Chapter Four - Ripple on the Water
"Hey, genius boy!" came a voice, followed by a few snickers. A young boy, no more than ten years old, looked up to find a gang of troublemakers surrounding him with smirks on their faces. Me.
"Guess he doesn't play sports..." one of the other boys mused.
"You kidding? He's too puny."
"I wonder how he fights..."
"He'll probably throw his books at us." The group broke into mean laughter, then the so-called 'leader' grabbed me roughly by the collar, hoisting me to my feet.
"What? Can't you talk, bookworm?"
"I prefer not to involve myself with bullies like you..." I replied.
"Is that so? Hey... your dad's a scientist, right? Yeah, I read about his crazy research in the newspaper..."
"My father's research isn't crazy! Everything he's been studying is to benefit mankind," I spoke up boldly.
"Whatever, kiddo. Changing people into animals sounds pretty crazy to me. And for speaking out of turn, you'll have to taste my fist," the leader replied, pulling back his arm to get a good swing at me. I caught the fist in my hand, but then he swung his other fist at me and planted it firmly into my cheek, making me stumble backwards into the tree I had been leaning against.
"C'mon, smarty, you'd better fight back unless you want me to bruise the other side of your face."
"My mother told me to avoid fights," I said quietly.
"Bet she's an old hag..." one of the boys commented.
"...and probably as crazy as his old man."
I could feel my blood boiling. It was one thing if they were going to tease or bully me. It was a completely different matter if they were going to target Mama and Papa.
"Ooh... he's getting mad. Hey, whatcha gonna do about it?"
"..."
"I asked you what you were gonna do about it, wimp!"
I jammed my elbow into the leader's gut, causing him to let me go as he coughed a bit and spat on the ground. I didn't bother to retrieve my textbooks, instead I took off at a sprint.
"Get him!" the leader yelled. I could hear voices as the other boys began pursuing me. I had made it nearly halfway home when I was tackled and wrestled to the ground. I arrived home that day with bruises.
"My, my... what do we have here, a patient?" my mother asked as I entered the living room. I said nothing, merely took a seat on the sofa across from her. She shook her head lightly, rising to fish the first aid kit from the cabinet, and settled back down. "Ryou, if you keep coming home like this, someday I'll become a real doctor," she mused as she gave me a warm smile.
"What can I do about it?" I asked her quietly, "I tried to avoid it..."
She smiled sympathetically, "Here. Let me see that arm."
I did as I was told, continuing as she began rubbing the wounds with alcohol, "They're the ones who start it. I was minding my own business... but I had to fight back..."
She giggled then. I frowned up at her. Why was she laughing? "What's so funny?"
"I'm just happy to have a son who gives me so many problems," was her answer.
"...aren't you going to scold me?"
She smiled again, "I won't scold you. You're not in the wrong, are you?"
"So... I have a mother who doesn't give me problems..." I commented.
"Let's just say that I trust you. Here. Don't move."
I shifted as she came towards my nose with a bandage. I was pretty sure it was broken. Pain. I shot backwards. "Ow! It hurts!"
She chuckled at me good-naturedly, touching my nose lightly with her finger, "It's because you moved. I don't think it's broken."
"I think it is..." I grumbled at her.
She shook her head, her blond hair dancing around her shoulders, "Let's see you wiggle that nose."
"I can't. I told you I broke it," I protested.
"Just try, then..." she encouraged. My nose was not too happy about what happened next, but I managed to wiggle it slightly.
"I told you it wasn't broken," Mama insisted.
"It still hurts..." I complained.
"Well, take it easy and get some rest and bit by bit it won't hurt as much."
"It'd hurt less if Papa taught me how to defend myself."
She sighed pleasantly, shifting from her position on the low table to sit beside me.
"Mama?" I asked.
"Yes, Ryou?"
I fidgeted a bit. I hated asking, "Can I...?"
She chuckled, "Ofcourse you can, silly boy. He or she is your sibling after all." I smiled shyly, resting my head lightly against my mother's stomach, picking up the peaceful harmony of two seperate heartbeats. The sound of life.
My mother stroked my head softly. It baffled me how anyone could care so much for others. I wasn't jealous at all. I knew Mama would have enough love for me, Papa, my little brother or sister, Keiichiro, and everyone else in the world. "You'll help me choose a name, right, Ryou?"
I turned my blue eyes up at her, grinning, "Ofcourse! You're going to need a lot of help with her. Not just with the name."
"What makes you think the baby is a her?"
"I dunno," I admitted, "I'm just kind of hoping she is... I want to be her big brother and make sure nothing bad happens."
My mother chuckled again, "I'm sure you'll make a good big brother either way, Ryou. Very sure."
