Fall Seven Times
He’d turned up in Seiryou two years ago. At first, Tsukiko had been generally quite uninterested. Just like the rest of the boys in Seiryou. But sometime last year, she began to notice him. Wonder about him. Why did he come? Why did he stay? And why in the name of all the gods did she care?
She had obviously missed her chance to introduce herself without sounding awkward.
Tsukiko sighed again. When would she get up the guts to just go and talk to him? Her friend Ashi teased her about him. Her friend Hotaru sympathized. Her friend Kiyoshi did both. But no one had given her any advice whatsoever. Threatening to tell him, bringing him up at every opportunity—but no one ever offered to introduce her. The fact that they were only acquaintances made it difficult to start a conversation that lasted any length of time. Tsukiko had been thrilled when they carried on a conversation for a full minute. But that had never happened again. “Hello,” “Could you help me with something?” and “I really like this artwork of yours” never got her anything more than a nod, a shrug, and a confused “er, thanks?”.
“I wish I could talk to him,” she said to no one. “I wish I could. And I wish he would reply.”
A songbird chirped somewhere above her. She looked up at the trees.
“Easy for you to say,” she grumbled. “All you need to worry about is how flashy he is.”
He wasn’t flashy. At least, she didn’t think so. In fact, he was rather subdued. Not like a songbird. He wasn’t talkative. At least, not with her. But the few times she’d heard him speak, she liked his voice. Silly thing, she thought. You’ll never get anywhere if you think like that.
On that thought, she sat up straight. “No,” she said aloud. “You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t even try. Do nothing, be nothing, become nothing. Wasn’t that how that went?”
She glanced over in the direction of the houses of Seiryou. All right, so perhaps he wasn’t perfect. Crazy, she’d heard. Crazy, with a smile and shake of the head. But…but so was she. She considered this. Perfect imperfection, perhaps. Perfect perfection was boring. The more she thought about it, the more determined she became. But…you can’t force someone to be your friend, she thought, sighing again.
Can I? Can I not? Should I? Should I not? Will I? …I will try.
He had a backbone, and so did she. Or, at least, she would get one. She stood up, took a deep breath, and began the long process of waiting as she walked back to the streets of Seiryou. A subject. Something they could both talk about. Something she could help him with, since she knew there was no way that he would ever offer to help her out of the blue. Then again, she probably wouldn’t have offered to help him out of the blue at first either.
She wondered if he knew more than he let on. He seemed completely oblivious sometimes, and she wasn’t exactly dropping subtle hints. But one of her journals had gone missing before the summer, and she still hadn’t found it, and autumn was descending upon her at an alarming rate. Confessing her crush via a lost journal hadn’t exactly been her plan. It was more than likely that he’d never even seen that journal. But it still made her feel rather like the butterflies had flown off Hotaru’s kimono and into her stomach when she thought about it.
She felt herself smile a little as she walked home. He and one of his friends were standing under a tree, talking about something. Grumbling, it sounded like. She felt her ears burn as she walked past. She decided that she would try to catch him alone. Hotaru had a crush on the boy with him. That wasn’t something that she felt the need to get involved in.
She nodded a little in passing. Just about all she ever managed. Perhaps this would be harder than she expected. She’d somehow met Shun simply by walking up to him and asking a question. Perhaps he was just a more social person. Or perhaps that was simply because she was younger, and everyone was doing that. There wasn’t much else you could do when suddenly plunged into a large group of people you don’t know.
***
Later that day, as the sun was beginning to sink below the distant hills and she was again returning home, she saw him walking toward what she supposed was his home. She was going that direction too. She took a deep breath and picked up her pace until she fell into step beside him, keenly aware of her burning ears. She shook like a leaf, but somehow managed to continue putting one foot in front of the other (without tripping).
Fall seven times…get up eight.
“Hi. How are you?”
She had obviously missed her chance to introduce herself without sounding awkward.
Tsukiko sighed again. When would she get up the guts to just go and talk to him? Her friend Ashi teased her about him. Her friend Hotaru sympathized. Her friend Kiyoshi did both. But no one had given her any advice whatsoever. Threatening to tell him, bringing him up at every opportunity—but no one ever offered to introduce her. The fact that they were only acquaintances made it difficult to start a conversation that lasted any length of time. Tsukiko had been thrilled when they carried on a conversation for a full minute. But that had never happened again. “Hello,” “Could you help me with something?” and “I really like this artwork of yours” never got her anything more than a nod, a shrug, and a confused “er, thanks?”.
“I wish I could talk to him,” she said to no one. “I wish I could. And I wish he would reply.”
A songbird chirped somewhere above her. She looked up at the trees.
“Easy for you to say,” she grumbled. “All you need to worry about is how flashy he is.”
He wasn’t flashy. At least, she didn’t think so. In fact, he was rather subdued. Not like a songbird. He wasn’t talkative. At least, not with her. But the few times she’d heard him speak, she liked his voice. Silly thing, she thought. You’ll never get anywhere if you think like that.
On that thought, she sat up straight. “No,” she said aloud. “You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t even try. Do nothing, be nothing, become nothing. Wasn’t that how that went?”
She glanced over in the direction of the houses of Seiryou. All right, so perhaps he wasn’t perfect. Crazy, she’d heard. Crazy, with a smile and shake of the head. But…but so was she. She considered this. Perfect imperfection, perhaps. Perfect perfection was boring. The more she thought about it, the more determined she became. But…you can’t force someone to be your friend, she thought, sighing again.
Can I? Can I not? Should I? Should I not? Will I? …I will try.
He had a backbone, and so did she. Or, at least, she would get one. She stood up, took a deep breath, and began the long process of waiting as she walked back to the streets of Seiryou. A subject. Something they could both talk about. Something she could help him with, since she knew there was no way that he would ever offer to help her out of the blue. Then again, she probably wouldn’t have offered to help him out of the blue at first either.
She wondered if he knew more than he let on. He seemed completely oblivious sometimes, and she wasn’t exactly dropping subtle hints. But one of her journals had gone missing before the summer, and she still hadn’t found it, and autumn was descending upon her at an alarming rate. Confessing her crush via a lost journal hadn’t exactly been her plan. It was more than likely that he’d never even seen that journal. But it still made her feel rather like the butterflies had flown off Hotaru’s kimono and into her stomach when she thought about it.
She felt herself smile a little as she walked home. He and one of his friends were standing under a tree, talking about something. Grumbling, it sounded like. She felt her ears burn as she walked past. She decided that she would try to catch him alone. Hotaru had a crush on the boy with him. That wasn’t something that she felt the need to get involved in.
She nodded a little in passing. Just about all she ever managed. Perhaps this would be harder than she expected. She’d somehow met Shun simply by walking up to him and asking a question. Perhaps he was just a more social person. Or perhaps that was simply because she was younger, and everyone was doing that. There wasn’t much else you could do when suddenly plunged into a large group of people you don’t know.
***
Later that day, as the sun was beginning to sink below the distant hills and she was again returning home, she saw him walking toward what she supposed was his home. She was going that direction too. She took a deep breath and picked up her pace until she fell into step beside him, keenly aware of her burning ears. She shook like a leaf, but somehow managed to continue putting one foot in front of the other (without tripping).
Fall seven times…get up eight.
“Hi. How are you?”