Chapter 3
The bartenders past: part II
The next night I came back. There she was, sitting on the edge of the play structure, dangling her twig like legs back in forth and humming a sweet tune.
"Hey" I waved, and she smiled back sweetly, "Hi Shizuo-kun! I'm happy you came back".
"Yeah…Has anybody been causing you trouble out here?"
"Oh…no, I've been fine" she said, "And don't worry Shizuo-kun I know self defense!"
I scoffed.
"Oh really, I'd like to see that" I said, she flashed him a toothy grin, a tooth on the front bottom row of teeth was missing.
"How old are you, anyways?" I asked.
"I'm 12" she said, "I'll be 13 in March, and how about you?"
"I'm almost 15" I say, and she giggles.
"So you're not that old, the thugs you beat up must be years older then you!"
"Yeah I know, but that doesn't stop me".
Kohana waved me over to sit next to her.
"Why do you fight, Shizuo-kun?" She asked, her head cocked to the side as usual when asking a question.
"I want to get stronger" I said, and she smiled.
"Hm, that's interesting…" She says, and gets up from her seat next to me.
"Where are you going? Wait-"I say, walking after her. When walking alongside her, I'm a lot taller, giving off the "brother and sister" impression.
"Why do you come out here all the time?" I ask her, and she rolls her eyes.
"And why don't you just say my name already? Its Kohana remember? "
"Oh, right…Kohana, sorry" I said, her name sounded so new, and fresh when said in my voice.
"There we go!" She clapped cheerfully, "And the reason I come here all the time is because I can't see the moon from my window in the orphanage, there's a giant tree blocking it".
"A tree…?" I said, raising an eyebrow. She nodded, and pointed up to the bold grey moon above us.
"I can see it perfect here!" She beamed, her eyes twinkling like the stars above her. I watch as she walks along the grass straight under the moon, her pink skirt dancing in the breeze as she gazes up.
"What's it like in an orphanage, Kohana?" I asked.
She frowned.
"I can't explain it in words, but I really don't like it at all".
"Oh, sorry to bring it up I guess" I scratched the back of my head, and she shrugged.
"Don't worry about it Shizuo-kun, because someday I'll get adopted!" She says, "I dream about it, I dream about having a family I can go home to everyday from school, and go to the park with, and play games with. But most of all, I just want to be loved…"
I watch as Kohana sighs, and whispers to herself:
"Someday…."
It's been 25 total days now.
And I've come back to see Kohana, every single night.
I usually just watched her, look up at the moon. Sometimes she talked to me about dreams she had, places she wanted to see and things she wanted to become. She wanted to become a spinal surgeon, interesting right? And she wanted to go to America, and Australia and Europe and all kinds of locations. She wants to learn how to write better too, she loves poetry, and writing song lyrics too. She shares them with me sometimes. Most of the lyrics consist of fantasy worlds, and true love.
She asks me a lot about my life too. She asks about my family, and I tell her that there's nothing really interesting about them. She always tells me I'm lucky, that I even have a family at all.
One night when I come to visit, I'm torn to pieces. I broke my arm, bruised my ribs, and got stitches all up my legs. This is the first time Kohana has seen my like this, and she freaks out.
"Shi-Shizuo-Kun!" She cries, running up to me, her eyes brimmed with tears.
"It's nothing…Kohana; I'm fine, this happens all the time…"
"No you're not fine!" She yells, and sits me down on the play structure.
"Kohana…"
"Who did this to you?" She asks, her eyes are staring deep inside mine, searching for answers.
"I just overworked it, Kohana, I get hurt all the time it's not a big deal".
"It is a big deal!" She sobs, "I don't want you to get hurt!" She grabs my waist and hugs it tight. I freeze, and look at her below. She tightens her grip around me and soaks my shirt with tears.
"Your very special to me…Shizuo-kun" She whispers, and looks up at me.
I don't know what to say.
I've never been given…a compliment like that…
"I'm sorry for scaring you, Kohana" I say. She laughs.
"Good" she says, "You should be".
Kohana stares at me, smiling. I don't know what she's thinking, but then she holds onto my shoulders, as she leans in to kiss me softly, on the lips.
I gasp, my face turning full on red.
She then looks at me, blankly with her head cocked to the side.
"Did that make you happy?" She asks. And I don't know what to say, I'm surprised, shocked, completely stumped.
"Answer me…" She says, tapping the invisible watch on her wrist.
I don't respond, instead I hug her. My stomach feels fluttery, a feeling I'm not use to. She hugs me tighter, and whispers into my ear.
"Friends forever…."
___________________
It's the next day, and I don't think I can contain myself. Right when my parents went to bed I hopped out the window and ran for the park. I literally was booking, as fast as I could. I stopped short of the playground, expecting to see a brown haired girl dangling her feet along the edge of the play structure.
But she wasn't there.
The next day.
Here I am again. I still don't see her.
The next day.
I'm here again, still haven't seen her.
The next day.
Still, not here.
The next day.
She hasn't been showing…
The next day.
She…she's been gone for days now…
The next day.
Where…wh-where did she go?
The next day.
I fell to the grass, and fisted the dirt from the ground and grunted. She's been gone for 8 days now. I don't know…what to do…what if she got hurt? What if somebody…hurt her?
What if…
A single tear fell to the pavement.