After waving goodbye to my Dad, I took my suitcase into my allocated cabin. I was at Summer Camp foe this summer. I'd never been here before but I knew I would enjoy it here. I unpacked my clothes and belongings, noticing my roommate had already been in and unpacked their own things. I wonder what they were like and if we'd get along.
Once everything had been unpacked I stepped outside, eager to see what other kids were here and what they were like. People were just so unique and fascinating; I couldn't help but want to observe them. Usually I would stay with family during the summer but my Mom had recently given birth to twin girls and thought it better if I came here so they could focus solely on just looking after them. Rather than having to look after me and two new-borns, babies seem a handful.
I looked around at the kids who were playing, some running and chasing each other, some heading to the pool, there was a kid on the swings looking down with two or three kids talking to him. As I walked closer it became apparent they weren't this kid's friends. I could hear them call the boy a monster, now that wasn't nice. He was just staring at the ground ignoring the insults. Walking past the kids I sat on the next swing and greeted the kid with a simple Hi. He looked up at me, blinking in surprise. Was it really surprising or someone to say Hi to him? "How come you're on your own?" I continued and patiently waited for him to answer.
"The other kids say I'm a monster, just like the kids back in Hokkaido…" he replied, looking down at the floor. Before I could ask why so many people called him a monster, one of the kids that had been calling him a Monster as I walked over had decided to throw a stone at him. Luckily it missed but seemed to annoy the kid a bit. "Leave me alone! I don't care if you think I'm a monster, but don't throw stuff at me!"
What happened next seemed to happen in a flash, yet at the same time it was slow motion and I would remember it all. This kid got off of the swing and told me to do the same. Then he pulled the swing set from out of the ground. He then threw it at the kids who had been taunting him; it didn't help them but certainly scared them off. They continued to call him a monster as they ran though. All I could do was look at him with wide eyes. "You're scared of me now, aren't you?" he asked me, I blinked and slowly shook my head, the surprise slowly fading. Scared? I thought it was awesome! He was very strong, and only a kid too! He was very interesting.
"I thought it was cool!" Now it was his turn to look surprised.
"Y-you're not scared? Not even a little?" I shook my head and smiled reassuringly. I'm sure my natural reaction would have been to be scared but I wasn't.
"I'm…I'm Shizuo..." he told me, he seemed a little hesitant to tell me that though for some reason.
"I'm Izaya, nice to meet you Shizu-chan." He blinked at the nickname, yes I know chan is a female honorific but I didn't care, it suited him.
"If I'm Shizu-chan, you can be Iza-chan." he chuckled, I hadn't been expecting that but I didn't mine. "Hey Iza-chan wanna go in the pool?" I hesitated slightly at that, I couldn't swim. Even with the aid of armbands I couldn't.
"I can't…I can't swim…" I mumbled. He grabbed my hand and we began walking to the pool
"Doesn't matter, I can teach you." I nodded; surprised he would want to spend time teaching me to swim.
Once we got to the pool we tool off our shoes, socks and shirts. Shizuo was wearing swimming trunks under his shorts it seemed, I just stayed in my shorts. He got in first before helping me in, at least the water was warm. "If you want, just hold onto me at first. No need to worry I'm not gonna let you go." I nodded and held onto him as he began making his way through the water, bit by bit I would try and swim myself.
An hour later and we got out of the pool; I was a quick learner so it wouldn't take much more practice. Shizu-chan was a good teacher and a good guy. "I think this summer's gonna be fun. Better than being at home with two crying babies at least~" Shizuo chuckled at that
"You have siblings? I got a little brother Kasuka; he doesn't seem to want to talk though."
"I have two little sisters, twins. They're new-borns and cry a lot. Mom and Dad sent me here for the summer so they can focus on the girls more. Especially since Dad's busy at work." Shizuo nodded and glanced away slightly.
"My parents sent me here to try and keep me out of trouble. I cause a lot of damage cause of my strength and my short temper. Mom knows it's not my fault but she will try anything to help. My Dad blames me for it though…"
We made our way to our cabin, yeah turns out Shizu-chan is in Cabin 21 as well as me. For the rest of the afternoon we just talked and got to know each other. I told Shizu-chan about my family and how my Dad was always busy with work, as well as talking about my friend Shinra. Shizu-chan told me about his brother Kasuka and how often Shizu-chan had been in trouble for breaking things or getting angry.
When it came to being lights out time, we were already tired and didn't complain about having to go to bed. Shizu-chan seemed to fall asleep as soon as he hit the pillow, I wasn't so lucky. I was still awake when it began to rain, and awake still when I heard the thunder and lightning. The thunder had woken Shizu-chan up and he looked terrified. I turned to face him "Shizu-chan? You ok?" he didn't respond verbally, but he did jump out of his bed and into mine. I knew some kids were deathly afraid of things like thunder and lightning, I wrapped my arms around him and soothingly rubbed his back. "It's alright Shizu-chan, it can't hurt you." He nodded but almost screamed at a loud boom of thunder, then held on to me tightly when he saw the lightning. I continued to comfort him through the night until we both fell asleep.
The next morning I awoke arms still around Shizu-chan. I was confused for a moment before I remembered what happened last night. I didn't want to wake him just yet as he seemed so peaceful in his sleep. I didn't have to wait much longer for him to wake. He sat up rubbing his eyes "Morning Shizu-chan~"
"Morning Iza-chan…" he responded "Thanks for comforting me last night." I nodded and said he was welcome. I left my bed to get dressed and he did the same. We were to meet up with the counsellors in the camp today and decide on what activities we'd like to do.
Once ready, we set out to join the other kid and the staff. So far this promised to be a good summer. It would most likely go quite quickly and I wondered if I'd ever see Shizu-chan again afterwards. I certainly hope so.