"If you find yourself troubled by something mysterious, or a problem that is hard to solve, there's a place you can go where you can always find help. You just need to look for it..."
"'If you ever need us, you will always know where to find us. And the beareau's doors will be open to you, be it day or night,' he said. I just stared into his emerald green eyes, wishing it wouldn't have to end. I just- just stared..." she paused, and looked down at her hands which were holding mine. I always loved when she told me this story. The way her face lit up every time I asked her to tell it to me, and when she smiled, it always made me smile with her. The best part was when she described how Toto, the raven, saved her, Baron, and Muta from falling to their death. I cheered every time, and sometimes, when dad was home from work long enough, he would cheer with me. Even though I hardly remembered my father any more, I remembered we were a family, and a happy one none-of-the-less... at least for a while.
"And do you know what he said after that?" she asked. I smiled. We both knew the answer to that question. "He said, "'till then, trust yourself!'" We said together. "And, as he flew away with Toto and Muta, "'I'll miss you...' I called after them. A tear in my eye." She stopped, and the room fell silent. She let go of one of my hand, and rubbed her right eye.
"Just like that one?" I said, pointing to her eye with my free hand. She laughed under her breath, and nodded. "Just like that one," she said. Then, she bent over, and kissed my forehead. "Good night," she whispered as she got up from my bed. "Good night mommy," I whispered loudly. She quietly walked to my doorway, flipping the light switch. Light from the kitchen seeping past my mom's form, causing her to cast a long shadow across my bedroom floor. I pulled the sheet up over my face, and rolled over towards the wall next to my small bed. With a sniffle, I pressed my head into the bed pillow, and closed my eyes tight.
"I love you," she spoke through the small opening of my door.
"I love you too," I whispered back, my eyes still shut. Quietly, she slipped into her own bedroom, and I listened as the hollow echo of a door closing resounded throughout the halls of our little home. As I closed my eyes, I began to invision my mother's story. I imagined her in her wrinkled school uniform, and her hair pulled back in uneven strands as she descended the long staircase of majestic black ravens. Before I knew it, I was dreaming about my own adventures in the strange world of cats. Even my mother and father were in it. It was just the three of us, embarking on our own journey to the Cat Kingdom . We almost became cats, and with the help of The Baron, we managed to escape from the clutches of the evil Cat King before we were stuck there forever. I even dreamed about us standing in front of our little picket fenced home, waving good bye to my mother's long time friends. It was the most exciting dream I had ever had. Years later, and on my sixteenth birthday, it still remains the best dream I ever had. It still was, nonetheless, a dream.
Dangerous Diners
"Satoru? Satoru? Are you up yet?" My mother called up to my room.
"I'm up! Just getting dressed!" I called back. Every day, it seemed like the same routine. Get dressed for school, go to school, come home, get my homework done, and then go back to bed. The weekends seemed to be my only escape from my responsibilities. The weekends were also when my father came home to his family from business trips. He seemed to be coming home less and less, and the gaps between his return trips home seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. But, they were always pleasant when he did manage to get back. I threw on a pair of jeans, and slipped on my school uniform top. It slid with ease over my head, and onto my shoulders. It was so routine, I didn't even have to struggle to stick on my uniform anymore. I threw on some shoes, bolted out my room, and slid down the staircase railing. When my feet planted themselves on the floor, I sprinted into our small kitchen.
"Hi mom!" I merrily cried, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Good morning Satoru." Nodding, I grabbed a pre-made lunch and slipped it into my backpack.
"Gotta run! See you after school!" I whispered, giving her another kiss on the cheek.
"Young man, why do you even bother to set an alarm? You never eat with me." She pretended to frown, and I laughed.
"I'm sorry, but I don't want to be late..."
"You mean, you don't want to be later than usual." She called after me as I ran out into the hall to leave.
"Ha ha. Very funny!" I shouted back, a smile on my face.
"Good bye Satoru! Don't forget, your father's birthday is today, so be home in time for dinner!" My eyes went wide with excitement, as I came back and peeked around the corner into the kitchen. How could I have been so stupid! It was his birthday, and mom and I had something special planned for him. We had prepared a surprise party and all.
