Okay, just so none of you are confused, the last chapter occurred 3 months after Takuya's death. And this chapter is taking place a few days later. Okay! :D
"So, as you all know, I always do the soccer tryouts for the high school. For some reason. Because I'm a lacrosse coach." Keiji sighed. "But whatever. There will be several cuts this year. I highly doubt that any freshman or sophomores will make it onto varsity, so don't sweat it if you're only on JV. Got it?"
He turned and looked over to Ayaka, who was sitting on a chair, reading a magazine. "Can I have the sheet, Ayaka?"
The brunette peered up at him. "Huh?"
"The sheet?"
"…The sheet?"
Keiji's brow ticked. "Yes. The sheet."
"The one you gave me in the car?"
"…Ayaka."
Ayaka smiled sweetly. "I was just kidding with you."
Keiji grumbled and snatched the sheet out of her hands when she finally gave it to him. "Alright. Freshman and sophomores in one line. Juniors and seniors in another. Divide girls and guys. I want four lines. Let's get this over with." He sighed and massaged his temples. "I'm so hung over."
All the teens stared at him blankly. "You guys don't know what a hang over is? It's when you get drunk and wake up sick the next day. Don't any of you party?"
Slowly, a girl raised her hand, then mostly everybody else raised their hands. Keiji sighed. "That was rhetorical. Idiots. Go run a mile."
"Well, we're leaving now," Naoki said, standing in front of his siblings, and their significant others in the foyer. "The jet's out in the driveway now, so we'd better get going."
"See you in two weeks," Keiko said softly, pushing a strand of wet hair behind her ear. She had just showered after the tryouts.
Naoki nodded. "Behave."
Keiji huffed. "Like we're children. We're going to be fine."
"Right. I'll see you all," the eldest child said as he headed out the door, his fiancée's fingers intertwined with his own. The shutting of the door was deafening.
"Alright, then," Keiko muttered. "We're going out to eat tonight. All six of us." He looked to Keiko's boyfriend. "Even you."
Tamotsu laughed softly, realizing that Keiji was just joking with him. "Thanks."
"Okay. Get ready. I'll meet you in my car in twenty minutes."
"Right," Keiko muttered. "Come on, Tamotsu."
The two climbed three flights of stairs to get to Keiko's room, and when they got in and shut the door, Keiko just stood there, staring down at the ground with a blank expression.
Tamotsu tilted his head to the side. "Keiko? Baby? Are you okay? What's the matter?"
"I hate him," she murmured.
"Naoki?"
She nodded. "I hate him so much."
Tamotsu moved in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. "No you don't."
"I hate him."
Tamotsu pushed her damp bangs off of her forehead and he pressed a kiss to it. And then, he was kissing her all over her face, her cheeks, her eyes, her nose, her ears. But not her lips. "I'm sorry," he murmured. Then he kissed her lips. "I can't say I know how you feel, because I don't, but I can imagine you don't feel very good right now, right?"
Keiko shook her head, looking sad.
"I'm sorry," he repeated. "And I'm sorry that there's nothing more that I can do. I'd love to be able to make it better, but I can't."
"I know," Keiko murmured, wrapping her arms around his waist and dropping her head to his chest. "It's okay. I'm just glad you're here."
"I've missed you."
Keiko looked up at him, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. "What do you mean?"
He shrugged and smiled a little bit. "I don't know. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."
"You were just over five days-"
"No, I mean, you've been here, but you haven't been here. You know? Like, ever since school ended last year, you've been acting pretty weird. Did something happen?"
~Takuya.~ "I guess I've just been stressed out over Naoki getting married. I mean, it's just going to be different."
"I understand." He kissed her again. "You should probably dry your hair. Keiji said to be ready in twenty minutes, and it's already been ten."
"You right." She pulled away and sat down at her vanity while Tamotsu took a seat on the bed. "And Tamotsu?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"I can't believe we already have a project. It's only the first week of school," Kouichi said, sighing heavily as he opened his computer.
"But at least we have partners," Atsuko, the girl who sat next to him in in his history class, said, smiling as she sat down on his bed. She was very pretty, with long brown hair and green eyes.
Kouji was sitting on his own bed, watching TV.
"Do you mind us being here, Kouji? I hope we're not disturbing you," Kouichi said.
"It's fine. Izumi's going to be here in a few minutes anyway. We're gonna hang out downstairs," he said, his eyes not leaving the screen.
"Okay," Kouichi said.
Kouichi and Atsuko talked quietly for several minutes, until Kouji heard a knocking on the door, and with a mumble of "Later", he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
"So," Atsuko said. "That's the infamous Minamoto Kouji? I mean, I was in his history class last year, and I was too scared to talk to him, but he's like, a person."
Kouichi laughed. "I could've told you that."
"I know!" Atsuko giggled softly. "I just wanted to see for myself. He's not all he's cracked up to be. He's kind of mean. I mean, not mean! But quiet."
Kouichi nodded. "He's really quiet. And he can be really cold to people, even to his friends."
"Even you?"
"Yeah, even me. It's not as bad, though. I guess he's always been a bit nicer to me."
