Chapter 3 – Switch 2
'Rukawa-chan?'
Sendoh's voice remained merely an echo in Rukawa's messy room.
'Rukawa-chan?' Blinking cautiously, Sendoh tapped Rukawa's shoulder with the tip of his index finger. [Then shrinking, chibi-Sendoh moves tip-toe to the other corner of the room, and waits for an explosive reaction.]
No movement. Just the constant snore coming out of his mouth. And the drooling part of course. Sendoh was just thankful Rukawa wasn't on his car this time.
'Rukawa-chan…'
Sendoh had quite bad experiences with Rukawa, especially during the event of disturbing him from his precious sleep. On their first meeting after four years [which was in their current office room when Sendoh moved in], Rukawa almost threw Sendoh out of the window.
He couldn't of course. Sendoh was a lot more careful that Rukawa's past teachers. And was three centimeters taller than Rukawa [if that counted…].
Finally, Rukawa woke to the world of the living. First blinking at the bright sunlight…measuring up his surroundings [probably thinking 'where am I?'] then sitting up…head turning to Sendoh with that sleepyhead stare.
'You might want to clean yourself up Rukawa-chan,' Sendoh told him. 'We're leaving first thing in the morning. The boss by the way told me to sleep here for the night.'
'Nani?' Rukawa asked, scowling. The weird part was, Rukawa never seemed to resent the fact Sendoh was his assistant. He had agreed to almost all the company's plans of putting them together. Except maybe that part where Sendoh would be invading Rukawa's private life by going with him to London.
'Just in case you are wondering it's your dad who let me in,' Sendoh explained, dropping his baggage onto the floor and surveying the room for a place to settle in for the night.
'Fine,' Rukawa grumbled, motioning to the couch.
'The plane leaves at 8 am,' Sendoh said. 'You better rest. I'll wake you up just in case.'
*Since when was Sendoh my mother?* Rukawa asked himself, looking at Sendoh quizzically. Ignoring him, Rukawa went back to sleep.
*
* * *
London still looked the same. Same snow, same houses, same people…except they were a little older…
Rukawa noticed a girl sitting on the front porch of what used to be his old apartment when he was still living there. If he can recall it right, his parent had decided to take a winter vacation at London when he was about 8 or 9. He met this blond girl, and they became fast friends. For a month, they hung out together, just the two of them, and played together. Rukawa could still remember him throwing snowballs at her basketball-style.
And here she was, looking at someone else who was sleeping on the stairs of the apartment.
Then Rukawa realized it was himself sleeping there.
The girl tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't budge.
'Kaede? Kaede?'
Then to his horrification he whacked the girl straight on her face because she disrupted his sleep.
* * *
*
Rukawa blinked awake, rubbing his eyes off his sleep. 'What the…' The nightmare lingered in his thoughts. His face paled, his blood flowed cold, his throat ran dry…
The last thing he wanted to do was wham Nicole off her face.
Suddenly he felt irritated of his own narcolepticness…which he had never felt before.
Nicole unexpectedly felt as if she was the only girl he ever cared for.
*Cared for? Who am I kidding?* he mused to himself. He glanced at his clock. It read 6 am. At least the nightmare had its advantages. He woke up on time.
*
'Sendoh-chan,' Rukawa began, pensively.
'Yeah?'
They were already aboard their flight. It was past 8 am and the nimble sunshine streamed over from the windows of the plane. Wisps of clouds floated amid their plane and snowflakes speckled the glass panes.
'What do you think of hitting a girl?' asked Rukawa hesitantly. He did not know why the heck he even cared, much less ask, and of all people, Sendoh.
'I am already getting weirded by you lately Rukawa-chan,' Sendoh told him, his forehead creasing. He squinted at Rukawa and looked at him thoughtfully. 'For some strange reason you are not asleep,' he noticed. 'And asking me about girls.'
'Just answer my question,' Rukawa mumbled.
Sendoh sighed then shrugged. 'Well it's brute basically,' he replied in a matter-of-fact tone. 'But knowing you, it isn't. You make quite an exception to the brutality of the world. You have a very acceptable excuse for being so.' It was clear he was referring to Rukawa's narcolepticness.
'I see,' Rukawa said incoherently. 'Sendoh-chan, you won't mind me asking a favor from you now would you?' There was pure uncertainty in his tone.
Maybe Rukawa was reaching the normal adolescence at a late stage. Maybe he was a late bloomer. Maybe it was time for him to accept girls as legible species of the planet made to love---or care about at least. Maybe Mother Nature made a miracle happen. 'Huh?'
