One thing common about Hideki and Ryu was that they both were silent kids, who barely spoke. The difference was that Ryu loved talking. Hideki was a child with responsibilities. He was to be stronger than other children. Never shying away from taking the lead and standing his ground, that was what he was destined to be. At least that is what he was told, firmly. But, as much as one tries, one cannot project one's views on another being and wherever it is tried, complications emerge.
When he was eight, Hideki was fond of a teddy, he adored her. He would sleep beside her, eat with her, play with her but most of all, he loved going on tiny adventures with her. His parents were not overly protective and thus, he would often sneak out to places where he could be only with his teddy. This tale is about one particular one that made teddy very very dirty and it took hours of scrubbing with his tiny hands to clean her later.
Near his manor, were not many places for amusement for kids. But, one hidden gem for him amidst the vast city landscape of cars buzzing past and dark alleys and bars with the stench of alcohol lurking far beyond the door was this small abandoned playground. There were not much to do there. The rides were broken and rusted and definitely could pose danger to little Hideki. He was a smart kid though and nevertheless what amused his little mind more was the clay on the corner of the playground. An unkept sandpit that was now filled with dearth and moist mud from the rain earlier that morning. The clay smelled of the rain; grass covered in dew. He walked his little self to the playground. His Teddy's paw clenched with his left hand. He sat down in the pit and sat his little buddy next to him. He was quite sure that she would love playing in the mud with him.
All settled down he starts to make cute little vases, bowls and lovely mud balls, which he proudly announced to teddy as 'dumplings'. Good thirty minutes later, his hands, up to his wrist was covered in mud, so was his little cheeks. He fed teddy and bathed her in mud gleefully. If he ever needed to cry, he would seek comfort in Teddy. If he was ever to be angry, he would complain to Teddy.
His hands busy, he had completely blocked out the cars and people. He almost jumped up when a little sweet voice asked him, "Is that a spoon?."
His face turned towards the voice, there stood a boy, smaller than him, pointing at his mud spoon.
"Yeah, Yeah it is! So that Teddy can eat her dumplings."
"But…I think she needs chopsticks for it …. Can I make her some?"
"Sure."
And thus, the smaller boy with hair that was slightly long, framing his little face, sat down with Hideki and teddy. They made her not only chopsticks for her mud dumplings but also various other things, a necklace that the new boy made for her and Hideki's addition, an equally cute bracelet. The sky was clear and the slow setting sun spread beautiful hues of colors across the sky. The boy looks at Hideki, his hands slowly placing the mud in his palms on the ground.
"Does Teddy like me?" He asked uncertainty on his face.
Hideki thought for a second before turning to Teddy and then at the little boy. "Yes, yes she does and also…," Hideki touches the boy's long hair, "she loves your hair too, she wants her's like that too!"
That makes the boy smile wonderfully wide, "I like your hair! It's…it's like the sun!" He says pointing eastward. "You are be-bottleful!"
"You mean…beautiful?"
The boy nods happily, "Ye, that!"
"Teddy and you are beautiful too!" Hideki replied patting Teddy's muddy head. Soon the three were joined by yet another guest. This time a big ginger cat much to Hideki's horror.
"No! Let's hide!" Hideki started to scram, Teddy clenched to his chest and his other hand grabbed onto the boy's hand.
"Oh no, wait look! It is a kitty! And it looks just like you."
"No..no it does not," Hideki pouts.
The boy points at the ginger cat and back at Hideki's hair, "See?"
"I…," Hideki hesitated before sitting back down, "you are right. Fine, kitty can watch!" he says after much consideration.
"See kitty? He is nice!"
"Just because you want it," Hideki said still doubtful about the furry friend.
The cat seemed pretty uninterested, it brought itself near the pit and laid down on the cool mud stretching. It sat on the corner licking its paw clean as it watched over the two boys and Teddy.
The ginger cat was free, it roamed as it pleased, ate what it caught and lived as it pleased, amusing itself with new friends. The two boys however were not as fortunate as the chubby ginger cat. Yet, fate had given the two of them a sweet retreat from the ongoing hellish worlds they belonged to. Lives are unfair and long but the moment it reaches the summit and the warm sun shines on it, there is only a little more way till it ends, making it too short. Why it is this way for some? No one really knows but one might wonder if it was to be that way for the two of them in the future.
Soon, the sun had disappeared under the horizon, leaving only street lights and shop lights illuminating the little abandoned playground. Their little play ended when an angry woman tore inside the playground yelling at the smaller boy. He was dragged out and Hideki could not do much but cry.
"What is your name!" Hideki cried out.
"Ryunosuke !"
Later when Hideki came home, he was told to throw away the filthy toy. Perplexed, he ran Teddy to the bathroom and started to scrub her good as he thought about the little boy he met at the playground and about his new fondness for cats. There were going to be further adventures meeting new cats thereafter.