TO HOLD ON 3
Mitsui set the bouquet of white roses by the headstone of Sakura Koshino. Koshino was standing behind him, staring the gray marble with sad eyes. No one knew of this other than them both, the priest and two nuns. It had been a quick and very silent funeral - Koshino made sure that it would be. Mitsui paid his last respects to the girl he hadn't known, but grew to like one way or the other, and then turned to look at his friend.
"Koshino?" He inquired.
"Let's go." Koshino said, and they left. They exited the cemetery and slowly, a soft drizzle of white snow descended. Winter was back, and Mitsui never really thought that Koshino would be so quiet through out the funeral The guy did not shed a single tear.
They parted ways. For good or temporarily, Mitsui did not know which one his doubt would swing to.
*
The more the days went by, the more Mitsui desired to see Koshino. What was going on with him, he did not know. Christmas was coming soon, and he knew that Koshino would be spending them alone. Akagi and Kogure had already left the team, and the team did feel rather a bit miserable without the two seniors - who fought to keep the team together through thick and thin. It was another day of practice in the cold weather in their gym, and the heaters were not really doing anything to keep them warm. Sakuragi complained. Miyagi whined. Ayako grew tired. Rukawa fell asleep and now Mitsui was complaining.
"Look, captain!" He stressed on the last word. Miyagi frowned at this. "Why can't you just let us go home? You want us to catch pneumonia or what? And it's Christmas! Your supposed to be home, baking cookies with mommy and helping lil' sister and brother put up the tree!"
"Then why don't you go to mommy and bake your cookies, huh?" Miyagi retorted back.
If lights could go on off, so did Mitsui's mood. If there is one thing he hated, it was insulting his mother or father. He never really cared before, but now he was very sensitive to this. Miyagi saw the sudden change in his eyes and quickly raised a hand. That look only appeared in Mitsui's face if he was ready to beat someone up to a bloody pulp. Miyagi did not want to be that pulp. So instead, he brought something that he knew, Mitsui was aching to hear.
"Umm - did you know that Koshino caught a cold?" Miyagi asked, signaling Ayako behind him to end practice. The whistle echoed in the gym and everyone, with shivering steps made their way to the showers.
Mitsui's ears perked at this. "What?"
Miyagi shrugged. "I dunno." He sighed. "Akira-kun has been complaining that Koshino had been to quiet and that one day, he appeared in school looking so pale that his fingertips were quite dark in color. The poor guy. He also said that Koshino had a big bruise on his cheek and shoulder."
"Cheek and shoulder?" Mitsui questioned, eyebrow quirking in question.
"He fell down the stairs, therefore earning a bruise on his shoulder. He walked in to a door, hence the bruise on his cheek." Miyagi rubbed his chin. "That's funny."
"What's funny?" Mitsui asked, rubbing his arm since they were getting goose pimples.
"Because Akira-kun said that Koshino said the very same thing three times a couple of weeks ago. Koshino has been walking in to doors pretty much doesn't he?" Mitsui thought about it and wondered. Could it be because he was still affected by his sister's death? But walking in to a door? That was really silly. "Akira-kun said that Koshino was never ever clumsy. I mean Akira-kun does know him. They pretty much were together since junior high school anyway."
"I'm gonna drop by his place tonight. See if the guy is actually fine." Mitsui turned and headed for the showers, waving a hand at Miyagi in thanks. He took the quick shower; changed in to his black jeans, white t- shirt and Shohoku jacket before rushing home. His house already had the Christmas effect. He hanged lanterns, put up the lights, Christmas tree and made sure that he had a good supply of Christmas cookies and cakes - because the rest of the team had a knack of coming over at his house since he lived alone and stayed with him. Not that he really complained, but they were all growing boys, and growing boys need food. Food during Christmas was mostly cakes and cookies, so of course those boys would be expecting that.
He went to his room and changed in to fresh, clean black jeans, a light blue turtleneck and a navy blue winter jacket. He tied his blue Asics sneakers on, something that he got from his Godfather living in Hokkaido, and grabbed some money and his keys. He went to a good Ramen store and bought nice hot beef Ramen. He then headed for Koshino's home. It was a nice standard Japanese house, with a clean green garden that was currently covered in white snow and a low metal fence. He opened the gate and made his way to the door. He rang the doorbell.
The door opened a little head bobbed from the side. Koshino blinked and opened the door a bit wider. "S-Sembai?" He asked, sniffing. His P's were becoming B's and his T's were becoming D's. It must be a very terrible cold, because he had a tinge of red across the bridge of his nose, that plus a healing bruise on his right cheek. "Dhis is a subrise."
"Damn." Mitsui said, looking at Koshino, who was clad in a white winter pajamas along with the Santa Clause like hat to go with it. "You sound terrible."
