approved: ffml.admin From: "Joshua 'Gargoyle' Trujillo" Subject: [FFML-R] [FFML2][Wherever else][Original][Shoujo-flavoured] Pearls - 2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed The FFML Refugee List --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to FFMLRefuge-unsubscribe@listbot.com