Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Warning: Might be a little Out Of Character.
AN: First attempt in writing FF. Not too confident about how to address the characters (first name, last name, -kun, -san etc etc) Any help on this appreciated. Song might be a tad lame... but erm... bear with it please.
Page 1: The Secret Room
"SaneKets, where all peace gathers,
Harmony resides, laughter bubbles
Where our hearts beat as one,
where the Rune Goddess looks over us.
We thank her and all
For SaneKets, our beloved country"
Ryoma's cousin was singing this song to the baby Ryoma as she patted him to sleep. She had been taking over the motherly role since Rinko, Ryoma's mother, was out of the country for business meetings.
Nanjirou, Ryoma's father, was leaning against the doorway, tucking away his "Beach Paradise Edition 7" before his niece saw it; his expression showed that he was quite amused at the sight of the little motherly cousin.
"You shouldn't treat that song as a lullaby..." he chided her gently.
Nanako looked up and smiled, "It's the only song that will put him to sleep." Her smile, once sweet and care-free, was lost at about the same time when they received news that her lover was missing.
He snorted "Just as expected of a brat." With that, scratching his behind, he left her looking at him with surprise.
What a weird uncle to have… Nanako mused as she kissed baby Ryoma on the forehead.
-----------------------------2 years later-----------------------------
"Now Ryoma, I want you to behave while we are out. Listen to Kikumaru-kun, no messing with papa's magazines and Nanako-chan's books, all right?" Rinko gently reminded the four-year-old Ryoma as she adjusted her shawl. Nanjirou gave a loud guffaw and patted Ryoma on the back, "If you really want to read, I would recommend 'Kawaii Heaven Edition 2'. I would like it back clean son!"
"Oji-sama!" Nanako almost screeched with horror.
Still an innocent little chibi, toddler Ryoma gave his oyaji a blink, not quite understanding what he was saying. Nanako, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, leaned forward to Ryoma and whispered, "Remember not to touchour make up too."
Ryoma's eyes widened as his little adventure with those mysterious crayons was found out. He gave a pout and a small nod, well, his plans for that night had to be changed then.
"All right, we're going off now. Take care of yourselves boys…" The Echizen family was finally going to leave after hammering endless instructions into the two children's heads.
His neighbor's kid, Eiji Kikumuru, bounced up and down on his heels wearing a big grin. He could never be happier when he got to baby sit Ryoma. Eiji, although two years older, was a very responsible boy - only when it comes to Ryoma, that is. Other days, one could get a headful of white hairs with his little pranks.
"Hoi hoi! O'chibi is safe with me nya!" Eiji gave a 'V' sign and glomped Ryoma, "Right, O'chibi?"
Smiling at Eiji's activeness, the adults turned and left. "Nya! What do you want to do, chibi-chan!" Eiji semi-bounced around the room, looking for some interesting stuff to do.
Sucking on his thumb, Ryoma opened his big golden eyes wide and pointed at his father's study room. "Hoi? You wanna go there? Let's go then!"
They opened the door and crept in cautiously. It was quite a tidy room with bookshelves lining the walls, in the middle of the spacious room was a round table with some magazines. Eiji leapt at the magazines, scanning through the titles, "Beach Girls… Swimsuit Girls…Kawaii Heaven…Animal Heaven…hmmm, nani? Animal Heaven nya!" Eiji flipped through the pages of the so-said magazine, giving exclamations like "Hoi? Such an adorable kitten nya! Ahh, her skirt is hiding the turtle, such a baka pose nya!"
The left-forgotten Ryoma shuffled around the room, poking his little finger at various items; pen-stand, table-lamp, ornaments, photo frames, and switches on the walls (whereby Eiji gave an annoyed cry telling Ryoma not to play with the lights). Looking around to see if there's anything he had missed out, he saw an exquisite flower-vase in the darkest corner; he walked over, eager to look at it up close and touch it.
His eyes seemed to be drawn to it, there was nothing in his line of vision except for the beautiful vase. Eiji looked up from the pets magazine (or what he thought it was, since he only looked at the animals and ignored all the girls) when the toddler bumped into him. To his horror, he saw that very toddler stood on tiptoes and gave the vase a hard prod causing it to wobble slightly.
Eiji bound across the room and nudging the trouble-maker aside, he managed to steady the wobbling vase. Setting the vase right, he started giving Ryoma a lecture on why he should not go around jabbing at everything. "…playing with the lights, what if you get electrocuted nya! Your family will blame me, O'chibi! And the vase…the vase! It looks so expensive! What if it broke nya! Hoi? Listen to me, O'chibi, don't look behind… " Eiji's lecture trailed off as he gave a glance to the back where Ryoma was staring at so intently for the last few seconds.
Two pairs of eyes stared, unblinkingly at the doorway where it was not there before. "Hoi…? It wasn't there before, right?" Eiji held Ryoma's hand, unwilling to show any fear.
Ryoma said nothing, sucking on his thumb; he stepped forward, wondering if there was anything to prod. "…Eh? Don't leave me nya!"
One moved forward unflinchingly, another tried to hide himself behind. They stood at the doorway, allowing their eyes to adjust to the dimness of the secret room.
to be continued...
Reviews, comments, suggestions are appreciated.