Chapter 2 – Strong Winds
Rua's POV
"How much longer until we get there? I'm tired," I complained, dragging my feet and yawning loudly.
Ruka rolled her eyes. "You will be a gentleman, huh?" I heard her muttering. "Not much."
"And this stupid weather! It's so annoying," I huffed, extra irritated as some drifted leaves fell on my face and my hands were too busy carrying the bags like a donkey. Also I was tired, since I didn't get enough sleep, because I was still on London's time zone and…. I made a groan. I just wanted to go home.
"Stop complaining!" Ruka ordered me again, but it was easy for her to say it, she wasn't loaded like I was. "I'll get some stuff to make your favorite cake, ok?"
"Well, that's good," I replied. If anything, that would be enough for the discomfort.
But this definitely wasn't my day; I was tired, I lost my training and my mood had seen better days. Plus, I was carrying a ton of bags; it was like Ruka brought food for a month, even though she was insisting that it was only for a week. I had my doubts, but I didn't want to argue with her. I supposed she knew better since she was spending more hours in the kitchen than I was.
"Why couldn't we buy all the stuff from the super market?" I asked, crossing a road and some dirt got into my eyes because of the wind and I started blinking.
"Because there is a store down the street with great quality seafood," Ruka replied, "and it also has a specific soy sauce that I really like. But don't worry, it's not far away."
"Is there anything else to buy after the seafood?" I asked, shifting the bags to my left hand so I could rub my eyes with my right one and get rid of the dust that was still bothering me.
"I think this is the last one, but let me check," my sister replied and stopped walking, searching for the shopping list in her purse.
But with my eyes closed, of course I didn't see her. "That's good-AAAH!" I yelped, falling on her and with my exclaiming, the strong wind filled my mouth with her hair.
I started spitting and coughing at the same time. "Ruka, what the…"
"Damn it, Rua!" my sister cut me off and ran forward.
I stared at her, confused, but then my eye caught a small piece of paper –probably her list- taken away by the wind and Ruka was running behind it.
"For the record, it's your fault!" she snapped at me over her shoulder.
I made a soft chuckle. Apparently the list slipped out her fingers when I fell on her, but the whole sight was kind of funny. I wanted to tease her but the strong wind landed something soft on my face, catching me off guard.
"What the…" I muffled, strangling to take it off me, but somehow it was harder since that thing wrapped around my whole head.
In the end, I took it off me and, spitting again –this time the fabric's microfibers- I held it between two fingers; it was a shawl.
"I'm so sorry!" a feminine voice reached my ears. A young girl, around my age with dark skin and long blonde hair ran up to me, resting her hands on her kneesand taking some breaths.
Despite the strange combination of the colors, I couldn't help but think that she was very pretty.
"The shawl is mine, but the wind blew it away when I took it out of my purse and-" she started, but cut herself off the same time she lifted her head to look at me with widened eyes.
I lifted an eyebrow but I wasn't totally unfamiliar with that kind of reaction. Yet it was still strange, and after I started getting my first victories at the Pro League and started getting popular, many people on the street –especially girls- acted like that.
"It's alright," I smiled at her. "The wind today is out of control."
The girl nodded, staring at me a bit intensively, giving me the impression that she didn't hear me at all.
"Are you…?"
"Don't you remember me?" she asked with a hint of disappointment.
I took a moment. Actually, I had a vague feeling that I saw her before, but I couldn't remember where. But if she was a fan something was telling me that I would remember her – she was very unique and pretty.
"Umm…" I hummed, still lost.
"It's me, P-"
"Patty?!"
Another voice completed her sentence and I left to stare at my sister running to hug the young woman heartily, who returned the hug, with the same –if not more- warmth.
"I missed you, Patty," Ruka said, pulling back. "How long has it been since the last time I saw you?"
"Months and it was over a video call."
Ruka nodded. "I'm so glad to see you, Patty, and I have to say that you look even prettier up close."
Patty made a modest smile, but I caught a fast glance in my direction, before her cheeks became darker, like she was blushing "You too, Ruka."
I was ready to make my presence noticeable, when it hit me. "Patty!" I exclaimed, finally remembering. "It is you."
Ruka rolled her eyes. "Rua is slow, as always. Of course it's her, how many Patties do you know anyway?"
