Entry 1 12th of November of 2020
The only good thing of Saturdays is that I at least do not have to work all day. I go back home tired, even though there is the pandemic of cirCOVID it does not mean I can do my job online, especially when the job requires you to get your hands bloody and yourself wet.
My name is Pablo Baroja, 16 years of age, you might ask yourselves, what on Earth was a 16-year-old boy being what looks like to be a fisherman, the answer is because I am an orphan, well I was, all because some moors wanted the money in father's wallet, my mother's earrings and my girlfriend's collar, they broke my right arm and two ribs, I should have done something, I know I could have, but I also know there is a reason Providence let this happen, even though I do not know why.
I open the door to my house after parking my motorbike, a little rural house, father's inheritance, two levels, a space to put the bike and behind it some parcels for some vegies and wheat, around me there are several houses dispersed along the valley and immediate hills, some even in the mountain. I open the door and as I came to the slightly dark living room, due to the cloudy day, I see my little brother Jaime, of eight years of age, the little guy has the onesie I had when I was his age, even though it is slightly bigger than it was on me, looking at the kitchen I could see my little sister María with an apron and her brown long hair in a ponytail, she is a capable girl, she can cook and could take care of the fields while I am away, but she is pretty emotionally dependent on me, the death of our parents caught her completely by surprise, same goes for Jaime, so I have to take care of her, of the both of them, and I thank God every day that I can, even if sometimes I barely scrape by. Mari leaves everything she does once she sees me and with a big smile she gives me a strong hug.
"I thought you would be out all day" she softly said, looking at me in the eyes while I stroke her hair the way she likes it.
"Today was a productive day and we completed the quota the first four hours in, boss will give me a bonus of 800 euros apart from my pay today.
"Good, so we can relax today and tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, today we can relax, Maria" her smile only got wider as I said that.
"Ok, let me finish cooking, and wake up Jaime, please, today I want to go to the forest," she said, we came here during winter, the normal house is in the city centre, but I sold it to get some money, I went to the sofa in the middle and shook Jaime with one hand.
"Get up, little buddy, lunch is ready" I softly spoke, Jaime squirmed and murmured.
"Five more minutes Pablo, please" he murmured with closed eyes.
We argued like that for two minutes until he woke up, with a small glare, I smiled a bit as I saw him like that, Jaime, as indicated by his onesie, is a bear, when he isn't studying or reading he sleeps, and he doesn't like being woken up from his siesta.
Lunch was silent, a rather comfortable silence if I say so myself, but after finishing the food and cleaning the plates Maria broke the silence.
"Come on, let's go to the forest, it's been a while since we last went," she said with visible excitement.
"Jooo, I don't like the forest, it's scary and Maria always runs off alone without us" complained Jaime, knowing that my two siblings were going to start another argument I stopped it before it got too far
"Maria, for today you cannot go alone, you will hold Jaime's hand if you have to," I said with finality, she looked at me with a very adorable pout, but she didn't complain, contrary to Jaime she knows my word is law in the house. We went out of the house and we walked to the forest, it was a five-minute walk, and I knew a good trail that I knew since I was a lad, it leads to a clearing where a nearby river passed, I used that place as a meeting area whenever dad and I went hunting
"Are you sure you need it Pablo?" asked Maria.
"Sure, a boar almost got us with Dad the other day, I'm not taking any chances today" I responded, for context, I'm referring to a time I was hunting a wild boar with my father and one surprised us from behind, thanks to my quick thinking it didn't gore us right then and there. After some time walking we got to the forest's clearing, a place of about ten meters wide, the trees placed in such a manner that it made a perfect circle, and just a bit more into the forest you could see the river, it was a relaxing place and also one of my favourite spots for prayer when I want some silence without my siblings making noise.
"Oh, I thought we would never go back here!" screamed Maria as she saw the clearing.
"You are very over the top, you know that?" I commented, then I felt something tug at my shirt, it was Jaime tying to get my attention.
"Can we play hide and seek?" he asked, getting Maria's attention.
