“So what else am I supposed to do, then?” Aiko muttered as she watched the wind blow though the curtain of leaves above her. It was about four in the afternoon, and the sky was relaxingly blue, with a slight tint of orange. She had spent the day exploring the palace again, occasionally bumping into Yuki and Ran-sensei. She hasn’t seen Kaji all day, though.
He’s probably somewhere kicking some minor’s butt, she thought to herself.
Though it was interesting to just roam around the palace and see the different rooms — she wondered why there were so many of them — she got tired of walking around by herself and decided to go to the gardens. She saw a garden she hasn’t been to: one with an enormous weeping willow, under which she was sitting now. Aiko smiled as the sunlight peeking from the leaves colored the water gold. Then, she saw something blue glistening in the water. She blinked, then reached for it.
————–
“Oei, Yuki…Seen the Rookie?”
“I think she’s at the willow.”
“She’s still there?” Kaji whispered unconsciously. Yuki heard it clearly. “Could ya please go and look if she is?”
“Why don’t you go check yourself?”
“Aww…C’mon, please? Check if she’s there for me?”
Yuki looked up from her book and saw Kaji with a pleading look in his eyes. She grinned.
“Scared of being alone with her before she leaves, are you?”
“What?!”
“When she goes back, the only time she’ll be with us is when she reports here, or when there’s a major attack. You won’t be able to see her as much as you had for the past year. She’ll be with her family and friends, more specifically her best friend. Toriyama, was it? She should be excited about going home tomorrow.”
Kaji crossed his arms on his chest and looked away. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Aren’t you going to be jealous?” Yuki asked simply.
“WHAT?! Why would I— I mean—There’s no reason for me to— to—”
Yuki smiled triumphantly as she saw the effect of the question. “Oh, admit it Kaji. Why else would you protest like that if you weren’t…”
“If I wasn’t what?!” Kaji was glaring at her by now. It wasn’t really a question. Kaji’s underlying message was “Shut up.” And Yuki knew it.
“Fine,” she finally relented, laughing. “I’ll go check on her.”
——–
Yuki sighed as she made her way through the halls. Geez… sometimes Kaji could be so spineless. Just yesterday he had a hard time knocking on a door! But then, she realized that that just started when Aiko came around. Kaji’s liking to Aiko was obvious, actually. When Yuki saw her under the willow earlier, the girl seemed to be thinking deeply, and if Kaji saw the same thing, it had stirred his concern. Kaji had ALWAYS been concerned of her… from that day that he first saw her…
—0—
Usually, when Kaji returned from the ground, there were only three possible expressions on his face. The most common was the bored look. That means he didn’t see any trouble all day, or if he did, he had such an easy time getting rid of minors, he didn’t even break a sweat. He would be so bored, he’d have something sarcastic to say at EVERYTHING anybody says or does.
The next one was the grumpy look. That means he faced Roses, and they probably got away without a scratch (which Kaji called “running away”). He would either go straight to his room and lock the door, or release his anger by “training”, and basically destroy and burn the plants in one of the gardens or something.
The third one was the serious look. That means he faced Roses, and they probably had a major fight. He would go straight to Ran-sensei, most usually dragging Yuki along with him, and make a report, analyze the situation, and think of new strategies.
That day, however, he was different. He had a face that was a cross between the grumpy and serious one, but then Yuki can see a strange glint in his eyes. A happy, wistful glint that she hasn’t seen in a while. It was a strange combination indeed. He went straight to Ran-sensei’s room, reporting about an unvisible black-cloaked person attacking a high school girl. Yuki was intrigued as she saw Kaji’s facial expression change to a worried one. True, he was always worried about the people Deathrose attacks, but this was different. It was as if he had a connection with this girl, which, of course, Yuki knew was impossible. She and Kaji hadn’t “connected” themselves with other people for years…
Kaji said that he thought that the girl saw his “culprit”. Yuki had been surprised at this discovery, while Ran-sensei was not, which Yuki found strange. What surprised Yuki even more was this: Ran-sensei KNEW the girl’s name: Kazetenshi Aiko.
“Acknowledged,” Ran said, then paused. “Keep away from her.”
“WHAT?! Why?!” Kaji demanded.
“Just do it,” Ran replied calmly, but firmly.
“But— but— She was ATTACKED, sensei!”
“Kaji, we don’t really keep watch of every person attacked before, y’know,” Yuki told him, although she was confused of Ran’s decision herself.
