Ryunosuke Nakahara was a little boy filled with life. His top favourite things were cats, leaves, stuffed toys in no particular order and recently a ginger-haired boy. He liked playing with other kids wherever he could. His face broke into a warm smile every time he met a new kid to befriend. This was the same smile that Hideki would often remember when trying to find comfort after losing Teddy. Thus, one might say he was gifted.
His parents were in the middle of a chaotic relationship. Their frustration and hatred would often seep into nurturing their little boy, if they did that at all, at least when we are talking about the right way. He was loved, the first few months after he was born. It did not last though and his world soon was draped in darkness. He dreaded coming back from school. All that awaited him at home was either an upset, upset mother or a mother and a father yelling at the top of their lungs.
It frightened him, he was a boy of soft tongue and seeing the outright brutality that these two adults, closest to him, treated each other with, tore his little heart into pieces. When he was not being yelled at, complained to or being in genuine uncertainty of what he was going to get in trouble for next, he liked to collect leaves.
The habit grew from observing a fellow classmate. He found him, admirable. He would study his actions at lunch that intrigued him. One day while eating his lunch alone, he saw the boy press leaves between his books. Unable to keep his curiosity down he wanted to know why he did that. Thereafter, he went and took a leaf from the very plant the boy had, ran back into the kindergarten classroom and put the leaf inside his book.
He kept checking the leaf every few minutes, impatient. Finally, during break time, the boy that inspired little Ryu comes up to him while Ryu checked his little leaf for the twelfth time that day. Ryu had never talked to the boy before.
"You are supposed to let the leaf sit inside the books for a couple of days," upon being approached by the person he pondered about, made him flustered.
"W-what leaf?"
"The leaf inside your math book."
Ryu blushed being found out and slowly pulls out his book from under the desk, "Sorry, I see you always doing this and I wanted to know what happens and why it makes you so happy. You never play with the other kids but you smile when you go around looking for leaves."
"Ah…it is called leaf pressing. My mom taught me! It is her hobby and I used to help her out. Now, I want to make my own collection, my mom helps though. She is a botanist."
"Can I help you with yours then?"
"Yes, I would like that Ryu."
When Ryu went back home that day, he pondered about the leaf and his friends' collection that he made with his mom. Maybe, that was the key, he thought.
"Would you help me start my collection? I would still help you of course!" Ryu explained to the boy.
"I will," Hideki replied and thus, Ryu made his first deep bond. After washing down their lunch, both of them would spend numerous lunch breaks hunting for beautiful leaves to press. Finally, when Ryu had confidently amassed about 10 or so leaves on his notebook that Hideki gifted him, he was ready. He was ready to present it to his mother.
Alas, when he took his notebook home, waited all day to find a time his mother was in a flowery mood to show it to her, it did not go so well. The next day when Hideki came up to him to look around for more leaves, Ryu refused.
"I do not need to anymore. There is not a point," he mumbled and continued chewing his food.
Hideki pauses and sits down next to him, "I will move away after this year. I want to collect lots of more leaves with Ryu to remember him."
That did catch Ryu's attention, "You are?" Hideki nods in response holding onto his leaf collection album.
Ryu stands up and takes his hand, "Let's go and collect more then. I saw this baby plant behind the slides!"
"We can't tear leaves from baby plants Ryu!"
"Why not?"
"Cause they are baby plants. They need all the strength they can get to grow up and have lots of leaves," Hideki was right of course.
Ryu too needed all the love he could get and Hideki was the first person he felt some sort of familiarity with. He cared about Hideki and the news of him leaving was dreadful to the little boy but he did not want to dwell on it just yet. But time passes quicker when someone least desires it. The school year was approaching an end and Hideki's family was getting ready to leave town very soon too.
On the final day of school, the sun was warm, kind instead of its usual fury. The leaves were healthy and growing to be dark green in the schoolyard. It was the day before Hideki was to leave, he gave Ryu his mother's phone number, "Call me! My mother said we could still talk this way." Ryu happily took it and kept the piece of paper safe. Just to be extra sure, he wrote down the number in numerous places like in his notebooks and books.
It was hard though. It was hard to call him. His parents would rarely be in a good mood to let him call his friend or help him call him. He did call Hideki a couple of times by using his friends' house phone when he got to visit them after school, which was still rare. The distance slowly did them apart as Ryu and Hideki reach their adolescence.
The baby plant in the school yard had grown up, with flourishing green leaves.