Intersections
Mari had spent the better part of 30 minutes rapping her knuckles raw on Sho's front door, yelling his name at the top of her lungs, every 5 minutes or so, for good measure. Her brother usually slept like a log after a long and tiring day; otherwise the slightest noise would be enough to rouse him from sleep.
From what Sho told her over the phone, he spent a relaxing evening chatting away with the owner of the posh boutique, 'Smitten,' over a filling dinner of Italian cuisine, followed by a serving of delicious crepes for which her small, but flourishing cafe was fast becoming famous. Sho, she surmised, had no reason to be tired. It had even been his idea to have her over during the weekend to discuss the consignment of her accessories to Yuki's shop. Mari huffed impatiently, twirling a long wavy lock around a manicured finger as she waited a few more minutes for Sho to come to the door. As it was, several of Sho's neighbors had already poked their heads out of their doors and had given Mari an angry glare for ruining their plans of sleeping in on what was supposed to be a restful Saturday morning.
5 more minutes elapsed, and Mari was getting alarmed. If Sho wasn't home, the landlord would have told her. When her brother wanted her to drop by, or to pick something up while he was away, he usually left his spare keys with the landlord who gave them to Mari when she came. Mari's gut told her that her older brother was inside and she had a feeling that something was very, very wrong.
"Sorry Sho, but this is your fault..." Mari took a few steps back, pulling her long, flowing skirt up her to her knees as jumped up and kicked the door in. With a loud thud, the locked door swung open, nearly falling loose from its hinges.
"I'll pay you, I promise. Just be okay..." Mari mumbled to herself as she strode into Sho's apartment, much to the awe of the whole neighborhood who watched the whole spectacle with their mouths agape.
Once inside, Mari switched the lights on and surveyed her surroundings. Everything seemed to be in place-- the house was mostly spotless, nothing of value had been stolen, and the shoe rack placed near the front door had no pairs missing. Mari moved along, making her way to Sho's bedroom when she noticed a small light coming from the bathroom. Her heart skipped a beat as she cautiously moved to the dining area where the door to the small fridge was left open. As she approached the fridge, she noticed tiny fragments of broken glass scattered all over the floor, soaked in a pool of blood and an almost empty bottle of water left on the small (and very wet) table. It was at this point, that Mari truly began to panic.
"Sho? Sho, where are you?!" Mari screamed, skipping over the broken glass, following the faint trail of blood that led to the small bathroom.
"Sho! What happened? Are you okay?" Mari exclaimed, confused and somewhat relieved to find her brother sitting curled up, on the cold and wet tiles.
Sho, briefly snapping out of his daze, slowly turned his head towards Mari.
"Mari..." Sho whispered, hugging his knees tightly towards his chest.
"What happened?" Mari asked softly, her brown eyes wide with concern as she sat beside Sho, paying no mind that her sky blue skirt was getting drenched by the damp tiles. "Why is there blood on the floor? Did someone hurt you?"
"No, the glass... it fell on my foot and it broke..." Sho exhaled shakily, shoulders drooping ever so slightly as Mari squeezed his arm.
Mari inched forward to examine Sho's feet, "your foot seems fine... it isn't bleeding anymore." Mari turned a puzzled look at Sho.
"That's the problem," Sho whispered "there isn't even a cut..."
"Sho... What?" Mari's brows furrowed as she moved to get a closer look at his foot. To her amazement, not even the smallest trace of a scar could be seen to prove that it had been wounded; if anything, Sho's skin looked even healthier.
While Mari understood why her older brother was scared out of his wits, she, however, was confused, and a tad surprised to find the situation eerily familiar. Right now though, she could not recall when it happened or what it was. A nagging sense of déjà vu was eating her up...
"Let's go. It's cold and damp in here, you might get sick." Mari pulled her brother up with her as she stood. "Spend the night with us. Mom and dad miss you, you know"
"Yeah. Okay" Sho replied, still shivering slightly while Mari led him into his bedroom.
"You go get changed, okay? I'll clean this up."
"Yes"
"Oh, um... I broke your door."
"Huh?"
"Nothing I can't fix. Let's just have your locks changed and we're ready to go, okay? Go on now." Mari hurriedly replied as she ushered her brother into his room, before zipping back into the kitchen.
