Paper Cranes
"Miss Harada has some demands for her dressing room." The small assistant to the famous actress squeaked out to the robust gentleman in charge. The manger sighed, after working in show business long enough he'd heard all kind of demands. Most of them were outrageous and ridiculous; they had ranged from having a selection of fifty different teas available so the star could have just the right blend, to having their own furniture fit into the room. Dreading what was about to come out of the assistant's mouth, but knowing it was inevitable, the manager waved a hand to signal the assistant to spit it out.
Shakily, the intimidated assistant pulled out a small scrap of paper and the manger felt a small shred of relief. A small piece of paper couldn't mean anything too demanding could it? But then again anything could be written on it. "Miss Harada," the assistant began "would like a small statue of a white snake and some sake." He finished in a hurry. One eyebrow on the manger's face raised in surprise. That was it? Usually upcoming actresses had diva like demands, believing now they were famous they could get whatever they wanted. Glancing down at the poor assistant, who had now started to shake, the manager took pity on him. "Don't worry kid, we'll get what Miss Harada wants." The manager had never seen someone looked so relieved and the assistant began to thank him profusely "Thank you so much, Miss Harada usually brings her own statue but she forgot and she was really upset and I've not been her assistant long…" It shows the manger thought to himself "and I said I'd tell you what she wanted but she was really worried you'd say no and…"
"Kid," the manger interrupted to babble of words pouring out from the assistant "just go back to your boss and give her the good news ok?" With a quick jerk of his head, the assistant scampered off down the hallway, leaving the manger to contemplate where to get a snake statue and a white one in particular.
A gentle knock at the door pulled Asami Harada from her musings. She'd finally become an actress after years of hard work and still couldn't believe how lucky she was. Rising from her seat, she pulled open the dressing room door to find her new assistant, Jun Takeshi, beaming at her. He reminded her of herself when she'd first come to the city and ended up as an assistant to that hag. Asami smiled back at him, she'd sent him on a quick errand a few minutes ago and judging by the grin he was giving her, he had some good news. Waving her had, Asami gestured for him to come in and tell her the news. Closing the door behind him, Jun launched into his report. "Miss Harada, I spoke with the manager and they're going to procure you a white snake statue and find some sake to go with it!" excitement weaved through Jun's voice as he delivered the news with the knowledge that Miss Harada would be pleased. He was not mistaken. "That's wonderful Jun! I'm so relieved they'll do it! I can't believe I forgot my own statue at home." Asami said happily. She had felt a bit lost without her statue, her own personal good luck charm and was so relieved they'd agreed to find one for her.
Lost in her own joy, she failed to notice Jun was still in the dressing room, instead of leaving like usual. It was only when a timid "Miss Harada?' reached her ears that she snapped out of it. "Jun? Is there something else you needed?" she asked concerned. It was unlike him to stay after fulfilling his errand, he usually just told her what had happened and left. "I was just wondering Miss Harada, why is the statue and the sake so important to you?" Jun asked quietly and curiously. As he finished the last syllable, the memory began to weave and slither it's way through Asami's head and her lips began to form a gentle smile, however revisiting the memory had caused her to become silent and therefore make her shy assistant nervously babble, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to Miss Harada, I mean if it's something really personal, you'd rather not share and I'm intruding, or maybe it's a painful memory and I'm very sorry for bringing it up Miss Harada, I'll just go and…"
"Jun! It's ok!" Asami's exclamation cut off the rest of the nervous rambling surely ready to follow, "I'll tell you the story of why those items mean so much to me." Asami smiled, pulling another chair from the corner of the dressing room and gesturing for Jun to sit, while she perched on her own. When he'd finally calmed down enough to take a seat, the words began to flow from Asami's lips.
