Biography of Akina Lee

Original work of amanda.faith

Status: Biography for role play application/Brief history of Akina Lee




Autumn, 1940. Aki lay sprawled across her futon listening to the wind chimes tinkle as the cool autumn breeze washed over her creeping in first from her knees before advancing quickly to her head and finally onto the tatami floor. The fusuma facing the bonzai gardens lay open, allowing Aki to watch the sakura flowers fall from the trees as they did routinely every year, brilliant shades of colour drifting soundlessly from dark branches to the soft ground below. That was the beauty of the sakura flower. It never died like the other flowers did; wrinkling up and turning the colour of earth as dead stole away their last guise of glamour, shriveling up like dried fruit in the summer sun. No, they were different. They died in their prime, preserved in the peak of their beauty. Their deaths seemed like a promise that the after life was not as unpropitious as many generations of her people have believed it to be.

The shoji rattled as a stronger gust of wind entered the room. Pushing her comforter aside, Akina tottered across the room to retrieve a pair of socks from the basket of freshly washed laundry the housekeeper had yet to put away. With Shijo in tow, Aki ambled into the garden, her socks twisted in odd angles on her feet. She didn’t care that the grass still scratched at her, she was pleased with herself for being able to put them on without ‘tousan’s help. Four year old Aki pulled Shijo onto her lap as she sat down below her favourite tree, hugging the stuffed bear as she watched the passing clouds in innocence, imagining them to take the shapes of things she knew. Her eyes glazed over into a dream like expression as she watched cloud ponies jumping cloud fences.

From a distance, her father watched, his arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the doorpost. His eyes grew sad as Akina progressed to setting up an invisible tea for herself and her inanimate companion. Aki had kept the stuffed animal close to her ever since her infancy. She had refused any other toy or doll anyone had offered to replace the bear with as if she knew… No she couldn’t possibly. He reassured himself, she had been too young to remember anything of what had happened.

Just at that moment, Akina turned, her face brightening as her mouth broke into a wide smile.

“ ‘tousan!” she cried out as she ran clumsily towards the waiting arms of her father. As he embraced her, he thought of how much she resembled them…

Akina Lee. That was all the national register said of her name. Like the name she was given, Aki was as alluring as a flower in spring. Akina; Spring flower. She had another name as well, one that pained him too much to even think about for it brought him closer back to memories he had no wish to recall. It had been a beautiful name, one that had meant ‘Lark’ and as well as one Aki could sing. And yet…

“ ‘tousan look!” Akina pointed into the sky at a flock of migratory birds, distracting Keisuke from his thoughts.

“ I see them Aki-chan” He smiled “ They are beautiful.”

-----------------------------------------------------------

“ Onegai!!!” seven year old Akina pleaded. In her hands lay half of a torn photograph. All that remained was the face of a man, her father when he was still a young adult. The picture was torn just at the point where another hand started to enter the picture. The hand appeared almost white in the black and white photo, without a shade of gray. Its form was undeniably slender and feminine.

“ Urusei!” Keisuke exclaimed in anger. Turning his back to Akina, he stood facing the window, fighting to maintain his composure

“ Otousan.. please…”

“Mou! Yamete!” His fist punched the wall before dropping down to join his other hand on the windowsill. Leaning his body weight on his arms, Keisuke slouched forward and allowed his head to dip. His breathing appeared laboured as if he was panting after a long run.

After a minute of silence, Keisuke straightened from his former posture and measured his words as he spoke.” Give that to me. Akina.”

Akina had been standing in fear just metres away from her father, slowly inching her way towards the door, trying to get away. Perhaps it would have been wiser if she had left her father’s things alone. The room around her lay in the mess that she has created by rummaging through his stationary and collections. Books lay scattered across the floor as shelves and cabinets lay in a mess. The desk drawer from which she had pulled out the tiny treasure chest. Wrapped in an old batik cloth, it had looked exactly like any of the other boxes in which Keisuke had kept his Asian art collections. The only difference had been the gold leaf patterns embedded across the top of the miniature chest. Enclosed inside had been well worn envelopes containing letters that had been frequently taken out and read again, a faded friendship band and the torn photograph Aki now held in her hands.