***
While Sho tidied himself up in the bedroom, Mari was busy cleaning the kitchen floor. She was careful to avoid cutting herself with the tiny shards of glass, which she neatly swept into the dust pan and had afterwards deposited onto several sheets of newspaper, rolling it into a ball before throwing it into the trash bin. She mopped up the dried blood distractedly, her thoughts consumed with the one thing that seems to have slipped her grasp.
This is weird. I know I should be freaking out, but I'm not... I know it's supposed to be strange, so why am I not scared?
....
Sho has superpowers!
...
Superpowers...
***
Done with the cleaning, Mari sat on the couch and fetched her phone from her brown leather bag. She had kicked the door hard enough to bust the locks; she figured that the hinges might also need some help. Luckily for her, she had one of the best carpenters at her disposal...
"Oi, what happened here?" a familiar voice was heard from outside.
"Um, well I..." Mari began to explain in front of an incredulous landlord.
"Did someone break in?! Who's going to pay for that?!"
"Er... I kicked the door in because Sho wasn't answering?"
"You did what?! Mari, you could have always asked for the spare key! I have it."
"I wasn't really thinking of that at the time..." Mari scratched her head, "I'll pay for it, I promise. I just called the carpenter and he said he'd be here in an hour. My brother's kind of upset about something and I'm going to take him home to spend the night with us"
"Why? What happened?"
"Family thing. I can't really tell you right now"
"Okay then..."
"Will you please, please watch over things while the door's being repaired?" Mari worked her charm on Sho's landlord, “I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, I'll just pay you extra, and you can hand the new keys over to Sho when he comes back, okay?"
The landlord sighed, "Okay, your brother's one of the best tenants I have and he never gave me any trouble. I guess I could do that for you."
"Great! Thanks!" Mari replied, handing over a wad of bills to the landlord who patiently waited for the carpenter to come...
Finally done dressing up, Sho emerged from his bedroom with a small overnight bag. He sat beside Mari on the soft couch in his living room with a slightly dazed look on his face. His eyes lazily wandered onto the broken door and the few splinters of wood scattered on the floor.
"You kicked the door, didn't you..." Sho softly stated in a monotone.
"Er, yes, I was hollering for 30 minutes and nobody was answering. I'm really sorry! I called the carpenter, and your landlord was kind enough to supervise the construction. I already paid for it!" Mari rattled off in a panic, her apology coming out in one breath.
"It's okay..." Sho replied, listless "Thank you, Mari."
Not knowing how to respond, Mari pulled her big brother in for a tight hug. Sho would have normally flown off the handle at such a stunt, but after seeing him curled up inside the bathroom, hugging his knees and rocking himself, Mari's heart broke. She had never seen her brother in such a helpless state and had always remembered him as the kind and gentle older brother who stood in place of their oft absent father. During their younger days, there had been moments when Sho's temper would flare and she and her younger brother would be scared enough to hide under their beds in fear. But as they grew older, Sho matured into the benevolent person they knew and loved. He was soft spoken, intelligent and slow to anger, Mari and Keichi, the youngest of the three, had grown very fond and quite protective of him.
"Let's get going. The car's parked outside. We can just talk about things at home. I'm sure mom will be very happy to see you" Mari said soothingly as she pulled her brother up, holding his hand as she led him out of the door.
"Mari... do you think I'm strange?" Sho said as they made their way into the elevator.
"No, not at all... I found what happened strange, but I don't think you're strange."
"... What if I told you that maybe... maybe I'm not from here, and that maybe I'm not your brother?"
"Don't be stupid. You're my clumsy, clueless, older brother who's always oblivious to the stares he gets from girls... and maybe likes guys." Mari replied, as they stepped out of the elevator and started making their way to her car.
"Thanks..." Sho replied, the slightest hint of a smile forming on his lips. Sho sat beside Mari and strapped on his seatbelt. "But what if I'm..."
"Even if you're an alien from outer space or grew and extra limb or something, you're still my brother. End of argument." Mari smiled, giving Sho's shoulder a reassuring squeeze as she started her car.
****
They arrived at the mansion in forty minutes. The normally hour long travel time had been significantly reduced due to Mari's formula one- inspired driving, which was accompanied by Sho's backseat driving; his earlier problem temporarily forgotten as he screeched at Mari for almost running four red lights, backing up on the car behind them, and nearly running over a stray cat.
(*What? It appeared out of nowhere!)
