"Nii-chan!" A woman called out.
"Nii-san, you can't you haven't fully recovered!" A man called out too, joining the woman in their front yard.
But the man with a slinged right hand and patches of plaster throughout his body continued to walk forward and went out of the gate. He stopped in front of a parked car outside the house.
By that time, another man ran out of the house.
"You won't mind if I drive your car, won't you, Octopus-head?" The man in front of the car asked the one who just went out of the house.
"Wha-wait! Oy! Lawn-head, you can't!"
But it was too late; the man ripped the sling off his right hand, entered the car and dashed off, violating the speed limit if there was.
"Nobody can stop him once he drives." The woman mumbled.
-o-
"Mmmh… So… Let's see." I mumbled to myself as I scanned the refrigerator.
Inside, there was a box of pizza with two slices left in it, two cans of root beer, one-third of a block of butter, two one-liter bottles filled with water, milk, and one little egg sitting on a tray for eight of its kind.
My stomach suggested something, but I didn't understand what it meant except for a low grumble.
"It's getting cold, isn't it?" I asked my stomach as I ducked in front of the freezing interior of the refrigerator with my pony-tailed long hair while wearing red boxer shorts for my only clothing.
My stomach groaned once more in reply.
Having finally decided over just one good choice, I snatched the pizza box and a can of root beer out of the ref and sat on the table. I put one pizza slice over the other and devoured it ravenously within thirty seconds. The root beer in the can followed the pizza in my stomach. I went straight to my bedroom after putting the box and the can into the trash.
In the bedroom, I found a white shirt and a pair of grayish-blue jogging pants lying idly on the floor. I shoved them aside with my foot; a pretty harsh treatment for the clothes that covered me a while ago. I was sleepy and more than ten hours worth of somnolence crept into my system. I yawned a long, satisfying yawn and threw myself on the bed. I'm supposed to be working at the pool again today but I needed sleep to the extreme.
"I'd just tell them I caught flu." I murmured and shifted on the bed.
Two years ago, I decided to look for my father after returning to Namimori, through a travel which depended on luck, but I did not know how to start at all. When I tried going back to our house, I was immediately intimidated by the sight of three to five men in black suits hovering around the vicinity who seemed to be waiting for someone. Still traumatized by the kidnapping of my father and still blaming his connections to the mafia for his loss, I didn't give a thought whether they're enemy or not and ran off to spend the night in the streets. I returned the next day, though, and saw the same men around the house. I observed them until afternoon, and some other men arrived by nightfall to exchange places with them for a supposed 'nightshift'. I followed the men to wherever they were going to return with a bike I 'borrowed' from someone in the neighborhood. Although I pedaled to the extreme, it was not sufficient to keep up with the car which was running at full speed. I gradually lost track of the car and after some rest, I pedaled back to where I 'borrowed' the bike in hopes of 'returning' it peacefully.
The 'returning' of the bike wasn't really very peaceful. The owner was enraged and even brought his buddies along to beat me up which came to a vise versa result. A personnel of a certain underground arena happened to be watching me as I fought them and he invited me to the 'business' afterward. I accepted the offer and, after knowing that I don't have a place to stay at the time, he helped me find this apartment unit.
Shortly after I turned twelve, Papa got me into the job of being a lifeguard after his good friend, the manager of the pool, lost one and saw me swimming then asked Papa if I could work at the pool. Some months later, the semi-hyperactive Sasagawa Yuu went missing and since his quiet, morose and scarred look-a-like, Hakujitsu Akio, popped out of nowhere, it was easy for me to get the job again.
After having assured of a stable lifestyle, I resumed looking for Papa. I guess 'looking' wouldn't be the appropriate term because I do not really make desperate moves like asking random passers-by, calling his name or anything like that. My jobs are both exposed to the public, (whether the public public or the private/underground public) so all I have to do is some eavesdropping, observing, feeling, socializing and being alert; and if I find a certain clue or opportunity about my search, I'd grab it. Though most of the time, or all of the time, these opportunities did not turn out to be anything of help. Until just now, I thought I was averted from my search by being in a slight connection with my cousin, but instead, I went close to finding Papa but not very very close.
