Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Shin Hyakuji High School Tvtropes


The Book that is Hyakuji's Story has come to a close. However, there are still plenty of stories left to be told in the madcap Anime Universe it inhabits. As one book closes, so too does another open. Presented by veteran Hyakuji Staff Members, check out the next generation EVOLUTION of "Anything-Goes" Anime Roleplaying at Senki Academy


Add Reply
Under His Wing; I was bored, so sue me!
Topic Started: Apr 9 2010, 11:32 PM (215 Views)
Maldaine
Member Avatar
More than a Ghost on a Shipwreck
So I was pretty bored, and I had been watching a lot of cartoons and so I decided to write this short story. I don't know why, since I don't usually post my work, but I'm going to post it here to see what some of you think. It is actually one of my favorite things that I've ever written, but don't let that stop you from calling it trash.

I hope you enjoy!
Under His Wing
The boy was standing in the rain. He was saturated. His clothes were bulging from the amount of water that was trying to be condensed inside of the threads. They just couldn’t do it anymore, and so no longer did the water absorb through, but it simply rolled off of him. It was like everything else around him. The young lad was unable to absorb anything that was going on. It simply rolled off of his clothes. It appeared that nothing could get through the cloth, and the water, and the thick skin that surrounded his heart.
A husk of a person, that was all he was now. He considered sitting on that bench for the rest of his life. Perhaps it would be an easier way of life than having to cope with everything else.
The boy contemplated his state. It was cold on this busy street corner, and since he was so wet maybe he could catch pneumonia. It might be better than starvation. This chill was a real boneshaker though. The boy wondered how long before hypothermia set in. He had heard that you just fell asleep, numb to the cold, and then you faded away. That didn’t sound so bad compared to the other alternatives that he had concocted.
A tired feeling began to rush over him. Was this the start of it? Was this the start of hypothermia?
He wasn’t wearing anything that would really protect him from the wisps of air that glided maliciously down the busy city streets. His shoes were worn, and his socks had holes in them. The sweatshirt that he had on had been thinning out for years. His overcoat was one of the few things that his dad had given him, and it was probably the only thing that had kept the cold shut out this long, but now that the rain had saturated it, there was nothing to warm him. Nothing.
Perhaps the strangest thing about the young boy was the collar of his shirt that was sticking out from under his layers. It was a bright green and red collar that had a fancy looking initials sewn into the material. The letters D. G. were inscribed on the right flap of the shirt collar. Everything else about him was normal, but this oddity caused some people to turn and stare for a second. The boy didn’t mind.
He began to shake when a violent gust up heaved from a passing car. The car hit a puddle of water in front of the young boy and caused a surge to douse him once over. He was wet to the very core. Cold and wet, he continued to sit. He wasn’t really interested in doing anything other than sitting. Sitting was all he had. Thinking was all he could do now. Was suicide a real option? His parents had just been killed. Would it not be a slap in the face for him not to try and live the best life that he possibly could?
There was always revenge. This thought had certainly crossed the boy’s mind a few times, but he didn’t know if he had it in him. The man that killed his family could be anywhere, and thinking of murdering his family’s murderer made the boy feel as though he was no better than that evil man. If he died then he would have accomplished nothing. All of his potential would be gone. He knew that wouldn’t be what his family wanted, so he just sat in the wet and the cold, waiting for an answer.
~~~
The rain began to turn to snow as three hours pasted by. The white powder fell softly from the sky. It wasn’t sticking to the ground because it was still a little too warm, and the water wasn’t allowing it. Mother Nature had a funny way of counteracting itself sometimes. There was no doubt that the boy wouldn’t last much longer sitting on the bench. Though he had been there for nearly five hours, no one from the shops to which he was sitting in front of came out to ask him if he was all right. No one brought him a towel, or something to drink. People just stared. People were cruel.
Cruel wasn’t the right word. People weren’t cruel; they were apathetic. There was no reason for people to get attached to the boy, and no reason for them to help him. For all they knew he was just some homeless person. It was usually sad to see a homeless child, but what did it matter? A couple of dollars a new home did not make. It was easy to make these assumptions, and so people did make them. Why learn someone’s story when making up one of your own is so much easier to do?
~~~
A black car pulled up next to the snow-covered boy. The frosty precipitation had stuck to his eyelashes, his hair, and to the rest of his clothes. The bench was also lightly dusted, and even the ground was starting to accept a blanket of white. The car’s windshield wipers were trying to push the snow away as quickly as possible, but it soon started to come down faster than the wipers could push away.
