[fic] No one Really Knows -Chapter Two- [ToraxHiroto; HirotoxTora]
Author: k_laker
Chapter: Two
Band/Pairing: ToraxHiroto; HirotoxTora [alicenine.]
Theme: 27. solemnity (30emotions )
Rating: PG [possibly throughout; no promises; could rise to R; possibly]
Warnings: none.
Disclaimer: I only own the plot and the words.
Beta: malveillance
Word Count: 2671
Summary: It's just how things were.
Notes: x-posted like a mother. Sorry f-list. <3
-Fanfiction Archive-
I never really understand my dreams when I wake up in the morning. I think it's because I forget almost all of what the dream itself was about. Unless I tell someone right away, I will never remember that certain dream no matter how much I liked it.
The sun filtered in through the glass door to my right, dancing along my face. I knew that if I opened my eyes, I would be either blinded, or pleasantly surprised at the light.
I decided to take that risk. I opened my eyes.
I wasn't blinded and I silently thanked my gods of this little miracle. Sitting up, I noticed by the ruffled blankets to my left, that my mother was gone.
Of course, she was off to her job in the city. She worked at a department store with a large chain around the country. That's actually the reason that we moved.
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I stood and stumbled my way into the kitchen only a few paces away. As I was moving to pass by the table, a piece of paper caught my eye. Moving towards it, I found that it was a note from mother and an orange envelope.
' Hiroto,
I will be back late tonight so don't wait up for me!
You need your sleep. But leave me something to eat, hmm?
Oh, and here is some money for you to spend on groceries.
I won't have time tonight to do the shopping...
-Mother. '
Pulling open the orange envelope, I found five thousand yen. My sleepy eyes widened slightly at how much she left for just groceries. Tucking it back where it was originally, I placed it next to the letter again. I stretched.
What was I going to do today? It was a school day after all and the kids would be out around mid afternoon.
I knew that I was going to go to the park for sure. But other than that...well..
I surveyed the flat as a whole and found that there were many things still left in brown boxes stacked around every place that you could think of.
Starting with the boxes that were mine, I unpacked my small collection of books into my empty shelves, filling them as best I could. Trinkets were placed in the blank spaces left untouched by the books to look as if there were more than there really were. Most of my clothes fit nicely into my small set of drawers and I could say easily that if I really wanted to run away, I would only have to fill up a suitcase and a backpack and I would be done. That would be all of my things.
If you didn't count the furniture I guess.
I eyed my mother's half of the boxes.
Her things weren't as easy to unpack but I did my best. Putting her figurines and beauty medals on the top shelves so they wouldn't fall down, hanging up her clothes on hangers like she insisted because they took up less space in the closet, and placing all of her nail polish, make-up and brushes neatly on her vanity desk.
I looked at myself in the vanity. I was very scrawny looking in my tank-top and shorts. More like bony and I looked to be about twelve when I was actually edging on seventeen. I thought it was very sad that I didn't even get to go to school but as I said before, I couldn't change that no matter how hard I tried. My mother always had the upper hand. And I always obeyed it.
"Meeww~" came a little voice from around my ankles.
"Akira-chan," I cooed, picking him up and nuzzling his little face. He licked my nose a few times, purring with his almost brand new purr-box.
"I guess you're hungry aren't you?" Akria opened and closed his eyes a few times, bumping his head against my nose.
"I'll take that as a yes."
---
Right before it hits midday, it's very cold in town. You could almost see your breath like a tendril of smoke was hiding in your lungs all along, waiting for the right weather to come rushing out. I was glad that I decided to wear my jacket and a pair of pants rather than capris or shorts. I even decided that I would wear my favorite shirt.
As I walked along the sidewalk behind a back road, I enjoyed the smell of morning in the air.
Further down the road, there was a bridge that overlooked a river. I leaned my elbows on the railing and watched as the water made its way under me and down to somewhere I couldn't imagine. Very few people were out. Probably in school or at work. Or at home on a day off.
I pushed myself from the railing and continued walking down into the busier streets of town where the shops and more people were bound to be.
