Okay, starting with this one I'm going to name the viewpoint character at each point, or write "general," since just about every section changes the viewpoint.
Oh, and "Clickit" is the noise a phone makes when you hang it up or pick it up.
*****
*General*
Ring, ring, ring.
"Iori! Get the phone!"
Ring, ring.
"Iori!"
Ring, ring, ring.
"Fine. I'll get it. It's probably for you, though."
Ring, ri...
Clickit.
"Y'ello?"
"TK! Did you hear?"
"Hear what, Kari?" TK was somewhat surprised to hear the voice of his longtime best friend, especially infused with such panic.
"Okay. I'll say this slowly. Um...Sora called me last night. She says Tai spent last night on her couch. She thinks he left Matt."
"Oh, God." TK was well aware that his brother was not the most well balanced person in the world. This could...
"This could be bad, Kari."
"Worse than bad. Tai had been making noises for a while, but..."
"I never thought he'd really do it."
"Neither did I."
"So..."
"I think you should call Matt, TK. He might need someone to talk to, and he'd listen to you."
"He'd listen to me? That's news to me."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I do. But one thing I've learned in the past few years is that Ishida Yamato only listens to Ishida Yamato."
"TK, he's probably doing pretty badly right now. You know what he could do..."
Images of two of Matt's previous hospital stays flashed in TK's mind. "Yeah. I do. It's just that he's been so...so..."
"He's hurting, TK."
"What about YOUR brother?"
"That's who I plan to call."
"Okay."
"Okay." There was a rustling on Kari's end of the line. "Miyako sends her love to you and Iori."
"Tell her we return it."
"I'll call you back after I get off the line with Tai, okay."
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye."
Clickit.
*****
*Matt*
What's that noise?
Quack, quack?
Oh, yeah. The phone. Tai's stupid duck phone.
Tai...
The duck quacks a few more times and I finally screw up the courage to pick up the receiver.
PleasebeTai...no...don'tbeTai...
It takes me a few seconds before I finally speak.
"...Hello?"
*****
*TK*
"...Hello?"
He sounds like he's been through hell. Literally. I don't think I've ever heard anyone so broken down.
"Um, hi, Matt."
"Hi, TK. What's up?" His voice has equal parts relief, surprise and resignation, and I wonder who he expected. Then I could hit myself for being so stupid to actually wonder.
"Um...not much." I decide to just bite the bullet. "Matt, I heard. About...Tai."
"Oh." He says, so softly I can barely hear it. "Yeah. He...I came back..."
"I'm really sorry, Matt."
"Don't be. It was my fault, TK. I expected him to wait for me forever. I was an idiot."
"He really loved you."
"And I love him."
Oh, shit. 'Love.' He's still using present tense.
"Well, you could have..."
"Shown it better? I know. I screwed up, big time."
"I also saw on MTV...Why'd you leave the band? Because Tai left you?"
Matt laughs, but there's no joy in it. It's a dry, humorless laugh. "I left to spend more time with Tai, TK. But I came home and he had left."
"Oh." That sets me back for a second. "Well, I'm sure if you just tell him..."
"I won't. He doesn't want to see me. I might as well do what he wants for once."
I hear the click of a lighter, then a long inhalation. "That's a cigarette, right?"
"What else would it be?"
"Well..."
"I don't use drugs anymore, TK. I stopped."
"For Tai. And he's gone."
"Yeah. He's gone." There's a long pause and I can practically see him taking a drag off one of his cigarettes. "Is there a point to all this?"
"I thought you might need to talk."
"Oh. Well, you know now."
"Yeah. I know."
"Well, then."
I don't want to hang up. Each time he speaks, I get a little more frightened for him, and I'm afraid of what he might do if I leave him alone.
But it's becoming blatantly obvious that he doesn't want to talk. He wants to stew in his hell for a while.
I should probably let him. He needs it.
"So...um...Matt...I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Yeah. Right. Tell Iori I said hi."
"Okay. Um...bye."
"Bye."
I wait for him to hang up.
He waits for me to hang up.
Thus, no one hangs up.
"Um, Matt?"
"What, TK?"
"Are you still there?"
He makes a little snorting sound. "Yes, I'm still here."
"Oh. Goodbye."
"GOODBYE, Takeru."
Finally I take the phone away from my ear and rest it back on the cradle.
It almost hurts.
