A New Home
Akiko Sakai sighed once more as she looked out of the train window. A small smile grew in her face, very much like it did when she was a little child with a secret delight. She had dreamed about this journey from Kyoto to Tokyo since she was transferred to the headquarters of Nippon Fashion, the magazine for which she worked as a fashion consultant. Always on the run, she hoped that this work could give her a little time to stay calm. She knew when she started working at the branch in Kyoto that, in order to move up, she had to visit many places, finding what was trendy and what wasn’t, to “style the nation”, as she said often to herself. And so she did; with 3 years working in the magazine, going places to every assignment her boss could find interesting, now she was heading toward Tokyo, to work as the leader of the fashion consultants of the Kanto Region. Lots of responsibilities would come with the job, she knew, but she would have control over them, and she loved that idea.
Moving from Kyoto was, though, saying good-bye to the place she had always lived in. Her friends cried a little when they found out, but they remembered that they would always have cell phones and e-mails to keep in touch. Nevertheless, she was leaving a gap for a gang of people she had shared her life with for the past three years. Change was in the air, for her and for her niece.
Maiko Sakai didn’t sighed during the trip. She was concentrated in the CD she was listening at the moment. Stravinsky’s “The Firebird” was a piece she enjoyed a lot. She had lost track of how many times she heard it, yet she remembered the first time she did. She was still a toddler, and her parents used to play different classical pieces. She didn’t remembered the whole piece, just bits here and there. However, she remembered the feeling of something great coming whenever she listened to that piece. She was hoping something just as great as “The Firebird” would be for her in Tokyo.
Although Maiko didn’t sighed, she was sad. Just turned 15-years-old, she had taken her High-School Entrance Exams. She had gotten great grades, so she could be admitted to many important schools. She had expected to do so in Kyoto, but things would change in her life, just as it had changed when she was just a little kid.
Maiko lost her parents in a car crash when she was 5 years old. She wasn’t in the crash, and when her aunt explained what happened, she didn’t understand. She kept quite for many weeks, until one day, when the truth sank in, and she knew her parents were not on a holiday, but in heaven, and that Aunt Akiko was to take care of her from now on. From that moment, Akiko tried to give to her a happy childhood, even when she knew little about raising a child. Maiko had her happy moments, but there were others when she just felt empty, when she was growing up. That was until she discovered Figure Skating.
It was of a fieldtrip in Elementary School, when she first saw the rink at Wasseda University. An Olympic-size ice rink that made every kid on her class, her included, to gasp, not only for its hugeness, but also for what they saw. A pair of a tall dark-haired man holding the had of a small-framed girl, crossing by with a lot of speed. The wind caressing her hair as the tall partner grabbed her by the waist and in a quick movement, set the small skater up in the air, in three perfect rotations, as she landed on the small blade of her right skate boot. It was a revelation moment for Maiko. That was when she knew she wanted to be on the rink, and become a figure skater. That was the day when she came with a big smile on her face, a smile Aunt Akiko hadn’t seen in quite a while, and she told her what she had seen.
A small smile crossed her face at the memory. “The Firebird” had come to an end.
After that fieldtrip, Akiko found a rink close to home, where Maiko received her first skating lessons. The instructor noticed the effort the small child put in learning the basics of figure skating, how much care she put in having perfect stroking, and doing the crossovers. Soon she joined the rink’s club, Goldenskates, and she started receiving classes and learning spins and jumps. Learning the jumps was an odyssey for her, but the falls didn’t diminish in any way her determination. At one point, when she entered Junior High, she had thought that she could do the pair skating, but her coach at that time had told her she had a gift for single skating, and that she should not worry to much about her jumping skills. With time she became more consistent during practice, although in competition she had some problems to sustain that consistency. But that lack of regularity in jumps was something she could work on. The coach knew that, and every person that saw her skate once, could tell the same, because she had good technique. She had, on the other hand, a natural talent for skating that reflected in her presentation. One person had said once that Maiko skated as if her feet where playing the notes of a score, and that one day, she would make a great statement… once she managed to handle her jumps. And she did improve. But, from time to time, that inner fear of failing the jumps would get the better of her, and boy would she be angry at herself!
There were good times, tough. Her skating had taken her to the Junior National Championships the last two years. On her first attempt she ended up in the sixth place. She had made a mistake in her Free Program, but what people remembered the most about that night were two things: the skater who won, and how beautiful that Kyoto Girl skated. Akiko had tears in her eyes. The next year, she almost made it to the podium, but ended fourth. She was very sad that day. Again, one jump had come out wrong, and it cost her dearly: a spot for the World Junior Championship.
Despite of the result on that day, people still liked seeing her skate. Akiko didn’t allowed her niece to dwell too much on what happened. “So you failed in one jump,” she said tenderly on the way home, “you still where marvelous. Don’t give up!” Despite the ending of the Junior Nationals, Maiko had under her belt the victories of inter-schools competitions and two Kinki Regional Championships. She vowed to improve, but she also decided she wanted to move on to the senior competitions.