It was noisy. Women and men were calling out prices of fish while others were saying about how their sales were best among best and to come and shop there. I tried out a few stores but I didn't buy anything yet. I had to save my money mostly for groceries. Though, I saw a package of paper and it caught my eye. Walking closer, I saw that it was a letter set, complete with pens and pencils, envelopes and a lot of everything. Paper too.
It was priced at one thousand yen.
I rolled the bills through my fingers in my coat pocket. Well...I would still have four thousand left to buy groceries and that would be more than enough..
"Hello there young man." I looked up.
An older man, looking to be in his fifties or sixties, was looking at me through thick glasses that magnified his eyes. They looked huge.
"Hello." I bowed my head politely.
"You looking to buy that stationary set?" He pointed at the big set of paper in front of me. "You've been staring at it for quite some time."
I nodded. I was uneasy about spending so much at once.
The man leaned forward and motioned for me to come closer. I moved closer.
"I'll make you a deal. I'll give you that for half price because you look like a good kid. A lot of kids that come in here want to either steal the merchandise or loiter around," he said in a hushed whisper.
Wait. What? I thought I was loitering to be honest. I guess not compared to him.
"What do you say?" He prodded.
I felt almost guilty for accepting but I might've hurt his feelings if I didn't. I nodded and smiled wide.
"Good man!" He thumped me on the shoulder and rang up the stationary set for half price.
"Thank you very much," I said quietly, taking the bag and my change.
"Come back anytime!" He waved me out with a look I couldn't quite place.
---
Waiting is only easy for me when I know that what I'm waiting for takes awhile. If it's something in the very near future, I get anxious if I'm not preoccupied with something. So I was glad in my mind that I had something to keep me busy until the boy came. I didn't want him to come while I was doing what I was doing or it would ruin it.
I had a stick in my hand. I was drawing in the dirt right in front of the bench where he sat the day before.
It made smooth lines as I drew out letters and words that I could've easily done on the paper set in my bag, which was sitting by the swings. But I felt that this was more personal. Writing a whole letter to someone I didn't really know was a little odd to me.
Once I was satisfied, I placed the stick next to my words, dusted off my hands and went back to my place at the swings.
'What's your name?'
It didn't take more than fifteen minutes for the boy to show up, but it sure made my anxious feelings disappear. I really thought he wouldn't come
for awhile there.
He made his way to the bench with his bag in hand but when he went to sit down he stopped. He noticed the words written on the ground in front of him and I knew he was reading by the way his lips moved ever so slightly.
As if on cue, the boy looked up at me. Directly at me, I should say.
I was shocked to see that his face wasn't almost completely covered in his hair. He looked really beautiful for a boy. And I couldn't shake the fact that he might be older than me. Even if he was the same age or younger, I wouldn't believe it. Some people had that effect on me. It wasn't a bad thing, I mean, it didn't make me feel inferior.
I guess I had a complex.
He smiled at me.
Setting down his bag on the bench, he picked up the stick and started towards me.
Stopping short a few feet, he turned his back towards me and began to write in the sand. I couldn't help it, I just kept smiling. He couldn't see it with his back turned but I just could not stop smiling.
The stick was thrown carelessly off to the side and the boy moved.
Written in the sand, in nice stick-writing I should say were the words I was hoping to hear or see ever since I saw him.
'My name is Tora. What's yours?'
I felt the swing next to me dip. I turned and saw Tora sitting there watching me silently with traces of a smile on his lips.
"Hiroto. My name is Hiroto," I said nodding my own head as if to reassure myself.
"Nice to meet you Hiroto." My cheeks must've flushed about seven shades of red, for Tora was laughing lightly at me.
His voice startled me. He sounded so old and mature with such a deep voice. I probably sounded odd with my not-quite-there voice of my own.
"Nice to meet you too Tora," I said as normally as I could.
We sat there in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.
"How old are you?" Tora asked, observing me closely.
"I'm almost seventeen," I replied, "You?"
"I'm turning eighteen soon." He paused. "Do you like Gundam?"
I laughed. "Who doesn't?"
---
I found that not only was Tora a fan of Gundam, but that he seemed like a nice person overall.
"You know, you didn't have to come with me to shop if you didn't want to," I said, feeling slightly embarrassed as Tora and I walked through the grocery store, well past six in the day.
