Monochrome Days
Chapter 2: The Hound's Entreaty
"Everyone! Please don't crowd around him! Give him some breathing space!" One of the older members of the gaggle of kids exclaimed as everyone gathered around the fallen boy.
"It's him!" One of them with a blue scarf whispered to a teal haired boy beside him.
The teal-net nodded knowingly, "Should've guessed. The guy's probably got the worst luck in Hokkaido. No, the whole of Japan!"
"I think I almost had a pre-pr-premonition about this when I saw him coming here." Another one of the group said loudly, only quieting to cover the pronunciation trouble before raising his volume again.
Fubuki quietly approached, and the crowd gathering around the fallen boy instantly dispersed. It was quite obvious that they were reluctant to go near the one-man team.
Quite contrary to his title of "Bear-killer", he was quite the lovely person people would fawn over... If not for his "peculiarity".
He went up to Kurosawa and crouched down beside him, lightly patting him on the cheek to wake him up.
The boy only stirred feebly. He tried for about sixty seconds. As a last try he took a hold of the front of Kurosawa's sweater and forcefully jerked him upwards before shaking him liberally.
"HEY! GET UP, DARN IT! IT WAS ONLY A BALL TO THE FACE! ARE YOU A MAN OR WHAT?!"
Everyone looked at his "subtle" methods with exasperated eyes. His split personality of Fubuki Atsuya was still the dominant one, and Fubuki Shirou attempted to pacify the fiery striker.
"Wha-wai-bui-eaw-kya-" Kurosawa spluttered unintelligibly as he was forced awake by Atsuya's "gentle" administrations.
"Finally!" He snapped loudly, making Kurosawa flinch noticeably. He let go of his front, making Kurosawa almost fall on his back again from losing balance.
"Jeez, are you stupid or something?" He chided, and some of the people still present whispered "Obviously!" before snickering at their own wit.
"I-I'm sorry!" Kurosawa apologized in a high-pitched voice as he scrambled to his feet, dusting off snow from the parts of his back he could reach.
"You should be!" He spat, making him flinch. But as he opened his mouth to continue on his tirade, he suddenly calmed down and his facial features became more gentle.
"Be careful from now on. It's dangerous to stand in places stray balls are likely to fly off to." He said in a gentle voice, totally catching Kurosawa off guard.
"Um... Yes..." Kurosawa said uncomfortably.
Fubuki, now returned to his personality of Fubuki Shirou, smiled kindly and gestured everyone to return to their positions.
The match continued as though nothing had happened, but this time Kurosawa sat closer to the crowd cheering for one team or the other.
Fubuki concentrated on the game, but in his head was lecturing the part of him that was Atsuya about being a bit more sensitive and not blowing up on people's faces for the littlest things.
"Yeah yeah Nii-san, don't have a cow." He whined dismissively as he scored another brilliant goal.
"Atsuya, you know very well that you were not giving it your all in that shot. If you'd just taken it seriously, that wouldn't have happened." Fubuki persisted, not willing to let it go.
"Alright, alright... Jeez, you can go and apologize to the kid when the match's over." Atsuya whispered in an irritated voice. He really disliked admitting he was wrong to anyone but his brother.
"Okay! How about I change your diapers afterwards as well?" Shirou said in an angelic voice in his head.
Atsuya flinched, "No thanks, I'll apologize to him myself."
Even though his brother was the nicest person one could meet, in his mind he was quite fond of scathingly sardonic remarks which could be really intimidating. It was a testament that he had really displeased him, because he rarely spoke like that.
To put into perspective: Shirou was quite understanding when he had forcibly taken control of his body the other day during a practice match. He thought his Nii-san was being needlessly defensive in his plays. So after that match, he had only gotten light scoldings like his usual kind and gentle self would give.
But times like these where he refused to listen to him, he would go into his "Onii-sama" mode, like their late mother's "Okaa-sama" mode which she employed against them and their father at times.
And if anyone heard him during these brief spells as "Shirou-onii-sama", any images of his being a kind, understanding, gentle and overall desirable elder brother figure would be shattered to tiny pieces. Or maybe this bit of Fubuki Shirou was only reserved for him?
As he passed the ball to one of his teammates to give the other team a breather, he was able to steal a glance at the spectators.
And he was promptly hit by a feeling of exasperation as he saw the boy who had been knocked out sitting a few feet away from the group of rowdy and loud spectators.
He wasn't actually watching (which Atsuya thought was an insult to his "awesomeness") but had his face scrunched up in a look that one would get if he was humiliated and laughed at in the middle of a class.