An older gentleman stepped out from the driver seat, and went around to the passenger side rear door. His chauffer’s hat was slowly turning from black to white as he stood in the cold air. He pulled the handle, and the door opened slowly. A tall man stepped out of the car.
He was rather good looking. He was taller than most of the people who were walking down the street, and many people even stopped to look at him with admiration. He seemed to be someone famous, and his clothes showed that he had some money. The man’s tuxedo was perfectly pressed, and a silk scarf kept his neck warm. His shoes were perfectly shined and tied with exquisite bows. The man’s trench coat hung low, nearly to his ankles. This man must have been something special, or at least that is what the others thought of him. The man seemed to disregard the people’s stares as he sat next to the young boy.
At first neither said anything to each other. The boy looked forwards as did the man. Finally the man spoke.
“The cops have been looking for you everywhere.”
“Are they?”
“Everyone has been very worried about you.”
“There is no one to worry about me here. They’re dead.”
“There are more people in the world that can worry about you then your parents.”
The boy and the man became quiet again. The man turned to look at the boy, but the boy did not return the look. His clothes looked like they were frozen now, for ice had collected on them. He was shivering uncontrollably. The man grabbed his forearm.
“I don’t want you to come unless you want to, but I told the cops that I would look after you until we knew,” the man said quickly, urgently. The boy looked at him for a moment. There was a mix of emotions stirring within him. Could he possibly trust this man? He didn’t know him. The cops wouldn’t let the man offer unless they knew a great deal about him. Could he be safe?
“Listen, you’re freezing. I’m well known around the city, and I just want you to be safe while the investigation is going on. Someone killed your parents, and the cops are worried that he might be after you.”
“I don’t know who you are, so you need to understand that I don’t want to come with you. You can’t expect me to just want to trust you.”
“Either way, we need to get you out of this cold. Your clothes are frozen,” the man said loudly. The boy scoffed at him, and then he shrugged. When he shrugged his head dipped a little bit, and his eyes closed, and then he collapsed on the bench. His head landed right in the man’s lap. Not waiting a second the man pulled his coat off and wrapped it around the young boy. He scooped him up and took him towards the car. Laying him on the seat, he looked at his chauffer.
“We need to get to a hospital as quickly as possible.”
“Of course, sir,” the chauffer said, shifting into gear. The car lurched forward on the snow-covered road, but the wheels finally got traction, and the car began to speed forward.
~~~
The boy woke up in a large bed. It was a king size, he knew because he had never seen one before, but he had seen most other sizes. The sheets had ornate designs at the seams, and they were snowy white, much like the blankets of snow outside the huge glass windows in the room. The man who had sat on the bench with him earlier was sleeping in a chair next to him. The boy was confused at first, and completely disoriented, not knowing where he was or how he got there.
He looked back at the man who stirred just a little bit in his sleep and woke up with a quick reaction. He looked at the boy, who was now sitting up, and heaved a sigh of relief. The boy just stared at him. Finally he had to ask him something.
“Where am I?”
“You are at my home.”
“How did I get here?”
“You almost froze to death. So we took you to the hospital and got you all fixed up. I brought you back here since you had nowhere else to go.”
“I could have gone back to my family, my other family,” the boy retorted.
“They can’t support you.”
“Yes they can!” he cried out in anger. The man said nothing in return. He just sat back. He looked calmly at the boy in his midst and smiled at him.
“Your performance that night was impressive.”
“You mean until my parents died?”
The man, again, said nothing. He just sat back and quit smiling. There was no doubt that he had no idea what to do. It was obvious that he had never taken care of a child in his life, yet he was expecting it to go a lot better than this was.
“I’ve never met a gymnast before, at least not one so young and talented.”
“When you have parents who are part of a circus you tend to pick things up.”
“I’d say you have a wicked sense of humor.”
“Stop trying to make me feel better.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m not a father. I barely had one myself,” the man said. As he finished the door to the room opened up. The chauffer walked in, yet he was now wearing a uniform more appropriated with a butler. He was carrying a tray with a few cups on it, and a teapot.
