Sin and Redemption
Sin and Redemption
“Reki!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
(huff puff pant). The young lady paused for a moment to catch her
breathe. She had been running out of the classroom while trying to
stuff her notes into her bag.
“Sorry. Did you wait a long time?”
“Mmm…not really. I just got here.”
“Good. Let’s go home.”
“Rakka and Reki both walked leisurely to the nearest subway station as
they both talked about today’s events to each other. It had been five
long year since Reki had met Rakka at the Juban High School. These
years had been some of the happiest years of her life. Rakka had been
her source of strength, joy and happiness. For once, Reki had a sense
of purpose in her life – there was someone for her to care for, to cry
and laugh together with and she would never be alone again.
Loneliness? It was difficult to feel lonely anymore when someone you
really liked was now a constant part of your life.
The two girls were now much older. If she was not already tall to begin
with, Reki was now even taller. Constant outdoor activity also seemed
to have given a darker tan. As for Rakka, she of course didn’t look
quite so childlike and immature anymore and she had blossomed into a
real woman; far from being a real stunner but still a beautiful sight
for the eyes with her flowing hair and a fuller figure. It was
inevitable that Reki occasionally had to wade off overzealous guys from
hitting on Rakka much to Rakka’s constant amusement.
Of course, Rakka and Reki only used these names in each other’s
presence. To their classmates, they were Reika and Saki respectively;
names which they were used to begin called since their birth.
After finishing high school, both girls had applied to the same
university – Waseda University. To their great joy, both of them had
been accepted to the same place. They didn’t always see each other
during the daytime since they didn’t always have the same classes.
However, they always saw each other after classes in the evenings since
they both stayed together in the same apartment. It was a modest
apartment in a quiet location; slightly run-down but functional and it
was only three subway stations away from campus. The apartment
sometimes felt bare with the lack of furniture and the windows creaked
at night but it was comfortable enough for the two of them. They both
shared the apartment to save money – at least that was what they had
told their parents thought that was not the only reason……….
“It’s your turn to cook tonight,” Rakka said as they approached the
busy subway station. Her soft voice jolted Reki out of her deep
thoughts. They both often took turns to split the house chores and
cooking was one of them.
“Mmm…okay.”
“I wonder what you will be preparing….say, by the way, the reason I was
late today was because of Nakajima-sensei. She seems to be on my case
lately about my late assignments. Looks like I’ll have some stuff to do
tonight.”
“I think it’s good that she’s actually worried about you. You know that
it’s a bit different in the university. If you don’t hand in your
assignments in time, you just fail your course. She could have just…”
Reki decided to change the topic. “Don’t you worry. Just finish your
homework while I prepare something nice for dinner,” Reki answered as
they both boarded the train home.
Later that night after dinner, both Rakk and Reki were lying together
in their tatami mattresses. Both of them often would huddle together on
late nights clad in only their nightgowns or sometimes in their
negligee and just talk about anything under the sky until they both
grew weary and fell asleep.
“Finished your homework?” Reki gently stroked Rakka’s hair as she asked
her with genuine concern.
“Yes. Dinner was delicious by the way.” Rakka had one hand around
Reki’s waist.
“That? Oh, it was just a simple dish of rice and fish. Anyone could
have prepared that.”
“You’re very modest.” Rakka moved closer to Reki. “Say….don’t you have
to work at the orphanage tomorrow?”
“Yes. It doesn’t pay well but I like the job. Besides, Ms. Kuwashima is
a good employer.”
Reki’s thoughts shifted to her job at the local orphanage not too far
away. She had just start working there a month ago and worked there
mostly during the weekends when she didn’t have any classes. The
children could be naughty at times but they respected her for the most
part at least, with the exception of one or two brats. The woman in
charge of the orphanage, a bespectacled woman in her mid-thirties
called Kuwashima was friendly and kind and it was always pleasant to
work under her.
Rakka yawned. She was clearly getting sleepy.
“You’re sleepy. It’s time to sleep,” Reki said as she put a protective
arm around Rakka. She gave a little kiss to Rakka on her cheek. Rakka
responded similarly and embraced Reki tighter. Both women snuggled
closer to each other.
