Mangos and Oranges

Mangoes and Oranges

New life in Ohara






Mizu Akiyama rolled over in bed, her arms moving about as the sunlight peeped through her dark curtains. She slowly opened her eyes feeling her beagle up against her back. The dog snored soundly as she began to push the creature off of her spine. The extra weight added to a good deal of pressure in the wrong places. Mizu rubbed her eyes, her mind thinking about the dream she had had during the night.

I was on a trip with my family and we were riding in a car. I don’t remember where we were going, but there was a guy sitting next to me in the car. At first, I was shy towards him and tried to ignore him, but he smiled at me. I kept watching him thinking how unusual he was, yet he was kind to me, despite his appearance. He wore a white shirt. Simple enough, but I could see the half sleeve of tattoos on his right arm. At one point, his shirt was off and I could see the other tattoos on his chest, right abdomen and left arm. He was so handsome.

The dream was so vivid. I felt his hand touch my head in the car. He pushed me towards him when I was scared at my mother driving the wrong way down a country road. We almost hit a tree. She yelled at me for being silly. He comforted me.

At another point, we stopped to check in at a motel or something. There was a small theme park near the road we were taking. The guy in my dream got out of the car and sat across from me at a table. He shared his food with me. When my parents got up to leave, I leaned into him and kissed his cheek delicately. Surprisingly, he kissed me back with a tender kiss that I cannot forget.

The rest of the dream is hazy. I remember we were all in one room trying to sleep in separate beds. I found myself trying to get closer to him, but he wasn’t there. In his place, was a large dog and a child who were watching me strangely. I had lost him. I looked around the room, but he was not there. Where had he gone? Why do my dreams always end up incomplete?

Mizu got out of the bed ruffling her long dark hair between her hands. She figured she was going to have to take a shower now. Her hair felt dry and dead. As she preceded to the shower, her beagle jumped off the bed to run through the house in a sprint. Mizu let the hot water flow over her body as she pressed her forehead against the wall. She couldn’t get the dream out of her head. Who exactly was the guy in her dream? It had seemed so real.

She stepped out of the shower with a striped towel around her wet body. Mizu heard her mother calling for her to let the dog out. She walked down the hallway with her wet feet padding on the floor. Her stepfather was already sitting at the low table reading a paper as he smoked a cigar. Mizu shook her head. It was too early for tobacco smells drifting through the Japanese house. She whistled for her dog, Agaru, and pointed outside. The dog went willingly outside to chase a squirrel up one of the trees. The animal barked several times as she wagged her tail.

“Mizu, you need to get dressed and eat your
breakfast. Your train leaves in a little over an hour. We still have to take you to the station,” Mother said from the kitchen. She wiped her hands on a towel before she started to clean up the cooking utensils.

Mizu nodded her head. Her mind was occupied briefly on the night before. She went back to her room to get dressed. Mizu looked at herself in the mirror as she stood wearing jeans, her striped fuzzy socks, and a green shirt with long white sleeves. Mizu had finished with high school and graduated several months ago. She had been taking the time to find freedom from her busy every day schedule before starting college. Now she was moving to another town in order to work. It had been difficult to convince her overbearing parents to let her go. She had to find herself.

She took one last look at her room before she grabbed her suitcase. Mizu was off to another part of Japan to experience life as she had never known it. She wondered if she would make any friends for the first time in her life. Mizu headed out of the door for the waiting car outside. Only time would tell.
************************************************************************
Mizu watched the trees move past the train as she leaned her head against the window. She had been reading a book to pass the time, but her eyes had grown tired from the text. Her eyes felt heavy as the train moved along the track. Soon she fell asleep.

Mizu seemed to be sitting above the water, her body moving along the surface. She reached her hand over to trail her fingers in it. The water around her moved as she kept going forward. She lifted her head up to see the dark sky overhead with stars showing. However, down below, it was day. Mizu didn’t know where she was going. Soon her body was moving over grass as if the water was a hallucination.

Before she knew it, her dream shifted to where she was searching the island she was on. Her hands moved tall grasses out of the way. Who was she searching for? Mizu’s feet led her to stone steps leading up a mountain she hadn’t noticed. As she walked up the steps, lights started to appear on the sides.

