A/N: Written for the New Year's Resolution 2008 Challgene at yuletide (yuletidetreasure . org)
He was a funny one, this boy. You couldn't help but pity him initially. Until he got so weird you got scared and was secretly thankful for the order. Then again, it was probably the order that caused him to turn out that way. Such parents. It's cruel, but we weren't allowed to speak of his father, of course. As for his mother, you don't know whether to say poor woman or to blame her. She's gone now anyway, and best to not speak of it either. Perhaps we too were to be blamed, but we were only workers there, to do as we were told, keep our mouths shut and get paid. That's the way it was. So we did.
He didn't talk till he was five, I think. We all thought he was mute. Autistic even, until he showed even without words he was exceedingly intelligent. He was smart, no doubt about that. Maybe it was because nobody spoke to him, that's why he didn't talk either. One day, out of the blue, he said something. It was a complete sentence; it turned out he was capable of being coherent and articulate. We were all terribly shocked. We hadn't even heard his voice before since he rarely cried as a baby. Still, we couldn't say anything in reply.
Of course he never spoke to us, since the order was that he didn't exist. Hitomi-san, who got the news from her son who was in the same class as him in school, told us that in class he rarely spoke too, but once he did, my, he could talk the nose off your face. Teachers were constantly exasperated by him until they knew better and left him alone. Nobody tried to argue with him, because he went on and on until nobody had any idea what he was talking about. Also, he never lost in these verbal sparring matches. He was said to be a loner who didn't have any friends and never even went near the other children, much less play with them, always preferring to read in a corner. The kids thought he was weird too, and bullies would try their hand with him, until after the fourth or fifth broken nose. Younger kids looked up to him in a curious mix of fascination, idolization and paralyzing fear.
After school, he would just lock himself in his room and that would be the last anyone saw of him for the day. We all wondered what would become of him, growing up like that. You had to feel sorry for him. He was damaged somehow inside, that was obvious, like something had been broken so inherently in him that he could never be put back properly again. We were told he wasn't there, and if as following the orders too he was never there. You got the sense he was just passing through, in transit. He wasn't living or being in this world. Nobody could predict how he would end up.
When he was twelve or thirteen, he left the house for good. By that point in time he was barely home, and the whisper was that he was falling in with bad company, being sighted in yakuza-controlled areas, shady areas. We didn't know where he went, if he was sent away or if he left. We heard rumours later he was living with an uncle; his mother's brother I think. There was speculation it was because he was too obvious to be ignored now, and so had to be packed away and kept hidden out of sight. Anyway, that was the last we saw or heard of him.
We still talk about him sometimes, guessing at what he's doing now. I don't think we could ever forget him; those eyes that seemed to read right through all your thoughts, piercing your soul, and throwing it back at you, if he chose to grace you with his look. Or that mocking smile, a most empty thing which never left his face. Being frightened of a ten year old, a ten year old out of normal ranges of humanity, that's not something you forget in a hurry.
"Kubo-chan!" Tokitoh marched into the living room where said person was lounging against the balcony wall, smoking, head tilted back to stare at the clouds, lost in his own world.
"Kubo-chan!"
Kubota lowered his head slowly, saw Tokitoh. He smiled blandly at him, eyes still far away. Tokitoh frowned in response and yelled even louder, "KUBO-CHAN! I'm hungry! Are we eating soon?"
Kubota nodded once before tilting his head back again, finding the clouds more fascinating than Tokitoh for once.
Tokitoh sighed in exasperation. Kubo-chan hadn't spoken a proper word since last night. He had been reduced to monosyllabic words, then onomatopoetic utterances, and finally resorting to only slight body language, as if nodding his head too hard would cause it to fall right off. Tokitoh thought he wouldn't be surprised if it did. Kubo-chan was acting like an apparition; drifting through the world but not really being there. He didn't know what was wrong, but he knew Kubo-chan was acting in a majorly idiotic manner. He decided to inform Kubo-chan of that immediately.
"What's wrong with you? You haven't said anything and you're acting all weird and idiotic. Say something!"
Kubota lowered his head again, noted Tokitoh's annoyed, bewildered look, caught his eye and they stared at each other for a few beats. Tokitoh counted every beat, determined he wouldn't be the one giving in this time.
Kubota sighed, and dropped his gaze. Tokitoh took that as his cue to join him on the balcony. He walked to the railing, rested his elbow on it, propped his chin up, and waited, hoping Kubo-chan wouldn't take too long because the damn clouds were kinda boring and he didn't know why once in a while Kubo-chan would go out and stare at them for a long time.
"You know, I never spoke until I was five." Kubota intoned languidly.
"Why?" Finally, Tokitoh huffed silently.
"I guess, partly because there wasn't anything I needed to say, and because there was nobody to talk to." Kubota exhaled, falling silent again.
When it was clear Kubota wasn't going to say anything else, Tokitoh turned to Kubota and demanded, "So?"
Kubota shrugged.
Tokitoh proclaimed with conviction, "You're an idiot!"
Kubota raised an eyebrow and turned to Tokitoh.
Tokitoh continued, unstoppable. "You're so stupid! So nobody spoke to you then. Fine, but now there's someone talking to you, shouldn't you reply? Or talk even more? To make up for the lack back then! It's rude to ignore someone talking to you! Someone who's actually here now!"
Kubota stared at Tokitoh, studying him for a bit, the expression on his face unreadable. Then he rejoined, "That's true, isn't it?" as if Tokitoh had just uncovered something monumental. Without warning Kubota suddenly slung an arm over Tokitoh's shoulders, and led him out of the balcony. Before Tokitoh could protest, Kubota cut in with a smile creeping into his eyes.
"Aren't you complaining of hunger just then? Let's go have something to eat. Or would you prefer curry?"
At least Kubo-chan's back now, Tokitoh thought with exasperated relief, even if he didn't get half of what just happened. Still, for the sake of it, he protested the last option violently, dashing for his coat, missing the next expression on Kubota's face completely.
It didn't matter. Kubota thought perhaps he knew very well indeed. Something about a noisy apartment, and a roommate who wanted his constant attention, who always had something to say about everything.