Across the Sunset Chapter 1

“Sou-chan! Put that down!” I yelled, but I knew that there was no anger in my voice; only mock irritation. 

“Aya-nee! Over here!” I turned around and saw Sei-chan waving his arms at me to get my attention. Then he tried to balance a spoon on his nose. When he managed to do it for a second, I clapped for him.

“Good job Sei-chan!” I encouraged. He smiled brightly and tried to balance it again.

“Aya-nee, we’re not babies anymore, so you don’t have to treat him like one,” Sou-chan said matter of factly. I frowned.

“You’re still kids to me though,” I said. Sou-chan simply huffed and crossed his arms. I giggled. I couldn’t help it; they were both a year younger than me. 

“But you’re both just so…” before continuing I pulled them both into an hug, “adorable. You know?” 

“Yeah yeah…” they both mumbled together, and hugged me back.

4 years later…

Crap! I’m late for school! And I haven’t even had breakfast yet.

“Ayumi!” Someone called out to me. I spun around and noticed my best friend, Kazuki Chirono running towards me. “Let’s go get something to eat at the convenience store,” she panted.

“But we’re already late for class!” I complained.

“No we’re not,” she reassured, “The new students that are transferring in next fall are touring our campus today remember? So we start classes later.” I nodded, suddenly remembering this event. Well, at least we’re not late.

Later at the convenience store, we wandered around looking for a snack to eat on the way to school. I wanted some red bean bread so I snuck off to the bread section. There was only one left. I reached for it, but another hand collided into mine before I could touch it.

“Sorry,” I mumbled apologetically. “You can have it.” 

The boy just stared at me with wide eyes. For a long second, he didn’t move his eyes away from mine, and I just stared back. I noticed that he had pitch-black eyes and the two earrings on one of his ears that was just barely obscured by his long dark colored hair. 

I watched silently as the boy picked up the bread and gently placed it in my open hand. Then he disappeared behind a shelf before I could say anything. I rushed to the corner of it and searched frantically all over the place. I just wanted to thank him for giving the bread to me. He might’ve been hungry…but aside from that,  it felt like there was something…different about him, but I couldn’t quite grasp it.

.     .     .

“What? You’re leaving us, Aya-nee?” Sou-chan asked incredulously.

“Yes…my dad got a new job in Tokyo so we’re moving there…” I said sadly. 

“No! You can’t leave us!” Sei-chan cried. “What’s going to happen to us when you leave?” And without waiting for an answer he hugged me tightly.

“Sei-chan…”

“But…” Sou-chan began, “we’re not babies anymore…s-so…” his words came out all broken from the tears welling up in his big eyes. “so…we’ll be ok without you.”

“No we won’t!” Sei-chan interrupted. “I can’t live without Aya-nee!” Then he started to cry even harder into my shirt. 

“Sou-chan…Sei-chan…” I choked. “I’m going to miss you so much…I love you both ok? So don’t ever forget about me.”

“We won’t!” They said in unison. 

“Never!” Sei-chan shouted.

“Not in a billion years!” Sou-chan added. I gave them my most brilliant smile and one last hug. Then I pried their hands off me and walked away.

I tried hard not to look back, but then Sou-chan shouted, “Aya-nee! We’ll find you in Tokyo! We’ll work hard to get into your high school! So wait for us!”

I turned back and gave them my last smile. “Do your best!” I shouted back, and quickly disappeared out of their sight because I knew that if I saw them again, I wouldn’t be able to leave. 

.     .     .

“Hey Ayumi, have you seen the incoming freshmen this year? There’re some really hot guys!” Chiro squealed excitedly.

I laughed. “But they’re a year younger than us Chiro. Don’t you like older guys?”

Chiro gave me a haughty look, “But these guys are so cool, they don’t even look like they’re in middle school. Anyways, one of them has this really light brown hair, it’s almost blonde! And he has the prettiest eyes; I just can’t stop staring into them. The other one has black hair and the most intimidating look. He has piercings and everything! But he still looks pretty cool though…”

Without realizing it I had stopped listening to her, because right at that moment, both boys showed up and I immediately recognized the black haired one. He was standing a little off from the group, and gave off the feeling of wanting to be left alone. The other one was surrounded by a posse of both boys and girls following behind him. He must be a very social and outgoing guy. And I guess he’s pretty popular too, I thought. My eyes returned to the black haired boy. Chiro noticed this and asked me if I knew him.