"Will do!" I replied.
"Love you Satoru!" She laughed.
"Love you too!"
"Satoru? Satoru?" Mr. Takashashi screamed.
"Wah- What!" I screamed, looking up from my doodle covered notebook.
"Please, pay attention, I will not ask you again!"He firmly ordered, furrowing his brow, and frowning. I blushed, and stuck my nose back into my text book as my fellow class mates laughed. I didn't understand. My name was Satoru, which meant "enlightened."
Oh, the irony.
My grandmother, Naoko, told me that it was a perfectly fitting name. Yeah right. As the laughter settled, I breathed a sigh of relief that my humiliation was quickly being forgotten. Sheepishly, I looked away from the evil stare of Mr. Takashashi, and my eyes fell upon them. A pair of luminescent eyes. Ruri's eyes. She giggled, her hand over he mouth. I furrowed my brow, confused. Was she laughing at me, or the fact I spied her laughing at all? Did she think I was cute? I sure hoped so. I didn't know her to well, but she was unofficially known as "the school's cutest girl." All the boys wanted to date her, even the seniors. And, she was the icon of beauty to all the girls in the school. All of them wanted to be just like her. She was perfect in every way. She was smart, funny, and very charismatic. No wonder her name was Ruri. It wasn't just because she wasn't like unto that of an emerald's characteristics, beautiful and brilliant, she had eyes of that amazing color. It was odd. No one knew of her personal life. She had many friends, but not even they had any clue of what she did once she entered her home. None of them had ever been inside it. Once she went inside, she just disappeared for the rest of the day. I couldn't help but wave back, and give her a big grin. She returned to reading her text book, and I did the same. But, for the rest of the period, we kept shooting glances at each other.
After school, I met up with my friend Takehiko Satou. His mother and my mother were best friends throughout high school, and it just seemed he and I were carrying on a legacy left behind by our mothers.
"Hey Takehiko," I greeted him, holding out my hand.
"Hey Satoru," he warmly beamed, grasping it, and patting me on the back.
"How have you been?" he asked. I gave him a bob of my head, and replied laughing, "Do I really have to answer that?"
"No, it's okay." He winked at a passing group of girls, who all giggled and whispered amongst themselves. "Come on, let's head over to the corner market and pick up something to eat." I waved my hand around, swatting away his suggestion.
"No, no thanks. I'm not hungry," I explained to him.
"Oh, common. Please? It'll be fun..." he pleaded, nudging me with his shoulder.
I shook my head.
"No, really. Thanks." I replied once again.
"Okay. But, I heard that a… certain someone was going to be there too..."
We stopped talking for a moment. He had caught my attention now.
"Who?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"You'll have to find out," Takehiko told me.
"Is it Ruri?" I finally blurted out earnestly. He just lifted his chin and smiled.
"Is it Ruri?" I asked again, more desperate than ever to know the answer. He continued to stand there, arms folded, chest puffed up, and a big, mischievous grin on his face. Irritated with his stubbornness, I frowned and dropped my shoulders.
"Common, tell me. Please?" Now I was the one beginning to beg. His smile continued to grow with every second I asked, begged, and implored, until he eventually gave in to my constant barrage of pathetic questions. "You really want to know?" He asked me again.
"Yes! Common, tell me!" I pleaded.
"Then, you'll have to come with me. Let's go!" He beamed merrily grabbing me by my arm. Before I could say anything, or even conjure up an excuse to avoid going, he was already dragging me from the entrance of our high school, and down the street. Takehiko, eventually let me go, and I followed him to the center of town. He had dragged me as far as the campus west wall, so I decided to keep going. Takehiko was always very jumpy and energetic, not to mention good looking and a ladies man. He had a girlfriend, and also did very well in school. Me on the other hand, I was almost the complete opposite. I was quiet, and didn't like to talk to often. I had very few friends, and I always felt alone. It was weird. I used to think I knew who I was, and what I was going to become, but lately I didn't seem to know. I used to be as popular as Takehiko, and I had tons of friends. But, over time, things for me changed.