Koshino smiled for the first time in god knows what, Mitsui did not know. "Come in." Mitsui stepped in the clean house. It was rather empty. No Christmas things up. It was bare. "Have a sead Sembai." He brought a hand to his nose and sniffed before wincing and coughing. His voice was a lot hoarse than usual, indicating that he did have a sore throat.
"Here." Mitsui handed him the ramen. "You should have them. It's still hot."
"Dhank you." Koshino sniffed accepting the ramen. "It looks good."
"Eat it." Mitsui said grinning. He headed for the kitchen. "Come on. I guarantee you they're good. I eat at their store nearly all the time, when I get the time actually." He tried to keep the happy atmosphere, not asking about the bruise. He knew that Koshino does not want him too, so he complied with this.
They sat in the kitchen's table and Mitsui assisted Koshino in eating up his ramen. He ate slowly, choking a bit because he was having a very hard time to swallow things because of his aching throat.
"Dhey are good sembai." Koshino said finally, after finishing the ramen. "I never really ade at all because of dhis sdupid cold." He sniffed again, and whined. "Oh man."
"So how have you been?" Mitsui asked, clearing the plates. "It's been a while since I last saw you."
"I've been okay, I guess." He replied. "Studying, basketball, the usual." Mitsui nodded. "You?"
"The usual." Mitsui replied. He saw Koshino yawn and get up to sit in the living room. Music by Glay was playing in the stereo. "Koshino?"
"Hai?" Minutes of silence.
"Don't you feel alone?" Mitsui finally asked.
"All the time." Koshino replied. Mitsui said nothing, but kept looking at the plush carpet. "Don't you?"
"I'm always alone." Mitsui replied, closing his eyes.
"We're just a bunch of lonely guys huh?" Koshino said, forcing a smile, but failing miserably. He coughed and then yawned.
"Yup." Mitsui said, staring at the ceiling, Glay's music deafly entering his ears. "We are."
A few minutes went by and Mitsui had not taken his eyes off the ceiling. When he did, he found Koshino curled up on the sofa, dead to world, light babyish snores coming from him. Mitsui got up and headed for the attic of the house. He found what he wanted and began his task. Two hours later, he covered Koshino with a blanket and placed his Christmas gift and card in its suitable place.
He then left the house, glancing one last time at Koshino. "You don't have to be alone when you've got friends." He whispered and turned to leave in the dark night.
*
Koshino woke up to shrill ringing of the phone. He opened his eyes and for a moment saw red and green glowing. He bolted up from his lying position and eyed the living room. His house was decorated in such a beautiful way. There were lanterns on the doors and walls, there were blinking green and red lights, Christmas stockings filled with candy, artificial stick on snowflakes on the windows, and most of all, there was a beautiful green tree in the corner of his small living room, decorated with shiny Christmas balls, cookies, candy canes and red ribbons. The golden star on top of it glowed with golden pride.
Koshino gaped, but the ringing telephone shook him to reality. He grabbed the phone and whispered a very strangled hello. His eyes narrowed at the speaker on the other end. "I'b nod feeling well. I've got donsillitis and a bad cold. Give me a few days and I will be back for work." He sighed. "I kdow. Good bye." He hanged up the phone. His eyes fell on the little red parcel under the tree and the card. He picked up the card and opened it.
Nobody should be alone in Christmas. I'm always here if ever you need company. Merry Christmas.
Mitsui
Koshino placed the card back and smiled. "Oh sembai. If only -" He could no longer continue. He broke down in to tears.
*
Christmas morning was as bright and as peaceful as it could be. In the neighborhoods of Mitsui's subdivisions, delightful squeals of children could be heard from the presents they got, sweet smell of grand breakfasts seeped out of the houses, there were light laughter and loads of happiness.
Mitsui for starters, was in a foul mood. He had fallen off his bed and landed on the cold marble floors. He wouldn't have minded if he was wearing a pear of sweat pants, but it just so happened that he had gone to sleep the previous night in the nude after having loads to drink with Tetsuo and the rest. Now he reeked with alcohol, and falling flat on your butt on a cold marble floor was not very good. Mitsui felt something tug in his guts and immediately got on his two feet and rushed to the bathroom, puking all the beer he had consumed the other night. How many cans was it? Nine? He couldn't remember, and he could not be bothered. That was the last thing he wanted to know, and by the looks of how his head spun and how he vomited, he judged that it was definitely more than a few cans. Mental note: Never ever drink beer with Tetsuo during Christmas.
