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 Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 3:40 am
One of the teenagers came over and crossed his arms. "Don't I know you from somewhere? You look familiar." He was speaking to Kenichi.
Kenichi grinned. "Nope. Just some pain in the rear who has a broken leg and is self-imposing on the kid here. Think he can join you for a bit so he doesn't just hang around doing absolutely nothing?"
The boy stared, then turned, shrugging. "I don't see what's stopping," he called as an invitation.
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Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 10:31 am
"Y-you don't have to let me join if you don't want to," Utsuki said rather hurriedly. "If it's a bother, then I understand." He was basically making excuses not to interact with the person and his group, but it probably was just a useless attempt. The criminal seemed very set on getting him to do something other than sit and stare at the environment of the park.
Coming to the park was probably a mistake, but at least it was better than scavenging around the house for Dad's valuable objects. Maybe Utsuki should have suggested going to a museum or any other place that involves going inside a building.
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Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 12:31 pm
"It's no bother. We need another person anyway. We were going to play basketball, but we only have five players."
Kenichi grinned and pushed Utuski towards the group. "Go on. Go play. It's not going to kill you."
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Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 1:34 pm
Utsuki felt like a little kid being told to do something he really didn't want to do. Nonetheless, he walked over to the group. Maybe he should have said he didn't know how to play basketball. He didn't know the rules or what anything meant. All he could see when watching a game were people running around trying to shoot a bouncing ball into baskets.
He was sure this exact same thing happened when his mother was still alive, back when he actually started pre-school. At the time, he was supposed to join a group of children that were getting ready to play hide-and-seek. The situation at that time was less awkward than what was happening now.
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Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:33 pm
"So, my name's Jason. This is Abby, Mark, Jack, and Jin-Lee." Jason nodded to each person by turn, bouncing a basketball between his legs expertly as he spoke. "You're going to be playing with Mark and Abby. So... Ready?"
Kenichi grinned as he watched Utsuki follow the kid reluctantly. He honestly didn't care how uncomfortable Utsuki felt. It would be good for the kid to get out and play.
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Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 4:53 pm
"Yeah, I guess I'm ready," Utsuki said, still regretting that he had ever gone to the park. Oh well, what's done was done. He would have to make use of the time he had now.
Utsuki was quite nervous, and who wouldn't be? It was his first time actually participating in a basketball game. What would happen if he made a huge and embarrassing mistake? It probably wouldn't be a big deal, since it wasn't likely that he would meet up with the group again, but he was still worried.
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Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 8:02 pm
Kenichi sighed and relaxed as he watched Utsuki playing. He noticed with some amusement that Utsuki wasn't all that good. At least he was playing with someone. He lost himself to his thoughts as he watched, not paying attention to the time.
Jason clapped Utsuki on the shoulder as the game finished. "You're a decent player, kid. I'm sorry, but I don't think you ever told us your name."
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Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 8:52 pm
"Ah, sorry about that," Utsuki said, embarrassed. "My name's Utsuki. It's kind of an uncommon name, but my mom seemed okay with it."
Since when had talking become so hard? It was only natural for people to exchange words, so why was he having such a hard time? Perhaps it's only because he had stayed at home for years. He had deprived himself of human contact since his father began to slip at work. There was no other explanation.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 8:43 am
"Well, later Utsuki. We've gotta split, but feel free to come back and join us another time. We can teach you to play." Jason picked up the ball and walked away, heading out of the park with his friends.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:36 pm
It wasn't likely that Utsuki would return, at least for a while. It was probably time to go home, though it wasn't like Dad would return until late at night. But it is about time Utsuki started making lunch to bring to the police station. This would be his first time going to the station in a while.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 4:09 pm
Kenichi approached Utsuki on his crutches. "Well, that was a longer game than I expected. It's noon. Are you bored of the park yet? Because I am. Let's head back to the house."
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 7:18 pm
"Yeah, I guess it is about time to go back to the house," Utsuki agreed, eager to go back home. "By the way, don't you have a home to go back to? You don't look like you live on the streets."
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 7:25 pm
"Yeah, sure. If I want the old man to rough me up more than a broken leg. Besides, he's used to me disappearing for a while. This will probably be the longest I've ever not gone home, but..." Kenichi shrugged as he trailed off. "If he doesn't hear anything about me, I'm good. It means I'm doing a good job."
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:07 pm
"You're not very welcome at home, huh?" Utsuki asked, now a little curious and sad. He wasn't sure if he should be prying into the criminal's business. It was too weird. So what if the criminal had done the same thing? It still wasn't justified!
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Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 2:33 pm
Kenichi shrugged again. "It is what it is. I'm a professional thief at the age of sixteen. I don't really have anything to complain about. I've been trained for as long as I can remember in being undetectable, a shadow, invisible. The old man's a gang lord. You think he's going to want a sixteen year old kid hanging around all the time?" Kenichi wasn't going to admit it, but Utsuki had actually hit on the one thing that ever really bothered him about his life. He did wish he had a normal family.
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