𝖇𝖆𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊, daniel larusso.

chapter six. UNEXPECTED VISITORS

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          "HERE WE ARE, TOMI VILLAGE." Ophelia's head instantly turned to peek out the half-opened window with pure child-like curiosity. Her excited grin quickly turned into a frown, accompanied by furrowed brows as she studied the village from inside of Kiyuku's vehicle. 

    "This..." Ophelia trailed off, her mouth running dry with astonishment, "is Tomi Village?" 

    Kiyuku shot her a proud smile as he parked on the side of what seemed to be a community garden of some sort. "It sure is," he confirmed, before noticing her dull expression. "What's wrong?" 

    Ophelia cleared her throat, shaking her head as she kept her thoughts to herself. From all of the glorious stories that were told from Mr. Miyagi, Ophelia had always envisioned for years upon years that Tomi Village would be more... paradise-like in person. Stories of him and his Father training in the dojo for countless sunset-filled evenings, fishing in the beautiful waters with his best buddy Sato along with his Father, the blissful stories would keep Mr. Miyagi rambling on and on forever, a ghost of a soft reminiscing smile on his face as Ophelia sat on the edge of her seat every single time, listening and hanging onto every single word of every single story the man had told her. 

    In short, this is not what she thought Tomi Village looked like.

    "Nothing's wrong, Yuku. Thank you for the ride here," Ophelia gratefully smiled at the boy. 

    Kiyuku smiled right back at her, nodding his head. "Hey, no problem. It was nice meeting you, Ophelia. I'll be here for a few days most likely, so I'll see you around sometime." 

    On the car ride there, Ophelia and Kiyuku had gotten to know the basics of each other. Ophelia had told the black haired boy about her residence in California and how Mr. Miyagi had taught her and Daniel karate that his Father had taught him while he was young. Ophelia had found out some things about Riyuku, too— such as, the two of them were the same age. Kiyuku was born and raised in Tomi Village with his Aunt until his parents found him and took him in. Ophelia was shocked by his astonishing English skills. Kiyuku himself knew a bit of karate, but not as much as her. Overall, the two of them found out that they got along well. And Ophelia thought that Kiyuku was quite the charmer. 

    As Ophelia watched the boy walk off with a smile, she wondered to herself—where the hell would Mr. Miyagi and Daniel be? 

    But, apparently it seemed that it wouldn't be too strenuous to find the two of them. Because out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar jet-black-haired tall boy walking towards her with open arms, his usual blinding grin spread across his handsome face. 

    "Lia?!" He exclaimed at the sight of her, pleasant surprise written clear onto his face. "What are you doing here?" And before she knew it, Ophelia was engulfed in a hug. A hug that brought back incredible tidal waves of emotions, as the young girl took in his comforting scent of fresh linen and spearmint gum. 

    After a few seconds of embracing each other's embarrassingly familiar comfort, they pulled away from each other. Ophelia shot Daniel a confused look. "You didn't get my letter?" she asked him. "I wrote you one, concerning—" 

    Ophelia paused immediately, cutting herself off from her own sentence. Judging by Daniel's puzzled expression, he hadn't gotten the letter for whatever reason. That meant that he didn't know about James. She didn't let anyone know about her spontaneous trip to Okinawa. She had scrounged up all of the money she had saved up—her entire life savings—and booked a flight. She couldn't stand to not see Mister Miyagi through this grieving time. She also knew she couldn't be away from Daniel long either.