The area around her became dark as night pressed down. Crickets chirped amongst the bushes forgotten by time. Her eyes scanned ahead to see someone waiting for her. She stopped a few steps below. The clothes were the same. She knew this person. Mizu wasn’t afraid, but rather unsure. The man held his hand out to her. She cautiously took it. Mizu’s eyes befell upon the smile from the man with the strange tattoos.

“Next stop, Ohara station,” the conductor yelled throughout the box car. “Everyone, next stop Ohara,” he repeated before he moved on his way. The young man passed Mizu who was waking up from her dream.

Next stop Ohara ? That’s my stop. She rubbed her eyes trying to wake herself up. Mizu turned her head to look out the window. Twilight was occurring outside.

The train rolled into the station with a which and hiss from the brakes on its wheels. Mizu Akiyama stepped off the step with her bit of luggage. She moved away from the entrance to allow others to depart. The station appeared old, but it had a bit of charm to it. She looked around at the cobwebs hanging from lights that dangled. A moth fluttered its wings around the light bulb mistaking it for the sun. She soon heard the train conductor calling for other people who were departing to get on the train. Mizu walked over to sit on a wooden bench with her luggage in her lap.

As the train rolled away into the night, she sat alone wondering when her ride was coming to get her. I forgot to wear my watch. Darn it. Mizu pulled her sleeve back down. She noticed a man crouched over banging his hand against an old newspaper machine. Was he waiting here for someone too? “Excuse me, do you happen to know what time it is?”

Mizu saw the man bang the machine again. Had she not spoken loud enough for him to hear? Mizu shouted, “Do you happen to know what time it is?”

Hinata Hisakawa tensed his shoulders as the woman sitting on the bench shouted at him. He had been trying to ignore her. It wasn’t his custom to be familiar with train passengers. “Lady, I don’t wear a watch,” he said turning his head to look at her. Hinata froze. The woman was young. She appeared to be dressed rather comfortable for someone traveling. He noticed the look on her face was that of shock and shyness. She was checking him out.

He saw her eyes move up from his rough worn pants to his tattered shirt. Hinata turned his head away when her eyes stopped at his arms. He was wearing extra long sleeves under a t-shirt. His fingers poked out halfway. Hinata figured that was odd to her, especially since it was winter. He wasn’t wearing a coat, or the proper clothes for the season. “There’s a clock to your right,” he said as he stood.

Mizu glanced at the clock, but went straight back to looking at the man. He was handsome, but there was something quirky about him that she couldn’t place. That was, until she heard someone yelling.

“Hinata, have you finished breaking into the paper machine yet? I want my paper,” a small old man said as he rounded the corner. “How long does it take to break that contraption? Move aside, I’ll do it myself,” he said swinging his cane over his head as if he was about to stop an attacker.

Hinata waved his hands embarrassingly as the girl on the bench watched them. “No, Ryota, the manager will come out and call the police like last time!” He pulled the old man back as he waved his cane over his head. “We’ll just have to try another machine!”

“This machine stole my money! It should be beat to death and torn to pieces like the foul creature it is,” Ryota shouted. He struggled against Hinata’s grip.

The manager of the train station stood with her hands on her hips eying the pair before her. The noise had caused her to come out of her office. It was too late at night for her to be dealing with this sort of thing. “I have told the both of you time and time again that if you came back to my paper machine, I’d have you both in jail!”

Ryota’s eyes widened. He scurried around Hinata making a run for it. “Time to go, Hinata!” He leapt off the platform, his tattered cape flying into the air. “Every man for himself, that’s what I say!” Ryota ran off into the distance away from the train station.

Hinata growled under his breath. “Ryota, you cheat!” He glanced at the woman on the bench who was still watching them. Hinata panicked. He took off running after Ryota, as if he knew exactly where the old man was going.

Mizu covered her mouth as the manager went back into the office. She continued to wait for her ride to the apartment building. However, Mizu sat for hours without a word from anyone. Soon, she got up. Mizu walked over to the train station manager. “Excuse me, do you happen to know where Tokodeki Apartments is?”