He took a cold shower to wash the headache away - which did work, believe it or not - and get the reeking smell of alcohol off him. He was not aware of the amount of musk scented shampoo he poured in to his palm, he was not aware of how hard he scrubbed his body with the body scrubber and he was not aware of how his bar of white musk scented soap had shrunk. He just wanted the smell off. When he was done, his body was dark pink from all the scrubbing. He dried himself with a towel and changed in to a pair of clean blue jeans and a white jumper before bouncing down his living room to clean up last night's mess. Surprisingly he found none. Everything looked untouched, except for the pile of presents under the tree, which looked as if someone had rushed in putting them there while he was asleep. Oh well, Santa or not, the presents were his.
He sat in front of the pile and unwrapped them one by one. He got a wonderful baby blue scarf from Sakuragi, a dark blue cashmere jacket from Rukawa - he figured that those two bought them together - a pair of hand knitted mittens from Ayako, a huge expensive towel from Kogure, a MAX and T.M Revolution CD from Akagi, a turtle neck cashmere jacket in blood red from Miyagi, chocolates from Haruko, basketball accessories from the Gundan, a hat from Uozumi, sun glasses from Ikegami, a watch from Sendoh, a WANDS CD from Fukuda, and a journal from Hikoichi. Tetsuo had given him a really nice silver chain.
Mitsui grinned at the contents. He had given them their gifts a couple of days ago and he only got theirs that morning, how he did not know. He and Tetsuo had been good friends since the beginning and it was not surprising when Tetsuo gave him the expensive chain, since Mitsui got him a new motorcycle helmet from Harley Davidson - he saved up for months just to get it. The chain must have caused a lot because of its luster and heaviness.
Mitsui got up to prepare breakfast. He was mixing a batter of pancakes when the doorbell rang. He licked batter off his finger and rushed to get the door. "Coming!" He opened the door and found Koshino standing outside. The boy had a light green cashmere turtleneck under his black coat, accompanied with jeans and his sneakers. "Koshino!"
Koshino blinked at the sight Mitsui made. He had smudged flour on his face, his hair was a mess and the worst of all was the orange apron he was wearing. "You don't really expect me to follow that now do you?"
Mitsui frowned and glanced down at his apron. In bold black letters, it said, 'Kiss the cook! He's cute!' Mitsui grinned. "Nah!" He pushed the door wider. "Come in. I was just making breakfast. Wanna join me?"
"As long as you don't poison me, sure why not?" Koshino smiled and took his coat off, placing it in the coat closet near the door. "Merry Christmas. Here!" He handed him a box of baked Christmas cookies.
"Oh you shouldn't have!" Mitsui said and took one. "Good!" He said with his mouth full. He swallowed and gestured to the living room. "Have a seat." He noticed that Koshino's cold was gone.
Koshino padded to the living room and Mitsui went about to finish his pancakes. He brewed coffee, poured them in to cups set the table and called Koshino. They both sat together in Mitsui's neat and cozy kitchen, talking about recent basketball news, the things going on with the team and Christmas itself. In the end, they were both laughing and really enjoying themselves.
Koshino stayed with Mitsui till late afternoon. They watched movies, played card games, had lunch, watched movies again, and went for a walk, then parted their ways.
"I had a good time, Sempai." Koshino said sincerely.
"Me too." Mitsui patted Koshino's shoulder. "Take care okay?"
"Merry Christmas!" Koshino waved and jogged down the street towards his own home.
Mitsui walked home, the snow making soft crunching noises as he walked. Once at home, he began to sort out his presents. He then noticed a small one lay among the pile of opened ones, wrapped in black paper and red ribbon. There was a small card with it. He unwrapped the gift and opened the black velvet box, only to find a pair of identical silver rings with one tiny red stone in the middle - they were actual red rubies. He was awed, he was shocked, and he was surprised. He opened the card and read the message.
Many thanks to the times when you were by my side. My mother used to tell me that on Christmas, when you have two identical things, one should be given to the person you care for the most. When you do this, you will be friends or lovers forever. Use it wisely.
Merry Christmas.
Koshino.
Mitsui stared at the rings continued to do so. He did not know what to say.
*
Mitsui suddenly suffered from a high fever and a very bad cold five days before New Year. He kept on sneezing, he kept on shivering, he kept on coughing and worst of all he could barely talk from his aching throat. He remained lying in bed; balls of used tissue paper were overflowing from his plastic blue bin. A pile of empty tissue boxes was currently growing in the corner of his room. He refused to see any doctor, simply because he had this phobia for needles penetrating human skin, especially of the aforementioned skin belonged to him. No, he did not want to see any doctors. So he stayed at home, lying in bed, groaning and moaning from his aching bones, spinning head and sore throat.
On New Year, Mitsui was still in bed. He was pale, he perspired a lot and his weight dropped. Mitsui was lying in his bed, curled in to a ball, when his cordless phone began to ring. He did not want to answer it but suddenly had the urge to do so. Moaning in protest, as his bones cracked from the effort of stretching, he grabbed the phone and answered.