"Yuu-kun, you are the sun that gives life and illuminates your Papa's world; never lose your brightness and this luster of yours would lead your father's path back to you." Fujioka-san's word filled my thoughts.
"Never lose my brightness…" I repeated to myself. "Never lose what?"
I shifted on the bed and fell asleep.
-o-
The brakes of the car screeched in front of an apartment. An elderly woman, who is the landlady of the apartment, stopped sweeping her yard and gazed at the car. A man, probably between his late thirties or early forties, stepped out of the car.
"Good morning, madam," the man greeted, "do you live here?"
"Yes, I'm the landlady of this apartment." The woman answered.
"Well, uh, do you know a boy? He's fourteen years old now, for two months and sixteen days. He's got wavy coffee locks. And, um, he kinda looks like me, particularly the eyes and nose; and, well, his mouth and his chin are slightly feminine 'cuz he got 'em from his mom. He's a bit hyperactive sometimes; he's a strong lad and quite an athletic kid. He's a smart boy, smarter than me you know, though I must admit many people are smarter than me. He loves pizza and root beer and fireflies and bears and moose and wallabies and number two pencils. And he likes yellow, red, green, blue and black and he usually gets up in denim stuffs. It's been a habit for him to wake up at eight in the morning however late he sleeps, and he sleeps with a pillow on his face. He doesn't like soft pillows and he's a tiny bit oblivious too. Oh and, he likes jumping rope and shadow-boxing and he hates sweets and the sound of rustling plastic. He likes roses, daffodils, irises and sunflowers. He likes kite-flying too. He intentionally stomps into puddles even at the age of twelve; he doesn't get along with little children. He scratches the back of his left ear five to eight times a day and he pulls on his toes when he's Indian-sitting. He cuts his nails on Saturdays and wears yellow on Fridays. He's also ticklish at the hips and he's such a— oww! Ow!" The man could not have been stopped describing the boy if not for the sudden stinging pain on his injured left rib.
The landlady, who patiently listened to all of these, finally got the chance to speak. "Well, I don't know of the other things you're talking about but," she looked at the man who was clutching his aching rib, "you said he has a wavy coffee colored hair and looks much like you, I think you're talking about Akio-kun."
"Akio? That's not what we named him." The man whispered to himself. "I'd like to see him anyways."
-o-
I was sleeping on my bed soundly, the rays of the morning sun striking the sheets that covered me. It was already past eight in the morning, but I really needed sleep so I dozed on. The sunlight strokes my closed eyelids and I was disturbed so I put a pillow on my face. I scratched the back of my left ear with the fingers whose nails I forgot to cut yesterday which was a Saturday.
My back was turned to the bedroom door which was left open. I was half-awakened when the side of my bed sank with the weight pressed upon it and my blanket was pulled up.
Someone joined me on the bed. I felt arms wrap my naked torso but I did not feel uncomfortable at all. As a matter of fact, I turned around and hugged that person back with my left foot automatically wrapping the person's legs.
Wait! I only do this to one and only one person! My thoughts were finally awakened. I opened my eyes and discovered the pillow still on my face, preventing me to see who the person was.
I did not have to move then, because the hand on my hip was pulled back. A hand held the side of the pillow and lifted it up, revealing the sunlit face of Sasagawa Ryohei.
"Good morning, baby, are you awake?" he greeted.
"Papaaa!" I wanted to complain with his calling me 'baby' but I set it aside and squeezed him.
"Ow! That hurts to the extreme, Yuu-chan." He said, laughing.
I don't care if it hurts or not and I hugged him tighter instead, never ever wanting to let go anymore in fear that he would disappear once again.
He hugged me too, and no doubt, it was Papa's embrace.
~end of chapter~
Author's note:
Hold it! Hold it! I'm not finished yet! I know there are more things to make clear. So, please, please wait for me to finish another chapter.
Where did I get those descriptions? Ah well, it's the mixed description of me and my own father's description of myself. :3
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