THANKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSS EVERYONEE WHO REVIEWED! I FEEL SO HAPPY!thank you! Please enjoy this all new chapter :)
The story about a girl who taught a boy a little something called hope...
C R O S S
Chapter F I V E
Push
"This is my favorite place to go...it's just so beautiful and full of life! ...What do you think Kyo-kun?"
The sun caressed both of their faces as they stood face to face out in the church gardens. The light poured translucently on top of the perfeclty manicured lawn and scattered flowers that bloomed in bundles underneath huge oak treess that swayed to the sound of the whispering winds. Tohru was grinning under the shining light, her eyes dancing as she watched Kyo's face twist into a sudden frown as he commented with annoyance,
"There are too many damn flowers!"
She laughed behind her hands as she gave him a timid look, saying in a small voice,
"I'm... glad that you came by today. It really meant a lot."
His whole face burned as he crossed his arms over his chest, huffing out,
"Well, that was just a fluke! It won't happen again!"
She didn't plead for him to go to church every Sunday, nor did she frown with disappointment; instead, she smiled widely at him, and said,
"It's okay. You came, and that's all that matters."
Kyo looked away in embarrassment, burning a spot in the dirt path beneath his red and white ratty sneakers that stared back up at him. Tohru clasped her hands behind her, asking happily,
"So do you live around the neighborhood?"
He looked upwards at the shifting clouds, ruffling the back of his hair with his fingers as he muttered out,
"Yeah... just some crappy apartment around here."
Her excitement bubbled over as she stepped forward,
"Wow! You have your own house! That's so independent of you!"
I don't choose to live alone...
Kyo shrugged in reply, quickly veering the conversation into another direction,
"So you have a job?"
Her head bobbed up and down energetically as she exclaimed with a silly grin,
"Yes! I work at this building a few blocks down! I clean and do other things... it's really fun!"
Kyo smirked and retorted,
"Only you would think that labor was fun."
Tohru blushed slightly as she laughed tersely and then returned the same question he had asked before,
"Do you work too?"
Kyo's nod was more dull and forced as he drawled out slowly,
"Yeah...as a bartender at some sleazy old bar."
"That sounds exciting!"
"It's not."
She placed a graceful finger to the bottom of her chin, asking thoughtfully,
"So what do you do in your free time if you have no school? Any hobbies?"
Drinking? Does that qualify?
A figment of memory from his past suddenly burst to the surface of his mind again, reminding him of his one and only passion that he had, making Kyo sigh aloud and reply breezily,
"Uh... I guess... that I've always wanted to be a martial artist when I was younger, but I never really pursued it. ...It sounds stupid to tell a girl, doesn't it?"
"Oh no! Kyo-kun, that's so terrible! Everyone should have a chance to live out their dreams..."
Kyo just shrugged nonchalantly and stuffed his hands in his pocket, growling out in a low rumble,
"Whatever, it doesn't even matter anymore."
Tohru raised her fist up in encouragement and squeaked out,
"There's always time to start! And... and maybe you can teach me a few things about fighting after you've become a black belt martial artist!"
He raised an eyebrow at her as he sneered overtly at her,
"You?"
Tohru's eyes swirled with determination as she answered back with sweet fierceness,
"Yes! I know a few things! Like... um... I saw this guy on TV do this kick thing, it was amazing!"
Her eyebrows drew together with concentration as she lifted her leg sheepishly in the air, then kicking it out with all her strength, grunting loudly in the whole process, and then nearly falling over after attempting to do the stunt. Tohru blushed heavily after regaining her balance, stealing a bashful glance at Kyo, watching his blank face, asking,
"How was it?"
His emotionless expression then burst into life as a huge grin flew to his lips while he tried to refrain from belting out into a fit of laughter. The image of her pitiful kick was just so comical to Kyo as he went up to Tohu, gently swapping her on the head with the palm of his hand as he shook his head mockingly at her,
"That... completely sucked!"
She smiled at him as he stood in a fighting stance, fists raised and legs apart, letting the knowledge of the few books on martial arts float up to the front of his mind again. Kyo then released a powerful kick that cut the wind in half, resulting in a huge "whoosh" that could literally be heard by human ears. After the impressive kick, he went into a whole series of other complcated kicks that all melded together into something that looked almost like a complex dance from a movie. Tohru watched him stand back into a normal position and felt her mouth drop open with awe as she clapped her hands together, a huge smile plastered onto her radiant face,
"That was amazing!"
She laced her fingers together in admiration, stating breathlessly,
"You're truly a natural born fighter! I can see it in your eyes!"
Kyo's face turned crimson as he muttered back in disbelief,
"No... I'm not..."
She furrowed her eyebrows together and told him with as much strength as her voice could muster,
"Yes you are! ...I know that it's hard to believe in ourselves all the time, because we all have our doubts... but... sometimes we just have to really open up our eyes and try to see the good abilities that we all possess sometimes... and I really want you to know that this is one ability that you shouldn't doubt even a little bit. It's really a gift that you have! Truly."
