Wonders

A bit of backstory

The two boys sat facing each other. One had dark hair with soulful grey eyes. The other light brown hair with chocolate eyes. They were five years old and best friends. School would be starting for them soon. Today they had little care in the world.
The sandbox held a world of adventure for them as they maneuvered their cars and trucks over the roads. They laughed, giggling as the cars crashed. Today was perfect for them. The sun warmed their bent heads as their mothers looked on  small smiles on the women's faces.
They two females talked of their children’s future together. Growing up best of friends. They discussed who would be into sports. Obviously the taller dark haired one. He loved to run and rough house. The other was always more fascinated by the bugs he found or the plants along the path. A scientist they said. He would do great in a lab.
A year later their world changed forever. The boys had spent a wonderful year in kindergarten together. They were in the same class. Although the brown haired one would sometimes get bullied by bigger kids, the dark haired one made sure that particular kid never did it again. It was a perfect friendship.
Until the last day of school. They got picked up by their fathers as usual. The men spoke briefly not being as friendly to each other as their wives were. They headed out to take the boys home. They only lived a block from each other. There was one slightly dangerous area along the drive.
The brown haired boy played happily in his car seat as his father talked to him. His dad glanced in the rearview mirror.
“Shion, pizza for dinner?” he asked the young boy. Shion looked up. His view was filled with a large truck.
“Daddy!” he screamed. His father looked forward. He hit the breaks trying to swerve out of the way. The car flew six feet over the railing. The car behind them hit them in the air. It exploded.
When the police and fire trucks arrived. They found the two boys somehow huddled together. Their fathers perished in the crash. Shion held the burned form of his best friend. He looked up when the paramedic said he had to take the hurt boy to the hospital. He screamed as they were separated.
That was the last sound the young boy made for weeks to come. He never saw the dark haired boy for the rest of his younger days. After the funerals the mothers couldn’t handle being in the town any longer. They moved away from each other. Lost in their grief, they lost each other. Shion, in particular, changed a lot.
He had to go to a specialist hospital. When he woke from the trauma of his father's death and the damage to his best friend, he wasn’t the same boy. For starters he didn’t talk, not to anyone. Then there was the very fact that his hair had changed to white over night. Even this could be explained by the trauma. The belt shaped scar that now circled his body could have come from getting out of the car seat to save his friend. No one knew how the young boy managed that.
That wasn’t the strangest part. The young boy had changed in one more bizarre way. There was no explanation for it. The chocolate color of his eyes were now demon red. Many family members told the mother to get rid of the boy. Send him to a place that could care for him. Many places offered money to buy the child. They wanted to study him. But the mother refused all offers. Instead she took her mute son home
She homeschooled the boy for the rest of his elementary and middle school years. In time Shion began to speak again. The boy never said much and it took a lot for him to talk to anyone who wasn’t his mother. Most of the time he was seen following her, head down, a silent white shadow behind her.
Then the day came that his mother’s feared. He asked to go to high school with the other “normal" kids. She knew he would be ridiculed, bullied, humiliated for his looks. She tried everything to talk him out of it. Yet her son's stubborn temperament didn’t change. So, in the end Shion got enrolled to high school.
The first day arrived. Shion dressed in his best clothes. A black pair of Jean’s, blue button up shirt with a light grey sweater vest over it. His white hair was a little on the long side. It stuck up all over his head. His mother had bought him some gel to tame it but he didn’t like it flattened. He grinned as he used the gel to spike some of his hair.
“Shion, you're going to be late.” His mother called. “Let me give you a ride!” she begged for the fifteenth time.
He rushed out of his room. Running down the steps he snagged his book bag from the floor. Flinging it to his shoulder he quickly kissed his mother good bye. She gave him the lunch she packed. The door chimes dinged.
“See you can’t drive me you have a customer.” Shion smiled widely at his mom.
“I'll be fine.” He called over his shoulder as he rushed out the door. His mom ran the best bakery in town. The smell of her pastries cooking floated through the air. Shion loved it.
At the corner he met his only friend. Safu. The two had slowly became friends as her grandmother and her came by his mom’s shop.
“Big day!” she greeted him with a large smile. Shion grinned back.
“The biggest.” He agreed. He hid the fact that he was really nervous behind the large smile. Safu knew him too well. She placed her arm through his.
“You'll be fine.” She smiled. She went on to rant about other kids she knew, teachers she heard about and the school gossip as they made their way to the building.
Shion had seen the school many times. He just never looked at it with so many people around. There were kids everywhere. Safu walked him to his locker. She pointed out where his home room was and kissed his cheek for good luck. As she hurried away it began.
“Awe, look mommy walked you right to your locker.” A snide voice said behind the pale boy.
