7:29 P.M.
Wednesday 16 May
Shinohara Cemetery
So, this is it... I looked up at the menacing iron gates of the Shinohara Cemetery, lit only by a fluorescent light inside the night watchman's tower and by the light of the waning crescent moon. The cemetery always looked so cold, so uninviting...whenever I passed it during the day, it never seemed to be any brighter or any less dismal than it was now. The few trees inside the gates never had any foliage, even in the middle of May. The place seemed to breed death...as if it was doing more than its share of keeping death inside its iron walls. But no matter how many times a year I would pass this small cemetery to get to school, it never seemed so threatening and so deadly as it did tonight.
I shook my head. This was definitely not the best place for my brother's final resting place.
The large iron gate, encrusted with peeling black paint and decomposing rust, was closed when I arrived at the cemetery, which was around seven-thirty. It took me longer to get here than usual; every year since Sam's death, every year that I had come to this cemetery with a pot of bought lilies and a heavy heart, it took me only a few minutes to get from my apartment to the cemetery; a half hour, at the most. But tonight was different; maybe I had spent more time in the Takenouchi's Flower Shop than expected, or I just felt like walking a little slower this year, but the small walk that only took a few minutes took me an hour and a half to accomplish.
I had to get the night watchman, who, thankfully was at his post at the time, to open the gate to the cemetery; if he hadn't, I didn't know what I would do. I had never snuck into the cemetery before, but if that guard wouldn't let me in to see my brother, on this night of all nights, then I would have no other choice but to dart around the back and let myself in.
The walk was long, but I was used to it by now. The rolling green hills of the cemetery must have been at least a little cheerful in the day; without the headstones that appeared every three feet, this could have been a park, or a playground for children.
But it's not any playground, I thought, feeling tears form in my eyes before I had even gotten past the first mausoleum. It's a meadow of death. It's not a park for children; no, it's instead where dead children lie, never to rise and play again.
I swiped at a tear falling down my cheek with my sweater sleeve. I swore to myself I wouldn't cry tonight.
I had remembered when I had first heard about Sam's death; it took me a few days to actually believe it. I was only nine then; Sam was a mere thirteen. I didn't want to believe that my older brother, my protector and my friend, wouldn't be there for me anymore; that he just wouldn't be anywhere anymore. I cried for weeks after that; I wouldn't leave my room, and my parents feared I would never get over my brother's death. They were so thankful when I did get out of my room and returned to school, and when I started doing exceptionally well with my studies.
They thought I had gotten over Sam's death. But you never get over something like that. Never.
My eyes were so clouded with unshed tears and memories of my dear brother that I barely noticed the tombstone in front of me, and I was shocked to find me nearly falling over the grave. Even though I tried to keep my balance and stay on my feet - for bumping into a gravestone was one thing, but it surely couldn't have been good luck if I tripped over it and, God forbid, caused it to crack or fall - I fell to the ground on my knees, the wind effectively knocked out of me.
"Shit," I whispered, ashamed at myself for letting my emotions come over me ant for not looking where I was going. I looked up at the tombstone, to see whose unfortunate grave I stumbled upon. I gasped when I read the engraved letters on the slab of marble before me:
"Sam"
Forever our beautiful son
Born April Twenty, Nineteen Eighty-Three
Died May Sixteen, Nineteen Ninety-Six
"Hey, Sam," I said with a hoarse throat. "I'm back."
7:30 P.M.
Wednesday 16 May
718 Odaiba Terrace Apartment 4-B
"Um...is...uh...is this...well...I'm...is Yolei here?" I stuttered, not sure if I had the right address. Did I just ring the doorbell to the Twilight Zone, and this was the gatekeeper?
He gave me an "are-you-an-idiot?" look, and yelled into the apartment, "Yolei, your boyfriend's here."
"He's not my boyfriend, dweeb!" I heard from inside the house, the shrill, annoying voice that could be no one else but Yolei. "Did you let him in yet?"
The boy who I only knew as "dweeb" opened the door all the way to let me in, and I walked into the hall of the apartment, holding the white corsage with shaking hands. "He's in now."
"Well, at least you're not late," Yolei addressed to me. "And don't mind my brother, he's just a dork." Yolei emerged from her bedroom, and my breath hitched in my throat.
She took off her glasses and opted for contacts, which was a start. They opened up her eyes more and stopped her face from being hidden away by those nerdy glasses. A beautiful face, really; her delicate features were now clearly seen without her glasses, and her eyes glimmered with a happiness and joy that I had never seen before. She had put her hair up into a glamorous bun, with tendrils of violet hair curling down, framing her face. It was a lot better than hiding her long hair under her helmet, which she did in the Digiworld on any possible occasion. Her white, spaghetti-strap dress flowed from her shoulders down to just above her knee, and it made her look like an angel.
She was beautiful. Yolei Inoue actually looked beautiful.
I was speechless as she walked over to me, took the corsage from my hands, and examined it in the clear plastic box, checking to see if I had bought the right one. She handed it back to me and said, "You wore a suit. It looks good on you."
I only then remembered I had to breathe, and I let out a breath, which sounded oddly to my ears like a nervous sigh. "Thanks," I said.
"Your parents are driving us?" she asked as she grabbed her matching white purse and wrap. I nodded, and she smiled. "Okay then, let's go. I don't want to get there late."
"Wait!" I said nervously, a little too loudly for my liking, and stepped between Yolei and the doorway. I gave a toothy grin and presented the corsage. "Shouldn't I put this on you first?"
Yolei smiled - and did I even see her blush? - and allowed me to pin the white carnation on her dress. I pinned it on her slowly, allowing my fingers linger a little longer against the cool skin of her shoulder. I blushed at the thought. This was Yolei. Yolei Inoue. Not some hot model, or a movie star, or even Kari. This was Yolei. Why was I getting so nervous and worked up over Yolei?
Our eyes met as I drew my hands back, and we stared at each other for a moment, neither of us knowing what to say to the other. We just looked at each other, with these blank expressions of misunderstanding on our faces, not knowing what to do next. If Yolei's brother didn't speak up so rudely, we probably would have stayed like that the entire night.
"Aw, isn't that cute," Yolei's older brother said sarcastically. "Let me go get my camera."
Yolei blushed a brighter shade of red and turned defensive on her brother. "Shut up, loser!" She yelled back at him. "Besides, we were leaving anyway."
Grabbing my wrist and nearly pushing me out the door, Yolei said, "Come on, Davis, let's go."
I rung the doorbell to Yolei's apartment, and a very odd-looking, very bald teenage boy answered the door, munching on a club sandwich.
