Hyoma watched as Tsubasa sulked down the hall, Earth Eagle in his hand. Since Gingka had defeated Ryuuga, the two boys had shared a house together. The first thing Tsubasa had done was spend half of a day on the phone and write letters to people. He never told Hyoma who he'd needed to talk to all of a sudden.
Even though the younger boy was a comforting presence, Hyoma also noticed how strange he was compared to others. Unlike boys his age, he didn't wake up after noon and stay up late. He didn't spend his time at the pool and lake or flirt with girls. The oddest thing, however, was that he never talked about any family.
It hadn't really come up when they were beyblading, afterwards they'd all gotten together and parents had come up. Hyoma himself had told about his mother dying in an accident and his father being very busy, so he never had to worry about people missing him when he was gone. He'd also told the gang that he was gay. Kyouya was kind of freaked because Hyoma had been a close friend of his; no one had really been worried about it.
The older male continued to consider his friends odd silence on the subject as Tsubasa slid out the door.
When it came to not flirting with girls, Hyoma had often wondered if Tsubasa was like him, however he couldn't really see him hiding in the closet. And as for family, there were lots of reasons for people not to talk about family, who knew what the boy had left behind.
When Tsubasa came back, he had two girls and a young boy, all of which were obviously related to him, with him.
The first girl looked to be about seventeen, actually a young woman who was very short, with a curvy body and the same white-blonde hair.
The other girl was the exact same height as Tsubasa with his eyes. However, instead of the other two's light, light hair, she had shiny, blue-black tresses reaching past her knees, pinned back away from her soft face. Even if he wasn't into them, he could still recognize a beautiful girl. The first was the more ideal idea of beauty but the second had the type you couldn't see unless you had only seen her once in your life. A shock at first, before turning into the norm for a person.
The older girl looked around the room with interest before seeing Hyoma. At the sight of him, she smiled flirtingly and winked. It was kind of creepy in his opinion. Tsubasa moved to stop her but the dark haired beauty set down the little boy on her hip and grabbed her sister's arm
"Really? Damn it, Valerie you're in a stranger's house, in front of your little boy and brother. Get some self respect." She said with disgust before turning to Tsubasa.
"I'm so sorry for this 'Basa, I didn't know where else to go." He nodded stiffly before turning to the older boy.
"Hyoma, this is Valerie, the slut of the family, and her son, Trai" he said in a soft, dangerous tone.
"And this is Alicreia, the only one with a brain."
"'Basa, I" he cut her off before she could finish.
"It's okay, Ria, I don't blame you. Why don't you go get yours and Trai's bags?" she nodded.
"Should I get Valerie's as well?"
"No she can get it herself." Alicreia nodded and slid out the front door with the same grace Tsubasa had always possessed. The second she was out the door Tsubasa pulled his wallet out. Hyoma was surprised when he pressed a hundred into her hand and gave her directions to the back door.
"Get your stuff and leave before she realizes what's happening." Valerie nodded, gave her son a hug, and walked past Hyoma, out of the room. Trai didn't even make a noise. The older boy figured he was pretty used to his mother leaving. Valerie seemed like that type.
Alicreia came back inside with two medium sized bags and one fairly small one. She looked around with sharp eyes and Moved to speak, but Tsubasa cut her off.
"Is the small one Trai's?" 'Ria looked down at the bags sitting at her feet and blushed.
"Oh, no that one's mine, there really wasn't that much to take. The little one's kind of raided my room." Tsubasa chuckled and grinned at her, surprising Hyoma, since he rarely gave a real smile.
"Of course you would let them play pick and choose with your stuff." He said with a teasing roll of the eyes. Hyoma smiled at their little sibling banter as Tsubasa's eyes became concerned and he eyed her tiny, bony frame.
"Are you hungry" he asked.
"Oh," it made Hyoma sad to see how she seemed genuinely surprised that someone was worrying about her, "yea, a little I guess." Tsubasa nodded and turned to walk past Hyoma, begging the older one with his eyes to let the two stay. The taller male gave the smallest of nods and Tsubasa's face lit up as he slid past to lead the way to the kitchen.
"Leave your bags there." Hyoma instructed as he picked up Trai and turned to follow the blonde, we'll find you rooms after you've had dinner."
The house Tsubasa and Hyoma shared wasn't very big. There was a downstairs made of the little entrance room, a bathroom, kitchen and the living room. Then the upper level consisted of another bathroom, two small bedrooms and a tiny guest room. He guessed she must have lived a rather unfortunate life, because she stared as if it were the ocean. Something awe striking and amazing.
Apparently she realized she looked like a country girl in a big city for the first time, because she quickly schooled her features into one of polite interest. It disappeared when they reached the kitchen though. Tsubasa opened the fridge and she stared, obviously shocked by what she saw. "Oh" was all she managed to get out.
"Hhmm?" Tsubasa asked, not even looking up. She just stared. The young boy stood, saw his sister staring like that and something seemed to crack.
"Was it really that bad" he asked and Hyoma was surprised when his voice cracked.
"What, oh 'Basa no, don't…" 'Ria's statement died on her lips as Tsubasa turned and fled out the door. She turned to Hyoma, obviously confused. He took over Tsubasa's position at the fridge and told her he was just worried.
He could see how it would get to the younger boy, hearing his sister say that. After all, their fridge was more than half empty because it was the end of the month and they'd passed on their plans to go to the store yesterday. He found the stuff to scrap together a dish of pasta, vegetables and some chopped up chicken. Preparing the meal, he smiled at the way she sat at the bar and watched with sharp, serious eyes, obviously memorizing the steps to make it.
