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CardCaptor Sakura: Touya
The thought occurs to me as I walk home from work: I never really grieved for her. She left and I simply pushed my pain to the side so as not to have to deal with it. My heart shattered and I just casually swept it into a corner and went about life as if nothing was different. As if she'd never existed in the first place. I busied myself with other things, other people, other lives. But now… I don't know how, but I managed to make it all day at school and then all evening at work without thinking about what I'd found out last night. About who else I'd found when looking for Sakura. About her. Kaho. For some crazy reason, a part of me wonders if she still likes me. Or if she would like the person I've become. But another part of me is simply astounded that she could so casually walk back into Tomoeda. Angry that with the flick of her hair she could make my very world shake apart again. It's been how long? With no calls. No letters. Not even a postcard that wished I was there. Not that I ever wanted any of that. At least not really. I just wanted her. But now? My life has been going along just fine, thank you very much, without her. And now she's back. Should I stop by the temple? It's on the way home. I want to see her again, right? But why? I was lonely when she left. And angry. Hurt. You'll have someone you like. Her own prophecy. And it hadn't come true. She left and I didn't have anyone. "Excuse me, young man." A soft voice. A tall man steps away from a darkened corner, and strangely enough my first thought is "lost tourist". As the man emerges fully from the shadows, I see my guess was wrong - the shabby clothing alerting me to his true purpose. And I don't need magic to know the poor man is hungry. "I don't want to bother you," the stranger's voice is thick with some foreign accent. I watch him carefully as he stops a few feet away and holds up a plastic bag. "I'm selling stuffed toys. Will you take a moment to look at what I have?" I arch an eyebrow. This is a new twist on begging. I stare at the man a moment and consider the possibilities. I don't sense anything bad from the man. In fact, he almost seems… familiar. "Do I know you?" Very familiar, but I can't quite place why. The stranger smiles, but his eyes don't seem happy. "I doubt it. I'm not usually on this side of town. I just had a feeling about today. That maybe my luck would change." He shifts his bag a bit, opening it as he steps closer to me. "Perhaps you have someone who would like a toy?" He's not lying- I can see the toys in his bag. I nod briefly since Sakura is always interested in new stuffies. Ignoring the voice of reason telling me to just walk on by, I give in to my basic desire to help a fellow human being and reach for the man's bag. I find myself looking through obviously second-hand toys and not seeing any that would appeal to the little monster back home. The silence is almost eerie and I try to make conversation while pawing through the menagerie. "You speak Japanese very well. How long have you lived here?" "A few years now." The stranger replies after a moment. "It's captured my heart." "Mm. It must be nice," I finally look up from the bag. "To know where your heart is." Handing the toys back, I reach into my pocket for some cash. He needs to eat - he's too thin. "There's nothing there that I want, but here." I hold the money out. He frowns, stares at the money a moment, then shakes his head. "No. There has to be… I know. I know just what you want." He rifles through the bag of toys as I wait with the money extended. Finally he grunts in triumph, pulling out a small toy. "I knew I'd find it." A small white rabbit clutching a crescent moon in its paws. I blink. A bunny? "I call him Snowy because he's so white. I've had him for a while and I've been looking for just the right person to give him to." The stranger takes my money and places the bunny in my hand instead. "Someone sewed the moon to him a long time ago, and you can just see where that's pulling at his fabric, but other than that he's okay." "This… this wasn't… " I look at the bunny, confused beyond all reason. "I didn't see this one when I looked through the rest." Snowy the bunny. The right person. Yukito. Someone I like, she'd said. "Well, the old bag was probably in the way." Kaho is an old bag? I look up with a glare only to see him pull a smaller plastic bag out of the bag of toys. "See?" he holds the smaller bag to his face and grins at me through the hole in the bottom. "I forgot this bag had a hole in it. He must have fallen through. Snowy was always there, you just didn't see him." He put the bag back in with the toys, a question drawing his grin into a frown. "You like Snowy, right? You do want him, don't you?" I look back to the toy in my hands. This is definitely turning out to be a very strange conversation. How exactly am I supposed to answer that question? You'll have someone you like. Do I like Yuki? Was that the question? And suddenly I know. Absolutely and beyond all doubt. The answer is right in my hands. "Yes, I think I…" I look up, but the man has gone. I look around, but there's no sign he was ever there. I turn and start again for home, smiling this time. Maybe I'll stop by Yuki's house instead of the temple. It may not be on the way, but it is where my heart is. |