There Will Come Soft Rains
By Hachi Mitsu
04.22.98
"There will come soft rains and the smell of the
grounds,
And the swallows circling with their shimmering sounds;
And the frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremendous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence wire;
And not one will know of the war,
not one Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she wake at dawn
Would scarcely know that we were gone…"
"CRASH"
I jumped at my
desk as the thunder crashed outside. The storm had been going on for the entire
day and showed no sign of stopping anytime soon. :: Sigh:: I looked out the
window in to the frenzy rain, soaking up everything.
"Huh?!?"
a slight movement in the dark corner of my room caught my eyes. I leapt up,
ready to face whatever was there. A wry smile formed on my lips as I soon
realized that it was only Elena, my cat. I've been too tense lately, started by
the slightest noise. Kneeling down I picked up Elena, buried my face in her
soft fur. I felt unshed tears burning in my eyes as I tried to forget the cause
for my sudden restlessness but it was no use, memories of the dreams and
visions I had about the world ending came flooding back to me. They seemed so
real… Shuddering, I recall the how the strange red light that lid up the
otherwise dim world… how the massive tornado of darkness had torn across the
large plain, destroying statues of strangely familiar figures. I remember the
terror I felt, but most of all, I remembered the voice, telling me about how I
need to find the 3 talisman, hidden within the pure hearts of 3 people. As I
recalled the dream, I felt a strange feeling crawl towards my mind, a feeling
almost resembling memories, a life in the distant past, a life that ended in
tragedy…
"NO!"
I ran my hands through my short sandy blond hair, trying to focus my eyes on
the words printed upon my notebook: "HARUKA TEN'OU" Just recognizing
my name seems to chase away the haunting memories. I am Haruka and no one else,
one little dream ain't gonna change that. I never *did* believe in crap like
reincarnation or karma. Even if it was true and I was someone else in my past
life, I didn't want to remember it. Why should I care about past event, *or*
future disasters? Its none of *my* business. The past is the past. And as for
the dream of the end of the world… well, it was just a dream, probably means
nothing at all. Even if it does, it doesn't effect me. Why should it? If the worlds
really gonna end, someone else would take care of it, I have my own problems.
"Shit."
I looked up at the clock on my desk. That reminds me, it was already 4:23, I
had 7 minuets to make it to the track for the race. The rain *had* stopped, so
there would be a meet. Not really smart though, the track would probably be wet
and there could be an accident. Just hope it won't be me. I sighed and went on
trying to detach Elena's hooked claws from my shirt. I smiled triumphantly as I
succeeded. Dumping the hissing fur ball on the floor, I shot out my apartment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Haruka!!
You're late!!" Looking up I saw one of my teammate running towards me.
Damn, I looked at my watch. It was 4:32. 2 minuets late, not that big of a deal
but I better not make a habit of that.
"I didn't
realize that there would be a meet today, with the rain and everything…"
"Neither
did most of the others, but u know coach, he refused to push the race back any
longer." The race was supposed to be held a week ago, but the unnaturally
frequent storms forced him to keep delaying it. Guess he got fed up. Guess
safety doesn't always come first.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"GO"
I heard the
whistle that indicated the start of the race. I started running with ease
despite the slippery surface of the track. As usual, I shot in front of all the
others. I smiled. Running always came naturally to me. The cool wind, blowing
against my face seemed to calm the tenseness that had filled me earlier. As I
ran, I left all my problems behind.
A small mocking
voice said inside me Not really
I argued back. Nevertheless, I felt uncomfortable with the thought and a
twig of guilt. I hastened my speed as I realized that while I was daydreaming,
one of the runners had caught up. I turned slightly and was shocked to see that
it was Elise. She was one of the fastest runners around. I smirked and shot
past her. But not faster than me.
I sighed, that
was close. I instinctively raised my speed again, just in case. I really gotta
get rid of these distracting thoughts. I almost let someone out run me. I
mentally kicked myself. Stupid, stupid. That would have been truly humiliating.
I sighed again as my train of thoughts slowly crept up to me despite my
reluctance.
Life had always been hard for me. My parents had died when I
was only 13. Ever since then, I had always looked out for myself. I never asked
for help from anyone, especially not from my friends. In fact, ever since that
fateful day that my parents died, I had grown further and further apart from my
friends. Nowadays, I hardly ever see them any more, except for occasionally
bumping in to them in the halls. Well, I don't need friends anyway. I'm fine by
myself. Friends only cause pain. Just people whom you've come to believe that
you can trust and depend on, only to find out that when u really need them,
they've abandoned you. Well, here I go again, getting carried away with
self-pity. I sighed and brushed back my hair from my face. I looked up in time
to see the finish line right before crossing it.
