Chapter 12 Ryuji

The whole world was white.

Winter Wonderland my ass. This was a fucking blizzard.

I am so fucking stupid! Why do I even talk to him? Let's move in together, let's have a picnic in the park, let's skip the club and go to Yugi's place, let's go to New York. He says 'jump' and like an idiot, I say 'oh yes, master, how high?'.

Come on, he says, the park is only twenty minutes away, he says. Fucking asshole making me walk in the fucking cold to a fucking battle-fucking-field! What the hell could be worth seeing on a god damned battle field? It's grass! Not even the smokable kind!

"You okay, Ryu-chan?"

I tried to look in the direction of his voice, but in the forty minutes we'd been walking, the wind and snow had gotten steadily worse. Now, it was hard to see even a few inches in front of me, and the blowing flakes of doom were sticking even to my eye lashes.

"...college...that way...ok?" He gestured in the direction we'd been moving. There was a sign in English with an arrow pointing toward a grove of trees. If we were on a college campus, I couldn't tell.

I shrugged, and it must have been enough, because Mr. Let's-go-play-in-the-snow nodded and began moving forward again.

Where the fuck are we going?

We'd past everything approaching civilization - a gas station, a car dealership, and the highway. The only moving vehicle to pass us was a police car with it's siren blaring. Then we passed a few low buildings with no signs so I have no idea what the hell they were. Not that it mattered. Everything was closed.

Too fucking cold to be out here! Fucking idiot! I always just follow him, like some lame retard. God! I used to be the one everyone followed - I still would be if I got rid of snowboy! Just dump him, pick a club, and spend the night fucking someone hot. Instead of bottoming. He's not even all that hot! Well, he's cute in a he-man sort of way. But I can do better. Way better.

Someone hot. Someone who won't make me walk through a fucking blizzard in the woods….

I stopped.

We were in the woods. Thick, snow-covered trees lined both sides of the street. It slowed down the snowfall, but it acted as a wind tunnel. I probably would have been blown off my feet, if they hadn't been knee-deep in snow already.

Still, what the fuck kind of city planning goes from gas stations and hotels, to highway, to empty grass fields, to fucking forests - all in walking distance? When I get my ass back to Tokyo, even Godzilla won't get me to leave it again!

"HEY!"

I turned back toward my idiot. He was struggling pretty hard with the wind and the deep snow, but he was gesturing again.

OMG, we found civilization again.

A traffic light.

Ahead of us, I could now see that the trees ended as abruptly as they started. The snow was still falling way too heavily, but I could just make out the red turning to green.

Finally! I am so fucking cold, even the stop light looks warm.

I can't even feel my feet any more! Oh he is so gonna get it for this! Come on, snow is pretty. Asshole! Making me freeze my ass off just because he has some god damned fetish about parks. Just cheap dates, really. Just a way he can get out of taking me on real dates to cool places.

We haven't been to a club in forever. I can't even remember the last time I got wasted! And for what? So that the 'boy scout' can freeze my ass off for free?

What was he planning to do - hold my hand and find all the dead people? Did he want to freeze together in some weird romeo-and-juliet-esque suicide? It was a fluke that there were a pair of gloves in the pockets of the coat I brought with me, but they seemed to attract the ice instead of repelling it, and my hands were basically numb. I swear, as soon as I can feel my hands again, I'm going to wring his damn neck!

O.

M.

G.

There was a stop light. It was at an intersection, but with the trees gone, I could see that it was the crossroads of nowhere and nothing! Just white. White ground, white sky. To judge by the tire treads in the snow, there hadn't been a car through the light since the Showa Era.

What the hell? Is that just to tease? Ah-ha, you thought there was something here, but fooled you!

And why the fuck is it still snowing?! Enough already! I can't even walk anymore.

Although I could move somewhat if I stayed in the path Hiroto was dredging. But it was still impossible. The wind was blowing from all directions at once, it seemed. My pants were frozen and caked with as much of the un-fun white stuff as everything else around us. I was surprised that I had walked as far as I had.

I'm not even cold anymore. I'm too tired to be cold. Snow should not be so thick that you can sit on it.

Mr. 'It will be fun' yelled out something again, but I am so over this. I waved him on. He can go see the battle zone or whatever. I've seen enough white shit. Unless he has a stash of coke somewhere, I don't want to see jack or shit that's white again as long as I live.

"Ryuji?" Hiroto was standing next to me. I have no idea how, since it was too cold to even think anymore. "Can you stand?"

It was too cold to cuss him out. "Just...just go on." My throat froze as the icy wind tore at my open mouth. "I'll wait here."

"Never," Hiro said. "Come on."

He put his arm around my waist and pulled. My whole body ached, but somehow we were moving. Parks suck.

"Okay, I promise. No more parks," Hiroto breathed in my ear. For a moment, my ear was warm under his breath, but then it went icy cold again.

He moved his arm and I was sitting. The stop light was behind us but for the life of me, I could not remember passing it. Then Honda was banging.

"Hello?" He banged some more. A door. A building, hidden in all the white.

"The white house, I guess." I laughed.

"Ryu-chan?" Hiroto stopped banging for a minute, then swore. He started kicking and shouldering, and actually broke the door in.

Which was pretty impressive. For a boy scout.

Author's End Note:

Standard reviews welcome. Even if you don't feel comfortable commenting, I would deeply appreciate a ":-)", ":-l", or ":-(". I feel a bit alone on this one. From the stage, the lights are blinding and you don't know if anyone is watching if the audience is silent. Let me know you're out there, please. Thank You. SJ