M.A.R.

“Ritsuka…” Dally asked for his son’s attention. Ritsuka simply glanced at his dad as he finished his breakfast before school. His dad sighed and started on his breakfast as he stated, “There’s going to be a new student at school today-”

“And you want me to stay away from her, too, right?” Ritsuka finished his father’s statement as he put his half empty bowl in the sink.

His father didn’t respond as he guiltily stared at his bowl of soggy cereal.

“Yeah, dad. Whatever.” Ritsuka grabbed his backpack. “Maybe the town’ll drive her out, too.” He stated, his voice grim.

“That was ten years ago, dammit! Get over her, she practically killed herself!” his father screamed in worn out anger.

Ritsuka paused half way through the door. “Ten years ago?” he dug his nails into the wooden frame. “Ten years doesn’t replace a best friend.” He stated emotionlessly before he slammed the door shut behind him. ___________________________________________________________________

“I heard that the new student is a third year!” one of the girls in homeroom mumbled before the bell.

“Third year? But I heard that he was only 15!” a boy responded with a gasp.

“Is he going to be in algebra 2 or geometry?” another boy questioned.

“Do you think he’ll be squeamish when we all dress up as grim reapers for the car crash act?” a girl asked with a devilish grin.

“Ha-ha, the new kid is all the buzz, it seems.” Cole pulled up a chair next to Ritsuka’s desk. “He reminds me of some other runt who skipped a grade…” he turned to Ritsuka and punched his shoulder, friendly mischief in his smiling eyes.

Cole was one of the cool jocks. He’s the star quarter back of the varsity football team and is adored by everyone in the school, but he doesn’t let it go to his head. Heck, he even saves nerd from his own kind. Just how do you think he and Ritsuka became friends?

Ritsuka smiled at the warm memory. “Are you going to protect her from your friends, Cole? We could drop by the third year building at lunch if you want.” He offered.

“Nooo,” Cole shook his head, “My parents made me promise not to talk to the new kid.”

“Same here!” the girls next to them added.

“Why do you think they’d want us to stay away from him?” someone else asked as they joined the group.

“Maybe he’s mentally unstable…”

“That’s really mean! What if you were mentally unstable would you…”

“My parents made me write a contract to stay away from him! A contract!”

“What?! That’s insane? Is he really that bad?”

“Maybe he killed someone…”

“He’d be in jail, retard…”

“Do you think it’s the same person as last time?”

“No way! She’s dead! My parents said that she caused the tsunami so it was only right that she dies by it!”

“Enough.” Ritsuka silenced the chatty crowd that was growing around Cole and himself. He glared at his desk, his anger eating away at him. He was so tired of the crap about his…best friend. “It’s ridiculous how you all eat up the crap that your parents feed you. How could she-a FIVE YEAR OLD-create a tsunami?” he stood up and turned his glare onto his older peers. “If any of you had the heart to go and meet her, you would’ve known that she was as normal as you and me. But none of you knew her. You didn’t take the chance because you were all little babies believing in lies. And none of you will ever have the guts to meet a person like her.” All of the students turned away from the boy in shame. What could they say? He was right in every sense of the word.

Ritsuka kept his glare up at the class until he stomped out the door, slamming it as he made his way into the hallway towards the junior building…

“Psst… That’s the new kid. Ya know? The one everybody is trying to avoid…” one of the fourth years whispered to another as they looked down the second story building.

“What?” Ritsuka asked as he looked out right next to them.

“He’s sitting in the gazebo in the pouring rain? What a freak!” the other senior snorted as they laughed and pointed.

“I heard he was from the big city.” The first one mumbled.

“Pleh, I hate city folk from the big country,” the snorter growled, “He must be choking in the fresh air!” They both burst up in laughter again.

Ritsuka couldn’t take it anymore. “Oh, shut up you dumbasses.” He growled through clenched teeth, his grip on the photograph in his pocket getting tighter.

“What did you say to us, third year?” the first one hissed through his teeth as the second one glared at Ritsuka.

“Hey, there you are, Ritsuka my pal!” Cole came along between them and wrapped an arm around Ritsuka’s shoulders, trying to play it off cool. “Where have you been? You ran off on me.”

“You know this junior, Cole?” the snorter oinked in frustration.

“I’m a first year, you stupid ass pig.” Ritsuka stated bluntly. The first one automatically balled up his fist and threw it at Ritsuka, but Cole held him back.

“Whoa, there! Look, sorry Reid! He’s in my class, don’t worry about him.” Cole told the first guy.

“He’s your friend, Cole?!” the oinker gasped in disbelief.

“Yeah, you got a problem with that, pig breath?” Ritsuka removed himself from the protection of Cole’s back.

“I’ll tell you if I’ve got a problem with it, blonde!” oinker threatened as Cole held him back with his Buddha-calming hands.

“Man, screw this.” Ritsuka turned around and headed down the stairs.

“Wait, Ritsuka! Where are you going?” Cold called out.

“I found who I was looking for in the gazebo!” he answered Cole, still stepping down the stairs.

“What? The new kid?” Reid asked in wonder before all three of their faces were pressed on the glass windows.

Ritsuka opened the door to the warm rain shower. Nothing is ever cold in the tropics. He ran into the gazebo, hoping not to get too wet.

The new kid simply watched the stupid boy run through the rain into the dry gazebo. No visible emotions ran through the new kid’s face.