*****
*Tai*
Ring, ring...
"I'll get it! Hello, Takenouchi-Tachikawa residence. Mimi speaking...oh, hi, Kari. Yeah, he's here. Hold on." Mimi turns around, hand over the receiver. "Tai, it's Kari...and Miss Lilly, you take that cat off the table NOW. Cats don't belong on the table."
Lilly pouts for a second, then picks up the cat and sits it in her lap. I reach out a hand and Mimi hands me the receiver. "Hi, Kari."
"Hi, Tai...um..."
"How are things?"
"Just fine. Um, Tai..."
"How's Miyako?"
"She's fine, Tai. Listen..."
"Is her new job going okay?"
"Yes. Listen to me, Tai..."
"And you. Have you..."
"TAI!"
"What?"
"I heard. That you left Matt."
"Yeah. I did. So?"
"Why?"
"I'd had enough of the Ishida Yamato experience. Decided to live for me for a while."
"Oh."
"You know, the whole ego thing had really started to get to me. And I don't think we'd talked for weeks. "
"Why now, then? I mean..."
"Why? I'll tell you why. I got a call the other day."
"A...call?"
I wave my hand and Mimi nods. "C'mon, Punkin." She mutters. "Lets take you outside and play, okay?"
"I wanna stay here, Meema."
"You don't want to go outside? It's nice."
Lilly looks up like she's going to argue, but she apparently sees some "Don't mess with me" look on Mimi's face, because she says, "Okay, Meema. Come on, Happy." She scoops up her cat, wipes a sticky hand on her overalls and makes a run for the front hall. Mimi follows.
"Tai? You there?"
"Yeah. I was just getting rid of the peanut gallery."
"So...a call?"
"Yeah. Some guy named Laine. He said that he'd been fucking Matt all through the last tour, and he wanted so much money or he'd go to the papers. Apparently Matt had been paying him off for a while."
"Oh my god..."
"Yeah. And he also said that Matt's apparently back on heroin. And you know..."
"Yeah. I know."
"So...it was just all too much. He was cheating on me, lying to me, and hiding it all from me. And I don't need ANY of that. Oh, and apparently this Laine guy wasn't the only one, either. To quote the remarkable Laine 'When Matt gets stoned, he gets horny as hell.'"
"Oh."
"And since I know you have TK or someone talking to him, let him know that a single call would have been nice, lately. And that all this stuff wouldn't be pissing me off as much if I'd heard it from him. Okay?"
"Um...okay."
"Love ya, Kari."
"Bye."
Clickit
*****
*TK*
"How was Matt?"
"Well, I think the best thing that can be said is that he's probably not going to actively kill himself. I don't think he's that interested in taking care of himself, though. He's really depressed. What about Tai?"
"Very angry. Apparently he found out that Matt's been cheating on him. And paying his lovers off. And was apparently back on drugs."
"Matt told me he'd gone clean."
"Even if he's telling the truth, that's two out of three, TK." There was a long pause. "Maybe this is for the best."
"What?"
"They haven't been working out for a while, TK. Maybe it's time for them to move on. Yeah, it was great when we were all happily paired off, but nothing lasts forever."
"Kari, you didn't hear Matt. He sounded like his world just ended. He was lost. I can't leave him like that."
"Well, what did HE say about getting back together with Tai?"
"Um...well..."
"TK?"
"It was more what he didn't say."
"What do you mean?"
"He said that he wanted to leave Tai alone, since Tai obviously didn't want to see him anymore."
"Well, there you go."
"He also said that he still loved Tai."
"Of course. Think how you'd be if Iori left you."
"I don't want to think about that."
"And I don't want to think about Miyako leaving me."
"But...it just doesn't seem right, Kari."
"I know. But you, out of everyone, should know that breaking up is usually forever. You and Matt."
"Yeah." I can still remember some disastrous attempts to get my parents back together, back when I was little. And things Matt had done.
None of them worked.
I can hear noises at the door. "Kari? Iori's home. I'll call you later, okay?"
"Okay."
Clickit
Iori is standing right inside the door, pulling off his uniform jacket. I walk right up and wrap my arms around him.
"TK?" He asks, somewhat confused.
I think I'm about to cry. "Just...promise you'll never leave me, Iori. Promise me that."
Iori stands, surprised, for a second, almost long enough for me to pull back my arms, but then he reaches up and smoothes out my hair. "I won't, TK. Don't worry."
