Chapter 2
He was in his room, looking at pictures from his camera. There were plenty with Soubi, some with his school friends, a few from one of his sessions with his doctor, and there was even one with his teacher...Odd that none of them were with his parents. If he didn't have a photo of them, wouldn't he forget?
Possibly forgetting frightened him. Even though he didn't get along with his mother or father, he still loved them, and he wanted to remember them. The picture with his father...well, that would have to wait until his father was home, but his mother was downstairs in the kitchen. If he was fast, he could snap a photo of her before he left for school.
He grabbed his bag, pulled on his coat, and headed downstairs. His mother was still in the kitchen, putting things away. Carefully, he edged around the door, held out his camera, and...
The scream wasn't like anything he'd ever heard.
"What are you doing?" she screamed, grabbing hold of him and pulling him into the kitchen. "Are you spying on me?"
"No, Mom," he said quickly. "I just wanted a picture of you." If he kept his tone light, maybe she would let go...
"Don't call me 'Mom'!" she shouted, pushing him against the wall. "You're not Ritsuka!"
He knew there was nothing he could say that would calm her. She had to wear herself out before she would let him go. He stayed quiet while she raged, he dodged when she threw things, and then she snatched the camera out of his hands.
"Give it back!" he shouted, panicked. In the state she was in, she could break it. "Give it back, Mom!"
"You're not Ritsuka!" she screamed. "Give my Ritsuka back!" Her free hand came to rest on something...the large, heavy cast iron pan on the table. He could see it moving toward his head, but he couldn't move in time. It connected with his head, knocked him down, and as he started to lose his grip on consciousness, he saw his camera impact with the floor, breaking into pieces...
He jerked awake, shivering. So that was what had happened. He felt tears on his face, but before he could wipe them away, he felt himself slipping back to sleep...
"Ritsuka-kun?"
Who was talking? Didn't they understand that he wanted to sleep?
"Ristuka-kun?"
If they kept that up, he'd really get annoyed...
"Ritsuka-kun!"
Funny, that sounded like Yuiko...
"RITSUKA-KUN!"
His ears ringing, his eyes snapped open and fastened on Yuiko, his classmate and the one person his age that he could call "friend." "Yuiko? What are you doing here?"
She smiled and gave a little laugh. "Soubi-san invited me over after school today. I've brought the rest of your assignments and he invited me to stay for dinner! We'll get to have some fun!"
Yuiko's brand of fun usually tired him out. "Fun?"
Yuiko nodded, clearly happy. "First, though, we have to do some homework, but we can't do that if you're sleeping! Wake up!"
For a moment, he was very tempted to tell her to shut up and go away, but he knew that wouldn't really work. Not only would it make her cry, he'd feel awful and Soubi was sure to hear and ask what was wrong. Yuiko didn't deserve any grouchiness from him, either.
"Come on, Ritsuka-kun!"
Ritsuka knew that if he didn't get up, then he'd never get back to sleep. She'd just keep after him until he was up, so he swung himself off of his bed and...wait a moment. How had he gotten up to his room? The last thing he knew, he was down in the garden. Oh, wait. He could remember Soubi talking to him. Most likely, Soubi had brought him up to his room and put him on his bed. Simple.
Doing schoolwork was a lot more fun with Yuiko around. Mostly, he considered schoolwork to be nothing but something that took time to do, but with Yuiko, he often had to leave what he was doing and help her with something she didn't understand. Plus, she chattered a bit, which gave him some noise in the background, and that always helped him focus. Before long he was finished, even with all the extra assignments he'd been given, and he could devote all his time to helping Yuiko. They worked their way through her math, science, Japanese, and history homework, and more than once something she said amused him enough that he forgot his worries.
They were just finishing up when a knock on the door brought them out of their study-haze.
"Ah, Soubi-san!" Yuiko said happily. "You were right; he was sleeping!"
"And you woke me up," Ritsuka reminded her.
"That's because we had homework to do!"
"And did you finish?" Soubi asked, giving a little smile.
"Just now," Yuiko told him.
"That's good; it's time for dinner," Soubi said. "I hope you two are hungry."
"Oh, yay!" Yuiko cried. "Soubi-san, your cooking is so good! I can't wait!"
"Thank you for saying so, Yuiko," Soubi said, leading the way out the door. "Hurry up or it will get cold."
Yuiko didn't need to be told twice and Ritsuka followed behind her, listening to her chatter. Soubi listened with a patient smile and once they were all seated he dished up for both of them and invited them to dig in. Yuiko was right that Soubi's cooking was very good, but really, did he have to give them both so many vegetables? If he was going to eat like this all the time, he'd turn into a walking salad.
"Delicious," Yuiko sighed happily, finishing what was on her plate. She seemed to be thinking of something. "Soubi-san, do you think you could teach me how to cook?"
