Hi there^^
Finally, after a really long time, I am able to update one of my stories. I was damn busy the past months and I'm afraid, it won't be changing anytime soon. Sometimes I think the day needs more hours or I wish that at least I'd need only half of the sleep.
But well, someday, I'll have more time to write again, I'm positive^^
I'll try to deliver the next chap as soon as possible, because then, finally the 'real' story of Ocean's Dream starts.
I hope you'll enjoy reading =D
Disclaimer: I don't own Only the Ring Finger knows
Two days later Wataru woke up from the steady sound of endless amounts of water falling down on his little island. He lay deeply buried beneath his blanket and turned over to his other side, but the awfully loud and annoying tone kept him awake, making it unable to fall asleep again.
He glanced at his clock, 12.30 pm. He groaned sleepily and his eyes moved to his window. The rain looked like a dark gray, very thick curtain. Which meant it wasn't going to end anytime soon. He sat up and ran a hand through his messy hair. Already now he had no energy to move, yet he stood up and stumbled down the narrow stairs to the kitchen.
On the way down he almost fell over a cat resting peacefully on the bottom stair. In the last second he jumped over the animal, which squeaked and flew somewhere into the living room.
"Dear, leave the cat alone!" his mother yelled from the kitchen.
"I haven't done anything" he mumbled as he came in, sitting down on his chair.
Since (almost) every window and door was left open during summer (though it also depended on the weather), animals could enter and leave the house as they wished to, without anyone disturbing them and without disturbing anyone else. There were three dogs living in their village, somehow belonging to every family. The same went for the cats. Wataru liked those random, silent visitors. They were all nice and gentle. But today, he was in no mood for them. He sat on his chair, staring on his breakfast, without feeling any hunger. He just wanted to go back to bed and being left alone for the rest of the day.
"Honey, what's wrong?" his mother asked a few minutes later, entering their kitchen.
"Take a look outside" he mumbled gloomily.
Mrs Fujii sighed and ruffled his hair. "Why don't you go over to Kawamura's? I thought, every time it's raining, you and your friends go over to watch a few movies together"
"I'm in no mood…"
"It won't be raining forever" his mother smiled.
His gaze wandered to the window. "I believe, somewhere else, it never rains…"
This time, Mrs Fujii didn't know what to answer. She looked at him with care and also sadness in her eyes.
Then she just stood up and left.
...
Later, however, he still sat on a sofa in the small, comfortable living room of the Kawamura family, next to Miho, listening silently to his friends discussing which movie they wanted to watch. The girls wanted to watch some movie either with Johnny Depp or a love story. The boys wanted something with a lot of action, blood, explosions and half naked women. It was the same as always and Wataru was tired arguing. He was fine with every film they decided on, if they'd just hurry.
"Wataru, what would you like to watch?" Mai asked him out of the blue.
He startled slightly. "I don't care, really" he answered.
"Oh man, what's wrong with you? Depressed?" Kawamura asked.
He just shrugged. Not even he himself knew exactly what was wrong with him. And that was the most maddening thing of all.
...
It was late afternoon, as Kazuki jumped onto the deck, hearing his niece crying somewhere down at the beach.
"Takako!" he yelled, unable to see something through the rain.
"Mizuho! Where are you? Takako is gone!" he continued, jumping from the yacht into the shallow water.
"Yuichi, wait!" Mizuho appeared at the ladder.
Yuichi bit his lips. If something happened to Takako… He'd never forgive himself, let alone his elder brother and his sister-in-law. The crying came somewhere from the coast, following the beach one mile until some smaller cliffs began. Already seeing his niece drowning or hit by rocks, he started running, his heart beating so loud he barely registered how Mizuho yelled after him, telling him to stop and wait for her. Suddenly, two, no, three dark silhouettes appeared on the sand a few meters in front of him.
"Don't worry it's just me, your niece and her dog. And slow down, I don't want to be hit by you, again" a familiar voice said dryly the same moment.
"… Monkey?"
"Cut it out, will ya?".
Now that he stood in front of them, he was relieved. Takako still had tears in her eyes, but she seemed alright, except her right foot.
"What happened?"
"She stepped onto a sea urchin. It hurts, but it's not dangerous. Here"
The boy held a small white 'ball' with a lot of thin needles in his palm.
"Come, Takako, let's go back to the yacht" he said.
Takako sniffed. Yuichi lifted her up and carried her back. The monkey with the big black eyes followed, the dog whimpering in his arms.
...
Mizuho was taking care of Takako's hurt foot, so he was left alone with that weird boy.
"Thanks for the help" he said, sounding more unfriendly than he had wanted to. Well, even if the boy had noticed, he didn't give a damn.
"No problem"
They stood in the kitchen.
"Shall I show you the yacht?" he asked out of politeness.
"That'd be cool"
And so, Yuichi showed him the cabins, where they slept, the place where they ate, the bathroom, the engine room and even the bridge. His father greeted hastily, before returning to his work. The whole time, the smaller boy had a soft brightness in his eyes and he kept on asking questions, suddenly becoming a lot friendlier than before. It was almost as if a whole different guy was standing next to him.