Something bizarre was going on. Obviously…
'Rukawa-chan?'
Sendoh's voice remained merely an echo in Rukawa's messy room.
'Rukawa-chan?' Blinking cautiously, Sendoh tapped Rukawa's shoulder with the tip of his index finger. [Then shrinking, chibi-Sendoh moves tip-toe to the other corner of the room, and waits for an explosive reaction.]
No movement. Just the constant snore coming out of his mouth. And the drooling part of course. Sendoh was just thankful Rukawa wasn't on his car this time.
'Rukawa-chan…'
Sendoh had quite bad experiences with Rukawa, especially during the event of disturbing him from his precious sleep. On their first meeting after four years [which was in their current office room when Sendoh moved in], Rukawa almost threw Sendoh out of the window.
He couldn't of course. Sendoh was a lot more careful that Rukawa's past teachers. And was three centimeters taller than Rukawa [if that counted…].
Finally, Rukawa woke to the world of the living. First blinking at the bright sunlight…measuring up his surroundings [probably thinking 'where am I?'] then sitting up…head turning to Sendoh with that sleepyhead stare.
'You might want to clean yourself up Rukawa-chan,' Sendoh told him. 'We're leaving first thing in the morning. The boss by the way told me to sleep here for the night.'
'Nani?' Rukawa asked, scowling. The weird part was, Rukawa never seemed to resent the fact Sendoh was his assistant. He had agreed to almost all the company's plans of putting them together. Except maybe that part where Sendoh would be invading Rukawa's private life by going with him to London.
'Just in case you are wondering it's your dad who let me in,' Sendoh explained, dropping his baggage onto the floor and surveying the room for a place to settle in for the night.
'Fine,' Rukawa grumbled, motioning to the couch.
'The plane leaves at 8 am,' Sendoh said. 'You better rest. I'll wake you up just in case.'
*Since when was Sendoh my mother?* Rukawa asked himself, looking at Sendoh quizzically. Ignoring him, Rukawa went back to sleep.
*
* * *
London still looked the same. Same snow, same houses, same people…except they were a little older…
Rukawa noticed a girl sitting on the front porch of what used to be his old apartment when he was still living there. If he can recall it right, his parent had decided to take a winter vacation at London when he was about 8 or 9. He met this blond girl, and they became fast friends. For a month, they hung out together, just the two of them, and played together. Rukawa could still remember him throwing snowballs at her basketball-style.
And here she was, looking at someone else who was sleeping on the stairs of the apartment.
Then Rukawa realized it was himself sleeping there.
The girl tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't budge.
'Kaede? Kaede?'
Then to his horrification he whacked the girl straight on her face because she disrupted his sleep.
* * *
*
Rukawa blinked awake, rubbing his eyes off his sleep. 'What the…' The nightmare lingered in his thoughts. His face paled, his blood flowed cold, his throat ran dry…
The last thing he wanted to do was wham Nicole off her face.
Suddenly he felt irritated of his own narcolepticness…which he had never felt before.
Nicole unexpectedly felt as if she was the only girl he ever cared for.
*Cared for? Who am I kidding?* he mused to himself. He glanced at his clock. It read 6 am. At least the nightmare had its advantages. He woke up on time.
*
'Sendoh-chan,' Rukawa began, pensively.
'Yeah?'
They were already aboard their flight. It was past 8 am and the nimble sunshine streamed over from the windows of the plane. Wisps of clouds floated amid their plane and snowflakes speckled the glass panes.
'What do you think of hitting a girl?' asked Rukawa hesitantly. He did not know why the heck he even cared, much less ask, and of all people, Sendoh.
'I am already getting weirded by you lately Rukawa-chan,' Sendoh told him, his forehead creasing. He squinted at Rukawa and looked at him thoughtfully. 'For some strange reason you are not asleep,' he noticed. 'And asking me about girls.'
'Just answer my question,' Rukawa mumbled.
Sendoh sighed then shrugged. 'Well it's brute basically,' he replied in a matter-of-fact tone. 'But knowing you, it isn't. You make quite an exception to the brutality of the world. You have a very acceptable excuse for being so.' It was clear he was referring to Rukawa's narcolepticness.
'I see,' Rukawa said incoherently. 'Sendoh-chan, you won't mind me asking a favor from you now would you?' There was pure uncertainty in his tone.
Maybe Rukawa was reaching the normal adolescence at a late stage. Maybe he was a late bloomer. Maybe it was time for him to accept girls as legible species of the planet made to love---or care about at least. Maybe Mother Nature made a miracle happen. 'Huh?'
Something bizarre was going on. Obviously…