Once they had walked through the doors of their house, Sho's mother welcomed him with a warm hug, and congratulated him for surviving Mari's driving. Lunch was being prepared at the Sakurai household, and Mari had retreated to her room to change into dry, comfortable house clothes while Sho did some catching up with his mother, (who didn't quite let on that she knew that something was wrong,) half heartedly rambling on about his work and the interesting people he's met.
Mari's room was big and it also doubled as a craft station where she worked four hours on end with her jewelry designs when she felt inspired. The walls of her room was a shade of lavender, while the ceiling was painted black and littered with glow in the dark stars which she had painstakingly arranged to resemble her favorite constellations. Her bookshelves were lined with various crafting and jewelry books as well as different magazines on fashion and accessories. Mari shared her bed, and its purple bedcovers with several stuffed animals. To her right was her closet and a drawer full of scrap books and assorted knick knacks that she had collected from her childhood. It included interesting sea shells, bottle caps and tissue packets, among other things. To the left was her vanity table, which was mostly bare save for some sunscreen and a few other 'essentials' that her mother insisted on.
Mari dressed like a gypsy most of the time. She was often found wearing long, flowing skirts in pastel colors, matching it with an interesting top. Her long wavy hair fell loose and unkempt, slightly below her shoulders. Two or three bangles often adorned each slender wrist, and her chandelier earrings, which she had designed herself caught the light with its finely cut crystals. She didn't bother with such things as make up unless she felt like it, and would often go out with her face bare, or with only the slightest hint of lip gloss.
Mari was heavily influenced by her mother's fairy tales when she was a lot younger, and she still secretly believes in fairies despite being 22 years old. Mari wasn't sure why, but she knew that something more magical always lurked beneath the surface of this mundane and boring world.
Right now, Mari was rummaging through her drawer (and messing up part of her room in the process, as she carelessly tossed things across her room.) She didn't quite know what she was looking for, but her instinct told her it was there, and it had a lot to do with Sho's earlier problem...
Superpowers.... superpowers
Maybe my brother's an alien...
Why does Sho have superpowers?
Oh my god...
The answer stared Mari in the face and she found it in one of her earliest scrap books, which she made back when she was just six years old. On the third page, an elastic bandage which had never been used was placed behind a transparent plastic cover and framed with pink construction paper that was drawn with purple hearts and blue butterflies. Below the small frame, the words: " My brother's secret " was scrawled in big bold letters with a red crayon...
She and her brother were out playing in the garden. Back then, Keichi had still been a baby and spent most of his time cradled in his mother's arms. Sunny afternoons were usually spent playing tag, or climbing trees, sometimes it included capturing interesting insects or playing with the fish in the small pond. It was almost dinnertime and Mari had been up in a tree with her nose buried in her mother's latest fairytale while Sho was collecting beetles and placing them in match boxes. When one of their servants had called them for dinner, Mari tried to get down from the tree, and in her rush, slipped and fell down, scraping her knee in the process.
Sho was running towards the house when he heard his sister scream...
"Mari! Hurry up, mom's waiting"
"Shooo... my knee, it hurts!" Mari wailed, sobbing. Her small hands, filthy with the moist and nearly muddy soil, rubbed her eyes.
"What happened?" Sho asked, kneeling down and placing the small box of beetles beside him as he began to examine Mari's knee.
"I don't know but it stings..." Mari cried some more. "Make it go away..."
"Oh no, what do I do?" Sho scratched his head, starting to panic as Mari's wails grew louder. "Okay, okay. Don't worry. I'll do something" Sho searched his pockets and found a small elastic bandage which was still in its wrapper. He kept this just in case he ever hurt himself.
"Shooo!" Mari was about to throw a tantrum.
Sho removed the bandage from its wrapping, but in his panic, had forgotten to remove the paper strips. He placed the bandage on Mari's knee, but got quite frustrated when it didn't stick.
"Stupid bandage!" Sho exclaimed, trying to peel the paper off. It was starting to get dark
"Sho... keep your hands on my knee. They're nice and warm." Mari said, her sobbing subsided. Her little hands grabbed one of Sho's hands and pressed it to her knee.
"But..." Sho was about to protest and explain to his sister, when Mari made a face that said she will cry very, very loudly if he didn't do exactly as she wanted. "Oh... okay." Sho scratched his head with his free hand and let Mari do as she wished.
