CHAPTER 2: CAIN
After Kida got out of the shower, we spent the rest of the day talking. Kida listened to hour after hour of my stories of growing up and life in the town.
“You’re a good listener Kida.” I commented during lunch. I had whipped together some Instant Ramen and Meso Soup, having nothing else left in the house to eat. I would have to go down to the store later.
“Well, when you can’t speak to people, you almost become a good listener by necessity.”
“I suppose. I guess I’d just thought you’d be wanting to make up for lost time.”
“Old habits die hard.”
Lunch took a long time, mainly because I was still a little disorientated by watching myself eat. Try eating a bowl of noodles whilst watching yourself in the mirror. You might get an inkling of what I was feeling. However, I didn’t want to say anything, because I was brought up to always be polite.
After the lunch things were put away, I went to find my coat.
“Where are you going?”
“We’re out of food. So unless you want last night’s leftovers for dinner, I need to go down to the store.”
“I’ll come,”
“You sure? It’ll only take a few minutes. It’s raining pretty hard still.”
“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind,”
I shrugged and went to find a spare raincoat. I found an old white one, which was large and hadn’t been used in a while, but was still wearable.
“Um, I haven’t any spare footwear Im afraid. Just these.”
The view switched to what I was holding in my hand. Big rubber boots. Pink.
“They’re fine. But whose are they?”
“Well they are mine, but I always thought they were blue. My brother told me they were blue.”
“I think he was playing a practical joke on you.”
“I’m gonna kill him. Uh, you can keep these if you want. They match your hair.”
“Thank You.”
We left the house and stepped out onto the street. It was still raining quite hard, but I took a moment to look at the street I had lived on practically all my life but hadn’t seen in years. The old shrine still was the most prominent feature at the top of the end of the town. Mrs. Kuroda had passed away a year back and the new occupants of her house across the street had finally gotten around to tidying her garden up. Ever since I could remember, it had been overgrown. I had helped tidy it up more than once during my youth to earn a bit of pocket money. Shinoi was the kind of town where everybody knew everybody else.
We started to head down the hill towards the store. The whole town was mainly composed of old traditional style buildings and the store was no exception. It hadn’t changed much since I’d lost my eyesight. We paused outside.
“Okay, we can’t tell anyone about our…situation. Because if one person in this town finds out, they’ll all find out. And it’ll just make life for us more difficult.”
“I understand.”
“So if anybody asks, I’ll say that you are a work colleague, that’s come round to discuss my latest article.”
“Okay. But what if they find out im mute?”
“Um…we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
We entered the store. The storeowner, Mr. Watanabe, had been working here for longer than I could remember. He was a kindly old man, always a smile for all his customers, always willing to help. He had always been old to me, but now I could see him again, he looked a lot older than the mental picture of how I had last seen him. A bit more ragged around the edges, a bit closer to retirement. But I knew the old man wouldn’t retire ever. He’d keep working till death took him. His voice, as kindly as ever, floated across to me now.
“Hi there Seraph. A pleasure to see you.”
“Hi Mr. Watanabe. How are you?”
“Oh, you know. Same old, same old. The knee is still giving me grief. But you know me. Im a fighter.” His gaze swung around until it looked like he was looking directly at me, but was in fact looking at Kida.
“Well now, whose this?”
“Um, this is Kida, a work colleague. From the newspaper.”
“Oh. Nice to meet you.” Kida bowed politely in reply.
“Um Kida, why don’t you go and look for the items. I just want to talk to Mr. Watanabe.”
“Okay.”
I leaned on the counter. As Kida pulled away, the second sight vanished.
“So old man. Terrible weather we’re having.”
“It’s always like this this time of year. My rheumatism is playing up again. But it won’t last long. But don’t change the subject.”
“What do you mean? She’s just a friend.”
“Don’t play coy. She’s a nice one. Doesn’t speak much, but you’ve picked up a nice one.”
