Fifty Words for Rain(26)

When Akira returned, he gave her a gentle swat on the back to correct her posture but said nothing to her. She didn’t ask where he’d gone or what had been said. But somehow she knew that no one would lay a hand on her again.

After a few more minutes, Akira sent her off. “Go play,” he said, motioning her towards the door. “I need to practice for nationals.”

Nori was torn between disappointment and relief that she didn’t have to flounder through pieces far too difficult for her anymore. “Can’t I stay and watch, Oniichan?”

“No,” he quipped smartly, without looking at her. “You get a ridiculous look on your face and it’s distracting.”

“But what am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know. What normal children do.”

This meant absolutely nothing to her. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Then go stare at the wall for all I care, Nori. I can’t entertain you all the time.”

She bit back a retort and left the room. She spotted Akiko lingering not too far away.

“Done with your lessons already, little madam?”

“I got kicked out,” she grumbled, knowing that she sounded petulant but too frustrated to care. “He has to practice for some stupid competition.”

Akiko’s upper lip curled upwards in a smile. “Your brother is the defending national champion for his age bracket. It is a matter of great pride for him.”

“Pride, pride, pride,” Nori grumbled. “That’s all anyone ever talks about in this house.”

“Pride is largely a male thing, Ojosama. You may never fully understand it.”

“But Obaasama talks about it all the time too and she’s not a man.”

Akiko snorted. Her hand flew to cover her mouth and she looked down, clearly restraining further laughter. “Your esteemed grandmother is . . . not like most women, little madam.”

Grudgingly, Nori made her way back up to her attic. She picked at her lunch, pushing away the milk Akiko offered her. She knew she was being difficult but no longer cared.

“I want something sweet. Have the cook make me a cake.”

Akiko raised an eyebrow. “What kind of cake?”

“I want lemon cake. And I want whipped cream.”

Akiko bowed and went out, leaving Nori to stew in silence. She paced around the attic in a huff before finally deciding to read a book. She plucked a book of poetry from her bookshelf and hunkered down to read by the window. She had been slacking on her reading lately.

The history book that Sensei had given her sat on the top of her bookshelf, collecting dust. When her lessons resumed in a few weeks, she would likely be in for a tongue-lashing. Saotome-sensei always went away all summer, but he expected her to keep up with her studies.

She sat there reading for several hours, and when her cake came, she picked at it for a moment before having it sent away.

She played with Agnes for a little while before growing bored with that also. She declined dinner and ignored Akiko’s protest.

She fussed under her breath when Akiko told her to go to bed in that voice that meant Don’t argue or I’ll tell your grandmother. She had just pulled her nightgown over her head when she felt a presence behind her.

“Nori.”

The way her brother said her name let her know that he was displeased with her. She turned to face him.

“Oniichan,” she started, filling up with excitement the way she always did when he said her name. But the look he cut her told her that this was not a smiling occasion.

“I’ve heard that you’re being a brat.”

She didn’t tell him that he’d heard this because it was entirely true. “I wasn’t acting like a brat.”

It was such a lie that she had a hard time keeping her face straight. But this was her pride at stake here. That damned Kamiza pride. Even a bastard could have some.

Akira rolled his gray eyes at her, glancing impatiently at his watch as if she were cutting into his meticulously planned schedule.

“Save it. Nori, I can’t spend every waking moment with you. And even if I could, I wouldn’t want to. What are you going to do when school starts?”

She felt her mouth go completely dry. “Gakuen? School?”

Akira rolled his eyes at her again, and Nori thought, somewhat bitterly, that it would serve him right if they got stuck in the back of his head. The dimly lit room accentuated his pale complexion all the more, and he glowed like Jesus before the sinners. His very presence shone a fluorescent light on all that she was not.

“Yes, school. I start in a few weeks. I’ve been putting it off as it is; my father’s death has made a worthy excuse. I’m not exactly thrilled about the place the old woman picked out. But they have a world-class music teacher there. It was the deal for getting me to go. Anyway . . . I’m going to be gone all day. And you can’t starve yourself when I’m gone.”

“I want to go with you.” Nori tried her best to sound like she was doing anything but pleading. Sadly, it wasn’t very convincing. “Please? I’m good at my lessons. Really, I am. I could go with you. I wouldn’t embarrass you, I promise.”

His face darkened. “Nori, I’m in a different year than you. Besides, my school doesn’t take people your age.”

And the unspoken: I wouldn’t want you there anyway.