She thought the sun an arrogant little thing,
Always leaving the world behind when it tires of everything,
But she doesn't know all of the pain and longing,
When the sun only wanted someone to share its sky with.
- J.R.J.K
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The Beginning of Lunatic
Approximately 10 years and 8 months ago since Watashi no Tsuki...
(Normal dialogue = Speaking in Japanese Bold dialogue = Speaking in English or another language.)
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— The crowd among the night festival wasn't that massive, but it wasn't small either. People wearing traditional kimonos littered along masses of people, it ranged from children to adults – where a huge number of them wore the bright colored traditional outfit that was a contrast to the dark sky. It was evening, the common time when the festival would have been celebrated.
It was almost fall at that time so some of the people who didn't wear the kimonos had scarfs wrapped around their neck. Since the layers upon layers of silk you wear underneath the traditional outfit, you didn't need to wear anything more than the kimono for it already provides enough warmth.
Different numbers of stalls littered on the place, from stalls that sell hot cooked Japanese food to stalls with games and toys. You could see a few children running around and laughing around the place, in addition, a lot of teenagers were also present – either in forms of group or in forms of pairs that are probably on a date.
The festival celebration was situated in front of a Shinto shrine, the festival was probably held for the patron god of that certain shrine. You can hear the drums and music playing across the place, chatters of the people along with laughter can be heard — obviously showing how much they're enjoying the celebration. The wide smiles on everyone's face cannot be removed, but only one person remained indifferent to the joy of the entire thing.
"I can't believe I got dragged into this..."
A girl grumbles in annoyance as she eyes the people around her in disgust, she stuffs her hands on her jeans as she continues to brood to herself while following the person who's a step in front of her. The girl easily blended in with the crowd, but she didn't wear a kimono– rather she wore a black thick jacket with jeans, boots, a grey striped scarf and a beanie on her head.
The girl had fair white skin, with rosy chubby cheeks, raven colored hair, a button nose that was slowly turning pink and pouty lips – but what was eye catching was her natural slanted eyes, almost looking like a cat – which is partnered with dark brownish eyes that looked rather feral. The girl looked no older than 13 as she stood at almost 5 feet tall— although she had a cold look and a frown on her lips, the child like face was a deep contrast to this.
Her youthful glow made her look like an adorable princess, but it would not be a surprise that the girl would grow up into a stunning woman that would make any person kneel before her beauty. But for now, as she just stepped into her early teens – the little girl was still considered as cute child. The scowl on the girl's face looked more like a pout, it made the girl look like a grumpy kid throwing a tantrum.
The person in front of the girl lagged their step so they could walk side by side with her.
"If you wanna blame someone, blame your mom Jennie-chan." they bite back, feeling rather amused with the sulky aura their cousin was emitting.
The girl beside Jennie also didn't wear a kimono. Instead they just wore a simple a light blue denim jacket with a thick inner fur in it— it was partnered with ripped jeans, converse shoes and a yellow and black striped scarf. The girl's hair was a dark ebony mess, their messy bangs fell over the glasses their wearing that was hiding silver blue eyes. The girl's skin was pale and their lips cracked into a playful grin. Like Jennie, the girl looked like she was still in early high school.
"It's not my fault you're too much of a hermit, this place is fun— live a little, there's a lot of foods too. Yum." the girl raised the paper plate on her hands that was full of takoyaki and popped one piece on her mouth.
Jennie scrunched her face in distaste as she shakes her head and replies, "No thanks, keep it— I'm sure that's not enough to satiate your hunger Frost."
Her cousin shrugs their shoulders, "Your loss."
"Honestly, from all the people I had to hang out with— it had to be you." Jennie says this with disdain in her tone while she trails her feline eyes over the children running around – glaring holes at these loud unruly kids like they would combust on the spot and disappear with her death glares.
The two girls navigate through the upbeat crowds with Jennie trying to limit any sort of human contact while Frozen just continues to stuff all the takoyaki's on her mouth.
"That wasn't offending at all." Frozen comments with a mouth full of food, she took one last bite of the final takoyaki ball in her mouth before she crunched the paper plate on her hand.
"Take it as a compliment," Jennie replies with a dead tone, "Your presence is more bearable out of anyone in your fucken family— be thankful I'm not treating you like air." she grunts as her steps turn in to irritated stomps.
They really didn't have any place in mind, the two cousins were just strolling through the festival doing sight seeing– or in Jennie's case, just grumbling to herself while Frozen keeps buying food from the stalls like her stomach is a black hole.
"They are your family too." Frozen pointedly corrects, "You are such a high maintenance cousin, but you're not worse than Molten-nee so I guess it's fine." she says in amazement as she plays the balled up paper plate on her hand.
There were strings of lanterns held up by strings on top of their heads. The lanterns glew with a combination of red, orange and yellow — giving the illusion of a sunset peering down upon the crowds and giving light to the darkness. Jennie raised on her step to look at a shooting game, the feline eyed girl was tempted to play but she knows she'll just get irritated because from the looks of it – the game was rigged, that's how keen her senses were.
"Compared to Jisoo-unnie, I don't know who's worse." Jennie shoots a scowl at the girl and she continues her slow stroll, her cousin just follows her out of boredom.
"I'm pretty sure if given the chance, my twin would have strangled me with mom's umbrical cord when we were still in her tummy." Frozen said in a joking manner but you could note the slight seriousness on her tone.
"That's—" Jennie looks at the blue eyed girl in bewilderment, "What the fuck?" she exclaims, but you could hear the restrained laugh on her voice.
"I'm just exaggerating," Frozen burst out in laughter as she waves a hand around – her ice like irises were dancing with mirth, "But at the same time I'm not— so who knows. Molten can be very sadistic if her PMS is back at it on full force." she visibly winced.
Jennie scoffs, her eyes now looked at some booths selling different trinkets, accessories and charms, "At least you don't live with a sister whose only language is chicken."
Jennie stopped in her tracks and walks to one particular booth in interest, "I have like this fear where she'll turn our entire businesses into a chicken empire like McDonalds. Great Grandpa Kim will roll on his grave."
"McKim." Frozen snorted as she follows behind her cousin and blatantly states, "Our sisters are crazy."
