chapter 6
--
Cody yawned, slowly blinking awake as the sun peeked through his window. He unlocked his arms from Yuki's neck, stretching out and yawning again. He'd stayed up all night talking. He felt as though he'd slept less than ten minutes. Looking down, he grinned at Yuki and hugged him again, happiness bursting through him as he squeezed tight. The writer stirred, slowly sitting up as he opened his eyes wearily.
"Ugh…"
"Yuki, are you awake?" Cody patted Yuki's cheek. "I think Shu is making breakfast."
"I'm awake," Yuki mumbled, closing his eyes. He simple didn't do mornings. However, he couldn't help but smile, with Cody in his lap, hugging him around the chest. He'd always known Cody was a huggy person, but he'd just been an observer - never a receiver. He reached a hand up, gently stoking the boy's pink hair. It looked just like Shuichi's, but it was rougher, not as smooth or silky as the singer's. Yuki was glad to finally notice a difference. The rumor about clones had almost gotten to him.
"Shu IS making breakfast," Cody confirmed. "Let's go, I'm hungry. Today is my birthday! Is everyone coming over?"
"I don't know, Shuichi always arranges this. He sure invited everyone we knew last year. And the year before." Yuki swung his legs over the side of the bed, standing uneasily with Cody in his arms. It was another odd thing. He'd always known Cody weighed next to nothing, as the wimpy Shuichi could even lift him up. However, now that he really got a chance to hold him, he was almost worried. Cody was a feather. "Eating," he confirmed, "would definitely be a good idea."
"Mm," Cody agreed, nodding. "Shuichi always makes the best birthday breakfasts."
Yuki walked out to the kitchen. Shuichi was fully clad in apron and bandana, skipping from the stove to the microwave and back again. He yelped as Yuki poked him in the back.
"YUKI! Don't DO that! It's scary." He spun around, immediately grinning at the way Cody was latched on to Yuki's neck. "Happy Birthday Cody…" he mumbled, trying not to cry at the image. Cody giggled, transferring himself clumsily from Yuki's arms to Shuichi's back. Shuichi stumbled, then reached behind himself, smacking his spatula lightly onto the boy's head.
"Hey!"
"Serves you right for startling me," Shuichi commented smugly, turning back to his cooking. Yuki gave a little sigh, reaching into the cupboard.
"I'll set the table. Is anyone else coming over for breakfast?"
"No…" Shuichi blushed. "It's just going to be the family."
Yuki shrugged, setting only three plates down at the table. He and Cody stood back as Shuichi danced around the kitchen like a whirlwind, continuing his baking and frying and stirring. Within a half hour the empty table was covered in food. Cody yipped, sitting down in the middle chair and pounding his fork on his plate, waiting for everyone else to sit down so he could eat. Shuichi and Yuki paued, unsure for a moment. They lost their bearings - it had always been Yuki at the end, Shuichi in the middle and Cody on the other end. Now Cody was in the middle and the entire world was screwed up.
They finally got over it and sat on either side of him. Shuichi dished out food, humming to himself and full of smiles. Today was too happy. It was the weekend, Cody was eight, everyone was coming over for a party later, Yuki and Cody had made up, and Yuki was being approachable for a change.
Plus, Shuichi couldn't wait to tell Cody was his gift was going to be. He was positively floating with the suspense of wanting to see Cody's expression.
Yuki raised an eyebrow, wondering what Shuichi was up to. He KNEW he was up to something - Shuichi never acted like this unless he thought he was being really clever. He watched patiently as Shuichi and Cody scarfed down a meal that could have fed ten people. Carefully, he picked at his own food, not really hungry at all. He was nervous, with butterflies in his stomach and everything. He'd had a secret for Cody's past few birthdays that he was going to finally give up today, afraid or not of how pathetic it might make him look.
Sigh.
He finally forced some eggs down his throat to please the chef, then pushed his plate away and nibbled on bacon until the other two human vacuums were done. He offered to clean, lumbering around the kitchen carting dishes to the sink. Cody and Shuichi skipped around the house, decorating and preparing and cleaning the house, just so that it could be trashed again later.
So they came.
A few hours later, everyone was pouring in. Hiro arrived first, as normal, and, as normal, he handed Cody an unwrapped gift, causing Shuichi to steam.
