Sumiko Story, Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Winds of Change</u>
Aaron. Aaron, Aaron, Aaron! I had never before had my trust betrayed - it’s not a good feeling. It’s a lot like when you’re walking up stairs, and you expect there to be another one… but there isn’t. You get that same jolt of unpleasant surprise, the kind where you can’t really believe what’s happened.

I raced through the forest as fast as the thoughts raced through my mind. I was headed for the one place only I knew about, my own little safe haven where I could hide from the rest of the world and collect my thoughts. I remembered a similar flight through these woods, when I had been very young. Only then I had been headed in the opposite direction… towards a fire that would bring my life crashing down around me.

But that was a very long time ago. Suddenly I burst out from underneath the heavy canopy of trees into a bright moonlit clearing. My feet had taken me to the one place I wanted to be most; I was in Sakura’s clearing.

It was quiet in the clearing, well except for the sound of my heavy breathing. I was certain that they’d be able to hear it all the way back at the dojo and track me down… but no one came. As my breathing quieted and my heart slowed, I felt myself beginning to relax a little bit. I always felt calm here, it was the one place I could go to be alone. There aren’t too many of those when you live on an island, but amazingly enough I had managed to find one.

As my eyes drifted around the clearing, I felt my serene mood begin to ebb, only to be replaced by one of sadness, grief and confusion. I slowly walked over to sit down among Sakura’s many roots. I was in such a daze of sadness that I didn’t realize where I was until I felt a cool breeze ruffle my short hair.
I had pulled myself up onto one of Sakura’s old branches and now sat there leaning against her trunk, staring up at the moon. It was almost full, I observed, but I didn’t really care.

No matter how hard I tried, I always found my thoughts drifting back to Aaron. Not that I would really know, because I wasn’t trying that hard not to. The truth was, he had bewitched me from the moment I’d first set eyes on him in the market place, about a month ago. He had just appeared so lost and different; it had just taken my breath away.

“I liked him Sakura, I really did. I trusted him too. But… but I guess it was all just part of the job. It’s just… he was so… so different from everyone else, he reminded me of… someone.” I said confessing my feelings to my old friend.
He reminded you, of yourself …. Said a small voice in the back of my head, different from everyone else, an oddity you might say. The words snaked their way through my mind, working their way into my thoughts, no matter how hard I tried to turn them away. Like hungry rats eating away at a wooden door to reach the food that is locked behind it.

You trusted him, without even questioning his loyalty or his integrity, and what did he do? He threw it away like it was nothing. That voice in my head wouldn’t go away! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, it didn’t even sound like me anymore. You know what you should do don’t you? Repay all the pain he’s brought to you, you must - I couldn’t stand it anymore, I didn’t want to hear what I must do. I didn’t want to hear what this voice had to say! So I slammed my head backwards into Sakura’s trunk.

That did it alright. I was pretty sure that even if the voice was still whispering those evil little thoughts to me, I wouldn’t be able to hear it over the scream of pain that came from the back of my head. Not only had I hit my head against the tree trunk, but, I had also managed to hit a large knot of hard rock-like bark with the back of my skull.

At least there wasn’t any bleeding; I thought reaching back to touch the large lump that was forming there. YEOWCH that hurt!  Even the gentle brush of my fingers sent ears to my eyes.

Well at least I’m not hearing that blasted voice anymore, I thought bitterly. I sat there staring broodingly up at the moon tears streaming down my face when I heard a voice behind me say-

“Do… you come here often?” I whirled around expecting to see Aaron, and nearly fell off the branch, not to mention my head gave another painful throb. There standing on the edge of the clearing, was Akira.

He looked curious, with a little bit of worry too, but still serene and royal, with the moonlight reflecting off of his pale skin, and black hair.  I couldn’t help but wonder what I must have looked like, while still trying to splutter out,

“A-Akira, how did you know? I mean how did you find -?” That was all I got out, because at that precise moment my head gave another painful throb that made me suck in my breath.

Akira, who hadn’t noticed this, answered my unfinished question. “I heard you running down the hallway, and I saw you were headed towards the forest…” he trailed away uncertainly when he noticed my tears. “Did you hear me talking to…?”

Voice too choked up with pain, I nodded, big mistake. Aw, man my head really ached. I clutched at my head in an effort to stop the rolls of pain, tears streaming furiously down my face. Akira noticed this, and his concern seemed to deepen, although his face remained a mask of graceful dignity, the worry making its presence known in his eyes.

“Sumi, are you feeling okay?” He asked the concern now audible in his tone.

The answer to this was, of course, no! Heck no, I did not feel okay. My head hurt and the closets thing I’d ever had to a boyfriend had turned out to be an assassin. Did I mention my head hurt?

Then I realized that Akira didn’t know my head hurt, he had come in after I had decided to dent my head on the tree. No wonder he’s so worried! I thought, he must think I’m totally distraught or depressed about Aaron. The truth is I was upset about Aaron. I felt betrayed and bewildered at the thought of him being an assassin. I even felt a little angry, though more with myself that anyone else.

How could I not have known? One of the first things they taught the girls in ninja school was that, should the need arise, you should try to get someone on their own before attempting to eliminate someone. At the time I had thought it was barbaric. (In fact, I still thought it was barbaric) Only… now it made a lot more sense… and I wish it hadn’t.

Akira talking my silence as a no continued, “You know… you really shouldn’t blame yourself for not knowing. Aaron… that’s his job, it’s what he’s good at. He knows how to get close to you in such a way that you never realize what he’s doing until it’s done.”

“So then… how did you know he was an… an assassin?” I asked, remembering how the recognition had flared up in his eyes as soon as he’d opened the door.

