A soft warmth on Kenmei's frozen nose woke her. Her foggy mind slowly being pulled from the depths of unconsciousness. Her entire body felt stiff, as if ice coated her skin, and she couldn't even find the energy to pry her eyes open. Instead, she allowed her body to rest, soaking in the warmth she could feel spreading across her face. The sun, she assumed, her thoughts and senses finally reviving themselves from a restless night. Did I really fall asleep out here? Sounds began to register in her mind, calling birds and ocean waves obscuring a soft humming.
Who's humming? She tried to force her eyes open to see, but her body would not allow her, her head only falling slightly to the side in reaction to her attempt. She felt as though it was coming from right next to her, only slightly aware of another presence sitting on the pebbles beside her. Behind the soft voice, she could hear the pebbles being moved rhythmically, as if something was being lifted and placed back down on them over and over. Listening to the melody, she began to feel herself drifting back off to sleep, her mind and body too exhausted to function. Still, she felt at peace, barely registering the fact that the singing suddenly stopped.
Loud splashing and the sound of her name being called was the last thing that filled her mind as she slipped away, suffocated by darkness and cold.
…
Kenmei woke with a start, gasping from shock as she was pulled from deep sleep by a nightmare. What the nightmare had been, she couldn't recall, but she was coated in a cold sweat with her mind and heart racing violently. Bringing her hand up to clutch at her chest in her panic, she clenched her eyes shut tightly, having to use every bit of her energy to try and calm her breathing. After a moment of recovering, she flopped back to lay down, her head landing comfortably on her pillow. Her face scrunching up in confusion, she sat back up, looking around her.
Somehow, she had gotten back into her bed, with many blankets piled on top of her. Her bedroom, while comforting with her belongings and warm with the rays of sun through the curtains, was still and quiet. In fact, she could not hear a single sound, except the buzzing of the electricity coursing through the walls of the house. There was nothing physical in the room to indicate how long she had been there, but the grimy feeling of her hair and the hunger pains in her stomach told her it had to have been more than a day.
With trembling legs, she got out of bed, having to take a moment to lean on the wall to catch her breath. Her chest felt tight and congested, and she began to cough into her hand. It was a deep, raspy cough and she knew that she must have fallen ill. The last thing she could remember was falling asleep outside by the ocean, and it didn't surprise her that it had made her sick. It was such a stupid thing to do, and yet it was something she hadn't been able to control, having been so exhausted.
But how did I get home? She thought to herself as she began to make her way towards her restroom, needing to take a hot bath to warm herself and maybe even use the steam to clear her congestion. Who had found me? I can't remember.
Settling into her hot bath water, Kenmei began to think about what had transpired before. Everything came to her easily, up until she had fallen asleep. "Judar," she spoke aloud to herself. "Who was he… Or what was he…" Her speaking out loud brought on another coughing fit, and she sunk down into the water once it ran its course. I wonder if he will really show up again, if I go to the same spot…
Kenmei became surprised that the only thing on her mind was this mysterious boy. The pain of losing her brother still lingered heavily in her heart, but the hope of seeing her new companion again eased it, even if just slightly. She hoped that he would keep his word and be there again, though she felt a bit discouraged at the fact that they hadn't agreed upon a time or day. Still, what he had said to her made her laugh softly, and she could feel her face flush with embarrassment.
'You smell good,' he had said to her. What an odd thing to say to someone. If it had been in a normal situation, such as out on the street or in line at a store, she would surely have freaked out. But, nothing about Judar was normal, and her curiosity about him was endless. He had been right to say that meeting him would drive her mad. Such a handsome person, with snarky wit and a warm gaze that melted the chill in her core. On top of that, his song echoed in her mind, and she could feel her stomach flutter at the thought of it.
After her relaxing bath, Kenmei dressed herself and headed downstairs to get a bite to eat. Her pleasant mood was crushed by the presence of her father, sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop and paperwork piled around him. His golden brown eyes, soft and gentle in comparison to his demeanor and attitude, peered at her over the rim of his glasses as she entered. He quickly went back to his work, however, with no other physical attention given to her presence.
"Finally awake, are you?" The sound of his keyboard followed his dull voice, and Kenmei wished she could just ignore him as she opened the refrigerator. "Yes. How long was I asleep for?" She covered her mouth with her sleeve as she began to cough again, turning her head away from the inside of the fridge.
"It's almost been twenty four hours. And for fuck's sake, maybe don't cough on the food? I'd rather not get sick, too." His chair squeaked against the tile floor as he turned his torso slightly to look at her, but Kenmei did not bother to do the same. Instead, she grabbed what she needed and turned away, shutting the refrigerator door with her foot hard enough to make it slam and the containers on top of it to clatter. With a sigh, her father took his glasses off and put them onto the table, rubbing his face. "Watch that attitude, Kenmei."