-
I stood frowning into a tall mirror as I tried on a pair of swimming trunks. They'd do well enough, but in that bright shade of orange, the attire made me look like I had come from Baywatch - without the body. I could defend myself and knew a minimal amount of martial arts moves, but I had always been skinny and long-legged. Keiichiro made fun of me sometimes, joking that in a cafe I should atleast have a bit of 'sugar fat' on me. I shook my head, grabbed a jacket, and headed for the pool.
It was a humid day, great for staying in the water or hiding away under an umbrella. Even greater for staying indoors with the air conditioning at full blast. I had no trouble spotting Lettuce in her lime green suit. She waved her fingers at me shyly and continued about setting up umbrellas. I clocked in and headed towards the pool itself. It was still early and already most of the chairs were occupied. I was not a morning person at all, so I hoped I wouldn't have to carry on a long conversation with anyone, unless they wanted to see me at my worst.
I made my way to my post, which was under a large umbrella that hovered slightly out over the water, attached to a tall chair. From my experience, lifeguards typically didn't do much, and with a nice spot in the shade, who would want to move? I glanced around at the other two guards. One was leafing through a magazine and the other was off in a corner, flirting with a cluster of girls. Even from this distance, I could tell that a few of them were eyeing me closely. I absolutely hated that. It reminded me of the way girls go about their shopping, looking a skirt up and down five hundred times before buying it. Is it formal enough? Is it too casual? Will it hold up long? Am I really in the mood? Is it worth the money? Will it make me look fat? I shook my head, resting my chin in my hand and surveying the pool. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
A little girl tossed a ball up in the air, but didn't catch it in time, and it splashed down in the water. She grabbed for it, noticed I was watching her, then turned her bright eyes up at me in a smile and waved. I made a slight saluting motion with my hand before scanning the rest of the area. Everything seemed alright to me. As long as it stayed this...
"Hiya!" came a very high-pitched voice. I turned boredly to see one of the girls standing next to my post. She rested her weight against one of the chair legs, giggling slightly, "It's a nice day, eh? You new?"
"Yeah," I said shortly. Another giggle. Apparently I had already been swamped.
"Don't be shy. We won't bite," came a new voice.
"So how old are you?"
"Are you single?"
"Are you straight?"
"Do you have a name to go along with the tan, Tiger?"
There was a chorus of laughter then. This was exactly what I hated.
"Look, I'm not interested..." I growled.
"...oh. I guess... you don't like girls..." one sighed.
"That's not what I mean," I said quickly.
"Then why else would you reject us?"
"Because he already gave his heart to another girl!" a voice spoke up boldly. A very familiar voice. I jumped slightly, then spun to see Lettuce standing nervously at the back of the crowd.
"What did you say, Four-Eyes?" one girl inquired angrily.
"I... I-I said... he gave his heart to another girl, right, Shirogane-san?"
"Is this true!" another girl practically shrieked.
After a while I realized what Lettuce was doing, "Yeah, it's true..."
"Hmmph. Figures..." Slowly the swarm of girls began to break up, leaving only Lettuce.
"You know... it really is pretty obvious, Shirogane-san... um..." she tried.
"What is?" I asked.
Lettuce looked up at me, smiling with a sort of sad look on your face, "I'll be honest... I... I've always liked you, Shirogane-san. You, like the girls, helped me so much by showing me how to find inner strength and confidence... and... I had always hoped that maybe... maybe... but..." she shook her head, forcing that trace of sadness away, "I knew that you loved Ichigo-san. Even though she was in love with Aoyama-san, you still went out of your way to rescue her... and... perhaps I'm wrong... but... I don't think these feelings were limited to the Mew Project... I think... that, even if she wasn't Mew Ichigo, you still would have rescued her all those times... uh... ah!" she covered her mouth quickly, blushing, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's none of my business really, but..."
"It's okay..." I murmured.
"Uh?"
"I said it's okay. You don't have to appologize. I'm glad that I could be of help... and... I'm sorry that-"
"No, no, daijoubu," she said reassuringly, "You don't need to appologize for your feelings. No one can change those. What you can do, however, is make it up to yourself, by finding Ichigo-san and- ah! I'm so stupid! I'm prying again!" she hopped on one foot nervously.
I chuckled, "Don't worry about it... however, I let her go. I don't think I can do that."
"Oh... Shirogane-san..."
"Lettuce."
"...yes?"
"You can call me 'Ryou'."
"No, I couldn't, really!"
"I'm asking you to."
"Uh-"
"Kyaa! Help me!" came a scream. I bolted up in my seat, searching frantically for any sign of movement.
