22Chapter 2
Rukawa
I opened my eyes, but shut them almost immediately, squinting from the bright light that shone directly into my pupils. Was it morning?
I tried to move my body; every part of me ached and I felt sore everywhere. My fingers touched a leathery surface. I opened my eyes once more, only to find myself on a couch in an unfamiliar environment. A lamp hung overhead from a cream-coloured ceiling, the light source that glared at my protesting eyes.
My head was throbbing. I brought my hand towards my right temple and massaged it gently, hoping to ease the pain.
Where was I?
The last thing I remembered was that a group of gangsters surrounded me as I entered the alley, wanting to extort money from me. I had neither money nor valuables, so they started beating me up. I was vaguely sure that I had tried to ward off their blows; my bruised arms bore witness to that. I really shouldn't have taken that shortcut.
But then, that shortcut was the place where I'd first met her: Fujiwara Akari. She had tripped over a cardboard box and though she didn't fall, she dropped her books onto the filthy, grimy floor. I helped pick up her books, and as I nervously returned them to her, she smiled gratefully at me, and thanked me politely. That was when I first had a good look at her. She was of average height, had a healthy physique and her dark hair streaked with gold highlights cascaded like a silken waterfall onto her slim shoulders.
What could I say. it was just. love at first sight. Even as she took her leave, I continued staring dazedly at her retreating silhouette for a long time.
I saw her at school the next day; how foolish of me not to have noticed her earlier! Following my heart and not my head, I approached her in the hope of getting to know her better, armed with courageous love and a solitary red rose.
However, just as I was within ten metres of her, the most popular guy in our school suddenly popped out of nowhere and they started flirting shamelessly with each other, ignoring curious and amused stares and the rapidly spreading gossip about them.
Well, my heart and hopes wilted like the rose I held, but I still told myself that even though I was the biggest loser in school, perhaps I could still stand a chance of winning her heart from that horrid, popular basketballer.
I sent her notes and little presents, signing off as her 'secret admirer', but according to our school's notorious gossipmonger in my class, she threw them all away. The only ones she kept were those from Ogino.
But by then it was time for us to graduate, and I didn't see her during the whole of the winter holidays. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I spent my entire holidays dreaming of her in my pale, skinny arms.
And then, I saw her today, on my way to my new school.
The flames of passion were rekindled in my heart. But all she had for me was frost; a polite, detached interest in me and my affairs. Her love was reserved for Ogino and her 'Ogino-kun' only.
Being teased by schoolmates I'd never met previously was beside the point. My heart was shattered. Nothing else in the world mattered to me anymore. All I wanted was to have Fujiwara Akari in my arms.
After school, I took the longer route home just to pass by that dirty, smelly, wonderful alley where I first met her, reminiscing and savouring ever moment and shred of memory I had of it, and her, in it.
However, my private session with the alleyway and its memories was short- lived. Basically, I got bashed by a bunch of hooligans. I let them vent their anger on me, so that I could at least temporarily forget my woes, but my arms shot out instinctively anyway to ward off their merciless blows.
I remembered slipping off into a pool of darkness, and then being checked with gentle hands and carried off. I dreamt my saviour was Akari.
And I woke up here. Just as I was wondering who had saved me, and why, a tall, tanned redhead with short, cropped hair sauntered into the room, humming a tuneless song. Oh, him. The guy from this morning's incident.
His coppery eyes met with my cobalt ones. Surprised, he walked over as he exclaimed, 'Rukawa, you're awake! Good!' and extended his hospitality to me, serving me with a humble yet refreshing bowl of instant noodles, and a packet of green tea.
When I had finally convinced him that I was full, he dressed my wounds and packed me off to sleep in an extra bed at the eleventh hour of the night.
In bed, I realised that I had forgotten to ask for his name, but I was then overcome with an overwhelming wave of grogginess, and was quickly lulled to sleep by the monotonous whirring sound of his air-conditioner, dreaming of the day I could finally wrench Akari-san from Ogino's grasp.