"When's your next break from University, nya? It feels like I haven't seen you in forever!"
"It's only October, Eiji!" The red head smiled at the grinning boy on his computer screen, who was idly tending to a cactus as he spoke. "And Kunimitsu prefers us to stay in Germany over Christmas. I probably won't be over until Spring."
"Laaaaame..." Eiji pouted. "Christmas is gonna be so boring. None of my siblings can come over this year and I don't even have work. And Kaidoh-kun's already booked a trip to Cuba around then. Cuba!"
"We can have a big party next summer, okay? Once Tezuka and I graduate."
Almost a whole year until then...Eiji sighed and twirled a lock of hair in irritation. Sure, he was twenty-one years old, but he still needed to be amused. Sadly, nobody was around to amuse him anymore. He'd moved out of his parents' home a few years ago now, after his siblings all left for foreign locales. he couldn't bother Echizen anymore because he was too busy globe-trotting and being the biggest thing in tennis since...anything. Fuji and Tezuka were at University in Germany, Inui had travelled even further to study in Cambridge, England, Momoshiro's family had uprooted to Spain, and Taka was already married with children so didn't have time to hang out anymore.
He had Kaidoh, sometimes, when the younger boy wasn't off somewhere exotic. Having been in his late great-uncle's favour, he had recieved a nice inheritance that he chose to spend travelling the world while he was young and still could, until he decided what to do with his life. This left Eiji stuck in Japan with his thoughts and a house full of other people's cats.
"Eiji...Eiji, there's a cat pawing your webcam, you might want to stop it." Fuji chuckled, bringing Eiji back into reality as he realised yes, Kaidoh's white kitten was pawing the webcam curiously, wondering if it was something she could eat, no doubt.
"Ah, Maisie, no. Go eat a sock, nya!"
"You should give the cats more discipline, Kikumaru"
"Hello Tezu-nyaaa, I said eat a sock, not my wallet!"
The pair on Eiji's computer screen chuckled - well, Tezuka did his best to hide it - as he retrieved his wallet from the kitten.
"Oh, Eiji, I was meaning to ask you. That picture of you I took over summer...the professors want to put it in the Winter exhibition, is that okay?"
"Sure! You always take such awesome pictures...you're gonna graduate with an amazing grade." He sighed. "I kinda regret not going to college, nya."
Fuji's smile softened into a comforting one, like the long-distance pat on the shoulder the redhead really needed at that moment. "You've got a nice job and a place to live, and everyone where you live likes you and trusts you. You didn't even need four years of debt to get you there. And you have your catsitting, you make a fortune off that. How many cats in the house right now?"
"Eighteen..."
"Fifteen are that family down the street from you, two are Kaidoh-kun's...and another cat. Anyway, think of your per-cat per-night rate and times that by eighteen. You're fine. Kaidoh-kun isn't in college, Echizen isn't, Taka isn't, Oishi..."
Eiji just sighed again.
As much as Eiji enjoyed his before-work chats with Fuji, he needed to go get ready, and Fuji had to go to bed. Throwing on a pair of jeans and a colourful shirt, a green band-aid on his cheek, he set about his morning. Cereal with marshmallows from the box and a carton of banana milk was a perfectly good breakfast in his opinion, provided he brushed his teeth three or four times afterwards.
Today he went with five times, just to be sure.
The elementary school was only a few minutes from Eiji's home, so he had time to think carefully about what to take. He didn't need much - classroom assistants didn't - but he liked to take in interesting bits and bobs from home sometimes. Notebooks, pens, his important things, lunch...maybe a paper to read over lunch. Eiji was never a newspaper person, but he liked to read the comics. He flipped through that morning's paper idly, armed with a pen to put a star next to whatever he felt like reading later, when something caught his eye.
Pop Sensation Goody Returns to Tokyo to Promote Latest Single
"...so you're coming back to town again, nya..." a little red star was scribbled beside the headline.
