オレンジ色の日

Orenji-iro no hi


ORANGE DAYS


Part One: Seedling

"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important."

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince


Two tiny figures stood under the endless blue sky. The girl shivered a little, blowing her breath out in a wispy cloud against the chilly winter air. Strange. It was nearing the end of the season, but it was still so cold.

She felt like the sky was too piercingly blue today to look up directly at it. But she stubbornly faced up anyway.

"Did you know that you feel less stressed when you look up like this?"

Seijuro didn't reply, instead also tilting his head back to gaze up at the heavens above.

A comfortable silence descended upon them. Maika blew at her hands, trying to warm them up.

"It's going to rain soon, " he said suddenly.

That's so random. She glanced at Seijuro, who seemed to be deep in thought. His pensive expression reminded her of something distant, something lost.

Something just a little nostalgic.

"Eh?" Maika squinted to find any telltale signs of rain. No clouds in sight.

"…What are you talking about? It's not going to rain, Mr Weatherman." It was getting easier to converse with him.

She minced no words with Seijuro.

He shot her one of those looks, where he reassessed her intelligence. "Yes," he spoke slowly. "It is going to rain. Also, I'm not a Weatherman."

Her cheeks coloured in indignation. "Fine. I knew that—don't—look at me like you're talking to some dumb kid!"

"You are a (dumb) kid." He started walking back to class before the lunch bell rang.

"We're the same size, so you're one too, a small kid!"

He ignored the jab at his height. Akashi Seijuro was above petty quarrels. Also, the inevitability of human growth reassured Seijuro that he would grow taller…in time.

"Hey, Sei-kun! Where are you going?" Maika hurriedly followed him, feeling guilty. Saying the wrong things had ensured her a virtually friendless life so far.

What if…he hated her now? What if he didn't want to talk to her anymore?

Panic rose in her.

"Away."

"Wait up, wai—ah!"

He glanced back at her startled cry. Maika had tripped in her hurry to get to him and knelt on the ground, stunned.

"I'm f-fine!"

Maika smiled brightly with watering eyes. She dusted off her navy skirt, brushing the fall off like it was nothing.

Don't cry. Not now, don't cry you stupid crybaby! Don't. Cry.

"I didn't ask."

She quickly blinked back any tears. Her knee was bleeding, and the scrapes on her hands were throbbing.

This is nothing. NOTHING.

"I was just saying it…to myself!" She walked faster (with a little bit of a limp), overtaking him. Looking back, Maika shot him a challenging look.

"Race you back!"

She sped off, as fast as she could to take her mind off the pain. It was nothing. She would not cry, not in front of him. Not ever.

How childish. He knew the reasons behind her actions.

She was terribly fragile, but she had a determined will. It was almost admirable.

That fragility will be dealt with in time. The gears in his genius brain spun against each other with great speed.

Round and round in circles.

But that would be a story for another time. For now, what mattered was the present.

.

As Seijuro wasn't one who backed down from any challenge, even though he always won, he pushed off the ground to pursue her.

He ran, with the wind blowing against his face. He ran, his short scarlet hair flying back.

Faster, faster!

Pumping his legs, he was flying faster and freer than ever before.

FASTER.

He ran, his eyes wide, seeing the colours of his world brighten. The sun's rays set her hair ablaze with light.

Orange.

He ran towards the clumsy girl, drawing up next to her. Her face was flushed red with effort. Their eyes met.

It's a nostalgic feeling.

"I win!" Seijuro whizzed past her.

"Hey!"

He ran.


Three: Dignity

It was always a week.

First, it was the Shogi Club. Then it was Go and then Chess.

Maika knew that he was bored of them after a week. Seijuro probably couldn't find an opponent good enough for him, so he just played solo.

Then it was those other clubs: Literature, Mathematics, Science, Astrology and all that. They only lasted half a week, and the Literature club a week at the longest.

Lastly was the sports clubs. She was confused, and curious. It'd been a few months already, and he was still in the club.

Why was it so special?

"What do you like about basketball?"

Seijuro smiled, closing his novel gently with one hand. "It's fascinating."

Maika was not satisfied that answer. Actually, the smile on his face gave her the feeling that he was teasing her and amusing himself with her stupidity. Like he was teaching a monkey a trick or something.

She stared at him sullenly. She knew he was making fun of her!

Entertained, he left her with something to ponder. "You are, too."

"What?" Bewildered, that took her by surprise.

Fascinating.


Seijuro's statement shocked her to the nether world. She wanted to run of his study and scream it out for everyone to hear that the genius had finally gone bonkers.

"No way," she gaped at him like a fish out of water. "Are you being serious with me, or is it let's-see-how-gullible-Maika-is-day?"

Even though his demeanour was controlled, she knew he was slightly offended.

