It's been a couple of days since the Pokemon Battle Tournament and is nearing a week. There is little to no chatter about the whole thing and it surprised me. Wouldn't they at least talk about the final battle? How incredibly creepy Gousu's power was? Not a word left my classmate's lips about Satoshi's skill nor my defeat. Maybe the whole tournament wasn't a good idea after all. Most of the school showed up as spectators, not as participants. I wonder how Nazumi-sensei will react when he finds out how much money we actually made.
Just as that thought entered my head, an announcement came over the P.A. system.
"Student Council Representatives Kasumi and Sae of homeroom 1-A, please report to the resource room. Kasumi and Sae of homeroom 1-A to the resource room."
I turn around and walk back the way I came, seeing I had passed the resource room a mere five minutes ago. On my way, I saw Sae-chan skipping down the hall towards me, book bag swinging in her right hand. She stops in front of me and smiles brightly.
"Good afternoon, Kasumi-chan," She says. "Ready to hear the reports?"
"I'm not quite sure, actually," I mumble. "I'm a bit worried."
"You worry too much," Sae-chan pats me hard on the shoulder. "Daijobu! Loosen up!"
She did have a point. I tend to worry too much. "You're right."
"Of course I am!"
The two of us begin to walk to the resource room together.
"Oh!" I suddenly recall. "How as your date with Souichiro-kun last night?"
"Eh, like a date," Sae-chan shrugs. "But he's such a sweetie. What about you? I haven't seen you talking to Satoshi-kun for a long time."
I could suddenly feel my pulse in my neck. "I just haven't seen him. I don't believe he was at school today."
"Maybe he's sick," Sae-chan says.
"Better not be," I reply.
"Why not?" Sae-chan asks. "Being sick at least once in your life is inevitable."
"But his system is fragile," I protest.
"Fragile? He's a normal human boy,"
"No, he's not," I say.
"What?"
Opps. "I mean that he's…special."
Sae-chan is silent for a while. "Kasumi-can, what kind or special?"
Her tone was impish.
"Everybody is special in their own way, Sae-chan," I laugh a tad nervously.
"Tokushu," Sae-chan repeats before elbowing me in the side. "Just don't tell Naoko-chan."
"I don't have a--,"
"Just don't tell Naoko-chan," Sae-chan says. "I don't know exactly what, but you and Satoshi-kun are sharing something."
I sigh. "Himitsu da."
"Himitsu?" Sae-chan asks.
"I can't tell you," I reply. "Gomen."
"It's okay, Kasumi-chan," Sae-chan says. "As long as it's not a matter of life or death."
Well, not completely. "Nope, it's not."
We reach the resource room and slide open the door. Nazumi-sensei was already inside, sitting at the main desk. There was a single paper in his hand and he wasn't necessarily smiling. We stand in front of him and wait. My worry returned when Nazumi-sensei placed the paper on the desk face down so we couldn't see the numbers.
"I'm glad I caught you two before you left," Nazumi-sensei says. "I have received the final numbers from our Fall Festival. Overall, your snack stand went well, Sae-san."
"Thank you, sir,"
"The tickets were definitely sold and the attendance was reasonable," Nazumi-sensei pauses, "but the sales weren't as high as the staff had hoped."
"How low were we?" I ask.
"That doesn't matter," He replies. "Our priorities now are set on the Spring Festival, and how we can get our profit up. An event that will attract the parents and grandparents."
"Please don't say a choir concert," I say, not trying to sound pleading.
"Not exactly, but that is what the older people seem to like," He sighs.
"How about a play?" Sae-chan says. "I'm sure that will bring in the grandparents. We certainly have a lot of theatrical talent in our school and a good selection of literary talent as well. Coming up with a script and a cast should be no problem."
Nazumi-sensei stares ahead at nothing for a while. "That doesn't sound half bad. I'll need to see the script before it's a one-hundred percent go."
"Of course!" Sae-chan smiles. "I already have a person in mind to ask for a script."
"All right," Nazumi-sensei nods.
"You'll possibly have the script by the end of the next week, sir,"
"Good, the sooner the better," He agrees.
"I feel quite bad," I say. "It was, after all, my idea for the tournament. So, I volunteer to be part of the play."
"Good," Nazumi-sensei nods. "You'll be one of the actresses."
Actress? "I was thinking more of making the costumes, or help with props."
"You'll be an actress,"
"Hai, sensei," I sigh lightly.
