"He had to be aware of how he looked; the height, the perfect proportions of his body, the aristocratic features, that beautiful Greek nose; the way every physical element had been put together with a degree of care that the gods lavished on few of their creations."
Kakashi reads the description of priest Roku silently, with little more interest than he'd had when he first started. He's currently on page 57, and so far, the rest of the remaining 635 seem very daunting.
The first chapter is okay; an introductory section more than anything, getting familiar with the novel's main heroine Mitsuki Nakamura and her family, from her idolized big brother, Mako, to the two younger ones, Sachi and Ren - both equally reckless and ornery - to her melancholy, emotionless mother, Suki, and obliviously optimistic father, Hanzo, who loves each of them dearly in spite of it all. Her family name is one of poverty, and though they have nice furniture and priceless heirlooms from her mother's side (wedding gifts and such), she refuses to sell them to better their situation. And so goes their days of attending school and washing dishes and clothes in the nearby river, and father and sons doing their best to tend to the rice farm.
He has to hand it to the author, they put a lot of detail into it. So much so that at times he felt as though he were reading a biography instead of a work of fiction. But that's just it; it's too much detail. Perhaps he's simply read too much Icha-Icha in his lifetime, but Kakashi has always preferred to get straight to the point when he reads, and given that he is nearly 60 pages in and the most exciting thing that's happened is Mitsuki's family has moved from one country to another to live with their rich relative who is leaving them her entire fortune in rice farms, he isn't exactly encouraged to keep reading.
However, Sakura had given it to him, and he knew that she would want to know what he thought of it and inevitably quiz him on the entire book, and when he couldn't measure up past the first handful of chapters, he knew damn well that he might as well check himself back into the hospital ahead of time. And so, here he is. Pushing along. With his eyes.
Priest Roku is sent to greet Mitsuki's family; help with their luggage, get them settled in. Show them around. Being from the Land of Mist, the Nakamura's are not nearly accustomed to Fire's ever-hot weather, and it's as though they are in a constant state of melting throughout the book. There seems to be an instant connection between the priest and Mitsuki, but given the current age difference - 7 and 26 - it is not romantic, and he wonders how on earth such a thing will play out and how long it will take.
Hopefully not all 692 pages, he cringes inwardly.
Their endlessly rich relative, Chiyoko, aunt to Mitsuki's father and owner of the largest and most successful rice farm in the region, is not only perceptive and conniving, but she's dying.
The old woman has no real love or affection for her nephew's family or wellbeing, merely a want to pass on her hard-earned money and legacy to a blood relative rather than be forced to writhe in the afterlife knowing it's gone to an uncaring stranger, or worse; done away with completely, left to wither away like her. It becomes quite apparent quite quickly that her only true favorite is Priest Roku, who in spite of the gross age difference wishes to make him fall in love with her, to get some piece of him before she dies, to do that which no other in her or the priest's lifetimes have been able to accomplish.
Crazy old bat, Kakashi thinks as he turns the page.
He spends his day continuing to read, through the instant connection between Mitsuki and Roku, Chiyoko's growing jealousy between the two, life in Fire compared to Mist, all the way up to the first great plot twist: the discovery of Mitsuki's eldest brother's true paternal origins. Her mother's firstborn is, in actuality, the child of another man's, and Mitsuki's father had finally had enough of his stepson's unquestioned hate and insubordination to the point that he himself let the fact slip when he'd promised his wife never to do so.
Ooh.
Mildly interested by the drama, Kakashi unconsciously lifts the book closer.
Mitsuki's favorite sibling leaves, fleeing the farm and becoming a fighter with a traveling circus (of all things) and her emotionally devoid mother suddenly cares enough to show her mounting worry, to wait for any news, anything at all regarding her son. But time passes, and it is not enough to merely wish for him to return.
"And gradually, his memory slipped, little by little, as memories tend to do, even those with so much love attached to them. As if there is an unconscious healing process of the mind, forcing us to mend from the pain in spite of our most desperate determination never to forget."
Images of Obito flash in his mind, and Kakashi blinks to clear them away. He skims past the sad scene - he's sure Sakura will understand - and lands on a new, more refreshing one; aunt Chiyoko's impending death.
She requests to speak privately with priest Roku, knowing she is nearing her end, and declares that she will do one last thing before she dies to make him suffer...and Kakashi is genuinely intrigued.
"You throw your beauty in our teeth, Roku, contemptuous of our foolishness. But I will pin you to the wall like an insect on your own weakness, I will make you sell yourself like a painted whore. Do you doubt it?"
Roku smiled. "I don't doubt you'll try. But I do not think you know me as well as you think you do."
"Don't I? Time will tell, Roku, and only time! I am old; I have nothing but time left to me."
"And what is it you think I have?" he asked. "Time, Chiyoko. Time, and dust, and flies."
The sun goes down by the time he decides to call it quits, and he stops to place his makeshift bookmark (Sakura's note) with a final quote that sets his mind abuzz for much of the night.
"It is not worth becoming upset over, miss Yumichika-san. Up in the city, they know not of how the other half lives, and they can afford the luxury of doting on their animals as though they were children. Out here in the country, it is different. You will never see a man, woman, or child going hungry, or in need of help, being ignored. Yet in the city, those same people who dote on their pets will completely ignore a cry for help from a human being."
Suki looked up. "He's right, you know. We all have contempt for whatever there's too many of. Out here, it's animals. In the city, it's people."
He is in his hospital bed for a total of two days before he's discharged. When he finally gets home, he's still reading the book.
~*~
Author's note: the excerpts in the book Kakashi is reading are in fact excerpts from The Thorn Birds by Stephanie McCullough, at least as best I remember them. There were a lot of unique and beautiful descriptions throughout her novel, and even though I've included quite a few spoilers for it already, I highly recommend giving it a try (but beware; it is rather tragic, even if it is extremely well written).
