Young Heart
By Erzamarie
Author's Note: Hello again. I finished this while I'm reviewing for my exam. Hope you like it. Sorry, it wasn't proofread because this is somewhat a spur in the moment that I posted it. Hopefully I can post the rest of the chapters for the next month or so coz my schedule is really tight this year. Hopefully you would like this one. Please read and review.
Chapter 14
The bus came to a sudden stop and out from it, were two people – a teenager being dragged by a little boy. Both were laughing loudly as they ran to the beach.
"You do know that it is the same bus that we will be riding back to Nerima, right?" the girl said staring at the boy.
Nonchalantly the boy just answered with a shrug somewhat saying "who cares" before giving her a huge grin.
She shook her head incredulously and laughed at herself.
It was an unplanned trip. After sitting in their usual bench for a few minutes, Ranma out of nowhere suggested to have a trip. Reiko, who is known for her spontaneity, agreed to the boy's proposal. The place was picked randomly after they saw a huge billboard in the street saying "Let's have fun in the beach!"
At first, she thought Ranma wouldn't agree on it since he had expressed before how he hated to go there but Reiko was shocked to see how excited he was for the prospect of going.
They stopped at a nearby convenience store before going to the bus stop. Ranma bought a bunch of sweets including a pack of lollipops, while Reiko bought some bentos just in case they would be hungry.
Now, with a backpack of bentos and a Cherry lollipop in her hand, she found herself trailing behind him. If only she had the heart to say no to him, she would have done it just so she won't be in her school uniform running in the beach.
"Hurry up!" the boy shouted from a few meters away.
"What's up with you today?" she asked after catching up with him.
"Huh? Umm… Nothing," he said dismissively.
"You dragged me here for nothing? Somehow I don't believe it," she persisted.
"Well, you were sad the other day and you once told me before that you love the beach, so I'm cheering you with it," the boy explained rather enthusiastically.
"You could have easily cheered me up with a slice of chocolate cake. It has the same effect on me." She smiled at him for caring.
A few moments passed as they continued to stare at the cascading waves when the boy squatted down the sand and pulled Reiko's skirt to sit beside him.
"I don't want to get any sands on my uniform." She exclaimed.
The boy pouted his lips and gave her that sad puppy look.
"You know, I get used to it little by little every time you used it on me," she said before sitting beside him.
For more than twenty minutes, they stared in the horizon in silence. Both were busy with their own thoughts. Within that span, a number of kids came and played catch with the waves. Almost always they were caught with it, making them wetter than before. Reiko, who was observing them, couldn't help but smile at the futile attempt in evading the waves. She was so intent on watching them that when she looked at the boy next to her, she was surprise to see the earnest face of him.
"I'll give you a penny for your thoughts," she said.
"What?" he asked looking confused.
"It's an English expression for May I know what you are thinking." Reiko answered with eagerness to explain.
"Huh?" the boy said looking more confuse than before.
Seeing the his expression, she waived her hands sighing, "Never mind." Then she added, "What are you thinking?"
He brought his attention back into the sea. His face became serious with his eyes losing its usual playfulness in them. "I'm thinking of how nice it would be to swim on it."
Reiko was awed at the sudden transformation. Ranma suddenly looked so mature for his age that Reiko could almost believe that he was indeed a teenager like her instead of a five year old kid. "Why don't you try it?" she asked after overcoming the overwhelming side of him that she just saw.
"Nah! It'll scare you." Blinking away the longing of submerging himself in the water without changing his form, he answered. Then as his eyes went to meet Reiko, he plastered a smile on his lips.
"I'm a good swimmer, Ranma. I can save you if you ever get drown. Also, I know CPR," she said with a smile.
Ranma gave her a quick glance before uttering, "Not that."
"What else is there to be scared about?" she exclaimed. "Don't tell me you had another story about sea monsters," Reiko said trying to engage him to tell.
"No! Of course, there are no such things as sea monsters." He said catching up with the silliness of their conversation.
"Good then. At least we agree on that matter." Reiko stated with a great deal of satisfaction.
"Although…" Ranma teased as he remembered the giant octopus they encountered when master Happosai threw in the ocean the lifetime love pill.
Reiko gave him an intense gaze that stops him from talking.
After a while, they continued to sit there in silence. They were left isolated again in the beach as the children had left after being entirely drenched from playing.
Ranma, who was then playing with the sands, suddenly asked, "Do you think I'm a freak?" His words were barely audible that if not for the solemnness of the place, Reiko could have easily missed it. Also, he asked it without even facing her and instead he continued to pretend playing in the sand as if he found each particles of it fascinating.
"Why would I think like that?" Reiko answered ordinarily as if the question was just common. However, deep within the question was a revelation to her. "Is this how kids bullied other kids today? Calling someone a freak?" she asked herself.