Controlling himself, he held out his hand for the only photographic momento he had of her, of that time, that… moment.

Hesitating, Aki stepped forward slowly and placed the photograph in his open palm and stood in her place, closed her eyes and bit the corner of her lip, bracing herself for whatever punishment her father might have in mind.

Keisuke held it gently in his hand, relieved that it was still in one piece save for a few additional fold marks where Akina had clutched tightly to it. He could feel tears threatening to form as he looked at the photograph again.

“You may go now.” He whispered hoarsely.

Akina looked up in surprise. No scolding, no slap, nothing, just a soft dismissal. Unexpected as circumstances were, she was not going to risk a repeat of what had happened before and bolted for the door. Never question grace and mercy when they were offered, even if it meant she would never know what that box had been all about. Why did it matter so much to otousan anyhow? It must have been something very important to him if he could get so angry about her discovery. And despite his anger, he had not reached out to strike her. Confused, her mind struggled to make some sense out of it as she ran for the safety of her room and the comforting feel of Shijo.

Keisuke did not turn to watch the retreating back of his daughter. He was much too preoccupied with his thoughts to even hear the melodious singing of the birds accompanied by the low bass accompaniment of the toads. To the outsider he might have appeared to be looking out at the garden he had cultivated with his own hands together with Akina and… her, his past wife. He had never wanted to divorce her, he had in fact pleaded for nothing more than a separation until he managed to resolve it. But the conflict had been too much for his wife, it had pitted two strong willed women against each other and caused one to make a heart-wrenching decision. One being his late mother, the other, his then wife. She had moved away then, back to from where she had come. His mother had been more than happy to see her go for his marriage to her had not been blessed by his elders. They did not want a foreigner in the family, and bearing the family name. It had been considered an insult that was only forgivable if she denied her culture’s beliefs and severed all her family ties and learned to become like what women were suppose to be – or so his mother had believed. Which, according to her, had meant also that his wife gave up her headstrong character and forgot her years of education. And that she was to learn the ways to run a household and to give up working and remain a housewife. Her mother in law had thought it absurd of a woman to work despite the changing times about her. Perhaps the old English saying was not so wrong after all, you could never teach an old dog new tricks. The older generation was indeed finding it very hard to accept the ways of the young ones. Keisuke had defied his mother then and sent Akina to school when she was of age. It had not caused as big a disagreement as his choice of bride had, perhaps because Akina had been the only child of the only son of the Lee family. Still, after Akina, there would be no more trace of his family line – Keisuke had refused to marry again much to the frustration of the elders.

”We will act as if you never married Keisuke.” The old woman argued. “It will do you and the family good if you marry again. If not, who will carry on the family name when you die?”

“Why do you speak of death in my face as if I have only a day more to live!?! You are as old as the mountains and still alive and breathing. Do not speak to me of death as if you will not pass into the netherworld before I do! What about Akina then? If I were to marry again, what of her? Are you going to throw her out or send her away to an orphanage if my second wife bears me a son? Or am I to tell my new wife that Akina dropped from the skies as a gift from the gods!?! How can I pretend I’ve never loved the very woman you sent away who bore me my child!” Keisuke roared, immediately regretting raising his voice at the one who had raised him. All he had said could not be taken back now and he was much to angered and proud at that moment to apologise. His mother maintained her surface composure and did not react. If she had been shocked at is outburst, she did not show it. Keisuke forced himself to slow down his breathing before continuing.

“Please, do not force me to give up something I love and take up a life that will be no more than one of lies and suffering. I do not want to marry again. All I want, is Akina. Please, leave me be. I will do what I want, when I want.”

“The demoness had spread her false ideals to you my son. You used to be so filial, so obedient to your mother that you would do anything for me. But now, you have become a selfish young man.” She held her head low as she departed from the room, leaving her son to his own reflection.