Maika coughed into her hand, trying to mask her awkwardness. "Um. So you are one of those home-schooled weirdoes. Not that I have anything against home-schooled kids, but they don't have the best reputation, you know."

He was definitely not amused by now.

She backtracked. "Um. So if all those amazing professors tutored you, why did you come to this shabby school? You can't compare the educations."

His expression darkened. "I had enough of it. There were too many people thinking that it was they who knew what was best for me."

(Did she just narrowly avoid a land mine to step onto another? Sometimes, she wanted to jump into a black hole)

Before she hyperventilated, Seijuro suddenly schooled his features into a cold amiableness.

"Also, I was curious."

Of everyone else, of their lives.

She thought of him standing underneath the tree, by himself. He was always by himself. She recalled his father's cold gaze. The gaping absence of a mother's warmth. The emptiness of his large mansion. She knew about the greedy eyes, distant relatives pawing at his money, judging his worth and his use.

Money, money, money.

Power. Money was power. The Akashi family was power.

The emotionless Seijuro. His masks.

At first, he seemed empty.

But Akashi Seijuro, too, had his own desires. He was hungry for what was dangling in front of him. And since he had been starved of it, he must have done everything he possibly could to grab a hold of something that would forever be out of his reach.

Maika saw Akashi Seijuro in a new light. She realised that she would forever be looking through a haze, at an illusion.

She didn't mind it at all, though.

"Thank you for telling me," she said, with all the sincerity in the world.

Maybe one day, she will understand him. Maybe, one day, someone will pull him out of his dark labyrinth and under the sun.

One day.


Akashi Seijuro was the tallest poppy in the field. He was the living proof of excellency in all areas. He stood at the highest point.

But it was the jealous human nature that wanted to cut down the tallest poppy with petals the colour of blood.

It happened on her first field excursion. A group of hyperactive elementary students were supposed to go hiking on one of Japan's numerous mountains.

She lagged behind because of her sore knee. The dull throbbing was always annoyingly there, reminding of her of her race with Seijuro the other day. Which she lost…a black stain on the pride she staked on her speed.

Seijuro was nice enough to accompany her on her slow (pained) stroll, even offering to carry her backpack as well. She declined; feeling that depending on him so much would show him just how weak and annoying she was.

She should have told him to leave her be. Because, once the teachers were out of earshot, that was when it happened.

It was an obnoxiously loud whisper.

"That's the bonbon!" Boy A pointed rudely at Seijuro, sniggering with his friends. He didn't react at all, just continued to walk as if he did not just get insulted.

Maika whipped her head around, eyes glowering at the group of snotty kids behind them. Classmates, those idiots that pushed her down the hill last time—oh she remembered them.

"Remember afternoon cleaning? The first time he touched a mop!"

"Akashi has servants to do it all for him because he's rich," Boy B said snidely.

"What a snob!" Boy C.

They cackled together, their prepubescent voices grating on her nerves. Maika took a deep, slow breath.

.

She's not here anymore.

Your mother?

She thought of her mummy, her nosy, annoying, wonderful, beautiful mummy.

He was silent, and that was all she needed.

That afternoon in his study, she felt numb. Silence reigned.

She couldn't imagine a life without her mummy, the best woman in the whole wide universe.

.

Maika gently placed her backpack on the ground as she stopped walking. She smiled serenely at Seijuro, getting his attention.

"Please wait for a moment," she murmured to him placidly.

She spun around, and ran towards Boy A to tackle him down into the dirt.

"Take it back!" she screamed at the stunned boy, shaking him by his sports jersey.

"Shut up, gorilla girl!" Someone was yanking her hair, and it hurt. She bit the hand, slapped it, and punched it—anything and everything. It was like she was a caged animal, finally unleashed into the wild to tear her prey apart.

"I won't! Take it all back, you-you have to say sorry!"

"Ugly!"

"No way, why would we, stupid!"

"You have to apologise!" she yelled, almost desperately. She couldn't take on three people at once in her current state. Her thoughts were a mess.

"You don't understand anything about him, so take it back!"

.

Seijuro was surprised. He hadn't even anticipated the possibility of a rampage like that. He didn't understand her anger.

He'd never dealt with a situation like this in his life. With children, who managed to boggle his mind in ways in which his tutors could never hope to achieve.

Screaming children were hitting, spitting, slapping and kicking each other as they rolled around in the dirt. And the biting.

(They hadn't even really started climbing the small mountain.)

And yet, they were fighting amongst themselves already. Where were the teachers when they actually needed them?

"What's the meaning of this?" a voiced demanded.

He spoke too soon.

A female teacher approached the scuffle, running downhill as she puffed from a lack of fitness.

The woman noticed him, and immediately shifted her attention onto him. "Akashi-kun, are you alright? Is there anything wrong?"

