Chapter 2: First Taste of Darkness
Notes: Disclaimer: Kono Oto Tomare belongs to Amyu-sensei. Not beta-read so do excuse me for any errors. Content in italic is flashback.
Song of the chapter: Lotus Pain by Mashiro Ayano ( D. Gray Man Hallow's Ending)
By midday, my brother would come running from school with pattering steps and rush to sit in front of a koto in seiza as he hummed his favorite songs. Some time after, mom would join him. Fun sounds would fill the house. I loved these kind, gentle times. I loved it.
'Beautiful "Discord"!'
'Keishi-kun's performance doesn't even lose to adults…'
'You two must be so proud to have such a promising successor.'
Clap, clap, clap
A young girl with short bob-haired clapped as loud as she could, eyes shining and looking straight forward at her brother playing the koto.
'Akira, was brother's performance good?'
'Yeah! Amazing!' said excitedly the young girl while continuing to clap
'Here's an encore for my cute little sister! – blushed the young boy, preparing to play again – This is my special arrangement of my favorite rock band!'
Soon enough, a medley of rock played by koto with heavy notes resounded the room, with the children cheering for their peer while the adults looking on in shock. Akira kept clapping, smiling at her brother's sounds with the latter heartfully delivering his song for his sister.
'Good grief! What on earth was that vulgar performance?!' chided their grandmother while lecturing both their mother and the two of them for a long time afterwards.
That night, as the two siblings laid down on their futons that are directly next to each other, the young girl looked at her brother curiously and shyly asked:
'Can Akira learn to play like brother?'
'You will play much better than me, Akira' – smiled proudly the older boy at his sister, while ruffling her hair affectionately.
My brother is super popular. He was always shining, but he shone brightest on the stage. How wonderful…Akira wants to be just like brother.
"I want to compete! Akira will be a genius." Shouted the small girl determinedly to her mother and brother.
Akira will be just like brother! I will be number one. I will shine!
A few months later…
"What happened to Akira?" Asked the Doujima patriarch to his wife, looking at their small daughter hiding behind the curtains.
"She's sad she didn't win." Smiled empathically Akira's mother, her gaze directing at her young daughter.
Just then, Keishi approached his sister and enthusiastically asked her to play koto with him. However, Akira refused saying she failed as his sister because she wasn't number one in the contest. That made him cry with tears comically running down his face, while his parents were looking on smirking at him.
Keishi kept crying and saying how his little sister was too cute, and how she was an angel for being so cute, until Akira spoke again in a timid voice:
"Nii-chan, how can Akira be number one as well?
"Hmmm…you know, we were practising backflips with my friends the other day."
"Eh? That's dangerous!"
"No matter how much I got hurt and how many times I failed, because I gave it everything I have, I succeeded." Smiled proudly Keishi at his sister, while Akira looked at her brother with a wonder and admiration's expression.
Everything I have….
"Mom, enter Akira in the next contest!" Keishi said suddenly surprising both his mother and sister. Akira's surprised expression quickly turned into a determined one and she nodded:
"I will go until I win!"
After that, I entered many different contests in order to catch up to my brother. In order to shine like brother. I practised feverishly, until I could finally see it.
But, after practising so much, what I saw improving, was not myself, shining like my brother, but brother's true talent and greatness.
However, I also know that even though he may be a genius, and sometimes a bit too carefree, he practices the most more than anyone. So what if I'm not a genius? If it's about doing my best, then I can do it. Eventually, I, too, can reach the top of that wall.
Then arrived that fateful day, when Akira knew the first taste of despair.
They were nearing the end of the Meiji period. The last year of this historical period was a particular tumultuous one. The Tokugawa Shogunate was over. The way of cultural enlightenment has been opened. Western culture was progressing with dazzling clothes and buildings: Japan's first big step into the modern age. A prohibition for carrying swords was put out and those known as samurai disappeared. At first sight, the world was full of lively people. However, behind that liveliness, there are those who were not pleased with the changes in Japan. This new age was full of enemies. The growth of the crime rate was extraordinary. Not only that, the threat of the beginning of the first World War was looming in every corner. One usually wondered when Japan will become peaceful again. Since swords were prohibited to be carried around, civilians carried concealed firearms with them everywhere. It wasn't uncommon for some stray bullets or grenades to hurt pedestrians or for civilians to take out their guns towards one another when the tension was high.
The Doujima family, minus Keishi and the grandmother, were heading to the shopping district that day to buy some food for Obon. Akira was happily munching on a karumeyaki treat while holding her mother's hand, innocently unaware of the tension in the air, of the worried expressions of her parents who were trying to finish their shopping as soon as possible and returned home, since it was known that the enemy tended to target populated places such as markets and shops to attack civilians.
One minute, the world was colorful, with blue sky, green trees and white birds flying in the sky, then in the span of some seconds, a bright white light flashed through everywhere, followed by one single color: red. Flaming orange red was engulfing the buildings, blood red was splattering everywhere with charred human bodies on the ground. In the mid of this sea of flames, a lone young girl was kneeling on the ground, trying desperately to wake her parents who shielded her from the fire.
"Otou-san, Oka-san! Please wake up!" tears falling down quickly on both her plump cheeks
"No! Open your eyes Otou-sannnnn! Oka-sannnn!" desperately cried the little girl, trying continuously to shake her parents's lifeless forms awake amid the inferno on earth.
"Akira! Akira!" the young man ran through the devastated field, once an open market with plenty of life and chatter, now only covered with charred and fallen debris. His eyes darted all around, desperate to find a glimpse of his parents and little sister.
As soon as he spotted Akira, Keishi quickly reached her and took hold of her small trembling frame in his arms. His hands caressing the back of her head and back, as if trying to console both her and himself from what just transpired. Hiding his face on her small shoulders, his own silent tears fell down as he looked down at the limp bodies of his parents.
It was too sudden. It all happened so fast. Losing both parents at the same time to the cruelty of war.
Perhaps it was due to the shock of seeing her parents protecting her and dying right in front of her in the process, Akira lost her voice since that day. No matter how much Keishi tried to make her talk again, Akira couldn't utter any sounds.
Their grandmother, already frail because of her age and medical condition, got even weaker after the passing of their parents and passed away herself only a few months after them, leaving only the two siblings behind in the whole Doujima household.
"You should eat something, Akira. You barely ate anything for days." Worriedly said Keishi, trying to feed his sister some okayu. The young girl however made no move to open her mouth or accept the food. Sighing, the young man put the bowl and spoon down, and drew his sister into a deep hug.
"I won't let you lose your strength, nor your will to live, Akira. Your big brother will definitely save you!" said Keishi quietly but fiercely as he hugged his small little sister tightly. He couldn't help but have some tears on his face when he finally felt her small hands hugging him back.
And just like that, Keishi continued patiently everyday to feed Akira, no matter how little she actually ate or if the only things he knew how to make were egg okayu and kitsune udon. He tried to get earn some more money by distributing newspapers every morning, since it was one of the only jobs that a young man could do during those war times.
Keishi tried his best to get his sister to smile again, even just a little bit. He played the koto everyday for her while smiling, always telling her to keep laughing in spite of hardships, and that even the darkest night will be followed by daybreak.
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