CHAPTER 2: Shoes

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Ruki and my dinner was a long and uneventful one. After the meal I helped him bathe and get ready for bed. By the time I eventually slid the door shut to our divided room, it was half past 8 O'clock in the evening.

I finished cleaning the mess in the kitchen, afraid to leave any trace of the pleasant meal I had shared with my brother. After wrapping the leftovers for my lunch tomorrow, I decided to catch up on some reading. While grabbing my book stored in a drawer, I noticed a news paper at the bottom of the pile. In bold the front page read,

NO SIGN OF TEAM MAGMA OR TEAM AQUA IN MONTHS.

Too good to be true?

The article was now more than a year old. Was it really too good to be true? It had been more than a year since there had been any known activity.  Maybe it really is too good to be true. I thought. The thought of Kyogre and Groudon still sent shivers down my spine, such power. To believe that those organizations fathomed that they could control that.

After staring at my book until no thoughts at all.passed through my mind, I decided to turn on the news.  On the screen appeared a recent pokémon battle that had taken place at the newly opend Battle Frontier.  Gengar vs. Onix. Some how the small ghost pokémon had managed to defeat the rock giant.  Gengar stood with a sense of sense of pride despite its bruises covering its body before the fallen monster.  Behind him was his trainer hid his eyes beneath hiw cap qnd let only a small grin show his emotions toward the result of the match.

The announcer then went on to announce the dates of the opening ceremony and continued announcing the festivities across Hoenn in honor of the Frontier. I longed to go and watch the ceremony. Hell, I wanted to compete and win. There were two problems with this dream however. One: I lacked a team of pokemon or any pokémon for that matter. Two; I had my family and mainly Ruki to care for.

 I was more or less on top of the coffee table that separated me from the screen now , enthralled with the moving pictures in front of me. This is what I waw doing when the front door slammed open with a thin, intoxicated, middle aged man standing in the entry way of my home; my father.

"What the hell are you doin' girl?" he gruffed, slamming the door behind him. As he staggered into the room he brought the smell of alcohol with him.  He roughly wrenched a hand through the matted thick black hair that we shared.  "What the crap is this girl? Why the hell are you watching this trash for?" He yelled throwing and accusing hand at the screen. I quickly pushed myself off the table and scavenged to find the remote and turn off the television. 

He stood there, glaring at me with glossy eyes as I scrambled to clear away my things from the room to allow him to sit in the armchair that I had originally been seated in.

"I'm sorry sir."  I mumbled quietly, hoping to become invisible as soon as possible.

"Where the hell is my dinner? I would think that I would have been here already." He gargled plopping himself down in the chair and leaning back.  I hurried to the kitchen and grabbed what was going to be my lunch tomorrow. I hurriedly put it on a plate and shoved it into the microwave. After hitting the 'start' button, I ffrantically grabbed a glass and filled it with water. 

I waited impatiently for the food to finish reheating. When there was still 12 seconds to go I wrenched the door open and grabbed the  the now burning plate. I rushed the food over to my father who was attempting to pull off one of his boots. Unsuccessful in his drunken state.

I set the plate and glass on the table in front of him and began unlacing the worn black bots from his feet. He grabbed the plate from the table and savagely stuffed the food into his mouth, hardly even bothering to chew, bits of  rice now rested throughout the messy beard on his chin.  Just as I finished taking off the opposite shoe, I felt water spray on my backside and his foot shove me across the room. 

"What the hell is this?" He demanded, holding up the dark colored cup. Spilling the majority of the remaining liquid on the floor and on me.  He leered down at me as I lay strewn across the floor, my sweat pants and tank top in which I had changed into revealing more skin  than I cared for. 

"It's water." I answered, staring at his face but not meeting his glassy stare.

"The hell it is!" He roared throwing the glass against the floor where it shattered into several dark pieces. " I wanted beer! Why in the name of Arceus would you give me this peice of shit?" Bravely, I summed up my response.

" You never said that to me, and we don't have any alcohol in the house." This set him  off further. He threw himself on top of me and grabbed my chin and slowly whispered. 

"Does it look like I give a damn? Girl. It's your job to know.  You are here for me. You are here to do what I say and take care of me, no one else. I let that worthless runt stay here and this is how you repay me? You're no better or smarter than the worthless pokemon that destroyed my life." He spat the last part at me.  I stared into his glassy green eyes, the polar opposite of my own.  As I stared I saw something I never would have expected; fear.  My gaze was ripped away as he pushed himself away from me and sent me  crashing back, hard, into the floor. I took this as he was done with me and quickly grabbed his boots and fled to my room after placing the shoes by the door. 

I slid the door shut to the small bedroom and sighed.  At least Ruki was still asleep.  My heart pounded in my chest, feeling as if it may burst out and escape at any second. I began breathing deeply to attempt to calm myself.

                                                                                     (=o=)

One of the good things about sharing a room with a blind kid is that as long as you're quiet, they don't know what you're doing.  I undressed myself and threw my clothes into a hamper. As I walked to the dresser I noticed my reflection in the full mirror outside my closet door. 

I was very skinny, there was no denying that. Muscles was defined on my arms and legs, but just barely. My fine black hair fell down to the small of my back in it's now chaotic and mangled braid. Small defined curves had their place on my body, not that any boy would notice. Overall was nothing spectacular. My radiant ruby eyes were the only thing striking about me, the only thing to truly notice.

Breaking the connection, I hurried over to the dresser and pulled on an oversized t-shirt over my head covering my next to nude body. Quickly undoing the long braid, combing through it with my fingers and securing it in a no where near perfect ponytail, I reached for the lamp between the two beds that shed light upon the room. I layed on my bed and sleepily stared at the sleeping boy across from me.

His mouth was slightly open and his hair fell in every directonupon the pillow. He looked peaceful, happy. I closed my eyes as sleep began to claim me.  My last thought as I drifted into unconsciousness was , As long as he is okay, I'll be okay.

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