After a few minutes, when Mari was satisfied, she finally let go of Sho's hand.
"Sho! Look, no more!" Mari giggled happily.
"No more what?"
"No more!" she said as her little hands grabbed the unused bandage from Sho. "It's mine now, 'kay?" Mari smiled, placing the unused bandage in her pocket. "Let's go. Dinner time."
"O-okay..." Sho was confused. "Mari, how did you do it?"
"I didn't do anything. It was your hands, they're magic!" Mari said, her problem forgotten as she cradled Sho's hand in her own and pulling her older brother toward the house.
"What? But that doesn't make sense!"
"Kids, dinner time! Hurry up!" Their mother yelled.
"Sho..." Mari stopped abruptly, looking at Sho with imploring eyes.
"Yes?"
"Piggy back!"
"Oh, okay..." Sho obliged by carrying Mari on his back, any further speculation on the incident forgotten after dinner.
Mari, however had been excited enough that night and was all too eager to finish her food. It was then, when she was excused from the table that she rushed to her bedroom, locked the door and began working on her scrap book...
As the years went by, memories became blurred, some had faded, others rewritten. Anything magical or fantastic had been written off as mere childhood fantasy or the result of an overactive imagination. As Mari and Sho grew older they had inevitably forgotten about that small incident which linked Sho with past life.
******
"Sho, Sho, Sho!" Mari bounded out of her bedroom, clutching the nearly dilapidated scrapbook to her chest as she headed straight to the living area where Sho was carrying on an awkward conversation with their mother.
"Mari, what is it?" Their mother asked.
"Um... it's Sho, um.. his foot... er. I need you to see this!" Mari held up her scrapbook.
"Sho...what about your foot? What is Mari talking about?"
Sho grew pale at the thought of answering her question.
"Come now, I know you aren't supposed to be here and I know that something's wrong when you smile so awkwardly when we talk." Their mother prodded.
"Um... well," Sho began to explain, "This morning... I had a nightmare, but it was more like a memory. I've had that nightmare three times now and now I can remember things much more clearly than I used to..."
Their mother's face suddenly grew serious and she also grew more attentive as Sho continued narrating.
"I don't know why, but anyway, I was so shaken up this morning that I woke up with a cold sweat," Sho continued, "so I went to the kitchen to have a drink of water. My hands were shaky so I spilled water all over the table and when I tried to hold the glass, it slipped from my fingers and shattered on the floor. The shards of glass cut my foot and it bled..."
"Go on..."
"I removed the splinters from my foot... and when I removed them, the wounds kind of healed by themselves, and I thought it was impossible, so I went to the bathroom and I washed it... but when I washed it, there was nothing no scratch, no scar, nothing at all."
Sho's mother nodded...
"Mari found me in the bathroom, and she decided to bring me here... Please, I know it sounds impossible but I'm not crazy." Sho finally broke down, a teardrop slipping from his eyes.
"That's all right, dear. I know you're not crazy." Sho's mother gently wrapped her arms around her son. "But I do need to know more about this dream, if you don't mind..."
Mari settled down on the armchair beside Sho curling one leg under the other as their mother began to ask questions...
"Sho, what was your dream about... Was there fire in your dream?"
At the mention of the word 'fire,' Sho visibly shivered. "Well, yes... some parts of my dream were nice, it was like one of those fairy tales that you read to us back then. There were castles and kings and queens... but towards the end, there was a lot of fire and when I wake up, it always feels as though I'm choking."
Sho's mother nodded. "That seems to explain at least some things..."
"What does this have to do with his foot?" Asked Mari, intrigued.
"Well Mari, before you were born, Sho used to have these awful nightmares. He used to wake up in the middle of the night, very scared, often bathed in cold sweat and he'd be crying. He also seemed to be very afraid of fire. He wouldn't even go near a lit candle..."
"Did he also tell you about his dreams when he was younger?" Mari asked.
"No, I couldn't get him to speak at all. When he woke up from his nightmares, he seemed to be speaking some strange language I couldn't make out."
Sho sat quietly as his mother and sister talked.
"So Mari, what's so important about that scrap book?" Their mother asked.
"Well... it doesn't really explain what happened to his foot, but it may have some clues." Mari replied, squeezing herself beside Sho, as she laid the scrap book down his lap, opening it to the page that had the unused bandage.
