The Tyrant's Forgotten Memories
Chapter 2
Morinaga sat on the damp sand watching the surf flow in and back out to sea; he took in the beauty of the ocean for hours; watching as the waves grew closer and closer to his feet, and then farther and farther away as the tides shifted. The constant, warm breeze flowing through his soft, wavy hair smelt of refreshing ocean spray, and not even the dark clouds steadily approaching the gorgeous Hawaiian shore could shatter the serenity of the perfect sunset. The sun nearly half submerged in the horizon painted the sky with an array of striking, tranquil colors; emanating a sense of placidity. He sat there simply observing; completely detached from the surroundings and happenings around him; almost as if he weren't there at all; just wind flowing through a scene of the purest beauty. And just as the waves washed sand off the beach it washed away all of his thoughts, all of his worries, and all of his cares; in that moment he felt as if he were one with the beach; one with the ocean; one with the sky. Time flew by completely oblivious of him, and he; completely oblivious of it.
It was not until a familiar voice echoed in the back of his mind that he snapped out of his serene trance, and his senses once again found him. "Hey. Hey Tetsuhiro," Kunihiro interrupted.
Morinaga looked around; once again conscious of the movement around him, and noticed his older brother looming over him. "Oh, I'm sorry. What's wrong Nii-san?" Morinaga asked.
"Mom says we should head back to the resort. It looks like it's going to rain," Kunihiro replied in his dull toned voice; cold eyes hidden behind the lenses of his glasses.
It wasn't necessarily that Morinaga and Kunihiro didn't get along, but it was more likely that Kunihiro simply took little if any interest in his younger brother. Morinaga noticed the ice behind his eyes, and all together every one of his faults and every one of his insecurities bombarded his heart. He was too young to understand his older brother's true view of him, and that icy glare only translated as hate in Morinaga's eyes.
"Can't I stay out here for just a while longer?" Morinaga asked. He didn't want to be around his family right now, especially not Kunihiro; not right now. It was the only way he knew how to deal with himself when he felt hurt; he isolated himself and just let out everything that he kept bottled up.
"Now why would you want to stay out in the rain?" their mother cut in, staring down at Morinaga.
"Can't I mom? Just for a while longer. Please?" Morinaga pleaded, as he stood from his place in the sand.
For a moment the only reply he received was silence; interrupted only by the gentle hiss of the surf; his mother looking down at him through analyzing eyes. Then she spoke, "Okay, you can stay out here for a bit longer, we aren't too far from the resort after all."
While she spoke she wore an almost warm, motherly smile, and for a moment in her usually dark, scrutinizing eyes he saw a faint glimmer of something. Something that made his heart warm and heavy both at once, because now more than ever that look seemed so rare; that look filled with something so precious; a look filled with love. Morinaga had for so long tried to convince himself that he would get used to it or that it was all just in his head; he was just over thinking it, but it still pained him.
He knew he inherited that from his parents, both university graduates at the top of their class; both very analytical people; in most cases preferring logic over emotion. And not only his parents, Kunihiro was the same, but Morinaga wasn't the same; he wanted to have fun with his family; he wanted to laugh with them; he wanted to feel loved.
"But keep this with you, okay?" his mother continued handing him an umbrella.
With his expression under the cover of dark, wavy bangs, he took the item and forced himself to smile as he replied, trying so desperately to hide the cracking in his voice, "Okay mom. Thank you."
"Okay then, be sure not to stay out too long," she spoke as she combed slim fingers through his hair, ruffling it gently; then called back to his father and older brother, "Well let's get going." They both called back in agreement as they finished gathering their things; then waited as she caught up with them, and finally they all walked off.
Morinaga watched through tear blurred eyes as they left; then turned back to the ocean and dropped the umbrella in his hand as he flopped back where he had previously been sitting. He tucked his knees into his chest where he rested crossed arms; burying his face in them as the tears rolled down his face. 'I wish Masaki-san were here! He could make me feel better. He would have stayed out and played with me,' he thought as those warm, kind eyes flashed behind dark eyelids.
He remembered his soft, affectionate smile; his gentle, calming voice, but most of all he remembered his eyes; so different from his brother's and parent's eyes. He remembered how Masaki-san would always greet him so sincerely whenever Kunihiro brought him over, and how when he wasn't finishing up homework or studying with his brother, that he would take the time to play with him; no matter how childish the games must have been to the older boy. He didn't have to acknowledge Morinaga; he didn't even need to be nice to him, but he did, and whenever Masaki-san came over he felt like there was someone who cared about him, and he found that the pain he felt being so far away from him grew more and more each passing day.
