Namimori.

The name sounded weird at first. I mean really, who would ever give a town such a god-awful name? My mind translated it as 'Nami' meaning wave and 'Mori' meaning forest. How does that make sense? Imagine if someone asks you where you're from and you answer 'Namimori', I bet they'll just laugh their heads off. Although, after living in the town for 7 years, the name doesn't sound that bad anymore. Rather, it had that certain 'ring' to it.

I guess it's… an acceptable town; not too big and not too small, just medium. It's not crowded either nor is it densely populated; it had an appropriate number of people settling there. Everything about the town seems to meet in the middle; not too modern nor is it too primitive, not too eye-catching nor too dull. Dad told me that 'Nami' was also means medium.

...On second thought, the name does fit the town.

Anyway, I've lived in the town as long as I can remember until I moved to Tokyo at the age of 7 with my Auntie and Tetsu, my younger brother, when my parents passed away in an accident. Tragic, I know- but I'd say my Aunt's doing a good job at raising us.

I didn't actually miss Namimori because there was nothing there that I could miss. I wasn't the… most sociable person there is. I had trouble making friends but I couldn't blame myself. Once, I tried making friends with this girl in kindergarten but for God knows why, she ignored me like I'm some invisible kid- not that I care but dude, it still hurts. Basically, I'm this kid that other children would like to avoid being friends with. It didn't bother me though. I'm a lot happier alone.

Actually, I did have a friend, though I'm not exactly sure about that. We always had this silence when we were anywhere near each other but hey, if you count awkward silence as friendship then I guess he's more or less my friend.

Sort of.

Moving on, we used to be neighbours before my parents died. Apparently, his parents used to be close friends with mine. That was pretty ironic because me and that guy had never even said a word to each other. Some friendship we had.

Anyway, my parents would always go to our neighbour's house which was an old yet stunning Japanese house (dragging me along) and they talked over green tea and light snacks. His mother would always give me sweets to me to enjoy while they talked. She was a beautiful woman; fair skinned, silky raven hair tied up in a neat bun and kind steel blue eyes. His father was a strict man but friendly when it comes to his friends. He had dark raven hair and strong brown eyes. The strong build of his and his eyes gave off an intimidating aura but my Dad told me once that when they were in high school, he was quite popular among the girls because of his looks and intelligence.

Being the polite person I am, I moved away from their presence and sat near the open sliding door which had a view of the garden. Something about the place made me feel… refreshed.

It was a shame that he interrupted.

Well, he didn't exactly interrupt me- he just came and sat at a distance away from me, staring at the scenery. He didn't say anything. He just came and literally just sat there, about 1m away from me, and stared at the scenery. I thought it was okay for me to not strike up a conversation because hey, if he didn't say anything, why should I? We stayed like this the entire time- well, at least until my parents wanted to go home.

When my parents would come and visit his, we would always sit in the same place and stare at the garden. No words spoken. His steel blue eyes would stare at the scenery and every so often it would flicker towards the sky, gazing at the clouds as it slowly glides across the sky. It looked corny but I would do the same. It's amazing because all that time we spent with each other (psht, yeah right) didn't involve any words, just actions.

"Well, seems like you've already close friends with Kyoya. That's nice." My mother smiled.

I blinked.

"Who's Kyoya?"

She gave me one of those disbelieving stares. "…What? Kyoya is our neighbour's son, the Hibaris! How can you not know his name? It's been years since we met them and I thought you became close friends with him!"

Huh… so Kyoya was his name. I was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe… He might be an imaginary friend that came up in my mind. Still, can't believe that she thinks that I'm his friend, we don't even talk to each other for God's sake. How the hell could I become friends with… what was his name? Kyonari? Kyoko? Well, Kyo-something without even talking?

"We've never actually talked before. We just sit there and do nothing."

"So all these years, you two have never talked to each other? Not even once?"

"Nope."

Cue dramatic gasp.

I didn't know a lot about him- obviously, we've never spoke to each other. Turns out he was 2 years older than me and he hated crowds (gee, who would've thought). And to my pleasant surprise, he goes to the same school as me. Seriously, I had no idea. I was shocked too when I heard these things from my mom. She also told me that she gets worried when he gets into fights with other gangs in the town. Seriously, what kind of 9 year-old would go out and beat the crap out of people who are older than him? Apparently, that guy does.

Now that I know he goes to my school, I see him quite often- walking around the school, cleaning the school and sometimes beat people up. People would cry when they see him, especially the small kids. Those kids would cry like Niagara Falls when they see him. Poor little guys.

So yeah… All I ever see him do is clean, walk and beating up people at school. Now that I think about it, I've never seen that guy in class- not that I care about his precious education. Talk about delinquent.

A few months later, my parents passed away in a plane crash. Hibari's mom took care of me and little Tetsu before Auntie from Tokyo came to pick us up. She took care of us like her own children. She took us into their house and would offer us everything but we had to refuse (well, some of the things) because we were still shocked by the death of our parents. I would find myself staring at the garden scenery, feeling a little nostalgic of the smiles and laughter of my parents.

He would be there too, sitting at the exact spot and staring off at the scenery. If that was his way of comforting me, then I guess it kind of worked. I felt a little…just a little… glad that he was there. It made me want to thank him for that but I scratched that idea off of my head when I remembered that we don't ever talk.