“Remind me again, what does the name “Reki” mean?”
“A pebble.”
“And Rakka?”
“Falling.”
Rakka yawned again as her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Finally,
the two women closed their eye with their arms around each other and
pretty soon the only sounds that could be heard was the harmonious soft
breathing of the two women together with the soothing sound of the
crickets outside.
“You……YOU LITTLE BRAT!!!!! Just wait till I get my hands on you!”
Reki was positively fuming. Part of her face and the front of her dress
had food stains. She was facing the culprit – a little boy who was
grinning with glee and running around the dining table to avoid getting
caught by Reki.
“Having fun, I see.” Someone familiar had just walked in.
“Rakka, what are you doing here?” Reki turned to see Rakka coming in
through the door of the orphanage. Rakka looked amused at all the
commotion that was going on.
“Nothing. I just thought I’d drop by to see how you were doing. What’s
going on?”
“T-this little monster. I was trying to get him to finish his soup when
he threw his bowl at me when I was not looking.”
“But we hate cabbages. And we especially hate cabbage soup,” some of
the children chorused in unison.
“What nonsense. Cabbages are good for your health. You know if you want
to grow up strong and healthy, you…..”
“I remember this incident, Reki….” Rakka suddenly interrupted trying to
recall something. “….this was when you and I were still Haibane. The
young Haibane we were taking care of refused to eat their carrots. You
then made me demonstrate how delicious carrots were by making me eat
the carrots and pretending to enjoy them.”
“Say….that’s not such a bad idea, Rakka. Now why don’t you….” A sly
grin was forming n Reki’s face and she motioned towards Rakka who made
a face at her when she realized what Reki was planning.
“No, no. We want big sister Saki to try the soup!” The children cried
in unison as if they could read Reki’s mind. It was Reki’s turn to make
a face. Rakka merely smiled.
“Okay kids, enough of this nonsense. Either you finish your soup now or
you go to bed this instant without any dessert.” A motherly-looking
bespectacled woman spoke sternly. The children all immediately started
lapping their soup as fast as they could.
She turned to Rakka and spoke to her in a matronly voice. “Hi. I’m in
charge of this orphanage. You must be Saki’s friend. You are…..”
“You must be Ms. Kuwashima. Yes, I’ve heard of you. My name is Rak…I
mean Reika. Please to meet you.”
Rakka looked at the woman again. While she seemed strict with the kids,
she didn’t seem like a bad person. In fact, she looked very kind.
Kuwashima drew Rakka aside and spoke to her in a low voice.
“Did I just hear you call your friend Reki?” She pointed to Reki who
wasn’t paying attention an was still glaring t the little boy wo had
thrown his food earlier at her.
“Oh, that’s just a nickname. It….”
Kuwashima turned to Reki before Rakka could finish talking. “Look. You
can’t go outside looking like this,” she said as she pointed to the
food stains on Reki. “Here…..why don’t you get changed and wear one of
my dresses for now. You can always return it later.” She pointed to one
of the smaller rooms. Rakka followed Reki who proceeded to go into the
room to change.
“She seems like a nice woman. A bit strict with the kids but nice
nonetheless.”
“She did give me a strange look when I first came here for the job
interview here. Almost as if she had seen her grandmother from th
grave. After that though, she’s been treaing me nicely almost as if I
was her own daughter.”
“Daughter? I don’t think she’s that old. If I was guessing correctly,
she’s probably in her early to mid-thirties.” Rakka gave such a strange
look that Reki couldn’t help laughing.
Rakka and Reki were standing around talking in one of Ms. Kuwashima’s
private rooms. Reki had gotten out of her dress and she was just
standing there in her bra and panties. She was looking at Ms.
Kuwashima’s wardrobe trying to figure out which dress she should wear.
Ms. Kuwashima sure had a huge selection of clothes of all shapes and
colors.
“Pardon me.” Rakka and Reki both jumped. They heaved a sigh of relief
when they saw that it was only Ms. Kuwashima coming n. Reki had thought
that it was that little boy from the earlier incident coming in to peek
at her and she was prepared to give him the royal spanking that he so
thoroughly deserved.