Dark brown eyes stares at the Japanese girl with a blank look, "The crazy gene runs in the family— you're crazy yourself too, have you forgotten that time when you almost gobbled up frogs eggs because you thought it was free black pearls in the canal?" she snickers.
"Fu—" Frozen almost cursed, she takes a deep breath and flashes her cousin a wide fake smile, "Did you know that they're going to have a firework show in an hour?"
The two cousins stop in front of the stall that was selling different trinkets. The shop owner flashed the two kids a beaming smile before encouraging the girls to buy some of the merchandise. Jennie waved her hand to politely decline the offer.
"Way to change the subject." Jennie rebuts with a smug grin.
Feeling rather annoyed, Frozen pushed her cousin while scowling, "Shut up Jennie."
The two didn't notice a lone man checking out the items being sold in the stall – the feline eyed girl accidentally bumped upon the man, though not so hard but enough to push the man's frame very slightly. The man looked surprised from the sudden push but he caught the girl to stop her from literally falling or stumbling down the ground.
Frozen looked fear stricken along with looking guilty from seeing her cousin fall almist fall upon another person. Jennie just looked rather irritated but she pursed her lips to look apologetically at the person who got the burnt of her push.
"I'm sorry sir." Jennie apologized as she steadied her feet as she straightened herself to look at the person whom she bumped into.
It was a huge man, Jennie had to strain her head up to see the full form of the person in front of her. Like the girls, the man also wore casual clothes— but thick enough to warm him from the frigid cold. Although the height of the man looked intimidating, he had a friendly smile painted on his face and he had this large round glasses that magnified his eyes-- but you can see that there was confusion and a little bit of worry on those friendly eyes.
Frozen shuffled on her feet as she scratched her neck in guilt, she looks at her cousin first, "Sorry Jen." and to the tall man who was dragged into the mess, "Sorry too sir."
"Sorry again sir." Jennie bows apologetically as she steps back to stand side by side with her guilty cousin.
"Oh, uh..." The man scrunched his nose in confusion trying to decipher what Jennie said before his face lit up into realization and he replies in English with his gruff voice, "Oh are you two saying sorry? It's alright, no worry at all— I'm sure you're just playing but do look out because you could hurt yourselves or those around you.... Um wait... Can they understand me?" the man mumbles the last words to himself-- although fluent in English, you can hear the slight deustch accent to his voice.
Frozen and Jennie looked at each other before the feline eyed girl responds with, "English?"
The man blinks, he tilts his head almost resembling an overgrown puppy before he responds, "Yes, I'm sorry— I don't speak Japanese at all..." he said in an apologetic tone.
Jennie shook her head and waved her hand in front of her as she replies,"Oh, it's fine— we can understand English." her New Zealand accent starts seeping in her voice.
"That's good to hear..." the man grins in relief, "It's really hard to speak on a full blown sentence in English when no one hardly understands you." he turns around to fully look at the two kids in front of him.
"There aren't a lot who speaks in English here but they can understand you, I think." Jennie furrows her eyebrows before she looks at her cousin and whispers her question back to Japanese, "Do they all understand English here?"
Frozen pursed her lips before answering, "Not all but there are, they just don't speak the language— and if they do, sometimes foreigners still have a hard time understanding because of our accent." she shrugs her shoulder.
The man looked cluelessly at the two girls and Jennie flashes him with a terse smile, "Well, welcome to Japan sir."
"Oh, so you live here?" the man curiously asked the two girls.
"Only me." Frozen answers as she points to herself, her accent was deep – clearly not used to speaking the language.
"Not me," Jennie said while shaking her head, "My whole family just came for a vacation."
"Is that so? But you spoke in Japanese?" he said in amazement, the light of the lanterns caused his glasses to shine and almost orange like glow.
Jennie politely smiled and patiently explained to the man in front of her, "It's because this is my mother's hometown so I kind of got used to speaking the language when I'm here."
A thoughtful and impressed look graced on the man's features, "That's really amazing, but I guess if you live with someone who speaks another language— you'll grow to learn that language too." he smiles giddily, "Like me to my wife and my daughter to me." he scratched his nose in amusement.
Something caught Frozen's silver blue eyes and her childlike face lit up in glee, her face was trained to the thing she was watching as she shakes her cousin's forearm beside her. Jennie's forehead creased in annoyance as she turns her head and gives her cousin a glare,
"What?!"
"I'm gonna go there," Frozen pointed at something from the mass of people, Jennie looked at what the blue eyed girl was pointing at but nothing was there, "I found something really cool..."
"You're leaving me here?" Jennie whispers to the girl in disbelief, her eyes would briefly look at the man who had now returned to watching the goods in the stall.
"You're a big girl, you can handle yourself." Frozen snarkily replies while patting her cousin's forearms.
The blue eyed Japanese girl then looks at the man and says, "I have to go sir, it was nice meeting you."
The man turned his attention at the little girl, he flashes her a friendly smile before saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you too."
Frozen beams back at him, flashing her canined tooth before turning around and dashing away from the place— leaving her socially inept cousin on the spot. A frown tugs on Jennie's lips as she grumbles to herself again, questioning herself why she let her mother and cousin persuade her to leave the manor when Frozen's gonna ditch her anyway.
Jennie and the man's eye briefly meet before the feline eyed girl averts her gaze, she bore her eyes at the sold things on the stall – it was full of charms, pendants, accessories and toys, most of which are not something Jennie would even enjoy. Oh, but she does love the miniature hachiko wooden carved toy just beside some of the toys – maybe she'll buy that for herself, after all, it was the thing that caught her eye and made her go to the stall in the first place.
Although Jennie was preoccupied with the small trinket, her eyes would occasionally glance at the calm looking man on her peripheral vision – now don't get her wrong, the staring may not be warranted but the man truly was tall. Like a goliath, he must have some foreign western blood for him to get this tall.
Jennie must have stared for so long because the man noticed the staring and he let out a throaty chuckle, "Is there something on my face?" he asked, directing the question to the small girl beside him.
Jennie instantly snapped her eyes back to the toys in front of her, whilst clearing her throat and shuffling on her feet– feeling vexed of herself for unconsciously staring at the man like an art exhibit.
"Sorry for staring, I was just curious." Jennie guiltily confesses to him.
The man chuckles again, his hand that hovered over a piece of trinket retracted back to his side as he gives his full attention to Jennie, "By the amount of your stares, I can't help but feel you're dissecting me." he said in amusement.