"Hello?" he said in a rather inaudible voice. It sounded more like a whisper rather than a greeting.
"May I please speak to Mitsui-sempai?" The other person said.
"Speaking." Mitsui winced as he spoke. His throat was killing him.
"Mitsui-sempai? Koshino here. Is that really you?" Mitsui gave out a small groan. "Are you sick?"
"Yeah." Mitsui began to cough up in a dry fit. "What can I do for you, Koshino?"
"Nothing." There was silence. "I actually wanted you to join me for dinner since it is New Year, but then I think I'll just drop by. Would it be all right?"
Mitsui sighed and ended up coughing instead. "Sure, why not?" He needed company anyway. He suddenly changed his mind. "No, actually don't. I'm really sick. I don't want any of my germs affecting you."
"Nonsense Mitsui-sempai!" Koshino laughed in the other end. "You're the one who said that nobody should be alone." Mitsui could no longer say anything to that remark. "I'll see you in a few minutes."
"I'll leave the door open." Mitsui said. "Just come in okay?"
"Sure."
"Bye!"
Mitsui pushed himself out of bed, and the effort drove him mad. He was in pain but he did not want to disappoint Koshino. So he bared with it and headed to the front door and unlocked it so that Koshino could enter. He then scrambled back up to his room, where he collapsed in the bed, grabbing his blanket and wrapping himself tightly, because he was shivering again. He was in his white pajama set, with his top unbuttoned. He was beginning to perspire again, and his breathing was growing rapid. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. He ended up falling asleep.
*
Koshino reached Mitsui's house and allowed himself inside. Once inside, he noticed how the place was extremely quiet.
"Mitsui-sempai?" He called out, taking his coat off and hanging it in the closet. "I'm here!" He called out again, but got no reply. He took his shoes off and found a pair of house slippers to use. He climbed up to the bedrooms and easily located Mitsui's. He knocked first, and got no reply. "Mitsui-sempai?" He twisted the doorknob and entered. He felt how the room felt rather cold. He located the bed and found Mitsui there. He approached him and gasped. "Oh my God!"
Mitsui lay there, clutching his side as he tried to breathe evenly. His entire body was sleek with cold sweat and his cheeks were flushed. Koshino touched his forehead and nearly jumped from his senior's body temperature. He began to gather all the dirt in his room and threw them in to a big garbage bag, before taking them outside. He took out a small basin and a small towel. He filled the little basin with warm water and added rubbing alcohol in to the water. He took it up to Mitsui's room and searched his closet for a set of clean pajamas. Finding none, he settled for a pair of baggy green sweatpants and a white full-sleeved shirt. He stripped the sweat soaked pajamas of Mitsui and began to bathe him with the towel and the water. He repeated the process three times and by then, Mitsui's temperature has gone down a bit. He changed his clothes and got rid of the comforter Mitsui was currently using. He found a new one in his closet and covered him with that instead.
Koshino rushed to the nearest pharmacy and brought some antibiotics. He asked for the brand that he and his family used whenever someone ended up with a cold or a fever - Augmentin and Actifed. Once back in Mitsui's house, he prepared the syrup and gently held Mitsui's head up. He allowed reflex to the work. Mitsui swallowed the medicine and coughed a bit. He then continued sleeping.
Koshino sighed and padded down to the kitchen, placing the medicine in the fridge and began to prepare some soup. It was five hours till midnight. Once the soup was ready, Koshino cleaned the kitchen and placed Mitsui's used clothes in the automatic washing machine. He was sitting their on his own, waiting for the washing machine to be done, when he heard little strangled screams coming from Mitsui's room. He rushed back up to find Mitsui stuck in a nightmare that he could not escape. He was twisting and screaming. Koshino shook him awake.
"Mitsui-sempai! Wake up!" He shook him again. "Mitsui-sempai!" Mitsui groaned and balled a fist on his bed sheets. "Hisashi!" Koshino yelled in fear. Mitsui sat up and began to shiver. He hugged himself and groaned. "It's okay, Mitsui-sempai. It was just a bad dream." Mitsui made no move, his shoulders slightly trembled. Koshino placed a hand on Mitsui's shoulders and finally held the older boy in his arms. Mitsui closed his eyes and fell back in to a dreamless sleep, however, a tear trickled down his cheek, and all Koshino could do was wipe it away.
They remained that way - Mitsui asleep in Koshino's slender arms, until midnight came. Koshino looked down at the peaceful senior lying in his arms and smiled. "Happy New Year, Mitsui-sempai." He whispered, and leaned his head on the headboard and fell asleep.
TBC
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Mitchy fell asleep on Koshy! YAY! Cute ne? So what did you think? Reviews? Onegai!!!
