PAY ME LATER (Chapter 5)
“Tatsumi nee-chan.. Where are you going..? It’s only 7 o’clock…” the 15 years old Tatsuya said while rubbing his eyes, trying to erase the sleepiness that is still coming to him. He still hugging tight his fluffy teddy bear and that really proves that he still has a childish mind.
A young beautiful girl looks back at Tatsuya once she had successfully tied up her shoes. There was a beautiful smile pasted on her face as she saw how her little brother is still in his pajamas and looks like he is still sleeping. She ruffled Tatsuya’s hair playfully and quickly get up, slides her big bag on her shoulder.
“Ive work to do, Tat-chan. Get your sleep again, kiddy. You might need them once you’re back in school again.” Ueda Tatsumi spoke softly towards his lovely brother. Tatsuya just pouted and he quickly runs into his room and catch Tatsumi off guard for a while. Then, less than 1 minute later, before Tatsumi walks out from the house, she catched a glimpse of Tatsuya running towards her but now with a different outfit. She looks at her brother quizzically.
“Where are you going, Tatsuya.?”
“Following you of course. You always ditched me behind every morning, and never had a breakfast together with me. So, I want to know, what makes you always leaves me behind.” Tatsuya said with a determined voice once he’s done tied his shoelace. Tatsumi just smiles at Tatsuya’s antic and holds his hand tightly, guiding him to their next station.
Once they arrived to their destination, Tatsuya was gaping like a goldfish as he watchs his sister distributes the newspapers to the passerby there. What makes him more confuse is that, the passerby was not paying her anything. Now that is making him pissed off. He quickly grabbed her arm and causing her to look at him straight.
“Why did you do that.? And why aren’t anybody pay you for that newpapers.?”
Tatsumi smiles knowingly at that. She always knew, her innocent little brother will never understands how this world works.
“Tatsuya, I’m not doing this for money. And the passerby knew that. I’m doing this for fun, to do a kind for peoples here. We both were borned in a very luxurious life, father owns a big company inside and outside the country. But I never felt happy with my life. I feel like I lack of something, I need to do something in my life. Once I do this, giving out free newspapers, seeing happy and blissful smiles on their faces, I feel complete. This is what I needed, to do kind for others.” Tatsumi explains to his little brother carefully, not wanting him to experience a culture shock.
Tatsuya blinks his eyes several times, trying to catch the real meaning behind those words. He always knew his sister was so different from a typical young, rich girl. She is so humble and never takes her life for advantage, to get a special treatment. And he always adores his sister, for her kindness and her humble attitude. Once he understands the real reason for her sister’s weird activity, he then smiles brightfully and hugs Tatsumi tightly.
“You’re right, nee-chan. I’m so proud to have a sister like you.” They hugged like that for a minute, making the passerby around them glanced at them, wondering why these two teenagers were making a scene here. Then, Tatsuya breaks the hug to only gives his sister a determined look.
“Tatsumi nee-chan. Let me help you. Let me be like you, doing the things that you do. Please, nee-chan.?” Tatsumi can’t sustains his brother’s puppy eyes and she gives in.
“Of course you can.”
As Tatsumi grabbed a newspaper from her bag, she accidentally dropped it on the road and Tatsuya noticed that.
“Daijobu. I’ll take it.”
Tatsuya quickly strikes onto the road, not caring to take a glimpse of what coming towards him. As he bent down to take the newspaper, Tatsumi realized that there was a car coming in a full speed towards where her younger brother aiming to. She screams out her brother’s name, trying to get the boy’s attention about the danger coming to him right now. Tatsuya, realizing that Tatsumi’s voice was calling him, steals a glance towards his sister only to be awarded with a push from Tatsumi and thus causing him to fall square on his face onto the hard road. Tatsuya hissed in pain as he felt how his palms and face were covered in blood due to the harsh contact with the road. As he glanced back, he stared in horror as he saw how mess the situation are right now.
