Omi lay on his back, staring upwards into the interminable blackness that clung everywhere. The sounds of the city came wafting in like great breezes off the sea. Cars screeched, horns blared, and sounds of people cussing (or loving and hating) each other were heard on this dark and ominous night.
This night was one of the few they did not go out on a mission. On these sorts of nights, Yoji went out on dates if he could, Ken did all sorts of stuff and didn't return until late late, and Aya, well, Aya always disappeared and seemed to be at his own sources to come back whenever he saw fit, not only on these nights but every time.
So thusly Omi was home alone, staring at his ceiling. The room was completely dark, save for the slants of light coming from the lights outside the open windows. He sighed inwardly, knowing that this sort of feeling would be with him his entire lonely life.
His hair was wet from the shower and was spread out in a fan-like way against the pillow. Damp headphones were cast on the floor, its wires tangled. His hands were behind his neck, causing his bare elbows to point outwards. It was a very hot night, which is to be expected in Japan during their rainy season, so he was only wearing boxers and shorts. The blankets were tossed aside, being quite thick, and the sheets were in little heaps of disarray.
He grabbed the remote in a way that could only be disgusted, tired, and bored. He clicked through the channels, and finding nothing interesting, put in some movie he wasn't even sure was his. The computer was on, of course, but the digital screen saver was blinking away in different colors. He hadn't touched it since before dinner.
The movie turned out to be one of Yoji's romance movies. Omi left it on, though he turned down the volume one hundred percent and also ignored it completely. Finding no solace in anything in his room, he softly crept down the hallways to other rooms in the Weiß household.
Each room of the other members were off-limits, and Omi knew this, but he desperately needed something to do. He peeked in at the doors to check on them. Aya's was not impeccably neat as usual, but definitely clean enough to please any mother in the universe. Yoji's was littered with photos and magazine clippings of different models and girls he knew, and catalogs were strewn everywhere. Empty cigarette boxes lay about the garbage canister, obviously from a drunken aim. Ken's room was a complete and hideous mess. Omi almost wished he had never looked inside. Clothes, starting from boxers to shoes to coats, were everywhere, not necessarily clean or dirty. A prized soccer ball sat on the dresser, and tons of sports magazines, especially soccer, lay about the room. Then came all the knick-knacks and junk collected through the years, all over, and his most cared-for possession, his blue Gentian, which sat primly on the windowsill.
Omi closed each door in turn, then walked to the bathroom. He studied his face, and then remarked to himself that the dark rings under his eyes were certainly not becoming. He grew lighthearted at this, but was soon sobered as he lost interest in the mirror as quickly as he had become less glum. Rummaging through the medicine cabinets, he only found the usual household remedies including hydrogen peroxide, isropyl alcohol, (which he put down immediately), Advil, Tylenol, Benedryl, Robitussin, and odds and ends of unfinished packages of all sorts of anitbiotics. There were also ace bandages and wraps and slings and huge gauze pads along with band-aids and oinments from times before.
Disgusted with his findings, he went along into the kitchen and fixed himself a bowl of cereal with skim milk. Above the sink was the crystalline picture frame that Yoji, Ken, and Omi had pooled together their money to buy for Aya for his birthday two and a half weeks prior. The frame itself was a carving of flowing water; the darker glass looked similar to stone, which was covered with tiers of flowing water forming waterfalls. In it was a black and white picture of Aya-chan holding a red rose which was the only part in color. It glittered as the moon's rays shone softly through the cleverly cut glass.
Omi's time of quiet and tranquility was broken when Yoji came in, banging the door behind him. It seemed he wasn't drunk, and it also seemed he was extremely riled and dead tired.
"Konnichiwa, Yoji-kun!" Omi exclaimed in his surprise. The look on his face could easily have been mistaken for suspicion, but Yoji wasn't paying much attention to what Omi thought or looked like. He only shook his head, muttered "konnichiwa," and trodded up the stairs into a closed door.
Omi, remembering that Yoji hadn't closed his door, held his breath while Yoji cursed awhile and finally left off, exhausted. He tripped into his room and Omi didn't even try to guess where he had been that left him so tired and the first one in for the night. (it was only 1:23am)
The small bowl of Team Cheerios (a.k.a. the Cheerio trio) was soon refilled, and a tall glass of milk was also replenished. There was a type of Cheerio for each member, except that there were only three types of Cheerios in Team Cheerios. Aya was frosted, Yoji was brown sugar, Ken was honey, and Omi's wasn't part of the team but they added it anyway. He was apple-cinnamon. During the silent dinner around 9:30pm Omi hadn't eaten much, though the others ate more than twice his share together. It had been first tossed salad then some sort of good pasta Ken somehow made or bought. The group didn't know whether he got it made or made it himself and accidentally messed up a lot to make it taste good. Ken made the meal plan, explaining the healthiness. (though he doesn't always make healthy meals...)
