<div class="floatleft">(http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/Lui_punkgirl/miwa_asao_090_zpsafcb4000.jpg)</div>Hikari was pumped, to say the least. Endorphins began to flow through her veins as she geared up for a long Friday run. She had early classes on Fridays, so her afternoons were devoted to exercising. Running was one of her favorite things to do. Her home city of Otaru had beautiful trails along the water line, whether they were cemented or not. The cool breeze of the waters helped keep her comfortable as she ran, most days. Some times it was too bitter, but today was absolutely beautiful.<br/><br/>She slipped ear buds into her ears, that were attached to an MP3 player strapped onto her upper right arm. A few more stretches in, and she was finally done with her warm up. She pressed the play button on the player and music filled her ears. One foot in front of the other, Hikari garnered speed. Her tennis shoes beat against the earth as her legs moved flawlessly, her speed still gaining. Once she found her familiar rhythm, there she stayed. It felt like the earth was speeding by, and she was in a special wormhole all of her own. Her mind cleared, all she could feel was the air entering and escaping her lungs, and the music blotted out every thought. Her pony tail bounced as the girl's feet would lift off the ground, and her arms pumped along side her torso.<br/><br/>After running smoothly for what felt like at least an hour, Hikari passed into a wooded area of the trail. The trail often ran through small local parks, so the change of scenery was enjoyable. One couldn't always zoom past ships and cars and feel refreshed. The cement path switched over to an earthen one, dirt and some gravel providing for a different kind of shock to her knees. A few minutes in on the dirt trail, Hikari tripped. This was unusual because of how she normally placed her feet when she was running. She didn't let her toes or her heels drag when picking them up, some almost considered her running to be an elaborate form of prancing, or leaping. As she fell towards the earthen path, her arms came out in front of her. Suddenly she was wishing she had worn a long sleeved shirt today. Hikari's body scrapped against the hardened earth, and all she could do was grit her teeth.<br/><br/><strong>"Itai...."</strong>she whined softly. A sharp inhale coursed through her teeth, playing a sharp sound. Her teeth ground together as she flipped herself over, her squinting eyes began examining herself. She bent her arms and winced again.<strong>"Itai!"</strong>she exclaimed again. Talk about road rash, and she wasn't even on a road. Her arms were scraped relatively badly, dirt in her wounds didn't help the stinging feeling coming from them. Her palms and her elbows were the worst though. Hikari held her breath as she carefully picked out a small rock that had embedded itself in the flesh of her left palm.<em>'Of all the days to spill on, had to be the one I was looking most forward to,'</em>she thought to herself as she began to brush off dirt from her wounds on her arms. At least the cool air helped to soothe the abrasions.<br/><br/>Looking more closely at her wounds, it was obvious that they were beginning to bleed.<strong>"Subarashii..."</strong>she sighed, and then softly wiped her hands on her shorts. Looking at her knees, which just now began to sting, it was very obvious that she at least damaged the top layer of skin. If not a bit worse than that. A mix of dirt and blood covered her knee caps, she had nothing to wipe the debris away except her hands. She'd rather not get more dirt in her hands than there already was.<br/><br/>It was then Hikari spotted the reason why she was sent tumbling to the earth. Peeking up from the earth, just about two feet away from her feet, was some thing squarish. The dark brunette tilted her head, and her eye brow furled in a curious way. Grumbling she scooted over to it on her feet and hands, to get a closer look. It was odd, squarish in shape, it... almost looked like a corner of a much larger object that was most certainly not a rock. Not much of it was uncovered, but it almost looked like leather. Something drove inside of Hikari, a curiosity, an insatiable curiosity. She wanted to know what it was. She stood up, and looked around for anything flat to dig into the earth.<br/><br/>After a few minutes of searching, she came back with a flat rock. It wasn't very big, but it could help her dig.  She sat down, spreading her legs so that the mysterious object in the ground was closer to her pelvis. She started carefully digging away with the rock, slowly at first. it took a few minutes to get a bit uncovered, but when she did she was forced to pause. Not because someone had seen her digging in the dirt like a child, but because of what the object was appearing to be.<br/><strong><br/>"A book... in the dirt?"</strong>she trailed off. The dirt removed revealed edges of a bind of a book, and paper peeked through as well. Hikari was confused, greatly so. How would a book be buried in the earth, let alone one on a frequently traveled trail. With new vigor, she dug more and more at it until she had uncovered enough that she could possibly pull it out of the ground. Standing now, Hikari bent over and gripped the two sides of the book and yanked on it as hard as possible. It felt like she was pulling a sword from a stone, but then the book gave way. It flew into the air after she lost grip on it, and she spent a split second aiming to catch it. When she caught it, she was greeted with dirt in her face. Delightful.