Sometimes I would often wonder if I was the only one who saw Tory for who she really was.
Everyone thought she was a he...a blind young boy, fighting against the world; but it's hard to relate to that. No one could really know those deep, forest green eyes that saw the world for what it was - that spoke honestly. Tory was alone, and even though I was too, I knew that it affected her more than me. Simply because the paths I took were always meant to be taken in solitude - from the beginning I had been running away from my past. When I met Tory, I was merely taking a break, escaping, but during that time, everything had caught up with me. Stupidly, and desperately, I knew I couldn't face it alone.
--- Blue and her thoughts on Tory's disappearance
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
The Shining Prince p2
Tamiko was not a generous, kind, understanding, or loyal person unless it suited her to be. Everything in life was a tool for her to use, to gain any goal she may desire. But desire came up short for Tamiko; she had a tendency to go with the flow of things, so desire came randomly and often resulted in dire consequences for those around her. There were only two people whom she felt she owed something to - her family - and as of yet, Akihiko did not fall into that category.
After dinner her parents left for work again, after all, the world need not stop for such a 'life-changing' event. So her life would go on too, and she would go clubbing that night like she had originally planned.
She found Akihiko in the study room, which was actually a library that no one cared to enter save the cleaners. He stared at the high bookshelves and modern future and desks but looked hesitant to touch them.
"Hey," she called, and to her surprise he didn't jump, instead he merely turned to face her with steady eyes. They looked challenging, as if he were a mice staring across the room into the eyes of a cat.
Tamiko thought, of course he knows no English, so she told him in her rusty Japanese, "I'm going out - would you like to come?"
She gave him one of her most innocent, friendly smiles. The kind where the corners of her lips rise and her eyes shine, welcoming and yet with a tint of playfulness that managed to attract people to her more than frighten them off.
"It's okay to speak English," he told her, stepping off the raised part of the floor where the shelves were and onto the lower landing that held the lounge chairs. He spoke well, but his accent was heavy, almost comical; she couldn't help but widen her smile.
"Alright," she replied, leaning up against the door, "I'm going to a club, and my friends will be here soon to pick me up. Do you want to come?"
He hesitated, then asked, "Is there enough room for me?"
A little laugh tripped out of her, and her wide-necked shirt fell over one of her shoulders, reveling smooth skin. Tamiko had no intention of charming her brother with sexual appeal, but natural beauty could never be turned off.
His eyes wandered to her exposed shoulder, and then back to her, "No thank you, I wouldn't want to bother you and your friends."
Nothing on the outside could possibly give away the shock that erupted from within her. Sure, Tamiko had never genuinely intended to take him along for his benefit, but still she was being gravely insulted in many ways.
"No trouble," she told him with a quick flash of her pearly whites, "I'll just tell them you're my cousin visiting from Japan. Don't you want to see the downtown area? Besides, it beats being all alone in this huge house."
"Being with twenty other people is not what I consider alone."
Tamiko couldn't help it, she glared. "For someone who hails from Japan, you are rather rude."
His form was unreadable and he never wavered in his gaze, "Which is why I was sent away from there. I'm not one to play games, which is what I think you are doing."
Something inside her cracked, like the first signs of ice breaking. It creeped through her until her smile wavered and her eyes widened ever so slightly. Never before had she been so openly exposed in her lifetime. Most let her do what she wanted, whether from devotion or fear, it didn't matter, she got her way.
"I hate you," it had come from deep within her, a little whisper that carried between the expanse of them, filling up the entire room until it stopped to rest in their bones. It had been the most childish thing she had ever said in years, and Tamiko had grown up fast.
"Good, because I hate you too," he replied, "and it can't be helped, considering our circumstances." He took a hesitant step forward. "I have no intention of staying here for long, nor of taking your place in our father's eyes. Unfortunately, it will take me some time to establish some sort of life on my own here, but I would rather not suddenly run away and disappear into a country I know nothing about. I've done that before, in my own country, and it wasn't in the least bit liberating. So for now we will have to live with each other, whether we like it or not." After a moment he added. "I'm sorry."
A tidal wave of emotion collided into Tamiko so that she had to struggle to keep her knees from shaking and her lips from trembling. Desire overwhelmed her; the need to hurt him somehow. Physically was her first instinct. She could grab a nearby lamp and smash him in the head, hitting that pretty face over and over until it no longer existed, or a number of other grisly things that could be fathomed from such an strong impulse. Tamiko, though, was a rational person, she knew that actions like that were considered illegal so the tidal wave turned into a storm of ideas that raged in her head, and they were all perfectly legal.