"This is... I remember this..." Sho trailed off, staring intently at the bandage as he tried to recall when he had last seen it.
***
TBC...
Previous: Transitions Next: The Burden of Memory
From what Sho told her over the phone, he spent a relaxing evening chatting away with the owner of the posh boutique, 'Smitten,' over a filling dinner of Italian cuisine, followed by a serving of delicious crepes for which her small, but flourishing cafe was fast becoming famous. Sho, she surmised, had no reason to be tired. It had even been his idea to have her over during the weekend to discuss the consignment of her accessories to Yuki's shop. Mari huffed impatiently, twirling a long wavy lock around a manicured finger as she waited a few more minutes for Sho to come to the door. As it was, several of Sho's neighbors had already poked their heads out of their doors and had given Mari an angry glare for ruining their plans of sleeping in on what was supposed to be a restful Saturday morning.
5 more minutes elapsed, and Mari was getting alarmed. If Sho wasn't home, the landlord would have told her. When her brother wanted her to drop by, or to pick something up while he was away, he usually left his spare keys with the landlord who gave them to Mari when she came. Mari's gut told her that her older brother was inside and she had a feeling that something was very, very wrong.
"Sorry Sho, but this is your fault..." Mari took a few steps back, pulling her long, flowing skirt up her to her knees as jumped up and kicked the door in. With a loud thud, the locked door swung open, nearly falling loose from its hinges.
"I'll pay you, I promise. Just be okay..." Mari mumbled to herself as she strode into Sho's apartment, much to the awe of the whole neighborhood who watched the whole spectacle with their mouths agape.
Once inside, Mari switched the lights on and surveyed her surroundings. Everything seemed to be in place-- the house was mostly spotless, nothing of value had been stolen, and the shoe rack placed near the front door had no pairs missing. Mari moved along, making her way to Sho's bedroom when she noticed a small light coming from the bathroom. Her heart skipped a beat as she cautiously moved to the dining area where the door to the small fridge was left open. As she approached the fridge, she noticed tiny fragments of broken glass scattered all over the floor, soaked in a pool of blood and an almost empty bottle of water left on the small (and very wet) table. It was at this point, that Mari truly began to panic.
"Sho? Sho, where are you?!" Mari screamed, skipping over the broken glass, following the faint trail of blood that led to the small bathroom.
"Sho! What happened? Are you okay?" Mari exclaimed, confused and somewhat relieved to find her brother sitting curled up, on the cold and wet tiles.
Sho, briefly snapping out of his daze, slowly turned his head towards Mari.
"Mari..." Sho whispered, hugging his knees tightly towards his chest.
"What happened?" Mari asked softly, her brown eyes wide with concern as she sat beside Sho, paying no mind that her sky blue skirt was getting drenched by the damp tiles. "Why is there blood on the floor? Did someone hurt you?"
"No, the glass... it fell on my foot and it broke..." Sho exhaled shakily, shoulders drooping ever so slightly as Mari squeezed his arm.
Mari inched forward to examine Sho's feet, "your foot seems fine... it isn't bleeding anymore." Mari turned a puzzled look at Sho.
"That's the problem," Sho whispered "there isn't even a cut..."
"Sho... What?" Mari's brows furrowed as she moved to get a closer look at his foot. To her amazement, not even the smallest trace of a scar could be seen to prove that it had been wounded; if anything, Sho's skin looked even healthier.
While Mari understood why her older brother was scared out of his wits, she, however, was confused, and a tad surprised to find the situation eerily familiar. Right now though, she could not recall when it happened or what it was. A nagging sense of déjà vu was eating her up...
"Let's go. It's cold and damp in here, you might get sick." Mari pulled her brother up with her as she stood. "Spend the night with us. Mom and dad miss you, you know"
"Yeah. Okay" Sho replied, still shivering slightly while Mari led him into his bedroom.
"You go get changed, okay? I'll clean this up."
"Yes"
"Oh, um... I broke your door."
"Huh?"
"Nothing I can't fix. Let's just have your locks changed and we're ready to go, okay? Go on now." Mari hurriedly replied as she ushered her brother into his room, before zipping back into the kitchen.
***
While Sho tidied himself up in the bedroom, Mari was busy cleaning the kitchen floor. She was careful to avoid cutting herself with the tiny shards of glass, which she neatly swept into the dust pan and had afterwards deposited onto several sheets of newspaper, rolling it into a ball before throwing it into the trash bin. She mopped up the dried blood distractedly, her thoughts consumed with the one thing that seems to have slipped her grasp.
