Haibane Renmei 2

Pain and desperation. Theft. Unlikely friendship.

The next morning, as the sun rose over the wall, Rakka stood in the guest room kitchen together with Hikari. They were making breakfast â bread, cheese, greens, ham, jams. Rakka had motioned toward a flower vase that stood on the very top of one of the walled cupboards, and Hikira used a chair to climb the counter and get it. Now holding it, she was on her way down when a load wail came from the other side of the wall. Hikari surprisedly dropped the vase and it plummeted to the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces.

Rakka rushed into the guest room, finding the girl twisting in her bed, and her brother next to her in his own bed, looked terrified.

âHikari,â was all Rakka said before she hurried over to the crying patient, reeling a long piece of leather strap from her white summer dress pocket. She wrapped it around her thumb â trick Reki had taught her when she had gone through this very process herself.

âHere, bite on this so you donât get your tongue.â

The girl bit, carefully at first, but as the twitches arching her back became more violent, Rakka had to strain herself to not show how much her thumb hurt even with the leather strapped around it.

Next she got to witness what she had been on the receiving end of last time. Agonized tears streamed down the girlâs cheeks, and Rakka had to be stronger than ever before not to show how desperate she was for this to go well. She stared at the wailerâs arching back as the shoulder blades bulged, and the skin slowly gave in to a pointy, blood-red object. It grew bigger, and the wails grew louder. Rakka tried hushing the crying girl by stroking her hair and telling her everything was going to be all right, but she never expected it to be this hard to sound believing â or even coherent â with a wrecking pain shooting through your finger every second.

But she had to think of the one in the bed, who right now was way over her head in pain and desperation. Rakka knew how it was far too well, as did every other Haibane. It was a process each of them had gone through shortly upon arriving at the birth home. And it was necessary, above all else.

Rakka kept staring at the phenomenon before her, through peering eyes. The two objects, reminding her of spires in their folded state, she knew were about to reveal their true form, and when they did she had to be ready.

Across the room, by the other bed, Hikari was trying to calm the poor boy, watching all of this unravel as, Rakka was certain, he sat there in shock.

Here they come! Rakka braced herself, and having a quick glance at Hikrai by the other bed, who gave her an encouraging smile, she decided to try a trick of her own. As the spires broke completely through the skin, they unfolded at one end to become feathery, bloody wings. The unfolding jolted the girlâs body and she released a icy shriek that Rakka was certain at least would wake the others sleeping on ground level in Old Home, if not even the ones underground.

She put a comforting hand on the wailing girlâs cheek, and she got her thumb back eventually. She continued to look the girl in the eyes, smiling warmly, until the girl, her face teary and contracted, met her gaze. Her sobs blended intervals with her brotherâs, who had fallen asleep again in Hikariâs gentle care.

Hikari, who had been busy putting him back in bed, had been stroking his upper arm all this time, and now she smiled at Rakka, nodding approvingly.

Suddenly the door burst open and Kana barged inside, but she stopped in the door, looking almost perplexed at the scene, where Hikari smiled at her while holding a finger to her lips, and Rakka tending to the wing of a sleeping patient. Rakka was drenched in sweat, and her fearful expression had not yet completely left her face.

âOver already? Oh man, why do I always miss the action!â Kana seemed sorry at first, but Rakka assured her that there hadnât been much to see anyway, and smiled. Kana crossed her arms, âYeah, right.â

Hikari got up from the chair as Nemu yawned as she entered the room. âDid we miss anything?â

Kana turned to her, clearly annoyed. âOnly the sprouting of the first wings in an entire year! Nemu, if you hadnât been so slow we could have witnessed it!â

âDonât blame me. It was you who seemed to think I didnât know the way by myself,â she stated drowsily.

âWell, Iâm gonna continue making breakfast. Nemu would you take over here?â Jikari was getting ready to walk back into the kitchen.

âNo way is she taking this post!â Kana leapt to the case. âIf this kid has a sprouting, Iâm not gonna miss it!â

Hikari shrugged. âSuit yourself, but are you sure youâll be ready when it comes?â

Rakka chuckled at Kanaâs caught-off-guard face. âUh, well ⦠I think Iâll beâ¦â

Hikari and Nemu had already vanished out into the kitchen.

Rakka was cleaning the blood from one wing off into a small bucket of water. Kana tried to understand the reason behind the smile on her lips while doing this, because frankly the blood-stained wings were kind of freaky.

âKana why donât you go into town and buy some more cheese and salad?â came Hikariâs voice from the kitchen.

âOh man, do I have to? Nemuâs got nothing to do but help you, and you canât do much without those ingredients anyway. Besides, Iâm busy watching the kid.â

âNemu can take over your post for a while. Iâm sure the first sprout was activated early only because of the tumble she did before. If the other oneâs normal, it shouldnât be here before this afternoon. Besides, you know Nemuâs got some experience with this anyway!â

Kana got up, annoyed. âUgh, fine, fine, but I expect this spot to be free when I get back. You better stay awake, Nemu!â Then she left.



