DAY 42: THE BOOKWORM

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[ from here]The smell of old paper, leather and cardboard was oddly comforting. It had been too long since Ritsuka had been able to visit the patient library and since he was only able to check out one book, he usually had way too much time on his hand. Ritsuka was used to reading at least one or two books a day, so having just one for an entire

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Ritsuka ran his finger over the pages as he read, looking for all appearances as if he were merely skimming them. Really, though, he was just a fast reader and this book was rather interesting. He never spent much time reading science, but since he had the opportunity, he had found no harm in trying.

--wings on a Boeing 747? They have a surface area of 5500 square feet, and they can lift 800,000 pounds into the air - a "carrying capacity" of 145 pounds per square foot. Interesting...

There was a sound and Ritsuka looked up from his book, realizing that the bookstore had rapidly filled somehow or another. That was a little annoying, but it wasn't any worse than the library. He could ignore the other patients as well as he did the people in the library - so long as they didn't do anything dumb.

Which looked like the guy next to him might be doing soon. Ritsuka hated judging by appearance, but the guy was testing the book's pages like he was preparing to pull it out or something. And he was checking to see if anyone was watching. Great. "I wouldn't do that," Ritsuka said, going back to reading his book. "I don't think they'd appreciate you vandalizing their merchandise."

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Oh. Oh. He did not just--

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ritsuka didn't get really mad over many things, but defacing a book? No, worse than defacing it - ripping out its pages? That was unforgivable. He didn't care if it was the guy's own book or this store's merchandise. No one should ever harm a book that way!

"What is wrong with you?!" Ritsuka snapped his book shut and stood, pointing it accusingly at the stranger. Sure, he was small, but the wrath he felt could probably barrel over an ox. "You don't go ripping out pages from a book, you jackass!"

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Rather than being scared, Ritsuka narrowed his eyes at the stranger. He'd dealt with worse than some random guy threatening to kill him. Yeah, it was probably serious and probably something he shouldn't stick his neck into, but he couldn't sit by while the guy ripped the books apart. "Oh, yeah, real brave of you - threatening to kill a twelve-year old. I'm so impressed."

He had no respect for adults who did things like this. People who just tossed threats around like they were nothing were no better than petty criminals. They were beneath him, like insects crawling through the mud. "Get out of here before I call someone to kick you out."

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Okay, that was it. What was wrong with this guy? First, he ripped pages out of a book. Next, he threatened Ritsuka. Now? He was ignoring him? Adults like this disgusted him. He'd never turn out like these guys and he'd make a special note to the other Ritsuka to not turn out like this either. He didn't want to turn out to be a complete failtard when he grew up.

Setting his book back on the shelf, Ritsuka went over to the stranger and snapped, "I said, get out of here. I don't care what you're looking for - ripping it out of the books is a dumb way to go about it."

Reaching out, Ritsuka took hold of the cover and pushed it closed, not caring if he caught the stranger's hands in it. "Now get out."

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"Gah--!!" Before he knew what was going on, Ritsuka was getting picked up by the front of his hoodie. He was slammed into the bookcase and grit his teeth, grabbing at the man's hand and arm to try and brace himself. What a thug. Even if his arms hurt now worse than before (and thanks a lot, Mr. Jackass, now his head hurt, too), Ritsuka tried to return the stare evenly. He wasn't going to let some guy threaten him into backing down. Especially not when Soubi wasn't around.

Gritting his teeth, Ritsuka glared at the man holding him up and had to remind himself that violence was never the answer. Otherwise he would have kicked this guy right where it hurt the most. "You've got to be the worst criminal I've ever met." Not that he'd met a lot of them. "Put me down!"

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"You'll put me down now or I'll get the nurses in here to cart you out," Ritsuka snapped, struggling harder against the stranger's hands. It was starting to hurt worse, being pinned up against the bookcase, but fight as he might, he couldn't get loose. And it was getting harder to put up the strong front when his arms were screaming in pain.

What the hell was the guy doing with the pages anyway? Why would he need to tear them out after he'd just taken notes on them? "Are you really so lazy that you can't take some decent notes?!"

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Okay, now this? This scared him. His mother had strangled him far too many times for him to count, and the feel of anyone's hands around his neck brought back terrible memories. Ritsuka froze for a moment, his fingers digging a little harder into the stranger's arm. He was glad Soubi wasn't here now, actually. The Fighter would probably get into a fight and that's the last thing he wanted now.

When the man started to lower him, Ritsuka's breathing hitched in his throat. This wasn't good. He couldn't freeze now! Now when he'd been trying to teach this guy a lesson! Forcing himself to look at the guy's eyes, he was able to chase away the phantom of his mother a little easier. There was nothing of that haunted, pained look in the man's eyes - just annoyance. "Then get someone else to do it for you. Books are meant to be read, not ripped apart like trash."

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As soon as Ritsuka's feet hit the floor, he pushed hard against the stranger's arms. Luckily, the guy let go and the blow fell short of really doing anything. Ritsuka hated hitting people, but he also hated having people's hands on him. His underarms hurt where the hoodie had cut into them, which probably meant his wounds were bleeding again. He resisted the urge to touch his neck though, glaring at the stranger instead.

Clicking his tongue, Ritsuka turned and started to walk off, like he was about to tell the nurses on the big mute dumbass who'd just tried to strangle him. Instead, however, he shot back over his shoulder, "If you're going to ask someone to do something, show some damn manners and ask."