A Collection of Short Stories

These Streets

Photo Credit: http://www.art-spire.com/en/illustration/gorgeous-illustrations-by-wang-ling/

Tokyo, Japan

Kyoko sat inside the dimly lit ramen shop as she watched the passers-by on the Tokyo street. She watched as they rushed from where they were to where ever they had to be.

<Kyoko's POV>

Where are they going?

Why do they have to go?

Why so fast?

I begin to wonder. My thoughts about the people begin to take over my mind as I sat on the tall stool, slurping my Shoyu ramen. I kicked my feet back and forth, one by one, leaning on my hands as I watch the window. The tangy flavor of the soy sauce broth awaken my senses as my gaze wandered from the window to the chef behind the counter.

He was definitely older than me, probably around 29 and he was definitely taller than me which was easy to say since I am 5'1''. He had long, black hair with bangs that swayed from side to side as he moved from pan to pan cooking up a storm. He looked as if was he was never able to manage his hair since he was cooking so much. I don't even remember seeing him cooking here since I come here quite often. He must be new, I thought. I hadn't noticed that I was staring until he turned around to get an ingredient and looked me in the eye. He had mesmerizing light brown eyes. He even had some chin hair.

He smiled and I went back to looking at the people hustling. I kept catching myself as my eyes kept wandering back to the chef. After about the 7th time I was about to look back over at the chef, he was gone. That was then when I noticed that the ramen shop was almost clear of people. I had forgotten the shop closes early on Thursdays.

I paid for my meal, gathered my school bag and left. When I got outside I noticed it started raining. Raining hard. I didn't even have an umbrella.

I huffed at the thought of getting home soaking wet.

I covered my head with my bag and began ducking and covering under canopies and awnings of the passing stores. When I reached a crosswalk, I was relieved when I was standing in the middle of a crowd of business men with umbrellas. But my second of happiness was soon taken away when the light turned red allowing us all to walk and breaking up the "crowd umbrella".

Continuing my journey home, I noticed my socks getting wet every minute from the people walking too hastily in the puddles causing them splash. But despite my wishes of wanting the rain to stop, the grey clouded skies still cried and wept with rain.

When I was about to reach my block, I heard a faint noise that made me stop. I stopped abruptly causing people walking behind me to curse under their breath. Usually, I would say a witty comeback but I was too focused on the sound from the alleyway. I walked down the dark, damp alleyway. The noise began to get louder with every step. I managed to ignore the background sounds of cars driving by and city crowds' conversations. As I approached the sound, I noticed that is was the sound of a cat's faint cry.

I quickly saw a small darkened tail sticking out from under a fence. It looked like the kitten was stuck. I quickly got on my knees to get a better angle. I carefully placed my hands around the kitten and slightly pulled trying my best to not hurt it. After about four tries later, I was able to get the kitten from under the fence. I was muddy, dirty and wet but I was a sucker for helping animals.

I tucked the kitten in my school bag and got back on my feet. I was about to leave the alley when I bumped into something. That something was actually a someone. He had steel eyes that were piercing into my soul. He looked down on me as I shuddered from his strong, frightening gaze. Usually, I wasn't frightened so easily, but I had a bad feeling about this guy.