Actually, I'm lying- or at least I think I am. We did talk. Well, it wasn't really a talk; it was just him talking. And he didn't really talk; he just spoke a few words.

So anyway.

One of those days my Aunt came to pick me and Tetsu up. She apologized that she was late because she had work to do and came as soon as possible. I've seen her couple of times when she visits our house. Her name was…uh… Ayane Ikeda. Yeah, that was it.

She looks exactly like my mom; long, wavy brown hair parted in the middle, ivory skin and average height. The only difference was her eyes and her age. Mom's eyes were a darker shade of green while her's was a much paler shade and Auntie was slightly younger than mom. Still, she looked like my mother. Huh… maybe they were twins or something.

Anyway, my aunt and my neighbour started talking and had snacks together before we went to Tokyo. I had a bit more time so I did what I usually do; stare at the garden. As if on cue, he came and sat there too. I guess we both knew that this was our last time together like this.

...

That sounded a bit like what lovers would say. It sounded pretty corny, too.

The sun was setting so the view was different. You know, it's amazing how purple and orange can go together and make a beautiful scenery. We both watched as the sun goes down, telling the world that the day was ending. In the background, I could hear my aunt thanking my neighbours for the hospitality. Knowing that we had to go, I sighed.

"Tomoe, let's go."

I didn't move. At least, I didn't want to anyway. I pretended to ignore what she said, hoping that she'll think I didn't hear her since she did speak just barely above a whisper. I heard her sigh though, which made me think that my act was an epic fail.

"Come to the car when you're ready. I won't force you." Hibari's mom and dad escorted my aunt towards the door after she said that, with Tetsu trudging along behind her.

'When you're ready' huh…

I won't be ready anytime soon. Does she intend to wait for me for a few months in that car? Doubt it but from the way she said it, it sounded that she actually would.

I still didn't move. And neither did he. I hugged my knees and buried my face.

You see, crying's not really my thing so I don't intend to cry. Besides, I wouldn't cry in front of anyone if I had to. I stayed like that for a few minutes, surprised that my aunt didn't barge into the house and drag me along with her to the car. I'm actually amazed how patient she was.

Finally, he stood up. Rather abruptly at that. I guess that he was tired sitting there all day and intended to leave me all alone.

He didn't.

He stood there. He didn't move at all; not even a muscle. I was staring at him, expecting him to do something like moving away or scream at me (which I highly doubt that he would do that) or even beat me up for being an annoying brat that won't move out of his house.

But he didn't. He just stood there. And it crept me out too. I thought he was possessed by a ghost or something. I kept staring at him, expecting something out of him. Nothing.

I finally gave up and buried my face once again. I was getting sleepy. Maybe Aunt won't mind if I sleep here as I'm 'getting ready'…? Nah, even I would be pissed off of myself. Then, I realized something.

Why in the world would I want to stay here in Namimori? I had nothing. Why was I being over-attached over this town? I mean, except for my parent's grave, I don't think there's anything else for me to mi-

"Go."

I lifted my face and stared at Hibari. Wait-

Did he just…talk?

In all my years that I've lived in Namimori, I have never heard him grunt or groan or moan or sigh or anything.

Imagine my reaction when he just spoke to me.

'Maybe I was hearing things. Maybe it was the wind or a fly. Oh, maybe it was a cat-'

"Go. What are you waiting for?"

Holy macaroni it was him speaking. That just might be the longest sentence I've ever heard from him in my life. Is the world coming to an end? The world is slowly crumbling; I can feel it. I looked at him.

He stared.

I stared back.

…Awkward.

Then I realized something.

He was telling me to go.

…Wow. His first ever words to me and he's telling me to go away. That hurts, dude.

Nonetheless, I stood up and bowed to him and his parents and apologized for being stubborn. His parents merely smiled and told me that it was fine and that they wish me all the best. I turned to the door, catching a glimpse of Hibari who was looking away and might I say, rather irritated too. Well, he could've just told me that I was being an irritating brat. Then again, he doesn't do 'talking'.

I walked towards the car and got in, looking out at the window. They were waving at us (all except Hibari of course) so I waved back. It might just be my last time seeing them so why not wave them goodbye, right?

The car started moving and we began to take our leave. I waved until they were out of my sight. It's kind of sad that I won't be able to see them anymore. They were such nice people, too.

Just before the car begin to move, Hibari already turned and left.

'Well, sorry for taking your time.'

His mother looked like she was calling him to come back but looks like that didn't work because he kept on walking into the house and slammed the door shut.

What the flip? What's he got against me anyway? I don't remember doing anything bad to him. I guess he got irritated of me staying at his house for a few days and wanted me out. Huh…

I looked out of the window and stared at the clouds gilding across the sky.

...

...Namimori.

What a weird name.

Huehuehuehueh.

So how was it? Pretty long and boring, huh? Yeah... I got bored of reading it too (lol I had to read it so I can check the mistakes. You can't really trust Microsoft Word)

Anyway, I will TRY to update it as soon as I can. Just keep hoping that my teachers won't give me a crazy load of work and assignments to us. Exams approaching, too. Ugh. Exammmss.

Anyway, reviews are welcome anytime. *wink *wink