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Hate it when I do that...

Hi all...Sorry about the blank message earlier, I hit the wrong button...

Anyway, here's the second installment in my first original piece in almost 
three years...

Copyright disclaimer:
All these characters are mine...The set is mine...If you wanna borrow, then

please ask first...

C&C is wanted and appreciated;
gargoyle@glasscity.net
Flames will be filed in the round folder

Let me know what you think...This is something new for me...

Salud...

***

Pearls
By
Joshua Trujillo

2 - Day By Day

The storm, as quickly as it had flared into aggression, died away
with equal suddenness. It was a storm for the late Spring. A storm
to wash the dust from the streets and clean the smells from the air.
Seigyo's mind was in a whirl as he looked out from the pier, over
the railing into the waters below. He jumped! That boy jumped
from the pier! It was a good fifteen meters to the water below and
Seigyo hadn't seen him come up anywhere. The salt air sprayed
lightly around him as he poured over his choices...

None of them looked good.

***

Rama stared at the boy. Yujiro's true form hovered just slightly
between his spirit form. That wasn't good, the vagueness in his
spirit form meant that his ghost was losing cohesion. Any second
now, it would split off and begin it's lonely crusade for salvation.
The body dies, but the soul continues. And Rama could take back
the three pearls, as Yujiro wouldn't be able to use them then.

"Come on, boy," he shouted, "Grow a pair and make a wish!"

Hopefully, a small shock to his ego would wake his spirit enough
to get him to wish for life. He ALMOST said it not ten seconds
before, but the delay was costing him. Rama gasped. He'd never
personally been to a 'Lifting Event' before, and could never
understand the awe that his fellow journeymen held for them. He
never knew why they were called 'Lifting Events' either. He knew
now.

As the body's tenuous hold over the spirit broke further and further
down, Rama could see the spirit pulling upwards towards eternity,
letting Rama view the actual connections that held it in place. The
vapor thin bonds oscillated through a million, myriad colors. Each
color represented a different spectrum of what Rama knew were
bonds, both physical and spiritual. The outer bonds began to snap
and tear silently in the murky depths.

"I...wish..."

Rama started at the boy's voice. He darted slightly closer to Yujiro,
so he could better see his face. He wasn't sure in the darkness, but
Rama thought Yujiro was crying. Rama looked to the bonds, which
broke with ever increasing speed. Yujiro looked up to the little
golden oyster. Rama switched from the bonds, to Yujiro's face and
back again. The last bond held for half an instant. It was slightly
pinkish in color and was the natal bond, the oldest and strongest of
them all. It held. Just long enough for Yujiro to look up at Rama
and speak.

"I wish I hadn't done that."

***

Seigyo heard the boy begin to cry behind him. He was obviously in
pain, but Seigyo didn't want to interrupt in what was certainly
none of his damned business. Seigyo coughed to himself and
straightened his tie again. The crying stopped and he breathed a
sigh of relief. It bothered him when he couldn't do anything about
it. Sato-kun always said that he'd be better served going into the
mental health professions than chemistry, but that wasn't what he
loved. And the mental health fields wouldn't have saved Sato.
Seigyo didn't turn around, but he heard the young man shuffling
around, his sneakers squeaking out of rhythm. He wasn't walking
back down the pier towards the shore...Seigyo REALLY hoped
that the boy wasn't dumb enough to try to mug him, that would
really disappoint him. Nothing came and it was once again quiet
behind him. Seigyo sighed and turned around.

The boy was perched on the other side of the rail, looking straight
down into the roiling waters below. He was going to jump! Seigyo
vaguely heard his umbrella rattle to the wooden deck of the pier as
he rushed to the boy, who still clung desperately to the pier. If only
Seigyo could get to him in time...

***

Yujiro was thoroughly confused. He looked out across the waves.
The pounding surf, the white foam crests on the waves that hit the
pier, the smell of the storm in the air...Everything was back the
way it was before-

A small golden object lit the water below. Yujiro looked down and
saw Rama, floating there like a little golden boat in a hurricane.
Yujiro turned his thoughts of what happened to Rama.

What was it, I'm so confused, he thought to the oyster, I'm alive,
but I remember being dead...?

Rama thoughts came alive as he chuckled slightly in Yujiro's head.

It was the-

"-pearls," Yujiro interrupted out loud.

Yeah kid, Rama said, Now it's up to you.