“I couldn’t help but over hear the voices that were spouting from the room, so I decided that I would bring up some tea. You had us very worried young man. For a few moments we didn’t know if you were going to pull through. The doctors said that if you had been out there for much longer you probably wouldn’t have made it,” the butler laughed slightly at the end. The boy looked at him. His accent was funny. It sounded like he was British, or maybe Scottish. Truly the boy had no real understanding of accents, so he didn’t worry about it too much.
“I don’t like tea,” he said quickly. The butler smiled at him, and then pulled a soda can from his pocket.
“I was worried that you wouldn’t, so I found this in the back of the fridge. I hope you like soda.”
The boy smiled, and for a moment he let his worries slip away with the refreshing bubbles of the fizzy drink. It was funny that he was drinking a cold drink, even though he supposedly almost died of hypothermia, but the truth was he just didn’t like tea. He wasn’t sure what to think of these people either. They were nice. They did take care of him, and just about everything that they told him was the truth. His family, the other circus performers, wouldn’t be able to take care of him. There was no act anymore, and the thought of trying to do his act alone was just unbearable.
He broke down and began to cry for the first time since the murder.
~~~
“So we haven’t been properly introduced,” the man said at the dinner table. He was sitting at the far end of it. The table was so long that there were about twelve chairs between each end. The boy almost didn’t hear him speak.
“What did you say, sir?”
“My name is Bruce.”
The boy simply looked at him for a moment. He wondered if the man, Bruce, thought that he didn’t hear his name.
“This is generally the part when you give me your name.”
“It’s, um… It’s Richard.”
“Well it is nice to meet you…”
“But I was always called Dick because my dad’s name was Richard too. I don’t really like Dick that much, but…” he trailed off.
“But it’s what your parents called you, and so that’s what you wished to be called?”
“Yes.” The boy replied, and Bruce simply nodded at him. Dick smiled back at him. He was starting to like Bruce even though he didn’t really know him that well yet. He felt like Bruce was interested in helping him, and for that reason Dick was beginning to trust him.
Dick stood up from where he was sitting and moved his place setting next to where Bruce was. The man helped him get everything.
“You know, I was wondering why Alfred set the place for you all the way at the opposite end. It’s much nicer to be able to talk like normal people, don’t you think?”
“So Alfred is your butlers name. I hadn’t heard his name yet, but yes, I agree whole-heartedly. It’s nicer to be able to just talk to you instead of shouting,” Dick responded, and they ate the rest of their meals talking like normal people.
~~~
Dick had decided that he couldn’t sleep. The room was just too large for someone like him who had grown up living in a small trailer. He felt agoraphobic in the room, but at the same time he felt like he was trapped. He appreciated all that Alfred and Bruce were doing for him, but at the same time there was this anger buried down inside of him. He didn’t want revenge; he had already realized that. It wasn’t worth it, but there was still this need to purge the anger, so he put on his clothes and opened the window.
A frozen zephyr blasted its way into the room, blowing the curtains with it. Dick slipped out of the open window and used a tree that was next to it to get to the ground safely. It was more than easy for him. He had been a gymnast and an acrobat for most of his life. Sure he was only thirteen, but he had started training when he was seven or so. He had some practice.
When he was on the ground he began to walk. He didn’t really know where the city was from Bruce’s huge house. It didn’t help that the ground was completely white, and the sky completely black. The snow had stopped, but it had certainly left its mark on the earth.
Dick traveled for an hour or so before he finally reached downtown. It was colder then it was the night he met Bruce, but that didn’t stop him. There were trees that lined the many sidewalks of and roads, and he marveled at how they were able to stay alive despite the harsh conditions. He just kept walking, and for some reason it was helping. Perhaps just getting away from it was doing him some good. It was doing him good until he walked next to a toy store where he stopped and looked at it for a moment or two. The toys were all handmade, or at least looked like it. They were beautifully painted, and everything about them was perfect.
They were toys at a big top, so all of them were like the people that he knew, and the people that had cared for him.
Staring at the circus toys, Dick began to grow teary. He wasn’t crying, but there was something bubbling up inside of him. He looked around him and noticed that there was a small crack in the second floor window of the shop. If he could get the window open he would be able to get inside. There was a tree next to him, and it looked like he would be able to jump and get to the windows ledge from the tree.
He shimmied up the tree in a second or so, and then swung from a branch and landed stealthily on the window’s ledge. There was not a soul around on account of it being so late. Dick had worried that a big city would be full of people, even this late, but this must not have been a popular street.