"I'm sorry, too," she mumbled, and the smile returned while Akihiko could only react to this in dismay.
"So you agree?" he asked carefully, shoving his hands into his pockets; a sign of nervousness.
There was no time to answer, though, because just then Tamiko heard a call down the hall that her friends had finally arrived. The two of them continued to stare at one another until finally, she laughed, a low steady chuckle that rang throughout the halls, even as she turned to leave.
After dinner her parents left for work again, after all, the world need not stop for such a 'life-changing' event. So her life would go on too, and she would go clubbing that night like she had originally planned.
She found Akihiko in the study room, which was actually a library that no one cared to enter save the cleaners. He stared at the high bookshelves and modern future and desks but looked hesitant to touch them.
"Hey," she called, and to her surprise he didn't jump, instead he merely turned to face her with steady eyes. They looked challenging, as if he were a mice staring across the room into the eyes of a cat.
Tamiko thought, of course he knows no English, so she told him in her rusty Japanese, "I'm going out - would you like to come?"
She gave him one of her most innocent, friendly smiles. The kind where the corners of her lips rise and her eyes shine, welcoming and yet with a tint of playfulness that managed to attract people to her more than frighten them off.
"It's okay to speak English," he told her, stepping off the raised part of the floor where the shelves were and onto the lower landing that held the lounge chairs. He spoke well, but his accent was heavy, almost comical; she couldn't help but widen her smile.
"Alright," she replied, leaning up against the door, "I'm going to a club, and my friends will be here soon to pick me up. Do you want to come?"
He hesitated, then asked, "Is there enough room for me?"
A little laugh tripped out of her, and her wide-necked shirt fell over one of her shoulders, reveling smooth skin. Tamiko had no intention of charming her brother with sexual appeal, but natural beauty could never be turned off.
His eyes wandered to her exposed shoulder, and then back to her, "No thank you, I wouldn't want to bother you and your friends."
Nothing on the outside could possibly give away the shock that erupted from within her. Sure, Tamiko had never genuinely intended to take him along for his benefit, but still she was being gravely insulted in many ways.
"No trouble," she told him with a quick flash of her pearly whites, "I'll just tell them you're my cousin visiting from Japan. Don't you want to see the downtown area? Besides, it beats being all alone in this huge house."
"Being with twenty other people is not what I consider alone."
Tamiko couldn't help it, she glared. "For someone who hails from Japan, you are rather rude."
His form was unreadable and he never wavered in his gaze, "Which is why I was sent away from there. I'm not one to play games, which is what I think you are doing."
Something inside her cracked, like the first signs of ice breaking. It creeped through her until her smile wavered and her eyes widened ever so slightly. Never before had she been so openly exposed in her lifetime. Most let her do what she wanted, whether from devotion or fear, it didn't matter, she got her way.
"I hate you," it had come from deep within her, a little whisper that carried between the expanse of them, filling up the entire room until it stopped to rest in their bones. It had been the most childish thing she had ever said in years, and Tamiko had grown up fast.
"Good, because I hate you too," he replied, "and it can't be helped, considering our circumstances." He took a hesitant step forward. "I have no intention of staying here for long, nor of taking your place in our father's eyes. Unfortunately, it will take me some time to establish some sort of life on my own here, but I would rather not suddenly run away and disappear into a country I know nothing about. I've done that before, in my own country, and it wasn't in the least bit liberating. So for now we will have to live with each other, whether we like it or not." After a moment he added. "I'm sorry."
A tidal wave of emotion collided into Tamiko so that she had to struggle to keep her knees from shaking and her lips from trembling. Desire overwhelmed her; the need to hurt him somehow. Physically was her first instinct. She could grab a nearby lamp and smash him in the head, hitting that pretty face over and over until it no longer existed, or a number of other grisly things that could be fathomed from such an strong impulse. Tamiko, though, was a rational person, she knew that actions like that were considered illegal so the tidal wave turned into a storm of ideas that raged in her head, and they were all perfectly legal.
"I'm sorry, too," she mumbled, and the smile returned while Akihiko could only react to this in dismay.
"So you agree?" he asked carefully, shoving his hands into his pockets; a sign of nervousness.
