Allo, folks! New Guinee here!
Yes, yes, I know I'm supposed to be working on Selfish, but this little story popped into my mind and kept knawing on my brain until it was published. So please enjoy, review, and have a cookie!
A young boy sat at the banks of a little stream. It was summertime. The skies were infinitely blue, and the water was clean and clear, like crystal. A slight breeze blew over the fields, gently shaking the young plants that would become ripe this fall.
The boy threw a rock into the water. It splashed and sank, but it didn't skip over the surface, like he'd seen his brother do. The boy kicked at the grass, frustrated. Why didn't it work?
Maybe it was how he held the rock that was wrong. The boy slightly leaned a stone against his palm and threw it again. Again, no luck.
The boy sighed. He couldn't do anything his brother could do anyways. Might as well just give up.
He was about to throw in another rock, this time out of pure spite, when a voice called to him, "Hey, what're you doing?"
He turned around to identify his caller. A young girl with uneven black hair glared at him. He noted she was wearing a simple commoner's kimono, brown in color. His father had told him to never speak with lowly commoners. But this girl's fierce gaze prompted him to speak.
"Throwing rocks," he repliedd monotonously.
"You're not supposed to throw rocks into the stream," she said warningly, her hand on her hips. "What if you hurt the fish?"
"Why should I care?" He threw in another rock, to spite her.
She gasped, then her voice grew shrill. "I told you you can't throw rocks into the water! Stop! You'll hurt the fish!" she cried.
He didn't care. He dunked in another.
The girl looked really angry now. She rushed over to him, knocking him down. She slapped his face. He touched his cheek, stunned. How dare she!
He raised his hand to hit her back, when he realized the girl was crying. Her small hands were clenched into fists, and her whole body was trembling.
"You'll kill the fish. I won't let you," she said, her eyes brimming with tears.
The boy felt a little sorry about his previous actions, and certainly didn't feel good about this girl crying because of them. "I'm sorry," he said.
She didn't respond, which shocked Usui. Back home, whenever there was the need to say "Sorry", the servants would always say "It's OK, young master". He assumed it was the polite thing to say to an apology.
But this girl was still shaking, and still silent.
"I won't let you kill the fish," she repeated.
The boy fidgeted, unsure of how to handle this aawkward silence. "I'm sorry," he said again, and found relief in that the commoner had stopped crying.
She looked up. The girl grabbed him by his kimono collar, and drew him closer to say menacingly, "If you do that again, I'll pummel you!"
The girl got up, shaking the dirt and grass off her kimono. She looked at him. "Why were you throwing the rocks anyway?"
He didn't respond. If she didn't reply to his apology, then there was no reason to reply to her question, right?
She glared at him again. "I'll pummel you if you don't say anything."
He shrugged. "I wanted to skip them."
"Huh?"
"I wanted to skip the rocks, you know, on the water."
She stared at him. Then she laughed. "Baka! You can't skip rocks here. The water's too shallow for that."
He flushed. "Then do you know anywhere that has deeper water?" he asked.
She nodded. "Uh-huh. Come on!" she said, pulling his blue sleeve.
He had no choice but to follow her. The girl led him across the rice fields and through a curving road into the forest, until they came to the beach.
She stopped her hurried steps and picked up a flat, smooth rock. "Watch," she said.
The girl expertly flung the rock onto the water. It skipped three times before sinking into the deep blue depths.
The boy's eyes widened. "How'd you do that?"
The girl laughed. Her eyes sparkled like the ocean. "It's easy, baka. Here, I'll show you," she said.
She chose a smooth, flat stone that was quite like the one she had skipped just before. She put it in the boy's palm so that only half of the stone rested in his hand. "On three. One, two, three!" She flung his arm on three, and the rock bounced twice before sinking.
The boy stared, amazed. He did it! Sure, it wasn't without help, but he'd done it without his stupid brother. He felt sudden gratitude for the girl.
"Thanks," he said, blushing at his sudden change of attitude.
"No problem," she smiled.
They practiced skipping rocks like that for a while, until the boy could skip a rock three times before letting it sink. And that was without any help. He felt proud of himself.
The sun was setting. The boy remembered that he needed to be back home before dusk. But he was unwilling to leave this companion of his without knowing her name.
"What's your name?" he asked.
She hesitated for a bit, before replying, "Ayuzawa Suzuna".
He smiled. "Usui Takumi. It was nice meeting you, Suzuna. Bye!" He ran off. His blue kimono kept trying to trip him over, but he managed home without falling too much. His formerly glum face was replaced with a look of happy excitement, dueing to the fact he had done something his brother could do, and because he had made a new friend.
Ooh, confusing, neh? Do not worry, dear reader, you shall see later!
Much love,
New Guinee