She'd just about had it. Everything she did for that hag was never good enough. Asami didn't care if she was a famous actress, she was a rotten woman. But, the little voice in the back of her mind whispered, without her and this city you won't get to be an actress. A sigh escaped her, knowing her thoughts were right. No matter how rotten the hag was, the only reason Asami was at this fancy party and got to meet Kurama was because she worked for her. Dejectedly, she began to wander in search of the drink that she'd been ordered to get, when a mumbled groaning noise made her pause. Where on earth was that coming from? The noise happened again, so at least she knew it wasn't her imagination. Her hair swished as Asami turned her head and a look of surprise dawned on her features at what she saw. A boy was trembling on the floor by a table, and his skin was looking rather green. She couldn't just leave him there, he clearly needed help. Deciding that the hag could wait, Asami ran over to the boy, pulling his arm over her shoulder and carefully dragging him up to his feet. Gently she began to walk them over to the nearest open door, hoping some fresh air would help him. Suddenly a sharp pain engulfed part of her hip and Asami realised she'd hit the edge of the table the boy was lying by. An empty cocktail glass lay on the table and half of the contents had spilled out. Maybe that was what was wrong with him, he wasn't used to fancy parties and alcohol either.
Finally reaching her destination, she dragged the boy with her through the door to one of the balconies and set him down upon the bench. Her eyes scanned over his form checking for a possible injury she may have missed, in case her assumption about the alcohol was wrong. Well, he seemed ok. That greenish tinge on his skin was starting to fade the longer they were out here. Satisfied that he would be ok for now, Asami took the opportunity to look at him more closely. His hair was odd, she thought, not just for its colour but the way it spiked. The colour had to be natural because the boy's eyebrows and eyelashes were the same shade. The boy was also dressed rather traditionally for a fancy party; he looked more like he was going to a shrine then to hang out with the stars. The other odd thing Asamai noted, was that he had some kind of cape or cloak on him. She had never thought people wore travelling cloaks in real life. They were the kind of thing worn by characters in fantasy novels or by spirits, rather than young boys. But then again, Asami pondered, maybe he had just had a sheltered life.
"You doing ok?" she asked softly, but the boy didn't even stir. "Don't you die here Mister! You've got your whole life ahead of you!" She shouted, hoping to wake him. A soft moan garnered her attention and she watched as confused eyes flickered open. "Who are you? Where'd Lady Nanami go?" an unsure, half asleep voice questioned from the boy's mouth as he turned to face her. "Where am I?"
"Thank goodness you're finally awake. We're outside the wrap party. I was heading to get a drink for the old bag, when I saw you keeled over looking all green. I guess you had a little trouble holding your alcohol, would you like some cold water hon?" Asami said smiling in what she hoped was a reassuring way and held the glass up. The boy was obviously a little disorientated, but now that she'd filled him in, she hoped his memory was coming back to him.
"You were with me this entire time? Thank you." The boy said, his voice still sounding half asleep. One arm had come up to hold the damp cloth she'd placed on his forehead earlier. So he must be doing a little better, Asami concluded. The realisation of how close she was to him suddenly pounded through her and she leapt from her crouch by the bench with a little yelp escaping her lips. "I'm sorry!" Asami cried bowing as a horrible thought struck her, what if this boy was a celebrity? She didn't want to offend him with her own ignorance "I still have some trouble recognising which famous celebrities are which, I just moved here from the country." She said hurriedly, hoping that if he was famous, that'd be enough of an excuse for her ignorance. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Asami registered that the boy had sat up, which was a vast improvement from ten minutes ago, so he must be feeling better. Plus he'd taken the water she'd offered and she hadn't even noticed. That had to be a good sign right? The words continued to pour from her mouth "I came to the city wanting to become an actress, but this is my first time going to a fancy party and I'm just so awkward around all these big stars that I can't even think straight! Everything tonight's felt like such a blur. To top things off, I got to see Kurama in person! He's so perfect it's hard to believe he's even human!" Asami continued to babble, her mouth ignoring her mind's orders to just stop talking. Here she was pouring her heart out to this stranger. For all she knew, he could be a big star that she was embarrassing herself in front off. Her head fell into her hands and she could of sworn she heard the boy say "That's because he isn't" but she was too wrapped up in her thoughts and embarrassment to care.
