Author's note: I've decided this needs to be tied up, so expect a conclusion within four chapters (that will not take me a year each to write, I promise!). I originally wanted it to be longer, but it seems reader interest as well as my own interest is dwindling, and I've got little inspiration for a time line of events between what's taken place thus far and the ending that I've had in mind since I settled on the title.
I think some people should be proud of how much fic writing I've gotten done on my sick and snow days. Just, you know, by the way. I've got a chapter for each of my multi-chapts underway! Whoo, progress!
Jun didn't see Takeru again for another week. A week! She was an independent girl, she insisted, but she fell fast and hard when it came to matters of the heart, and she didn't think she could survive with such distance. Ami insisted such distance was healthy, especially since Ami was still of the opinion that Jun's infatuation with Takeru bordered on picking kids up off the playground. Jun rolled her eyes at that; Takeru was five years younger, not five years old, but it seemed to make no difference to her best friend. So Jun kept her thoughts to herself, and it proved to be a challenging exercise. She wasn't very practiced in keeping crushes to herself. She was kind of proud when Ami pointed out that she hadn't mentioned Takeru in two days, although she had been annoyed at the questioning happiness in Ami's voice that suggested she thought Jun was over her crush. She wasn't. She was just planning how to succeed.
"Are you sure you don't just like him because he's a challenge," Ami had asked crossly when she realized what Jun was doing. Jun hadn't answered, because she thought it was a very stupid question. Why did there have to be an alternative motive for everything? Why couldn't it be as simple as "I like him"? Ami would have replied that it was because they were adults, and not toddlers, and so Jun didn't ask. She loved Ami, but sometimes Ami could be as irritating as Daisuke in her own way.
The thing was, she was right in one respect: Jun loved the challenge. She always had, when it came to boys. The ones who immediately succumbed because they were flattered by a girl's attention weren't very fun. They were plastic romances, as Jun liked to think of them. There was no challenge, and things just fell together, and she wondered what they talked about. The challenge built dynamics. It gave you a chance to learn about them, to see who they really were, and to appreciate those quirks that made them special. The special ones never fell just because you wanted them to. They smiled and went "Is that all you got?" It was an intoxicating chase, and to find your hand entwined with one of the special ones was like baiting a ten, which also made you a ten. It was good to be a ten in the dating world. It was a competition, a game of snake and mouse. Jun had always been fascinated by snakes.
That week killed her, by the way. Not literally. Obviously, or there would be no story to tell. But she got all fidgety and anxious and she'd sign online after getting home from work only to realize one, he'd be asleep, or two, she didn't have his screen name. That was a crime in and of itself, but how to get it? Would stealing it from Daisuke arise suspicion? Or maybe not. She could think of this. It wouldn't be that hard to outsmart Daisuke. She'd been doing it for years. And granted, she wasn't the snappiest pea in the pot, but they shared a gene pool, and in that pool, she liked to think that he was still using his swimmies while she was enjoying the deep end.
"Hey Dork," she yelled from her bed, where she sat cross-legged with her laptop sitting in front of her, comfy as could be in yellow flannel pajama pants and a matching sweat jacket. He didn't answer, which just made her exhale loudly in frustration. He could never make anything easy, could he? No. Of course not. That was against the Pain in the Ass Baby Brother rule book, wasn't it? Scowling, she pushed her laptop away from her and jumped up from the bed. It was far from graceful, but she didn't really care. It wasn't like there was anyone to see; her door was closed.
She found him playing some online game on the home computer, his little...Digimon friend thing perched on top of his bush of hair and using the goggles as a sort of handle to keep from falling. Even Jun had to admit that it was kinda cute.
She had bought her laptop out of her own pocket money, but her parents preferred to have only one computer in the house to "keep an eye on things". Jun's argument? "Daddy, but I have school work and Daisuke's always on..." It had dulled her father's annoyance at spending such a large sum of her money on a laptop instead of putting it towards paying off the tuition costs.
"Dai-suke~" Jun called, placing one dissatisfied hand on her hip as she stood behind him. At first, he didn't reply. Then slowly, he caught her reflection in the screen where he was blowing up some medieval looking weirdos.
"Hm," he grunted questioningly. He didn't care what she had to say, she knew. Anything to shut her up. She doubted he'd even remember what she was asking of him.
"Do you have Takeru's screen name? He said he'd tell me when the next concert was so I could get tickets early," she asked, trying to sound sweet and not-as-bitchy as she usually did. She wasn't entirely sure it worked, but Daisuke hit 'pause' on his game to raise his eyebrow questioningly at her.
"Since when do you talk to T.K.," he asked, using the name that she had heard Yamato and a few of the other Chosens' siblings use once in a while. More often than not, he was 'Takeru'. Maybe it was a sign of his growing up.
Take that, Ami! She almost laughed. No way would Ami take that as proof that she wasn't cradle robbing.
"We both go to all Yama-chan's concerts," Jun scoffed, rolling her eyes for effect and using the nauseatingly cute nickname that another girl Jun was friends with had coined during a movie marathon sleep over one day almost a year earlier. "We were bound to chat eventually, Dai-chii," she added, just to see him squirm uncomfortably. He hated that nickname. She was chock full of ways to irritate him into giving her what she wanted so that she would go away.
"Flipexchange, okay? No spaces. Go away, I'm busy," he finished in a mumble, resuming the game play just as something lit up on the screen. "Shiiit! See what you did," he demanded, twisting around in the desk chair to glare at Jun. She smiled sweetly.
"Thanks, baby brother," she said with a small wave, hurrying back to her room while he mumbled about having to start all over. Boys and video games, what the heck was their deal?
