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“Sorry!” he said quickly for the both them.
The officer looked them over. “Where are your parents? Why are you both walking around back here?”
“Because we want to,” the girl muttered and the boy stood in front of her.
“Because we wanted to see the deer
.” He pointed through the fence, and even though the tree line was still a bit far, there was, in fact, a deer there. “We wanted it to come closer but she kept crying because she’s cold. So I’m going to take her home now.”
He waited for the guard to nod them off before he took her hand and ran. He ran with her as fast as their small legs could take them but before they could get to the safety of the camp a rifle shot rang out behind them. He pushed her down thinking that it was them that the officer was shooting at, but as he looked over his shoulder he saw the guard and a few others heading towards the deer. Taking a deep breath he rose to his feet and smacked the girl on the back of her head.
“Are you crazy?!”
“Ouch!” She yelled back at him.
“Don’t talk back to them.”
“Why?”
“Why?” The boy looked at her like he didn’t even know where to begin and so she kept talking.
“Why do I have to stop talking? Why do I have to be here? Why—”
“Because life isn’t fair,” he told her as he crossed his arms in an attempt to make himself seem older than he was, but the feat was too daunting and so he sighed as he lowered his arms and scratched the back of his head. “That’s what my father says, he fought the first time the world was at war and he always says war isn’t fair to anyone, so it’s not fair that we’re here. But we can’t go around causing trouble because it isn’t fair that what we do will hurt someone else too. Your dad is sick, right? If you make them angry what if they don’t let the doctor see him?”
She stopped moving as if he’d just shattered what little pride she’d had left.
“You have to be strong for your father, Kikuko,” he said as he leaned over and dusted the snow off her.
“Everyone calls me Daisy now.” She frowned and then realized. “How do you know my name?”
The boy grinned. “Your brother, Tsutomu, told me he had a baby sister named Kikuko who never plays with us, but that we could find you if we followed the crying.”
“I’m not a crybaby!” The girl stomped her foot.
He nodded and then stuck out his hand. “Kosuke Yamauchi.”
She didn’t want to shake his hand so instead she turned around and marched away.
“Bye, Daisy—”
“Not Daisy, Kikuko!” she yelled. “My mom gave me that name.”
He had said goodbye but was instead walking towards her. “Where is your mom?”
The girl looked up in the sky. “In heaven with my little sister. My brother said the trip was bad for her.”
“I’m sorry, Kikuko, but…”
“What?”
“Can we go inside now? It’s cold!” he pleaded as he grabbed her hand and led her towards one of the housing barracks.
***
And just like that, I was looking at Kikuko as she held her hand out while being led by the boy to the housing barracks. Slowly her hand dropped back into her lap and she partially opened the paper fan and fanned her face.
“And that was how the famous duo, who were known by all in Prison Bella Vista, met. They were too young and innocent to realize that they were in love with each other. The two bonded over the common goal of making life just a little bit better and they argued over how to do that. They argued about everything. If Kosuke said it was going to snow, Kikuko said it was going to be the hottest day of the year just to make him angry…but it never did, which made her angry instead.
