CHAPTER 1. FELL FROM THE SKY OF KYOTO
She opened the big window and let the early morning breeze invade the large bedroom on the first floor of the villa in the district of Azabu. She breathed in deeply and let herself be kissed by the warm newborn sunlight.
She looked at the sky of Tokyo, which had started to know since a few weeks. It was so different from that of Kyoto. Despite the temperature of the spring was not very different between the two cities, the colors of that sky were less bright.
Lisa felt a slight breeze gently blow through her hair and closed his eyes as if to let that sweet April wind take her away from there, in his villa at Katsura, in western Kyoto, where she created her world during the previous 5 years of her life. The scent and the elegance of her city, the colors of the cherry blossoms, her friends ... Everything was changed forever.
She felt shivers running on the skin of the naked shoulders, it was still very early. She could not sleep well, her new life had still many unexplored sides, it would have taken time for her to leave Kyoto and all that it meant to her behind. She would have never forgotten, she did not want to forget, but she felt she needed a little time to accept that the town of cherry trees was her past, and no longer her present and her future.
She closed the window and headed for the shower of her private bathroom. She lowered the straps of her nightgown, which fell slightly on the floor, then took off her panty and stand wrapped in the warmth of the water that flowed over her shoulders, back and hips. Her long, black hair black absorbed the water and its transparency quickly, while Lisa's eyes were closed, waiting for the little river that flowed over her body to transmit all its delicacy and heat.
When she was ready to face the world, she came out of that little haven of solitude and water, dried her hair quickly, leaving them partly wet, and wore the uniform of the Toho School. She glanced in the mirror and combed his long hair falling in front of the large dark eyes, placing them better on the sides of the face.
They were already three weeks she had started going to her new school, she had collected empathy and solidarity for the great change in her life by many friends and classmates. Her classmate, despite being very shy and having visibly changed color when she was sitting next to him, was a sincere and sensitive boy, he helped her a lot to get back to par with the lessons, in paying all notes and spending also some time with her during the lunch hour.
Yes, definitely she was tying to Takeshi, she felt that he could become a friend and a confidant to her.
Lisa came down the stairs, determined to make a quiet breakfast with his mother, since his father was away on business, as was often the case since he had moved to Tokyo. She smiled to see the table of large and bright living room perfectly ready for breakfast, adorned with a cream-colored linen damask tablecloth where dishes full of colorful food sat placidly.
She had a subtle feeling that the nostalgy for her home in Katsura was starting to fade, despite Kyoto and its Hanami would continue to remain etched in her mind forever.
"Lisa, we're going to the soccer field, you want to come? We are part of the fans, along with other girls of the fourth and fifth year, you could join us! We watch the training, we bring fresh water and towels to our players "- said two of her classmates after school, approaching the bench where she was still sitting with Takeshi.
"Sorry girls, but I have to study to catch up with the lessons, I am still a little back and I want to keep the same grades I had in Kyoto" - she said, smiling.
"Look, there is more to think about besides the study, you know? I'll show you something more interesting... "- said Kora, one of the classmates who had shown sympathy to her. She had told her that her parents were originally from Kyoto, then she had proved friendly and kind.
Lisa looked at her for a moment. She was not very high, she had a sweet face framed by short black hair and a fringe covering her forehead. Lisa took a deep breath and relaxed, she had to satisfy Kora and the other girl, they just wanted to involve her and make her feel at ease.
Lisa turned to Takeshi. "You told me that you play soccer, Takeshi?" Takeshi Sawada looked at her, but then looked away quickly. That girl was too beautiful to look into her eyes, he felt his cheeks burning whenever his sight hesitated on the lips, eyes or hair.
"Yes, I play soccer" - replied softly. Lisa smiled and Takeshi and he thought that girl could shine with her own light.
"You know, Takeshi, I love soccer, my father gave me his passion, ever since I was a child I watched the matches with him on television! Having no sons, he wanted to share this great interest with me. Actually, it is a bit that I do not follow our national soccer, as I was engaged in the study ... But I can always remedy ... "
Lisa stood up and took Takeshi's arm, urging him to follow her example. "Takeshi, I wanted to study, but Kora convinced me. And then, if you're there in the field, I can not miss! I want to see how you play... "- she said, dragging him out of the classroom.
Kora and the other girl followed them, and noted mischievously that the color of the face of Takeshi Sawada was going through all shades of red, from crimson to purple to burgundy.
