"Under the Sakura Tree"
by Ayashi
It was a fine morning in a spring season, at a park in the central part of Tokyo, which fulfilled with rows of sakura tree, all blossoming to its fullest, revealing its utmost beauty.
Petals flowed as wind blew. Between these rows of trees, was a pavement for people to walk, with benches here and there, and some traditional lamp on some corner, similar to those on a shrine.
It was not more than seven o'clock, the sun was shining faintly. No one was in the park, yet the sky is the bluest ever.
Far before the pavement, there was some stairs, connecting the park to a shrine below. The stairs was made from a softened stone, with a banister in the middle. Petals of sakura seems to be fallen to the stairs, and it would not be long until someone step on them.
And someone really did.
Breaking the silence, the sound of footsteps of a man. Completed with a whistling voice. Later, a figure of a man walked upward on the stairs, ahead to the park.
This is a figure of a strange man. Despite of the fine weather, he wore a long coat, trouser, formal shirt and tie. He also wore a hat which he fixed cautiously as the wind blew. And most importantly, the only color of his clothes is black. All black, from head to toe.
He was tall, and very skinny, with pale white skin and long straight hairs. And there's also something strange about his eyes; a smiling, slanted ones. It seems like he was having a really good time, he was smiling at nothing at all, or at least, he was smiling to the air.
The ,man stopped at the highest part of the stairs. He fixed his hat, trying to have a look around. Suddenly his slanted eyes opened, revealing cold, dark, mysterious eyes that was surveying his surroundings. No one can tell what did the stare mean, for the eyes contains a deep blueness which depth can never be found out without drowning in them. All that was obvious was that the smile widened after he surveyed his surroundings.
He sighed. "It seems quite pleasant here"
And then, Akabane Kuroudo, or in the dark world of hakobiya, known as Dr. Jackal, continued his morning-walk between the sakura. His all-black clothes made him a very distinct object between the sakura, a moving black dot between rows of pinks.
He walked happily on the stone pavement, taking a look around. He hummed softly, it is very clear that he was really enjoying himself –which is a very good thing. You don't want to know how was he like when he is angry. Or, well, at least, bored.
The wind blew hard ("Oh!"). Dr. Jackal cautiously held his hat, fearing that it may fly away and never return. Altogether with the blowing, spring wind, petals flowed past Dr. Jackal, making the tail of his coat flowed artistically, lifting that dark, mysterious, yet somehow alluring aura that he got. He was feeling entertained at this moment. He had a very odd taste for entertainment; sometimes simple and humble things could make him happy for hours. But sometimes… sweet things just cannot fill this need. The darker side of him wanted something, too. Something more entertaining. Something that, is going to make the scalpels inside his vein moving excitedly.
And something did take his attention.
The wind stopped.
There was no sound at all, whether the noise of the wind or the footsteps. And not so far away, Akabane caught a glimpse of a shadow. Moving fastly between trees, with a slight noise.
His happy, jolly smile faded.
The next moment he was just standing motionless in same spot, staring at the place where he had seen the moving shadow. It was between the row of trees in his left side, in its deepest corner. It was not a clear shadow, more like a blur, black moving thing, but he can figured out that it (whatever it is) was not really tall, and most importantly, it was something concrete. Right now everywhere there was no sign of the appearance of such shadows, and everything is back to normal; the wind already blew like before and petals fell from the tree, and Akabane was the only living thing.
Akabane scratched his head, his troubled face looked funny. Was is the trick of the light? No. He was pretty sure that it was something concrete. Were his eyes fooled him? No. He was pretty conscious at the moment. Was he hallucinating? No, at all! So why do that thing now seems to be nowhere? Why does it seems to appear and disappear so quickly? Why does it feels real but uncertain at the same time?
With all of these questions inside his head, Akabane moved towards the place where he had first seen it. Beside, he felt like something fun is going to happen. And he simply cannot let it go.
Akabane felt like he was lost in a world of girlish shades, for right now everywhere seems so pink, with rows and rows of sakura trees beside him.
