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Naomi
1
Life as I knew it ended on May 21st, the day after my sixteenth birthday.
It was the final day of the school term, and I was happy to be by myself that afternoon, which would be one of my last ones at the estate, if I got accepted to Mountview Academy, the English boarding school I had applied to a couple of months before.
I was still in my school uniform, debating between whether to go take a shower and get changed or keep reading the book that was in my hands. As I was about to make my decision, which of course was to continue reading, the doors of my bedroom were flung open, and there stood my stepfather, Kaien Suo, panting as if he had just run a marathon.
“Afternoon, stepdad.” I said, staring at him quizzically, wondering what had gotten the usually calm and well composed man so flustered and upset.
My answer came in the form of the next three syllables that he uttered: “Ha-ru-na.”
My eyes widened, “Where’s mother?”
“She has been in an accident. I’m told that she is in critical condition. She might not make it.” he held on to one of the doors for support, and his dark eyes met mine, “We have to go, now.”
“Don’t worry, Naomi Chan,” Kaien began to say as we got into the car, “maybe it’s not that b--”
“Just drive.” I blurted, staring straight ahead, as the memories of how, just the day before, I had been happily celebrating my birthday with my cousins, mother, and Kaien, filled my head.
Life would never be the same without her.
When we got to the hospital, a nurse informed us that mother was still in the operating room, undergoing surgery, and that she would not be out for at least another three to four hours.
Those were a few of the longest hours of my life, and ones that I will never forget.
After that relatively short, but extremely long, eternity, Doctor Murakami, the head surgeon, came into the waiting room. He was a tall man, in his early fifties, with snow white skin and gray hair and beard; he was still in his scrubs, but had on a spotless white coat.
He spoke with Kaien for what seemed like another eternity, while I stood at the other end of the large room, not daring to hear what the two men were saying to each other. When they were done speaking, the two bowed to each other and Doctor Murakami handed my stepdad a white envelope and a folded paper. He then made his way toward me, bent down, put a large hand on my shoulder, and whispered, “Be strong, Kurosaki San.” before he straightened himself up and vanished down the hallway, as I realized the obvious.
Mother had not made it.
Tears began flowing from my eyes, and the room spun. A loud buzzing sound filled my ears as I tried to take it all in. I turned to face Kaien. He was also crying, harder than I was. I couldn’t blame him; he had spent the past fifteen years with my mother; and besides, I was not that close with her, but still, she was my mom, and I loved her no matter what.
I turned on my heels and walked in the direction of the room to which mother’s body had been transferred, with Kaien following close behind, not knowing what to say to me.
Mother lay on the bed, her beautiful eyes never to see light again, her once naturally red lips now pale and colorless, as was her smooth, tan skin.
Kaien walked slowly into the room and stopped beside the body. He gently ran his fingertips on mother’s cheek, and whispered tearfully, “Goodbye, my love.” With that, he turned to me and went, “I’ll be outside the door, stepdaughter. Take your time.”
I watched as he left and closed the door behind him, turned around again, and came face to face with my mom’s spirit.
“How did this happen, mom?” I asked her.
She smiled, “That envelope the doctor handed your stepfather is the acceptance letter from Mountview Academy.”
“Oh.”
“I had not seen you smile for such a long time, and I knew that this would make you happy; so I rushed home right away.”
“Uh huh?”
“And in my excitement, I passed a red and crashed into a truck.”
I sighed. That was just so like her. “Hopefully it was not painful?”
“Er, painful yes, but I died in my sleep.” she grinned, “And now I’m as free as a bird.”
I smiled, “Well Ma, I’m glad that you’re happy. Any unfinished business you want me to help you with?”
She shook her head, and grazed her translucent hand on my cheek, “Naomi Chan, I have done everything, and my life is complete. My only regret is that I will never get to see your father again; not even as a spirit. But there is nothing I can do about that now, so, give Kaien my love, and be nice to him, my daughter. He really loves you, and was always good to me. Please, promise me that, wherever you go, you will keep your grades as sky high as they have always been, and that you will never let anybody take you for granted.”
I swallowed hard, and nodded, “Promise.”
“And take care of yourself.”
I nodded again, unable to speak,
“Sweetie, there’s one last thing.”
When was she going to shut up?
“Hm?”
“I had a final vision. It was about your future. Where you go, you will find everything you have been searching for, and much more. At times, it may not be pleasant, but your friends will pull you through.” she smiled, “You will also find love.”
“Were you also drunk when you died?”
“No baby, I’m telling you what I saw. The rest is on that note I wrote you.” she sighed happily. “I love you, Naomi, and I’m proud of you. Always remember that.”
“I will, mother.” I sighed, “You should go now, before the light closes.”
Mother laughed, “Yes, I know.” she turned and stared at the light, which I could not see, and looked back at me. “I’ll cross over now, then. Your great grandma says hi.”
“Tell her I say hi back.”
“Bye Naomi.”
“Bye mom. Take care.”
Shaking my head slowly, and smiling, I left the room, only to find Kaien leaning against the wall opposite to the door, staring at me.
“Who were you talking to?” he inquired suspiciously.
“Huh?” I said, pretending to be confused, “Kaien, you’re hallucinating. You should go get some sleep.”
“As a matter of fact, I should.” He gave me a watery smile. “Let’s go.”
“By the way,” I said as we got into the car, “what were those two papers the doctor gave you?”
