"Hiroshi! … Hiroshi! Where are you? You are meant to be helping your father with the market today!" A chirpy voice from downstairs reminded him he had been awake for quite some time now. The voice came closer and the shuffling of heavy shoes assembled outside his bedroom doors.
"Hiroshi!"
Finally Hiroshi lifted himself from the sunken mattress and lumbered over to his door. Standing outside the frame was his mother. She was short and stout. She wore a little tailored kimono and her hair was scraped back into a tight bun, sticking out the sides were two pins with various small dangling beads and charms, which tinkled every time she moved her head slightly. Her lips were tightly pursed and her eyes bored into his waiting for any sign of movement. Hiroshi nodded his head sleepily and disappeared into his room again to get ready for the market.
The sky was shrouded with long, bloated grey clouds and there was a sure possibility of rain. Yet the air was still humid and sticky, not the best of weather for the market. But still it was time he used well to spend with his father and earn some decent money. Nothing usually distracts him from his work but today was different. While Hiroshi and his father strolled down to the market place, his mind felt somewhere else. He could only think of the dream. It was a recurring dream that he had been having for the past week or so. Who is the girl in his dreams? Akina…? Why are his feelings so strong for someone he's never met before? It wasn't like him at all to have been so smitten with a girl, let alone feel like he was… well, actually in love. All these confused feelings only provided him with more and more questions. Nothing he could think of gave him an answer. It might just be a silly dream, however he clung onto it in the vein hope that an answer might just pop into his head later on. But for now he suppressed it, combed the hair out of his face with his fingers and got on with work.
The usual hustle-bustle of the Saturday markets could set anybody's concentration somewhere else but Hiroshi was a determined worker. His father and he owned a stall for selling fish, bread, rice and other produce. It made them fairly well off considering they live in quite a poor city. Hiroshi's job was to look over the produce, make sure no one would tarnish it, damage it, make it of any less value or worst of all steal it. He had never dealt with someone stealing their produce so wasn't quite sure what to do when the time came. But he was certain it wouldn't happen to him.
A woman with a tatty brown cloak approached the stall. Her hood veiled her face and she started talking to his father and pointing to the incense. Hiroshi started to wonder what such a poor and scrubby woman would want to do with incense. Then he saw the most unnerving thing; a hand slowly reached and snatched a loaf of bread stuffing it into the woman's shoulder satchel. The grubby woman finished talking to Hiroshi's father, turned and walked away. The only thing he knew what to do was to run, run after her and see what happens when he catches her.
"H-Hey! You! Come here!" He yelled clueless.
The woman turned her head and started to walk faster.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" He shouted louder this time.
Hiroshi turned a few heads in the crowd including that of the woman. Now she had broke into running. So he ran after her. She was faster than he thought. They ran through the crowd pushing people out the way and knocking over baskets full of fruit. She then took a sharp turn left into the trees and bushes. Hiroshi tried to be as agile but failed miserably as he tumbled over then scrambled back up to his feet and took off into the trees. It was then he noticed rain coming lightly in through the tops of the trees, dripping off leaves and branches. Still he had the grubby woman in his sight. She was dodging and weaving under branches and around tree trunks. He tried hard to do the same. Slowly he started to catch up as she lost her breath and speed. Suddenly she took a high leap over a fallen, moss-covered log. Hiroshi knew he couldn't jump that high so he ducked under it. The woman had fallen over after jumping the log so this was his chance. She jogged quite slowly now but Hiroshi was just starting to gain his speed. Finally he jumped and grabbed her, tackling her to the ground. They both landed with a great THUD.
Her hood had slipped off her head to reveal a surprisingly youthful face. Her lips were slightly parted and panting, her cheeks looked soft and rosy and her cheekbones were set high making her face look even and almost perfect. But the thing that stood out most was her eyes. Her eyelashes were full and soft and curved upwards and her eyes were wide open as if she were astonished. The colour was the most beautiful he had ever seen… a sea green. Hiroshi sat back in amazement. His brown, almost black eyes watching her. The likeness to the girl in his dreams was remarkable. She sat there staring at him right back. It seemed she was fixated on something about him. After a few moments, the girl turned and started to walk away briskly. Hiroshi wasn't worried about the loaf anymore, although he knew his father would be wild with rage about a loss of produce.
Hiroshi choked to get the words out. He didn't know what to say. What could he say? He was stripping his mind frantically for that damn name. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. So he tried once more.
"A-Akina!" He spat out thoughtlessly.
She seemed to walk ahead for a moment then stop dead in her tracks.
"You don't know me." She whispered.
She then kept walking ahead until a leafy green background consumed her and Hiroshi could no longer see the muddy brown of her cloak.