"Yes please, this place is perfect" she exclaimed with happiness, seeing as there is no way I was getting the idea off their heads I don't even try saying no.
"Ok, but hide where you can see the clearing, and hide together, I don't want Jaime to get lost since only Maria and I know how to get back" Jaime nods and then I started the countdown with my back facing them, and after that, I started looking, and oh boy, Maria does know how to hide, it took about half an hour of looking, they were inside a dead tree trunk, a bit upstream the river, we played a bit more and more games than just hide and seek, after a few hours that we decided it was over and we went back home, but for some reason, I felt a shiver go down my spine as if something was amiss, and until I got back home that feeling never went away, when we got outside the forest I looked around the landscape instinctively, as if I expected something to happen, I looked at the hills, the mountain behind the house, the street, nothing was amiss.
"A fun and chill afternoon to end the day, don't you think Pablo?" commented my sister.
"Yes, the boat had me beat and you weasels certainly don't help," I said to her faking a tired voice, she giggled cutely at that.
"No worries, a massage from me and your energy will come back, then we watch a movie, the type you like" it goes without saying that my sister's massages are near divine, one touch and all your muscles relax, that was a good afternoon, after going inside house she got to work on my back while Jaime read his favorite book, when we finished it was six in the evening, so we turned on the TV and CD player and saw a movie I thoroughly recommend, 'In the Heart of the Sea', anyways, I didn't want to go to sleep late, tomorrow I had Mass and it was Jaime's First Communion and Maria's Confirmation, so at seven we had dinner and then we went to sleep after I prayed my rosary, then I slept and I had a dream the instant I fell asleep, I do not remember it very well but I can remember three things, a world beyond that I know of, a woman whose feature I do not recognize yet I feel as if I always knew her and a heart, beaten, mistreated and bleeding yet being ministered by tender hands, healing slowly but surely bit by bit.
I woke up at eight in the morning, I made my morning rituals, and after that, I changed into a blue shirt and grey pants and go downstairs, this time I had no rush since unlike the port I work, which is in A Coruña and its two hours in motorbike, the parish is in a nearby city, so I and my siblings finish breakfast and head out. But as we walked through the road I saw several things that differed from before that indicated I was not in Galicia anymore, while I was seeing the hills I could see no houses like before, and the forest now extended far beyond the mountain when at first it didn't.
At first, I rationalized it as my still tired mind playing tricks on me, so we walked for twenty minutes to the city and when I saw it there were differences, no, saying that is an understatement, it wasn't even the same it was as big as Santiago de Compostela. My eyes widened like plates as I felt Maria's hand tremble.
"Pablo, where are we?" asked Maria, I looked at her and I could see my poor sister hyperventilating, and I honestly could not blame her as I felt as if my heart was in my throat.
"Maria, you must calm down, I know you are scared but you must calm down, we will go inside this city to see where exactly we are, then we will go back home, ok?" I said cupping her cheeks with both hands, she nodded with whimpering and teary eyes, I kissed her on the forehead to console her a bit and then we walked towards the unknown city.
As we got into the city we saw a sign by the road which scared me a bit since the language was unfamiliar at first, later I recognized it as Japanese, but for some reason I could read it, which confused me to no end if it wasn't because Jaime and Maria were very much real I would think I am dreaming.
"Pablo, did you see…"
"Yes and I also can read it" good thing Jaime looked out of it and isn't really paying attention. Maria put her hand in her mouth trying to hide her surprise, as we approached the city we got into the suburbs, whose most important feature was a Shintoist temple, or at least its entrance.
"My oh my, you don't look like you are from here," said a feminine voice in surprisingly fluent Spanish, I turned towards the voice and saw the most beautiful woman I ever laid my eyes on, her hair was as black as the ocean's abyss, a body that would be the envy of many women yet her smile was so benevolent and kind, she had a white robe with the ends of the sleeves and the waist red, what surprised me more was the fact that she spoke Spanish as if she talked it for all her life.