Morinaga wept silently for a short time; then lifted his head and let in a deep, shaky breath as he wiped his eyes dry. "Well, I guess I better be heading back," he mumbled as he pushed himself up from his seat; then just as he made a grab for the umbrella, he felt a large warm drop hit the tip of his nose. He showed his palm to the sky; catching more cooling rain drops in his open hand, and exclaimed; at first quite confused; then extremely happy, "Ehh? Ahh! It's raining!" his cute, little smile back where it belonged.
…
"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" the 10-year-old snarled, as he picked broken glasses off the cement; snapping his neck up at the regretful, tanned woman who seemed to be apologizing to the young boy.
Even so the boy completely disregarded her apologetic words shoving his way past her; for one not caring what she had to say, and secondly because the only words he could understand were, "I'm so sorry."
Though the woman was not completely at fault as the boy in his haste did not pay close enough attention to where he was going, and neither the other as she was conversing with her friends.
Still, now he was left to find his way back without his much needed glasses, and nightfall wasn't far behind him. He looked in all directions; making out what little he could; though to no gain as he had absolutely no idea where he was going.
Everything around him looked like a horrible mess of colored, fuzzy figures and shapes; his vision strained as he tried to make out any detail that would allow him to find his way.
"Now how the hell am I going to find my way back!?" he yelled, not necessarily asking anyone, as he ran aimlessly; scaring onlookers as he shouted at the air.
So frantically searching for something, anything that looked even the slightest bit familiar he ran straight into another passerby; falling back onto his behind from the sudden impact; the incident only adding to his terrible mood.
"Watch where you're going idiot!" he barked up at a confused looking man who then extended an arm to help the boy up. But instead the boy shot up from the ground and raged passed the man as well; tightening the grip around the thrashing, plastic bag in his hand; his knuckles white from pressure.
By now the boy was livid, and thought there was little more that could go wrong now; little did he know he was entirely wrong, and after he thought this a rain drop fell on his blonde head.
The boy came to a complete halt, and looked up at the sky; his dilated pupils leaving only a thin ring of amber.
"No," he muttered in an unbelieving tone, but when he felt the second, third, and then fourth drop fall on his even paler than usual face he began to shake furiously; screaming up at the sky, "No, no, no! This is not happening! Not now!"
But as the rain steadied into a heavy downpour; weighing down his clothes and feathery, ash blonde hair; there was no doubt that now not only was he admittedly lost, but now stuck outside in the rain.
"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath; then grudgingly continued in his pointless search; finding no reason to just stand there.
He could have easily stopped and asked any of the many pedestrians walking by for help; even with his limited English, but stubbornly enough refused to; still unable to make out much of anything more than a few yards ahead of him.
He didn't remember how many people he ran into or how many he yelled incomprehensible insults at, but right after he had bumped into yet another one of them, again falling back, and then getting up to berate them a soft voice; one of the only ones he had completely understood through all of this; called behind him, "Excuse me. Do you need some help?"
…
Morinaga walked through the crowded pathways alongside the shore; never getting quite enough of the beautiful view as he watched the waves flow in and back out to sea.
'I don't understand why mom, dad, and Nii-san all went back to the resort. I mean what's wrong with a little rain?' he thought to himself; leaving the sight of the ocean to look up at the rain.
It was a tropical rain; humid and every drop that fell was mildly warm, and Morinaga didn't mind in the slightest, but in vivid contrast loved the rain and was glad to be able to see the beauty of the beach and also truthfully to have time away from his family.
Though he could've gone without the umbrella his mother had told him to take along. It was pink with white images of lilies printed on it. It wasn't the color that he minded but the umbrella itself; he would much rather walk in the rain without it; feeling the refreshing rain drops on his skin.
As he strolled on his way back to the resort he heard someone yelling in the distance. He searched through the crowd trying to find the source and spotted a boy with stunning ash blonde hair.
"Get out of my way stupid!" the blonde boy screamed, steadying himself after bumping into a native pedestrian.
But that wasn't the only person the boy bumped into; screaming nasty insults and curses to each one, though no one understood him due to the obvious language barrier. He slammed into these people so clumsily; almost as if he didn't know they were there; almost as if he couldn't see.
'Maybe I could help,' Morinaga thought; making his way through the crowd to the seemingly older boy. The other only noticing him when he called out, "Excuse me. Do you need some help?"
The blonde boy squinted hard, focusing his eyes on the new stranger. He seemed to be younger than him, but only slightly shorter, which bother him a bit, and to top it all off he was holding a pink umbrella. "No thank you," the boy replied rudely. 'There is no way I'm asking someone younger than me for help; especially not someone with a pink umbrella!' the boy thought.
"But you look lost," Morinaga said, staring confused at the soaking boy before him.
