about time right. Today during class the teacher asked Hana what time it was and pointed to a paper clock. The big needle thingy was at 6 and the small one was at 9.
Hana kept looking at the clock. He counted the needles. Ichi… ni… Just two. Weren't three needle thingies? He knew at least that much. A small one, a big one and a red one that moved faster. How could the teacher want Hana to know what time it was if there were only 2 needles?
"I can't answer that. You only have two needle things." Hana said, and the entire class laughed.
"Hana, those are not called the 'needle things'. They are called…"
Hana didn't payed any attention to what she said after that. That was a bird at the window and Hana thought it was so pretty that he kept staring at it until the teacher was finished.
Tic Toc
So if you think time goes slow to those who wait, imagine how it is to those who wait and can't tell time? It's like hell.
Hana kept thinking about that afternoon. The teacher asked again and Hana answered 5:50. The class laughed again. But that didn't bother Hana. It's not like he was stupid or anything, he just couldn't tell time.
"I know she said those were called something to do with a body…" Hana said to him self "Needle ears? Eyes? Feet? Hum… Hands?" Yeah… That made sense. That's why at class the teacher claped her hands and then moved them. Hana just thought she was crazy, but maybe she was making the needle thingies. "So… Needle hands? But that doesn't look like a hand, why would they call it that? Grown ups make every thing more complicated… It looks like a needle, then why don't they just called it needle instead of needle hands?"
He looked again at the clock. The big needle hand was pointing to 3 now and the other was pointing somewhere between 11 and 12.
"HANA! IS TIME FOR YOU TO START TRAINING!!" yelled Tamao from the kitchen. Sure, she was nicer, but she still yelled a lot when it came to training.
Tic toc…
Hana hated that. Why did he have to spend so much time training? Sure, he was a shaman, but still… And today! Today his parents were coming home! Couldn't Tamao-neechan give him a break just today? He didn't want his parents to come home and see him right after training, when he is tired and breathing hard. And what if they came back while Hana was taking his bath? That wouldn't be fair! Everyone seeing them before he did! He wanted to be the first one to see them, that's why he was waiting at the dining room. That was the first room everyone would go in after the hall.
"Not fair…" he said to himself, as he continued his training.
From the window he could see everything happening inside the house. He saw Ryu coming down from the second floor and picking Hana's backpack. Usually Hana would be the one who would bring his backpack to his room, but today was a special case. As soon as Hana heard about his parents, he didn't even bother to go upstairs to leave his backpack with his other school materials.
"Ah… Little boss, you finally found it!" said Ryu, showing a drawing Hana made. Hana just smiled and nodded.
Tic toc…
That drawing Hana made 3 weeks ago. He was doing before class. Normally the parents would leave their kids in the classroom, and the kids would wait there inside until the teacher came in. Tamao and Ryu had left some time ago, leaving Hana alone with the other children.
Hana sited alone at one table, while the other children played together. Hana didn't really have any friends. From the first day of school he was considered weird. Hana is shaman. So when the teacher asked Hana to introduce himself, Hana told the students about his powers and about ghosts. It was normal to him, so he didn't think it was suck a big deal. But the children got scared, and soon the parents found out about Hana being from the infamous Asakura family. They didn't want their kids playing with a freak like Hana. There was even a petition asking for Hana to leave the school, but Tamao refused.
And when they found out about Hana's parents things became worst for the poor little blonde kid. The children already talked about hana being an orphan, and when they found out that Hana's parents were really away they started making fun of him. They needed to know. The school needed to know. If someday in a parent teachers conference came two people that the teachers had never seen before and they introduced themselves as Hana's parents, after a pink haired lady had already told them that she was Hana's mommy… Well, it wouldn't end up well.
So now Hana was making a drawing. It was him holding his parents hands. He was in the middle, his mommy was at his right and his daddy was at his left. They were all holding hands and smiling. Sure, his parents actually looked like kids. The only pictures Hana had seen of them was from when they were 16 or younger.
"Bye bye mom!" yelled a boy. He then came running to the group of kids who were siting at the floor playing together "Look" Look!" he yelled showing his new spider-man watch "My mom bought for me!"
"Sugoi Ken-kun..." said a little girl. Hana turned to see. Yuzu was the one who said that. Why did she told him it was amazing? It was just a blue and red and had the spider-man in the middle with his hands pointing to the numbers. So what? A man who acted like a spider and wore such a stupid costume was now a watch? A real hero didn't need to be famous or to become a watch… Even more a stupid costume. Spider-man was a pretend hero… His daddy and his mommy were the real heroes! They were still fighting to save the world, and not for the fame. Hana hated pretend heroes. He had to stop himself from saying such a thing.
