Smalltown Boy
Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik Football and I make no money from this fanfiction.
Title comes from the Song 'Smalltown Boy' by Bronski Beat, which I don't own either.
Fic inspired by Aarch's mention that Norata had run away once when he was younger (referred to in Season 1, episode 8).
Norata had managed to reach the age of 15 without ever having run away from home, he'd never even gotten to the preliminary stages of packing a sandwich and some clothes in a manner that was clearly meant as prompt for their father to beg him to stay rather than a genuine effort to leave home. Secretly, he'd always considered himself quite abnormal for never having attempted it, he had the distinct feeling that it was just a part of growing up, probably due mostly to the fact that Aarch was forever running away from home; he'd always return shortly after, welcomed back as the prodigal son.
Sometimes it would be argument or some small remark that set Aarch running off. But sometimes it seemed that there was no reason at all.
"I just couldn't bear it," was always Aarch's only justification upon Norata's questioning, leaving Norata completely mystified. Perhaps had he not hero-worshipped his brother quite as much as he did, he would have seen how much Aarch simply craved attention.
Aarch never told Norata or his father where he had been, it drove their father crazy, but he couldn't say anything for fear that Aarch might leave again. Sometimes Aarch didn't come back for almost a week and there was always a sense that one day he might not ever come back.
It was five weeks after his 15th birthday when Norata took it upon himself to run away from home. He was partly motivated by curiosity, he would often try to imagine what Aarch was doing and who he was with, and his imaginings were substantially more exciting that what actually occurred. However, a particular slight had also influenced his decision.
Aarch hadn't meant to call Norata boring, he really hadn't, he'd just been reacting to their father's claim that he should be more sensible like Norata. But despite this, it validated all of Norata's internal fears that he was in fact the dull brother, the boring one.
And so he'd crept back up to his room, neither Aarch nor his father taking any notice, they were still in the middle of arguing. At first, he wasn't sure exactly what he was going to do; only that he had to do something. After a few moments of consideration, he decided upon running away, he'd seen Aarch do it many times after all.
Despite the feeling of adventure that was beginning to boil up in his veins, he packed slowly and deliberately, not in the frenzied way that Aarch tended to.
He did not know how long he was going to be away (although he knew, realistically, he was going to return) and he didn't want to set a date either- that would be too planned, this was meant to be about freedom away from the greenhouse.
Still, he wished to avoid confrontation, so instead of making a big scene, he waited until the coast was clear and slipped out the front door into the wider world. He inwardly congratulated himself about the fact that he had made it once he was round the street corner and then he wondered what he would do next. Part of him just wanted to drop this stupid notion and go back before they would notice he was gone.
But he didn't, he continued walking towards the bus stop, feeling liberated and scared all at the same time.
After arriving by bus to the nearest town, he walked for a while and then stopped and sat on a bench, watching how the pigeons scattered as soon as anyone walked past but always managed to find their way back to the same spot. He sat for what felt like hours and wondered what he was supposed to do now. He was starting to get increasingly cold and bored. He had never expected it to be like this, he wondered why Aarch ran away so often if this was what it was like.
He stood up and decided to find something to do to pass the time. He went into a bakery but came out without having bought anything. He wandered aimlessly throughout the streets before sitting down on yet another bench, hands propping his chin up, his facial expression one of gloomy defeat. He didn't even notice a figure sitting down next to him on the bench.
"Cheer up, it might never happen," she said, startling him into looking up. He found himself confronted with a beautiful girl with the most startling golden eyes he'd ever seen.
"Maybe it already has happened," he replied, the phrase had always irritated him.
"I hadn't considered that," she acknowledged. "So what's happened then?"
Although she was a stranger, it really seemed like she cared for some reason.
"Nothing really, I just decided to run away for a bit," the words seemed ridiculous when he said them out loud, he'd had no real reason to go and that was the truth.
"I see, anything I can do to help?"
He blinked, wondering whether he looked so pitiful that strangers had to ask him whether he needed assistance.
"Not to be rude, but why do you care?"
"You just seem interesting, that's all. I'm Keira," she said, smiling.
For the first time in a few hours, he managed a small smile of his own. "Thank you, but I think I'll be going home soon. I'm Norata."
She stays there and talks to him for a while, they talk about flowers and her dream of becoming an actress.
"I had better be going," she said, much to his regret. "But I think I had better give you my number just in case you change your mind about going home."
She writes it down on the back of an old receipt and draws a smiley face next to it as a reminder that not everything is all bad.
It was only after she left that Norata considered that she might have been flirting with him.
Tired but feeling somewhat better about life, he trudged through town, and got on the next bus back home.
"Where've you been all day?" Aarch asked, curiously, peering at the bag Norata had packed.
"I ran away," he said, flippantly.
"You were only gone about 9 hours!" Aarch exclaimed, his stints away from home always lasted at least a day.
"Yes," there was really Norata could or wanted to say in response to that.
"Why did you run away? And why did you come back so soon?" Aarch pursued, interested by Norata's strange (for him) behaviour.
"I just couldn't bear it," he replied echoing Aarch's own words but more in response to the latter question, rather than the former. After that he refused to answer any more questions, going almost straight to bed because the whole runaway experience had just been too tiring.
Just before he went to sleep, he glanced at the receipt with Keira's number on it, and resolved to call her the next day to say thank you.
Although it hadn't been all bad, he knew that he was never going to run away again.
That's it for this fic, I hope you enjoyed, please review!