“I know, but this girl is different! She saw him, didn’t she?”
“That, Kaji, is the exact reason why we should let the Roses do their work.”
“WHAT?! SENS—”
“Kazetenshi is going to be a Star.”
Ran said this so coolly, as if it almost didn’t mean anything, surprising Kaji and Yuki.
“She is?” Yuki asked. Kaji was still speechless.
“We can’t just get her to join us without being attacked. She won’t agree. She has no reason to. Or at least, she thinks she has no reason to. It’ll be hard to convince her.”
Yuki was puzzled by this. “She thinks”? What exactly did Ran-sensei know about this girl?
“Just let her be attacked — let me finish, Kaji — make sure no one else gets hurt, though. And THEN we get her away from Deathrose.” Ran said this in a way that made Kaji just bow his head and say “Hai.”
—0—
Since then, Yuki had kept a close watch on Kaji. She had known him since they were kids, but she never saw him this way before. She frequently found him quietly staring out the window, and when they were on the Ground, he seemed to be more restless and alert. Even though he never mentioned Kazetenshi again, she knew he was still thinking about her. What was it about her that caught Kaji’s attention, though?
When Aiko finally arrived — and Kaji had returned to his normal self, thank God — Yuki saw that she was beautiful. Though, of course, she knew that Kaji was beyond that. Ever since they were young, and even up to this day, he had always laughed at the fairy tales Ran had in his humongous library.
—0—
“Come ON!” he said, smirking. “A prince saving a princess with a kiss of true love? Hellooo… He just saw her for the first time! Where’s the true love in THAT?”
“She’s beautiful, Kaji. And she’s kind, too,” Yuki had defended the classic tale.
“That’s not the point. The point is love is about the mind and heart knowing that this is the right person for you. Not just the mind, not just the heart, and most definitely not the eyes,” he said. “So what if she’s beautiful? Is the physical appearance all that matters? So what if she’s kind? He just SAW her, didn’t he? He doesn’t know her!”
“It’s a beautiful fictional story, Kaji. I wish you’d stop criticizing it.”
“You’re right about that. It’s fictional. Heh. You’ll never see me getting serious with someone who’s just pretty. I’ll look at her heart and mind, first,” he concluded.
—0—
So why was Kaji was so attached to her?
Then, Yuki realized something else. Could it be that the reason that Kaji’s sarcastic mouth was working overtime when Aiko was around…was that Kaji was denying that he was attracted to her? But if he keeps this up, how will he know if he has already fallen in love with Aiko’s heart and mind?
Yuki sighed and rubbed her temples. True, she was always one to be silent and observant of the people around her — especially Kaji, he could be so undependable sometimes — but this issue with Aiko and Kaji had been tiring her brain. This girl was a simple, kind girl, but her effect on Kaji was so complicated. But then, Kaji himself was complicated…
————–
Kaji paced around the room. What could be taking Yuki so long? Maybe Aiko had a problem and was already crying her eyes out… He bit his lip. He seriously hoped not. Then, the door finally opened.
“Oei Kaj—”
“What’dshesay?Isshealright?”
Yuki blinked at the Kaji before her. He had turned rushed towards her, much like Ran-sensei did when he was excited, his eyes pleading and very concerned…
She just HAD to laugh.
“What?!” Kaji demanded.
“Sheesh, Kaji, go and talk to her yourself.”
“What? Is it so hard for you to just tell me?”
“Kaji, Ran-sensei had told me when I returned from the Ground that you haven’t gone down there,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest.
“So?”
“First of all, when Aiko saw me, the first thing she asked me was if I knew where you were since you apparently haven’t shown yourself to her the whole day,” she raised her eyebrows at Kaji, “and I wonder why.”
“YUKI!”
Yuki laughed again. It was so fun to tease Kaji about Aiko. “Anyway, she IS thinking deeply about something. And I don’t think she listened to anything that I said. But that’s OK. I expected that, so I didn’t tell her anything that important. She was just so busy looking at that stone.”
“What stone?”
“It’s a shiny blue stone, and—” Yuki stopped, blinked, then pushed Kaji out of the room. “Oh, just talk to her, will you?!”
“Fine.” Kaji said and marched to the willow. After a few minutes, he found Aiko making the mentioned shiny blue stone float in the air in front of her eyes. He took a deep breath and walked to her.
“Hey.”
“Hao, Kaji,” she replied without looking at him.
“So…uh…what’s up?”