Seijuro disliked how she ignored her priorities, instead trying to ingratiate herself with him. It was this blatant favouritism and sheer genius that made other students want to target him, as an object of admiration and hate.

People were selfish. He was surrounded by selfish, greedy monsters.

Clear, sincere eyes.

Maika was not like the rest of them.

Whenever she looked at him, she only saw Seijuro.

So, he decided something.

"I'm fine, sensei," he smiled civilly.

"Are-are you sure?"

Well, there is a brawl happening right in front of your eyes, but you are too blind too see it.

He smiled a little wider then usual. "Go back. There's nothing here for you to see."

The fear in the woman's eyes spoke volumes. He frightened her.

Go.

And the useless teacher scuttled off, leaving the fighting children to their own devices.

They wouldn't climb the mountain after all.


Maika was stewing with anger.

She stared at Seijuro, who was tending to her battle wounds with the first-aid kit in her bag. He was being unnervingly quiet.

She leaned back against the base of the tree trunk. From her sitting position, she had to look up at him to try and meet his eyes.

The endless depths of scarlet.

"Why weren't you angry at all?" she asked tiredly.

Seijuro glanced at her nonchalantly. His casualness irked her.

"Why?" she insisted, this time a little louder. "They're laughing at you, looking down on you, picking on you because they're jealous. And you were going to just…let them?"

"So you bravely defended me, and lost," he commented wryly.

Maika gaped at him with wide eyes. She jumped to her feet to meet him eye-to-eye, wincing at the shooting pain.

"Don't let them talk down to you like that!

"My father said that I am expected to be benevolent to those beneath me."

"It's not benevolence! I don't care about that!"

She sighed. "Sei-kun, you've only interacted with very smart people, rich and talented people and that sort, so you wouldn't know how to deal with those idiots."

Hesitantly, the girl placed a hand on his shoulder. "Didn't you say you were undefeatable?"

Yes. Yes I am.

"Then defeat them. Beat everyone who doesn't accept you, because you should be proud of yourself."

Unwavering loyalty.

The smile spread on her face ever so slowly, like a bud on the cusp of blossoming. A real smile.

And he returned it in kind.


The gears of the story are beginning to turn.


The chirping of the crickets was the music of the summer. Maika was about to melt in the heat, all she needed to do was run for five minutes, and she would be home from the prison known as school.

It was too hot to run.

"Hey!"

She kept trudging at her snail's pace.

"Hey, hey, hey!" That voice was too loud in this heat. Her eardrums were going to burst.

"Hey—"

"What!" she hissed at the persistent nuisance. It was a boy with cropped orange hair, smiling cheerfully as he pushed a bike beside him.

She relaxed, recognising him. "Ogiwara? Don't you have Kendo today? The dojo isn't near here at all."

He laughed sheepishly, gesturing at his bike. "I felt like going bike-riding today, so I kept pedalling and now I don't know where I am—then I saw you! Lucky me!"

She grinned, slapping him on the back. "That's so stupid!"

Shigehiro beamed back. "Haha, I know, right?"

"This is why you should've stayed in the karate class. You get smarter," she said self-righteously.

He chuckled. "You make no sense."

Maika pouted, feeling her crabby mood coming back again as sun beat down on her. "So…what did you want?"

"Please show me the way back to somewhere I know!"

She craned her neck, pretending like she was waiting to hear something. "What are you supposed to call me, Ogiwara?"

"Sorenji-sama!"

Maika preened, about to impart her words of wisdom, when they walked past a convenience store, the cold air blasting them away from summer hell momentarily.

They shared knowing glance.

"How much money do you have, Sorenji?"

"Not that much."

"It's really hot."

"Let's get the orange flavour."

Two children ran (well, one had to park his bike somewhere) towards the wonder that was air conditioning.


Later that summer, he had a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.

A small, pale boy stood on a basketball court. It was his first time playing the game that was so fascinating to him.

"Yo!" another would call out cheerfully.

Pale blue eyes met dark orange. "Hello."

The taller boy beamed. "You play basketball?

Kuroko Tetsuya smiled. "Yes."


つづく


End notes

AWWW, you guys are so nice! Firstly, I would like to address one concern for adastra13: I know Maika seems to be portrayed quite different but worry not, she will still be the same, impulsive, idiotic and cheeky girl you like! It's going to happen differently, but some things I can't bear to change.

I just wanted to balance Seijuro and Maika's relationship more.

Is it just me, or is Maika really accident prone? She's also a big baby, and prone to huge outbursts. She's a child raised with love, and Seijuro isn't. That is the biggest difference between them.

What are your thoughts? I am wondering what your feelings are. One more thing: when in the storyline, and under what possible circumstances do you think Maika jumps off a bridge in the story summary? Use your imaginations, because I'd like to hear it!

With love,

Tollpatsch