(Sable)
I leaned my cheek against my upturned palm. My stomach was remotely happy after lunch, but my mind thoroughly enjoyed today. I stared up front, watching him talk to his friends. The petit Lily giggled, while Tomo muttered something to Ryo Sanada. Ryo Sanada, I'd known him for years.
We'd always gone to the same school when I'd moved to Japan. I drew a little smiley face on my notebook, and looked up at the back of his head, impulsively drawing another one. Ryo Sanada, what more could I say?
'Go away!' I'd fallen in my little plaid skirt the first day of school in Japan. Some bully thought it would be hilarious to shove me in a mud puddle.
'Make me!' I'd turned, and there, I'd seen another group of giggling kids. My heart filled with dread. I'd thought another group of kids had come to harass me. Then, one of the dark hair boys stepped forth.
'You got beat up by a girl?' He'd started to laugh at the bullies, but his friends fell silent for a second. I gasped, thinking I was dead.
'No!' The bully screamed, bawling up his fist. He walked right up to the kid, who just smirked at him. 'I'll beat you!'
'She must have been mean to you,' the little red head jumped forward with her brave friend. 'You sure pushed her really hard.'
'Shut up!' The bully looked confused and frustrated, not sure which of the two to take a swing at first. I heard a noise, and the bully turned, seeing a teacher. He took off, glaring knives at the boy.
'Hi, I'm Ryo Sanada,' he stuck his hand out to me, a huge grin on his face. I flickered a shy smile, and I felt the same warm blush come over my face now as I did then. I'd had a crush on that sarcastic, gutsy boy ever since then, quirks and all.
I jerked my head up as my English teacher walked by my desk. She stopped and smiled at me. "Mrs. Smith, how are you?"
"I'm good," the middle aged American woman smiled at me. She was lean, but her age showed, yet her eyes and smile were still bright. "I've got a new group of students to tutor. The Foreign Exchange Program has elected you for a heavy tutoring load."
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Smith slid me an envelope and a couple books. I gazed at the tape entitled "Simple Phrases in Russian."
"They've brought a girl in from Russia. She speaks proficient English, but no Japanese. You should learn some quick Russian just to make her feel more comfortable." I gazed stupidly at the tape. "Don't worry, you have two weeks before you need to start tutoring her."
"Thanks," I smiled with relief, feeling the sweat fall from my forehead. I stared at the envelope, almost afraid to open it. "What's in this?"
"Just a list of ten more people you'll tutor, well, at least up until December, in Japanese," Mrs. Smith shot me another confidence smile, and strolled back up to the front to begin class.
Great, I had the challenging tutoring job that would make Mi Sang proud and drive me insane. I let my gaze wander hopelessly back on Ryo. I'd always dreamed for years of the day I'd get the courage to ask him out. I hadn't gotten that gush of courage, yet, but it looked as if I'd need it to confront all ten of these new people.
I stared at his dark head of hair, so happy I had four periods with him. He'd really never said too much since he'd rescued me from that bully. However, I went home that night and wrote a stupid little school girl note about how I wanted to marry him. I felt my face grow slightly warm at the thought as he sat right there.
Right there, just as the bell rang, he bolted out the door, leaving Lily and Tomo in the room. I shrugged, entering the crowded hallway. I was thin like a willow wand and got jostled between the flood of people. I felt lost, like I always did, in school.
I dreaded seventh period Chorus. Mi Sang made me sign up every year, saying, when she heard me, I had a lovely voice. My father sung in the chorus in high school and went to honors chorus several times.
I stared guiltily at my hands. At least I'd take chorus for dad every year. I knew I'd never quit, just because he'd done it. He'd believed I could sing, too.
I sat at a chair, and lots of other girls filed into the room, sitting around me, hiding me in their mists. I looked in front, spying long time chorus member, Kaede Mione. Her long, slinky blue dress fit her well, and I secretly envied her gorgeous body. I knew she'd get first soprano again this year.
"Did you see Nilla faint?" I turned, spotting Lily talking loudly to a group of girls. "The poor girl scared me to death! She turned white and passed out! They kept in the nurse's office, but then they took her out . . ."