He stuck his fairly small fingers in to the cracked window, and lifted up quickly. It took barely any strength at all, and then he was inside of the store. Dick didn’t touch anything inside of it, but he did go to where he had seen the large circus display. Everyone looked so happy.
“You have no right to be,” he said quickly, and he began to break the toys apart. He stomped on them, ripped their wooden joints from sockets. The unhappy child scratched at the paint. He made sure to rip the smiles from their faces. Dick left no toy ‘alive,’ and then there were only two left. He reached for them and was about to start destroying until he realized what they were. The dolls were the trapeze artists of this wooden circus. There was a man and a woman in matching uniforms, and Dick looked at their smiling faces and placed them back on the pedestal board.
“You’ll make this jump. It’ll be the perfect routine. The crowd will roar with excitement, especially when you remove the net. They will stand and cheer at your successes, and then they will bow graciously at you, blow kisses, and ask for encores. You’ll have a son, and you’ll teach him to be just like you. Kind, smart, and daring as ever, but you won’t leave him like you did me.”
The dolls remained on the pedestal board smiling up at Dick.
~~~
Bruce sat at the small table in the kitchen. It was a place that he found himself eating in more often, rarely using the dining room. It was the same place that Alfred usually ate. There was no doubt that Bruce enjoyed the company. The house was so barren. A mansion for only two people; it was like a mausoleum for the dead. Did someone who was dead really need an entire building to sleep in? Did one man need an entire mansion to himself?
“Is something troubling you, Master Bruce?” Alfred finally asked in the long silence. Bruce didn’t say anything at first, but then he finally snapped out of his train of thought and looked towards Alfred.
“I was just thinking how nice it was to have someone else in the house. It’s so quiet around here with just the two of us sometimes.”
“I suppose you’re right Master Bruce. Having the young lad around has put you in a better mood, yet you seem distant.”
“It makes me remember when my parents died. I was so angry about it. It consumed me, even when I was a child no older than him. He seems different,” Bruce said, and then he paused. “I just want him to be happy. I don’t want him to be depressed like I was, but I don’t know how to do that.”
“He’s been here a few days, yet you haven’t really talked to him but for more than an hour or so. Perhaps you should just talk to him. If I’m not mistaken the young master has been leaving the house the past few nights. Perhaps you might want to talk to him about it.”
“He’s been doing what?”
“I hear his window open since his room is right above mine. Then I have seen him maneuver his way down the old oak like it was nothing. He really has remarkable abilities.”
“Truly,” Bruce responded with some hesitance. He began to eat his breakfast with Alfred when the phone rang. Alfred quickly stood up and answered the call, and he was as efficient with his words as possible.
“Yes? Yes he is in. Hold on one moment I will retrieve him for you,” Alfred said as he put the phone on the small kitchen counter. He looked at Bruce and motioned to the phone, “It’s for you.”
“Well obviously, Alfred,” Bruce exclaimed as he stood up quickly and walked to the phone. He pulled the receiver to his lips and quickly said, “hello?”
“Hello, Bruce. It’s the commissioner. I needed to talk to you for a few minutes. I was wondering if I could come to your house, or maybe you could come to my office?”
“Do you mind if I ask what this is about commissioner?”
“I need to discuss some things with you about the boy who is in your care for the moment. It shouldn’t take too long, but it is of great importance that we meet as soon as possible.”
“I’ll be there in an hour. Is that alright with you?’
“That’s fine, Bruce. That’s fine.”
Bruce put the phone back onto the hook after he heard the commissioner hang up. He went back to the table and finished up his plate. Alfred looked worried, yet he didn’t say anything; however, Bruce finally broke the silence.
“They want to talk about the boy.”
“Good, I was worried they found out about your ‘other’ job.”
“Nope. I’m glad that they didn’t. Moonlighting is a dangerous business.”
“Especially when you go around trying to take down criminals, Master Bruce. You really should consider stopping it. That is what real private investigators and the police are for.”
“The police are too bogged down with other cases, and other private investigators are more interested in cheating housewives and scandalous husbands.”
“So you think it is your responsibility to protect the city. Even though you don’t have a license or anything?”
“You don’t need a license, Alfred. It’s just not legal without it.”
“You know that is what I meant, Master Bruce. What you do is dangerous work.”
“Well then lets thank our lucky stars that they just want to talk about the kid instead of my after hour habits,” Bruce shouted, and then he stood up violently and stormed out of the kitchen. Alfred began to chuckle a little bit.
