Well here's the next chapter, this one's a bit of a long one. Originally the last chapter and this one was supposed to be one, but this arc just keep getting bigger and bigger until finally I had to split it. I hope you all enjoy this, this is easily one of my favorite chapters. Happy Easter.
Also big thanks to Fear Silencer for your continued assistance.
Life at the Shinozaki's
Chapter Twelve:
Seated in the break room Yoshiki's pencil came to a stop. With a sigh he raised a hand to scratch the side of his head, as he continued to be baffled by the problems written before him. If he was unable to finish his homework before getting off work, then he'd most likely have to stay up until dawn just to complete it. The prospect of staying up all night wasn't very appealing to him, so he was determined to get as much done as possible.
Sadly his lack of focus in class today was coming back to haunt him. "I don't understand what any of this is saying..." He muttered before bring his pencil back to the worksheet and circling an answer. He moved onto the next problem despite being certain that his answer was most likely incorrect.
Glancing at his phone's clock he noticed that his break was nearly over. "Damn..." He sighed, closing his math book before shoving it into his bag. He would try to complete more during his lunch break later. Leaning back in his seat he looked up and glared at the ceiling, as though it was the source of his recent misfortunate.
After his disastrous final attempt to talk to Ayumi he had done as he told Satoshi earlier and headed straight for work. Upon arriving at the music store he had made a beeline for the break room to begin working on his homework. The amount of work he had managed to finish between his arrival and clocking in had been laughably meager.
Homework was a lot more difficult to get through when you didn't have a smart pretty girl helping you with it. "Shinozaki..." Yoshiki whispered her name as he recalled their last interaction. Her parting words had made his heart drop into his stomach.
While it was true that he hadn't broken his promise, she wasn't wrong. He hadn't even thought to inform her of Satoshi knowing anything about his situation. If he had the courtesy to tell her then there wouldn't have been an argument. In that moment her anger had been validated. 'Why is it that I'm always screwing up when it comes to her?' The blonde thought to himself before leaning back in his seat.
This was far from the first time he had done something to invoke Ayumi's ire, then again she had never gone more than a few hours being angry at him. This was easily the lowest point of their relationship. A stressed frown marred the blonde's features. Would this be the end of their friendship? Would she never forgive him? Yoshiki sighed tiredly as he tried to chase away such depressing thoughts.
So lost in his own mind he didn't hear the footsteps or the seat from across being pulled out. "Geeze Kishinuma, what's eating you?" Kensuke casually asked as he joined the blonde. "Women troubles?" He jokingly asked, hoping to lighten his employee's mood. Jumping up in surprise the blonde looked at him before sighing, not even having the energy to deny Kensuke's guess. At the ex-delinquent's response Kensuke's eyes widened slightly in surprise at having guessed right. "Whoa, I was just kidding. What's up with that reaction?"
Yoshiki ran a hand through his hair. "I really don't want to talk about it, Kanzaki-senpai."
The older man looked as though he wanted to say more, but didn't push the blonde. Offering a sympathetic smile he patted Yoshiki's shoulder. "Hang in there champ, I'm sure that Shinozaki girl won't stay mad at you forever." He told the blonde encouragingly.
Yoshiki wished he could believe his boss words, but at the moment he just didn't know. Standing up he went to put his bag away. "I need to get back to work." He said simply. Looking at the clock he sighed, his shift was only part way finished. Hopefully the rest of his night wouldn't drag on too much, right now all he wanted was for this day to end.
The remainder of the night moved at an agonizingly slow pace for Yoshiki as he was forced to adopt a polite façade. Keeping his troubles bottled up was no easy task but somehow he managed. By the time midnight rolled around he was more than happy to clock out and head off.
The late night walk back to Satoshi's place proved to be just as long and exhausting as he figured. On his way he had been forced to look over his shoulder more than a couple times, thankfully no one approached him. It was well after one in the morning by the time he arrived at Satoshi's house. As the boy in question opened the door Yoshiki sagged in relief knowing that the futon was only so many paces away.
Of course despite his exhaustion falling asleep proved to be a challenging endeavor. Half the night was spent tossing and turning as Satoshi snored quietly just a few feet away. He tried a variety of different methods of falling asleep. He tried listening to music, tried counting sheep, he even tried sneaking to the kitchen for something warm to drink. Nothing worked.
By the time Yoshiki managed to fall asleep the sun was on its slow ascent. He was less than pleased to be abruptly awoken by Satoshi's alarm clock. One look in the bathroom mirror and the blonde knew that school that day was going to be hell. His uniform, which he had worn to work the previous night, was wrinkled and unwashed. With the dark circles under his eyes Yoshiki thought he look like death warmed over.
After an excellent breakfast, prepared by Satoshi's mom, he, Satoshi, and Yuka left to make the commute to school. He felt himself being jerked to awareness as the train pulled in at their stop, stifling a yawn he followed the Mochida siblings to Kisaragi Academy. Only pausing as the two older students said goodbye to Yuka before she headed off to the junior high.
When Ayumi awoke in a haze it was very dark outside. Lifting her face from her desk she looked down to see her nearly completed homework. She must have fallen asleep while working on it, she moaned lightly at the stiffness in her neck. Her tired eyes went over to her computer that had long since gone into rest mode. Moving the mouse she blinked at the blinding light that shined back at her from the monitor.
In her half asleep state she panicked upon seeing the time. 'Kishinuma-kun, should have gotten off an hour ago!' She quickly reached for her phone, ready to apologize profusely for not being up to open the front door. She could only imagine how long he had been standing outside waiting for her.
When she saw that she had received no text from him, informing her that he was waiting for her, she paused. Blue eyes widened as it all came rushing back to her. "That's right..." She reminded herself, eyes down casted.
He wouldn't be waiting for her to open the front door for him, she had chased him away. Closing her laptop with a tired sigh she stood up. After changing into something more suitable for sleeping she made for her bed. Falling back asleep proved to be difficult, guilt refused to let her rest.
When Ayumi opened her eyes again hours later she immediately shut them at being blinded by the light seeping into her room. While she had managed to get some sleep it had been anything but restful. Her mind had also made it difficult for her to get enough of it, and what little she had gotten was besmirched by bad dreams. Dreams of Yoshiki not wanting to reconcile, of Satoshi being appalled at her for treating the blonde so unfairly. Of everyone else hating her.
Ayumi sighed before sitting up and rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. A quick glance at her phone informed her that it was a little earlier than when she usually woke up. Considering how horribly she slept last night though, Ayumi doubted that she'd be able to fall back asleep. Setting her lips into a thin line she threw off the covers before getting up to prepare for school.
Breakfast that morning was uncomfortably quiet, the moment she finished her meal Ayumi excused herself to grab her bag, and leave for school. The morning walk to Kisaragi seemed even longer than yesterday. Despite her desire to mend things with Yoshiki she was dreading seeing the blonde. A part of her was still sore about his actions and she feared that she might say something to make things even worse. Or he wouldn't accept her apology, finally fed up with her unfair treatment of him, and would dissolve their friendship.
It was still astounding to the dark haired girl at realizing just how much she valued her friendship with the former delinquent. After her revelations with Hinoe the previous night she knew that she wanted to put this latest bit of adversity behind them. Their friendship was way more important than her crush on Satoshi. Even if her feelings for the brown haired boy were near and dear to her, she recognized them for the impossible fantasy that they were. A fantasy that was not worth ruining a friendship over.
As she neared the school Ayumi's legs began to feel like lead, slowing her pace. She was not ready to face Yoshiki, not ready to say sorry, and ask to put this behind them. She wasn't ready to see that pained expression on his face again.
She was both relieved and disappointed when she didn't spot him at the entrance. Looking at the time showed that she had arrived a tad later than usual. Ayumi really had taken her time in getting to school that morning. Taking a deep breath Ayumi quickly changed her shoes and made for her classroom, her stride hurried.
