Yuto and Yamada
Bitter Crimson Tears
A/N: Prev Chapter 3 has been merged with this one.
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Yuto and Yamada
02
***
It was the hour before dawn when Ryosuke decided to venture outside his house for the first time in days. Pained brown eyes darted about as the little insomniac furtively peeped through his screen door, making sure the village folks was still at slumber. Studying the outside elements thoroughly, no one was of sight--just yet, which made Ryosuke sigh in relief. He opened the door and cautiously took one foot into nature’s territory. Rarely did the youngster dared to leave home but when he did he made sure it was before the sun rises.
He learned the hard way to not take trips during the day when a group of angry villagers had beaten him. For what reason was a question that left Ryosuke to ponder on. He would look at them and back at himself, trying to figure out what distinguishes him from others. And from studying each individual day after day, he was unable to pinpoint not one single difference--when it came to physical appearance.
His appearance fit the norm quite enough, so he believed. His village was a home to a band of soldiers; with that being said, seeing villagers with missing limbs, severe burn marks, and distorted faces was not uncommon. Even helpless woman and children where victimized of mutilation and now suffers the eternal curse of deformity. Despite that, they were still treated like a ‘human’ with the exception of a few minor stares and pointing from curious children.
This intense hostility he received from the villagers ran deeper than appearance. Could this particular hatred not be directly towards his actions but possibly be from his heritage? No could be, it had to be. There was no doubt in Ryosuke’s mind that that was the reason why, but he was ignorant of his family’s background history. He never knew or met his father and whenever he’d ask Akihito about him, Akihito would give him everything but a complete straight answer. Only stating that his father was an honorable skilled warrior whose life was sacrificed during war and it was best to leave it at that. But Ryosuke knew something wasn’t right. He continued to harass Akihito about the truth whenever he came to visit until Akihito finally had just enough to the point where he scolded Ryosuke to never ask about his father or his heritage ever again. Ryosuke followed his orders and rarely spoke if ever to Akihito since that day.
Ryosuke carefully placed his other foot into the open world and sighed once again before speaking.
“I know, I know. But it’s ok really, no one is out right now so I’ll be fine okay? I’ll be back soon.” he said to what seems to be no one before heading off.
He glanced about as he ran, eyes sighting at the housings and the castle that lied atop of the accessible mountain. It served as both a watchtower over the land and the home of the daimyo: the leader of the Amaya village.
Ryosuke hurried along until he reached the village water well. The rope was already tied to the well bucket’s handle so their wasn’t much for Ryosuke to do. He lowered the bucket and rope into the well until he reached the water level. Once the bucket was filled with enough water he quickly retrieved it by reeling in the rope slack. He grabbed a hold of the bucket and untied the rope’s knot.
Just when he had finished untying, a few snickering and chuckling sounds came about at a near distance. Ryosuke hastily crouched behind the well and placed the bucket between his feet. Very slowly he rose his head just enough to catch of glimpse to whoever was nearby.
Two boys that appeared to be a couple of years older than Ryosuke were walking towards his direction. Both boys were wearing the same outfit: it consisted of a black skin-tight jump suit with grey armor plates covering their shoulders, elbows, knee caps, and chest area. A thick rope was tied around their waist to hold their weapons in place. They even shared the same hairstyle. Their hair being styled in a top-knot, tied with a little grey material, much like how Akihito wears his hair during missions. The only difference was one’s hair was much darker in color and well groomed while the other was medium brown and unkempt. (1)
“Did you see the way I took down that monster?! He didn’t stand a chance against a pro like me. I bet he ted bricks the moment I pulled out my infamous killer Mononoke sword!” said the brunet who had a goofy smile plastered across his face; he pretended to wield a sword in his hand.
“I was there Yuya, no need to explain it. Why are you so hyped up for? It was training. It’s not like it was a real monster. Just a dummy filled with haystack.” The other one said, eyes were as calm as ever.
“Hey, I can dream all right?! One day I’m going to be an awesome monster slayer, just like my old man.”
The other one simply rolled his eyes. “Give me a break, as much as you slack off in training you’ll never even make it in the exams.”
“I do not slack off I--”
With his feet trembling, Ryosuke tips over the bucket by mistake, giving his hiding spot away from the splashing water noise.
“The hell was that?”
