Bright Burning

Tsukemono

Letting my tired eyes flicker open I observed my hand resting on the empty mat that had once held the small girl. It took me a moment to recollect what had happened the night before but when I did I shot up and looked around the now bright room with a scrunched face. The room seemed so different with the sun leaking in to show the colors. The color of the wood flooring complimented the dark closet space that was hidden away. Everything organized and spacious.

Scrunching the blanket up in my fist to keep it covering my bare breasts I opened the sliding door to look out of the room hoping to see Akira but was disappointed to only hear sounds from the kitchen. Slowly closing the door so I wouldn't put any attention on myself I noticed a note hanging by the door itself.

The English writing was shaky and hard to read but I smiled at the heart drawn at the end and followed the directions to retrieve a robe hidden away. Putting my arms through and tying the string to keep the garment in place I couldn't help but smile at the feeling. It was smooth and cool to my warm skin and fit just right. I assumed it was a piece of clothing her mother had left, the size was far to big to be Akira's and the way it looked so untouched just furthered my guess.

Putting on the slippers that rested below I finally built up the courage to leave the room. It only took two steps however for it to be too much as I saw an old man staring at me. He was seated at a Chabudai, most of his body covered by a blanket. What I noticed first was his hair, it was a salt and pepper mixture the black still being the dominant color even though his age showed it shouldn't be. The wrinkles on his face were deeply indented and so were is his is almost dead eyes as they watched me stand there unwilling to move.

"Good morning." Akira sang bringing in two glasses of water. I smiled at her cheery disposition and gulped seeing her place one in front of the man and one on the other end of the low table for me. "Please sit."

Nodding I did what she wanted and tried not looking back up at the beautiful face. I got caught up staring at her too often and didn't need to be disrespectful in front her grandfather. I couldn't help but let my eyes watch her walk away however as I sipped the liquid into my dry mouth. If it was anyone's guess the girl seemed like nothing had happened last night, but I knew. I could see the difference in her walk.

Finally looking back at the man who hadn't taken his eyes off of me I smiled kindly trying to think of what to say. "You have a beautiful house."

He didn't respond as his mouth chewed seemingly nothing. His eyes did look away however as the blanket fell from his chest. His arms moved slowly to reach for the glass of water and I couldn't help but furrow my eyes brows at the shape of his hands. They were crooked and unable to move from what I could only expect was a stroke.

I tried not to watch his struggles as he finally lifted the glass up to his dry lips, I instead subconsciously combed my hair down from the hands that had ran through it a few hours ago.

"You are a teacher?" His raspy voice finally said. Of course it was in Japanese and I instantly felt silly about complimenting his house in the English language.

"Yes, an English teacher at -."

His lips quivered and I waited as he tried to gather his thoughts so that they could leave his mouth. "Is Akira a good student?"

Maybe I answered to quickly but I nodded, "She's one of the best. A very fast learner." I took another drink to hide my nerves and hoped he hadn't caught the shakiness in my own voice. "I hope I'm not being disrespectful." I say as quietly as possible, hoping the elderly man couldn't hear my lame excuse as an apology. It wasn't hard to see that I had slept with his granddaughter last night and was now sitting with the man at his table to eat.