This is weird. I know I should be freaking out, but I'm not... I know it's supposed to be strange, so why am I not scared?
....
Sho has superpowers!
...
Superpowers...
***
Done with the cleaning, Mari sat on the couch and fetched her phone from her brown leather bag. She had kicked the door hard enough to bust the locks; she figured that the hinges might also need some help. Luckily for her, she had one of the best carpenters at her disposal...
"Oi, what happened here?" a familiar voice was heard from outside.
"Um, well I..." Mari began to explain in front of an incredulous landlord.
"Did someone break in?! Who's going to pay for that?!"
"Er... I kicked the door in because Sho wasn't answering?"
"You did what?! Mari, you could have always asked for the spare key! I have it."
"I wasn't really thinking of that at the time..." Mari scratched her head, "I'll pay for it, I promise. I just called the carpenter and he said he'd be here in an hour. My brother's kind of upset about something and I'm going to take him home to spend the night with us"
"Why? What happened?"
"Family thing. I can't really tell you right now"
"Okay then..."
"Will you please, please watch over things while the door's being repaired?" Mari worked her charm on Sho's landlord, “I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, I'll just pay you extra, and you can hand the new keys over to Sho when he comes back, okay?"
The landlord sighed, "Okay, your brother's one of the best tenants I have and he never gave me any trouble. I guess I could do that for you."
"Great! Thanks!" Mari replied, handing over a wad of bills to the landlord who patiently waited for the carpenter to come...
Finally done dressing up, Sho emerged from his bedroom with a small overnight bag. He sat beside Mari on the soft couch in his living room with a slightly dazed look on his face. His eyes lazily wandered onto the broken door and the few splinters of wood scattered on the floor.
"You kicked the door, didn't you..." Sho softly stated in a monotone.
"Er, yes, I was hollering for 30 minutes and nobody was answering. I'm really sorry! I called the carpenter, and your landlord was kind enough to supervise the construction. I already paid for it!" Mari rattled off in a panic, her apology coming out in one breath.
"It's okay..." Sho replied, listless "Thank you, Mari."
Not knowing how to respond, Mari pulled her big brother in for a tight hug. Sho would have normally flown off the handle at such a stunt, but after seeing him curled up inside the bathroom, hugging his knees and rocking himself, Mari's heart broke. She had never seen her brother in such a helpless state and had always remembered him as the kind and gentle older brother who stood in place of their oft absent father. During their younger days, there had been moments when Sho's temper would flare and she and her younger brother would be scared enough to hide under their beds in fear. But as they grew older, Sho matured into the benevolent person they knew and loved. He was soft spoken, intelligent and slow to anger, Mari and Keichi, the youngest of the three, had grown very fond and quite protective of him.
"Let's get going. The car's parked outside. We can just talk about things at home. I'm sure mom will be very happy to see you" Mari said soothingly as she pulled her brother up, holding his hand as she led him out of the door.
"Mari... do you think I'm strange?" Sho said as they made their way into the elevator.
"No, not at all... I found what happened strange, but I don't think you're strange."
"... What if I told you that maybe... maybe I'm not from here, and that maybe I'm not your brother?"
"Don't be stupid. You're my clumsy, clueless, older brother who's always oblivious to the stares he gets from girls... and maybe likes guys." Mari replied, as they stepped out of the elevator and started making their way to her car.
"Thanks..." Sho replied, the slightest hint of a smile forming on his lips. Sho sat beside Mari and strapped on his seatbelt. "But what if I'm..."
"Even if you're an alien from outer space or grew and extra limb or something, you're still my brother. End of argument." Mari smiled, giving Sho's shoulder a reassuring squeeze as she started her car.
****
They arrived at the mansion in forty minutes. The normally hour long travel time had been significantly reduced due to Mari's formula one- inspired driving, which was accompanied by Sho's backseat driving; his earlier problem temporarily forgotten as he screeched at Mari for almost running four red lights, backing up on the car behind them, and nearly running over a stray cat.
(*What? It appeared out of nowhere!)
