Picture Book
Raven: Hey, another story idea of mine that came from a manga. If you heard of the manga Tenchi Muyo, then you probably have seen this story before, with added features. If you haven't, then read on. Features Izumi and Kouji, yes Kouzumi, I'm a little too obsessed these days. Anyways, I'm not sure if this should be Drama because it's sort of sad when you think about it. This would probably take like 3 chapters, so I better make this quick, I have so much to do, I'm running for secretary at my school's Honor Roll Society, wish me luck! Summery sucks, I know.
Summery: Izumi is a girl who got paralyzed in a car accident, now she's in a wheel chair. One day, when her mom and she were taking a stroll, her wheel chair went out of control. She was later saved from her death by a boy named Kouji Minamoto. Kouji later on opens up to her, after hearing her dream of wanting to be a pitcher book author, at the same time trying to learn how to walk again, since there's a chance she might move on her feet once again if she tries harder. So Kouji would now do anything to help her out, but oh, is fate ever so kind. (remember, sarcasm used in that last 5 words)
"Talking"
'Thinking'
(Note)
Disclaimer: Yes, I do not own kouji and izumi, I don't even own Tokyo Pop or Viz Media, not even Shoneun Jump. If I did, you'll see me around the world! Then I wouldn't be stuck here writing fanfics!
Ch 1: Paralyzed Girl, Lonesome Boy
"Izumi, hang on!"
That's what I remembered. I remember, my dad screaming out for me to hold on for life, and then I heard cars screeching. And then, it happened….
I heard police sirens, the sound they were making, and the lights they were flashing. I also remembered, seeing blood and the pain in my waist. That's when it all went black.
Then, I heard these voices after being knocked out.
"Doctor, the child, she's awake! She's awake, hurry!"
Shadows came rushing into the room, trying my best to sit up again, I just couldn't. As if some kind of force was pulling my legs down so that they would remain on the bed, the pain, it hurt, I wanted it to stop, but I needed to see my dad.
"Please, Izumi, you have to stand still!" I heard my mom's soothing voice tell me. I turned to here, her eyes drenched with tears, and face nearly red form the sobbing. I cocked my head and asked her.
"Mommy, where's daddy? Is he alright?" By the way my mother, reacted to that question, she looked surprised then turned that face away form me. I saw more tears, this time streaming down her face.
"Izumi- daddy-is- daddy is taking a long, nap." She answered.
"Is he goanna wake up?" She didn't answer me when I asked that, so I just let it be.
"Mrs. Orimoto, may I have a word with you, in private?" The doctor asked, she nodded and walked over to the man by the door. I heard them whispering, and mumbling, I guess I was too young for me to hear them huh?
After waking up in a hospital bed, the next thing I knew, I'm riding in this wheel chair. I wasn't able to walk, turns out; my father and I were caught in a car accident. Some gang fight was nearby, and my dad and I were driving. A bunch of gang members were driving like maniacs, holding guns as they shot the other cars across, my dad told me to hide under the seat. Then, one of the cars hit us, causing my father and me to spin like an out of control ride and fall out of the road, causing us to crash into a nearby wall. The incident, caused me to be left paralyzed form the waist down to my feet. Also, the accident caused my father's death, he died protecting me form getting more injuries.
I sighed as I looked out the window of my house. My name's Izumi Orimoto, and I'm 11 years old. This incident happened when I was only 8, so I've been in this wheel chair for 3 years already. My life hasn't been that great so far.
See before that accident, when I was able to walk, I was picked on by other kids. Mainly because on how different I looked, it was unnatural for Japanese kids to have blonde hair, and I was the only one in class who had the color painted on my head. Most kids I know had either black or brown hair, the natural color for Asians. The reason I have blond hair is because of my Italian mother who married my Japanese father, yet kids don't care. They just started making fun of me and spreading rumors about me. Me being a snob and that I was very full of my self. Those rumors weren't true, and they knew it, they just thought it was funny to see someone suffer like that. To see someone cry helplessly with no friends to make her feel better, I guess that's what people enjoy, they enjoy seeing someone suffer. Not knowing, that hitting someone is not just the only way of hurting someone.
