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What We Learned at Rokudai (Chapter 3 Draft, Pt 2)

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What We Learned at Rokudai
Chapter 3 - Special
(Pt 2)


- Sunday August 31st, 2014 -

"Mmrrrggmfff..."

"C'mon, Juniper. Get up. Get up." Katrina nudged her hand into Juniper's arm a couple of times.

"Nooooo," Juniper whined through her pillow, slurping loose drool back into her mouth.

"I know it's early, Hun, but we agreed it'd be better to get up early than come back late."

"Whyyyyy?" Jun questioned in a weak-willed moan.

"Because," Kat curtly replied, starting to lose patience. "Now up. If you don't get around soon you're going to delay everyone."

Katrina pulled on Juniper's right arm, stretching it out off the bed. When she let go, the arm went limp, flopping over the side.

"Fuckarizzirmmm..."

"Unless you want to ruin Aaron's plans that he's been waiting all week for...?"

Damnit all to hell...She's right.

"Urgh."

Juniper reeled in her arm and forced her body to roll over onto its back. She let loose a lion's yawn and scratched at her chest haphazardly. The itch relieved, she twisted her hips, dropping her bare feet to the floor. Whoo, a bit cold.She mashed her palms into her eyes to remove uncomfortable sand. She made her way to the dresser that rested beyond the foot of her bed and felt around for the second draw from the top. Katrina didn't offer any assistance, much to Juniper's relief. It had taken all week, but finally, she had managed to convince her roommate that she did not need help changing her own clothes. Pajama pants were traded for cargo shorts and her fuzzy shirt was swapped for a tanktop. As she felt her feet around the foot of her bed for her sandals, Katrina burst out laughing.

"What?" Juniper snapped.

"Ya sure you're gonna just...go out like that today?" Katrina asked through the eye of a gigglestorm - Juniper could tell that her roommate was barely keeping another fit of snickers at bay.

"Uhhh, yea," Juniper slowly replied, eyebrows furrowing. "Why?"

"Ya might want to consider putting a bra on under your shirt, Hun," Katrina breathed out with an "Ohhhhh, boy..."

So much for dressing on my own. Grahh.

Her face briefly burning with embarrassment, Juniper unceremoniously shuffled back over to her dresser and pried open the top drawer. She grabbed an appropriate garment, and rearranged her outfit to incorporate it. This had nothing to do with her being blind, she was just being careless and her senses were dulled by fact of being half-awake. Jun could hear Katrina stuffing things together into a bag as she finished replacing her tanktop.

"So, uh...What time is it, anyway?" Juniper wondered, sticking her feet into her sandals.

"It's about 7:30."

"God damn," Juniper grunted. "Why so early? It's a Sunday."

"You really don't like waking up early, do you?"

"Hell no." Juniper yawned out again, setting herself down in her desk chair and brushing her bangs around with her fingers. Her hair was a mess of tangles - she could feel it - and she knew that while she could work it out on her own, they were pressed for time. "Would you mind, um...-?"

"Of course." Katrina was over in a flash, as if she had seen this coming, and set to work brushing through Juniper's hair. Having her hair brushed and fixed was a regular occurrence given her condition, but...not like this. The way her hair was cared for back home was so proper, so lifeless. The way Katrina handled her hair instantly felt embracing. It reminded her of when Aaron had first fiddled with it back in the spring, not far into their 'official' phase of dating.

"Seriously, your hair's super pretty," Aaron had insisted, running his hands through it. It had been shorter back then, hardly touching her shoulders.

"That so, huh?"

"Really. I love it. It's all soft and smooth, and...stuff."

"Well, uh...yea. Hair's like that."

"Not mine."

"Not yours?"

"No!" Aaron let her hair loose and gently took her hand and guided it to his head. Rough, scratchy, bristly...He was right, it was rough. She admired it carefully, her fingertips and palm soaking in the sensation. She pressed down and rubbed, tickled by the way the hair felt as it was wedged in the spaces between her fingers. How had she never taken the time to appreciate it so thoroughly before this moment?