Once they had walked through the doors of their house, Sho's mother welcomed him with a warm hug, and congratulated him for surviving Mari's driving. Lunch was being prepared at the Sakurai household, and Mari had retreated to her room to change into dry, comfortable house clothes while Sho did some catching up with his mother, (who didn't quite let on that she knew that something was wrong,) half heartedly rambling on about his work and the interesting people he's met.
Mari's room was big and it also doubled as a craft station where she worked four hours on end with her jewelry designs when she felt inspired. The walls of her room was a shade of lavender, while the ceiling was painted black and littered with glow in the dark stars which she had painstakingly arranged to resemble her favorite constellations. Her bookshelves were lined with various crafting and jewelry books as well as different magazines on fashion and accessories. Mari shared her bed, and its purple bedcovers with several stuffed animals. To her right was her closet and a drawer full of scrap books and assorted knick knacks that she had collected from her childhood. It included interesting sea shells, bottle caps and tissue packets, among other things. To the left was her vanity table, which was mostly bare save for some sunscreen and a few other 'essentials' that her mother insisted on.
Mari dressed like a gypsy most of the time. She was often found wearing long, flowing skirts in pastel colors, matching it with an interesting top. Her long wavy hair fell loose and unkempt, slightly below her shoulders. Two or three bangles often adorned each slender wrist, and her chandelier earrings, which she had designed herself caught the light with its finely cut crystals. She didn't bother with such things as make up unless she felt like it, and would often go out with her face bare, or with only the slightest hint of lip gloss.
Mari was heavily influenced by her mother's fairy tales when she was a lot younger, and she still secretly believes in fairies despite being 22 years old. Mari wasn't sure why, but she knew that something more magical always lurked beneath the surface of this mundane and boring world.
Right now, Mari was rummaging through her drawer (and messing up part of her room in the process, as she carelessly tossed things across her room.) She didn't quite know what she was looking for, but her instinct told her it was there, and it had a lot to do with Sho's earlier problem...
Superpowers.... superpowers
Maybe my brother's an alien...
Why does Sho have superpowers?
Oh my god...
The answer stared Mari in the face and she found it in one of her earliest scrap books, which she made back when she was just six years old. On the third page, an elastic bandage which had never been used was placed behind a transparent plastic cover and framed with pink construction paper that was drawn with purple hearts and blue butterflies. Below the small frame, the words: " My brother's secret " was scrawled in big bold letters with a red crayon...
She and her brother were out playing in the garden. Back then, Keichi had still been a baby and spent most of his time cradled in his mother's arms. Sunny afternoons were usually spent playing tag, or climbing trees, sometimes it included capturing interesting insects or playing with the fish in the small pond. It was almost dinnertime and Mari had been up in a tree with her nose buried in her mother's latest fairytale while Sho was collecting beetles and placing them in match boxes. When one of their servants had called them for dinner, Mari tried to get down from the tree, and in her rush, slipped and fell down, scraping her knee in the process.
Sho was running towards the house when he heard his sister scream...
"Mari! Hurry up, mom's waiting"
"Shooo... my knee, it hurts!" Mari wailed, sobbing. Her small hands, filthy with the moist and nearly muddy soil, rubbed her eyes.
"What happened?" Sho asked, kneeling down and placing the small box of beetles beside him as he began to examine Mari's knee.
"I don't know but it stings..." Mari cried some more. "Make it go away..."
"Oh no, what do I do?" Sho scratched his head, starting to panic as Mari's wails grew louder. "Okay, okay. Don't worry. I'll do something" Sho searched his pockets and found a small elastic bandage which was still in its wrapper. He kept this just in case he ever hurt himself.
"Shooo!" Mari was about to throw a tantrum.
Sho removed the bandage from its wrapping, but in his panic, had forgotten to remove the paper strips. He placed the bandage on Mari's knee, but got quite frustrated when it didn't stick.
"Stupid bandage!" Sho exclaimed, trying to peel the paper off. It was starting to get dark
"Sho... keep your hands on my knee. They're nice and warm." Mari said, her sobbing subsided. Her little hands grabbed one of Sho's hands and pressed it to her knee.
"But..." Sho was about to protest and explain to his sister, when Mari made a face that said she will cry very, very loudly if he didn't do exactly as she wanted. "Oh... okay." Sho scratched his head with his free hand and let Mari do as she wished.
After a few minutes, when Mari was satisfied, she finally let go of Sho's hand.
"Sho! Look, no more!" Mari giggled happily.