This was bad, very bad. Ryosuke couldn’t help but quiver in fear. He closed his eyes tightly and prayed that they’ll disappear and everything would be fine once he counts to three.
One.
“I think it came from over there,”
Two.
“By the well?”
Three. Please don’t come here. Please don’t, Please. Please. Please. Please.
Ryosuke couldn’t tell which was louder, the steps coming his way or his heart pounding rapidly in his chest. He roughly grabbed a hold of his hair and curled himself into a ball, saying the word please repeatedly in his head. Their steps became louder and louder with each foot they took. Ryosuke bit his bottom lip till it bled.
“We’ll here’s a bucket…”
The funny one named Yuya went over to pick up the fallen bucket, but he flinched backgrounds before tripping over his own feet.
“What the hell?!” Yuya screeched as he crawled his way back to his friend. “I--it’s a-a spider! Spider! Hikaru! A big spider came from that bucket!”
The boy with the cool expression shook his head. “Out of all people they choose him to be my partner?”
“Shut up,” he growled.
“Yuya! Hikaru! I said you could take a break not wonder around the place.” Said a loud obnoxious but feminine voice. The voice revealed a young petite woman. She had on the same outfit but her hair was simply tied in a ponytail with two pairs of hair loops that framed her face.
“Oh, Sensei! We were just--”
“Going back to the academy.” she finished Yuya’s sentence for him before narrowing her eyes. “Now,”
“Y-yes Ma’am!” said Yuya while bowing repeatedly. The other named Hikaru bowed also before leaving the scene.
Now Ryosuke was left alone, heart still racing, eyes blinking rapidly, and his body trembled out of control. He was more than frightened, he was traumatized. He was grateful he was left unfound but it still drove a shocking sensation down his spine. It was so much shock that he couldn’t think straight. He froze until warm liquid poured down his eyes. He didn’t understand. Why was he crying? Did people frighten him that much?
“Why are you crying?”
Ryosuke’s eyes shot wide open at the sudden hoarse voice. Standing in front of him stood a boy around his age, no doubt. He wore a worn out white Kimono with no special designs. His black spiked hair pointed in every direction and his eyes were unusuallybig and wide.
Where on earth did he come from? Ryosuke had not heard not a single footstep. It was almost as if he came from thin air.
He poked Ryosuke in the forehead with his index finger. “Ne, Are you deaf or something? I asked why you’re crying. It’s rude not to answer yah know.”
Ryosuke shook his head and pleaded. “Please, please don’t hurt me. I’ll go I-I promise. Just please, please--”
“Hey slow down there man. I’m not going to hurt yah.”
“W-what?” he sniffed.
“Geez, why would I do something like that? I barely know yah. Oh yeah, how rude of me. The name’s Yuto. And you are?”
Ryosuke starred into the boy’s brown orbs, stunned.
“Hello? What’s the matter with you? You were just talking a few seconds ago. We’ll if you’re not going to give me a name I’ll have no choice but to name you myself. I’ll call you…Yama! Yeah, you look like a Yama." he smiled brightly. “I like that name! Yama, Yama, Yama, Yama, Yama--”
Ryosuke felt very uncomfortable. He needed to flee from this place, especially from this odd child standing in front of him. That’s when it hit him. He made a big mistake. He let his guard down. Had he paid attention to his surroundings he would of known that the sun was rising. When the sun rises, people awaken from their slumber and take trips outside, going about with their business. People. He didn’t need to encounter anymore of them than he already had.
“Yama, Yama. I can say that all--hey where are you going?!”
The boy called out his ‘nickname’ as Ryosuke fled the scene as quickly as he could until he reached home, completely forgetting the reason why he was out in the first place.
*** *** *** *** *** ***
“I’m sorry…I didn’t get what you asked for. Please forgive me Oka--”
Ryosuke paused when a sound of a knock echoed throughout his home. Akihito? He wondered. The knocking eventually stopped which made Ryosuke a little confuse. Usually Akihito would come in on his own, but this time he left.
He quietly reached for the door and peeped outside. He looked around and saw no one but he did stumbled across an object that was never seen by his house. The bucket from earlier, now currently filled with water was lying in front of his house.
Yuto? he thought.
