strawberry boy. - sanzu h. [ completed. ]

03 ―『 sanzu haruchiyo 』

Chapter Three - Sanzu Haruchiyo.

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I took him to the convenience store. The staff I knew looked at me, wondering why I came back until he saw the boy beside me that he completely understood the situation. He sat at one of the chairs while waiting for me who was buying some ointments for his bruises in the pharmacy inside, then taking a seat beside him with the oitments in hand together with some cup noodles. Taking off the cap, I looked at him.

"Take off your mask..." I said politely, but he just stared at me. "Hey, strawberry boy, take off your mask. I'm going to put some ointment on your bruises."

Luckily, this time, he obliged.

The scars from both corners of his lips immediately caught my attention. I want to ask him about that, but i felt like it might be something private. Also, I need to give him some treatment first.

Getting some ointment from the bottle, I softly applied it below his right eye, muttering a soft 'sorry' after noticing how his fingers flinched the moment the oinment made in contact with his skin. It might be because it's cold, or it stings, I don't know. After adding the liniment, I put everything back in their places before opening up the cup noodles. I felt him staring through my soul.

"Is cup noodles okay?" I asked, putting some seasonings in the cup.

He nodded.

"Does your jaw hurt when you move it? Do you want to eat something else?"

His head shook at both of my questions, staying silent. What, did he sewed his mouth or something?

I filled the two with hot water before closing it, putting a pair of chopticks on both cups to avoid the cover from being blown by the wind. "Let's just wait for a few minutes for it to cook."

While the noodles were cooking, I looked at the stranger beside me who was quiet like he had no plans on having a single sound leave his mouth.

"Sooo, what's your name?" My hands raised the minute I asked. "Y-you don't have to tell me, though! It's up to you, haha!" I tried to laugh awkwardly before looking away.

I felt his gaze at me. Not gonna lie, he was freaking tall, I'm 5'5 yet I looked like a newly born dwarf beside him. What was this man been eating all his life?

He stared at me, later then moving his lips as he answered my question. "Sanzu... Haruchiyo."

God... that was beautiful.

Why the fuck is his voice so deep?! Dang it, the angels resting on the empyreans be taking their precious time making this handsome sculpted descendant in front of me.

Though, I made that thought stay in my mind as I nodded, bobbing my head up and down. "How old are you, anyway? You're pretty huge," I asked before sipping some water from the bottle. "I mean, in a good way."

"Sixteen."

Water gushed out from my nose like a fountain. I coughed hard, punching my chest. Damn it, sixteen and yet he looked just so fine! Then here is I, looking like an expired bitten munchkin.

We devoured the noodles after it's cooked, and heck if it wasn't delicious as fuck. I was moaning loudly, too loud that I forgot I was with someone.

Looking at him, he was just staring at me. Mouth agape as he gazed at mine, a cough leaving passing by his lips. His focus went back to the food, and holy shit did I not just see the side of his lips tugging upwards for a second before completely disappearing. The scars on both corners were purr-fect-o.

He was indeed, weird. Weird but interesting.

"Say, Haruchiyo," He looked at my direction after I called him. "Why aren't you in your school uniform? Don't you have classes?"

He frozed, his chopsticks stop mid-air as he look at me. Did I said anything wrong?

Finally back to the world, he blink a few times before answering. "I-I don't... go to... school."

"What? Why?" My eyebrows furrowed. "Don't you have your family to support your studies?"

He shook his head, "I don't have... any family."

His honesty somehow suprised me, but his answers surprised me even more.

He doesn't go to school, doesn't have any family. Does he work?

"Do you have any work?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he took a big bite of the noodles, before looking away and started gazing at the view in front of us from the mirror while munching the juicy ramen.

I bit my lip, thinking of a way to get back his attention. Until an idea had popped in my head.

"You know, I was also like you." He looked at me.

There, now I got your attention.

My gaze went down the dark street, light only coming from the moon luminating from above and the broken posts. "I was raised in a not very pleasant place."

I mean, it's not like he told me his backstory or that I have mind reading powers or some fantasy type of shit. Honestly, it was nothing but a harmless guess that I never expected to hit a vital part of him.

"It was full of garbages, sticking wooden houses that looks like it's about to fall down. Incompetent parents, unhygeinic children. And please, don't get me started with those nasty perverts in our area." I rolled my eyes, reminiscing how those drunk assholes would always whistle whenever I pass by. "They were disgusting."

I swear, I did not just see his eyes darken for a second...

"But, fortunately enough, I managed to run away and change my life. Emma and her brothers helped me a lot. They took care of me, even until now, without wanting to receive anything in return." A smile went on my lips as I think of those times. "I will forever be grateful of them."

"That's why, you..." I lightly punched his chest, "even if you have no family, money, or even anything at all, you should always and still be grateful on anything you're receiving. Even if you've been through some hard shit. Even if you feel like you're bad luck's favorite. Even if you aren't sure about your future, always be grateful of anything that happened. Be it as good as finding a sack of gold, or as bad as eating molten food."

I laughed jokingly, where did that came from? I swear it was not related to our topic earlier.

We were staring at each other, in silence. My lips were still formed into a smile while his were agaped. I don't know what just happened, but I felt a sudden bolt of electricity trailing from my arm to my hand, resonating through his chest.

At that moment, I saw how his eyes sparkled.

"Tomorrow, since it is a Saturday, I'll try to help you with your government papers. You need to have at least your birth certificate in order for you to go to school. You need to study, it's for your future. Gladly, I do my 'work' at night so we definitely have plenty of time."

We found ourselves standing outside the convenience store, facing each other. He was wearing his mask again.

"I'll go now," I said, smiling. "Let's meet up again tomorrow, Haruchiyo."

Waving my hand, I walked away.

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rosie.