Takeru yawned loudly as he walked down the street. "Man am I tired..."
The red-haired boy, still wearing the others clothes, gave him a sidelong glance. "You should have slept on the subway like I did."
"Yeah, yeah. Someone had to wake us up at our stop," the blonde grumbled and yawned again.
Daisuke shoved his hands into his pockets and raised one shoulder in a shrug, the two walking a few more blocks in silence. "Did your mom show up last night? I was half asleep."
"Yeah, she came in a while after we got home. Didn't say much, just told me it was too late and to get to bed." The blonde shrugged. "Why?"
"Just asking. Look, Takeru? I have to go in and get changed and all that shit, but..." He paused and turned his eyes towards the horizon. "If my parents are home, you should wait outside."
"Why?"
Making a face, Daisuke mumbled something under his breath, then gave an answer. "Just in case you got caught in the crossfire."
"Crossfire?"
"Just trust me, all right?" the other narrowed one eye.
Takeru shrugged again. "You met my mom, why can't I meet yours?"
"Because."
There was no response, but the blonde had every right mind to follow Daisuke into the apartment no matter what. The two started up the stairs and they went straight down the veranda.
The darker boy paused as he fished in his pockets for his house key. "Sounds quiet enough..." He unlocked the door and headed in, Takeru following wordlessly. They both stopped and stared over the bar to the kitchen table, where three people were sitting. Takeru assumed they were Daisuke's mother, father, and older sister.
His mother sat at the head of the table on the side closest to them and she looked traditionally Asian – her complexion, the curve of her eyes, her smooth skin – except her hair was light brown and cut short, flipping up at the bottom. She looked young, even younger than Takeru's mother, and a little tired. Glancing over Daisuke's father, sitting at the head of the table on the other side, it was obvious where he'd gotten the dark skin tone, but he wondered where the darker red hair had come from as his father had dark brown hair. Sitting on the side of the table facing the entryway was a girl who must have been early 20's with her mothers skin but red hair that was even more fiery than Daisuke's. She wore a large smirk on her face.
"Hey," Daisuke greeted. "What's Jun doing here?"
"Where were you last night?" his mother said instead of answering.
Running one hand through his hair, the boy jerked a thumb at the blonde next to him. "At his house. This is Takaishi Takeru."
"You didn't think of calling us to let us know you weren't coming home?" his father rose slightly out of his seat.
Takeru registered the half step Daisuke took backwards. "I did call, but no one was home. Didn't you check the machine?"
"We never check the machine," the girl in the middle, Jun, smirked. "You know that. We never have for all 17 years you've lived with us."
Annoyance sparked between Daisuke and his sister as the boy snorted and sent back a bitter response. "Well God, Jun, I check the machine. That's what it's there for anyway, isn't it? What else is it here for, decoration?"
"Don't fight," Daisuke's mother sighed. "Daisuke, your sister is right. We usually don't check the machine."
Daisuke said nothing. Takeru raised an eyebrow. If he were in Daisuke's position, he'd have said something about how it wasn't his fault they weren't home when he called, which had been reasonably late and anyone who didn't work so much overtime as Daisuke said they had would have been home. But it seemed the other boy knew when it was time to shut up.
"It doesn't matter now I guess, so long as you're home," his mother decided, and his father sat back down. "Jun is here because we were worried when you didn't come home and she wanted to see if you'd be back safe soon. We were going to call the police."
"Yeah right," Daisuke breathed just enough for Takeru to hear it. "We're going out again, actually," he said out loud. "I just came home to change because I didn't have clothes last night and had to borrow some of his. And they don't fit."
Raising one eyebrow, his father smirked slightly. "Looks more like they do fit, just not how you want them too."
"Do you go to school with Daisuke?" his mother asked Takeru. "What was your name again?"
"Takeru. Yeah, we go to school together. Have a few classes together."
"That's nice," she smiled. "When will you be home?" his mother stood up as she asked the question. "You'll be back for lunch?"
Daisuke shook his head. "Probably not until tonight." He glanced up at his mom uneasily. "In fact, I might not be back tonight either... um... I might stay with Takeru again."
"Why?" Jun asked, a huge smirk on her face.
Glare glare glare. "Because, Jun, I have friends and I like to spend time with them. Plus we have a big project due in rhetoric and we have to work on it." He glanced at Takeru for backup, who nodded. "That's what we were working on last night, too." Sending a smirk at his sister, Daisuke looked back up at his parents. "Is that okay?"