“Tokodeki Apartments?” The manager took out her map of Ohara. She scanned it with her finger checking the listings of buildings around the area. “It’s about five kilometers from here.”

“Thank you,” Mizu said getting a copy of the map from the manager. She had no choice but to walk the road. Her ride had forgotten about her.
*****************************************************
Yuuma Fukai drove down the dark road by himself, his eyes scanning for deer. Up ahead he saw a young woman carrying a suitcase walking along the highway. He slowed down the car. The woman seemed surprise to see a car coming up the road at this time of night. He rolled down the window. “Are you lost? The mountain roads are slippery. It’s dangerous for you to be walking alone.”

Mizu looked up the road and down. She looked back at the young man in the car. He appeared pale to her. “My ride never came for me at the train station.”

“Oh, so are you visiting someone? I can take you wherever you need to go. Please,” Yuuma said opening the door beside him. “It’s a lot warmer in the car. I won’t bite you.”

Mizu nodded slowly. It was either she freeze walking, or take upon the stranger’s kindness. She got into the car and closed the door with a soft click. “Thank you. I haven’t seen too many people in this town.”

“Well, tourist season is in the summer and fall. You’re here in the winter. Most of the families stay indoors. You’re also coming from the train station. Not too many travelers this time of year,” Yuuma said as he started to move the car forward. “Where can I take you?”

“Tokodeki Apartments. I have a map,” Mizu offered the driver, but he only shook his head.

“I know where it is,” Yuuma said with a smile. “I have a friend who lives there as well. Oh, I’m sorry. I probably sound like a rude stranger. I’m Yuuma Fukai. I’m originally from Hokkaido, but I moved up here several years ago to take in the fresh air.”

Fresh air? Mizu found herself asking a question before she could stop herself, “Are you ill?” Mizu blushed and shook her head looking away. “I’m sorry! That was rude of me.”

“It’s not a problem,” Yuuma said moving his head so his white hair was out of his line of sight. “It’s better to be open with people than to live in false presences. I have Leukemia,” he stated as if the mere mention of it to him was nothing.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Have you had it long?” Mizu covered her mouth again. “I’m really sorry! I come from a family where studying and questions are part of my life. So I went ahead and asked without thinking of the consequences! I terribly sorry!”

Yuuma laughed lightly at the woman. “You don’t have to be sorry. Studying is a good hobby to have. It’s how you learn. Too bad Hinata doesn’t have that approach.”
Mizu looked at him oddly as the car started to slow down. She put her hand on the handle of the door. It was starting to sprinkle. “Thank you so much for the ride. I appreciate it,” she said as she opened the door. Mizu retrieved her luggage. She stood waving to the driver as he drove off into the night. She wondered if she’d ever see him again.
********************************************************************
Chiyoko Honda bowed low to the ground before the young woman who had entered the apartment building. “I am so sorry to have forgotten when your train would arrive. I have been ill all day with a cold. I must have fallen asleep,” she said bowing low to the ground again.

Mizu stood quite taken aback by the old woman’s gestures. She set her suitcase on the floor before taking her shoes off. “It’s alright. Someone gave me a ride. It’s not a big deal,” she said with a soft smile.

Chiyoko awed at the girl’s kind, tender face. If it had been any of her other tenants, she would have had a war at the front entrance. She took the girl’s cold hand and rubbed her small hands against it. “My, your hands are freezing! Come into the sitting area. We have a nice fireplace in there. In fact, some of our tenants are taking refuge in there from the coldness in their rooms,” she said leading onto the fact that some of the tenants couldn’t afford to increase their electric bill.

Mizu walked down the hall to a large room at the end of the hall. Chiyoko slid the shoji screen aside to reveal a wide open space. It was absolutely beautiful. The area was littered with three small tables for setting drinks and food upon. The pillows in the room were large for someone to sit on, or lean against. There was also a stack of blankets near the side of the wall. The fireplace was in the middle of the room crackling with a few people around it. Outside, she could see the snow starting to mix with the rain behind the large glass windows. It was breath taking.