Ueda Tatsumi is lying frozen on the road, a pool of blood accompanied her, together with the scattered newspaper’s pages from her bag. As breeze passing through, the scattered newspaper flying their way towards the young boy who is now frozen on his place, looks blankly as the passerby frantically trying to help his sister. The driver of the car panickly calling for an ambulance, clutching his head and speaks with unorganized words.Tatsuya could feels someone helped him up on his feet and asking him some questions. But he has no time for questions and he falls back on his knees, clutching his head……
“Tatsumi nee-chan..!!”
Tatsuya was panting hard as he sit up on his bed. His whole body was sweating madly, together with his heartbeat. He could feels his own tears trickle down on his porcelain cheeks, making its way down to his chin. He palms his face, trying to erase the bad image on his mind right now. ‘That dream again…’
He then glanced towards his side, gazing his way to a small table beside his bed with a small frame on it. A photo of a beautiful girl with him, hugging each other and a cheerful smiles on each faces. Tatsuya grabs that frame and as he stares at it, a tear falls on that frame, signifying how sad Tatsuya is.
“I’m sorry, nee-chan…”
@__@
Tatsuya is back to his business, busily distributing the newspapers for the passerby at the bus stop. The same place, the same time, the same faces, and the same routine. Smiles never fade from his pretty face as he greets the receiver cheerfully, and wishes them a happy day, doubting whether he will live a happy day himself.
“Here’s for you, sir. Enjoy your day.” those phrase are common to Tatsuya that he thought he could records it and plays it everytime he gives out the newspapers. Despite all that, he really enjoys his work and never regrets his decisions to do this. True to what his sister said, seeing all those smiles from the peoples you have done kind to, it really made his day.
Tatsuya pausing for a while as he sure, all the peoples there had received their newspapers. Sweat of tiredness trickle down his porcelain cheeks as he immersely observed the citizens of this city, and he can’t be more impressed at how determined they looked, confidence on their faces.
Suddenly, Tatsuya realized a shadow was hovering above him, signifying that there is a person beside him. A smile crept across his face as he knew very well who the latter is. He glanced around and being awarded with a wide grin from the other.
“Seriously, are you my regular customer now, Nakamaru-kun.?” Tatsuya said mockingly to the taller man, as he had expected the other’s presence since the moment he stepped here.
Yuichi just grins wider as he heard the other’s greeting. He scratched the back of his head, trying to act all innocent. “Good morning, Ueda-chan.”
It has been a week since their first encounter, by mean the moment they knew each other’s name and the moment they had their first physical contact. It’s like a second nature, the next thing they knew, Yuichi keeps waiting for the bus at the same place as where Tatsuya distributes out those newspapers. And the next thing they knew, they are craving for each other’s presence, to hear the other’s voice and feels the other’s warmness.
“Good morning to you too, Nakamaru-kun.” Tatsuya said as he rummages through his bag and the next moment, he cheerfully hands a newspaper for Yuichi. “You’re late today, I see.”
“Late for what.? I don’t have any classes today. In fact, today is actually my off day.” Yuichi received his newspaper delightfully and then both of them lean against the wall, watch the various activities produced from the passerby.
“Ehh.?! Then why are you here today.? Why don’t you have a rest at home.? God, look at your face. You even have black eyes and that clearly shows you need some rest. Owh, pity you.~” Tatsuya said without losing a beat and he unconciously holds out his hand, gently caressed Yuichi’s black eyes.
Tatsuya was so immersed in doing so that he didn’t realized the other’s gesture. Yuichi was blushing hard under Tatsuya’s stares that he can barely made any moves or blinked his eyes. Actually, he didn’t intends to blink his eyes as he doesn’t wants the other’s warmness disappear in a blink of eyes. So, he let it be as he frozen dead on his spot, with Tatsuya’s soft hand caressed his face lovingly.
Their moments being interrupted when a guy accidentally kicked Tatsuya’s bag and causing the contents of his bag to scatter messily on the pavement. Tatsuya hissed angrily as he saw how the guy didn’t intend to stop or gives a glance back. If he didn’t wants to help, at least Tatsuya was expecting an apologize from him. He heaves a sigh as he slowly collecting up all the papers, annoying was still evidenced on his face as he doing so.