"HIRO! You know you're supposed to wrap it and wait until everyone else arrives!" Shuichi jumped around, stomping his feet and throwing a fit. Cody dragged the karaoke machine to his room, then ran back quickly, knocking the wind out of Hiro with a giant bear hug. The guitarist laughed nervously, patting Cody on the head. Cody snuggled in appreciation.
"I love it, Un-kul Hi-iro," Cody said slowly, knowing it made Hiro blush to be called Uncle. He watched happily as Hiro's cheeks reddened.
Then came Ryuichi, who greeted Yuki with a Kumagoro beam. He danced away from the retaliating punches, giggling and placing his gift for Cody on the coffee table. Cody yelled over to him from Hiro's shoulders.
"Uncle Ryuichi!"
"Waaaaah!" Ryuichi ran over, hugging Hiro and Cody at the same time all in one movement. Hiro blushed again and Cody squeaked. "DAAA! Guess what I got you, Cody-chan!" Ryuichi squealed.
"What!" Cody squealed back. "Wait I know - CANDY!"
"HAAAAIIII!" Ryuichi squealed for the third time. Shuichi stuck his tongue out.
"Spoiling him, Ryuichi, if you're really in your mid-thirties I'll eat myself. You were born yesterday."
"I was?!" Ryuichi cried. "WAAII - I'm only a day old!"
"Ryuichi's only a day old!" Cody cried.
"Na no goo-goo da," Ryuichi wailed, thumping to the floor. "Wanna baba - get me a baba, daddy!"
"Okay, baby, hold your horses," Cody sighed exaggeratedly, slipping down from Hiro's shoulders and handing Ryuichi an invisible bottle. "Happy now, son?"
"Yes, daddy, I love to suck my baba." Ryuichi chewed on the make believe item. Cody was too amused for his own good.
Noriko arrived, leading her daughter and husband inside by their ears. From what she was shouting, apparently they'd tried to eat the gift she supplied every year - Cody's birthday cake.
"I told you we'd eat it when we GOT here, not when we got in the CAR! Honestly, honestly!"
Mika arrived, Tatsuha dejectedly limping in behind her. She stormed over to Ryuichi, handing him a package of photos.
"Sakuma-san, these belong to you now. Do NOT let my brother get to them again and please, close your windows when you shower."
"Ooooh," Ryuichi cooed, staring at the polaroids. "I look good from this angle!"
"Yeah," Tatsuha sighed dreamily. He whimpered in the next instant as Mika slapped him across the face. "Owch - hey! I was just AGREEING!"
Mika mumbled something about stupid, perverted, teenager, and puberty, before heading to the kitchen to help Noriko and Shuichi prepare food.
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" a voice suddenly cried. "THERE'S A MAN WITH A BOMB BEHIND ME! HE'S GOING TO KILL US ALL! GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN!!"
Cody yelped, burying his face in Ryuichi's t-shirt. Not that it was too comforting - the singer babbled, shaking.
"A b-b-b-bomb?!"
Everyone else in the room stared in a bored way at the doorway, where K was cracking up, and leaning on the frame for support.
"Hahaha - hahahaha! A bomb, a bomb! Hahahaha!" He slapped Sakano in the back as the producer meekly wandered in, sending the poor guy flying a couple of feet. K strutted to the coffee table, dropping a wrapped package amidst the others. It looked, not surprisingly, like a BB gun. Sakano sighed at it and set a book-shaped item down.
Suguru arrived uneventually as usual.
Tohma was last to show up. He was almost an hour late, and he had no gift. Nobody was really paying attention to him. They wandered around, eating, fighting, laughing, watching T.V., or crowding into Cody's room where the boy had set up a lovely game of chess. He headed for Cody's room, only to peer in and blink at the sight of him and Yuki playing together.
"Checkmate," Cody cooed, smirking evily.
Yuki raised an eyebrow, smiling a little as he stared at the board. "So you did. Good job, Cody."
"Next time you don't have to let me win, either. TOHMA!" he cried so suddenly that Tohma jerked in surprise. "Uncle Tohma, you're late! I have the BEST thing to tell you!" He skidded over, pouncing into Tohma's arms and snuggling him.
