Second Life

Timeline

---------------------Eight Years Ago----------------------

A young Yuuichi tugged at a equally young Ryuuichi's sleeves, hiding behind his brother. "Onii-chan..." Ryuuichi grasped his hands behind his back, giving it a reassuring squeeze, his eyes never leaving the road. He looked from right to left, where tall people walking pass them, paying no heed to two six-years-old. He tried to look past through the moving legs and bodies, only to frown when he see nothing. He sighed in annoyance. He seriously hate being this short.

He properly grabbed Yuuichi's hand and carefully and hastily make pass through the sea of people to one corner. Finally, out of the suffocating crowd, he breathed out in relief. He turned to Yuuichi to make sure he was alright to see his brother frighten and tearing up.

He squeeze his hands again, patting him on the head gently. "Yuu, it's alright"

Yuuichi back his tears, nodding slowly. "B-but what about sensei and the others?" Speaking of them, Ryuuichi almost sighed for the nth time that day if he didn't knew better. He frowned and looked around again. There was no way they could spot their teachers and classmates in this kind of crowd. Who suggested to have the annual year-end trip to Tokyo of all places again?

He should have stick him and Yuuichi to their teacher, but now that he thought about it, it was better for them to be lost rather than the others. At least he knew what to do rather than throwing a tantrum in this kind of crowd. Not to mention it was easier for them to get kidnapped or something along the line.

He shook his head, cutting himself of his train of rambles rather than thoughts. That was no important at this moment.

"Let's go to find a policeman, or the station. We will have them call sensei, alright?" He smiled when Yuuichi nodded. "In the meantime, let's enjoy the walk there~ And don't let go of my hand?"

And off they go. Ryuuichi led the way, a hand on the city map he had gotten from the station. Fortunately he did, or he might be in trouble. They carefully stuck to the edge of the crowd until they reach a park. If he remembered correctly, their teacher did mentioned about going to visit the park, but who knows which park was it. At least they weren't in a crowd anymore.

It was the beginning of spring, so the cheery blossoms haven't bloom yet, but it was still a magnificent sight. Ryuuichi was in awe as he never saw this kind of park before. Namimori's park couldn't even go against this one.

"O-onii-chan... I'm tired.." Ryuuichi blinked out of his trance. True to what Yuuichi said, his brother was really exhausted seeing that he was panting lightly. Ryuuichi himself was feeling tired as well. He pulled Yuuichi to one of the bench and sat down with a huff. He took out their water bottles from his backpack and passed Yuuichi's to him. As he drank, he wondered if their teacher noticed their disappearance. Heck it wasn't even their fault that they got lost in the first place. Damn that traffic.

He looked to Yuuichi, only to find him asleep, oblivious to the world. He sighed fondly, slowly and gently pried the bottle off Yuuichi's hand. He moved a stray hair from Yuuichi's face. He was glad that he never let go of his brother's hand, or they might be swept off by the crowd separately. Guess the current of humans wore him out. It wore Ryuuichi out too. Very much so. He never really liked crowded place, so it annoyed him immensely. Yuuichi, who was never in a crowd this huge other than the time he was swarmed by parents during a play for being a 'cute dog', was very much terrified.

Even Ryuuichi could feel it through his hands. (It hurt a lot. He almost thought he would lose his hand)

He looked at his watch again and decided that it wouldn't hurt resting for a moment. He smiled again, leaned back against the back rest and watched the clouds roll by.