She closed the door with her hip before throwing herself back onto the bed, laying on her stomach as she signed onto her messenger program. She ignored an IM that popped up from Ami, asking if they were still on for later that night. For such a quiet, icy girl, Ami sure found the best parties. It was beginning to annoy Jun's parents, but she'd yet to come home smashed – she went to Ami's if she had too much to drink – so for now, they kept their mouths shut. Not happily. They frowned whenever she came home late; they thought she didn't see, but she did. She just enjoyed her adolescence too much to do anything about it.
She minimized Ami's window – she had plenty of time to tackle that conversation – and added the screen name that Daisuke told her to her buddy list. At first, she worried she might have spelled it wrong, or that Daisuke lied. But then the name popped up in big, bold letters. He just signed in. Perfect timing. Jun smiled and clicked on his name.
Hey, it's Jun, she typed, and then she tapped 'enter' with her pinky finger before tapping her lower lip thoughtfully, waiting for him to reply. She didn't have to wait very long.
Hey, "flipexchange" entered. Jun beamed.
Daisuke gave me your screen name. That okay? She didn't want to come across as a creepy stalker or something. She really didn't. But how else was she going to get in touch without sabotaging Daisuke's school day, crashing their get-togethers, or hunting him down at his brother's concerts?
Perfectly. Jun grinned to herself. What's up?
Just deciding what I'm doing today, she replied nonchalantly. You?
Nothing, actually. It's barely noon, and you've already got a life? Aha, I'm jealous .
I'd be happy to give you a share, she typed, frowned, and deleted it. That sounded weird, didn't it? A little too flirty, even for Jun. Instead she entered: What, no plans?
It's Saturday, was his reply. I'm not used to being home.
She frowned before the reason why clicked. Daisuke's soccer games were Saturdays, but it was the off season right now. They had practices, but scrimmages wouldn't begin for another month or two, if she remembered correctly.
Poor baby, she teased. What have you been doing with all that free time?
Wondering what to do with it. She could almost hear his laughter. It's such a bummer. Catching up on some writing though.
You write? She was thinking, like, songs. She figured with a brother in the music industry, that maybe Takeru would pursue a similar career path. Or at least, he'd dabble in music. So his answer surprised her, and caused her eyebrows to rise into her hair.
Yeah. I started a story over the summer, but with school and stuff I haven't had a chance to work on it.
The boy who showed Daisuke up (several times) in basketball and tagged along with big brother to concerts was a novelist? She didn't know what else to say but: That's pretty cool. I never would'a guessed. She wondered if Daisuke knew. She liked the idea of knowing something that her annoying little bro didn't.
My mom's a writer. Music and stuff runs on Dad's side of the family. Jun just smiled and didn't really say anything, but rather mulled this over. She didn't know anything about his dad. Actually, she didn't know anything about either of his parents. She wasn't exactly close with Yamato. She frowned, looking up at a poster of The Teenage Wolves on the wall. She used to idolize that poster. Now, she had half a mind to get up and take it off the wall. Instead, she returned her attention to her conversation with Takeru.
What's your dad do?
Radio production and stuff. I don't really know the details, but he works at the radio tower here in Tokyo. Was that how Yamato got into music, she wondered? Maybe. It sounded plausible enough. But she was surprising herself to find that they were just vague questions, mostly out of habit. She wanted the answers because they were part of Takeru's life, not because it was another fact to add to the list in her diary.
And your mom?
Journalism. So, not really the same kinda writing. But she has a lot of books.
That's pretty cool. Sorry if I'm being nosy. She wasn't sure why she added that. It wasn't really her "way", she supposed you'd call it. She asked questions, and called it being friendly. But she got this feeling while she was typing, and she couldn't really explain it, but she felt like she might be crossing a line. She was toeing a fine one as it was, and she was suddenly struck by the thought that maybe he didn't like questions, like she was invading his space bubble or something. It made her nervous.
No worries, he said, and as though to emphasize his point, he tacked on a little smiley face emoticon. It made her smile, too. That feeling was still there, that gut feeling telling her that he didn't like questions, but he didn't seem to mind them from her. That made her smile more, and she almost giggled until she remembered that her door was closed, but her room wasn't sound proof. Daisuke might ask stupid questions later, and she really hated listening to his inquisition. He always asked the wrong questions. It made it boring.
I don't really feel like waiting until sunset to get out of the house, she told him. Daisuke's playing a stupid game. Care to be dragged out of the house? He could take it or leave it, she told herself. It didn't matter. But it did. His answer meant a lot, and she didn't realize that she was holding her breath because her eyes were too focused on 'flipexchange is typing...'
Uh, sure, I guess. I've got nothing else to do. That was a yes, right? Boys. Why couldn't anyone just give a yes or no answer anymore, she thought with a scowl. But she was pretty sure it was a yes. She was taking it as one, anyway. What do you have in mind?
I haven't had my daily dose yet, and I'm jonesing, she said.
That cafe place you were at when Daisuke and I saw you? The one near the court he asked. She raised her eyebrows, surprised he remembered.
Mhmm. The very same. Meet you in an hour? She didn't know where he lived, exactly, but she assumed he didn't live quite as close as the couple of blocks she had to walk. And she wanted time to get ready, plenty of time. She had to make an impression on this not-at-all-accidental meeting.
Sounds good. See you. He used the same smiling emoticon that he had used before. It was a really cute one, she had to admit. She returned the emoticon, and then dragged up Ami's window.
Yepp. But I've gotta go; I'm seeing Takeru, she added as a smug after thought, and then signed off before Ami could question it further. She could wait until later that night, Jun decided. It wasn't as though Ami had showed a vast amount of interest anyway, aside from calling Jun an idiot. A little curiosity wouldn't kill her. Right?