Tohma patted Cody's back. "Oh? What's the best thing?"
Suspiciously, Cody looked all around, noticing some people looking interested in his and Tohma's words. "C'mon, Uncle Tohma, let's go somewhere alone. Too many people here."
"Where shall we go? Your room is taken."
"Uuuummmm…Shu and Yuki's room! Nobody'll be in there. Let's go!"
Tohma nodded in agreement, turned, took a step, and then paused, uncertain.
"Cody-chan…two things, I'm afraid."
"Oh? What things?" Cody cocked his head to the side, puzzled.
"First of all…I don't think Shindo-san would appreciate me in his room."
"Wuh? Why not?"
"Well, I won't go into it, but he doesn't like me very much at all." Tohma smiled in a sad way.
Cody was surprised. "What! Sure he likes you, he invited you, didn't he?"
"Of course he invited me. It would look very bad if he invited everyone he knew from N-G except for me, his boss."
"But-"
"Cody-chan, don't worry about it."
Cody pounded his fists on Tohma's chest. "No - no - no - no! We're going to Shu and Yuki's room. Shuichi would never yell at me."
"He also doesn't appreciate when I meet alone with you," Tohma sighed. "If he-"
"If he NOTHING. Let's go, Uncle Tohma."
Tohma couldn't help but to be persuaded by Cody's rigid certainty and determination. He shrugged.
"Well - remember how I mentioned two things, Cody-chan?"
"Mmm?"
"Well - here is the second. I don't know where Shindo-san and Eiri-san's room is!"
"Oh - oh!" Cody broke out into giggles, patting Tohma's bowler hat as if it were a kitten. "Oh, Uncle Tohma, my my my. Down the hall and to the left."
Tohma sighed at himself, and followed Cody's instructions. He had to set the boy down to open the door, and upon doing so, found himself in a dark, secluded, simply furnished room with a large bed, night stand, and other random things, mostly articles of clothing strewn around. Enough light was filtering in through the large, curtained windows for the room to be sufficiently lit without turning on the lights. Cody ran in, hopping onto the bed - which was so large it made him look about four years old - and rolled around on it's surface, twittering merrily.
"And what might you two need with a bed so big?" Tohma muttered to himself with a smirk. He sat down, watching Cody roll around for a fair amount of time. It was highly amusing, and made Tohma wish he was immature enough to roll around too. He was so tempted that he assured himself he would have if nobody else had been in the house...if there was no chance of anyone walking in on him.
He shook the thought out of his head, noticing that Cody'd stopped rolling.
"So what's this best thing, Cody-chan?"
Cody looked around, then pulled himself into Tohma's lap. He hugged him around the waist, grinning into his shirt, causing Tohma to smile a little. "It happened, Uncle Tohma. Really!"
"It happened? All I am aware of happening was that big storm last night."
"YES! I got scared, and I ran into my par-…Shu and Yuki's room," Cody said, blushing at his almost slip-up. "Yuki kinda yelled at me…so I left…but then he came into my room…he talked to me, and he says he never even hated me at all!"
"Really?" Tohma felt his smile widening.
"YES! He gave me a big hug, and then we lay…lied…laid…down in my bed, and talked forever. He told me a lot of things, he told me that you even knew him when he was MY age!"
"I did," Tohma nodded solemnly. "Since he was your age."
"Yeah, it was so cool! Anyway, I guess I fell asleep but when I woke up I found out he hadn't left, he'd slept with me all night long! And it was great because I'd wanted to sleep with Shu, but instead I slept with Yuki and I wasn't scared of the storm anymore and I wasn't scared of Yuki either!"
Tohma couldn't help but sigh fondly at Cody's child-like innocence. He returned Cody's ever present embrace, patting the boy's back. "I'm so happy for you, Cody."
"See Uncle Tohma? You promised me Yuki would like me and you were right. And you didn't have to do a thing!" Cody nuzzled his nose into Tohma's neck, thinking to himself that Tohma probably HAD done something…but that could be their little secret.
