One Man's Search

Chapter 2 -- Savior

Reggie felt his body slam against the boy's lean frame as he wrapped his arms around him and threw them both out of the car's path. He turned himself as to catch the man and absorb the impact of the landing. His heard his trench coat tear against the pavement and winced slightly. After a moment of laying there he glanced down into his arms and saw the boy's face with eyes opened wide in amazement and a deep red blush covering his cheeks as he stayed perfectly still wrapped in his arms. The look on the boy's face washed away any anger Reggie had felt towards the young stranger and he instead spoke calmly in his deep bass, "Are you hurt?"

The boy's head snapped up as he looked into his savior's eyes and tears suddenly began to fall down his face. Reggie's eyes widened and then he slowly sat up, still holding the man and cradled him between his arms. Reggie bent his legs up around him, forming a shield around the weeping boy with his entire body.

The man didn't utter a single sound but closed his eyes and wept silently, Reggie just sat in wonder at this creature before him. Reggie knew better than to say anything and resigned himself to be this man's guardian for the moment.

A few minutes passed and slowly the boy pushed himself away from the big dark man that saved his life. He wiped his eyes on the sleeve of the tight white shirt he wore and stood up without looking into Reggie's face. The Asian man wrapped his left arm around his front to hold on to his right elbow as he stared at the ground shyly. "Forgive me." He muttered softly, he spoke with a slight Japanese accent that simply seemed to add to his feminine appearance and Reggie only distinguished because of his love for Japanese culture. Reggie lifted himself up with a slight moan and stood in front of him, the boy's head only came up to his chest so there was no way for Reggie to see his face without doing what he did next.

Reggie lifted his large hand and gently cupped the boy's chin in his fingers to force him to look into his face. He felt the boy's lean body tense as though preparing to sprint away at the slightest misstep. Reggie spoke softly again, his deep voice resounding in the surrounding darkness, "Are you hurt?"

The boy stared up at his face with wide slanted eyes as he blushed deeply before shutting his eyes tight and looking down again while shaking his head no.

Reggie looked the man up and down then said firmly, "Follow me." He held out his hand for the boy to take, making extremely clear that the boy had a choice to make. The lithe man stared at the large hand for a moment then slowly placed his own petite hand within it.

**********

Reggie unlocked the front door to his apartment and opened the door to allow the boy to enter first. The young stranger glanced nervously at Reggie then walked forward into the entrance, he jumped when the sound of the door shutting hit his ears and he wrapped his own arms around himself again. Reggie glanced sideways at him then walked past him down the hall that led to the open living room with attached kitchen. "Make your self at home," he said as he left the boy standing in the entryway, he didn't want to scare him off. Reggie heard a small gasp and turned back quickly to see what was wrong. The boy had his mouth covered and his eyes were wide. "What's wrong?" his voice rushed out sounding way more worried than he probably should have been.

The small voice muttered again the only words he had spoken before, "Forgive me."

Reggie stared at him for a moment, confused, and then tried to clarify, "For what?"

The boy pointed straight at him, "Your jacket."

It dawned on Reggie that his back must look a total mess of shredded cloth from the tumble they took. Reggie relaxed and shrugged, "Better my back than your face." He turned again to go into the kitchen as he shrugged off the trench coat and tossed it into the garbage. He flipped the lights on with a central remote and turned the TV on to provide the boy a little distraction and make him feel more comfortable. "Do you want some tea or coffee?" Reggie waited for a reply.

A moment later the boy peeked around the corner and said softly, "Nothing, thank you." He then ambled on into the living room finally taking a chance to observe his surroundings.

Reggie watched him carefully as he made himself a cup of coffee (with lots of chocolate and milk). He realized he enjoyed simply watching this strange creature that simply fell into his life for at least this one night, the boy reminded him of a small kitten, curious about everything and taking all his willpower not to pick it up and touch it. He had many figures lined up on shelves that the boy became fascinated with. Reggie walked over to him and asked him calmly while handing the man a bottle of water from his fridge, "I'm called Reggie. So what's your name?"

"Nakamura Shinji, Shinji is my first name," he stated with a much heavier accent as he took the water from Reggie. The name confirmed Reggie's suspicions that the man was indeed Japanese. The boy continued speaking, "All these figures are from 'Within the Guardian's Shadow' manga series. Are you a fan as well?"

Reggie smiled, "You could say that."

Shinji smiled brightly which caught Reggie off guard, "I've never seen such a large collection before. You even have the extremely limited items that only show up at conventions."

"Oh? Have you never been to an anime convention?" Reggie asked as he went and sat down on the couch, turning the TV off as well since they seemed to already find common ground to discuss.

The boy blushed slightly and looked at the ground as he spoke, "Those are much too expensive for me to attend plus I was never really allowed to go."

"Strict parents or something like that?" He asked with a raise of an eyebrow.

Shinji smirked sadly, "Something like that."

"How old are you anyways? You were outside a night club when we met."

"Ah, I just turned 22 last week." The boy walked over and sat down in a chair across from the couch Reggie lounged in.

"Oh, well, happy birthday. Now do you mind telling me why you tried to kill yourself tonight?" Reggie asked this nonchalantly but the look he gave the boy was dead serious, as though he saw right through him.

Shinji's head shot up, his hair danced around his almond eyes, tears started to form again. He seemed paralyzed by Reggie's gaze and after a moment broke the spell with a shake of his head, "I had my reasons."

"As your savior I think I have a right to know..." His voice remained calm and precise. He took another sip of his mocha and waited for an answer but was surprised at the change of tone.

"I never gave you the right to save me!" Shinji shouted as he stood up quickly, his hands balled into fists, tears now flowing freely. "You should have just stayed out of the way! You had no right to take away my freedom again!" He turned to flee the apartment but Reggie was quick to put down his coffee and make it to the door in time to stop him.

He slammed his forearm against the door, towering over the catlike man. Shinji glared up at him from under his blonde locks. Reggie looked at him with all seriousness and said flatly, "What do you mean 'again'?"

The emotions that showed on Shinji's tear-stained face displayed the shattering of his soul that seemed to occur at that moment. He bit his lip and looked down at the floor again trying to stop the tears but they refused to be halted. Reggie frowned slightly witnessing this broken creature with no hope in his eyes and found himself raising his free hand to the boy's chin again to force him to look into his face. He whispered softly in his deep reassuring voice, "Right now, you're safe." He leaned down and softly kissed Shinji's trembling lips.