I had the weekend to spare before starting school. This left me no time to think about Mommy’s journal. We had driven past my new school’s large entrance on the first night in Osaka, but it didn’t look welcoming at all. The withered words above the large doors spelled out “Hayashi Academy”. I Didn’t like the sound of that, it almost looked like a prison to me. It had a sleek metal fence blocking off the inside and a cement courtyard like the one at my brothers’ boarding school. My heart felt shattered just to think about Milo and River and Marin all alone in Norway.
This morning, Daddy had sent me off to explore by myself. He said he needed time alone to prepare himself for his new job. Seeing children alone on the streets of Japan wasn’t a rare sight apparently, a lot of kids my age could even shop by themselves without the concern of being abducted. I grabbed my fur boots and my jacket and went outside to trample in the snow independently. The bustling streets were filled with more people than I had ever seen in my town back home, but maybe there wasn’t as many as I expected. I had only seen what Japan had looked like from books and the knowledge of my father, so, I had assumed the sidewalks would be so crowded that I could barely move. But that was obviously not the case. There was plenty of room for me to roam the streets as I looked at my reflection in the window of a pottery store. There was "The Woman" staring back at me, she was always watching.
“What are you doing now, little one?” She asked.
I didn’t want to look like a fool that was speaking to herself in the window of a shop, so I turned my head away and did not speak. I’d figured out by now how to ignore The Woman when she was being too intrusive. I hadn’t seen my own face in weeks because she had stolen my reflection, but I didn’t really care. I had accepted that she was here to stay for good. Continuing to waddle through the blanket of snow like a lost penguin, I saw a small park ahead. Two girls were in front of the playset, yelling with such fury I thought they were about to slap each other silly. As I slowly walked across the street to where the park was, I could tell that one of them was obviously older than the other. They looked like a pair of sisters as they squabbled with each other ferociously.
“No, I’m not going to push you on the swing again!” One of them said, she looked to be older and taller than the other. ‘It’s been thirty minutes!”
Her silky black hair was under a sunhat that was way too big for her head… I found it odd that she would such a summery thing in cold weather like this. The little girl looked to be five or six, maybe even my age, though that was a stretch. She had short thick hair that curled in every which way with two white clips pinned on either side.
“But Toraaaaaa, I really wanna swing again! Won’t you push me one more time, oh pretty pleaaaase?” She whined in a childish voice. She pronounced her r’s like w’s, saying the word “Tora” like “Towa”. I sat on the nearest bench and observed their fighting quietly, very amused. The little girl was wearing a light-purple sweater that looked fluffy and warm on the inside. I wish Daddy would buy me something like that, my own jacket wasn’t very thick and didn’t do a good job of protecting me from the cold. The girl’s big sister wore a navy blue trench coat with black tights, not to mention tapping shoes that looked like they belonged in some theatre play. She seemed to be very old fashioned, which was weird considering she looked not a day older than twelve. The two of them argued back and forth for what seemed like hours.
“Please just push me one more time-”
“NO, JÍN! I’ve pushed you the whole time we’ve been here! It’s time to go home now.”
“But Torrrrraaaaaa!!!!”
“NO BUTS! Who’s the older and wiser one here, huh?!”
“Will you two just STOP?!” I got up from the bench and stomped my foot in frustration. At first I was interested in their squabble, but now I was just flat-out annoyed. I wanted to get away from the apartment and have some alone time, but now the two sisters were ruining that too. The older girl named Tora crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out immaturely.
“What are you gonna do about it little blondie? Tell me how to live my life? I’m just trying to get my baby sister to leave this stupid park!” She practically screeched.
I twitched slightly. This wasn’t how Claire had ever treated me being her baby sister. My now deceased sibling had always tried her hardest to raise me correctly, I never fought with her when she would ground me for doing something wrong. That little girl named Jín just merely wanted to be pushed on a swing longer, and Tora had the rudeness to tell her no?!
“Can’t you see she wants to stay longer?” I said my thoughts out loud. “Why won’t you be a good big sister and quit fighting with her?
Tora looked taken aback that a seven year old was fighting her. She raised an eyebrow in disgust as I watched her try to think of a good comeback. I already didn’t like her in the first few minutes of our meeting, but her baby sibling seemed a lot kinder. She was holding onto Tora’s arm and whispering frantically for her to stop, but... It was too late. The girl in the oversized sunhat was already planning her revenge on my last remark.
“Why don’t you just leave us alone and go run to your mommy then, hmm!? I’m sure she hates your existence just as much as I do right now.” Tora pursed her lips.
I gasped as I felt my heart leave my body. Jín looked up at her sister in horror and asked her why she would say such a thing. I collapsed into the snow, knowing very well that tears were about to trickle down face.
“Mommy…” I started to cry, my feelings for her were already so tender after reading her diary from this morning. Tora’s face was proof enough that she regretted saying anything at all, whether she knew how bad the insult broke my heart or not. Her eyes of mad frustration were gone, now replaced with two slits of guilt.
“No wait, I didn’t mean to say that… I-I don’t know you. I’m sorry if I-” She was immediately cut off when her little sister punched her in the stomach.
”Take that, sissy!! Now don’t you ever hurt me or anyone else’s feelings again!” Jín yelled. For such a tiny girl, she had the same kind of fierceness that her sibling possessed. Tora was now on the ground beside me, writhing in pain as she clutched her stomach and screamed: “I’M SORRY! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say it, good gosh!!”
Jín looked like a tiny warrior as she dusted her hands off in victory. She smirked as she watched her sister wail and got a taste of her own medicine, but knelt by my side in anxiousness.
“Are you okay?” She asked as she patted me with her black mittens. “I’m really sorry for how my sister treated you, she gets really angry sometimes and doesn’t know when to stop…”
“I’m okay…” I said ever so quietly. Daddy had taught me that I shouldn’t cry every chance I got, "it makes you a weakling" he said. While I was on the ground by myself I had brushed the tears off my cheeks and tried to stop sniffling. I lifted my head out of the sleet and looked at the little girl’s pretty brown eyes, she didn’t look like one to judge. She pulled me up from the ground and proceeded to get on her tippy-toes, wiping all the snow off my now dirty jacket.
“That's good. I’m Jín by the way, but you probably already knew that by now.” She said with the same childish lisp I heard earlier. “…Jín Chiba.”
I nodded my head and told her my name was Wren. Tora had stopped screaming dramatically like she was going to die and was now just sitting dumbly in the millions of snowflakes around her.
“Sorry…” I heard her mutter under her breath. Tora would never know how much her insult had hurt me, I’m sure she had some loving mother to run home to when she was sad. I wanted to change the subject as quickly as possible, dwelling on my emotions was never a good thing to do.
“…It’s okay. So, um... do you guys go to school around here?” I asked.
“Yes! Hayashi Academy.” They chattered in unison. I felt a tiny spark inside my heart flicker. If these girls went to the same school I would soon be attending, and now we had at least a small bit of knowledge about each other, maybe making friends here in Japan wouldn’t be so hard after all.
…Boy was I wrong.
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