Entering class 2-9 Ayumi's blue eyes cautiously scanned for the familiar head of blonde hair. The moment she saw him she felt her heart drop into her stomach. His hair was more disheveled than usual, there were dark circles around his eyes, and his clothes were wrinkled and unwashed. It looked as though he had even more trouble sleeping the previous night than she did.
'Because of you.' Ayumi winced at her mind's traitorous whispers. Yoshiki was hurting just as much, if not more than she had been, and she hadn't cared to realize it. Ayumi hadn't thought she could feel worse than she already did. It was that moment that a pair of gray eyes turned in her direction, blinking in surprise at meeting her gaze the blonde looked away. His face morphed into barely hidden shame, Ayumi was not used to seeing such a distressed expression on him. Before the dark haired girl could even consider working up the nerve to approach Yoshiki the bell rang, signaling the start of class.
It was almost fitting how the tables had turned in less than twenty-four hours. Just yesterday Ayumi had been absolutely determined to stay as far away from Yoshiki as possible, now it seemed he was keen on doing the same to her. Though for different reasons. If she didn't know any better she would say that this was karma delivering it's justice. Of course Yoshiki would abide by her wishes for him to leave her alone, even when they weren't on the best of terms he usually tried to please her. Not that she had taken the time to notice until now.
The dark haired class-rep might have been appreciative of the blonde's accommodating actions, if it weren't for the fact that she needed to talk to him. Ayumi wanted to try and fix things, to accept his apology and offer one of her own. To go back to the easy friendship they had enjoyed over the past few weeks.
Ayumi mentally cursed as the exhausted looking blonde quickly filed out of the room upon the lunch bell ringing. 'I guess I deserve that.' She conceded to herself unable to let her frustration fester at the blonde's current actions. At the beginning of each break he had proven to be quite adept at escaping the classroom before anyone else could even stand. At this point the dark haired girl had given up on trying to catch him, Ayumi knew that she was incapable of matching his physical prowess.
How long would this go on? With them avoiding each other and never reconciling? She could see that the current situation seemed to be affecting him even more than her. During the morning lessons she had caught sight of him nodding off during lectures, before being rudely awakened by their teacher. Guilt clawed at her as she had watched the teacher's scold him over his unfinished homework.
Yoshiki had been improving so much, and her inability to properly manage her anger had caused his school work to suffer. She couldn't even meet Yui's eyes when the young woman spared her a questioning glance, obviously wondering what was wrong with Yoshiki. 'I thought you were helping him...What's going on?' Kind violet eyes gently probed.
With a resigned sigh the dark haired girl grabbed her lunch and made to join the rest of her friends, minus Yoshiki and Satoshi, at their usual lunch spot. "Shinozaki-san?" Yui's kind voice called out.
At the sudden call Ayumi whipped her head around to look at the owner of the voice. Seeing her favorite teacher standing at the door to the classroom she made a questioning expression. "Yes, Sensei?" She inquired, wondering what Yui could need.
The young woman hesitated for a second before speaking. "Can we talk for a moment?" Her tone was gentle but there was an undertone of firmness in it that told the twin tailed student that she couldn't say no. Yui obviously had questions that only Ayumi could answer. In that moment the twin tailed girl knew she couldn't deny her favorite teacher.
Giving a demure nod the dark haired girl silently followed the older woman. Yui did not speak as she lead her down the halls to a secluded classroom. Closing the door behind them the brown haired woman turned to face Ayumi. "What's wrong, Shinozaki-san?" Her features giving away to unbridled concern..
Ayumi looked down, shame evident on her face as she realized that Yui was questioning her about Yoshiki. "..." She didn't want to say the words out loud. The studious girl didn't want to disappoint her teacher. Even if Yoshiki was the one who wronged her she had acted horribly. Ayumi was the one who had been unfair and it was causing her friend undeserved strife. 'Especially when you originally set out to do the exact opposite of that.' She chided herself.
Yui made a pained face as she watched Ayumi squeeze her eyes shut. Stepping over to the younger girl she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Shinozaki-san, if you don't tell me what's wrong I can't help you. What happened between you and Kishinuma-kun?" Yui's understanding voice was enough to make the dark haired girl give in.
Ayumi sighed in resignation, knowing that she couldn't not tell her. "Kishinuma-kun and I had a fight." Yui's gentle look was enough to prompt her to continue speaking. "He did something I told him not to and...and in my anger I lashed out unfairly." Eyes focused on the floor she refused to allow herself to see her teacher's look of disappointment.
Yui's eyebrows furrowed at the look of shame that flashed across Ayumi's face. This was not a usual expression for her precious student. "Shinozaki-san..." In a show of compassion she reached out for the younger girl and hugged her.
Ayumi sniffled, doing her best to keep from crying. While she did appreciate her teacher's show of affection the selfish part of her wished it was her sister's arms holding her. Doing her best to push those thoughts away she continued. "Kishinuma-kun told Mochida-kun that he was staying at my place even though I told him not to. Even if he did go against my wishes, it's no excuse for how I acted." Her eyes watered, tears threating to seep through.
Seeing her usually composed student become so broken over her current predicament told Yui that this was very serious. Pulling out of the hug she placed her hands on Ayumi's shoulders and met her watery gaze. "There's more to this, isn't there?" She asked as gently as possible.
While what Ayumi had told her painted a very vivid picture, Yui had a feeling that there was still more to the story. At the raven haired girl's nod she inwardly frowned. The studious girl hesitated for a second before explaining. "...Ever since our fight Kishinuma-kun hasn't come back to my house." Yui's face flashed concern for the blonde and Ayumi just felt worse.
The young woman was silent for a moment before speaking up. "Shinozaki-san, I won't lecture you about how you should not have lashed out at Kishinuma-kun like that." Even if Yui wasn't mad at how Ayumi had treated her fellow classmate, she was disappointed. However now was not the time to make the girl feel worse, especially when she clearly regretted her actions. "I was a teenager once and I know how irrational we can be at times." Yui told her in a light tone. .
Ayumi did allow a tiny smile to slip through at her teacher's kind words. "I know. I-I may have let my jealousy over Mochida-kun asking Nakashima-san out influence me a bit." She hesitantly explained, her voice filled with much remorse. "Even if Kishinuma-kun wronged me, he didn't deserve the way I treated him." The dark haired girl admitted with a little more conviction.
'Mochida-kun asked Nakashima-san out?' Shishido Yui raised an eyebrow as she wondered how that came about. While she was happy for her two students going on a date Yui also couldn't help but feel bad for Ayumi. It was no secret that the horror rep had a crush on the timid boy. Why else would Ayumi go through so much trouble to get his attention?
At her teacher's sympathetic expression Ayumi shook her head. "No, I'm okay with it now." Somewhat a lie. The only reason why she wasn't crying over it anymore was because she was trying to keep her attention on fixing things with Yoshiki. "I'm happy for Nakashima-san." Not completely untrue. "And besides there are more important things to worry about." Thanks to her sister, Ayumi had come to the conclusion that her friendship with Yoshiki was more important than a relationship that would never happen.
Yui nodded, despite knowing that Ayumi obviously was still hurting over Satoshi. She could admire the studious girl for doing her best to put her jealousy aside and be happy for her friends. "More important things? Like reconciling with Kishinuma-kun?" She questioned knowingly. The teacher hoped that her two students would fix things soon. She hated seeing Ayumi being upset over this, and it wasn't good to see Yoshiki struggling the way he was.
Ayumi nodded slowly before placing her chin between her thumb and index finger. "I need to talk to Kishinuma-kun, but he's been avoiding me today." She looked down in thought. "Not that I blame him..." The dark haired girl trailed off quietly. Suddenly a pair of hands returned to her shoulders, looking up she saw Yui's bright violet eyes.
"Don't think like that, Shinozaki-san." The older woman implored. "You might have messed up, but Kishinuma-kun will forgive you. You two have fought before, but he's never stopped being your friend." Yui had borne witness to the many times Yoshiki had angered Ayumi enough to cause an argument. The blonde had never once held anything against her. "I'm sure once you two clear the air everything will go back to normal." Ayumi felt herself being swayed by Yui's confident tone that it nearly made her believe them to be true.
