The rickety school bus bounced over the unpaved road leading up to Mt. Fuji. It’d been a long trip, and all the children riding inside were anxious to get out and stretch their aching legs. A young girl with black and red hair had had it with all their complaining.
“How much longer!”
“I’m hungry!”
It was endless! She just wanted to shake them all to death.
Haruka looked around her. She was sitting next to Satine, on the right side of the bus, three seats from the back, next to the window. As she peered out of it, she saw countless trees and shrubs slowly march their way past the bus. She wished it would stop. Haruka didn’t even know why she came on the trip. She much would’ve much rather stayed back and ditched school, maybe watch some TV, maybe annoy the neighbors with some loud music. But here she was, sitting on an old rickety school bus on its way to Mt. Fuji.
Haruka pulled her head away from the window and strained her black eyes around the bus. She found all of the people that she knew the names of: Otonashi, Hasaki, Mugen, Hawokuishibaru, Yuki and Stephen. These names she remembered as the ones who stared her down that day at the beginning of the year when she transferred schools.
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“Haruka, why don’t you come and introduce yourself to the class?” the teacher had asked.
“Nah, I’ll pass,” I had replied.
“Haruka, you will introduce yourself!”
“Really, it’s-”
“Do you want to go to the principal’s office young lady?!’
“Fine, whatever, I’ll do it...”
“Good.”
I got had gotten up in front of the class, and started in on a traditional introduction:
“Hey, I’m Haruka, I live here in Karakura Town-” I kept on like this for several minutes saying everything about myself that meant nothing. The kids just stared me down and gave me looks that said, “Would you shut up now?!” All the kids, that is, except Satine. That’s how we had become friends. Satine had listened faithfully, drinking in every little detail. The rest of the kids just fidgeted.
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A huge bump in the road brought Haruka back to the present.
“Ugh, I can’t take all this much longer...I need to get away from these whiners!” she mumbled under her breath. Satine didn’t seem to hear.
Haruka decided it best to just relax the rest of the way, and not think too much.
But of course, that was impossible. Thinking was the only thing one could do on a bus with a bunch of people who hated you and you hated right back. What will it be? She asked herself. Should I predict what happens next in my favorite show? Should I wonder what the name of my favorite band’s next album is going to be? Should I come up for an idea on that essay due next week? Nah, why would I do that essay anyway? It’s just a nuisance.
“Hey, Hyourin!” yelled a boy sitting two seats behind her. She turned her slender, pale head around to face him. He had brown hair, grey eyes, and rather large front teeth. The tan color of his skin was almost hidden by the huge mass of freckles that had apparently taken over his face.
“Excuse me?” she said rather politely, her deep black eyes boring a hole in that annoying freckled face.
“I said, ‘Hey Hyourin! What’s up with you today? You look like there’s nothing to say!” The boys around him started laughing hysterically at this, despite the fact that the sentence made not a strand of sense.
“Hmm...,” she said calmly, “you might do well to remember that my name is Haruka, and if you see fit to fail to remember that one more time, then I’ll overlook the fact that we’re on a moving school bus, and break your sorry, scrawny, annoying little excuse of a neck so fast that you won’t know what happened.” With that, she righted herself in her seat again and continued to stare calmly out the bus window.
Hyourin...
Haruka-Hyourin Tokoyami
Hyourin...
Asahi...
Chikai-Asahi Tokoyami
Asahi....
Brother...
...why?
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“Hyourin! Dinner’s ready!”
“Coming, *aniki!”
Haruka’s thoughts had led her back to the night her brother had been killed. The night the only one she had ever allowed to call her Hyourin was taken from her forever.
I ran into the dining room and sat down at our small table. I remembered every detail of my brother’s face. He had long black hair, like me, that he pulled into a neat ponytail that ran down his back straight to his waist. His dress was always conservative: a tan t-shirt and jeans. He had smiling green eyes that seemed to make everything alright, as long as you stared into them. His skin was pale, just like the skin of the rest of my family members, dead or living. And, his nose and mouth were delicate, almost feminine, but still masculine enough to make him devilishly handsome.
We ate in silence that night, though now, I wish we had talked more. After everything had been put away, he announced he was going to get us ice cream for dessert. He never came home.
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Haruka looked down at her thin, pale hands. Her black cargo pants made them seem even whiter. She then stared at her reflection in the bus window. Pale, thin face, pale, thin arms, all the more accented by her complete black attire. But, Haruka was proud of her complexion. It made her a true Tokoyami.
Satine then nudged her to let her know they were getting close to their destination.
*aniki means “elder” or “older brother”
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