小さな大熊
[Chiisana Ooguma]
By Bayou
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Part 1
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Ever since he was a little boy, Ooguma Makoto was often mistaken as a cute little girl. Everyone would tell him that he was beautiful. Somewhat, he didn't resemble his male siblings at all. His father and older brother had this fierce look and large built, like their family name which literally means; "large bear". Even his twin little brothers showed the signs that they would grow like their father and older brother as they shot up right away when they reached their puberty.
As the second eldest son and the third child in the family, Makoto took his mother and older sister's feature. He had soft face feature, large round eyes, slim nose, and pointy chin. His hair was shoulder length, straight, black, silky, and fell perfectly over his shoulder. His mother and older sister forbid him to cut his hair shorter than that, since they thought it was a pity not to grow such a perfect hair like his. Though he hated that and persisted to grow it long, he subdued the demand. His height was average, with a slender body, and fair skin. Though there's muscles in the seemingly fragile body, it was perfectly hidden behind his clothes. He couldn't get tan, and couldn't make his body muscular like his father and older brother, though it was a relief for the rest of his family because they couldn't imagine a well built body came with such a pretty face.
He hated himself for it. Being popular with both male and female because of his pretty face, wasn't that convenient. Girls would fight over him and he was often being targeted by the boys that would end up in rape if he couldn't defend himself. That's why he couldn't befriend with anybody else.
His older brother, Ooguma Kyou, was his protector, fighting teacher, and his only friend. Kyou was the one who taught him the efficient way of defending himself. It wasn't Karate or Aikido or anything, it was a free fight style Kyou had developed after years of fighting experience [mostly because of misunderstanding since he had very offensive look even though he didn't mean to]. He was the kindest hearted person ever lived, despite of his fierce look and overgrown body. He wouldn't start a fist fight if it wasn't necessarily needed. Usually he would throw a punch after getting beaten pretty badly and ended up defeating his opponents.
They were so close, and Makoto loved and adored his big brother very much. So when he moved to the big city to go to college, it broke his heart into pieces. Makoto intended to move to Tokyo too after he graduated from high school.
And it was soon...
"Mom, Dad, I want to go to Tokyo after graduation."
He said, one night in the middle of January, just few months away to his graduation day.
"What? NO!" everybody in the dining table reputed; his mother, his father, his older sister, his twin younger brothers, and his little sister.
"But Kyou would take care of me there!" he persisted.
"Kyou must be very busy with college, and you know pretty well that he wouldn't—couldn't—refuse,” his mother rephrased her word, "You'll be a bother to him."
"I won't be a bother, then. I'll find my own place and lived on my own."
"Like you can do that," his big sister mocked.
"Yeah," the twins butted in, "Everyone spoils you too much, you can't go independent by yourself.”
"Mako nii-chan still needs to be pampered," his little sister added.
Those comments really pissed him off.
Makoto stood up and slammed the dining table with both hand irritatedly and shocked everybody else.
"Then I'll prove you're all wrong!!" he yelled before leaving the dining room and went upstairs to his room.
And so, he stubbornly left home soon after graduation, ignoring his mother and sisters who begged him not to go, also his twin brothers who mocked him by saying he's too dependant.
Only his father who gave him his blessing. Though right after his son had departed, the big old man got an earful bickering from the ladies in the house, he gladly sent his second son to see the world outside his own courtyard.
Tokyo was a 5 hours trip by train from his hometown, and it was exhausting even though all the boy did was sitting all the way.
He was bored and threw his sight to the outside view. A little further from his window pane, at the small road by the river, not far from the railroad, there was a man riding his old scooter with a huge backpack attached on his back. He wore a worn off jeans jacket which color had mostly faded away over his dirty white t-shirt—which color had turned brownish of the dust—and a jeans that ripped in some place. A helmet and goggles covered his head and eyes so he couldn't see his face clearly, but the man seemed to have big built and a part of his blonde hair that peeked beneath the helmet, blown away by the wind.
Suddenly the scooter gave a surprising jump before it made its dead stop as a thick black smoke came from the engine. The man seemed pissed; he got down and kicked the scooter, only to make the situation worse, the engine cover on the rear fell of because of the kick, and he got panicked more than before.
Makoto chuckled. And to his surprise, by the time they got lined up—as if the man could hear his laugh—the blonde man turned at him and met his eyes, he shrugged and grinned. Makoto just stared back in awe, didn't know how to respond. He kept glancing at the man until he was out of the scene.
What an interesting man, he thought.
After that, nothing came to his interest. So, feeling bored, he put on his headphone, turn on his iPod, and slept his way to Tokyo.
Makoto didn't tell his brother that he would be coming today to surprise him, so no one picked him up at the station. He had the address by the mail Kyou sent to him when he was just moved to Tokyo. But the station in Tokyo is so damn huge! It even had stores in it. Makoto thought the train had stopped in a mall or something.
He was confused by the huge place with so many people walking by and couldn't figure out where the exit was. He looked around to find someone he could ask for direction, but he didn't see where he was going until he bumped onto a stranger.
He staggered back and fell onto the floor.
"Are you ok?" the stranger asked while offering him a hand.
Makoto took the stranger's hand and helped himself up with it.
"I'm fine, thanks," the boy said, "And sorry for bumping you."
"You should be careful next time," the stranger said.
"I-I will, but I'm new in town, so..." he stopped as he looked up and saw the man he was bumping earlier.
The man was tall—almost as tall as his brother—and very handsome! His hair was combed neatly to the back of his head and he wore an expensive suit. His eyes were sharp and looked diligent, but there's also a cunning gleam flashed in it. His gesture was graceful and he spoke in a very polite manner. An attorney badge attached on his suit.
The man smiled. He had this charming smile that made a male like him was absorbed by his charisma.
"So, you just arrived?"
"Huh?" the man's voice snapped him back to reality, "Well, uh, yeah. I'm visiting my big brother. I have the address, but it seems that I can't be going anywhere unless I can find the exit. This place is too huge."
A nervous laugh escaped the boy's mouth. It was almost embarrassing that he had to admit that he came from the countryside.
But the man didn't seem to bother with it.
"I see," he put his hand on his chin, his move was graceful. "May I know where your brother lives?"
"Ah," Makoto took his cellphone and show the stranger the address Kyou had sent him.
The stranger looked at it for a while, and said, "If this is the address you're looking for, then it's better to take the west exit."
"And, where is this west exit?" the boy asked confusedly.
The stranger directly answered, "It's on the west side of this station."
Makoto pouted by the answer.
The man laughed politely, "I'm sorry, that was a bad joke. Come, I'll take you to the exit."
He took the boy's shoulder and guided him to the exit.
[To be continued]
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