Aiko gave no response at first. Then she caught the stone in her hand and sighed.
“I have something to ask you.”
“Shoot.”
“Well, several days before the accident… I was at school, see…” she paused to look quickly at Kaji, who was just looking at her blankly. “And…I was racing with Kamui — y’know, my best friend down there — when…” she paused again, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. How the heck am I going to explain this?
“When you had a fight?” Aiko looked at him. Kaji just shrugged and looked away. “I just thought you did… I mean, he WAS apologizing to you at the school gate, wasn’t he?”
“How… how did you…”
“I was there, as you probably already figgered out,” he looked at Aiko before looking away again. “I was there at the race, too. But you prolly didn’t see me.”
“Oh… Did you see anything…suspicious?”
“Like a person cloaked in black?” Kaji asked sarcastically.
Aiko’s eyes widened. “You SAW him?”
“I’m surprised that YOU did. I mean, he was unvisible at the time.”
“And you didn’t do anything?!”
“Excuse me, I DID do something, ok?” he said, offended by her demand. “I happened to unleash a fire wave, if you didn’t notice. Then I tried to fly after him when the coward flew off.”
“Then you went back to the school?”
“Yes, I did, as I already mentioned,” he snapped. “I came to check if you were fine, you looked pretty shook up when the race ended.”
“You did?”
“YES!!! Geez, Rookie, you don’t listen to anything this afternoon, do ya?!”
Kaji suddenly stopped. Aiko was smiling at him. “W—What?”
“Thanks,” she simply said, then went back to making the stone float in her open palm.
For several seconds, silence ensued…
“Cool stone you got there.”
Aiko smiled slightly. “Did you know that my mom died when I was 6?”
“Wha?” Kaji was caught off guard by the sudden question.
“It was the day after my sixth birthday. We were on our way home from her studio when she suddenly grabbed my hand and ran for it. I didn’t know what we were running away from, though. When we reached the park, she suddenly collapsed. She told me to run as fast as I could, so I did. I ran all the way home.
“Later, dad told me that mom had to ‘leave’. It was never explained how she died, but…a few years later, I looked in the library for the newspapers that day, and it said there that mom was found in the park, right where I left her, with no sign on injury or such. She just…died.”
Kaji was silent, so she went on. “She had a necklace. A silver necklace with a blue heart as a pendant.”
Silver necklace… blue heart pendant? That looks like—! Kaji’s mind was whirring.
“She promised to give it to me when I become 17, but after the ‘incident’, it disappeared. This stone reminds me so much of it.”
They stand in silence for a few seconds, until Kaji spoke.
“I’m sorry I brought it up. About your mom, I mean.”
Aiko took a deep breath then looked at him. “No you didn’t. You brought the stone up. I was the one who put my mom into the conversation, right?”
“But —”
She interrupted him, smiling. “I wanted to tell you, anyway.”
————–
So it’s been a week…
Hikaru sighed as he continued staring up at the ceiling. It’s been a week since the accident. And she STILL hasn’t woken up. He wondered when she would, too. When he came to school that Tuesday, the people, even Kamui, had been extremely supportive of him, trying to cheer him up. Of course, he wasn’t as depressed as he was the day before, but he still felt down.
Keh. Why did dad ever let me drive, anyway? On a normal day, he’d take every opportunity to drive. And on a normal day, people would tell him that he’s a great driver. Thanks to his kendo training, he had fast reflexes, even on the road.
Of all the times I had to slip, why’d it have to be that bad of a situation?
He took his pillow and violently slammed it on his face. He wished he was the one stuck in the car. Then he won’t feel so guilty. To Hikaru, he was responsible for Aiko’s condition, no matter what anybody said. If Aiko doesn’t get out of her coma alive…he just doesn’t know what to do with himself.
Being the older brother that he was, Hikaru always took care of Aiko. And, ever since of that “loss”, as he would call it — he never spoke about it right out — he was even more careful with her. He was more protective of her than their father, who always said Aiko can take care of herself. But he can’t help it. He didn’t want to lose anybody ever again. Besides, he had promised their mom that he would take care of her…
Hikaru turned to his window when a gust of wind came in. He stood up to close it when he stopped. The wind… He had always associated the wind with Aiko. Whenever Aiko was emotional about something — like when she’s in an argument with Kamui or Hikaru, or when someone from another karate school suddenly shows up to challenge her to a fight, at the time of the “loss”, or when she won in a karate or track meet — the wind would always agree with her. If she was happy, the warm wind would blow, carrying her hair, making Aiko look even happier than she was. And if she was serious, a cold wind seemed to increase the tension and suspense in the air for any spectator. If she was sad, the breeze seemed to lament with her.This wind was strong… Hikaru felt that it was telling him that something was coming. Something big. It was one of the uncanny things about his sister, he could guess what she was feeling by the wind. That’s why, when there’s a storm, he would worry about her — though sometimes the weather didn’t have any connection to her at all.