“Still a little boy at times.”
~~~
Bruce sat in the commissioner’s office. It was fairly small, and the fan was spinning at such a pace that it was making a strange clicking noise. It was rather irritating, and he began to amuse himself with his hands to try to keep his mind off of the clicking fan. The room was covering with gold trophies for being the best marksmen, and even sillier awards for best staff picnic potato sac racer. The commissioner certainly had an eye for decoration.
Bruce was probably sitting there admiring the ‘art-deco’ for nearly an hour before the commissioner finally came in. He apologized for being so late and hoped that the wait wasn’t too terrible.
“Actually, your fan is rather annoying. You might want to get it fixed.”
“If I had a few extra dollars, I think that I would, but you learn to live with it when you’ve had this office for years.”
“I suppose that you do. Now what was it that you called me here for?”
“It’s about the boy. Two things about him actually.”
“I hope that they aren’t too awful.”
“Sadly I must tell you that it isn’t good. The circus that his family performed for is unable to take care of him. The family brought a lot of attention to the small traveling circus. That was a source of income that they aren’t going to be getting back, and they are thinking of cutting a number of shows until they can get back on their feet. Having another mouth to feed isn’t going to happen for them right now. Not to mention that the parent’s murderer is still on the loose. Dick was a prime witness; he can’t continue to travel with the circus. The odds are not stacked in his favor.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“You were generous enough to let the boy stay with you up till now. If you don’t let him continue to live with you then he is going to end up in one of our cities fine orphanages. There is no one to look after him.”
“So you think I should adopt him?”
“Not adoption, but you can obtain legal guardianship of him. In a way it is the same thing as adoption, but he isn’t your son; more like you are to look out for him and make sure that his inheritance is carefully watched out for. This is only my opinion, and ultimately it is up to you.”
“Well, I don’t really know what to say. I’ve never even considered being a guardian of anyone,” Bruce said. He began to wonder what the exact differences were between his work as a detective and being a guardian of anyone. Weren’t they sort of the same thing? At least that is what he was trying to do, he was trying to protect people, but he never thought it would be something as intimate. For the first time in years, Bruce was troubled to find words for this situation.
“I have something else to tell you though. It appears that there was a break in a night or two ago at an old toy store on 5th and Main.”
“I’m sorry but I don’t really follow what this has to do with me?”
“After a thorough investigation of the scene we discovered some finger prints, and we scanned them, but there was no record on file.”
“I’m still not following.”
“The entire store was completely wrecked with the exception of two toys.”
“And they were? I can only wonder if suspense and dancing around the point is part of your police training.”
“They were two acrobats, Bruce, the only two toys that weren’t touched at all. And we are talking novelty pieces, almost ten thousand or more in damages. There was no sign of forced entry, just a small cracked window on the second floor. There was no sign of ropes being used and there was some tree bark residue on the window’s alcove. I don’t know many people that can jump to the window sill from as far away as that tree was.”
“Then how do you know it was Dick,” Bruce interjected.
“Can you explain someone else who could have done it?”
“There are plenty of crafty people out there commissioner, and Dick is not the kind of person who would go and do that.”
“I can assure you that you don’t know him well enough to make a statement like that.”
“Fine, I’ll talk to him. If I can find something out I’ll let you know. I’ll also contact you soon about the adoption, um guardianship, whatever the hell it is.”
“I know you probably feel flustered, but the truth is we need an answer quickly, or else we are going to have to start making arrangements at the orphanage.”
Bruce made no response as he stood up. He nodded to the commissioner who nodded back at him. It was one of the few times that Bruce felt uncomfortable since his parents died. He didn’t know how to be a dad, or guardian, or whatever they were asking him to be. He barely had a father, so what did he know about even acting as a guardian. Just as he was about to walk out of the door the commissioner held him back.
“I forgot to mention one thing. The owner of the circus left the rest of the family’s belongings here. You might want to give them to the boy. You can pick them up at the front desk on your way out.”
~~~
Dick sat in the warm bed in his wide-open room. The last night he was actually able to sleep in the place. It was nice to be able to get a good nights rest. The thought of the previous few nights rest on his mind, and he thought about how he had seen on the T.V. that they had done a report on the supposed robbery at the toy store. He didn’t really know what to do or what to think about it. It wasn’t in his nature to do anything like that, but his emotions just got the better of him.
A knock rapped upon his door.