The rain-slicked footing on the wrong side of the railing gave way
under Yujiro and he automatically clutched at the two remaining
pearls in his right hand. There was a jerk on his left arm that very
nearly took his arm from his socket. Yujiro cried out in pain, but
kept a tight grip on the pearls. He looked up. The rain soaked face
of the other man on the pier looked back down at him, straining as
he was, to keep hold of Yujiro. Yujiro pocketed the pearls and
threw his arm up to grasp the other man's left arm. Little by little,
they worked to drag Yujiro to the surface of the pier and both lay
there, panting in the wake of the storm.

The other man got his voice back first.

"What the Hell are you doing jumping off the pier like that?!" he
shouted, "If you wanna die so badly, go home and slit your wrists!
It's easier, quicker and keeps you from dragging good Samaritans
like me into it!"

"I-..." Yujiro wanted to talk, but found he couldn't, "Sorry."

"Sorry," the other man retorted, "Sorry is what you say to your
parents after bringing home an F. Sorry is what you say to your
lover when you go down on them wrong. Sorry is-"

"I SAID I was sorry," Yujiro stood, "Now, thanks for what you did
and I can't repay you, but you have no idea what I feel like and
why I do something."

The other man stood and pushed back the long, dark locks that
covered his face. Yujiro thought for half an instant that
this...person...was female, but he picked up his fallen umbrella and
stowed it harshly under one arm. Upon closer examination,
however surreptitiously, Yujiro firmly established that his savior
was indeed male.

"And look at this," he whined, holding onto his suit vest, "I'm
soaked through. The dry cleaning bill will be huge..."

Then again...

"Well?"

Yujiro had almost turned to leave. He shuffled his hands and
shrugged.

"Well, what?" Yujiro asked.

"Your name?" the man asked pointedly, "I mean, you say you can't
repay me...That's certainly the case if I don't know who you are.
My name is Edakumi Seigyo."

"Kumitsu Yujiro."

"Charmed, I'm sure," Seigyo said, "Well, there's nothing for it. I
think you CAN repay me, just not in the way you're thinking."

Little hairs on the back of Yujiro's neck stood on end.

"First off, I want to talk to you about this fetish you have for
swimming at night. In a storm. With heavy objects in your
pockets," Seigyo continued as he pointed towards the shore, "And
then-"

Seigyo moved uncomfortably close to Yujiro, who tried his
damnedest not to run away. Seigyo put a hand on his shoulder as
he came around to the other side of Yujiro.

"-I want to find out," he continued, "why you feel you have to die
for it."

Seigyo's demeanor changed in an instant. He smiled an honest
smile and gave Yujiro's shoulder a slight squeeze. Yujiro didn't
feel threatened though, just...tired. He exhaled a breath that he
didn't realize he was holding and nodded as he rubbed his eyes.

"Come on," Seigyo pointed up to shore again, "I want to get to
someplace dry where, at least I can take this coat off and get
something hot in me..."

They started towards the shore and Yujiro whimpered slightly.

***

"Mm, that's the ticket," Seigyo purred, "Nice and hot..."

Yujiro coughed slightly. Seigyo arched his back until he heard a
slight pop and happily smiled at Yujiro.

"Are you enjoying this?" he asked.

Yujiro sheepishly nodded and stared down at the table.

"I love this place," Seigyo said as he looked around, "It's the only
coffee shop in three districts that stays open all night."

Yujiro switched his gaze to his cup of coffee. It was good coffee.
Damned good. He took another sip and looked around. Karoshi
Koffee sat back from the road a little ways and was generally
closer to the university's campus than Yujiro was accustomed.
Yujiro thought it was the proximity to the university that made it a
hit, and as he looked around at the people in the shop, it was a hit
with everyone.

There were a pair of guys in one corner booth that had been telling
dirty jokes since he and Seigyo arrived. They both wore lots of
leather and were generally ignored by everyone else, except for the
poor waiter who had to keep filling their lattes. A student had
come in about ten minutes after they had sat down. He plopped
stacks of books on the table and ordered the Supreme, which
Seigyo explained contained the highest amount of caffeine not
legal in most civilized nations What that meant was that the
student wanted to stay up for a couple of days...

Two booths down from them sat three extremely cute coeds, who
almost cooed when Seigyo took off his jacket and vest. He gave
them a wink and sat down, smiling like he'd won the lottery. The
girls were in a discussion of some type and had even played an
impromptu, if quiet, game of Jan-Ken-Pon. Yujiro didn't know the
results, but they seemed to be mixed.