Shion felt his face flame. He kept his down. Reaching out he tried to get the lock to open. He was so nervous that he messed it up. The laughter at his back didn’t help. There was at least three of them by the sound of their voices. Shion didn’t look at them. He managed to get the locker open on the third attempt. His fan club applauded. He put everything away.
“Knock it off you knuckle heads!” another voice was heard shouting down the hall. Shion instinctively looked toward his rescuer. A girl with long dark hair and brown eyes was sneering at him. “Fresh meat.” She giggled slamming her elbow into him. The fan club laughed.
“Let's leave him to Rat.’ She snickered. “We all know how he likes to play with the fresh ones.” Pushing the back of his head so it nearly hit his locker she walked away. Shion's stomach sank as they all walked into the room Safu had said he had to go.
“Just great.” He muttered to himself. He closed his locker bringing only a folder with a map of the school on it, a notebook his class schedule and a pen with him. Shion, head down, walked into the class.
“You, whitey, how’s the locker treating you?” the first boy yelled as soon as he came in. The teacher told him to shut up.
“Shion, right?’ she said in a kindly voice. He nodded, but then he heard a faint whisper.
“Shion?” he looked up. Everyone was looking at him his eyes scanned the crowded room. There in the back. A boy with long black hair had shoved his tilted back chair down to all four legs. He was looking at the newcomer with intense grey eyes.
“Like the flower?” the girl beside him snorted. There was more laughter, but Shion didn’t care. He couldn't take his eyes from the other boy. The dark haired teen stared at him as well.
“Shion?” the teacher said again in a bit more aggressive tone. Shion blinked turning away from the teen. She held looked at him with concern.
“I understand Safu will be showing you around?” she asked. Shion nodded. She gave him a small smile.
“Very well. Take the seat but he door.” She said pointing. Shion turned away. His ruby read eyes scanning over the boy. Those intense grey eyes followed him until Shion dropped his gaze to the floor. It couldn’t be. He told himself. It was just a fluke that he reacted to the name. No he wouldn't believe it. His friend was dead. Shion wiped at his eyes. It had been ten years yet the pain was always there resting in his chest. He stared at the desk as the teacher told them the school rules. Shion knew he had them on the booklet they had given him when his mom came to enroll him.
They listened to the morning announcements. Then the bell rang. Shion gathered his things. He clutched the notebook to his chest. Safu had told him she would meet him at his locker. He stood, was shoved back into his seat, there was more laughter. Shion waited.
“Touch him again and I will rip your spleen out of your throat.” A disinterested voice said. Shion looked up. The boy with the grey eyes glared at the big blond kid that had fist spoke to Shion at his locker. Those grey eyes found his again. Shion darted around them out the door. No, it wasn't him he screamed.
He hit the lockers huddling there as the wind from passing bodies washed over him.
“Shion?” Safu came up before him. Her cool hand touched his face. “Hey, are you alright.” Shion pressed his face against the metal.
“Fine.” He whispered. Safu took the sleeve of his shirt in her hand. She glared at someone behind him.
“If you did anything to him…” she yelled. Shion turned. The boy was still there, watching them. “I swear Rat, I will end you.” She hissed. Rat? Shion blinked at the name. Twice now he had heard it. Safu pulled him down the hall. Shion said nothing as she took him to another class. She told him it was freshman English. Shion nodded.
“We have this class together.” She told him. She lead them inside to find seats together. Rat walked in, more like sauntered in. His eyes flashed to the pair. Shion kept his head down, Safu met his glare.
He lead his group to the back of the room. They day went this way. Safu lead Shion to his class. Maybe she was in it, maybe she wasn’t. She ended up in most of his classes. So did the mysterious Rat. Shion shrank away from him as much as he could. Those intense eyes unnerved him.
Lunch came but Safu had to go to a counseling session. “I'm sorry. Just sit near the windows. I will find you as soon as I can.” She left him at the door. Rushing away. Shion sighed.
“Shion?” that soft voice whispered behind him he turned. Rat stood there leaning against the wall. He rolled around the door. “Come on, you can sit with me.” He said. Shion followed him he didn’t know what else to do.
Rat took him to a table far away from the windows. He kicked out the chair beside him. Rat made Shion sit there. “Oh, how cute. Mommy pack your lunch?” the blond idiot taunted. His head bounced off of the table a second later. His nose was bleeding when he looked up. Rat leaned in his face.
“Don't" he snarled. Shion looked between them. Rat sat back.
“Eat your lunch, Shion.” He said. “If I recall your mother was a great cook.” He smirked. Shion pulled his food out, his mind spinning. He then handed Rat the second cherry cake he had. Rat smirked but took the offering. Shion said nothing as he ate under those watchful eyes.