Day 1

Rain pitter-pattered on the roof of the shed, the cool breeze pushing my hair out of my face while I worked. Father had me helping build a new stool for Mrs. Tanashi. Her back was getting too old and creaky, he said, for the older, shorter one. I didn't mind the chore. The work was meticulous but calming and the sound of the rain certainly helped still my thoughts.

There was another sound, though. Quiet, slow, but enough to make me look up. I looked at her for the first time and my heart stopped. She was walking so slowly I was surprised I heard her at all. She had an umbrella that was resting on the top of her head and a book in her hands which she was reading while walking. My lips turned up in amusement. Forgetting myself, I stood and walked towards her despite the rain pouring down and soaking my hair to my face, my clothes to my skin.

"Hello there, Miss. Not every day is there someone new around here. And especially not someone reading in the rain." 

I admittedly tried to see what she was reading, but the cover was just black material. I felt her gaze on me so I looked up, meeting her shocking blue eyes with my own dull brown ones. My mouth went dry as she blinked slowly, a small smile forming on her lips and her already rosy cheeks darkening even more.

Without closing her book, she spoke, tilting the umbrella up enough for us to see each other comfortably. "Oh, uh, hi." She seemed lost for words, but I wanted to hear more of her voice, which was softer than the rain.

"I'm Satoshi. What brings you to the outskirts of Hayakawa?" He raised his arms to indicate the area around them, the rain now streaming down his face so much it was hard to keep his eyes open.

As if startled out of something, she gently but quickly closed her book and held it close to her chest before stepping closer to me and putting the umbrella over the two of us. “Are you crazy? You’ll get a cold or something.” She laughed softly, shaking her head at him which only had him grinning more. Her laugh was magical. Glancing around as if realizing where she was for the first time, she bit her lip. “Uh…I’m not sure. I guess I just got caught up reading.” She looked down to her rubber-boots. “These feet like to take me places when I’m not paying attention, it seems.” 

I watched her lips move while she spoke and would have missed all of her words if her voice wasn’t so enchanting. Blinking the water from my eyes, I looked up to the umbrella. “Thank you.” Then my eyes looked right back at hers, my heart pounding. I wanted so badly to tell her how beautiful she was but my father had taught me to be careful with my words. It would be impolite to be so blunt. Goodness, it was hard. “So, you are visiting?” 

Her eyes got sad and I suddenly felt bad for speaking, though I wasn’t sure why I should be. “Not really…” her voice trailed off and she slid her book into the brown messenger bag hanging at her side. I hadn’t noticed it before. “My family has some old land that we are staying at for a while.” Her eyes got distant for a moment before she turned her smiling face back to me as if nothing had happened. “You live here?”

Taking the hint, I ignored her emotional slip. “I have lived here my whole live. Was born in that house.” I pointed to my family home, screwing up my face a bit. “Though, you probably didn’t want that image.” She laughed and it was as if my whole world shattered with the purity of the sound. I wanted to reach out and touch her face but I held back, knowing how improper that would be. My father would cut my hand off if he found out. I realized that I wanted to spend all day with her, get to know her. Nodding back to the shed, I did the only thing I could think of. “Would you like some tea? I need a break anyway.” Her nod had my stomach flipping and I walked out from the umbrella without thinking, only to hear her footsteps hurrying behind me as she tired to keep the umbrella over us both. 

When we entered the shed, she closed the umbrella and shook it off outside before leaning it against the wall. I hung the kettle over the smelting fire as I usually did and reached for the ornate wooden box that held the tea leaves. I also pulled out two very ordinary mugs. She stood to the side watching me, setting my nerves on fire. Taking the container, I stepped towards her and held it out. “Does it smell good?” Holding her hair back, she leaned in and took a slow breath, a smile forming on her lips.

“That smells lovely. Is it Jasmine?” her Japanese had a funny accent to it and her light skin shone in the fire light clearer than it had outside.

“Where are you from? You don’t look or sound Japanese.”

One of her eyebrows lifted, causing a smile to return to my lips. “I’m only part Japanese. Grew up in England. Japanese is not my first language. I’m sorry if I make mistakes. Please correct me if I do.” She smiled genuinely. 

“I’m impressed with your honesty and humility. That is very Japanese of you.” We both laughed and I grabbed a rag from the wall to dry my hair and face with. “What brought you back here?” I wasn’t sure if I should broach the subject, but I figured it was worth a try.

She ran a hand through her hair and pulled it over her shoulder, watching her fingers play with it. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out while I tried to steady my hands to scoop the tea leaves without spilling. “Well, that’s kind of complicated.” 

She didn’t offer anything else so I decided to change the subject. “How long have you been here? I haven’t seen you around. It’s a small place and someone as beautiful as you would be hard to miss.” I smiled warmly at her, unable to keep it in any longer. Her cheeks flared a bit just as the kettle started squealing. I moved to take it off the fire and pour the water, forgetting myself yet again and grabbing the kettle without using the rag. “Ouch!” I hissed, pulling my hand back. She was there in a heartbeat, my hand in both of hers as she blew on it. I blinked at her, my heart racing. 

