Chapter Three:
PA SYSTEM (A/N: Public Announcement System, I think that is what it's called, we have that in school to make certain announcements during the day.)
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to arrive to at Kyoto momentarily."
--Announcement Ends--
"Aww . . . man! Just as I was getting used to being 'rich'." The young boy whined. "Hey busu, do you think we will get a chance to travel in such comfort again?"
"Firstly, I doubt we could, because judging from our expense rate, we won't be able to afford one in along time. And secondly, STOP CALLING ME BUSU!" the raven-haired teenage yelled as she whacked her brother on the head with a bokken.
Kaoru and her brothers did not have a more than perfect life. When they were younger, they lived in a dojo in Tokyo, where her father would teach his children and others the arts of kendo.
What he is making each month was barely enough to keep the family alive. Sometimes they would even have to go hungry. They prayed that things would become better for them in the future, yet it seems that their prayers were never answered.
As time passed, things took a turn for the worse; Kaoru's mother had contracted tuberculosis. In order to prevent his children from getting the illness, Kaoru's father send all three of them to stay with their grand uncle, Dr. Genzai. Yet, he on the other hand, stayed on to man the dojo and to take care of his sick wife.
He knew medicine would not come cheap so he slogged through day and night, in hope of earning enough to cure his sick wife. Kaoru's father would sometimes go without meals for a day just so that he could provide his three children with three warm meals a day. He single-handedly manned the dojo and kept its workers going. He continually sent letters of love, money and bare essentials to his three young children far away. Soon Kaoru's empty house was filled with the dreadful feeling of looming death.
Tuberculosis was not to be taken lightly. In its final stages, it could be deadly. Kaoru's mother grew weaker each day. She missed her children terribly and the fear and suffering in her impending illness dimmed the lights of her spirit even more. Soon she felt too ill to get out of bed and her body was wrecked with constant fever.
Four months after Kaoru's poor mother was struck with tuberculosis, she succumbed to her pain and suffering. The world suddenly lost its light of hope for Kaoru and her family. Shock and denial was evident in their hearts. It was easy to blame, easy to deny. Reality did not seem present and everyone took to running away from it.
The children were brought back from their grand uncle's place and their father mechanically continued his grueling days of work to feed his scrawny, heart-broken children. Kaoru's father's health grew weaker each day for he hardly slept. Slumber had become an enemy for the mere hours of sleep that his mind would grant him, would be filled with fretful nightmares. Images of his dying wife and his failure of keeping her alive haunted him like plague. He ate enough only to keep him energized through work.
Little did he know that his frequent presence with his sick wife in her dying days had resulted with the virus striking him as well. Without enough precautions and nutrition to keep his antibodies fighting strong, the virus took its toil and developed into full-blown tuberculosis. The three young children, with much confusion, anger and sadness, were once again sent to their grand uncle's house.
Despite his ill fate, Kaoru's father continued to strive hard in the dojo to earn bread home for his remaining broken family. Many of his workers left him with trepidation of contracting the illness, leaving only a few loyal ones behind. Soon he was too weak to man the dojo and he had no choice but to leave the job to his few workers left. He took to seeking his only cheap remedies to ease the suffering, as he did not want to spend on expensive medication.
A few weeks later, he burned a high fever and passed out in his empty home. Kaoru's father died, alone. The neighbours realized that something was amiss when no one collected the newspapers and food left by the workers of the dojo at the Kamiya residence. They hastily knocked on the door and broke down the door when they received no answer. Kaoru's father's dead body lay still on the cold, linoleum floor.
With both parents gone, the children were left very much alone to fend for themselves. The dojo was sold to repay the vast debts of medical bills that Kaoru's mother had accumulated before her death and that her father had not been able to clear.
As for the three orphans, they were sent to the orphanage.
PA System: "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have safely arrived at Kyoto. Please collect your luggage and make your way towards our exits. Thank you for riding with us today, Have a good Day."