Before either of them could say anything more another teacher entered the room. At spotting Yui he made a noise of approval. "Ah there you are, Shishido-san. You're needed in the faculty office,"
Yui looked torn, wanting to stay and speak to Ayumi longer, but knew that she couldn't ignore her fellow teacher. Turning her attention to the twin tailed student she offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Shinozaki-san, we'll talk later." She promised with a kind smile. Ayumi nodded, accepting her teacher's departure, despite feeling somewhat miffed at being interrupted.
With a small sigh she left the classroom and made to return to 2-9 to finish lunch.
Mayu watched the homeroom teacher aide lead Ayumi away. The classroom was mostly vacant with the majority of their classmates opting to eat in the cafeteria or in other classrooms with their friends. Today the number of people eating with her was unchanged from the previous day.
"We talked to Kishinuma-kun yesterday," Naomi started out. After the two groups had split up to confront their friends yesterday they had been forced to wait till the next day to talk. With Seiko having to leave immediately after school to take care of her younger siblings and the two drama students having to attend practice for an upcoming play.
"He said that he didn't ask the Class-rep out." Seiko, having been the one to actually talk to him, informed the rest of their friends. Mayu nodded along with the usually bubbly girl's statement, prompting her to go on. "From what I gathered it seems like Kishinuma-kun did something else to set her off. Whatever it is he did he wouldn't tell me, and I didn't want to drag it out of him." The curly haired girl admitted with a sheepish look as Naomi patted her shoulder. Yoshiki had told her that if he disclosed the subject of his and Ayumi's argument, then the class-rep really would have a reason to be mad.
Mayu frowned pensively before sharing hers and Sakutaro's experience. "Shige-nii and I came to that conclusion when we talked to Shinozaki-san. She seemed very surprised when we asked her if she rejected Kishinuma-kun." The brunette sighed, despite they're efforts they had made no real progress.
Sakutaro sighed as he quietly sipped his drink. Despite not being too concerned for the class-rep and Yoshiki's squabble, even he could admit to some surprise at it lasting this long. "Shinozaki was also very tight lipped about whatever it is they're arguing about. I don't think we're going to get anything more out of them if we push." He informed the group his thoughts.
Seiko frowned, the notion of doing nothing did not set well for her. "We can't just do nothing, Kishinuma-kun and the Class-rep are our friends." She argued, narrowing her eyes in displeasure.
The blue haired boy sighed in derision. "I'm not saying that we do nothing, but if we keep pushing we run the risk of making things worse." He disputed with a scoff. "Perhaps waiting for one of them to come to us would be the best solution."
Mayu chewed her lip as she considered Sakutaro's words. He had made a similar point yesterday, that they had done all they could in terms of confronting their friends. "Shige-nii might be right." After a moment she conceded. The kind girl didn't want to make things worse for her friends. "For now the best thing to do is just be there for them, not poke and prod for more than what they're willing to share."
Suddenly the classroom door slid open and in came the subject of their conversation, at least half of if. Ayumi looked at her four friends, her expression like that of a wary animal. Would they be okay with her sitting with them after she abandoned them yesterday? Mayu seemed to realize the twin tailed girl's hesitation and waved her over.
Ayumi visably relaxed and, after grabbing her lunch from her desk, went over to them. "Hey, everyone." She greeted the group before sitting down on Mayu's other side. She made it a point to subtly glance at Naomi, pain flared in her chest and she struggled to squash those negative feelings.
"Hey, Shinozaki-san. I'm happy that you joined us today." Mayu cheerful words proved to be what she needed to turn her attention away from the short haired girl.
Ayumi nodded as her eyes scanned the rest of the group. She was unsurprised to see that Yoshiki and Satoshi were nowhere to be seen. The blonde probably didn't want to further stir her ire by eating near her. Her lips dropped into a small frown, she was still no closer to fixing things. 'I'm getting nowhere...' She internally sighed, not knowing what to do.
She must have been quiet for too long because suddenly she felt Mayu placing a delicate hand on her shoulder. Flinching she looked up at the girl in question. Mayu made an apologetic face before speaking. "Is everything okay, Shinozaki-san?" The kind girl asked, eyes flashing in concern.
Mayu knew that Sakutaro had just said that they should stop prying, but seeing her friend appearing so distraught was too much for the kind girl. To her immense surprise instead of denying her melancholic mood Ayumi shook her head. "Not really." The class-rep admitted with a tired sigh. Blue eyes peered around the room again.
Taking a moment to overcome her surprise, Mayu gently pressed on. "Is...is this about Kishinuma-kun?" The brunette silently watched the dark haired girl's lips set into a thin line.
Ayumi hesitated, really not wanting to involve her friends. Glancing at the rest of the group she noticed they were all intently watching her, even Sakutaro appeared invested enough to listen. With a resigned sigh she nodded.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Naomi, deciding to speak up, offered.
Ayumi closed her eyes. "I feel like I've already talked about it enough." She commented warily, recalling her conversations with her Yui and her sister.
The three girls exchanged a look, silently communicating their desire to help their friends. "What do you want then?" A hesitant Mayu asked after a few moments of silence.
The dark haired girl opened her eyes and took in the concerned looks of her friends. Slumping her shoulders she spoke. "I just want Kishinuma-kun and I to put this behind us. I'm still upset over what happened, but I know that fighting like this is not good for us."
At her admission the three girls once again met each other gazes. They didn't know what had changed Ayumi's stance towards Yoshiki in the last twenty-four hours, but they were all relieved to learn that Ayumi wanted to fix things with him. "Unfortunately he's avoiding me today. I guess I deserve this for being horrible..." The dark haired girl's words recaptured their attention.
Seiko frowned at the class rep's words, before realizing that Yoshiki had seemed to be avoiding Ayumi. "Kishinuma-kun has been acting odd today. He seemed really out of it this morning." She had noticed how sleep deprived he was. She was somewhat concerned about his health, considering his argument with Ayumi was bad enough to affect his sleeping habits.
Ayumi flinched as guilt reared it's ugly head yet again. "I need to talk to him, but he keeps running away before I can approach him." In her current state Ayumi didn't have it in her to chase after him. In a way she felt like she didn't even deserve his forgiveness.
"Need me to hold him down?" Seiko jokingly asked with a grin. 'Though I'm sure Kishinuma-kun would prefer you on top of him.' She wisely, for once, didn't say out loud.
Naomi rolled her eyes at Seiko's joke. "What Seiko means is, do you need any help?" She offered helpfully.
Looking down Ayumi thought for a moment before nodding. "Please." She normally didn't like accepting help, but at this point she was at the end of her rope. Plus this wasn't just for her, this was for Yoshiki as well.
"I'm pretty sure I failed that test..." Naomi heard Yoshiki sigh as she approached them.
It was near the end of lunch by the time Naomi made it to the roof to talk to her crush. "Satoshi?" She called out hesitantly, interrupting the boy's conversation. Looking away from his mostly quiet lunch with Yoshiki the brunette caught sight of Naomi waving him over. Offering a glance to his blonde friend he hesitated.
Yoshiki, having seen Naomi as well, sighed before nodding. His eyes saying "You don't need my permission, just go."
The brunette gave a thankful nod before jumping up and walking over to tomboy. "Hey, Naomi." He greeted. "Wha-?" Suddenly he felt her grabbing his hand and pulling him away.
Once they were away from Yoshiki, Naomi turned to face him, her face becoming scarlet as she released his hand. "So-sorry, Satoshi. But this is important and I really need your help." She said, managing to ignore her embarrassment.
Seeing her serious expression Satoshi sobered up. "I'm listening." He told her prompting the girl to begin her somewhat long winded explanation about the situation between Ayumi and Yoshiki.
'Yoshiki was going to confess to Shinozaki?' That was news to the brunette. He had never realized that his best friend had feelings for Ayumi. The two rarely talked much about the girls they were interested in. The only time they ever seem to skim over those types of conversations, was when the blonde poked fun at him for his and Naomi's perpetual dancing around each other.
