GENRE: General, a bit angsty but that's not the focus of the piece.
SUMMARY: G Three moments in Rin's life.
WORDCOUNT: 1044
Second place at the 'Hair' OneShot challenge at IYFic_Challenge
WHEN THE YOUKAY COMES
by Leni
Rin looks in wonder as the long, long tresses cascade down her mother’s back. Nobody
has a hair as beautiful as her mother’s. Nobody’s is as dark, as shiny, or as
smooth as hers. Rin cannot comprehend why this wonder must be pulled up during the day,
why hide its beauty from the eyes of the world. Even when other women use it that way, her
mother’s should be special. But she is happy that she can see it at all, even if
it’s only for a few minutes every night before she sleeps. It’s a secret between
them, Rin thinks, a special moment only they share.
She plays with the black locks as her mother sings her a lullaby, the words unheard as her
fingers run through the soft tresses and she delights in the sweet, comforting scent that
surrounds her. Rin hasn’t even noticed that the song has ended when larger hands take
hers away, but she mourns deeply the loss of contact as her mother pulls the covers around
her and whispers, “Sleep now, my child, or the youkai will come for you.”
Rin doesn’t like youkai, they are big and strong and don’t care if she’s
only a little girl who wouldn’t fill their stomach. No, Rin doesn’t want to be
taken by one of them. So she hides under the covers and shuts her eyes tight, trying to
breathe slowly and evenly despite her agitation. When sleep finally reclaims her,
it’s to make her dream with visions of wavy, night-dark hair and smiles filled with
warmth. No, nobody has a hair as beautiful or a smile as kind as her mother's.
--
Rin looks into the water sullenly. The river’s current is too strong today, strong
enough to take her small body if she miscalculates a step. There will be no fish today,
she thinks sombrely, and unless some villager grows a heart big enough to pity her
she’ll go hungry until the next day. Again.
She sighs, looking longingly at the small shadows she can see under the water. Then
another detail catches her attention. A girl with a round face and wide eyes, a worried,
utterly exhausted expression all around her. Rin has tilted her head in curiosity before
she realises it’s herself. Funny, she doesn’t remember her reflection like this.
She used to be... happier. Tidier. Her eyes moisten as she studies the figure. Never had
her skin looked so pale, or her hair so filthy. Her fingers touch the loose locks
gingerly, bringing them to her face for a closer examination. She almost cries at the
sight. Her hair used to be beautiful, almost as pretty as her mother’s. Now it’s
dry and rough to the touch, like dead grass under the sun.
Rin lets it go, sniffling quietly, before a growl from her stomach reminds her that there
are more serious needs to attend to than mistreated hair. She stands up and checks the
waters again, just in case. She doesn’t want to be the annoyance villagers accuse her
to be. She doesn’t want to be the orphaned mouth that needs to be fed. But Rin
can’t change that just as she can’t change the river’s strength.
With a last sniffle, she turns around and, her head down and feet dragging against the
ground, slowly begins her way back to the village.
---
She has learned to tell the good weeds from the bad, to pick the best berries and to
follow small animals to their feeding places. What’s good for a rabbit is good for a
girl, Rin has learned too. In the meanwhile she has found flowers that smelled like her
mother and, after she finished rubbing them on her skin, has decided that maybe –
just maybe – it was the other way around. Now she always keeps some with her, in the
form of necklaces or crowns she threads herself as she hums the old lullaby. Rin
doesn’t remember the lyrics anymore, but she doesn’t remember another tune
either. So the melody stays as the words are replaced with the first thought that crosses
her mind. Lately she sings a lot about silence, and loneliness.
Rin is lonely. That’s the fact.
Nobody cares. That’s the truth.
She is looking for more food when pure white attracts her. She is startled when she
discovers it is hair. Rin has never seen that shade in anyone, it’s more than white,
almost silver under the sunlight’s rays. Rin is even more surprised when she realises
it’s a man, never before had she seen a man have such long, well-kept hair. Then she
notices the other details. Such as the stripes and the odd ears, then come the clothes and
bone armour, as well as the claw-ended fingertips. Where there are claws, fangs always
come next, even Rin knows that.
He isn’t human. That’s the fact.
He is hurt. That’s the truth.
Rin has often taken care of orphaned kittens and abandoned puppies, so she doesn’t
really care about what he is as long as he doesn’t attack her. Which he doesn’t.
Probably because he’s still unconscious.
She is tempted to touch that hair, sure that it’d be almost as smooth and soft as her
mother’s had been. But she doesn’t, even if he is sleeping. When he wakes up,
Rin instantly decides that it was the best decision. This being would have detected her
trespass instantly, she can tell from the look in his eyes. He tries to leave, or make her
leave, or both. When she insists to help him, he dismisses her coldly, just like everybody
else has done ever since her family was killed.
But he isn’t like everybody else. He will save her. He says he doesn’t care
about her, but Rin knows dozens who don’t care and this one doesn’t act like
them. Maybe her new lord doesn’t care, but he doesn’t not care either,
and that’s enough. She will never play with his hair and he will never smile at her,
but he'll save her. That's everything Rin wants, far more than she has hoped for.
Maybe her mother was right, maybe the youkai has finally come for her. But this time Rin
isn’t afraid, so she runs after him.
The End
26/01/05
Feedback is so pretty!
