| [Jul. 8th, 2012|05:12 am] |
Katsuko handled the photograph with care, staring down at the girl’s brown eyes. “Your little sister?” she asked. “She has the same smile as you.”
"Yeah." His lips quirked slightly and he glanced up, across the room. A table set against the wall held a small, well-tended shrine and a cluster of memorial tablets. "She really wanted to be a ninja, but she couldn't because of her legs. I always used to tell her it was better if she wasn't, so she could be the one Shiranui to live to be ninety."
Katsuko ran her fingers lightly over the charred edge of the photo. “What was she like?”
“Um.” A slightly helpless look crossed his face as he struggled to find the words. "She was really funny. She was always joking around. Definitely the baby. She was smart, and she was really good at music. She liked animals." He shrugged, sheepishly. "She one time woke me up by putting a turtle in my bed."
A giggle escaped Katsuko before she could stop it. “A turtle?” She grinned, laughter bubbling up out of her. “Did she drop it on your face?”
"No, it was worse. She put it under the covers at my feet, and it went up my pajama leg." Genma stretched his bare foot out and shook it, like an imaginary turtle had gone up his pants leg, and did a little seated dance that clearly translated to ‘oh my god there is a turtle climbing up my thigh’. “You’ve never seen anyone get out of bed faster.” He grinned at Katsuko, eyes creasing at the corners.
Katsuko set the photo down gently on the table and scooted around, settling herself down by Genma and hesitantly wrapping an arm around his shoulders. It was half-impulse, half-- well, she really didn’t know. Just something that resonated in answer to Genma talking about little siblings and broken families.
“Tell me more?” she asked, a little awkwardly. “It’s-- it’s nice. Hearing about it.” |
|