"No more what?"
"No more!" she said as her little hands grabbed the unused bandage from Sho. "It's mine now, 'kay?" Mari smiled, placing the unused bandage in her pocket. "Let's go. Dinner time."
"O-okay..." Sho was confused. "Mari, how did you do it?"
"I didn't do anything. It was your hands, they're magic!" Mari said, her problem forgotten as she cradled Sho's hand in her own and pulling her older brother toward the house.
"What? But that doesn't make sense!"
"Kids, dinner time! Hurry up!" Their mother yelled.
"Sho..." Mari stopped abruptly, looking at Sho with imploring eyes.
"Yes?"
"Piggy back!"
"Oh, okay..." Sho obliged by carrying Mari on his back, any further speculation on the incident forgotten after dinner.
Mari, however had been excited enough that night and was all too eager to finish her food. It was then, when she was excused from the table that she rushed to her bedroom, locked the door and began working on her scrap book...
As the years went by, memories became blurred, some had faded, others rewritten. Anything magical or fantastic had been written off as mere childhood fantasy or the result of an overactive imagination. As Mari and Sho grew older they had inevitably forgotten about that small incident which linked Sho with past life.
******
"Sho, Sho, Sho!" Mari bounded out of her bedroom, clutching the nearly dilapidated scrapbook to her chest as she headed straight to the living area where Sho was carrying on an awkward conversation with their mother.
"Mari, what is it?" Their mother asked.
"Um... it's Sho, um.. his foot... er. I need you to see this!" Mari held up her scrapbook.
"Sho...what about your foot? What is Mari talking about?"
Sho grew pale at the thought of answering her question.
"Come now, I know you aren't supposed to be here and I know that something's wrong when you smile so awkwardly when we talk." Their mother prodded.
"Um... well," Sho began to explain, "This morning... I had a nightmare, but it was more like a memory. I've had that nightmare three times now and now I can remember things much more clearly than I used to..."
Their mother's face suddenly grew serious and she also grew more attentive as Sho continued narrating.
"I don't know why, but anyway, I was so shaken up this morning that I woke up with a cold sweat," Sho continued, "so I went to the kitchen to have a drink of water. My hands were shaky so I spilled water all over the table and when I tried to hold the glass, it slipped from my fingers and shattered on the floor. The shards of glass cut my foot and it bled..."
"Go on..."
"I removed the splinters from my foot... and when I removed them, the wounds kind of healed by themselves, and I thought it was impossible, so I went to the bathroom and I washed it... but when I washed it, there was nothing no scratch, no scar, nothing at all."
Sho's mother nodded...
"Mari found me in the bathroom, and she decided to bring me here... Please, I know it sounds impossible but I'm not crazy." Sho finally broke down, a teardrop slipping from his eyes.
"That's all right, dear. I know you're not crazy." Sho's mother gently wrapped her arms around her son. "But I do need to know more about this dream, if you don't mind..."
Mari settled down on the armchair beside Sho curling one leg under the other as their mother began to ask questions...
"Sho, what was your dream about... Was there fire in your dream?"
At the mention of the word 'fire,' Sho visibly shivered. "Well, yes... some parts of my dream were nice, it was like one of those fairy tales that you read to us back then. There were castles and kings and queens... but towards the end, there was a lot of fire and when I wake up, it always feels as though I'm choking."
Sho's mother nodded. "That seems to explain at least some things..."
"What does this have to do with his foot?" Asked Mari, intrigued.
"Well Mari, before you were born, Sho used to have these awful nightmares. He used to wake up in the middle of the night, very scared, often bathed in cold sweat and he'd be crying. He also seemed to be very afraid of fire. He wouldn't even go near a lit candle..."
"Did he also tell you about his dreams when he was younger?" Mari asked.
"No, I couldn't get him to speak at all. When he woke up from his nightmares, he seemed to be speaking some strange language I couldn't make out."
Sho sat quietly as his mother and sister talked.
"So Mari, what's so important about that scrap book?" Their mother asked.
"Well... it doesn't really explain what happened to his foot, but it may have some clues." Mari replied, squeezing herself beside Sho, as she laid the scrap book down his lap, opening it to the page that had the unused bandage.
"This is... I remember this..." Sho trailed off, staring intently at the bandage as he tried to recall when he had last seen it.
***
TBC...
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