Draw Again

Chapter 1

"Totsuka-kun," I said.

We were carrying boxes of unneeded supplies to a spare classroom for our teacher. He looked over at me with his usual carefree grin and bright eyes. I didn't really know him that well, I didn't know anyone very well in our class. I was known for being anti-social, but that wasn't the case at all. I just didn't know what to ever talk about with others.

"You were late again today. Why all of a sudden?" I asked.

He chuckled as we rounded the corner. Totsuka and I had been in the same class since elementary school, but I couldn't say we were friends. We've talked a few times this past year, but they've never been more than a handful of words in passing. Totsuka had always been fairly average in school, and had several friends, yet of late he had been showing up to classes late, or would leave early without saying anything.

"Did sensei send you to spy on me?" Totsuka joked.

We had finally arrived at the spare room where Totsuka opened the door with his foot allowing me inside first. I sat the box in my hands on a nearby desk before turning to answer him.

"No, I'm just curious," I said. I watched him set his box down next to mine. "What makes a person skip school?"

I was truly curious. All I knew was my repeating routine; sleep, school, chores. I didn't know anything outside that.

Totsuka tilted his head as he stared at me. "Nothing is making me skip classes, Suzuki-chan. It's just that I want to," he explained kindly.

"Then why do you want to?"

I was still at a complete lose. Wasn't school important? Why would you want to skip it?

He laughed as he walked by me, bumping his shoulder into mine as he went. "Because he's too appealing," he answered.

He had already exited before I muttered, "Huh," to myself.

After years of overhearing his conversations in the classroom I had learned that Totsuka's words rarely made sense, but that didn't stop me from pondering these for the next week. I couldn't figure out who "he" was, or what could be so appealing about a person to distract a middle schooler from their lessons. When the next week started I decided to ask him, but he wasn't there Monday, or Tuesday. It wasn't until Wednesday that I heard any news of him, which apparently he was in the hospital from being in a fight. By lunch rumors had spread that Totsuka Tatara had joined the strange underworld that ran our city.

I hardly believed any of it. Shizume City wasn't the greatest of places with it's dark secrets and talk of mafia groups running the legal actions illegally. Totsuka wasn't the violent type, and he hardly seemed to be the kind to get involved in such troublesome things. He was probably jumped by some upperclassmen and the school was just keeping the details a secret to keep its image intact.

After school that day I broke away from my strict schedule -which was easier to do than I had imagined- deciding to visit the fool in the hospital. On my way I grabbed his missed work from our teacher before heading out. As I rode the train past my stop I began to tap my foot to the rapid pace of my heart. I had never gone anywhere right after school, not to karaoke with friends, nor to a part-time job. This was completely new to me, and I couldn't tell if I was excited or nervous about it.

"Totsuka Tatara's room?" I asked the woman at the front desk.

She barely glanced at me before beaming a smile right in my direction. "Oh, I knew he must have had a cute girlfriend. Tatara is far too sweet not to," she said.

"Um," I hummed confused.

"And you're shy," the woman squealed. "Too cute. You make a perfect couple!"

"Ma'am," I tried to get her attention, but she just continued to ramble on and on.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry," she blushed after saying how much the nurses loved having Totsuka around. Apparently he had made quiet the impression in his short stay there. "You already know how great your boyfriend is. Now his room is just down the hall over there, last door on you left," she grinned.

Bowing my head slightly I said, "Thank you ma'am." As I raised my head I added, "I'm not Totsuka-kun's girlfriend. I'm just dropping off his school work."

The woman flushed in embarrassment as I made my way in the direction she had instructed. I was almost to his room when the door opened. Out walked a guy I hadn't seen around Totsuka before. He wore the uniform of a local high school, and had an irritated look in his amber eyes. I stopped walking as he approached, ignoring me completely. When he past something was let loose in my chest. My breathing stopped, my heart hammered against my ribs, and a tingling sensation filled my veins. It was like something was going wild inside me.

At first the feeling scared me, my hands tightening on the folders I was going to give to. . .who again? My mind was blank except for the feeling raging around inside me. As my heart settled I came to like the sensation, and wouldn't have minded if it stayed a little longer, but it was scared away when the door opened again.

This time a guy with blond hair, and casual clothes stepped out. He let out a long sigh as he shut the door behind him. When he noticed me he nodded his head saying, "Pardon me."

I wasn't given the chance to find my voice before he disappeared down the hall with the other guy. Shaking my head I gathered myself and made my way into Totsuka's room. "Excuse the intrusion," I said stepping inside.

"Suzuki-chan?" Totsuka said surprised. "I never expected you to come visit me," he grinned.

His left side seemed to have taken the most of the beaten with his arm and leg in casts, with a bandaged wrapped around his forehead, and gauze tapped to his left cheek. Even with so many injuries that didn't change who he was, a smiling easygoing fool.

"I brought you your work," I said.

As I spoke I sat the folders on the bedside table. His smile fell as he laid back against his pillow.

"I should have expected as much from Suzuki Nao," he chortled.

"Who were those guys that were just here?" I asked. I took a seat in the chair next to his hospital bed.

Totsuka stumbled for a reply. He didn't stumble, or get lost for an answer. He always had some sort of remark at the tip of his tongue, this reaction was new.

"Was that the he you mentioned last time?" I inquired.

"Last time?" Totsuka said thinking back. "Oh," he grinned. "Yes. I hope he didn't startled you."

"Not at all," I replied.

"That's good. He's a great guy."

I had never seen Totsuka talk so highly of a person before, not even the people he hung out with at school. He went on and on about the redhead leaving me no space to comment, but I really didn't mind. It sounded like this guy was amazing, and did whatever he wanted. I wondered what that would be like; freedom and no routine.

"Totsuka-kun," I interrupted when I saw the sun setting through his window. He looked at me with a faint blush. "I hope you feel better soon, but I have to get going now," I said.

I got to my feet and slowly made my way to the door as he shifted in his bed. His leg still supported by a ceiling brace, and his arm still laid across his chest.

"Thank you for visiting me," he smiled too widely. "Sorry I took up so much of your time."

I paused at the door. "It's no trouble. I'll stop by again if I can."

"You don't have to," he said.

"But I want to hear more about this "King" of yours. He does have a strange appeal to him," I replied pleasantly. With one hand on the door knob, and the other waving at him I ended it with, "Bye-bye Totsuka-kun."