*****
"Maybe he's sick,"…
After talking to Nazumi-sensei about the Spring Festival, Sae-chan and I were free to go home. That's where I am now. I didn't so much walk in the door when I wanted to go out again. I couldn't help it! I'm worried about Satoshi. What if he really is sick? Vampires already have a weak immune system, getting a cold or the flu would be a trip to Hell and back for him. If he doesn't get better, there is no 'and back'.
I have to go to Yousei Cemetery. I have to make sure he is okay. I need to see him. What if he's fatally ill? What if he's on that old futon, covered in blankets from fever? His mother would take care of him, wouldn't she? I'm…I'm going to go over anyway.
I throw down my schoolbag and go into the kitchen. I fill a kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil. If I'm going to visit Satoshi, I might as well have a small peace offering in case I bump into Hanako again. From digging around in Satoshi's room, I found countless bottles of Melon Soda and a few bags of Muscat Kisses. You have to really like melon to drink the soda. So, I'm going to make him my mother's Melon Barley Tea. A nice hot drink always brings me up with I'm sick. Hopefully, it will help Satoshi as well.
I mix a few Barley leaves into the melon juice and add a teaspoon of sugar, a pinch of lemongrass, and a hint of crushed cucumber. After that was well blended, I strain it to rid the concoction of huge, solid chunks. The kettle whistled when the water inside reached a rough 100 degrees Celsius. I pour that water into a large thermos and steam gathers to the ceiling. The mixture of juice and spices was poured in and the sugar made a loud hiss. The steamy fumes coming from the tea smelled heavenly to me.
The lid on the thermos snaps shut and I put my shoes back on to leave. I leap out the front door and through the open gate to the street. My feet lead me left, down towards the cemetery. The metal around the thermos keeps in the heat from the tea, but not completely. I wrap my hands around the circumference to warm them up. It felt extremely good on this chilly fall day. I didn't want winter to come ,but then again, the cemetery always looked quite beautiful with a blanket of pure white snow.
I reach the entrance gate to the Yousei Cemetery and just stand there. It looked so quiet, dark, dreary, and lonely. The wind scatters the newly fallen leaves and sends them in a twister halfway across the graveyard. The shrine was bleak. The polished wood looked gray and almost moldy. What happened to the beautiful simplicity and uncanny enigma? It now looked so plain and stark. A home reflects the owner.
I push open the gate and enter, closing it behind me. The ground was black with ashes where we had our fire a little over a week ago. The granite headstones slowly weathered away in the sudden howling breeze. The wind always picked up when I wa sin the cemetery. I didn't mind, for it carried Satoshi's aura and smelled of the Sandalwood in the shrine. However, it also had that distinct chill that makes you think you are being followed. It was Hanako's mark.
I slowly walk up the steps on the shrine and stand before the wood sliding door silently. Now that I was here, the nerves started to settle in. My gut twisted around itself. My throat became dry and scratchy and it burned like a fresh paper cut. I swallow a mouthful of saliva to moisten and knock on the door.
"Dareka ie hei masuka?" I call. I felt sort of stupid, asking such a question.
Nobody answered from inside. I couldn't hear a single footstep either. I waited a minute more before deciding that even if Satoshi was in fact home, he wasn't going to answer me. I set the thermos down outside the door and start to walk away. I was halfway to the gate when I heard the door slide open.
I turn around. Satoshi was standing in the frame, looking down at the thermos, draped in the blanket from his bed. His sunglasses were a tad askew as if he had just put them on. His hair was untidy and flying in every direction across his forehead. He looked so tenuous just then, as well as adorable. Maybe it was the mother inside me that was drawn to the cuteness. It was like a tiny urge to take care of him.
Satoshi bends over and picks up the thermos. When he takes off the lid, more steam wafts up and he smells it.
"Melon," He says, with a voice of a nail scrapping across wood.
"It's my mother's recipe," I reply. "I saw a lot of melon soda and candy in your house that one time, so I assumed you liked it. I was a little worried when you didn't show up for school today. Now that I see that you really are sick, I hope this makes you feel better."
Ah, I sounded like such a geek.
"Watashi no kiniiri,"
My knotted gut unbinds from hearing that.
"Well, enjoy," I wave, intending to leave, but my feet wouldn't move well.
"You were worried?" Satoshi asks.
"Uh, yes," I stutter.
Satoshi leaves the doorframe and walks down the shrine steps towards me. "Arigatou,"
"No problem," I say. "Just looking out for a friend."
Satoshi stops a few feet in front of me and I could see how pale he had gotten. All the black he had on make it look worse. Veins stuck out a sore violet under his skin and his posture was ineffectual. White-rimed chapped lips and a raspy breath. I hated seeing him like this..
