[16:03] *** “hajime” signed on at Sun Mar 06 16:03:54 2005.
[19:19] hajime: (OOC:START) it’s been a week i think… not two and i guess she won’t be as pissed that i have not sent word. we’ll have to see… I open the door and not announcing myself go sit at the tatami room.
[19:19] *** Auto-response sent to hajime: I’m away right now.
[19:21] hide: I hear movement around the front of the house… putting the finishing touches on everything I come out the to tatami room. “Oh, hello Hajime…” I smile. “Don’t get too comfortable, we’re about to leave.” I walk over to him, kiss the top of his head and head back to the kitchen.
[19:22] hajime: “I’m ready. it’s not like i’m dressed to stay.” i tell her wondering what’s in her head today.
[19:23] hide: “Good, good….” I come back out and hold out a basket. “You will carry this?” I ask, taking the smaller one for myself.
[19:23] hajime: “Fine.” I take the basket. “Where are we going?”
[19:24] hide: I smile back at him as I lead him out of the house. “Nowhere too far… you shall have to see, ne?” Locking the door behind me, “I thought it would be a change to get out of this house for once.”
[19:25] hajime: “Hmmm… you’ve kept yourself confined here?” I look back at her and follow where she is going.
[19:27] hide: “No… I go out of course – shopping, exploring…” I smile at that. “I meant that it’s good for -us- to get out of the house. That’s all.” Locking the gate behind us I start walking down the street. “I think I finally, after months here, have a good idea about Tokyo.”
[19:28] hajime: “That’s good.” I tell her as we walk. “What places have you been to?”
[19:29] *** “hajime” signed on at Sun Mar 06 19:29:17 2005.
[19:30] hide: “I know where to shop now… I can even find your coffee for you!” That was quite a task… “I’ve yet to discover where you got those pears, though… but I like to just get out and walk….” It’s not too warm this late afternoon in July. “I lived in one place for all of my life excepting a few months here and there, so it’s something to have all of this to learn.”
[19:32] hajime: “That’s good. I was starting to fear that I’d have to drag you everywhere.” I cross my arms as we walk. “The pears is at an export shop just to the west of the market. It’s not too far although, you probably shouldn’t go there.”
[19:36] hide: “I shouldn’t? Then you shall have to bring them to me, at least until the ones we have here are in season.” We walk further through neighborhoods and come to the park. “I’m sure you’re been here before… but I’ve enjoyed coming here…” We come in the entrance where a path leads down by the water. I indicate all of the plants. “Of -course- I’ve enjoyed coming here…” I laugh.
[19:37] hide: (Link: http://img71.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img71&image=park39ei.jpg)http://img71.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img71&image=park39ei.jpg (OOC forgot!)
[19:40] hajime: I watch the greens and then my eyes settle on the patch of blue. “It is nice.” I tell her. “No… I don’t remember coming here. Maybe.. I can’t really remember…”
[19:42] hide: “Oh, well I know that you seem to go everywhere when you’re out patrolling…” I say, as I lead him further past the little river. ((Link: http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=park83uq.jpg)http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=park83uq.jpg). “This area is fascinating… all of the foreign plants… those Dutch flowers like you gave me that one night.”
[19:44] hajime: “Hmm… Yes I did..” I walk on along. “Didn’t have much time to look at places lately… As for the plants you should get some seeds and plant them in your garden.”
[19:47] hide: “Oh I -will- but they come from bulbs, not seeds and they will have to be planted in the winter…” and they are still rather expensive – I could never afford to have fields of them like we see here. The path leads towards the water and a little crossing of stepping-stones. ((Link: http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=park74ue.jpg)http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=park74ue.jpg) I start across them – I have at least always had a good sense of balance. “This way…” I am leading him all over this park but I do want to show him my favorite places.
[19:49] hajime: “Wait Hide…” I grab her hand and stop her. “You shouldn’t cross there.” I nod towards the molds that hung to the stepping stones.