"So what?" she said. "I like it."

"Hee," came a bashfully pleased sound.

She had been so tempted in that moment to plant a kiss into his lips, but she knew that he wasn't ready for it. He had never kissed a girl before and had expressed to Juniper before they had decided to give the 'dating' thing a try that he wanted to take it slow. So she instead directed her lips to his cheek, hand still in his hair. His arms were suddenly around her waist and she smiled, resting her head on his shoulder as they sat, side by the side, in the spring grass.

"Not as much as I like you," Aaron layered on the cheese.

"Wow, Aaron." Juniper sighed as a huge smile overcame her. "So romantic," she sarcastically snickered, shoving his chest with her fingertips.

"Only the best for you," was the embellished followup she received as he nuzzled the side of his head against her neck.

"Good to know - only what I deserve," she declared jokingly. They both chuckled and squeezed each other tight.

"I'll always give you what you deserve, Juniper," Aaron assured, his tone suddenly solemn. "The best."

His words penetrated her humor and struck her core. Juniper's parents had been tossing words like that around her whole life, and yet...when Aaron said it, he said it in a way no other person had prior. There was a quality to his tone that spilled his spirit out all over, encasing her in security, in warmth. Her parents had never meant what Aaron meant when they had assured her the 'best,' when they had promised her 'everything she deserved.'

"I...-" She was at a loss for words as she processed the overwhelming feeling. This boy who had known her for merely a few months, offering her his will and dedication in such earnest. "I'm grateful for that," she whispered. "I'll...I'm always going to give you the same, Aaron."

She certainly wasn't going to let him down on this day and cause his plans to fall apart - something so minor in the grand scheme of things, it shouldn't even be considered a problem to simply wake up and be somewhere on time.

"There. Looks fine." Katrina tugged on the ponytail, patted Juniper's shoulders tenderly, and stepped back to let her rise. "Now come on, let's go get some breakfast."

"Whoa. Breakfast," said Juniper, rubbing her stomach. "What is this...breakfast of which you speak?"


"They're girls, Aaron. They will always be late." Siku sniffed at his bacon strips with glee, rubbing his palms together.

"But your sister is usually early," Aaron pointed out.

"She was late last night to dinner," Siku countered. "And besides, my sister isn't usually having to help your lazy girlfriend get out of bed," he added, jabbing a strip in Aaron's direction before snapping into it.

Aaron wanted to shout, 'She's not lazy,' but had to acknowledge that when it came to waking up, Juniper's blindness had nothing to do with it - she just plain sucked at getting up in the morning. Aaron shrugged it off and went back to his cereal. The cafeteria was extremely slow - definitely slower than the average morning. No surprise, though: it was a weekend.

"Ah, there they are," Siku observed after swallowing the second half of his first piece of meat. Aaron rotated his head to see the two familiar girls climbing up the steps of the cafeteria. He immediately jumped up from his seat and joined them after they had scanned in for their meal. Juniper was being led by Katrina, so Aaron latched his hand around her free arm. She twitched at first in a start, but quickly relaxed, letting go of Katrina and leaning into Aaron mid-walk for a light semi-hug.

"Hey, Twinks," she greeted, the corner of her lip propping up.

"Hiya, um...Sugar...Doodle."

Juniper imitated a puking sound and Katrina went "Pffff!"

"Epic Fail," Juniper chortled. "Keep trying." They reached the main bar for hot food - only one was ever open for breakfast.

"So, uh..." Aaron surveyed the array as Katrina grabbed a plate and filled it with a smattering of pancakes. "We got pancakes, um, eggs...and-"

"What kind?" Juniper immediately interjected.

"Oh. Scrambled."

"'Kay. Go on."

"So, like...sausages, and some hashbrowns."

"Mmmm..." Juniper tapped her foot, arms crossed thoughtfully. "All of it," she decided, pumping her fists down with anticipation. "Extra hash browns. And maybe some more extra hash browns."

Aaron laughed, shaking his head, and took a plate from the stack, slapping on a portion of each food with careful attention. Juniper couldn't stand her foods getting mixed together - naturally, she would inadvertently cause this issue on her own, but that was somehow OK.