"But if you have something to ask, I'm willing to answer." the man grins, the wide smile caused his glasses to run up from his nose.
Jennie gave a laid back smile for the first time that evening, "My mind works really different from others, so my question might be out of this world."
"Well? Shoot." The man cheekily replies.
"Hmm..." Jennie looked thoughtful for a second before tilting her head as she looked at the man and asked, "Where are you from? You're really tall, like a jumbo tree. See how I have to strain my neck to look up to you?" her gaze looked serious.
With this, the man let out a hearty laugh, "If you're asking why I am tall, then I'm afraid I can't answer that— but I guess I've got it from my father's genes. If you're asking what nationality am I born with, then I'll answer that I'm Swiss. If you're asking where my home is, then I'll answer Thailand." he gave Jennie a warm smile.
Jennie's dark brown childish eyes look at him with wonder, "No wonder you have this rough accent when you speak. You mainly speak German Deutsch?"
"Ja." the man entertains Jennie by replying with his national language, the feline eyed girl felt her eyes light up from hearing that awfully familiar accented language.
"Freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen." Jennie replies in German, but her accent was sloppier– as if she wasn't used to speaking the foreign language on her tongue.
"You speak deutsch?" it was the man's turn to look at the small girl in front of him who's probably still at the first year of high school in awe.
"Just a little, enough to greet but not enough to hold a longer back and forth conversation because my brain would take long to translate the words thrown at me. I'm still learning the language as a whole because it sounds fun." Jennie said, although not arrogant— you can hear the proud tone on her voice.
The man now looked really impressed, "Your accent will get better as you practice more." he paused, then continues, "Though I couldn't help but notice that you also have an accent of your own when speaking English. Now it's my turn to ask where you are from."
"I'm from Korea actually, but my family and I lived in New Zealand for a longer time in my childhood years so I've learnt to adapt the language and accent there for my own." Jennie explains, her fingers were gently graze at the table on the stall as she would constantly look around – doing her best to avoid any form of eye contact.
"Ah... I see..." The man nods his head in understanding, Jennie and him were then enveloped in silence – both of them seemed lost on their own thoughts while the mass of people surrounding them were chatting and buzzing away like bees when they'd see flowers.
Jennie inserted her hands on her jacket's pockets, she clears her throat before asking, "So what made you come to Japan? Vacation too?"
"Oh," the man crossed his arms over his chest, "I came here for some business related job rather than a vacation— but I heard from one of my colleagues that there's going to be a festival here— one of the clients offered us to come here, unfortunately I separated with my colleagues so I'm just checking on the shops right now." he lengthily explains.
Jennie tilts her head and inquisitively looks at him, "Business meeting?"
The man clarifies, "Not really a business meeting, just some overseas work— attending some party." he pauses for a fraction of a second to adjust the jacket on his form before continuing, "I'm a chef, and I normally go overseas to work even though I also manage our own restaurant."
"Isn't it tiring?" Jennie asked whilst pursing her lips, making it form into a tiny pout.
The man just smiles, though his eyes were soft and warm – full of love and longing, "Yes, at some point it is tiring but-- the things I learn and experience while travelling is worth while. Plus I can bring gifts to my family, since they can't go out of the country— why don't I give them a taste of the world outside with the gifts I bring home with me?" he says while grabbing a piece of trinket on the booth and examining it.
The man fiddles on the keychain he held, "I wanted to buy something for my daughter and wife, maybe a souvenir." he glanced at Jennie, the sweet smile on his face was still there.
"That's sweet." Jennie comments, she couldn't help but be moved at the words he had spoken.
The man laughs again, his voice rumbles on his chest and throat, "I may be a little old on the edges, but I know how to be sweet and doting to the people I cherish and love."
Jennie flashes her infamous gummy smile that made her chubby cheeks puffed out, "You're a really sweet man sir, your family is lucky."
"I'm luckier to have them," the man happily states, but a solemn look appeared on his face "I don't know what I would do if I lost them." he said, but his downcasted look disappeared in an instant and his previous friendly one comes back again.
"Well, what are you going to buy? Maybe I can help." Jennie offers, her dark brown eyes start to scan on the things displayed on the stall.
"Hmm..." the man hums to himself as he scratched the small beard on his chin, "I've been in this stall for a long time now and I can't really choose."
"Maybe try giving them charms that were blessed." Jennie said as she grabs a small square pouch keychain that is color red, Kanji was printed in front of it that read 'Love'. She raised the small keychain pouch on her hand and extends it to the man.
The man readily accepts the item with his large hand, Jennie releases her hold on the string and it drops down his palm, "Charms?" he asks as he raised his hand in front of him to look at the tiny thing on his palm.
Jennie nods her head, "Yeah, there are a lot here actually." she then starts pointing at the hanged charms on a small stand in the table, "There are charms for luck or prosperity in marriage— if you want there's also luck for education or money— it depends on you."
"Sounds intriguing," the man starts looking at the colorful charms perched on the stand, "Prosperity in marriage huh...." he could not help but laugh.
"Your wife may love it." Jennie comments.
"Probably." The man continues to laugh, "But I think she'll love it more if I give her some food that's only made here— or a cookbook, she's a chef like me so those might be more practically." he fondly shares to Jennie.
"Try the cook book," Jennie suggests, "It lasts longer unlike food where you just digest and poop it out."
The man turns his head to look at Jennie, amusement painted on his face, "You're a funny kid."
Jennie smirked, "I try."
"I suppose I'll just get the love charm for my wife...." the man said, "I don't know which are the love charms though." he scratched his chin in confusion since he couldn't read the Japanese letters that was written on the key chains.
Jennie points at the charm on the man's left hand, "The charm I first gave you is a love charm."
The man looked at the item on his palm and he gives it a light squeeze, "I see... Thank you for this." he flashes Jennie another smile.
But then his face morphs into concentration as his lips turned upside down, "I don't know what to get my daughter though... I've been looking for something more meaningful to give her but I just can't find it..." he said with a defeated tone on his voice.
Jennie fixed the scarf on her neck and asks the man, "What does your daughter like?"