[19:51] hide: The stones are covered with mosses but are quite sturdy. “Don’t worry, I can swim…” I smile, “can you?” I don’t let go of his hand as I start across. I was just by here earlier in the week.
[19:52] hajime: I scowl at her… “Tch…”
[19:53] hide: I tug at his hand, “come on, come on… the rest of the trip will be much less perilous…” I tease.
[19:56] hajime: “No.” I stay exactly where I am and tug at her hand. I pull her away from the water and look elsewhere. “Let’s walk a little further. I can’t believe there’s be no real bridge here. Those idiots…”
[19:59] hide: Ah… I like this crossing, but some battles…. “There’s a bridge up here that leads to the area I’m taking you….” I hold onto his hand and go further down the path. “Across the water it’s more of a traditional Japanese garden…” The azaelas are still bright along the waterside. ((Link: http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=japanesegarden0kg.jpg)http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=japanesegarden0kg.jpg)
[20:02] hajime: “Tch… Finally someone who has some common sense.” I tell her wile walking the length of the bridge. My eyes looks slightly towards the right just looking. The water is a little murky, i doubt if i’ll see anything.
[20:05] hide: “Common sense? There are many different ways of crossing a stream… this is more practical…” We cross the stream and go down a path along the water. It’s a little less strictly kept here, I like the little bit of wilderness. ((Link: http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=lakepath8yq.jpg)http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=lakepath8yq.jpg)
[20:07] hajime: “No it’s more safe.” I correct her. I look at the path, it’s beaten there must be quite a number of people who has walked these before.
[20:10] hide: “Well yes -safe-” I smile. “And had I fallen I would have been stuck in wet clothes for the rest of our outing….” I laugh at that, shaking my head a little. The water now has widened into a pond. I’ve admired the arrangement of the rocks and greenery with the water here in the past. It’s very… serene. (Link: http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=lake3wd.jpg)http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=lake3wd.jpg
[20:13] hajime: She really doesn’t understand… I sigh and shake my head as she laughed. I’ll just have to shrug off these things. “They’d make more money out of these things if they placed rental canoes or something.” I look around and see a stone. I kick it hard and watch it flop in the middle of the pond.
[20:16] hide: “Oh probably…” I think. “I think they have those by another lake… ” I think I’ve seen those “my writer told me about ones shaped like swans… ” I can’t even imagine what she’s talking about sometimes…. I lead him up a path that goes away from the lake and to up a hill into a more wooded area. The sound of rushing water gets louder as we pass a small waterfall ((Link: http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=waterfall8hg.jpg)http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=waterfall8hg.jpg). “Not too much further…”
[20:19] hajime: “Swans… Never seen one… Cranes though I am quite familiar with those.” She walks on while I fall back going closer to the waterfall. I sit on a large rock just under two small trees and listen to the water.
[20:22] hide: I realize that Hajime’s not behind me any more and I go back a few steps to see him sitting quietly by the water. Should I disturb him? That’s been the question of the past few weeks… If I’m just -disturbing- him. But he wouldn’t be here if he didn’t want to see me, right? Yes… I set the small basket down on the path to go stand behind him, putting my hand on his shoulder, not saying anything, just watching the water fall down the stones.
[20:25] hajime: Her hand is on my shoulder… I know this… “Sit down for a while and rest Hide.” I look at the water, there are no fishes… It’s funny how we can’t bring things back or change them.
[20:28] hide: I sit next to him on the large rock, seeing his eyes fixed on the water. “Mmm… I have been dragging you all over the park this afternoon…” It is warm, but not uncomfortably so. “But I did want you to see my favorite places.
[20:32] hajime: “I’m not tired.” I tell her and chuckle. “It’s too bad you do not know me well… Do not liken me to the one you hear from your -sister- or what you read in that stupid manga of your writer.” I take a stone and throw it towards the source of the water.