"Hello, lady, could you please tell us where are we" I asked her
"Lady? I am not that old, I am only eighteen and you are in Kuoh, stranger" she answered in a playful tone, I could not believe it, Kuoh? Well, I can think of several people that would say I am lucky, and maybe they are right but that does not matter.
"You look lost, both you and your siblings, mind if I make a small tour for you, I have some free time and I wouldn't like for three kids to get lost if I could help it, this city can be a bit troublesome for people like you" she offered.
"Y-yes please, we do not know where we are, we just came recently" stuttered Maria, the girl giggled and put her broom to the side.
"Good then but on one condition, let me invite you for lunch, I have not had many visitors in a long time"
"Of course miss…"
"Himejima Akeno" she finished for me, huh, the anime might be the most degenerate garbage out there, but it really did not do her justice, she looked absolutely beautiful.
"Let's start the tour, I will be your guide showing you our humble city, I hope you like your stay here" she said in a playful tone while bowing slightly, then she guided us on a small walk through the city, I took note of the port and the number of fishing boats and even the presence of a whaler, then she took us to Kuoh Academy, which was a private school, the actual public school being three streets down, she mentioned she got in her thanks to a scholarship, then we went back to her house after seeing the centre of the city, specifically the main park.
"That covers everything important, now come, the food must be about to finish, mother always cooks a lot" that surprised me again, Akeno's mother is supposed to be dead.
"You sure, your parents won't mind?" I asked wanting to get more context.
"No, mother will not mind, she likes having visitors, and this isn't father's business, at least not anymore" she answered, practically spitting out the last part as if it was trash, I wisely decided not to press further.
"Ok then, come on guys" I told my siblings and then we started to walk up the stairs of Akeno's temple, or in this case, Shuri's, the temple itself was a rather modest house, two fox altars were present and the house itself was of traditional Japanese architecture, I felt really uncomfortable entering a pagan temple, but I had to remember that in this world pagan gods are actually what they say they are, apparently so, and not demons wearing a disguise, so I swallowed those feelings, for now, Akeno opened the door when we reached the house and let us in first.
"Please take your shoes off," she asked and we did, and already in the entrance, we could heard water boiling.
"Akeno, have you finished cleaning?" asked a more mature voice coming from the door to the right.
"Yes mother, and we have guests" answered the girl.
"Oh my, you should have said sooner, please have them come, don't keep them waiting!" said the voice a bit more franticly.
We followed Akeno to the living room/kitchen and then I saw the mother, who if I remember right was called Shuri, she looked like an older version of her daughter, yet she still appeared so young, she wore a white apron that covered part of her blue kimono, her hair tied up in a black ribbon partly camouflaged by her hair, she turned to us and smiled.
"My, you really don't come from here, what are your names, dears?" she asked in a pleasant tone, I bowed down slightly as it's a custom here.
"Pablo Baroja, and next to me are my siblings Maria and Jaime"
"My, Akeno-chan, I know I said you can bring guests, but I didn't expect it would come so unexpected, please, sit down, the food will be ready soon," she said as she started to prepare the bowls, my siblings, Akeno and I meanwhile sat by the table.
"Pablo, there are no chairs" complained Jaime.
"I know Jaime, Japanese houses are like that, you sit on the floor" I responded, Jaime then with Maria, Akeno sat in front of me, Shuri then came with some sort of soup which I could not remember the name of.
"Oh, sorry for not telling earlier, I am Himejima Shuri, the priestess of this temple, well, at least I was the priestess."
"A pleasure, miss Shuri" I answered, I took a sip of the soup with the spoon, then Shuri put a hand on her left cheek before talking.
"Now tell me, what are three strangers doing here, I have never seen you before" when she said that, I knew I couldn't lie, Jaime would say the truth and so would Maria, so I could only hope she didn't send me to the loony bin.
"Before saying it, can you promise me not to ignore my answer like any normal person would?" I asked seriously
"Why so dear? I doubt you can say anything to impress me" she responded in a dismissive fashion, I swallowed saliva before continuing.