"Well, well… where am I going now?" he stopped and wondered. Wherever he turned, he only found sakura trees, like he was entering an endless forest of sakuras. "Makes me feel like… getting lost".
But before he moved again, something finally happen. At some distance in front of him, he heard a glimpse of laughter, a girl's laughter, and as he opened his eyes widely, he caught a glimpse of a shadow… this time it was not only a moving, blurry thing, but he could see that it was a figure of a girl, wearing a school uniform, moving fast, heading to a tree's behind.
He fixed his hat. His smile widened, and he clutched his hand. Scalpels moved under his skin.
He kept increasing his speed, but as he felt like he was getting nearer to something, he slowed down. And his ear caught a voice of a girl. Singing a popular song. This is it, he said to himself. His eyes stared keenly. A smile grew on his lips.
He walked closer to a tree, and here he can hear the song clearly, and as he peek behind the tree, he saw the most amazing sight he has ever seen today… the giant sakura tree.
It was clear that this tree is the biggest in the park. It was not only tall for a sakura, but it was also very wide; it required four member of the Manji Brothers to hug it. A praying paper was hung in its giant trunk, giving the image that it was a sacred and precious tree.
And a young girl was standing in front of the tree.
Akabane walked out from behind the tree, fixing his hat. "It's an amazing thing, isn't it?"
The girl turned her head at him. "It is my most favorite place". She was a very pretty girl. Her skin is glowing white, her eyes clear and bright, her lips pink and nice. Her hair was long, black, and was braided like Princess Kaguya in old fairy tales. She wore a sailor-style uniform, and black mary-jane shoes. She was not really tall for her age, which is not more than fifteen.
These two persons looked into each other. "Oh… anyway… My name is Akabane Kuroudo," said Akabane, bowing himself politely. "I'm Alice," the girl answered. They smiled to each other.
"So, what are you doing here, so early in the morning?" asked Akabane. They already sit in the grass, overlooking at the tree; making themselves comfortable and getting to know each other. Alice hugged her legs, her head on her knee. "I'm looking for a savior," she answered, her voice so soft and soothing, yet it was also frightening.
Listening to this answer, a big question mark appeared on Akabane's head.
"What kind of savior?" Akabane asked. "Perhaps… I can do something for you?"
"What do you do?" instead of answering the question given, Alice asked him this question.
Akabane smiled. "I'm a courier. I deliver things".
Alice's eyes widened. "Really! What an unlikely job! Is it nice? How much do you earn?"
Akabane laughed politely (this person never failed to treat everyone with his manner). "Well… it is very pleasant indeed. And I earned quite a lot, especially when my client wants me to deliver something very important."
"Why do you asked such question? Do you want me to deliver something? Or do you wish to become a hakobiya as well when you grow up?" he smiled widely at his last question.
Alice lowered her head. She was blushing. "Well…not really. At first I thought… you are the kind of person who could grant my wish," she answered softly.
Because of all these suspicious words, Akabane's slanted eyes opened wider, and his expression grew serious.
"What is this wish, anyway? Please forgive me for asking, but…,"
Alice shook her head. "No, never mind. I think it's okay for you to know… because maybe you can help me grant this wish, for this is a chain… someone else had made this wish… all I have to do is to find a way to grant this wish that he had asked me…."
Akabane did not say anything. He was listening closely to the girl's words.
And then, the girl straightened her back.
"I'm not a happy person."
"I can see that."
"My mother passed away when I was born. I lived with my father."
"……"
"We live in a big house. He is a very rich man. But I'm not happy at all"
"Why?"
"He tortured me…."
"…….."
"He often hit me… and called me names. He often got mad at me, just because I looked so much like my mother."
"…….."
"And last night… after all his cruelty… he asked me to do something."
"What was it?"
"He asked me to disappear."
All was silent. Only the sound of rustling wind that can be heard. The two persons stared into each other, one's words caught one's attention.
