[-Chapter Five-]
I hadn't been hoping to get much attention when I arrived at home. My parents were busy. I understood that. My mother always found time for whatever my little sister, Aiko, wanted to do—and if she didn't have the time, mom got me to entertain her. And I didn't mind that, either. Aiko wasn't such a bad kid. She was very pretty, with eyes—warm and dark and fine-lashed like one of those expensive dolls we couldn't afford—that could melt my heart. Aiko had the dark hair that I'd always wanted, silky and pretty and perfect. She was nice, and more than anything in the whole world she wanted to be just like me. Sometimes it was annoying, and on other days it was what kept me going.
My dad, on the other hand, was tall and lean, with lots of muscle—kind of like what I'd "imagined" on Risu earlier. His many times great grandfather had once been some sort of royalty, around the time of The Big Event; that was where my eye color came from. Dad didn't have my eyes. He had the other trait of the family: bright blue eyes. It was kind of weird, really: Aiko had mom's soft, pretty brown eyes, and they both fit into the world just fine. Perfect little girls, both of them. Aiko loved wearing skirts like a girl should, and I always did her work for her which kept her skin fair; they would be accepted anywhere. My dad and I had the different colored eyes, though blue eyes were slightly more common than my amber ones. We had the dark brown skin of field workers, and we were kind of misfits. We didn't even really fit in with each other: he was all for rule-following and obeying Empress Koori. I would have loved to set Empress Koori's Palace on fire and watch it burn.
So, since my dad and I didn't really agree on the whole "rule" thing and we didn't have much else in common—besides working on someone else's field for meager pay six days a week—we didn't really interact all that much. My mom was always busy with some party Aiko wanted to go to; I took Aiko's jobs so that she would be able to do whatever she decided she wanted to do. Aiko had that effect on me: she could make me do anything at any time for any reason. I spoiled her often.
And that was why I wasn't expecting anyone to notice my presence at home. But there they were, all three of them, with a strange visitor in my living room. I limped in, wanting only to go take a bath using the cold bath water left over, and instead found myself being glared at by three sets of eyes. I said glared at by three because my sister was just blinking at me, as if I needed a reminder that I was in huge trouble.
The visitor was not so much a visitor as "extended family," unfortunately. He spent a lot of time in my house, trying to get me in trouble for various offenses. His name was Aku, and he headed the Chen Li of Gaoling—another one of Empress Koori's stupid institutions. He was a tall, sinister type of man, with a long dark braid and a crisp, official uniform of green and gold. His eyes were dark brown, nearly black, and when he spoke to me they flashed dangerously.
"Hikari. I wish I could say that it is a pleasure to see you again, but…"
I scowled at him: I knew for a fact that I had done nothing wrong during the day. Sometimes it seemed like he lived to torture me. "What do you want, Aku?"
"I apologize for my daughter's rudeness," my father said stiffly. "What seems to be the problem?"
Aku smiled at me again—yes, he lived to torment. I knew that smile meant trouble. Big trouble. "We have eyewitnesses confirming your daughter attacking a harmless civilian in the streets an hour ago."
My mouth nearly hit our dirt floor. As it were, I was assaulted with the taste of dust and the scent of rotting wood. "I… what… what?"
"Hikari, how could you?" my mother gasped. "A harmless civilian? Is this the kind of example you want to set for Aiko?"
"But mom, I—"
"Hikari, how many times do we have to ask you to stop this? It seems like every other day Aku has to come here because you've done something wrong! That's the fourth time this month." I was seized with the urge to leap on Aku and strangle that stupid smirk off his face. I wasn't sure what his personal vendetta was against me—unless it had something to do with the time I'd accidentally set his robes on fire—but I'd never seen him strike this low.
"I didn't do anything," I insisted from between clenched teeth. "That guy attacked me." My parents just shook their heads and apologized over and over again, unnecessarily, to Aku. He nodded, as if it personally bereaved him that my best friend had put a psychotic criminal off the streets. Before he left, Aku shot me a withering glare that promised this wasn't over. I rolled my eyes back and gave him a saucy wave, which didn't really help the spreading blackness of anger in my stomach. Then again, punching out the head Chen Li would probably get me whipped. His entire face darkened before he swept out of my house.
My father steered me forcefully through our dilapidated home before pushing me back onto my mattress in the bedroom I shared with Aiko. He immediately launched into a long speech about how disappointed he was in me, how I should have set a better example for Aiko, why would I attack a harmless person in the streets, did I want Aiko to have a pleasant life, and pretty much blamed every one of our problems on me. Eventually winded, he sat down beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, so I shrugged out from under it.
"Hikari," he sighed, "I know it's hard to follow the rules. But rules are all we have. When the world fell into chaos, people hunted each other and burned houses, families, because one of the children had special abilities." I knew what he was talking about; everyone remembered tales of those dark days nearly eight hundred years ago by word of mouth. "We have to follow the rules or we'll fall back into chaos."
"But dad," I started in protest. The look he gave me indicated that I shouldn't argue, and so I switched to the voice of reason. "I know you want to follow the rules, Dad. But what if the rules hurt us? Like, us as a family?" I had another question that I did not voice: what if the rules, which gave absolute power to the Chen-Li, took me away for something I didn't do?
"It won't come to that," he told me confidently. "The rules and laws are around to benefit us and keep us safe. If there is a law that seems to hurt us, it's because we don't understand the intentions of our wise Empress." I didn't answer him, and I suppose he took that to mean some kind of understanding had passed between us. He patted my shoulder a bit awkwardly, and then got to his feet and left me there in the rapidly approaching twilight. I rolled over, ignoring bruises and aches, and punched my thin pillow with some violence. I put various faces on it: Aku, Empress Koori as I imagined her to be, my father in his rule-loving stupidity, Arisu kissing Koto, Koto walking away, that creepy guy in the alley…
"Hikari?"
I paused in my violent activities to look over at my sister. She had both of our blankets on, because the nights were cold and somehow I never needed any extra heat. It was like my body made its own heat. But she was fragile, more so than me, and so I gave her what she needed.
"What is it, Aiko?" I growled, not really in the mood for talking.
She was on her bed, lying on her side, staring over at me with her big round doll's eyes. "I don't think you did anything wrong," she whispered.
"Go to sleep," I grumbled, and rolled away from her to stare at the wall.
A/N: Hello my friends, and happy Wednesday! :)
Thanks to tainted creativity for your continued support. I really appreciate it! And I still love those virtual cookies, please keep them coming if my story merits it!
Anyways, meet Aku. He's kind of a jerk and (as we see here), hates Hikari. A lot. We also see Hikari's family dynamic. Even *I* find her father to be extremely frustrating, and Hikari's personality doesn't take well to frustrating people. Maybe she's kind of like me in that respect?
Have an awesome week everyone! Don't be afraid to review, or shoot me a PM with any questions you have. Next update will be fun :D