“Hmmm…..I thought so.” Kuwashima was busy studying Reki who was getting
a little nervous.
“………….”
Kuwashima pointed at the two dark-colored marks on Reki’s back.
“These? Oh, they’re just birthmarks. They…..”
“I have been wondering all this time since I first met you. Then I
heard about your little story of the Haibane…..”
“You were standing there and you overheard us? Oh…that was just a joke.
That….” Rakka blurted out but she was a very unconvincing liar. She
finally shrugged her shoulders and gave up.
“….and then I heard our friend here call you Reki. Finally, I noticed
these marks.” She pointed at Reki who was getting more and more
nervous. “Interesting. This confirms what I had been thinking all
along. Your name in your past life was Reki and during that life you
were a certain being with wings and a halo known as a Haibane.”
“Now…wait a minute….I….”
“Here. Let me show you something interesting.”
With a little difficulty, Kuwashima reached out for the zipper on the
back of her dress and pulled it down exposing her back all the way down
to the waist. It was bare except for a bra strap and….
Rakka blinked.
“You have those marks too. You are trying to tell me….”
“Yes. I was a Haibane with black wings at a certain point in my past
life. My name then was….Kuramori.”
Kuramori looked at Reki’s face for any sign of recognition. Seeing
none, she sighed a sigh of disappointment.
“That name certainly doesn’t bring any sign of recognition to your
face. You don’t remember anything at all? But you know all about the
Haibane?”
“She told me. I believe her completely. Because…..because I believe
that she would never lie to me.”
Kuramori turned to Rakka.
“You, on the other hand, do remember about your past life, right? What
was your name again?”
“Reika.”
“No I mean when you were a Haibane”
“R-rakka.”
“Okay, Rakka. How much do you actually remember?”
“Mostly only the moments where I was with Reki.”
”I see….so you met Him and this was what you asked for?”
“I..wait a moment. How can you remember so much too?” (silence) I get
it…y-you also met Him?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. Apparently, I must have done enough good
deeds to warrant a meeting with Him. Of course, I don’t remember every
single thing that occurred but I did ask Him to at least retain my
memories of two Haibane – one called Reki and another called Nemu. I
really wanted to see how they would be doing in their next life.”
She proceeded to tell a story about how she took care of two Haibane
called Reki and Nemu respectively. She felt very sympathetic towards
Reki expecially with Reki’s black wings because Reki “had to carry her
sins from her previous life.” She said that she probably identified
strongly with Reki’s struggles because she herself was also originally
a Haibane with black wings too and she wanted to make sure that Rei
would not have to face the same hardships that she had to endure
herself.
Rakka then told Kuramori how Reki was there for her when she was “born”
as a Haibane. She talked about how Reki comforted her when she was ill,
when she was feeling depressed and how Reki always protected her.
Kuramori didn’t say anything while listening but merely smiled a
contented smile.
“You know something?” Kuramori finally spoke, “You’re very lucky tat
you found what you were looking for. I spent over three decades of my
life not being able to find what I was looking for. It was only now
that I have finally found Reki.”
Reki had been quiet all this time. She suddenly stood up.
“Kuramori-sensei. I truly don’t remember any of these things. However,
I wish to sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for all these
things which you did for me…as a Haibane. I’m sure it must have been
tough to take care of someone as troublesome as me. Anyway, I’m truly
grateful to have had the opportunity to meet you again in this life.
Once again thanks for everything.” Saying this, the two women gave each
other a warm embrace.
Kuramore turned to Rakka. “I don’t really know you and I’ve never met
you in my pas life but thank you for taking care of Reki all this
time.”
“Actually….Reki has been the one who has mostly been taking care of
me.” Rakka turned to look at Reki and both women started to laugh
loudly. After awhile, Kuramori also started to laugh together with
them.
When they had all stopped laughing, Kuramori continued to Rakka,
“Anyhow, I hope to get to know you better. Do stop by here from time to
time. You can have some of the delicious pastries that I occasionally
make from time to time.”
“Sure will.”
“I think we both better get going.”
”Mm-hmm.”
The two girls started walking down the street. It was still early at
night and some of the shops were still open with the hustle and bustle
of the business running inside. This was mixed with the sounds of
vendors selling their wares.