"What. An. Oddball." Atsuya commented as he dashed in front of the charging forward who was able to steal the ball. He easily took possession of the ball and to vent his feelings sent an extra strong Eternal Blizzard towards the poor sap of a goalkeeper.
"Most people think that we're oddballs as well, so I think we'll get along splendidly for the few seconds it would take for you to say your sorry." Shirou said reprovingly, quite tired of his brother's whining.
Atsuya just grunted in response.
After the match ended (with the obvious result of 13-0 goals), the overjoyed boys who had asked him to help them bowed to him, "Thank you very much!" they all said loudly and cheered after rising.
"Well, I couldn't really turn down an offer to play soccer." Fubuki said, smiling kindly.
"But still," One of the boys stated joyfully, "without your help we would've been doomed!"
"Ya got that right!" Atsuya said proudly in Shirou's head. Shirou just sighed and shook his head, vexed at his brother's overblown ego.
"Is something the matter?" The leader of the group of boys asked in a worried voice.
"U-uh nothing, Saegusa-kun." Fubuki said, waving an airy hand.
"Oh, okay then." Saegusa said, relieved. "Anyway, let us treat you to something!"
"It's okay, really. I didn't really help you expecting-"
"We insist!"
"Okay then." Shirou said, smiling slightly. But he stopped for a moment as he was leaving to scan the crowd for the raven-haired boy.
"Come on!"
They left for the nearest vending machine while chatting animatedly. It was only a few blocks away, and soon enough they were all getting their favorite things to drink.
"What would you like, Senpai?" Saegusa asked him brightly.
"Hmm..." Shirou pondered, scanning the contents of the vending machine. "I want milk coffee."
"I'll have Red-bean soup!" Shirou said cheerfully, completely ignoring his brother. "Hey! Nii-san! I want coffee! You know I don't like sweet things!"
"Here you go!" Saegusa said, passing him the lukewarm can. A truck passed by them, and they all shivered at the gale of cool air it left behind.
"Nii-san! Nii-san! Don't ignore me!"
"Okay, okay. I'll get you a can later." Shirou thought in his head.
"No fair! I was the one who won the match for them!"
"Okay, I'll get you two cans. Happy?"
"Very. You're the best, Nii-san!"
"Only when I give you what you want." Shirou sighed.
Just as he had opened his can of Red bean soup and put it to his lips, Shirou felt a strange sensation on the back of his neck.
"What's wrong?" one of the boys called Mitsuzuri asked him as he quickly turned to look behind him.
"Nothing... I just have the strangest feeling that we're being watched." Shirou said softly.
"Really?" Saegusa asked, looking around. He seemingly caught a glimpse of something and grinned.
"Hey! Kurosawa, you can come out!" He yelled at a small alley near them.
There was a strange whimper and the sound of scrambling feet in the snow from there.
"Hey now, your cover's blown. Come out already." Saegusa said.
"Um... No one's here! You're mistaken!" A childish voice replied, and some of the number slapped their hand on their cheek or forehead in frustration muttering something on the lines of "Idiot" or "Moron".
Mitsuzuri on the other hand stomped over to the alley and disappeared from view for a few moments. Sounds of scuffling and a few squeaks came for a while before Kurosawa was dragged unceremoniously out into the group.
"You again..." Shirou said softly.
"I-I'm really sorry!" He said in a panicked voice and bowed to them at large.
"What were you up to anyway?" Saegusa asked, crossing his arms beneath his chest.
"N-nothing! Nothing a-at all!" He stuttered awkwardly.
Mitsuzuri raised an eyebrow, not really buying it.
"Uh-um..." Kurosawa mumbled as he twiddled his fingers.
"Spit it out already!" Mitsuzuri snapped in an irritated voice.
Kurosawa flinched and said in an inaudible voice, "C-could I h-h-have a w-word w-with..." He gestured towards Shirou.
"Me?" He asked, pointing at himself.
Kurosawa nodded stiffly in reply.
"Okay, I don't mind. I needed to speak to you as well." He replied kindly.
"Hey, introduce yourself to him!" Saegusa said, pushing Kurosawa from the back a bit.
Kurosawa nearly trembled, but regained his composure and bowed.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Kurosawa Ayumu..." He said in his usual quiet voice.
"Same here. My name's Fubuki Shirou." Shirou said graciously.
"Be sure to be polite to him! He's our Senpai, you know!" Mitsuzuri said proudly as he and Saegusa puffed up in pride.
"S-senpai?" Kurosawa stuttered, "You mean he's not our age?"
"Of course not!" Saegusa all but shouted, "What would make you think that?!"
"Umm..." Kurosawa stayed quiet, deciding not to point out that his stature would suggest otherwise.