“No, I just saw him in the convenience store this morning.”  I replied. As I was saying this, I didn’t notice our school’s own posse of popular people walking by. Mitsuko Koegawa, also known as the most beautiful and popular girl in school, was leading her regular group of friends towards the new freshmen. But of course she didn’t bother to say excuse me when she passed by. Instead, she simply shoved me into the ground. My bottom slammed onto the floor and my bag slipped away during the impact. Mitsuko didn’t even flinch. But before I knew it, somebody was already at my side. 

“Are you alright?” the boy asked. To my surprise, it was the popular middle school boy. 

“Yeah…” But as I tried to get up, it was obvious I wasn’t. “Ow…” I whimpered. “I think I sprained my ankle.”

Without a word the boy lifted me up in his strong arms. A small gasp went through the crowd of students around us as they watched him lift me up in a princess hold. I could see Mitsuko looking astonished at what she'd done. Without meaning to, she had lost her target boy just like that.

“Wait!” I yelped in surprise, “You really don’t need to do this! I’m fine!” I protested. 

“No you’re not. Please let me help you,” as he said that, he gave me a such a pleading look, I couldn’t refuse him. “Now let’s get you to the infirmary.”

“I’m coming too,” says a deeper voice behind us. We turned around to look at our unexpected visitor. It was the other tall middle school student. “I have her bag,” and he brought it up to prove it.

“Fine, let’s go then,” the blonde boy seemed to agree reluctantly, and together the three of us went away. I could’ve sworn that the crowd was parting a way for us. 

Up close, both of them looked really handsome. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have them helping a stranger like me. I wasn’t pretty like Mitsuko, so for the moment I just pretended like I was.

When we got to the infirmary, the nurse wasn’t in so the blonde boy set me down gently and began to take out some bandages and ointments. The black haired boy just leaned against the wall and watched me. I’ll admit that his stare felt very intense and uncomfortable, so I had no choice but to look away. But something kept pulling my gaze back to him, and I noticed that his eyes never wavered. 

The blonde boy finished with my ankle and said, “There. It’s all better now, Aya-nee.”

My head whipped around. “What did you just call me?”

“Aya-nee,” he repeated. “Don’t you remember me?” I stared at him blankly. No…it couldn’t be…

“Sei…chan?” I whispered.

“You remembered me, Aya-nee! For a moment I thought you forgot...” Sei-chan threw his arms around me as I gaped at him in astonishment. This was Sei-chan? That normally shy and quiet little boy from four years ago? He’s changed so much!

“Sei-chan…you’ve grown. A lot,” I managed, “I mean…I can’t believe this is actually you.” He nodded excitedly.

“Are you proud of me, Aya-nee? I worked hard to get into this school for you,” he said hopefully. I smiled proudly at him.

“Of course I am,” I choked back my tears. Could this be a dream? Me reuniting with Sei-chan after all these years? He hugged me harder and I wrapped my arms around him too. Yes, it really was him. Just a bigger, stronger, more dependant version of him. I gazed past his head and suddenly remembered that we weren’t alone. 

“Sei-chan…where’s Sou-chan?” I asked. Already, there was a small hopeful feeling that was beginning to well up inside me. Could it be…

“You mean you didn’t know? Sou…he’s…he’s gone.” 

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good story. I like the set-up of the story. Making the characters seem real with life and problems. I like the interaction and good conversation in this chapter. I did like the ending. You left a open ending. Thank you for the excellent chapter.
Coyote

[Myrmidon]

those breaks you have are kind of confusing. i wasnt sure if it was a flashback to when she was with sou and sei or what. i think instead of using those dots as breaks, you should write more of a transition into what you want it to be. that way readers would know what you're trying to say :o. or maybe its just me... just my suggestion i guess. :) hope it helps if anything.