Hikaru smiled as he slid the window shut. If something big WAS coming, it had better be good. As if on cue, the telephone rang. Hikaru took the receiver.
“Hello?…I’ll be right there.”
Hikaru slowly put the receiver down, and stared at it.
Then leapt up, punching the air.
“ALL RIGHT!!!!”
————–
Ungh…
Aiko blinked as white filled her vision.
This SO reminds me of the time when I died…
Her head felt woozy as it did that day. The only difference was the searing pain she nwo felt through her head. Her body ached, too. She closed her eyes, then opened them again. She let her eyes focus before looking at her left. She saw her father looking at her, wearing a small smile. She looked to her right, and saw Hikaru there, beaming. Peering over his shoulder was Kamui, wearing a worried look on his face. Sara-chan was beside her brother, tears in her eyes, but smiling nonetheless. Aiko closed her eyes, and she heard her father’s voice.
“Aiko?”
Aiko didn’t answer. Hikaru swallowed, his smile fading. She seemed to be physically alright, but her eyebrows were furrowed, and her hands were clenched. He wondered how she was feeling right now… But then, a thought hit him. What if…what if she has amnesia or something?
“I…have…a TERRIBLE…headache,” she said slowly, emphasizing each word.
Kamui bit his lip and looked at his dad at the end of the bed. Oh please let it just be a headache…
Aiko raised her hand to rub her temples, then spoke again.
“Can someone PLEASE get me some chocolate?”
Everyone else blinked, then Hikaru smiled again.
Yup, this is Aiko, all right…and she’s still in her right mind…
————–
Ran sipped his tea as he looked out the window. He sighed and pressed the bridge of his nose. He still didn’t get it. He knew for sure that Deathrose was going to target Kamui first. Surely, they knew about Kamui… Ran had always thought that it was a huge mistake for Megumi’s part to do that to her son. It was too risky! But then, the Roses had attacked Aiko first. Even if Megumi did the same thing as Rieka, Kamui wouldn’t be in a safer condition. But… Why WAS it that Aiko was attacked first?
“Sensei?” came a quiet voice behind him.
“Yes, Kaji,” he said without turning.
He felt the boy take a step closer, then pause. Ran’s eyebrows furrowed, then he turned to face him. He saw Kaji standing there, hands clenched and eyes downcast, but determined. It was as if he was battling with himself.
“Your reason for coming here must be important…” Ran smiled, not in amusement, but in encouragement. “It’s rare to have you so serious and hesitant.”
Kaji grinned at his teacher’s knowing. He looked up at him and took another step.
“A certain necklace.”
————–
Tap tap tap tap…
Aiko looked at her brother, who was sitting at her desk. He was staring at her desk clock, head on his one hand, and tapping a pencil on the desk with the other.
Tap tap tap tap…
She sighed and took a piece of paper from her headboard.
Tap tap tap tap…
She crumpled it and threw it towards Hikaru’s head…
Tap tap.
…and smiled slightly when it hit him. He put the pencil down and sighed.
“Y’know…” Aiko started, leaning on the wall beside her bed, “if you have something to tell me—”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Startled, Aiko’s eyes flew open and she looked at her brother. He was still there, and he hasn’t moved from his position. The only difference is that he had a fierce look in his eyes as he looked at his hands. His lips were a straight, serious line, and his fingers were balled in his fist.
“Oniichan…”
“I’m sorry…” he repeated, this time he hung his head.
Silence.
“YOU DIMWIT!!!!”
Hikaru’s head snapped up and turned to look at her. His sister was now sitting cross-legged on the bed, her hands on her ankles. She had an angry look upon her, but he saw sadness in the depths of her dark grey eyes.
“Why’re you so gloomy? It’s not like I DIED!”
I just sort of died…
Hikaru was taken aback by what she said. “Well…Yeah, but you almost did…” he reasoned.
“Duh! You almost did, too, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but I had been driving—”
“Don’t you DARE blame yourself for this one.” she said firmly.
