Steel Sakura

Peering behind them, she gasped in surprise as she saw the boy, huddled up with his arms wrapped around his legs and his cheek resting against his knees. Those impossibly red eyes were fixed upon a point Yolei didn’t think she would be able to see even if she tried; he was muttering something that sounded like "hi...tori...kiri..." over and and over again. Pity filled her heart and before she was able to stop herself she moved behind the boxes and sat down beside him, putting her arms around his thin shoulders and hugging him tightly, stroking his hair and murmuring words of comfort to him. "You’re not alone now..." she whispered to him, smiling slightly. He looked at her, tears standing out in those entrancing eyes, looking as lost and alone as when she had first seen him. He stared at her with an expression of pain, the beauty of his face both marred and enhanced by his extraordinary eyes. She couldn’t look away from them, again reliving the feelings that had traced themselves across her soul as she had seen him first. His fist was clenched round the blossom in his hand - he looked as though he would prefer never to open his hand again. Yolei glanced from his face to his hand, then back to his face, and blinked in surprise as he looked away from her, sadness - or shame - written across his face.

He remained like that for what seemed an eternity, while Yolei watched him. At length, she plucked up the courage to ask the question that had been on her mind since she had first laid her own green eyes on him. "Where are you from?" she asked hesitantly.

He wouldn’t look at her, staring at a spot on the floor just past his bare feet, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fist more tightly. Finally, barely a whisper, she heard him say "kiseki no umi..." Refusing to look at her, he gazed more intently on the patch of ground that seemed to hold so much fascination for him. She gently closed her eyes a moment and sighed. "That is no more than a myth?" She had intended for it to be a statement, but found it hard to believe that this lost boy would lie to her. Again, not even attempting to look at her, he shook his head.

Without thinking, she removed her arms from him, looking at him with incredulous eyes. "You lie..."

Looking more miserable than before, he again shook his head. "Iie." His soft hair, golden and white now, despite it’s earlier colouring, fell into his eyes, masking his feelings from her as he held out his hand in front of himself, uncurling the fingers so the steel sakura was visible, shining in his palm. Closing his eyes, he started to sing. The same chant as she had heard as he walked towards her all those hours ago filled the air. The air seemed to thicken around him as she felt all those strong presences from the shadows cluster round him. Suddenly claustophobic, she backed away again, until she was pressed against the farthest crate from him. As she watched, the cherry blossom set into his hand started to shine more brightly, either reflecting light from some other non-visible source or, somehow, generating it for itself. As the light grew more bright, she was able to make out the occasional figure in the swirling mist. She bit back a scream.