“She seems like a nice person.”
“She sure is. That is probably the second person in about two decades
of my life who says that they knew me in my past life.”
“I know. Small world, isn’t it?”
“Say, Rakka. Could you wait here for three minutes? I just remembered
something.”
“Three minutes? Okay. You sure you don’t want me to follow you?”
”No, it’s okay. I won’t take long.”
“Okay.”
“Say it’s getting chilly. While waiting, why don’t you use this?” Reki
took out a red scarf from her bag. The scarf had the initials “RR”
which stood for “Rakka and Reki.” Reki had sewn it herself last year.
“I thought it might get a little chilly tonight so I brought this
along.” Saying this, Reki gently wrapped the red scarf around Rakka’s
neck. “That should keep you warm while waiting for me.”
Rakka blushed slightly. “You’re always looking out for me. That’s why
I…really like about you.”
Reki gave Rakka a friendly nudge and went off. She had suddenly
remembered something that she had seen last night in a nearby shop. She
had meant to buy it as a surprise for Rakka.
*What was the occasion again? No….it wasn’t Rakka’s birthday.
(scratches head). Of course….it was the fifth anniversary of their
meeting in high school.*
Reki smiled to herself thinking how surprised Rakka would be to receive
this present. She walked into the shop and sauntered on to one of the
shelves to get the item that she was looking for. After some fumbling,
she found it – a keychain with a cute-looking angel attached. Having
found what she was looking for, Reki clutched it and walked to the
counter to pay, feeling satisfied.
There were quite a number of people of all shapes and sizes standing in
line. They were clutching all kinds of souvenirs and gifts.
*Hmm….this going to take more than three minutes. More like ten
minutes. Hang in there Rakka, I’ll be out of here soon.* Reki sighed
while she looked at her watch.
Three blocks away, another woman was on her way home. Naru had been
working very hard for the past few days and she was feeling very tired.
She looked out of the window of her Toyota Cresta. Glancing back at her
watch, she continued to drive.
After several minutes of waiting, Reki came to the counter.
“How much?”
“Three hundred yen. Thank you.”
Holding the gift carefully, Reki walked to the corner of the street
where she had told Rakka to wait for her. Reki was imagining how Rakka
would react when she sensed something different about the surroundings.
Reki felt a strange chill run though her body. A huge crowd had
gathered around and everyone seemed to be talking in hushed tones.
Feeling scared, she pushed through the mountain of people trying to get
a closer view of what was actually going on.
A car had knocked against a lamp post and there was debris everywhere.
Shattered glass and pieces of broken metal lined the street. A few
policemen were busy talking to witnesses and there was an ambulance
nearby.
“Who? What? What is going on here??!!”
Reki saw blood all over the sidewalk. Something else caught her eye – a
red scarf lying on the ground with the familiar initials of “RR”. She
also overheard the policemen shaking their heads and talking about
“…Shocking! That poor girl. The driver hit the girl who was standing
there waiting for someone. Both the driver and the victim….”
Reki closed her ears. She really didn’t want to hear anymore. Her whole
body suddenly felt heavy and she fell with her knees to the ground.
Unable to control herself any longer, tears started streaming down her
cheeks. For the first time in a very long time, she cried her feelings
out while the crowd continued to gather.
In a dimly-lit waiting room of a hospital, a young woman was weeping
quietly while a slightly older woman was sitting next to her trying
gently to comfort her. Nurses and hospital staff would occasionally
walk past them hurriedly without so much as a glance as if they were
used to the sight of people in grief.
“Why? Why? Why did it have to happen to Rakka? Please tell me,
Kuramori-sensei.”
“Reki, it’s nobody’s fault. These things happen from time to time and
could have happened to almost anybody.”
“But it’s not fair. Why Rakka? She’s the sweetest, kindest person and
she really doesn’t deserve to have this happen to her. Besides, she
went through a lot just to look for me and…and…”
“I know. You don’t want her to be…” Kuramori stopped deciding that it
was best not to say what she was contemplating. Instead, she put a
comforting arm around Reki and continued, ”Reki, you’re all she’s got
right now. Her family is currently in Okinawa to visit relatives. We’ve
gotten hold of them but under such short notice, it’s going to be at
least a couple of days or so before they can get a flight back.”