For dessert, Yoji provided a huge tub of Dean's double fudge swirl almond chocolate mocha ice cream. They just dug in and used the tub as one gigantic bowl. Even though it must be confessed Omi liked it, he didn't get much of it since the others fought over spoonfuls. And furthermore he was remembering how sick he got last time he had chocolate...(Jen/Deena's Chocolate Blahs if I'm allowed to mention...)
He finished his "dawn to dusk" meal and plodded down hallways and up the stairs into his little dark room. The tv was still on, and an embarrassing scene was being shown. He clicked it off and turned on his Playstation, picked up his headphones, (which were still damp), and began to play Tomb Raider: Gold Edition. (he's very good so he's very far) The Final Fantasy VIII cd-rom sat atop the desk, waiting patiently for his interest to move over to that area.
But as he was playing Tomb Raider, an odd feeling came over him. He noted that Lara was all alone in this treacherous world, fighting not of her own will, but of the player's. He fingers stopped their movement, and she stood still. He did not fight the intruders and enemies on the screen, so Lara did not move. She was a puppet, her strings moved by himself. He became so distraught he almost cut himself to free her of her bindings. Tears welled in his ocean-deep eyes, flooding out, and he remembered who he was and how his life ended up to be. He was as forlorn and lonely as the single red rose in the picture frame.
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A Flashback to Dinner at 9:30pm -
Yoji: ICE CREAM!!! [lands a huge tub of Dean's ice cream on the table, rattling spoons]
Omi: [reading] Double chocolate fudge swirl almond mocha chocolate...
Aya: .....
Ken: Chocolate! Triple chocolate!
Aya: [mutters] Wonderful.
Yoji: Why? Don't you like chocolate mocha?
Aya: Well...
Yoji: [hands out the spoons and begins to pry the frozen solid lid off] Then dig in!
Omi: [waves spoon around with half-glee]
Ken: [goes to drawer and grabs about five more spoons, a few knives, and three forks] [begins playing a drum beat against the table and then takes two the spoons, one in each hand, and scoops up the delish ice cream and eats them one at a time, using only one bite each then reaching for more and pinching his face in agony of the brain freeze]
Omi: [with only one small ice cream spoon] Hey! I want some! [no bad thoughts inspired...]
Yoji: Ha ha! Ken's got brainfreeze!
[Ken shoves a spoonful of ice cream in his (Yoji's) mouth, practically suffocating him]
Yoji: Mmmfffoooreeephh!!! Ttoooofffuuumaaaphhh!
Omi: Tofu? Tofu ice cream? I'll go get it.
Ken: Ha ha ha! The medicinal ice cream for the sickly! Ha ha ha!!!
Aya: [notes the scrunched expression of the now brain-frozen Yoji] Yoji has brain freeze.
[Omi arrives with a spoonful of the awful Tofu Ice Cream and shoves it into the already brain-frozen Yoji whose face becomes distorted and twisted]
Yoji: [once he spews the bitter crap all over poor Omi] KKKKUUUUUSSSSSOOOOO!!!!!
Ken: Well you don't have to be so loud about it. [shoves two spoons into his own mouth at the same time then shrieks from the spoon hitting his teeth] OOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!
Aya: I wonder if you should be talking. [takes a small spoon]
[Omi, seizing this oppurtunity to eat ice cream, takes a spoonful, and to his dismay, is halfway melted and drippy] [flings it at Ken, whose temper flares]
Ken: CHIKUSHOU! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?!??!?!
Omi: Er...
Ken: [fling]
Omi: Argh...
Omi: [fling]
Yoji: KUSO!!!! [fling]
Omi: Arghh.....[spit] [fling]
Ken: You little onore! [puts spoon in mouth, takes it out again, then: fling fling fli--K'so!!!]
Aya: That was completely uncalled for. [dripping with double chocolate fudge swirl almond mocha chocolate ice cream that is half-way melted] [fingers his now chocolaty sugary hair and glares at the sheepish Ken] I would have to say kitto, you're dead.
Ken: Uhh....gomen ne, Aya...gomen!!!...eerrmm....ummm...sayonara!! Oyasumi nasai, minna! [bolts to the bathroom then is out the door in a flash]
Omi: [while Yoji is constantly flinging ice cream at him] *sigh*
[Aya retreats the the bathroom]
[Yoji soon readies himself for a date]
[Omi is left with the dishes and the huge ice cream mess to clean up]
Omi: [low wail] Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...................