Currently it seemed that Ayumi had been angry with Yoshiki over something that was a misunderstanding. Satoshi was somewhat guilty to admit that he hadn't really noticed the tension between the two, he'd been more focused on Yoshiki than Ayumi. The fact that he hadn't noticed that something had been bothering the occult loving girl kind of made him feel like a bad friend.
"The Class-rep won't tell us exactly what she and Kishinuma-kun were fighting over, but it was serious enough that she ignored him throughout all of yesterday." At Naomi's continued explanation Satoshi felt his lips dive into a pensive frown.
What were the odds that Yoshiki had two different friends mad at him? 'Is it possible?' He wondered before deciding that it didn't really matter if what he thought was right. Whether or not Yoshiki had been staying at Ayumi's house wasn't important in the long run, what mattered was mending their relationship. 'Thankfully Shinozaki wants to.'
"You'll help us, right?" The short haired girl asked hopefully.
Really there was no need to ask, the brunette was more than willing to offer his . Satoshi nodded at the short haired girl's question. "What do you need me to do?"
Naomi gave a relieved grin. "All you need to do is keep Kishinuma-kun from running at the end of the day. The Class-rep will handle the rest." She promised.
It was at that moment that the lunch bell rang and the students scrambled to get back to class on time. Ayumi looked up as Satoshi and Naomi entered the classroom, Yoshiki trailed in after them a minute later. She caught the slight nod that Satoshi gave her, informing her that he was on board. Cheeks tinting ever so slightly at his attention she returned the nod, thankful for his participation. Hopefully before long things between her and Yoshiki would be back to normal.
The moment the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, Yoshiki rose to his feet. Grabbing his bag he prepared to dash for the exit and leave for work, only to be stopped by a firm hand wrapped around his arm. Looking up he noticed Satoshi meeting his eyes with an intense stare. Raising an eyebrow the blonde looked at him weirdly before speaking. "What?"
Satoshi didn't say anything, instead he shifted his gaze to something behind him. Turning his head Yoshiki paled as he caught sight of Ayumi making her way towards him. As if anticipating him bolting like a skittish animal, Satoshi tightened his grip on the blonde's arm. In the back of his mind Yoshiki also noted that the rest of their friends were currently watching him with barely veiled interest.
Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves Ayumi stopped to stand in front of him, meeting his gaze with a determined one of her own. "Kishinuma-kun, will you come with me?" She asked, her voice sounding as unbelievably wonderful as usual to Yoshiki's ears.
It wasn't often that Yoshiki was offered Ayumi's undivided attention in the presence of Satoshi, so he was a little uncertain how to act. Gulping nervously the blonde found that his voice eluded him. After a moment of prolonged silence Ayumi crossed her arms and fixed him with a pointed look. Still Yoshiki's voice refused to work. "Well?" She questioned as though nothing was amiss between them.
As per usual the blonde found himself unable to deny her. "O-of course." Yoshiki finally managed, slowly nodding his head. He felt the brunette's grip on his arm loosen.
Keeping her gaze locked on him the dark haired girl nodded. "This way then." Ayumi, proud of herself for maintaining her composure, turned to leave the classroom.
Seiko grinned as she watched the pair vacate the classroom. "Maybe some privacy will help the lovebirds kiss and make up?" Her grin widened as Naomi frowned at her. "Gah!" She yelped when the short haired girl delivered a gentle yet firm karate chopped to her undefended head.
Satoshi chuckled at the physical antics of the two girls. "You'll never learn, will you Seiko?" Naomi commented with fond exasperation.
Seiko rubbed the top of her head. "I like it when you get physical with me, Naomi-chan." She said with a cheeky grin as Naomi's face became scarlet.
"Seiko!" Naomi shouted as the curly haired girl burst into laughter.
In the background Sakutaro sighed at the two girl's antics as Mayu lead him out of the classroom to head off to drama practice.
Yoshiki mutely followed Ayumi out of the school, only pausing at the entrance to change their shoes. The route they walked was one he was intimately familiar with, and for awhile he wondered if they were going to his place of work.
As they passed by his old apartment complex, Ayumi gestured for him to follow her over to the nearby park he often met up with his sister at. Walking over to a bench the dark haired girl sighed before taking a seat and staring down at her shoes. Yoshiki watched her in confusion as she took a deep breath in, closing her eyes. After a moment Ayumi exhaled and opened her eyes.
Opening her mouth Ayumi paused as no sound came out. Closing her mouth the girl bit her lip before looking back down.
"Sh-Shinozaki?" The blonde raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why were they here? What was she trying to say? Was she going to yell at him more?
Ayumi shook her head before murmuring something that he didn't hear. When he didn't say anything in return she looked up. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.
An apology was not what he expected. Eyes widened he took a single step back, rubbing the back of his head he finally allowed himself to take in her appearance. She looked about as drained as he felt. Hair not brushed, dark circles around her eyes, skin paler than usual. "Why are you saying sorry?" He asked unsure as to what she'd have to apologize for. Wasn't he the one who wronged her?
As if discovering her courage, Ayumi raised her head. "I'm sorry." She repeated. "I'm sorry for what I said, I'm sorry for treating you so horribly. I'm just sorry." The dark haired girl said before standing up and taking a step towards him.
Lips parting Yoshiki stared at her for a full fifteen seconds before acting. "I-I'm the one who should be saying sorry. I'm the one who messed up." He argued as Ayumi shook her head.
Ayumi raised her hand, gesturing for him to stop talking. "No. You might have done something to upset me, but I was way out of line. I let my own jealousy and negativity fuel me, and I took it out on you. I've been a bad friend to you, and that's not right!" Dainty fingers curled into fists as she argued. Yoshiki looked about ready to dispute her point, but she quieted him with a resolute. "Don't. Don't argue with me on this, I know I'm right. The treatment I gave you was-." Averting her eyes she cut herself off.
Eyes glistening the dark haired girl felt herself choking up slightly. "I wouldn't blame you if you said you never wanted to be friends again." Ayumi said, allowing tears to stream down her cheeks.
The dark haired girl was surprised at the tight sensation in her chest. Just the thought of Yoshiki never wanting to be her friend was more painful than it should be, but there it was. Ayumi meant what she had said, she wouldn't blame him if he wanted to dissolve their friendship permanently no matter how painful that would be. 'Huh?' Suddenly there was a soft pressure on top of her head.
Looking up Ayumi saw that he had placed his hand on her head. This was probably the first time Yoshiki had ever initiated physical contact like this and...it wasn't unpleasant. Gray eyes, tired yet filled with warmth, stared back at her. "Shinozaki, no matter how much you yell at me or scold me I'd never want to not be friends." His voice was firm but faltered slightly. "I...You're..." He hesitated. "You're one of my dearest friends." She had never seen him blush, it actually made her own cheeks tint pink.
Relief filled her, shoulders relaxing ever so slightly she allowed herself to continue enjoying his hand on top of her head. "You're..." Her cheeks heated up even more at what she was about to say. "You're one of my dearest friends too." Truer words had never been spoken by her. Somehow in the last couple of weeks Yoshiki had become a very important person to her. She never expected that could or would happen, but it had and she was happy that the connection between them was as strong as it was. She was thankful at having been able to apologize to him.
Hearing her admission Yoshiki swore his heart skipped a beat, he was half tempted to tell her just how far his feelings really ran but decided against it. He didn't want to ruin the moment between them by bringing romance into it. He was elated enough to know that Ayumi valued him as much as she did. Smiling he allowed himself to enjoy the closeness for a few more seconds before finally pulling away.
Their relationship mended the two soon found themselves seated on the park bench, quietly enjoying the calm summer breeze. "You know..." Yoshiki spoke after awhile. "I never told him." He glanced at Ayumi who was looking at him in confusion. "Satoshi knew I wasn't at my apartment anymore because he came by there one morning." The blonde explained. "But I never told him where I was staying, no matter how much he asked."
