Ten Reasons
Disclaimer: I don't know why you even have to ask.
Suspicion had arose during his first class, when Daisuke had noticed Takeru looking less cheerful than usual, completely giving up on actually paying attention in class. And then lunch, in which the blonde did little more than stare blankly as if counting the stains on the cafeteria table, allowing Hikari full ownership over his lunch without any protest. That was about when Daisuke had decided that something was Very Wrong.
It was in his next class that he finally got some answers, via Hikari. She had told — or rather, written to Daisuke that it was the tenth anniversary of Takeru's parents' divorce. Daisuke had winced and chewed at the inside of his cheek thoughtfully, pencil poised to reply, but the teacher had cut them off mid-conversation, stealing the note and assigning them both after-school detention. Hikari had looked stricken. Goodbye, clean record.
Now, sitting in geometry, his last class of the day, Daisuke found it the perfect opportunity to attempt the art of cheering up and do something about the dark cloud that had attached itself to Takeru's disposition and started growing. Like fungus. And Takeru, Daisuke thought, really did not look good in fungus.
Flipping to a clean sheet of notebook paper, Daisuke tapped his chin with the eraser end of his pencil thoughtfully, both for the sake of brainstorming and convincing his geometry teacher that, why yes, of course, linear equations were absolutely fascinating. Finally deciding on an idea, he turned back to the piece of paper and wrote on it as neatly as he could, 'Ten Reasons Why Takeru Takaishi Should Be Happy.'
And then, after a brief pause, put under the heading, in smaller writing, 'by Daisuke Motomiya.'
1. There is no 'sad' in 'Takeru.'
2. Pessimists tend to die earlier than optimists! Best to be the latter — some of us look horrible in mourning colors.
With a self-satisfied grin, Daisuke looked up at the teacher again, who was now moving on to graphing linear equations. Another tap of the pencil: please continue, I'm enraptured by the insectile drone of your voice. Eyes shifting back down to his list in the making, he thought for a moment, remembering the notes from Hikari, before jotting down:
3. Your parents still love you, whether they're together or not.
4. And we all love our happy Takeru, too.
And then, rereading number four, Daisuke added in parenthesis, just in case, 'that includes me.'
5. A sad Takeru will set off a chain of sad people.
6. Not to mention that it's just plain scary to see you unhappy.
What else, Daisuke wondered to himself absently as he glanced at the geometry teacher once more, and then blinked, startled, as he realized that she was staring back at him. The teacher leered, too much like the proverbial cat who caught the canary for Daisuke's comfort, and the boy realized vaguely that he was filling the role of the bird who was about to get eaten. "Motomiya-kun, would you care to answer the question?"
Daisuke wondered what would happen if he said no. Pausing, he waited for the usual hissed answer from behind him that he received when he hadn't been paying attention, before remembering that Takeru probably hadn't been paying attention either. With a inner wince, he took a wild guess. "Um. Zero?"
The teacher looked fairly pleased that she had managed to snare the boy in her web. With a cluck of the tongue and a shake of her head, she said, "You need to pay more attention, Daisuke, or else you might not pass this class."
Turning to harrass her next hapless victim, she missed the rude gesture Daisuke directed at her back. Number seven for his list came to mind instantly, and he quickly jotted down:
7. Sad Takeru means no answers in geometry class means Daisuke is left at The Bitch's mercy. (And we all know she doesn't have any.)
With a sigh, he canted his head just the slightest to catch sight of Takeru, who sat diagonal from him. The blonde was doodling absently on his notebook, mind obviously elsewhere. Must be taking this kind of hard, Daisuke realized, and bit down on the pencil's eraser, chewing on it pensively. His note would need more substance than just half-assed humor.
8. Being sad doesn't change the past.
9. It doesn't help your future, either. So think positive.
Number ten came after a few seconds of thought, and he quickly wrote down what he remembered from elementary school:
10. It takes more muscles to frown than smile. Save your energy!
—
He left the note on Takeru's desk after the bell and headed out before he could register Takeru's reaction. He'd need time to read it, anyway — he'd find out what he thought soon enough. It took a little less time than he'd expected; Takeru approached him at his locker, a little hesitantly, leaned against the wall next to him. "Sorry about earlier."
Daisuke's head snapped up at the other's sudden appearance, and he narrowed his eyes in confusion before realizing what he was talking about. Straightening, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't worry about it. The Bitch just happens to hate me."
"But still." Takeru shrugged apologetically, shuffling his feet awkwardly as he stared at the floor tiles. "Thanks for the... list. It might have only taken you five minutes to write it, but it's, um. It's nice. Really nice. And it means a lot. Thanks."
Daisuke grinned. "Anything for you, hm?" He paused when the gesture was returned half-heartedly, feeling his own smile slip out of place. "I'm really sorry about your parents, but look at it this way. They divorced because their relationship wasn't working. It's better that they're not together but on better conditions with each other, instead of together but still fighting all the time. Right?"
"Yeah, you're right." Takeru bit his lip, avoiding his eyes. "I don't know, it's just been sort of... like this stupid fantasy of mine. They'd get back together and we'd be the perfect family. I mean, I've always known that it wouldn't happen, but a kid can dream, right? But now they've been divorced for ten years and it's like this... blow to face, like this is how it's going to be, no matter what." He trailed off, and Daisuke couldn't find the right words form a decent reply so he kept silent too, concern increasing.
After a brief moment, Takeru blew out a sigh and finally glanced back up with a small smile. "But... I guess, it's okay. I still get to see Yamato and dad."
Daisuke shut his locker and shouldered his backpack. "Good, think positive. Number, er, eight? Nine? Whatever. But hey, at least you're listening to me. I could get used to that."
The blonde laughed, and Daisuke felt a surge of satisfaction at being able to get some sort of sign of optimism out of the other. Of course, when he realized that he was late for detention, the feeling quickly turned to panic, and he said hurriedly, "Hey, um, sorry, but I've got detention with Sakamoto, and he's probably pissed. Hikari's waiting, too." Catching Takeru's confused expression, he shook his head as he began heading towards his classroom. "Details tomorrow, gotta go now. Bye!"
"Yeah, see you later," Takeru replied loudly to be heard over the din of the students rushing to get out before heading towards the main entrance himself.
And Daisuke, unable to resist, called out before he turned the corner, "Takaishi!"
Takeru turned, a small, expectant grin tugged at his mouth. "Motomiya."
A laugh. "Number eleven: you look better when you smile."