Domino City. That is where I live now.
Honesty, what kind of moron would name a place Domino? It may mean something in Japanese but if it does I don't know it.
The Domino High School is where I go to school now. From the hordes of students milling about on the courtyard I would have to guess that I have come reasonably early. I look around, hoping to maybe find someone that I can become friends with, that I can hang out with, that knows English.
Luckily for me, I do know a good amount of Japanese, so I can hold a decent conversation if need be. I know Konichiwa, and Moshi Moshi, and Ariado.
Wait! Ariado is Italian! Shit.
This is going to be a long day....
I walk through the crowd. Nobody really notices me. I guess since there are so many people here that they wouldn't know a new person from an old one. This may be good; this may also be bad. Two sides of a coin.
Now I am getting philosophical again, I think. I should talk like a normal human being if I want to make friends.
'But do I want to make friends?' the left side of my mind asks. It is a rhetorical question, because it comes right back with, 'Friends are overrated. They leave you when you need them.'
'Not good friends,' my right half says to my left half. 'Good friends will stay with you forever.'
'Who is a good friend anymore?' Says my left half. 'The world has changed since we used you last, Righty.'
"Shut up," I say to both sides of my brain. "You are both wrong. Friends are useful, but there are no good ones anymore. Get over it and work together for once."
'No!' They say together. 'Make us!'
"Don't worry," I mutter to them. "I will."
A couple people are staring at me, wondering why I am talking to myself. It will probably just make me look weirder if I actually told them why, so I just walk away.
'There go your friends,' says my left half. My right half gives it a dirty look but decides not to argue.
Ignoring them, I make my way over to a set of monkey bars and climb up on top of them. I wonder why there is a set of monkey bars in a High School courtyard, but I am sure that it is one of those things that will make your head explode if you think about them too much.
***
From high atop my monkey bar throne I see all. I see all of the little people down there and I can categorize them into groups. There are 47 geeks, 118 jocks, 29 cheerleaders, 281 preps, 3 goths, 34 guys that get beaten up almost every day, 16 bullies, 6 guys that defend the kids that get beaten up every day, 29 wise guys, 13 guys that really are wise, 3 girls that really are wise, 5 loners, a handsome, silent one, 923 people that can't be put into categories, and one Kaiba.
Kaiba was standing off by himself, looking at the crowd of others with a disgusted look on his face. So this was Seto Kaiba, my dad's boss. I wonder again if I should tell my father about this.
Perhaps it is a story best kept for another day, I think. My two halves agree with me for once.
"Hello!"
A voice below me startles me and I almost lose my balance. The voice belongs to a boy that I estimate to be just taller than I am. He has cream- colored hair and chocolate eyes and a beautiful accent. His clothes are clean and put on neatly and he has the air of a gentleman.
I am totally in love.
I can't remember the last time I have had a crush this strong, perhaps I never have. It feels different than I thought it would. I thought it would be more romantic than this.
Hell, I thought I'd be able to speak.
'Say something, woman!' Both sides of my brain scream at me. For a fleeting moment I feel smug because I got them to agree on something, but that passes very quickly.
"Um..." I stutter.
Why will my mouth not work? Say Hello! HELLO! It's not that hard, Raven!
"Hello," I say, finally. It does not come out like I want it to, though. It comes out more like "ailo" than "Hello". Despite this, he laughs.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," I say. At least now I can talk correctly.
"What's your name?" he asks. "You look new."
"How could you tell?"
He shrugs. "I don't know. Most of the girls around here hang around each other. Like in packs, or something."
"Those kind of people scare me."
Again, he laughs. I think I can trace his accent now. It's a mix of Irish and British. Very creamy, like his hair. and his eyes. He reminds me of marshmallows.
'You are ridiculous,' says my left brain. 'It is very disturbing, comparing a boy to marshmallows.'
'You are right,' says my right brain to my left. 'I think he is more like chocolate marshmallows.'
I concur, I say to my right brain. My right brain smiles smugly at my left.
The boy interrupts my train of thought.
"So. you didn't tell me your name."
"Oh." I look at the boy and am once again amazed at how the gods could create such a beautiful person.
"My name's Raven."
"Ryou. People used to call me Bakura."
"So what do people call you now?"
He stares at me blankly, until I realize the obvious.
