All my life I have always lied to someone I truly care about…. Why, I do not know; maybe it's because I do not really show love to anyone. I have always wanted to change that about myself but it's nearly impossible to change one's self…. Unless you really cared for someone, but I have only felt that feeling a few times in my life…This is my story of my life.
"Ohayo, Kazuki-san!" I yelled to an old man across the street from me.
He looked up from his 'special' book and smiled at me. He seemed to age everyday to me. His once bright-red hair was now snow white almost completely bald. His skin sagged halfway to the ground and his blue eyes now seemed gray. Nevertheless, what was strange was that he could hear and see very well for his age at fifty-nine. As usual, his clothes were worn-out blue jeans and a stained white t-shirt; this man was my caretaker.
"Ohayo, Akari-chan, why do you wake up so early every morning?" Kazuki questioned me while going back to 'his' book.
I really did not want to tell him, so I did what I always did, lie. "I wanted to see the morning sun rise!" I partly lied….knowing the truth would be a bad thing.
He grinned, "Yes, the rising sun is such a beautiful thing….I wish I was young again to be able to watch it, but these old bones of mine stop me from doing a lot of things." He closed his book and waved at me.
"Akari-chan, this old fart is going to take a long nap now so don't get into trouble!" Kazuki went inside while slamming the door behind him in our small, log house.
My green-brown eyes looked to the cloudy sky, it was gong to snow, and I sensed it. I let my wavy, relaxed, brown hair fall to my shoulders from ponytail which I had put it before. The wind started to bite my pale skin with its icy breath. I wrapped my long-violet coat around me even more to keep me warm. My small frame started to trudge along the sidewalk to go to my special place.
A place where I met with a certain someone everyday since my parents had died. You see, the old man was my father's godfather. The old man loved my father very much like his own son because he had no family left. My parents said that if they ever died I would go to him even though he was a poor man, but they knew he would take care of me.
The day my parents died was on my caretaker's fifty-second birthday, I was only three then when it happened. I did not know the cause of their death because everyone was too scared to tell me why. However, the incident never really devastates me at all…..strange. Therefore, Kazuki took me in…
Under Kazuki's care, I was able to wander around the small town in which I lived in, Suna. A town of only 500 people and nothing exciting about it at all except for the tree, everyone avoided. The Tree, it was a holy place where no one went except me because I was able to resist its curse.
The legend of The Tree is this:
To see the world spiritually and physically
Allows one to be peace to the world.
Those who only see one side
Only bring devastation to the world.
Those of peace shall not be harmed
Their light around them will protect them.
Those of devastation shall be harmed
Their light does not shine brightly enough.
A great priestess named Yoshitaka Tokiko made the curse….it over a thousand years ago. The curse came to be on her death made by a samurai. That samurai was a man she had saved when he was a young boy. The curse became unsealed and killed many who were close by, but not the samurai. Tokiko had put the curse on herself so that somehow, she was to be remembered…..and she was.
She now lives as a ghost, protecting the tree or her legacy would vanish as time went on. Her beauty and talents are still as great as they once were when she was still alive physically. Tokiko looked like a celestial maiden from the heavens above. Her long, black, silky hair gave her a great amount of elegances. Her soft, white skin added more to her heavenly appearance.
Her blue eyes looked like mirrors that peered into your very existence. To add even more to her elegance and heavenliness, she had a very tall and slender frame. She had many great talents such as her beautiful voice that made everything seem blissful. Her bow and arrow skills were almost perfect; her spiritual powers were exquisite. She seemed perfect, but she had flaws like everyone else.
Tokiko was too kind of a person, which allowed many to take advantage of her. She was never satisfied with her life as a priestess because t meant she could never be normal just like the other girls her age. When Tokiko became angry (on very rare occasions), she would curse a village or person for no apparent reason what so ever. Lots of time she wanted to kill herself but could never come around to it. She always wanted to be remember until the world stop moving…
And now you guess how I know so much about her? I can see her when I venture to the Tree…because I am a shaman. Tokiko told me so when she discovered I could resist the curse. Only shamans can resist the curse made by Tokiko. Since that day I met her, she has been like a guardian to me teaching me how to use my shamanic powers and many other things.
This is why I have to lie to Kazuki and everyone else because this town is afraid of ghosts. If they found out, they would try to kill or banish me…
I looked up to sky; it was starting to snow heavily. I did not care….I just wanted to see Tokiko because she was someone I could never lie to. I pressed my hand against the cold, dark bark and concentrated on Tokiko's face.
"Oi, your going to get a cold if you stay around here for long.", said a young boy behind me.