Right when she finished her small insight, her dark brown eyes brightened up with light as she flung off her bookbag, snapping it open and rummaging through it wildly, finally pulling out a plain white sheet of paper with bold black letters written all over it. She held out the paper to Kyo's puzzled face and explained,
"I just remembered that I got this flyer that was hanging out on the school bulletin board! It's for this new martial arts school that just opened up a few weeks ago! It's perfect, and not too costly! Doesn't that sound wonderful?"
Kyo stared down at the paper and snatched it out from her hands, scanning the paper with his eyes, feeling a bead of sweat trickle down his face as he scanned the words over again. The words were there, but none of them made much sense to him... he maybe knew about five words at most. He felt his face begin to grow hotter and hotter and his hands suddenly begin to tighten on the piece of paper, crumpling it a little bit as he looked away from her expectant stare, stuttering out with anguish,
"I... can't read... very well."
He then exploded as he threw his hands up in the air,
"Ugh! This is so stupid anyway!"
He crumpled up the paper into a small wrinkled sphere, and stuffed it into the deep depths of his pocket as he folded his arms across his chest again, looking away with pursed lips. Her gasp interrupted his heavy breathing as she cried out incredulously,
"Ah! Kyo-kun... you can't read?"
His face turned to an even deeper shade of red as he quietly looked off into the distance, not wanting to reply to the humiliating question. His reluctance to answer gave her the push to make an offer to him,
"I can teach you how to read and write after school if you want..."
He could feel his nostrils flaring as he nearly yelled out,
"I'm not going to sit around and be babied and taught the damn alphabet by a girl! It's stupid!"
She shook her head vigorously from side to side, insisting,
"It won't be like that at all! I won't treat you like that in any way! I just think that everyone should have the chance to read and write... and I really want to help you, after all, that's what friends do!"
Friends...
The solitary word raced through his head as he felt his hands loosen from his shaking fists, feeling a sense of calmness rush across his whole body. Kyo swallowed hard and finally said with a quiet voice,
"I'll try..."
He kept his eyes downward, as he continued to grumble out,
"Just one lesson though... if I don't like it, I'm quitting!"
Tohru jumped up, completely enthralled with his answer,
"Of course! I'm just glad to help!"
The afternoon arrived, and the sun had already moved behind the clouds as Kyo's shadow faded fast away from the ground. He was standing outside the new dojo that Tohru had told him about, and was currently staring blatantly at the sliding doors with a shred of longingness looming over his crimson colored eyes.
"Excuse me, may I help you?"
Kyo spun around to see an older man standing right behind him. He had graying hair that was tied neatly into a low ponytail, a piece of short brown string wound tightly to hold it in place. Kyo opened his mouth, but was unable to form a coherent sentence after being caught in the act of gawking,
"Ah...uh..."
"It looks like you want to go in."
Kyo cleared his throat and then looked right into the man's kind gray pool of eyes, asking gruffly,
"Who are you?"
The gray hared man smiled warmly at Kyo, bowing curtly while introducing himself,
"My name is Kazuma, and I am the master of this dojo...so are you going to go inside? You can just watch if you want."
Kyo hesitated for a moment and then said,
"I'll just watch..."
Caught up in the midst of desire, Kyo followed Kazuma inside and let the smell of the fresh paint and wood waft up his nose. Kyo surveyed the area of the small dojo and looked around at all the empty space and the students that were lined up against the wall, chatting and laughing with each other, sporting their loose white outfits and brightly colored cloth belts around their waists. Kyo leaned up against the wall in the corner of the room as Kazuma started up his lesson to the eager students that stood in orderly lines. He watched for an hour, watching the kids learn their forms of kicks and punches, and with each moment that passed, Kyo could feel the burning desire to join the dojo grow even further in his swelling heart... his passion was tingling all over as he felt his fists tighten up again.
Once the class finished, and everyone began packing up their belongings, Kazuma strolled over to the orange haired boy sitting in the corner, asking with the same kindness from before,
"So what did you think?"
He couldn't control himself as he blurted out,
"It was friggin awesome!"
Kazuma chuckled and said with a small nod,
"That's good to hear."
Kyo took a deep breath, and glanced at the last kid that had just left the door, looking back into Kazuma's gentle eyes as he stated as firmly as possible,
"What... do I have to do to join?"
A broad smile spread across the man's lips as he patted Kyo on the shoulder,
"I knew you'd say that. You have the passion of martial arts in your eyes... I can see it."
"You're truly a natural born fighter! I can see it in your eyes!"
Those words, they came back to me...and for the very first time, I really started tobelieve in myself. Just a little bit...
She's slowly pushing me to become someone that I've always wanted to be...
Now, every Sunday morning that came along, right in the middle of the third row, sticking out like a sore thumb, was a boy with a bright head of orange hair that sat low in his seat, eyes glued to the front of the church.
Every Sunday.
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