Takeru doesn't understand his new friend. She can talk, but she hardly says anything. She's his friend, but she doesn't seem interested in playing any games. And she has a name - something he could call her other than "the girl" - but she won't tell him what it is. All she says is that he already knows her name, which is silly, because this is the first time she's visited.
The girl is different. Takeru still doesn't think he likes different. She's certainly not as much fun as the boy, with his clever ideas. They stand awkwardly by the fish pond, watching the glints of silver and gold beneath the surface. She seems distracted. Well, that's normal enough. Takeru often feels a little strange by the pond. Maybe he should take her into the cottage, and show her the table and chair fort he and the boy made together. Surely anyone would be interested in playing there.
He feels a twinge of sadness as he remembers his friend. Has the girl come to replace him? It's a thought which occupies his mind as he leads the way to the cottage door. He hardly notices the girl staring at their surroundings, as he busily lists all the things there are to do.
Memories resurface again as their four shoes are placed neatly by the door. There's only one other person he remembers doing this with. He wonders if the girl has memories, too. It's something he's never thought of before. All his friends seem so content simply to play, and don't even seem to mind that they can't talk. He's fairly sure the boy had memories though. They used to continue games from one day to another, after all.
Suddenly, it hits him that this girl is different. He can ask her things! It's not like his other friends, where he has to talk for both of them. He falls silent as he wonders how to ask the questions in his head. It's surprising how hard it is. After all, he can't remember asking questions which need more than a nod or shake of the head to answer.
He turns around, and finds that she's staring at him. This is such a familiar expression that the question is out of his mouth before he can even think about it:
"Did you come to be my new friend because the boy is gone?"
The look on the girl's face turns from one of curiosity to out and out shock.
"What?" she says, eyes going wide.
"The boy," he replies. "He used to be here every day, almost. But he went away, and it's just not the same with only Poyomon. None of my other friends are as good at thinking of games to play. I have to explain things to them every time."
"Where did he go?" she asks, taking a step forward. "And what did he look like?"
Takeru frowns. It's hard to remember details. Besides, he's the boy - does it matter what he looks like? Poyomon hops up and down in his hands, saying "poyo poyo!". That's usually a sign his friend thinks something is important. Well. If Poyomon thinks it matters, he will try and remember.
"Well. He had…dark hair? It's darker than anyone else's. And his eyes are blue. Not blue like the sky though. A different kind. Oh, and he gets shy in the mornings, especially when I have bad dreams, and he's really good at making things out of other things. We have a lot of fun, don't we Poyomon?"
Poyomon leans forward quickly in the gesture that is his version of nodding. "Poyo," he says.
"But I don't know where he went," Takeru adds. "I just woke up one morning and he wasn't waiting for me outside. And me and Poyomon looked everywhere."
He shrugs. There's not much he can do, after all. The girl doesn't move, or say anything. It looks like she's thinking. Takeru isn't sure why, though. He's explained everything already.
"So did you want to see the castle we made?" he asks. "It's really fun. Come on, it's this way!"
He grabs the girl's hand and pulls. Instead of following, though, she tugs her hand free and stares at him. She looks kinda cross, too.
"Don't you care what happened to him?" she asks, putting her hands on her hips. "How can you just go and play a game as though nothing happened? You're being so selfish!"
Something about the way she talks makes him feel weird. It's a little bit like when the man asks him about going home, only his head doesn't hurt, exactly. It's more like something is squeezing it. Pressing on the back of his skull. Not painful, no. But not comfortable either.
"What are you talking about?" he asks, when the throbbing fades. "Nothing did happen."
"But that boy's your friend, and now he's missing!" she cries.
"Friends always go away and then come back," he says irritably. "That's just how things are. It's how things have always worked. The only thing that's different here is you."
He's getting a little cross now. This girl is different, and Takeru doesn't like that. Doesn't like when things change. Change makes his head ache, after all. He's just about to tell her to go away if she's not going to do things properly, when Poyomon leaps out of his hands and hops across the floor towards her, saying: "poyo poyo!"
The girl reaches out her hands, and Poyomon leaps into them. He turns to face Takeru, and nods, small face perfectly serious.
"Poyo? Poyo poyo." There's something in the way he talks that makes it seem as though he agrees with what the girl said.
It's all wrong. Poyomon never disagrees with Takeru. Why is he taking her side? Suddenly, all the little changes which started on that morning when the boy arrived seem to add up and crowd into his mind, overwhelming him. His head hurts so much that he can hardly keep his eyes open. Thoughts and feelings all jumble together, but among the mess of emotions, Takeru is sure that this girl being angry at him is something he really doesn't want.
At last his headache fades, and he opens his eyes to see that the girl is still watching him. She doesn't seem angry or cross any more though. And Poyomon has hopped to the floor, and is waiting for him.
"Poyo poyo?" he asks, as Takeru looks at him. Something about the look on his small friend's face makes his meaning clear.
