A Youthful Perspective From Sasami

Time to get up. I quickly get dressed, then hurry downstairs to prepare breakfast.
After breakfast, it's time to do some sweeping- the kitchen, the hallways, the porch, any place that isn't covered by a carpet.
The time goes by, and I finish my sweeping.
The clock chimes- I finished just in time to prepare lunch.
After lunch, my next job is to do the laundry.
Mihoshi offers to help, but I haven't trusted her with laundry every since that bleach accident.
I politely turn her away, then get to work.
I hear the clock chiming again, calling for me to make supper.
There are still two piles of laundry left to do. I'll get to them after supper.
After supper and my finishing the laundry, I head to the Onsen. I certainly earned my bath for tonight.
As I walk to the bathroom door, I see Ayeka, Mihoshi, and Kiyone leave in the other direction.
I open the door, and what I see startles me.
Inside, everything is a mess. There are both dirty and clean towels lying all around on the floor.
Water is splashed everywhere. Several potted plants have been knocked over.
I even spot some of Mihoshi's dirty laundry lying around.
I sigh, then turn around and walk off. A few minutes later, I come back with a mop and a bucket.
I sure do have my work cut out for me.
I can't say that since Ryoko has been out of the picture things have been different.
It was always like this. I have always had such hard work.
But, it's never been this intolerable before.
When Ryoko was here, she was such a pleasant distraction.
I'd watch her arguing with Ayeka, making shortcuts with the few chores she rarely did, relaxing on the roof... It all made me smile.
And every once and a while... she'd call out to me from the field. But only when no one was watching.
She'd holler out to me, 'Hey Sasami! You work too hard. Come out here and play a while.'
I knew I had work to be done, but I'm still a child. I have to have some fun.
So I'd run out to her, and she'd always have some game for us to play- catch, fishing, hide-and-seek...
I remember one time when we played baseball... I batted, and she played every other part. It was so funny watching her appear and dissappear in different places...
She always made me giggle like that.
And we got caught sometimes. By Ayeka usually.
I can still hear my sister's voice in my mind. 'Sasami! What are you doing out there? You know you have work to do. Ryoko, you are such a bad influence!'
Then Ryoko would reply, 'Yeah, well the kid needs to play some times. All that hard work's bad for her!'
Then I would laugh at it- Ayeka's frown, Ryoko's smile, my silly situation.
I miss it all now. I miss Ryoko.
I stop mopping up the watery mess. In my mind, Ryoko's voice calls to me, just like she used to. 'Hey Sasami! You work too hard. Come out here and play a while.'
Dropping the mop right where I stand, I leave my work and go to Ryoko's room.
It's very dark, so, after closing the door behind me, I turn on the lamp next to her bed.
It's light casts shadows on her sad face.
'Hi Ryoko,' I say to her in my most cheerful voice. 'You'll never guess what happened today.'
I kneel on a pillow on the floor by her side and proceed to tell her the stories of my day.
Every following night, after my trip to the Onsen,
I visit Ryoko and tell her all kinds of things- what has happened to me, fantasy stories I've heard or read, the storylines of the shoujo manga I've read...
I talk to her for about an hour, sometimes even two. She always seems to be listening so well...
It's an escape from my chores with Ryoko... just like old times.
As I turn off the lamp and open the door, I take one more glance back at her.
The light in the hallway is no match for the darkness in her room, but...
If I look hard enough, I can almost see a smile on Ryoko's face...