“Yes? Um, come in.”
After only a moment or so there was a body that appeared in the dimly lit room. The frame was that of Bruce. He pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat in it. The man looked at Dick with an intense glare. He couldn’t tell if the man was angry or if he was about to cry.
“I need to talk to you about a few things.”
“Alright. You’ve been more than kind to me, so I’m sure that I can answer a few questions of yours.”
“I’m glad that you feel that way. The first thing I have to ask you is why the hell did you ruin that toy store.”
“Excuse me?” Dick choked out. He was surprised at how blunt Bruce had decided to be about the scenario.
“You heard me, Dick. Why the hell did you break into that toy store and then wreck everything? I was trying to be as nice as I could be. I tried to show you that what happened to your parents was all right. It had happened to me before too. I didn’t want this to turn violent. I tried to keep it away from that. Why did you do it?”
“I had only been here for a night. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t take it. I slip out of the window. I know Alfred probably heard me do it cause I heard you talking about it in the kitchen. Then I walked to town, and I got lost on the way and ended up near that toy store. When I saw the display I just went berserk. I had tried to hold everything inside, and so when I saw that circus toy set I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I…I just couldn’t let them keep smiling. They didn’t deserve to smile about it. They were going to leave me behind anyway, why should they be allowed to keep smiling, Bruce? Why?”
Bruce listened to him talk and was surprised at how honest the boy was being with him. Before long Dick had moved to tears he was so beaten up about it. His thoughts of not acting in revenge had turned into complete anguish. The only way for it to finally be expelled from him was through crying, and that was what he did. Bruce didn’t really know what to do, but for some reason something inside of him clicked. He quickly wrapped his arms around the boy.
“It’s okay. I know what you’re feeling. I felt the same thing when my parents died. All I wanted was revenge, to get back at the people who had done it to them.”
“I don’t want revenge. I know they wouldn’t want that. I know that they would just want me to live a good and honest life,” he choked out. “That’s why I’m so upset, I already let them down, and it’s only been a few days. I know I can’t stay with the circus, I just don’t know what to do.”
“You’re staying here with me and Alfred. We talked about it before I came up here. Until this outburst of tears you have certainly brought some life to these old walls. I want this to be a place that you can feel safe,” Bruce said. He had been astonished at the boy’s reasoning. He didn’t want revenge because he knew how his parents felt about it. He wished he had been as rational as the boy when he was his age.
“I can’t let you do that. It’s too much. I don’t deserve it.”
“None of that. It’s already been decided and I already had my lawyer draw the papers. I’m your going to be legal guardian now, unless you don’t want me to be.”
“You and Alfred have been so kind to me. I like you both a lot, I’ve just never, I’ve just never thought that something like this would happen. Can you please just give me a moment? I’m grateful, I promise, but I just…”
“I understand,” Bruce interrupted. He stood from his seat and moved towards the door. As he left he came back in quickly and to the surprise of Dick. He walked over to the bedside table and placed two wooden dolls on it, the wooden trapeze dolls. At first, Bruce opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn’t find the words, and so he just turned around and walked back out the door.
Dick grabbed the dolls.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered to them, “I’m sorry.
~~~
Dick didn’t come out of his room for almost an entire day. He didn’t want food, nor did he want company. He just squeezed the two dolls for most of the time that he was alone. It began to feel like a tomb to him, and he remembered what Bruce had said yesterday. He had brought life to the mansion when he came here. It was then that he decided to stop sulking about it. It wasn’t healthy for him to be sitting in this room. He was still young, but even he could realize that.
He got up from his bed and put on a small robe that Bruce had provided for him when he had first arrived. He was still wearing a ratty old t-shirt and some shorts, but the robe was nice and soft and made him feel a little more comfortable. He opened the large wooden door of his room and walked out into the wide hallways.
There were doors to the left and right, and he realized that now he would be able to look in all of them and explore. He was now a part of the ‘family’ here. What was theirs was now his. It was sort of crazy to think. In one week he had his parents die, and he had already become part of a new family. The thought was so heavy that he almost fell to his knees in discomfort, but he decided that he needed to keep moving. He swallowed hard and bore through the emotional pain. He wasn’t going to hide it, but he was going to let that be a part of him.
The boy slowly stepped down the grand staircase and moved towards the kitchen at the far end of the mansion. He had heard some talking in there before he opened the door. Dick was surprised to see that Alfred and Bruce were sitting and talking with some lady. Dick had no idea who she was, but when he entered she coughed a little bit, and the two men turned around.
