Hurdle

*

The train stopped at the station, and Indigo stepped out of the train, her long dark red jacket fell around her as she watched the area around her. Nagasaki had changed since her last visit, yes. But even so, this was her home. No matter where she went, or what she did, this was her home. A smile crossed her lips as she began to head for the stairs to the exit.

“Aunt Tenshi!” A young Indigo, fourteen in age to be exact, ran toward her aunt, tears in her eyes as the elder woman wrapped her arms around the girl, “I’m so sorry, Aunt Tenshi! I couldn’t do anything!”

The elder woman smiled, as she looked at her niece, “It’s not your fault, my Indy-chan. You tried, and I do not blame you for Kagami’s death.”

“But I should had been able to do something!” Indigo protested, “It just proves I’m weak inside, Aunt Tenshi!”

The woman pouted, “Well now, Indigo. I wouldn’t say that…”

“But I am!” Indigo looked to Tenshi, “I couldn’t do anything! I’m just so weak…”

She slumped in the bench beside her aunt, and stared at the floor, a feeling of depression shrouding her perception.

Tenshi sighed, and wrapped her arm around her niece, “You remember your uncle, yes?”

Indigo looked up, “Uncle Chris? Yes of course I remember him! He was the greatest uncle ever!”

Tenshi smiled, “Well, he wouldn’t just give up, now, would he?”

Indigo pouted a bit, “No…”

“What would he tell you?”

“’If you can’t do anything else but pity yourself, then try to overcome your flaw.’” She sighed, “But it’s not that simple, Aunt Tenshi!”

Tenshi smiled, “I wouldn’t say that, now. Anything is possible. Thus, anything can be accomplished, no matter how complicated it is.”

Indigo sighed. Her aunt didn’t get it. But then again, no one seemed to. She nodded in determination, “Alright, then! I’ll just have to become stronger!”

Tenshi smiled, “If that’s what you think will overcome your flaw, then let it be that way.”

Indigo nodded, “Right!”

She tripped. She fell.

“Itai…” Indigo muttered, sitting up and rubbing her already scabbed knees. Blood appeared on her palms as she sighed, walking back to the beginning. This was straining her physically. No doubt about that. She let out a sigh a she removed her hair tie, running her still bloody palm through her black locks, ignoring the grime as she stretched again.

“I won’t lose. Ever. Anything that pulls me to weakness is holding me back.”

Tenshi frowned at her niece as she watched her train herself. No, this wasn’t training. This was more like suicide. She bit her lip as she watched the girl fall, and get back up again. Over and over she had done this until she could reach the end. Then she’d add more, and make it even more straining. Tenshi didn’t understand it. Why would any sane human being want to put their own life on the line like this?

But perhaps her niece wasn’t sane at all…just determined.

She shook her head, and headed inside. Some people were truly impossible to understand, and she knew Indigo was one of them.

Time after time Indigo slammed into the ground from tripping, from scraping herself, from flat out fatigue, but every time Indigo got back up, and tried again. She would not let herself be subject to weakness. Be it physically, or emotionally. She stared at the track, and began to run again.

“I will not lose….”

“And I never will…” She muttered, brushing a hair behind her, as she continued to walk, finally getting off at the train station, “I never will let myself become weak.”