"I'm okay Poyomon," he says, and holds out his hands. He hugs Poyomon tightly, forgetting about the girl for a moment while he reassures himself that the headache has gone and he's all back to normal.
"Takeru, what was that? It… you were holding your head and crying."
The girl sounds confused. Takeru just shrugs. It's all finished now, so what does it matter?
"Sometimes I get headaches," he says. He's about to ask her what she wants to play, when suddenly he catches himself. It's what he would normally do. What he wants to do, so that he can forget all about the headache, and wondering where the boy is, and why the girl is different. A large part of him really thinks he should just forget all about these changes and get on with life. Isn't that what he's always done? And yet for some reason, he can't quite manage to get the words out. There's another feeling inside him. A strange one, that he can't quite place - and yet it seems oddly familiar. A feeling that he should be doing something.
He's not sure what the "something" is, or why it suddenly seems so important to him. But he's reasonably sure it has something to do with the girl.
"So," he says at last, pushing down a last urge to tell this girl to go away so everything can return to normal. "What do you think we should do, then?"
For the first time since she walked out of the mist, the girl really smiles. It's not just with her mouth, like when she smiled before - her whole face lights up this time.
"We should go look for him, of course!" she says.
Takeru frowns. He hadn't been expecting that. "But I already looked everywhere," he says. "I told you that."
She shakes her head. "You only looked in the cottage and the gardens. What about the rest of the world?"
He feels as though he's on stronger ground here. "He can't be out there. It's too… It changes. Most of it doesn't stay still, and you can get lost real easy if you go too far. It's not safe to leave the garden unless it's a clear day, right Poyomon?"
Poyomon nods once, but doesn't say anything. For some reason, this doesn't seem to discourage the girl, who turns around and starts heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" he asks.
"To look for that boy," she says, turning to look at him.
She fixes her eyes on him, and there's a look of determination he's just sure he recognises, although he doesn't see how that's possible. She waits a moment, then leaves the room. Takeru follows her to the door, and watches in surprise as she starts putting her shoes on again.
"But you only just got here," he says.
"Well, this is important," she replies. "Sometimes there are things you just have to do. Are you going to come with me?"
"What if we get lost and can't find our way back?"
She smiles again, although it's a sadder smile than the last one. Suddenly, she seems older somehow. "Then you have a choice, Takeru. You can stay here, where everything is safe and familiar. Or you can go with me, and see if we can find your friend."
He stares at her while she finishes tying her shoelaces and stands up.
"There's a lot of world out there to see, Takeru," she says. "Lots of new places. New people. And maybe some familiar ones too. I can't promise it will be safe and happy, like this place. It might be scary, or sad, or dangerous. But I can promise that you won't be alone."
Takeru's head feels all strange again. The pressure is back; that odd feeling as though something is squeezing his skull. But there's something about what the girl has said. Something about her voice. The more she talks, the more familiar it sounds, and the more he finds himself trusting her. After a minute he nods.
"Wait here. I'm going to get my bag!" he says, and runs to his bedroom. The bag is tucked next to his bed, and he grabs it, looking around his room to see if there's anything he wants to take with him. He finds a few knick-knacks, and then goes and gets some chocolate in case he gets hungry, before rushing back to the door where Poyomon is waiting with the girl.
A few minutes later, they are standing at the gate to the garden, looking out into the mist. It's hard to see very far, but he thinks there's a forest out there today. It almost looks like a jungle, with wide leaves and large flowers.
He looks back at the cottage. At his home - the only place he can ever remember being. At the gardens where his friends play with him. What if he really does get lost? He doesn't like change, after all; he's never gone on an adventure before. Not a real one, anyway. It's hard, choosing to go. Especially as there's a part of him, somewhere inside, that doesn't think things will ever be the same again if he leaves now.
The girl is watching him again when he turns round again.
"Sometimes we have to leave things behind to find what's really important," she says, as though she's been reading his mind.
Takeru nods. He's still not really sure that this is a good idea, but he trusts her. After all, she said she was his friend. And she promised he wouldn't be alone - and promises are important. Takeru doesn't quite understand why he's so sure about that fact, but the more he thinks about it, the surer he gets. As they walk out into the mist, and the cottage fades from view, Takeru makes a silent promise of his own. He's going to find the boy. Because standing there, next to the girl and with Poyomon in his hands, he just knows that it's what friends are supposed to do. Even if it's hard, they find each other. And look out for each other. And…well he's not sure on the last part, although he knows there's something else. Something he's still missing. But they're on an adventure now, a real one. Maybe they can find what he's missing too.
A.N.: Okay, this took a looong time to write. I'm not entirely happy with the transition from the first half of the chapter to the second, but I think I've reached saturation point. Any more staring at it and tweaking is just going to make it worse, not better.
As always, I would love to know what everyone thinks of the story so far. The "introduction" stage is officially over now, so if you have any lingering questions about the setup, feel free to ask! I'm having fun with this story, although it's very different to my usual writing style (and is a lot more challenging to write as a result).