"Lisa, look at him ... Is not he great?" - said Kora clinging to her arm and throwing a dreamy look to the soccer field.
"Whom you speak about, Kora? The players are fifteen ... "- she replied with a smile. Kora looked at her shocked.
"Are you kidding, I hope? Cannot you see? The most handsome of all, half of the girls of the Toho School is in love with him! "Lisa looked at the players in the field with more attention, she did not want to disappoint that who could become her friend.
"They look the same, to be honest ... They are all very good, Takeshi is a great midfielder..." Kora stared at her open-mouthed.
"Lisa, I'm sorry, but do not you see that cool guy who defends the goal? Look at him... Do not tell me you had not noticed!" Lisa looked toward the goal.
"So? What's up? Sure is that you, beautiful as you are, you may even achieve it... "- chirped Kora.
"Achieve what?" "Well, have a date with Ken Wakashimazu!" Lisa stared at her for a moment, then she looked back at the goalkeeper. Sure, he was a great guy, there was no doubt.
"Excuse me, if you like him so much, why you do not try to date him?" - she asked smiling.
"But... Lisa, he is unattainable for us of the third year! He dates only older girls! Moreover, famous and handsome... He can choose who he wants! "
Lisa shrugged and shook her head. "In my opinion, a guy dates a girl he falls in love with, has nothing to do if it's the first, third or fifth year."
Kora was struck by the words of Lisa. Sure that girl was just straight and sincere. She understood immediately that she had something special inside, beyond the obvious beauty.
"Maybe you're right, you know?" - she said still tightening her arm. Lisa smiled and looked back at the team's training.
She thought that Takeshi was a midfielder like few others, caring and safe, with a great ball control. He had to be the director of the team. Lisa thought his style of play should also reflect his way of thinking about human relationships. She felt that the friendship that was blossoming between them could put firm roots.
The coach called a pause of rest for the guys, who reached the bench flushed and tired. Lisa noticed that Takeshi had stopped to talk to the charming goalkeeper who monopolized the attention of the female gender at the sideline.
"Lisa, come on, give me satisfaction, isn't he a dream?" - Kora began looking dreamily towards Takeshi and the athletic goalkeeper.
"Of course, no one can deny that he is a nice guy..." - she said, looking back at her classmate. Lisa noticed that the other seven girls who made up the group of supporters of the team looked stubbornly towards the handsome goalkeeper. It could almost draw a line that started from their eyes, and reached the goal defended by athletic boy with long black hair.
Then she turned back to the field looking for Takeshi. Suddenly, she felt that the atmosphere in the field was changed. There was a palpable tension, something that she could not define, but that certainly had cancelled the calm feeling that the team's training had passed to her until then.
"Come on, ladies, training is just beginning, back in the field immediately, now you play for keeps!" – she heard saying by a new player who she had never seen until then. She saw that he turned first to Takeshi, and then to the beautiful goalkeeper. "Takeshi, follow me! And you, Wakashimazu, get ready to get a real shot. "
Lisa noticed that surpassed in stature most of his teammates, apart from the fascinating goalkeeper. Tanned skin contrasting with the color of the skin of the other players, had a different fit in his voice, something aggressive and charismatic at the same time. The hair, black and longer than the average of all the guys she had seen at Toho School, framed a face with regular features, tense but not hard.
Lisa saw that all players obeyed without a murmur to the newcomer and immediately returned to training in the field.
"Kora, who is that guy just came in?" - asked Lisa. Kora looked at her with wide eyes.
"But how... Don't you know? That is the captain of the football team. Everyone knows him in the school, is the only one who is here thanks to a scholarship." Lisa laid her eyes on him again and noticed that all the other players slavishly followed the instructions of their captain.
"He's a nice guy too, Kora" – she said with a disarming sincerity. Kora stared at her in shock.
"Lisa, but what do you say? That boy is different from us, don't you see? It comes from another world, has a difficult and shady character, almost does not speak to anyone, apart from his teammates on the field. Off the football field, he just talks with Takeshi and Wakashimazu. It seems that, in addition to studying and playing soccer, is forced to work for the precarious economic situation of the family. I give you some advice, stay away from him, can become violent, just see how he plays. "
Lisa looked back at him and noticed that since he joined, the game had changed, faster, aggressive and… effective. All the players were giving the maximum, while before his entry into the field Lisa had breathed a decidedly more relaxed.