The man ponders for a moment before his lips broke out into a grin, like he's remembering something funny, "Well, my daughter has some weird fascination with the moon— oh and any food I give her actually, she's not picky— honestly, you'll win her over with food. Feed her a lot and she'll get attached to you like an overgrown puppy."
"Your daughter sounds more like a fish." Jennie deadpans.
The man gave out another round of laughter and Jennie couldn't help the grin forming on her lips from the older man's joy.
"But, the moon?" Jennie tilts her head in confusion as she looks up the man in question.
"Yeah," the nods his head, "She loves the moon."
Jennie frowns, "That's a weird thing to like—" she raised her hands up in defense, "I mean, no offense."
"I suppose it is for some people," the man shrugs his shoulder, "But you love what you love— there's no stopping a person from loving something no matter how weird it is for some people."
Jennie hums, her eyes flitted to the people prancing along the festival – it was weird having this conversation with a complete stranger, but it's not like it wasn't enjoyable; in fact, it felt fun talking about someone's life whom you have no idea of – it was refreshing on its own way, so maybe getting out of the stuffy Yukimori manor wasn't too bad.
"The moon is beautiful in its own way--" Jennie said as she pulls down the beanie on her head to give her more heat, "But I prefer the sun." she flashes her childlike gummy smile.
"The sun?" the man looks at the girl with a questioning look, "Why?"
Jennie's face turns serious as she gives out facts about why she loves the sun more than the moon, "Because it gives light, it grows crops, it's a part of photosynthesis, or evaporation and condensation— basically the sun is a necessity, we can't live without it. Moreover, the sun teaches us that we may fall down sometimes but we'll always rise up on the top again. Always on the pinnacle of the sky, shining over the others down below. So I prefer the sun more than the moon and no one can change my mind." after her explanation, she crosses her arms over her chest like a petulant child.
"You're a stubborn little girl aren't yah?" the man says this with a grin, he crouches down and tells Jennie with a mischievous glint in his rounded eyes, "You and my daughter might fight over this matter cause I've never known anyone who loves the moon more than she does."
Jennie narrows her eyes as that challenge, she let out a scoff, "I'll win, I'm stronger and smarter—" she froze on her words once she realizes what she had just said, so she looks back at the amused man with an apologetic look, "uh, no offense again, I'm just messing..."
"Don't be," the man said this with a chuckle, "I find you fun to talk with, you truly are smart as you say— your words sound oddly intelligent, almost like I'm talking to someone older than what I expected— so I took no offense in that."
Jennie averts her dark brown eyes while shuffling on her feet as she feels the edge of her ears turn hot from that compliment. Although the girl receives these type of compliment on a daily basis, those common compliments thrown at her was dull compared to the sincerity the man emitted when he said those words to her. She looks inquisitively at the person in front of her, the man lacked the negative and devious aura who's always plotting behind your back that Jennie was used to – maybe that's why the girl felt at ease with talking to this person, he was just too pure.
"Have you ever heard the story of the sun and moon?" the man asks Jennie.
"What?" Jennie blinks as she tilts her head in confusion, "They have a story?" she asked while her forehead creased.
"Yeah," He confirms with a nod, the man clears his throat like he was telling a bed time story.
"So this tale is about longing and sacrifice, where the sun loved the moon so much that he would die every night just to let her breath. The sun and moon are met on an endless cycle where they'd long just to hold each others hand but they're never allowed to collide. My daughter thinks of the sun and moon as lovers, who rarely meet, always chasing, and almost always miss. But once in a while they do catch up, and they kiss, and the world stares in awe at their eclipse."
A frown appears on Jennie's lips as a thoughtful look crosses her face, "Poetic and sad." she states.
"It truly is, isn't it?" the man agrees, "I've only heard of this tale because of my daughter and I'm sharing it to you."
"Your daughter must really love the moon." Jennie couldn't but say.
"More than anything right now." The man replied with a smile, but then he felt a vibration on his pocket – he then scrambles his oversized jacket to take out the beeping phone inside his clothes.
Jennie eyes him at first, but then gives him his privacy once the man successfully retrieves his phone from his pocket. The man instantly accepted the call he had just received, the feline eyed girl then turns her attention to the hachiko wood ornament on the stall – her mind then starts to wander off into her own world, muting away the noise around her like they had a volume key that will turn the noise from loud to silent.
Jennie was pulled out of her thoughts when the man called out to her, she felt a light tap— but it was more of a swift poke that barely touched her shoulder which caused her to jump a fraction from her skin.
The man doesn't notice the abrupt jerk from the other girl as he was busy taking another piece of the red charm Jennie had given him, "I have to go," he said to Jennie, "My colleagues are looking for me— Um wait let me just buy these charms for them."
The man asked the owner of the stall who seemed to be bored out of their wits for the price of the two charms he had on his hand, the owner seemed confused for a moment because of the language barrier so Jennie opted to ask the owner in Japanese instead as to not watch the two people with different language lengthen their agony by using hand signs. The man looked greatful for Jennie's help, he hands over the bills to the shop owner before focusing his attention back to Jennie.
"Thank you very much for your help. I am eternally greatful for it. Most of all, thank you for the fun conversations we shared." the man said with sincerity in his voice, he pockets the wrapped souvenirs on his jacket as he eyes Jennie gratefully.
"No need to thank me sir, I should be the one thanking you for easing my boredom with your talks." Jennie replies, though there was a hint of playfulness on her voice.
The man gave out another throaty chuckle, "Well it was nice meeting you...?"
"Jennie," she introduces herself and extends her hand for a shake.
The man readily accepts Jennie's hand and his calloused large hand greatly oversized the small girl's hand like his hand was a blanket covering Jennie's own.
"I am Marco, Marco Brüschweiler." the man introduces himself, he gives a gentle squeeze as they lightly shook their hands and drops it back to their side.
Marco clears his throat and he gives Jennie a warm smile before saying, "Well, I'll be on my way now, goodbye Jennie." he slightly tilts his head down for a brief bow before he gave his one last final smile to the girl. He turns around and starts to walk away from the place.
"Goodbye..." Jennie whispers to the retreating form as she briefly raised her hand up to say bye.
Once the man disappears from the throes of people, the feline eyed girl drops her hands down to her sides and just like that, the comfortable bubble Jennie was in is popped open like a balloon – she was back to the lively and dreadful noise of the night festival. She winced when she heard the shouts of the vendors and the loud chatter of the people. How she wished she brought her earphones or better, her headset with her to drown the annoying sound of people.
