Title: escape words
Pairings: Zaizen Hikaru/Oshitari Kenya, ShiraiFu, AtoYuu, + Chitose Miyuki
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: a few dirty words and poorly-written angstcrack
Notes: Originally written as gift for Tine (Apple Bubblegum), in the pot_ffnet In a Dimension AU fic exchange on LJ.
Summary: As if Kenya's words aren't difficult to put into thoughts, already.
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escape words
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Oshitari Kenya rings Hikaru's doorbell three days before Christmas, on a day when there is unexpectedly-heavy snow in the neighbourhood and the world can hear somebody playing wobbly notes on a piano that has been tuned too many times. He stamps his feet against the doormat while a boy on the street grabs his girlfriend's purse instead of his own to buy dango from the street vendor, and somewhere far off someone is playing a song by KAT-TUN.
"I'm scared," he complains the minute the door opens, "Yuushi is staying for Christmas and he brought that stupid Atobe guy with him. They're taking over my room and I keep seeing empty bottles of lube and condom wrappers everywhere. They're still preaching abstinence at Hyoutei High School, aren't they?"
Zaizen laughs and tells him to stay over, they're having a party tomorrow at that idiot captain's house and Kenya can help him set-up if he'd like.
"Thanks," Kenya says with a smile.
"You're pretty when you smile." Hikaru tells him, and before Kenya knows it, he is being kissed by his doubles partner, full on the lips and without any hesitation, and fuck, he's not supposed to be kissing a boy.
"Guys can't be pretty." He mumbles, pulling away in shock. "What are you doing?"
"It was a kiss, moron. They do it all the time as greetings in America," Zaizen says, and his cheeks turn a burning red, "It didn't mean anything, and you can fuck off if that's what you thought."
Yes, you did, and since when did you care about what people did in America, Kenya wants to say, but he knows he's going to feel awkward saying it, so he bites his lip instead, feels Hikaru close the door behind him and wishes that he wouldn't feel sorry, too.
-
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"How do you stay happy?" Kenya asks his captain.
"I iron my shirts and listen to Otsuka Ai," Shiraishi says.
"Does it work?"
"Always," Shiraishi nods his head solemnly.
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"Food in the fridge, phone to your right. Don't set the house on fire while Miyuki's still with you and if you are still breathing by the time I'm back I'll pay you minimum wage," Shiraishi says smoothly, "I'll be home in twelve hours. If anyone dies, I know who I'm suing."
Kenya grimaces. "Yes, captain."
"Oh, and," the silver-haired boy pauses, "If you mess anything up in my bedroom, I'll know. So. Just leave the doors alone and go outside or something, okay?"
"Of course."
"Think of it as a date with a really young, cute girl."
"I'm not a pedophile."
"I didn't say that," Shiraishi throws a set of keys on the couch. "Any other questions?"
"Just one," Kenya says, "Why are you in charge of Chitose's little sister and why am I at your house at all?"
His captain rolls his eyes and for a second Kenya's scared that he going throw something, "You said you wanted to help. Gin has lifeguard duty today. Tachibana Kippei came by earlier and bullied Chitose into going to a GIRL NEXT DOOR concert, so he asked me to take care of Miyuki. Unfortunately, there's a lot of Christmas shopping that I have to take care of and the aromatherapy shop is only open for today. Kintarou's out of town with that Echizen kid, and the two clowns mentioned something about Hyoutei and Rikkai going to a strip club. I don't want Chitose's irresponsible little sister within a twenty-kilometer radius of Shibuya, and you're the only who can catch up with her."
Fuji Syuusuke's turned you into a complete girl, Kenya's about to say, but just at that moment Chitose Miyuki storms in, hands on her hips. "I'm not irresponsible, nii-chan! Let me go, pleeeeease."
"No." Shiraishi replies curtly. "Strip clubs are dangerous."
"You would know," Kenya mutters under his breath.
Shiraishi huffs.
Kenya sighs. "Miyuki-chan, absolutely not because I have no intention of being murdered in cold blood."
Shiraishi Kuranosuke and Chitose Miyuki storm out of the living room together.
