This random little chapter was born because of a phrase that randomly popped into my head in the middle of the night: "her name means hope and it's very fitting"
Enjoy!
The class of 7 year olds are sitting at their desks, boredly listening to their teacher droning on about fractions, gazing idly out of the window at the sunny day, and sneaking looks at the clock .15:05 …15:06…..4 minutes left.
BRINNNNNNGG! When the clock reached 15:10, the bell rings, and the children spring to life. The lethargic teacher barely has time to blink as they all jump out of their seats, hurriedly stuff their pencil cases in their bags and race out of the classroom, chatting to each other and giggling really loudly.
Among these children is a striking girl. She has long black hair, bangs that reach her brow (with the ones hanging either side of her face shoulder length) and very, very pretty brown eyes. She wears a black skirt, pale blue short-sleeved top, and matching sandals .carrying her pink backpack, she laughs at a joke her friend, who has curly purple hair, tells her and walks out of the class.
When she gets to the school front gates, she doesn't look for her parents, like every other child is , she just walks out of those gates and starts walking down the road. She only lives down the road, and her mum will be waiting right outside her house anyway. Plus, the weather is good, and it won't get dark quickly until it turns to autumn. Her friend lives in the opposite direction, so the girl waves a goodbye and turns, walking and humming quietly to herself, a small smile on her face.
As she walks, a lot of people stop and stare at her, but she barely notices. She is used to it.
Because this girl is Kibou Fudo, daughter of Yusei Fudo and Aki Izayoi.
Aki is waiting outside, just as Kibou knew she would be. She runs to the gate and Aki's face lights up.
"Kibou! Let me guess, school was long."
Kibou grins.
"Exactly!" She goes inside, and Aki follows, closing the door behind her, watching her daughter dump her bag at the bottom of the stairs and head straight for the living room. The girl looks a lot like she did at that age, except for the black hair and the more tanned complexion –those two things are something she got from her father.
"Where's Shin-Chan?" Kibou asks. pausing at the door of the room .
"He should be there somewhere. " Aki calls back. Shin-Chan is 3 year old Shinji, The second Fudo child, a boy. Kibou loves him to bits- but he never returns this love.
Shinji is autistic. Of course, being a 7 year old, Kibou does not fully understand the meaning for autistic, all she knows is that her brother will never be her playmate , that he will need help all his life. But that never stopped her believing in him.
Aki goes into the kitchen, and starts to make tea.
Ten minutes later, she calls out
"Kibou!Tea is ready!" she doesn't call Shinji. He probably won't respond to his name. She'll find him once Kibou is at the table. But today, not even Kibou answers. Curious, and slightly worried, Aki goes to the living room , and looks behind the sofa , where faint gigging is coming from.
Kibou is sitting opposite her spiky-redheaded brother, holding a ball. She sets the ball on the floor, and rolls it to Shinji, who grabs it , and pauses.
"Shin-chan. Go, go!" Kibou encourages. Shinji looks up into his sister's eyes, and then pushes the ball towards her. She pushes it back, and he does the same.
Aki can't believe it. Shinji is actually interacting with someone. At that point, Kibou notices her mum.
"Hey, mum!I told you that you just need a little bit of me!"
=D did you get that little joke at the end? I'll give you a clue, in Japan , its fine to refer to yourself by name rather than saying "I" or "me" (or "atashi" ," boku" or "Ore" in Japanese), and the name Kibou means hope .
Anyway, please review. More reviews=happy me= motivation to keep on writing!