Tora shrugged and continued down the aisle, watching as I picked out vegetables and bagged them.
"I wouldn't be doing much else anyways, and besides, it's not safe to be out late at night." I looked at him for a moment.
He was wearing his school uniform, the first few buttons undone. White and black shoes, black blazer, black pants. A blunt look on his face.
"But it's just six. Not...eight or something," I said, hiding my face by holding up a head of lettuce to the light, knowing full-well that it looked fine.
"Still, who knows how long it'll take you to go shopping," Tora replied, a smirk in his voice.
"Hey!" I nudged him with my elbow.
---
It seems that I had too many bags to carry by myself according to Tora. So he insisted on walking me home even though I tried to tell him that it was quite far and that I would manage just fine.
"Really, I bet it's not that far from where I live anyways," Tora brushed off my worries with a wave of his hand, carrying four of my six bags in his hands.
"I'm not sure," I said softly, as we made our descent down a long flight of stone steps, bags crinkling and thrashing about against our knees.
My bag with stationary tucked safely inside the bag with bread.
As we walked, Tora told me about the little things of the city. I had told him earlier while we shopped, that I was new around the city and I moved only two days before.
He was quite knowledgeable. I was a little jealous.
Leading him up through the steps and down the hallway, I opened the door haphazardly with my full hands and made my way inside.
I showed him where to set down the bags as I took off my shoes. I turned around wondering why it was taking him a little longer.
Tora was slipping off his own shoes, closing the door behind him.
My hand found it's way to the back of my neck as I rubbed it, my foot rubbing the back of my other ankle. Setting down the bags, Tora looked around and spotted a little puff of orange fur called Akira, waking up from his all-day nap.
"Hello there little one," Tora cooed softly, as Akira perked up to his voice, trotting on kitten feet to his outstretched hand.
I watched how Tora gently handled my little Akira and talked to him softly.
"That's little Akira," I explained, sitting on the floor next to Tora,"I found him the day we moved in outside of the complex."
I gestured to the outside of the glass door in the far sleeping room.
Tora nodded.
"Do you feed him formula?" he asked, stroking Akira's head.
"Only wet food right now. I don't know where to buy formula for him here." I looked up at Tora.
"Mmmmm..." he hummed, seeing that Akira was asleep.
"Do you have to go home soon?" I asked, almost dreading the answer somehow.
Tora surveyed me slowly.
"I could stay longer if you want me to. My parents are really relaxed about me being out for a long time," Tora almost sounded a little bitter.
"That's alright. It would be nice if you could stay a little longer," I found my feet to be very interesting,"My mother won't be back until late tonight."
"Will do." Tora smiled at me and I couldn't fight the one of my own breaking through.
---
Around ten at night, after telling Tora that he didn't have to help clean up after dinner, he said his goodbyes to little Akira and I as he slipped on his shoes. I was persistent in following him out until we stood at the sidewalk in front of my building. He waved over his shoulder as he began to walk away.
"Will I see you tomorrow?" I shouted after him.
Tora turned.
"Only if you want to!" He shouted back.
It didn't make sense. But in a way, it did.
---
Being lonely was something that I had to get over when my mother wasn't with me. It was a little monster thing, smaller than little Akira, that wormed it's way into my brain and chest and just ate at whatever piece of me it could find. I never got scared when I was alone, which was a relief.
But I felt that I was going to live that way forever. Lonely Hiroto.
The lights were turned off and I was tucked in bed. It was around midnight and there was no sign of mother.
Maybe they made her work overtime. Maybe she got lost on the way home.
Those were the only two reasons I was willing to let myself believe as I slipped my eyes shut, as little Akira nuzzled around my face, as I wondered what I would do tomorrow and if I would spend time with Tora again.
Tora..I really liked that name.
---
Chapter One. - - - - Chapter Three.
a/n - Oh wow. This is almost twice as long as the first chapter. I almost kept going into the next day but, I'm not sure if I'll keep the scheme of one day and then another whole day in chapters. I might change it up if I feel like it. Maybe not. @_____@; I really like this story. It's funny, I might have direction with this fic. It's gonna be long. o______o;
ilu guys. :D <3
Chapter: Two
Band/Pairing: ToraxHiroto; HirotoxTora [alicenine.]