Ritsuka smiled at the face hidden behind that baseball hat. He knew that such baseball hats aren’t sold on the island, so it was proof that the new kid was from the big country.

“Hi,” Ritsuka attempted to start a conversation, “I like your hat, new kid.”

“I’m not a kid anymore and this isn’t a hat.” The voice beyond the shadow of the cap spoke back with assertive confidence. Other than that, he didn’t move.

“Well, I like your cap.” Ritsuka took a seat next to the new kid. He couldn’t help but give the photo in his pocket another squeeze, as if it held good luck or something. He smiled at the new kid, hoping to win him over.

“Really? You like it?” the new kid asked. Suddenly, he reached up and removed the cap letting a long pig tail of flowing red hair gently bounce down to her lumbar. “Here, then. You can have it.”

Ritsuka caught his breath, his grip on the photo completely loosening up as he had a flashback. He had met Ami for the first time in day care and she had given him all of her crayons. He dumbfounded-ly took the cap just like he took the crayons more than ten years ago.

“I hate that cap… But Rebecca told me to wear it to hide my hair…” the girl continued to talk, her hands on her lap, her head down, a small smile on her face. “She wanted me to make at least one friend today. Well, forget that! I say that cap is garbage!” she turned her smile to him. “Don’t you think so?”

Ritsuka still stood there with his mouth wide open. He was speechless; what was he supposed to say to the most perfect person in the world who was sitting right next to him?

“The new student has red hair?!” Reid gasped from the second story hallway.

“And is a girl?!” the oinker added. Cole just stood there wordless as other students gathered around, gasping and gossiping.

“A-a-a…” Ritsuka couldn’t get the name to slip out of his lips.

The girl laughed at him, a sound practically like a goddess’s. “Yeah?” she asked him. Then she leaned in and whispered, “You haven’t gone and forgotten me, now have you, Ritsuka?”________________________________________________

Ami and Ritsuka practically spent the whole school day together, and like Ritsuka said, not one of the students in the school had the guts to go up and talk to her. They only thought of this girl as a bad omen, a girl who causes floods and tsunamis and probably even a hurricane. Some kids even thought of her as a ghost come back to haunt their souls. Those kids went back home to cry to their mommies. Even some of the teachers and staff seemed afraid of Ami.

Ritsuka was afraid that this would hurt her, but whenever he looked into her eyes, she seemed like she barely even noticed the chaotic emotions that she causes. He wondered if it was because she didn’t care or if it was because she was already so used to it.

As they were walking home he finally decided to ask her if she were okay. Ami stopped and looked at him with a surprised but equally uncaring gaze. Ritsuka, who had walked a little ahead because of her random pause, turned around and looked at her.

She looked so different. Different than the five year old in the photo he kept in his pocket. She was tall and average weight and lost all of the childish roundness on her pretty face. She looked like an extraordinary young lady and why people dislike Ami is beyond him.

Then, Ami shot him a devilish smile and, before he could ask why, she ran towards him and attached herself to his back.

“Oh, Ritsuka!” she stated in a know it all tone as she wrapped her legs around his waist and secured her arms around his neck. “You haven’t changed a bit!” she cheered in glee as she playfully rubbed their cheeks together.

Just this contact with her made Ritsuka’s insides go crazy and his face get hot. He’s never been this happy without Ami before. “You haven’t changed, either!” he managed to get out with a childish laugh.

“Good!” she teased, “Now onward to my place!” she commanded, pointing forward. Ritsuka grabbed her legs to hold her up and started running in that direction.

“Say, Ami. Where do you live now, anyways?” he questioned.

“What, you mean after they destroyed my parent’s house?” she asked, sourly. Ritsuka didn’t answer. It wasn’t like he could stop the demolition crew. It’s not like he didn’t try, either. “In the mansion…” she answered moments after as she set her head down on his right shoulder. “The one on top of the highest hill in the middle of the island.” Her hot breath made his skin shiver even though it’s never cold in the tropics. “The mansion that’s supposed to save the entire island people when the big one comes…” she murmured in a grim tone.

“Are you saying you’ve got the whole mansion?” Ritsuka asked as his jog crept to a walk so he could listen better. His grip on her legs was also slipping.

“Yeah, the whole mansion. At an outrageous price, thanks to yours truly…” she growled, “I told Rebecca that we shouldn’t buy a mansion of all things, but she insisted…” Ami sighed. “Hey, do you want to put me down?” she asked, noticing the trouble Ritsuka was having.

“Only for a second while I dry my hands.” he set her down. “Now, who is Rebecca? Is she your aunt or something?” he asked as he dried his palms on his pants.

“What? Nooo.” Ami denied. “Rebecca? She’s my foster mother.”

“Oh, foster-Foster mother?!” he double-taked, staring at Ami.

“Yeah…” she stared at the ground.

“But… Then that means your parents-”

“Yeah, they’re dead…” she finished his sentence as she stuffed her hands into her pockets and kicked an invisible rock. “They drowned with everyone on the boat… I was the only one that survived that day.”

Ritsuka looked away. He thought about how life would be horrid knowing you were the only person to survive a tragedy…

“But that’s old news now! The important thing is that I survived, right?!” Ami stated as she jumped on his back again. “Now onward to my place once again!” she pointed forward with a cheery smile and an ecstatic voice.

Ritsuka was worried about her. She must be broken to pieces inside…________________________________________________________________