Oppositemotional ~ Hot and Cold Sisters

Prologue

There is something, or someone within this story that is strange in many ways.

There is someone, or something within this world that is strange in many ways.

In fact, there are many people, many things that exist in that sort of manner. When I think back to that day, many summers ago, I can't help but think about these kinds of things. Maybe it's all in hindsight, but it all seems so silly, so absolutely innocent. It was like waiting in front of the bus stop for school, and feeling the refreshing breeze after a long period of heat. 

But at the same time, while the cool air flowed through my hair, there was still the promise of a harsh haze afterwards, an invisible blaze that promised to envelop me as soon as the wind stopped.

A refreshing breeze, and that threat of feeling like I was on fire:

That was the kind of situation I experienced back then.

I feel that enough time has passed, and I am finally able to accept the outcome of the events that occurred that day.

Let the story begin.

1

"Welcome to our passion-filled abode!" With those words, Minami blew the doors open as if she were an explosion.

In front of me I saw a woman aged in her early 20s, dressed purely in orange and red, from her shoes to the top of her dyed hair. She wore tinted sunglasses.

In all honesty, I was taken aback. It had been quite awhile, so I can't exactly remember her personality, but something like this would have carved something akin to a Michelangelo into my mind. I decided not to ask about it.

"Hey." I waved, and walked across the street and sat down in the living room to wait for the other one. What kind of person does that before the guest is even at their front door?

Seemingly reading my mind, Minami replied: "I read about something like that in a book, so I wanted to try it at least once. A Shakespeare, I think?"

Somehow I doubted that.

"Well then, what do you think? How would someone like you do it, I wonder."

How would I do it? There's not much to say, really. I'd do it normally, of course.

"Don't you think that's a little on the nose? I mean, everyone has their own sense of normal."

"Maybe you have a point. Though I guess I thought that even though everyone has their own unique points, that there would be something to tie everyone together. Sort of like tying two knots together." 

"We are all tied together, is that right…" She fumbled about the room, doing something like the Thinker pose, and shortly afterwards left the room. I let out a short breath, realizing that I had been holding it in for quite a while now. Perhaps I was a bit worn out after the trip? I guess it's fine though, to see some old classmates.

The thing that shocked me most of all was that Minami was separated from her sister. They used to be pretty clingy with each other, but things probably change after some time. Speaking of change, even though I arrived here really early in the morning, and just made it at around the early afternoon, the sun doesn't seem to have budged at all. At least, I assume it was afternoon. I was one of those old-fashioned types that didn't carry a phone and I forgot my watch at home. It was an impulsive kind of thing, I guess.

Suddenly, someone peeped their head out and stared at me with a look I didn't quite understand. 

"Over here.", she motioned with her hands. 

A bit put off by the sudden contrast, I followed the lady down the hall into a huge-looking library.

"Wow…" I stood, gaping with my mouth open.

Lines of books one after the other, ranging from intricate philosophy to children's picture books, all centering around a recliner that had to be quadruple-digits in cost at least. 

"It's not that big, you know."

I hadn't noticed until now, but there was in fact someone sitting in that bourgeoisie room. 

I felt a chill when I noticed her clothing. Completely different from Minami, this person was wearing ice-blue mixed with navy and had a snowman crochet right above her first button of her tuxedo.

In fact, where is Minami?

"S-sister…" A voice called out, interposing itself between my previous and next thought.

Minami was standing near the other exit, almost cowering in anxiety. What kind of sister was this?

"Um…" I interjected, but before I could say anything more, the woman in front of me spoke:

"Yes, you can go. Welcome to our home, you...what's your name!" 

"Pleasure's all mine, Ms...-"

"Don't you remember? It's me, Kita."

Kita closed the book she was holding, some tome written by Freud, and set it down on the counter next to her. Crossing her arms, it almost felt like she was the guest, and I was the one who was supposed to entertain her.

The room felt cold.

"She's such a recluse, that Minami, isn't she? I always try to introduce her to something I think she would like, but for some reason she always distances herself from me. I hope you won't act the same way."

"Of course not…" I responded meekly.

"I hope you will join us for dinner. We are having something special for our guest, and are hoping to hear more about you." 

What did she mean by that, I wonder.

As if she had read my mind, she responded: "Don't get the wrong idea. Us sisters have simply had a hard time finding...worthy candidates to spend time with. Though we enjoy our differences, I still wish to understand how others think. It's such a pleasure, on those rare occasions that I can indulge." She seemed to go into a daze, but returned after a moment.