"HELP!"
"She's- Over there!" Lettuce shouted, pointing.
I followed the length of Lettuce's arm and finally spotted that same little girl, towards the deep end of the pool, struggling to keep her head above the water. I blew my whistle loudly, causing everyone to clear towards the edges of the pool. I dove from where I was, the cold liquid cutting into me as I leapt. Working my arms, I made my way over to her as quickly as possible, pushing a body that was still recovering from the jump. I surfaced, gasping for breath, then dove down again. I could see the form sinking, her hair flowing behind her in slow motion. I snatched the child up in my arms, pushed against the cement bottom, and shot up again, breaking into sunlight. One of the other lifeguards was there, and took her carefully from my arms as I yanked myself out, dripping.
"Had to make a splashy entrance, huh?" one of the girls from before asked.
"Okay, and 1, 2, 3... breathe!" one man shouted instructions to the lifeguard whose hands were positioned near the girls middle. The man was giving her mouth-to-mouth.
"Again... 1, 2, 3...!" he yelled again.
The little girl finally coughed out chlorine-water, her eyelashes fluttering as eyes opened again to see a crowd around her.
"Papa..." she sobbed, clinging to him, trembling.
"Thank goodness..." a lady in the crowd murmured.
"That was a foolish jump, kid..." the other lifeguard pointed out, tossing a towel in my direction. "You could have just used the pole, would have been safer... you could have hurt yourself when you dove into the shallow end..."
"Yeah..." I said, flushing slightly. "I wasn't exactly trained..."
"Use the pole next time... bleeding."
"Eh?"
"Your hand... you're bleeding..." he repeated.
"Ah... oh."
"Crazy stunt!" the third lifeguard exclaimed, coming forward at last.
"Where were you?" the older lifeguard asked.
"Busy, man. I was busy with the babes!"
-
"Done!" Lettuce announced as she pulled the bandage tight around my hand.
"Arigatou... I'm beginning to regret attempting this... I looked like an idiot back there..."
"No you didn't! You actually, looked pretty cool... however... that was rather dangerous, Ryou-san..."
"Uh-huh..."
"But it definately wasn't stupid. You rescued that girl, anyways."
"I suppose so," I admitted.
"Yeah, well, I'll be going home now..." I stood.
"Your shift is over already?" she asked me.
"Yeah, yours will be too. It'll rain soon."
"But it was sunny just a moment ago... oh... I see..."
As we stepped back outside, the sky clouded over and large drops began to fall onto the cement, sizzling faintly as each one touched the heated surface.
"Ichigo-san could do that also," she commented.
"I know."
"Will you be back?" Lettuce asked calmly.
I thought about it for a second, "Not sure..."
"You should give it another try."
"Maybe... but that'll just slow the search down..."
"Ryou?" her eyes widened slightly.
"The search... it'll go quicker if I put all my energy into finding them, eh?"
Lettuce smiled slightly, "Yes."
I grinned as well, "Well, I'll see you around."
"Yes!" she smiled broadly.
Thunder boomed off in the distance, a warning to everyone to search for cover to wait out the upcoming storm. As I made my way to my bike, a group of people passed by. I normally wouldn't have paid any notice, but some movement caught my attention. I whirled.
"Hey!" I shouted to no one in particular.
The group paused for a moment, the rain obscurring my view. Bodies blurred together. One member seperated from the group and took off at a brisk walk. Maybe it was only to escape the downpour, but maybe not. Something told me to follow it. I darted after it.
When I rounded a corner, I saw the person take off at a sprint in another direction.
"Hey, Stop!" I shouted, picking up speed.
A bolt of lightning sliced the sky above me, making me flinch slightly. The figure had stopped, and whoever it was, seemed to be looking in my direction.
"Hold on a second! Who are you!" I yelled.
It turned again and hurried up a hillside towards the park. I stumbled up the muddy bank afterwards, panting. As we reached a clearing, I finally realized exactly what I had been following, but I could not continue. I bent over, heaving for breath. My heart beating a mile a minute.
It turned and came back towards me, taking smooth steps which made it seem almost as if it's body was a part of the rain.
My eyes trailed up towards the face, the eyes.
"-o," I gasped, the syllables lost between my breathing and the pounding of the rain.
A/N: Really not too happy with how this chapter came out. I think I rushed on it, so I might redo it later. Any suggestions would be wonderful. I know it's been a while already, but I'm low on ideas. x.x;
I came up with the end of the chapter long before I knew how to get there. I thought the stranger in the rain would be a good image to start chapter 5 off with. So, stay tuned to "Chapter 5 - Of Light and Shadow" to find out just who this person is. Thanks, Nya!