In her last year of Junior High, she had also prepared herself for her High School examination. She wanted to get good grades to go Kyoto Gaigai Nishi High School. Not only it was one of the top schools in Kyoto, but it also had a good Figure Skating Club. With the grades she got, she was bound to get in. And that’s when her life changed again. Aunt Akiko had been promoted, and they had to move to Tokyo. She felt quite sad about the moving, knowing that she had to give up her dream of joining Gaigai Nishi’s Skating club. She wouldn’t be able to compete for the Kinki Region.
“Why do we have to go now?” Maiko asked her aunt that afternoon. “Can’t they just let you do the job here? I won’t see my friends again”.
“Maiko, I know that this is a bit of a shock for you, but please try to understand”, said Akiko as she sat on the couch with her niece. “This is a big opportunity for me, and for you. I cannot let it pass by. I will be leaving friends behind too, you know? And I’m sure we’ll find a nice school in Tokyo, and you will skate there as well:”
“But it won’t be the same as here”, Maiko whispered, her eyes on the floor.
“That is true. But it will be a great adventure, for both of us. If you really don’t want this… then will stay. I won’t take that promotion, if you want to stay here, I’ll do it.”
Maiko looked bewildered at her aunt. She was giving here the opportunity of taking their fait in her hands. One word and they would stay. She was so very tempted of doing so… but then, she knew. Aunt Akiko had sacrifice other promotions in the past. Not as big as this one, true, but she knew that it was for her. She couldn’t let that happened again. She was making many sacrifices, and Maiko felt it was her time to do so.
“It’s O.K., Aunt Akiko. We’ll go to Tokyo.”
And so they prepared for the trip. Akiko found a great school in Tokyo, Kamata High School, which in addition of being a well-known institution, it also had their own skating club, with their own rink. Akiko had to move real fast with the paperwork of Maiko, so that she could start classes the following month of April. Because of her good grades she was accepted, and that left one thing out of the way. Nippon Magazine found for them a great apartment, and in the following weeks they shipped of the greatest part of their belongings. After Maiko’s graduation and her “stay in touch”, “we can still visit each other on breaks” to her friends, they took the train to Tokyo, with to weeks before the new term, and Maiko’s life as a freshmen started.
“What are you thinking now, Maiko?” Akiko asked her, taking the eyes of the train window to her niece. “You’re not thinking this is a mistake, are you?”
Maiko looked at her aunt. Her long hair framed her worried-expression face, as if she were waiting for Maiko to ask to go back to Kyoto. The girl smiled and with the first sighed she gave during the whole trip, she answered, “No, I don’t want to go back. I just hope everything is as good as we hope.”
Akiko smiled to her nice. “Well, I guess we’ll soon find out.”
The train had arrived, and so their new life started.
Moving from Kyoto was, though, saying good-bye to the place she had always lived in. Her friends cried a little when they found out, but they remembered that they would always have cell phones and e-mails to keep in touch. Nevertheless, she was leaving a gap for a gang of people she had shared her life with for the past three years. Change was in the air, for her and for her niece.
Maiko Sakai didn’t sighed during the trip. She was concentrated in the CD she was listening at the moment. Stravinsky’s “The Firebird” was a piece she enjoyed a lot. She had lost track of how many times she heard it, yet she remembered the first time she did. She was still a toddler, and her parents used to play different classical pieces. She didn’t remembered the whole piece, just bits here and there. However, she remembered the feeling of something great coming whenever she listened to that piece. She was hoping something just as great as “The Firebird” would be for her in Tokyo.
Although Maiko didn’t sighed, she was sad. Just turned 15-years-old, she had taken her High-School Entrance Exams. She had gotten great grades, so she could be admitted to many important schools. She had expected to do so in Kyoto, but things would change in her life, just as it had changed when she was just a little kid.
Maiko lost her parents in a car crash when she was 5 years old. She wasn’t in the crash, and when her aunt explained what happened, she didn’t understand. She kept quite for many weeks, until one day, when the truth sank in, and she knew her parents were not on a holiday, but in heaven, and that Aunt Akiko was to take care of her from now on. From that moment, Akiko tried to give to her a happy childhood, even when she knew little about raising a child. Maiko had her happy moments, but there were others when she just felt empty, when she was growing up. That was until she discovered Figure Skating.
It was of a fieldtrip in Elementary School, when she first saw the rink at Wasseda University. An Olympic-size ice rink that made every kid on her class, her included, to gasp, not only for its hugeness, but also for what they saw. A pair of a tall dark-haired man holding the had of a small-framed girl, crossing by with a lot of speed. The wind caressing her hair as the tall partner grabbed her by the waist and in a quick movement, set the small skater up in the air, in three perfect rotations, as she landed on the small blade of her right skate boot. It was a revelation moment for Maiko. That was when she knew she wanted to be on the rink, and become a figure skater. That was the day when she came with a big smile on her face, a smile Aunt Akiko hadn’t seen in quite a while, and she told her what she had seen.
