Thanks to: Becky, TK, Jess
The Things We See
Three: And What I Know
By RubyD
I think I remember the night he got sick.
It was spring. The sakura tree was blooming - it's the only one in out village, did you know? - and it was just beautiful. Generations of the Kurosaki family are buried around it, so no one from the village would go near it. When I was a little girl, the other children and I use to dare each other to grab a handful of the soft petals from the tree, but I'd always cheat and take them from the ground.
But I'm old now, and games like that are silly. My family has been working for the Kurosaki house for twelve generations, did you know that? No, I suppose not, oh-ho. Well, my family has always been proud to be of service for them. It's because of the Kurosaki that this town and its people exist…
Kiko-san, one of the other long-lived servants, disappeared that same night, come to think of it. I wonder where she went.
Spring festivals were never quiet or boring events. Hisoka-sama wanted to go so much, asking the others if he could, but he had to stay inside this year because he had… done something bad. Poor child. He could hear the all the noise, probably - people laughing, drinking, setting off fireworks. Such a happy time, and he had to miss even this as punishment.
That was six years ago, if I recall.
I was sure Hisoka-sama was in his room when everyone went to bed. The moonlight was just peeking through the window.
But the next morning the master came in with the child in his arms, shaking, and bloody, and pale, and so cold. Nagare-sama took him to Hisoka-sama's room to lay him down, and told us to get a doctor. Then he left.
That was the last time he really saw Hisoka-sama.
You see, knowing this family, knowing a little of what goes on behind those closed doors, I think the master had an idea of what happened. Oh, he'd never say, of course. Always secretive, even as a boy. He probably thought it was the doings of that snake -
Oh-ho, excuse me, sir. It has been a while since I've talked to anyone new, so I tend to talk about strange things. Never mind, please forgive this old woman…!
… Where was I?
I don't know how he got so sick. All curled up in his bed, looking so small, like his whole body hurt. I tried to get him to eat something, but Hisoka-sama wouldn't move. Didn't seem to know anyone was there.
There was dry blood, but if we touched him to clean it off - he'd scream.
There was a doctor just passing through town, all the way from Kyoto no less. From the moment he stepped in, we all liked him right away. He was so polite and kind and warm, and everything about him was like an angel. Muraki-sensei would be able to do something, we had hoped. The Kurosaki line must continue, no matter the costs.
By this time it was late morning, and Hisoka-sama could open his eyes just a bit. They were glazed over, looking back and forth at things that weren't there. A waking dream. I was still trying to feed him breakfast, you see - rice, and some egg - when Sensei walked into his room. The child suddenly tensed up, froze.
That scared me. Something was wrong, I could tell. Fortunately Muraki-sensei was there to help, and being from the city, he must have known a lot more than the village doctor did. Whatever was wrong, this man could fix it.
I felt completely safe with Sensei - he had that effect on people.
"You'll be all right," I told Hisoka-sama, patting his head as gently as possible. He had the softest hair, kind of like a cat's.
Did you ever have any cats, sir? No? Ah, just a bird person, I see…
Sensei promised that he would do everything possible to heal the boy. He smiled that soft, wonderfully gentle smile of his, strolled over and brushed his fingers over Hisoka-sama's forehead. The boy flinches, the most movement I'd seen all morning.
"Please leave us alone for a moment," he said to me.
And then I walked out.
His voice like pure silver…
*
I wished then that somehow I hadn't been the one to accompany Tatsumi on this case. I stumbled out of the room, away from the old woman, and made up some excuse about not feeling well, which wasn't a total lie.
After adjusting my glasses they only end up more crooked. It didn't help that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Just going somewhere... I wandered down one of the many, many long halls in this house before finally stopping to lean on a doorway. What would it have been like to grow up in this house?
My God.
Fix my glasses again. Tatsumi's a bad influence.
Bon…
Even though you wouldn't be happy that I knew, well, suspected the circumstances of how you had died… I was never sure. And now that I do know, I can't do anything, can I? I'm not like Tsuzuki, where you let your guard down, even if you don't think that everybody notices. And pity would be an insult after everything you've been through.
I have nothing to offer but a smile. A dishonest one, at that.
Bon… I'm sorry.
End.