Hourglass
Unit I
Narita International Airport was Japan's major gateway for international travelers. People of different races rushed, either in or out, through the airport's aisle hastily shoving their luggage in different directions.
A young man, 23 years of age, walked rather slowly through the sea of people. But nobody could blame him; it was hard to get used in using a crutch for walking. Shoulder length brown hair hugged his face complimenting his fair complexion, those dark locks lightly covering his grayish, with the hint of violet, eyes. Eyes that was sure evident that he was, by in fact, not a pure resident of Japan.
"Master Andrei, would you like me to fetch a wheelchai-"
"I can walk just fine!" the young man snapped cutting his companion's sentence. The old man, maybe at his 60's, flinched at his master's angry voice, he mumbled a small apology before continuing following the brown haired man while pushing their luggage cart.
Few minutes later, they arrived outside the airport. A tall raven haired young man was waiting for them with a pristine white Mercedes limousine, he was dressed in black business suit that outlined his finely sculpted body.
"Yamimoto-san, okaeri." 'Welcome home, Mr. Yamimoto.'
Andrei glared at the tall raven haired man greeting him, though his voice was pleasant to one's ears, the driver opened the door to the passenger's seats and helped him inside without much argument from the brown haired man. He was tired after all.
"Hyuga-san, okaeri!"
The old man smiled at the polite greeting and nodded his head, "Yuki, arigato gozaimasu." 'Thank you, Yuki.'
@
Andrei sat by the veranda facing the vast land filled with plants and flowers owned by their family, the weather was nice; not too warm not too cold, a pleasant change from Paris' climate. His trance was disturbed when a cup of tea was placed infront of him by the table; the scent of something sweet filled his nostril in the most delicate way.
"Tea has the ability to make one's life more full and complete... or so I read from a book." Andrei looked up to see the raven haired driver smiling down at him, the young master threw a confused glance at the tall young man as he sat opposite to him. 'He speaks in English with perfect tone... he's not really an ordinary driver.'
"Who gave you the right to speak to me? You are but a mere driver I presume." the driver just smiled at his master's edgy reply and took a sip from his tea; Andrei too held his cup and tasted its content. The perfect taste was there, it was brewed in precise temperature to catch the true flavor but there was a hint of sweetness too... 'Honey?'
"This is a specialty of the Vietnamese tea industry... the Lotus tea?" Andrei smiled a small lift from the side of his lips.
Yuki watched as the facial expression of his young master softened at the taste of the tea, the driver nodded. "Yes, such tongue to know the kind of the tea you're drinking."
"This kind of tea is brewed under the right temperature for two minutes to acquire the perfect taste... if let to brew longer it will taste bitter... though Lotus tea is not usually sweet, is there honey in here?" Andrei asked finally relaxing even in the presence of a total stranger.
"No, it's actually mixed with sweetened butter to add calorie, young master seems to need energy." Yuki inhaled the scent coming from his tea, "High quality green tea placed inside the lotus flower to obtain the flower's unique and endearing scent. It is quite relaxing isn't it?"
"You are not our family's driver are you? No driver will sit around to talk about tea in such length of mastery." Andrei's violet hinted eyes were tinted with suspicion. He learned that in the status of their family, trust was something fragile and not easily given.