Theme: 27. solemnity (30emotions )
Rating: PG [possibly throughout; no promises; could rise to R; possibly]
Warnings: none.
Disclaimer: I only own the plot and the words.
Beta: malveillance
Word Count: 2671
Summary: It's just how things were.
Notes: x-posted like a mother. Sorry f-list. <3
-Fanfiction Archive-
I never really understand my dreams when I wake up in the morning. I think it's because I forget almost all of what the dream itself was about. Unless I tell someone right away, I will never remember that certain dream no matter how much I liked it.
The sun filtered in through the glass door to my right, dancing along my face. I knew that if I opened my eyes, I would be either blinded, or pleasantly surprised at the light.
I decided to take that risk. I opened my eyes.
I wasn't blinded and I silently thanked my gods of this little miracle. Sitting up, I noticed by the ruffled blankets to my left, that my mother was gone.
Of course, she was off to her job in the city. She worked at a department store with a large chain around the country. That's actually the reason that we moved.
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I stood and stumbled my way into the kitchen only a few paces away. As I was moving to pass by the table, a piece of paper caught my eye. Moving towards it, I found that it was a note from mother and an orange envelope.
' Hiroto,
I will be back late tonight so don't wait up for me!
You need your sleep. But leave me something to eat, hmm?
Oh, and here is some money for you to spend on groceries.
I won't have time tonight to do the shopping...
-Mother. '
Pulling open the orange envelope, I found five thousand yen. My sleepy eyes widened slightly at how much she left for just groceries. Tucking it back where it was originally, I placed it next to the letter again. I stretched.
What was I going to do today? It was a school day after all and the kids would be out around mid afternoon.
I knew that I was going to go to the park for sure. But other than that...well..
I surveyed the flat as a whole and found that there were many things still left in brown boxes stacked around every place that you could think of.
Starting with the boxes that were mine, I unpacked my small collection of books into my empty shelves, filling them as best I could. Trinkets were placed in the blank spaces left untouched by the books to look as if there were more than there really were. Most of my clothes fit nicely into my small set of drawers and I could say easily that if I really wanted to run away, I would only have to fill up a suitcase and a backpack and I would be done. That would be all of my things.
If you didn't count the furniture I guess.
I eyed my mother's half of the boxes.
Her things weren't as easy to unpack but I did my best. Putting her figurines and beauty medals on the top shelves so they wouldn't fall down, hanging up her clothes on hangers like she insisted because they took up less space in the closet, and placing all of her nail polish, make-up and brushes neatly on her vanity desk.
I looked at myself in the vanity. I was very scrawny looking in my tank-top and shorts. More like bony and I looked to be about twelve when I was actually edging on seventeen. I thought it was very sad that I didn't even get to go to school but as I said before, I couldn't change that no matter how hard I tried. My mother always had the upper hand. And I always obeyed it.
"Meeww~" came a little voice from around my ankles.
"Akira-chan," I cooed, picking him up and nuzzling his little face. He licked my nose a few times, purring with his almost brand new purr-box.
"I guess you're hungry aren't you?" Akria opened and closed his eyes a few times, bumping his head against my nose.
"I'll take that as a yes."
---
Right before it hits midday, it's very cold in town. You could almost see your breath like a tendril of smoke was hiding in your lungs all along, waiting for the right weather to come rushing out. I was glad that I decided to wear my jacket and a pair of pants rather than capris or shorts. I even decided that I would wear my favorite shirt.
As I walked along the sidewalk behind a back road, I enjoyed the smell of morning in the air.
Further down the road, there was a bridge that overlooked a river. I leaned my elbows on the railing and watched as the water made its way under me and down to somewhere I couldn't imagine. Very few people were out. Probably in school or at work. Or at home on a day off.
I pushed myself from the railing and continued walking down into the busier streets of town where the shops and more people were bound to be.
