Cherry Petals ~サクランボノハナビラ

眠り妖精 ~緋真~ (The Sleeping Fairy~Hisana~)

In a place that was ridden of its humanity,
I suppose today must have been a very lucky day for me.
I saw a gentle glow on someone who probably descended from the heavens.
There were no wings on his back, but thousands of pink petals trailed behind him.
It was such a beautiful sight.

As I stood in front of this mesmerising creature, I thought that this must be a fairy from another realm.
The eyes on the fairy's face were crying – they never looked more melancholy and lost.
Did this fairy lose his way back home?
Why are you showing such a sad face?
Why do you look like you are suffering?

Back then, I wondered if I was being a bad person with ulterior motives.
While I definitely wanted to help this person, I was thinking that I could spend some more time if I did that. I can't help myself for reacting in this manner – Rukongai was such a dark place to live in. I probably just want to find a way to escape from its clutches by hanging myself onto a silver lining.

"Are...Are you alright?" I approached closer to the fairy, my voice still trembling with nervousness.

Those dazed eyes seemed to be reacting a little to my question, but it went back into a daydream-like state soon after. His hands were reaching out front, as if he was asking me to walk over.

Why did I walk over without acknowledging the fact that we were complete strangers?
Why did it seem so normal for me to do that?

The fairy staggered a few more steps ahead of him and fell to the ground. More tears were falling out this time. The tears were probably blinding his sight of me, so he wasn't aware that I was standing next to him.

"Are you really okay?" I tried to help him up by supporting his body weight onto mine. Strange enough, he wasn't retaliating at all. I was used to people rejecting favours in Rukongai that I couldn't react properly to this behavioural change. The flower petals that were swirling around him were so pretty – if I had stared at them long enough, I probably would get sucked into them.

"Hisa...na?" His voice sent me back to reality.
How did he even know my name?
I was so sure that he was a fairy, no other person would know of this name.

"I...!" I think I might have been too anxious that I squeezed his hand too tightly that...

He...passed out.

It's definitely my lucky day today for chancing upon a fairy from the heavens.
I'll try my best to remember this day for the rest of my life.
That way, I'll have another memory worth keeping throughout the days in Rukongai.

More often than not, I do not pay much attention to the things around me – I probably took all of them for granted. I noticed that the trees that loomed over us had three different shades of green; that the barks were dark-brownish in color. The path was filled with cracks and had tiny chipped rock fragments lying in a disorderly scattered manner. I also saw our shadows casted right in front of me, my shadow in particular – it was like displaying a side I did not want to see at all. The shadow was so dark, just like my heartless self when I did those things to my sister. Why am I feeling this way all of a sudden?

I never knew about the reason behind it, until a few years later.

The road back home today felt peaceful, despite the stranger's weight on my back and the guilt I've always lived with. Was the weather hot today? Somehow, I felt like I was walking through a desert under the warm morning sun. It took me sometime before I realised the heat was coming from the fairy. There was a breathing sound exhaling out more heat to my ears, and my breaths gradually synchronised with his. It was so amazing, what the fairy can do to me in such a short time with his enchanting spells. It might be due to his magical spells, I was able to feel the occasional breeze blowing past my cheeks. I could hear the mynah chirping on a tree branch before it took off; I could see the ants busy crawling back to their nest. They were things that have been there every single day, but I never saw how they had silently worked to keep the ecosystem in balance.

Someday,
I too, want to be someone like this.

The door of my house opened with a slight creak, as usual. I hurriedly laid out the only futon I had picked up from the junkyard (and thoroughly washed) so that the fairy has somewhere to rest on. As if it was a matter of fact to do so, I placed a wet towel on his forehead in an attempt to bring down his body temperature. When the towel became warm again, I changed it and did so continuously until the sun showed signs of setting. Time passed by so quickly without even me realising that my stomach had been growling for hours.

The mixture of rice and water bubbled in the claypot; I sprinkled a dash of salt in case it gets too bland to swallow. From time to time, I would take small peeks at his sleeping face. Peaceful wasn't the exact word to describe it, for he was frowning and knitting his eyebrows sometimes. It's embarrassing to put it in actual words how it felt at that time to be observing how fair his skin would look under the glow of the nearby lamp.

I like when his eyes are closed for a few reasons.
It shows how long those eyelashes were.
I get curious over things like the color of his eyes or the language he might be speaking.
I would wonder the look on his face when he smiles or frowns. It keeps me wondering.
When my mind does certain things like this, time flows a lot faster than usual.

Porridge was the best I could offer to a seemingly sick person. I made it watery enough to drink it down such that he does not even need to chew. The only thing I was worried about was that he wouldn't be conscious enough to eat it. I've never tried feeding an unconscious person so I was very nervous about it. I held his head and supported it with my left arm, while the spoon was trembling away at my right hand. It was a lot of talking to him before he actually swallowed the spoonful down – my message went through I suppose.

It's okay.
It's okay even if I don't know what happened.
You are here, and I'm here too.
I'll watch over you.
You are safe here.

I think you can hear me even when your eyes are closed.
I made you something to eat.
It may taste awful, but you have to eat something to get better.
Fairies have to eat too, right?

It was assuring to see him eat at least half a bowl of the porridge before he stopped opening his mouth. I supposed that meant he fell asleep. I changed the towel on his head and finished up the remaining half of porridge I made for him. By the time I washed all the utensils, it was already late into the night. There was no space left of the tiny futon, so I slept on the hard wooden floor beside him – it did not felt hard at all – I must have been really tired that day.

I took one final glance at his face before I closed my eyes.
His nose looked sharp and distinct from the angle I was gazing.
I was beginning to think that all of this was just a dream. A really sweet dream.
I would wake up tomorrow, and find myself back in the futon, then the sun rays would pour in and it would be blinding. I would sit up and smile to my own vivid imagination.

"Yoruichi...san," he breathed out those words weakly and the tears were falling again.

I think I might have heard this name somewhere, it gives off a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Instinctively, I held his hand.

You'll be fine, because all of this comes from my head.
It's just a momentary glimpse of a nightmare.
Hush now, and I'll turn all of this into a nice dream with this hand of mine.
So, I wish you a good night, my sleeping fairy.

yu-pon's notes:

I'm back on writing this! Hope that makes someone glad.
It's been a year I suppose? I'm sorry to keep everyone waiting.
Although this is short, I hope it's a sign that it's starting. XDD
I have a penchant for reporting time - haha it's 4 am now (wow).

I can't wait to write the next chapter; but that will have to come after I can think of what to write.

I used the word futon here.
It's a Japanese mattress, except that it's thinner and all - there is always google if you want to know more! hoho

Oh! Thank you for the reviews, really! m(_ _)m
This chapter wouldn't even be born if I did not went through them again and again haha.

That's about it!
See ya... in the next chapter!

yu-pon deshita~