A five year old girl with blue eyes and choppy brown hair raced across a wide open medow on the edge of a rice paddy. Her sister, two years older than her with green eyes and the same brown hair that went to her shoulders, chased after her. Both girls were giggling and laughing.
"I'm gonna get you, Hitori-chan!" the older girl called.
Hitori just giggled in response. The two girls drew closer and closer to the forest. Hitori started to zig-zig and her sister followed suit. Finally, Hitori turned around and fell backward onto the ground. When her sister caught up, she lay besid her. The two of them laughed for a while then gradually quiet. They stared at the clouds as they rolled by in the sky.
After a while, Hitori turned to her sister. "Takano-onii-san, where will we live when we grow up?" she asked.
Takano looked at Hitori and then back at the sky. "We're going to live in a big house in the city. Right in the middle of it." she said
Hitori giggled. "Will we be married?"
Tanako faked a serious look. "No, we will never get married." She turned to her sister and smiled. "No man will ever be good enough."
The two burst into laughter. When they settled down, Hitori asked, "When you get married...will we never see eachother again?"
Takano sat up and looked down at her young sibling. Hitori looked up at her, her eyes very serious. Takano turned away and pulled her knees to her chest and set her head on her knees. She thought for a while. Then she shook her head. "No, I'll never let that happen." She looked up at the sky. "When I get married, I'm gonna take you away with me and you're gonna live with me until you get married."
Hitori sat up beside Takano and hugged her arm. She looked down at the grass. "What about mommy and daddy?" she asked quietly.
Takano frowned looked down at HItori. She patted her sister's head with her free hand. Hitori snuggled closer to her. Takano scanned Hitori's body. She had a ragged grey shirt stained with mud and shreaded tan pants. Her shoes were nothing more than peices of cloth tied up with string. Her arms, legs, and face were smuged with dirt and ash. Takano knew that most of what appeared to be grime on her sister's body were actually bruises. She knew because she had ones to match under her own filthy skin and worn-out clothes. She hugged Hitori close to her.
"You love them, don't you?" Takano said quietly.
Hitori nodded. A tear slowly rolled down Takano's cheek. Her sister was far too sweet and kind to hate her parents for what they did to her.
"Mommy and daddy will come too." she whispered, "But they won't live with us. You and I will live in a house of our own."
Hitori lay her head on Takano's shoulder and closed her eyes. "I'd like that." she cooed, before drifting off to sleep.
"You lazy, good-for-nothing slob! You're just a waste of food and space! Can't you do anything right?"
Takano trembled in a corner whilt her father yelled at her. In another room, Hitori cried softly. Their mother stood behind their father, arms folded over her chest, and looked at Takano dissapprovingly. A broken bottle of Sake lay in a puddle on the floor.
"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" the enraged man demanded. Takano looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." she said hoarsely, "I'll buy you more, I'm sorry."
The man bent down and hauled pulled Takano up by her hair. "Speak up! I can't understand anything you say!" he sceamed.
Hitori wailed in the other room. Their mother turned toward the door. 'Stop your crying in there!" she snapped.
Takano's father dropped her on the ground and kicked her in the stomach. Takano doubled over and gasped for air. Her hauled her up off the ground by the hem of her shirt. "Appologize!" he demanded.
Takano wimpered. "I-I-I did." she said in a quivering breath.
Her father slapped her accross the face. "Don't you lie!" he roared, "Now appologize!" He threw her to the ground.
Takano got on her hands and knees in front of him. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she said as loud as she could managed. Apparently it wasn't loud enough. A fist came down on her head. She spralled on the floor, her vision blurring. She felt a warm trail of blood run down her face. Her father picked her up by her hair again and dragged her outside. Her threw her to the ground beyon their porch.
"You'll eat and sleep with the dogs untill you appologize properly!" he yelled. He stalked back into the house and slammed the door.
