to figure
out a way to save you.”
I nibbled at my
thumb nail, feeling like I was hearing a really great story. Fiction.
Something that never happened in real life. “And you did. You found out how
eventually.”
He sighed.
“Yeah, eventually.” His dark eyes met mine. “I’m sorry. Sorry I wasn’t faster.
I was just too young…” his voice trailed off and I almost missed the last part,
“still am.” He popped the head back on the Gundam and I took it from him to
get him to look at me.
“I was so
scared,” he admitted. “There was no one I could talk to. No one to ask for
help, because no one believed me. I read books, I searched the internet.
Finally, I ran across an article written by a Buddhist monk. It was all about
the evolution of ancient religious beliefs to modern ones.” He grinned. “So I
tracked Fumio down and pestered him non-stop until he agreed to help me. At
first, he thought he was teaching me history. You should have seen his face
when I told him I had a curse to break.”
I studied the
little Gundam guy. I was pretty sure it was the same one I’d given Ryuu on his
last birthday- the last birthday I was sane for, anyway. I couldn’t believe he
still had it.
“Fumio believed
me almost immediately.” Ryuu’s voice was soft. “He didn’t tell me I was
crazy, or act like he was humoring me. He helped me. He said that
there are plenty of things in this life that can’t be explained, and the human
spirit has depths that we can’t even begin to imagine.”
“What did you
do? How did you finally break the curse?” I asked, dying of curiosity at this
point.
Ryuu shrugged. “We
tried incantations, blessings, religious artifacts, offerings, you name it.
Nothing worked. Then Fumio had me start meditating.”
I raised my
eyebrows at him. “Meditating?” It wasn’t really something I could picture a
kid doing.
He nodded. “It
helped, a lot. I could start to feel a sense of something there when I
would close my eyes. When I tried to find that feeling near you, the kami
would go insane and try to kill me.” He gave me a dark look. “That’s how I
knew it was working. The thing was scared.”
“But it took a
while. I had to get older, I think, for my abilities to get stronger. And
then I read about forging a connection with the host. I couldn’t talk to you,
so I found another way to make a link. I tried to access you while you were
dreaming and apparently, it worked. And then…”
He looked down
and cracked his knuckles. The muffled pops were loud in the quiet room. “And
then?” I prompted.
He looked up at
me, his black eyes defiant, and his cheeks turning a beautiful rosy red. Ryuu-
calm, unflappable Ryuu- was blushing. “I… kissed you.”
I snorted with
laughter. “You what? That’s the corniest thing I’ve ever heard. What is
this, Sleeping Beauty?”
He snatched the
Gundam from me and stood to put it back on his bookshelf. “Shut up!”
I wiped tears of
laughter from my eyes with the back of my hand and went to stand behind him.
He’d gotten tall, but I was still just a smidge taller. I wrapped my arms
around him from behind in a fierce bear-hug, standing on my tiptoes to rest my
chin on his silky head and peer at the little toy on its shelf. “Thank you,” I
said softly.
He had only been
a little boy-he still was, really. And he had worked so hard to bring me
back. I didn’t care how cheesy it was. “It doesn’t matter what you had to do-
I’m glad to be back.”
He wriggled out
of my arms and stepped back. “Stop treating me like a little kid.” But it was
so hard when he was just so dang cute. I reached out and ruffled his hair.
“Whatever.” He
made an agitated sound as I messed up the purposeful disorder of his shiny
hair.
My phone started
squawking in my pocket and I rushed over to my bag to dig around
out a way to save you.”
I nibbled at my
thumb nail, feeling like I was hearing a really great story. Fiction.
Something that never happened in real life. “And you did. You found out how
eventually.”
He sighed.
“Yeah, eventually.” His dark eyes met mine. “I’m sorry. Sorry I wasn’t faster.
I was just too young…” his voice trailed off and I almost missed the last part,
“still am.” He popped the head back on the Gundam and I took it from him to
get him to look at me.
“I was so
scared,” he admitted. “There was no one I could talk to. No one to ask for
help, because no one believed me. I read books, I searched the internet.
Finally, I ran across an article written by a Buddhist monk. It was all about
the evolution of ancient religious beliefs to modern ones.” He grinned. “So I
tracked Fumio down and pestered him non-stop until he agreed to help me. At
first, he thought he was teaching me history. You should have seen his face
when I told him I had a curse to break.”
I studied the
little Gundam guy. I was pretty sure it was the same one I’d given Ryuu on his
last birthday- the last birthday I was sane for, anyway. I couldn’t believe he
still had it.
“Fumio believed
me almost immediately.” Ryuu’s voice was soft. “He didn’t tell me I was
crazy, or act like he was humoring me. He helped me. He said that
there are plenty of things in this life that can’t be explained, and the human
spirit has depths that we can’t even begin to imagine.”
“What did you
do? How did you finally break the curse?” I asked, dying of curiosity at this
point.
Ryuu shrugged. “We
tried incantations, blessings, religious artifacts, offerings, you name it.
Nothing worked. Then Fumio had me start meditating.”
I raised my
eyebrows at him. “Meditating?” It wasn’t really something I could picture a
kid doing.
He nodded. “It
helped, a lot. I could start to feel a sense of something there when I
would close my eyes. When I tried to find that feeling near you, the kami
would go insane and try to kill me.” He gave me a dark look. “That’s how I
knew it was working. The thing was scared.”
“But it took a
while. I had to get older, I think, for my abilities to get stronger. And
then I read about forging a connection with the host. I couldn’t talk to you,
so I found another way to make a link. I tried to access you while you were
dreaming and apparently, it worked. And then…”
He looked down
and cracked his knuckles. The muffled pops were loud in the quiet room. “And
then?” I prompted.
He looked up at
me, his black eyes defiant, and his cheeks turning a beautiful rosy red. Ryuu-
calm, unflappable Ryuu- was blushing. “I… kissed you.”
I snorted with
laughter. “You what? That’s the corniest thing I’ve ever heard. What is
this, Sleeping Beauty?”
He snatched the
Gundam from me and stood to put it back on his bookshelf. “Shut up!”
I wiped tears of
laughter from my eyes with the back of my hand and went to stand behind him.
He’d gotten tall, but I was still just a smidge taller. I wrapped my arms
around him from behind in a fierce bear-hug, standing on my tiptoes to rest my
chin on his silky head and peer at the little toy on its shelf. “Thank you,” I
said softly.
He had only been
a little boy-he still was, really. And he had worked so hard to bring me
back. I didn’t care how cheesy it was. “It doesn’t matter what you had to do-
I’m glad to be back.”
He wriggled out
of my arms and stepped back. “Stop treating me like a little kid.” But it was
so hard when he was just so dang cute. I reached out and ruffled his hair.
“Whatever.” He
made an agitated sound as I messed up the purposeful disorder of his shiny
hair.
My phone started
squawking in my pocket and I rushed over to my bag to dig around
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