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"Are you sure this is going to work, Miyuki?"
"Trust me, Shi-ra-i-shi! I have experience in these things."
"Since when would you..." He doesn't get to finish his sentence before Miyuki pushes the older boy out the door with a grunt.
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With the room empty, Kenya stifles a relieved sigh, only to jump when he feels a pair of small hands latch onto his arm, "Oshitari-nii-chan, let's go shopping!"
"I don't have any money with me right now, Miyuki-chan."
"But you have a rich cousin who goes to Hyoutei, right, Oshitari-nii?"
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"Oshitari," Atobe glares, "What are we doing in this commoner's home? I feel sick just breathing in the fumes of this place."
Yuushi sits down on Shiraishi's sofa with a shrug, "Kenya wants my credit card. You can give him one of yours, can't you?"
"Of course," Atobe scoffs, whipping out a gold-plated card purse with a flourish, "Never misunderestimate the wealth of the Atobe family."
"What the hell does 'misunderestimate' mean?" Kenya blinks, before he's dragged away by Chitose's little sister.
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Kenya's cell phone rings the minute they set off and for the next portion of his date with Chitose Miyuki he listens to Shiraishi babble himself sick on the other side about Fuji Syuusuke's odd habits. Miyuki directs him onto the wrong subway line while Shiraishi's jabbering about potted cacti ("He keeps them everywhere, and I can't sit down without feeling insecure--") and which scented lotion he should choose for Syuusuke's ex-boyfriend Tezuka Kunimitsu, who is also going to be at the Christmas party ("I really don't know," Kenya chokes back a laugh, "Are you sure he's going to like hand lotion?"). On their way back to the shopping district and the correct shop, Kenya feels a headache coming when Shiraishi starts talking about something called Hanazawa Rui.
"...What does Hanazawa Rui have that I don't have, anyway," Shiraishi's voice whines in Kenya's ear, "And don't you think it's unhealthy to crush on imaginary people?"
I wonder, Kenya wants to say, but now they're finally in the right clothing store and his hands are red from being clasped onto for so long. "No, it's not, I'm sure. No, I don't know what Hanazawa Rui is, either. Can I hang up now?"
"Yeah, sure," his captain sounds absent-minded on the other side of the line, "I'm sorry I had you listen to all this. How would you like something cinnamon-scented? The holiday ones are all on sale."
"I'm fine, thanks," Kenya replies, and when he hangs up he wonders if Hikaru would like cinnamon.
"Hanazawa Rui is a manga character," Miyuki tells him while examining a rack of designer leather jackets, "The manga has also been adapted into a television drama and the actor who plays him is Fuji-kun's favorite. Senri told me. He learned it from Tachibana-nii who learned it from dorob--I mean, Tezuka-nii-chan. How does the red one look? Or no, wait, I like the black one, too. Help me decide, Kenya-nii."
"The black one," Kenya says, giving Chitose's little sister a pat on the back, "You look older in the red, and besides red leather is kind of tacky."
"Isn't that better for girls my age, though?" Miyuki grins and unhooks the red jacket off the rack, "Looking old and tacky."
"Your brother would kill me for it," Kenya smiles, snatching the coat away from the little girl, "And so would Shiraishi-nii-chan."
"Do you think Shiraishi-kun is happy hanging around Fuji Syuusuke?" Miyuki asks him.
"I'm not sure," Kenya admits, "he was a much more serious guy before he met Fuji. He would go off a lot by himself and forget that he still has a tennis team to run."
"...And now he's practically turned into a housewife," Miyuki giggles.
"Just how old are you, Miyuki-chan?" Kenya teases her.
"Old enough," the girl says earnestly before poking him in the back, "Why isn't Kenya-kun hanging out with a girlfriend, anyway?"
"I," Kenya begins, and then stops because he doesn't know what to say. "Someone, he...I--"
"Zaizen-kun cares a lot about you, you know," Miyuki says suddenly.
He can feel himself blush. It's a strange feeling. "Can we not talk about this?"
"You do a lot for your teammates, Kenya-nii," Miyuki says quietly, "They care for you, too."
