The three of them came back as usual - Kaito laughing aloud, Aoi chuckling and deadpan Housuke bringing up the rear. They went to take a bath and dry themselves in warm towels provided by Kaito's grandmother.
Grandiose as always, the purplehead presented them with his room, where two spare futons were already installed neatly around his bed. Aoi's bandaged nose shot up to look at the several space shttle scale models hanging from the ceiling.
"Like 'em? Gramps got them fer' me once he went near Tsukuba!"
"Oh wow... never had the chance to... see one up close..."
Aoi's tone was pure sadness. Housuke´s eyes were dangerously narrowed now, but Kaito didn't seem to notice either of their emotions.
"Tell ya' what, I can ask 'im ta' take 'em down tomorrow! Promised! Fer' my sidekicks, tha' an more!"
Aoi's eyes lit like fireworks. Housuke's face relaxed and he gave a small smile. Obnoxious? Sure. Evil? Not a chance.
The petite grandmother's voice echoed from outside the door.
"Remember you have to sleep now, or you will be too sleepy to play tomorrow! Sleep well, Kaito-kun, Housuke-kun, Aoi-kun"
"NIGHT, GRAN!"
"Good night, Momota-san"
"We apologize again..."
The old lady's smiling face peeked in halfway through the door.
"Aoi-kun, Housuke-kun, please, I assure you are no hindrance to us!"
Surprisingly, Kaito considered his gran putting the lights off the end of the day. He showed no interest in conversation from that point on and even waved them good night from below his blankets.
Aoi shrugged, smiling, as it was just another quirk, but Housuke retained some suspicion within him. He tried to engage Aoi in conversation, yet was promptly shot down by a loud "SHHH" from Kaito's fortress of blankets.
("What's with you all of a sudden?!")
After all the commotion he had been through, his Chords of Steel felt incredibly itchy. He waited until both the loud snores and quiet wheezing told him both his companions were asleep, and he pushed his futon open.
In his mind, he designed his steps carefully: he would excuse himself, just needed to drink a glass of water.
Because he could hear the voices in the kitchen: both grandparents were awake.
He stopped in the aisle, out of their sight, waiting for a good moment to go to the kitchen. His ears picked the two elders' movements precisely.
Grandma Momota was using the chopping board, while Grandpa was clearly still using Vaporub, judging by the pungent eucalyptus smell.
"Just checked on them. They are very good kids, so good indeed... They are all asleep..."
"Good, good... Kaito-kun sure is having a great time..."
"He is. Never seen our child so elated! He... is usually trying his best not to worry us. It's the first time he has bought friends... come to think of that"
"He is too kind for those good-for-nothing sons of country hicks we have here. He is a Momota! He is up to greatness! None of those hillbilly goats can compare to him, he's from decent stock, our boy!"
Silence. Hosuke braced himself. How would himself and Aoi be any better than the kids from the neighbourhood? They were orphans... second rate citizens at best! All the dread came back to chill his spine...
"These boys... I remember when they teased him..."
"Weirdo, retard, idiot" the old man's voice trembled. "He... is much better than they are! Such scum, and Kaito-kun still wanted to make friends with them..."
"Even when they teased him and he hit them, he went to say sorry and they mocked him!"
"That's what I mean when I say my boy is made of good stock..."
Was he... feeling sorry for Momota Kaito just now? He didn't have much time to, anyway, for the grandfather piped in.
"These two kids he bought just now... are just one more proof of that"
"Oh, yes, what did you gather? Are they from the orphanage he was sent at?"
"Yes, I spoke to the principal."
"You know him, Kaito-kun is so desperate for friends that I was afraid he had convinced them to run away!"
"Thought the same... they had those scared faces, so I thought that, with all good intention... anyway, the principal says Kaito-kun convinced him to let them out for the weekend. So everything is in good order, see? Kaito-kun didn't kidnap them!
"They were really afraid, the way they apologized!" conceded the grandmother, now frying what smelled like katsudon "Life hasn't been kind to them, and it shows. Absolute darlings, so scared to be a bother! They deserve to have this weekend free of all worry!"
"I can't complain at all, now, you see... These are decent kids, even if parentless. If their time here helps ease some of their sadness, I'm all for it. Kids shouldn't look sad or anxious. And we know about hardship ourselves, don't we? Back in the war..."