[20:36] hide: I laugh softly, taking his hand in mine. “Ah, I have seen many times that you do not tire easily.” I watch as he throws the stone. “I have found, that when thinking of you, that I should consider what I -do- know about you, and not of that manga, or what I hear about you otherwise. But I’m still learning about you… but that’s a process that I think I will always be working on.” I smile at him, my eyes settling on his for a long moment.
[20:40] hajime: She looks at me… I sigh just slightly and just hold her hand there. “You can start talking if you want. Otherwise I have nothing to say.” I tell her, there is some sort of edge as I speak that I usually don’t show her. It doesn’t matter. If I speak like this to others, it doesn’t matter.
[20:48] hide: “Nothing to say? Ah…” My smile looses some of its brightness, but he’s still holding my hand. “There’s a place further up the path that I like… it reminds me of when I would go stay with my aunt when I was little. They lived in the countryside outside of Kyoto – really, before I came here, that was the furthest out of Mibu I had ever been. There was a little creek there as well, I was usually there in the summers.” I look at the water, at a leaf the falls down the rocks and down the stream into the lake below, but gets stuck on a rock before it can get there. “I brought dinner – that’s what I’ve had you carrying around – for when you’re ready for it.”
[20:50] hajime: “Did they live in a thatch house? Where there’s a cooking/fire place in the middle of the living area?” I ask, thinking of something else. An old house very far away, I don’t even know if it still stands.. It’s been so long.
[20:55] hide: “It was rather traditional, yes, but not quite like that… I always liked going there.” I remember the busy home where my aunt one ruled, overseeing everything after my uncle died. “My couins were older than me a lot more… lively than I was at that age.” The water moves the leaf I’m watching from being stuck, and it drifts down to lake finally, and I’m reminded of that song the writer likes.
[20:57] hajime: “Maa… No sense thinking of the past.” It doesn’t matter, most of it I think. It’s all moot. I stand up taking the basketwith me. “Now where did you say that spot was that you wanted to eat at?” I look around.
[21:01] hide: “There is sometimes…” I look back at him as I go back up the path as it winds back around the lake, picking up the basket that I had left there. “Up here,” I call back, and I set my basket down again and pull out the blanket I had brought. (Link: http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=creek5rz.jpg)http://img63.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img63&image=creek5rz.jpg I unfold it on a flat grassy area, well-shaded, with a nice view of the lake and stream.
[21:05] hajime: Once she finishes, I sit in Seiza on the blanket. There is a ringing sound coming from the water as it strikes the stone. I’m not really hungry. haven’t been in the last few days. “how are you feeling hide?” i ask.
[21:09] hide: I sit down on the blanket, taking the basket from Hajime and set out the boxes from inside the basket. “I found some good salmon…” I say, opening the boxes and setting them out, along with the drinks I had brought. Finally satasfied with everything, I settle back down. “I’m feeling… well.” I answer, quietly. “I think I’m becoming accustomed to Tokyo summers.”
[21:10] hajime: i nod as she tells me she’s feeling well, then i looked towards her box and ask”what are you having?”
[21:12] hide: “There’s enough salmon for -both- of us,” I grin, taking some for myself, and setting some other things on my plate. “I didn’t make zaru soba for you, but I do have inari.” I take a bite of the salmon. “Eat!
[21:14] hajime: “Salmon should be cooked thoroughly i’ve heard… You should not eat it and just eat the inari for now.” I take her all of her salmon, now she’s just left with rice and inari. “We can stop by a store so you can eat at home.” I scold her.
[21:18] hide: I look down at my plate, now missing the tasty salmon. “I thought those precautions were for the writers’ time…” I scoot closer to him, eyeing the fish. I take a bit of the inari – excellent, of course… “And I’ll be fine, there’s still dessert you know…”
[21:19] hajime: “what precaution are you talking about?” I watch as she eyes the fish on my plate. No… I am not giving her any, I put it away far from her reach. I move closer.
[21:23] hide: “That fish should always be cooked carefully… ” He moves the fish away, I notice. Watching carefully, my hand darts out as I attempt to spear a piece with my chopsticks. Terribly bad manners but the one bite I had wasn’t enough.