"Aww. Brotherly love! Who is he nicest to out of all of your friends?"
Kouichi blinked. ~Wow. She's really interested in my life, isn't she?~ "Probably Izumi." ~Or Takuya…~
"And the meanest to?"
Kouichi smiled. "Probably Tomoki or Keiko."
"Tomoki who?"
"Himi Tomoki. You wouldn't know him. He's still in the middle school. And Takishita Keiko. You probably know her."
"I do," Atsuko said brightly. "I mean, I know who she is. I've never talked to her, though." She smiled. "So maybe I don't really know who she is."
Kouichi smiled. "Right."
"You seem like you want to talk," Izumi said softly, peering at Kouji with soft green eyes. "Is something bothering you, Kouji?"
The raven blinked and looked back down at his lap. "No, I'm alright."
"Are you sure? You can tell me if you want. I'm here for you Kouji." ~Because Takuya can't be.~
"I don't know. Just… Everything, I guess. All the stuff that's been going on. School starting up, the whole situation with Takuya and Asashi, and…" He sighed heavily. "I don't think Kouichi likes me anymore."
"What?" Izumi stared with wide eyes at her close friend. Kouji looked extremely sad, and it tugged at Izumi's heartstrings. "No, no, no… No, Kouji." She moved closer and wrapped her arms around him. "No, that's not true. Kouichi loves you."
Kouji didn't even flinch when she came closer. He buried his face in her shoulder, going completely limp in her embrace. Izumi was shocked that he wasn't resisting, but she didn't hesitate in rubbing his back lightly.
"It just feels like everything's changing," Kouji mumbled into her shirt. "Nothing's the same anymore."
"I know," Izumi sighed. "It's so hard. But we need to adapt. Right?"
Kouji nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks…"
"No problem!" Izumi pulled away and looked at Kouji. "You still up to watching that movie?"
Kouji smiled lightly. "Yeah, sure."
"I don't know what I want," Tamotsu mumbled, staring at his menu. "Everything looks so good. And, uh, really expensive."
"Don't worry about it," Keiko said. "We've got you covered."
"I'm not really worried, I just know that this is going to be one of the only times I'll ever eat a meal that costs 300 dollars, so I want to make sure I pick the best one."
Keiji smirked. And in reply, Tamotsu gawked. ~An approval smirk?!? From Takishita Keiji?!? Eeeek!~
"What're you staring at?" Keiko whispered. "Your jaw is hitting the table."
Tamotsu cleared his throat and closed his mouth. "Sorry. B-But… Keiji smirked at me!"
Keiko blinked. "He likes you."
"REALLY?!?" The table went quiet, and everybody stared at Tamotsu, who was pretty much hyperventilating in his seat. "REALLY?"
Keiko stared. "Yes…"
Tamotsu grinned and went back to his menu. "Sorry! Carry on, everybody."
"Well, thanks for having me over," Atsuko said, smiling at Kouji as she pulled her sweatshirt. "It was really nice getting to know you."
"Yeah, it really was," Kouichi said, nodding at the girl. "Thanks for coming."
Atsuko rocked back on her heels. "Right, okay. I'll see you, Kouichi."
"Bye, Atsuko."
The brunette waved and walked out the door, and Kouichi couldn't help but smile. She was really sweet.
Kouji came walking down the hall, and he stared at Kouichi for a moment. "Hey."
The older of the two turned. "Hey, Kouji. Izumi left?"
Kouji nodded and rubbed his eye with his fist. "Yeah."
"Is something wrong?" He headed over to his twin. "What's the matter?"
Kouji shook his head. "It's nothing. I'm going to bed now." He turned around and walked to the staircase. "Goodnight."
Kouichi blinked. "Night…"
"One day, a man went to the horse racing area. Instead of counting the number of humans and horses, he counted 74 heads, and 196 legs. Yet, he knew the number of humans and horses, there. How did he do it, and how many humans and horses are there?" Kouji blinked. "What the fuck? When are we ever going to use this in life? I mean, what kind of guy counts heads and legs. Fucking idiotic son of a bitch." The raven glared at Keiko, who was writing something down in a notebook. "What are you doing?" He gawked. "How did you solve that?"
Keiko waved Kouji over, and he moved to her side, looking at the piece of paper. "Okay," Keiko said, pointing at the paper. "HM is human, and HR is horse. HM and HR equal out to be 74. But 2HM and 4HR equal 196. So you add both pairs, and then subtract them, and it comes out being 196 minus 148. 2HR equals 48, divide by two, and it's 24. Then, HM plus 24 equals 74, so you subtract 24 from both sides, and we find out that there are 24 horses and 50 humans!"
Kouji stared. "Shut the fuck up."
"What's your problem, today? You're even meaner than usual."
"Sorry," Kouji grumbled. "Just stuff."
"You… wanna talk?"
"Not really. I already talked to Izumi about it."
"Oh." Keiko turned back to her paper. "Okay, then."
Kouji ignored the weird expression on her face and pointed at the paper. "But how does that make sense? There are more humans than horses. Shouldn't there be an equal amount, since it's a race track?"
