The first times I saw you, you were…
1 - Immature
The first times I saw you,
you were an immature kid.
The matter was grave.
For ten consecutive nights he had been waking up in the middle of his sleep with the voice of her, tormenting him inside his head.
Find the Silver Crystal.
As if he hadn't already tried, as if he more than anyone wouldn't want to know what that crystal really was.
As a kid, a therapist had told him that the gem of his dreams was the representation of his lost childhood memories, a priceless treasure that appeared unreachable to him, precious. Like a silver crystal. A woman begged him to find that gem, so the therapist hadn't had any doubts over the symbolism: that person was his mother.
Mamoru wondered if the interpretation would have been identical even now that he was seventeen years old.
The feelings he had for that female figure were not of the filial kind.
Did he suffer from the Aedipus complex?
No, he didn't even remember his own mother.
And the woman of his dreams wasn't an adult. She was a girl, whose voice was a soft and young echo.
Maybe she was the princess of a fairytale that he had heard time and time again when he was little. His parents were probably the ones that had narrated to him the story. Had they mistaken him for a girl?
He put a finger under his sunglasses and rubbed an aching eye.
That night he had slept so little that covering his eyes had become necessary to protect himself from the light of the day.
"Yahhh!"
The estatic cries came from within a shop. Beyond the display window, a group of women struggled to get near a glass counter. They fought one another as if money was on sale.
Jewels, Mamoru noted, observing the products exposed on the showcases.
A girl came out of the shop. She was a schoolgirl, with a hair style fit for an anime. She was similar to the woman of his dream.
As a child, those buns had reminded him of odangos.
The blondie stopped just outside the jewellery, depressed.
Probably she was sad because mom and dad's money wasn't enough to buy herself some shiny trinket.
If only he had such stupid problems.
If only he had had parents.
The girl started screaming like crazy. "Ahhhh!" She crumpled something in her hands. "I don't ever want to see this thing again!"
The white ball of paper flew in the air, drawing an arc that… Mamoru didn't believe it until the paper hit him in the head.
Irresponsible little girl. And she was walking away! "You hurt me, odango atama!"
She started apologizing, but he had already opened the paper. It was a school test, with a terrible mark in evidence.
"... 30 points?"
Irresponsible and ignorant girl. "You should study more, odango otama."
She had the common sense to run and retrieve her test.
"None of your business, give it back to me!"
Of course. She needed her mom to sign it.
The girl stuck out her tongue, a gesture straight out of kindergarten. She was so childish that he stopped giving her any attention.
Maybe he had been lucky after all for growing up without a family. He could have become just as spoiled, a student that didn't give the due importance to every test.
Another client came out of the shop. In her rush to exit, the woman nearly shoved him.
A jewellery, Mamoru thought.
He gazed up at the shop sign, lowering his sunglasses.
Osap Jewellery.
Maybe he had done it all wrong?
Maybe the silver crystal was a real crystal exchanged among professional sellers. Or maybe it was a mythical jewel with extraordinary properties. A magical crystal.
He rubbed a temple.
Such rubbish.
He needed some sleep.
1 - Immature – THE END