Ayumi frowned as she leaned into the park bench. Considering recent events it was likely that the brunette knew or at least suspected as to who Yoshiki had been staying with. Even if Yoshiki had been adamant with not disclosing her opening her home to him, it was probably already a moot point. For some reason that didn't bother her nearly as much as it should have.
After a moment of silence the girl shrugged her shoulders, not having the energy to care. Later she might allow herself to feel embarrassed, or maybe since she had already gone through thinking that Satoshi already knew she wouldn't let it bother her? Who knows? "That's good." The blue haired girl finally responded to Yoshiki before allowing a secretive smile to slip through. "I guess I was wrong about you."
The blonde glanced at her in confusion. "Wrong...about me?" He questioned, wondering what she meant by that.
Ayumi waved his confusion off with a small laugh. "Don't worry about it, Kishinuma-kun. I'm just happy that despite everything you still kept your promise." She refused to say any more on the matter.
Yoshiki looked at her oddly before figuring he wouldn't get anything more out of her. Shrugging and leaning back into the bench he sighed in content. Silence was shared by the two, but it was far from uncomfortable. 'Moments like these...' The blonde thought with a relieved smile. He wanted to keep sharing quiet moments like this with Ayumi.
Just a few days ago they had what could be considered easily the worst argument they had ever had. Thankfully they had managed to patch things up, Yoshiki was happy. Lost in thought the blonde's traitorous mind recalled the argument. He frowned as he remembered the words she had said as she ran away from him. Pursing his lips he turned to look at her. For some reason those words were important, and he needed to know.
He knew that he shouldn't ask, but he couldn't stop his mouth from opening. "Shinozaki?" Ayumi turned to him, her head tilted. "Can...can I ask you something?" His voice was hesitant.
Ayumi looked at him oddly, wondering what he wanted to ask. "What is it?" Her expression morphing into curiosity.
Yoshiki paused. "You...you don't need to tell me, but I can't help but ask. What did you mean by; You're no better than Otou-san?" The blonde felt like by asking this question he was purposefully stepping onto a minefield, but for some reason he felt like he couldn't not ask this question.
It took a moment for Ayumi to understand what he was asking, but when the words finally registered to her she scowled in displeasure. 'I said that, didn't I?' She internally muttered as she recalled the words she had said in the heat of their argument.
Ayumi bit the inside of her cheek as she tried to keep herself in check. A part of her wanted to give into her irritation brought on by the very personal question that Yoshiki had just asked, but at the same time she couldn't find it in herself to lay into him. It was her who yelled those words at him, so the fault for the question lied with her. "I..." The dark haired girl didn't know what to say. This was a subject that she never wanted to talk about with anybody, but at the same time she currently didn't know how to deny him.
Yoshiki watched her internal turmoil before sighing. Looking away he scratched his cheek, thinking. Coming to a decision he nodded and turned back to her. "Shinozaki? Do you mind if I tell you something? Something about my...Otou-san?" He hesitated.
Ayumi looked at him in surprise but found herself nodding in response. While she had refrained from ever seeking knowledge regarding Yoshiki's childhood a small part of her had always been curious. At that moment her curiosity was impossible to ignore, plus it was a decent distraction from his previous inquiry.
At her confirmation Yoshiki breathed out a shaky sigh before speaking. "My Otou-san..." He started out before pausing. "The man who raised me..." Another false start before he sighed in annoyance. Licking his dry lips he tried again. "...Most people leave their parents house when they turn into adults. At fifteen I was thrown onto the street for being a lost cause." Despite enjoying the freedom of no longer being forced to live under the same roof as his father, Yoshiki could not completely omit the bitterness he felt at being forced to survive.
It had been the last day of school before summer vacation. Fifteen year old Kishinuma Yoshiki had walked his little sister to her school before heading to his own place of education. At this age Yoshiki was a lot like how he was when Ayumi met him. He often skipped class, smoked on school property, and got into fights.
That day Yoshiki attended the morning lessons, but sometime around lunch left the school grounds. "It's the last day before summer vacation, what does it matter?" He had asked himself.
The blonde didn't really have any place in mind when he left, he just didn't feel like being in school anymore that day. 'It's not like I do good in class, anyway.' Him not being at school didn't cause any trouble for anyone, so why should anyone care whether or not he attended?
Despite his penchant for skipping school, Yoshiki never failed to pick up his little sister after her school let out. Miki always knew when her brother had skipped, if he was late picking her up it meant that he had attended the full day or at least the afternoon classes. When she exited the building and saw him waiting for her she knew right away that he had skipped that day.
"Hey, Miki." He greeted his little sister with usual brotherly affection. Lightly patting her head he grinned at her annoyed expression.
"You skipped again." Was the first thing she said. Before Kishinuma Miki use to feel delighted upon seeing her brother when school immediately got out, and a part of her she still was, but upon learning what that meant she started scolding him. "Otou-san's going to be mad." She told him, worried for her brother.
The younger of the Kishinuma siblings hated when her dad got angry with her brother. The arguments were never pleasant to bear witness to. Especially their latest one when Yoshiki came home with his hair bleached, Isao had thrown such a fit. Miki was pretty sure she heard the phrase "no good delinquent", somewhere in their last shouting match.
Yoshiki had shrugged his shoulders, not really caring if his dad was pissed. It seemed like everything he did made him mad. Even when he did do things right, Isao still had something unpleasant to say to him. "He'll get over it." He said simply.
Miki puffed her cheeks before opening her mouth to argue but thought better of it. With a resigned sigh she followed after him. The thirteen year old hated that her brother and father were always at odds, but sadly there was nothing she could do to fix it. Isao refused Yoshiki any leniency, and her brother continued to act out following every argument.
Yoshiki glanced at his little sister, seeing her sadden expression made him want to wipe it away. Lips dipping into a mild frown the blonde looked around, before catching sight of an ice cream stand. 'It is pretty hot today.' He thought to himself as he mentally figured how much money he had left of from allowance. Deciding that he should have enough to pay for at least one cone for his sister he grabbed her hand and lead the surprised girl in the vendor's direction.
Miki, having been lost in thought, let out a slight squeak at her brother pulling her. When she saw where they were going she smiled, feeling slightly better.
In the end Yoshiki had only enough money to buy Miki a cone. When the younger girl had tried to offer him her ice cream he turned her down, saying that he didn't need it. "Just eat it, okay." He told her the second time before shoving his hands into his pockets.
Before Miki could try to argue again he resumed walking towards their house, moving fast enough to propel his sister into following him, but slow enough that she'd easily catch up without dropping her ice cream. "Thanks, Onii-chan." The younger girl had said when she caught up. Yoshiki had nodded without looking at her, but his mouth was set in a pleased smile.
Miki's ice cream was long gone by the time the siblings arrived home. As the front door closed behind him Yoshiki took note of the number of shoes present, their mom was home but dad was not. "We're back." He called out to the house. No response. 'Okaa-san's probably resting...' He figured.
Sighing he turned to his little sister. He didn't really feel like doing his summer homework, not that he ever really bothered with the work he received from school. Besides it was the start of summer vacation, and he figured that Miki might want to do something fun with him. "Want to play a video game?" He questioned. At her excited nod the two went to her room where the old Nintendo 64 was set up, popping in a cartridge they started up the game.
Following the title and select screen the two picked their characters and started playing. Yoshiki lips turned into a grin as he and his sister battled each other. Miki, using Fox McCloud, was able to keep him on his toes with the laser as Captain Falcon, managed to dodge nearly every beam.
Once Yoshiki managed to close the distance he pushed the green button on the controller, causing Captain Falcon to rear back. "Falcon Punch!" The helmet wearing character shouted just before his furry opponent blocked the attack, a blue bubble appearing over him. Suddenly Fox was shrouded in a fiery aura before slamming into him. "Gah!" Yoshiki's character cried out as he was blown back.
"Think you'll beat me that easily?" Miki taunted as she pressed her attack.
