I'm glad you guys like this story!
I know I'm kinda following the stereotype of boys not liking romance, but it's funny.
Thank you to all who followed and favorited!
Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!
Chapter 2: Tsuchi
"Don't be embarrassed Riku. At least how Artemis and I met isn't as humiliating as Levi being too scared to talk to a girl for two years."
"Hey!" Levi glared.
Asher laughed. "You know I'm right, Levi. I had to set you up on that date or you would've never talked to her!"
"Darling," Artemis laid her hand on her husband's, "let's just tell the story…"
"Alright, alright."
Asher pushed the work goggles from over his eyes, pushing back his short, silver hair. A man came over, looking down at the wooden object sitting on the ground. "Good job, Asher."
"Thanks, Mr. Leavitt." The young man looked down at the newly finished boat.
"Clean up and head to the assembly. You don't want to be late."
Asher nodded. "Yes, sir." Putting away his work materials, the boy looked at his work. He loved working with his hands. Building things made him happy. Where or not that sounded kind of stereotypical of a tall, strong, man didn't matter. He loved it(1).
"Ash!" Levi and Shota stuck their heads in the door. "Come on! We're gonna be late!"
The silver-haired boy took off his goggles and work apron before following his friends out the door. They went into the large auditorium. Chairs lined the room where each grade level sat in their own section. A stage stood in front of the chairs, raised nearly five feet off the ground.
The teachers stood along the walls with Principal Crispin Mun standing on the stage in front of a small microphone.
The three boys sat to the left of the stage on the third row; Asher found himself sitting on the end of the row nearest the center of the room. He turned to his friends. "Levi, I would've thought you'd be presenting today."
"Nah, they're going to have the sports team captains present next time."
"Ah, got it."
Artemis adjusted the red band pinned to her sleeve, making sure that the kanji for the word 'education' faced outward. She stood near the front of a group of other students, each one wearing a red band with a word on each band.
Anita Kolbe, the school secretary, a scrawny woman with thick red lips, stood in front of them, tapping a pencil on the back of her hand. "Every club president has a minute and a half to give their speech. I don't care what order you go in, just go in one at a time."
Behind the door, the principal droned on until the doors opened. Artemis felt hands shoving her back through the group of club presidents to the back of the line. She looked upwards at all the students who towered above her. Artemis stood at four-feet tall, shorter than everyone else.
The girl in front of her turned her head down grinning. "I can't believe you decided to make your own club, Shorty."
"L-leave me alone, Violeta!" Artemis ran a hand through her short white hair, trying to block out the smirks of the other students.
"Look at that!" the other girl laughed. "She can't even talk to one person without st-st-stuttering. How can you run a club, let alone make a speech?"
"I can do it!"
Violeta laughed and said no more. Slowly, the line became shorter and shorter as each club leader went up on the stage to introduce and invite people to their club.
Finally, Artemis stepped onto the stage. Instantly, she realized the microphone was too high for her to reach. She managed to get it down, ignoring the snickers from the audience. When she brought the device to her mouth, the girl let out a deep sigh. "H-hello, my name is Artemis Chisai(2). I am the leader of the education club, and I would like to invite you to create the next generation of teachers. We will look at lesson plans and help teach younger students. I-I would love to have you join me in becoming the teachers that the next generation of kids needs. Thank you."
The students clapped. Artemis smiled, sending a look over at Violeta. The white-haired girl stood on the tips of her toes, trying to put the microphone back on the stand. Suddenly someone pulled on the microphone cord, jerking the girl forward. She lost her balance and fell off the stage.
Artemis felt her arm hit the edge of the stage with a crack before her leg his the ground twisting beneath her before the rest of her hit the ground. Her arm and leg throbbed with pain as she lay on the ground, the sound of her own heartbeat filling her ears, though she heard the sounds of laughter behind it.
In all this, she felt strong arms go under her legs and around her back, lifting her off the ground.