Takano lay in the dirt, gasping and crying. I hate him. I hate him wthl all of my body. I wish he'd just die! Both of them! I hope they die and go to hell! She let herself fall asleep, repeating her wish in her head.
Fourteen-year-old Takano slipped out of bed in the middle of the night. She got out of her tattered grey nightgown and pulled a bundle wrapped in brown paper out from under her pillow. She untied the leather string and quietly unwrapped the pakage. There, neatly folded, was a black long-sleeved shirt, black pants and a mask. She carefully lifted the shirt and put it on, followed by the pants. She grabbed the mask and unfolded it gently, revealing a small knife. she picked up the knife and held it up to the moonlight. It glistened and reflected onto her face. She tucked it into a pocket. Then she took the leather string that had been holding the pakage together and used it to tie up her hair, which now went to the middle of her back. She slipped on the mask and carefully opened her door. She looked around to see if her parents were still awake. Satified that they were in bed, she crept down the hall a ways to her sister's room. She quietly opened the door and went over to Hitori's bedside and shook her. "Hitori-chan." she whispered, "Wake up, it's time to go."
Hitori's eyes slowly peeled open and she groggily got out of bed. Takano reached under her pillow and grabbed a package exactly like the one she had gotten her clothing from. "Get dressed. I'm going to the kitchen to pack us some food." Hitori nodded and began fumbling with the leather strap on her package. Takano slipped out of the room and went into the kitchen. She got a rag out of a drawer and laid in out on the table. She gathered up bread and cheese and put it on the cloth. Then she went to a pot on the stove and filled tow small bowls with as much stew as she could. She flipped them over on each other and tied it tight with a scrap of cloth she picked up off the counter. She put the bundle on the rag with the bread and cheese and tied it all up together.
Hitori came out of her room dressed itentically to her sister, except for the mask. She was wide awake now with a look of worry on her face. "Takano-onii..." she said timidly.
Takano strode over and wrapped her arms around the frial creature. "We have to leave, Hitori-chan." she whispered desprately. She pulled away and put her hands on Hitori's shoulders. "Remember that house in the city? We're gonna live there, right?"
Hitori nodded, still unsure. Takano grabbed her hand. "Come on, lets go."
The two girls slipped out the door and ran straight for the woods on the other side of the meadow beyond the rice paddy. They made it to the middle of the meadow when the dogs started barking. Hitori wimpered. "Keep running!" Takano told her.
"Stop! Stop, you ungrateful brats! Get back here!" thei father's voice schreeched.
Takano looked back to see the dogs gaining on them and their father running behind. "Faster, Hitori!" she screamed.
Just then, Hitori gasped and fell. Takano whipped around. "Hitori!"
Hitori clutched her leg. Tears welled in her eyes. "Go, Takano! Go on!" she cried.
Takano dropped down by her sister's side and shook her head. "No. No, I'm not going to leave you."
Hitori looked up at Takano, pain in her eyes. "You have to. You have to get out of here now or you'll be stuck here forever." she said, choking back sobs.
Takano felt tears prick her eyes. "I'm going to come back for you. I'll earn lots of money and buy a house in the city. And then I'll come back for you." she promised.
HItori smiled. "I know you will." she said sweetly.
Takano hugged Hitori tightly and then dashed off into the woods, blinded by tears. She didn't stop running. She didn't look back. She kept going. She had to get away. For Hitori.
Takano sat watching the Hyuuga girl slowly wake up. She had eaten a small meal and the empty container lay beside her, still half full. The words of the man who employed her rang in her head. "Bring this girl to me. Alive. If you can do that, I'll pay you excessivly." he said. "How excessivly?" she questioned. The man grinned. He pulled a pouch from his belt as big as his hand. It was stuffed with coins. "All gold." he said.
It would be more than enough to buy a house. She could return to get her sister. After three years, she doubted Hitori even beleived she was coming back. But, she would keep her promise. No matter what.