Jovian Under Heaven - a light novel

01| chapter one

       

"Obi! Obi, come out and train with me!"

Bouncing on her heels, the young little girl tugged at her grandfather's sleeve. Her light brown hair pulled in a tight bun and secured with a green ribbon, she was already dressed her homemade gi. Her grandfather, a leathery old man with sparse white hair, slowly opened one eye at a time before smiling down at the girl's expectant face.

"Mattaku...sheesh, Kaneko, I was trying to sleep! Your grandmother advised me to rest since I am not feeling very well." Obi's voice was low and gravelly. Maybe he really wasn't feeling well enough to train. Kaneko's face fell, but she nodded and kept her head low so that Obi wouldn't see her disappointment.

"However, I suppose a bit of fresh air and some exercise wouldn't hurt."

Kaneko looked up excitedly as Obi started to sit up in his bed. The girl reached out and helped him up.

"Thank you Obi, you're the best!" She hugged him before skipping off to grab his walking staff from the corner of the room. Kaneko's tiny, eight-year-old hands gingerly held the staff, which was made of wood and etched with gold details.

The old man smiled, crinkling his eyes. He took his walking staff from her and hefted himself up, pushing his weight on it. Kaneko practically bounced through the little cottage they called home, earning her a stern warning from her grandmother, who was already preparing for dinner.

"No running in the house, chaw, grandchild," she said without turning away from chopping green onions. She was old, almost as old as Obi, but her curly shoulder-length hair was still a rich shade of ebony. She wore a brown-hued sarong wrapped around her waist and beige blouse. To Kaneko and Obi, Yeay was the most beautiful woman. Kaneko had seen old photographs of Yeay's and Obi's female relatives, and still she saw her grandmother as being the most beautiful.

"Yes, Yeay. Sorry!"

Kaneko slowed her pace only slightly as she pushed past the screen door. She could hear Obi's heavy footsteps behind her. He chuckled lightly and said a tender good morning to his wife before he stepped out of the door himself.

"Ah, Kaneko. You have too much energy for us elderly folk!" he reached out and patted her head with a gentle hand. "You'll have to find some others after we're worn out." He meant it as a light joke, but Kaneko looked up at him sadly.

"You're not leaving, are you?"

Though his thin mouth said differently, the smile in Obi's eyes was gone.

"Of course not, my sweet child."

Cold and covered in a thin layer of grime, Kaneko rocked idly on the swing and blinked back the memory, her little stomach growling louder than that of an adult. She shivered as a brisk gust of wind blew across the mostly empty park. Besides Kaneko, the only people she saw in the vicinity were a couple of teenagers chatting on a bench several yards away and what looked to be a little boy, younger than her by a year or two.

Curious as to why he was all alone, the young girl stopped swinging and watched him. He was a few yards away, walking on the sidewalk near the park entrance. He was dressed in a pair of black pants, gold boots, and a dark blue coat with a fur-lined collar. He walked with the gait of an abandoned animal; stumbling, twisting both his head and body around frantically, and howling loud enough to match pitch with the wind that suddenly picked up.

Boy, he sure is loud! Kaneko thought, wincing as his cries rose in pitch. Maybe he lost his obi and yeay.

However loud a scene he was making, no one came forth to claim the poor child. Even the teenagers only managed to glance over in annoyance before they took off to someplace quieter. Kaneko, scanning the area and finding not a single adult in sight, hopped off of her swing and set off towards the boy. She started at a leisurely pace, then broke into a light jog, pumping her small arms as she breathed in the chilly air. When she was halfway towards the boy, she raised her arm in greeting, but slowed to a stop when she saw a shiny black car rolling up behind him. A man stepped out of the driver's seat and walked up to the boy, who didn't notice and continued crying.