Jennie pulls down her beanie on her head as she fixes the scarf on her neck, she shoved her hands inside her jacket's pocket and she releases a tired sigh. Her eyes fixed itself on the craved wooden dog on the stall, her hands were itching to buy the lifeless dog but she no longer held the interest she once had from earlier so she just turns around to leave the stall.
She stuffs her hands back inside her jacket, a scowl was now apparent on her face. Her feline brown eyes would drift among the people around the place, trying to spot the familiar face of her cousin but she was not successful to say the least. Jennie was now annoyed, a part of her wanted to just walk out of the festival and leave her stupid cousin in the crowd– to hell with waiting.
With this decision made, Jennie turns her heel to the direction of the Festival's exit, but as she walked — the dark haired girl passed a couple of stalls, one of which was a small little booth that was littered with accessories. She wouldn't have stopped, but the stuff displayed in the small booth somehow held her interest. So Jennie decided to go to that tiny stall.
The stall wasn't colorful or full of light, only a small lamp was provided on top of the booth to give illumination to the items being displayed. An old woman, probably on her late 60s was guarding the booth, the woman's eyes were closed – as if she was on a deep state of slumber. Jennie didn't really want to disturb the woman, instead she opted to just look at the accessories being displayed.
It was a wide array of accessories, from rings to necklaces to earrings. The stall was full of variety of artistic metal works that must have been hand crafted to perfection. It somehow impressed Jennie, especially at how the details of the designs were meticulously engraved— like the metal bracelet she was holding right now. It was brown, a color close to copper— it had beautiful Sakura blossom engravings carved on its side. Her fingers ran through the rough patches of the carved lines, Jennie was sound enraptured by the item that she doesn't notice the old woman already opening her eyes and looking at the dark haired girl with interest.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" the old woman spoke up, her voice was husky and hoarse due to her old age catching up on her.
Jennie flinched on her place and she whips her face towards the source of the voice, she saw the old woman looking at her with a warm smile – wrinkles were apparent on the woman's forehead and side of her eyes. The feline eyed girl dropped the bracelet down with the other bracelets displayed on the table.
"Yeah..." Jennie cleared her throat and bobbed her head up and down in agreement, "It is."
The woman's smile never wavered, "I'm glad you like it." she says.
Jennie looks at the displays again, other accessories seemed to be made by silver or gold – but the girl doubts that it's real, it was probably just colored like that.
"Is this hand made?" She asks as she looks at the woman in question.
The old woman nods her head, "Yes, made by my husband. He makes them and I sell it to others. Metalwork had always been his passion since youth, so these accessories he makes are made with love, these are like his own children." she chuckles to herself as if she found what she said very funny.
"Ah," Jennie shuffles on her feet while looking at the few displays, avoiding eye contact with the lady, "Well your husband is very talented. What are the types of metal he uses?"
"It depends on him, he either uses iron, nickle or copper— if you give him titanium he may make you an accessory made of one, if he can..." the woman laughs again, "...but he also uses silver and gold sometimes if he has some on hand."
"Really?" Jennie asked, feeling a little interested with what the old woman was saying.
"Yes..." The woman's eyes flash mischievously, she waves her hands over the display, "Some of these are made of silver and gold. But I won't tell which of it, if you can find one, then consider yourself lucky."
With a smirk, the woman asks Jennie, "Do you wish to play a game with me little one?"
"I am not little." Jennie bites back while crossing her arms over her chest, "What game?" she innocently tilts her head, looking at the woman with a slightly interested look.
The woman's grin widen, her eyes almost twinkling in delight, "Choose any of the accessories displayed on this stall, you may find an accessory made of silver and gold. Both of which are worth more than a hundred thousand yen."
"Why are you displaying these here rather than auctioning it or selling it on a jewelry store in a mall or something?" Jennie bluntly says with a straight face, her dark brown eyes look at the woman with caution.
"My husband doesn't like those modern buildings." The old woman shrugs her shoulder, "So do you wish to play?" she gave the girl another sly smirk.
Jennie's brows furrow on her forehead, her eyes squint due to contemplation but she relents in the end, "Okay, let's play this game you want to play." she huffs.
"Pay me twenty-one thousand yen first." the woman states with curt tone, while looking cunningly at the feline eyed girl.
Jennie's eyes widen in shock, she then exclaims with a stomp of her feet whilst pointing accusingly at the woman, "That's extortion!"
The woman just laughs at the upset upset tone of the girl in front of her, so she says, "Isn't that what makes a game more fun to play? The unknown of whether you win or lose?"
"This is just a scam." Jennie seriously says, her eyes glare at the woman.
"What would an old woman like me gain from doing such a thing?" The woman looks at Jennie with an amused smile.
"Money, what else?" the feline eyed girl states like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Hmm...." the woman hums on her throat as she ran a hand on her chin, "Are you just afraid to lose something you own?" she innocently asks.
Jennie crossed her arms over her chest again as she gives the woman a look of disbelief, "I certainly don't." she says with a stubborn tone.
"Then why don't you play this game of chance? Who knows, you might really hit the jackpot." The woman coaxes the child to play this silly game.
With a scoff and maybe feeling like her ego was bruised, Jennie shoves her hands inside her jeans— pulling out her wallet and taking out a couple of bills. She counts the paper bills inside her wallet and offers it towards the old woman.
"Here." Jennie pushes the stack of bill to the woman.
The woman's brows went up to her hairline, she looks at Jennie in surprise as she looks back and forth from the girl to the money. She didn't expect the child to actually have this amount with her, the woman was only goading Jennie – not really expecting of the child to pay that exact amount.
"Now pray tell why does a child like you have twenty one thousand yen bills with them?" the woman asks, still feeling impressed when she all but counted the money on her hand.
Jennie just shrugs her shoulder, she brushes the question off like it was nothing and replies with, "I own money worth more than what you could earn your entire life."
The woman placed her hand on her lap as she secures the money inside a tiny little metal box, "Arrogant little thing aren't you?" she says as she looks back to the girl.
"Now choose any accessory." The woman extends her hand like she was showing an array of treasures, "Like I said earlier, some of these are true gold and silver— if you're lucky, you will find one that is worth more or about a hundred thousand yen."