But all of Reiko's mental rumblings were answered when Ranma said, "Because… well, of all the things I've said like the age mushrooms, monsters and everything else."
She paused before answering, "Just because you said those things it doesn't mean you are a freak, a pathological liar maybe, but never a freak."
"A what?" Ranma asked not knowing the meaning of her words. It was typical for Reiko to use big words that Ranma, who had no inclination to school and reading, could not understand them. Even though that was the case, it still surprised him to hear them coming from her. And most of the time, he didn't even bother listening to her explanation as the words were not only difficult to understand but also hard to say.
"Never mind," she said dismissively. Then she added, "But for me, you are not a freak."
"Promise?" he asked with his eyes growing big with hope and something else.
"Sure. I promise not to call you a freak ever, even when you tell me more stories about eight headed dragons or aging mushrooms and other unbelievable things." Reiko declared cheerfully.
All the time Reiko was saying her promise, Ranma never let his eyes wander away from her. His brow slightly closer and his blue eyes looked determined. "Will you promise me one more thing?"
"What's all with the promises?" she smiled at how this boy held onto her promises. It reminded her of how she used to believe in them and how it made her felt whenever her parents broke their promises. Those promises of going to the park or watching her play baseball or seeing her first recital in school were all broken because of her mother's condition. She didn't understand it then but later on she realized that there are promises that need not be kept because some things are more important in life. The difficult question is when should you break it or when should you keep it. But at that moment, she knew, even if she promised this boy blindly, that she needs to keep this one for him or it would destroy him.
"Come on. Please…," he begged softly with his eyes seeking the approval he was asking for.
"Fine. What is it?" she said.
"Promise me that you won't hate me?" he whispered.
"Hate you? For what?" she asked a bit amused at the line of answers the boy was giving.
Ranma continued unaffected with Reiko's persistent prying, "Just promise me please…"
Seeing the determined look of the boy, she defeatedly said, "Fine. I promise I won't hate you." A smile then came to the boy's lips as he was pleased as how he handled it. But as soon as Reiko saw it, she continued, "Good. Now that's done. Can you tell me what is it all about?"
"It's not yet time."
"When will you tell me then?"
"I'll tell you before this day ends. Promise."
"Pinky swear?" she asked extending her small finger to the boy. The boy likewise did the same and thus their iron clad promise was cemented.
They ate their bentos and waited for the sun to disappear in the horizon. Then they took the last bus to Nerima. The ride was uneventful. Ranma fell asleep along the ride while Reiko remained awake to watch over him.
When they arrived at Nerima, it was already 7:30 in the evening. Reiko was worried that Ranma might get himself in trouble after being away from home at this late in the evening. Apart from that, the sky doesn't look so friendly as flashes of lightning had painted the sky just when they walked out from the bus.
"We better hurry or we'll get ourselves wet in the rain." She said trying to hurry up the boy.
"Reiko?" he called hesitantly.
However, Reiko was so focused on beating the rain home that she failed to notice the boy's expression. "Come on, Ranma. I'll take you to your house. Which direction is it?"
Ranma ran to her and gave her a tight hug which surprised her. But she then took it as the boy's reaction to the fear of going home wet and cold. There was also the loud thundering that scared not only the boy but also she, who right then pretended to be brave for the boy. "Don't worry. I'll take you home. Besides we aren't afraid of a little rain, right?"
"Please remember your promise," still hugging her tightly, he whispered.
When he let go, she asked jokingly, "What?"
"Remember your promise!" Ranma said sternly.
"Of course."
Just a few seconds after she spoke the last words, the rain came pouring in.
It happened so fast. She took her sight away from him for a while to search for a play to stay but when she stared at Ranma again, she saw someone else.
'Ranko.' The name popped into her head as she saw a red headed girl, who was wearing the same clothes as Ranma. After staring at her, she took her eyes away from her and looked at the hand she was clasping to.
A minute ago, it was the small little hand of Ranma that she tightly held unto before the rain started. But just when the downpour started, Ranma's little fingers where no longer in her grip but replaced with a little girl's soft hand.
The looked in her face spoke of everything she wanted to say. Her shocked made her let go of the girls hand and as her voice returned to her, all she could say was "how?"
The rain maybe loud at that time, but Reiko was sure that she heard the girl say, "I'm Ranma."
One week later…
It was 9 in the evening and a lot of the shops had closed in Nerima. At the secluded area of the park, a Ramen shop had just closed but its light continued to lit brightly in the dark area.
A teenager was seen sitting close to the shop. A few seconds later, an old man came out from the shop with a large bowl of hot Ramen. He placed it in front of the teenager and gave him a big slap on the back.
"You can be violent sometimes, Ojisan," the pigtailed boy said before immersing himself to bowl, which after a few seconds its contents had been gone.
"So was that all?" the Ramen owner asked.
"Yeah, that's how it all happened." He answered.