"So, he wanted you to disappear?"
Alice nodded. "Yes, Akabane-san." Then she continued. "He always hurt me in every way… beside hitting me and calling me names, he also never let me go out of the house… the only time I could become free is when I go to school. So that's why I always wake up early, and on my way to school, I always asked the chauffeur to stop at this park…"
Alice stared at the giant tree.
"Are you crying?" asked Akabane.
Alice turned her head. "I can't cry anymore." And she was smiling.
She leaned closer to Akabane. Her eyes looked straight to his eyes, her means was unexplainable. "You got beautiful eyes…," she said, her own eyes turned into two lines.
"So… do you think you can help me to grant my father's wish?" Alice asked Akabane. He did not answered. All that he did was fixing his hat. His eyes cannot be seen.
Inside his body, Akabane could feel his heart beating fast. His blood ran wildly, the scalpels scratched his vein. His spirit lifted highly. This is pleasure, his head was telling him.
"Well, after a brief consideration… I think I'm going to help you to grant your wish."
"Thank you very much!" Alice yelled happily. She let herself fall to the grass. "I never thought anyone would grant the wish so early!"
Akabane moved closer to her body. That girl was lying on the grass right now, her hands covered her face. Her white skin glowed. Her chest moved up and down altogether with her breath. Her movements made Akabane's blood ran even faster. Beautiful, he thought, prey.
But before he could even start, Alice had risen again. "But can I asked you for one more thing?" she asked.
"Just mention it."
"I want you to deliver this to my father…," Alice pulled out a pen and a piece of paper from her chest-pocket, "…just to let him know that I've granted his wish. So there's no need to worry." She wrote down things to the piece of paper, and when she's done, she handed it to Akabane. "Here!" she said happily. But then her face turned into grey. "How much do I have to pay?"
"My fee is negotiable."
For the first time in this fine yet strange morning, Alice showed up a grim face. "I'm afraid I don't have any money to…." Her voice was weak and she was busy searching for something in her pockets.
"Oh, don't worry, I…," Akabane tried to relieve her.
But then she handed him something. A peach-flavored candy. "I hope you're satisfied with this…," she smiled again.
Akabane gave that nice, slanted-eyes smile again. "For you… well… I will give a special service with a special price."
"Oh, Akabane-san! You're so kind!" and Alice hugged him tightly. And gave him a little kiss on the cheek.
Akabane hugged her back. His smile widened.
"My pleasure."
Alice laid herself down in the grass again. "Is it going to be hurt?" she asked as she closed her eyes.
"Oh, no. You won't feel anything."
"What tools are you going to use?" she asked with an eye opened.
"I'm going to use… these."
And then Akabane lifted up his fist, scalpels appeared suddenly from between his fingers, that covered with latex glove….
And then the Doctor begun the surgery.
Akabane walked out from the rows of sakura trees, back to the cemented pavement. He fixed his hat cautiously. His eyes cannot be seen, but from the changes in his lips, you can guess that he was smiling pleasantly… like he was just watching a very artistic and entertaining piece of artwork.
He walked to the direction of the city. And behind, under the sakura tree, he left Alice on the ground, lying motionless, with a big initial 'J' on her body.
The Doctor had successfully end the surgery.
Later that day, Akabane walked out from a very large and rich house, that located in an exclusive housing estate, which later surrounded with cry of sadness and regrets. But Akabane did not care, his job was done. That was all he got paid to do. So he fixed his hat and walked away.
After a few steps, he turned at a corner. And in that corner, a ghostly figure of a girl was hiding. Akabane turned his head, and smiled to the ghost of Alice. Alice smiled back. She walked out from her hidings, reached out her hand to touch Akabane's, and then her eternal wings grew… the wings flipped and lifted her to the sky, where she belong now, while she was still holding Akabane's hand…
"Nice to meet you… Akabane-san."
OWARI
2004/11/18
Akabane Kuroudo is a character of Get Backers, created by Ayamine Randou & Yuuya Aoki