Liberi

Good Little Boys Play in Dirt

     Yusei had followed the directions exactly, retraced his steps, and double-checked the address written three times. So how could it be, that he was led here of all places, ten minutes early.

     Yusei had woken up, ate an extravagant breakfast the house chefs had prepared for him, and chosen to wear a simple blue sweater over a white collared button-up, with brown slacks that morning. Put on his black dress shoes and set out on his way.

     And here he find himself, staring at the rotting wooden sign "Auto Salvage Junkyard", standing at the entrance awkwardly.

     Suddenly Yusei was shoved forward from behind, and had to stumble to regain his balance. He turned back to look at his assailant.

     A familiar woman grinned mischievously at him, a black fedora topped her head, frayed peasant feathers emerging from the wrap-around green cloth. A long, navy blue, leather trench coat covered the rest of her outfit. "I have spent quite some time thinking, 'how do I properly apologize to my dear student?' And it hit me. You have been very genuine with me regarding your feelings, especially considering you're only twelve years of age, so I have decided to show you a part of myself on return. What you see here, is my favorite place to be. Follow me."

     Yusei had to run to keep up with her long strides. He couldn't help but be confused by Yuzuki's choice in hangouts, but also feeling something spreading in his chest. It was different from electric shocks that ran up his arms when he held her hands, and the magma in his cheeks when they sat particularly close. Nor was it the fire in his stomach when he shared an indirect kiss through her chopstick. It was a comforting, lingering warmth, one that heated him up pleasantly like hot cocoa on a winter night.

     Yuzuki had began to rifle through a pile of garbage. "Allow me to explain why I like this place so much." She pulled out an old-fashioned radio, one with screws poking out the cracks, and turned it over in her hands, examining it from all angles. "Its a treasure grove. And a place of imagination."

     "Why do children imagine one thing as something completely different than what it is in reality?"

     Yusei watched this from his seat on an old tire in a daze, paying more attention to her voice than what she was actually saying, and gave a lazy guess. "Most kids only care about playing and goofing off?"

     Yuzuki walks backwards to him, spins around, and crouched down before placing the broken radio in his hands. "Why, that sounds like you're describing my lifestyle more than anything, haha. But noo~." A finger taps the object in his hand. "This is a robot's decapitated head."

     He stares as her, waiting for her to explain.

     She stares back.

     "Children don't care about technicalities. Oh, sorry, big word, I mean, the details. More correct, they don't care about being incorrect. There is no 'right answer'. Get it~?"

     "What do you think 'right' means?"

     No matter how hard Yusei thought about it, he couldn't think up an answer.

     "Oh, sorry, I shouldn't be asking such strange questions of a kid like you, huh?"

     They walk side by side towards another end of the scrapyard for awhile, "But I am relieved by your answer. It gave me hope."

     Yusei looks up at her, "But I didn't even answer."

     "I didn't expect you to have one. I just hoped you wouldn't give me one I don't like-Oh we're here!" She stopped them in front of a large trash mound and pops open her pocket watch.

     "What do you mean?"

     "The main event, of course! And right on time as well." Green eyes fixate on him as she offers a hand to him, "Well?"

     Curiosity raged within him as he gripped her hand tightly and she began to guide him up the mound. They finally arrive at the edge of a old lake boat, and she helps him over the side. Yuzuki lays down on her back, hands folded on her stomach and long legs crossed at the ankles, hitched up on the side of the water vessel. Yusei attempts to copy her pose uncomfortably.

     "What do you see in the sky?" The sun was one it's way down and the sky's blue began to darken. Greens and pinks colored the sky.

     "...the sun..."

     "Oh really? I see a pearl in a clam. I didn't think I was that hungry for seafood."

     Yusei crumpled his brows in confusion. Seeing this, Yuzuki hooks her fingers behind the nape of his neck and pulls him over to her side to look. A pipe encroached on his view. It had been sawed in half down the middle and welded so the ends curled in on each other. The sun had just lowered enough at this time it appeared to sit on the bottom cut. A side view of a pearl in the shells.

     "Am I right or just hungry?"

     Yusei was in such a daze he doesn't even make up an excuse when his parents ask him why he's covered in dirt when he gets home.

A/N: That moment when you lose your flash drive that had your pre-written chapters & plot, not only to Liberi but also to a new story? My motivation to re-write was dead. I only managed to salvage bits & pieces I had copied down elsewhere & fill in the blanks from that. This ever happened to anyone else? Sorry for the wait, feel free to shout at me in the comments.