Kenya ruffles her hair. "I hope so. They're my friends, after all." Or not, he thinks, remembering Hikaru kissing him and then telling him to fuck off. "Hey, Miyuki-chan, do you wanna go get a dr--?"
"Isn't that Zaizen-nii-chan? Who's that pretty girl with him, I wonder? Oh, they look so cute together!"
The expensive red coat falls on the ground with a soft thump. Before he knows what he's doing, Kenya's gripping Miyuki's hand and ushering her towards the door.
"W-Wait, Kenya-nii, I haven't paid for--" Miyuki begins, but in another second it's too late because, with another crash, both of them knock into a rack of boots and oh shit, he's turning around...
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"Hey, isn't that Oshitari Kenya?" Shizuka looks up in surprise, "Hikaru-kun, let's go say hi!"
Hikaru's eyes widen. "Oshitari."
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"Hey," Kenya mumbles, eyes focused on the space above Hikaru's head.
"I think they need to talk," Miyuki whispers to her friend, "Want a credit card, Shizuka-chan? A rich Hyoutei boy gave them to me." And next thing Kenya knows, the girls have vanished and Zaizen Hikaru is standing before him, dumbfounded.
"I don't really have anything to say to you," Kenya mumbles, and he crashes into a cramped shelf full of lingerie before he bolts.
"She wasn't my girlfriend," Hikaru calls out behind him.
Oshitari Kenya doesn't turn around.
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Shizuka sips her bubble tea happily, "You're a genius, Miyuki-chan. I had so much fun today, too. I'm sorry I was late to the meeting point."
"Oh, no worries. I had Shiraishi-kun distract him and then we took a trip on the wrong line. Shiraishi-kun said that he was running out of things to say."
Shizuka giggles. "That side of Shiraishi-san still makes me laugh."
"I hope it works out," Miyuki says, "Shiraishi-kun wanted me to do something for Kenya-nii, too. They're all such good friends, it makes me jealous."
"You have me, Miyuki-chan," Shizuka smiles, "But anyway, thanks for all this good stuff today! I've been saving up money for this skirt for so long. And we totally didn't have to go into the jewelry store, but it was so much fun!"
Miyuki grins. "No problem."
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"I'm sorry, Kenya," Hikaru's voice echos from the voicemail inbox on Kenya's cell phone, "I didn't mean to hurt you or anything. You're not pretty when you smile, okay? You're ugly as hell but it doesn't make a difference because I like you anyway."
Falling back on Shiraishi's bed, he suddenly wants to cry very, very hard.
"I would call him back, if I were you," Yuushi says unhappily, "It's like something right out of Shojo Beat. If only Atobe could be half as nice..."
I could call him, he thinks, and before he can doubt himself, Kenya reaches for the phone.
Zaizen Hikaru rings the doorbell one day after Christmas just as it stops snowing outside and there is a car accident on the streets near the docks and people are arguing with each other and a song by some Korean band melts through the cold air. He stamps his feet on the doormat when the holiday fever in everyone's face has already died down; Kintarou is already fast asleep and coated in ice cream cake and someone's misplaced socks are dangling from the rim of the kitchen sink where Shiraishi and Chitose had been mixing party drugs.
Just a little too late, Kenya thinks when he opens the door, but he doesn't say it out loud because he's afraid that Hikaru will leave again.
Hikaru doesn't say anything, just envelopes him in a hug, tells him to stop crying because he's enough of a sniffling brat, and this time, while the owner of the car carries the motorist off his bike and into the nearest police station amid peals of "SORRY, SORRY!" ringing through the air, Kenya drags Hikaru inside his house.
"Christmas came a little later this year, didn't it," Yuushi frowns into Atobe's shoulder, "Let's go see that movie now, why don't we?"
"My credit cards are all maxed-out," Atobe says flatly, "We aren't going anywhere. Damn kids."
"Those are my bedsheets," Shiraishi growls, while Fuji Syuusuke looks on amusedly, "I am going to strangle them both."
(And Chitose Miyuki silently congratulates herself.)