Gariko
The Byakko Seishi Tatara
"Come on, Gariko! I dare you!"
The other little girls laughed
around the green-haired girl. Gariko
laughed back, but wondered if she should do it. She never backed down from a dare, but this was a bit more
complicated.
She had been dared to ask the cutest
guy in town to take her to the Annual Festival. No girl would ever think to ask a guy in her town. It was just so obvious that the guys had to
ask the girls not the other way around. But Gariko was being dared to actually ask a boy…and not just any boy.
"Come on, plant-girl! You can do it! Just ask him! We dare
you!"
Gariko was silent as she
pondered. She knew she would have to do
it…she never backed down from a dare once it was accepted…but was it really a
wise thing to do? Her best friend,
Kaiou, emerged from the crowd of girls dancing around her.
Gariko smiled. "What do you think, Kai? Should I ask him or not?"
"YES, YES, YES!" came the chant of
the other girls.
Kaiou lifted an eyebrow. "I don't know, Tatara. This is a really big deal. I mean, Shiroki is the most gorgeous guy in
town. I don't know if it would be a
good idea to ask him. Everyone dares
you and you always do the dare. You
really have no shame. But I'm afraid
maybe this is too big of a dare to do."
Only the people closest to her
called Gariko, Tatara, after her granduncle, the famous Byakko seishi. Gariko thought. Maybe she would get lucky. Kaiou was right though. I was a
big deal to ask a guy to the Annual Festival. What happened if he said no? Gariko shrugged. Well, that was
all right. She would have completed the
dare anyway.
Gariko nodded and the girls around
her went into a cheer. The plant-girl
would go ask Shiroki, the most gorgeous guy for three villages out to the
Annual Festival! This was a moment to
be treasured! Only the boldest girl of
the village would do that! And everyone
knew that out of the infatuated girls…Gariko was the most in love with Shiroki.
Gariko walked to the market where
Shiroki and his buddies usually hung out. When she confronted him, she had no qualms. She had no fear. She was
the boldest girl in town for a reason. All of his friends became silent when they saw Gariko approached. Especially since they knew about her
passionate feelings toward Shiroki. But
out of all the things she could have asked him no one expected…
"Will you be my date for the Annual
Festival?"
Their jaws dropped in shock. But still Gariko was not perturbed. She could handle anything. That was why she was queen of the dares. She had no shame.
Shiroki blinked and then smiled
beautifully. Gariko's heart skipped a
beat.
"Sure, Tatara."
Gariko almost swooned right
there. To be called Tatara by the man
she was completely and totally in love with almost overwhelmed her. But Gariko maintained her cool. She smiled brilliantly at him and gave a
slight bow. "Thank you, Shiroki."
Gariko almost ran from the market in
delight. She had done it!
But when the night of the Annual
Festival came, Gariko stood in her dress in front of the house waiting…and
waiting…and waiting…
Her face was slowly becoming pinker
and pinker and pinker as she continued to wait. At midnight, when he still hadn't arrived, Gariko gathered what
was left of her social courage and went to the Festival. As she entered the room where the couples
were dancing, she caught sight of Shiroki, twirling about Michiru, the most
beautiful girl in the village. Gariko
froze and her cheeks began to burn. Just then the music stopped and everyone turned to the girl in the midst
of them.
Gariko stood there, her dark green
hair beautifully decorated, her bright light green eyes shimmering with unshed
tears, the gorgeous dress her mother had made, glowing in a beautiful emerald
green color…her head bowed low and her face glowing red with shame.
The people around started to laugh,
but Gariko could not move. She was
frozen in place, humiliated beyond belief. Kaiou tried to get to her, but the crowd would not let her
through. They were not done humiliating
Gariko.
"You actually thought he would go
with you?"
"Your boldness got the better of
you!"
"No man would go with a girl who
asked them!"
"You're so pathetic!"
"Look! You're all red!"
They jeered and jeered and jeered, until Kaiou finally
managed to reach her and pull her to safety. But Gariko could not lift up her head. From that day on, Gariko was no longer known as the boldest girl in the
village. She stayed in her garden all
of the time, away from people. She was
so shy that no man could get near her without making her run or stutter or
blush. Eventually, Gariko left the
village to try to start a new life…away from the jeers of the people and their
talk of he old Bold Gariko.