"Of course I do." Yoshiki chuckled as his character grabbed Miki's and threw her character off the screen.
The siblings ended up playing for a couple of hours, switching games every now and then to keep things fresh before ending up back on Super Smash Brothers. "I want a rematch." Miki had told him as she grabbed the cartridge.
The blonde smiled at his little sister. "Sure, you want me to let you win this time?" He teased the younger girl who glared playfully at him.
The sounds of buttons being mashed filled the room yet again as they played. It ended up being a really close match, and just as Miki was about to claim victory over her brother a loud booming voice called out. "YOSHIKI!" Yoshiki paused the game, looking over his shoulder.
When he didn't hear anything more he placed his controller on the ground and looked to his sister. "Stay here." He told her. For whatever reason he had a feeling that this was about to get nasty, if his father's voice was any indicator. Leaving the room he noticed the door to his bedroom was open, walking over to it he saw his father holding a pack of cigarettes.
Yoshiki gulped inaudibly as he shoved his hand into his pocket, fingering the lighter he had taken from his father's room earlier. Wordlessly he entered the room and his father rounded on him.
"What the hell is this?!" The older man demanded angrily.
Yoshiki scowled at him. "What do you think they are?" He asked with no respect for the man before him.
Isao became even more enraged. "Don't you get smart with me, you ungrateful brat! Tell me why you have these!"
Crossing his arms Yoshiki shrugged. "None of your business."
"Damn it!" Isao yelled, grabbing the nearest object, a book, and throwing it against the wall. "I told you that if I found anymore cigarettes in your room that there would be consequences! If you keep acting out like this, you're going to end up as a failure!" He reminded his son, his patience long since lost.
Yoshiki stepped forward. "Oh, so like you!?" He challenged heatedly.
At this point there was no love lost between the two. "Don't test me, you little shit!" Isao yelled in his son's face, on the verge of striking him.
From the corner of his eye Yoshiki spotted his mother, who had been in the process of making dinner, watching the argument unfold. Too afraid to do anything. 'Not as if I expected any less from her.' He no longer felt disappointed by his mom never having the courage to stand up to his father. Turning his attention back on the man in question, Yoshiki spoke, his words laced with venom. "You're a piss poor father, you won't do shit."
And Yoshiki honestly thought so. Despite their heated arguments Isao had never actually had the balls to become physical with him, and he didn't think he'd do so now. How wrong was he. His eyes widened in surprise as he felt a large hand wrap around his arm and yank him off his feet. He was too shocked to do anything as his father dragged him out of his bedroom and to the front door. On the way he briefly caught sight of his sister's stricken expression.
"I warned you, boy! This time you pushed me too far!" Isao yelled before tearing open the door. "And get the fuck out of my house!" He said before throwing him out onto the porch and slamming the door shut. "Don't even!" Yoshiki heard his father shout as the front door attempted to open again only to be slammed shut.
The blonde remained on the hard ground for a few minutes before attempting to pick himself up. Standing he looked at the house he had spent his childhood in, it was at that moment he knew that he would never go back. He would never subjugate himself to living under the same roof as that man.
"I didn't really have any friends at that time, so I just stayed in the park for a couple weeks. I found a job and an apartment, and managed to get by." Yoshiki finished his story with a tired sigh. Glancing at the girl next to him he saw that her expression was one of extreme consideration. Suddenly he felt subconscious of his younger self's actions.
While Yoshiki still felt that his father was a poor example of a parent, he realized that his own behavior was pretty deplorable. He had intentionally egged his father on. He wasn't proud of his younger self, but he didn't regret where his rashness had gotten him.
During his story Ayumi had not spoken, now that it was quiet Yoshiki felt somewhat insecure. Would she scold him for his past actions? Did she find his younger self too distasteful?
Ayumi didn't speak for a long time, at least it felt like a long time. When she finally did open her mouth to comment she only had one question. "Why...why did you tell me this?" She asked, allowing her discomfort to show.
She didn't judge Yoshiki for what had happened, at least not too much due to the somewhat embarrassed expression he made while recounting the event. His actions weren't very good and obviously he knew that, but his father was even worse. His father should not have been so quick to give into anger and violence. As the parent it was his job to keep a level head, and Kishinuma Isao had failed Yoshiki as a parent. At the very least the blonde had matured in the years spent living alone.
Yoshiki looked slightly sheepish. "Because I-." He hesitated. "Because I want to be able to talk to you about this stuff." He told her, his lips set into a determined frown. "Since we've become friends you've never hesitated to help me. You're the reason I didn't end up homeless again. I want you to be able to feel like you can talk to me and I want to be able to help you whenever you need it." He explained before his cheeks heated up again. "Next to Satoshi, you're easily my closest friend." He had meant it when he said that she was a dear friend to him, and he wanted her to know that.
Ayumi pursed her lips, she felt a little short of breath at Yoshiki's admittance. It was somewhat embarrassing for him to admit that so freely, but it wasn't bad. Ayumi looked away as she thought about how to respond. 'Kishinuma-kun...' For a moment the dark haired girl believed that she didn't deserve to have such a loyal friend like Yoshiki. Despite how much grief she gave him he was always by her side, whether she wanted him to be or not.
'He kept my secret, even though I was so horrible to him.' The dark haired girl chanced a look at him. His gray eyes were watching her, waiting for a response. She had never seen him so open, and it made her want to open up to him, if only a little bit. 'I can tell him a little bit, he deserves to know some.' She decided.
Shinozaki Ayumi had very few people she could consider reliable or trustworthy. Shinozaki Hinoe and Shishido Yui were two such people the twin tailed girl would trust nearly all of her secrets to. Satoshi was easily the only boy Ayumi considered reliable. 'But...' Her subconscious whispered so softly that even she couldn't hear. 'Maybe one day, Kishinuma Yoshiki could be just as, if not even more, trustworthy.'
"Okay." Ayumi finally said.
"Okay?"
"I'll tell you." She hesitated. "A little bit." She amended glancing away from him to fiddle with the sleeve of her uniform.
Yoshiki looked at her in surprise before nodding. "O-okay." If she was willing to confide anything to him then he'd be more than happy to listen.
Swallowing nervously Ayumi looked back at him. "Th-this is something I've never told anyone, not even Nee-chan..." She told him, obviously still uncomfortable. If someone had told her a week ago that she would open up to Yoshiki about something she had never even told Hinoe, she would have called them crazy. Things were different now, without her even realizing it Yoshiki had earned her trust.
At Yoshiki's firm nod Ayumi felt her chest tightened as she recalled the day in question. It was never pleasant to think about, so she never allowed herself to. However she couldn't lie and say that it had never happened.
Taking a deep breath Ayumi looked back at Yoshiki. His expression was patient and understanding, words she would have never used to describe him. "When I was younger, I...learned something about my Otou-san that I would rather have not learned." The blonde looked surprised, probably wondering what it was she could be talking about. "Needless to say it's put a bit of a rift between us, ever since then he and I haven't been particularly close."
Yoshiki frowned as he listened to Ayumi's intentionally vague story. "I can relate to not being close to my father." The blonde commented when it seemed like she was done speaking. Swallowing nervously he asked the question that was on his mind. "Wh-what could he have done though?" He couldn't help but ask. "I had noticed in the weeks I've stayed at your house that you guys weren't close, but you obviously have a better relationship with your father than I do with mine."
Biting the inside of her cheek Ayumi scowled at Yoshiki's observations. "You're right. As horrible as what Otou-san did, he never actually did anything to me personally. It's what he did that hurt our family, Okaa-san and Nee-chan never knew about it." She looked down, feeling guilty. "I was too afraid to say anything about it to anyone."
Yoshiki looked perplexed at her down casted expression. "Afraid? Of what?" He asked, not liking the sad expression on her pretty face.
Biting her lip Ayumi kept her eyes trained on the ground as she responded. "Afraid of my family being broken. Of Okaa-san and Nee-chan being hurt by the truth."