Keisuke bit his tongue. As much as he wanted to shout and make it known that the label his mother had placed upon his now ex wife was untrue, he kept his quiet. He had already said too much that he would never have dared to even dream of in his youth. In him raged an inner battle of the modern reality and his traditional morals and upbringing.

Keisuke sighed and vowed to himself he would explain all this to Akina one day. When he was ready to talk about it and when she was old enough to understand. His mental self laughed at the last thought. How would he know when she would be ready to hear and accept what she heard? He himself was still finding it hard to convince himself it had all happened at all let alone accept the outcome of it. He had divorced her only because he loved her; her independent demenour had insisted on the divorce so that she could have the legal liberty to move back to her homeland and independently run her life without having to wait for Keisuke’s approval as the Japanese laws commanded. Now he regretted his actions, for he had no means of contact with her in the world in referance to the grueling world he had chosen to live in, which had placed him away from the others and the friends he had made in England.

He had isolated himself for the sake of a culture and custom he did not believe in, one that had also been a cause of the war that was now on the tip of every tongue in Japan. Turning his gaze heavenwards, Keisuke prayed to whatever supernatural being that was out there – he had given up his family’s beliefs decades ago – that those whom he had known from Europe and the Americas would not link the mistakes of his nation to him and that they would forgive the nations leaders and the people. He had been so angry since the day she had walked out of his life and had grown bitter about it deep inside even though he did not show it to his daughter. His explosion today was uncalled for and inappropriate of a grown man. Perhaps he had all the right to be angry about it, but to vent it on his own flesh and blood was wrong. Keisuke continued in his prayer, praying that Akina would not, one day, make the same mistake he did.

-------------------------------------------------

“Tadaima!” Akina chimed, removing her shoes as she entered her home. Placing her keys on the dining table, the fifteen year old cheerfully waltzed into the kitchen to pick up a light snack from the refrigerator. Swinging open the door, the girl bent over to see what her chilled store had to offer. Stuck on the regrigerator door was a collection of magnets, holding in place various photographs and drawings and a small clip board for the day’s schedule or notes and reminders for the house’s residents.

The photographs were snap shots of moments in Akina’s growing life. One captured the time she had taken her first step, another of her first day at school, one nearer the right of the door had been taken the day she had transferred to her first wizarding school while others froze moments from various family outtings she had been a part of either with her father alone or some of her cousins and friends like the one where she was rescuing her four year old cousin from drowning. No one had expected her to be the one to jump straight into the lake after Hitomi that day. And aside from some repremanding for diving head first into the icy lake in autumn, Akina had been treated like a hero for the rest of the week. That day had only been one of the many moments she had risked her neck and sometimes her life, which was why Keisuke was comfortable with allowing Akina to walk the streets or go on a holiday away from home unchaperoned. The most dominant of all the photographs were the ones that captured the serious faces of the entire Lee family. One had been taken before her uncles had passed away and before she and many of her other cousins were born and the other of the generation that had been born after. The children of her two widowed aunts were all girls, the only boys belonged to Keisuke’s four sisters and by tradition, they took on the family names of their fathers; there were no grandsons that bore the name of Lee. Then there was the photo of her late grandmother. After she had died, Kaisuke had decided that Akina and himself would move out of the family estate and live in the city on their own. The last family photo had been taken the day before they left, every family member dressed in the clothes of their choice in contrust to the traditional costumes dorned by those in the older photograph.

Akina shut the door with her elbow, her arms were stacked with a loaf of bread, cheese, ham, lettuce and a carton of milk as she prepared to make herself a sandwich. Quite by accident, the jar of tomato paste that had been sitting on the counter top slipped onto the floor and rolled under the counter as she placed the other things on the counter. Dusting herself of bread crumbs Akina stooped to the floor to pick the jar up. A sudden hoot took her by surprise, causing her to bump her head on the bottom of the counter as she sat up suddenly to look for the source of the sound. She had no pets and there was no one else home, a note stuck to the fridge door had told her her father would be out for lunch with his colleagues, just what was in the house? Akina swore she had locked the door so nothing could have come in after her.