I broke my concentration from the tree and turned around to look at him with a glare. He looked about my age except superior to me. He had very long, dark brown hair, which was strange for a boy to have it that long. His eyes were at least a shade lighter than his hair color; they showed immense pride in them. He wore a long white dress-like cloth over his short frame. In all he looked very arrogant, but looks is not everything.
I softened my glare and asked him in a monotone voice, "So what would you care if I got sick? You don't even know me."
He smiled and looked at me in an amused way, "But it would be impolite of me to do so."
I glare became a look of mystification; he had a point. His aura made me uneasy….somewhat eager to know what he was going to do next. Tokiko should have now appeared by now but she was still 'asleep'.
"But isn't it impolite to sneak up on someone and talk to them without giving your name first?" I asked with ire.
He laughed and ruffled his hair with his hands. He laughed and stood up straight, "Gomen, I am Asukura Hao." He walked up to me and offered his hand.
"Akari…." I said impassively. I accepted his hand even though I did not want to but….that would be impolite.
Suddenly, he pulled me into him making fall into his arms….I looked up to fin he looked even more arrogant from this position. He looked down at me smugly.
"You should watch your step, Akari-san, you'll get hurt." his face came closer to mine "meet me here tomorrow; I want to show you something."
I swiftly back away from him….he was truly strange for a ten year old boy, but I was weird too. I sneered at him, "What if I don't?"
He laughed, "I know you'll come…." Then he just vanished in a flash of light…..a very warm light that melted the snow that had been falling and laid among the tree. A truly strange boy with arrogance about him that was obvious.
"Akari-chan, what happened?!" asked a concerned voice that was none other than Tokiko's.
This was one of the few times I have ever lied to her, "Nothing, I just sneezed hard and fell down."
I knew she didn't believe it but she just accepted it, "Ok…..Akari-chan , I think you should stay away from this tree for a couple of days…..I have heard rumors from the people who live here that they think that it is strange you wander off everyday. They might follow you one day here."
"They won't follow me…..what's the main reason, Tokiko-sensei."
She looked at me with urgency, "Kazuki…I sense his spirit is about to be freed from his body in only a couple of days…..he ages very quickly."
"When he dies…..will he become a spirit like you when he dies?" I asked.
She looked away, "No…he is not like me. He does not want to be attached to this world because he has no reason to do so."
"What about me…he's supposed to take care of me since my parents are dead."
"He knows that you will be taken care of when he is gone….because I promised him."
I stared at her with question, "Is he a shaman like me?"
She brushed her hands through her hair, "when one is close to death, they can see spirits because they are quite close to being like a shaman or ghost." She explained thoroughly.
"The spiritual world is sure strange…."
She smiled at me, "Yes even I do not know many things about the spiritual world; just only a few things."
I smiled back. "………."
Tokiko leaned down to me only to make her hair cover her face. She put it back so she could fully see me.
"Akari-chan, when Kazuki dies, I don't think you will be able to see me any more…."
"Why, Tokiko-sensei?", I asked with uncertainly.
She sighed, "The curse ,I put, can be broken because love can break any curse."
"Love?", I questioned her.
"My love for you ,like a mother to her child, will break the curse. Because love is the most powerful thing both in the physical and spiritual world." ,she explained.
I looked at her with a sadness, "When Kazuki-san dies, you'll care for me more to where the curse will be fully broken. Tokiko-sensei, if the curse is gone then you go along with it. Right?"
"Yes"
"Is there a way I can still be with you when that happens?"
"There is a way….", she put in plain words.
My green-brown hazel eyes looked up to her with hope, "There is?"
She smiled down at me, but it was a strange smile; it was sad and happy at the same time. She put her hand next to me cheek and looked into my eyes with her mirror-like eyes. "Yes there is. I can become your spirit because you are a shaman. But you couldn't say sensei to me anymore since I would be your servant."
I smiled to her, "Even if you did become my spirit, I would always say sensei while you would say chan. You could never be a servant to me; your like the mother I'd never had."
She was on the brink of tears, "Akari-chan, that's is one the reasons why I love you so much. Thank-you."
Then something amazing happened but I won't tell because it could never be told in words. It will always cherished in my heart. That night I never saw Kazuki-san again because he knew now the real truth about me…even though Tokiko assured me that he was ok with it. But I ignored her pleas….but I knew I could never go back….I would never tell.
As I laid there under the stars while Tokiko-sensei used her powers to keep me warm, I thought about the boy I saw earlier today. He must have been a shaman because he was unaffected by the curse.