Shion pulled away first. His face flaming, a smile replacing Rat's mouth on his own. Rat looked at the wonder that was the pale boy before him.
“What are you, Shion?” he breathed out. Shion blinked at him confused. Rat traced the line of scare on his face. “You have haunted me since they day you got this. I couldn’t be like the others because I lived with you in my head, always.” He placed their foreheads together.
“Had I lived at your side; I wouldn’t be who I am today. A disgrace to the human race, a failure to you.” Shion's thin fingers touched his chin, lifting it up so he could see the steel grey eyes.
“If you had lived beside me, I would be more like you. Stronger, braver, I would be able to take care of myself, of mom. I rely on everyone else because everything in this world scares me. But you, Rat, you face everything head on. You don’t let it cripple you.” He let go of the dark boy. Gently Shion pulled Rat's hands off of him. He turned away.
“Maybe you were right. I don’t deserve you. I am nothing but a fail…” a fist struck him. Shion stumbled sideways to fall on his side. One hand went to his cheek as his eyes shot up to look at Rat.
“Everything scares you, that’s a load of crap!” Rat yelled at him. “I just saw you take down, Gorilla, the one guy I have always feared to face head on!” Rat screamed.
Safu moved to help Shion to his feet. “You are both pathetic.” She said. “Just admit that you both have flaws and the other makes you want to be better.” She brushed the dirt from Shion's sweater. “Just admit that you have feelings for each other and deal with it.” She turned and walked away.
“I'm going home. We can work on that homework later if you need my help.” She called over her shoulder.
“Why would Shion need your help?” Rat asked. “He's the smartest kid in school.” Safu glared at him. Shion stifled a grin until she was out of sight.
“It's what she tells everyone so it doesn’t make me look like a bigger dweeb. Actually I have been helping her for years.” Rat looked at him. His mouth hung open slightly. Shion giggled at how cute he looked.
“Did you just call yourself a dweeb?” He asked. Shion doubled over laughing uproariously at the look on his friend’s face. He nodded as he laughed. Rat grinned. He snagged Shion's arm to lead him home.
They went home. The bakery was unusually busy. The boys dropped their bags in the kitchen, washed hands and put on hair nets and gloves along with purple aprons that had Karen’s bakery in gold on the front. They headed out to assist with the customers.
Rat left Shion at the cash register as he headed to a woman with twin five-year-old boys. They boys looked like they were going to upset a table with muffins on it. Rat quickly stabilizes the table and distracted the boys with a simple magic trick. The woman smiled at him, thanking him often as he bagged up two dozen scones for her.
After that Rat didn’t really see the faces of the people he helped. He just went on autopilot to get the customers taken care of. About an hour and forty minutes after they had started helping Rat heard Dogkeeper's voice. He turned and their eyes meet.
She was standing in the doorway with two black labs. A young woman that looked to be in her early twenties was asking her what she wanted. Dogkeeper's huge eyes locked to Rat’s. The dark boy glided over to the woman.
“Oh, hello there. Don't worry the dogs won’t come in.” she flashed her smile at him.
“The dog would be more welcome than the bitch with them.” He sneered still watching Dogkeeper. The women’s smile vanished.
“You're Rat. Sally never said how good looking you were.” Her voice lowered as she watched the boy before her. “Sally, tell him what you wanted too. I will get the muffins.” Rat moved to Dogkeeper.
“Sally?” He snorted. She balled her fingers into fists.
“She's my sister. She refuses to call me Dogkeeper.” Rat glanced into the store. It wasn’t as busy and at some point Safu had shown up to help. He took Dogkeeper's arm and dragged her into the alley beside the store. He leaned against the wall.
Crossing his ankles, he folded his arms over his chest. He gripped the insides of his elbows so as not to strangle the girl before him.
“You armed?” she asked nervously. He nodded. She turned to look away down the alley. The leashes to the dogs gripped firmly in her fists.
“I didn’t want this Rat. If it wasn’t for you, I would have been dead in a gutter after my parents died.” She looked back at him. He was shocked to see the tears in her eyes.
“I owe you my life. I will stand with you against them.” Rat glared at her.
“You tried to hurt him.” He said in a dead tone. “I don’t want you.” He pushed off of the wall to walk away. She caught his arm, he smashed her against the wall, an elbow at her throat.
“Why does he mean so much to you?” She coughed out.
“Because, I saved his life once.” Another voice said. Rat spun, his hands fell away from the girl. He stared at the pale boy that was standing by the dumpster. Shion threw the bag into the green bin. He walked up to them.
“Why are you so hateful?” Shion asked the dark girl. She stuffed her hands into her pockets kicking at the loose ground at her feet. “You wouldn’t understand. With your perfect life.” She snarled.
“Perfect life.” Shion snorted. “I was six when my father died in a car crash that took away my best friend and his father. It turned me into this.” He waved a hand over himself. “I lost everything all at once.” He didn’t take his eyes from hers. “Which part of that was perfect?” he asked. She drew back.
“I, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She gasped.
“That’s the problem, you don’t know what someone else has gone through. You only can see the world through your own hate.” Shion’s hand rested on Rat’s shoulder.