Kuramori looked Reki in the eyes and continued. “Reki, you’ve got to be
strong. Not just for yourself but for Rakka too. You’ve got to be there
for her when she needs you.”
Having calmed down, Reki wiped her tears and stopped crying. She sat
silently for a moment and finally spoke with some effort. “I….I’ll try
my best. For Rakka.”
Reki looked across the room at the other chairs. A young man in casual
clothing was sitting there and Reki guessed correctly that he must be a
relative of the driver.
Reki felt a little anger rising inside her. *How dare the driver hurt
Rakka? It’s all her fault. I hope she gets what she deserves. She
should just….*
Reki looked up and saw that they young man was crying silently. His
face was contorted with grief. She felt a little guilty for thinking
such negative thoughts and felt that he must be feeling the same
emotional distress that she was currently experiencing.
The young man wiped his tears. Looking somewhat nervously, he stood up
for a few moments. After a little hesitation, he walked over to where
Reki was sitting.
“M-my name is Hyosuke Ishida and I’m the brother of the driver. I’m
presuming that you’re a close friend of the accident victim?” There was
a few moments of awkward silence as Reki continued to look at the
ground without saying anything.
Hyosuke looked rather remorseful but somewhat understanding of the
situation. He swallowed hard as if he knew what Reki was thinking
about.
“I understand that no amount of apologizing is going to be able to make
this up to you but please…I’m begging you…please don’t hate my sister
Naru for this. She really didn’t mean for all of this to happen. Take
it out on me instead if that will make you feel better. You see….Naru’s
all that I’ve got in this world. Our parents died in an accident when
we were both young and we’ve both been doing our best to take care of
each other. Naru’s one of the sweetest and considerate souls you could
ever meet. She was always smiling and acting nicely and everyone really
liked her. In fact, she was working very hard at her part-time jobs and
studying for the entrance exams at the same time. I suspect that
tonight she might have been working extra hard because she may have
wanted to get some extra money to buy a present to surprise me for my
upcoming birthday.”
Hearing all of this, the hard expression on Reki’s face softened
considerably. She let out a little sigh and turned to face the young
man. “Relax, I don’t hate either one of you and I’m not angry…at least
not anymore. I’m just upset that the whole thing happened but there are
sometimes things that happen beyond our control.”
Listening to Reki’s reassurances, Hyosuke looked like someone who had
just had a very heavy weight lifted off his shoulders. His stressed
look became more relaxed.
A slightly older man in a clean, white medical uniform walked over to
where Reki and Kuramori were sitting. He turned to them and said,
“Friends of Miss Reika, I presume?” The women nodded anxiously. “Come
on in…she wants to see you.”
By the dimly-lit table lights, a frail figure was lying on a hospital
bed. The figure smiled a weak smile and tried to raise her hand up.
Reki rushed over and clutched Rakka’s soft hands with a little urgency.
“It’s okay, Rakka. It’s me Reki. I’m right here beside you.
Everything’s going to be fine now.”
“I…I’m so sorry to get you worried like this. It’s my fault that I’m so
clumsy.”
Rakka spoke in a soft but audible voice. Her expression had brightened
up considerably since Reki had entered the room. Kuramori merely stood
beside the two girls saying nothing and nodding occasionally.
“It’s nobody’s fault, Rakka. It just wasn’t our day. I tell you what,
Rakka. I’ve been saving up on some money. After you get out of
hospital, why don’t we both go to Tokyo Disneyland? You’ve always
wanted to go there, right? We’ll have lots of fun – just the two of us
together.”
“Just the two of us….in Tokyo Disneyland….sounds fun. I really look
forward to this.”
Rakka smiled but Reki could clearly see that Rakka was in a lot of
physical pain. Reki really wanted to do something but didn’t know what
to do.
She anxiously turned to the old doctor. “Isn’t there something…anything
that I can do? I can’t just let her suffer like that.”
