Back ---> Yoroshiku Chapter 2

Chapter 3: One of Us

   A man stood behind the counter of the “Engineering and Supplies” shop, and was busy fiddling with some sort of remote. He was well over six feet tall, and tied his long white hair back in a ponytail. He looked to be in his early twenties, despite his hair color. A tiny pair of glasses rested securely on the bridge of his nose, and he stared down hard at the gadget he was toying with, not even noticing Kyoko's entrance. He wore an dirty, but ironed pair of khakis, and a gray tank top. His hands were covered with oil and dust from his hard day of work.
   “Um...hey there...” Kyoko muttered. The man did not look up from his work. “Do you think I could...um...get a job?” He still did not look up. “Or just kind of sleep here?” she quickly added. No response. Kyoko crept up to the counter where he was working and watched him. She couldn't tell if he hadn't noticed her, or was just ignoring her.
   “Um, excuse me...sir?” She tapped his shoulder. Finally, he looked up. 
   He stared at her for what seemed like forever, without saying a word. Kyoko grew nervous and stepped back from the counter. The man leaned forward in reply to her stepping back.
   “What are you doing here?” he asked.
   “Oh, um , it's a long story.” 
   “I've got time.”
   Surprised at his answer, she told him. About her foster mother, Kain, running away, job hunting...everything. For some reason, Kyoko felt like she could trust this complete stranger. He listened to every word, as if it was a dire message he needed to deliver, as if the whole world was at stake. When she finished, he looked upon her with pity.
   “How old are you?” he asked her.
   “I'm 16.”
   “And you want to live on your own?”
   “I don't want to...but I just feel the need to. But I'd rather live alone than with Kain any day.”
   “What's your name?”
   “Kyoko.”
   He repeated the name quietly to himself. Despite his dirt encrusted exterior, she could tell he was very handsome. I bet with a shower he'd look really nice. He extended his hand.
   “My name is Vick.”
   She reluctantly shook his hand.
   “I think I can help you. If you agree to work here at the desk, I'll set up a cot for you in the back room. Deal?”
   Kyoko's heart skipped a beat. “Deal!” she shouted at her new boss. She threw her arms around him in joy. “Thank you so much!”
   He smiled then tucked his hair back behind his ears. Kyoko gasped. They were the same as hers. The abnormally long and pointed ears that she had been ridiculed for all of her life. The same. 
   “You...your..ears...” she stammered.
   He looked confused, as if he hadn't noticed that they were the same bizarre ears that had graced Kyoko's head. 
   “What's wrong with them?”
         “They're the same as mine.”
   “Ok...?” He still did not understand the significance of his ears. Suddenly he sighed, discovering the reason why she was so shocked. “I guess you don't know then”
   “Know what?”
   He grinned. “You're an elf.”

---

   Kyoko burst out in a mad fit of laughter. “An elf? You can't be serious.”
   “I am!” he protested.
   “Oh ok,” she added sarcastically. “I'm an elf. I live in the north pole, and make toys for all of the good little boys and girls. No, wait, I live in a tree and bake cookies. No, I sneak in to cobbler's houses and make them shoes...”
   Vick just shook his head.
   “You're serious, aren't you.”
   “Yup.”
   She couldn't believe it. An elf. It didn't make sense. Just a fairy-tale creature. Like a unicorn or a dragon. Make-believe. Kyoko looked up at Vick. She looked scared, like a little lost puppy. He smiled down at her.
   “It's not like it's a bad thing.” he reassured her. “There are good things about...what?”
   Tears were streaming down her face. “I'm not...I mean, there's no way...” she sobbed. Vick just smiled.
   “Let's go set up your cot, ok?”

---

   “So are we the only ones?” Kyoko asked. She was convinced that her ear-type-ailment only applied to her. Never in her life had she seen anyone with the same... plight. She opened a closet and pulled out some sheets.
   “Of course not. There is a whole city of us. Just not near here. In fact it's hidden from the human world.”
   “Then why are you here?”
   “I was going to ask you the same thing.”
   “Well I obviously wouldn't know, considering that I didn't know I was an... elf... in the first place.” Saying the word was almost painful. She winced whenever Vick used the word, as if it was a pinch, or a paper cut. Not human. Kyoko didn't want to even think about it.
   “I left our city when I was 10, and I had to fend for myself here ever since.”
   “Why?”
   He paused. “I don't really want to talk about it.”
   He must have had some sort of tragedy in his life, so early on. I probably shouldn't ask.
   “Oh. Why are people, I mean humans, so cruel to us? When I was looking for a job, not a single person would even consider an interview. It doesn't make sense.”
   “People see something they don't understand, so they just dismiss it from their mind. They'd rather get a ‘normal' person then try and figure you out.”
   Kyoko spread the sheets out on the cot and sat down. Silent. She was so confused, no idea what to think anymore. So now she wasn't “normal”? Some kind of circus freak? She could picture the signs and billboards, “Come see the amazing long eared elf girl! One night only!” She shuddered. No way I'm going to be in a freak show. 
   Vick grabbed a pillow out of the closet, then closed the door. He tossed it down to Kyoko. It was an old pillow, that was for sure. It had stains on it, and no cover. She put it at the head of the bed, let herself fall on top of it, and sighed.
   “You're going to bed already?”
   She looked up at Vick, who was about to leave the room.
   “I guess so.”
   “Well, if you're not hungry...”
   Kyoko sat straight up. Vick smiled.
   “Come on upstairs, I'll make you something.”

Next ---> Yoroshiku Chapter 4