"Do you indulge in such things as well? Communication is key, or so I've read."

Something about that word puts me off for some reason. The idea that communication is some privilege that only those who are skilled can-

"I wouldn't say that, but I have had my fair share of run-ins with people over the years." 

"I see...Well, I do hope we can reminisce more at the dinner table later on. It's quite minimalist in comparison to this room, but I hope it will satisfy you."

"I'm sure it will." I said, and began to follow after Minami. I'm 

sure that I heard a sigh, but I wouldn't testify in court. People like that really get me going, even though I only feel a little irritated after the fact. I can only imagine the kind of dynamic these sisters have with one another.

2

What makes a person special? 

For some, it's the differences that draw the line between each other.

You can draw, you can't draw. You can write, you can't write.

You are or you aren't.

The people who think like this surely have a clear-cut vision of what is and isn't. So those that think this way create tests, they judge people to see if they meet their criteria. I don't think this is bad by all means, but I can't understand it. Or more specifically, to me that line isn't clear.

Is someone who can draw well an artist? If so, then what does it mean to draw well? Rules are made, but the rules can be bent. That which stabilizes that distinction is often ignored, and so the self-proclaimed rules become useless as a result. 

To me, it is all a grey zone, but at the same time that doesn't mean anything at all, since that means there is no distinction while one is assumed. 

There is a distinction assumed, and yet the rules that would make it so are always swept away, leaving everything in a fog of vagueness. 

No matter the direction one goes, they can never escape the fog. 

I followed Minami outside to the porch of the house, something I hadn't noticed due to it being on the other side. Unsure of how to deal with this sort of situation, I called out to her.

Turning, startled, she gasped.

"Oh, it's just you." She said in a monotone voice. 

I suppose she was trying to keep me from feeling uncomfortable, but it kind of sounded like she was inconvenienced at the same time.

"Ahem." She straightened herself, and perked up slightly.

"I'm fine," she declared, "Us sisters have a complicated relationship, as you can see. Despite that, we continue to live in an odd, spicy form of harmony. She reads, and I…" 

Cutting herself off, she invited me closer, and before I could tell what was happening she backflipped off the balcony.

I rushed to the edge, expecting the worst, but instead got to see her stick the landing perfectly.

"Well, what do you know…" I murmured.

She waved, saying she had to go run an errand and would be back shortly, and jogged off down the road. It was a small town, so I didn't think much of it at the time. I went back through the library room, and asked for the time. Kita had an antique watch on her, of course, but it had broken earlier today, or in her words:

"I'd forgotten I put it down near me, so when I put down one of my favorite series on the side here it made the worst cracking sound I've ever heard."

How many cracking noises does a person usually hear? Anyhow, since there were no other clocks in the house for some reason (Perhaps that watch was enough for the both of them?) I decided to take a walk after letting Kita know. She actually gave a thumbs up, which was a bit unexpected, and I left.

When I decided to come I didn't check what country it was, and honestly was skipping a day in college for it, but what's done is done. I'm not sure about Minami, but Kita seems like the type to go to college. Though maybe this is just my biased view of people who seem to have it all together. In other words, those who seem to know what the hell they want to do.

"..."

Regardless.

I went to the nearby store to buy some ice cream, since it was pretty hot at this point, and I was sweating quite a bit. Alas, I forgot to ask for the local currency, so my money was completely useless. Not bothering to go to a bank since it was only for a day, I decided to go to one of the local hiking areas. Luckily, the signs and such were in my language, so I had no issue finding it.

I tend to enjoy the quiet, yet I tend to get distracted easily from it. I don't like thinking about things too much in general, so getting away from it all felt therapeutic. As I found my way down the path, I heard someone scream. 

I rushed towards the sound, scraping my face and ankles until I found Minami, head to the ground, with cut marks all over her.

3

I approached cautiously, worried that she might run away before I could get close enough, but she didn't budge.

I noticed that she was wearing short sleeves and shorts, and that the cuts were relatively shallow. Assuming that it was from the nearby branches, I asked if she was okay.

"Haa...Am I okay?..." She sat up, and faced me with an exasperated look. 

She threw her arms up in the air.

"Do I look like I'm okay?...Never mind." She averted her gaze.

"...We should go back." I said, holding out my hand.