“What a rude guy. At least say your sorry for this. Youngsters nowadays are so troublesome.” Yuichi, who has incredibly back to his normal patent colour of his face, snapped at how rude the guy is, not to mention that guy had ruined his moments with Tatsuya.
“Naah.~ I’m used to it already. There are people who are worse than that.” Tatsuya calmly said, his tone clearly states at how common he is with the behaviour of human being nowadays. Yuichi, seeing on how Tatsuya busily clearing the mess there, quickly helped himself to do the same.
Once they have cleared up the mess, Yuichi noticed that there is another newspaper lying on the road, strangely far away from where the mess started. Maybe the winds here are too strong nowadays, thought Yuichi. Tatsuya seems to notice that too and Yuichi, seeing the other is busying stuffed all those newspapers inside his bag, quickly volunteered himself.
“Daijobu. I’ll take it.”
As soon as Tatsuya heard that, his mind bewildered somewhere to the past. That nightmare.
“Tatsuya, I’m not doing this for money. And the passerby knew that. I’m doing this for fun, to do a kind for peoples here. We both were borned in a very luxurious life, father owns a big company inside and outside the country. But I never felt happy with my life. I feel like I lack of something, I need to do something in my life. Once I do this, giving out free newspapers, seeing happy and blissful smiles on their faces, I feel complete. This is what I needed, to do kind for others.”
“You’re right, nee-chan. I’m so proud to have a sister like you.”
“Tatsumi nee-chan. Let me help you. Let me be like you, doing the things that you do. Please, nee-chan.?”
“Of course you can.”
“Daijobu. I’ll take it.”
“NO..!!”
Yuichi stopped dead on his track, a metre away from the main road, as he heard the other’s cry. He quickly turns around, mind filled with nasty things that could have happened to Tatsuya. Is he being robbed.? Or is he being abduct by a serial kidnapper.? Or a drunk stupid guy trying to molest him.?
Yuichi’s trails of thought being cut off as he saw how Tatsuya kneeling on that very spot he left him, clutching his head with unreadable expression on his face. Yuichi quickly kneeled beside the other, grips tight his shoulders as he tried his hardest to calm Tatsuya.
“Hey. What’s wrong.? Is something wrong.? Are you having a headache.? Let’s go to the nearby clinic.” Yuichi frantically questioned Tatsuya, eyes wandering on the main road if by any chance, a taxi will pass by and they could make it to the clinic as soon as possible.
A hand stopped Yuichi from continue acting like a husband who had his wife on the edge of giving birth to their first child. Yuichi stopped wandering his eyes around and cast his eyes towards the pale Tatsuya.
“Ne.~ Daijobu, Nakamaru-kun. I’m fine. Just having a little….. hallucination maybe.” Tatsuya saw how Yuichi relaxed a bit by slumping his tensed shoulders down. Then, Yuichi realized the abandoned newspaper on the road and he quickly makes his way back there. Tatsuya realized that and he quickly pulls Yuichi back, hands tightening around the other’s arm.
“Please, let it be. It’s not worth your life.” Tatsuya’s audible voice could be heard by Yuichi and Yuichi couldn’t sustains himself from hugging tight the now sobbing Tatsuya. He wondered eminently, what caused Tatsuya to act like this.
Tatsuya is still clinging on Yuichi, never intends to let the other go and received the same consequence as his sister. Tears streamed down his face as he repeated the same phrase.
“Please, don’t leave me…”
A/N : Is this update late.? cause I'm super duper busy last week... what's with my relatives, my lesson for car license, my guitar lesson, my part-time job.... urgh, I'm dead tired right now and I need a break.... sorry for the short update..... I'll surely post the longer chapter next time...~ ^^' and yup, I made Maruda friendship already in here... I fast forwarded it a week later.... hope you don't mind... and I still can't find a scene for Jin to chime in... ^^' anyway, I won't bite you, so comments are always loved.....! ^__^