To Love a Viper

 

​Ren

So the annoying punk is hurt. Ren grinned to himself. He pulled into the school parking lot and stared at the giant looming building. He hadn’t been here in years. From the outside it looked the same. He got off his bike and put the helmet down. He really didn’t want to be here. He told himself, all he had to do was go in, find the kid, ask him to play and leave. Just three easy steps and he could put this place behind him…. again.



He used his hand to shield his eyes from the sun. He caught a glimpse of a gaggle of girls filling the doorway, apparently pointing and gawking.They looked like clones with every uniform exactly the same and every hairstyle a copy from a magazine ad. 

“Just what I need.” He sighed under his breath before grabbing a pair of shades and slamming them onto his face. “jail bait.” He shrugged off his annoyance, and walked toward the main entrance. He was hoping he wouldn’t run into any of his old teachers. He was pretty sure any students who might have known him should have graduated already, but still…



The place was exactly the same, same sweaty shoe lockers, same dirty streaks along the walls where hands and bodies had leaned for years. He found the main office and asked if they could locate the Takasu kid. He knew Ryuuji from the juvenile detention center. They had been cell mates for about 6 months. Ren was always a little jealous because Ryuuji received letters almost every week from his little brother. He would read them aloud sometime and Ren would imagine he was the big brother for a little while. He knew deep down no one would ever write him or send him a letter. Hell, nobody cared. They weren’t going to send letters or stop by for holidays. But that was the past. He could care less about all that now. Ryuuji was pretty cool so he assumed his little counterpart would probably be about the same.



The secretary was informing him that the Takasu boy didn’t have classes right now, so he could be in the library, study hall or on the roof. With a polite nod, Ren started working his way down the list. Shit, he thought. Why can’t anything be easy? The halls were filled with students loitering around. He didn’t remember school being this lax before. He eventually found the library and asked the lady at the front desk if Takasu was there. She gave a puzzled look, apparently she didn’t know who that was. He didn’t feel like wandering around the library since he had no idea what this kid looked like. So he started for the door.

“Hey wait!”

He turned to see a very short girl with giant glasses standing right behind him.

“You want Takasu right?” She beamed.

To be as small as she was, her voice carried and it seemed everyone in the room suddenly turned to look in their direction.

“Uhm.. yeah.”

“I’ll show you where he is!” Her face seemed to double in size as she grabbed Ren’s hand and pulled him along.

He could hear the less than quiet whispers of the other students as he followed this shrimp of a girl to the back of the library where a small figure sat crumpled in a ball leaning against the shelf. Is he asleep? Ren thought as she pulled him toward the rolled up person who seemed lost under a mound of frizzy, disheveled hair.

“That’s him.” She stated emphatically, while waiting around, apparently deciding to quench her curiosity. Other students were already peering around the corner trying to hear what Ren was going to say.

“Oy,, hey.” He poked the boy in the head. The kid didn’t move. The girl giggled and took a step back as if someone were going to hit her.

“Hey! Get up!” Ren called while tugging the kids arm. He made a soft noise before wiping his face across his sleeve. He raised his head, causing the long strands of hair to fall in a million directions before he wiped them out of his face and looked up. Ren stepped back for a second when the mass of hair revealed the most angelic yet sad eyes he had ever seen. The bright green pupils mixed with hazel flecks stared up as if they had seen a god.

His skin tone was unusual, an odd mix of olive and tan tones like he had spent his life laying naked being kissed by the sun. Ren was at a momentary loss for words. The boy blinked a few times as if he couldn’t see. More students were gathering nearby as if pretending to look for books in that section. Ren was dragged back to his reality when the little one yawned and stretched as if it were the most natural response to a general greeting. Ren smirked a little to himself. This can’t be Ryuuji’s brother, Ryuuji is huge! In fact, Ryuuji was the biggest, palest Asian Ren had ever seen in his life! But this kid is well… he’s.. he’s not even the same color!



“Are you Takasu?” Ren asked softly almost afraid his normal voice might send the kid running. The kid nodded dumbly, then gave an almost elfin expression before standing up in one fluid motion like he was made of water. Ren followed him with his eyes. He seemed to grow in a matter of minutes until he was right under his chin! The kid took a small step back, almost cautious gesture as if making sure he had enough room to run.

“I know your brother.” Ren said flatly. The kid’s eyes widened in surprise before narrowing into cautious slits.

“So. What do you want.” There wasn’t even a hint of a smile in his voice. Ren wasn’t sure how to proceed, especially since there appeared to be an audience forming all around them.

“Look, I’m with a rock group called Viper, Ryuuji said you know how to play a guitar. Our guitarist was in a car wreck, and we have several gigs lined up and I wanted to know if you could fill in.” The kid looked away for a moment as if trying to determine if this were true.

“So. You want me to go with you?...Now?”

“Well, no, not exactly.” Ren was taken aback. This kid was weird. But something about him was making Ren’s pulse race. He tried to look away from the sleepy, innocent face surrounded by long locks of hair that seemed as if every strand changed color when hit by different light.

The kid just stared. Ren had an unusual urge to touch him. He seemed almost like a doll. He walked toward him before catching himself, his hand hovering in mid-air inches from the boys face. The boy didn’t move. Ren shoved his hand in his pocket as if in an attempt to avoid embarrassment. He looked at the floor, forcing his eyes away from the captivating features.

His face had gone red and his chest was hot. This wasn’t a normal response for him. Ren didn’t know what was wrong. Just about everyone he had ever met was instantly drawn to him, like they wanted something from him. But this kid, this strange looking boy seemed to pull away. Ren cleared his throat and focused his attention on the far wall to avoid staring.

“Anyway, I.. where do you live, I can come get you and…”

“NO!” The kid almost shouted backing up and shaking his head. He was suddenly very awake and apparently quite lively. “No.” he said again softly. “I don’t think I want to play for you, I .. don’t “

“Wait a second… Just hold on a minute!” Ren stammered. It wasn’t like him to get tongue tied. He suddenly really wanted this kid to come with him and would have said anything to get him to agree.

“I’ll take you to see Ryuuji if you’ll play in the band!” The kid stopped short and stared up with his mouth wide open… he was flabbergasted.

“Really.” He almost squeaked. “You mean it, you really will?”

“Yeah.” Ren lied. He had no idea where Ryuuji was but he had to see this kid again. He had to convince him to meet up with him later, outside this hell hole. “I promise, you help us win and I’ll take you.”

His smile was so genuine. So innocent Ren could only swallow to keep himself from covering those sweet lips in deep kisses. The kid nodded.

“I’ll meet you in front of the big library after school. I’ll bring my guitar.. okay?”

“Yeah… okay.” Ren croaked a hoarse reply. He couldn’t stop staring at those eyes.

“Oh..um.” the kid held out his hand, “I’m Shin.”

Ren grasped the hand gently, Shin squeezed lightly as if confirming a promise. Ren knew this might have started as a lie, but he would find Ryuuji for this kid’s sake. He would find a way to wipe the sadness from those beautiful eyes.