Chiyoko clapped her hands to get the attention of the few in the room. “Everyone, we have a new tenant staying here with us. This is Mizu Akiyama. She’s starting her job at the antique shop not far from here. Let’s all get along and be hospitable.” She moved over to check the pantry in the room for mugs and supplies of hot cocoa.

Mizu bowed low to the few who were looking at her. “Pl-Pleased to meet all of you,” she said embarrassed at the formalities. She stood back up seeing a boy spring up to run over to the landlady.

“Chiyoko grandma, Hinata went out to get more firewood. He’s been gone a long time,” Daichi said as he tugged her skirt. He went to the window searching out for any signs of the man.

“Daichi, he’s only been gone a few minutes. He can take care of himself,” Kyo Miyamoto said from her seat near the fire. “I’m sorry. He’s quick to worry about his friend. He’s kind of taken after him. I’m Kyo Miyamoto. That is Daichi. We both live on the second floor in 2D.”

Emi looked up from her Ipod and waved to the young woman who had entered the room. She was laid back on a large bean bag with her feet up looking at a magazine she had borrowed from Kyo. “Emi Wakahisa,” she said before going back to her reading. She flipped through the pages trying to find the article about resolutions regarding the new year.

Riku typed endlessly on his laptop trying to catch up on his paper for his course. He didn’t bother to look up, thinking formalities were useless since most tenants didn’t stay long at the apartment complex. “Riku Kita,” he said nonchalantly before resuming surfing the internet for research material. “And that strange little devil who is eying you behind the door, is Noburu Mori.”

Mizu turned around to see a small man who was relatively thin searching her backside. She yelped surprised at his appearance. He reminded of the gremlins her mother used to tell her about in childhood stories.

“Noburu, it’s impolite to stare a woman from that end,” Chiyoko said as she gestured him to walk around Mizu. “Go sit down. We’ll have hot cocoa once Hinata comes back with the firewood.”

Noburu moved slowly around the young woman with loathing eyes. He smiled at her, or tried, but it was awkward for him. Noburu freaked out at the woman staring at him and moved even faster, dragging one of his legs as if he were the humpback of Notre Dame.

Daichi bounced up and down at the window. “Hinata’s back!” He ran out of the room at a high pace, his feet moving swiftly. Daichi heard his mother yell at him to wait.

Mizu took a seat next to Kyo, she seemed to be one of the few who had any sense in the place. She was offered a blanket to wrap around her legs. Mizu took it. “Thank you,” she said. The fireplace was indeed a nice addition to the welcoming area.

Kenshin Nakahara moved around Daichi as the boy talked his head off to Hinata. He was carrying a load of firewood in. “It looks like everyone is nice and toasty. The weather outside is getting bad. We should have snow in the morning,” he said putting the wood pile down near the pantry away from the fire.

“You must have met Hinata outside,” Chiyoko said as she started to serve a tray loaded with hot cocoa to the tenants.

“Yeah, he has several piles stacked outside. I guess he determined the weather was going to be bad later. It’s always good to have extra firewood. I suppose tomorrow I can build you a holding place for it,” Kenshin offered with a smile. He looked around to room to single out Kyo. The woman he was interested in, was sitting near a girl with long dark hair. They were talking amongst themselves. “Do we have a new tenant this evening?”

“Oh, yes, Mizu, this is Kenshin Nakahara. He lives on the 3rd floor in the back where Hinata lives,” Chiyoko said as she introduced them. She put two cups of cocoa on the table for Mizu and Kyo.

Kyo turned her head to ignore Kenshin smiling at her to correct Daichi. “Daichi, he can’t get in the door with you clinging to him like that. Move aside,” she ordered.

Kenshin retreated to another area of the room. He could sense the cold shoulder vibrating off of Kyo. The woman didn’t regard him as a good natured guy. She saw him as a threat. He couldn’t blame her with her horrible divorce that she had just gone through. She had problems of her own.

Daichi grabbed some of the firewood from Hinata’s arms and ran over to the pile. He placed them down then went back for more. “Hinata, sit with me! We can play a game!”

