Reaching for the Stars
Chapter 3: Kawaii Kitty
Caz stared at Meroko with wide eyes. "That..that's my...my sister!"
"Your sister?"
Caz nodded and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Well, she's not my real sister. I'm adopted. But she's still my sister."
Takuto crossed his arms and frowned deeply at Caz. There was a hint of concern in his eyes. Meroko's lip began to quiver.
"Your sister? Now I feel awful! Ohhh!" she wailed. "See, Takuto! This is why mortals aren't supposed to talk to shinigami. It only causes problems."
She made an angry face at him and waited for a response. Takuto ignored Meroko once again. He flew over to Caz and looked down on her. "Do you care a lot about your sister?"
Caz closed her eyes momentarily and sighed. "She can be a big pain sometimes, always giving me a lecture or telling me how I should live my life. We fight constantly. But...she's my sister, you know. I'll never get another one."
Takuto sat down next to her, opposite of Meroko. "Well, from what I understand, fate can't be changed. However, there is one detail that we haven't mentioned."
"Nani?" Meroko looked over at him and blinked. "What detail?"
"Sutakyo Aiyun still has a year left to live. We had to come here for her but we're only here to watch her until her year is up."
"What difference does that make? We're still going to have to take her soul!" Meroko shouted. Takuto glared warningly at her, afraid of how her words would affecting Caz.
"A year..." Caz whispered. She smiled sadly. "That's fine. A year is all I need...to make things right."
The two shinigami exchanged worried glances.
"What do you mean by that?" Meroko asked. Caz took a deep breath and looked down at her feet.
"Maybe I can't change the fact that Aiyun will die. But I can at least try to be a better sister. If I do that much, neither of us will have any regrets."
Takuto gazed up into the sky. The rain was beginning to stop. The grey clouds were dispersing. Rays of sunlight shot through little holes between the clouds, revealing the clear blue sky hiding above.
"You're strong. Stronger than I would be in that situation." he said softly.
"Not really." Caz whispered with a sad laugh. "Every day tears me apart from the inside but it never shows."
Meroko frowned and searched for something to say. Before she could, the blonde girl abrubtly stood up and put her hands in her coat pockets.
"I just remembered where my key is." she said to herself. "I handed it to Yanaki Keiko in my third class. She probably still has it."
Caz started walking fast down the sidewalk, away from her apartment. Meroko got up and flew after her.
"Wait! I want to come, too!" she shouted but Takuto was already flying ahead of her. "Takuto! What are...?"
"I'm going with her. You stay here, Meroko, in case Sutakyo Aiyun comes home."
"Takuto! That's not fair!" Meroko screeched. Despite her anger she sank back down to the ground and sat down on the step. She sniffed. "I always get left behind."
Caz continued to walk, her black coat trailing behind her. Takuto flew up beside her. She looked sideways at him.
"Why'd you come with me?"
He slowed down, startled by the question. His eyes widened slightly.
"Uh...well..." he blinked, trying to find something to say.
"It doesn't matter. It's fine with me." she said, saving him the explaination. "Hey, Shinigami Meroko-san said that no other humans, besides me, can see shinigami except when they're in their human form, right?"
"Hai." he replied slowly, suspicious of what she was getting at.
"Do you think you could...you know...transform into your human form, please? If people can't see you, they'll think I'm crazy and talking to myself. I mean, they're scared of me already but this..."
"No." he stared straight ahead. "I can't do that. It would take too much of my energy."
"Oh." Caz's face fell. "Then we'll just have to stay silent until we're somewhere where there aren't any people."
"Actually," he said, "there is another way."
"Really?"
He nodded. Suddenly Takuto disappeared into a big cloud of white smoke. When the smoke cleared, a small figure was in his place. It looked like a white stuffed cat with a collar and everything. Two tiny wings on its back proved that this was Takuto's new form. He flopped in the air and landed in Caz's arms. She stopped and blinked in surprise.
"See. This form doesn't take as much energy." he announced.
Caz stared at him, not sure what to say. Suddenly she began to laugh.
"W-what's so funny?" he asked uneasily.
"I-I-I'm sorry!" she laughed. "It's just you were..." she showed his original height with her hand. "..and now you're..." she compressed her hands to his new height and laughed again.
The little cat in her arms scowled.
"It's not funny."
"I'm sorry! You're right." she exclaimed. But soon she was back into a fit of giggles. Annoyed, he shut his eyes and folded his tiny arms.
"Just keep walking."
"People will still think I'm crazy if I'm talking to a stuffed animal."
"I'm not a stuffed animal! Just don't talk to me, then, if you're so worried!"
Eventually Caz was able to control her laughter. She walked down the sidewalk, passing several buildings and street corners. Finally they arrived at Kashiwa street, where Yanaki Keiko lived.
"This is the street." she told Takuto. He nodded and remained silent. Caz walked up to a shop at the ground floor of the second building on the street. A sign in the window said "Yanaki Bakery." She entered and saw a woman, Keiko's mother, standing at the counter. Around her were shelves and freezers full of breads, cakes, pies, and about anything else you could make with dough.