Jennie looked down at the table with glittering accessories on it. She scratched her porcelain chubby cheeks as she stares at the array of items displayed on the stall, all of the accessories were either the color of copper, silver and gold – each with eye pleasing beauty to it. The accessories with the silver and golden tone to it all had the same colored look, all of them were neither dark or light – the shade of their colors were the same.
So it was kind of hard for Jennie to identify which is which, she wasn't really that much knowledgeable of identifying if an item is made of true gold and silver or if it was just zinc and copper painted to look like silver or gold. Jennie grabbed a silver ring, it had a neatly engraved waves carved into the surface. The ring didn't feel cheap on her hand, most importantly its weight didn't feel too heavy or too light.
Jennie placed back the ring on its original place, the woman just peered curiously at the girl – wondering which accessory she would choose. The next thing Jennie grabbed was a bracelet, like the previous bracelet the feline eyed girl took earlier— this one bracelet also had flower like engravings to its metal surface. It was colored gold, the flowers that were engraved on it looked like daisies wrapped around each other.
Jennie found it cute, a part of her now wanted to choose this accessory but she was skeptical because it may be just another painted metal – imitating the look of gold. So like the ring, she puts down the accessory to where she took it. Jennie was now confused as to which she should choose, all the handy worked items were actually really good.
All of them looked beautiful in their own way and this tempted her hauling self to buy everything in the booth – but that wasn't a good idea or else her mother would berate her again about Jennie's weird obsession over buying and taking random things that catches her eye but disregarding it the next day she loses interest.
Jennie was that deep in thought until something caught her dark brown eyes, unlike the other accessories that had grand intricate designs to it – this one almost looked minimalistic with no design to it at all rather than the small indents made to it.
"Can I see that...?" Jennie murmurs as she points at the accessory, her eyes were trained at it like a hawk – afraid that someone else might have interest in it and take it away from her.
The woman followed the where the girls finger pointed at, once she saw the item Jennie was interested in— surprised flitted on her gaze, "This?" she asks for clarification as she takes the item from the showcase where it was hanging with the other accessories.
"Yeah..." Jennie nods her head, the woman then offers it to her – she then takes it and places it to her palm, examining the item like it was a rare treasure.
It was a necklace, colored silver with chains as the base string. But the thing that caught Jennie's eyes was the lone silver moon pendant on the chained necklace. The moon was of a crescent design rather than a full one, it had a length no more than an inch. It didn't have any carvings to it at all like the other accessories, but the middle of the moon had small indentations to it like it had small stars. The silver tone to the necklace made it shine everytime light would hit its smooth surface, it made you feel like you had half of the moon in your hand.
The woman observed how enraptured Jennie was to the necklace, so she couldn't help but smile warmly and subverted comment, "That necklace is one of a kind, actually all these accessories are." she closed her eyes like she was recalling a fond memory.
Jennie looks up to the woman, placing her attention to the older girl while she rolls the moon pendant on her fingers— hearing the slight rattle of the chains amidst the loud noise of the festival crowd.
The woman opens her eyes as she explains, "My husband made it so that one of each design in these accessories has their own uniqueness."
"What's so unique about this?" Jennie asked curiously while looking at the necklace then back to the old woman.
"Turn it around, you will see a symbol that is not that easy to see unless you yourself knew it existed." the woman directs with a cryptic tone, all the while, she looks at Jennie with a tiny smirk.
The front of the moon pendant had those indentations but the back was just a smooth surface. Jennie flipped the moon pendant, but she doesn't see anything, "What am I seeing exactly?" she asked in confusion as her forehead creased along with her question.
"Squint your eyes harder kid." the woman couldn't help but chuckle.
Jennie huffs again from that nothing derogatory word for her but she does what the woman says anyway, and with that she saw something truly was engraved on it— it was really small, almost nonexistent, the carving wasn't visible to the eye if you don't stare at it long. The lines were purposely made to camouflage with the silver tone of the necklace, but there really was something written on it... And it was on a language Jennie was very familiar with...
私
の
月
(...Watashi no Tsuki...)
"My moon?" Jennie looked up to the woman with a questioning look, "Why would he put that?"
The woman only shrugs her shoulder, "Maybe so that it'll feel like the moon will always be with you... Or always be yours... Wouldn't it be nice to own the moon?" she dreamily sighs as she pointedly looks up to the sky – only to see it clear with clouds and the full moon shining brightly down the festival full of crowds.
Jennie just pursed her lips at the dream like state the woman was in, "I want this." she declares, holding the necklace by its chain as the pendant slowly twirl from its place.
The woman snapped out of her daze and she returns her gaze at Jennie, a genuine smile slowly errupted from her lips as she nodded her head, "Wise choice." she held out her hand to take the necklace from Jennie.
The girl dropped the item on the woman's palm, and the older woman takes a small rectangle black box from the bottom of the table – she opens it to reveal the inside had a small black foam in it, she neatly placed the silver necklace in the box and once she finishes placing it – she took the lid and closed it shut. After which, the woman offers the black box to Jennie.
Jennie took the box from the woman, "You didn't even tell me if this is silver or not."
"That's for you to find out." The old woman winks at the girl, her smirk was still painted on her lips and it made the wrinkles on her skin all more visible.
"That isn't how the game works." Jennie scowls as she held the small rectangle box on her hand.
"It's yours now. If you think it garbage and not real just because it isn't pure silver, then by all means— throw it away, but, that would greatly wound both mine and my husband's heart." The woman sighs dramatically as she placed a wrinkled heart over her chest.
Jennie just scoffs at this, she shoved her left hand inside her pockets jeans while her other held the box with the necklace, "Well I'm gonna go now. Thanks for this I guess." she said as she raised the box.
The woman's smirk turns into a warm smile, "Thank you too, I wish you well little child. Till next time, take care of your moon."
With this, Jennie turns around to leave the stall. Abandoning the old woman back to her own devising, the feline eyed girl weaves to the crowd – dodging the bodies of the people in it as she walks her way towards the exit, her original destination before she got side tracked by that small stall.
As Jennie was walking, she looked down the black rectangle box on her hand, "Mine huh...?" she softly murmurs to herself.
Jennie doesn't notice a shadow looming over her side until it spoke to her, startling her off her thoughts and making her flinch in place.