“Well I wouldn’t know. I can’t exactly see you know.”
“You kids today. You of all people should know that looks are only a fraction of the picture. Now I consider myself to be an excellent judge of character and she’s just perfect for you. And there’s something else. A kind of…thread that binds you.”
“You’re not talking about that Red Ribbon of Fate crap are you?”
“No, no, there’s something there. I can’t quite explain it. It’s like you’re both joined somehow.”
I was silent for a moment. It was closer to the truth than he knew. We were joined, inexplicably, both supplementing a part of ourselves we had lost long ago.
Mr. Watanabe broke the silence.
“She’s very cute as well. It’s a pity you can’t see her.”
“I have a feeling I know what she’s like though.”
“You’ve always been sensitive to what others are like. I wish you both the best.”
The second sight returned as Kida walked up behind us.
“Is this the right stuff?”
She looked into the basket for me and I noted what she had picked up.
“Yes, Thank you.” I said, answering both Mr. Watanabe and Kida.
I pulled out my wallet and pulled out a couple of notes.
“Thank You. You take care now Seraph.”
“You too Mr. Watanabe. Let’s hope the storms let up soon.”
“They will. I feel it in my bones. Nice to meet you Kida,”
Kida’s hand appeared in my vision as she waved good-bye. As we left I could still hear Mr. Watanabe speaking to himself.
“Doesn’t speak much, but a perfect girl for Seraph,”
I felt myself blush as we walked back up the hill to my home.
* * *
We spent the rest of the day sitting on the veranda listening to the rain, chatting about things. It was still light when we both heard the gate open and as Kida looked over at the person entering, I recognised him as my brother.
It had been three years since I had seen him, he had been 19 years old then, not much older than I was now. He didn’t look much different, just more formal in a suit and a little worn out, after a hard days work and a long commute. His hair was a light brown, which he kept short, unlike my long hair, which I kept in a short ponytail. He looked over at us sitting on the veranda and his face creased as he tried to see if he recognised Kida.
“Who’s that?”
“That’s my brother, Cain Shinkai. He works in Shimizu, so he leaves early and gets home late.”
“Why doesn’t he live closer?”
“He worries about me. Plus the fact he likes living in a big house.”
“Hey Seraph,” Cain called over. I turned my head towards the sound of his voice, although my second sight through Kida was already focussed on him.
“Hey big brother. Good day?”
“Ah, the usual. The editor’s is getting a little testy because sales are down. We’ve got to boost sales somehow. Oh, by the way, have you got that article done?”
“Oh crap. I completely forgot.”
“Don’t worry about it. The festival had been cancelled. Something to do with one of the sponsors pulling out at the last minute. But it’s not like you to forget. Does it have something to do with the lovely young vision sitting next to you?”
“Hmm? Oh right, where are my manners. Bro, this is Kida. Kida, this is my brother, Cain.”
“Pleased to meet you.” He extended his hand, and she shook it.
“So where did you two meet?”
“She…is a visitor to the town.”
“Why is she wearing your clothes?”
“Um…hers were soaked by the rain. It got pretty torrential up here today.”
“I know, the train was almost cancelled this morning. So, Kida, where are you from.”
“Yokosuka.” I replied.
“Does she speak?”
“She’s mute.”
“Really?” His facial expression changed to that of suspicion
“So, tell me little brother, if she’s mute, how do you know all this? Its not like you can read sign language.”
“Um...uh…”
“Busted,” Kida realised my mistake.
“Okay, Im going to tell you, but you’re going to have to be silent until I’ve finished.” I started to explain, going through everything that had happened since I got up this morning. My brother sat there, rain running of his coat onto the veranda, quietly taking this in. When I had finished he looked at me and rubbed his chin.
“So let me get this straight. She arrived mysteriously on your doorstep this morning naked and soaking wet. And then you discovered that you’ve got some kind of mental connection that allows you to see through her eyes and her to speak into your mind. But it only works when you’re within five metres of each other.”
