Day-22 Poetry
Sorry it's so late! I've actually been being responsible for my school stuff lately, and this is what comes of it. OTL, School, you ruin my life. This is in the Invisible AU.
'Hello, stranger! Who are you?
For I, am Im Yong-Soo.
You have hair of night I see,
Hair many a shade darker than me!
I see kindness in your eye-
But why d'you oft look towards the sky?
I hope that you'll become my friend...
And that all hurt between us mend.'
Kiku smiles at the looping, sprawling writing, childish, yes, but sweet. He was going through his attic- he had no plans until the afternoon, when he was supposed to spend time with his best friend- on whom he'd nursed a childhood crush since they were in kindergarden.
He remembered it well- they had to draw a picture or some other creative thing for someone in the class, and even though he'd been in everyone's world then, he didn't have so many friends. So he'd been shocked when Korea smilingly thrust a poem at him.
He looks back to the small box it had been inside- Korea's handwriting near the top proclaimed boldly that he trusted only Japan with these treasures. He picks up another piece of paper, newer than the first, but still years old.
'I'm very sorry for leaving you
with bitter words, that day.
And this poem is an apology-
Some words I'd like to say.
I wish that I had followed you
And begged you 'til the end
I wish that I had followed through-
It'd make less wounds to mend.
I wish that I had never been
that resentful on that night.
I wish that I could kill the sin
that had driven you to flight.
But now I throw away those words
Because you stand and read message.
You know my mind now- I leave to you
if you shall let it heal the damage.'
It was an apology- Japan recalled, looking over the sprawling, rounded writing. An apology for what, exactly? He asked himself, closing his eyes in order to concentrate better. It hits him then, and he pats the piece of paper.
It was a relic from the first fight they'd ever had, he remembers, a petty squabble when both had been irritated from lack of sleep. It had blown completely out of proportion, and they hadn't spoken to the other for weeks, though many grieving looks and 'maybe-I-should-apologize' stares were exchanged. Korea had sucked it up first and placed the note inside Japan's cubby. He had forgiven the other immediately- of course he would.
Not all the poems were papers, though, he remembers, touching a medium-sized, flat stone in his pocket. He always had it on him, in a pocket or in his schoolbag. It held a poem of its own- it was a message for the other for them to meet in their special meeting place. It read:
'In the sweet deep shadows of the sun-marked shade
Where darkness wallows, in the grassy glade
Where bluebirds sing and cardinals fly
on feathered wing, from foxes sly
And blind-wurm's bite, so deep and stung
to final night, or earth and sun.
There I sit, with widened eye
to catch the flit of a butterfly.
I watch the brook, the lush green grass
Where shadows lie, and grow so fast.
The sun is setting, and I must go.
Though my mind is letting my quick pace slow.
Goodbye, I bid as dark draws nigh.
T'il tomorrow! I call, I cannot lie.'
They had found two white stones in the brook of that little clearing, perfectly matched, smooth, white and flat. It was the other boy who had suggested making them into markers to let the other know to meet there, though it was Japan who had suggested the poems, and had personally penned the poem and written them in his graceful calligraphy carefully onto the rocks.
He smiles as he sees the next one, blushing a little. It's in his own handwriting, and he finds it embarrassing to read over his own work- he often found it hateful after a period of a few months. Gingerly, he picks it up, and begins to read the free-style poem.
'I wanted to tell you something.
But I am not so brave, not so great.
My ways are more subtle,
More flick of a pastel-shaded wing.
So I wasn't able to hold you there
to tell you.
But we've always been able to communicate,
yes, communicate, this way.
I'm sorry.
I know your silence is
more disappointed than angry.
I am sorry...
To have disappointed you.
To have lied to you when I knew you hated all falsehood.
To cast a shadow over your face.
I'm sorry.
I hope you will forgive me.
Forgive me for my selfish wish
Forgive me for being so bold.
I'm sorry.'
He winces as he reads it, remembering agonizing over every word that was on the page. He colors brilliantly, wondering why it was so redundant, why it was so bad, and why Korea had forgiven him after reading such a bad poem. It was an apology in the aftermath of one of their most drawn-out fall-outs. It wasn't a fight, exactly- no, not so much. It was just a falling-out of sorts. He had lied to Korea, saying that he was fine, then collapsing in the middle of their conversation. Korea had been furious with him in the hospital after he had woken, screaming that he needed to take care of himself better, wondering in a painfully caustic voice if Japan distrusted him so much. If Japan couldn't trust him at all, him, his 'supposed' best friend.
He shudders now as he remembers the pain that had ripped through his heart with every word the Korean had uttered, the amount of self-hate he had loathed himself with afterwards.
It had hurt, he reflects. But it had hurt because every word his best friend had uttered was true. But they had overcome that obstacle, and it was almost time for him to go see that best friend- that best friend he now never lied to about anything.
He picks up a note on his way out the door with a smile, a bright smile on his face because finally, today, after all those years of longing behind closed doors and hoping, he was going to tell Korea how he felt about him.
The note clutched in his right hand had finally given him courage to.
'I.
I am me, and me is I.
I am in love:
You know this fact well.
Yet...I have
kept from you, yes,
I've kept from you
Who.
Today, no more.
I am in love with you:
In love with the slow curve of
a smile.
In love with the graceful shape of
your hands.
In love with the silken fall of
your hair.
In love with the snug fit of
your height.
In love with the sea-like tint og
your scent.
I could
list on forever how I am in love
with you.
Only you. From kindergarden.
But if you are
Troubled.
Do not come to our place at
Three.
but act as if you
did not see this free-verse
poem.
And I shall
Swallow
it back and be your
friend.
Loyal, and merely platonic.
Unless
you wish you say goodbye to
me.
If thus, I shall disappear forever from your
sight.
Yours truly,
and yours
Forever.'
alskjfh, why is it so rushed? X_X
I have sooo much schoolwork to finish. I should just become a garbage man. Woman. Whatever. TT^TT
The poems are really bad. I know. Sorry. It took me so long to come up with all of them, and that's why its so late, because of editing the poems.
I've gone over 90 reviews! O_O ^_^ XDDD
Kankoku-ssi: Was it? ^_^UUU Well, glad you thought so. Thank you for always reacting so much to what happened in the chapter. ^_^ ((Though when the idea was coming to me, I said the same thing. Which caused my family to look at me strangely, OTL.))
Obsessed-Language-Freak: ... XPPP I can't argue with you when you go like thaaaat *whining and knows it* Well, I like those lines, but sometimes they depress me a little, like: Why can't real life be like this? Yes, Korea's surprisingly hard to draw. His HAIR. GAH! I can draw fem!Korea, but not the man himself. Ah no, I love getting feedback and seeing what people get from my writing. It was hard, though- I kept worrying that it wasn't realistic how the fight got so blown out of proportion. -_-UUU. Well, I thought it would, because its a super touchy subject for both sides- no matter how its used. I wondered if I sould make them make up, but I decided to leave it at that because I'm lazy. Well, no, but... I wanted them to actually have some kind of fight, but Korea refused to yell at Kiku when he was all sensitive like that, and Kiku refused to say anything fight-like, period.
Night13: Sorry! X( I'll try to find other stuff!
kiku-dii: Already that much done! Wow! (What am I going to do with all that free time when I'm done? Write more oneshots?)
Artemis1000: Oh, I'm sorry... Well, actually, no, I'm not. They refused to be louder about it! kajkdfhjg TT^TT They are evil. Never let them take residence inside your head. They won't work with you. Ah, thank you! Yes, I wanted to show that both of them are dead-serious about this relationship. They really want it to work out, both of them.