VIVA LA MITKOSH
Mitsui set the bouquet of white roses by the headstone of Sakura Koshino. Koshino was standing behind him, staring the gray marble with sad eyes. No one knew of this other than them both, the priest and two nuns. It had been a quick and very silent funeral - Koshino made sure that it would be. Mitsui paid his last respects to the girl he hadn't known, but grew to like one way or the other, and then turned to look at his friend.
"Koshino?" He inquired.
"Let's go." Koshino said, and they left. They exited the cemetery and slowly, a soft drizzle of white snow descended. Winter was back, and Mitsui never really thought that Koshino would be so quiet through out the funeral The guy did not shed a single tear.
They parted ways. For good or temporarily, Mitsui did not know which one his doubt would swing to.
*
The more the days went by, the more Mitsui desired to see Koshino. What was going on with him, he did not know. Christmas was coming soon, and he knew that Koshino would be spending them alone. Akagi and Kogure had already left the team, and the team did feel rather a bit miserable without the two seniors - who fought to keep the team together through thick and thin. It was another day of practice in the cold weather in their gym, and the heaters were not really doing anything to keep them warm. Sakuragi complained. Miyagi whined. Ayako grew tired. Rukawa fell asleep and now Mitsui was complaining.
"Look, captain!" He stressed on the last word. Miyagi frowned at this. "Why can't you just let us go home? You want us to catch pneumonia or what? And it's Christmas! Your supposed to be home, baking cookies with mommy and helping lil' sister and brother put up the tree!"
"Then why don't you go to mommy and bake your cookies, huh?" Miyagi retorted back.
If lights could go on off, so did Mitsui's mood. If there is one thing he hated, it was insulting his mother or father. He never really cared before, but now he was very sensitive to this. Miyagi saw the sudden change in his eyes and quickly raised a hand. That look only appeared in Mitsui's face if he was ready to beat someone up to a bloody pulp. Miyagi did not want to be that pulp. So instead, he brought something that he knew, Mitsui was aching to hear.
"Umm - did you know that Koshino caught a cold?" Miyagi asked, signaling Ayako behind him to end practice. The whistle echoed in the gym and everyone, with shivering steps made their way to the showers.
Mitsui's ears perked at this. "What?"
Miyagi shrugged. "I dunno." He sighed. "Akira-kun has been complaining that Koshino had been to quiet and that one day, he appeared in school looking so pale that his fingertips were quite dark in color. The poor guy. He also said that Koshino had a big bruise on his cheek and shoulder."
"Cheek and shoulder?" Mitsui questioned, eyebrow quirking in question.
"He fell down the stairs, therefore earning a bruise on his shoulder. He walked in to a door, hence the bruise on his cheek." Miyagi rubbed his chin. "That's funny."
"What's funny?" Mitsui asked, rubbing his arm since they were getting goose pimples.
"Because Akira-kun said that Koshino said the very same thing three times a couple of weeks ago. Koshino has been walking in to doors pretty much doesn't he?" Mitsui thought about it and wondered. Could it be because he was still affected by his sister's death? But walking in to a door? That was really silly. "Akira-kun said that Koshino was never ever clumsy. I mean Akira-kun does know him. They pretty much were together since junior high school anyway."
"I'm gonna drop by his place tonight. See if the guy is actually fine." Mitsui turned and headed for the showers, waving a hand at Miyagi in thanks. He took the quick shower; changed in to his black jeans, white t- shirt and Shohoku jacket before rushing home. His house already had the Christmas effect. He hanged lanterns, put up the lights, Christmas tree and made sure that he had a good supply of Christmas cookies and cakes - because the rest of the team had a knack of coming over at his house since he lived alone and stayed with him. Not that he really complained, but they were all growing boys, and growing boys need food. Food during Christmas was mostly cakes and cookies, so of course those boys would be expecting that.
He went to his room and changed in to fresh, clean black jeans, a light blue turtleneck and a navy blue winter jacket. He tied his blue Asics sneakers on, something that he got from his Godfather living in Hokkaido, and grabbed some money and his keys. He went to a good Ramen store and bought nice hot beef Ramen. He then headed for Koshino's home. It was a nice standard Japanese house, with a clean green garden that was currently covered in white snow and a low metal fence. He opened the gate and made his way to the door. He rang the doorbell.
The door opened a little head bobbed from the side. Koshino blinked and opened the door a bit wider. "S-Sembai?" He asked, sniffing. His P's were becoming B's and his T's were becoming D's. It must be a very terrible cold, because he had a tinge of red across the bridge of his nose, that plus a healing bruise on his right cheek. "Dhis is a subrise."
"Damn." Mitsui said, looking at Koshino, who was clad in a white winter pajamas along with the Santa Clause like hat to go with it. "You sound terrible."