After scrutinizing the bucket for quite some time, Ryosuke finally had the courage to take another step closer towards the object. The water didn’t seem to be tampered with at all which calmed the paranoid boy, just barely. Carefully and slowly, he placed both his hands to its handle and carried it into his home before closing his door.
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Ever since that encounter, the strange wide eyed kid has been following him nonstop. Whenever Ryosuke decided to venture outside, you can best assure that Yuto was right there venturing along with him. The troubled child couldn’t help but feel agitated and somewhat annoyed. He already had enough problems with people as it is, he didn’t need one harassing him at that. But sure enough, Yuto always kept a fair distance between the two. Never has Yuto attempted to invade his private little bubble, Ryosuke made extra sure of it. He did, however, try to start an actual conversation and bluntly ask him questions that others may consider very personal. However, Ryosuke would rarely, if ever, reply to his chattering. Despite the constant ignores, Yuto would continue with his conversation and entertain himself by laughing at his own (dry) jokes.
Ryosuke himself had questions of his own, like why was he so intrigued with him? Why follow him? But more importantly, why was he being so nice to him? As much as he wanted his questions answered, he refrain himself from asking as he grew wary of what the answer may be. The only answer that Ryosuke could come up with was that Yuto must be plotting something sinister to harm him in some shape or form, but he hadn’t. Perhaps the villagers who utterly despises Ryosuke sent Yuto here as a ploy, to get him. But he knew that was highly unlikely the case.
Lately Ryosuke haven’t been seeing the little mischief around anymore, which made him feel a bit concerned and worried for his absence. He even felt bad for ignoring his presence as he did nothing but offer compassion and generosity towards him. It was something he didn’t intentionally mean to do but that’s what he learned over the past few years, to avoid everything that may harm him, humans especially.
After a long careful thought, he decided that if they were to ever meet again, he’ll try to correspond better, starting with a ‘thank you’. He never got the chance to express his gratitude when Yuto placed the bucket full of water in front of his door steps. Maybe he’ll even try to start an actual bond with the boy, something that his beloved mother would have wanted him to have…
He checked everywhere for him with no luck. Feeling slightly disappointed for being unable to find him, he decided to give up on his quest.
Ryosuke sighed as he gazed his eyes up at the sky, evening was about over. At a far distance from where he was standing, many of the villagers were heading off to their homes and closing down their shops. It was time for Ryosuke to leave as well, but not home. No, Ryosuke had other plans.
Bypassing the typical housings and such and entering a nearby forest, he sauntered through a natural avenue of trees until he reached the very end. There, lied a very fond lake. The tall cedar trees cast their reflection on the water of the east side of the lake, making a dark silhouette against the blue. The vibrant green grass that sat along the border was occupied by roses with moonlight-pale petals.
It was a peaceful place no doubt. When he was younger his mother would often take him here. Now it was his hiding spot, a place were he can relax, where’s he’s shown to be the most vulnerable. Ryosuke leisurely laid down on the soft firm grass and rested his chin on his hand. A sudden breeze made the water ripple, and as the lake rippled, the mirrored trees seem to dance on their own. With every blink he took, it became harder for him to keep his eyes open. He continued to fight from dozing off until his eyelids betrayed him and he drifted off into a seemingly pleasant sleep.
A young boy, no older than six, playfully placed his stubby little fingers against the woman’s temple laying beside him. She appeared to be sound asleep.
“Okasan,” he whispered in her ear as he trailed his fingers up to the roots of her long beautiful ebony hair, each lock of hair gently. “Wake up.”
Black eyelashes fluttered open by the sudden sound, revealing golden brown eyes that were once hidden. The women turned her head and faced the little boy who was grinning ear to ear.
She smiled back. “Morning, Ryosuke.”
“Morning Okasan,” he replied.
“You’re awake unusually early, why so?” she asked as she sat herself up, brushing off the blankets that she was embraced in.
“We’ll, I was gonna-”
“Gonna?”
He sighed. “I meant I was going to wait till later in the morning but I just couldn’t help myself. I wanted to show you now, really badly.”
“Show me what?” she asked curiously.
She raised a brow as he turned his body away from her.