Eiji wasn't sure what he thought of Oishi - no, Goody - now. He wasn't mad at him, not at all, he was just a guy following his dream, and sometimes on the way to that dream, certain things have to be left on the side of the road. He just didn't like being one of those things. He wasn't angry, he wasn't sad, he couldn't be disappointed, hell, Oishi was a global sensation now. No good friend could be anything but overjoyed.
But sometimes, Eiji didn't know if he was a good friend. He was happy for Oishi, but wished he could be happy with him instead. He bit his lip as his eyes rested on the photo next to the headline. Still the same as ever, just as handsome in that non-threatening way all the teenage girls and their mothers alike loved, sparkly green eyes, shy smile. The exact same smile Oishi had given him when he announced he'd been approached by an agent shortly after they graduated their high schools - bubbling with excitement, but too calm and collected and Oishi to run and jump and let it out properly. Eiji had done that for him.
And they had promised no matter where Oishi went, no matter how big he became, they would always be the Golden Pair. Best friends forever.
What happened to that? It only took about three or four weeks before suddenly Oishi stopped contacting Eiji entirely.
Wiping away a tear he hadn't even realised was there, Eiji looked up at the clock and realised he needed to hurry up or risk being late.
Eiji was glad of the class field trip to the park. It meant he could get some air and think about things, like the stage being set up over there. He wondered for a moment who was going to be performing on it, then shook his head. It couldn't be him, could it? Not on a little stage in a tiny park like this. He does arenas and stuff. He sighed and glanced around to make sure all the kids were where they should be, doing what the teacher had told them.
Little children, like cats, have a bad habit of getting themselves into sticky situations. With children, you can warn them against it, but Eiji found this made them even more likely to do it anyway.
So when a small group of six year olds ran over and tugged at the leg of his jeans, shrieking something about Arimi-chan running off and ending up in the middle of the pond, he wasn't surprised.
"She wanted some frogspawn, Kikumaru-sensei! We told her not to go in and she didn't listen!"
"Calm down, calm down, nya, I'll get her out. Which pond?"
They all pointed in different directions.
"...okay, okay, let's try again. Which pond."
"The one with the frogspawn in, Kikumaru-sensei!"
"No stupid, they all have frogspawn in, it was the one over there"
"No, it was that one!"
"Everyone go to a pond and tell me which one it is, nya!"
The children didn't end up having to do that, as a little girl, soaked through and covered in pond weed, scurried over to them.
"I'm so sorry Kikumaru-sensei, I'm so sorry! I just wanted to see the frogspawn and then I fell in the pond and it was all cold and slimy and a frog jumped on me and I think there were fish and tin cans and stuff and it was so scary and I thought I was going to die and then a nice man got me out of the pond and I'm okay now but the man got his nice clothes all covered in water and frogspawn and icky and it was so scary I'm so so so so sorry!"
Eiji crouched down to hug the child and pat her back comfortingly, pulling pieces of pond weed from her hair. "it's okay, Arimi-chan, you're safe. Now no more jumping in ponds, nya. Now, where did this nice man go, so we can say thank you?"
"I said thank you, Kikumaru-sensei, just like you told us to!"
He smiled softly. "I'd like to say thanks too, nya. Now what did he look..."
"There he is!" Eiji glanced up, wincing when he saw a hooded figure wearing very large sunglasses. He didn't like that one little bit, and decided to get the kids away. Nice man or not, Eiji didn't trust people who went around hiding themselves. "Kikumaru-sensei says thank you very very much!"
"Kikumaru..." The figure muttered.
"Yeah..." Eiji laughed nervously. "Thanks for helping my student, nya, but have to go rejoin the group now. Come on kids..."
"Wait."
Something about the urgency in the other man's voice made Eiji do as he was told. It wasn't quite a command, but a little more than just a request. The children hurried on ahead to find their classmates, leaving Eiji alone with the person stood behind him. The person who's voice struck a nerve, hit something in his chest. When he turned around to face him again, the hood was gone, the sunglasses removed, and Eiji found himself staring into the emerald green eyes of the man he hadn't seen for three long years.
"O...Oishi..."