This night was one of the few they did not go out on a mission. On these sorts of nights, Yoji went out on dates if he could, Ken did all sorts of stuff and didn't return until late late, and Aya, well, Aya always disappeared and seemed to be at his own sources to come back whenever he saw fit, not only on these nights but every time.
So thusly Omi was home alone, staring at his ceiling. The room was completely dark, save for the slants of light coming from the lights outside the open windows. He sighed inwardly, knowing that this sort of feeling would be with him his entire lonely life.
His hair was wet from the shower and was spread out in a fan-like way against the pillow. Damp headphones were cast on the floor, its wires tangled. His hands were behind his neck, causing his bare elbows to point outwards. It was a very hot night, which is to be expected in Japan during their rainy season, so he was only wearing boxers and shorts. The blankets were tossed aside, being quite thick, and the sheets were in little heaps of disarray.
He grabbed the remote in a way that could only be disgusted, tired, and bored. He clicked through the channels, and finding nothing interesting, put in some movie he wasn't even sure was his. The computer was on, of course, but the digital screen saver was blinking away in different colors. He hadn't touched it since before dinner.
The movie turned out to be one of Yoji's romance movies. Omi left it on, though he turned down the volume one hundred percent and also ignored it completely. Finding no solace in anything in his room, he softly crept down the hallways to other rooms in the Weiß household.
Each room of the other members were off-limits, and Omi knew this, but he desperately needed something to do. He peeked in at the doors to check on them. Aya's was not impeccably neat as usual, but definitely clean enough to please any mother in the universe. Yoji's was littered with photos and magazine clippings of different models and girls he knew, and catalogs were strewn everywhere. Empty cigarette boxes lay about the garbage canister, obviously from a drunken aim. Ken's room was a complete and hideous mess. Omi almost wished he had never looked inside. Clothes, starting from boxers to shoes to coats, were everywhere, not necessarily clean or dirty. A prized soccer ball sat on the dresser, and tons of sports magazines, especially soccer, lay about the room. Then came all the knick-knacks and junk collected through the years, all over, and his most cared-for possession, his blue Gentian, which sat primly on the windowsill.
Omi closed each door in turn, then walked to the bathroom. He studied his face, and then remarked to himself that the dark rings under his eyes were certainly not becoming. He grew lighthearted at this, but was soon sobered as he lost interest in the mirror as quickly as he had become less glum. Rummaging through the medicine cabinets, he only found the usual household remedies including hydrogen peroxide, isropyl alcohol, (which he put down immediately), Advil, Tylenol, Benedryl, Robitussin, and odds and ends of unfinished packages of all sorts of anitbiotics. There were also ace bandages and wraps and slings and huge gauze pads along with band-aids and oinments from times before.
Disgusted with his findings, he went along into the kitchen and fixed himself a bowl of cereal with skim milk. Above the sink was the crystalline picture frame that Yoji, Ken, and Omi had pooled together their money to buy for Aya for his birthday two and a half weeks prior. The frame itself was a carving of flowing water; the darker glass looked similar to stone, which was covered with tiers of flowing water forming waterfalls. In it was a black and white picture of Aya-chan holding a red rose which was the only part in color. It glittered as the moon's rays shone softly through the cleverly cut glass.
Omi's time of quiet and tranquility was broken when Yoji came in, banging the door behind him. It seemed he wasn't drunk, and it also seemed he was extremely riled and dead tired.
"Konnichiwa, Yoji-kun!" Omi exclaimed in his surprise. The look on his face could easily have been mistaken for suspicion, but Yoji wasn't paying much attention to what Omi thought or looked like. He only shook his head, muttered "konnichiwa," and trodded up the stairs into a closed door.
Omi, remembering that Yoji hadn't closed his door, held his breath while Yoji cursed awhile and finally left off, exhausted. He tripped into his room and Omi didn't even try to guess where he had been that left him so tired and the first one in for the night. (it was only 1:23am)
The small bowl of Team Cheerios (a.k.a. the Cheerio trio) was soon refilled, and a tall glass of milk was also replenished. There was a type of Cheerio for each member, except that there were only three types of Cheerios in Team Cheerios. Aya was frosted, Yoji was brown sugar, Ken was honey, and Omi's wasn't part of the team but they added it anyway. He was apple-cinnamon. During the silent dinner around 9:30pm Omi hadn't eaten much, though the others ate more than twice his share together. It had been first tossed salad then some sort of good pasta Ken somehow made or bought. The group didn't know whether he got it made or made it himself and accidentally messed up a lot to make it taste good. Ken made the meal plan, explaining the healthiness. (though he doesn't always make healthy meals...)
