Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:47:53 -0400
From: Jonathan Matthews <jonafunu@hotmail.com>
Subject: A Stranger on a Road of Tears Chapter 5

A Stranger on a Road of Tears

Chapter Five

As the warm sun washed against Michio's face, his eyelids batted open to
take in the vision of the new day. The rays of sunshine made the mess in
Kuya's room that much more apparent and seemed to settle purposely on piles
of dirty clothes and long forgotten soda cans. Micho look down at his torso
to see the indention of where Kuya's arm on the blanket laying on him that
had held him the enter night. He couldn't help but smile, the feeling of
Kuya holding him so close to his body was incredible. Although what they
had done before was amazing on its own, this closeness to Kuya was much
more completing.

He sat up and pushed the covers down, swinging his legs over the side of
the bed, his feet teetering in air above a wrinkled red shirt lying on the
floor below, and stretched his arms above his head. He slipped off onto the
floor and walked slowly towards the shoji door separating him from Kuya,
his hand finding their way to the handle and slowly sliding it open. As he
peered out into the hallway, he desperately strained to hear some sign of
Kuya being within reach, but nothing met his ears save the dead silence of
a new morning.

He walked out into the hall, closing the door behind him and into the
living room. It was exactly as it had been yesterday, the same kotatsu and
zabuton pillows, the kitchen bore no sign of use and the smell of
sandalwood was a tad more apparent as it mingled with the fresh air from a
slightly open window behind him.

He approached the front door and slid on his shoes, opening it to step out
onto the front lawn. He strained his eyes to see a sign of Kuya but saw
nothing once more. Michio swallowed a little, feeling a tad more
disconcerted than he wanted to admit to anyone. Had he left suddenly? Had
something gone horribly wrong with his grandmother? Michio decided it best
to go back inside and search for a note, for some sign that Kuya wanted to
be found. As he ran in the front door he nearly forgot to remove his shoes,
stopping with his feet just inches above the floor of the main room.

He threw off his shoes with haste and darted into the kitchen, the cooler
remained bare and the counters seemed to match. He approached a sitting
table and saw nothing except an old newspaper, tattered from having been
examined many times before. He left the kitchen and re-entered the messy
bedroom that he had been in just moments ago. The same light cascading on
the mess and the mingled sheets and blankets laying on the mattress only a
reminder of them having been there together the previous evening. He saw
nothing immediately apparent and had to assume, that if Kuya wanted to
leave him a note he would put it somewhere that could be easily seen.

He left the room again and sunk to his knees in the hallway.  He wasn't
entirely sure what to think, he felt alone, he felt fear, he felt...  Then
suddenly it happened, Michio heard a large pop just outside of the front
door. He felt every inch of his body tingle and the hair on his very head
raise slightly. He quickly regained his composure and went back to the
front door, not even bothering to retrieve his shoes this time and cracked
it open, looking for the man that he knew so well to not be there. His eyes
fell, not on Kuya, but on a tired looking old man wearing a suit trying to
load some firewood into the back of a car that looked entirely too nice to
be used for this purpose.

Michio blinked a little and silently wondered who he was, and why he was
pilfering Kuya's firewood, when the man suddenly noticed him.  Michio felt
his body go ridged as a pair of small black eyes met with his, he had never
seen him before and was quite afraid of this man's intentions. Before he
could speak, the man closed the trunk of the car and began to stride
towards him, Michio feeling his heart beating fast within his chest. He
couldn't move, he couldn't think. The possibility of running was far from
available to him now and all he could do was stare into those eyes, those
piercing black eyes that showed no emotion or intention.

The man stopped just short of Michio and a light smile spread across his
withered face. "You must be Michio?" He asked, he voice was raspy and
rather reminded Michio of a horse fly. "Y..y..yes..." He managed to mutter
in reply, still entirely unsure of this man. "You can call me Ojisan, I own
most of the land around this place. I heard about your grandmother's great
misfortune and thought that I'd come get my firewood instead of bothering
Kuya with it during such a time." He shook his head looking both confused
and constipated.

Michio eased a little but remained ready for anything, "Sir...  Ojisan... I
mean... How do you know about my Grandmother? It was just..." He was cut
off by the old man who laughed a little, bouncing up and down on his heels
and pressing his fingers between a pair of fire red suspends running across
his chest directly blow the suit coat. "Kuya came to me this morning to do
his usual chores and told me about everything that was going on. I once
offered a job to your grandmother did you know that? She never took much of
a liking to me, no, but the rest of your family did. I suppose it was to be
expected, she was Juchiro-sans eldest..." He trailed off as his eyes met
with an ant on the stone below him, seeming too intent on staring at it
than continuing this conversation.

Michio nodded a little although he was confused as to why Kuya would tell
him so much. "I see... Then Kuya, do you know where he's gone?"  The man
bounced again as his eyes shot back up to Michio's "I expect into town, his
car is gone I'm sure you noticed." Michio blushed a little, he had never
really thought about checking for his car. It seemed a terribly obvious
thing to do now. "I am quite sorry to have disturbed, I will be on my way
for now.  Please take care of yourself Michio." He bowed a little and
quickly walked to his car. He was sure footed for a man of his age and
managed to start his car and roll away much quicker than Michio expected.

Michio sighed a little, he was somehow relieved by the fact that his car
was gone even though it didn't change anything that he already knew. It
seemed to Michio, that this strange man knew well what he was doing and
that he did it often. Michio went back into the house, closing the door
behind him and leaned back against it for a moment. He sighed and bit his
lower lip, looking over the empty house. The only time he had ever been in
here without him was the brief moment before he chased him down to the
lake. That time when he had felt so many powerful emotions, much the same
way that he felt right now, although none of the current ones were
pleasant.