Asher leaned back in his chair as the last speaker stepped onto the stage. He knew her. Artemis. She was a year younger than him, but nearly two feet shorter than him, and kinda cute. The girl gave a short speech for her new club: the education club. Sounded cool, but he was not the kind of guy to get up in front of people.
He watched as she stood up on her toes to put the microphone away. One of the 4th year students on the front row grabbed the cord and jerked it, pulling the small girl off the stage before anyone could stop them.
Most of the students laughed.
Asher jumped to his feet and ran to the girl's side. Artemis lay with her eyes closed, seemingly dazed. Her left arm lay bent at an awkward angle, probably broken. Gently, Asher picked her up and hurried to the nurse's office.
Looking down, he stared into the pained face of the girl. She felt so light in his arms as he entered the nurse's office. "Nurse Sashi!"
The nurse gasped, looking down at Artemis. "Oh, that looks bad! Her arm is broken. We need to get her to a doctor."
"I'll take her right now." Without another word, Asher turned away, hurrying out of the room. No teacher stopped him as he left the school building, walking as quickly as he could across town, carrying the girl all the way. He did not stop until he reached the small hospital clinic.
Artemis groaned, opening her eyes. When did she pass out? The last thing she remembered was someone picking her up after she fell off the stage.
Her eyes darted around the room, noting the white walls and the medical equipment. Her left arm, wrapped in a cast, hug from a strange contraption. "A-am I in the hospital?"
"Yes," a doctor came into the room, smiling. "I'm glad you're awake, Miss Chisai."
"What happened?"
The doctor walked to the side of the bed. "One of the fourth-year students pulled you off the stage. Your left arm is broken and right leg is sprained. A second-year student picked you up and carried you here."
"A second-year?"
"He said he'd come by tonight to check on you."
The doctor's next words fell on uninterested ears. A second-year? She was just a tiny first-year. None of the people in her class cared about her, why would an older student care? These thoughts filled her mind the rest of the day. Then, just after a nurse brought her supper, a boy walked into the room.
He stood over six feet tall, looked very muscular. Teal eyes glimmered happily under silver hair. "Hey, Artemis. I'm glad you're alright."
"D-do I know you?"
"Not really," he sat in a chair beside the bed. "My name's Asher Tsuchi. I've seen you around and some of the other guys in my class talk about you."
"Why?" The girl asked. "Why did you help me?"
"Because you needed help. They did that on purpose and found it funny. I couldn't just stand by."
"Well, thank you. You 're the first student to care…" She smiled at the boy, who met her gaze with a smile of his own.
Artemis looked up at Asher as they entered the school building. With her injuries, she couldn't use crutches, so someone would have to push her wheelchair around. The other students stared as the two came in.
Artemis shrunk down under their stares, but the boy behind her patted her shoulder. "It's alright."
"Asher, I'm sorry about all this."
"Don't be sorry. I'm happy to help." He stopped, coming around to face her. "And don't worry, I won't let people hurt you like that again."
"I still don't understand why you care."
"I see a sweet girl who's never done anything to deserve this treatment. Why wouldn't I want to help you?"
The girl blinked, staring at the older boy. His eyes showed no signs of deception. "Th-thank you. Thank you so much!"
Riku ran over and hugged his mother. "I'm sorry those people were so mean to you, Mommy."
"It's alright, sweetie." Artemis patted his head. "I probably wouldn't have met your father if that hadn't happened, so I'm happy." Her arms pulled Riku closer. "I have him and I have you."
"And I have her and you." Asher leaned over, kissing Artemis' forehead.
After we found out about Riku being all shy around women, I had to make his dad the opposite.
He gets the shyness from his mother.
Please review!
Footnotes:
(1) This is kinda based on my dad. He loves working on carpentry projects and doing things like that.
(2) Chisai is Japanese for small.
VAs:
Asher Tsuchi- Christopher Sabat (Vegeta, All Might, Elfman Strauss, Yusuke Saito)
Artemis Tsuchi- Carrie Savage (Lisanna Strauss, Aurora, Meena Kandswamy)
"The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth."
Proverbs 12:22