"That's good. Another victory!" I wasn't surprised
the least. I listen to the crowed cheering. I turned around to see if anyone of
the other runners were even close. Sure enough Elise crossed seconds after me.
"Wow,
you're fast!" I heard the amazed voice of Elise.
"You're
pretty fast yourself. I've never known anyone who could keep up with me
before."
"Well, I
guess we're all talented in certain areas. Speaking of talents I have a friend
who would really like to meet you. She's a famous violinist and painter."
Elise gestured to the green haired girl beside her.
"Hi"
I said with an absentminded wave. I didn't have time for meeting people. As I
had mentioned before, I detested having friends. It's just a burden. Well some
people are OK, for example Elise and other teammates. Friends are OK, *only* if
they're for competing with. That's my policy.
"Hi, I'm
Michiru Kiou. You're famous at our school. *Everyone* knows about you."
"That's
nice" politeness however *wasn't*. I was in too much of a hurry to get out
of here. I still have to study for that geometry final… grade postings are on
Wednesday…
"Well, my works are going to be displayed on a cruise
next weekend, I was wonder-"
"I'm very happy for you," I said with annoyance,
hoping that I've made the point that I need to get going.
"Well see
you around."
"God
forbid" I muttered.
"What you
say?" sweat drop
"Umm…
nothing. Well bye." I quickly slung my sweatshirt over my shoulders and
left, avoiding her puzzled gaze. I resisted the urge to burst out laughing.
That was pretty mean. But I didn't care. Although I did feel kinda sorry for
Elise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gasp, I sat up
from the couch that I had fallen asleep on. I had awoken from yet another
nightmare. Elena who had been purring peacefully on my chest had been flung off
the sofa during my startled awakening. She meowed pitifully until I picked her
up. Hugging her, I thought back to my dream. It was the same as before. The red
light and the tornado. But this time I had been able to recognize the site of
the disaster. Strangely enough, it strongly resembles the local port. Even
though everything was in ransack, I was still able to make out a few features
which led me to my conclusion.
Hmm… maybe that
was like a omen or something. I'll check out the port tonight. I have nothing
to lose, besides, I might find something that will lead me to the cause of all
this and I'll finally be able to go on with my life again. ::Sigh::
"All
right, if I'm gonna go to the port, might as well get going…" I jumped up
from the comfort of my couch…forgetting that Elena was still on my lap. All
right, I really need to get to the bottom of this. All this confusion is making
me extremely absent-minded. I'm sure that Elena would certainly be grateful…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEXT MORNING
The bright sun
sent its bright beams through my window and right into my weary eyes. The
flimsy sash curtain was no help in stopping it.
::Sigh:: Well
last night was sure eventful…
It started out
all right. I was able to explore the port undisturbed, but unfortunately, I
discovered no clues. To dampen my disappointment, a fellow track member
recognized me and urged me to join him in a cruise that was leaving just then.
I was stupid enough to agree. The cruise it self was OK.
Unfortunately,
Michiru was there; in fact she was hosting it. Her paintings were on display
and she was performing on her violin. What a coincidence that we had met again.
Well on the other hand, I did recall her saying something about a cruise. Which
reminded me of our first meeting. Perhaps I *was* a bit rude… well, the past is
the past. However I did discover something crucial last night. As I was walking
down the isle that had displayed Michiru's painting, I discovered a few
peticular ones that had captured my attention. They were painting of the world
being destroyed, *exactly* the way it appeared in my dreams. The dark still
world, the red light, even the tornado and statues. How strange…
[Flashback]
I stood in
front of the massive canvas. The scene it portrayed was fascinating. Many
people stopped in front of it and gazed with wonder yet confusion. But not all
their fascination combined could compared to the wonder I felt. The atmosphere
of the scene was compelling. The complex blending of the gloominess and
darkness gave a feeling of suffocating, yet it also held a sharp sense of fear
and anxiety, slicing through the sluggish atmosphere. Like the tornado crashing
through otherwise restless but unmoving ruins.
Although this
was amazing, it was not the cause of my wide-eyed stare. The reason was the
simple fact that this was not the first time I had seen encountered this eerie
scene. I had first seen this in my dream, or nightmare. Its destructive sight
was fascinating, but its resemblance to my dream was even more. Had she known
of my dream… but that was not possible, I had never told anyone of my
nightmares. Or maybe, I had seen this painting before. That might also explain
my dreams. Maybe some time ago, I had viewed this painting, and then forgotten
it. But my sub-conscience had remembered and placed it in my dreams. Yeah! That
was probably it. But I knew it wasn't true. I can't fool myself… but it did
sound like a pretty reasonable explanation.