"I don't see why not," Soubi said after a moment. "Just make sure it's all right with your parents, and I'll be happy to teach you. Would you like some more to eat?"
"Yes, please!"
Once Yuiko started on her next helping, it was quiet for several minutes.
"Ritsuka?"
Ritsuka looked at Soubi, who was looking at him with concern. "Yes?"
"Are you all right? You're awfully quiet."
"I guess I'm still a little tired."
"You haven't eaten much, either," Soubi said thoughtfully.
"I had a big lunch," Ritsuka reminded him.
"Two small bowls of food? For you, that was a big lunch?"
"Yes, for me it was a big lunch," Ritsuka said, a bit annoyed. Why was Soubi worrying so much? "When I'm tired, I usually don't eat much."
Soubi nodded. "I see." He glanced at Yuiko's now-empty plate and grinned. "Would either of you be interested in dessert?"
Despite himself, Ritsuka felt his ears perk up. Dessert?
"Soubi-san, you made dessert, too?" Yuiko gasped. "You're so cool!"
Soubi smiled, ruffled Yuiko's hair, and went to the refrigerator. When he pulled out a strawberry kasutera cake, Ritsuka felt his mouth water. Strawberries were one of his favorite fruits and he knew that Yuiko liked them, too...
"Enjoy," Soubi said, cutting them each a slice.
Yuiko's disappeared in record time, but Ritsuka lingered over his slice a little, ready to enjoy it. Once they were all finished eating, they helped Soubi clear the table and do the dishes and then he sent them back upstairs. "I'll be up in a little bit to check over your homework," he promised.
Ritsuka paused on the steps, turning to stare at him. "Huh? Why?"
"Because I should check your work," Soubi stated calmly.
"Do you think I've not done it or something? That I've done it all wrong?"
Soubi shook his head. "That's not it at all, Ritsuka," Soubi said. "Don't parents and guardians usually check over students' work?"
"My parents do," Yuiko said helpfully from the top of the stairs. "I leave it out for them every night."
"Yeah, well, no one's ever needed to check over my work before," Ritsuka said, feeling uncomfortable. He couldn't remember his father ever asking about school, and the few times he'd left his work out for his mother...well, that had never ended well. When Seimei had been alive, Seimei had checked his homework...
"How else am I going to keep up with what you're doing in school?" Soubi wanted to know. "You might not remember to tell me and you might not want to talk about it if I ask."
Put that way, Soubi checking his work pretty much made sense. "All right, then."
He and Yuiko went back to his room and Yuiko immediately began chattering away. Ritsuka only half-listened until Yuiko clapped her hands. "That's right! I brought back the last book you loaned me, Ritsuka-kun. It was really good!"
Ritsuka felt a smile starting. "You liked it, then?"
Yuiko grinned and nodded. "Mm-hmm! There were some parts I didn't understand, but I liked it all the same! Could you tell me about what I didn't understand, Ritsuka-kun?"
He and Yuiko were deep in a discussion of the book when Soubi arrived. Still deep in the talk about the book Yuiko had read, Ritsuka barely noticed Soubi as he opened workbooks and folders and examined their work. Yuiko was laughing about something when Soubi came over to them and held out a few homework sheets. "I've marked where you need to make corrections," he said as soon as there was a pause in the conversation. "Once you've finished, I think it would be best if you headed home, Yuiko. It's getting late."
"Okay. Thanks, Soubi-san!" Yuiko said, taking her homework sheets and getting to work.
"You're welcome. Since it's already dark I'll call a taxi for you, all right?"
Once Soubi was gone Ritsuka started working on his homework, finding it somewhat amusing that Soubi seemed to want to do such a good job as his guardian. All he had to fix were a few words on an essay, and he was done.
"Hey, Ritsuka-kun?"
"Hmm?"
"Will you be all right living here with Soubi?"
Ritsuka's head snapped up and he stared at his friend. "Huh? Don't you like Soubi?"
"Of course I do!" Yuiko assured him. "Sometimes it seems as if you're more ready to fight with him than talk with him, that's all."
Once again, Yuiko had surprised him by being unexpectedly sharp. "I'll be fine," he said. "I mean, he's my older brother's friend, and I guess you can call him my friend, now. Sometimes he annoys me, but that doesn't mean anything. Things will be fine."
Yuiko looked as if she didn't quite believe him. "If you're okay here, why haven't you opened up the presents he bought for you?" she asked, pointing to the pile at the foot of his bed. "I was with him when he bought most of them."
He felt exceedingly uncomfortable. "People don't need to buy me things just because...just because..." His throat closed up. "I don't need things."
Yuiko nodded. "You don't want to think he bought all of those things because he felt sorry for you, is that it?"
Once again, he was staring at his friend. Despite her spacey act sometimes, Yuiko really was good at reading people.