Focusing on preparing her small salad with spinach, romaine, tomatoes, carrots, mandarins, cheese and a variety of nuts, she ignored him. Being in the same room as him was infuriating enough as it was, and the thought of talking to him made her nauseous. As the chair once again squeaked against the tile as he stood, she knew she was not going to have the luxury of silence, turning her head away as he came to stand next to her. Arms crossed and leaning on the counter, he sighed, holding out a paper towards her. "Look at this."
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Kenmei reluctantly turned her head to look at the paper. Her eyes first landing on the huge sum of money right next to 'amount due' in big, bold, red letters. It was addressed to a Mr. Cai Keneiji, indicating that he was past due in paying his bill. The date indicated that it was a recent bill, and it was from the local hospital. The paper shook in front of her face, causing her to flinch away from it slightly, her eyes moving up to her father's face.
Keneiji had a sour expression on his face, obviously displeased with this letter. "Do you see this shit? This is how much I owe, in total. And that smaller number, if you can call it that-" His finger moved to a bold list of numbers that were smaller, but still just as intimidating. "That is what I owe monthly. I'm not even halfway done with your mother's bills. Now I have Kendai's on top of them?" He slammed the paper down onto the counter, causing Kenmei to jump and eyes grow teary.
"And you're enough of an idiot to go out, walk hours away from the city, and somehow end up at the bottom of a cliff?" The more his anger grew, the louder his voice became, until Kenmei had completely sunken into herself, hugging herself tightly with her head hanging. Still, he continued on, showing no care towards how she felt about the conversation. "It was a ridiculous amount for me to have a doctor come to the house to look at you. What were you thinking, running off like that?"
With trembling hands, Kenmei went back to making her food, only taking a quick glance up at him. "I had only wanted to go for a walk… I had gone down there to just sit, and I fell asleep. I was exhausted." She took in a breath, hoping it would give her some courage. "Why are you showing me that bill anyway? What does it have to do with anything?" Keneiji held the bill back up, pointing at it once again. "This total? That's your fault. If we had pulled the plug on him sooner, I wouldn't have to be paying this ridiculous amount of money for someone who was going to die anyway!"
A rage built up within Kenmei and she gripped the edge of her ceramic bowl with both hands, lifting it up off the table and slamming it back down with enough force to crack it. She glared up at him, feeling the new sharp edge of the bowl cut into her palm as she kept a grip on it. "Don't talk about him like that! How can you be so heartless!?" She hiccuped as her tears began to cloud her vision, struggling to speak. "How could you hate us all so much? You should have just left us alone, we would have made it fine!"
Keneiji glared at her, snatching her by the wrist and holding her own hand up towards her face, as if he were using her wound to prove a point. It was bleeding freely down her hand now, dripping rubies onto the pristine white floor. "No, they'd still be dead and you'd be pathetic and alone in a shitty little shack on the edge of town! Why do you think your mother stayed with me, huh? Because she was too worthless to do anything on her own! And you're just like her." He let go of her wrist roughly and Kenmei pulled her arm back to herself, clenching her hand shut tightly, even as the wound stung.
Turning away, he walked back to the table, sitting down in his chair as if exhausted. "You're lucky the law is on your side as far as your mother's will goes. You got all her life savings and money from her job, and I don't see a penny of it. That's the only thing keeping you going without me. Once that money is gone, you'll have nothing." Kenmei grabbed a small towel that was sitting on the counter and pressed it into her palm, wincing at the pain that shot up her arm. "I'm sure you'd prefer it if I had fallen off that cliff." She began to leave the kitchen, ignoring the sigh that came from her father.
Once wrapping the wound, Kenmei was quick to dress warmly, grab her bag with books and money inside, and leave the house. She needed to get away from there until nightfall, and from the looks of the clear sky, it was only mid morning. Deciding to take her bike out this time, she unchained it from the wall of the home and got on, riding towards town. She was still starving, and if a quiet meal at home wasn't a possibility, she would have to buy herself something.
Making a quick stop at the small marketplace, she bought a variety of fruits and vegetables to take with her during her ride, as well as an already made salad to quickly scarf down before leaving and a few bottles of water. Thanking the chubby little man that served her, she adjusted the backpack on her shoulders before hopping on her bike, heading straight for the hillside.
It would be a few hours ride to the cliffs, but she was prepared, with her music and hopeful thoughts to keep herself busy.
She could only pray that he would be there.