"What's that?" the person that just arrived, asked curiously.
"Jisoos Christ!" Jennie cursed as she whips her face to her side to give the person a harsh glare, her teeth baring with annoyance.
"What?" the person's blue eyes widen in confusion when anger was directed to her by Jennie.
"Where did you come from Frost?!" Jennie exclaims in irritation as she pulls down the beanie on her head.
The two girls were continuing their pace as they walked amongst the crowd, but Jennie was walking faster while the other girl lagged beside her.
"Huh?" blue eyes blink innocently at Jennie, "Didn't you feel me come?"
"No I didn't." Jennie bites back with a sharp tone.
"Eh? That's odd for you..." Frozen exclaims with her lips turned into a frown.
Jennie's eyes continue to glare at her cousin until it lowers down to Frozen's hands, her dark brown feline eyes widen in shock once she saw what the silver blue eyed girl was or were holding right now. She stops on her tracks and Frozen follows suit.
"Why do you have so many bags of... goldfishes?" Jennie asked, she felt herself gape as she saw Frozen holding eight cellophane bags with live goldfishes inside of it.
"Oh," Frozen proudly raised her arms up to present the goldfishes to her cousin, "I found this wicked cool game where you catch fishes and keep it for your self. I've been busy catching me some of these Lil fishy."
Jennie could not conceal the incredulous laughter that escaped her lips, "You know the fishes in these types of festivals don't last a day right?"
A pout forms on Frozen's lips as she childishly sulks,"I know, that's why I'm already preparing for a funeral tomorrow— well if they're still intact, Molten-nee's cat may eat it so I'm gonna protect these little buggers from that evil creature."
Jennie shakes her head at the absurdity of her cousin, she starts walking again – towards the exit so she could finally go back to the manor and snuggle on her futon, blocking away the world and returning back to her dream Neverland.
"But anyway, what's that on your hand?" Frozen asks while following Jennie, her eyes peer curiously at the small black box Jennie was holding.
"Nothing." Jennie replies, pulling the box inside her jacket.
"How is that nothing?" Frozen thoughtfully says, "Does nothing even exist? Or does nothing mean it does not exist? What if someday we become nothing, would we ever revert back to anything then? Or will we continue to be nothing – ceasing to exist but still existing..."
Jennie looked at her cousin like she wants to slap her, "What the hell are you blabbering?"
"Nothing." Frozen replies with a dead tone.
Jennie pinched her nose as she closes her eyes while taking deep breaths, "If I tell you, will you shut up?"
"Maybe."
Jennie now couldn't resist her eye roll, "It's just a pendant I bought on one of the stalls, there, happy?"
"A necklace?"
Jennie just gave her cousin a blank look, indicating she was getting annoyed with all the questions and she wouldn't hesitate to throw hands.
Frozen resisted the urge to laugh at her fuming cousin, "Since when do you buy accessories that isn't made of Gucci or Chanel?"
Jennie replies with a hard punch on Frozen's forearm.
"OW!" the blue eyed girl shouts out in pain and a few bystanders peer curiously at the two girls, Frozen wanted to grab a hold of her bruised arm but the bags of fishes in her hands prevented her to do so, "You didn't have to punch me!" she readily exclaims with a scowl on her face.
Jennie just smirks victoriously, "If you don't want me to punch you, then stop asking questions. Plus that's pay back for pushing me earlier."
Because of that, Frozen started to whine and complain about how she's already receiving daily beating from her own twin and Jennie had to add to the list of people who would use her as a punching bag. The feline eyed girl didn't really pay this much attention, though she would flash her sulking cousin a few smug looks just to annoy the blue eyed girl further.
But then something catched the attention of Jennie's feline like eyes, she turns her head to that direction and a look of surprise appears on her face until it morphs into determination. Without a second thought, she dashes towards that direction. The dark haired girl could hear her cousin calling out her name but she doesn't pay this any mind because she had a goal in mind. Jennie tightened the lose scarf on her neck as she ran while dodging the bodies of the passing people in the way.
Just by the exit of the festival, a familiar tall man was standing by the pillar. The man looked to be conversing with a few other men, some looked foreign like him but the others looked Japanese. The feline eyed girl stopped a few feet away from them, her grip on the black box was tight as she starts to shuffle on her feet— confused over herself as to why she ran over here like she was chasing after something.
Jennie contemplated on whether she should walk closer to the man and casually greet him, but wouldn't that be a little awkward? They weren't really close and their talk with each other may have been a one time thing. Ah, Jennie wasn't that good at these types of stuff – most importantly, she now feels a little stupid for running all the way here like a headless chicken. Her eyes glance down at the black box in her hand again, she clutched it like it was her life line – the conversations she had with the man still rang on her head. Maybe that is why she felt so enraptured with the blasted accessory...
Amidst Jennie's contemplation, she doesn't notice the man already stopped conversing with his colleagues – she also doesn't notice the man excused himself to walk towards her until she heard his voice just a feet away from her.
"Jennie, fate must really want us to meet. I'm glad to see you again." the man said with humor, his gruff accented voice was evident as he spoke.
Jennie looked up, a shy look crosses her face as she fiddles with the end of her scarf, "Mr. Marco... Hello again..."
Marco tilts his head as he asks the girl, "You off to leave the festivities as well?" his glassed eyes glance briefly at the swarm of people still cajoling in the festival even though it was already very late at night.
"Yep, I'm tired now so I'm really craving to go inside my bed." Jennie nods her head as she offers him a reply.
"Same with me, we have an early flight tomorrow." Marco shares, his hands were pocketed in the pants he was wearing. A few people passed beside the two conversing people, each of them were wrapped on their own world.
"You're leaving Japan tomorrow?" Jennie lightly kicked a pebble underneath her feet as she asks this question.
"Yep," Marco nods his head, "Our work here is done. I guess that's why we had a little night out. After this, I'm back to Thailand. Back to my family, my home." he fondly tells the girl, his eyes was full of warmth.
Jennie pursed her lips as a serious look appears on her dark feline eyes, she looks at the box in her hands and she slowly raises it— offering the thing towards the man in front of her, "Uh, here..." she bashfully looks at him while clearing her throat.
"What's that?" Marco looks at the black rectangular box in interest, his eyes twinkle behind his large spectacles.