"He didn't buy those because he felt sorry for you," she said, erasing a wrong answer and reworking a math problem.
"How do you know that?"
"Because I asked why he was buying you so many things. He told me that he felt you should have some new things, ones that you could build memories with and that had no old memories attached."
Once again, he could feel his throat closing. Soubi had said that?
"I really think you'll like what he bought for you," Yuiko said, finishing her work and tucking it into her folder. "You know, it's okay to let people be nice to you, Ritsuka-kun."
For a moment she sounded so much like his doctor that he had to take a glance at her to make sure that she hadn't turned into his therapist. No, she was still Yuiko. "I'll think about it," he said, not willing to commit himself.
"All right, then."
"Yuiko! Taxi's on its way! Come downstairs, now!" Soubi called.
"Come see me off?" Yuiko asked, stuffing things into her bag.
Ritsuka followed her downstairs and once the taxi was there Soubi paid the driver, told him Yuiko's address, and told Yuiko to call once she got home so they would know she'd arrived safely.
"'Kay!" Yuiko said, waving goodbye. "See you, Ritsuka-kun! Good night, Soubi-san!"
"Will she be okay?" Ritsuka asked once they'd gone back into the house.
"She'll be fine," Soubi said. "That driver's a friend of mine, and he'll make sure that she's safe."
Ritsuka glanced at Soubi. "Somehow, it doesn't surprise me. You seem to know people all over. How'd you meet this taxi driver? Did you get into his cab and strike up a conversation?"
Soubi looked thoughtful. "Something like that." He stopped and glanced at the clock in the living room. "It's getting late. I'll fill the bathtub for you and then you can take a bath and head to bed, all right? It's been a long day."
"Okay," Ritsuka agreed. A hot bath would be nice. Better than nice, actually. His body still hurt from his injuries and soaking in hot water for a while would feel great. "Let me get my pajamas."
He was just coming back downstairs when he saw Soubi standing there, cell phone held to his ear.
"All right. Good to hear, Yuiko. See you soon." Soubi hung up and turned, smiling at Ritsuka. "Yuiko got home just fine. The bath's ready for you."
"Thanks," Ritsuka said, heading down the hall toward it. A sudden thought made him pause and turn back to Soubi. "You're not to come in while I'm in there. Understand, Soubi?"
Soubi smiled. "Is that an order, Ritsuka?"
"You bet your ears it's an order!" Ritsuka told him, feeling a little panicked. What if Soubi chose to disobey?
"Ah, I have only the one pair, so I'd better be careful, then," Soubi said lightly, still smiling. "Don't worry, I won't come in while you're bathing, Ritsuka. I promise."
Ritsuka knew that Soubi kept his promises. Well, mostly. He'd kept his promise about the picture of the Iromote cat, hadn't he? He could trust Soubi about other things, couldn't he? "All right." Just to be safe, though, he was locking the door. He went into the bathroom, locked the door, found his bath bucket, undressed, and started to wash. He was more than a little sore from the beating he'd taken, but the bruises would fade and the pain would go away and he would feel better. At least, he hoped so. He scrubbed, rinsed, scrubbed again, and rinsed once more before climbing into the tub. The water was nice and just as hot as he liked it. He settled in and leaned back, more than ready to let the hot water soak away his aches. He shifted and a bright patch of color drew his attention. Of course. He knew he could count on Soubi for one thing, at least. Absent-mindedly, he poked the yellow rubber duck back and forth across the water and let his mind drift. Tomorrow was Sunday, so there was no school...
"Ritsuka!"
Hmm. Sounded like Soubi was shouting about something.
"Ritsuka!"
Why couldn't he shut up? If it was the middle of the night and Soubi was making that much noise, his mother would wake up...
Click. "Ritsuka!"
Ritsuka's eyes snapped open. Had he fallen asleep again? This was getting to be a habit! He sat up a little straighter, felt water slosh around him and...
The rubber duck acquired the power of flight, hitting Soubi squarely in the chest. "SOUBI! I TOLD YOU NOT TO COME IN HERE! GET OUT!"
"I'm sorry, but I've been trying to get you to answer me for the last ten minutes," Soubi explained, dodging a splash of water. "Why weren't you answering me? I was starting to get worried."
Ritsuka hunkered down in the water. "I didn't hear you."
Soubi looked surprised. "Did you fall asleep?"
"Yes," Ritsuka confessed. "Look, I'm fine, so could I finish my bath in privacy, please?"
"All right," Soubi said, backing up and closing the door. "Don't go back to sleep."
"Okay, okay," Ritsuka said, waiting until the door was completely closed before standing up in the tub. He was just reaching for a towel when he realized that he'd forgotten to bring one in from the linen closet. There was no dry towel in the bathroom at all.
Click. "Ritsuka, I've brought you a towel..."