Kaien looked at me and, for the first time that night, smiled. “You got accepted to Mountview Academy.” he handed me the envelope and the folded paper. “There. The first one is the acceptance letter,” he said, pointing to the envelope, “and the other one,” he pointed at the paper, “is a letter from your mother to you.”
“Did you read it?”
“No. I can’t read a thing without my glasses.”
“Good.” I put the letter in my skirt pocket. I didn’t want to read it till I got to England. I did not ant to cry in front of Kaien.
I opened the letter from Mountview Academy instead.
“Read it aloud.” said Kaien, “I have the right to know too.”
“I suppose you do.” I muttered. “Well, here goes: “‘Dear miss Kurosaki, it would be an honor for the staff of Mountview Academy to have you be part of our student body. We have been quite amazed by your excellent academic skills and school record; and hope that you will make the best out of them during your time at Mountview.
“‘Of course, we would not like you to travel by yourself, for which one of your classmates, Mayuri Hirose, will meet you at the Tokyo International airport on the twenty fourth of May, and will accompany you in your trip. We hope the two of you will make a fine acquaintance, and we certainly hope to see you soon! Yours truly, Sir William Waters.’” I concluded.
“A Hirose, huh? And you’re leaving this Saturday.” Kaien grinned, “A travel partner huh? I smell something really fishy, and it starts with l—“
“Don’t be gross, Kaien,” I snapped, “Mayuri is a girls’ name.”
“Wrong! It is a unisex name. I know many boys who are named Mayuri.”
“Please, they wouldn’t send a guy to travel with me.” I shook my head, “Just get us home now, Kaien, please.”
“Sure thing kiddo.” he started the engine with a sigh, “Sure thing.”
On Friday, the day after the funeral, Kaien put off everything he had to do, and made time to accompany me to shop for my school supplies. After five long hours of shopping, we finally were able to check all the things off of the list, and go to Santorinni’s café to rest.
As the waitress went to fetch our order, Kaien stared at me.
“What?” I asked.
He gave me a wistful smile, “Sorry, it’s only that, you are my last reminder of Haruna San, and now I’m losing you too.”
So cheesy. I tried not to roll my eyes, and think of a decent reply while I was at it.
I smiled reassuringly, “You won’t lose me. I’ll come home for the term breaks and for the Easter holidays, and not to mention the two month vacation during December and January.”
There were tears in his eyes.
“But if you start crying now, I won’t set a foot on Japan again.” I threatened.
He grinned and wiped his eyes, “In that case, I won’t cry.”
“Good.”
He gave me an odd look, “Aren’t you worried?”
“About what?”
“About how the girls there will treat you, and stuff.”
I considered this, and, after a brief moment of thought, shrugged, “It can’t be worse than here.”
Apparently, he was more nervous than I.
“Hey, stepdad, you knew my father, right?”
He nodded.
“Tell me about him, what was he like?”
The waitress brought our lattes.
Taking a sip of his, Kaien inquired, “What’s with the sudden interest about your father?”
Ever since I could remember, nobody ever told me much about my father, Aoi Kurosaki. Every time I asked my mom, she always evaded the subject; reason for which I only knew his name. We also didn’t keep contact with the Kurosakis, and I had never met my grandparents or uncles. I didn’t even know their names, for that matter.
“Well,” I pointed out, “for starters, he is my father. I have the right to know. Besides, I’m leaving tomorrow, so you might as well tell me something.”
“Okay,” he said, surrendering, “Aoi was a good man; he loved your mother and you to death.”
“What was he like?”
“You resemble him a lot.” he smiled at the memory, “Reddish- orange brown hair, just like yours, dark brown eyes, fair skin, and a nice voice. Just like you. Only his hair was straight, and yours is wavy, like Haruna’s.”
I smiled. “What else?”
“He was more Japanese-looking than you are. His eyes were narrower. You have your mother’s Sri Lankan eyes and her nose too.”
“Hmm… I see… What happened to my father?”
“I don’t know. One day, he just disappeared.”
“Just like that?”
Kaien nodded.
“Odd.”
“Tell me about it.” After several minutes of silence, he stood up, “Anyway, we should get going. You have a long trip ahead of you tomorrow, and you have not even begun to pack.”
I sighed, “I guess you’re right. Let’s go then.”
As I got up from my chair, I sensed a strange, strong aura. There was another medium in the room, a powerful one.
Was it to my left?
No, to the right.
Hold on, it was coming from behind me.
I swiveled around, just in time to see the projector of the energy, sitting a few tables away from where the one Kaien and I had been at.
He was definitely my age. Not Japanese; or maybe half, like me. Ivory skin, straight, jet black hair, and piercing dark green eyes. He was wearing jeans, a light blue shirt, and a black leather jacket. He wore a silver ring with some kind of engraving on it on his right hand’s ring finger.
And God, he was hot.
He too was staring at me, obviously having had sensed my aura long before I had sensed his. He had been reading a book, which he presently put down, getting up to leave.
Kaien had gone to pay the bill, so he did not notice any of this, thank goodness.
I then realized something else: there was a demon beside the boy. As the creature began to come to view, Kaien returned, cheerfully saying, “Let’s go, Naomi Chan!”
I pushed my chair under the table and turned again in order to catch a final glimpse of the boy, but he was no longer there.
Strange.
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