Asami let her hands drop from her face as she ordered her thoughts. Well, she'd rambled her life story and secrets off to this poor boy, she might as well tell him some more. "I've been so flustered that I haven't even had a normal conversation with anyone today except for you. It's nice to know there's at least one person in this place I can talk too. Thank you for that." She said earnestly. It was true after all. This conversation had been the best part of the party so far.
The boy regarded her solemnly "You don't fit in here either? You shouldn't force yourself to be somebody you aren't." His strange eyes stared at her like he couldn't figure out why she would go through all this trouble. Letting a smile grace her features, Asami answered his unspoken questions "I admit that I still haven't found my way and you know maybe I never will, but the truth is I like this city. I really do. I'll work hard and do my best to make it here. Listen to me, shucks." She hoped her explanation was enough for him and hey, maybe Asami thought, her little heartfelt talk may have helped him as she took in the look on his face. A small whispered "Wow," left his stunned mouth. The smile she had held slowly dropped as a sudden sinking feeling started in the pit of her stomach. She'd been gone from he party far too long and wasn't she supposed to… "Shoot! I gotta hustle back inside the party! She told me to get her a drink and here I am going on long tangents!" clutching her head Asami let the panic flood her. Goodness, what if she got fired! Oh what to do, what to do, ok she had to get back inside now! Turning her head to the bench she began "Well it was nice meeting you and chatting for a bit…" but her voice slowly trailed off as she took in a new sight.
The boy had leapt from the bench and a huge white snake had partially wrapped around him. The boy was smiling down at her as he said "I have to start heading home myself." He was travelling higher, as though that enormous snake was helping him to fly. As she watched him go, a breathless "Oh my,' left her mouth. The boy began to speak again, sounding much stronger than he had earlier. "Thank you for helping me. Here have this, my sacred sake" The boy released a large urn from his hands, but instead of falling and crashing to the ground, it slowly made a course into Asami's outstretched arms. "Drink it and it cleanses the body, serve it and it will bring good fortune. It is the sake of Gods." The boy continued. The urn in her hands suddenly felt very important. The sake of gods? Who exactly was this boy she'd helped? "Thank you again for looking after me tonight!" he yelled his parting words to her. She was aware of her pink dress billowing around her legs in the wind and the sake urn clutched tightly in her arms as she watched him fly higher and higher with the white snake. When she could no longer see him, Asami shook her head and ran back inside. She'd reflect on the strange boy more later, but right now he'd given her sake to serve to the old bag and she had a job to do.
She felt Jun staring at her as she finished her tale. He probably thinks his boss is insane her thoughts cried. Asami turned her head from him. He was quiet too. Jun was never quiet, his nervous disposition made sure of that. Just as she was about to give up, the familiar voice of her assistant saying "I believe you." etched a beaming grin onto her face as she turned her head back to him.
"So err, what happened next? Did you ever find out who he was? Or what he was?" Jun asked.
"The old hag shouted at me when I came back in, but I gave her the sake and it was the first time she actually praised me." Well considering it was apparently the sake of Gods, if the hag hadn't been impressed there was something wrong with her. "But no." she started answering Jun's other question, "I never did find out who or what he was. He was obviously some kind of snake spirit, but there must have been more to him." Asamai had often wondered about that. She doubted any old snake spirit would have given her sacred sake. There must have been something special about the one she'd met.
A loud banging knock at the dressing room door shocked them both. "Miss Harada you're on in five!" an impatient voice snapped. She called back, letting the crew worker know she'd heard. Jun rose from his seat, insisting he get back to work, but before he left he asked her if she would tell him more later. A quick nod of her head, caused her pale brown hair to fly all over the place before Asami dashed out after him and towards the set. As she ran, she let a grin work its way on her face and she hoped that her snake spirit, wherever he was, knew how much he'd helped her.
Hello! Just to let you all know that there may be a companion piece to this in the near future. Thanks for reading.