I detached from Lily's talking, catching various male and female singers file into the room. They each took the seat I'd thought they'd take, right with their cliché. I didn't have a cliché, and I remotely hoped I never would. I liked the way I functioned.
I remembered the outspoken girl in the bookstore, just before school stared. No one had asked me about my magic so openly before. I wasn't comfortable discussing the fact I was a witch with anyone. I hadn't even felt secure telling it to my dad.
Should I've told him? I thought bitterly at how alienated it might have made us. Would he have wanted the truth before he died? I didn't know, but I hadn't found the heart to practice a spell since he'd died.
"Listen ladies and gentlemen," the chorus director cut into my thoughts. "There are two audition pieces. Pick the part you're auditioning on, and tryouts are in a week. Until then, you may use this class to practice or for a study hall."
I sighed, walking down, picking up an alto female voice. I wasn't good enough to try soprano, nor could my voice go that high. I watched Kaede and Lily both grab the soprano parts. Soon, all the little books with all those ridiculously high notes were snatched up.
I plopped myself down in the corner, looking at the first piece of music. "Your Friend shall be the Tall Wind". It was composed for the 2001 KPASSP Choral Festival in Tokyo, Japan, which was printed inside the cover. I glanced at it, deciding to practice later.
I looked at the second piece, "Hymn of Promise". There wasn't anything especially difficult about it. I decided to stash them both away until I felt an urge to sing. Well, at least until Mi Sang gave me an urge to sing.
The bell rang, and I quietly drifted into a buzzing, active eight period. It was driver's education. Next semester, I'd have health. I sat there, surrounded by burly, active jocks. I looked at my hands, instinctively afraid of anyone too strong and large. I knew what muscled people could do to meek tempered people, like myself. I kept quiet, very glad I had mastered the power of invisibility.
Then, the day was over, and the final bell rang. I stood up, slowly pushed through the halls as everyone went their separate ways. I climbed aboard the bus, sitting rigidly in the front. I'd sat in the same seat everyday since I'd started school in Japan. I knew this was the one seat they'd always leave open.
No one bothered the people up front. I held my books, turning my head out the window. I saw my plain, long, mouse brown hair reflected in the tinted bus window. I watched the tall city buildings of Toyoma chug by. The people, coming or going, bustled down the streets, concerned with their daily life.
I looked out, seeing one of the larger parks in the city. Teniki Park used to belong to a great estate, but had been given over to city lands. A large, wrought iron fence still kept it safe and bordered from the rest of the sprawling metropolis. We passed by the side of the gate with the murky blue pond.
I stared into the waters beyond the fence as the bus stopped at a light. This was healthy water, full of algae and lily pads. It looked slightly gray today, though. Yes, it was gray, but not the water. I gasped, suddenly realizing smoke was rising off the water!
Suddenly, the bus jolted into the intersection. I went to say something to the driver about the pond, but I stopped. The water looked its normal teal color. No smoke vaporized out of the water today.
Smoke? What had I been thinking? I turned away from the window. I decided I better not start hallucinating about strange things. I stared complacently at my books. I looked at my thin, pale, bony fingers, too.
The bus lurched, and I looked up, instinctively knowing it was my stop. I lived very closely to the park. I sighed, getting up, waving good bye to the bus driver. I walked, letting the last of the warm summer winds whip my limp hair.
I took out my key, opening the front door. The empty air of the house echoed my own footsteps and movements. No one was home. I looked at the table, reading the note from Mi Sang. "Interviewing business partners. Heat rice and shrimp."
I walked into the kitchen, pulling out the bag of brown rice. I added water, putting it into the pot to cook. I turned the temperature on the stove up to medium and set the timer for fifteen minutes.
I turned on the oven to three hundred and thirty degrees. I grabbed the frozen shrimp, putting them on a cooking pan. I stuck them in the oven, setting another timer for twenty minutes. I walked into the living room, opening my envelope.
At the top, under student, read the name Zera Kowitz. Beside it said, under country, was Russia.
(Zera)
"Flight Thirty Six has now landed at Toyoma International Airport." I listened to the Russian announcement. I grabbed my nap sack, unbuckling when the little sign flashed. I stood up, grasping the realization this might be the last time I heard Russian for a while.
Good riddance, I straightened up, ready to leave Russia. Good riddance to my brothers and control freak father. The more distance carved between the three of them and myself, the better. I'd never been more determined to run away than now.