I ignored my sister, mostly because she was right. I sure knew only one Patty; the same one from our days at Duel Academy, a girl with dark skin, green eyes and long blond hair in two pigtails, our old classmate –that's why she reminded me of someone, but I wasn't to be blamed. Ruka kept in contact with her, just like I kept in touch with Tenpei. And of course, unlike my sister, I had ten whole years to see her. And within ten years…
"Wow, Patty, you really grew up into a really pretty young lady," I blurted without much thought, and of course I felt heat on my cheeks, when I realized what I just said and hearing Ruka's giggle, I felt even more embarrassed. But if anything, it was the truth.
"T-thank you," Patty muttered, glancing away.
We felt into an awkward silence for a couple of minutes, 'til someone called our old classmate.
"Patty?!" a young man around my age with brown hair, gray eyes and… with some extra weight, ran to us, gasping to catch up his breath. "Did you get your shawl?"
"Yes, and look who I bumped into," Patty said, smiling.
He lifted his head, wiping some sweat from his forehead, staring at me and my sister. "Rua, Ruka!"
"My shawl landed on Rua, can you believe it, Bob?" Patty chuckled.
"Bob!?" I exclaimed –another old classmate. "Great to see you, man."
"It's been years, how are you?" Ruka asked.
"Everything is fine, between work and studies, what's up with you guys?" Bob asked, but hurried to added, "Actually, what's up with you, Ruka? Because I'm aware about Rua's career in the Pro League."
Patty nodded. "We watch all your duels on screen."
I felt a bit surprised. "Really?"
"Well, not all the duels," Bob, admitted. "Sometimes I'm too busy, but Patty watched every single one," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
They looked really close to each other – really close.
I made a big smile, watching Patty nodding. "That's great, guys; I don't know what to say. I'm touched."
"Ha! You're getting popular, Rua," Ruka chuckled, slapping my back softly before she turned to our old classmates. "I didn't except to see you guys here, but I'm glad. Guess we will see you again at the party tonight and then we will have more time to chat."
"Party?" Bob asked, exchanging a startled glance with Patty.
"What party?" she asked.
Ruka frowned. "The reunion party, ten years after school, remember? It's tonight."
They exchanged another glance, before Patty nodded. "Aw, now I get what you meant. But the reunion party is not tonight."
"What? What do you mean it's not tonight?" I asked, astonished.
"Yeah," Ruka followed. "I remember the date, and it's today."
"You mean it was," Bob said.
"You didn't get any warning?" Patty asked and seeing our expression she hurried to explain. "You see the date changed a couple of months ago for the next month."
I made a huff. I was feeling more disappointed today – the day was indeed bad. "No, we got no warning."
"So it's was good to meet you here, otherwise we would have wasted our time," Ruka added. "But since our plans got canceled for tonight, what do you think if you will come over, order pizza and catch up?"
I lifted my hand in the air in no time. "Aw, I'm in!"
"Sounds good, what do you think, Bob?" Patty asked her friend.
He thought about it for a while. "Sure, why not?" he ended up with a shrug. "But we can't stay for long because we have to work tomorrow."
"Great, it's settled then," Ruka smiled and I did the same.
Bob pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, writing something on it. "This is my number, call me if anything happens, otherwise we will see you at… eight is fine?" he asked, giving it to Ruka.
"Yes, at eight then," my sister nodded.
"It was nice to see you," he said, waving at Patty. "Time to go."
"See you tonight," Patty said with a smile, getting away.
"That was great; I didn't expect to meet them here," Ruka commented, watching them walk away. "We also spared ourselves the hassle tonight."
I nodded, my eyes still at our old friends. It was good indeed, meeting them again. However, seeing them, I was wondering about something else.
"You think they are dating?" I asked my sister and regretted it the very next moment, seeing Ruka's sly expression.
"Perhaps, but why do you ask?"
"No reason," I shrugged and turned to look away, but I felt her gaze on me, along with her silent laugh.
"You can ask them tonight to be sure, if you want."
I wanted to groan; I knew what she was thinking. Just like I knew that she was wrong, yet I found it a waste to argue with her for something like that, so I decided to change the subject.
"Let's get the damn seafood and go home, I'm so tired," I said and started for the store, hearing Ruka giggling behind me.
I rolled my eyes.
Special thanks to my lovely betas EndlessNight025 and nettaigyo!
I hope you liked it and review! ^_^
