Chapter 4 – Silver Lining
During a particularly cloudy morning in July, dawn came with a sickly greyish silver flavour. The birds in the garden began to screech when they saw the clouds, as if their presence offended them. The flowers were less discerning, and bobbed their faces towards the light, hoping vaguely for a little rain.
Sora awoke as the sun rose behind its marbled veil. It wasn't because he was a natural early riser. Definitely not. It was because the curtains were all but useless. They were supposed to be navy with white stars, only they were so old he could see through the stars and the room was bathed in a baby blue haze. Sora glanced at the clock on the wall: 7 o'clock precisely. He groaned. It was far too early for him.
Sora tried for over half an hour to return to sleep, rolling over so he was face down in his pillow, pulling the covers over his head, putting Toshizo over his eyes, wriggling to the other end of the bed to see if it would be any different. All attempts were futile. After everything he tried he was more awake than ever. He groaned again and decided to get up. Sora kicked off the covers and turned so that he could stand on the top rung of the bunk bed's ladder. He pushed and pulled at his sheets and pillows, transforming the bed from a needlessly warm, stuffy nest to an ironing board, ready for the matron to inspect.
Sora then climbed down the ladder slowly. The hard wooden rungs hurt his feet, but it was better to have a dull ache on every step rather than the cutting pain experienced if he moved too quickly. When he reached the bottom rung, he felt something much softer under his foot, though he only felt it for a few seconds as his step was shortly followed by a shrill shriek, causing Sora to fall off the ladder in surprise.
Sora hit the floor with a scattered thud, though it sounded more like a car being crushed to him. Luckily his backside hit the carpet first, taking most of the impact off his head. Sora was about to cry, partly from the pain, but mostly from shock, when he heard that someone else had beaten him to it. He sat up, rubbing his head, and found who was responsible for all of this. It was a little… girl? Boy? Yes, he had to be a boy… There was no way the matron would have allowed a girl to sleep in his room. The boy had pink hair, which he was rubbing with one hand, using the other to attempt to muffle his cries. He seemed to be the same age as Sora. He was sitting huddled in his duvet again the wall in the bottom bunk, tears streaming down his face.
"Who are you?" Sora scowled, this was not a good start to the day by any means. "Why are you crying?"
"I- I'm Sunao Fujimori… You- You stepped on my hair…" Sunao retreated further into the wall as he spoke.
Sora stood up, still angry. "What are you doing in my room?"
"I… I just slept here for tonight… 'cause I… I… lost… my mummy and daddy…" Sunao started to cry a little more and buried his face in his duvet, either remembering his recent loss or embarrassed that he was blubbering in front of a stranger.
Sora was a little dazed, both from his fall and from such a blunt statement. Most kids in the orphanage did not readily admit that they had lost their parents, not only because it was usually painful, but also because it was either redundant (why would they be here if they had parents?) or untrue (the rest had never had parents).
"Oh… I see…" Sora bit his lip.
Sunao remained facedown in his duvet, shuddering a little when he needed to take a gulp of air. Sora slowly got on to the bottom bunk and sat next to Sunao, back against the wall. He put a hand on Sunao's shoulder, hoping it might comfort him a little. Sunao didn't seem to have noticed.
"I'm Sora Hashiba."
Sunao nodded into his duvet. "'Kay…"
"You must have come in pretty late last night. I didn't hear you at all."
Sunao nodded again, only he brought his sticky, red, puffy face up into the air this time. "After midnight."
"How come?"
Sunao's eyes seemed to wobble, it was his tears shaking before his eyes overflowed again. "Last night, I was washing my face, getting ready for bed, when I heard the front door open with a loud clanging noise. Then I heard shouting, lots of shouting. I went outside the bathroom to see why. I looked through the white wooden railing bits that come between the floor and the stairs to downstairs… The barista? I think that's the name… You know what I mean?"
"I think you mean 'banister'."
"Oh, yeah, that's it. Well, I looked down and saw three men… three big men, wearing black clothes and masks. One had a gun, like the police do on TV. But he wasn't a policeman. None of them were. I saw my mummy and daddy, kneeling on the ground, hands behind their heads. I don't know why, but they looked scared, so I was scared. I saw the men carrying away our TV. The one with the gun took Daddy's watch and wallet and Mummy's necklace and purse. Another one came in. He shouted at them, he wanted to know where our expensive stuff was. We didn't really have much else, so he the one with the gun got mad. He shouted at them to tell him where the jewellery or silverware or video player or stereo was. Mummy said there was a radio in the kitchen, but that was all. The one with the gun got even madder and then there was a loud noise and Mummy fell down on her face and was bleeding… lots. Then there was another loud bang and Daddy fell down too, and he was bleeding too.
