Letting go, she said, “Listen, pal, I know you had a tough life. I’m very sorry about what happened to you. But I won’t let you suffer anymore okay? You got me by your side. And don’t you start telling me you want to leave and go out on your own. You’ve been starving and nearly dying. You need a friend there for you. I will be that friend, I promise! I’ll protect you and keep you happy!”

He cried tears of happiness and said, “Thank you, you don’t know how much that means to me.”

She smiled lightly and handed him a handkerchief, saying, “You’re welcome. Now what’s your name? We’ve been so caught up emotionally that we haven’t introduced each other.”

Kadashi laughed and said, “The name’s Kadashi Tomodashi. What’s your name?”
“I’m Keiko Urosan. Nice to meet you Kadashi. I own a little store here and I sell fresh food to people.”

“Interesting.”

“Yeah. I’ve been here since I was 14, and that was 3 years ago. I’ve been pretty lonely here.”

“Why aren’t you with your family?”

“Because, my family left to go fight in the revolution against the government. Even the women went. But, I despise violence except in self-defense. So I decided to stay here and start a new life.”

“I see…well now you won’t be alone,” Kadashi smiled.

“Aw, you’re such a sweetie. I’m glad to have you here. I hate to sound selfish but would you like to help me run this place? It’s kind of hard doing it alone. And since you told me your father and brother overworked you, I won’t work ya too hard if you do decide to work here. Even if you didn’t tell me, I can’t stand doing that to people.”

“Ummm”, Kadashi thought, “Okay. But seriously you must promise me you won’t make me work like a dog.”

“I promise you, bud. And if work gets very hard, due to lots of orders from people, I promise to make our work equal. So we both share the duty equally. Is that fine? You know, just in case it gets busy?”

“Yeah,” he smiled, “That’s fine. Everything sounds cool, my new friend Keiko.”
“Sweetie Kadashi,” she smiled at him.

He blushed and shook his head. Then, he looked at his bandages and gave a somewhat surprised look.

“Did you patch me up, Keiko?”

“Yes I did after I carried you back to my place from that ruthless apple merchant. But, Kadashi, you’re heavy, pal. Thank goodness I’m strong!” she said and laughed.

He shook his head again in amusement and grinned. The trust he had for her began to truly build. Staring at her in a non-perverted way, he saw more light coming out of her body and felt as if she was his protector angel.
“Is everything okay?” she asked him, embarrassed.

“Oh! Yah everything’s okay, it’s just, ummm,” he said, shyly, and hugged her all of a sudden.

She widened her eyes and shrugged, hugging him back. The instant she did, Kadashi felt the darkness within him begin to fall apart. The shadows started dying and so did the pain within. This was the beginning of his recovery, of his journey, as the great psychoanalyst Carl Jung would say, back to the self, back to joy and light.

Along with the recovery, he and Keiko became close friends. They worked together in her tiny shop. Working for around ten hours a day, they both cooked a lot of fresh food for customers.

Business was rough those days, especially since a revolution was taking place along with massive chaos. But, Keiko and Kadashi kept the shop going.

However, it wasn’t easy. But, the two friends helped each other out quite a bit. One day though, their friendship and Keiko’s angelic powers were put to the test. This was the day where Kadashi had to face his darkness head on. Would he win?

That very afternoon, Keiko was dealing with some customers and asked Kadashi, “Is the rice ready buddy?”

“Yep, hang on just a second!” he smiled and called out.

“WHERE IS MY RICE? I DEMAND IT!” yelled an impatient customer.

“Sorry sir, but business is very hectic today. Please understand. We’re very busy today,” Keiko said to the customer, a gruff and huge male with a sword by his side.

Kadashi ran out with the rice and the man took a look at it. Glaring, he said it wasn’t cooked well enough.

“And now you’ll pay for keeping me here so long!” he said, about to raise a fist.

Fiction: 03/05/08 | Posted By: megumilovesalex | 0 comments | Personal