So we decided to reupload this fic on here, sorry about any of the pacing, its kind of old since we're not the fastest with looking this over. Please feel free to leave any constructive criticism, but please no flames! ~ Ami
"Kamui, are you ready? And do you have the handkerchief I got you for your birthday?" Tohru asked her nine-year old son. They were going to go to an art gallery today, Kamui seemed to enjoy art and the gallery was doing a special exhibit.
Little nine-year old Kamui nodded, looking up to his mother with a smile. "Yeah! In my pocket." He reached down into the pocket of his red shorts, pulling out the red cloth and holding it up to his mother. "See? Right here."
Tohru smiled back at her son. "Okay, let's go then. I'm sure you'll enjoy the gallery. All of the art in the exhibit is by a man named Fei Wang Reed, and he's done many different things." Tohru took her son by his hand and led him to the gallery.
"Oooh," Kamui looked around in awe at all the art, his eyes wide as he scanned the gallery in wonderment. He'd never seen so many paintings in one room before.
"Do you like it so far then, Kamui? There's more rooms, and all of these pieces have names as well."
Excitement flashed in his eyes at the prospect of more rooms to explore. "Can I look around Mother? Please?" He begged, clutching his mother's sleeve.
Tohru looked down, a slightly worried look on her face. "On your own?...I, I guess you can. I trust you Kamui, just don't go too far and don't bother anyone, okay?"
Kamui smiled triumphantly, "Okay!" Quickly he turned around and ran into the next room, mindful of not bumping into anyone.
The first thing Kamui noticed when he entered the giant white space was the roped off painting covering the floor. It was dark, like a void, and a giant fish with black-holes for eyes and razor sharp teeth swam in the murky depths depicted in it. He slowed down his pace, his feet reluctantly bringing him to the painting in some sort of frightened trance; to him it was mesmerizing and horrifying. "Wow," he murmured softly in wonderment, strolling around until he stood before a wooden pedestal. Cocking his head slightly, he tried to read the words on the white plague, "A-A...Ab…" He stuttered, struggling to read the word. "...Of the D-Deep...A world where one man will never stand...To...To…" He started to stutter, unable to pronounce some of the words, confusing him.
"Need some help? I can read it for you if you want!"
The sound of a male's kind voice prompted him to look up towards his right. A boy who looked to be in his mid-teens stood next to him, smiling, spiky black hair protruding from his head and a sleek, white jacket with gold trim and an upturned collar clinging to his slender body. Kamui blinked, debating on whether or not he should heed his mother's warning about not talking to strangers or bothering anyone while he was there, but decided to nod yes, a wide smile on his lips.
The teenager smiled back. "Okay, my name's Fuuma by the way. The title of this one is 'Abyss of the Deep'. The plaque says 'A world where man will never stand...to realize that world, I decided that I would engrave it on a canvas'."
Kamui's eyes widened, it sounded so cool! But some of the words he didn't quite understand, not having learned them yet. "What does 'a-abyss' mean mister? A-and 'en-en...engrave'? And 're-realize' too?" The young raven-haired male hoped he wasn't bothering the kind man, but he really was quite curious.
Fuuma laughed a little. "An abyss is a very very deep place, and it can seem to have no end. Engrave means to carve something, usually words onto something else, and realize is coming to a complete understanding of something. Does that make sense?"
Kamui nodded, grinning, "Yeah! Thanks mister!" His curiosity now shifting to the thought of exploring the rest of the gallery once more, he started to turn around, planning to walk away. But he stopped, an idea popping into his mind; he hoped-Fuuma, was it?-wouldn't mind him asking this. He didn't want to be a bother. Pivoting on his right foot, he faced the kind man once again and inquired in an excited and inviting tone, "Why don't you come explore with me mister?"
Fuuma's eyes widened a bit. "Sure, will your parents be okay with that? Also, what do I call you? You never gave me a name, and please don't call me mister, it sounds like my dad." He laughed a little, scratching the back of his head. His dad was cool, but he was only fifteen.
"Okay, I'll call you...Fuuma-san then!" His eyes lit up, "Also I'm Kamui! Now follow me!" Kamui grabbed onto the older male's sleeve, tugging him along.
