Post by Miska on Nov 21, 2015 11:18:49 GMT
At that time I saw two faces smiling at me.
Their faces were blurred. Their eyes were indistinct. In this swirling white mist I could not even tell whether they were man or woman.
Yet, they were obviously smiling. To me.
Why?
I lifted my finger towards them.
“Who-?”
But the mist covered them and they disappeared.
***
*beep* *beep*
“…”
*beep* *beep*
“Uhh…”
*beeeeep*
*slam*
My alarm clock.
It was intriguing how such a little thing can be so annoying.
And so early in the morning too. Didn’t it know that last night I had to stay up late?
Yes. I had to polish yet another antique things brought by my parents. A sword. It had to be cleaned and made shining before it could be put on display.
…No, you could not legally own a sword in this country.
Well, you could. But it is a very expensive process. And time-consuming. And we did not have enough money for it.
I bet it was yet another replica for our curiosity shop.
You see, my parents sold everything downstairs. Whatever it is you’d like, they’d likely found it for you first.
Speaking of my parents…
“…”
Isn’t it time for Mom to yell her infamous wake-up call from below?
“…”
Oh, right.
They had left overseas, leaving me alone for some days.
…And right near midterm exam, too. I wish they had picked a better time for leaving their only child.
I know that they frequently go abroad. But having to take care of the house during exam is bothersome.
Not that I cannot do it, of course. I am sure I have done it frequently before.
Although the shop might need to be closed until they return.
“…Their loss.”
I turned over my blanket and rolled.
*sigh*
From this distance, the sink in the bathroom seemed so far. Even while my room was blessed with an indoor bath.
Thankfully, my heater worked perfectly. Winter morning in Fuyuki can be chilly.
People said my ancestors came from an even colder land in the North, but I did not know how they could be sure.
Yes, my family is not native to this land. But so did almost half of this town’s residents.
In fact, I believe this town had the most number of foreigners in the whole country. It was almost as a recreated land just for foreigners.
Which is funny. Fuyuki might have the bustling Shinto area, but it is generally a quiet, lethargic town. I wondered what the first colonists saw when they settled in this area.
It is absurdly windy though…
Maybe that is a charm on itself?
And with that, I turned on the shower.
As a rule, most residents rarely take a bath in winter morning. Most of them are content just by washing their faces.
But me, I cannot stand it. I love the feeling of warm water over my body in the morning. It helps me think.
Of course, things would be different were the heater malfunctioned.
“…as if that could ever happen. Hm? What is this?”
I stopped my scrubbing.
There on the back of my forearm, was a glowing tattoo.
I preferred to keep my skin natural. So obviously I am against tattooing of any kind.
So is this a mistake from somewhere?
I put more soap on my bathfoam and tried to scrub it away.
I cleansed the bubbles. And it was still there.
Annoyed, I brushed harder.
It was still there.
More vigorous...
More soap...
“Ouch!”
Unwittingly, I’ve rubbed so hard I’ve cut my skin.
Yet, the glowing tattoo was still there.
It was as if the cut did not affect it at all. There was the cut, bleeding. And that was the symbol, right over the cut.
“…”
Obviously, I needed to find an alternative way.
But not now. I’d be late for school.
I swiped the mark once more, angrily staring at it.
It was still there.
Thankfully, my school’s outfit was long-sleeved.
In fact it was long-sleeved all the time.
It did not matter wind or heat or freezing snow. All we wore were the same, dull brown long-sleeved shirt.
As an added bonus, we were required to wear trousers too.
It is said that the creator of our school pushed for emancipation of both men and women. And so dictated that their uniform be as unisexual as possible.
Objectively, the result was awesome. This uniform style fit for the toughest of boys or the daintiest of girls.
It would be impossible distinguish boys from girls too.
Except from their faces of course. And their bodies.
Locking my room, I went across the other rooms towards the stairs down.
