Cardboard Box Boy?

Cantankerous rain fell excessively from the sky this night, washing the stony pavements with cold water. Allowing the wet liquid to dampen his silky-smooth silver-grey hair and dribble down his soft white skin, he splashed in the puddles and walked down the deserted river bank. "Geez, this rain is getting annoying," he cursed running down the slope to under the bridge, where he was now pretty much sheltered. He looked around him to see no one but a random cardboard box in the corner. He took his clammy jacket off and sat himself down on the cardboard box. "I shouldn't have gone out with Aidou tonight..." There was a buzzing noise coming from his pocket. He reached in for his mobile, frowning at the name of the caller, "speak of the devil. What is it Aidou?"

"Zero...Zero Kiryu...ZERO," Aidou Hanabusa called from the other side of the phone call.

"Stop being so annoying, what is it?" Zero asked again.

"Just wondering whether you made it home in this weather," Aidou replied truthfully, "Well actually I just wanted to remind you to take an extra shirt with you to school tomorrow."

Zero frowned, "so you can borrow one because you may- no you WILL forget to bring one."

Aidou laughed, "you sure know me well- I mean..."

"-Aidou...are you done on the phone yet?-"

Zero felt a shiver run down his spine which actually made him feel cold in comparison to being soaked by the rain. He began to feel uneasy and upon hearing the female voice in the background over the phone again, he started to feel nauseate. Zero clutched at his throat.

"-Shush-" Zero heard Aidou whispering to the girl.

"ZERO," he shouted again over the phone which was too loud for comfort. "Sorry about that. You heard her voice right? Next time I promise this won't happen. Hey Zero, answer me, are you sick? Dude, please don't faint in the middle of nowhere- ZERO..."

With difficulty, Zero managed a whisper, "I'm fine, seriously. It's not like she's in front of me."

Aidou sighed, "Zero, you seriously have to cure that illness of yours. It's just got to the point where it's bad for you. I still don't understand the logic behind it. How can you be female-phobia?"

"Aidou, that's not a proper term," Zero corrected.

"But you're the only one I know who has this illness," Aidou protested, "The instant your too near a girl you start to puke and feel extremely sick. Basically your body and mind rejects anything female coming near you... does being homosexual make you have that kind of illness?"

"Aidou, you asked that questions a million times," Zero said, now sighing himself, "I thought we clarified that this illness is just me. And I'm not really a homosexual."

"You are-"

"No I'm not-"

"Zero Kiryu, you love hanging around guys and you stare at posters of any male with admiration in your eyes. You said males are sweet and you'd love to be in a world where only males exist... Do not deny your sexual preferences."

"Well...I don't know. Maybe I am but I've never- I suppose I'll have to be..."

Aidou laughed, "don't fret over it Zero. It's getting late. I need to surrender the phone to her already, so see you tomorrow."

Zero closed his mobile and placed it back into his pocket. Am I really gay? He couldn't help but wonder himself. He leaned against the concrete wall of the bridge and closed his eyes. There came suddenly some faint banging noises beneath him.

"Hey, off...jerk..." a voice called out.

Zero turned left and right but saw no one. The next thing he knew was, something hit his butt really hard, sending him off the cardboard box he was sitting on and onto the floor. He twisted around to see the cardboard box open and someone climbing out of it. Zero stared; surprised that a person was actually inside that cardboard box. It was a really young looking boy, possibly a few years younger than Zero himself, who was slim like a girl and had short brown hair, wearing rather scrappy clothing. His face was also quite dirty, patched here and there with mud stains.

He jumped out the box altogether and walked over towards Zero; with two slim looking arms and small hands compared to Zero's grabbed onto his shirt. The young boy smiled at Zero slyly. "Payback," he said, then banged his own head against Zero's, which made him feel dizzy.

"BRAT, what did you do that for?" Zero shouted slightly angry.

"You nearly suffocated me back there you know," the young boy said. "Don't go sitting on cardboard boxes so freely next time."