Now, they stood in the small room where they ate, which was connected to the kitchen. There was a lounge with soft sofas screwed to the wooden wall. The table was dark, almost without any scratchers on it. At the wall opposite the lounge, there was a huge world map hanging. Countless little needles stuck in it, making some spots all over the world, most of them in the sea.
"What's that?" the smaller boy asked.
"All the places we've been already, mostly because of my father's work" Yuichi answered.
"What's your Dad doing, anyway?"
His smile was rather awry. "He's a modern treasure hunter. And he's one of the best. That's the reason, why our family has so much money"
"…You're kidding, right?" the monkey responded, deeply frowning.
"No, it's the truth"
The boy still didn't seem satisfied.
"I swear"
"And what's he doing here, then? Kumejima Island? I've never heard of a real treasure being hidden here. All those legends are only stories for small kids"
"That's what you know"
They looked each other in the eye. Then they dropped the topic.
"Have you been to all these places together with your father?"
"When I was on vacation, then yes"
"…You've seen quite much from the world already, haven't ya?"
...
Wataru felt a growing envy in his chest. He looked at the taller boy, from the corners of his eyes, and the map with all those needles marking the places they've been to already. Here he was standing right next to a guy, who lived a life he had always dreamed of. And this boy didn't seem to realize, how lucky he actually was. This made him angry and envious and tired.
"So, you've been to… New York, London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, New Mexico, Shanghai, the Caribbean, the Philippines…" He could've continued like that for the whole night.
The blond guy nodded, shrugging at the same moment. Keeping silent.
"Crap, don't you think your life's damn great? It's never getting boring, right?"
The guy shrugged again. "For me, it has become quite boring already"
Now he got really angry. "You don't know how lucky you are, ya know?" he snapped.
Now that Kazuki looked at him with surprise in his eyes. "Why are you yelling at me, now?"
"I'm not yelling"
"You are. What's gotten into you?"
"Shut up"
He tried calming himself down, but it didn't really work.
"I'm leaving" he murmured, actually wanting to stay and stare at that map, until the rain would stop.
"Dude, at least stay here, until Takako's fine again. I'm sure she wants to thank you".
He shrugged. Then his shoulders dropped.
"Ok".
They kept silent for a few moments, either not knowing, what to say.
"Shall we go look after her?" the taller suggested.
"Yeah"
...
The small girl was able to smile again, a big portion of ice cream in front of her, a thick bandage around her foot.
"Thank you for your help" Mizuho said to him gently.
"Yes, Thaaaank you, Nii-chan!" the girl yelled cheerfully.
"No problem"
"Has Yuichi shown you the ship already?"
"Yes"
"Oh, ok"
They watched Takako happily eating her ice cream for a few seconds, until Wataru asked slowly "Do you want to come to the beach tomorrow evening? We'll play soccer, beach volleyball and so on. Wanna come?"
The blond guy and the woman changed a gaze.
"Why not? I'm sure, it'll be fun" Mizuho smiled.
"Ok. I'll tell the others"
He looked out of the window. "The rain's stopped. I'll be going now, I think"
"Well then. See you tomorrow"
...
Wataru startled slightly as he noticed Kazuki following him up the stairs to the deck.
"What is it?" the small boy asked, slightly frowning.
"Is there some kind of club or so on this island? You know, I gotta stay here for six weeks. So, is there some location to have some fun and meet people?".
"Dude, this is Kumejima Island, not Hawaii. Of course not. You could try in the town, but I doubt that you'll find something someone like you would call a club" the boy answered a little hostile.
"Ok, don't snap at me again, 'twas just a question"
"I'm off now. See ya"
"Yeah"
...
Later, lying in his bed, he thought about that weird boy again. The way he had been staring up at the world map… the brightness in his eyes had been shining more than the sun in midst summer, but it had only lasted for a couple of moments, a sound of heartbeat… and then it had been gone, like never having been there.
Without exaggerating anything, he had never met someone like that monkey before. And, in a really weird kind of way, he found himself interested in him. Probably, he actually was someone worth knowing. Maybe tomorrow, he'd try analyzing the whole thing further. And until then, he'd just think about anything but that.
...
Later, falling onto his mattress, he felt really really tired, as if he had been awake for a couple of weeks. The envy in his chest was still there, pricking him from time to time, not letting him forget it. Not the world map, not the needles marking the places that family had seen already, not the scent of the whole wide world that seemed to stick to the inhabitants of that yacht. It was maddening. And, like so often before already, he wondered, what the hell he should do.
Do Tomorrow.
Do this summer.
Do after the vacation.
Do in his life.
Do, to make that pain finally go away.
To be continued...
I hope you liked it. It's not full of action, but those two gotta know each other a bit, before anything else starts ;)
And I'd love to see a Review, because then, somehow the writing goes easier and faster^^
