The lost Prince

Chapter 2

Kentaro and his wife were already at the door when Akira arrived with the carriage in front of their house. He lifted Ryutaro out of the carriage and carried him inside. Kentaro's wife gasped and the gymnasium teacher followed Akira and pointed out the room which they had prepared for the young boy to stay in. It was small but cozy, with a desk underneath a window to sit at.
Akira lay the boy onto the bed who rolled himself together into a ball to protect himself. His face was always covered with his overlong hair and apart from wincing in the cell earlier, he had never said a word. They still believed that he was mute.
Kentaro, who had remained at the door, observed the whole situation. How Akira sat on the bed and cared the boy over his hair to calm him down. They almost whispered to each other when Kentaro asked: "Did he talk yet?"
"Not a word but I believe that he can. I am convinced that you will be able to teach him. He was able to write his name and...." Akira stopped to think about something, then he continued. "When we left the cell today, the floor was covered with his drawings but always with the same objects: Horses and flowers. You may give him pen and paper, we might be surprised."
Kentaro nodded and he stepped out of the door when his wife hurried inside with a bowl of soup and a spoon in her hand. She entered the room and settled it down onto the table. "Can he eat alone?"
Akira looked up and shook his head. "Not with cutlery, only with his hands." The wife looked back at them sympathetically. Slowly, Akira addressed Ryutaro by his name and pulled him up tenderly into a sitting position. The boy looked out underneath his fringes like a frightened rabbit, his eyes drifting to the three people in the room.

"This, Ryutaro, are teacher Kentaro and his wife Eleonora. They are good people and they will look after you. You will stay here in this house as their guest."
That was when the boy turned his head to Akira, as if he understood him. The lawyer was astonished about Ryutaro's reaction and smiled back at him while he spoke with Kentaro: "Did you see that?" Kentaro nodded. "Seems like hope is not lost yet."
In reflex, Ryutaro hold onto Akira's arm as if he didn't want him to leave. The lawyer continued explaining: "I would have loved to take you to my house but my house is already full with children. But we will keep in contact, I will visit you and care for you nevertheless."
Ryutaro looked back at Akira without emotion who grabbed for the bowl of soup and started feeding the boy.

Half an hour later, Kentaro brought Akira to his carriage and they talked in hushed voices.
"I will be back tomorrow Kenken, just to check how he's doing. I hope that he won't throw a fit. If so, call for the doctor immediately, I will pay for everything that is needed."

"Thank you Akira."

"No my friend," he lay his hand onto Kentaro's arm, "Thank you. For your service on humanity. We will get the boy to a point where he can live and work independently. And I hope that he will be able to remember where he came from."

"You are working on his case?"

"I am." And with that Akira saluted from his carriage and the said their goodbyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Akira arrived the next day, he stopped surprised in front of Ryutaro, who had his hair shoulder length and his fringes cut but only the half of it. One half was still covering his eyes, the other one showed one of his beautiful brown eyes. A slight smiled hushed over his lips when Akira entered the house but he still didn't say a word and made no motion. He stood and sat everywhere where people positioned him to.

Kentaro scratched his head. "Well, we tried to cut his hair but he moved all the time. He was afraid of the scissors and when we wanted to cut his bangs, he freaked out. Thus this haircut."

Akira smiled amused. "Leave it, it suits him well. And from a psychological point of view: He can partly see and partly hide. Living is easier for him that way."