Ohayo Honda-san I smiled. I guess I caught him off guard and I startled him enough to drop his katana.
O-Ohayo umm
Scarlet. My name is Scarlet. I almost forgot I haven t told you yet. I held out my hand and he shook it.
Umm. Don t you have a last name Scarlet-san? he said my name as if he was embarrassed to say it.
Honestly I don t know. I sat down on the grass and started to poke his katana. Then I continued what I was saying. You see, ever since I could remember I was on my own. I gave myself a name since I couldn t remember my real one I stopped and looked at him. I m sorry I must be boring you. He sat down beside me and picked up his katana and put it back in its case.
Actually I m happy that are willing to share these things with me. Please continue. He smiled at me as he asked. So where did you study? I looked at him once more and continued.
I studied at this small public school. During elementary the orphanage I was staying at paid for it. But in middle school I ran away from the orphanage. I hated how they handled things there. No painting, no music, nothing creative at all! It was like hell for a girl like me! Anyway I stayed in an alley way until I was found by this nice couple. They were walking around and they saw me sleeping in a cardboard box. They took me to their home. They told me they couldn t bear a child so they treated me like I was their child. Don t get me wrong! I love them but it just didn t feel right. So I was thankful that they paid for my middle school tuition fee. But I didn t ask for any allowance or any special treatment. I worked to get extra money for the things i wanted to buy. One day I finally told them that I was going to rent my own room for high school. And that I was going to pay for my own tuition. They understood how I felt and they gave me their blessing. And my high school life was normal enough. Now I moved here to look for a cheap arts school, I just plan on studying a bit more about art. And I still plan on paying for it myself. When I got here I immediately tried to look for a room I could rent. But I didn t have any luck. I sighed and I looked around
I m sorry. he said, I looked at him and smiled, not my fake I-hate-being-sympathized-but-I ll-stay-polite smile, my real thankful smile.
You shouldn t be sorry. Life wouldn t be fun if there weren t any perks. We stayed silent for a while but then he spoke.
You didn t say where you came from.
I chuckled I came from England. His eyes widened. Yeah, I get that a lot when I say I m from England around here. I m kind of used to it already.
S-sorry. You said you were looking for a room right? he said
Yeah. Why?
Well you could always stay here.
Oh no, I couldn t! I really hate being a bother.
Really, it s alright. I insist.
Alright But I do the housework.
What?
Well, you are a country right? That means you have a lot of work to do! So leave the housework to me! I stood up and held out my hand. He grabbed it and pulled himself up.
But I can t possibly let you do all the work! I don t have work all the time. He told me
Well. How about this? During regular days when you have no work we can share our chores. But if you do have work, like, let s say you have an upcoming World Meeting and you need to get things ready. Then I ll do all the chores! Alright? But you have to promise to tell me if you have work. Will you promise? I looked at him seriously.
Alright. I promise. He smiled and he held out his hand.
Then it s a deal! I shook his hand. But will you show me how you do things around here? he chuckled and said
Okay. Follow me. Then everything started. It s weird really. I always felt alone. Even if I was with my friends in the orphanage, even with my foster parents. I always felt as if I was on my own. But now as Honda-san was showing me around. I suddenly had this feeling that I wasn t alone anymore, I felt as if I found someone I could some day call family.