I checked my bags out, going down to the terminal gates. I stood there, looking around, listening to the people talk very quickly. They prattled on in Japanese, and I didn't understand a word. I looked away, glancing myself in the glass panes of the airport.
My dark, thick brunette hair hung down to my shoulders in loose waves. I was around six feet tall, and for a girl, I was a giant. I'd thrown on a blue blouse, which I hated, but I wore it anyway, with a white spaghetti strap top under it. I liked my gray blue jeans, and refused to wear anything but my slate blue converse shoes.
Little wonder I hardly had been spoken to since I'd boarded the airplane. I ignored the strange glances all the people gave me, deciding I liked myself well enough that they didn't need to like me. I smirked slightly, keeping an eye out for my ride. Where did I really want to go?
Then, I saw the battered, brown Volkswagen drive up. I grabbed my bags, walking towards it. I opened the trunk as the driver yelled out, "Zera Kowitz?"
"Yes," I replied with one of the only words I knew in Japanese. I threw my bags in the trunk, hopping in the front seat with the driver. He glanced nervously at me, but started the car. However, he kept his peripheral vision on me. I smirked, wondering what he was so afraid I'd do.
The man dropped me off at the front of a dumpy looking brick building. Other buildings, not well kept, but in better shape, over shadowed it. Like the black sheep in the herd, this building huddled beneath the rest. I grabbed my bags, indignant at the man's rudeness, but expectant of it.
I walked through the door, not bothering to knock. I looked around the empty lobby, and walked up towards the battered desk.
"Name?" The man at the desk asked. His aged said he'd been here too long. His eyes said he was sick of dealing with foreign brats. However, his English was understandable.
"Zera Kowitz."
"Room two twelve." The man pointed at the stairs. I walked towards them, climbing them slowly and deliberately. I came to the second level, looking deftly around at the worn smooth, molding wood. A rank smell permeated this floor, and I heard soft noises from each of the rooms.
I carried my suitcase to the end of the hall, to room two twelve. I had one other room beside mine, two thirteen. I didn't hear noise from inside that room, though. Maybe it was empty. I turned the rusting, worn brass knob, walking into the room.
One scummy window let no light in the falling light into the little room. I could feel the dusty, damp air trapped in this place rush at me. I coughed, realizing I'd have house cleaning to do before I slept.
"Through the wastelands, a blizzard will rise with winter's bitter sting, and Bishimon will again be king."
"What?" I turned, hearing the soft female voice chant. I looked around, unable to see who'd said that to me. "Who's there?" I asked loudly in English, but suddenly realized I'd heard that in Russian.
"Answer me," I repeated in Russian. I walked forward, tripping over a rickety table. I grabbed something, realizing it was a lamp. I flicked on the switch, and the little bubble cast a dim twenty watts into the room. I gasped, seeing a huge spider web in the corner.
I turned out, going to find the bathroom. I did so, grabbing sprays and whole rolls of paper towels. I marched back, killing the huge spider and its children. Then, I began to dust and clean the room. I went back, found more cleaners, and went mechanically to work.
It was like Russia I mused. I'd clean my own living quarters. At least I didn't have to clean up and care for my brothers and father. Why did I run off to Japan?
I paused, looking around at the room, realizing I still wasn't happy with its condition. Did I come here for this? I stopped, pondering where going to another country had gotten me.
It was the same as in Russia. I sighed, taking comfort in the fact that at least I was alone. At least none of my family was around to bother me. My father, still fixed in the belief of communism, however quiet he was about it, still hated his life. He'd always hated it, from what I'd gathered. Communism or not, his life always was wretched. I was his wretched bitch, accidentally born of some woman he'd slept with one night.
I'd just come to another place to be spat all. I'd just come to another place where I didn't belong.
(Sable)
The sky was a glassy blue, and I looked down, dismayed I wore my old, mud stained plaid skirt. Why was I wearing this? I looked up, afraid Ryo was there to see me like this. Then, I noticed the smoke, rising upwards, off the water.
In a flash, I realized the perfect, painted scene of the park was gone, replaced with a gritty one. Why was I here? Ashy rocks like arrowheads shot up all around me, and it was so hot. I looked, realizing smoke poured from a deep crevice in the earth.
