Strike! ストライキ

Chapter 2: A Boy Named Sole!

The boy hits me upside the head with the stick. Grabbing it with my new arm, I snap the stick in two. He glares at me before swinging his fists towards me. The strength in my arm surprises me so I carefully try to avoid snapping the boy like I have done to the stick.

"Hikari! Stop that now!"

I catch his hand and push him slightly. The boy staggers backwards with an enraged face before grabbing his sister's hand and dashing out the door.

"Stupid! You are a monster!"

Their mother watches as they run out across the grass and down into a riverbed. She exhales, sitting in a chair.

"I'm sorry. He's a reckless boy. Ever since his father died, he's been trying to act tough. But he's still just a little boy..."

I sit back down on the mat, examining my arm thoroughly.

"Did you do this?"

The woman shakes her head, "that's the way we found you. You were the most helpless little thing. I just couldn't abandoned you out there."

I blush slightly, thinking about how I could have possibly looked helpless.

"I wish I knew how I got there. And how I got this," I say, holding my arm up in the air, "or who I am..."

"You really don't know who you are?"

I shake my head, sighing.

"Well the only things we found with you were a white coat with the word 'Sole' embroidered on the tag and a bottle of pills. Nothing else."

I ponder what the woman said and remember something random...

___________________________________________

"Come on! You've had it all day!"

A silver haired boy flies a kite near the edge of a lake. A black haired boy chases him down the lake bed, trying to get to him. They fall into a heap near a small town house, the kite flying away with the passing wind. The black haired boy begins to weep as the silver haired one laughs.

"How is that funny? I never got a turn!"

"You know, Usaph. Sometimes life is cruel; All logic is lost under God's control. Sometimes we never know what to expect," the black haired boy stared at the other with an inquisitive look on his face, "But no matter what, you must keep your head held high! Like a kite!"

The black haired boy begins to laugh with the silver haired one and hugs him.

"Stupid! That made no sense!"

Then, they laugh until the sun disappears.

_______________________________________________________

For some reason the images in my head make me want to cry. The woman hands me a bowl with thick, steaming, good smelling liquid in it.

"Eat up. It has some of those special pills that I found with you in it."

I sniff the bowl, smelling only the savoury smell of herbs, potatoes and meat.

"Thank you!"

I swallow it quickly, my stomach growling pathetically. The woman laughs and refills the bowl. After two more times of refilling my dish and three bread rolls, my stomach is content. I sit back with a satisfied groan and clean my teeth of the stuck herbs.

"You no longer have to sleep in the living room, Sole."

I glance at her. My ears picking up the familiar name.