After the incident, I stayed secure in the house, not coming out, even for school. I stayed in my house for 2 whole years, not wanting to go out to feel the new world. Since I spent most of my time in doors, I painted a lot, now I'm an artist. I even painted my very own pitchers for a pitcher book for young girls. My mom was so proud of me, that she showed it to an editor. That editor loved how great my skills were, and promised that if I can make another pitcher book, it would get to entered intoa pitcher book contest.I'm so close to living my dream of being noticed for who I am, so when the editor told me about the picture book, I started going back to school. I wasn't minding a thing they said, I was just so proud of myself, I was actually goanna get my art published in a pitcher book, and people will finally see the real Izumi.
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Morning has arrived in the city of Okayama, as two people take a stroll across Korakuen, one of Japans three most beautiful gardens. A young girl looked blissfully at the beautiful scenery of the lavish garden, she came from the city of Tokyo, and most of the time only seen the top of buildings covering the blue cotton filled sky. She was happy that she at least came and visited the beautiful garden. Flowers were still in their bud forms, but some were beginning to blossom, showing their petals to the world, a sign that spring was arriving soon. Beautiful ponds, rivers, and mini waterfalls flowed around the area, as you see little ducks gliding along the water. The girl smiled, the only thing that made her a little upset, was that there were no cherry blossoms in bloom. That was because it wasn't time for them to start revealing their beauty.
"Hey mom," The girl asked the women who was helping her move around in her wheel chair by pushing it for her. She was wearing a purple ruffled skirt with an indigo vest over a white short-sleeved shirt with ruffled sleeves. Her long blonde hair was down and the right side was held by an indigo clip with a purple butterfly jewel on it. Since she didn't walk often, she wore indigo slip on shoes.
"Yes, Izumi, what is it?" She asked her daughter.
"You think we can stay here until the cherry blossoms bloom, it might be only 6 weeks, maybe shorter!" Izumi asked. Her mom shook her head, "I'm sorry Izumi, I'm only here for business, and we'll be here for the next 4 weeks." Izumi sighed sadly; she really wanted to see the cherry blossoms that were in the garden, she was sure they were a lot prettier then the ones in the city.
"Uh-oh, Izumi," She looked to the direction here mom was looking at, there stood an up-hill road.
"You want to go on, Izumi, or should we just turn back and go back to our hotel?"
"Don't worry mom, I want to see the rest of the garden, I may be able to push myself up." Izumi said reassuringly, as she put her hands on the wheels. She was stopped by her mom who put her hand of Izumi's.
"Don't push yourself dear, I can push you up it," Her mom grabbed the handles and started pushing her up the up hill. The hill was high, but the mom still kept going. When they reached the top, Izumi's mom panted a little.
"Hey mom, I'll take it from here." Izumi said worriedly.
"Don't worry, I could use the exercise!" Her mom said with her care-free styled voice and smile. Izumi looked around, as she tried to put on the breaks, "Wow, the hill sure is steep." Suddenly, the wheels started moving, and then Izumi's wheel chair suddenly rode down hill.
"Izumi, what happened?" Her mom screamed out as she ran after her daughter.
"THE-THE-THE BREAKS-THEY'RE BROKEN-I-I-I CAN'T STOP!" Izumi screamed out at the top of her lungs. She was afraid, frightened that this would be her end if she doesn't stop. The wheel chair kept on rolling down hill, Izumi tried to see if it would stop if she'd turn, but it didn't help. Out in front of her, was a ledge, the trail turns right by the ledge. Izumi tried to move the chair for dear life, but now, all she could do was scream.
"SOMEBODY HELP ME, PLEASE, IS ANYBODY THERE?"
"What was that?" A boy wondered, the boy was sitting on a branch in a tree that was located in a forest near the ledge. He looked through the leaves, and saw Izumi come driving down the down-hill, she was goanna fall off the ledge, and she couldn't turn.
"Oh-no, is that girl insane or something?" He asked himself, he quickly jumped off the tree's branch and landed on his feet onto the ground. He quickly ran as fast as he can toward the ledge.
"SOMBODY HE-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP, I NEED HELP, PLEASE!" Izumi screamed one last time, before being thrown off the cliff; she fell out off the wheel chair as she fell down.
'I don't want to die, I don't want to die. I don't want to leave my mom all alone' she thought, tears flowing down her face. The boy came rushing too her, he quickly jumped and caught her before she fell. The wheel chair broke as it hit the ground, as the two rolled onto the ground. When they stopped, the boy was on top of her.
"Am I dead?" She peeped out, keeping her eyes closed.