"We're here!" Takehiko cried happily as he wrapped his arm around me. The small cafe style restaurant was near an old flower shop that had been around since my mom had been a kid. My grandmother had explained to me that the shop still even sold the fish crackers that my mother used to love as a little kid. I remember my first one.
It was during one of my dad's trips out of town, and so it was just me and my mom. We silently strolled down the sidewalk next to a large cement wall, topped with a iron fence. I remembered walking with the yellow box tucked under my arm, as I nosily munched on the crackers one by one.
"Did you know, that your grandma and I used to walk down these streets all the time when I was your age?" she asked me. I shook my head no.
"Well, it was this same side walk where I learned that I could talk to cats." I smiled a big toothy grin.
"It was Yuki, right?" I asked her. She returned the smile and tickled my ribs.
"Yes, it was," she answered quietly. I remembering giggling so hard that I dropped the box of crackers.
"Uh oh," I whispered timidly. My mom just smiled.
"That's okay," she laughed as she stooped down to pick up crackers that had fallen out of the yellow package. I was about to help her, when I noticed something that I haven't forgotten ever since. Over my mom's shoulder I saw a white cat, with a red ribbon tied around its neck, standing on its back legs. It just stood there, watching us. "Mama! Mama! Look! It's Yuki!" I cried merrily, tapping my mom on the shoulder. She lifted a brow, and slowly turned to look where I was no pointing.
"Satoru, there's nothing there you silly," she laughed, squatting back down to pick up more cookies. Puzzled, I looked back to where I had been pointing. She was right, there was nothing there. I frowned. I was about to argue with her that I had really seen her, when I noticed she was about to pick up the last one.
"No, don't!" I cried. "Leave one for Yuki!" She paused, and looked up from her stooped position, and stared at me. Forcing a smile, she nodded, and quietly let go of the last crackers. "Okay, we'll leave one for Yuki," she promised me. I could tell then something had bothered her. But what? Did she believe I was mocking her? Or maybe, just maybe, she was dying to return back to the Kingdom and visit with Yuki, Lune, Muta, And Baron... I was little then, and I didn't realize until I was out of grade school that it had been all some crazy dream that she had had when she was in high school. I guess to a nine-year old, almost everything is real.
"Hey, Satoru? You okay?" Takehiko asked, while waving his hand back and forth in front of my face. "Hmm? Oh, yeah. Sorry. Just uh, spaced out for a moment..."
"Yeah, a really long moment," a female voice came from behind me. I jumped maybe six feet upwards, and it seemed like forever making the trip back down to the ground. It was so unexpected, I didn't think I would hear her voice behind me like that.
"Hiya Satoru!" Ruri beamed, her hands clasped together, as she rocked from side to side.
"Uh, uh hi Rurrrr..." my voice slurred. Distracted by her beauty, all I could do was stammer.
I felt like such a fool.
I couldn't think of much to say. As a matter of fact, I couldn't say anything except for, "uh..." My friend Takehiko smiled, and saved me from total embarrassment.
"Hey, you guys must have met! I bet you didn't know that Ruri is my girl-friend's best friend!"
"No, I didn't know that," I whispered.
"Takehiko!" Another female voice cried.
"Oh no," I moaned under my breath. It was Hoshi. Takehiko's girlfriend. She wasn't exactly... the most intelligent girl I had ever met, but I would admit she was attractive. If she wasn't so… idiotic, I wouldn't mind having her around, but the only reason she was my friend's girlfriend was because of her looks, not for her brains.
"Hi Hoshi!" Takehiko cheered merrily as he embraced her. Hoshi was not only good looking, but strong to. Takehiko may have been one the strongest guys in the school, he was still almost knocked over by her. Ruri and I noisily suppressed a laugh as Takehiko's faced turned bright red from her tight embrace. He gave both of us an anger filled glare, and we immediately stopped snickering. As she released her grip on him, his face automatically transformed back to his relaxed and poised state it had been before.