"What's his name?" - she asked Kora while still watching the captain of Toho. "Hyuga Kojiro" - replied the girl.
The training lasted for nearly two hours, Lisa noticed that all the players were exhausted, all but their captain, who continued to run, call the others and shoot with the same power with which he had started. A couple of players had also been knocked down by their captain, but no one complained, no one gave up, everyone had kept playing.
That boy gave her a strange feeling, it was as if the others were playing for fun while he kicked the ball to prove something, or to release some anger inside him.
"Guys, today the workout is over" - said the coach. Lisa saw all the players throw themselves to the ground without even being able to get to the bench. It was obvious that they were exhausted.
"Come on Lisa, come with me, it's up to us now" - said Kora. "Take some bottles and towels like the other girls and distribute them to our players."
Lisa took a couple of bottles of water and two towels and headed for the field. She noted that four girls had surrounded the handsome goalkeeper, who did not know from which of them get water and a towel, certainly he feared to hurt them choosing one.
Lisa felt tenderness for his embarrassment and she thought that he had to be a guy with a crystal soul. She went towards Takeshi and handed him water and towel.
"Thank you Lisa, you're very kind" - he said with obvious embarrassment. "You've been very good, Takeshi. You're a great director, you know?"- she said with a bright smile.
Lisa turned around and saw that all the players had received water and towel. Then she saw the captain of Toho sitting on the grass, alone. None of the girls had approached him.
"Takeshi, I go to your captain." Takeshi looked at her in amazement. "Usually I bring water and towel to the captain, Lisa ..." - he murmured. She gave no attention to him, she turned and strode toward Hyuga.
Lisa sat down nearby. Kojiro noticed the presence of someone next to him and turned around. Lisa watched the beautiful face tense and sweaty, his eyes, deep and black, the lips slightly parted who helped him to better breath the air after the effort of the training.
Kojiro stared at her without speaking, a sharp and direct gaze. Lisa gave him water and towel.
"Captain, these are for you" - she said, smiling. Kojiro stood and continued to watch. Black eyes black who stood out like pearls on ivory skin, lips drawn, and long straight hair that looked like silk... That girl did not seem real for how much beautiful she was.
"So are you not thirsty? Do not you want to wipe the sweat?" Kojiro took the towel and water bottle from her hand, touching it. He continued to stare at her without speaking, but he saw that she did not look down, she was still looking and smiling at him, she was not intimidated by his silence.
He began to drink the water and ran the towel on the face and neck, then looked back at the stranger who was sitting next to him. "Who are you?" - he asked abruptly.
"Sure, you're right, I did not introduce myself! I'm Spencer Lisa, I just got into the Toho School. I moved from Kyoto "- she said. He stood still in silence for a few moments. "I'm Hyuga Kojiro."
"Nice to meet you!" - she said taking his hand and squeezing it. Kojiro looked at his hand clutched in hers. Lisa noticed the look of astonishment with which the boy watched their joined hands.
"I am sorry, I forgot that I am no longer at the International School of Kyoto, you know there we shake hands when we meet!"
Kojiro went on to observe her. That girl seemed to fall from the sky. She was not just beautiful, she had a palpable aura of positivity around.
He held her hand in his longer than he had realized. Lisa looked at the hand still clutched in one of Kojiro's and smiled.
"Do you mind if I take it back?" Kojiro saw the hand and left it. "I was lost in thought."
"The other girls have asked me to join the group of supporters, I hope you do not mind, Captain!" Mark stared at her as if he was in trance and shook his head.
"Perfect! So see you tomorrow! I was pleased to meet you, Kojiro." And saying so, she walked away, taking with her the smile and the swaying hair moved by the gentle breeze that had risen in that late spring afternoon.
"Lisa, you do not want to go to Hyuga again, right? See that I have warned you, it is an unpredictable guy... "- Kora whispered in her ear the following day.
Lisa turned to her for a moment, then focused again on the playing field where the captain of Toho was loading one of his powerful shots toward the goal defended by the charming goalkeeper.
Lisa noticed that, when he was in the field, Takeshi served practically only his captain, the other strikers seemed transparent. He looked at him with admiration and fear at the same time.
"Kora, I spoke to him yesterday and he seemed to me a guy like everyone else, I cannot understand why you're afraid" - she said, still looking at the soccer field.