Yoshiki frowned as he tried to rack his brain over what it was that had bothered Ayumi. Unfortunately the blue haired girl had been very cryptic in her explanation, and the blonde knew that pushing her for more information would not be appreciated.
Of course though that didn't stop his mind from conjuring up a couple hypothesis. 'Cheating on Asuka-san.' Was the first one that came to mind. Though he had seen Ayumi's parent's relationship, and Ayato seemed too happy with his wife to ever consider cheating. 'Maybe he committed a crime or something and Shinozaki somehow found out?' That seemed even just as unlikely but then again Yoshiki wouldn't know unless Ayumi decided to outright tell him.
He knew that he shouldn't ask, but it was impossible to ignore the nagging question. "What did he do?" Yoshiki asked again, unable to completely keep his curiosity to himself.
Ayumi looked at him for what felt like an eternity, but was probably closer to fifteen seconds, before shaking her head. "I...I'd rather not say. Honestly I don't want to tell anyone." She looked away, refusing to say anything more. "I'd prefer to just forget..." Biting her lip she clenched her eyes shut as a sniffle threatened to escape her.
The brash side of Yoshiki wanted to keep on pushing. Clearly this was something that had been bothering Ayumi for who knows how long? He wished to help her. Just as he was about to open his mouth something held him back, tears. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, probably at the behest of the memory that refused to leave her. Biting his tongue Yoshiki killed the question, even if he wanted to help his crush he did not wish to further upset her by thoughtlessly pushing her.
'She told me something that she wasn't willing to tell anyone else.' He tried to reason with himself. Biting the inside of his cheek the blonde looked away as he tried to compose himself. After he felt that he was calm enough to do what Ayumi needed he nodded. "Okay." He said, gaining her attention. "Okay. You don't need to tell me anymore if you're not comfortable doing so."
With a shaky breath Ayumi nodded her thanks while whispering the words under her breath. At her gratitude Yoshiki allowed a bitter smile. On one hand he was overjoyed that she had been willing to share something so personal with him. Yet at the same time he felt horrible that there wasn't much he could do to help her.
The two teens remained for a little longer, not wanting to move from their current spot. However Yoshiki had obligations that required his presence and before long he stood up. At the twin tailed girl's questioning gaze he explained. "I need to go to work." The ex-delinquent tilted his head in the direction of the music shop he worked at.
Biting her lip Ayumi nodded. Yoshiki, feeling as though this was the end of their interaction started towards the building in question. He hadn't taken three steps when Ayumi regained her voice. "Wait, Kishinuma-kun!" At her slightly panicked voice he spun around to face her, worried that something maybe wrong. At her hesitant expression he paused.
"Come back." She told him after a brief pause. "Tonight, I mean. After work, come back to my house. You still have two weeks."
Yoshiki stared at her for a moment before letting a thankful smile appear. "Thanks, Shinozaki."
Feeling lighter than she had in days Ayumi returned his smile. "I'll see you tonight, then." The dark haired girl informed him, her voice much cheerier than it had been hours ago. Yoshiki nodded before turning to leave for good.
Ayumi watched his receding form as he made for the music shop. 'Kishinuma-kun's been such a good houseguest.' She knew that despite some mishaps her mom enjoyed his presence and Ayato had no real complaints about the blonde either. 'If he doesn't find something in time I'll talk to them about possibly extending his stay.' She decided before turning in the direction of her home.
That night at the dinner table she informed her parents that Yoshiki would be coming back after work later. Her parents shared expressions of surprise before Asuka smiled warmly. "That's good, I'll be sure to set a plate aside for him." Her mother had told her before setting the table. Ayato also appeared pleased that whatever had befallen his daughter and friend had come to pass.
To Ayumi's relief her parents didn't ask any questions about what had caused Yoshiki's temporary departure in the first place. They just seemed content to let things go and just be happy that their daughter wasn't fighting with one of her friends.
After dinner Asuka wrapped up the leftovers into a plate for Yoshiki and reminded Ayumi to give it to the blonde when he got home. "I'm sure Kishinuma-kun's missed my cooking." Her mother commented with a small giggle as Ayumi washed the dishes.
"Sure thing." Ayumi's words followed her mother out of the kitchen.
Later that night Yoshiki was pretty happy to have Ayumi, dressed in pajamas with her hair out of it's usual bindings, inform him of the plate of leftovers. 'I've missed Asuka-san's cooking.' Not that he hadn't eaten well at Satoshi's house, but he had missed eating food prepared by Ayumi's mom. Glancing at the pajama clad girl Yoshiki's felt his heart flutter. 'I missed you too...' After everything that had happened it felt nice to be able to be around her again.
The dark haired girl followed him."Don't stay up too late, Kishinuma-kun." Ayumi reminded the blonde as he grabbed his plate and opened the microwave. "Tomorrow we'll work on our homework together. I doubt you were able to pay attention at all the last few days." Ayumi said while doing her best to ignore the lingering guilt.
The blonde inwardly frowned as he recalled his last few days of school. Things had been rough, but at least the unpleasantness of those days had passed. "Ri-right." Yoshiki scratched his cheek while waiting for his food to heat up. "Thanks Shinozaki."
Ayumi, feeling her spirits lifted by his appreciation, left him with a parting smile. "Goodnight, Kishinuma-kun."
"Goodnight, Shinozaki." His voice followed her out of the kitchen.
The blonde sighed in content as he watched her receding form. Things were back to normal between him and Ayumi, dare he say things were even better between them before. Before long a shrill beep nabbed his attention, the timer had gone off, and his food was done. After a quick meal Yoshiki retreated to Hinoe's room, ready to fall asleep.
It was a little after breakfast that saw Yoshiki with Ayumi in tow entering the living room. Ayato from his spot on the couch looked up at them in question. To his immense surprise the blonde grabbed the TV remote and promptly turned the television off. "I was watching that." He told the blonde pointedly, mild annoyance shining through.
Yoshiki allowed himself to be intimated by Ayumi's father for all of a second before frowning in determination. "Sorry, Shinozaki-san but this is important." Ayato's frown remained in place but he did sit up, to show the blonde that he had his attention. Clearing his throat Yoshiki began. "I owe you and your family much. You're family has been very good to me, if it weren't for you guys I don't know where I'd be right now."
Yoshiki could see Ayumi's dumbfounded expression from his peripherals. He really couldn't fault her for being confused, considering that instead of working on homework when he came into her room he had just grabbed her wrist and lead the surprised girl into the living room. He was certain that regardless of the outcome of this he was going to receive one hell of a lecture later.
"Your daughter is an important friend to me, despite my questionable background she's always had my best interest at heart and is always looking out for me. Sometimes I feel that our relationship is rather one-sided since I'm rarely able to help her. But right now I'm going to help her."
The father and daughter both looked at the blonde with twin looks of surprise. Ayumi felt her throat dry as a rush of satisfaction coursed through her at Yoshiki's words. It felt nice to be appreciated. Sadly that pleasant feeling was replaced with shock and awe as finally elaborated on the reason for this sudden intervention.
"Shinozaki-san, your daughter has told something concerning. That something you did years ago has been bothering her for the longest time. I think it's time that you two talk about it." With that Yoshiki left the room, feeling a mixture of satisfaction and dread at Ayumi's baffled expression.
Ayumi's wide blue eyes followed the blonde's retreat from the room. A part of her wanted to scream at him for doing something so rash and invasive. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending how you looked at it, she was at a loss for words. Even she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Yoshiki would do something like this.
At the sound of her father clearing his throat she whipped her head back to look at him. Seeing that he had his daughter's attention Ayato addressed her. "Considering Kishinuma went to the trouble of doing this, you want to tell me what he was talking about?" He asked with a mixture of curiosity and parental concern.
Turning her eyes away from him the girl pouted to herself, mentally berating Yoshiki for putting her in this situation. "Not really..." Ayumi muttered under her breath.
Ayato frowned, not too surprised that his daughter was reluctant to talk to him. "Obviously whatever it is must be pretty serious if Kishinuma was willing to do this? Does this have something to do with why he left for a few days?"