"Oh!" I cry. My left brain was screaming at my stupidity. "Ryou is your NAME!"
"Yes..." he says slowly. "It is."
"I'm sorry," I say, my face burning up. "I thought. never mind, I'm not thinking well today."
"That happens."
I am surprised that he has not run away screaming by now. That is what I would expect a normal person to do. Maybe I am masking my weirdness very well. Maybe he talks to himself like I do.
Probably not, though. It's most likely the first scenario.
***
In the lower grades, there is a ritual to making friends. First, you meet someone. Then, you talk about things. If you are not immediately repulsed by them, you ask the magic question, "Do you want to be my friend?" If all goes well, you are then friends, at least for a couple months.
Now, as we are older, it becomes so much harder to become friends, though you will probably only keep them for the same amount of time. You have to talk, go places, maybe sleep over a bit. And then if you do not get sick of each other you will become 'friends'.
Why do we outgrow the need to ask people to be our friends? It is no more immature than giggling about something that a person did in class, and it is much more sincere. No, it is not the immaturity of it; it is the innocence of that phrase, and as we grow our pride becomes such that innocence is a thing for little children, and is below our standards of living. We all try to outgrow it, but we long for it at some point.
***
"Do you want to be my friend?" Ryou asks.
I understand, now. I know that he really is like me, he thinks to himself on different levels and has arguments with his mind and reads Greek tragedies though he doesn't understand them. That is why I think he is beautiful, because he is what I am but also what I want to be.
It is like the feeling when you put the last piece of a puzzle that you have been working on for a very long time into its place, and the picture is more beautiful than the one on the box. That is how I feel right now, and I hope it does not end. I do not know if I am in love or if I have a friend but whatever it is it is wonderful.
"Yeah," I say. My mind is not arguing with me, for once, and it is quiet. I feel nobody else, I am not troubled by anyone else's feelings. I am just here and I think it may not be such a bad day after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey, I finally did it! I finished this stupid chapter , even though it took me a good five hours to do. I'm sorry that my chapters are so short but there really is only so much I can do, you know? I'll get the next chapter up very soon, I promise!
Cheers,
Khani
Honesty, what kind of moron would name a place Domino? It may mean something in Japanese but if it does I don't know it.
The Domino High School is where I go to school now. From the hordes of students milling about on the courtyard I would have to guess that I have come reasonably early. I look around, hoping to maybe find someone that I can become friends with, that I can hang out with, that knows English.
Luckily for me, I do know a good amount of Japanese, so I can hold a decent conversation if need be. I know Konichiwa, and Moshi Moshi, and Ariado.
Wait! Ariado is Italian! Shit.
This is going to be a long day....
I walk through the crowd. Nobody really notices me. I guess since there are so many people here that they wouldn't know a new person from an old one. This may be good; this may also be bad. Two sides of a coin.
Now I am getting philosophical again, I think. I should talk like a normal human being if I want to make friends.
'But do I want to make friends?' the left side of my mind asks. It is a rhetorical question, because it comes right back with, 'Friends are overrated. They leave you when you need them.'
'Not good friends,' my right half says to my left half. 'Good friends will stay with you forever.'
'Who is a good friend anymore?' Says my left half. 'The world has changed since we used you last, Righty.'
"Shut up," I say to both sides of my brain. "You are both wrong. Friends are useful, but there are no good ones anymore. Get over it and work together for once."
'No!' They say together. 'Make us!'
"Don't worry," I mutter to them. "I will."
A couple people are staring at me, wondering why I am talking to myself. It will probably just make me look weirder if I actually told them why, so I just walk away.
'There go your friends,' says my left half. My right half gives it a dirty look but decides not to argue.
Ignoring them, I make my way over to a set of monkey bars and climb up on top of them. I wonder why there is a set of monkey bars in a High School courtyard, but I am sure that it is one of those things that will make your head explode if you think about them too much.
***
From high atop my monkey bar throne I see all. I see all of the little people down there and I can categorize them into groups. There are 47 geeks, 118 jocks, 29 cheerleaders, 281 preps, 3 goths, 34 guys that get beaten up almost every day, 16 bullies, 6 guys that defend the kids that get beaten up every day, 29 wise guys, 13 guys that really are wise, 3 girls that really are wise, 5 loners, a handsome, silent one, 923 people that can't be put into categories, and one Kaiba.