"OK. Was that it?" Aaron politely checked as they exited the line.

"Oughtta be plenty. What, do you think I'm a pig, or something?" Juniper sneakily accused.

"No," Aaron assured, throwing her own brand of sarcasm back at her. "Not at all."

"Hey," she sharply snapped with a grin, eyes wound down into slits. He giggled and forced his arm around hers so as to lead her back to their table.

"This is gonna be a long day, isn't it?" Juniper theorized as Aaron picked up a fork for her just outside the forest of tables.

"Probably," he admitted. "But...in the good way. I think."

Katrina had already found their table, and by the look of things, Siku had already said something that had put her in a foul mood - probably about her boyfriend. For some reason that seemed to be causing a lot of friction between them ever since school had started.

Aaron set Juniper's plate down between Katrina's seat and his own, then pulled out her chair and eased her to it.

"What did you want to drink?" he wondered as she sat.

"Coffee. One cream, two sugars." Aaron obediently scurried off, returning to her a minute or two later with her drink in a mug. He set it down, sat beside her, and took her hand, placing it on the cup's handle to show her where it was. "Thanks, Mr. Twinkles," she said softly, giving him a kiss on the cheek. This was their meal-time ritual. Juniper had once been frustrated with always having to have someone prepare her food for her, but ever since Aaron had started doing it, she had gradually become not only all right with it but actually specifically happy to be cared after. Aaron wasn't entirely sure why this was, but he wasn't going to complain that he got a kiss and a rare 'thank-you' from Juniper whenever he did so.

"Eat up, gang," Siku instructed, pounding his fist into the table. "For on this day, we shall walk." He paused to stuff some eggs and ketchup into his face. He pointed his fork into the air like a sword and gulped his food down. "Into Mordor," he added with ice cold resolve.

"One does not simply walk into Mordor," Aaron bellowed deeply.

"There is evil there that does not sleep!" Juniper joined in with an even deeper, accented voice.

There was an awkward pause. Siku and Aaron stared at Katrina suspiciously, who was distracted and fervently chewing, while Juniper sat with a brow raised.

"Mm?" Katrina blinked at them, utterly confused. She swallowed her bite of marmalade-covered bagel.

"There-is-evil-there-that-does-not-sleep," Juniper rapidly repeated in a whisper.

"Oh. Oh!" Katrina jumped up, her brain snapping to the current conversation. "It is folly!" she cried at last, her expression dire before melting into a smile as they all shared a chuckle at one of many recurring jokes they had grown to share.


"This was a good idea," Siku decreed, merrily stamping his wooden hiking stick into the dirt path with each step he took, reviewing his map.

"I think so," Aaron concurred, Juniper's arm clung around his waist, his own over her shoulder.

"Meh, it's OK," Juniper mumbled with intended apathy. Aaron slithered his hand down and attacked her armpit, causing her to squeak and squirm. "Stoppit," she quickly growled, smacking his stomach with the arm he had tickled.

"The pond's straight up ahead, guys," Katrina announced, trailing behind her brother but in front of the pair of sophomores. Aaron peered down the trail and could see where it curved to the right - an opening in the woods was on the left, just before the curve.

"Good, my feet are getting tired," Juniper grumbled.

"Your feet? What about my stomach?" Siku whimpered. "It's been..." He checked his watch. "Like, three hours!" Indeed, they had been taking it easy with frequent rests, but had been hiking for the rest of the morning after breakfast. "Three. Hours. My body can't handle that kind of neglect! My rippling physique has probably already started withering away!"

"Has it withered away to the point where your sister can beat you to the pond?" Katrina taunted with a smirk, catching up to his side.

"Doubtful." He seethed, accepting her challenge.

"Three-two-one-go!" Juniper burst out, her words like lightning as she punched her arm through the air.

Siku and Katrina chortled in surprise, each stumbling forward, eventually hitting their strides as they dashed ahead to the pond, but Juniper and Aaron took their time - Juniper wasn't a big fan of water and Aaron didn't want to leave her by herself on the sidelines.