"So serious, so righteous... Did you see Aoi-kun, the black-haired one? That child suffered an important loss very recently, I can tell! And Hosuke-kun? He's the one with the hairstrands and the brown hair... I can bet anything that boy is carrying a burden far beyond his years... They do look just like the kids in the years of the war, mind!"
"Oh, the war was hard, all right! At least they have a roof on their heads now... back then..."
The grandmother coughed. Apparently the subject of war was a delicate one, and the grandfather shifted the topic.
"Did you call again?"
"No, the ward is closed now, we may call tomorrow, here's the timetable... give me the glasses..."
"Oh, I see... we will call in when the kids are out to play, then"
There was a silence that Housuke interpreted as a nod.
"What were the odds of both of them being hit by a brakeless truck? And being so gravely injured? No wonder they sent Kaito-kun to an orphanage, by the impact, they thought they were both dead..."
"Only unconscious, they said. They are... coming in and out of coma..."
"Darned cold, curse my luck! We will head back with the kids on Sunday, drop his friends off first and pay our son a visit, so make sure to pack since we will stay with Kaito-kun until they recover..."
Housuke's heart leapt. So his parents were still among the living...
And now, his grandparents would move over with him... Still lucky within his disgrace.
However... they would move back to the orphanage and... maybe for the best, never ever contact each other again... Aoi had him and he had Aoi, but what about Kaito?
In silence, he looked at his, um, "evidence case", could he say?
Obnoxious Little Fuck came first
Strong Willed as a Mule next
Headstrong Hero Wannabe for good measure
Scared of Spirits, if he was not much mistaken...
Friendless Friendly Kid, that too...
He had just added the grandparents's testimony when he felt the bracelet squeeze his wrist and he turned...
Aoi's pale face was just behind him.
His eyes were misty. How-how much had he heard?
"I was... going for some water... but I guess I don´t need it anymore" he whispered, his throat now completely dry.
Before he could ask him how much had he heard, Aoi nudged his head back. Kaito was there, behind them, his face half blue with fear... apparently aghast that his two sidekicks had free will and could move independently of his orders.
"What... are ya' doin'?" (Oh, so he could whisper?) "Ya nutcases, get back into bed, if Gramps catches ya' goin' outta bed 'e's gonna... nevermind!" He winced just as if a chill had ran through his spine. "Get into tha' bed, dont'cha get on the bad side o' me!"
His hands were tensed up to his elbows and fisted up...
("Okay, he STILL has a WORST side, heavens help me...")
"Coming, coming, I just wanted some water but it can wait til morning"
"You don't sound okay, Todoroki?"
"Nonsense. I'm fine" Housuke's eyes met Kaito's, who shifted them sideways "It's you you have to worry about... boss"
Did Kaito get the indirect, or not? He continued to hush them and urge them to get to bed, all the while casting terrified looks at the door.
"He's been saying something about a ghost for a while now..." Aoi whispered.
"DON'T SAY - THAT WORD - SH-SH-SHUT UP!"
The hoarse whisper and the frightened face clicked on Housuke.
"There is no ghost around. And even if there was, we aren't afraid of them, are we, Aoi-kun?"
The black-haired boy turned to Housuke and denied, still clueless about what that was all about.
His purple-haired counterpart, on the other side looked... abashed and ashamed. Of course. His hero act couldn't hold up when ghosts were concerned...
"There you go. We'll protect you if anything happens!"
"No! That-that is the boss's job!"
Housuke's confident grin filled his face. "You have been the boss up until now, and done a mighty good job! You can't call us underlings if we aren't prepared to face this much for our boss, right?"
Kaito's face lit vividly.
"Yeah! I-I guess, if you say it that way... then go ahead!"
("Score, and I thought this wouldn't work!")
"I knew I wasn't mistaken with you two... I would expect no less! No wonder you two are my sidekicks!"
Nudge nudge went the bracelet, and Housuke spotted the little boss's hands relaxing and opening. As he rolled into his futon, he thought that it wasn't a big wonder that he didn't want to share secrets with them. At least in one regard, Momota Kaito made a lot of sense: underlings and not friends, that was what his loneliness had told him.
Yet, he thought before drifting into sleep, maybe for that weekend ("and that weekend only, for the sake of my sanity!") he could shift that into friends...
