This was the result of a fifteen-minute word challenge that ran longer than intended. The challenge word is stated at the end of the ficlet.
*NOTE* Family relationships and scenes mentioned in the fic are based on the AU in Michiru's and my verbal RPG and are not canon.
Seen But Not Heard (Prince of Tennis)
By Haruka (email: haruka at ymail dot com)
Aoi Hanamura Echizen made what seemed like an innocent decision at the time. She decided to take all four of her children grocery shopping with her.
No sooner had she pulled out a cart when she found that they had all disappeared. Oh well, she thought, they're in the store. I'll find them along the way.
The first few minutes were relatively peaceful. She was in the fruit and vegetable section. No sign of her children there, or any others for that matter. She picked out a few items for a stew and added a bunch of grapes and one of bananas to her cart.
As she moved into the bakery section, Youhei appeared and deposited a package of coffeecakes into the basket. He grinned at his mother and was gone again. Aoi removed the coffeecakes and put them back, returning to her cart to find a box of cookies there. She saw Kouhei's blue ponytail bobbing in the opposite direction.
"Kaasan, these are awful."
Aoi looked over at Takahisa, who was reading the label in the cookie box. "They're pure sugar," he accused.
"I didn't choose them, darling. You can put them back."
As her eldest proceeded to do so, Aoi took a couple of loaves of bread and put them in the cart. A box of cereal appeared next to them.
"Youhei –" she started to say.
"I'll be back!" the magenta-haired boy called over his shoulder.
"Did they have any bread that wasn't full of sugar?" Takahisa asked, peering at the loaves she'd chosen.
Aoi sighed. She knew that being Mizuki Hajime's boyfriend and learning more about his diabetes had made Takahisa conscious of food containing sugar, but no one in the family had that problem. He was removing the cereal from the cart when Kouhei came back with a big bag of chips. "Hey, leave that, Niisan!" he said. "Youhei and I want it."
"It's got no nutritional value and is loaded with sugar," Takahisa protested. "The LAST thing you two need is more sugar."
Aoi was inclined to agree. "Kouhei, we'll get snacks, but could you and your brother check with me –"
"Kouhei!" Youhei called from across the store. "They've got vanilla peanut butter!"
"Lemme see!" His twin was gone and Aoi realized that somehow, a big bag of M&M's had ended up in the cart.
This set the pattern for the rest of her shopping. Aoi knew her children weren't deaf – on the contrary, the twins' hearing was far more acute than most. However, both they and Takahisa were definitely demonstrating some selective hearing as they dumped and retrieved various items from the cart without regard for her opinion or each others'.
"Ew, what is THIS?!" Kouhei demanded, picking up a bag of carob cookies that Takahisa had chosen.
"It's sugar-free chocolate. It's good for you."
"But they aren't GOOD!" Youhei protested. "And sugar-free chocolate is just wrong."
"Takahisa, I think this is a little excessive," Aoi started to say, taking the box from Kouhei's hand. "These are rather expensive, and I doubt either Nanjiroh or Ryoma will eat them." She frowned and looked around, realizing she hadn't seen Ryoma since they entered the store.
"Fine, but don't blame me when your pancreas can't handle your sugar intake," Takahisa retorted, eyeing the few snacks that Aoi had allowed the twins to keep.
"Don't be gross!" the twins commanded in unison.
Counting to ten, she turned down another aisle, trying to ignore the three boys' bickering over food and bodily functions.
"Good, there you are." Aoi heard Ryoma's voice before he popped up next to her. She sighed with relief.
"Now that we're all together, let's try to stay that way to the check-out," she suggested.
A few minutes later, they were unloading groceries onto the conveyor belt. Aoi saw that despite her preventative efforts, some items she had rejected had somehow reappeared amongst their groceries. Didn't these boys ever listen?
"And finally," the cashier said, leaning over to look at the lower section of the cart, "two cases of Ponta!"
"What?!" Aoi, the twins, and Takahisa all turned to stare at Ryoma, who gazed impassively back at them.
"What?" he said.
Aoi sighed. How had she missed seeing him put two cases under the cart? Maybe it was she who hadn't been paying close enough attention. It was time to cut her losses and get out of there.
"Nanjiroh, we're home!" Aoi announced as the group of them walked in, all carrying bags.
"Hey!" her husband greeted, making his way past the kids to take the bags from her. "I guess now I know where you went! How'd it go?"
"I could barely keep up with them," she admitted. "I'm not even sure what we ended up with anymore, what with all of them adding and removing things between each other and me."
"Too bad I didn't know you were going." Nanjiroh grinned. "I could have helped them."
"Helped THEM?!" Aoi chased after him, pretending to hit the chuckling man with her purse.
"Hey, a little help putting stuff away here?" Youhei called to them from the kitchen.
"Don't bother," Ryoma remarked, putting his Ponta into the fridge. "Adults never listen."
(Word challenge – Deaf)
(2005)
Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.
This fic is not to be re-posted.