It was noisy. Women and men were calling out prices of fish while others were saying about how their sales were best among best and to come and shop there. I tried out a few stores but I didn't buy anything yet. I had to save my money mostly for groceries. Though, I saw a package of paper and it caught my eye. Walking closer, I saw that it was a letter set, complete with pens and pencils, envelopes and a lot of everything. Paper too.
It was priced at one thousand yen.
I rolled the bills through my fingers in my coat pocket. Well...I would still have four thousand left to buy groceries and that would be more than enough..
"Hello there young man." I looked up.
An older man, looking to be in his fifties or sixties, was looking at me through thick glasses that magnified his eyes. They looked huge.
"Hello." I bowed my head politely.
"You looking to buy that stationary set?" He pointed at the big set of paper in front of me. "You've been staring at it for quite some time."
I nodded. I was uneasy about spending so much at once.
The man leaned forward and motioned for me to come closer. I moved closer.
"I'll make you a deal. I'll give you that for half price because you look like a good kid. A lot of kids that come in here want to either steal the merchandise or loiter around," he said in a hushed whisper.
Wait. What? I thought I was loitering to be honest. I guess not compared to him.
"What do you say?" He prodded.
I felt almost guilty for accepting but I might've hurt his feelings if I didn't. I nodded and smiled wide.
"Good man!" He thumped me on the shoulder and rang up the stationary set for half price.
"Thank you very much," I said quietly, taking the bag and my change.
"Come back anytime!" He waved me out with a look I couldn't quite place.
---
Waiting is only easy for me when I know that what I'm waiting for takes awhile. If it's something in the very near future, I get anxious if I'm not preoccupied with something. So I was glad in my mind that I had something to keep me busy until the boy came. I didn't want him to come while I was doing what I was doing or it would ruin it.
I had a stick in my hand. I was drawing in the dirt right in front of the bench where he sat the day before.
It made smooth lines as I drew out letters and words that I could've easily done on the paper set in my bag, which was sitting by the swings. But I felt that this was more personal. Writing a whole letter to someone I didn't really know was a little odd to me.
Once I was satisfied, I placed the stick next to my words, dusted off my hands and went back to my place at the swings.
'What's your name?'
It didn't take more than fifteen minutes for the boy to show up, but it sure made my anxious feelings disappear. I really thought he wouldn't come
for awhile there.
He made his way to the bench with his bag in hand but when he went to sit down he stopped. He noticed the words written on the ground in front of him and I knew he was reading by the way his lips moved ever so slightly.
As if on cue, the boy looked up at me. Directly at me, I should say.
I was shocked to see that his face wasn't almost completely covered in his hair. He looked really beautiful for a boy. And I couldn't shake the fact that he might be older than me. Even if he was the same age or younger, I wouldn't believe it. Some people had that effect on me. It wasn't a bad thing, I mean, it didn't make me feel inferior.
I guess I had a complex.
He smiled at me.
Setting down his bag on the bench, he picked up the stick and started towards me.
Stopping short a few feet, he turned his back towards me and began to write in the sand. I couldn't help it, I just kept smiling. He couldn't see it with his back turned but I just could not stop smiling.
The stick was thrown carelessly off to the side and the boy moved.
Written in the sand, in nice stick-writing I should say were the words I was hoping to hear or see ever since I saw him.
'My name is Tora. What's yours?'
I felt the swing next to me dip. I turned and saw Tora sitting there watching me silently with traces of a smile on his lips.
"Hiroto. My name is Hiroto," I said nodding my own head as if to reassure myself.
"Nice to meet you Hiroto." My cheeks must've flushed about seven shades of red, for Tora was laughing lightly at me.
His voice startled me. He sounded so old and mature with such a deep voice. I probably sounded odd with my not-quite-there voice of my own.
"Nice to meet you too Tora," I said as normally as I could.
We sat there in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.
"How old are you?" Tora asked, observing me closely.
"I'm almost seventeen," I replied, "You?"
"I'm turning eighteen soon." He paused. "Do you like Gundam?"
I laughed. "Who doesn't?"
---
I found that not only was Tora a fan of Gundam, but that he seemed like a nice person overall.
"You know, you didn't have to come with me to shop if you didn't want to," I said, feeling slightly embarrassed as Tora and I walked through the grocery store, well past six in the day.
