Chapter 1: Before the beginning
13wolfsbane: I am so sorry this came out later than I had anticipated. My only excuse is that school got in the way, and I had a bit of a writer's block when I wasn't working on homework. And then there was Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping, New Years, Friggin cold weather, (excuses, excuses!) Anyways, here is chapter one people. Again sorry this took a bit to get done, and if it sucks and makes no sense, I do apologize. Again. ACTION!
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This village is surrounded by mountains with momi fir trees on three sides. It lies alongside a mountain stream and the momi fir woods confine it in a triangular shape like the tip of a harpoon.
It's a village with the population of only 1300, where people have been growing momi fir trees and making grave markers. Those trees for the dead cut it off from the outside world.
The village is surrounded by death.
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Yui Fujimori woke up rather early that Sunday morning to a sound just outside her bedroom. She rubs her eyes to shake off whatever sleep dared to over come her. Judging by the amount of sunlight that was peeking through the cracked open window, Yui had to guess it was around six o'clock, maybe seven or eight? She checked the clock which sat at the corner of her nightstand just at the head of her bed; it read seven twenty-eight.
Yui kicked the covers off herself, revealing the mixed-matched green pajama shirt and shorts she wore. Long strawberry-blonde hair fastened in a simple side braid with bangs that nearly covered mahogany colored eyes. She stretched out her arms and legs, even yawned just a little to help stay awake.
Yui looks around at her room, searching nothing in particular but rather wanting to have a good look at everything, even in the dazed state she was in. It was a simple kind of room only a boring person would have she'd thought. The bed and nightstand were lined up against the forest shade walls, which were decorated with a fairy tale themed calendar and a few torn-out pages of drawings here and there. A small desk, usually covered with a mess of books, papers and a photograph, sat between her ebony dresser and window at the foot of her bed. She didn't own any kind of stuffed animal, instead she had miniature throw pillows in place of them. Maybe a little redecorating should be in order, Yui thought with a sigh.
A sound came from her door once more. Yui recognized it as the occasional knocking when someone wished to enter. Wonder who it could be... "Come in," Yui said, allowing whoever was outside to enter.
The door slowly swung open to reveal a boy wearing a brown polo shirt and tattered shorts. He had short dark brown hair and mahogany colored eyes, a lean face and wasn't necessarily built, appearing no older than eighteen years. He had this look on his face, almost devilish as far as she could tell. "Well hey there," the boy greeted with a quick wave of a hand before shoving it into his pockets. "Has Sleeping Beauty finally awaken from her hundred years of slumber already?"
Yui groaned at his so-called greetings, grabbing a throw pillow and aimed it at him. "Oh shut it, Kaoru, it's too early for your dumb jokes." Score. The pillow met his face.
The pillow that hit Kaoru fell to his feet as the older boy chuckled. "Good morning to you too, sis!"
Kaoru loved making small references on famous fairy tales and other stories, depending on how a certain situation is. He especially loved using these on Yui, his way of showing his brotherly love, so he says. Yui couldn't help but think of it as part of his personality...even when at times they did get on her nerves. Even still, it's what makes him Kaoru.
"Alright, so what do I owe the honor of your visit, brother?"
Kaoru raised an eyebrow at her, remaining in the frame of the doorway. "Well you could try not throwing pillows at me, you almost poked my eye out."
"Kaoru..."
"Alright, alright," he chuckled. "Aoi just called a few minutes ago. She said she's doing a quick job with her dad at the clinic and won't be able to get away until at least nine the latest.
I told her you were alright with meeting her after, if that was okay."
Until nine, huh? Aoi had made plans for them to hang out today. She didn't say where exactly, and knowing her it could be anywhere like going into Mizobe or—well, just anything!
This might give Yui a chance to get a few things done before then. "Okay, thanks for taking the message for me, bro." Yui smiled at her brother as she rose from her bed. Nine o'clock wouldn't be long now, only an hour an a half away.
Looking out the window, she could tell the weather was going to be nice out, perfect for a quick jog. There was no sense in staying home and doing nothing, right?
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It was a beautiful day out today and there was a nice breeze passing by in this quaint little village. A few clouds in the sky, but not enough to block out the ever-shining sun. Fields covered in a lush green and the mountains surrounding the village were set in the same color. A beautiful scenery for a calm and quiet place.
Maybe a little too quiet if you asked me.
A boy wearing a black short sleeve and jeans had his back against the car parked in front of a large house. The house wasn't a two-story, it was just large by the width of it, enough to probably make half of it into a workshop or something. At least that's what the boy's parents had thought of doing anyways.
"So what do you think Natsuno? Pretty cool, huh?" The boy's father, Yuuki, who had been staring off into the vast area for the past few minutes grabbed his attention. Judging by the tone of his voice, he seemed pretty proud of himself with this move.
Of course he would, it was his and mom's idea in the first place to move here, the boy thought annoyingly. "Yeah, it's awesome." If you're into this boring kind of thing.
"Ha ha, I'm glad you think so, too," Yuuki must have been preoccupied with his own enjoyment of this dull place to not notice the hint of sarcasm in his sons' voice. Maybe his mother might have caught this if she weren't already inside the house unboxing. Luck was somewhat on his side today.
"Look at this Natsuno—Isn't it wonderful!" Yuuki began, stretching his arms out as if welcoming an embrace...at least from what Natsuno saw in his shadow. "I hear there's no crime in the village, and the people here don't even bother to lock their doors before they go to bed at night."
Natsuno grunted, just hearing that made it seem like the villagers can simply walk into others homes without any permission. How annoying is this?
"I know it's different, but I want you to get used to this kind of life," Yuuki continued, somehow reading his son's inner thoughts. He'd finally walked away from the scenery towards the house as he finished his sentence with a smile. "From now on no more locking doors."
Great, Natsuno sighed.
When his father was out of sight, Natsuno gave a small glance at the entire area for the first time since he's been here. What was his father talking about? What was so special about some little village like this? The more he thought about it, the less he cared; nothing was going to change his parents' mind on moving back to the city.
From how things appeared to the young teen, he wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Like it or not, he was staying in this prison of a village. Not for long, though. No matter what, I'm getting out of here. I'll be going back to the city once I've graduated high school, I'll get away from all of this—
—but until then I'll put up with this village.
Natsuno gave one last glance around him before deciding to help unbox the rest of the stuff, still irritated by the fact that he lived here now. Here in a back-woods village called Sotoba.
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13wolfsbane: And that's all for chapter one. If it seemed slow or short, I do apologize. Like I said earlier, I had a bit of writer's block while writing this, and it's really late where I am now so I'm too tired to put down anything more. And again, there was school, dogs, homework, cats, Santa Claus and (Excuses, excuses!)
But I promise I will try to work on the next chapter a little faster and hopefully less confusing than what I did here. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave a review and thank you for taking your time to read this. No flames please. Later!