"Konnichiwa, Yanaki-san." Caz said.
"Oh, Sutakyo-san."
"Is Keiko home?"
"Hai. She's up in her room. You can go up there if you'd like." she motioned to a set of stairs hidden in the corner.
"Arigatou." Caz nodded and climbed the stairs. She knocked on the door and waited.
"What is it?" a familiar voice called from behind the door.
"Yanaki-san? It's me, Caz. Can I come in?"
"Oh! Sutakyo-san. Hai!"
Caz turned the knob and walked in. Keiko was sitting on her bead, reading a magazine. Light streamed in from a big window behind her. Her room was very neat and organized. The walls were painted pale blue and her bedspread was light pink. Rows of stuffed animals, all shapes and colors, lined her shelves and swarmed her white dresser. All in all, it was the complete opposite of Caz's room. She felt a little intimidated by all the neatness. In Akio's black coat, she looked strange amongst the light colors and sea of plushies. Keiko smiled warmly as Caz entered, and put her magazine down. The girl's black hair was pulled up into a usual ponytail. She still hadn't switched her school uniform with her own clothes.
"What brings you here?" she asked cheerfully.
"Uh..well, I remember that I handed you my key in our third class. I was pulling some papers from my backpack and-"
"The key! I have it right here!" Keiko exclaimed. She pulled her pink backpack from beneath the bed and produced the silver key from one of the pockets. Caz took it and bowed quickly.
"Arigatou. I should be going now."
"So soon?" Keiko looked disappointed. She looked up and noticed the white cat in Caz's arms. "Oh! I didn't know you collected stuffed animals, too! Wow! We have something in common! That's so neat!"
Caz looked down at Takuto.
"Uh..well...I don't really collect them but you see..." Caz tried to explain but before she knew what was happening, Keiko had lifted Takuto out of her arms and was hugging him tightly. Caz looked on, mouth wide open, wondering how Takuto would handle the situation.
"Wow! This stuffed kitty is so kawaii! And soft, too!" Keiko squealed with delight. She hugged the little cat tighter to her chest. Caz could tell he wasn't happy about it. "Where did you get it?"
"Where did I..uh.." Caz thought quickly. "It was a present. From my aunt. So I don't know where she got it."
"Oh I see. You should ask her. I want one!" Keiko was still suffocating Takuto.
"Yeah, okay..."
"I hope I can get one. What brand is it? Maybe I can find on the internet."
"Eh...I'd better go. My mom asked me to..uh...clean my room." Caz lied, knowing Takuto wasn't going to last much longer in Keiko's grasp.
"Your mom? Okay! I understand." Keiko hugged Takuto once more and gave him back to Caz. "See you tomorrow at school!"
"Okay! See you!" Caz replied in a fake-cheerful tone. She left the room as fast as she could. She bounded down the stairs, said a quick good-bye to Keiko's mother, and exited the bakery. Once outside, the blonde girl breathed out with relief. She looked down at Takuto. He looked like he was on the verge of death.
"Shinigami Takuto-san? You okay?"
Takuto made a noise that sounded like a cough.
"That was no girl. That was a monster." he grumbled. Caz sighed and half-smiled at him.
"Now you know what I've been going through the last 15 years of my life."
"That's horrible. And don't call me 'Shinigami Takuto-san.' Just call me Takuto."
"Fine."
Caz walked back down the sidewalk and came to her apartment again. There was a puff of white smoke and Takuto transformed back into his shinigami form.
Meroko was still sitting on the step of the apartment, looking depressed. She looked up and smiled wide when she saw Takuto coming.
"Takuto! You're back!" she exclaimed joyously. She flew over and pounced on him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He frowned in annoyance and pushed her off.
"Stop that! Baka Meroko!" he said under his breath. Meroko scowled at him and crossed her arms. Her fists were clenched tightly.
"Takuto! You're so mean!"
Caz ignored them and inserted the key into the lock. With a loud mechanical click, the door opened and Caz went inside. After a few minutes of glaring at each other, both shinigami finally noticed that Caz was gone. Wordlessly, Takuto went through the wall in the rainbow vortex.
"Hey, wait!" Meroko shouted. She followed him through the wall in a vortex of her own.
Caz slowly climbed the stairs. She wasn't sure who would meet her once she got to her apartment, if anyone at all. If it was her mom, she would yell at her for coming home so late. But that was unlikely since her mother usually worked until late at night. If it was her father, he would probably babble on about some chore he wanted her to do. But he, too, worked until late.
The blonde girl came to her door and opened it with the key. She stepped inside and a light was on in the kitchen. A female figure stood in front of the counter. Her dark hair was messy and hung down over her shoulders. There was a white mug in her hand, steaming with what appeared to be coffee. She looked up from the newspaper she was reading.
"Aiyun." Caz whispered.