Absconded Youth (Boyxboy) ✓

2: BLINDED

Tch, dammit! I'm going to be late!

The sun had already begun to bathe the hallways with an orange light as Akio dashed towards the stairwell, his sneakers squeaking on the linoleum floor. He skidded around a corner and--

"Oof!"

--whacked into someone from behind, causing them both to fall ungracefully, accompanied by a shattering sound. The breath had been knocked from him, but Akio was in such a hurry that he immediately began picking up the books that had fallen from his bag. It was only then that he noticed the pair of broken glasses.

"Oh, shit."

He picked them up and glanced at the person he'd collided with for the first time. It was a blonde kid who looked to be a good bit younger. The boy's sightless, stunned eyes gazed a little to the left of Akio's face.

"These yours?" Akio asked.

The boy rubbed at the back of his neck. "Are you holding a pair of glasses?"

"Yeah." He couldn't help but chuckle. "They're messed up. I'm really sorry, kid."

He handed over the mangled frames and quickly pulled a pen out of his pocket, biting off the cap and grabbing the other guy's arm. "I'm in a hurry, but I promise I'll refund you as soon as I get paid."

After scrawling his number on the back of his hand, Akio made to dart down the stairs.

"Wait!" the boy called in a soft voice, still sprawled on the ground. "I... I need help getting home.  My eyesight is really bad."

Akio rocked back and forth on his heels and huffed a sigh. "Look, I really need to get to work." A check of his watch intensified his sense of urgency. "I'm already late."

The kid gave him this sheepish grimace before clambering to his knees and fumbling around for his backpack strap. Akio's shoulders slumped defeatedly. The building was practically abandoned. He knew he couldn't just let the boy stumble blindly down the street on his own.

"Okay," he said. "I'll call in and tell them I'll be behind today."

The smile given in response was pretty rewarding. "Thanks a lot."

As they went slowly down the stairs, Akio pulled out his cell and got a co-worker on the phone.

"Hey, Shun? Tell Boss I'm running late. Got into a little emergency.... Yeah, everything's fine. Tell you later. Thanks. Bye."

Once he hung up, he was able to relax some. It was kind of nice to have a bit of time off.

"Uhm, where do you work?" the kid asked.

He was walking really closely and Akio felt uncomfortable imagining what it would look like to a stranger.

"That drug store on the corner by the school. Five to nine every day but Sunday."

They walked in silence for a few steps.

"What were you doing after school so late?" Akio was half-curious, half-trying to keep it from getting awkward.

The boy's hands were stuffed in the pockets of his jacket as he shuffled along beside him. "Working in the shop class."

"Oh? Got a project due date coming up?"

"No. I just like it in there." He looked away and out the stairwell's window. "What about you?"

"Uhh...." Akio checked his watch again, a nervous habit. "Getting a lecture, honestly. Haven't been making good grades in this one class."

"I bet working every day tires you out."

"Mmhmmm." The conversation was entering an uncomfortable area for him.

The boy turned his eyes in Akio's direction again. "Why don't you cut back your hours?"

He's too young to understand any of this.

"I've got bills to pay." He jumped on the chance to change the topic. "How old are you, anyway?"

"I'm in my third year of junior high."

"Ah. Third of senior high, here."

"So you're, like, an adult now."

His brow furrowed. "Hey! I'm not that old yet."

The sudden sourness seemed to amuse the boy.  Akio tried to recover his temper by deflecting the topic. "What were you doing in the upperclassman shop room?"

The kid seemed to become shy at the question. "I'm taking an advanced course."

Hiking his backpack higher on his shoulders, Akio said, "Oh, so you're, like, really good at making stuff? What's your name?"

"Yuu. Yuu Kanno."

"I'm Akio Roen. Nice to meet you, Yuu."

They shook hands. Yuu almost missed the grasp.

Outside it was humid and the screech of cicadas vibrated the air.  Yuu led them in the opposite direction of the drug store, towards the nicer section of town.  He periodically stumbled on uneven parts of the road.  Neither really knew what to say to each other.

"Uhm...." Yuu mumbled, seemingly to himself.

"Yeah?  You okay?"

"I know you have to go to work, but can you help me find a book I need at the library?  It's on the way."

How can I refuse?

Akio scuffed at a rock on the ground.  "Sure, I guess." 

It smelled musty inside and they were the only ones there.  Yuu told Akio which book to look for, a how-to on leather working.

"Your shop teacher is making you read a whole book on that?"

"No, I just want to.  I want to get better."

Akio felt an odd combination of admiration and annoyance.  Yuu was abusing his extension of kindness, but he couldn't deny the fact that he was glad to have an excuse to be late for his job.

"All right, well, let's just find it so I can be on my way.  I only agreed to this because I thought you needed it for school."

Yuu's face reddened.  "I'm sorry.  I was just eager about it all day."

Akio bit back any retorts he had and went to work finding the book.  He handed a few to Yuu, but none of them were what the boy was looking for. 

When he was finally sure that he found it, he spun around and said, "Ah-ha!  Is this it?" holding it up beneath his chin.

Yuu leaned in close, his brown eyes squinting.  It was so innocent, but a heat started to spread from Akio's neck to his ears.  It looked as though Yuu was bending forward for a kiss.  It took all of his restraint not to squirm and hold his breath.

"Yeah!" Yuu flashed him a grin and a peace sign.  "Thanks, Akio!"

It was odd to hear someone he hardly knew saying his name.  He backed away nodding.  "Yup.  Let's get a move on."

As he passed the book over the check-out counter, memories veiled his view of the real world. 

I was exactly his age.

He glanced warily at Yuu out of the corner of his eye as if the boy could see his thoughts.  He was suddenly ready to be rid of him, ashamed to be seen in public with him.  He was afraid that someone might get the wrong idea.

Because when he was Yuu's age, he'd been seen with an older guy, but it was the right idea.  It was exactly what it looked like.  He'd been seen on a date with his boyfriend.

Akio wouldn't round the corner to Yuu's house.  He said a brusk goodbye at the alleyway and was relieved that he might never see the kid again.