With a bit of hesitation, she grabbed it, and we began to make our way back to the path. It seems that she was rampant, running as if there was nothing called a path.

After a few moments, she spoke.

"Sorry you had to see me...like that."

"It's fine, I think. But if you don't mind me asking, what were you doing there?"

"It's...well, let me put it this way. You know about the summer solstice, right?"

I nodded, though she must have not believed me, because she explained anyway.

"Well, to put it simply, it's when one of Earth's poles directly faces the sun. Sometimes it's the South Pole, and other times it's the North. Either way, only one or the other is facing the sun at the same time. You follow?"

So, in other words, while one receives the full brunt of the summer heat, the other-

"...Is the farthest away from it. I think everyone wants to feel that heat, but only some ever get that chance."

The difference between warmth and coolness.

How even when both can exist, only the one that is facing the light can find what it is they want-

"That's the kind of situation I have with my sister. I don't want to get in the way of her warmth, and she doesn't want to get in the way of mine."

Minami sounded a bit tired. How long had they been doing this round-a-bout game, this game of touch and go to see who would show off first?

"It's not how you think," she interjected quickly, "We just want to let each other find their path, without interference."

Interference…?

"Is that what it is…?" I stopped suddenly.

I stared at her, and she stared at me, and I wondered what the reason was for me to be brought here in the first place.

Sure I talked to them once or twice, but I was only vaguely aware of those two, like there was something like those machines you see in rock bands, spreading fog around their general area. I barely knew them, so why-

"Why am I here right now?" I asked her.

She fidgeted, but finally she answered my question:

"You were meant to be a mediator. Or, to be most accurate, a neutral third-party. I've always been with her, and her with me. We have our issues, so we try to keep others out of it. But to be certain that this was something we'd really want to see, I invited, with her permission-"

"See what?" 

There was Kita, emerging from behind us. Minami let out a yelp, and I stood between them, coincidentally. 

"How are you here-"

"Did you really believe that something like that would fool me?" Kita looked at her sister indignantly.

Flabbergasted, Minami just stared at her sister with a droopy look while Kita spoke, saying things like:

"You've never run off like this before, what are you thinking? Of course you have every right to do what you want, but-"

"That's the issue, right there." Minami interjected.

"I try to let you do what you want, become what you want, and I do the same. Isn't that what we've been doing this whole time? Yet…" She trailed off.

This was a little hard for me to listen to.

"I think," I paused for a moment, "and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think she wants to say that, for lack of a better term, she's exhausted, and wants to stop avoiding you."

When someone tries to stand out, tries to make something of themselves, they implicitly create rules to determine whether they meet the criteria or not. But the thing about those rules is-

"The way you're going, you won't be able to come back together again." I turned towards Minami.

"This goes for you, too. If you can't express what you want around others, they won't want to deal with it. Even if you want to let each other grow, separating yourselves isn't the way to go."

"You're wrong. I was only trying to let her be herself without being-"

I turned towards both of them, since during the time I was speaking they moved close to each other.

"It doesn't matter if your rules become mixed up with hers. It doesn't matter if her rules become mixed up with yours. You own your lives, so what's the point of acting like anything could take it away from you!?" 

I felt the blaze of the sun weaken a bit, but it was still humid.

"Maybe you'll lose a little bit of yourselves in each other, but isn't that better than being alone?" I stopped.

For a long time we just stared at each other, expecting someone to say something. But the silence persisted.

Finally, Minami said:

"...We should get back."

I followed behind both of them until we returned to the home.

Epilogue

I only had brought a few things from the start, so it didn't take long to pack after dinner. Everyone was mostly quiet, so I don't remember much about it, but there was something bittersweet in it. I wasn't any good at good-byes, and so began to make my way out without troubling them.

"Wait!" One of the sisters cried. I couldn't tell which one it was, and I turned to see both of them, carrying a letter.

"Take this." They offered a letter, a purple-ish colored one. I took it, and said farewell.

As I boarded the plane, I sat and watched the sun finally go down. I asked the plane attendant for the time and date. She said it was the 21st of June, and approximately 10 o'clock.

Maybe, one day, I'd visit again. I'm sure they'd enjoy it. Also, I can't say it felt bad to let out some of my frustrations, but I really am no good with those sorts of situations.

Finally, I open the purple letter and read its contents. Soon afterwards, I put it down and watched the sunset with a small smile on my face.