“I will leave you to this. Sorry for stepping in.” he turned. Rat caught his hand to stop him. Shion looked at him over his shoulder.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I do.” Dogkeeper said. She stepped forward to look at Shion.
“I’m sorry for what I did to you.” She said.
“And mom?” he asked. Dogkeeper looked away. She drew in a breath to let it out, slowly.
“What can I do to make it up to her?” she asked.
“Let’s go inside and ask her.” Rat said. She looked up to him.
“Are we ok?” she asked Rat. Rat was still holding the pale boy’s hand.
“Make it up to Shion, then we will be.” He said.
“Monkey Boy will be back at school on Wednesday.” She warned them. They looked at her. The steel grey eyes of Rat were hard as stone. The ruby red of Shion were wide with fear.
“Then we will face him together.” He said. They walked inside. The crowd was thinned considerably. Safu was at the register ringing out Dogkeeper’s sister. There was an elderly couple looking over some pastries in the display case. Shion went to assist them as Rat took Dogkeeper to Karen.
“Hello, um, Mrs., um Karen.” Dogkeeper stuttered. Her sister smiled. “I, um, I was here, um that night.” She looked at the floor.
“Dogkeeper is a friend of mine. She is the one that was holding you.” Rat said. “The one I knocked out.” He added in a cold tone. Dogkeeper nodded.
“Her name is Sally.” Her sister stated.
“Grace knock it off. This is my thing. I fucked up and I am sorry. I want to make it up to you and Rat.” Dogkeeper said. “I’m not good at making amends.” She added looking at the still broken window.
“Will you be willing to work off your debt?” Karen asked. Dogkeeper brought her gaze to the woman.
“Yes, ma’am.” Karen smiled.
“Good, then Rat will be in charge of you. He will schedule you, give you your job duties, and discipline you as needed.” Karen stated. Rat met Dogkeeper’s eyes. They both heard the tiny chuckle that Shion couldn’t quite control.
“Be here tomorrow after school. You will be here every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.” He informed her.
“You will work this schedule until the end of summer.” Karen said. “Then we will see about maybe actually paying you.” She turned away to thank Grace for buying the pastries.
“Now you kids have homework to get done.” She made a shooing motion for them to go upstairs.
“Dogkeeper is in our classes as well.” Shion piped up. “She might as well stay and work with us.” He gave her a smile. Dogkeeper’s mouth fell open.
“Are you for real?” she asked. Karen laughed a little.
“Yes, he is.” She gave her son a one-armed hug. “Do you have your books with you?” she asked Dogkeeper. Grace said they were in the car. The girl went out taking the dogs to the car. She came back with her backpack on. While she was gone her sister informed the others that she, Grace, had just came of age to become Sally’s guardian. At only twenty-one, she was taking on a new full-time job and responsibility for her younger sister.
“It is a lot, but we are managing it. I want to thank you for helping Sally like this.”
“You are welcome, and if there is anything, I can do to help you, just ask. I know what it’s like to be a single mother.” Karen smiled lovingly at her pale son.
The teens went upstairs. Dogkeeper was amazed at the set up in the attic. “What is this place?” she asked looking around.
“It used to be my school.” Shion said. “Now mom said I can use it for whatever I want. Rat’s room is in there.” He pointed to the open door. Rat hurried past the dark girl to slam the door shut.
“Stay out.” He barked at her. She had stopped just before the room. There on the shelf she saw the pictures of the two boys. Rat looked so…
She took the framed photo down. “Happy.” She whispered. Looking into the laughing eyes of the boy she knew. She saw little of the demon in the child. Rat didn’t try to take the photo away from her, instead he waited, watching her.
She looked up at him. “This is way you are so up his ass isn’t?” She demanded. He smirked.
“Yes. I won’t leave him.”
“Do you love him?” she asked. There was no malice in her voice, just a breathless wonder.
“Yes.” Rat said not looking at her. She replaced the frame. Her eyes went to Shion. “You have no idea what you have in him.” She walked over to the desk/ table in the back. Taking her books out she spread out on the table. Safu joined her.
“Maybe,” Rat said his hand brushing Shion’s as the taller boy still leaned his shoulder and head against the end of the shelf. “Maybe you were right.” He rolled around so that his back was against the shelf. “Maybe, I can have you. But I still want to get Monkey boy and Moose out of the way first.”
“Well they don’t know I am on your side.” Dogkeeper called out. “I can tell them my working here is court ordered.”
“You want to be a spy?” Shion asked taking a seat next to Safu.
“Why not.” Dogkeeper said. They decided to work on their homework first, then they would start a plan for the others. Safu took Dogkeeper to the bathroom an hour later.
“We have to get them together.” She told the other girl. Dogkeeper snorted.
“You don’t make Rat do anything. He will be with Shion only when he is ready.”
“When will that be? There might always be an excuse with him.” Safu said. Dogkeeper agreed as they went back to the boys. Only to find them very close together. The girls looked at each other with a knowing smirk.
YOU ARE READING
Wonders
FanfictionFor two best friends tragedy struck at a young age. But fate wasnt done with them. Years after a horrible accident they were reunited in a very normal way. Now could they reconnect and find their lost friendship. Or was fate playing a very cruel jok...