Academy Monologues
Prompt 2: Kokeshi – Nonoko
Genre: Romance
There's a kimmidoll that says Nonoko means 'carefree'. She wears a navy blue kimono with a pretty pink lotus flower on the front. The expression etched on her face does indeed look calm. It makes me wonder just how accurate kimmidolls are because I, a true Nonoko, am not exactly serene. I may look the part, I may even act it, but as a Chemistry Alice my mind is always running formulas and permutations a mile a minute.
This proved to be my fortune and my weakness.
Three weeks ago, I met Ryoji Uemura. He was part of the Woodworking Club and I came to know him because my mentor sent me to his workshop. At the time, I was trying to concoct a Serenity Draught and I couldn't get it right. When my teacher learned why I was spending extended hours in my lab, she told me it was unhealthy and that I was wasting my time because someone had already perfected this formula. I was intrigued so she sent me to Ryoji to find out exactly how he had done it.
Ryoji is a tall, lanky student with dark hair and warm brown eyes. When I first arrived in his workshop, I was taken aback because the entire room was full of kokeshi dolls. The walls were covered from floor to ceiling with shelves that were occupied by these handmade wooden dolls. The workmanship was clearly first-rate and I found myself standing in awe for about two minutes before I realized their maker was watching me with curiosity and amusement.
"Are you Ryoji?"
He glanced at a slip of paper on his desk then walked up to me. "You must be Nonoko. Ms. Nishimura told me you were coming."
"Are these all yours?" I asked. The dolls were beautiful and I couldn't stop looking at them because there was so much to take in. He followed my line of sight then pulled down a tiny doll painted light blue with tiny wisteria blossoms. He handed it to me like I was a child waiting for a new toy.
"Yes."
"Do you have a Doll-making Alice?"
"No," he said with a sideways smile, "And this isn't why you're here. You're here for tea."
With a gallant gesture, Ryoji led me to the back of his workshop and I was startled for the second time to find that it was set up as a tea room. It was built with five tatami mats and was clearly set up for a ceremony. He noted my anxiety and laughed a little.
"Don't worry. I've already made the tea." We stepped inside and he prepared a simple setting on a low table. When he settled across me, he explained, "This is my Alice."
"You have a Tea Alice?"
"I'm sure you've heard of stranger things."
"Yes, of course," I said shyly. I couldn't look at him directly. He started pouring us both a cup then set a small plate of sweet candies in front of me.
"Go ahead."
I took a bite of the candy then when the cup was cool enough to touch, I lifted it to my lips. Ryoji waited expectantly for my reaction.
My eyes shut. I knew that was the magical brew that was supposed to grant serenity to whoever drank it but for some reason it didn't have that effect on me. There was a hammering in my chest that I knew had nothing to do with excitement for having the chance to decipher this potent brew.
Inorganic components, I thought as my Alice kicked in. Potassium, Calcium, Phosphate, Magnesium… three-quarters of nitrogen in amino acids, specifically theanine… polyphenol oxidase… then… then?… ?!
It was as though my mind shut down. My eyes flew open and whatever tranquility I was starting to feel disappeared in an instant. I had run into an ingredient I couldn't identify. It was like heading straight into a wall. It alarmed me and Ryoji sensed it at once.
"Are you all right?"
"What's in here?"
"It's matcha and hot water," he assured me. "Everything else is probably my Alice."
The Chemistry Alice trying to decipher the Tea Alice. It was unheard of. What was my mentor thinking when she sent me here?
"I'm sorry for troubling you." I quickly went to my feet. "I don't think this is what I need, but thank you for letting me come."
"Of course," he said, standing up too. "I'll see you to the door."
"I'll let myself out," I answered hastily then I rushed out of the room. I ran a couple of yards before my footsteps finally slowed and stopped. I raised a hand to my cheek. My face was hot and my heart hadn't found a normal rhythm. My mind replayed what happened in there, from my first view of the kokeshi dolls to the complete malfunction of my Alice. It felt surreal and amazing at the same time. Then I realized, to my embarrassment, that I was holding the woodwork he had handed me. In my rush, I absently grabbed it off the table as though it was my possession. That's when I knew I would have to return the next day.
I didn't know where I found the nerve or the composure but I did go back to his workshop and I showed up for a full week thereafter. He was very kind about it and he seemed quite willing to keep serving tea until I was satisfied with my study.
"You'll figure it out sooner or later," he said with the same winsome smile.
"I hope so."
It was on my fifth visit when he first handed me a block of wood and told me to start a project. If I was going to keep visiting him, he said, I might as well learn more about his craft. After all, it had nothing to do with his Alice so why should it have anything to do with mine? I understood what he was saying and so I started to learn how to make kokeshi dolls— a talent far removed from my Alice. Ryoji lent me his tools and soon I was carving dolls right alongside him, though with very little skill. We started talking after that, about school and classes, about kimmidolls and ourselves. I was strangely contented whenever I was there and I couldn't decide whether the dolls or the tea was the real prop that kept us in sync.
The tea remained a mystery to me.
Then one day I walked to his workshop and found him closing up. He appeared dressed for a date and he told me he was heading to Central Town. I felt a wild beating in my chest that had become strangely familiar whenever I was around him. This time though my heart was thrashing about because there was a jealous bird trapped inside and it was fighting to get out. I was staring at him, accusingly I think. Instead of demanding an explanation, which I knew was not my place to request, I nodded mutely then left. He didn't stop me.
I didn't sleep at all that night. My mind kept going back to Ryoji Uemura, his enigmatic tea and his even more impressive kokeshi. Still, if I was completely honest, that wasn't what was keeping me up exactly. I was more upset by the thought that he could have been at Central Town with a faceless, nameless, blameless girl that I irrationally disliked at the moment. Who was he with? How did he meet her? When did I start asking these questions?
I groaned loudly then flipped to my side. If anything, that restless night reminded me that I wasn't anywhere close to successfully brewing my own Serenity Draught.
The following day, I returned to the workshop without a clear idea of what I wanted to happen. When I arrived, he had the tea setting ready and a cup had been laid out just for me. Ryoji smiled brightly. He was clearly relieved that I had come.
Before we could even sit down, I blurted out, "I don't want you drinking tea with anyone else."
I was completely mortified by my own words. Ryoji looked flummoxed for a moment, as though I had just announced his tea's super secret ingredient, then slowly his expression smoothed into a faint, comfortable smile.
"I'm not."
"Oh okay," I muttered, looking away. I felt awkward and uneasy but the captive bird inside me was dancing some kind of jig.
"Would you care to sit?"
I pushed the hair out of my eyes then sat down with as much dignity as possible. He handed me a kokeshi doll that had been painted navy blue with a pink lotus flower on the front. It was prettier than any kimmidoll could ever be. I glanced at him but he wasn't looking my way so instead I picked up a brush to put in the finishing touches. Ryoji poured out tea for both of us.
He understood me, didn't he? He must know what I was trying to say. Then I realized there was one more thing he needed to hear.
"I'm not drinking tea with anyone else either," I whispered without taking my eyes off what I was doing. "Just so you know."
"I do know," he said with his sideways smile. "But it's nice of you to say so."
I blushed. "Shut up."
"Yes ma'am."
After that day, I didn't need a Serenity Draught any longer and the 'Nonoko' doll started meaning so much more than just 'carefree'.