“That’s about it. I can prove it to you. You’ve got some leftover egg from your lunch on your suit.” I pointed to where there was a greasy stain on his suit. He looked at it in surprise and then looked at me.
“And something’s burning,”
“Really?” I sniffed the air.
“What?” Cain asked.
“Kida says there’s something burning.”
I got up and ran into the kitchen.
Kida was right behind me. Sure enough there was smoke poring from the oven.
“Oh man, my dinner!” I pulled the plug on the oven and popped the blackened remnants into the bin.
“Charred to a crisp.”
“Looks like we’re going to be eating the crab tonight then.”
“Aw, I was saving that for Sunday dinner.”
“Well its that or the noodles,” Kida told me, looking in the food cupboard.
“I’ll take the noodles thank you.”
“But we had noodles for lunch.”
“Alright, alright, we’ll have the crab. We’re just going to have to go shopping again.”
Kida turned and I saw that Cain was standing behind me. I turned so that I was facing him. Through the second sight, I could see the look of astonishment in his eyes.
“It’s really true, isn’t it.” He said, eyes wide.
“Yeah. Did you doubt me?”
“Initially…but of COURSE!” He stood up.
“What? What!?”
“I did this report ages ago on someone like you. The guy was deaf and the
other guy was blind, but they both claimed that they could use each other’s senses to complement their own…what did they call it? Um…Symbiosis! That was it. I didn’t believe them, but it was just like this. Wow. This is the scoop of the decade!”
“Whoa, slow down bro. We can’t let anyone find out about this.”
“Why not?!”
“ Because we’d have all these scientists wanting to study us. We’d be in all the papers, on television shows, we’d never have a moments peace. It would be hell.” I could see the realisation dawn in his eyes, but at the same time, there was disappointment as well.
“You’re right. It would be immoral and wrong of me to subject my own brother to all that. It would probably affect me as well. Kida, Im sorry. I got a bit carried away there.”
In my second sight Kida waved it off.
“It’s no big deal. Don’t worry about it.”
“Kida says it no big deal and says not to worry about it.”
“So how long is she going to be with us?”
“Until the rains go at the very least.”
“Well, as a gracious host, I invite you to dine with us and join us in some after dinner entertainment.”
Dinner turned out to be last nights leftovers as we were all to shattered from the day’s events to cook Crab and “after-dinner entertainment” turned out to be plunking down on the sofa and watching T.V.
“Oh man, it’s been so long since I’ve watched television.” I said as Kida and I set down together.
“You have to watch this show.” Cain said as he leapt onto the couch, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. “This is the funniest thing ever. It’s amazing what these people will do for a million yen. Wanna brew?” He added, cracking open a can of beer.
“No, Im good thanks.”
“Kida?” She shook her head.
“Oh well. All the more for me.”
We watched the game show, laughing as contestants did the stupidest stunts ever.
“He’s gonna fall.” A contestant was hanging onto this rope bridge for dear life, above a tank full of sludge. Another ball fired from a cannon bounced off him. He lost his grip…and everything went black. My brother yelled in delight and I heard the splash of sludge.
“Kida, why did you close your eyes? I missed it.”
No answer.
“Kida?” Suddenly a felt something rest against my arm and a snore reached my ears.
“Aw, she fell asleep.” My brother noted. “This mean you’re blind now?”
“For the while. She must be exhausted, poor thing.”
“We had better let her sleep,” Cain got off the couch and turned of the T.V. I let Kida rest against a cushion and put a blanket over her.
“We had better get to bed as well.”
“Yeah.”
We set off to our respective rooms, I doing so by following the sound of Cain’s footsteps.
“By the way big brother. Why are my boots pink?”
“Hmm? No they’re not, they’re blue.”
“You can’t lie to me any more.”
“Aww, come on, it was a joke.”
“Not very funny.”
“Like you would have noticed the difference.”
“It’s the principal of the matter…”
And so life continued.
* * *