"I got really scared and I couldn't move. Then the one with the gun started to come up the stairs, so I ran into the bathroom, locked the door and opened the window. There's this little kinda ledge thing under the window, and I always get told to never ever climb on it, but I thought that it would be more dangerous to stay inside. I shuffled along the ledge, then climbed on the roof, because I didn't want to jump all the way down, because Mummy says that if I fall down that far I'll break my neck. I heard one of the men yelling that there was a kid in the house. I got really scared then. Then I heard them all banging on the bathroom door, yelling for me. They said, "We're gonna"-… Um… I'm not allowed to use the word…"
Sora rubbed Sunao's shoulder a little. "Don't worry, I can imagine what they were saying."
Sunao nodded, took a deep breath and continued. "While they were trying to break down the door, I moved along to the big bedroom, which is where Mummy and Daddy sleep. I opened the window and went in to get the phone. There's one beside Mummy's side of the bed. I pressed the button that said 'Police' and a lady picked up. She asked what was my emergency. I told her about the men and my mummy and daddy and she said she was sending a police car and ambulance. She said to stay on the phone, so she knew I was okay. She sounded nice, so I did. Then I heard the men break the bathroom door, so I took the phone under the bed and told the lady to please not talk, because I didn't want them to hear me.
"The men must have known I was somewhere inside, because they kept tearing up my house, looking for me, and expensive things. They came into the big bedroom and started searching through the wardrobe and stuff. I tried to not breathe too much."
"Wow… that sounds scary." Sora couldn't really find any words that would be more helpful, though he wished otherwise.
"Yeah… But I was really, really quiet and still, so they didn't hear me. But then another one came into the room and started feeling under the bed. I tried making myself really small, so he wouldn't get me. But I didn't do it right, and he grabbed my arm. He started pulling at me but I pulled at him, and I kicked him and I screamed. I could hear that the lady on the phone was getting worried and the man was yelling, but I just kept going. It felt like a really, really long time, but I don't think it was. But then four policemen grabbed him and his friend and wrestled with them and got them in handcuffs and pushed them against the wall and it was so cool. I came out and an ambulance man tried to take me downstairs, but I asked if I could get Nezumi first." Nao produced a small, fuzzy grey stuffed mouse from under his duvet. It was slightly too big to fit in one hand completely, but holding it with two seemed unnecessary.
"After that, I went to the hospital in the ambulance, which even turned its sirens and lights on. I figured my mummy and daddy would be there, but I didn't see them. I asked where they were and a nurse told me they were downstairs, and she said I should get some rest. I didn't want to rest, but it was so late that I fell asleep. I woke up later and I was in a car, and the lady told me I was coming here. Miss Lucy brought me up here and I fell asleep again."
Sora didn't know what he really wanted to say, so he settled for his first thought. "So, I guess you live here now?"
Sunao looked at him, confused and upset. "No. I'm going to see my mummy and daddy and they'll take me home and we'll get a new TV."
Sora shifted uncomfortably. "I don't think that's going to happen… I think your mummy and daddy are dead."
"D…dead? What's 'dead'?"
Sora took a deep breath. "Have you seen The Lion King?"
"Yes…"
"Well, you know when Simba's dad falls off the cliff and didn't wake up afterwards?"
"Yes…"
"That's what your mummy and daddy are like now."
Sunao shuddered, turned a worrying shade of grey and shook his head. Sora offered nothing to support Sunao's denial, and instead just let him cry on his chest.
Sora sat there with Sunao for hours. He watched the clock tick and saw the sunlight break through the clouds. Sora was strangely comfortable with Sunao drenching his favourite pyjamas. He felt even a little happy to let Sunao wriggle into his lap and hold him there. Sunao clutched onto Sora and wailed, intensity varying from violent convulsions to timid whimpering
Sora had never felt so needed before. He stroked Sunao's moist hair and rubbed his cold yet sweaty back, thinking about how defenceless this little kid was now. Sora figured he was nothing compared to a mummy or daddy, but he decided he would do whatever he could for Sunao.
"Hey, Nao…"
"Su- Su… Su-"
"Nao… you want to be my best friend?"
"Bes- bes- bes…"
"Best friend… I think you really need one right now… right?"
"But… but…"
"But what?"
"I have a best friend… Mat- Mat- Matsuri Honjou…"
"Oh…" Sora felt a little deflated. "Well, how about your best friend here? At this orphanage?"
"U- Umm… Okay… I guess Matsuri wouldn't mind…"
Sora smiled and let Nao rest against him for a while as he explained some rules of the orphanage and some ways to get around them. Nao told him about Nezumi and Matsuri. They stayed there longer still, only moving when the Matron rapped loudly on the door for them to get a move on, lest they miss breakfast.
{Author's note: I tried to make this chapter a little less depressing... didn't quite work, but it's getting there!}