There was no time to answer, though, because just then Tamiko heard a call down the hall that her friends had finally arrived. The two of them continued to stare at one another until finally, she laughed, a low steady chuckle that rang throughout the halls, even as she turned to leave.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The Shining Prince p1
When Tamiko first met the shining prince, he was sitting at her kitchen table and stood out as being entirely out of place in the room, or rather, in the whole country. At first, she even thought he was a she, his medium-length, red-brown dyed, spiky hair layered and cut to shape his smooth Asian, feminine face. His fashion was odd; he wore a white tank top with a green and white checkered button-up shirt over that was rolled up to his elbows, and washed out blue jeans that couldn't even fit her.He stood, scrapping their hard-wood floor and alerting her parents.
When he bowed his head slightly, she knew he was Japanese.
Despite being a rational person, Tamiko felt her pulse accelerate, especially since a glance her mom's way confirmed that she had been crying. Tamiko's mom never cried. She was a business woman who was never off the clock, hell, even as she stood beside the sink pretending to wash dishes, she was still wearing a grey pencil skirt and white blouse that was rolled up to her elbows. Upon seeing her daughter, though, she turned off the sink and wiped her hands on her skirt, turning to Tamiko. This action in itself scared Tamiko even more; didn't they have a maid to do that? Her mom would only do such things under extreme stress.
"Tami," her mom mumbled, giving a nervous glance to her husband with bright hazel eyes; wisps of her strawberry blonde hair were caught in her red lips, but she didn't seem to mind.
Tamiko followed her mom's gaze to her tall, all-Japanese businessman father. He was still in his navy-blue business suit, buttons done up and tie straight. Her dad's compsure was solid, his youthful face and short-clipped hair contrasted by his sharp, masculine features. There was no waver in his gaze towards his daughter, but he did not smile.
"Tamiko," he told her slowly, "this is Akihiko, you're older brother by two years."
Akihiko didn't say anything when Tamiko looked his way, and in that solid, hard-eyed gaze she saw her father and knew this was no lie.
"I see," she replied, lowering her gaze.
"You didn't have to say it so bluntly," her mother said slowly, her eyes shining.
"It's alright, mother," Tamiko told her, "let's all sit and discuss this?"
Her father nodded approvingly, "Let us move into the lounge so that the help can prepare dinner."
And being the well-put together family that they were, that's just what they did.
Their modern styled lounge left Akihiko with many things to look at, Tamiko noticed. He sat with a straight back on the couch beside her, while her parents sat in two arm-chairs in from of them, with a coffee table in-between. Coffee was served unobtrusively, and thank-yous and cups were exchanged before the conversation actually started. Neither Akihiko nor her father touched the cups, but her mom took to it like a deprived druggie.
"Would you prefer tea?" her father asked Akihiko.
"No, thank you."
"Very well," and he dismissed the help.
"Alright," Tamiko had been thinking for a while, watching her brother from the corner of her eye, she didn't exactly know how to feel, but she wanted to at least know the story. "I think I'm ready to hear this."
Her father cleared his throat. "Before I met your mother, I was married to a woman in Japan. We had a son, and due to certain personal circumstances I left Japan and married your mother."
"Don't forget to mention that you are still technically married to that other woman," her mother added, eyes like daggers.
"Yes," he replied, eyes closing for a moment, "you see, things are different there, if I had divorced Akihiko's mother, then they would have been disgraced and lived a horrible life."
"I understand," Tamiko said with a nod. It made sense to her, and what her father didn't want to say is that love had driven him away from Japan.
"How do you feel about this?" she made sure to ask her mom, because in all, it would affect her the most.
"I feel lied to, and hurt, but don't worry Tami because your father and I will work through this."
They were both rational people, Tamiko knew, but to hear her mother's reassurance calmed her down. Now all there was left to wonder was what to do about Akihiko. Her father had named him shining prince, and had continued to worry about him even after leaving Japan, probably even sending them money.
Her father opened his eyes, determination in his expression. "I will send divorce papers to your mother, Akihiko, since it seems she's giving up on trying to make a life there. And for my wife's sake, of course."
Akihiko merely nodded slowly.
"But why did she send him here?" she asked, eyes hard-set on her father.
To this question, her father actually looked ashamed, whether towards himself or Akihiko, she wasn't sure.
"It seems like Akihiko has been having trouble in university. She emails me frequently, especially to complain about him. But she is not a good mother, so I do not blame him. If anything, the fault is all mine."
A silence fell between the four of them, to which Tamiko again couldn't help but watch her brother. The only feelings she got from him were strange and foreign. From then on out she knew her life would never be the same.
To break the silence help came in, instructing them that dinner was ready.
"We will be there shortly," her mother instructed, and the almost invisible figure disappeared.