[21:26] hajime: I catch her hand and not let go of her wrist. “I thought I said I’ll get you something -later-.” I narrow my eyes at her and pull her hand close to me. I shake my head again, wondering what is wrong. Pulling her close, I just decide to rest her against me and watch the water.
[21:30] hide: “Later… later… you must see that I get fed, ne?” I sigh but with a bit of a smile, as I settle close to him, closing my eyes to take in his prescence. His smell, the sound of his breathing… my eyes open again, watching the tops of the trees move in the slight breeze.
[21:32] hajime: I take an inari with my chopstick and hand it to her. It’s good I’m behind her, she won’t see. “The days are getting longer. When there’s light out you can still walk around.”
[21:37] hide: I take the inari. “Yes… I do.” For a large city, the neighborhood that I live is quiet in the evenings, in the hours before it gets dark. “I’d like it if you would come with me sometimes.” I rest my head against his shoulder.
[21:38] hajime: “I will… Soon. I just don’t know when.” I take an inari for myself and try to open the container that I guess is dessert. “You brought sweets?” Not that I really like them… Not the processed ones at least.
[21:40] hide: “No, no… just strawberries… I saw them at the market and I couldn’t resist…” Simple, but good, and I adore them almost as much as pears. Almost. I watch him open the container.
[21:41] hajime: “Ah good. you are starting to pick the right foods.” I finally get the container opened with one hand. Ah she forgot the salt. Oh well.. “You want one first?” I ask, the wind suddenly picks up and a strand of hair falls onto my face. It’s then that I realized I haven’t smelled her hair lately. I take the opportunity to.
[21:44] hide: The wind blows, soft and warm, the tree swaying and the patterns of the sunlight through the leaves shifting. “Yes, please…” I answer.
[21:47] hajime: I take a piece with the chopsticks and hold it right in front of her. “Here take it.” I tell her. it would be easier I think if I just hold it with my finger but it’s food and should be handled as such. My right arm goes around her waist.
[21:50] hide: I lean forward slightly to take it from him, taking it, I close my eyes to enjoy the sweet taste that always reminds me of mid-summer. He’s holding me closer, I note, as I enjoy the flavor. My eyes open slightly. “You should have some as well…” I take the chopsticks from his hand, and hold up a piece for him.
[21:52] hajime: I take it with my hand. “Next time try to bring some salt”
[21:54] hide: “Ah… I will…” Leaning back against him I smile, glancing up at him before back out at the water.
[21:55] hajime: “Alright…” I stay there for a while just listening. Then finally I decide to move her and get up. “Let’s go.” I tell her as I shove everything back to the basket.
[21:59] hide: I get up, and fold the blanket back up and put it back in the smaller basket, then I impulsivly lean up and brush my lips across his cheek before heading back up the pathway.
[22:06] hajime: She gives me a peck. I look down at dirt for a moment. Following her, we finally get out of the park. i watch the road carefully.. hmmm what to get her… I spot someone grilling some squid.. but no… she did say she’s not fond of that. Might as well get her a vegetarian dish. Finally I see a chinese establishment.. Ah… I walk on ahead of her.. “An order of Vegetable – Tofu skillet please.” I pay the man and wait for hide to catch up.
[22:09] hide: We walk back through he park and he sets off when he sees a restaurant. I finally catch up to him. It does smell good…
[22:10] hajime: We walk along the streets, it’s getting dark again. I place my cap on. Might as well look like a cop when on the streets. I slow down my pace and fall slightly behind her.
[22:12] hide: He starts walking behind me, I glance back and he has his cap on. Getting to the gate of my house. “You will come inside?” I ask, smiling back at him.
[22:16] hajime: “No Hide. I should go…” I open the gates for her and hand her the basket and brown bag. Taking a moment to look at her face, I kiss her cheek. “Goodnight and take care.” *exits wolf*
[22:17] hide: I hold onto the bag, watching him. “Goodnight… I will, as should you.” I go inside. *end scene*