Maiko watched the city during the train ride. It was night and within the street lights the view on the city was beautiful. Maiko couldn't see if anything changed at all, but all she cared about was that one special place, she used to play with him.
Sighing an SMS just reminded her why she returned in the first place.
I'm sorry, I'll be a bit late. Love, your father.
With a 'tch' she shut down her cell phone. He didn't change at all. Her father had married someone else; Maiko didn't recall the name and didn't care at all. It was the third woman after her father broke with her mother.
Her father expected her to meet the new fiancée. Her mother of course wasn't invited. Everything had gone worse since they broke. If only he'd be still alive.
She'd cried for days when she heard about his death. Her mother didn't allow her to attend the funeral. She hated her mother for that. She had never heart a single 'I love you mom' since then.
He would have scolded her for that, but she didn't care.
Finally the train arrived. Maiko didn't bother waiting for her father. Knowing him he'd forgotten about her. AGAIN!
Maiko made her way on herself. From what she saw the city didn't change a lot. She came across the palomolia mall. The shops were all the same, even the fountain. The only change was it was all updated to the newest technology. Sighing she continued her walk.
At the strip mall she was happy to see the takoyaki stand was still there. It was open even longer. She bought some takoyakis and a mad bull energy drink from a nearby vending machine.
Automatically she remembered the day he brought her. A tear ran down her cheek. Suddenly she wasn't hungry anymore.
She threw everything into a nearby trash can and walked away. She wandered simply around the city without any sense of direction. Sometime she checked her cell phone: no message.
"He really has forgotten me, AGAIN!" Maiko gritted her teeth. She wouldn't cry. There was no need to cry over worthless parents.
Yes she finally said it: WORTHLESS PARENTS!
"Worthless, worthless, worthless!" she repeated over and over and over, teary eyed.
Eventually she found herself at the stairs towards the shrine. Suddenly she had a heavy weight on her chest. With each step she took it grew heavier and heavier. The shrine itself didn't change at all. You could see everything was in good shape. She laughed dryly when she saw herself as a kid with him playing alongside her. Her mind must be playing tricks on her.
Suddenly he was gone and there was only the lonely girl left. She turned around. Maiko stared into the yellow glowing eyes of her younger self. Maiko gasped and shook her head clear. The girl was gone. Suddenly Maiko felt the weight back on her chest. She didn't notice it had been gone.
She took another look at her cell phone. No message, no missed phone calls.
"I mean nothing to them." she summarized. Instead of walking towards her dad's place, she walked towards the graveyard. That much she owed him for not showing up on his funeral.
After she passed the gates, the weight grew even heavier. None the less, she made her way towards his gravestone. Step by step. The night was silent. No wind, no insect, just her and the various gravestones. And soon she reached the one stone.
Minato Arisato
1993 - 2010
Next to him were his parents buried. Both died 1999.
"I never knew..." she whispered. He didn't even have any parents.
"It must have been tough for you. I was talking about my parents all the time and never saw your suffering. I am a horrible person. I missed your funeral, I was getting on your nerves...haha..I even had the guts to ask you if you'd marry me! Haha, oh that was hilarious! You must have felt really awkward!"
Tears were now floating down her face as she remembered the time they spent together. The night was cold, she was shivering, but it didn't matter to her. Eventual the cold overcame her along with exhaustion and the overwhelming weight on her chest.
She was in a dark place. But she wasn't alone. There was her younger self with the yellow glowing eyes. She gestured towards a corner. There was a girl, no older than ten. She had black hair, green eyes and wore nothing more than a black dress. She was...lonely.
The younger Maiko nodded in agreement. Maiko walked towards the girl and crouched down before her.
"Hey" she spoke softly "are you alright?" The girl looked up, but didn't respond.
"Are you lonely?" Maiko asked. Again no respond.
"You can come with me if you want." The girls eyes lit up in a mixture of disbelief and hope.
Maiko smiled and took the girls hand. Together they walked away...
Maiko was wearing a beautiful white wedding dress with sapphires attached to each white glove she was wearing. There were also sapphires attached at from the bottom to the top of the wedding dress in straight lines. Maiko saw Minato wearing a simple smoking, nothing worth mentioning. He always liked it simple. Out of his pocket he took out two rings with sapphires attached to them. He put one on her left hand on the ring finger and the other one on his. Without warning he pulled the girl towards him and kissed her on the lips. Maiko was stunned for a second, but soon kissed back.
"I love you. Forever and ever and ever." Maiko whispered.
Minato chuckled slightly. "I know. I love you too."
"Please, I don't want to be alone anymore."
Minato kissed her again. "I promise, I'll never leave you."
"Due to the malfunction in the switching system, today's rail schedule has been greatly altered. We apologize to any customers who were in a hurry. The next stop is Iwatodai..."