Not a drabble.
This was supposed to be for the childhood challenge over on Fuda_100, but it's too long. And, I think, unavoidably too long -- if I fussed at it for longer, I could lose some words (and possibly add some extra polish, she said neurotically), but I can't cut enough to make the word count without losing the entire point of the thing.
So I'm posting it here, as is, only behind the tag so I don't clog up people's flists. 500 words, exactly.
“It’s Ukyou-chan,” Oriya says, and holds the phone out; and just as Oriya knew he would, Muraki drops his patented giant-cat-with-an-evil-disposition routine as abruptly as though he had flipped a switch. The change in his voice is subtle, but it’s enough to send Oriya’s thoughts racing back through the years. He closes his eyes, trying not to listen, and remembers:
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“I’m not going back,” Ukyou said. “They can’t make me. You don’t know - ”
They were on the Number 2 IRT, hurtling under the streets of New York: Ukyou’s father had been posted here for six months now, and they’d come to visit her: real Japanese friends, acceptable to her family here as they never would be at home. The subway rocked with its speed, and sounded like rattling chains and screaming ghosts; red and green lights came flashing out of the blackness and were gone; inside the car, they were surrounded by graffiti and torn flooring and dented seats. Ukyou loved the subway, took it everywhere she could, even though her father had made a car and driver available. And Oriya did know, at least as well as a boy could. In New York, Ukyou was almost free, almost a real person, almost not a girl.
“Then we’ll live here with you,” Kazutaka said instantly: as always, willing to join any game of make-believe.
She moved closer to Kazutaka, nestling into his side; but her eyes went to Oriya. “We’ll get an apartment at the Dakota,” she said. “We’ll be the happiest threesome in New York - “
“And the prettiest,” Kazutaka added.
“And we’ll all love each other forever,” Ukyou concluded triumphantly.
They could make her go back, though, Oriya thought. The three of them had no way to prevent it: no money, no potential guardians here. Everything Oriya would have was tied up in the family business. Kazutaka had serious money, but he wouldn’t be able to get to any of it until his nineteenth birthday. Ukyou, whose family could buy and sell both of theirs, had nothing that wasn’t controlled by somebody else, probably never would. And they were 14: no government would protect them from their families’ dreams for them.
We’ll never come back here, he thought, even as Ukyou and Kazutaka tossed ideas back and forth, building the picture of their future life together. Ukyou’s family would send her home, and keep her close. His own destiny waited for him in Kyoto, and the chains of tradition and loyalty binding him to it were too strong for him to break. Only Kazutaka was free; and Kazutaka, who thought he could make reality do his bidding if only he was forceful enough with it, would never abandon them. They were all trapped, and his friends were only pretending they couldn’t see the bars of the cage.
------------------------
They probably will all love each other forever, he thinks now, as Muraki puts the phone down. He only wishes that there were anything that he could do about it.
So I'm posting it here, as is, only behind the tag so I don't clog up people's flists. 500 words, exactly.
“It’s Ukyou-chan,” Oriya says, and holds the phone out; and just as Oriya knew he would, Muraki drops his patented giant-cat-with-an-evil-disposition routine as abruptly as though he had flipped a switch. The change in his voice is subtle, but it’s enough to send Oriya’s thoughts racing back through the years. He closes his eyes, trying not to listen, and remembers:
---------
“I’m not going back,” Ukyou said. “They can’t make me. You don’t know - ”
They were on the Number 2 IRT, hurtling under the streets of New York: Ukyou’s father had been posted here for six months now, and they’d come to visit her: real Japanese friends, acceptable to her family here as they never would be at home. The subway rocked with its speed, and sounded like rattling chains and screaming ghosts; red and green lights came flashing out of the blackness and were gone; inside the car, they were surrounded by graffiti and torn flooring and dented seats. Ukyou loved the subway, took it everywhere she could, even though her father had made a car and driver available. And Oriya did know, at least as well as a boy could. In New York, Ukyou was almost free, almost a real person, almost not a girl.
“Then we’ll live here with you,” Kazutaka said instantly: as always, willing to join any game of make-believe.
She moved closer to Kazutaka, nestling into his side; but her eyes went to Oriya. “We’ll get an apartment at the Dakota,” she said. “We’ll be the happiest threesome in New York - “
“And the prettiest,” Kazutaka added.
“And we’ll all love each other forever,” Ukyou concluded triumphantly.
They could make her go back, though, Oriya thought. The three of them had no way to prevent it: no money, no potential guardians here. Everything Oriya would have was tied up in the family business. Kazutaka had serious money, but he wouldn’t be able to get to any of it until his nineteenth birthday. Ukyou, whose family could buy and sell both of theirs, had nothing that wasn’t controlled by somebody else, probably never would. And they were 14: no government would protect them from their families’ dreams for them.
We’ll never come back here, he thought, even as Ukyou and Kazutaka tossed ideas back and forth, building the picture of their future life together. Ukyou’s family would send her home, and keep her close. His own destiny waited for him in Kyoto, and the chains of tradition and loyalty binding him to it were too strong for him to break. Only Kazutaka was free; and Kazutaka, who thought he could make reality do his bidding if only he was forceful enough with it, would never abandon them. They were all trapped, and his friends were only pretending they couldn’t see the bars of the cage.
------------------------
They probably will all love each other forever, he thinks now, as Muraki puts the phone down. He only wishes that there were anything that he could do about it.