Hinata staggered on his feet at Daichi’s excitement. He looked at Kyo for a split second to say something before his eyes befell upon the woman sitting next to her. It was the same woman he had seen at the train station earlier that evening. “It’s you,” he said not realizing what he was saying.

Mizu moved her eyes elsewhere trying to ignore the shock on his face. “Don’t you have anymore paper machines you want to break in to?” She let her comment float in the air before everyone around her got quiet.

Kyo looked from Hinata to Mizu. “You two know each other?” She saw the expression on Mizu’s face of disappointment. “And what is this about paper machines?”

Hinata sighed as he scratched his head. “Ryota was trying to get me to get his newspaper out of the machine at the train station. It took his money and refused to open. So the manager came out and threatened to call the police on us again. She was sitting on the bench waiting for here, I guess.”

“I’ve told you not to mess with Ryota, Hinata. He’s a crazy old man whose only going to get you in trouble,” Kyo said taking that sisterly tone of voice as she sipped her hot cocoa. She signaled Daichi to sit down. “You have half an hour before you have to go to bed. I suggest you play a quick game with Hinata.”

Daichi crawled over to Hinata’s leg as the man stood in front of the table. “Hinata, can we play poker? I like that game.”

“Teaching the kid gambling already,” Riku asked as he flicked his cigarette off into his ashtray. “Where are your morals?” He continued to type.

Kyo gave a warning glance to Riku. “I taught him how to play poker. It’s what my father taught me when I was young. I suggest you keep your mouth shut.”

Kenshin put his hands in the air. “Now, now, we have a new guest here. Tenant, I mean. We’re making a bad impression on her,” he said trying to get everyone to cool off.

Mizu got up from the table. “I think I’d like to find my room now,” she said to Chiyoko who was putting the tray back in the pantry. “Good night,” she said excusing herself.

Hinata placed his card down on the table as he watched Mizu walk out of the room. She’s just like everyone else around here. Judges me before she even knows me. His eyes stared at the table.

Daichi tugged his shirt. “Hinata, it’s your turn,” he said arousing the man from his blank stare. Hinata looked at him with an uncaring attitude. “It’s your turn,” he emphasized.

******************************************************
Mizu looked over the room she was in. It was a larger room than some of the others. She was located in 3A, right above Hinata’s apartment. He was in 1A. In the room, there was a small table for guests. Behind her was the entrance where shoes were placed. To her let was the small kitchen with counter space for cooking. To her right was a small bathroom with a shower. The toilet was on the left beside the bedroom. She walked towards the bedroom to inspect it.

Mizu moved the shoji screen aside. It was cold in here. This room hadn’t been rented in years, as Chiyoko had informed her. The last tenant had been a man who had moved back to Tokyo. She suspected everyone at Tokodeki was running from something. That’s probably why they are here. Everyone is running from their past, or present. She heard a crackle of thunder near the apartment complex. Mizu jumped back. The rain outside was running on the window mixing with the snow.

Mizu saw the flash of lightening again through the sky. A huge roar of thunder scared her so bad she screamed. The lights in her apartment went out. Mizu covered her ears and screamed again. She was afraid of the dark. It was a fear of hers she had had since she was a child.

Kenshin came running up the stairs with a flashlight the moment he had heard Mizu scream. It was normal for the lights to go out in a bad storm. He found Mizu hunkered over on the floor. He lightly touched her shoulder. The girl almost jumped out of her skin. “Mizu-san, it’s Kenshin. The lights have gone off. It always happens when we have a heavy storm. Are you alright?”

Mizu nodded with tears in her eyes. She was one of the few who believed monsters lurked in the darkness. “I know it’s shameful for someone my age to be scared of the dark.”

Kenshin helped her up. “No, it’s nothing to be shameful of. You’re in a new place with new people. I think Riku went to go check the main switch for the lights. Sometimes, it just flips.” Soon as he said it, the lights came back on. “See? You’ll be fine now.”

Mizu walked with Kenshin to the door. She thanked him again for his trouble before she laid her futon out on the tatami floor. Mizu figured, just for tonight, she would sleep with the lights on.