"A gift..." Jennie still had her hand outstretched, her eyes looking expectantly at Marco.
Marco then decided to accept the small box, taking it off from Jennie's hand, "Oh, why?" he pulls it towards him and starts examining the little thing.
"Nothing really, just bought it on a whim." Jennie tugs her scarf on her neck as she flashes him an uncomfortable smile, feeling a little off with herself for acting this generous with someone she just met – heck that necklace costs about 200 dollars of you convert it from yen.
"And you're giving it to me?" Marco asks, a little surprised from the gesture.
"Yeah..." Jennie looked at Marco with a small smile, "But it's not really for you because you may not like it. But I'm sure your daughter will... You can give it to her..." she said with a soft tone as she looks down the ground, feeling a little embarrassed.
Frozen had already caught up to Jennie, she was about to run towards her heartless cousin who just left her on the dust when she notices the girl conversing with a familiar man. Her head tilt in confusion but she opted to just stay on her place with her fish companions and not barge into the two conversing people, but it was just interesting though – it wasn't everyday that Jennie would converse with someone especially by how dodgy and anti-social she tends to be, so it's a surprise to have the girl start a conversation with someone, let alone with a stranger.
"Is it alright if I open it to take a small peek?" Marco grinned with a sly look, a part of him was curious at to what the girl in front of him tried to gift.
Jennie just nods her head in agreement, "Sure."
This was the only signal Marco had before he slowly took off the lid covering the box. Once it was open, the light of the lantern above them made the item inside glitter like a gem. Marco could only blink his eyes and stare in awe at the cute little necklace inside the box, Jennie was right that he wouldn't be able to enjoy the accessory very much – the chain was far too small for his neck, seems like the necklace was made for a feminine or smaller neck to wear.
"It's beautiful." Marco said as he run his right thumb over the moon pendant, he felt both the smooth and rough surface of the silver toned metal once his finger touched the item.
"Mhm it sure is." Jennie grinned proudly when he saw the amazement on the man's eyes, it was the expression she must have worn when she first saw the pendant.
"You have good taste Jennie." Marco said this while flashing a warm smile to the girl, he put the lid back on top of the box as he clutched it gently on his grasp.
"Thanks..." Jennie's dark brown eyes looked down the ground as she felt the edges on her lips pull down into a soft smile.
"But are you sure you'll give it to me? Or my daughter specifically? This looks expensive." Marco laughs as he glanced down the black rectangular box, feeling a little worried that the small necklace could be worth a lot— especially by just looking at it with your own naked eye.
Jennie pursed her lips, making her cheeks jutt out and puff like marshmallow, her face looked akin to a pout and it almost made it feel like the girl would start sulking if Marco were to give back the necklace she bought, so she replies with,
"Yeah, it's just a pendant-- but maybe it'll remind her that even if the sun is shining during day, the moon shouldn't feel lonely because the sun is always thinking of the moon like how your daughter thinks of it frequently. The moon will always be with her if she wears that pendant, just like how the sun will always be with the moon." Jennie said, with a thoughtful look on her dark brown eyes.
Marco couldn't help but melt at the words the girl uttered, he smiled warmly at the girl – resisting the urge to pat on Jennie's head like how he normally does to his own daughter when she says something that moves his heart, "You're a sweet child Jennie."
"Not really..." Jennie averts her eyes from the man, on the corner of her vision – she saw her cousin with those bags of fishes, sitting at one of the benches while chatting to some kids.
"I'll tell my daughter that you gave this to her." Marco states as he clutched box close to his chest.
Jennie then turns her attention back to the tall man, shaking her head all the while, "Please don't." she rejected that thought.
"What do you mean?" Marco asked with a frown, confused as to why the girl had said that.
"I just..." Jennie paused, thinking of her words to say before continuing, "It would be better if you told her that you bought that for her."
"Why?" Marco still continues to look at Jennie with that confused puppy like look, not really getting what the girl was trying to say.
"Because I know she'll be much more happier if it came from you," Jennie gave a light scratch on her chubby cheeks and explains to the older man, "She'll treasure it more than anything in the world and so, she'll never take it off her neck. It will be like her protection charm."
"That sounds like a reasonable case." He chuckled lowly on his throat, a flash of gratitude appears on his eyes as he puts the small box inside the large jacket he was wearing.
Jennie continues to looks down on the gravelled ground, she could hear the thunderous booms up in the sky along with shouts awe from the crowds inside the festival. She looks up a little to see colors flash before her eyes, Jennie remembers her cousin's words that a fireworks display would happen sometimes this night. The fireworks sparkled in the sky like the stars glittering beside the full moon.
"I hope, someday, you and my daughter meet."
Jennie's attention drifted from the multi colored black sky towards Marco who was smiling sweetly at her, his eyes that were hidden behind large spectacles were soft— almost fatherly as he gazed down to the silent Jennie.
"If... If destiny lets us. I'm sure we will." Jennie flashes Marco a gummy smile, like a sun beaming down and giving light to the world.
"And when you do meet, you'll be the one to tell her the truth of the true owner of this necklace. So for now, let's make the origin of this pendant as a little secret of ours until that time comes. I'm sure, my wife, would love to meet you too."
Marco Bruschweiler declares these words with a smile, not knowing the deal he had signed with a devil and the horrifying events that would unfold years to come— with his own daughter placed in the middle of the storm.
×-×-×-×
das Ende.
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"Jennie was driven mad by her love and obsession to Lisa— while Lisa was driven mad by the love and obsession of Jennie. Our two very cute Lunatics, created by the craziness of our own family. So tell me, do you wish to be a part of the Kim's? Just say it and I might introduce you to one of my cousins. Just be warned, they can get a little... Crazy at times. Oh! Or maybe you want me? Haha! Don't worry, we Yukimori's are more tamed than the Kim's— I can be romantic and poetic if you want me too. Ah, but just be careful, if you even think of leaving me— well let's just say you will be very acquaintanted with what my basement looks like... My moon..."
- Frozen Yukimori
To those who have been patient,
Thank you.
February 28, 2020 - August 7, 2020
The author may have stopped writing their story, but the tale goes on— it's just untold...
Or it's probably on the interconnected story....
Yeah, it's on the the interconnected story lol
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"When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!"
- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote (1605)
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