Koshino smiled for the first time in god knows what, Mitsui did not know. "Come in." Mitsui stepped in the clean house. It was rather empty. No Christmas things up. It was bare. "Have a sead Sembai." He brought a hand to his nose and sniffed before wincing and coughing. His voice was a lot hoarse than usual, indicating that he did have a sore throat.
"Here." Mitsui handed him the ramen. "You should have them. It's still hot."
"Dhank you." Koshino sniffed accepting the ramen. "It looks good."
"Eat it." Mitsui said grinning. He headed for the kitchen. "Come on. I guarantee you they're good. I eat at their store nearly all the time, when I get the time actually." He tried to keep the happy atmosphere, not asking about the bruise. He knew that Koshino does not want him too, so he complied with this.
They sat in the kitchen's table and Mitsui assisted Koshino in eating up his ramen. He ate slowly, choking a bit because he was having a very hard time to swallow things because of his aching throat.
"Dhey are good sembai." Koshino said finally, after finishing the ramen. "I never really ade at all because of dhis sdupid cold." He sniffed again, and whined. "Oh man."
"So how have you been?" Mitsui asked, clearing the plates. "It's been a while since I last saw you."
"I've been okay, I guess." He replied. "Studying, basketball, the usual." Mitsui nodded. "You?"
"The usual." Mitsui replied. He saw Koshino yawn and get up to sit in the living room. Music by Glay was playing in the stereo. "Koshino?"
"Hai?" Minutes of silence.
"Don't you feel alone?" Mitsui finally asked.
"All the time." Koshino replied. Mitsui said nothing, but kept looking at the plush carpet. "Don't you?"
"I'm always alone." Mitsui replied, closing his eyes.
"We're just a bunch of lonely guys huh?" Koshino said, forcing a smile, but failing miserably. He coughed and then yawned.
"Yup." Mitsui said, staring at the ceiling, Glay's music deafly entering his ears. "We are."
A few minutes went by and Mitsui had not taken his eyes off the ceiling. When he did, he found Koshino curled up on the sofa, dead to world, light babyish snores coming from him. Mitsui got up and headed for the attic of the house. He found what he wanted and began his task. Two hours later, he covered Koshino with a blanket and placed his Christmas gift and card in its suitable place.
He then left the house, glancing one last time at Koshino. "You don't have to be alone when you've got friends." He whispered and turned to leave in the dark night.
*
Koshino woke up to shrill ringing of the phone. He opened his eyes and for a moment saw red and green glowing. He bolted up from his lying position and eyed the living room. His house was decorated in such a beautiful way. There were lanterns on the doors and walls, there were blinking green and red lights, Christmas stockings filled with candy, artificial stick on snowflakes on the windows, and most of all, there was a beautiful green tree in the corner of his small living room, decorated with shiny Christmas balls, cookies, candy canes and red ribbons. The golden star on top of it glowed with golden pride.
Koshino gaped, but the ringing telephone shook him to reality. He grabbed the phone and whispered a very strangled hello. His eyes narrowed at the speaker on the other end. "I'b nod feeling well. I've got donsillitis and a bad cold. Give me a few days and I will be back for work." He sighed. "I kdow. Good bye." He hanged up the phone. His eyes fell on the little red parcel under the tree and the card. He picked up the card and opened it.
Nobody should be alone in Christmas. I'm always here if ever you need company. Merry Christmas.
Mitsui
Koshino placed the card back and smiled. "Oh sembai. If only -" He could no longer continue. He broke down in to tears.
*
Christmas morning was as bright and as peaceful as it could be. In the neighborhoods of Mitsui's subdivisions, delightful squeals of children could be heard from the presents they got, sweet smell of grand breakfasts seeped out of the houses, there were light laughter and loads of happiness.
Mitsui for starters, was in a foul mood. He had fallen off his bed and landed on the cold marble floors. He wouldn't have minded if he was wearing a pear of sweat pants, but it just so happened that he had gone to sleep the previous night in the nude after having loads to drink with Tetsuo and the rest. Now he reeked with alcohol, and falling flat on your butt on a cold marble floor was not very good. Mitsui felt something tug in his guts and immediately got on his two feet and rushed to the bathroom, puking all the beer he had consumed the other night. How many cans was it? Nine? He couldn't remember, and he could not be bothered. That was the last thing he wanted to know, and by the looks of how his head spun and how he vomited, he judged that it was definitely more than a few cans. Mental note: Never ever drink beer with Tetsuo during Christmas.