"Why did she bought you that watch?" asked a boy. Hana knew that voice was from Codan.
"On Friday I told dad that we were going to learn how to tell time. And he thought me! I already know how to tell time!" said Ken proudly" When I told the time to mom she was so proud of me that she bought me the watch!"
"Yeah… My mom was the one who taught me the alphabet!" Yuzu said smiling "She told me the story of the fairy Yuzu, and then I learned!"
"My Dad taught me how to count… ichi… ni… san… shi… go…"
Then the teacher came in. She called everyone to sit on the floor and form a circle that she would start to teach them how to tell time. Hana forgot the drawing on the table, and when at the end of the day he went to the table to get it, it wasn't there. He told the teacher and the rest of the students how his drawings were and that he had signed Asakura Hana in big kanji, and on the side he wrote it in hiragana. They could only find it today.
Tic Toc…
Hana finished his training and went inside. He looked at the clock. The big needle hand was pointing to 1 and the small needle hand was pointing 6. Hana was surprised how much the needle hand had moved. Maybe they were teasing him. They would only move if Hana wasn't around.
Wait. They moved. Does that mean…
"TAMA-NEEEECHAN!!" Hana yelled as he went to the kitchen. Tamao was cooking. She looked surprised at the little boy who entered the kitchen so fast you would have thought some serial killer was after him. No, not a serial killer. More like his evil uncle.
"What is it?" Tamao asked.
"Are mommy and daddy here?" Hana asked, looking around.
Tamao almost laughed. "No Hana. I told you, they will be back in…" she looked at the clock " 1 hour and 55 minutes."
"Oh…" Hana looked down, disappointed.
"Now go take your bath and then get dressed." She ordered.
Tic toc…
Hana went upstairs. He saw a clock upstairs too. And that one also made that annoying sound. He asked Ryu why they had so many clocks. Ryu explained that his mommy had some soap operas that she didn't like to miss. So she asked to put a clock almost everywhere so no matter where she was she would when it was time to watch her show. It was also a way to tell his daddy when it was time to cook, to start training and to clean the house.
Did his mommy knew that clocks made that annoying sound? Probably not. If she did wouldn't have bought so many of them.
Tic toc…
Hana found another clock at the hot springs. The annoying sound was there as well. Hana tried to distract him self. He went under water and back to the surface. Normally that would be fun, but at this moment. Hana could only think about his parents.
1 hour and 55 minutes. How long was that? He looked at the clock. Maybe it was when the big needle hand pointed to the one again? Or maybe when the small one was pointing to the one? How long would that take? Well, he knew. 1 hour and 55 minutes. But was that a long time or not?
At this moment he wished he could tell time.
Tic toc…
When Hana finished taking his bath the big needle hand was pointing somewhere between 10 and 11, and the small one was almost pointing at 7. Was that 1 hour and 55 minutes?
Hana was in his towel and going to his room. He went inside and was surprised to see a clean room. Sure, sometimes he cleaned his room, it's just… He wasn't used to see how it looked like when Ryu cleaned up. His futon was made, his school stuff were somewhere that Hana couldn't see.
"Hana-dono…" called Matamune, opening the door and seeing a Hana getting dressed.
"Yes?"
"Tamao-san is calling. She wants your help with some things…"
"Okay, I'm going…" Hana answered as he finished getting his shirt on. "Er… Matamune?"
"Yes, Hana-dono?" Matamune asked.
"1 hour and 55 minutes." Hana repeated "Is that a long time?"
"Well, Hana-dono, as I told you before, time is relative. For some people 1 and 55 minutes can be a very long time, while for others could be a short amount of time…" Hana rolled his mind as Matamune went on. There he goes again, talking non-sense. Maybe Matamune should go to school and learn about time as well. "Do you understand Hana-dono?"
"No." Hana answered as-a-matter-of-fact. "Will it take a long time for my parents come back home?"
"Oh… I see…" Matamune went to the door and saw the clock. "It's 7:05 PM, Hana-dono… Your parents should be back in 55 minutes."
"Is that a long time?" Hana asked curious "Will it take a long time."
"Don't worry Hana-dono…" Matamune answered. "They will be home by dinner time."
Tic toc…
Hana went down stairs and went to the kitchen. Tamao and Ryu were both finishing cooking all the meals. Hana had never seen so much food in his entire life.