"Heh, that was easy," Juniper congratulated herself. As they continued their walk, she rested the side of her head on Aaron's shoulder, binding her free arm across his chest and scratching at it. Aaron skritched his own fingers along her back to reciprocate, and as her palm stopped on his left chest, he became conscious of his increasing heart rate at their contact. Juniper giggled quietly.

"Looks like I still strike fear in your heart, eh?" she baited him.

"Always," Aaron agreed, ruffling his hand through her bangs.

"Good," she derived with mischief, squinting as his fingers fumbled over her forehead. "Can't let that change."

Aaron leaned over and kissed her on the top of her head, sniffing in the aroma of her brushed but unclean hair. A small "Mm," hummed from Juniper's nose as he did so.

"God," she panted. "I missed you, Mr. Twinkes." She ran her hand up and down his t-shirt in tiny motions. "Have I told you that?"

"I think this is the...third time since we got back?" he sheepishly replied.

"Oh. Well, damn. Don't want to let this go to your head." She flashed a playful grin, which he admired, as she turned her face up to him, clearly for the intent of showing him the devilish twinkle in her pale, ivory eyes. "Otherwise you might end up thinking you're special or something."

"Can't have that, can we?" he played along.

"Hell no," she grunted with a squeeze as the sounds of splashing siblings screeching at each other poured over them from up ahead.


– November, 2013 – (Nine Months Ago)

Juniper had been barricaded in a compact practice room in the music building. A quick peek through the small window to the sound-proof door revealed the mysterious musical whiz, hard at work on a piano. Even from behind, Aaron could tell that she just going through the motions - her hands flew across the keys not like a bird but like an airplane: mechanical, stiff, rigid.

He shyly cracked open the door and squeezed himself inside, her music unrelenting. The notes from the piano were fast and fierce, cold and unnerving...Aaron sat on the carpeted floor. He waited, and he listened. It was beautiful, but frightening, akin to a lioness on the prowl. After a couple of minutes the blizzard of hammers on strings quieted.

"Who are you?" the black-haired girl flatly demanded, unmoving. "What do you want?"

Aaron stared at the ratty mess of a bun of hair on the back of her head. She had been so pretty and dressed up and neat at the recital Kat had dragged him to...She was a totally different person here than she'd been on stage.

"It's, um-...It's Aaron," he announced meekly. "Aaron Leekpai. One of Katrina's friends...? We met the other day."

"Oh," she said slowly, turning her body around on her bench. "Didn't...recognize yer voice."

"Yea, it's OK. Um...-"

"Whaddya want?" Jun asked tiredly.

"Why don't you take a break from your practicing?" Aaron asked hopefully.

"To go do...-?" she growled, her head bobbed, expression sour.

"To hang out with me and Katrina."

"Why would I wanna do that?"

"'Cuz..." He scratched the base of his neck nervously. Damn, she was pretty intimidating for someone who never looked you in the eye. "Like I told you: I want to be your friend."

Jun huffed, crossing her arms around her waist and bouncing her bare foot on its toes rhythmically.

"What makes you so special?" Had that been a question? It sounded like more like a snarl. "Why do you wanna be friends with me, anyway?"

"I don't know," Aaron honestly answered, his intestines squirming inside him. "I just do. That...isn't a good reason?"

Her brows furrowed and she rubbed the bags hanging under her eyes.

"You don't know?" Her incredulous tone lashed out like a vine of thorns. "Pff, you don't know, but you'll stalk me like a fucking creep."

Aaron's stomach churned uncomfortably. Had he been acting creepy about it? Kat had encouraged him to come here and ask her. She had seemed to be under the impression that their first meeting had gone well and that this cute girl was maybe-possibly interested in him. And he was sure that Kat had caught on that he was interested, but...he wasn't a fan of being called a 'creep' just for having a crush.

"Well?" Jun pressed.