"So," Seigyo said as he sipped, "Tell me what I want to know."

"Y-You sound like an old spy movie..."

"I love old movies," Seigyo said primly, "I quote them all the time,
but you're not getting out of this by avoiding the question. Tell you
what, I'll go first. That way, you can share in my misery and I can
share in yours. It loves company, you know..."

Seigyo chuckled softly.

"There once was this guy. And he did pretty much whatever he
wanted when he wanted because he didn't really give a damn.
About himself, about the world, about other people, he didn't care.
He got through high school that way and actually got into college
that way. He was on the fast track because he'd do anything and
screw over anyone who got in his path. He was ruthless..."

Seigyo sipped his coffee.

"The problem was, he wasn't happy. He never had been. He'd
accomplished much, even without the support of his family and he
thought that doing so much would eventually make him happy. He
never stopped to think that those disgusting relationships that he
saw others dive headfirst into was actually the one thing he needed.
He had never loved anyone before. He'd just never had that urge."

Seigyo grew silent as he stared into his cup. The little whorls of
cream slid around the inside of his coffee, making little universes
and destroying them again.

"Then he met another guy. This guy was a bit older than him, but
there was just something about him that struck a cord in the
younger man. A fire, I suppose you could say," Seigyo grinned,
"They did everything together, these two and they grew
accustomed to being around one another. Some might call that
love, but the young man had always been taught that love only
happened between a man and a woman. So what was this then?"

"The older man fell ill. It happened so quickly and cruelly that the
young man had no real time to act. It wasn't H.I.V., if that's what
you're thinking. That's what everyone thinks nowadays, but it
wasn't. The older man had a degenerative nerve disorder that he
never told the young man about and all the doctors could do was
make the older man comfortable in his last days. The young man
thought he could find a drug or something that could help, but the
older man knew better."

Seigyo sighed and cleared his throat. He stopped the shaking in his
right hand before picking up his cup and taking a sip.

"Then the older man died. It took some time before the young man
realized what had happened. He reconciled with his family and
went on with college, but the old, familiar emptiness came back
and try as he might to banish it, he couldn't. That's when he
realized that he loved the older man and it was the young man's
fault that he never told his friend that before he died...He never
said it..."

Silence wrapped the table as the blood pounded in Yujiro's ears.
Why was Seigyo telling him all this? His life had been ten times-
no! Ten THOUSAND times worse than his own! How could he
share a little sob story like his own compared to THAT?!

"Yujiro-san?" Seigyo said softly, "You okay?"

Yujiro looked into the soft, gray eyes of his new friend and found a
comfort in them. He shook his head.

"Yeah, I was just thinking," Yujiro put a hand on the back of his
head, "How can my little sob story compare to that? I mean,
damn..."

Seigyo smiled.

"You aren't meant to compare it," he said, "You're just meant to
share. Now, after this buxom lass refills our cups, spill the beans."

Yujiro was startled as a blonde haired waitress appeared near. She
looked foreign, but he supposed that they had to get work
somewhere too. She looked bored in general and irritated at Seigyo
in particular. Yujiro liked her green eyes. He blushed slightly and
nodded at her urging for more coffee. She even left more cream.

"I think she likes you," Seigyo chided in a nasal voice.

Seigyo poured cream into his cup and stirred it gently.

"Well...Okay..." Yujiro began, "There's this girl I've liked for a
long time. Maeko. She's great. I mean, she's got wonderful eyes
and-"

Seigyo stopped him with a held up finger.

"Yujiro-san, the situation please. I realize that you REALLY like
her, I don't need to know what she looks like."

Yujiro sighed.

"Yeah, sorry..." he began again, "Well, we've been close friends
for years. I mean, since grade school and I'd always wanted to tell
her how I felt, but I couldn't. I always ended up falling on my face.
Literally. She'd laugh and help me up and I'd be too embarrassed
to continue."

"Lately, she's been nicer and nicer to me and I couldn't figure out
why," he said, "Not that I'd complain. I loved it! I thought she was
going to finally tell me that she was in love with me...As much as I
was with her..."

"That didn't happen, did it?" Seigyo asked.

"No," Yujiro shook his head, "Tonight, she asked me to her
apartment for the first time. Her mom is some kind of overseas
journalist and is gone most of the time, so Maeko has her own
apartment and this was the first time she'd ever asked me over.
Said she had something important to tell me. When I got there, she
told me that she was going out on a date with my best friend..."