Kaiba was standing off by himself, looking at the crowd of others with a disgusted look on his face. So this was Seto Kaiba, my dad's boss. I wonder again if I should tell my father about this.
Perhaps it is a story best kept for another day, I think. My two halves agree with me for once.
"Hello!"
A voice below me startles me and I almost lose my balance. The voice belongs to a boy that I estimate to be just taller than I am. He has cream- colored hair and chocolate eyes and a beautiful accent. His clothes are clean and put on neatly and he has the air of a gentleman.
I am totally in love.
I can't remember the last time I have had a crush this strong, perhaps I never have. It feels different than I thought it would. I thought it would be more romantic than this.
Hell, I thought I'd be able to speak.
'Say something, woman!' Both sides of my brain scream at me. For a fleeting moment I feel smug because I got them to agree on something, but that passes very quickly.
"Um..." I stutter.
Why will my mouth not work? Say Hello! HELLO! It's not that hard, Raven!
"Hello," I say, finally. It does not come out like I want it to, though. It comes out more like "ailo" than "Hello". Despite this, he laughs.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," I say. At least now I can talk correctly.
"What's your name?" he asks. "You look new."
"How could you tell?"
He shrugs. "I don't know. Most of the girls around here hang around each other. Like in packs, or something."
"Those kind of people scare me."
Again, he laughs. I think I can trace his accent now. It's a mix of Irish and British. Very creamy, like his hair. and his eyes. He reminds me of marshmallows.
'You are ridiculous,' says my left brain. 'It is very disturbing, comparing a boy to marshmallows.'
'You are right,' says my right brain to my left. 'I think he is more like chocolate marshmallows.'
I concur, I say to my right brain. My right brain smiles smugly at my left.
The boy interrupts my train of thought.
"So. you didn't tell me your name."
"Oh." I look at the boy and am once again amazed at how the gods could create such a beautiful person.
"My name's Raven."
"Ryou. People used to call me Bakura."
"So what do people call you now?"
He stares at me blankly, until I realize the obvious.
"Oh!" I cry. My left brain was screaming at my stupidity. "Ryou is your NAME!"
"Yes..." he says slowly. "It is."
"I'm sorry," I say, my face burning up. "I thought. never mind, I'm not thinking well today."
"That happens."
I am surprised that he has not run away screaming by now. That is what I would expect a normal person to do. Maybe I am masking my weirdness very well. Maybe he talks to himself like I do.
Probably not, though. It's most likely the first scenario.
***
In the lower grades, there is a ritual to making friends. First, you meet someone. Then, you talk about things. If you are not immediately repulsed by them, you ask the magic question, "Do you want to be my friend?" If all goes well, you are then friends, at least for a couple months.
Now, as we are older, it becomes so much harder to become friends, though you will probably only keep them for the same amount of time. You have to talk, go places, maybe sleep over a bit. And then if you do not get sick of each other you will become 'friends'.
Why do we outgrow the need to ask people to be our friends? It is no more immature than giggling about something that a person did in class, and it is much more sincere. No, it is not the immaturity of it; it is the innocence of that phrase, and as we grow our pride becomes such that innocence is a thing for little children, and is below our standards of living. We all try to outgrow it, but we long for it at some point.
***
"Do you want to be my friend?" Ryou asks.
I understand, now. I know that he really is like me, he thinks to himself on different levels and has arguments with his mind and reads Greek tragedies though he doesn't understand them. That is why I think he is beautiful, because he is what I am but also what I want to be.
It is like the feeling when you put the last piece of a puzzle that you have been working on for a very long time into its place, and the picture is more beautiful than the one on the box. That is how I feel right now, and I hope it does not end. I do not know if I am in love or if I have a friend but whatever it is it is wonderful.
"Yeah," I say. My mind is not arguing with me, for once, and it is quiet. I feel nobody else, I am not troubled by anyone else's feelings. I am just here and I think it may not be such a bad day after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey, I finally did it! I finished this stupid chapter , even though it took me a good five hours to do. I'm sorry that my chapters are so short but there really is only so much I can do, you know? I'll get the next chapter up very soon, I promise!
Cheers,
Khani