*****
TBC
Oh, and "Clickit" is the noise a phone makes when you hang it up or pick it up.
*****
*General*
Ring, ring, ring.
"Iori! Get the phone!"
Ring, ring.
"Iori!"
Ring, ring, ring.
"Fine. I'll get it. It's probably for you, though."
Ring, ri...
Clickit.
"Y'ello?"
"TK! Did you hear?"
"Hear what, Kari?" TK was somewhat surprised to hear the voice of his longtime best friend, especially infused with such panic.
"Okay. I'll say this slowly. Um...Sora called me last night. She says Tai spent last night on her couch. She thinks he left Matt."
"Oh, God." TK was well aware that his brother was not the most well balanced person in the world. This could...
"This could be bad, Kari."
"Worse than bad. Tai had been making noises for a while, but..."
"I never thought he'd really do it."
"Neither did I."
"So..."
"I think you should call Matt, TK. He might need someone to talk to, and he'd listen to you."
"He'd listen to me? That's news to me."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I do. But one thing I've learned in the past few years is that Ishida Yamato only listens to Ishida Yamato."
"TK, he's probably doing pretty badly right now. You know what he could do..."
Images of two of Matt's previous hospital stays flashed in TK's mind. "Yeah. I do. It's just that he's been so...so..."
"He's hurting, TK."
"What about YOUR brother?"
"That's who I plan to call."
"Okay."
"Okay." There was a rustling on Kari's end of the line. "Miyako sends her love to you and Iori."
"Tell her we return it."
"I'll call you back after I get off the line with Tai, okay."
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye."
Clickit.
*****
*Matt*
What's that noise?
Quack, quack?
Oh, yeah. The phone. Tai's stupid duck phone.
Tai...
The duck quacks a few more times and I finally screw up the courage to pick up the receiver.
PleasebeTai...no...don'tbeTai...
It takes me a few seconds before I finally speak.
"...Hello?"
*****
*TK*
"...Hello?"
He sounds like he's been through hell. Literally. I don't think I've ever heard anyone so broken down.
"Um, hi, Matt."
"Hi, TK. What's up?" His voice has equal parts relief, surprise and resignation, and I wonder who he expected. Then I could hit myself for being so stupid to actually wonder.
"Um...not much." I decide to just bite the bullet. "Matt, I heard. About...Tai."
"Oh." He says, so softly I can barely hear it. "Yeah. He...I came back..."
"I'm really sorry, Matt."
"Don't be. It was my fault, TK. I expected him to wait for me forever. I was an idiot."
"He really loved you."
"And I love him."
Oh, shit. 'Love.' He's still using present tense.
"Well, you could have..."
"Shown it better? I know. I screwed up, big time."
"I also saw on MTV...Why'd you leave the band? Because Tai left you?"
Matt laughs, but there's no joy in it. It's a dry, humorless laugh. "I left to spend more time with Tai, TK. But I came home and he had left."
"Oh." That sets me back for a second. "Well, I'm sure if you just tell him..."
"I won't. He doesn't want to see me. I might as well do what he wants for once."
I hear the click of a lighter, then a long inhalation. "That's a cigarette, right?"
"What else would it be?"
"Well..."
"I don't use drugs anymore, TK. I stopped."
"For Tai. And he's gone."
"Yeah. He's gone." There's a long pause and I can practically see him taking a drag off one of his cigarettes. "Is there a point to all this?"
"I thought you might need to talk."
"Oh. Well, you know now."
"Yeah. I know."
"Well, then."
I don't want to hang up. Each time he speaks, I get a little more frightened for him, and I'm afraid of what he might do if I leave him alone.
But it's becoming blatantly obvious that he doesn't want to talk. He wants to stew in his hell for a while.
I should probably let him. He needs it.
"So...um...Matt...I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Yeah. Right. Tell Iori I said hi."
"Okay. Um...bye."
"Bye."
I wait for him to hang up.
He waits for me to hang up.
Thus, no one hangs up.
"Um, Matt?"
"What, TK?"
"Are you still there?"
He makes a little snorting sound. "Yes, I'm still here."
"Oh. Goodbye."
"GOODBYE, Takeru."
Finally I take the phone away from my ear and rest it back on the cradle.
It almost hurts.
*****
*Tai*
Ring, ring...