"Whatever," Zero said annoyed, getting up. He picked up his jacket on the floor and was about to put it on when the young boy bounced on him, knocking him down again. "Quit it," Zero demanded, "I'm sorry I sat on your box now get off me."

The young boy didn't move as Zero asked, instead, he began to lean closer to Zero. His brown-red eyes holding Zero's light purple gaze. "What gender am I?" he asked.

Confused but fully mesmerised by his eyes, Zero replied, "male like me, a boy."

The young boy began to slide his hands under Zero's shirt, stroking upwards from his muscular abdomen to his broad chest. A strange sensation electrified Zero's senses. He felt blood rushing to the top of his head. Zero couldn't see but was certain that he was probably blushing, but what mattered most was even till now he couldn't tear his eyes away from this young boy who seemed to have locked his gaze in his. The young boy on top of Zero, bent closer still towards Zero and swiftly planted a quick kiss on the side of his neck. This made Zero react and actually push the young boy away from him. He clasped his hand over the spot where he was forcefully kissed. "What-"

The young boy smirked, "you reacted. Your bright red in the face and your body was beginning to warm up – meaning you reacted to a male in a sexual way."

Zero stared at the strange guy and thinking it was better to leave as soon as possible, once again grabbed his jacket and putting it on, headed out under the bridge. It had stopped raining but the air was still rather moist. Zero decided to quickly walk away but his pace seemed to get slower and slower for some reason, as though something was dragging his leg. Zero stopped and took a glance down at his feet and literally cried out from shock to see the young boy clutching at his feet. He tried to kick him away to no avail.

Zero finally gave up, "what is wrong with you?"

The young boy still holding Zero's leg tightly on the floor said truthfully, "I'm an abandoned little boy here. Show some sympathy."

"I don't know you."

"Doesn't matter, you reacted meaning your safe," he said.

Zero stared at the young boy who returned it. "Please just leave me alone. I already said sorry for sitting on your box like that."

The boy shook his head. "You're not that bad looking and you look like a nice person too... so I've decided that you can adopt me."

Zero blinked a few times, each time shutting his eyes harder before opening them again. "WHAT?"

The boy freed himself from Zero's feet and stood up. "Adopt me. Let me stay in your house."

"No way," Zero quickly said, beginning to walk away again.

"Please. I'm all alone and living under that bridge is awful," the young boy pleaded. "You seem to be a nice person."

"How do you know that? For all you know, I could be a serial murderer," Zero retorted.

The boy stopped walking and shouted clearly and loudly, "if you don't adopt me then I'll kill myself in front of your eyes."

"As if I care," Zero said. "Not like you're really going to do it."

Zero kept walking on but kept on listening to what was happening behind him. There was no sound. He turned around and to his horror; the young boy's now crimson-coloured eyes stared into his, his hand holding a knife before him. The boy's hand lowered and Zero rushed towards him, catching hold in time before blood was spilled.

"Were you really serious..." Zero said statically, out of breath, "Don't joke around."

"Then..." the boy said.

Zero studied the young boy for the moment that looked like a runaway with his scrappy clothes and muddy face. The only thing that was attractive about this boy was his eyes that strangely seemed to peer into ones soul. He didn't look particularly dangerous but the knife he held. Zero snatched the knife from the boys hand and threw it into the river. "I'm not agreeing to anything. I'll let you stay at my house for the night but I'm keeping close observation on you. Don't think about doing anything stupid."

The boy smiled, "don't worry I intend to stay for awhile."

The boy bounced and skipped the entire way back to Zero's house. As soon as Zero got in, he directed the boy to the bathroom, throwing him some old clothes and sat down in the living room to wait as he washed himself up. "What was wrong with me?" Zero asked, "Why did I take in a stray boy?" Zero held his head in his hands, annoyed at what he had just done or decided. He slightly began to regret it.

In the bathroom, the young boy stripped. He unclipped a few fasteners in his hair and removed his wig to reveal the long smooth brown hair underneath. Using water, he splashed at his face, washing the mud off and stared at his pretty reflection. She smiled, "sorry Mr Nice. I'm actually a girl."