Yujiro had been looking at the area next to his cup and was
surprised when a tear fell to the table. Another followed and he
wiped at his eyes.

"I just feel so stupid because my story is nothing and yet here I
sit," he took a deep breath, "Telling my story to a complete
stranger."

"Not a complete stranger," Seigyo smiled as he sipped, "We know
each other's names."

The absurdity of it struck Yujiro, who joined Seigyo in a small
laugh.

"Yujiro-san, I know what it's like to lose someone you love,"
Seigyo said, "Oddly enough, neither of us had any choice in the
matter and that's why it hurts. It was why I wanted to be your
friend. No one jumps off the pier without reason these days and
you didn't look too mentally unbalanced..."

"You mean, they DID jump off the pier without reason in the
past?"

Seigyo blinked twice and laughed.

"I hadn't thought of that, but I suppose you're right," he smiled, "I
like you, Yujiro-san. I'd like to be friends, if that's okay with
you?"

Yujiro shrugged and smiled.

"Sure," he said, "I could always use more friends."

Seigyo nodded at this.

"Okay Yujiro-san...But, tell me before you're going to use me,
okay?"

Seigyo stirred his coffee and tried to hold back his laughter, but
couldn't as Yujiro got what he said as well. Seigyo liked this guy.
He's a bit of a loser, but then, aren't we all in some way or other?
It was apparent to Seigyo that Yujiro had no interest in him, other
than a friend, but then he was the same way when he met Sato.
Seigyo didn't want to push him though; no good ever comes from
that. He'd leave it alone...For now...

***

Yujiro munched at the contents of his bento. He'd packed the usual
and was enjoying the view from the second story of the school
building. His classroom. It was kind of wet outside and, oddly
enough, they still weren't done refinishing the cafeteria. The
school had been working on that for almost the entire year and
Yujiro figured that he'd graduate before it was done. Smelled bad
too. The room, not his bento.

He had so many things swirling around his mind, he wondered
they didn't fly off on their own tangents and give me migraines
when they hit the insides of his head. It was a silly notion and
Yujiro liked the distraction it proved, so he went with it. Anything
to distract from the happenings of the previous night. He'd made a
new friend, he'd lost his only love and he'd STILL beat his mom
home that night. It was sad. Yujiro sat back in his chair and drank
at his Coke.

And then there was the one thing that he couldn't reconcile, even
with himself. The pearls. He'd found them in his pocket that
morning, just where he'd left them. One shined vaguely pink and
the other shined vaguely blue, it was difficult to describe, but
Yujiro thought it was what pearls did. He had half a mind to go
back down to the area near the pier tonight and see if he could find
Rama.

A talking, golden, glowing oyster. Yeah. Right.

According to Rama, he had two wishes left. What the Hell could
be wish for? Lots of money? Nah. That kind of thing never worked
out. To be popular? Nah. That was a stupid idea. Besides, if he
became popular, then people would find out about his parents and
he CERTAINLY couldn't let THAT happen. He hadn't seen
Satoshi today...

He didn't know if he could see Satoshi after what happened last
night. It wasn't Satoshi's fault either. Satoshi had liked Maeko for
a long time too; he just had the nerve to ask her out, while Yujiro
didn't. It was just that simple. Many things felt better after a long
night's sleep. Of course, he hadn't slept very long. Just felt like it.

He stiffened as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his head
and shoulders. They drew his head backward to come to rest
between two breasts that were, in his limited estimation, quite soft.

"Good afternoon, Yuji-chan," a voice purred from somewhere
above his head.

Yujiro looked up, with some modest difficulty, into the face of his
tormentor.

"Megumi-chan," Yujiro said, "You know you COULD greet me
like any other sane person. I mean, geez, what if people are
watching?"

Megumi Yayu bent down and rested her lips close to his left ear.

"Ooo, then maybe I could show off..."

He looked at her again.

"Are you okay?" Yujiro said annoyed, "Something get in your
breakfast this morning?"

Megumi came around him and sat down in the chair opposite. The
school uniforms were like many in Japan, having the traditional
sailor attire. Fumotamaya allowed for some alteration, but not
much. Megumi wore her uniform with the same style she did
everything else, easily and beautifully. Megumi moved into the
area in Yujiro's freshman year and they'd immediately become
friends. Her parents were from farming stock and were fairly down
to earth and so was Megumi. They'd won some kind of lottery and
therefore had the cash to afford Megumi a good education. Yujiro
was happy for it. He got another friend.