Ritsuka dove for the water, his face burning red. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"Bringing you a towel," Soubi said calmly. "I didn't know you weren't in the water."
The only thing out of the water now was his head, and that was in danger of going under the surface. Drowning himself was pretty tempting right now. If he drowned, he wouldn't have to feel this way. "Oh. Th-thank you f-for bringing me a towel," Ritsuka said, still very embarrassed. "Um, could we forget this ever happened?"
"Not a problem," Soubi said kindly. "You moved quickly, so I didn't see anything, I swear."
Ritsuka nodded. "Okay. Thanks. Bye!"
Soubi took the hint, handed Ritsuka the towel, and left. Ritsuka was out of the tub and wrapped up in the towel in record time. He was dry and had his pajamas on just as quickly. He mopped up the floor with the towel, hung it to dry, tidied up the bathroom, and headed out into the hall. Soubi had left his slippers there for him, so he slipped them on and shuffled into the living room to where Soubi was sitting.
"Sorry for freaking out," Ritsuka apologized.
"Understandable," Soubi answered. "I made some hot chocolate. Would you like some?"
Ritsuka felt a smile start. He really liked hot chocolate. How did Soubi know that? "Sure!"
He and Soubi sat on the couch for a while, sipping hot chocolate and not talking about anything in particular. Ritsuka felt warm and cozy and he put his empty cup on the table, more than ready to head upstairs and go to bed. Somehow, though, he couldn't get himself to get up and go upstairs.
"Are you tired?"
"Mm-hmm," Ritsuka admitted, leaning back into the couch cushions.
"It's been a long day," Soubi said, finishing his chocolate. "I'm surprised you're still awake."
"I haven't been awake," Ritsuka reminded him. "I had a nap after lunch and then I fell asleep in the tub."
"And you're almost asleep now," Soubi pointed out. "Come on. Up to bed, now."
Ritsuka tried to get to his feet, but then it became a non-issue as Soubi picked him up and carried him toward the stairs.
"Soubi, what are you doing? I can walk on my own!"
"Yes, I know," Soubi said. "Why can't I carry you?"
"Because I'm not a baby!"
"You're just as cute as a baby," Soubi teased.
"Don't say stupid stuff!"
"Let me fuss," Soubi told him. Soubi carried him upstairs and into his bedroom and even tucked him into bed. "Sleep well, Ritsuka. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."
Ritsuka let himself drop into the pillows behind his head. "Good night, Soubi. See you in the morning."
Soubi left, turning off the light and closing the door. Ritsuka rolled over in bed and let his mind wander, thinking about his hospital stay, the changes in his life since then, and of all the things that had happened that day. It still amazed him that someone as young as Soubi would want the responsibility of a house and a kid and everything else. All that was missing was a girlfriend for Soubi and the picture of a happy home would be complete. Then again, he couldn't remember Soubi ever mentioning a girlfriend...
He rolled over again. He'd heard some girl at school once ask Yuiko if she was his girlfriend. No, he and Yuiko weren't dating, but there were times when he wondered what it would be like to have a girlfriend. It might be nice.
Thinking of Yuiko reminded him of that afternoon before dinner. He could remember Yuiko saying that it was all right to let people be nice to him. He also remembered that she'd said that she'd been with Soubi when he'd bought all of those gifts. Curious and now feeling more awake, he switched on the bedside lamp and looked at the pile of gifts. He eased his way out of bed and picked the top gift up, trying to get a feel through the paper for what it was. If felt like...a box. Okay. Carefully, and trying to make as little noise as possible, Ritsuka peeled back the paper and found himself staring at a building set. He'd seen it advertised on television and he'd thought it looked pretty cool...once again, it seemed as if Soubi had read his mind. He folded up the paper and set it aside before picking up the next gift. Inside the wrapping paper was a chess set. Before he'd died, Seimei had promised to teach him chess. Now, it looked as if Soubi would be teaching him.
Those were just the beginning. Soubi had given him books, clothes, two wooden brain-teaser toys, an art set, and a cat plushie. That one made him smile and he put it on his bed to open the last gift. This one was a large, leather-bound journal. On the front end page Soubi had written, "Ritsuka-Everyone should have a place to store their memories of their lives. I hope you find this useful." In the box with the journal was a new digital camera and all of the needed equipment.
Ritsuka didn't realize he was until he sniffled. He felt as if he wanted to hug the journal and howl like a baby, but instead he sat down at the desk, found a pen, and wrote in the date. He thought for a moment about what to write, but at last he found the words.
Mom had a nervous breakdown and is in the hospital. The police and social services people can't find Dad. I'm not sure they will unless he wants to be found. I'm now living with Soubi. Tonight's the first night.
He closed the book, tidied away the wrapping paper, switched off the light, and then climbed back into bed with the cat plushie to keep him company. He was still feeling unsettled, but at the same time, he was feeling...safe.