Wonderland

The first time Niou ran away from home, he was twelve years old exactly. He had 2376 yen on him, 1500 of which came from his mother's wallet, and 500 from his sister's desk. He was missing for three days, sleeping in a playground two hours away from home by bus.

Nobody looked for him.

On his thirteenth birthday, Niou took the bus to the same playground to find bulldozers and diggers parked where trees were torn out of the ground from their roots. He sat in the loader of a tractor and rocked himself back and forth, ignoring the older kids hanging about, asking if he wanted buy a line, because this time Niou didn't even bother taking money with him.

He looked up to say no again when a shadow loomed over him, and found Yagyuu Hiroshi standing there.

"Why the fuck are you here?"

"You told me to come."

Niou scowled and then he remembered, in school the day before he had said to Yagyuu "I'm running away from home tomorrow, you wanna come along?". He didn't know why he said it but he did, and Yagyuu actually turned up like he would to a school friend's birthday party.

Niou slumped his shoulders, smirked, and held out his hand. "It's my birthday. Party with me."

Yagyuu didn't say anything as he took the hand in his own and helped the other boy up.

Niou wanted a hair cut. They took the JR to Harajuku and found a place at Meijidori that would bleach his hair white and cut it the way he wanted. It took three hours and Yagyuu paid for it without looking at the bill.

Studying his reflection in the mirror, Niou grinned and waved at himself. Yagyuu came to stand behind him and all he said was "you look like a hedgehog".

"I like it. Ever seen a white-haired hedgehog?"

"No, never."

They stole four cans of Asahi at FamilyMart. Yagyuu talked to the woman at the cashier whilst Niou bagged the beer and they walked out. When the woman noticed what was going on they ran for it, and they were gone before the woman got out of the store.

Under the waning sunlight they walked their way back to the destroyed playground. They got lost when Niou insisted to lead but Yagyuu knew the way, from Shibuya through Ebisu back to where they started and Niou wondered why since they didn't even live in Tokyo. At Ebisu Niou stopped by an accessory store and Yagyuu paid for a self-piercing kit. At the toilets Niou gave himself three earrings and one nose-ring.

"Heh." Niou smirked at the hand mirror he told Yagyuu to get him (without paying, he insisted). He looked cool.

"Does it itch?"

"Nah, it's cool."

The beer was warm, shaken and bubbling when Niou opened it, but it tasted bitter and good. Yagyuu ordered pizza delivery and explained four times that yes, he wanted it delivered to the loader of a tractor at the destroyed playground. To make sure the delivery would be made he paid upfront by credit card rather than later by cash. Niou laughed so hard the beer went up his nose. Yagyuu simply shrugged and pocketed his phone.

Pizza arrived half an hour later. Niou finished all of the beer by himself and fell asleep in Yagyuu's lap.

He woke four hours later and it was midnight. Yagyuu stretched his legs to get some life back into them. A boy not much older than them wandered over and asked if they wanted a trip.

Niou didn't say anything but Yagyuu paid. Slumping back into the metal of the loader Niou popped the pill into his mouth and let it melt on his tongue.

"Why are you here?"

"It's a birthday party isn't it?"

"Don't you have to go home?"

"Don't you?"

"No one knows I'm not there..."

"Then you don't have to."

"But I want someone to know!"

"I know."

"You know that I want someone to know, or you know that I'm not home!"

"Heh... Do you like my nose-ring?"

"It's nice."

"And my hair?"

"That too."

"But you said it's like a hedgehog!"

"I've never seen a hedgehog this colour."

"I'll be your white hedgehog if you come to my party again next year."

"Deal."

"You must come and look for me."

"I will."

"...Why are you here!"

Silence.

"Happy birthday Niou."

Yagyuu held Niou when the boy leaned back into him, and rocked him gently. When Niou came around he wouldn't remember anything he had said, but Yagyuu would remember to come again in exactly 364 days because a white hedgehog told him to.

-end-

note: There is a sequel to this story. It carries a MA/NC-17 rating and can be found in the "memories" section of the website listed in my bio.