Guys Don't Like Me

Chapter 9

  Ryuu raced outside the pool and looked around, trying to find which direction Kazu had gone off in. Finally, he had an idea.
He walked up to a trio of girls and cleared his throat. "Excuse me? I'm an assistant manager for a modeling firm, and we were supposed to do a shoot near here, but the model ditched us. Have you seen him?"
The girls giggled, and the tallest one nodded. "He had [h/c] hair and [e/c] eyes, right?"
Ryuu nodded, silently praising Kazu for his good looks that made him so easy to find. "That's him, all right. Do you remember which way he went?"
She pointed, and Ryuu thanked her, moving on and repeating the question whenever he came to an intersection. Slowly but surely, he traced Kazu's path, all the way to...
"The train station?" He paused, pulled out his phone, and called Momo. "Hey. Sorry about this, but I probably won't be back. Finding Kazu is taking longer than I thought. Can you make it home all right? Okay, then. Sorry and thanks. Bye." Just as he hung up, he saw a train pull up, and out of instinct, he hopped on, scanning everyone's face. It's possible that this is the first train to pass through since Kazu got here, meaning he'd be on this train. Once he spotted Kazu, he sat down far enough from him so Kazu wouldn't see him but Ryuu could still watch Kazu. When the train stopped a another station, Ryuu followed Kazu off, keeping his distance as Kazu led him through a city he'd never been in.
Kazu walked casually but purposefully, clearly familiar with navigating the streets, as though his feet had landed on the same pavement a million times. He turned into a residential area and stopped in front of a house, his hand resting on the fence.
Finally, Ryuu couldn't take it anymore. He came out from where he'd been hiding and walked up next to Kazu. He looked at Kazu's face for a second before turning and staring at the house, waiting for Kazu to speak.
After a few minutes, Kazu turned and walked away. Unsure whether or not he was supposed to follow, Ryuu tagged along, following Kazu into a park that looked pretty shady. Kazu sat on the bench and stared at Ryuu as if to say, So? Are you having a seat or not?
Ryuu sat down, waiting a moment before asking, "So why are you here? Does it have something to do with the- with your back?"
Kazu sighed, looking down at his clasped hands as though he didn't recognize them. "That's my mom's house."
"Why didn't you say hi?" Ryuu asked, struggling to understand what Kazu was saying.
"Because we haven't spoken in years," Kazu said. "My mom hated me, and she hated me more the longer she had to live with me. So she left my dad and I and ran away with some other man. When my dad died, I had no one else to go to but her." Kazu paused, his voice numb and his eyes distant. "She didn't want to see me anymore, so she avoided me. She complained to her lover, and then he'd..." Kazu stopped himself, wincing in pain and touching his back. "He didn't like me either," he said softly. "Eventually, I made a deal with them. If they'd give me money to live off of every month, I would never see them again." He clasped his hands back together. "I keep thinking that they'll cut the money off, but I think that she's too afraid that she'll have to see me again, that I'll come back and try to talk to her. I'm surprised the guilt doesn't keep her awake at night," he muttered. "If I were her, I'd choke on my drink." After a moment, he stood up, his hands limp. "Why'd you follow me out here?"
Ryuu stood up, facing Kazu. "Because I worry about you, man."
"But why?" Kazu repeated, his eyes slightly unfocused. "Why do you waste your time on a kid like me?"
"Do you think that you're a waste of time?" Ryuu asked softly. "Kazu, you're not. I don't know why you ever thought that-"
"I don't know, Ryuu, but when you've been told it enough times, you start to believe it," Kazu said, his voice cold. "Worthless, nothing, wasteful, monster...it's funny that I ended up named Kazuhiko because I'm sure my mom had trouble picking a single name out of all of those choices."
"Kazu-"
"Ryuu." Kazuhiko turned away from him, his voice tense, leaving no room for argument. "Go. I need to be alone for a while, okay? Don't wait up and don't look for me. If I'm not at school on Monday, then I'm not going to show up Tuesday, either, or the day after that, or any other day. Just go back and pretend that I never told any of this to you."
Ryuu had no choice but to turn and walk away. Still, he was worried about his friend who was struggling so much. I've seen so many different sides of Kazu...his gentle, innocent side...his sleep-deprived grouchy self...his anger, his disgust, his happiness...and now, his tormented self. What can I do for him? Ryuu decided to stick around and keep watch over Kazu.
Kazu sat back down on the bench and laid down, taking a nap, and three hours passed. The sky turned dark, and Ryuu heard some other kids their age or older entering the park. This can't be good. I need to wake Kazu up. As he was on his way over to the bench, two guys grabbed him and dragged him over to their group, eight in all.
"Look what we found," one of the two said, laughing, and the others joined in. "What're you doing in the park so late?" he asked.
Ryuu kept a straight face, trying not to let his anger or fear show, knowing that it would mean a beating or death for him if he did. I can't take on eight guys at once! Who are they, even? A gang? Druggies? "Just looking for a friend."
"Oh? Who's that?" he asked. "Think they want to play with us too?"
"Who the hell are you?" a voice asked from outside the group. Kazu walked up in slow strides, hands in pockets. "This is my park, in case you've forgotten."
"It's Kazuhiko," one of the guys spat. "I thought you left years ago. Why're you back now?"
"Because I felt like it. Is that a problem, Katsu?"
"If you make it one."
"You mean if you make it one," Kazu said, his eyes narrowed. He nodded towards Ryuu. "What are you doing with him?"
"We found him wandering around. Why? He yours?"
Kazu nodded. "Give him back."
"Nothing comes free here, Kazu. You of all people should know."
"Fine, Katsu. I tried asking nicely." Then Kazu did something that Ryuu had never expected of him, the boy that got by on his looks and hated expending effort. Kazu began fighting, and what shocked Ryuu even more was that he was good, good enough to solo eight people, at least. He punched and kicked with strength and jumped lightly, landing on nimble feet. Soon, seven of them were down. The only ones still standing were Kazu and Katsu.
After a moment of frozen silence, Kazu stuck out a hand, a hard smirk lining his face. Katsu took the hand and shook it, grinning. "I'll see you around sometime, I hope," Katsu said. "People are beginning to doubt the legend of Kazuhiko. If you show your face just once, nobody's screw with us for a year. You should swing by more often."
"Maybe, maybe not," Kazu said. Then he dropped his hand back into his pocket and left the park, looking back only once. "Ryuu, I did that because you saved me once. Now we're even."
"I didn't save you as part of a favor system," Ryuu said, getting up. "It was because you're my friend."
Kazu stopped walking for a second before continuing on.
Katsu turned to Ryuu curiously. "A friend of Kazu's, huh?"
"Yeah. He transferred into my school."
"So what's in it for you?" Katsu asked, a cruel smile on his face. "How are you using him?"
"I'm not. Why do you say that?" Ryuu asked, his expression guarded.
"Kazu's entire existence revolves around being used and abused," Katsu said. "That's how he was raised. He was able to take down seven of my guys in one minute because he learned from the best, his bastard step-father." Katsu paused. "Even we used Kazu for our reputation. But there's one difference between us and you."
"Yeah? What's that?" Ryuu asked.
"Simple. We didn't try to hide it. So if you're going to just hurt the kid in the end, rip the band-aid off already." Katsu walked in the opposite direction of Kazu, and Ryuu was struck by the fact that the advice Katsu had given him made it sound like he cared about Kazu, like Katsu was Kazu's friend even though the two would never admit it.
It's a strange relationship, he pondered as he started walking to the train station. But then again, our relationship is just as unusual.