Fuuma got a slightly bewildered look. "Uh...you can just call me Fuuma, there's no need for formalities, do you want to be called Kamui-kun? Kamui-san? And where are we going exactly?"
"No just Kamui!" His pace didn't falter, leading the man back to the previous room where he spotted his mother admiring a brightly colored painting. "And I'm taking you to my mother Fuuma-san!"
Fuuma let himself be dragged along by Kamui, who he was sure was not any older than ten. "Again, you don't need to add the san...But um, okay. Why exactly?"
Kamui giggled, as if Fuuma asked him something weird. "To ask if you can explore with me of course!"
Fuuma blinked. This kid was actually pretty wise for his age. "...Oh. Okay, sure, that makes sense."
The nine-year old giggled again, "Yeah!" Finally, after passing a strange-looking painting that Kamui couldn't even begin to describe, he came to a stop by his mom. "Hey Mother," He grabbed ahold of the grey sleeve of her sweater-dress. "I have a question."
Tohru looked down at her son upon feeling the tug and saw another boy with him. "Kamui? What is it, and who is this? You didn't bother him, did you?"
Fuuma stepped forward slightly. "Hello Kamui's mom, my name is Fuuma Monou and your son hasn't been bothering me. He was trying to read one of the plaques on a work, and he seemed to be struggling, so I went over and offered to read it for him."
"Yeah! So can he explore with me Mother? Please? I'll be good and won't bother anyone else. So please?" Kamui's eyes widened, his expression morphing into what his mother usually calls 'the puppy-dog look'.
Tohru was going to say yes anyways, Kamui was a good kid, but with the puppy look, she couldn't even tease him beforehand and sighed. "Go ahead. Fuuma-kun, if Kamui bothers you, feel free to tell him or me."
Kamui seemed to jump slightly in excitement, hugging his mother before turning around and grabbing onto Fuuma's sleeve once more. "Thank you Mother!" He started to drag the raven-haired teen away.
Fuuma laughed as Kamui pulled him along. "No problem Kamui's mom, he won't be a bother! And you can just call me Fuuma if you want, I don't really like people using honorifics on me!"
And so their exploration began, going through each room with a sense of wonderment, Kamui usually asking Fuuma to read him the plaques and titles of the creations. Some of the art was strange, confusing and/or mesmerizing them with their alien shapes and odd combinations of sometimes even stranger objects than the art itself! They passed a sculpture of a red rose called 'Embodiment of the Spirit'—Fuuma had to explain to Kamui what embodiment meant—that looked almost real, a painting of a man being hung upside down, which Kamui laughed at though Fuuma more or less studied it more quietly, and a few sculptures of black mannequins wearing an assortment of different colored dresses. But alas they couldn't explore forever, and as the number of gallery goers started to dwindle, Fuuma figured that their time of exploring was over. After all, it was almost closing time!
"Hey Kamui, it's almost closing time. You should probably go find your mom, and I need to be heading home myself. I doubt my parents thought I'd actually stay this long at an art gallery..."
Kamui's excited expression faltered; but he was having so much fun! But alas he knew Fuuma was right, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try and stall just for a few minutes. "Aww, but there's still more rooms to explore!"
Fuuma sighed slightly, he knew that, and honestly it was fun going around with Kamui. But the fact remained; they both had to go home soon. "I know Kamui, but I think the gallery's still sticking around for another day or two. We could try to meet up again then? I don't want your mom worrying, or my parents to worry either."
The kid frowned but nodded; he really wanted to stay and explore more with Fuuma but he knew he couldn't stall any longer. "Okay," was his sighed reply.
At that, Fuuma frowned and sighed as well, he felt bad, but what was he supposed to do? He was fifteen, he couldn't change closing time. "Want me to help you find your mom Kamui? I don't mind..."
His smile returned, but this time it was more prideful, confident. "No, I can do it myself! Thank you Fuuma-san for exploring with me!" And with that, he turned around and started running, now anxious to find his mother in order to ask if they could come back to the gallery some other time.
Fuuma gave a soft smile as he watched Kamui run off before starting towards the entrance of the gallery to go home. He was seriously curious about what his parents would think...they trusted him, but he just about never showed an interest in art or anything, this exhibit just seemed to pull him towards it though...and he was honestly glad it did.