“We’ll, yesterday when we visited the lake, you told me not to climb the trees but I climbed it anyways,”
“Ryosuke you know better-”
“I know, I’m sorry but I saw a bird’s nest with baby birds inside and I wanted a closer look at them so I climbed the tree. I guess one of the branches just wasn’t strong enough to support my weight so it snapped and I fell pretty hard, fracturing the bone in my right arm. But it healed on it’s own instantly, I didn’t even have time to react to the pain.”
Ryosuke suddenly turned around, facing his mother, he lifted his right arm up and hid the left arm behind his back.
“Even the red bruise is gone,” he continued, flapping his arm. “I can show you it too, I tried it again and it works.”
He revealed his left arm and his mother grimaced at what he held in his hand.
“Watch this Okasan,” he said before cutting a part of his flesh on his arm with the knife he wielded. Blood quickly emerged from his wound and oozed down his arm, leaving a trail of red stains.
“Ryosuke!” she screamed in shock.
“It’s okay! See?” he showed her his arm, and the cut that was once there vanished by a blink of an eye.
Grabbing a hold to Ryosuke’s wrist, she snatched his knife away. And before the woman could grasp what she was doing, she slapped him straight across the face.
“Don’t you ever do something like that again!” she barked, infuriated and shocked beyond belief.
The youngster stared at her, stunned and terrified. Never has he seen her this angry and she certainly have never laid a finger on him.
Her raged dimmed when she noticed Ryosuke’s eyes grew tearful. His hand rubbed his abused cheek that was reddening but the redden hand print quickly vanished in thin sight.
Realizing what she did, his mother fell to her knees beside her son and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
“I’m sorry, Ryo-kun.” she said softly. “I didn’t mean to hit you,” she broke away from the hug and locked her eyes with his.
“But don’t do that again, understand? You scared me,” he hesitantly nodded as he whipped away his tears. “Listen Ryosuke, you’re special and as you grow older you’ll learn just how special you really are. But some people don’t understand that so they’ll say or do things terrible to you when you express your uniqueness just for that reason. Promise me you won’t show this to anyone else.”
“I-I promise.” came a raspy reply, still a bit confused.
Ryosuke shortly awoken from his slumber in astonishment when a vibrant touch cast upon his flesh. His eyes shot wide open.
“Eh, you’re finally awake, Yoma-chan.” said a familiar hoarse voice.
He sat up with the support of his elbows and faced the child sitting beside him, still tugging rather roughly at his hair. He shortly pulled away once he noticed the annoyed expression on Ryosuke’s face.
“Never thought a place like this would be around here, a great hiding spot no doubt.”
“How did you get here then?” he asks.
“I followed yah here, duh yah ditz. I‘ve been doing it for a couple of weeks now you should know this by now.” Yuto rolled his eyes and then smiled.
Ryosuke eyes slightly narrowed. “Why do you follow me?”
“Now you ask me that?” he sighed, before continuing. “Because you never answered my question ‘why were you crying?’.
His eyes widen.
“And also because I always hear my peers talking about you. Saying that you were some kind of imp or demon or something. But after following you around this whole time, you seem like a pretty normal kid. We’ll, to me that is.
‘Normal?” he thought. Ryosuke stood up and began to leave.
“Where are you going?” Yuto called after him.
“I’m going home.” he replied. He then stopped in his tracks and turned around. “Aren’t you coming?”
Yuto stared at him, looking puzzled and shocked in disbelief.
“You’ve been following me everywhere to get an answer, why stop now?” Ryosuke said as he continued to leave the area. Footsteps could be heard behind him shortly after, it seemed like he was pacing just to catch up.
It was quiet after that. Ryosuke darted about at the surroundings as if he never seen the area before. He would take a quick glance back every now and then to check to see if Yuto was still behind him.
They kept on this way until the boy turned to an unkempt eerie old house and stopped at the door.
Suddenly, Yuto broke the silence.
“Hey Yama-chan,”
The child jumped in startlement and turned to face Yuto.
“You never told me your name either,”
Ryosuke bit his bottom lip before replying. “My name is Ryosuke. Yamada Ryosuke.”
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Word Count: 3515
(1). Ryosuke is around the age of eight or nine for now. He'll age throughout the story.
Yeah, so I decided to merge these chapters into one because it felt 'right' to me, sorry for any confusion.
-- <3Ryo Chan
I have merged chapter 2 with chapter 3 if you wondering where chp 3 went. Sorry for any confusion.
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