POV Takao

Shin-chan nagged me for an entire week before he threatened me.

"Fool that you are, you told me where your mother works; I can go there at any time and introduce myself," he said as we walked home from visiting Kise in the hospital.

"Alright, alright, I get it, let's go," I relented and changed our direction. "Kise looked better, don't you think?"

"Better is a subjective term. He will never play basketball again."

"At least he's still got his looks," I said weakly.

The Maji Burger was overflowing with the after school crowd from my old middle school. We got in line and I ordered my usual grilled fish sandwich, French fries, and chocolate shake. I would have bet money that Shin-chan would be unable to order, much less eat, the food here, but he surprised me, ordering a grilled chicken sandwich and a bottle of water. The cashier wasn't my mother, but she recognized me and gave us a discount. Good to his word, he treated me.

"Is my mom around?" I asked her.

"She's on the fryer."

"Can you let her know I'm here, that we're here, and we would like to talk to her during her next break? We'll wait in the dining room until she's free."

"Sure honey." With food in hand, we took a corner booth away from all the pre-teens.

"Eat slowly," I suggested, pointing to the sign that said, "For the convenience of all our guests, dinners are remind to vacate tables promptly after eating." Shin-chan's eyebrows rose.

"As long as we have food in front of us, we're good, but I really hate this stuff and I don't want to have to order anymore."

"Charming," he said and unfolded his napkin. "Itadakimasu."

I mumbled the saying as well and we began to eat. We reviewed Shin-chan's English homework while we waited and I ate one cold, soggy French fry every time a Maji Burger employee came near the table. We passed an hour that way and soon enough, the after-school crowd thinned. A half an hour after that, Shin-chan called his parents, explaining why he wasn't home yet. By 7:00, salarymen began trickling in and by 7:45, I was tired of Shin-chan's attempts to draw me into conversation about my Japanese literature homework.

"Give me a sec," I said and went up to the same cashier.

"Any clue when my Mom's break will be?"

"Takao-kun are you still here? Your mother went home hours ago."

"What?" I asked, my shoulders sagging.

"Takao, is everything alright?" Shin -chan asked. I turn back to him with a cheesy grin.

"Just a minute."

"She left right after the school rush. Didn't you see her?"

"No, we must have missed each other in the crowd, thanks." Instead of returning to the table, I motioned to Shin-chan that he should wait, and I walked outside, forcing a skip into my step. I leaned against the window just outside and dialed her number.

"Yes?" she answered, sounding irritated, like I was the one who ditched her.

"So, ah, I was wondering where you went," I tried to keep my tone light.

"I'm at home Kazu," she answered and I could hear her blow smoke across the cell's microphone. Smoking was prohibited in our apartment complex and I wondered where she really was.

"Ah, ok. Shin-chan and I are still at Mani Burger."

"Whose bright idea was that? I didn't ask you to wait, in fact, do you think I want to meet your rich boyfriend covered in grease and wearing a paper hat? Sure that's every woman's dream."

"I guess I didn't think it through. I'm sorry. When would be a better time for you? I could bring him Seoul Garden."

"If you like, I'm not ashamed of being half-Korean," she said, the implication being that she was embarrassed to work at Mani Burger. Or maybe, she thought I was ashamed of not being pure Japanese. Either way saying nothing was the best course. "On your way home, pick up some lunches for yourself and Yukina."

"I don't have any money left. I spent it on dinner," I lied, knowing she had no intention of paying me back.

"Can you borrow some from Midorima?"

Shin-chan rapped on the window and gestured to the sign and our empty food containers. I nodded and he began repacking our school bags. "I'll be right there," I mouthed.

"When can he meet you?" I pressed, changing the subject.

"I don't see any reason to meet him. You're happy, that's good enough."

"He wants to meet you; it's important to him."

"Why?" she laughed, "Is he looking for an excuse to break up with you?"

"That's not funny."

"Poor Kazu, did I hurt your feelings?"

"We have a big literature rest coming up, so I'm probably going to end up spending the night at his place."

"Again?" she chucked. "You need to be careful, Kazu, when rich boys get what they want, they get tired of people like you."

"Gotta go, Mom. We're done with our food," I said and disconnected before she could laugh at me again.

Shin-chan's slight frown betrayed how worried he was.

"She wasn't feeling well. She sent me a text but I must have been in a dead spot," I lied. "She thinks she's coming down with something and didn't want to pass it on to either of us."

"Please convey my well-wishes to her."

"I will," I smiled. "We'll figure out a time to reschedule. Hey, can I stay over tonight? With that preliminary game coming up, I can't afford to get sick."

"I'll call ahead," he offered.

For the first time since his birthday, his Mom welcomed me home for a sleepover.

"Maybe we should buy a spare futon," she said as I followed her into Nobou's office, where the couch was already prepared with a pillow and blanket. Shin-chan hovered nearby with a spare set of shorts and a t-shirt for me to sleep in. While I changed in the hallway bathroom, I could hear the two whispering.

"I believe he is concealing a fight he had with his mother."

"Family can be stressful. Not everyone deals with it in the same way."

"I'm starting to understand that," he sighed. I could imagine him rubbing his temples.

"Be his support then. Provide him stability when he can't find it at home."

"How can you say such embarrassing thing so easily?" he asked. I thought I heard a bit of humor in the question and her ability to bring that out of him made me jealous.

"Because I can see how much you love him, you can't hide that from me. I know you too well. Perhaps you should tell him."

"He knows; he always know," he muttered. I did know, just like I knew he was blushing as he said it. But she was right, I'd love to hear him say it.

"Sometimes it is important to say it out loud, especially if he's feeling vulnerable."

When I finally managed to stop the tears and scrubbed my face clean, I left the bathroom. Shin-chan was there, dressed for bed. He handed me a can of soup.

"Huh?"

"It appears to me that now is not the time to leave you alone."

"Oh," I managed to answer and followed him into the office. In his words I heard the subtext like a subliminal recording. It said, "I love you, Kazunari."