"Why… Why do we have so much food?" Hana asked.
"Well little boss… Your parents were in battle for a long time now." Ryu answered. "They probably haven't eaten well in a long time. So we prepared all his favorite meals."
"I see…" he said to himself.
"We need your help to set up the table." Tamao said, pointing at a pile of different dishes.
Carrying many dishes at once he went to the dining room and started setting everything up. A table for five. Many different foods that need support. When he finished he went back to the kitchen to find out that the food almost was ready. Some of it could be served cold, but others had to stay in the kitchen so they wouldn't get cold. And again, they needed help putting everything at the dining room.
Why did grown ups had to that? They made kids do all the stuff they didn't want to do. And when you asked them why they would answer that they are older than us… It didn't make sense. Grown ups were just too lazy to do thing themselves.
Hana wondered if his parents were like that as well.
Tic toc…
They were all at the table. Tamao had just put the hot food at the table. Hana was starting to get hungry, and he could see that so were Tamao and Ryu. But no one wanted to start to eat without the guests of honor.
Hana was starting to lose hope. Maybe Tamao made a mistake? Maybe his parents weren't coming back after all… Maybe he just waited all that time for nothing. Matamune said they would be back by dinner time but… It was dinner time and nothing! He looked down in at his feet and started shaking them back and forth.
"How long…?" Hana asked, still looking down.
"Five minutes Hana." Answered a smiling Tamao, looking at the clock. Hana looked at it as well. The big needle hand was pointing at 11, and the small one was almost at 8.
"Five minutes…" Hana repeated. He turned to see the door and hear Ryu laughing quietly. "What?"
"Little boss, how about we use this five minutes to learn a little bit about time?" Ryu asked. Hana sighed. He knew that no matter what his answer was, Ryu would still try to teach him. "So, little boss…"
Hana looked around, trying to find something to distract himself with. He then found a interesting spot behind Ryu's head. He could hear what Ryu was saying, but didn't understand a word. Well, it wasn't his fault that the spot on the wall was more interesting than time.
Tic toc…
He heard Ryu saying something like clock hands. Clock hands… What was that? Clock hands… Maybe it was the needle hands. Was it really called Clock hands? Why? Clocks didn't have hands! They looked like needles! Why called it clock hands? Was the person who invented the clock stupid or something?
Tic toc…
Now the needle hand… Well, the big clock hand was almost pointing 12.
Tic toc…
Ryu's kept talking and talking.
Tic toc…
Well, it wasn't like Hana couldn't learn how to tell time.
Tic… toc…
He wasn't stupid or anything. He could learn if wanted to.
Tic… toc…
That was the problem. He didn't want to learn how to tell time.
Tic… toc…
Sure, now he wish he could tell time so he would know when his parents would be back. But that's it.
Tic… toc…
He didn't want to learn how to tell time yet.
Tic… toc…
That's why he always found something to do. Something else to look at. Something that would make it impossible for him to learn at that very moment.
Tic… toc…
That's why every time his teacher, Ryu, Tamao or Matamune tried to teach him, he wouldn't learn.
Tic… toc…
At least not from them.
Tic… toc…
After hearing his classmates talking he realized how they all had parents to help them with problems.
Tic… toc…
But his mommy and daddy were away.
Tic… toc…
And they couldn't help him with anything.
Tic… toc…
He lost his drawing that day because he was paying attention to the conversation.
Tic… toc…
And making a plan…
Tic… toc…
So he wouldn't have to learn how to tell time.
Tic… toc…
So he could only learn from one person.
Tic… toc…
And that person wasn't his teacher, wasn't Ryu or Tamao or Matamume.
Tic… toc…
But from one person alone.
Tic… toc…
And that person…
Tic… toc…
Was his daddy.
Tic… toc…
He didn't want to learn from anyone else.
Tic… toc…
Suddenly he felt some kind of power coming from outside.
Tic toc…
Ryu and Tamao looked at each other. They recognize the power from those who were outside.
Tic toc…
"They are here…" Tamao said.
Tic toc…
Hana turned to the clock and saw the clock hands.
Tic toc…
The small one was pointing at 8, and the long one was pointing at 12.
Tic toc…
He then looked at the door.
Tic toc…
He heard someone opening the door.
Tic… toc…
And he heard two people coming in.
Tic… toc…
Then he heard…
Tic… toc…
A voice coming from the door…
Tic… toc…
And it said…
Tic…
"Tadaima!"