Don’t you dare. It’s Deathrose’s fault, not yours.
“I won’t go into saying ‘Accidents happen’, because I can imagine you’ve had enough of that already. But I will say this: Things happen for a reason, Oniichan. You don’t control the universe, therefore, you are not responsible for that. Some things are just beyond your reach.”
Hikaru blinked at her. She hit the jackpot. Everyone HAD been saying that phrase she mentioned, but none of it helped. But what she said, doubled by the fact that it was coming from her, had penetrated him, and he felt a huge burden lifted off his shoulders. Hikaru smiled slightly.
“And when did you learn to speak like that, o sister of mine?”
“Sometime within the past year…” she said with a grin.
Hikaru blinked at her again, then smiled wider. “Fine, whatever you say…” He stood up, and went to walk out of the room. “Thanks, Ai-chan,” he said as he closed the door.
Aiko kept her grin on until she heard Hikaru’s door close in the other room. She heaved a sigh and flopped down on the bed. She had just gotten back from the hospital earlier afternoon — she had the headache the whole day Saturday, and her dad won’t let her leave the hospital until she was able to walk in a straight line — and she was exhausted.
She heard tapping again, but she chose to ignore it. But it didn’t stop. She frowned. As a matter of fact, it got louder. Before she knew what she was doing, she had opened the window and yelled “SHUT UP!” outside. When she caught herself, though, she was face to face — or rather, nose to nose — with a surprised Kaji, floating outside her window. She blinked, trying to confirm if he was really there. He, too, blinked, then smiled wanly, while distancing himself a few inches away from her. He felt that if he didn’t, she’d probably slap him in a few seconds.
Aiko felt her face become VERY hot. She quickly pulled herself back into her room, and turned her back at the open window.
OK…that didn’t go very well… Aiko thought, biting her thumb.
“Can I come in?” Kaji asked slowly behind her.
She cleared her throat, praying that her cheeks would return to their normal color, and faced Kaji. “Yeah, sure.”
He tossed a box to her as he stepped inside. “Here.”
“What is it?”
Kaji just shrugged. “Just open it.”
Aiko narrowed her eyes at Kaji, then opened the box. Her eyes widened. Inside was a silver necklace with a blue heart pendant. To Aiko, it was the exact replica of what she remembered of her mother’s necklace. Her blush came back FAST.
“Wow. Kaji, this is…Wow…” was all she could say.
“Ran wanted me to it give you,” he said, looking away.
“Oh… I see.” she said, with a slight disappointment in her voice.
A pause.
“Well… I just came by to give you that. See ya,” he said quickly, then flew out the window.
“Ka—” Aiko started, but Kaji was already gone. “He didn’t even wait for me to reply…The jerk.”
On the roof, Kaji waited for Aiko to close the window. When she did, he laid back down, then sighed, looking at the stars.
Why did you tell her that? his mind asked him.
“Why did you tell her that?”
“NYAAAAAAAA!”
Kaji jumped up in the air, turning swiftly. He blinked when he saw Yuki standing on the roof, arms crossed on her chest.
“Yuki! Awgeez, you scared the heck out of me!”
Yuki’s serious expression didn’t change. “Why didn’t you tell her? That necklace has been with you for years!”
“I know… But I thought maybe she’d like it if she had one like her mom’s.”
“But why did you say that it was from Sensei?”
“Why not? He gave it to me.”
“But YOU gave it to her.”
“It still boils down to sensei giving to me, ne?” Kaji said stubbornly.
Yuki just laughed as she watched Kaji fly off.
“You are absolutely hopeless!”
Meanwhile, in her room, Aiko smiled as she put on her new necklace.
Here comes the wind angel…
————–
Next on Blue Star
Aiko’s life returns to normal… Family, school, friends, and…minors?! The Wind Angel finally gets into REAL Blue Star business…but can she handle it on her own?
“We CAN’T risk losing you!”
Episode 5: First
————–
From the Author:
I finally take us inside Yuki’s brain! Whaddya think? There hasn’t been much action and fighting scenes since Episode 2 because I’m trying to build the characters first…I wanted to focus on Hikaru and Yuki in this one. And don’t worry, there won’t be any more depressing scenes about the accident.
Here’s a trivia: in the original Blue star manuscript, Aiko was supposed to pretend that she had amnesia. But it got pretty pointless to use that detail, so… yeah.
Glossary:
okaasan – mother