"It's good to see you again! How are you?" He asked. As they began to "catch up," asking each other "If they had fun at school," or if "things we're going okay at home," Ruri and I decided that it was time to start our own conversation.
"So, you're the Yoshioka kid huh? There's been a ton of interesting stories floating around about you guys." It was probably just me, but I didn't think that was the best way to start the conversation. But, at least it was a start right? I had to force a smile. "Yeah, don't I know it."
I shifted the subject. "I think we should go inside. Let's leave the-" I looked back and laughed. "two love birds to talk huh?" I told her. She giggled, and followed me through the restaurant's entrance.
We stood at the counter, waiting for our order. All the seats had been taken, and we decided we might just sit at one of the tables outside on the patio. We watched as they began to fry a serving of dumplings I had ordered for the two of us. As we stood there, watching them prepare the noodles, and frying the pork-covered dough in hot oil, we told each other jokes, and paid no attention to the on lookers staring at us as if we had big, suggestive signs taped to our backs. As they wrapped up, and placed our orders onto porcelain plates, I noticed a small stack of yellow boxes on the countertop next to the cash register.
"Would you look at that..." I said to myself out loud. "What?" Ruri asked, thinking I was talking to her. "Those boxes there," I began to say unconsciously. "Those have the fish crackers I'm obsessed with in them."
Ruri laughed. "Fish crackers? I think I know what you're talking about. My little sister loves those," she told me. "Well, that makes two of us," I whispered. She laughed, and rested her head on my shoulder. My eye lids lifted wide open as she closed her own. She was smiling. And so was I. It was the biggest smile I had ever smiled in a long time. "Would you like to try some?" I found myself saying out loud.
"Sure," she said dreamily. I pulled out my wallet, and called over the cashier.
After lunch, we sat and talked while Takehiko and Hoshi ordered their own lunches inside the restaurant. We talked about all sorts of things; things like how much homework Mr. Tanka gave, and how boring science with Ms. Itou could get. The conversation was pretty normal... until it happened.
"Oh don't I know it! And don't get me started about Mr. Saitou-" My thought was suddenly interrupted by the screams of a nearby group of guests. I looked up from Ruri to see a small white cat being pursued by the owner of the restaurant with a large, wooden baseball bat in his hands. The cat firmly held the ribbon of a fish cracker box tightly between its teeth. The flaps to the overhang fluttered violently behind them as both the cat and the man ran straight towards us.
"Oh my God!" Ruri screamed as she jumped out of her seat. And just in time to. The bat came crashing down on the back of her seat, followed by a loud serious of crackling caused by the explosion of woven wood.
"Come back here!" The man's drunken slurred voice demanded sharply. The cat's back legs came out from underneath it, and it slid into the corner of the closed off patio. The elder man raised the weapon up above his head to bring down upon the small creature. I quickly stood up, and delivered a punch to his stomach. He coughed, and I could smell the alcohol in his breath. As he dropped the bat, I grabbed his raised arm, and quickly threw him across the small patio from where we were sitting on. He fell on to a table, and it split into two pieces. Cups, salt shakers, and teapots atop it quickly beat the splitting halves to the ground, quickly scattering all about the place. For a moment, I just stared at the man's body. It was limp, and un-moving. "Oh no, I've killed him," I quietly whispered.
I didn't know it, but I was going to wish I had.
The next thing I heard was a groan, and then the sudden sound of a bottle end smashing open. The man had grabbed a nearby empty saki bottle, and smashed it against the fence rail enclosing the patio, and began approaching me with it.
"Satoru!" Ruri screamed, running to my side.
"No no, get behind me Ruri!" I hoarsely ordered her. Quickly, she dove behind me, as I reached back for the bat lying on the ground. The very second my fingers wrapped around the grip, the owner lunged forward to attack me, and I quickly countered his make-shift weapon's thrust towards my ribs with a bone-crunching swing of the bat. He released his grip on the bottle, and he reared back and fell over the railing into some bushes.
"Oh no," I whispered.
"We've got to go!" Ruri screamed.