A small smile crossed her face at the memory. “The Firebird” had come to an end.
After that fieldtrip, Akiko found a rink close to home, where Maiko received her first skating lessons. The instructor noticed the effort the small child put in learning the basics of figure skating, how much care she put in having perfect stroking, and doing the crossovers. Soon she joined the rink’s club, Goldenskates, and she started receiving classes and learning spins and jumps. Learning the jumps was an odyssey for her, but the falls didn’t diminish in any way her determination. At one point, when she entered Junior High, she had thought that she could do the pair skating, but her coach at that time had told her she had a gift for single skating, and that she should not worry to much about her jumping skills. With time she became more consistent during practice, although in competition she had some problems to sustain that consistency. But that lack of regularity in jumps was something she could work on. The coach knew that, and every person that saw her skate once, could tell the same, because she had good technique. She had, on the other hand, a natural talent for skating that reflected in her presentation. One person had said once that Maiko skated as if her feet where playing the notes of a score, and that one day, she would make a great statement… once she managed to handle her jumps. And she did improve. But, from time to time, that inner fear of failing the jumps would get the better of her, and boy would she be angry at herself!
There were good times, tough. Her skating had taken her to the Junior National Championships the last two years. On her first attempt she ended up in the sixth place. She had made a mistake in her Free Program, but what people remembered the most about that night were two things: the skater who won, and how beautiful that Kyoto Girl skated. Akiko had tears in her eyes. The next year, she almost made it to the podium, but ended fourth. She was very sad that day. Again, one jump had come out wrong, and it cost her dearly: a spot for the World Junior Championship.
Despite of the result on that day, people still liked seeing her skate. Akiko didn’t allowed her niece to dwell too much on what happened. “So you failed in one jump,” she said tenderly on the way home, “you still where marvelous. Don’t give up!” Despite the ending of the Junior Nationals, Maiko had under her belt the victories of inter-schools competitions and two Kinki Regional Championships. She vowed to improve, but she also decided she wanted to move on to the senior competitions.
In her last year of Junior High, she had also prepared herself for her High School examination. She wanted to get good grades to go Kyoto Gaigai Nishi High School. Not only it was one of the top schools in Kyoto, but it also had a good Figure Skating Club. With the grades she got, she was bound to get in. And that’s when her life changed again. Aunt Akiko had been promoted, and they had to move to Tokyo. She felt quite sad about the moving, knowing that she had to give up her dream of joining Gaigai Nishi’s Skating club. She wouldn’t be able to compete for the Kinki Region.
“Why do we have to go now?” Maiko asked her aunt that afternoon. “Can’t they just let you do the job here? I won’t see my friends again”.
“Maiko, I know that this is a bit of a shock for you, but please try to understand”, said Akiko as she sat on the couch with her niece. “This is a big opportunity for me, and for you. I cannot let it pass by. I will be leaving friends behind too, you know? And I’m sure we’ll find a nice school in Tokyo, and you will skate there as well:”
“But it won’t be the same as here”, Maiko whispered, her eyes on the floor.
“That is true. But it will be a great adventure, for both of us. If you really don’t want this… then will stay. I won’t take that promotion, if you want to stay here, I’ll do it.”
Maiko looked bewildered at her aunt. She was giving here the opportunity of taking their fait in her hands. One word and they would stay. She was so very tempted of doing so… but then, she knew. Aunt Akiko had sacrifice other promotions in the past. Not as big as this one, true, but she knew that it was for her. She couldn’t let that happened again. She was making many sacrifices, and Maiko felt it was her time to do so.
“It’s O.K., Aunt Akiko. We’ll go to Tokyo.”
And so they prepared for the trip. Akiko found a great school in Tokyo, Kamata High School, which in addition of being a well-known institution, it also had their own skating club, with their own rink. Akiko had to move real fast with the paperwork of Maiko, so that she could start classes the following month of April. Because of her good grades she was accepted, and that left one thing out of the way. Nippon Magazine found for them a great apartment, and in the following weeks they shipped of the greatest part of their belongings. After Maiko’s graduation and her “stay in touch”, “we can still visit each other on breaks” to her friends, they took the train to Tokyo, with to weeks before the new term, and Maiko’s life as a freshmen started.
“What are you thinking now, Maiko?” Akiko asked her, taking the eyes of the train window to her niece. “You’re not thinking this is a mistake, are you?”
Maiko looked at her aunt. Her long hair framed her worried-expression face, as if she were waiting for Maiko to ask to go back to Kyoto. The girl smiled and with the first sighed she gave during the whole trip, she answered, “No, I don’t want to go back. I just hope everything is as good as we hope.”
Akiko smiled to her nice. “Well, I guess we’ll soon find out.”
The train had arrived, and so their new life started.
© 2004 by Hikaru Ceres
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