"Satoshi-kun, if you don't mind me asking," I say. "When was the last time you drank someone's blood?"
Satoshi clears his throat and it sounded painful. "I try to avoid doing that. So, I can't remember."
I walk up to him and place a hand on his cheek. "But you're so sick."
"Then what do you suggest I do, huh?" Satoshi asks with a cocky tone.
I remove my hand and pull down my collar a little farther. "Here,"
Satoshi shakes his head. "No,"
He no sooner speaks then looses his balance almost faints. I catch him and slowly bring him down to his knees on the stone path. I sit in front of him, still holding my shirt down so it exposes my neck better. Satoshi coughs and looks down at the ground, refusing to meet my eye.
"Satoshi-kun,"
"If you want to help, get me a stray cat and I'll drink its blood," Satoshi replies.
"No," I say.
"Why does it have to be you, Kasumi-san?"
"Because," I reply. "When Hanako first took my blood and I asked you why you let her take yours before, you said that you cared about her too much to let her die. It's the same with me…"
"That still doesn't mean it has to be you," Satoshi says.
"Do you see anyone else around besides me?" I ask.
"No,"
"Please," My voice cracks a bit. "Satoshi-kun, I want you to get better so you can kick my ass again in a Pokemon battle, so we can argue about stupid things, hide secrets, do math homework,…"
"No,"
"Don't tell me you're not tempted," I say. "Even though you're half, you're still a vampire. They crave blood. They need it like mortals need water and air."
"I know that, damn it," Satoshi was getting irritated. "But I don't want to hurt you…"
"Don't worry about me," I reply. "Think of me as one of the stepping stones in life. You have to walk over it at least once to get across the river."
Satoshi slowly lifts his head and places his mouth on my neck. It felt like a kiss at first, but then I could feel him setting his sharp canines to the right of my pulse. He was hesitating.
"O-negai…," I whisper.
He wouldn't do it, but his teeth still tickled my neck.
"Aren't you the smallest bit afraid of death?" I ask softly.
His voice was muffled and when he had to move his lips, they grazed my skin. "Stop provoking me."
"Just do it," I say. "And it will all be over with soon."
It wasn't so much the pain as it was the sound of his teeth penetrating my flesh. My throat gagged and I tried to throw up, but stopped myself in time. A small moan escaped my mouth and I could feel Satoshi try to stop, but I place a hand on his back. We got this far, I'm not letting him flee and get worse. This feeling is almost indescribable. The sensation of having another suck out your blood from two open cuts. The other's tongue trying to lap up the extra droplets. I felt like crying.
Satoshi stops drinking and pulls away from my neck. My vision was going a bit hazy, but I blinked a few times to get the fuzzy out. Satoshi gets to his feet slowly and helps me up as well. He leads me into the shrine where he gets some gauze and a bandage. It was sort of a reenactment of a little sister falling on the pavement and having her brother clean her up. Not a word was said between us.
When Satoshi was finished patching me up, I get up and head towards the door.
"Matta ashita," Satoshi says very dimly.
"Suguni yo kunari," I reply and leave.
On my way out of the graveyard, I see Satoshi's mother, Hanako, standing in front of the gate. I hadn't seen her since the night she tried to drain me dry and she didn't look any different. The same Sakura print kimono and long brown hair. Her eyes had a certain glow to them, however. A light that shown with eerie ambiguity.
"Kobon wa," I say, voice a little hoarse.
"Onna," Hanako addresses. "Stay away from my son."
"What's so bad about me seeing him?" I ask.
She walks up to me and almost past me, stopping when we're shoulder to shoulder. "He's a hybrid, he neither belongs in the human world nor mine, but if he stays closer to the human world he's more likely to get hurt."
"You can't keep him sheltered like this forever," I say.
"You shouldn't expose him,"
"How about you let him choose sometime?" I suggest. "I'd like to see what he says."
"You think he'll take your side?" Hanako asks.
"I'm not sure," I reply. "Like I said, I'd want to see what happens."
She vanishes into the shadows.
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Japanese Romanji Translations
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Daijobu - It's alright (Don't worry)
Tokushu - Special
Himitsu (da) - (It's a) Secret
Gomen - Sorry
Hai, Sensei- Yes, teacher
Dareka ie hei masuka - Is anybody home?
Watashi no kiniiri - My favorite
Arigatou - Thank you
O-negai - Please/ I beg of you
Matta Ashita - See you tomorrow
Suguni you kunari - Get well soon
Kobon wa - Good evening
Onna - Girl/Woman