"Come on Kaoru, Yahiko, grab your stuff, we're busting this joint."
"Hai onee-san." They replied.
The trio soon made their way out of the train. As they reach the exit, a smile reached upon their faces. Many thoughts rushing to their head, as to them, Kyoto holds a brand new future for them.
'I'm hungry. . .'
'Got to find a job. . .'
'Wonder where are all the pretty ladies. . .'
"Well, guess we can't wait here all day, can we? Come on fellas, I know of a great place we can stay." Kaoru said with a smile on her face, as she led the way. The other two simply nodded, and follow her through the maddening crowd.
Kaoru scanned the maddening crowd and tiredly tried to find an exit out of the train station. She was perspiring under her knitted hat and her shoulders felt sore from being so tensed up the whole day. The weight of the luggage weighed her down all the more. She quickly walked through the crowd where there was a clearing with an information desk.
With relief, she motioned to her brothers to follow her and darted towards the security to help find her way out.
Immersed in her thoughts, she did not take notice of the people scattering around her.
A young handsome man, flaming red hair hidden by the hood of his Polo sweater, hands tucked deep in his pocket strode meaningfully in her direction. He too, was immersed in his troubled thoughts. Both heads bent. The sun's evening ray took a sudden dip in their directions. A sign of fate was born and sealed.
She hurried towards the information desk, he hurried towards the exit. His scar flickered in the rays, her hair glimmered.
One would have thought that fate had sealed them to meet. They were metres close. Then she turned left, and he turned right. (A/N: For a moment there you thought they would met, didn't ya.)
The trio soon arrived at their destination. It was quite a distant away from the city, thus there weren't many houses/apartments located there.
"Well, here we are, Koemei's Motel."
The two males, stared blankly at their newly found home. It was not your average looking apartment, in fact, it was rather rundown, and it looked as if it was about to collapse any minute. Next to it, was a dark alley, filled with pests, and its stench was enough to kill a mammoth.
Yahiko jumped as a rat scurried across his feet.
"You got to be kidding me right? Isn't there any other place we can stay? You know like down town or something like that?" the tall man whined.
"Nope, this is the best place so far."
"UH-UH! NO WAY! I am never going to stay in a remote, shabby-looking apartment like this! I mean, look at it! Its beyond hope." Yahiko flared.
"Listen, this is all we can afford! If we want to keep on living, we have to tighten our belts, and try to be thrifty! Those apartments downtown may look 'nice', but so are their rents! So it's take-or-leave-it!"
"I rather leave it! I mean it looks just like you! No way, am I going to spend the rest of my teenage years staring at two busus!" he shouted, turning his back towards her.
Kaoru felt her blood boil. That was the last straw, she was already not in a good mood due to the incident in Tokyo and the long train ride here; and now to top it off, this young brat here is being picky about the place he wants to stay.
"Yahiko. . ." she said grabbing her bokken.
Sanosuke knew what was going to happen next. The last time he saw Kaoru this angry was when someone tried to rob her, and called her weak. The last time he saw him, he was in crutches.
'This is not good. Better take some precautions.' He thought, taking three steps back from the young lad.
"What's the matter with you, bro? Why do you look so pale? What? More. . ." before the poor lad could finish his sentence, Kaoru had struck him directly on his head, instantly knocking him out.
"Ooo…nasty one. Hey! You all right there, brat?" Sanosuke said poking his finger at the unconscious boy.
"He's fine. I didn't kill him. . . YET!" Kaoru said picking up the rest of her luggage. "Come on, we better hurry up and move all our stuff in, before that brat wakes up and starts yelling again." She said as she hurriedly made her way into the motel.
It took Kaoru one entire hour to get from the lobby to the room which they had rented. Half an hour to settle for a room and get their luggage up and the other half an hour dragging Yahiko into the elevator, through the hallway and into the bedroom.