Calmly looking at his medical reports, the doctor narrowly eyed Reki
and replied in a low-toned voice, “I’m afraid that your friend there is
suffering from severe internal injuries. She needs some organ
transplants.”
“I’ll do it. If there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it. She can have any
part of me. I’ll donate whatever it takes to save her.”
“I’m afraid that it’s more complicated than that. You see…” He spoke
softly into Reki’s ear as she turned pale.
“How…how…”
Rakka had overheard some of the doctor’s conversation with Reki. She
weakly spoke to Reki, “You don’t have to do it for me. Just the fact
that you are here and the fact that you have been with me for the past
few years is good enough.”
“But…but I don’t want you to d…” Reki started crying again. Rakka
smiled as she clasped Reki’s hand tightly to reassure her. Kuramori
stood nearby trying to console her.
In the next room, Hyosuke was looking anxiously at the still figure of
his sister on the hospital bed while a doctor and a nurse stood
silently watching. Other than the slight sound of a heartbeat on the
monitor, there was hardly any movement from the body. Naru had been in
a coma for a while and it wasn’t clear when she would be conscious
again. Hyosuke sat by his sister’s bedside praying silently….
A girl walked in an unreal-looking landscape looking lost. Nothing
looked normal or ordinary and everything seemed to be covered in
unnatural-looking colors. The path seemed to lead nowhere and it didn’t
have any proper sense of direction.
A voice startled Naru Ishida. She stopped walking and looked around but
couldn’t figure out where the voice came from. She heard the voice
again and realized that the voice was not from anywhere in front of her
but was coming from inside her head.
“Who are you? Are you God?”
“Some people call me that. I have been called different names from time
to time ranging from the Almighty to Lord.”
If you’re God, does that mean that I’m dead?”
“No. Actually, you are here for a certain reason. I would like to show
you something.”
Naru started to see an infinite number of images form inside her head.
It was like watching a movie projector play in fast motion.
She saw a number of startling images featuring some strange-looking
people with halos and short wings. For some strange reason, she knew
what they were and what they did without needing any explanation. Maybe
it was just the sense of déjà vu and remembering that the images
brought to her.
She looked again. One of them looked rather familiar.
“That’s…me….in a past life perhaps?”
“Yes. Your name then was Nemu.”
“Who is that girl over there?”
“Her name then was Reki.”
Continuing to look, she felt somewhat embarrassed to see what a sloth
se was; always falling asleep easily. She also felt somewhat ashamed to
see how mean and nasty she was towards Reki when she first met her.
Nemu hung her head down guiltily. An air of uneasiness hovered over her
and she expected God at any minute to reprimand her for her past sins.
Instead, He spoke, “I would like to show you more. This is from the
previous life before what we had just seen.”
A set of new images started to form inside Nemu’s head. She was now
looking at what she guessed was the early 1960s in postwar Japan. The
picture focused to that of a girl sleeping in class.
“I presume that’s me?”
“Yes, your name then was Moe.”
Nemu continued to observe the images. The girl she was looking at
apparently never helped her parents with her house chores and never
helped her classmates to tidy the classroom.
The image of another girl caught her attention.
“This girl looks familiar. Isn’t she….Reki from the next life?”
“Yes.”
Reki looked slightly different in this incarnation. Nemu could see that
Reki was always glancing at her from the corner of her eye. Once or
twice, they interacted with Reki blushing most of the time but Nemu for
the most part acted indifferently and sometimes coldly towards her.
Looking at herself in a past life, Nemu guessed that Reki then must
have harbored a deep admiration for her…maybe more. Reki took Nemu’s
indifference without any complaints but she was probably used to that
since Reki then was apparently from a poor background and other
classmates tended to look down upon her.
Nemu continued to observe the images. Reki was now slipping a letter
into Nemu’s shoebox locker. Nemu however was too lazy to read it and
had simply chucked the letter into the trash can.
The scene fast forwarded to a scene of Reki getting drenched in the
rain while waiting for Nemu who had never shown up at the meeting
place. Nemu could see that she was crying.
“………………..” Nemu was silent. “I feel terrible for what I did. What
happened to her after that?”
“Reki killed herself by throwing herself in front of a moving train.
This happened a few days later.”
“So….all of this was my fault?”