Seated on the back of one of the dining room’s chairs was a large bird she had never seen in the wild before, seated in a position that displayed arrogance and pride in itself. A quick search through one of her father’s old books on birds quickly informed her that is was an owl, a northern hawk owl that could be found in Europe. Akina looked up from the book and stared at the bird in surprise. What was a European bird doing here in Japan? And of all places, her house and in broad daylight too. Weren’t owls nocturnal creatures? The great bird sat unmovingly in its place starring wide eyed at her. Akina stared back. After a few blinks, it proceeded to preen itself under the wing. That movement broke Aki out of her state of shock. Not knowing what that particular species of owl ate, she scrambled to grab the slice of ham she had intended to put in her sandwich. The owl stopped preening itself and stared blankly at her for a moment before striking it’s beak forward to grab at the food. Akina gladly released it and reached out to stroke the bird. Her touch did not distract it from its meal, much to her surprise for she had expected it to turn around and peck at her hand, indicating to her that it was used to human handling.

A tamed bird of prey, how odd. she thought.

As she continued to pat the creature she realised that an envelop bearing a wax seal lay clenched in the bird’s taloons, after come careful coaxing, Akina managed to get the bird to release the letter. Leaving the bird to finish off another slice of ham, Aki rummaged in the drawer for the butter knife to break the seal. Inside was a letter that read:

To (Kei) Keisuke Lee
Sendai, Tohoku, Japan

We, the administration of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are pleased to inform you that Akina Lee has been accepted to take an aptitude test on 3rd June 1951 to help inform us of the capabilities and abilities of the student in the various core and elective subjects as well as provide a recommandation of what subjects should the student sign up for after which the results will be released two days from the above date accompanied by a list of materials, accessories and uniforms that are to be bought before the school term begins. A private sorting (I am sure you remember this procedure Keisuke) will be held in the headmistress’ office so that we can allocate the appropriate house to your daughter.

On an informal note, we are pleased to hear from you again, and you can be sure that you have not been forgotten, you served us well in your years within these walls we are only surprised that you did not reach out to us earlier. Please send our regards to Akina and inform her that we are looking forward to receive her here.

Yours sincerily,
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Akina turned the thick paper over again. At the back was a brown indenture of the crest that had been on the seal of the envelope. Weighing it in her hands she found it to be slightly heavier than the paper that she had been accustomed to using. The sound of the incersion of the house key and the front door opening and closing again turned Akina’s head.

“Aki, I brought home some snacks from your favourite bakery and they’ll be in the kitchen if you want them!” Keisuke’s voice approached from the hall. Seconds later his musculine frame entered the kitchen with his head turned in the direction of the bedrooms.

“I’ll leave them on the… hello, I thought you were in your room.” Keisuke looked at his daughter in surprise. Seeing the bread lying on the counter he continued. “Ah so I was right, you are hungry.” He joked. His eyes soon noticed the letter and the familiar seal at the back of it in her hands, he shifted his gaze to where the owl was perched and immediately knew what had happened.

“I see my messenger has arrived earlier than I expected.” His tone had changed only slightly as he proceeded to hold out his arm to allow the winged mailman to rest on his arm instead as he picked up the letter and quickly browsed through its contents.

Akina could only watch in amazement at the owl. “Is she your’s?” she asked.

“Actually it’s a he and yes, Rai is my owl.” He replied looking up from the letter. Rai lovingly picked at Keisuke’s ear as he spoke to his daughter. “If you’re wondering why is it you did not know about him, let’s just say he was my little secret. But that’s not important now, what is is that you have to prepare for that aptitude test and pack your things for a little summer camp. You have a lot to do. If memory serves me well, they have quite a standard at Hogwarts.” Keisuke smiled. Leaving his daughter to absorb the afternoon’s events in, he left for the study with the owl resting comfortably on his shoulder.

That day had been the beginning of another chapter in her life as Akina prepared to enter into a world she had never known before. The feeling of shock was soon overpowered by one of excitement, she was going to England!