Our family rooms are all located upstairs. And there were two rooms for guests too.
Two rooms? Yes, my parents often received guests from abroad. Mostly for business.
Running an antique curiosity shop had lots of benefits. It brought you friends from unexpected places.
But I don’t want to be one. I am studying to become a doctor.
Downstairs, I came directly at dining room.
This dining room doubles as living room and sleeping room too.
Far on the back, the kitchen opened to a porch and straight to the backyard.
There’s a peach tree on the backyard. And under it a small pond.
When I was little, we used to keep fishes there.
But one winter they all died. Apparently, the heater broke in the midnight at all the fishes were frozen to death.
I personally made graves for each of them. They were right at the corner, near Mom’s small vegetable patch.
…But we should not be explaining garden right now.
The living room…quite ordinary. A spacious room with one wooden table and eight chairs. There was this Victorian clock that went crazy every 8 p.m….
Oh my, look at the time.
Crossing the room, I arrived at another door.
This door was placed on a wall that separated our lower floor into two halves. The back part is the living room and straight towards the backyard, while the front part is dedicated for our family business.
It seemed that my family really took the words “business is business” to the heart. It was almost a detached, another house in front.
That is, if you can think of room stacked with shelves holding anything from sundial to a big stuffed raccoon as a house.
Which made me curious, how was the sword that came in last night?
Thinking back, my parents had already left when it arrived, right? I needed to mail them later.
From the door, I emerged right behind the shop counter.
I locked the door behind me.
And just in case, I checked that the registry machine was locked too.
Not that there had been many thieves around. But the other night, there was report of a family’s garden being destroyed.
If you could believe what the family said, they said it was destroyed by a white dragon.
It was suspicious, however. I doubted that any white dragon would leave shoe marks and painted graffiti on the inner walls. Apparently the dad was in serious debt.
…Well, I am not skeptical to the existence of dragons.
But I am also logical. Thank you very much.
“….Oh?”
I retracted my words.
Apparently, there were many thieves around.
And one of them was standing on a corner, looking at our sword.
Their faces were blurred. Their eyes were indistinct. In this swirling white mist I could not even tell whether they were man or woman.
Yet, they were obviously smiling. To me.
Why?
I lifted my finger towards them.
“Who-?”
But the mist covered them and they disappeared.
***
*beep* *beep*
“…”
*beep* *beep*
“Uhh…”
*beeeeep*
*slam*
My alarm clock.
It was intriguing how such a little thing can be so annoying.
And so early in the morning too. Didn’t it know that last night I had to stay up late?
Yes. I had to polish yet another antique things brought by my parents. A sword. It had to be cleaned and made shining before it could be put on display.
…No, you could not legally own a sword in this country.
Well, you could. But it is a very expensive process. And time-consuming. And we did not have enough money for it.
I bet it was yet another replica for our curiosity shop.
You see, my parents sold everything downstairs. Whatever it is you’d like, they’d likely found it for you first.
Speaking of my parents…
“…”
Isn’t it time for Mom to yell her infamous wake-up call from below?
“…”
Oh, right.
They had left overseas, leaving me alone for some days.
…And right near midterm exam, too. I wish they had picked a better time for leaving their only child.
I know that they frequently go abroad. But having to take care of the house during exam is bothersome.
Not that I cannot do it, of course. I am sure I have done it frequently before.
Although the shop might need to be closed until they return.
“…Their loss.”
I turned over my blanket and rolled.
*sigh*
From this distance, the sink in the bathroom seemed so far. Even while my room was blessed with an indoor bath.
Thankfully, my heater worked perfectly. Winter morning in Fuyuki can be chilly.
People said my ancestors came from an even colder land in the North, but I did not know how they could be sure.
Yes, my family is not native to this land. But so did almost half of this town’s residents.
In fact, I believe this town had the most number of foreigners in the whole country. It was almost as a recreated land just for foreigners.