"Fine, sorry." Aaron shrugged, shaking his head.
What was I thinking? Maybe everyone was right: maybe she is just an angry-loner-psycho...
"I'm nothing special," he bitterly informed her, swiftly opening the door, breaking out of the room and breaking free from her cynicism.

- Sunday August 31st, 2014 - (Present)

A long distance they had come since that day. Somewhere along the way, that grouchy exchange had turned into an affectionate joke.

Juniper groaned as she let herself sit down at last in the spot Aaron had decreed as 'sittable.'

"God damn, my legs are so freakin' sore," she sighed, spreading her limbs out straight and leaning against the tree Aaron had propped her against. He rested at her side and smiled as, on cue, she kicked off her sandals and wiggled her toes around.

"Mine, too," Aaron sympathized, taking a deep breath. He watched Siku and Katrina's splashing war occur meters ahead. By now it had died down severely as the two of them had no-doubt quickly worn themselves out after all of that walking. He caught himself gawking at the tan-skinned girl in the dark blue one-piece as she waded out of the water and pulled his eyes away, re-adjusting his male nature toward the girl who was his, who he wanted to focus exclusively on in that manner. It wasn't hard to forget the Canadian beauty just ahead when he had a gorgeous Juniper Fong leaning against him.

"Lunch time!" Siku shouted, patting himself down with a towel as his sister wrung her hair out. "Trail mix and crackers and cheese spread and ham sandwiches."

"What are you waiting for?" Juniper demanded. "Break out the food, then!"


The walk back home was proving tricky. They'd made their loop around, and it was surely going to be quicker to finish the trail loop than it would to about-face and go back the way they'd come. But the group was starting to wonder if they'd taken the correct pathways. The fact that it was starting to rain wasn't putting anyone in good spirits, either.

"There could be bears or pumas or something out there. Gotta be careful."

"Pumas, Siku?" Katrina criticized. "Yea, um, I'm not so sure we're likely to run into those out here."

"Yea? Well, that's probably what every single person who's ever been killed by a puma thought when they went out into the woods."

"Lead on, Fearless Leader," Juniper mocked.

"Are we lost, Siku?" Aaron asked apologetically.

"Lost? Lost?" Siku shook his head fervently, wiping rain droplets from his forehead. "Of course not."

She had asked that same thing on that winter's night during his sophomore year.


- December, 2013 – (Eight Months Ago)

"Are we lost, Siku?"

"Lost? Lost?" He choked on his own over-embellishment. "Uhh...Yea, actually, we're a little lost."

She giggled as he rubbed her knee while she drove through the dark, snowy streets.

"I hope my father doesn't get the wrong idea when we get home late," she said, humored by their predicament.

Ulrika Alfven was a Swedish born girl with bright blue eyes, a porcelain face, and flowing, elegant blond hair. Her well-endowed family had moved to America when she was very young and she grew up around American students, staff, and neighbors. A child actress of sorts, Ulrika had found some success in commercials and bit roles for TV shows and movies. One of those child-actors who was struggling to reach actual stardom. At the age of eighteen she'd landed a breakthrough role as the female protagonist in some teenage indie romance flick, and immediately thereafter made the decision that she wanted to attend college before continuing her career. Somehow, she had landed at Rokudai College - specifically choosing a smaller, secluded college.

'Ulrika' didn't exactly have a nice ring to it, so folks had taken to calling her 'Rika,' which Siku loved. They could share in their mutual dual-named identities and the first-world-problems they ran into with such uncommon legal names.

On that particular evening, Rika had taken Siku out for some fine-dining. Siku admired Rika's insistence on being fair - he had taken her out to eat previously, so it was her turn now. He liked that a girl wasn't going to try and worm her way into romance but was going to put in just as much work as he was. It didn't hurt that she happened to be pretty rich, which meant that when she took him out for a meal, fancy meats were the order of the day. Also, she was very pretty. Pretty, independent, able to feed him lots of fancy foods: Siku couldn't really ask for much more than that during that point of his life.

"Your father's a pretty...laid back kinda guy...right?"

"Haha, usually. But I am his only daughter."

