Origins- PART VII
The next day Cye absently kneaded the dough that he'd started the day before as Kento's words continued to run through his head. He'd been so flustered by the whole thing that when he'd gone home after school, he'd cooked up a storm for dinner. The kitchen had been a disaster area afterwards, but Cye hadn't cared. All the cooking and cleaning had given him time to think.
Man, that was something else, Cye thought. Kento was trying to be nice, but I could tell that he was pretty ticked off. Cye threw a bit more flour into the dough. I suppose he was right though. I shouldn't have said some of that stuff. But then again, Rowen shouldn't have said what he did either.
Cye began to knead harder. It's just that if Rowen weren't such a damned asshole to me, this wouldn't be a problem. Cye's thoughts came out in waves now that the dam had been broken. The kneading grew with his contemplation.
What the hell is his problem anyway? Cye silently demanded. I'm the one who moved practically half way around the world to a completely different culture. Why is it my fault that Kento decided to be friendly? Why is it automatically expected that I have to be the mature one? Why? "Ow!"
Cye snatched his hand away from the dough and tenderly rubbed the heel of his hand. "What the hell was that?" he muttered as he poked the dough. There seemed to be a large lump in the dough, making Cye wonder why he hadn't felt it before. But he shrugged it off, folded the dough and continued to knead.
Now where was I, he thought. Oh yeah. Rowen's attitude problem. He just doesn't make any sense. You'd think that, having only one friend, he'd jump at the chance to make another, but nooo, he just - "Ow!" he yelped slightly louder than before. The person at the next table threw him a questioning glance, but Cye only gave a half-hearted shrug in return.
Turning back to his dough, Cye poked at the lump again. That should have gone away, he thought. How frustrating.
Cye took up his kneading yet again. Everything's so frustrating right now, his thoughts picking up right where'd they'd left off. Kento's mad at me, Rowen hates me for whatever reason, and I actually skipped a class yesterday. Granted, Kento fixed it that we were both down in the nurse's office with his friend that works in there, but even so...
Cye sighed and rubbed his forehead with the back of his wrist. I suppose it could worse, he figured. I could actually be Rowen. One friend, no real family, not much of a happy future to look forward to. I guess I'll just have to trust that Kento knows what he's doing and it'll all sort itself out.
Arrrgghh! Cye kept his yelp under control this time.
Okay, Cye thought, taking a new approach, this lump has got to come out. He picked the lump out of the dough and was about to throw it out when he realized that it was not a pure lump of dough, but some small object covered in dough.
Cye frowned. That's odd, he thought. What could have gotten in there? Taking a quick glance around the room, he left his dough and meandered over to the sink.
Cye held the lump under some running water and started to rub the dough off. He had gotten almost down to the object when a bright light flashed up from his hands and then was gone.
Panicking, Cye hid the lump in his hands. He glanced up to make sure no one else had seen the light. A couple of people had looked his way so Cye threw them a lame shrug and smile, and turned back to the lump.
What the hell was that, he thought. He slowly opened his shaking hands and breathed a sigh of relief when no strange lights came out. He held the lump under the water again and cleaned off the rest of the dough.
Cye stared at the object for a long moment. How, he wondered, did a blue marble, of all things, get into my dough? He fingered the marble, turning it over in his hands. I wonder if it belongs to anyone, he thought. Of course, anyone who could lose this beautiful marble in my dough must not want it very badly. It almost seems like it's pulsating. Must be a trick of the light... Hey, there's something etched in here.
Cye peered more closely at the marble. It's a kanji, he thought. Shin. Trust. Hmm...
"... Mr. Mouri ..."
Startled, Cye turned around. "Huh? What? Oh, Ms. Yakimo, um..."
"For the fifth time Mr. Mouri, are you just going to stand there daydreaming while the water's running, or are you going to shut it off?"
Cye quickly shut the water off as he furtively shoved the marble in his pocket.
"Good. Now you'd better start cleaning up because the bell's going to ring soon. You don't want to be late to class," she added as she walked back to her desk.
"No ma'am," Cye murmured as he hurried back to his dough. I most certainly don't want to be late to History, he added silently.