Which is funny. Fuyuki might have the bustling Shinto area, but it is generally a quiet, lethargic town. I wondered what the first colonists saw when they settled in this area.
It is absurdly windy though…
Maybe that is a charm on itself?
And with that, I turned on the shower.
As a rule, most residents rarely take a bath in winter morning. Most of them are content just by washing their faces.
But me, I cannot stand it. I love the feeling of warm water over my body in the morning. It helps me think.
Of course, things would be different were the heater malfunctioned.
“…as if that could ever happen. Hm? What is this?”
I stopped my scrubbing.
There on the back of my forearm, was a glowing tattoo.
I preferred to keep my skin natural. So obviously I am against tattooing of any kind.
So is this a mistake from somewhere?
I put more soap on my bathfoam and tried to scrub it away.
I cleansed the bubbles. And it was still there.
Annoyed, I brushed harder.
It was still there.
More vigorous...
More soap...
“Ouch!”
Unwittingly, I’ve rubbed so hard I’ve cut my skin.
Yet, the glowing tattoo was still there.
It was as if the cut did not affect it at all. There was the cut, bleeding. And that was the symbol, right over the cut.
“…”
Obviously, I needed to find an alternative way.
But not now. I’d be late for school.
I swiped the mark once more, angrily staring at it.
It was still there.
Thankfully, my school’s outfit was long-sleeved.
In fact it was long-sleeved all the time.
It did not matter wind or heat or freezing snow. All we wore were the same, dull brown long-sleeved shirt.
As an added bonus, we were required to wear trousers too.
It is said that the creator of our school pushed for emancipation of both men and women. And so dictated that their uniform be as unisexual as possible.
Objectively, the result was awesome. This uniform style fit for the toughest of boys or the daintiest of girls.
It would be impossible distinguish boys from girls too.
Except from their faces of course. And their bodies.
Locking my room, I went across the other rooms towards the stairs down.
Our family rooms are all located upstairs. And there were two rooms for guests too.
Two rooms? Yes, my parents often received guests from abroad. Mostly for business.
Running an antique curiosity shop had lots of benefits. It brought you friends from unexpected places.
But I don’t want to be one. I am studying to become a doctor.
Downstairs, I came directly at dining room.
This dining room doubles as living room and sleeping room too.
Far on the back, the kitchen opened to a porch and straight to the backyard.
There’s a peach tree on the backyard. And under it a small pond.
When I was little, we used to keep fishes there.
But one winter they all died. Apparently, the heater broke in the midnight at all the fishes were frozen to death.
I personally made graves for each of them. They were right at the corner, near Mom’s small vegetable patch.
…But we should not be explaining garden right now.
The living room…quite ordinary. A spacious room with one wooden table and eight chairs. There was this Victorian clock that went crazy every 8 p.m….
Oh my, look at the time.
Crossing the room, I arrived at another door.
This door was placed on a wall that separated our lower floor into two halves. The back part is the living room and straight towards the backyard, while the front part is dedicated for our family business.
It seemed that my family really took the words “business is business” to the heart. It was almost a detached, another house in front.
That is, if you can think of room stacked with shelves holding anything from sundial to a big stuffed raccoon as a house.
Which made me curious, how was the sword that came in last night?
Thinking back, my parents had already left when it arrived, right? I needed to mail them later.
From the door, I emerged right behind the shop counter.
I locked the door behind me.
And just in case, I checked that the registry machine was locked too.
Not that there had been many thieves around. But the other night, there was report of a family’s garden being destroyed.
If you could believe what the family said, they said it was destroyed by a white dragon.
It was suspicious, however. I doubted that any white dragon would leave shoe marks and painted graffiti on the inner walls. Apparently the dad was in serious debt.
…Well, I am not skeptical to the existence of dragons.
But I am also logical. Thank you very much.
“….Oh?”
I retracted my words.
Apparently, there were many thieves around.
And one of them was standing on a corner, looking at our sword.