Megumi was almost as tall as Yujiro, with black curly hair that
bounced up from her shoulders in a little halo around her face. Her
bright, violet eyes glittered happily at him from her seat across
from him. Yujiro shook his head at how she kept her figure, for all
the junk food that she always ate. And around Fumotamaya, she
was considered one of the in-crowd. It wasn't just for the fact that
she was president of the class, but also that she made friends so
easily. Everyone could come and talk, everyone's opinions were
respected and everyone equally respected her. She was the ultimate
people-person.

She had a special friendship with Yujiro, though. Neither of them
could explain it, they just seemed to bring out the best in each
other. They'd tried dating during their sophomore year, but found
that they were happier as friends and kept it that way. She still
relished teasing him, but then she teased Satoshi AND Maeko that
way too. Yujiro chalked it up that it was just her way of getting out
her exhibitionist tendencies.

"Aw, you're no fun," she stuck her tongue out, "And here I
thought you'd play for a while..."

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Because you're sitting over here, gloomily watching the sunny
day outside and not doing anything about it," she said, "And
besides...You're thinking about HER, aren't you?"

Yujiro poked another mouthful of food in and shook his head.

"Liar," she said.

"No," he said, "I'm really not thinking about them."

"Them?" she asked, "Oh. Satoshi-kun. Yeah, I guess it would be a
duet now, wouldn't it?"

"I'm trying not to think of them, if it's all the same to you."

"Hmph," Megumi crossed her arms, "Well, wait. If you're NOT
thinking about Maeko-chan, then what...?"

Yujiro took another sip of Coke and tried to avoid her gaze.

"I'd rather not talk about it," he said softly, "It's kinda
embarrassing."

Megumi reached across and plucked the Coke from his hand. She
took a drink and pointed her pinky at him.

"Yuji-chan, I know you. And this isn't like you," she said, "I
mean, it's like you to mope, but not like this. This is actual thought
and that's not like you."

"Excuse me...I can think too, you know..." he huffed.

"So, what are you thinking about?"

"He's thinking?" a voice asked from their left.

It was Satoshi.

"Toshi-chan!" Megumi giggled.

She jumped up and threw her arms around him, planting a large
raspberry on his cheek. He made a face and pushed her off.

"I WISH you wouldn't DO that!" he wiped at his cheek.

She resumed her seat across from Yujiro and smiled happily.
Satoshi sat down next to him and brushed back some errant strands
of his blonde hair. He smiled and Yujiro felt sick.

"It was kind of a shock to see you there last night, Yujiro-kun,"
Satoshi said, "I mean, I know that you and Maeko-chan go way
back, but I thought she didn't allow anyone into her apartment?"

Yujiro could only nod. Satoshi sighed and looked to Megumi, who
only shrugged.

"Come on, man! What's wrong? For the last couple days, you've
been high as a kite over someone and now you're like this..."
Satoshi said, "I just don't get it."

Megumi looked pointedly at him.

"I just-" Yujiro chose his words, "I have a lot on my mind."

"Whatever," Satoshi said, taking out his books, "You ARE coming
tonight, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'll be there..." Yujiro said.

"Oh that's right! Yuji-chan's play..." Megumi said, "Can I come
watch too?"

"Yeah, I don't have a problem with it," Satoshi said, "Yujiro-kun
wrote the play, after all..."

Megumi began scribbling something down as lunch ended and
class began again. Yujiro finished off his Coke and put the rest of
his food away. Maybe he'd eat it on the way home. He wasn't very
hungry, just sick. Maybe he was coming down with something, he
didn't know. As the teacher began to drone on, Megumi reached
over and slipped a note onto his desk. Yujiro opened it.

			Smile, sweet-stuff!
		It's a gorgeous day
			And I'm not wearing any panties!

			^_^

Yujiro quickly folded the note and shot a look at Megumi, who
wrinkled up her nose in a quick smile as she began to take notes.
Yujiro just shook his head. These are the kinds of friends *I* have
to deal with? Seigyo will probably fit right in...

***

Joshua "Gargoyle" Trujillo
"Stone Cold Protector of the Righteous"
"Owner of The Anime Bar & Grille - We don't suck!"

Come visit The Anime Bar & Grille!
Now with two locations!
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/1509
and
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/museum/1275


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