Following the night after Yuki spoke with her godfather, Jacek picked up on how aloof she became, not to him alone, but to their mother as well. It was as if she no longer cared about appearances in front of their mother.
Yuki became cold, distant and much quieter than her usual self. At that time, she mostly remained in her room all day, avoiding Jacek and her mother as much as possible, or if not that, then she would spend all her time tending the plants in her backyard garden. Yuki became a completely different person.
After performing her duties around the house on the brilliant Sunday morning, Yuki made breakfast, served it and then went on to shut herself in her room. It became Jacek's duty to calm their worried mother and try to divert her attention from Yuki's sudden change in attitude.
Throughout that day, Yuki remained indoors without stepping out even once. Occasionally, Jacek went and knocked on her locked door to check up. "I am fine," she repeated to every question he asked without a hint of sincerity in her voice. As he did not want to cause her anymore stress than she was already coping with, Jacek let her be.
That Sunday was by far the gloomiest day for the Adlerian household. It was on that day that Jacek finally came to realize just how much Yuki's cheerful guise at home meant to their little family. As it stood, Yuki held the affection of both himself and his mother. They both cared deeply for the girl and wanted her to be happy at all times and at all cost.
Since the object of their affection was unhappy, it did not come as a surprise to Jacek that neither he nor his mother were happy themselves. It was almost as if Yuki's gloom was the gloom of the entire family.
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Monday 14th march, 1892…
Yuki and her family sat quietly to have breakfast. She tried with difficulty to finish the food on her own plate. Yuki was both nauseous and tired. Her eyes lingered thoughtlessly on the piece of rye bread before her.
"Yuki…" Mrs. Adlerian called softly. Her daughter raised her head to look at her.
Mrs. Adlerian frowned worriedly. Yuki's eyes were dim, deprived of both life and joy. Visible dark circles sat in her eyes in a brazen manner. Meanwhile, her fair complexion had taken on a much paler form. Yuki looked terrible; her daughter looked terrible. The girl's appearance reminded her of Yuki's childhood, when she was first brought in by her father.
Mrs. Adlerian bit her lips in a vain attempt to conceal her emotions and keep them at bay. Quickly, she brought out a parcel she had hidden under the dining table.
"Here…" Mrs. Adlerian presented the gift to the girl. "Since I will be seeing you only on Wednesday, I wanted to give you this first…Happy birthday, Yuki."
Yuki stared blankly at her mother for a brief moment before stretching her hand to receive the parcel.
"Thank you, mother," Yuki said shallowly as her lips curved into a smile that did not reach her heart. "I am full. I will go and prepare for work." She rose, picked her partially full plate and her parcel, then left the table.
Jacek and his mother's eyes lingered on the gloomy departing figure. Both wearing worried and saddened expressions.
"Jacek…"
"Everything is alright, mother, believe me. She is just having a phase. I will return your old Yuki to you on Wednesday. I promise!" Jacek uttered with such conviction, it was as if he was speaking more to himself that his mother.
"I will be waiting."
…
Before seven a.m., the siblings left home for the shop. Upon their arrival the two immediately put the place in order.
"Do you think you can run the place on your own?" Yuki asked Jacek as he was arranging some chairs around a table.
Jacek halted, turned to look at his sister whose eyes bore flickering light, as if she were at the brink of tears. "Sure. I will take care of everything," Jacek assured.
Yuki smiled weakly, "thank you," she muttered before heading into the inner room inside the shop.
Jacek was used to her attitude to a degree because that was how she mostly behaved at that time of year. Except, something was different somehow. She seemed much different that year. Yuki was colder, more apathetic and gloomier. Having no one and nothing to blame that change on, he chose to blame it on Old Cecil. Afterall, Yuki only started acting that way after speaking with the old man.
Jacek's hands tightened around the chair in his hand.
True to his word, Jacek diligently took care of customers as best as he could. It was by some divine intervention that there were less customers that day than usual, still, there were enough to overwhelm him regardless.
"Did your sister not come today?" an old woman who was a regular customer of the siblings asked Jacek as her tea was being served.
"Mmh, my sister is not feeling too well," Jacek spoke politely with a courteous smile.
"Oh no, that sweet child. She did not work herself to exhaustion, did she?" the woman expressed her concern in both her tone and face.
Would that not have been the best situation? Jacek thought. "I suppose she has not been sleeping well these days." It was the truth, or part of the truth.
"Sleep is important. After working tirelessly all day, the sweet girl needs good sleep. You should be supervising her sleep, Jacek!" the woman scolded.
Jacek nodded politely before leaving the woman to attend a newcomer.
In the afternoon, after the shop was emptied of customers, Jacek was washing some used teacups when he suddenly remembered he had something to talk to Yuki about. With that, he rinsed his soapy hands and treaded towards the room Yuki had confined herself.
Knock, knock…
"Yuki, may I come in for a moment?" Jacek leaned against the door and asked. A long silence followed his request, before an audible "Mmh," emerged from the door. Having been granted permission, Jacek twisted the door's knob and proceeded inside the room.
As soon as Jacek entered the room, a torrent of smoke burst forth, stinging his eyes and searing his throat. He quickly smacked his palm against his nose and mouth while squinting. He peered into the thick, impenetrable cloud of smoke in an attempt to spot Yuki, however, the more he looked, the more his eyes stung. In the end, Jacek had to momentarily leave the room in other to catch his breath and expose his now reddened eyes to clearer air. Jacek clenched his chest when he started to feel a burn inside.
After leaving the door opened for some time, an ample amount of the smoke escaped the space. Having regained most of his composure, Jacek peered inside the room once more. Amidst the fog of smoke, Yuki sat on a chair with a long smoking pipe, appearing eerily serene, as if in a trance.
Jacek rushed to her, snatched the smoking pipe and put it out. He frowned down at his sister with such intensity, if she were in a normal state of mind, she would have shied away. Instead, the girl lifted her face slowly to look upon her brother with the coldest gaze. Her pupil was distilled as she narrowed her eyes at Jacek.
"What are you doing, Yuki? What are you doing?" Jacek questioned pleadingly.
Perhaps, it was because of the exposure to the detestable smoke, or, maybe it was because his mind and heart were overwritten with several emotions at once at the sight of Yuki, whichever be the case, Jacek's eyes were filled with such sorrowful tears as he held Yuki's gaze.
Yuki blankly stared into Jacek's face until a drop of tear, strayed from Jacek's eyes and dropped onto her delicate face. There and then, as if she were awoken from a dream of a thousand years, Yuki snapped out of her trance-like state. Subsequently, as the haze in her eyes cleared, she was finally aware, not only of Jacek's presence, but also how pained his expression was while he looked down at her.
By putting two and two together, Yuki evaluated the situation, put it aside, stood up and embraced her brother. Really, what was she doing?
When she came into the room, it was her aim to take a nap since she could not remember when she last slept. However, all her attempts to sleep had been futile, rendering her frustrated and annoyed. As her mind was clouded with layers and layers of spiteful thoughts, she sort to numb herself by smoking for a brief moment.
Regrettably, she ended up smoking too much for too long. Her carelessness had placed her beloved brother in harms way. Moreover, she had caused Jacek to cry.