"I'll get it! Hello, Takenouchi-Tachikawa residence. Mimi speaking...oh, hi, Kari. Yeah, he's here. Hold on." Mimi turns around, hand over the receiver. "Tai, it's Kari...and Miss Lilly, you take that cat off the table NOW. Cats don't belong on the table."
Lilly pouts for a second, then picks up the cat and sits it in her lap. I reach out a hand and Mimi hands me the receiver. "Hi, Kari."
"Hi, Tai...um..."
"How are things?"
"Just fine. Um, Tai..."
"How's Miyako?"
"She's fine, Tai. Listen..."
"Is her new job going okay?"
"Yes. Listen to me, Tai..."
"And you. Have you..."
"TAI!"
"What?"
"I heard. That you left Matt."
"Yeah. I did. So?"
"Why?"
"I'd had enough of the Ishida Yamato experience. Decided to live for me for a while."
"Oh."
"You know, the whole ego thing had really started to get to me. And I don't think we'd talked for weeks. "
"Why now, then? I mean..."
"Why? I'll tell you why. I got a call the other day."
"A...call?"
I wave my hand and Mimi nods. "C'mon, Punkin." She mutters. "Lets take you outside and play, okay?"
"I wanna stay here, Meema."
"You don't want to go outside? It's nice."
Lilly looks up like she's going to argue, but she apparently sees some "Don't mess with me" look on Mimi's face, because she says, "Okay, Meema. Come on, Happy." She scoops up her cat, wipes a sticky hand on her overalls and makes a run for the front hall. Mimi follows.
"Tai? You there?"
"Yeah. I was just getting rid of the peanut gallery."
"So...a call?"
"Yeah. Some guy named Laine. He said that he'd been fucking Matt all through the last tour, and he wanted so much money or he'd go to the papers. Apparently Matt had been paying him off for a while."
"Oh my god..."
"Yeah. And he also said that Matt's apparently back on heroin. And you know..."
"Yeah. I know."
"So...it was just all too much. He was cheating on me, lying to me, and hiding it all from me. And I don't need ANY of that. Oh, and apparently this Laine guy wasn't the only one, either. To quote the remarkable Laine 'When Matt gets stoned, he gets horny as hell.'"
"Oh."
"And since I know you have TK or someone talking to him, let him know that a single call would have been nice, lately. And that all this stuff wouldn't be pissing me off as much if I'd heard it from him. Okay?"
"Um...okay."
"Love ya, Kari."
"Bye."
Clickit
*****
*TK*
"How was Matt?"
"Well, I think the best thing that can be said is that he's probably not going to actively kill himself. I don't think he's that interested in taking care of himself, though. He's really depressed. What about Tai?"
"Very angry. Apparently he found out that Matt's been cheating on him. And paying his lovers off. And was apparently back on drugs."
"Matt told me he'd gone clean."
"Even if he's telling the truth, that's two out of three, TK." There was a long pause. "Maybe this is for the best."
"What?"
"They haven't been working out for a while, TK. Maybe it's time for them to move on. Yeah, it was great when we were all happily paired off, but nothing lasts forever."
"Kari, you didn't hear Matt. He sounded like his world just ended. He was lost. I can't leave him like that."
"Well, what did HE say about getting back together with Tai?"
"Um...well..."
"TK?"
"It was more what he didn't say."
"What do you mean?"
"He said that he wanted to leave Tai alone, since Tai obviously didn't want to see him anymore."
"Well, there you go."
"He also said that he still loved Tai."
"Of course. Think how you'd be if Iori left you."
"I don't want to think about that."
"And I don't want to think about Miyako leaving me."
"But...it just doesn't seem right, Kari."
"I know. But you, out of everyone, should know that breaking up is usually forever. You and Matt."
"Yeah." I can still remember some disastrous attempts to get my parents back together, back when I was little. And things Matt had done.
None of them worked.
I can hear noises at the door. "Kari? Iori's home. I'll call you later, okay?"
"Okay."
Clickit
Iori is standing right inside the door, pulling off his uniform jacket. I walk right up and wrap my arms around him.
"TK?" He asks, somewhat confused.
I think I'm about to cry. "Just...promise you'll never leave me, Iori. Promise me that."
Iori stands, surprised, for a second, almost long enough for me to pull back my arms, but then he reaches up and smoothes out my hair. "I won't, TK. Don't worry."
*****
TBC