Silver's Effect

Koyuki

the bag of leftovers seemed somewhat heavy as it swung from my right hand. 

i could almost smell the lingering of fried fish coming from it as i glanced over at Ryoma who was putting his shoes on again to walk me home.

ryoma sighed before standing up and yelling "we're going!"

we could hear a collective "bye!" yelled back as Ryoma opened the door for me and we stepped out into the cool night air.

together we walked through the yard and past the temple in silence.

once we were at the side of the road on the walkway Ryoma looked over at me with a serious expression.

 i could feel my heart skip a beat in anxiousness as i waited for him to say whatever he needed to say, but what passed his lips made me pause mid step and almost gasp.

"why did you lie about the name koyumi?"

my grip on the handles of the bag tightened as i a cool breeze blew past us.

noticing i had stopped walking Ryoma did as well while giving me a curious expression.

i grit my teeth and started to walk again without saying a word.

he sighed behind me, taking my silence as a refusal to answer.

the walk seemed to end quicker than than the walk to his house and i could feel a lump forming in my throat as i glanced up at ryoma.

he had a disappointed frown on his face, as if he where pouting about me not telling him.

at my gate i hesitated before asking in a soft voice that he almost missed "are you sure you want to know?"

i couldn't bring myself to look at him as i stared down at the heavy iron gate latch before me.

there was a moments silence before the question seemed to sink into his mind.

slowly i busied myself with unlatching the gate and stepping inside.

"yes, i want to know." he said in a determined voice.

i still couldn't look at him as i said "it's a long story, you might as well come inside then."

he nodded and followed me through my yard and onto my porch.

as i pulled my keys out i noticed my hands where shaking, making it somewhat difficult to open the door.

i took my time pulling my shoes off at the door, trying to stall before reliving the traumatic moment my life was ruined.

Ryoma silently waited for me to finish having already finished.

once i was done i lead him into the living room where i pointed to the couch and said "wait here."

once he was seated i made my way up the stairs and into my room.

i drug my feet to mydesk and opened the bottom draw to retrieve a medium sized wooden box that was locked. 

then i went to my bathroom where i kept my jewelry box and retrieved the key to it.

coming back downstairs i sighed as i realized Ryoma was patiently waiting for me.

i sat beside him and passed him the box as well as the key.

he looked at it confused for a moment before unlocking it and looking inside.

a tennis ball rolled around inside it on top of several pictures that were laying facedown.

first he picked up the tennis ball and looked at the slightly worn fabric of it, his eyes seemed to notice a single smudge mark before he dismissed it and took out the pictures, leaving the ball to sit on his leg.

when he flipped the pictures over however he gasped before his wide eyes flew to me.

i gave a soft smile as i saw the picture on top, it was of my sister and i.

i pulled my legs up onto the couch and hugged my knees to my chest as i rested my chin on them.

slowly he looked back at the picture and just stared for a moment.

in the picture Koyumi and i had our arms linked around each other as we showed off our identical silver tennis rackets with wide grins on our faces.

he flipped to the next one to see us sitting at the same piano, Koyumi was smirking at me with her hands on the keys as i pouted at her with my arms crossed, obviously upset about something.

the next one we where playing doubles and both laughing on the court as we demolished our opponent.

the one after that we were holding up a big golden trophy while both holding up one finger to signify we got first place as we grinned.

another had us in fancy dresses as we showed off our first prize from a piano recital.

before he could flip to another picture though i started to talk.

"her name was Koyumi, she was my twin."

the lump in my throat made it hard for me to talk and tears slowly started to leak from my eyes.

"she died in an accident two years ago."

Ryoma said nothing as he looked down at the pictures before him.

i let out a dry chuckle before saying "you know she would have been easier for you to befriend. she was always like that, friendly and optimistic to a fault."

 he glanced over to me before putting the pictures back and getting into a more comfortable position facing me as he asked "what happened?"

i turned my head so my cheek rested on my knees instead of my chin so i could look at him, i softly smiled at him before taking a small breath and launching into my story.

~Two Years Ago~

"Koyumi where are we going?" i whined as she drug me through the empty and somewhat creepy alleyways of new york city.

a laugh that almost sounded like wind chimes filled my ears as she laughed at my tone and continued to jog, making her silver hair shine in the sunlight almost as if it was made if the actual medal.