DETAILS CHANGED IN LIGHT OF SEASON 3!!!
Greetings my loyal fans!
Random Fan: YOU'RE LATE!
Hey, I have my reasons! Anyway, in repsonse to everyone who reviewed...
Japanime Girl - I shall update soon. Like, as soon as I finish writing author notes and get to the "story" section.
deadinside72 - O.O; NOT THE MARSHMALLOWS! HERE'STHENEXTCHAPTER!
fictionfan911 - Thanks. I try my best.
SamandMax0569 - I guess I could make him 7. I mainly wanted to make him around the same age as Ricky, mostly to make them in the same class. Although, I have heard that both 6- and 7-year-olds can be in first grade. I, in fact, as 7 when I was in first grade.
katfish xX - MWAHAHAHAHA! BOW TO MY ALMIGHTY SKILLS OF WRITING INTERESTING THINGS!
Ricky: giggles You're weird!
I know.
Princess-RainbowRose - Wait no more, cause here is...
My Cousin, Ricky
Chapter 3: New Friends
Yes, it started out just like any other day at Kadic Academy... until a certain Ricky Affeber came to visit. Ulrich explained that his mother's sister's 6-year-old boy, from the United States, was there as a part of a foreign exchange program.
"But, I thought Mr. Delmas wasn't going to open an exchange program with America until next year," Jeremie pointed out.
"Oh, I'm not going to Kadic," said Ricky. "I'm going to a public school nearby called Pasteur Elementary School; obviously named after Louis Pasteur, that guy from the 1800's who invented pasteurization to kill bacteria in foods."
Now, if you saw a 7-year-old boy reciting what a famous guy of the 1800's did, with every indication that he knew what he was talking about, what would you do? It sure stunned Ulrich's friends.
Ricky grinned and asked, "What? You've never seen a 7-year-old boy genius before?" He clearly enjoyed the awe his intellect caused people.
Ulrich smiled, in spite of himself, and told his cousin, "Woah, easy there, Ricky. Remember the woman you nearly gave a heart attack?" The little boy gave a sheepish, slight smile as Ulrich explained, "Uncle Eugene and Aunt Mary say that the doctor's don't know exactly what happened. But, Ricky seemed to have some weird chemical disorder in his brain, a couple days after he was born, that--believe it or not--caused his brain to start developing a lot sooner and faster!
"We first started noticing the effects when he could read at the age of two! The disorder went away a couple of years later, but it had already done its work. My cousin is a genius."
Jeremie gaped and asked, "What are the odds?"
"8,367,286,904.15 to 1," blurted out Ricky. He shrugged and said, "I calculated the odds, once, for fun." He looked around at the awed kids and asked, "So, who are you guys?"
"Oh, I'm Jeremie," he said. "I'm a genius, too, but I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with a brain disorder."
"Nice to meet you, Jerry!" grinned Ricky, extending his hand to shake.
"Not Jerry, Jeremie!" he corrected.
"Forget it," said Ulrich. "He likes giving people nicknames."
"I'm Odd," said guess who.
Ricky giggled and said, "Can't argue with that."
Odd shook his head and said, "No, my name is Odd!"
"Tell me what it is and I'll decide that for myself!"
"He knows what you mean, Odd," Ulrich said, passing Ricky a stern look. "I told him about you guys at our last family reunion."
And then, Ricky turned his attention to the remaining person in the room, and his eyes and grin grew wide as he said, "And, that would make you..."
Ulrich buried his face in his hands. "Oh-no..."
"...COUSIN'S GIRLFRIEND!" Ricky squealed loudly.
"Patrick..." Ulrich grumbled. The little boy immediately shrank away. "He's usually never called by his real name," he explained to his friends. "That is, unless he's in trouble."
Yumi moaned, "Oh-no... not another Hiroki."
Ricky smiled. "Roki? Yeah! My new friend at school!"
FLASHBACK:
At Pasteur Elementary School, Ms. Curie was checking off names of students when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in," she said.
A little boy wearing a red t-shirt, with the American flag on it, walked into the room. "Hi, I'm Ricky Affeber," he said, handing Ms. Curie a slip of paper. "This is my foreign exchange partner's room, right?"
"Ah, why yes it is," Ms. Curie said with a smile, "You'll be sitting over there, Ricky, next to Hiroki Ishiyama."
Ishiyama... The word stuck in his head as he walked to his seat. He stared at the black-haired boy as he sat down, and Hiroki noticed his gaze. "What?"
"Pay attention, students," came the voice of the teacher, meaning that Ricky would have to tell him later. "We're working more on adding multi-digit numbers."
When the worksheet came his way, he gave it one good look, leaned his head back, and yawned. Ms. Curie noticed this and came over, whispering to him, "Just because you're a child prodigy doesn't mean you have to brag about it."
The said child prodigy shrugged. "I know. I try not to."
"There is a reason why you're still in grade school."
Ricky thought about this for a moment, and said, "Um, something about 'ma-tor-ity'... something like that."
The teacher sighed and said, "Finish this up and you'll have the rest of the time to yourself," then got up and went back to her desk.
Now, it was Hiroki staring at Ricky. As if just to throw his earlier comment back, Ricky hid a smile (well, he failed to hide it, actually), and asked, "What?"
Now lunchtime, Ricky walked out of line with a tray full of cafeteria food: a scoop of macaroni and cheese, a roll and butter, chicken nuggets, and a carton of chocolate milk. He noticed Hiroki sitting at one of the tables, not really sitting with anybody, and went to eat with him.
Hiroki looked up. "Oh, it's the child prodigy," he said, scooping up some of his mac and cheese. In mid-chew, he asked, "What's a 'prodigy'?"
Ricky smiled and said, "Oh, that means I'm really smart. You know, like a genius."
The Japanese boy smiled a little and said, "Oh, that's cool," before continuing to eat. "I see you love your country a lot."
Ricky grinned and replied, "What can I say? I'm a patriotic boy." He slurped on his milk as the same word echoed in his head: Ishiyama. When he couldn't take it any more, he asked, "Say, are you related to someone named Yumi?"
"Oh, you mean, my sister?" he asked. "Yeah, she used to go to this school, then she went to Kadic Academy with her boyfriend, Ulrich Stern... heh-heh... why do you ask?"
"Well, one of the best things about being in this country is my favorite cousin (he's my only cousin, but I love him all the same) who goes to Kadic, and he's none other than..."
Hiroki's eyes grew wide. "Ulrich... is your cousin? No, way!" he cried, grinning.
"I know," said Ricky, getting up in excitement. "I can't believe that Cousin's girlfriend is your sister!"
Hiroki got up in excitement as well. "And, I can't believe that my sister's boyfriend is your cousin!" He sat down, saying, "Man, pretty much everyone knows those two are supposed to be going out!"
As Ricky sat down, his smile faded as he asked, "So... why don't they get it?"
Hiroki thought for a moment and said, "Well, we'll just have to make them get it."
Ricky smiled and held up his milk carton. "Right. To my cousin and your sister!"
Hiroki held up his own milk carton. "To your cousin and my sister!"
And, with the tap of the two cartons, in toast, a new friendship was born.
RETURN TO THE PRESENT, NOW
"Hiroki... and Ricky... friends..." Yumi suddenly became light-headed and fainted on Ulrich's bed.
Ricky shrugged and asked, "Was it something I said?"