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Since that battle I always walked home with Raphael, or he walked home with me, since my school let out forty-five minutes after his. I gained a weird habit from that battle also, I always held his sleeve when we were walking, I didn’t really want to hold his hand, and mine were always cold.
“How was your school?” I asked starting a one sided conversation. I’ve learned that he communicates through his eyes and ears. Mostly his ears, if I get annoying enough he just gives me this ‘be quiet’ look. I didn’t get a response. “Anyways can we stop by the Public Library? There’s a book I need to complete a book report. I kinda turned it in forgetting I needed it to do the report.”
He sighed. I was an idiot. He never spoke unless we were in a battle. Or, I think so, since we’ve only been in one.
“Sweet. Anyways follow me! I doubt you’ve been anyways, it’s been what? Two weeks since you’ve been in Japan? I’ll get you some Chinese to Japanese books okay?”
He sat down on a bench taking out his own book. That was my signal to walk in.
I lied, I finished my book report, I just needed to find someplace to do my homework.
I sat down at the table farthest from the door. It was my usual spot. Normally I shared it with another kid my age. Here he comes right on time.
I’ve never talked to him. Normally some part of his body is either bandaged or wrapped. His hair is a deep purple and his ears were pretty tall. His tail was long and slender also. Plus he wore the coolest clothes. In general he was pretty nice to look at. I never learned his name though; I never had a reason to talk to him.
“Ritsuka-kun!” A pink haired girl bounced up. “What are we doing here? I thought we were looking for a book.”
“Yuiko go look that way for this book number.” Ritsuka gave the girl a slip of paper. She read it and dashed off.
I stared at the spot where she was. “She has some big boobs, is she really in elementary school?”
He turned to me. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Plus she’s really tall.” I sat down silencing and taking out my math homework. I’d get Raphael’s books later, right now this was important.
“How old are you?”
I didn’t glance up from my wonderful formulas of the alphabet mixed with square roots, numbers, exponents and cubes. “I’m 13.”
“So you’re in seventh grade?”
I had to make sure my ears stayed upright. It hurt me because everyone thought I was, when I was smarter than the average Japanese high schooler. I was taking freshman college courses. “I should be.”
“So you aren’t? Did you fail a grade?”
I handed him my English homework and took out another math book that supposed to help me with this. Without it I’d probably be in the seventh grade.
Hm…that wasn’t a bad idea.
“What is this?”
“That’s college.”
He handed it back. “That’s weird. Why are you taking college courses?”
Was he an idiot? I opened my mouth to speak but a book made contact with my skull. Looking up I noticed the book. “Chinese to Japanese. Yea that’s it.”
Raphael’s ear gave this twitch that was basically yelling that I had pissed him off.
“Hey! I have homework!” I hissed trying to keep my voice low. “I doubt you’d be able to help me and Grampa can’t. Go wander around or read a book.”
His irritated twitch calmed down. Slowly he packed my books, slung my bag over his shoulder and grabbed my sleeve lightly tugging on it.
Ritsuka watched with mild interest. I kinda wondered what was going on in his head to make him look so sad. What caught me were Ritsuka’s eyes. They held so much longing, but, they also held so much forgiveness. What happened to him?
I was yanked out of my chair and Raphael caught me and dragged me out of the library. “H-Hey!” I exclaimed. “You need to check out the book!”
“I put it back.” He mumbled not letting go. Dear god he had an iron grip!
Raphael stopped stop stare at an adult with long blonde hair. I couldn’t tell much about him, the only distinctive thing was the bandage around his neck.
The fur on my tail stood on end. Something was wrong, did they not like each other?
“Raphael.”
“Soubi.”
Soubi. I stared. Sounds like a noodle. I thought.
“I thought you had died.”
“Semei left me to his brother.”
Raphael’s ear did its little twitch of annoyance. “A fighter unit can’t have two masters with two different names.”
Soubi took out a cigarette and lit it quickly exhaling a long stream of gray smoke. “Then she has the same name?”
“She’s a civilian.”
Another exhale. “I can tell she isn’t. You were always one to need someone.”
What were they talking about? How did Soubi know Raphael if he just moved here not too long ago. Or did he move to China and come back? “Raphael.”
He didn’t hear me. “She doesn’t have a name.”
What’s your name? I heard in my head. Raphael had asked me that in my dream also.
I don’t know. I responded. All I knew was that my name was Aymie. Aymie Matthews. “Raphael we need to go home.”
He glanced down at me. He was thinking. What should he say? Prove Soubi right by him needing someone, or decline and make his own reputation look good.
Soubi himself was watching and I looked at him. “So then who do you belong to?” I asked.
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Why?”
“What if you’re the enemy?”
My ears flattened and I let out a low hiss. “I am not your enemy.”
“You might not be, but he is.”
I want to see his blood across the pavement. I thought. But I wouldn’t fight him. He was an adult. Adults always win against kids.
I felt his grip on my sleeve loosen and fall and I backed away. “I’m going home. Just call if you need me.” I walked away feeling that I did the worst thing in the world.
I just abandoned him. I abandoned my friend. He didn’t abandon me, I did it to him. I felt terrible, I felt slimy, and I felt sad. I hated myself.
 Your Missing Period · Wed May 14, 2008 @ 10:32pm · 2 Comments |
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