"Yeah, yeah..." I repeated dazed.
"Let's get out of here!" She screamed, tugging on my sleeve. The two of us sprinted through the tent flap leading to the patio. We ran as fast as we could to the entrance of the restaurant. We ran past Takehiko and Hoshi, who had just grabbed their food. "Where are you two going?" Takehiko asked casually.
"Far away from here!" I screamed back, rounding a corner. But, before we were out of sight of the restaurant, I noticed a small white streak dart out of the sliver of entrance the closing door provided. I guess I was the only one to notice the tiny white cat that escaped from the restaurant. I smiled, as I watched the cat dart off the opposite direction. It reminded me of Yuki, the cat from my mom's story. I could have swore that it stopped to look back at us. There was something... I didn't know how to describe it other than magical, but that's how it felt. For that brief moment, staring into those big blue eyes, something about the way it stared at me, told me that it was grateful, but still in much pain. That was the last thing I saw before Ruri pulled me back around the corner.
"No time to see if you're friend's okay, we've got to get as far away from here as we can!" she cried frantically. She pulled me behind her like airplane luggage. It was Takehiko dragging me to the restaurant all over again. But, this time, I didn't mind. After all, it was Ruri pulling me by my shirt this time, not Takehiko. There was something... enjoyable about this ride.
"Well, that was exciting," Ruri sighed, dropping my stretched out t-shirt collar. Putting her hands on her thighs, she caught her breath while I stood up, and dusted myself off.
"That was quite a move you pulled there," Ruri said with a weak, and hardly audible laugh. I could hardly tell her amused laugh from her breath. She must have been exhausted. I wouldn't have blamed her neither. She had just dragged me half way across town.
"Thanks, by the way," I said, checking the seat of my pants to see if they had torn during my trip.
"For what?" She asked.
"For dragging me out of there when you did. If you hadn't snapped me out of it, I'd probably be dead by now."
She laughed, and I couldn't tell if it was directed at me, or what I had said.
"Yeah right. You would have pulverized that guy if you had had the chance," she explained.
"Oh," I paused in thought. I hadn't really thought about what would have happened if I stayed. I had been practicing martial arts since I was ten, but who knows if all that experience would have really helped me at all. I wasn't to confident that I could've stood a chance. "Well, I'd better get going. My mom," she said, pointing to a nearby house.
"You live here?" I asked her, looking at the massive home she pointed to.
She nodded. "Well, I'd better hurry, or else my mom's gonna kill me."
"Mine too," I said with a smile. She giggled, and then she did something that caught me completely off guard. She quickly gave me a tiny kiss on the cheek, and ran off down the sidewalk towards the house. I was glad she decided to disappear so quickly, because then she would have spied the dark red blush that washed over my face. I made a mental note; my first day of high school, would maybe be the best day I had would ever have. It couldn't have possibly gotten any better.
Of course, I was wrong.
The day after my coup with the restaurant owner, Takehiko and I walked down the sidewalk to my home from the school. He and I were discussing what had happened yesterday.
"So you just ran?" Takehiko asked, snickering. I smiled, and explained everything that had happened after that. I was getting to the good part, when I saw them.
"And, guess what she did after that?" I asked him while we rounded a street corner.
"What? What happened?" "Well, she..." My voice trailed as he and I both looked towards my house. A couple of police officers and their car were residing in front of my home. My eyes went wide with panic.
"Oh no! That guy must have contacted the police!" I cried out in terror. I shifted my footing, and quickly sprinted towards the house. As I got closer to the front door, I noticed my mother sitting at a kitchen table, her eyes soaked with tears and a police officer sitting in a chair adjacent from her.
"... there's still hope for him," the officer assured her.
"Hope for who?" I asked, walking towards the both of them. My mother jumped out of her seat, and ran over to embrace me.
"Oh Satoru, oh God Satoru..." She whispered hoarsely. I could feel the warmth of her face and the cool streaks of fresh tears stain my uniform as I held her close. "Mom? What happened?" I asked her. She cleared her throat, and sniffled noisily.
