May
soon joined Kenchi as he walked out. “Hey are you ready to grab the bus to your
house? Tena is keeping herself busy with
her new friends; she is still trying to get into the student council even after
the first day. She won’t be home until
later. I’ll join you to your
grandfather’s though.”
“That would be great. We’ll only be about an hour there. Then we can go to your place.” Kenchi kept
close to May as they walked out of the school.
Everyone there seemed excited to leave for the day. Kenchi couldn’t blame them, this day had
definitely been eventful, and it wasn’t even over yet. The two filed onto the bus among the
chattering classmates. They just walked
to the back and sat next to each other.
Kenchi thought it best to stay quiet until the bus was less crowded to
talk.
“Are we almost to our stop?” After
twenty five minutes of traveling, May asked the driver of the bus.
“Almost ma’am, we are to our last
stop in about five minutes.” The driver replied.
“I guess you’re a little anxious
aren’t you?” Kenchi asked.
“I guess I am. How far is it to your grandfather’s house?”
May asked politely.
“After we get dropped off it’s only
about half a mile down the road. The
house my grandfather lives in is very large and many of the rooms are empty or
they have stuff in them my grandfather doesn’t want anymore. I haven’t been through those rooms yet so I
don’t know what’s in them.” Kenchi explained.
“Maybe its part of your parent’s
history. Did you ever consider that?”
May asked.
“I really never thought about it much. That could give me a lot to think about. Oh, we’re here.” Kenchi’s eyes lit up as they
pulled up to the stop.
Kenchi and May got up together and
walked off the bus. He breathed deeply
when he smelled the country air. Even
though he liked New Tokyo, he preferred the country to the city. May walked in step with him as they started
their walk down the dusty gravel road.
The trees made for a canopy over them, creating a tree tunnel to walk
through. The sunlight shone through the
openings in the trees and created spider webs of light on the path. May’s hair shone with black and deep red in
her hair.
“I didn’t realize how you have red
in your hair. I thought it was just
plain black. Are you and Tena really
twins?”
“We truly are, unfortunately. Sometimes she shows a sweet quiet
personality, but for the most part she is loud and boisterous. She dyed her hair in response to our father
dying. Our mother hasn’t wanted to think
about him, she is taking it really hard though.” May’s eyes became sad.
“I’m sorry, I won’t mention the loss
of my parents, perhaps I can treat her like a mother I don’t have. Is that okay?” Kenchi held May’s hand.
“That’s fine; we could get closer
that way. My mother would view you as a
son and it won’t be as awkward for you coming over.” May smiled as she squeezed
Kenchi’s hand. She looked ahead and saw
a large dojo of a house. “Wow, is that your house?”
“It sure is, come on let’s hurry so
we can go to your place. I don’t like
spending time here a great deal. You’ll
see why.” Kenchi hurried them along to the front door. Both he and May took
their shoes off and slid the door open.
“Grandfather, I’m here!” Kenchi
called out. A short wrinkled man came
walking out from the kitchen.
“You’re late; I can’t do all this
myself.” The little man looked over at May and his eyes widened. “Oh, now I
see, you’re very pretty. I hope he holds
on to you that way I can give up this house to Kenchi. I can then retire to a tropical island around
no people. What’s your name young lady?”
Grandfather asked May.
“My name is May Oinyado, and your
name?” May asked politely.
“I am Hikashi Ottonaga; I built this
house with my own two hands. Your family
is known too though. Your father was a
great warrior, even your grandfather was.
You will survive, would you like some food? Extra clothes or a place to
stay?” Hikashi asked.
“Grandfather! We just came to see if you needed
anything. I’m going over to May’s house
for the evening. I might be back tonight
or you might see me tomorrow. I wanted
to see the meteor land.” Kenchi answered his grandfather.
“Be careful Kenchi. Your father investigated Mars colony before
it was there. There are evil things out
there. We must be careful.” Hikashi
answered. He slowly turned away from the
two. “I’ll be in the den. Don’t bother
me! I will be fine until you get
back. Enjoy the Oinyado family, say
hello to Miss Oinyado for me. She is not
Japanese, she is from America. I talk
too much, you have fun.” Hikashi smiled once more as he hobbled away.
“I have some things to get from my
room, would you like to see the upstairs?” Kenchi asked.
“I would like that.” May followed
Kenchi up the sturdy wooden staircase.
The walls leading up were carved with dragons and Japanese characters
symbolizing peace and goodwill. May
moved her fingers across one of the carvings of a menacing dragon.
“Why does this house have so many
dragon carvings? Is there some kind of
significance with them?”
“Yes and no, my father enjoyed
decorating with dragons, but my grandfather swears they protect the house. He even has gone as far to say that there are
two dragons living beneath the house. My
grandfather told me an ancient tale of two warriors of ancient times who made a
pact right on this establishment that they would fight each other until each
had sought their revenge. A massively
large and ancient dragon stopped the two from fighting and made them swear to
not fight but to join together and lead the land into a peaceful age. Grandfather says they were his ancestors and
they are buried a distance from here close to the lake. I tend to just give into his ranting, but I
don’t really believe him that much.”
“That is quite a story and it is
hard to just come up with it on a whim, perhaps some of it is true.” May said
quietly.
“Perhaps…” Kenchi smiled as he led
them to his large room down the hall, he slid the door open and May got a
glimpse into Kenchi’s interest. He had
the typical bed, several posters of movies from America, his computer was
situated on an ornate desk with very minimal clutter and he had a tall dresser
next to it with various papers stacked on top of it. Kenchi busied himself with a backpack, neatly
placing his clothes in it along with a few essentials for the next day.
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