Tora shrugged and continued down the aisle, watching as I picked out vegetables and bagged them.
"I wouldn't be doing much else anyways, and besides, it's not safe to be out late at night." I looked at him for a moment.
He was wearing his school uniform, the first few buttons undone. White and black shoes, black blazer, black pants. A blunt look on his face.
"But it's just six. Not...eight or something," I said, hiding my face by holding up a head of lettuce to the light, knowing full-well that it looked fine.
"Still, who knows how long it'll take you to go shopping," Tora replied, a smirk in his voice.
"Hey!" I nudged him with my elbow.
---
It seems that I had too many bags to carry by myself according to Tora. So he insisted on walking me home even though I tried to tell him that it was quite far and that I would manage just fine.
"Really, I bet it's not that far from where I live anyways," Tora brushed off my worries with a wave of his hand, carrying four of my six bags in his hands.
"I'm not sure," I said softly, as we made our descent down a long flight of stone steps, bags crinkling and thrashing about against our knees.
My bag with stationary tucked safely inside the bag with bread.
As we walked, Tora told me about the little things of the city. I had told him earlier while we shopped, that I was new around the city and I moved only two days before.
He was quite knowledgeable. I was a little jealous.
Leading him up through the steps and down the hallway, I opened the door haphazardly with my full hands and made my way inside.
I showed him where to set down the bags as I took off my shoes. I turned around wondering why it was taking him a little longer.
Tora was slipping off his own shoes, closing the door behind him.
My hand found it's way to the back of my neck as I rubbed it, my foot rubbing the back of my other ankle. Setting down the bags, Tora looked around and spotted a little puff of orange fur called Akira, waking up from his all-day nap.
"Hello there little one," Tora cooed softly, as Akira perked up to his voice, trotting on kitten feet to his outstretched hand.
I watched how Tora gently handled my little Akira and talked to him softly.
"That's little Akira," I explained, sitting on the floor next to Tora,"I found him the day we moved in outside of the complex."
I gestured to the outside of the glass door in the far sleeping room.
Tora nodded.
"Do you feed him formula?" he asked, stroking Akira's head.
"Only wet food right now. I don't know where to buy formula for him here." I looked up at Tora.
"Mmmmm..." he hummed, seeing that Akira was asleep.
"Do you have to go home soon?" I asked, almost dreading the answer somehow.
Tora surveyed me slowly.
"I could stay longer if you want me to. My parents are really relaxed about me being out for a long time," Tora almost sounded a little bitter.
"That's alright. It would be nice if you could stay a little longer," I found my feet to be very interesting,"My mother won't be back until late tonight."
"Will do." Tora smiled at me and I couldn't fight the one of my own breaking through.
---
Around ten at night, after telling Tora that he didn't have to help clean up after dinner, he said his goodbyes to little Akira and I as he slipped on his shoes. I was persistent in following him out until we stood at the sidewalk in front of my building. He waved over his shoulder as he began to walk away.
"Will I see you tomorrow?" I shouted after him.
Tora turned.
"Only if you want to!" He shouted back.
It didn't make sense. But in a way, it did.
---
Being lonely was something that I had to get over when my mother wasn't with me. It was a little monster thing, smaller than little Akira, that wormed it's way into my brain and chest and just ate at whatever piece of me it could find. I never got scared when I was alone, which was a relief.
But I felt that I was going to live that way forever. Lonely Hiroto.
The lights were turned off and I was tucked in bed. It was around midnight and there was no sign of mother.
Maybe they made her work overtime. Maybe she got lost on the way home.
Those were the only two reasons I was willing to let myself believe as I slipped my eyes shut, as little Akira nuzzled around my face, as I wondered what I would do tomorrow and if I would spend time with Tora again.
Tora..I really liked that name.
---
Chapter One. - - - - Chapter Three.
a/n - Oh wow. This is almost twice as long as the first chapter. I almost kept going into the next day but, I'm not sure if I'll keep the scheme of one day and then another whole day in chapters. I might change it up if I feel like it. Maybe not. @_____@; I really like this story. It's funny, I might have direction with this fic. It's gonna be long. o______o;
ilu guys. :D <3