"Hello!"
a cheerful voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned around to see Michiru.
"Oh hi.
Nice painting you've got there. But if you ask me, I would've never expected a
sweet girl like you to think up of such a destructive landscape and environment
for the painting."
"I didn't
'think up' of it. It's real, and its gonna happen. And you know it. Remember
you're dreams." Of course I remember, how could I forget them- hey wait a
minute, how did she know about my dreams?! This is really getting creepy.
Well, maybe there's a logical explanation. A reasonable voice said.
"They're
just dreams. I don't know *how* u know about them, but I really don't care.
They mean nothing."
"No they
don't it's your destiny to find the 3 talisman-"
"I am
*not* gonna listen to this crap, I don't care what my destiny is, it ain't
gonna happen. I have a dream to become a famous motorcyclist and runner, one
little dream isn't going to ruin my entire future!"
"You can't
keep running away. Besides don't you think that *I* have dreams too?"
Michiru held up her violin, then pointed to the painting on display. "I
wanna be a violinist and painter!" I was speechless. "You can't keep
running away from your fate. Besides, I can't find all 3 of the talismans by my
self. And if you don't help, the bad guys are gonna find them first and with
the messiah of silence, they'll destroy the world. Is the what you want?! Your
help is needed in order to prevent the destruction of Earth."
"Well deal
with it." I turned around and left. Part of me was screaming at me for
leaving. Maybe she was right, maybe I was wrong to leave my responsibilities.
But I didn't care. It was none of my business. The world wasn't going to be
destroyed. It was one big joke. A prank. It ain't gonna happen. The ship had
reached the port. I quickly got off, running away from the ship. From the
painting, from my dreams, from my duties, problems, from myself. I ran like the
wind, leaving everything behind. Yet, even as I did, I still felt a twig of
guilt. Just a hint… but I didn't care.
[End of flashback]
I ran my hand through my hair again, brushing back a lock of
hair that fell on my eyes. As I did, I realized that I was crying. Yup, I was
crying. I had always been strong, over come all emotions, fear, sadness, and
pain. But now I felt lost and for the first time in years, lonely. I sighed. I
knew my life had just ended. I realized that I would never again be the
ordinary Haruka. Whether or not I agree to help Michiru, it would matter
little. No matter how fast I run, fate will finally catch up. Not even the wind
can out run the works of destiny. It would only be a matter of time.
Slipping into a
pair of shorts and a T-shirt, I walked into the kitchen, still lost within my
thoughts. After fixing a bowl of cat food for Elena, I grabbed a granola bar
and left. Maybe some work at the garage will keep my mind off the problem at
hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I neared the
door of the garage, I noticed that the door was unlocked, in fact, it was wide
open. Either I'm *really* getting clumsy or there was a break in.
Strange noises
came from the darkness within. Stuffing the rest of the granola bar in to my mouth
I picked up a crow bar and walked cautiously in. as I entered I realized that
the garage was in a complete mess. Wrenches, screwdrivers and various other
tools, including rags littered the floor. I kneeled down and began clearing up
the floor when I caught a sudden movement in the back of the garage in the
corner of my eye. I lifted my head cautiously and stood up. I slowly edged
towards the switch that turns on the lights in the back of the garage.
"Click."
As the lights flicked on, I raised my crow bar, ready to attack.
"AAAAHHH!!!"
Instead of a burglar or whatever I had expected, I saw a boy curled up in the
corner, his eyes wide with fright.
"What do
you think your doing. I could've brained you. Don't ever do that again!! Who
*are* you anyway?" As soon as those words left my mouth, I regretted it
instantly. Tears formed at the corner of the little kid's eyes. I hesitated. I
was a bit pissed off, but he was only a kid. Hmm… I wonder if he's hurt.
"Are you all right?" The boy didn't answer. I don't think her even
heard me. Maybe he's deaf or something… I walked towards him.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
It took me a few seconds to realize that he was no longer a boy! In fact, he
wasn't even human. He had transformed into a gruesome monster with huge fangs
and horns on his head. He had a long spirally tail and five sharp looking
spikes at the tip. It hovered over me, chuckling menacing.
