wind's embrace ; tadaiki 02
Daiki went to every house and asked if they happen to know where the owner of the orphanage he grew up to lives now, yet no one seemed to know. He even dared to ask if they knew Yuya but he was always given a look of doubt, some raised their brows, and some would even accuse him of being insane. In the end, he return to Mr. High Tree and rested.
“Searching all my days just to find you. I’m not sure who I’m looking for.” Daiki sighed. He flipped to his phone and checked the time; 18:00. He, then, spent 4 hours roaming around and disappointing him. He closed his eyes and unconsciously, he noticed himself reminiscing.
---
“What are you doing in the dark?” a small yet manly voice greeted me.
“Hiding.”
“From?”
“Discrimination.”
I was so blunt that I didn’t realize tears dripped my eyes. I clutched on to my little penguin stuffed toy and he chuckled. He grabbed my hand, shouted “I’m going out with Penguin-kun!” and we went to the park. We played and then he asked me to be his best friend. I was startled, someone from the orphanage asked me to be friends with him. Plus, he flashed a foolish smile as if telling me that “I’m idiot and I don’t know what discrimination means.” Overwhelmed, I didn’t think twice. Yes was my immediate answer and then he hugged me tight under this high tree.
“We’ve been playing but I kept on calling you ‘Penguin-kun’. What’s your name again?”
“Daiki.” I faked a smile.
“What does it mean?” he raised an eyebrow.
“Dai means big and Ki means luxurious.”
“So you’re a luxurious guy! Oh my best friend’s a big time!” he laughed at his own joke but Daiki didn’t thought he was kidding.
“Baka~!” he gave him a whack on his right arm. “My name means ‘bring good fortune’.”
He was continuously laughing even though I’ve whacked him. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to hurt…”
“I wasn’t hurt. In fact it was so nice have a small and cute best friend who can’t reach my forehead.”
I blew my cheeks and slumped down on the ground. He sat adjacent to me.
“Dai-chan~ my name is Yuya. Yu means man while Ya means be.”
“So your name implies that you are a man .Pfft. pretty obvious.” I giggled.
“How old are you?” he was obviously changing the topic.
“Fourteen. Yet no one seems to care and adopt me.”
“Do you want to be adopted?”
“Of course, every child inside the orphanage needs to be adopted. They need to be loved by a family, they need proper education, and they need to have an escape to the society’s clouded judgement.”
“I don’t understand you.” Yuya’s voice was confusing.
“Eh?”
“Nothing, Dai-chan, nothing in particular.” He shook his head.”Na, Dai-chan, when we grow up, I promise that we’ll live together, under one roof and I’ll buy all the penguin stuffed toys you’ll love!” his smile and his voice was really promising. And because it’s a new sensation, I agreed.
---
3 months and we’ve been treating each other as brothers. He sleeps beside me, he wakes me up, he tells me jokes which are not funny, his voice is incoherent, he’s irrelative, and he’s totally random and moron. But I’m still bothered by the thing he doesn’t understand about an orphan. I mean, he’s an orphan, too, right? And on the fourth month of being his best friend, the owner of the orphanage called up to me at the middle of the night. She was careful not to wake Yuya who was sleeping soundly beside me. She led me to her office and showed me some papers.
“Arioka?”
“That will be your surname, soon. Next week they’ll be fetching you.” She gave me an assuring smile and patted my head. “Now, go back to your room and sleep.”
---
I was supposed to be happy. Finally, my dream of being out of my considered prison cell will be true. But there’s something inside me that kept me from staying. I closed the door behind me and spotted Yuya sitting near the window. He was staring outside, gazing to the stars.
“Yuyan~ you’re awake.”
“I thought you left me.”
“No, I just went to the comfort room…”
“I wasn’t sure that the way to comfort room was on the aisle to the office of Ms. Nagusara.”
My eyes widened. No escape, Yuyan noticed it. “I’m sorry.”
---
The dawn was breaking when I woke up. Yuya wasn’t beside me and I guess he was disappointed. The week past, Yuya didn’t show up to me and my soon to be parents will be coming to fetch me. I wanted to bid farewell to him. Separation is the hardest part of being connected to people. Yuya and I seem to feel the same.
I walked to the park and Yuya saw me, approaching to the tree. I ran to him but he climbed the tree fast before I could grab his shirt.
“Yuyan~ get down! I wanted to say something.”
“No!”
“Please?!”
“I hate you!”
My heart shattered and I can hear his voice reverberating through my empty mind. Suddenly, he fell and I wasn’t able to help it; I laughed.
“Are you mad at me?” I asked; gesturing an apology for laughing at him and extending my hand to help him stand up.
“Yes.” He reached for my hand and hugged me a little.
“I’ll come back.” Daiki told Yuya with tears accumulated at the corner of his eyes. “I promise.”
Yuya stared at him as if he’s memorizing every detail of Daiki’s face. “Never grow up.” he chuckled which made Daiki drop his tears.
“You told me that when we grow up, we’ll be living together…” doubt was obviously creeping onto Daiki’s face. Yuya just smiled.
“We should name this tree.” Yuya chanted.
“Eh?”
“Of course, you should be reminded of me.”
“Then, what’ll be its name?”
“Mr. High Tree.”
“That’s English. How will it be if you translate it?”
“High in Japanese is Taka while Ki is tree.”
“Takaki-san?”
Yuya smiled. “Yes, Arioka-kun.”
I looked at his face and my eyes widened in bewilderment. He wiped my tears and told me, “Be brave, Arioka-kun.”
I wanted him to call me Dai-chan but since it’ll be improper since my so-called parents were there in the car near the park; seemingly watching over us, Yuya decided to call me that way.
“I’m coming back, Yuyan, I promise.”
He was waving at me as the car drove me away from Ibaraki, Osaka to Tokyo.
---
“Excuse me.” a woman’s voice made Daiki’s eyes fluttered.
“Yes? What can I do for you?”
“I happen to hear that you’re looking for the owner of the old orphanage.” She smiled.
“Oh~ do you know where she is now?” he stood up.
“I can help you.”
“I’m Daiki Arioka.” He extended his a hand for a handshake.
“Nikoru Nagusara.” She took his hand.
“Nikoru?” Daiki thought. “I’ve heard that before.”