Red

Makoto scratched her brunette head as she pondered over the new dish she created. It was a dish compiled of her favourite dish - teriyaki grilled salmon from back home in Japan – and combining it with the Chinese style of putting it in between a flat bun like those 'dim sums' they have.

Only recently did she get this job as an assistant cook in a Chinese restaurant at the suburban area of London, which, belonged to the Chinese mafia Triads in London that helped her settled her 'legality' in London. She joined them once they offered her the settlement and peace, though it came as a price at being their runner.

"You think dish Chinese-like?" the Chinese head chef asked her in his weird accented English.

"We can try, sir," Makoto smiled back at the head chef.

"I think yummy." the head chef smiled back at her.

Makoto gave a light chuckle as she wiped her hands on the apron covering her full white cook uniform. A waiter opened the door to the kitchen Makoto was in and shouted "Kino! Someone looking for you!"

Makoto gave a slight bow, Japanese style, before excusing herself out.

Makoto could hear the male waiters buzzing around as they crowd round the only person in the restaurant. It was 3 in the afternoon and the restaurant's close to prepare for the dinner time crowd. Makoto unhooked her apron and left it on the nearest table to the kitchen door as she approached the crowd.

"What's your name, pretty lady?"

"Give I number?"

"Drink? Free! I treat!"

Makoto cleared her throat loudly once she stood directly behind the crowd. The crowd opened up… revealing Makoto's wallet, jacket, a walking stick for the blind…and her.

Makoto stopped breathing at once she saw the aqua haired lady.

She is an angel.

Dressed in a light blue flowered pattern summer dress that hung loosely off her shoulders with her hair slightly tied back; this lady was gorgeous. Her beautiful deep blue eyes looked ahead into the distance as her features fixated into a warm expression that had a small smile playing on her lips. The smile didn't look plastered or fake, but just natural… as if this lady was born to smile.

"You're the one from yesterday… " Makoto started.

As if the woman could see using her ears, deep blue eyes shot up and met Makoto's green ones. The aqua haired woman gave a big smile. "Thank you for your jacket! I managed to find you here because the attendant at the hotel said there is a piece of paper that has this address written here. Your name is Tenoh Haruka?"

Tenoh Haruka?

Oh!

Makoto took her wallet and blushed gently before doing a hand signal effectively shushing all the waiters standing around her. She put her index finger to her lips to indicate them to seal their lips as she glared at them.

Tenoh Haruka was her fake name.

It is the name the triads came up with to fake a work permit so that the police wouldn't suspect anything. Even if they did, they will just fake another work permit with another name, so Makoto's real name will always stay hidden. However, since the work permit name of Tenoh Haruka, no authorities had 'busted' her, neither was she busted in any of her runner jobs for the Chinese triads she had done so far.

"Yes…Tenoh Haruka," Makoto reaffirmed the lady.

The lady beamed again, her blooming smile. Suddenly, Makoto is reminded of the rainbow. "Kaioh Michiru."

Makoto went wide eyed. "You're Japanese too?"

Kaioh Michiru nodded as the big smile never left her face.

Makoto then bust out in Japanese "Pleased to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine," Michiru replied back, in English, however.

Makoto smiled, as she took her wallet, but then proceeded to take the jacket and put it on Michiru's lap. "You keep this, Kaioh-san. The weather here gets cold in the night."

Michiru nodded again and smiled, before Makoto started pushing the waiters away to disperse the crowd. They groaned and complained softly in their own respective Chinese dialects, which made Michiru chuckle softly.

"So… what are you in London for?"

"I'm here on vacation."

Makoto nodded in silence for a while, before realizing Michiru was blind and saying "Ah", belatedly.

"Haruka-san… I have a favour to ask."

"Yes?" Makoto really could get used to this name… this Tenoh Haruka.

"Can you…tell me what exactly is a rainbow? I asked the hotel staff and they said they didn't know how to tell me. I want to know what it is…what you said yesterday intrigued me."



Makoto shrugged as she said "Well, we did meet because of a rainbow."