Just as Kaoru thought things could not get any worse, their room soon posed as a problem for them. Instead of a well-furnished apartment, the cramped hall was furnished with a dinky sofa and a small coffee table that held magazines at least a year old.
The kitchen had a small wooden table surrounded by four small wooden dining chairs and the taps churned a soft growl when turned on for water. Cupboards were empty and the small refrigerator was turning rusty around its edges.
The apartment had the type of eerie atmosphere and it was rather dark because of the poor light source.
Sanosuke gingerly placed a small television set on the bare counter top in the hall. He had taken it from one past opium den when everyone else was too stoned to notice. He also managed to get away with a small toaster, fan, foot stool and woolen blankets. Kaoru and Yahiko had waited downstairs for him to pass them the loot. Stealing appliances was just another way of making their vagabond homes more homely.
Upon further investigation of the run-down apartment, they realized that the wallpaper was peeling off the wall, and mould seems to be replacing it. There was only one toilet whose tiles badly needed polishing. There were two sparsely furnished rooms. One with a double bunk bed and the other with a single bed. Both had small wooden bedside tables with lamps and light, thin purple curtains. Blankets and pillows were stored neatly in a tiny drawer.
"Well. . . its not that bad."
"Not that bad? NOT THAT BAD? JUST LOOK AT THIS PLACE! It's a mess! I can't live here!" Yahiko shouted when he came to.
"I have to agree with him Kaoru. This place's a wreck. The only good things here are the hall light and the balcony."
Bzzzz…POP
"Ok maybe only the balcony."
"Come on you guys! All this place need is a little cleaning up here and there. We've been through worst! We can do this."
"Is she feeling ok?"
"I think the dust is getting to her."
"Oh stop your whining and get your butts going. Yahiko, mop the floor, clean the windows and wipe off the mold on the walls. Sanosuke, bring in all the stuff, and place them at their appropriate positions. I will clean the kitchen."
The two males stared expressionlessly at Kaoru. It was not until Kaoru had picked up her bokken did they start cleaning up the place with her.
As night fell, the trio finally managed to clean their entire apartment. The wallpapers were replaced with new ones, the dust on the windows and glass panes were wiped off. The kitchen was spotless, and they managed to get the stove working again. However, they did have to wait for some time before the refrigerator started cooling. And of course, the hall light was fixed.
"I'm bushed. I have never worked this hard in my whole entire life before. I doubt I can ever move again for a long. . . time." Yahiko sighed as he plopped himself down on the sofa.
"Hey, but look at the bright side, at least the apartment looks better now."
Yawn "Yeah, yeah, I know that. Where's Sano?"
"Oh him? He fell asleep in his bedroom half an hour ago. That pig.''
"Oh . . " Yawn
Yahiko was soon fast asleep on the sofa. His chest rising and falling slowly with each breathe.
Kaoru went to the bedroom and brought out a pillow and a blanket. She tucked the pillow under Yahiko's head and placed the blanket over his sleeping form.
"Silly Yahiko-chan." She smiled silently to herself.
She then made her way to the balcony. Among all the other rooms, it was the only room that did not need much cleaning. In fact it looked as if its past owner took exceptionally good care of it.
Kaoru sat down on the one of the lounge chairs as she gazed up into the night sky.
"They're beautiful tonight," she whispered. The stars were somewhat special. To Kaoru they represented the qualities Hope, Joy and Peace.
Somewhere else, not too far away from where Kaoru was living, a man, with an empty heart, too was staring out into the night sky, observing the stars. To him, the stars had a different meaning.
To him, they meant Hate, Sorrow and Misery.
Sleep began to embrace Kaoru and she sleepily made her way back to her chosen bedroom. She was soon fast asleep.
Sanosuke peeped out of his bedroom. He had been given the one with the single bed. He acutely observed his silent surroundings. Once assured that everyone was fast asleep, he pulled up the collar of his old trench coat and crept out of the apartment, his shadows lurking silently out into the night.