"That is no child."
"That is no human."
"That is a beast."
…
"However, that is my friend."
"Hyoshimei-baka," yelled the boy.
The girl frowned, trying to keep up. She couldn't move as fast as him in her sandles. "Don't call me that!"
"OK! Mei-baaaaaaaaaka~"
He continued to run. He was faster than her. He was faster than many of the men in their village. The ones who threw rocks at him like he was a stray dog stealing food. The ones that tried to kick him as they walked by.
Frustrated by his advantage, Mei kicked off her sandals and picked them up. Now she was able to move faster. Still, not fast enough to keep up. She had something to make up for it. The boy had a bad sense of direction. Always had. Mei was born with an unnatural instinct to never get lost. They lived in a very small village. You could cross from north to south in half an hour or less. Mei knew where her friend was going.
She curved to the side, dodging under a vendor and swerving between buildings. She ran along a wall and took another turn before- bam!
Connection with the target was made. They both fell back. He was clutching his forehead same as her.
"Got ya!" She announced with triumph.
He grumbled a complaint and gave her a dirty look.
Mei hung onto his arm and tried to drag him away. She couldn't have forced him to do anything though. Good thing he decided to walk on his own. They walked with her filling up the silence, speaking enough for both of them. The village was still for a hot summer day. Only a few people dared wander outside. Like a state of mourning.
The mourning memo had been lost on the girl and boy it would seem. Mei was smiling bright. The boy, though looking annoyed, had a slight crooked grin on his face.
"-and then they said the fish get as big as the emperors palace! Can you imagine a fish that big! They say the entire thing is made up of salt too! Salty water. I couldn't believe it. The merchants like stinky-taiko would steal all the water! And-"
Mei was desperate to talk about anything. Fill their time with all the happiness she could because the next day- oh, it was too horrible to think about. She would start crying again if she did.
Finally they reached the side of the village and continued going into the woods. For half an hour they walked. Then they reached a small shack hidden in bushes. Mei brushed away a newly-formed cobweb in the doorway and shooed a small mouse-like creature away from a rug against the wall. It was there she plopped down.
The boy, who had stayed silent until that point, sat besides her and pulled a small package out of his yukata. "Hn."
She took and unwrapped the cloth, her eyes widening by what she saw. "Where did you manage to steal this?"
In her hands was a large slab of some type of dried meat.
His black eyes lit up with pride. "Those nobles that visited, their servants had loose pockets."
Mei giggled, reaching and patting his short black hair. "Good boy! This will make a perfect"
"I'm not a child!" He slapped her hand away.
"You're not a man yet!"
"Am too!"
Mei looked down with a smaller smile. "Not like we'd know... but I think you've only seen eight winters."
"Well you've only seen three then!"
She pouted. She wasn't that much younger than him. Actually knowing your age though, that was for rich kids. Birthdays? Only nobles could keep track. They weren't that old though. Not old enough to get married.
But the boy was old enough to join the army.
Mei smiled at the meat. "We should eat it slow. So it can last a long time. Because you need to eat some too. When you come back- when- wh-"
Mei could not talk anymore. A salty drop fell on the meat.
"Oi! You're ruining-" The boy stopped his words with one look at her face. Making a 'tsk' noise, he looked away with a matching frown.
"Stop crying," he demanded. "If anyone should be crying it should be me! Why are you such a baby?"
A strangled laugh left Mei's lips. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But when they take you tomorrow-"
"I'll come back," he grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him. "No stupid war will stop me from coming back to-"
Mei looked up curiously at him when he stopped talking.
"-to this place. And I'll have been made a captain and I'll have lots of money for us. So you have to wait a few years," he finished and let go of her shoulders.
She felt a little better, but still terribly sad. "When they take you, I don't know if I'll survive alone. It's scary."
War took lives in many ways. When the soldiers went out and were killed. When villages were sacked. And when the women left behind had no ways of feeding themselves without their husbands, brothers, and sons. Or in Mei's case, her best friend.
"You have to, so suck it up," he growled.
Her eyes swelled with tears again but she would not let them spill over. She must not let them spill over. "Tomorrow, they will come. You- you have to promise me something!"
Mei clung to his yukata with both hands, pleading with her eyes. "You can not change! Don't let them change you. You can't become a monster! You can't get brainwashed! I dont want you to like war or killing. Please. And you have to return here as soon as the war ends no matter what and I- I'll wait. I'll wait right here and never leave and so please! Please return..."
He raised his hand like he would hit her, but changed his mind at the last minute. Instead he rested his palm on top of her hair. "Yeah. You still haven't given me a decent name yet. I'll have to come back for that."
"I'll have the very best one picked out for you. When you return I will give you the best one!"
"Good. And none of that getting married crap alright?" He scrunched up his nose.
"Of course I won't!" Mei looked offended. "I can't marry anyone but you!"
His face turned red and he pushed her away. "Whatever, just- don't. Alright?"
Mei smiled. Though she was sad, she smiled.
The boy didn't let her go into town with him the next day. Said she'd just cause a scene. So from her porch she had to watch him leave. Watch him walk away with his back turned. And it was a good thing because the tears she'd been holding back spilled over now.
Mei must let him go. She had to. They would imprison him for treason if he did not report. She wiped her tears away and bit the inside of her cheek hard.
"You have to come back." Her voice carried through the forest and though he did not turn to look at her, Mei knew he could hear. "I haven't given you a name! So come back! YOU HAVE TO!"
Three years later, the war finally ended. Mei never left their little cabin. For three years she waited for her friend to return. She had picked out a name for him. Every morning she rose and looked out the door and watched the sun rise. Every evening she watched it set.
Always waiting for him to come back.
A year after the war ended and yet the boy still did not return.
Two years. Mei would not believe he was gone.
Three years. A suitor came for her but she refused. She had promised the boy she would not leave the cabin. She would not marry another.
Four years. Mei now crawled to the door to watch the sun rise. With a cloth to her mouth to soak up the blood. The sickness had reached her.
The Black Death. The Plague.
Five years had passed. Mei had long fallen asleep for the last time on the doorstep of their cabin. Where she could always wait for the boy to come home. Where she remained waiting.