"Anyway, be polite and show some respect!" Mitsuzuri said bossily.
"That's right, you tell him, Mitsuzuri!" Atsuya chimed proudly in Shirou's head.
"Mitsuzuri, don't you think that's a bit redundant? Remember, you're talking to Keigo*-kun!" One of the boys said jokingly.
Everyone but Shirou laughed, not really understanding the joke. He only saw Kurosawa's expression which suggested that he wanted nothing more than to crawl under a rock at that point.
"Keigo-kun?" Shirou asked Saegusa in an undertone after a while, making sure that Kurosawa didn't hear them.
"Oh, that." He whispered back with an amused look on his face. "Well, he's pretty well known for his weird over-the-top formal way of speaking, among other things." He explained. "Didn't you notice he uses "Watashi" to refer to himself rather than "Boku" or "Ore" like any normal boy would? And how he uses the o- and go- prefixes for the proper nouns and conjugates the verbs with -imassu and ends sentences with dessu?"
"That I have. So I'm guessing that's where he gets the name."
"You got it."
"Told ya, oddball to the tenth power." Atsuya said in his head.
"Everyone has their unique quirks."
"That's more of an oddity than a quirk."
"That's quite rich coming from you of all people."
"What do you mean by that?!"
"Nothing."
After saying farewell to the group of kids, Shirou decided that it was time to let Atsuya apologize to Kurosawa.
"Do I have to?" Atsuya whined, not really looking forward to the prospect.
But Shirou was resolute, and he adjusted the scarf he was wearing and let Atsuya come out.
"Um..." Kurosawa looked like he wanted to say something. But before he could say something, Atsuya bowed and straighetend up.
"Fubuki-san?" Kurosawa asked, puzzled.
"Uuh, sorry." Atsuya muttered disdainfully.
"?" Kurosawa still looked puzzled.
"For blowing my top back then, idiot!" Atsuya snapped, making Kurosawa recoil a bit. "There, I apologized. Happy now?"
"Umm... There really was no need, actually. It was my fault anyway." Kurosawa said dejectedly as he drew on the snow with the toe of his shoe.
"No, I needed to do this." Shirou said, coming back as the dominant personality.
"No I didn't."
"So what did you want to tell me, Kurosawa?" Shirou asked kindly.
"Um... You w-were really great on the field... Really fast, I could barely see you properly... Um, you're a really good athlete, it seems... A-and... and..."
"And?" Shirou urged.
"And I was wondering if..." He said, his voice trailing away into inaudible mumbles.
"Sorry, I can't hear you." Shirou said.
He tried again, but only mumbles came out. He tried for about two minutes before Atsuya lost his patience.
"SPEAK UP!" He bust out, taking over his brother's body.
Kurosawa jumped so much that his feet actually left the ground and he fell into a bow at lightning fast speed, "PLEASE TEACH ME HOW TO PLAY SOCCER!" he said loudly.
Dumbfounded, Atsuya stared at Kurosawa like the dozen or so people who stopped to stare at them.
"What?" He asked flatly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I was being stupid... I knew you had better things to do... I'll just leave. I'm sorry again for such a stupid request." He said in a mortified voice before turning to leave.
"Wait!" Shirou called, regaining control and he grabbed Kurosawa's shoulder.
Kurosawa looked at him with apprehension mixed with hope.
"Okay. I guess I wouldn't mind having a student." Shirou said with a smile.
"Let's make him call me "Shishou" or "Sensei"; that would be so cool!"
"Really?" Kurosawa said, almost not daring to believe his ears.
"Yes. Honestly, you're the first person who asked." Shirou said, before adding thoughtfully, "For some reason, everyone I ask to accompany me in training gets scared off."
"What?" Kurosawa asked, quite fazed by the revelation.
"Anyway, be at the Frozen Field near the river at noon." Shirou said in an amused voice as he left for home.
"What?" Kurosawa asked again blankly.
Shirou waved without turning back.
"Bet you 500 yen that he'll only last the first hour." Atsuya said snidely in his head.
"Let's not underestimate him." Shirou said casually, "But I don't expect much either. He doesn't seem physically fit enough."
Notes:
Keigo: Japanese mode of formal speech. Usually only fully employed by adults and learnt by one's late teens in Japan. Highly unusual when used among peers. Thought of as sarcastic and or cold and distant when used among close friends and family.
Shishou: Instructor, usually used for martial arts instructors.
Sensei: Everyone knows this one.
Shirou denotes that it's Fubuki's personality speaking.
Atsuya denotes Atsuya's personality speaking.
I used "Fubuki" to denote the person as a whole when a specific personality doesn't hold. I hope it's not confusing.