<br/><br/>After brushing away the dirt from her mouth, she looked down at the book. Hikari used her fingers to brush off the dirt and discovered that the book was lined in dyed leather. It felt old, so old. It even looked old. If it weren't for the vividness of the dye, and the gold stitching on the cover, she would have thought it at least twenty years old. Brushing off more dirt, she discovered the pattern on the back, and even more her brows furled. "An Oni?" The stitching and embossing portrayed a lumbering Oni chasing something. A large kanabō (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanab%C5%8D) was held in his hands, up high over high over his head as if he was about to attack. A trail of autumn leaves led to the front cover.<br/><br/>Flipping it over, into traditional Japanese context (right to left), showed an elegant fox. The gold switched to silver, but only for the fox. The animal seemed distressed, and yet after the frightening image of the Oni, the fox seemed calming to Hikari. She stared at it, and while it was only for a few moments, it felt like a long while. The slant in the eyes of the fox, it's cunning features, and it's silvery white threaded detail. She opened up the book, the paper was thin and yet durable. It looked familiar, but she normally only saw it in expensive books. The pages felt old, yet they were still so smooth and shiny. She couldn't remember the exact name for type of paper used inside, other than it was rather expensive and yet durable despite feeling fragile.<br/><br/>The inside hadn't been touched, she was about to page through it, when the sting reminder of her injuries distracted her. Closing it, she buried the hole the book left, and made her way back towards her car. Luckily the path she always chose to take was rather circular, and she realized it was only a fifteen minute walk back to her starting point. When she had finally reached her car, she set the dirty book on the dashboard and reached for her water bottle. Parched she drank from it first and then used it to squirt the dirt and blood off of her knees. The coldness of the water made her shiver a little. Slowly, with increasing stiffness in her knees, she climbed into her vehicle. Hikari caught herself staring at the book for a moment, almost in a dazed like way, and then she moved her attention back to her car and starting it.<br/><br/><hr/><div align="center">*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</div><hr/><br/>At home, Hikari made her way into her tiny apartment. While her parents had kindly offered her to continue staying at home, she had decided she wanted her own place. A part time job and assistance from her parents helped keep her tiny apartment afloat. She set her water bottle and the dirty book on a small side table in the hallway across from her bathroom. She stripped off her clothing and made her way into her own tiny bathroom. Her hands hurt, and her knees ached, she was sweaty and it only made her feel more grody. As she showered, questions about the book lingered in her mind. Why was it buried there? Why had no one else found it? Why did it seem so old? She sighed softly and focused on cleaning her wounds. Her knees turned out to not be as bad as they seemed before, thank heavens.<br/><br/>When she was done, she got out and dried herself off. Softly she padded her towel on knees, arms, elbows and palms. She pulled bandages from her first aid in the bathroom closet, and made sure the nastier of the wounds were covered. Wrapped in a towel, she exited her bathroom. She made her way past the stand, but something made her stop. Hikari's eyes were wide, and her mouth slightly agape. Her one bandaged hand gripped the towel, and hugged her chest. Slowly she turned around and looked at the book. It's cover was bright red, clean, and brand new looking. It no longer had that dark red dyed leather cover, or the detail on it. It was plain red leather, and so she continued to stare at it. She rushed over and picked it up, confused. She flipped it over, no fox, no Oni. Only a bright red cover. Opening it she found the pages were now much plainer than they had been before. She flitted through the empty pages of the book, and it became very obvious that it wasn't a book; it was a diary or a journal. The pages were completely blank, lacking any lines, she assumed for being able to write in any kind of fashion a person wanted. As she paged to the front cover she paused.<br/><br/>Her brown eyes widened greatly, and her lip quivered. Her name, in hiragana, was scribbled into the inside cover. Her finger rubbed over it, it was smooth and the ink was not fresh. It had been in there some time. Scribbled with dark black ink, in of all things... her own handwriting.  Slowly, Hikari set down the book, her eyes never leaving it.  She then started to back away, as soon as she was a few feet from the book; she turned and made her way to her bedroom. It was strange, she knew it was dirty before she took a shower, and it most certainly didn't look like that before. As she reached her bed she collapsed onto it, her eyes still wide. She was confused. First the book looked old, and was covered in dirt. Now it was brand new, and of all things... her name was written in it.<br/><br/>Hikari rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She was so confused, terrified, yet calm. She felt strange, she wasn't sure if she should run as far away from that book as possible, or light it on fire. Or, be so intrigued by the book that she had to discover its mystery. Her mind thus swarmed with thoughts, until, she couldn't handle thinking about it anymore. She sat up from her bed, and walked to her dresser. Deciding, perhaps it was better to get dressed and focus on her homework instead.<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button"> Translations</div><div class="spoiler_body">Itai - Ouch/Ow/Owie<br/>Subarashii- That's great.</div></div>