Ayumi shook her head, not trusting her mouth to answer for her.
"Then what it is it?" Ayato frowned as his daughter remained silent. Pinching the bridge of his nose he sighed trying to think of how to get his daughter to talk to him. He cursed his inability to get his daughter to talk to him.
They remained there for a long time as Ayato tried to find the right words. "What did I do?" He quietly asked, trying to think of what he could have done to upset Ayumi. According to Yoshiki his daughter had told him that something he'd done had been bothering her for a long time.
Meanwhile Ayumi was experiencing a mixture of emotions that she was barely able to keep from appearing on her face. She was baffled and frustrated by Yoshiki's actions, she was uncomfortable with the conversation she had been forced into with her father, and confused about what to do now.
Even if she left her father and went back to her room Yoshiki had already opened the can of worms. From then on Ayato would always know that there was an unresolved issue between them. 'What would Nee-chan say in this situation?' The twin tailed girl wondered, thinking of her elder sister.
Ayumi felt her shoulders slump as she had a pretty good idea what Hinoe would tell her. Her sister would encourage her to get this off her chest, to stop bottling this thing she had been holding back since she was eleven. Sighing she lowered her head in defeat and whispered something, a name. "Riko-san."
Ayato perked up at his daughter destroying the tense silence. "Riko-san?" He uttered, downright confused. 'Who is she talking about?' He couldn't remember if he knew anyone with that name.
Ayumi looked majorly uncomfortable but did her best to push through. "That office lady from your workplace." She explained, figuring that would jog his memory.
Eleven year old Ayumi's ears perked up at the sound of the telephone ringing. Looking up from the kitchen table, where she had a textbook opened, she took note of the phone. Her parents had always told her not to answer it unless they said otherwise. Today she was by herself, her father was out running an errand and her mom was still at work. So she didn't answer the phone.
She remembered her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates, her face stricken in horror as the answering machine picked up and an unpleasant voice destroyed her piece of mind.
"Heeeey Ayato..." What was supposed to sound seductive only came off as disgusting. The woman was obviously drunk as she proceeded to explain in great detail certain things that an eleven year old girl should not be forced to listen to. "I can't wait to see you tomorrow." She said before hanging up.
Ayumi looked away, not wanting to see the expected shame on her father's face. "I erased the message and never told anyone. I was afraid that if I told Okaa-san or Onee-chan that our family would be broken..."
"I never knew about that." Was what Ayato said after a long while. He looked down before his eyes widened in horror. "Oh god, Ayumi you don't actually think-?" He cut himself off, not even wanting to hear the words spoken.
Ayumi looked up at her father's distressed expression.
"I-I never did anything with that woman or any woman." He told her earnestly. Six years later he hadn't seen her since she was fired for misconduct in the workplace, and he sure as hell didn't remember her. Sitting forward, he tried to keep eye contact. "Ayumi, I would never do anything to hurt you or your mother like that. I wish you had told me this sooner, we could have dealt with this a long time ago"
Ayumi pursed her lips, not thinking he was outright lying. Yet after having spent years believing otherwise it wasn't easy to immediately comprehend that her assumption had been wrong. "I see..."
Ayato, knowing that his daughter wouldn't so easily accept his words as fact, sighed. "I...I wish there was a way I could convince you." Ayumi doubted that anything he said would be able to fully convince her.
"What's going on in here?" Asuka, having just entered the room and noticing the tension, asked worriedly.
Ayumi felt her lips dipping into a frown at the appearance of her mother. A split second later the frown was wiped off as she became thoughtful. 'Otou-san says he never cheated on Okaa-san.' She was reluctant to believe him, but at the same time she wanted him to be right. Even if it would be disheartening to know that she had spent so long thinking her father had done something unspeakable. she knew that it would be just as reliving to learn that he hadn't.
"Tell her." Ayumi spoke while Ayato was trying to think of what to tell his wife about the current situation. At his baffled look the twin tailed girl clarified. "Tell Okaa-san what I told you, and tell her what you said. If she believes you then I guess I don't have much of a choice in the matter."
Ayato wasn't the best at lying when it came to his wife, he could never surprise her so he had given up on it a long time ago. If Asuka believed her husband when he said that he didn't cheat than Ayumi would have to as well.
"Believe what?" Ayumi's mother raised an eyebrow in confusion. Ayato took a deep breath before turning to look at his wife and briefly explaining what Ayumi had told him. As her husband recounted their daughter's story Asuka felt herself becoming horrified to learn what her daughter had kept hidden from them for years.
His wife didn't think him capable of cheating, she didn't even entertain the thought, more focused on how Ayumi had suffered in silence. "I never cheated on you." Ayato said at the end of his tale to which Asuka told him that she believed him without question.
Turning her eyes away from her husband Asuka addressed her stunned daughter. "Ayumi-chan, why didn't you ever tell us this?" Her mother questioned with a concerned look.
Ayumi, slightly surprised that her mother was so quick to believe her father, took a moment to answer. "I...I was afraid." She finally told her mother the fear she had of their family breaking apart.
Asuka nodded understandably before walking over to Ayumi and wrapping her arms around her. "It's okay, Ayumi-chan." She said in a soothing tone, rubbing her daughter's back.
The dark haired girl sniffled lightly as she hesitantly returned the hug. She hadn't hugged or been hugged by either of her parents in a long time, the comfort was appreciated. "I'm sorry." Ayumi repeated before sniffling.
Pacing back and forth in Ayumi's room Yoshiki sighed under his breath. The longer he waited the more nervous he became. He couldn't hear anything that was going on in the other room, he knew that this thing between Ayumi and her dad was a family matter. Considering he knew as much as he did was enough. 'At least I don't hear yelling...' That was a good sign, the ex-delinquent told himself.
After the longest time he saw the door to Ayumi's room open, and in came the object of his affections. At seeing him her eyes widened and Yoshiki waited for the inevitable yelling that was sure to come. When the girl didn't immediately start screaming her lungs out at him for his stupidity Yoshiki found himself at a loss for words.
Ayumi quietly walked over to her bed and plopped down on the edge. Taking a moment to compose herself, her eyes were red as though she'd been crying. "Shinozaki..." The blonde uttered worried that he had made things worse.
At him breaking the silence the dark haired girl finally found her voice. "I can't believe you did that." Ayumi looked at him as though he just preformed an amazing feat. "I know I've always thought of you as rash and unpredictable, but nothing could have prepared me for this."
Yoshiki swallowed nervously, her voice wasn't angry but it wasn't happy either. "Are...are you mad?" He questioned hesitantly.
Ayumi considered his question for a moment before answering. "I'm shocked. What would compel you to do something like that?" She asked, her curiosity superseding any anger that she might have felt.
The blonde shrugged, not completely sure of how to answer that. "You're always butting into my business to help me, I figured I'd return the favor." He had said it in jest, but when they thought about it he was right. Every time Ayumi had come to Yoshiki's aid she had pushed herself into his business and not cared for his feelings on the matter until after the fact. The bathroom incident when they met during first year and his apartment catching fire were just the two main example.
Yoshiki watched Ayumi as she sat there staring at him. For the longest time she didn't say anything, then her shoulder's started to shake. He heard the snickers before watching her slowly dissolve into laughter, as though he had just told the greatest joke ever. It was about fifteen seconds before he joined in and started laughing. It was kind of funny, he supposed.
After a while she stopped, needing to catch her breath. Looking back at the blonde Ayumi smiled, she hadn't laughed that hard in a long while. "Thanks, Kishinuma-kun." She said, wiping her mirthful tears away from her bright eyes. Yoshiki returned her smile with a warm smirk.
And there it is, the happy conclusion to this arc. I really enjoyed writing this, and I hope that everyone else enjoyed reading it. Even though I write for my own satisfaction, knowing that there are people who look forward to seeing more of this story always motivates me to keep writing. Hopefully the next chapter will be out before long. Again, happy Easter to everyone.