"I am not!" the blonde denied, glaring back at the other with aggression flaring in his eyes and tone.
"But you can't see very well, can't you?" Morinaga continued, noticing and pointing to a pair of broken black framed glasses in the older boy's hand.
But the stubborn boy still wasn't willing to take this stranger's help, so he put the broken glasses on; though they fell crooked to one side as they were missing an arm to hold them up; and replied, "See? They're just fine. I can find my way back on my own!"
"Really? But they're still broken. Oh, where are you heading?" Morinaga asked; his head tilted slightly in his curiosity.
'Does this idiot not get that I don't want his help!?' The blonde exclaimed inwardly, becoming very irritated by the situation. "That's none of you concern'" he let out before walking away from the annoying newcomer.
"But…" Morinaga started; then cut himself short as he spied a familiar wristband on the blonde haired boy. Realizing what it was, Morinaga ran up to the boy and exclaimed, "Wait! Are you trying to get to the Sunrise Resort?"
"Wha-! How do you know!?" the blonde demanded; both aggravated and bewildered.
Instead of answering, Morinaga simply giggled and raised his arm to show his own wristband which granted him entrance into the resort whenever he happened to leave. "C'mon. I was just on my way back too," he chimed grabbing the blonde by the hand and dragging him along.
"Hey! Hey wait! Let me go! Just who the hell do you think you are!?" the boy complained having trouble keeping up with the younger boy's pace.
Morinaga only smiled back playfully; amused at how adamant the boy was on refusing his help, and relied jokingly, "Well, I don't think I know who I am, I know I know who I am. My name is Morinaga Tetsuhiro. I am 7-years-old, and I'm in second grade."
The blonde glared back at him through seething, amber eyes, but Morinaga didn't mind though; he found the blonde's prickly attitude and harsh words to be funny.
Then, noticing the flattened, ash blonde bangs plastered to his fuming features, and the soaked clothes clinging to his thin limbs, he moved the umbrella over his head; shielding him from the heavy rain. "Hey! What are you doing!? If you do that you'll only get soaked too!" the boy informed angrily; looking up at the umbrella then back at Morinaga's dark hair.
"You complain a lot, and anyways I don't mind. I'd much rather walk in the rain like this." Morinaga started bluntly; the smile still evident in his voice.
"Whatever! It's not my fault if you get sick," the blonde scoffed; letting his pride keep him from just giving in and thanking the younger boy. "Why are you carrying around a pink umbrella anyway? It makes you look like girl or something," the blonde commented rudely; mocking inwardly, 'You already have eyes like one that's for sure.'
"Really? I never thought color had to do with whether you were a boy or a girl," Morinaga replied truthfully; not purposely ignoring the question; then asked confused, "What did you mean by, 'or something'?"; shortening his stride as he noticed the older boy was having trouble keeping up.
"You know, weird or different," the blonde said; not quite sure himself of the meaning behind his words.
Morinaga had never thought of himself as weird; though many of his friends said he was because of his eagerness to learn and his love for school. He always seemed to have his head in a book and he was much smarter than most of the children in his grade, but he never found that weird; different maybe, but everyone was different and he never really strived to fit under the definition of normal; he just liked being himself.
"Hmm, well, what is your favorite color?" Morinaga asked returning from his state of momentary thought.
"I don't know. Blue, I guess." The blonde answered; not giving the question much thought; feeling in no way obligated to answer honestly.
Rightfully not convinced by his reply Morinaga decided to leave the topic alone; knowing that whatever else he asked, the older boy probably wouldn't say much in return, so they continued forward without words until the blonde yanked his hand out of the other's and moved to walk beside him.
It seemed he didn't much like being lead around, much less being assisted by Morinaga, but the scowl he wore now looked of something more like stubbornness than anger; the constant behavior further entertaining the younger boy.
Then, if only faintly, the blonde noticed movement from the corner of his eye, and just as he turned a flash of light stunned and blinded him for a moment; left with a dumbfounded expression; un-expecting eyes wide open.
When the glare in his eyes faded and he could adequately glare at the giggling boy beside him he screamed, "What the hell was that for!?"
"You're a mess! It's hilarious!" Morinaga chimed back, lowering the disposable camera to his side; then shoved it back into his shorts pocket.
"Delete that thing now!" the blonde demanded; his usually pale face flushed he was so mad.
"I couldn't even if I wanted to," Morinaga returned with his lips curved into a smug smile and mischief glistening behind bright, emerald eyes.
With the blonde gawking furiously at the younger boy, and Morinaga intent on pestering the older one, neither of them noticed as they reached the entrance to the resort; only interrupted as a female voice filled with a mixture of worry and relief called behind them urgently, "Sou-chan!?"