"You're makin' me nervous here, Rika," Siku uttered, an intentional shakiness in his voice.

"Always, Darling," Rika said with a coy tone.

"Sometimes that's not so bad," Siku told her, planting a kiss on her temple as they hit a red light. She turned her head and took the moment of pause to share a slow, affectionate embrace of lips.

"I'm starting to get the impression you might falling in love with me, Noble Sir Kesuk," said Rika with a facetious smile as the light turned green and she pressed down the pedal.

"That impression would be accurate, Princess," Siku replied warmly.

It came from the left, like thunder striking a lone tree on a grassy hill. Siku's world exploded in a flash of car lights, glass, and metal crushing against metal, red splattering against his face.

Red, trickling down his face. Pouring down Rika's cold, lifeless face. Water, slipping down the cracked windows. Drowning.


- Sunday August 31st, 2014 - (Present)

Water, trickling down from the heavens, brought him back. Rain. Light rain. Drowning him in his memory.

"If we're not lost-" Katrina began, sorting through Siku's pack - still attached to his back - to retrieve a pair of umbrellas taken for just such an occasion. "-then why are we not back on the path yet?"

"Ya know, Katrina," Siku hissed, spinning around. "If you wanna figure out how we get back on the path, by all means, go ahead!" He shoved the map in her direction as she un-velcroed the umbrellas.

"Geez, chill the fuck out, Spazzoid," Juniper grumbled as Aaron took one of the umbrellas and pitched it over her. The rain pattered gently on its taut surface and Siku took a deep breath. "It's no big deal, we're not that far out."

"Yea," Aaron agreed, clearly trying to placate the Kesuk siblings. "We went south off the path, right? Sooner or later, we should hit it again. And if not, then we'll reach the end of the woods, anyway. We're good."

He's right, we've been going dead south - I'm sure of it. We'll be fine, and we should actually cut down about twenty minutes taking this shortcut.

"Yea," Siku agreed complacently. folding their map up and slipping it into his back pocket. Katrina grabbed his hand and pulled him ahead of the duo behind them a bit, keeping the umbrella above them. "Sorry," Siku apologized, his voice low.

"It's OK," Katrina casually dismissed the conflict. "What's wrong?"

Siku's eyes avoided her and he held in a sigh that was aching to come out.

"I know that face," Katrina whispered seriously, the rain veiling their conversation as Aaron and Juniper mumbled out some humorous discussion behind them. "You're thinking about her."

"Maybe," Siku admitted in a barely audible mutter, stuffing his hands into his pant pockets.

"You know what I'm going to tell you, Siku," she solemnly warned.

"Yea. I do. So ya don't have to," he advised, his stomach churning.

"Siku," his sister sighed, squeezing his shoulder as they marched through the twigs and dirt and grass, weaving between trees, raindrops dancing ballet around them. He could practically hear those tired words hanging from her lips, but she didn't say them this time, as he requested. Instead her voice echoed in his head: It wasn't your fault. There was nothing anyone could do. She's watching over you, just like Mom is.

None of these words made it any easier, but at least time had played its part in helping heal the wound. A scar was better than a bleeding gash. Siku had already had one etched across his heart as a child, and now he had another one to criss-cross it.

What We Learned at Rokudai (Chapter 3 Draft, Pt 1)<<< (Previous Part)
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Thumbnail by hino-kit
(Rokudai) - Siku Expressions (HinoKit) by Destiny-Smasher(Rokudai) - Jun Expressions (HinoKit) by Destiny-SmasherRe:SRU - Siku Concept (ColossalBeltLoop) by Destiny-SmasherRe:SRU - Jun Tu Fong Concept by Destiny-Smasher[Rokudai] - Siku Kesuk Concepts by Destiny-Smasher(Rokudai) - Aaron Leekpai Reference Set by Destiny-Smasher
Notable changes from SRU:
This chapter contains content from the original chapter 4, remixed with a few new bits. In pt 2, the flashbacks were adjusted a little to make it more clear that they're flashbacks, and how long ago they take place. I'm mixed on the execution.
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