He took a cold shower to wash the headache away - which did work, believe it or not - and get the reeking smell of alcohol off him. He was not aware of the amount of musk scented shampoo he poured in to his palm, he was not aware of how hard he scrubbed his body with the body scrubber and he was not aware of how his bar of white musk scented soap had shrunk. He just wanted the smell off. When he was done, his body was dark pink from all the scrubbing. He dried himself with a towel and changed in to a pair of clean blue jeans and a white jumper before bouncing down his living room to clean up last night's mess. Surprisingly he found none. Everything looked untouched, except for the pile of presents under the tree, which looked as if someone had rushed in putting them there while he was asleep. Oh well, Santa or not, the presents were his.
He sat in front of the pile and unwrapped them one by one. He got a wonderful baby blue scarf from Sakuragi, a dark blue cashmere jacket from Rukawa - he figured that those two bought them together - a pair of hand knitted mittens from Ayako, a huge expensive towel from Kogure, a MAX and T.M Revolution CD from Akagi, a turtle neck cashmere jacket in blood red from Miyagi, chocolates from Haruko, basketball accessories from the Gundan, a hat from Uozumi, sun glasses from Ikegami, a watch from Sendoh, a WANDS CD from Fukuda, and a journal from Hikoichi. Tetsuo had given him a really nice silver chain.
Mitsui grinned at the contents. He had given them their gifts a couple of days ago and he only got theirs that morning, how he did not know. He and Tetsuo had been good friends since the beginning and it was not surprising when Tetsuo gave him the expensive chain, since Mitsui got him a new motorcycle helmet from Harley Davidson - he saved up for months just to get it. The chain must have caused a lot because of its luster and heaviness.
Mitsui got up to prepare breakfast. He was mixing a batter of pancakes when the doorbell rang. He licked batter off his finger and rushed to get the door. "Coming!" He opened the door and found Koshino standing outside. The boy had a light green cashmere turtleneck under his black coat, accompanied with jeans and his sneakers. "Koshino!"
Koshino blinked at the sight Mitsui made. He had smudged flour on his face, his hair was a mess and the worst of all was the orange apron he was wearing. "You don't really expect me to follow that now do you?"
Mitsui frowned and glanced down at his apron. In bold black letters, it said, 'Kiss the cook! He's cute!' Mitsui grinned. "Nah!" He pushed the door wider. "Come in. I was just making breakfast. Wanna join me?"
"As long as you don't poison me, sure why not?" Koshino smiled and took his coat off, placing it in the coat closet near the door. "Merry Christmas. Here!" He handed him a box of baked Christmas cookies.
"Oh you shouldn't have!" Mitsui said and took one. "Good!" He said with his mouth full. He swallowed and gestured to the living room. "Have a seat." He noticed that Koshino's cold was gone.
Koshino padded to the living room and Mitsui went about to finish his pancakes. He brewed coffee, poured them in to cups set the table and called Koshino. They both sat together in Mitsui's neat and cozy kitchen, talking about recent basketball news, the things going on with the team and Christmas itself. In the end, they were both laughing and really enjoying themselves.
Koshino stayed with Mitsui till late afternoon. They watched movies, played card games, had lunch, watched movies again, and went for a walk, then parted their ways.
"I had a good time, Sempai." Koshino said sincerely.
"Me too." Mitsui patted Koshino's shoulder. "Take care okay?"
"Merry Christmas!" Koshino waved and jogged down the street towards his own home.
Mitsui walked home, the snow making soft crunching noises as he walked. Once at home, he began to sort out his presents. He then noticed a small one lay among the pile of opened ones, wrapped in black paper and red ribbon. There was a small card with it. He unwrapped the gift and opened the black velvet box, only to find a pair of identical silver rings with one tiny red stone in the middle - they were actual red rubies. He was awed, he was shocked, and he was surprised. He opened the card and read the message.
Many thanks to the times when you were by my side. My mother used to tell me that on Christmas, when you have two identical things, one should be given to the person you care for the most. When you do this, you will be friends or lovers forever. Use it wisely.
Merry Christmas.
Koshino.
Mitsui stared at the rings continued to do so. He did not know what to say.
*
Mitsui suddenly suffered from a high fever and a very bad cold five days before New Year. He kept on sneezing, he kept on shivering, he kept on coughing and worst of all he could barely talk from his aching throat. He remained lying in bed; balls of used tissue paper were overflowing from his plastic blue bin. A pile of empty tissue boxes was currently growing in the corner of his room. He refused to see any doctor, simply because he had this phobia for needles penetrating human skin, especially of the aforementioned skin belonged to him. No, he did not want to see any doctors. So he stayed at home, lying in bed, groaning and moaning from his aching bones, spinning head and sore throat.
On New Year, Mitsui was still in bed. He was pale, he perspired a lot and his weight dropped. Mitsui was lying in his bed, curled in to a ball, when his cordless phone began to ring. He did not want to answer it but suddenly had the urge to do so. Moaning in protest, as his bones cracked from the effort of stretching, he grabbed the phone and answered.