He had decided to take a seat on one of zabuton pillows when he heard the
distant crunching of gravel and the puttering of a familiar car.  Michio
smiled as all of his feelings of fear and apprehension began to melt away
instantly. Kuya was back, and he could feel love again. Michio turned so
that he watched the door and could see the shadow of Kuya's shape begin to
envelope the windows. As the door slid open, Michio couldn't stop himself,
he leapt from the zabuton and swung his arms around Kuya's waist nearly
knocking him back outside.

"What a welcome!" Kuya laughed loudly as he bent over to hug his
friend. "Sorry about that I just needed to go into town and get a few
things." Michio nodded with understanding and wiped away a solitary tear
that had found its way down his cheek. "Did you miss me that much?" Kuya
asked with a teasing tone, trying to return Michio to the playful mood of
the night previous. "Well, yeah!" Michio said and blushed a little. Kuya
simply smiled in return and ruffled his hair a little causing Michio to
giggle.

"Want to help me get some things out of the car?" Kuya asked. Michio nodded
and followed him outside where the trunk was already open.  There were a
few paper bags filled with various groceries and Michio apprehended one,
wrapped his arms tight around it and finding it to be quite heavy in
comparison to what his grandmother usually purchased. Kuya grabbed the
remaining two with ease and they walked back into the house, a slight leap
of excitement in Michio's steps as he finally had Kuya back with him.

After depositing everything on the counter in the kitchen, Michio watched
intently as Kuya began to put things away, extracting wrapped packages of
meat and bags of vegetables. Michio examined him as Kuya bounced on his
heels a little after placing one of the parcels of meat in the freezer, his
mind shot back to the strange old man that demanded he call him
Ojisan. "Can I ask you something Kuya?"

Kuya nodded although he continued on with his chore. "There was an old man
who came earlier that said he offered my grandmother a job. He got some
firewood and put it in his car... Who was he?" Kuya laughed a little "That
was Washio-san, I thought I already told you about him." Michio blushed a
little, he had nearly forgotten about him. "He asked I call him Ojisan"
Kuya nodded as he deposited the rest of the items in the bags on the
counter and started to fold them up, placing them in a recycling bin next
to the counter that he faced.

"Yes he doesn't have any grandchildren of his own so he likes for kids to
call him that. Does it offend you?" He asked with genuine interest although
his eyes still never met with Michio's. Michio thought to himself that he
was taking part in some strange test. "Not really... I mean... I've never
had anyone to call that but..." He looked at Kuya who was still putting
things away "Why don't you look at me?" Michio had asked it before he could
stop himself.

Kuya stopped and turned staring at Michio and raising his eyebrow slightly
"I am not ignoring you I'm just trying to get things put away is all."
Michio sighed a little, he felt certain that this was not the only thing
going through his mind at that time. "Are you sure?" Kuya nodded, although
he seemed a tad apprehensive in doing so. "Would you tell me even if there
was?" Michio asked causing Kuya to drop a bag of tomatoes that he had just
attained from the counter. As he scrambled to pick them up he stopped
suddenly, slumped over the floor and Michio heard a sigh escape his
lips. "The hospital called this morning..."

Michio began to feel his heart race again, he was right something terrible
had happened. He was at a loss to guess what it was but he knew that his
grandmother must have turned for the worst. "Your grandmother..."  Kuya
began but Michio interrupted him "Is she going to die?" Kuya laughed a
small hollow laugh, his voice a tad shaken as he began putting the tomatoes
back into their bag "No, in fact they expect her to make a full recovery."

Michio normally would have been very pleased at that news, but from the way
that Kuya was speaking and acting, he wasn't entirely sure what to
think. Surely Kuya didn't want to see his obaa-san dead. "That's good
then... I mean... Why are you upset?" Kuya shook his head and stood to his
full height once more, swinging open the door to the cooler carelessly and
throwing the bag of tomatoes onto the lower shelf before closing it
again. "She will know soon who I am and who's watching you. We won't be
able to see each other anymore. I don't mean I want her to die but..."

Kuya trailed off. Michio stared at him from behind and felt a slight pang
in his chest, the thought of never seeing Kuya against was unbearable to
him. "I see..." Michio said quietly. Kuya turned and stared into Michio's
eyes again, Michio could have swore that he had seen the glimmer of a tear
for a moment. "We will always be expected to be enemies. It doesn't matter
that what happened was in the past because old wounds will never be allowed
to heal. This damn family is too proud..."

Michio was a tad startled but understood his anger. He never wanted them to
part and knew well that his obaa-san would never allow him to communicate
with the rest of his family. Kuya was a traitor because he was her sister's
descendant. There was no other way around that. "I don't care what she
thinks I want to be with you." Michio said with a great confidence in his
voice that matched what Kuya's usually held. Kuya seemed to melt into the
smile that appeared on his face, his cheeks a tad reddened by the moment's
emotions. "I love you Michio..."

Michio was taken aback a little. Those words meant so much but he didn't
expect to hear them. He had always seen children at school use them loosely
saying that they loved their teachers and friends, but Michio had always
felt it an important phrase. It was something that could only be said when
it was truly meant. "I love you too..." Michio whispered and he meant it,
he truly did.

"Do you know what happened then, what made our family split?" Michio shook
his head and surveyed Kuya's face. He was relieved to see that his voice
had returned to its normal confident flow. "I guess it's time to know..."
He walked over to the table and sat down across from Michio, apprehending
the tattered newspaper that Michio had seen earlier and pushing it towards
him. "It all started sixty years ago..."