Chapter 2.
As I sat on the wind-washed floor, I watched the other children play with the dragonflies hovering across the sky. I didn't know if I belonged with them since I was a new girl. On the first day, I proved myself that i had the spirit of a good person, but I think that it wasn't enough. I hugged my knees and sighed. It was boring all alone.
"Rukia."
I looked up. Renji was standing in front of me. He tried to act cool by crossing his arms, but seriously, he didn't look that cool. I laughed at this thought and he steamed.
"I only said Rukia! Stop laughing suddenly like that!"
"Alright. Alright. What is it Renji? You should playing with the others."
"That's my line, Rukia. You can't spend forever just sitting there like a duck. Come on," he said. He dragged me along onto the grass and shoved a string in my hand. "Take it. Tie it to a dragonfly when you catch one. It's sorta like a pet."
"Oh, okay. Though it seems...weird."
"Don't complain. come with me."
He grabbed my hand once again and we jumped out at a patch of dragonflies resting on leaves. I had trouble catching them and would often let it slip out of my fingers. How embarrassing. I stopped running and sat to catch my breath. I looked at the rest of them. They all caught at least one fly with such experience.
"Come on, everyone release them!" A boy shouted. The boys and girls let go of the dragonflies on their strings and they held them like kites. A girl came over to me and stared at my empty hand.
"Hey where's your dragonfly? You caught one didn't you? It's not that hard."
"I...I.."
"Rukia!" I turned around to see Renji and his pals rush over to me. "Hey hey, what, didn't you hear that kid. If you wanted your dragonfly back, you could've just told me! You shouldn't make me hold it for you for the whole day." Renji held out a dragonfly. "I wasn't able to catch one though. Damn, and I usually catch the most around here."
"Um, Renji..."
"Take it or leave it Rukia. If you don't, I'll take it for myself," Renji looked away.
"Oh, alright...thanks for holding it for me...but uh, thank you for helping me catch it in the first place, Renji." I took the end of the string and Renji smiled at me. "Nah, you caught it all by yourself... Hey girl, don't you have better things to do than to watch us?"
"Hmph, rude," the girl stuck up her nose and left. Renji held out a hand for me and dragged me like a doll again and placed me down next to the others. His pals ran after us too with dragonflies in hand.
"Well, fly it already."
I nodded and let go of the dragonfly's body. It floated up to the sky and danced around in circles. I looked at Renji and smiled. He smiled too.
"Thanks."
Renji puffed out his chest and blushed. "Just pay me back later, kay?"
"Alright."
Already Renji accepted me as a friend. How nice it was to finally meet friends of my own. Even though he isn't the type to express any kindness, he is kind, and proud of himself too. I looked up at the dragonfly. It was graceful and light. I wonder if I could be like that someday. If I had the ability to be free and graceful...
"Hey Renji..." I meekly turned around.
"Hm?"
"You didn't have to give me your dragonfly. It's yours."
"You'd look like a fool in front of that girl if you didn't catch any. It'll create a bad image to others. Well, everyone already knows me well, so you don't have to worry about me." Renji yawned.
"Do you want to share it at least?"
"Sure..." Renji grabbed a piece of the string and we flew it together. The dragonfly circled around our heads and would land on our heads often. We laughed and fell to the ground when we knocked our bodies against each other. The little guy flew away, dragging its string with it and we gasped, trying to get it back. We yelled for it to come back while chasing after its wings and eventually we fell to the ground, panting.
"Baka! Why did you knock against me! Now we don't have the dragonfly at all!" I yelled at him.
"You were the one who got all crazy, flying that thing. It takes experience to know how to fly them!"
"Oh it's just holding a string Renji!"
"Well it does take experience to even catch them in the first place!"
"We're talking about how it got freed; not how to catch them," I shouted.
"Well, it's your fault," Renji replied.
"Yours!"
"Yours!"
We spent the whole time walking back to the run down abode, shouting at each other and even spent half the night whispering insults to each other. I forgot who had the last say in this, but when we woke up, all was forgotten. I guess this became our way of bonding, always trying to prove ourselves to each other. I just did it because I wanted to have the last laugh and to be better than Renji, but little did I know that Renji argued with me because of another reason.