***



Kana jumped on her bike and headed for town, over the bridge and left along the yellow dirt road. To her left was the Hill of Winds, which had been Kuuâs favorite hangout spot. It was a hill overlooking the little town of Gure, where most of the people lived, and most of the Haibane worked.

Kana, as much as the other Haibane, missed Kuu â her gentle and carefree spirit, and the fact that she had easily been mistaken for a boy by her boss, had often caused a wave of laughter at Old Home when she had come home with her stories.

Kana smiled at the memories. Kuu was gone â maybe forever, maybe not â but her aura had left a distinct and permanent mark on Old Home and its residents. Kana didnât regret her going beyond the walls, but at the same timeâ¦

Kana arrived at the grocery store and dismounted her bike. The streets were buzzing as usual: small-talk; gossip; business talk. She entered the store, and ten minutes later, she came out again with salad, cheese and a chocolate bar. She looked at the small notebook in her hand. It had only one page left, but luckily the clerk had been kind enough to grant her the groceries, because she had told him about the newly arrived Haibane.

Finishing her chocolate bar, she headed for where she had parked the bike, but it wasnât there anymore.

âCrap! Whatâs going on? Whereâs my bike?â Kana almost yelled. Todayâs unfortunate events were really starting to get on her nerves.



***



After having looked around for almost an hour, she found the bike by the bridge leading to the Abandoned Factory.

Over that way lived another group of Haibane. The two groups went far back, but at the time there was too much differentiating them â or so they thought â and so they split up to different parts of the cityâs outskirts. It was only last New Yearâs Eve that certain events between key persons on either side managed to make up. All went well, and now there were quarrels with anyone, although the districts stayed divided.

Kana hurried over to the bike, but, as she approached it, noticed that the seat was gone.

âGreat, now Iâm gonna be even later and everyoneâll ask me all sorts of questions!â she groaned. âWell, I better start walking.â

Then she noticed a boy sitting on the bridge looking out on the canal.

âAha! So youâre the one who stole my bike! Admit it and I might go easy on you!â

The boy looked up at her, and when she tried to picture herself seen from his eyes, she was pretty proud of the picture. As she saw it, she was an ominous threat looming over him like that, hands in her sides; staring him down.

The poor kid looked like he didnât know what to say or do, looking perplexed at Kana, then her bike, then Kana again. ââ¦Oh, thatâs yours? Thatâs a very nice bike.â

âDonât play coy with me! Whyâd you steal my seat? Now I have yo walk all the way home. I hope youâre proud of yourself!â

The boy looked even more confused, if that was even possible. âBut ⦠but I didnât steal your bike seat.â

Kana scoffed. âYeah, well, who did then? It just vanished by itself?â

âI donât know. I didnât see anything, but if you want, I can help you look?â he seemed honest enough, and Kanaâs tough look loosened up a bit.

âNo, itâs okay. I gotta get home.â

She turned and was about to walk off with her bike when the boy spoke up. âWait, youâre a Haibane, right?â

âYeah, whatâs it to you? I thought everybody in town knew by now.â Kana didnât turn back to him.

âWell, if youâre not living over across this bridge, you must live at the old fort outside of town. I used to play with you Haibane all the time when I was younger. Is Kuu still around?â

Kanaâs thoughts froze on a picture of the young Haibaneâs cheerful face, and suddenly her voice changed from sharp to rather mellow.

âSheâs gone. Away.â

âWhat? No, she canâtââ

âYou heard what I said, you pest! Now beat it before I call your parents!â He wasnât really annoying or rude, and Kana had the feeling he didnât mean any harm, so she didnât get all worked up over this. Besides, wasnât she supposed to learn to cope with Kuuâs and also Rekiâs absence?

The kid lowered his gaze into the water below. He looked genuinely sad. âIâm sorry. I didnât mean to offend you. Itâs just ⦠I dunno, things arenât going too well at home, and⦠Well, Iâm just used to seeing her, you know?â

âArenât we all,â Kana muttered silently, but suddenly the kid lit up.

âHey, Iâm sorry about your bike, and I realize you gotta go, so I wonât bother you anymore, but you work at the clock tower, right?â

Kana didnât know how to figure this guy. He knew almost obnoxiously much about her and the Haibane. She almost grew wary but turned more toward him. âYeah?â

âCool,â he simply shrugged. âYou think I could stop bye to say hi sometime?â

The question caught Kana a little off guard. He was a complete stranger, but yet he couldnât be more than a year younger than her, which also made the question kind of flattering.

She threw her hands in the air in a âyour-choiceâ kind of manner. âSure, whatever. I mean the clock tower is free for everyone to enter, right?â When he put up a dumb face as some sort of reply, she gave him a wave, âWell, see you,â turned and walked away.