I started to move towards it, and an odd clanking sound of metal accompanied me as I walked. I stared down into the fiery pit. No! Not any closer! I wanted to scream, but I felt a slight smile of satisfaction come across my face.
No! Why was I happy to be here? This wasn't what I wanted! No! I gazed into the fire, and for a second, I perceived something far below. Oh, God, No! I just wanted out of there!
"I don't want this!" I yelled, glad my voice came through. I tore at the air, jumping wildly out of my bed. I rubbed my hands vigorously all over myself like I was lathering up in the shower. I washed myself down with the invisible water, touching my body firmly, making sure I was myself.
I gazed at my window, seeing my charms against evil spirits still hung there.
"Then, how?" I whispered, wholly terrified. What had happened? I felt like I was somebody else. Who the hell was crazy enough to be standing over a volcano?
I shivered, feeling suddenly alone and terrified. I felt my knees give way, and I plopped like a rag doll on my bed. I put my head into my knees, sitting like a statue. What was wrong with me? Why did I find myself so conveniently isolated?
'I'm not pretty, dad,' I remembered one of the last times I'd talked to my dad. We'd been sitting and chatting while playing chess inside the house only days before he died.
'You're not heavy or ugly,' my father winked at me. 'I'd definitely go out with you.'
'Daddy, what would Mi Sang think?' I smirked, whipping his bishop off the board. 'Check mate.'
'Well, you're certainly smart enough to beat your old man,' my father laughed. I looked up, watching his compassionate gray eyes look at me. I smiled broadly, absolutely relieved we were together, just father and daughter.
'You're special, and other people will know it someday, too.' I sighed, rubbing the tears that now flowed into my eyes. The cold drops dribbled slowly on my knee, running down my leg, leaving a little damp trail. I'd always remember my dad that way, when he thought I was the most special person in the world.
Why hadn't I told him about my magic? I didn't know. Why hadn't I introduced him to Ryo? My dad would've liked Ryo, too.
"What's so wrong with me?" I got up, finding the energy to sit on the carpeted floor. I looked at my closet, knowing what I'd hidden under the loose floorboards. I pulled out my keys, unlocking my closet doors. I walked into the mini room, mostly full of things that didn't belong anywhere else in the house. I pried up several floorboards, grabbing my books.
I looked around the room, grabbing my wilting violet from the windowsill. I placed it carefully in front of me, then carefully took out my favorite item. It was a hardened lump of dirt, sealed in a plastic bag. Inside the lump of dirt, I'd sealed away one pearl. Mi Sang lost the other earring, and I took the unmatched pair.
"It's best to make your own charms, once you can use another's charm," I recited the line from Introductory Guide to Witchcraft. I'd bought little crystal charms and earthenware charms. This summer, however, I'd made my own. I stared at my artifact, partially afraid to venture a simple healing spell.
"I just need to perk up my violet. It's not going to do anything. You did this all the time before . . ." I swallowed, finding I couldn't finish my sentence. I sighed, deciding to go with my own spell instead of a book spell.
"Conforming magic to your abilities allows it to work better," I muttered another line, placing the charm at the base of the plant's stem.
"As sun is golden, and earth is fair, flowers will flourish both here and there." I felt my face flush slightly, and my hands warmed. I looked at my flower, watching the leathery petals fall. Vibrant, exotic purple petals took their place, and the slightly browning stem turned a dark shade of healthy green.
That was better, I nodded to myself in satisfaction. I felt better, not so afraid any more. I locked my spell books away, and put my plant on my nightstand, right beside my bed. I cuddled down in the blankets, determined nothing would wake or disturb my sleep, not ever smoke on the water.
A/N: Well, it took a while to introduce all of my Ladies, but these five will be telling the story. I apologize for the confusing 1st Sable chapter, and I hope this little part with Sable makes up for that. Anyhow, I'd typed out three more chapters of Interim Battles, and my story didn't save correctly, so I lost ALL of them. So, currently, I'm a little ticked because of that. However, I'm rewriting them, hopefully better, and they'll be out soon. Thanks, (a wink to LadyKittyWildfire, because I know she'd have a crush on Ryo, too) MorganRay.