"Hmm. Maybe it's all the workers or something."
"Or horse-rapers."
Keiko suddenly began laughing hard at Kouji's strange joke.
Kouji glared. "What?"
Finally, she managed to stop laughing and she cleared her throat. "Sorry, sorry. It just… That sounded like something Takuya would say. It was so weird hearing you say it, that's all."
"Yeah, Takuya would say something like that," Kouji murmured.
Keiko giggled. "He said a lot of funny things. When he was around, you know. He was always the funniest one."
"It wasn't even him making jokes. He would just state the obvious. You know, shit that nobody else would ever have the guts to say."
"Yeah, you're right." Keiko stared at the paper, smiling lightly. "I miss him."
Kouji nodded and took a deep breath, trying to quell the lump in his throat. "Me too."
There was silence for several minutes, before Kouji uncharacteristically broke it. "Can you play me a song on the piano?"
Keiko blinked. ~That's weird. Something's definitely up with him. He's been acting so strange.~ "Sure."
"I'm not too heavy?" Michiko asked wearily, squirming lightly on Junpei's lap.
"Not at all," the older brunette said reassuringly. "You're as light as a feather. I barely feel you. I could probably bench you if I wanted to."
Michiko smiled. "Yeah, okay, Jun-"
Suddenly, she was up in the air, held up by Junpei's sturdy hands. "Holy crap!" Michiko squeaked. "Let me down!" She dropped back into his lap, gasping. "You weren't kidding."
"You're really light," Junpei reiterated. "Like, you can't weigh over 120."
"I'm 122," Michiko muttered, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear.
"That's all?" Junpei asked. He pressed a hand to her stomach. "Well, I think you're perfect the way you are."
"Thank you." Michiko curled up against Junpei's chest, reveling in the hard muscles. ~And he's all mine.~ "I think you are too. But that's pretty obvious, right?"
Junpei shrugged and ran a hand through her auburn locks. "Nah."
Michiko sighed and moved against Junpei's stroking fingers. "You're so sweet. I never would have thought."
"Well, I'm different with you than how I am with my friends."
Michiko felt her heart flutter. He sometimes just said the nicest things, most of the time without even realizing it. Junpei made a movement to get up, but Michiko pressed a hand lightly to his chest. "Wait."
"Yeah, baby?"
"Can we just lay like this for a little while?"
Junpei smiled and pulled her closer, so he was pretty much wrapped around her. "Of course."
"Shit." Tomoki winced. He dropped another cotton ball, dripping with peroxide, dirt and blood into the sink. He had gotten into a pretty bad fight.
He wasn't actually sure why the fight had happened, or who it was with, but he knew that in the end he had won. Still he didn't walk out completely uninjured.
Well, it probably started when they were all getting too rough, and when they began snapping back and forth at each other. But Tomoki knew, more than anything, that he had never had an outlet for the pain and anger he felt over Takuya's passing.
Yeah, he knew that this wasn't exactly the best way to deal with it, but, really, what else was he supposed to do? How else could he release the pressure? He couldn't just run into his room and scream into a pillow.
This pain was so much more than that.
"Shit," Tomoki muttered again, taking a ragged breath as he stared at himself in the mirror. "Takuya…"
Yeah, yeah. I know it was REALLY short. But I'm going to actually START the story in the next chapter. This chapter was pretty much just showing their changes. :D And I wanted to introduce Atsuko. 'Cause she's really adorable.
Also, I'd like to let you know the results of both polls! First of all, the pairing possibilities one:
In first place was Kouji and Keiko, with 22 votes.
Second was Takuya and Izumi, with 17 votes.
Third place, Kouji/Keiko/Tamotsu triangle, 13 votes.
Fourth, Takuya/Keiko/Kouji triangle, 12 votes.
Fifth was Takuya and Keiko, with 11 votes.
Sixth place was a three-way between Kouichi/Keiko, Tamotsu/Keiko and Kouji/Takuya! Each had 10 votes.
Seventh was Tomoki/Shinya with 8 votes.
In eighth place there was another three-way tie between Kouji/Izumi, Takuya/Keiko/Tamotsu triangle and Junpei/Izumi. 7 votes.
Ninth was ANOTHER three-way tie with 6 votes between Kouichi and Izumi, Kouichi/Keiko/Tamotsu, and Junpei/Izumi/Takuya.
Tenth is Takuya and Kouichi with 4 votes.
Eleventh was Keiko/Tamotsu/Izumi with 2 votes.
And last was Izumi and Keiko with 1 vote.
In all we had 38 votes on the poll! Woohoo!
And the other poll was the favorite character poll.
In first place was Keiko, with 9 votes!
Second was Takuya with 5 votes.
Third was Saburo, Keiji and/or Naoki with 4 votes.
There was a tie for fourth between Tamotsu and Kouji, with 3 votes.
And a tie for fifth between Asashi and Izumi, with 1 vote each.
Keiko: Wow! I can't believe it!
Neither can I.
Keiko: Hey!
Anyways, I've got a new poll up, so make sure you all vote! :D