They ate with no trouble, talking quietly, watching for Tsubasa. He asked her about him and she told funny stories about when he would play imagine with her. Apparently they had never called it pretend because whenever she was bored, her father would tell her to imagine something. He found that she was a mix between a happier Tsubasa, calmer Gingka and a girly Kyouya. It's an odd combination, but it worked, and they got along well.
Trai had long since been fed and put to bed, brown hair sticking up oddly and small face stretching into a yawn, by the time Tsubasa comes back in. Stepping into the kitchen, he looked at the washed plates and recently cleaned table, peeked into the living room and found the two sitting on the couch, Hyoma restlessly flipping through channels, 'Ria reading a book.
"'Licrie, time for bed." As the girl whined a little, Hyoma wondered just how many nick names the young girl had.
"Bed, now" Tsubasa said, ending the conversation. She made a face, put back the book and asked where to go. He gave directions to his room and listened closely as she slipped up the stairs. Once he was convinced she was going to stay in bed, Tsubasa sat down heavily.
Hyoma wonders if he's going to cry as he gently takes the remote, turns off the television, and turns to him.
"I have seven siblings, three nieces and a nephew. Valerie and Taitereu are older than me at seventeen and twenty-one. Taitereu has triplet daughters that were born before I left. Obviously you've met Trai. 'Ria is fourteen. She's the only sensible one in our family. She didn't get in much trouble.
"The older triplets are usually called 'the little ones'. They should be ten now. Six when I left. Baby Kairu is only five now. Huh, guess that's not really a baby. Mom left a week after Kairu was born. Left Dad with eight kids, two jobs and a house they could barely afford anyway. Then I left too."
Hyoma tried to stop him, tell him it wasn't his fault, tell him anything, but Tsubasa cut him off with a look of self-hatred.
"We were so poor, Hyoma. I had this crazy idea that I'd win a contest or something and use the money to find us a good home. But really I was just selfish. I didn't want to stay there anymore.
"While I was gone, just in those first two years, Dad died of an infection, Valerie got pregnant and baby Kairu got sick. He almost died Hyoma. After Dad died, Valerie started working the streets, which is how she got pregnant, and 'Ria dropped out of middle school. MIDDLE SCHOOL! Took on three dead end jobs, living on as little as three hours of sleep on some days, and try to pay the bills. She stole from people, the only one of us to ever have an honest life, started stealing. Broke into people's houses, took wallets, anything."
The older boy stared as the blonde fell apart. No tears slid down his face, but they swam in his eyes and his shoulders shook with silent sobs.
"You can tell me it's not my fault," he said, voice cracking, "but it is. I should have stayed, or at least come back. I should have been there to help." Hyoma had never seen Tsubasa like this, so he wasn't really sure what to do but he tried to treat him like anyone else, sitting cross-legged on the couch and pulling him into his lap. He expected the younger boy to pull away and throw mean insults, call him a fag and disappear. But, instead, the blonde wrapped his arms around Hyoma's waist and pressed his face into his shoulder.
Hyoma carefully pressed his face into Tsubasa's hair, whispering comforting words into the almost silence. After a long time, the boy quieted against his chest, sniffling once before pulling himself together.
"I'm sorry. That was probably awkward, huh?" Hyoma smiled at him gently. He'd had a crush on the boy for a long time and there was something both comforting and heartbreaking at finding something about him that made him even the slightest bit weak.
"It's okay, but if you don't mind, what happened?" he asked. Tsubasa studied him for a long time, muttered something along the lines of I'm going to regret this in the morning, and crawled back into his lap. Hyoma was surprised, but he didn't object, wrapping his arms around Tsubasa's slim waist (in what he told himself was a comforting manner) and listening intently.
"Child services came, found one adult, my brother, housing ten kids, two of which had dropped out of school, in a house made for two or three. The reason 'Ria has so little stuff is because the little ones all took little something's to take with them. The organization found a long-lost aunt of ours that took the triplets. My brother got his little girls back. By that time Valerie was emancipated, so she took 'Ria and Trai. Alicreia had the good sense to find me."
They sat in silence for a while and soon Tsubasa had fallen asleep. Against what was probably his better judgment, Hyoma scooped him up in his arms and carried him to the older boy's room. Laying him down on the bed, Hyoma found a brush, unclasped Tsubasa's hair, gently untangled the knots and carefully braided the blonde tresses, a trick he'd picked up from back when he was the only kid old enough to babysit in their village.
He was about to leave for an uncomfortable night on the couch when Tsubasa woke up and grabbed his wrist. A voice in his head told him to wrap the blankets tighter around the boy and leave, but when the blonde shot him a sleepy grin and asked him to stay, his willpower broke like glass. Trying to scowl, he gently pushed the boy over and climbed under the covers beside him. With his arm around his narrow, girly waist, pulling Tsubasa against his chest, and the boy's hair in a long braid, he could almost pretend that he was normal, and he had a girl in his bed. He chuckled darkly at the thought and tugged the blonde tighter against him. Drifting off to sleep, he found that if that was normal, he'd rather be a queer.
Author's Note: Okay before I get any flames, I have nothing against gay people. Actually, a good few of my friends are either bi or gay. The words I used, if you found any offensive, simply fit and I found accurate, if you have a problem with that I'm sorry but it's your problem. Anywaysssss, I know I've disappeared for a while, even though this is my first fic on this fandom. Anyway, if any of you recognize me from HP, I'm really sorry I haven't updated, but I'm working on it!
X's and O's for everybody!!