"Thing is we have reason to think we come from another world, we came with our house early in the day, to be exact we come from Galicia, 12th of November 2020" I answered, Shuri's eyes widened a bit, as did Akeno's, but she didn't lose composure.
"I was about to say you are lying, but my experience tells me otherwise, today is June 2nd of 2018 and Akeno-chan would have said something if you were lying, the truth is I said what I said because my daughter is not exactly human, looks like I was wrong," she said in a serious tone, which gave way to a more sympathetic tone and looks "poor little ones, you are so far from home, I'm sure your parents must be very worried about you" I make a small scowl as I heard my parents being mentioned.
"They would if they were still alive, miss Shuri" I spat as I nearly remembered that memory I tried to get buried, Shuri then put her hand in her mouth, her eyes and expression that of surprise and sadness, "that was a year ago, I have been taking care of Maria and Jaime ever since, working in A Coruña's port"
"I'm sorry Pablo-kun, I did not want to open a wound" apologized Shuri with sadness and sympathy.
"No need miss Shuri, you had no way of knowing" I answered as I finished what was left of my soup, we were in silence for a few seconds before Shuri talked again.
"How would you like staying here" she proposed, catching me completely by surprise.
"What?"
"We have free bedrooms, and I don't mind taking care of you, I'm not rich by any means but I'm also not aching for money" she proposed with a smile.
"But we still have our own home"
"Which will be investigated when the authorities notice, dear, do you think they won't notice a house suddenly appearing in the middle of the day? The police might be bored but they are not incompetent" she responded.
"I can look for a residence" I answered a bit more nervous.
"How? They will not accept you anywhere with your IDs as they will think they are fabrication, all three of them" she countered still keeping that smile, I actually started to sweat a little, this woman is implacable, Shuri always was, even though she is only trying to help, I do not want to share my burden.
"Maria, take Jaime and get out of here for a moment" Maria nodded and took Jaime by the hand, which protested for a moment before leaving, then I looked at the woman with a scowl.
"You can't make me stay," I said firmly and planting my hands on the table, her smile did not waver but her tone became more serious.
"I can and I will, if only to make sure you don't live in the streets, trampled by the scum of society or in those nauseating and underfunded prisons they call orphanages" then her expression softened, her tone also turned almost pleading "Pablo-kun, please, I do not want you or your siblings to live in the streets with nothing if I can help it, think what it would mean for you and your siblings once you leave"
"I won't pass my burden to another person, this is my business alone" I answered, I did not want to parasite on Shuri.
"And now I'm making it my problem" she replied in a more forced tone, then Akeno put her hand over one of mine.
"Pablo-kun, please, I don't know you much, but a boy like you does not deserve this situation you want to put yourself in, please, don't turn away help given to you freely" she pleaded, looking at me in the eyes, I did not dare look at her in the eyes, I wanted to fix this by myself somehow, but I knew she was right, no way I would be able to even get a residence permit, I could barely pay what I needed back in Galicia, if I try it here I would end up in the streets and my siblings would die in the cold. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Is this what you truly want?" I asked, Shuri nodded, I sighed once again.
"I would have to pack my things up and someone has to help," I said in a defeated tone.
"Thank you dear" she answered, a genuine smile spreading on her face.
"No problem miss Shuri, now if you excuse me, I have to pack up my things, I will try to get back as soon as possible" I answered, getting up from the floor.
"Akeno-chan, go with them, I want them here by the afternoon," told Shuri to her daughter, which also got up, and I didn't notice before but not only was Akeno older but she was also taller, I was 1.75, normal for a Spaniard, she was 1.90, which made me rather uncomfortable.
2 hours later
I closed my pack where I put all my clothes, I looked at my room, I felt strange with the fact this would be the last time seeing my family's house, at least I took all that was mine.
"Is everything done, Pablo-kun?" asked Akeno outside my room.
"Yes, now let's go, Jaime and Maria must be waiting for us" I answered, we went down and I saw my siblings already there, Maria, in particular, looked sad, sadder than Jaime who was hugging her.