“Ooh, that is going to sting,” she whispered and reached into her bag, her arm going farther in than I thought was possible but I just chalked it up to being flustered, didn’t think much of it. She pulled out a small pot of cream and opened it without hesitation. Taking a bit of the lotion on her fingers, she held my hand with her left and lightly applied the cream to my palm. It was immediately soothing. My fingers slowly curled around her hand, her breath catching, filling the room with silence. She stared at our hands a minute while I stared at her before her eyes suddenly met mine and she pulled away, clearing her throat. “Here, let me.” She reached for the rag and lifted the kettle, which I only then realized was still hissing, and poured the hot water over the leaves. I watched her movements, stuck in my place. 

“My family and I just arrived last night.” She answered my question as if no time had passed since I’d asked it. She set the kettle down and turned back to me, meeting my eyes. “It is beautiful here.” Her voice sounded sad so I stepped towards her, placing my hand on her shoulder. My brain had me immediately pulling it back as if it should hurt from the burn, but it didn’t. I stared at it a moment, my brows pulled together in confusion, before her voice filled my ears. “Oh, the lotion is a family remedy. It, uh…eases burns and helps the healing process.” She suddenly looked sheepish and rather like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

I laughed. “Alright, well, thank you very much.” This new girl was a mystery. 

We talked over tea. She asked many questions about the village and the people here. There weren’t too many people our age, I told her. Most families moved away from the village as soon as they could, craving city life and jobs. The majority of the population were seniors. The school was run by the same Mrs. Tanashi I was building the stool for, an old woman who was getting more senile every year; there were only six students anyhow so it didn’t really matter, though of course if they were to ever leave Hayakawa they would need more skills than they had. She immediately offered to help tutor so I gave her the directions to the old woman’s house to set something up. She asked what there was to do and I promised to take her on some tours when the rain stopped. The afternoon sped past, the rain unceasing. 

“I suppose you should head home. Your parents must be worried.” 

She glanced outside, her head tilting toward the direction she came and nodded. “Um…I have to admit that I am not sure which house is mine.” 

My eyebrows raised and I gave a laugh, rubbing my neck with the hand that should have been burnt but felt just like normal, if not even a little better than normal. “Well, I will walk with you then.”

Her beautiful blue eyes met mine, her face in a smile. “Thank you. But I don’t want to take away from your work. I’ve already extended your break far longer than it should have been.” Her face lit up in a smile.

“I want to be sure you get home safe. Not a lot is around here so you could easily get lost.” I was sure she knew it was complete nonsense—there wasn’t even a highway that came through here so following the road should be pretty easy—but she nodded and reached for her umbrella and bag, slinging the latter over her shoulder.

My hand found her wrist and I slid it down slowly over her hand to take the umbrella from her, the whole while watching her face. At first, she froze and I thought she was going to pull away, but something made her relax, though she still didn’t move. When I had the umbrella, I slowly licked my lips as I watched her slowly draw in a breath neither of us realized she’d been holding. I wanted so badly to kiss those lips, but I inhaled instead and smelled her scent. Lavender and mint. She smelled like lavender and mint and it was the most fantastic smell I could imagine. I couldn’t help it when my mind wandered to wondering if the rest of her would feel as soft as her hand, or if she would taste as good as she smelled. Calm yourself, I thought and opened the umbrella into the rain. “Shall we?” 

There were only so many houses in our village so I had a pretty good idea about which house it would be she was staying in. Sure enough, she slowed when we approached the driveway to the old property and gave a nod. “I think it’s this one.” 

I nodded back. “I’m not surprised. You know they say this house is haunted right?” She turned to look at me, her face full of amusement.

“Oh, do they?” She sounded like she knew something I didn’t.

“What, have you experienced the magic already?”

Her steps stilled and she looked at me—not with disbelief but more like wonder—and examined my face. Was she trying to figure out if I was lying?

Seemingly decided, she stepped to the bottom step of the small set of stairs that ascended to her front yard. “Thank you for your company and the tea. And thank you for walking me home. I’m sure I could have found my way, but it was nice to have you here.” She conveniently ignored my question, so I suppose what she’d decided seemed enough of an answer to her. 

“It was my pleasure. Maybe you’ll accidentally walk my way tomorrow as well?” I smiled smugly at her and tried to hand back the umbrella.

Shaking her hands, she tucked them in her pockets and stepped out from under the umbrella. “You have a much longer walk from here than I do. Take it. I’ll get it back tomorrow, maybe! Good night, Satoshi.” She smiled and bowed her head before turning and running towards her house. I saw a man who must have been her father standing at the door, holding it open for her. I gave a small wave but he just stared at me until he closed the door behind her.

A mystery, indeed. And I never even found out her name.