"*O*kay"
I stood there, stupefied by shock. But soon my instincts took over, I raised
the crow bar, ready to hit it as its tail swung towards me, it wasn't a pretty
sight. The tail alone was twice my size and one of its spikes alone diminished
my pathetic weapon to nothing more than a tangled mess of metal. I quickly
changed my mind about trying to hit him and changed my objective to simply
staying alive. And even that was not easy. After a while of dodging its blows
and its swinging lethal tail. I began to grow extremely tired. This caused me
to get clumsy. This however was an unfortunate time to turn into a klutz, I
realized as a slight stumble cause me to lose my balance. One of its spikes
sliced into my arm, causing blood to splutter all over the floor. I knew I
would not make it. After a few more minuets of avoiding blows, my lost of blood
cause me to collapse on the ground. I had received several more blows on my
legs. I couldn't even stand up. I gazed up as its massive tail began to come
down for its final, and fatal, blow. I shut my eyes made a wish for a miracle
and prepared to die.
"Huh?"
A sudden glow in front of my face caused me to open my eyes. Am I dead? Nope. I
saw that it was only a pen. But unlike most pens I've seen in my ending life,
it was glowing with a strong clear light that cause the creature to turn away,
roaring with pain. It was also floating. Seriously, 5 seconds before I'm about
to be splattered over my garage floor, a glowing pen comes floating towards me.
Not exactly the miracle I was hoping for. God was getting clumsy… oh well,
maybe this was meant for me to write my will with. Wonder if that was a sign
saying that I was lonely cause at the moment, I could think of no one to hand
my fortune down to. I reached over to the pen and then I gasped with shock. As
my hand approached the pen, a strange energy began to fill me, an ancient power
that has been lost for countless years. As my hands neared the pen, the wounds
on my arm began to heal, as did my severely injured legs. I felt strong again.
But just before my hands closed around the cryptic object, a voice came from
the garage door.
"Stop!
Haruka! Don't touch that pen, it's a transformation pen. If u touch it, you
will lose everything, your dreams of the future, you're entire normal
life!" with that, Michiru took out her own transforming pen
"NEPTUNE STAR POWER!!!!" She faced the monster
"Invited by the new age I am the elegant Sailor Neptune!"
"DEEP
SUBMERGE!!!" Waves of water suddenly appeared around her, they gathered
into a huge spear and charged towards the monster.
"AAAAHH!!"
The monster screeched with agony but it was not dead yet. It rushed towards me
with blinded rage. I just sat there still stunned by the fact that Michiru was
Sailor Neptune. That was pretty stupid. By the time I recovered from shock it
was too late to escape the beast charging towards me.
"DIE!!"
it screamed. Interesting, it talks. I squeezed my eyes shut, really preparing
to die this time, miracles don't happen twice. But the blow never came. I open
one eye and then the other and was shocked to find that Michiru ::cough:: excuse
me Sailor *Neptune* had taken the blow for me. She laid in a puddle of her own
blood. I was really mad, I couldn't explain why either. An hour before, I
would've been delighted to find that Michiru was dead. It would eliminate all
my problems, but now, I was totally pissed off. Maybe it was the fact that she
had just saved my life. Twice. But what ever it was, I reached out and grabbed
my transformation pen. Feeling its smooth surface in my hands I felt memories
flow back to me. I knew what to do... "URANUS STAR POWER!!!" My
sailor senshi fuku formed around my body. As my hands ran over my forehead and
through my hair, my tiara formed. My planet's symbol appeared on my forehead,
and it glowed with the fury I felt inside. "Wherever there is trouble, so
am I, invited by the new age, I am the magnificent Sailor Uranus!!"
"URANUS
WORLD SHAKE" Golden waves formed around me, they gather into a sphere,
just like Neptune's deep submerge, only different. It hit the beast head on,
shattering it into nothing but dust. I quickly turned around and knelt down
next to Sailor Neptune. "Are u all right"
"Yeah, I'll be fine in a while. Senshis heal fast. So,
does this mean that you're gonna help me find the talisman?"
"Do I have
a choice?" Sailor Neptune chuckled. But I was kidding. Ever since
transforming into Sailor Uranus, everything seemed clear. I had to find the
talisman… or die trying. It was my destiny. Even I can't escape that. Not even
the wind can outrun the works of destiny...
EPILOGUE
I walked out
the garage door. It had started to rain. The pattering of light drizzle seemed
to calm me. The cool rain soaked my hair, washing away the blood and horror of
the past hour. The sweet smell of the grass seemed to promise a new beginning.
A new challenge, and this time, I'll face it with a friend by
my side. The first real friend I've had in years. I smiled as I realized that
since the death of my parents, I had never been this happy, or content.
The drizzle soon stopped, and the sun broke clear of the
clouds. Just like I've finally broke free of my loneliness...
"…that use to be my dream,
my current dream is to do something that only I can do,
and for that I will sacrifice anything…"
[owari]