Akira stiffened, then continued obviously choosing his words carefully, “We’ve met before… on some of my… journeys. I had been warned about him, and even done battle with him once or twice, he’s not a very strong fighter… but I never guessed he would come here.”

“Oh…” I said in a soft whisper, thinking about what he had said. “That makes sense I guess.” I continued the pain in my head had now subsided to a dull throb in the back of my mind. Then turning to Akira I said, “Thanks Akira, I feel better now… really I do!” I said trying to be convincing as he shot me a look. “What you said, it… it all makes sense. Not that I’m very happy about it, but I’ll manage.”

I saw him visibly relax; whatever tension had been building up inside him had now dissolved. He even gave a slight smile. “It’s a beautiful moon tonight.” He said turning to face the large glowing orb. “It reminds me of a crystal ball.”

“…or spilled peaches.” I joked, referring to how I’d clumsily knocked over an entire bowl of peaches.

Akira closed his eyes, the small smile playing around his face, “or spilled peaches.”

I couldn’t resist a slight giggle that turned out to be more of a sigh. Akira walked over to Sakura’s gnarled roots and sat down staring at the moon… contemplating some unknown fact. I jumped down from my perch among the branches and walked over to join him. I leaned over on his shoulder and breathed in that slight woodsy smell that always seemed to hang around him.

Looking up at the moon, I felt at peace with the world. My eyes drooped and I was almost asleep when I felt Akira stir. “What’s wrong?” I asked in a soft but inquisitive voice.

“I‘m… taking you with me.” He answered in a tone that told me I didn’t really have much choice in the matter. I didn’t really care though, right now, I couldn’t think of any place I’d rather be than at the side of my older brother.

“Where to?” I asked drowsily, trying to stifle a yawn.

“To a place you’ve never been before.”

“That could be a lot of places.” I answered drifting further into dreamland.

“Maybe, but I don’t know that you’ve even heard of where we’re going.”

“And where would that be?” I asked voice faint.

“You’ll see… you’ll see.” Akira assured me before I was finally overcome by a heavy blanket of sleep.

~♦~♦~♦~♦~

We’re… moving…. That was my first thought, and then I did a double take. Moving? Sure enough when I opened my eyes it was to see the landscape passing me by.

“Oh, good, you’re awake.” Said a voice I recognized as Akira’s.

“Akira…?” I asked, still a little dazed from having just woken up.

“I don’t care what anyone says,” he said. The countryside stopped moving. “You are freakin’ heavy.”

I realized what was about to happen a moment before it did. Akira was carrying me on his back I was looking to the side, which explained why the countryside had appeared to be moving. I recognized the area where we were as being about one or two miles east from where our old house had once stood. That meant that Akira had been carrying me piggy back for over a mile, and he wasn’t going to do it for much longer.

He let go of me, allowing me to slide (more like fall) to the ground. I was just in time to catch myself from landing on my butt. Landing in a weird sort-of half crouch instead. Then using my hands to steady myself, I stood up.

Akira stood in front of me stretching his back and sighing with pleasure. It hit me that he must have had to walk bent over this entire time, and I started to feel a little guilty.

“You could have woken me up.” I mumbled, only slightly irritated as I started to stretch my own limbs.

“No I couldn’t.” He sighed and having completed his stretch, walked over and ruffled my hair. “You were just too darn cute.”

I bated good-naturedly at his hand. “I can take care of myself Akira; I don’t need you to carry me… I can walk.” I replied in a semi-sarcastic tone.

“Glad to hear it, because I’m not carrying you any farther. Besides, you needed the rest.” Then he turned and started to walk away, motioning for me to follow.

I quickly finished up my stretch and ran to catch up. “So where are we going?” I asked all curiosity now.

“I told you it’s someplace you’ve never been before.”

“And I told you, that could be a lot of places.” I argued, keeping pace with his long strides.

“You’ll know when we get there. Oh, and try not to fall behind, it’s really too early for you to be falling asleep again.” He replied, impatient with my constant questioning.

“Hardy-har-har.” I replied sarcastically, “Just don’t expect me to start carrying you anytime soon.” But other than that I kept my moth shut.

We finally stopped at the edge of a large rocky cliff with waves crashing down relentlessly against the far away shore. Akira glanced around like he was looking for something. Unfortunately, there was nothing to look for. Just a big rocky cliff, some boulders, and the forest we had just exited. We had reached the far end of the island, this was as far east as you could go unless you had gills or a very a very strong boat.

“You’re wrong,” I told Akira. “I have been here before. Setsumi took m here when I was three to see if we could see the mainland.” Ha, was I ever happy. Akira had made a mistake, he had been wrong about something, and that didn’t happen very often.

“I know and this isn’t where we’re going.” He answered in a calm voice.

“Where else is there to go?” I practically had to shout to be heard over the waves thunderous crashing. “We’ve reached the end of the island, end of the road, shows over. There’s nowhere else to go.”

“There is one place.” He said calmly, still looking for whatever he needed to find.

“Where, the ocean? Don’t you think its a little cold for a dip in the water?” It may have been mid-August, but that water was cold.

“No, we’re not going into the ocean. I told you it’s someplace you’ve never heard of, and it would be easier to show you than explain it all to you.” He had stopped searching now, and beckoned me forward. Wrapping one arm around me he explained, “I need you to hold on to me tightly. What I’m about to do was only meant for one person, and I’ve never tried it with two before so I’m not sure what will happen.”

Uh-oh, that didn’t sound good. Was he about to jump off the cliff? I glanced over and gulped. It was a long way down. I hugged Akira tightly, whatever he was about to do, I trusted him not to let me die.

He looked down at me and grinned. “Don’t worry, everything’s going to be fine.” Then he wrapped his arms around me and closed his eyes emptying his face of all emotion. Then in a loud carrying voice he cried- “Winds of change, transportation technique!”