“Not entirely. Reki had other family problems too. Before she died, you
actually died first.”
“I did? How?”
“There was an unfortunate accident. You fell asleep while….”
“That’s okay. I don’t need to hear the rest.”
“There’s something else. Let me show you something from the present
time.”
In her mind’s eye, Nemu felt like she was not looking at some faded
flashbacks but she was actually like….looking out of a window. She saw
some familiar faces looking rather somber. One of the girls was crying
by a hospital bed while a slightly older woman looked on.
“Isn’t that….Reki? Why is she crying? Those other two…..they look
familiar. Weren’t they also from my past life? Are their names not….”
“Rakka and Kuramori. Kuramori was was the one that took care of you and
Reki when you first came into the Haibane world. Rakka is the one that
made a promise to meet Reki again in the next life.”
“I don’t understand….why is she…?” Realization suddenly dawned upon
Nemu as her facial expression paled. “…I see….she’s the one I ran
over?”
Nemu felt guilty. In three successive lives, she had been the one that
was responsible for causing so much hurt and pain to Reki.
“I understand now. These are sins of which I am guilty of. I’m going to
be reborn again as a Haibane? Or perhaps I am going to…..eternal
damnation in Hell?”
Nemu hung her head down awaiting her judgement.
*It’s for the best. The things I did were wrong and I completely
deserve whatever fate is going to befall me.*
“There is something you can do……”
Akira stirred as the hospital machine started showing signs of activity
again. He got up when he saw his sister showing signs of movement….
A nurse had walked into the room where Reki and Kuramori were. She
spoke softly to the two of them. They both got up, looking a little
surprised.
“Okay…so she wants to see us now? What does she want to do
now….apologize?” Reki looked a little incredulous.
“I think we should go,” Kuramori said trying to sound rational.
“I think you should go too. Listen to what she has to say,” Rakka
weakly said, overhearing their conversation.
“But….”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll be waiting for you when you’re done.”
Reluctantly, Reki left the room with Kuramori and walked to the next
room.
Reki opened the door. Hyosuke who was sitting by his sister’s bed got
up. He nodded politely at them before leaving the room. The girlon the
bed was slightly taller than the average Japanese girl but just a tad
shorter than Reki. She had a fairer complexion and was of a slightly
chubbier disposition. She however looked like most of her life’s color
had been drained from her. On seeing the two new visitors to her room,
she roused herself from her horizontal position.
“Reki! Kuramori-sensei!”
“Do…do I know you?” Reki was little startled to hear these names being
used.
“It’s me….Nemu.”
Kuramori who had been standing silently looked like she had seen
someone who had been missing for years.
“Nemu? Is that really you?”
“It’s me. You found me at least.” Realizing that they both knew each
other, Kuramori walked over to hug the girl on the bed. After the
reunion, Nemu said haltingly to Reki who was still standing there,
“Reki, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ve done it again. In the past few
lives, I’ve done nothing but cause you pain. And I know that no matter
how I apologize, it will not make up for the grief you have had to
endure because of me.”
Reki had been feeling a lot of bitterness in her heart just over an
hour ago. But now, looking at the tearful girl in front of her
apologizing over and over again, Reki found that all her anger had
already dissipated. Her posture lost its tension and she finally sat
down by the hospital bed.
“You just called us by our names in previous lives. Does this mean that
you remember the time when we were Haibane?” Kuramori looked curiously
at Nemu.
“Yes. He showed me everything. I remember how you took care of me and
Reki and I really do want to thank you for that.”
“He? You mean….”
“Yes. He even showed me my past life before that. Apparently, I had
known Reki as far as the 1960s. I can’t believe how horrible I was. I’m
really sorry. I…..”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. I understand. You’ve apologized
enough for three lives.” Reki gently touched Nemu’s jead. Nemu’s cheeks
were still wet with tears but Reki’s face showed no anger, only
compassion.
“Listen….” Nemu’s face showed a little urgency. “The reason I am
calling you both here is to tell you that I do not have too much time
left.” Kuramori looked startled but decided that it was best to let
Nemu finish what she wanted to say. Turning to the doctor who was also
in the room, Nemu continued. “The girl in the next room….I understand
that she needs some organ donations. When it’s all over for me…she can
have mine.” The doctor nodded and left the room.