Kora went back to stare Lisa. It had become clear to her that the new girl had something different inside. She did not seem to notice the evident social gap that existed between the captain of Toho and the other guys. It was as if the differences did not exist for her, she looked at people through different eyes.
There was something oddly candid in her eyes and in her smile, she trusted others... Maybe too much, Kora thought.
She sighed and shrugged. "All right, Lisa, do as you think, but promise me you'll be careful." Lisa looked back at her with a transparent expression. "It's a guy Kora, it's not a beast!" "On this I would have something to say, Lisa... There must be a reason why they call him "The Tiger "..."
Lisa shook her head slightly. "Whatever is said about him, it is right that one of us brings him water and towel, if you do not want to do that, I will" - she replied firmly.
The training ended shortly after and the girls began to distribute water and towels to the exhausted players. The first to receive the female attention was Ken Wakashimazu, as always surrounded by four girls each held out a towel and a bottle of water. The goalkeeper was still evidently embarrassed, not knowing whom to choose.
Lisa looked up at the sky and put her hand over her eyes, that day the sun was particularly intrusive and had mercilessly cast its rays on the Toho players. It was evident that the month of April was warmer than usual and spring would soon leave room for the summer heat.
She looked back at the field and looked around the captain of Toho. He sat on the ground as the previous day, but there was something different, he was looking in her direction, it was as if he was waiting for her. Lisa raised her hand in greeting and walked toward him.
"Hello captain, I'm sorry if I made you wait, I was looking at the sun" - she said candidly. Kojiro watched her for a long moment. Sun? He seemed to have it in front of him, did not need to look at the sky... That girl was so bright that he suspected she might obscure, that sun of which she spoke.
Lisa sat beside him as the day before and gave him water and towel. Kojiro thought he had something crystalline un the voice and in the face. That girl was unafraid of the others...
"Captain? Don't you want the water and the towel? "- she asked.
"Of course, I was lost in thought" - he replied quickly taking what her hands were offering him.
"Yesterday you were in thought too..." - she said, smiling. The captain of Toho passed the towel on his forehead and began to drink the water.
Then something happened that Kojiro had not anticipated. "Wait..." - and said that, Lisa took the towel and passed it on his hair and on his neck. Kojiro was enchanted staring at that girl wiping his sweat. He felt to have entered a virtual reality. "That's better..." - she said.
But how could she be so spontaneous? She was different from the other rich and spoiled girls who attended the Toho School... She seemed to come from a parallel universe. Maybe ... The International School she had mentioned ... Her surname itself was different ...
"You deeply love soccer, do you?" - she asked. Kojiro nodded without taking his sight off her. Her face and her hair were like magnets for his eyes, which persistently remained glued to her.
"You play differently from all other players. It's like... Like if it's the most important thing in your life "- she said, still staring straight at him.
Kojiro felt a warm feeling to see that strong sight and to perceive the disarming sincerity of that girl.
"I'm going, maybe there are other teammates who have not yet had the water and the towel..." - said Lisa, trying to get up.
Before he could even think about what he was doing, Kojiro took her wrist firmly and she fell back on the grass. Lisa turned to him questioningly.
"Stay a little more" - he said giving her a long and penetrating look. Lisa smiled. Still, he thought Kojiro. How many times she had smiled since he had met her? Of course most of all those idiots of his schoolmates put together since he started at Toho School.
"Okay, but will you give me my wrist back?" - she said candidly. Kojiro noticed only then that her wrist was still firmly clutched in his hand. She left her and quickly looked away from her.
"Sorry, I was..." "I know, you were in thought" - she said, finishing the sentence that Kojiro had in mind. He looked at her and saw again that smile, he thought he could light up a dark room.
He ran a hand through his rebellious and black hair and a smile also flooded his face. Lisa looked at him and thought that the boy's features were more delicate than it emerged with his usual expression, tense and shady.
"You know what, captain? I like you better when you smile... "- and saying so, she got up and ran away, leaving the captain of Toho stunned on the field, admiring the elegant movements of long silky hair and slim hips of that strange creature falling from the sky.
Note to the kind readers: this is my first fiction in English (which is my second language, progressively becoming my first language since I am living in North America, I use English every day!). I would really appreciate your feedback and help to ameliorate my style! I am really grateful to everyone of you who will read and comment. It helps me grow and get motivated! Thanks, dear friends!