Polar opposites

The space behind the bench was even more useless now that I had already been seen.

“Wouldn't that depend on who you are?” I sighed, turning around slowly with my hands in the air.

The stranger hadn't tried to grab me straight away which meant that they might have been wary of me too. Was that because they didn't think they could overpower a young woman? Or because –?

“I think any intruder with working brain cells would be worried about –” The man stopped talking as soon as he saw my face. His eyes widened behind a pair of glasses before narrowing. “What's the meaning of this?”

“Define this,” I replied, raising my hands in line with his visible hostility levels.

He stood there with his hands crossed behind him in a long two-toned purple and blue oriental gown with a black and silver belt and matching trousers. His dark hair was longer in the front and shorter at the back, possibly pulled up into a tight bun that made his features even more angular. A face that matched his popped up in my thoughts and vanished just as fast before I could connect the two.

“You can either leave now,” he said slowly, his elbows relaxing slightly. “Or you can explain why you're trespassing in my garden wearing the face of someone who's been dead for over a decade.”

A decade? Shizuka had been gone for a decade and the people I had met so far all seemed to remember her as clearly as if she had walked out of their lives the day before. Clearly, despite the signs, I had underestimated this woman's impact.

“Your garden?” The lingering nausea tried to steal my focus. “You must be Aoto then.”

“Did you come here not knowing who I was?” He sounded like he should have smirked but his expression remained unchanged. Quietly furious. Calculating.

“Ko was supposed to let you know we were coming,” I said, shuffling backwards until I closer to the bench. “Not sure why she thought her message would get here faster than that teleporter though.”

“We?” His head jerked sideways as if he expected someone to appear behind him.

“Toshi dropped me here. Seems like she knows you pretty well.” I had hoped the names would put him at ease, if only a little, but they only seemed to make things worse.

“Where are they?” he asked, his lowered hands spreading beside his hips in a vaguely familiar gesture.

As if he were about to rip handfuls of flowers from the bushes without touching them.

“Ko said she'd meet us here with the others, whoever they are.” Lies wouldn't save me from the unspoken threat rising like smoke from the lines of his body. “And Toshi said she'd be right back but ...”

I shrugged and his gaze flitted briefly to both my hand before returning to my face.

“You still haven't told me why you look like – who you are?” he said.

“My name's Sheila,” I answered. “But apparently I look a lot like someone called Shizuka and no one will believe me when I say I'm not her.”

“Why would you try and look like her if that's not what you want?” A frown cross his wide forehead and scrunched up his thin eyebrows.

“I didn't do this on purpose,” I said, gesturing at the bench. “Mind if I sit down? Toshi said I'm not allowed to throw up in your garden.”

He nodded after a few seconds but he didn't stop watching my every move as I sat down and lifted the lavender to my nose again. I knew trust issues when I saw them and this guy was dripping with them. A kindred spirit then, his presence weirdly but ultimately more comforting than those who had welcomed me like sunshine at the end of winter.

“What do you mean you didn't do this on purpose?” he asked, scanning the garden quickly like a security guard in a shopping mall.

“I'm not from here,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time. “But I don't know how I left my own world –”

His eyes snapped back to my face and he stepped forward so suddenly I almost jumped off the bench again, one hand extended.

“What are you talking about, you –?” His low hiss was interrupted by Toshi, who appeared between us like a thin wall.

“Oto, wait!” she exclaimed, blocking him with both arms spread out. “I know this doesn't make any sense but Ko will be here soon. Just wait for her to explain everything.”

“Ko knows what's going on with that?” He pointed at me.

“Wow, that's very rude of you,” I muttered, flapping the bunch of purple flowers beneath my nose as though it was a silk fan.

“Well, not exactly, but –” Toshi laughed nervously. “– But if you wait, maybe we'll be able to work it out together.”

“Why should I wait when I can just get the truth from the stranger who's right here now?” he demanded, trying to push her left arm down to get to me.

“Because this stranger doesn't know crap either,” I pointed out helpfully. “And three heads are better than one. Sometimes.”

Anxiety and rage radiated from him in violent waves despite his muted movements and low voice but none of them seemed to be directed at the woman standing between us.

“Four heads,” added Toshi, holding up the appropriate number of fingers as she held her ground. “Tatsu is almost h-”

Rattling metal from the gate area on my left preceded the sound of someone running on the cobblestones and I turned my head just in time to see a man skid around the corner of a rose bush a couple of meters away. He clutched at its trimmed twigs to steady himself and Aoto's irritation briefly switched to him instead.

They were polar opposites. Whereas the first man's skin was a milk-like white, the second was a rich brown. As we stared at each other, a couple of bright red rose petals fluttered down to land on his shoulder and pure white hair that didn't match his apparent youth. Unlike Aoto's richly dyed fabrics, his black outfit and leather pieces of armour seemed to draw the colour out of his surroundings.

“Shizuka?” he said, walking towards us.

I sighed internally and prepared myself for yet another round of explaining everything I didn't know.

“Look, I'm not –” I started to stand.

He took hold of my hands before I was halfway up and I dropped the lavender as he gently pulled me the rest of the way into his arms.

 Wrapping me in the most heartfelt hug I had ever received.