"If you were dead, why would you still be talking?" She heard a lovely voice say. She shot her eyes open, there she saw the cutest boy she had ever seen. He had sapphire blue eyes, and long black hair that was tied in a ponytail. He was wearing black bandanna with sliver tiger stripes, black sleeveless, a zipped up hooded grey jacket, black pants, black shoes, and white socks. He had a cute smirk on his face as he looked at her, Izumi blushed. She quickly turned her head toward the wheel chair, one of the wheels were broken, an armrest chipped off, and a wheel feel off.
"Oh-no," She quickly pushed the boy off of her.
"Jeez, you sure are thankful." He said sarcastically.
"Oh god, my wheel chair, now what am I goanna do?" She tried to stand up, but the pain in her waist and her legs prevented her form doing so, causing her to drop the ground, but the boy was able to catch her.
"Hey you okay, are you paralyzed or something?" he asked, looking at her.
"Oh gee, then I wouldn't need a wheel chair, now, would I?" She asked with sarcasm.
"Hey, if it wasn't for me, that wheel chair of yours could have been you." He answered.
"Well yeah," She looked down, "thanks for doing that, I owe you my life." She raised her head and smiled at him. He looked at her.
"Welcome, I guess,"
"Izumi, are you down there?" They looked up to see Izumi's mom calling.
"I'm right here mom, I'm okay!" Izumi called back.
"Oh thank the heavens," Her mom sighed in relief.
"I'll try to get to you!" She turned to the boy," Hey, do you know a path to get up there?" She pointed to the ledge were her mother was standing.
"Yeah," He bent right in front of her, "Get on, I'll carry you."
"What, but I couldn't, I mean-"
"Look, you can barely stand for 3 seconds and your wheel chair is busted, what choice do you have?" Izumi knew he was pointing out the obvious, so she put her arms around his neck, as his arms grasped under her knees. He slowly got up; she was light, which was a good thing. They started walking down a path located under the shade of leafless trees.
"These are cherry blossom trees; it's pretty obvious they're not in full bloom yet, but they will be in a few weeks or so." He pointed out, "I like coming here once in a while, to check out the cherry blossoms."
"Wow, you know a lot about this place, don't you?" Izumi asked, blushing a little by their position.
"Well, you can say it's like my backyard. I don't really have anyone to talk to around here, so I come outside often."
"You live here?" He nodded, "A temple, my grandfather is the priest."
"Oh….By the way, I didn't get your name." Izumi asked.
"Names Kouji, Kouji Minamoto."
"Minamoto, you're a descendant of one of Japan's greatest warriors?"
"Yeah, my grandfather teaches me kendo once in a while. I'm pretty good."
"Oh…that's cool" A long silence dwelled on the two, as they walked across the trail. Kouji wasn't used to having conversations with other people. He only knew how to talk to them about the garden and who he was, other conversations he'll try to avoid.
"Hey Kouji,"
"Hm?"
"Why do you live with your grandfather?" Kouji didn't want to tell her since he figured she wouldn't really understand, yet something in his heart told him to tell her.
"My….parents died…"
"Oh," Now Izumi felt a little guilty for asking, "What happened?"
"Well…." He left a long pause.
"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want, I don't want to make you remember or anything."
"Don't worry about it, not like I care. People live a life, and die one time or another; it's just the way this world is. Everything dies, and there are some people left who want to remember and some people who don't. No big whoop."
"But…" Izumi stopped saying anything and looked to the side; she didn't want to cause him any trouble, so kept silent, causing no sound to pass by them again. Kouji looked at her, turning his head slightly.
"Hey, about your wheel chair, I could fix it for you, if you want me too."
"What, you can fix it?"
"Yeah, I need to have a hobby, don't I?"
"Yeah-but- It would be just another burden too you, I don't want to make you do something that you don't want to do!"
"If I didn't want to do it, do you think I'll be even asking if I could fix it for you?" Izumi blushed form embarrassment.
"You right…I'll have to check on my mom about that." After a few more minutes, they made it to a small uphill trail that led to the trail a few blocks away from the ledge.
"Izumi, you're alright!" They turned to see Izumi's mom running toward them, she stopped, slowly catching her breath, her eyes almost to tears.
"I thought I lost you for sure back there," She gasped, "Izumi, your wheel chair, were-"
"It got broken when I fell off the ledge, this is Kouji, he saved my life, and he even offered to fix my wheel chair for us!" Kouji grunted a little.