“What’s going on,” Dick asked?
“We are finalizing the court documents that will make me your guardian,” Bruce said.
“Oh, then should I leave? I don’t really know how this works.”
“Actually we are just finishing everything up,” the lawyer said as she piled a few papers into her briefcase. “Everything is in order. It was nice working with you, let me know if you have any questions and I’ll get these to the judge to finalize. Have a good night.”
The woman excused herself from the kitchen and as the door closed behind her there seemed to be a heaviness that left the air.
“I think that I’ll make us some coffee, and some milk for the young master,” Alfred said, standing up and moving towards the coffee pot. Dick took the seat that the lawyer was sitting in. It was still warm, something that was always a pleasure in a cold and drafty place such as the mansion.
“How are you feeling,” Bruce asked?
“I feel a lot better now.”
“Why is that?”
But the boy didn’t answer the question. He just looked at the table. Dick seemed more than happy to just be sitting at that very table.
“Did you tell the commissioner about me?”
“Yes I did. “
“So what’s going to happen? Am I going to have to do community service or something?”
“Or something. I offered to pay for the damage that you did, which certainly cost a pretty penny I might add. In exchange for the damages I promised to watch out for you. If you pull a stunt like it again then there is going to be some severe consequence, but as long as you stay in check you have nothing to worry about.”
“Well then that’s a relief, and I can assure you my time as a serial toy murderer is over,” Dick confessed, but then there was an awkward pause. “I was just so…”
“I know how you feel. But there is still the rather large sum of money that you owe me now.”
“Oh, yeah. I guess we do need to discuss that.”
“Yes, how quickly we forget, huh? Don’t think you are off the hook just because there is no outside punishment. You are now a member of this house and you will be responsible for your actions.”
“What do you have in mind then? I’m used to manual labor, I can do that.”
“No, there is something else that I have in mind.”
Alfred nearly tipped over the coffee pot when he heard Bruce say that. He turned and looked at him. There was no doubt that Alfred was worried about what Bruce was going to say, but it didn’t matter because he was going to say it anyways.
“You see, Dick, I run a little undercover operation during the night. I try to round up as many bad guys as I can.”
“So you are like a vigilante? Isn’t that the word, vigilante?”
“Yes that is the correct definition, but I just liked to help the police out, not necessarily take the law into my own hands. Besides I don’t really like the idea of vigilantism. I like to think of it as being a private eye without the restrictions of a badge.”
“So what does this have to do with me, Bruce?”
“Let’s just say that your break in at the toy store was fairly impressive. I think your talents could certainly help me out.”
“So you want me to join you?”
“I want you to help me find the bad guys and bring them to justice, yes.”
“But what about…?”
“I won’t let anything happen to you. And if your parent’s killer happens to show up I will not risk your life at all. The fact is I care about you a great deal, and I’ve only just met you. The idea of losing you frightens me already. If something is too dangerous and I tell you to stay back I want you to do it. Not to mention that I’m going to have to train you a little before we actually go out there into the ‘field.’”
Dick was very quiet for a moment. Alfred didn’t move, not even when the coffee began to smell as though it were burning. Bruce sat and looked only at Dick. It was his decision now, and it was up to him whether or not this happened. Dick was a smart kid and knew that Bruce wouldn’t make him do it if he didn’t want to, but the truth is he did want to help his guardian out. He still remained quiet and was unsure as to an eloquent way to put it, or at least as eloquently as a thirteen year old can. When the words did not come he finally answered, “Sure, I want to help you. In anyway that I can help, I will. And I promise that if you tell me to stay back I will.”
Bruce smiled.
“Master Bruce, are you sure this is a good idea? I don’t know how the judge will feel about a guardian allowing his ward to be directly in harms way,” Alfred interjected half-heartedly. He knew that there was no stopping this now.
“Oh don’t worry Alfred, I’m sure that he won’t find out, right Dick?”
“Right!”
“I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship,” Bruce said with a sly grin. Then the coffee was served, only slightly burnt.
~~~
And thus the boy was under the man’s wing. A simple partnership based on a deep trust was the foundation to an unstoppable force. The two warriors of the night had finally converged.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Season 6 Archive: OOC · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Seishun Line collaboration by .Danilo / .sionthede / Leda of Zathyus Networks Resources.