“What are you talking about? We’re all going to get through this! Then
the four of us – me, Rakka, Kuramori-sensei and you, Nemu can start all
over again. Forget about the past mistakes and work over doing new
things together.”
Nemu shook her head. “No. You see….He works in mysterious ways. It is
fate that makes our paths intertwined through different lives and
incarnations. Fate has brought me here for a purpose…to seek redemption
for my sins and to do the correct thing.”
Reki embraced Nemu tightly. She didn’t understand why she was crying
considering that she had just met Nemu but she felt like she was about
to lose someone she had known for a very long time.
“But what about your brother?”
“I have been working very hard lately. I’m going to tell him later but
anyhow I do have some money in my savings. It’s not much but it should
make life easier for him. He’s not going to be lonely if that’s what
you’re worried about. There’s this really cute girl at my workplace. He
doesn’t know it yet but she likes him and she will be confessing to him
soon. She’s take good care of him.” Nemu suddenly smiled and whispered,
“Speaking of which, when we were Haibane, I knew how much you and Rakka
were in love with each other.” Reki blushed. Kuramori stood there
looking puzzled, unable to hear what Nemu had just said.
“I need to speak to my brother now. Rakka needs you now. I’m glad that
we were able to meet again in this life.” The three women hugged warmly
for a last time before parting.
Reki and Kuramori walked back solemnly to Rakka’s room with Reki
occasionally glancing back. She knew what was coming was inevitable
though and there was nothing she could do about it. She passed Hyousuke
who smiled faintly at her as he went to see his sister for the very
last time.
Half an hour later…..the hospital machine in the next room stopped
showing any signs of life……
Nemu had no idea how much time had passed. However, she found herself
in the strange-looking landscape with unreal-looking colors again and
guessed that this time she was really dead. She figured out that it was
only a matter of time before she was sent to face the punishment that
she justly deserved for all her sins.
She was startled to hear a voice fill her head. She knew immediately
that she was in His presence again. She dropped her head meekly and
said, “It’s me. I’m ready for my punishment.”
“Punishment? Why would you be punished? I intend to take you somewhere
with Me.”
“Take me? Where to?”
“A very nice place up here. Some of you humans call it paradise and
some of you call it heaven.”
“I don’t understand. I am a sinner. I have sinned.”
“Here. Let me show you something.”
A series of images began to form in Nemu’s head. The images started to
focus on a recent incident. Nemu was driving her used Toyota one night
after a hard day’s work. She had turned into a corner when suddenly a
stray cat had lurched into the path of her car. Not wanting to run over
the cat, she had swerved her car out of its path but accidentally lost
control and….
“Do you remember now? The accident did not happen because you were
negligent. The accident happened because you were trying to avoid
running over the cat. You were trying to protect and preserve life. You
didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Also considering how you have been taking
care of your brother, I think that should count as a good enough deed
to qualify you as a righteous person.”
Nemu felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her chest. She felt
like saying something but the words just wouldn’t come out.
“I know. You are probably wondering about them and how they are doing.
I’ll show you.”
The perspective of the images Nemu saw started to change. She almost
felt like she was looking in through a window.
The scene was in a hospital room. A doctor had just announced that
Rakka’s operation was a success and she would be discharged from the
hospital in a few days. Looking elated, Reki rushed forward to kiss
Rakka much to her embarrassment while Kuramore looked rather amused at
the how spectacle. After the excitement had died down, Reki presented a
little present – a little keychain with a figure of a cute angel
attached to it – to Rakka. Rakka took it smilingly and embraced Reki
tenderly. The scene faded and the last thing Nemu saw was their happy
faces.
“It is time for us to go. Don’t worry about them. If they continue the
way they have been living their lives, they should be joining you up
here soon. Considering that time moves differently here, it won’t be
such a long wait for you.”
Nemu smiled. “Goodbye Reki, Rakka and Kuramori. I’ll be waiting for you
up here,” she whispered while looking back for the last time. She
advanced towards the approaching light before fading into the distance.
The End
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