"You father has been shot..."
Both my mother and I had been crying for nearly three hours in the hospital lobby. The EMTs wouldn't let us see him until he had been stabilized... Or until he was dead. When we had finally finished our sobbing, my mother began to explain what had happened.
"Your father was getting on to the Metro subway to come home, when an armed gunman entered in an opposite train car. He fired two shots into the roof of the car, and began asking for cash and valuables. When he came to your father's car, he came across an elder woman who was resistant, and he threatened to shoot her. Eventually, your father did what any other brave man would have done. He attempted to stop the man from putting a bullet in the poor woman's temple. Unfortunately, while attempting to stop the bullet, the one intended for the woman pierced your father's heart, and he went unconscious. The police managed to catch the crook, thank God. But, not without casualties." I nearly began to cry again, when a surgeon came out from the operation room.
"Mrs. Yoshioka?" he asked, the glass of his glasses stained with fog.
"Yes? How's my husband?" She asked.
"He's…" The doctor sighed, removing a pair of rubber gloves. They say a person can only cry so much in one day. Well, both my mother and I might have cried two life times worth of tears in just that one minute. The only thing I could make out from the surgeon through our sobbing was, "We are doing everything we can. We really are..."
My mother had decided to stay at the hospital, while I returned to school. My heart was heavy with sorrow and grief, but I had to press on. That's what my father would have wanted. We even had discussed something like this before. Before his fatal trip as a matter of fact.
We had been standing at the edge of a stone bridge. The sun was slowly setting, setting the whole world a blaze. The warm, gentle glow of everything below was wonderfully comforting. This was something my father and I did often. We always came back to the bridge o talk about things like friends, and strange business cohorts. This time, our conversation resulted with my father's story of of when one of his business partners had threatened to kill him.
"Yes, that man was obviously intoxicated Satoru. He demanded that I buy him a drink, or else he would kill me... It scared me Satoru. He seemed very serious."
He stared out over the river canal that acted as the border between the country side and the city. I just stared up at him. My father didn't seem like one for fear. He had a firm chin, a narrow, square nose, and dark brown eyes. He had stone gray hair, but his complexion was young. He just seemed like the heroic type. That's maybe why I wasn't so surprised that he had risked his life to save that elderly woman.
"You were?" "Were what Satoru?"
"Scared. I mean you don't really seem like it..." He started to laugh, and he threw and arm around my shoulder. "Everyone gets scared Satoru. Even me." I shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess." He returned his stare back out into the countryside. The wind blew threw the different grasses and weeds. The trees swayed with them in a rhythmic pace. Nature seemed to bend to the wind's will. Some times, I wished I could be the wind, powerful and unmoving.
"Satoru?" I heard my father's voice ask. I turned to look at him. He continued to stare quietly out over the bridge. "I want you to promise me something..."
"Sure. Anything." He allowed a moment of silence to fill in between us. The wind picked up slightly, causing the sound of rustling tree leaves to travel to our ears. As soon as it picked up, it died down just as quickly. My father cleared his throat, and then turned to look me in the eyes.
"No matter what happens, promise me you will always stay strong."
"What do you mean?" I really didn't know what he meant. I had always been strong physically.
"Believe in who you are Satoru." My eyes went wide. Believe in who I am? I almost started to laugh, but he was being serious. It was funny, because that's what "Baron" told my mother supposedly.
"Do you promise me you will believe in just you Satoru? And that you will not offer yourself up to others for their judgement?" I nodded, and gave him my own pat on the back.
"I promise dad. I won't let you down."
He smiled, and we continued to stare out into the fields of plants. The sun's brilliant glow filled my soul with peace. The two of us stood on that bridge. I felt like both he and I were conducting a beautiful song, directing the symphony of nature below us. The song; "The Brilliant Sun." With my father at my side, and the sun's dying rays falling upon me, I felt so strong, and willing to accomplish whatever I had set my mind to. I could believe in myself then.
Now, without my dad, I wasn't so sure.
Could I believe in myself?
I didn't know.