p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;"It didn't bother him, so he said. He had no problem with going back and telling Yukio that he'd give him a second chance, or third chance, or whatever they were on, he wasn't sure. Every chance was a second chance when it involved having to go back to a house he scarcely wanted to be in to teach a boy who scarcely wanted to learn./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;"He'd thought about how he'd do it. He'd spoken to Momo when he'd gotten back and asked if she had any more bright ideas, and the only thing she could say was that he should be honest. Honesty, he thought however, may not be his best option. How do you politely tell someone you wanted to scare them into a more submissive temperament? It simply wasn't a viable plan./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;"Sunday evening, Toshiro lay back on his bed, the unavoidable situation rolling around in his head with still no answer, when his phone began to buzz from over on the desk. Reaching over, he picked it up and looked at the caller ID – an unknown private number. He let it ring for a moment, unsure if he should answer, and when it rang off, he placed it back down on the desk without a second thought. A few moments later however, it rang again, and the boy hesitantly answered./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""Hi." A voice drifted through the phone, unmistakably familiar. Toshiro sat bolt upright on his bed and pulled the phone from his ear to stare slack-jawed in disbelief at the private number. He should've guessed. A peculiar anger simmered in the pit of his stomach./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""How did you get my number?" Biting back a reply, he kept his voice steely and demanding. He didn't like the fact that Yukio had managed to source his phone number without him ever having given it to him./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""If you have enough money to throw around, things become pretty easy." The blonde replied, shifting to pull the blanket he had draped over his shoulders higher up, as it had begun to slip down his arms. The cool night breeze whipped gently at his face and pulled lightly through his hair, calming his frayed disposition. The balcony where he sat overlooked the front lawn and driveway, and if he looked far enough out, he could see the twinkling of the town lights against the darkness of the evening nestled around them. Threading his legs through the small white columns on the balcony railings, Yukio shuffled nearer the edge so he could let his legs dangle, and rest his head against the coolness of the marble. He'd had a rough weekend./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""What do you want, Yukio?" Toshiro queried somewhat harshly, which even to himself felt unnecessary, however he found it difficult to not address him with such a frustrated temperament./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""I'm sorry." Yukio glanced out across the garden toward the lights and took a deep breath, took a few in fact, apologizing wasn't his strong suit, but he knew when it was appropriate to admit wrongdoings./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""What?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""I said I'm sorry. For the other day, and for generally being a pain in the neck, I'm sorry." It didn't get easier over time. The wounds were as fresh as they ever had been. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""Look man, I don't know you, or really anything about you, or why you act like that. But you can't just-." Toshiro was incredulous. He didn't care what excuses Yukio could spout, there was nothing that could shake the confrontation from his mind./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""I don't mean to be a dick, I just get irritated and angry and that's what withdrawals do to me. Everything annoys me, I can't quite remember what the Doctor called it, but he said it has a direct link with long term drug use." Yukio confessed. "A few years ago, he told me to stop. I didn't." Something in his voice was incredibly shameful. He emknew/em it was wrong, and Toshiro supposed that was at least something. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""Why the hell not?" He snapped. It may have seemed aggressive, but Yukio knew that it was just the tone people took with him. Frustration, confusion, the state of being at their wits end and yet the problems were just as vibrant as before. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""Look, being wealthy comes with a lot of problems." He continued, wanting to explain himself. He wouldn't admit it, but Toshiro had provided him with something akin to easy company, and that was something he rarely got outside of his butler. He was also a challenge, something to pour all the excess energy into, and that was always welcome. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""Oh yeah? Like what, you have to spent a while counting all your money?" The sarcasm was scathing. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""No." Yukio took a deep breath and stared hard at his legs. "Things like keeping face, behaving like a saint, patience, complacency and the list goes on. You pretty much have to be an angel." There was silence for a moment. "I was never like that. My parents didn't approve. I wanted to ride bikes and skateboards and play video games, and they wanted me to dress up and go to dinner parties." Another pause. "They don't really associate with me anymore." Toshiro was momentarily dumbstruck. His own parents resented him? They didn't talk to him? They didn't love him to the ends of the earth? What a bizarre and alien concept it was to a boy who had known nothing but unconditional love his entire life. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""They don't associate with you?" He eventually queried, and Yukio made a noise of amused agreement, but underneath the titter was just a sad and desperate cry for someone to care. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""I don't know if you wondered where they were, but I don't live with them." /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""Why are you telling emme/em all of this?" Toshiro suddenly felt far too invested, too included, people didn't open up like this to him, so why? He was just roped in to tutor a delinquent, and instead the problem child /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""Good question, I'll hook you up with an answer when I find it." Again, another amused jittery laugh. Fake. "You pity me, right? I mean, you have your life so together, and then here I am with no clue and no direction. I've been falling apart for a long time, and there's never really been anyone to pick up the pieces." Toshiro's whole perception of Yukio had begun to take a new shape, and it was one that he couldn't help but care for in some form or another. The trust and confidence that Yukio had extended his way was something he couldn't just outright reject. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""Yukio, honestly, I think a lot of people have let you down, and have failed to help you when you needed it, and that's why you're like this now." His voice was soft, far more gentle than he'd ever tried to be in person. "But I also think emI/em can help you with your grades, if you'd just listen to me and do what I'm asking you to do."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""It's hard for me to focus for extended periods of time."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""I understand that, and I suppose somehow we can work around it."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""You'll come back?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""To teach you enough to pass, yes." He felt strange. Different somehow. He felt like he'd been thrown into the deep end of Yukio's life and suddenly, the step up at an open day seemed rather insignificant. It certainly was a good incentive, however after being opened up to, he felt responsible, like he genuinely wanted to help if he could. "Is there anything in particular you want to look a tomorrow?" He queried, making a note that maybe a little give and take wouldn't be such a bad idea. Yukio pondered briefly./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""You wanted to look at biology, didn't you?" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""I'm trying to make it as interesting for you as I can, so I want you to pick a subject that you firstly, need to up your grades in and secondly, you think you can pay attention for a few hours on." Yukio thought once more, though this time his answer seemed to be more eager. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""Can we look at Maths?" It was a bold choice, and Toshiro scrunched up his nose at the mere thought of trying to keep Yukio interested in it for any length of time. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""Are you sure? If you can't pay attention to science, I can't see how-." He'd begun to protest, when Yukio spoke over him, silencing the doubt. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""I'm sure, if that's okay with you?" There was some kind of hopeful undertone that Toshiro hadn't heard before, some kind of life, and so it was with only mild apprehension that he agreed. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""Of course. See you tomorrow, then."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;""Thank you. Goodnight." Yukio took the phone from his ear and hung up. The bottle beside him lay two thirds empty and he merely frowned at himself as he reached for it once more. Toshiro didn't have to come back, he knew, and he couldn't quite believe that he'd actually managed to convince him to. He was grateful, and so he promised himself for Toshiro's sake, that he'd try harder. If they got into another fight, he very much doubted that he'd be able to talk him round a second time. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;"It was a strange turn of events, undoubtedly, and yet there was definite relief that the problem- for now- was solved. Not only that, but Toshiro felt like a new game plan was in need of being written. One that wasn't so strict and restrictive, he and Yukio were not the same, they didn't behave the same, or act the same, or emlearn/em the same. He realized that he'd been trying to fit Yukio into his own box, and that would never have worked. He'd n need to figure out a different approach if he was to finally find something he could work with. /p