"Well, a rainbow must be a wonderful thing then… what is it?"

Makoto cracked her head to think of the proper scientific definition of rainbow. "Erm, well… light… shines through water droplets… d-d-dividing… erm…"

Michiru chuckled.

"Ah heck, it's like a bridge across the sky that is made of 7 stripes in 7 different colours. It will only come out after a storm, if you are lucky enough to see it. But you…"

"It's okay, go on." Michiru smiled, and instantly Makoto felt very guilty.

"A rainbow is untouchable; no smell, silent, and tasteless. It's just a colour bridge in the sky. The colours are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. It reaches across one end of the sky to the other into a semi circle shape."

"Where does it start and end…?" Michiru asked, eyes now staring off into a distance. Her expression was scrunched, as if struggling to find a mental picture of what Makoto was describing.

"Nobody knows, but in fairytales they say that pots of gold can be found at the ends of the rainbow to make the finders rich."

"Do you believe in it?"

Makoto chuckled as she shook her head… before answering belatedly again "No".

"I know what a semi circle is… I've felt them before. But it's a pity… I've never known what the colours look like. I never will. I want to see a rainbow too… and colours. The way you said them… they sounded so fascinating…"Michiru trailed off, her face becoming a little down cast.

"I… am sorry…" Makoto sighed as she then basked in sad silence with Michiru for half a minute.

Michiru can't see… probably won't be able to see. What good are colours to Michiru? But then… then...!

"You could feel colours!" Makoto suddenly said.

"Excuse me?"

"Feel colours. Just like Beethoven can compose music even when he's deaf, he feels the music in him, though he never gets to hear them. Alright, he heard before once and know the notes and sounds, but then you could feel the colours!"

Michiru broke into a smile as she, again, looked as though she could see using her ears as her eyes gazed directly into Makoto's ones. "I could…"

"Hold on, let's start with red. Red red red…" Makoto's mind raced as she thought about how red would feel like.

The rose in the vase on the counter caught her attention.

Red; it can signify passionate love… but also cruel blood. A rose is the best way to feel it. Makoto quickly walked to the counter and grabbed the rose on the counter. Then she rushed back and held in on the stem to Michiru.

"Is that a rose?"

"How'd you know?"

Michiru smiled, "I could smell it."

Makoto knelt down in front of Michiru as she held the rose in front of her. "Touch this... this is the rose's petals."

Makoto brought the rose up to brush against Michiru's hands. Michiru's finger's clipped one petal and caressed it lightly, taking in the softness and the smoothness of it.

Yet despite the softness and smoothness, Michiru knew the petal was pretty tough to pluck, and pretty tough to tear. Suddenly, the rose petal slipped from her finger as she felt a hard stem poking her hands. Michiru reached out to clip the stem with her thumb, index and middle finger. She ran them all the way till she gave out a small yelp.

"Oh damn, sorry sorry Kaioh-san! I didn't know the thorn on the rose was so sharp!"

Michiru smiled and nodded as Makoto grabbed her fingers and begin to start pressing the wound. "Bleeding… damn."

And Makoto sucked the little bit of blood oozing out of Michiru's cut. Michiru froze then giggled at the ticklish feeling. Makoto, done with sucking, then spit the salivia out onto a nearby grabbed tissue.

"So that's how red is? Tough and pleasant…yet also hard and hurting?"

"Yeah. But I'm sorry about your finger, Kaioh-san-"

"Michiru."

"Mi-Michiru…san."

Michiru chuckled. Makoto really could get used to this soft laughter. "That's red… what about the other colours? Orange is next…isn't it?"

Makoto thought for a while, but as soon as she started thinking on ideas on how to present orange to let Michiru feel it, the head chef shouted for her. Makoto tied to ignore him the first time, but the head chef got impatient.

"Michiru-san? Could you wait for me if you have nothing to do? I will buy you dinner… you can eat here. I'll cook for you."

"I have nothing else to do, Haruka-san. And you're the only person I know here… in London," Michiru admitted, a little sadly.

Makoto slumped for a while, before she got an idea.