"I'm VERY pleased with that, Cody." Tohma winked and gave Cody another squeeze, thinking to himself that he should go talk to Eiri about this later. Perhaps Shuichi, too. He knew Shuichi thought he'd twisted Eiri and Cody into hating one another, that day when he'd spoken to them both about it. He didn't blame him - it had started that day, and Tohma was known for his share of manipulating. He frowned, thinking about it. Cody looked up, puzzled by the serious expression Tohma wore.
"Uncle Tohma?"
"I'm sorry Cody." Tohma smiled once more. "Like I said, I really am so happy for you both. However, is that all you came in here to discuss with me? Perhaps you wanted another birthday gift, since you obviously took care of your first request without me." He sighed in an exaggerated way. "Kids today. Next thing you know you'll be asking for a pony - then buying one yourself! Is there any hope for people like me?" Another exaggerated sigh.
Cody laughed. "I do have something else I want…but it's nothing you can help me with, I think."
"Oh?"
"Yeah…it's something I want to do for Shu." Cody bit his lip, looking down at the ground. "I've wanted to do it for a while, but I just can't."
"What's that?" Tohma was genuinely curious.
"Well…see…I don't remember my real dad…but I know he wasn't good," Cody forced out. He fell quiet very fast.
Tohma understood. "So it's hard for you to think about calling Shindo-san dad?"
Cody gulped, feeling like there were a million weights pressing down on his shoulders. "Yes. I know he's sad that I won't do it. The first time he ever asked what I'd call him, he suggested dad and I flipped out. He's always hinting at it and he's been really sad lately. He's been calling me son more and more. I don't know what to do…he thinks I only love him because he's my idol. Like the way that he loves Sakuma-san."
"That's a bit different," Tohma broke in. "He loves Sakuma-san more like a brother. Like a brother who's been there, done that, and helps him with his music. You know? It used to be idol worship, but not anymore."
"EXACTLY!" Cody cried, catching Tohma off guard. "For a long time he was just my idol, especially when he would bring me in when he recorded his albums, but now I find myself just missing him all the time and I'm so happy when he gets home. I feel really warm and safe when he holds me and I feel nice when he kisses me goodnight…I think that's how a father and son should be…but I just can't call him dad…it hurts too much…but I think it hurts him more…"
He trailed off, his words settling in Tohma's ears. The older man pondered, not sure if there was an easy solution to this or not. As if on cue, Shuichi's happy, nasally voice floated through the building.
"FOOD'S READY!"
"Food's ready," Cody repeated the obvious. Tohma nodded.
"Better head out, then. Don't keep your father waiting."
Cody nodded, skirting out the door quickly. His cheeks were red from the way Tohma had addressed Shuichi as his father.
Tohma watched him go, then turned to look out the window. He stared for a while, perplexed by the simple task of living for a moment. Poor Shuichi...Tohma doubted if Cody would ever call him father.
He stepped into the living room, smiling at the scene. Cody was back in Shuichi's arms, the baka easily holding the eight year old with one hand while dishing out food with another. Hiro, Suguru, and Sakano lounged about on the couch, laughing at something on T.V. Ryuichi was trailing Shuichi, looking sadly bored. He saw Yuki and brightened up, running over to bother the poor man. Yuki grumbled, as he had been deep in conversation with Mika about something. Noriko, dead drunk, was lounging in K's lap, chortling over something as her daughter looked on, horrified. Tatsuha was hiding under the table. Go figure.
/I can't imagine a happier family for Cody to grow up in,/ Tohma thought to himself, watching this all very closely. His train was broken off as the doorbell rang, piercing the air with its shrill sound. Yuki looked up, then walked over, perplexed. Who'd be ringing the bell? Everyone normally just came in.
Besides, wasn't everyone here?
The door swung open, and everyone blinked, staring rudely at the man who stood there.
He was tall, with a nice looking face. He wore a gray suit and tie, a briefcase in one hand, the other in his pocket. His shoes were shiny, as were his spotlessly clean glasses. Thoughtful brown eyes scanned the room.
"Hello," he said.
"Mm," replied Yuki.
The man smiled kindly. "I've come all the way from Kyoto to be here..."
"Who the hell are you, then?" Yuki inquired gruffly.
Deep brown stared coldly into gold.
"I'm Cody's father."
--
to be continued.
--
follow the arrow and click, onegai
shimasu.
||
||
||
\/