"I'm sorry, Maria-chan, I would rather no have this happen, but mother is right, it would only be a matter of time before they kick you out," said Akeno, trying to console her.
"I know, but still," she said while looking at the house, then she looked at Akeno again "I know, but I still I have so many memories here, please let me have a moment of silence" Akeno nodded as she took the sobbing Jaime, her sisterly instincts supposedly taking over, I also went silent as I remembered all the memories I had of this place, my first successful hunt of a boar, lighting the fireplace for the first time, my mother cuddling me when I was six, all those moments happened here and this place will disappear like tears in a rain, Maria sobbed a bit and then looked at me, saying we could go now.
"My, you have come here all the way walking, I almost thought you escaped, Pablo-kun" said Shuri with happiness in her voice.
"The Almighty would be angry with me if I broke a promise like this, as much as I don't like this I have to live here, we will be in your care from now on" I answered, then Jaime walked forward to her
"Miss Shuri, is it true we will be staying here?" he asked, Shuri crouched down to her level.
"Of course, Jaime-chan, from now on I will take care of you" she answered in a warm voice.
"Like a mommy?" he asked, which surprised her for a moment, but she nodded after a moment.
"Yes, like your own mother" then Jaime hugged her as he sobbed, and Shuri smiled and returned the hug while patting his head, I let him vent on Shuri, who knows how much he needed this, Shuri looked at us.
"You all must be tired, come in, Akeno will show you your rooms and we will then spend the night together ok?"
I left all my things in my room, unpacking took me the better part of an hour, remaking my altar, with Christ Crucified and the Bible at the forefront, and my book pile. As I finished I then went back down to the living room.
"Oh? You are the only one down" commented Shuri, reading a little book on a sofa, so was her daughter.
"Maybe Maria is still coming to terms she may not come back to Galicia, and Jaime is either doing the same thing or sleeping" I answered "if I am being honest a part of me has not accepted this, it is still so surreal, especially since you accepted us so fast," I said
"This leads me to ask, how did you take care of your siblings until now?" asked Akeno.
Shuri leaned in a bit, eager to listen, I sighed and sat on the sofa, next to Akeno.
"The port of A Coruña, or well, one of its fishing ports, it was one of the most active ports in Spain, and her fishing fleet one of the biggest in the world, I made myself a crewman in the biggest boat I could find, secondary education gave me a job and it was 700 a month, if I lived alone it would be bad but bearable, but I was taking care of two other people, still I made the effort, even if it sometimes meant not eating in some days or staying at sea for days on end to gain a bonus, because between paying the food, the leftover mortgage, the gas and the water plus the taxes, I am left with pretty much chump change at best, it wasn't unusual to only have fifty euros at the end of months" I answered, my fists curling up as Akeno put a hand in my left fist.
"But everything turned up well, I promise you that you won't have to risk yourself just to maintain your own family" she promised.
"And I know I will never replace your real mother, but I promise to be the best one possible for the three of you, I will never, never, ever leave you alone like you were" promised Shuri, then Akeno hugged me, Shuri joining shortly after at my back, I let a few tears out, this is what I deep down wanted, to remake my family, maybe I will have a chance here.
"Thank you, if it wasn't for you I don't know where I would be in the future, I don't know how to repay you" I thanked Shuri, she then kissed me in the forehead with a warm smile.
"Who said anything about repaying anyone Pablo-chan, you are here because I want to, independently of what you can do for me or Akeno-chan, now rest, you deserve it after what you have been through
And that was my first day, although it was the beginning of my journey, it was the beginning of the end for many of my pains, being adopted by Shuri relieved me of the long-buried pain of not being enough for my siblings, I knew I wasn't giving them the best life, and it also partially relieved me of my solitude, and a certain raven-haired individual would fully relieve me of it
Just like the original version, I am going to edit this to suit it in to the new style I want to give it and also to fix some errors I have seen, just please tell me if there is anything wrong