"Hello?" he said in a rather inaudible voice. It sounded more like a whisper rather than a greeting.
"May I please speak to Mitsui-sempai?" The other person said.
"Speaking." Mitsui winced as he spoke. His throat was killing him.
"Mitsui-sempai? Koshino here. Is that really you?" Mitsui gave out a small groan. "Are you sick?"
"Yeah." Mitsui began to cough up in a dry fit. "What can I do for you, Koshino?"
"Nothing." There was silence. "I actually wanted you to join me for dinner since it is New Year, but then I think I'll just drop by. Would it be all right?"
Mitsui sighed and ended up coughing instead. "Sure, why not?" He needed company anyway. He suddenly changed his mind. "No, actually don't. I'm really sick. I don't want any of my germs affecting you."
"Nonsense Mitsui-sempai!" Koshino laughed in the other end. "You're the one who said that nobody should be alone." Mitsui could no longer say anything to that remark. "I'll see you in a few minutes."
"I'll leave the door open." Mitsui said. "Just come in okay?"
"Sure."
"Bye!"
Mitsui pushed himself out of bed, and the effort drove him mad. He was in pain but he did not want to disappoint Koshino. So he bared with it and headed to the front door and unlocked it so that Koshino could enter. He then scrambled back up to his room, where he collapsed in the bed, grabbing his blanket and wrapping himself tightly, because he was shivering again. He was in his white pajama set, with his top unbuttoned. He was beginning to perspire again, and his breathing was growing rapid. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. He ended up falling asleep.
*
Koshino reached Mitsui's house and allowed himself inside. Once inside, he noticed how the place was extremely quiet.
"Mitsui-sempai?" He called out, taking his coat off and hanging it in the closet. "I'm here!" He called out again, but got no reply. He took his shoes off and found a pair of house slippers to use. He climbed up to the bedrooms and easily located Mitsui's. He knocked first, and got no reply. "Mitsui-sempai?" He twisted the doorknob and entered. He felt how the room felt rather cold. He located the bed and found Mitsui there. He approached him and gasped. "Oh my God!"
Mitsui lay there, clutching his side as he tried to breathe evenly. His entire body was sleek with cold sweat and his cheeks were flushed. Koshino touched his forehead and nearly jumped from his senior's body temperature. He began to gather all the dirt in his room and threw them in to a big garbage bag, before taking them outside. He took out a small basin and a small towel. He filled the little basin with warm water and added rubbing alcohol in to the water. He took it up to Mitsui's room and searched his closet for a set of clean pajamas. Finding none, he settled for a pair of baggy green sweatpants and a white full-sleeved shirt. He stripped the sweat soaked pajamas of Mitsui and began to bathe him with the towel and the water. He repeated the process three times and by then, Mitsui's temperature has gone down a bit. He changed his clothes and got rid of the comforter Mitsui was currently using. He found a new one in his closet and covered him with that instead.
Koshino rushed to the nearest pharmacy and brought some antibiotics. He asked for the brand that he and his family used whenever someone ended up with a cold or a fever - Augmentin and Actifed. Once back in Mitsui's house, he prepared the syrup and gently held Mitsui's head up. He allowed reflex to the work. Mitsui swallowed the medicine and coughed a bit. He then continued sleeping.
Koshino sighed and padded down to the kitchen, placing the medicine in the fridge and began to prepare some soup. It was five hours till midnight. Once the soup was ready, Koshino cleaned the kitchen and placed Mitsui's used clothes in the automatic washing machine. He was sitting their on his own, waiting for the washing machine to be done, when he heard little strangled screams coming from Mitsui's room. He rushed back up to find Mitsui stuck in a nightmare that he could not escape. He was twisting and screaming. Koshino shook him awake.
"Mitsui-sempai! Wake up!" He shook him again. "Mitsui-sempai!" Mitsui groaned and balled a fist on his bed sheets. "Hisashi!" Koshino yelled in fear. Mitsui sat up and began to shiver. He hugged himself and groaned. "It's okay, Mitsui-sempai. It was just a bad dream." Mitsui made no move, his shoulders slightly trembled. Koshino placed a hand on Mitsui's shoulders and finally held the older boy in his arms. Mitsui closed his eyes and fell back in to a dreamless sleep, however, a tear trickled down his cheek, and all Koshino could do was wipe it away.
They remained that way - Mitsui asleep in Koshino's slender arms, until midnight came. Koshino looked down at the peaceful senior lying in his arms and smiled. "Happy New Year, Mitsui-sempai." He whispered, and leaned his head on the headboard and fell asleep.
TBC
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Mitchy fell asleep on Koshy! YAY! Cute ne? So what did you think? Reviews? Onegai!!!
VIVA LA MITKOSH