"There is something you should both know," she added, "and it is that your father and I have not had a chance to properly discuss what Akihiko will be doing. But I think it is safe to say that you, Akihiko, may find a home here, and we all will do our best to make sure you feel welcome."
To that, Tamiko saw him smile for the first time. "Thank you."
When he bowed his head slightly, she knew he was Japanese.
Despite being a rational person, Tamiko felt her pulse accelerate, especially since a glance her mom's way confirmed that she had been crying. Tamiko's mom never cried. She was a business woman who was never off the clock, hell, even as she stood beside the sink pretending to wash dishes, she was still wearing a grey pencil skirt and white blouse that was rolled up to her elbows. Upon seeing her daughter, though, she turned off the sink and wiped her hands on her skirt, turning to Tamiko. This action in itself scared Tamiko even more; didn't they have a maid to do that? Her mom would only do such things under extreme stress.
"Tami," her mom mumbled, giving a nervous glance to her husband with bright hazel eyes; wisps of her strawberry blonde hair were caught in her red lips, but she didn't seem to mind.
Tamiko followed her mom's gaze to her tall, all-Japanese businessman father. He was still in his navy-blue business suit, buttons done up and tie straight. Her dad's compsure was solid, his youthful face and short-clipped hair contrasted by his sharp, masculine features. There was no waver in his gaze towards his daughter, but he did not smile.
"Tamiko," he told her slowly, "this is Akihiko, you're older brother by two years."
Akihiko didn't say anything when Tamiko looked his way, and in that solid, hard-eyed gaze she saw her father and knew this was no lie.
"I see," she replied, lowering her gaze.
"You didn't have to say it so bluntly," her mother said slowly, her eyes shining.
"It's alright, mother," Tamiko told her, "let's all sit and discuss this?"
Her father nodded approvingly, "Let us move into the lounge so that the help can prepare dinner."
And being the well-put together family that they were, that's just what they did.
Their modern styled lounge left Akihiko with many things to look at, Tamiko noticed. He sat with a straight back on the couch beside her, while her parents sat in two arm-chairs in from of them, with a coffee table in-between. Coffee was served unobtrusively, and thank-yous and cups were exchanged before the conversation actually started. Neither Akihiko nor her father touched the cups, but her mom took to it like a deprived druggie.
"Would you prefer tea?" her father asked Akihiko.
"No, thank you."
"Very well," and he dismissed the help.
"Alright," Tamiko had been thinking for a while, watching her brother from the corner of her eye, she didn't exactly know how to feel, but she wanted to at least know the story. "I think I'm ready to hear this."
Her father cleared his throat. "Before I met your mother, I was married to a woman in Japan. We had a son, and due to certain personal circumstances I left Japan and married your mother."
"Don't forget to mention that you are still technically married to that other woman," her mother added, eyes like daggers.
"Yes," he replied, eyes closing for a moment, "you see, things are different there, if I had divorced Akihiko's mother, then they would have been disgraced and lived a horrible life."
"I understand," Tamiko said with a nod. It made sense to her, and what her father didn't want to say is that love had driven him away from Japan.
"How do you feel about this?" she made sure to ask her mom, because in all, it would affect her the most.
"I feel lied to, and hurt, but don't worry Tami because your father and I will work through this."
They were both rational people, Tamiko knew, but to hear her mother's reassurance calmed her down. Now all there was left to wonder was what to do about Akihiko. Her father had named him shining prince, and had continued to worry about him even after leaving Japan, probably even sending them money.
Her father opened his eyes, determination in his expression. "I will send divorce papers to your mother, Akihiko, since it seems she's giving up on trying to make a life there. And for my wife's sake, of course."
Akihiko merely nodded slowly.
"But why did she send him here?" she asked, eyes hard-set on her father.
To this question, her father actually looked ashamed, whether towards himself or Akihiko, she wasn't sure.
"It seems like Akihiko has been having trouble in university. She emails me frequently, especially to complain about him. But she is not a good mother, so I do not blame him. If anything, the fault is all mine."
A silence fell between the four of them, to which Tamiko again couldn't help but watch her brother. The only feelings she got from him were strange and foreign. From then on out she knew her life would never be the same.
To break the silence help came in, instructing them that dinner was ready.
"We will be there shortly," her mother instructed, and the almost invisible figure disappeared.
"There is something you should both know," she added, "and it is that your father and I have not had a chance to properly discuss what Akihiko will be doing. But I think it is safe to say that you, Akihiko, may find a home here, and we all will do our best to make sure you feel welcome."
To that, Tamiko saw him smile for the first time. "Thank you."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)