"Domo-Arigato, Kouji-san, how could I ever repay you, Izumi is the only person left who is important to my life?" Her mom thanked gratefully.
"Look, I don't really make a big deal about these things; I rarely get to do them anyways. I'll just fix the wheel chair for you, that's that!" He answered
"How long will it take you to get it fixed?" The woman asked.
"Matters on the parts I have and the time I take. The only ting that was busted was the wheels and one of the armrests, shouldn't take long, I could just use one of my old bike wheels." Kouji looked at Izumi then at her mom, "Hey, you think you'll be able to carry her?"
"Are you saying I'm heavy?" Izumi gritted her teeth a little a vein popping at the side of her head.
"I didn't mean it like that!"
"Now-now, this is supposed to be a peaceful place, remember? Don't worry Kouji, I'll be able to handle her." Kouji put Izumi into her mother's arms so she will be able to carry her, princess style I guess.
"Hey Kouji, you think I can come over and check on the wheel chair?" Izumi asked.
"How can you, you can't even walk?"
"I could just ask my mom to carry me here!"
"That's too much of a burden!"
"Then I'll ask someone to carry me here!"
"Not like someone can get used to carrying a girl for an hour every day!"
"Then I'll stay in the temple with you and your grandfather!" Kouji almost fell when he heard that, "Do you have an answer for everything?" He asked her. She stuck her tongue out at him like a child, "Of course, everything has an answer!"
"Now-now, this is supposed to be a peaceful place! Izumi, maybe you can stay with them tomorrow, lets give Kouji-san's grandfather some time to think about it." Her mom explained. "Fine..."
'Tomorrow's going to be a long day then…' Kouji thought.
"Alright, see yah tomorrow, Kouji." Izumi leaned over and gave Kouji and quick peck on the cheek. He froze a little, with a blush plastered on his face. She moved her face away form his and giggled at his expression, "That's for saying I'm fat!" That's when Izumi's mom started to walk away with her.
"Hey, I didn't mean it that way, didn't I tell you?" Kouji yelled after her. She giggled some more. 'I guess this is what they call young love, too bad Izumi will only stay with him for only a few weeks, and I don't think Kouji knows his way that well around the city.' Her mom thought.
When they were gone, Kouji sighed, and touched his cheek, "God, that girl can be so annoying. I can't believe I'm meeting her tomorrow, and she might even stay with me. Gramps can't resist having a cute girl stay in our house!"
'Wait, did I just call her cute?' Kouji thought, he wanted to slap himself now, till he remembered the kiss. 'Slight kiss on the cheek, so what, it's not like she's goanna kiss me ever again.' Kouji sighed and removed those thoughts form his head. He started walking back to the temple, thinking on how he will tell his grandpa a still let him keep sane.
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At the hotel, Izumi was at a desk, painting pictures on a piece of paper. A few more piles were by her side, blank were on her left, and painted ones were at her right. If you looked over your shoulder, you can see her painting a picture of a girl looking out the window of her bedroom, dressed in a night gown.
"Kouji seems like a nice guy, I hope we become friends, he's the first person to ever be THAT nice to me, who is outside of my family." Izumi told herself, finishing the picture. She put it over to the side to dry, and then started a new one on a blank sheet. She giggled to herself, "Soon, my paintings will be well known when the editor sees this. People will finally recognize me for an actual person form the inside."
After a few more hours of painting, Izumi fell asleep on her desk, good thing she put the pitcher and paint aside before she went to bed. Izumi's mom picked her up form the chair, making sure not to wake her up, and carried her over to her bed. She placed her head on the pillow and her body on the sheets before covering her body with the green covers. She walked over to her desk, and picked up the picture she was working before she fell asleep, it had the girl in the nightgown looking surprised as a young man came climbing up her window. Her mom smiled, on how the boy resembled Kouji, minus that he had shorter hair. She put down the picture and went to go and change so that she'll be able to go to bed. Tomorrow, she's going to make sure Izumi will get her walking ability back, with the help from Kouji of course.
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Raven: Yes I know, first chapter sucks, 2nd Chapter, is when Izumi is learning how to walk again. I hope you guys like the chapter, R AND R PLEASE! It's almost summer break at my school, maybe about 2 or 3 weeks left, so I probably get time to finish of "My life as a Hero" and this story, after I finish my art and guitar lessons.
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