For dessert, Yoji provided a huge tub of Dean's double fudge swirl almond chocolate mocha ice cream. They just dug in and used the tub as one gigantic bowl. Even though it must be confessed Omi liked it, he didn't get much of it since the others fought over spoonfuls. And furthermore he was remembering how sick he got last time he had chocolate...(Jen/Deena's Chocolate Blahs if I'm allowed to mention...)
He finished his "dawn to dusk" meal and plodded down hallways and up the stairs into his little dark room. The tv was still on, and an embarrassing scene was being shown. He clicked it off and turned on his Playstation, picked up his headphones, (which were still damp), and began to play Tomb Raider: Gold Edition. (he's very good so he's very far) The Final Fantasy VIII cd-rom sat atop the desk, waiting patiently for his interest to move over to that area.
But as he was playing Tomb Raider, an odd feeling came over him. He noted that Lara was all alone in this treacherous world, fighting not of her own will, but of the player's. He fingers stopped their movement, and she stood still. He did not fight the intruders and enemies on the screen, so Lara did not move. She was a puppet, her strings moved by himself. He became so distraught he almost cut himself to free her of her bindings. Tears welled in his ocean-deep eyes, flooding out, and he remembered who he was and how his life ended up to be. He was as forlorn and lonely as the single red rose in the picture frame.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A Flashback to Dinner at 9:30pm -
Yoji: ICE CREAM!!! [lands a huge tub of Dean's ice cream on the table, rattling spoons]
Omi: [reading] Double chocolate fudge swirl almond mocha chocolate...
Aya: .....
Ken: Chocolate! Triple chocolate!
Aya: [mutters] Wonderful.
Yoji: Why? Don't you like chocolate mocha?
Aya: Well...
Yoji: [hands out the spoons and begins to pry the frozen solid lid off] Then dig in!
Omi: [waves spoon around with half-glee]
Ken: [goes to drawer and grabs about five more spoons, a few knives, and three forks] [begins playing a drum beat against the table and then takes two the spoons, one in each hand, and scoops up the delish ice cream and eats them one at a time, using only one bite each then reaching for more and pinching his face in agony of the brain freeze]
Omi: [with only one small ice cream spoon] Hey! I want some! [no bad thoughts inspired...]
Yoji: Ha ha! Ken's got brainfreeze!
[Ken shoves a spoonful of ice cream in his (Yoji's) mouth, practically suffocating him]
Yoji: Mmmfffoooreeephh!!! Ttoooofffuuumaaaphhh!
Omi: Tofu? Tofu ice cream? I'll go get it.
Ken: Ha ha ha! The medicinal ice cream for the sickly! Ha ha ha!!!
Aya: [notes the scrunched expression of the now brain-frozen Yoji] Yoji has brain freeze.
[Omi arrives with a spoonful of the awful Tofu Ice Cream and shoves it into the already brain-frozen Yoji whose face becomes distorted and twisted]
Yoji: [once he spews the bitter crap all over poor Omi] KKKKUUUUUSSSSSOOOOO!!!!!
Ken: Well you don't have to be so loud about it. [shoves two spoons into his own mouth at the same time then shrieks from the spoon hitting his teeth] OOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!
Aya: I wonder if you should be talking. [takes a small spoon]
[Omi, seizing this oppurtunity to eat ice cream, takes a spoonful, and to his dismay, is halfway melted and drippy] [flings it at Ken, whose temper flares]
Ken: CHIKUSHOU! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?!??!?!
Omi: Er...
Ken: [fling]
Omi: Argh...
Omi: [fling]
Yoji: KUSO!!!! [fling]
Omi: Arghh.....[spit] [fling]
Ken: You little onore! [puts spoon in mouth, takes it out again, then: fling fling fli--K'so!!!]
Aya: That was completely uncalled for. [dripping with double chocolate fudge swirl almond mocha chocolate ice cream that is half-way melted] [fingers his now chocolaty sugary hair and glares at the sheepish Ken] I would have to say kitto, you're dead.
Ken: Uhh....gomen ne, Aya...gomen!!!...eerrmm....ummm...sayonara!! Oyasumi nasai, minna! [bolts to the bathroom then is out the door in a flash]
Omi: [while Yoji is constantly flinging ice cream at him] *sigh*
[Aya retreats the the bathroom]
[Yoji soon readies himself for a date]
[Omi is left with the dishes and the huge ice cream mess to clean up]
Omi: [low wail] Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...................