Shrugs from both. "We have to go to work," his father responded. Daisuke rolled his eyes slightly, the look on his face screaming 'So what else is new?' but silently nodded as both parents crossed over in front of him and started pulling on coats and shoes. "If you need anything, call. Call me at work," the man tapped his son on the forehead twice as if he was implanting the sentence in his head, and Daisuke nodded again. "If I'm not there, leave a message with my secretary and I'll get it. Jun, do you need a ride?"
The girl shook her head and beamed at her little brother. "No! I'll just stay here for a while!"
"Great," Daisuke replied flatly.
On their way out the door, his mother kissed him on the forehead gently and waved with a smile. Takeru turned to tease Daisuke about the kiss as soon as the door shut, but the red haired boy fixed him with such a look that he swallowed it.
He obviously wasn't embarrassed about it, though, as he raked both hands through his hair and looked just as cool and collected as ever. He turned his fierce look on his sister next. "So what do you want to hassle me about now, and can it wait? These pants ride my ass like a cowboy on a horse."
"Go change," she grinned. "Takeru, do you want anything to drink? Breakfast? Anything?"
"Don't eat anything she cooks you!" Daisuke called back over his shoulder before he slammed the door to his room so he could change.
"That boy," Jun mumbled. She stood up and opened the refrigerator, pulling out three cans of soda. She handed one to Takeru, set the second on the bar, and opened the third. "Takeru, right? You're not friends with my brother, I can tell. So why are you really hanging around with him? Pity?"
Takeru blinked. "Huh?" He opened his soda and took a quick drink. "I guess we're not friends, no. More like acquaintances. What makes you think we aren't friends?"
She snorted. "Oh, come on. Look at you. And look at him. You just don't... match."
"Opposites attract," Takeru shrugged.
"Whatever," the girl responded.
At this point, the door to Daisuke's room opened and he stepped out in brown corduroys, a red shirt with a number 18 in the top left corner, and holding Takeru's clothing like it was a dead animal. He handed it over to the blonde and started attaching a wallet chain to his belt loop, eyeing Jun accusingly. "What've you been telling him about me? Don't believe it, it's all lies," he nodded at Takeru, then opened the black wallet with a flame design on the other end of the chain and flipped through it. "Hey, Jun? Can I borrow some cash?"
Putting her hands on her hips, she sighed. "How much?"
"Twenty? Please? You know I'm good for it..." the boy raised one eyebrow at her, then swiped the soda sitting on the bar and opened it, throwing his head back for a long drink. When he finished, Jun crossed to the coat rack by the door and opened it, then handed several bills over to her little brother. "Thank you," he acknowledged, stuffing the cash into his wallet and shoving the wallet into his back pocket. "We're gonna hang around here because we're waiting for somebody... You're not really staying here, are you?"
"No, I have to get to work," Jun shrugged, tucking stray hair behind her ear. "I was just here waiting for you to get drilled by mom and dad. Are you hungry? Did you boys have breakfast? So where were you really last night?" she asked all the questions in a rush, not exactly expecting answers, as she began pulling on a jacket and sliding on shoes.
Daisuke lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "We went to Tamachi to meet up with another friend. The same one that's coming here today."
Jun glanced over her shoulder at him. "Were you all right?"
"Yup."
"Does she know?" Takeru leaned over and mumbled to Daisuke. His response was a shrug and a half nod.
"Jun, remember that old laptop Dad used to have, the one that he quit using when he got the new one?"
Scrambling the eggs, the girl nodded. "Sure, the ugly boxy black one?"
"That's the one. Where is it, do you know?"
"Check his office and maybe in that old box under their bed, I would guess." She crossed her arms and studied her brother. "So, anything else?"
"Nope," Daisuke shook his head. "I'm set. Get to work, lazy bitch."
"Asshole," she smiled at him, waved at Takeru, and then left.
Takeru turned to Daisuke and blinked. "So do you guys like each other or hate each other?"
Shoving red hair from his eyes, the other smirked. "Both. Hang on for a minute, okay? I need to find dad's old laptop."
"Sure," the blonde leaned against the wall and studied the apartment. "Nice," he mumbled, then decided to return the favor of room prowling that Daisuke had given him.
Opening the door to the room, Takeru raised an eyebrow. It wasn't really messy, there was just... stuff everywhere. Clothes were laying everywhere but in the laundry basket that was somewhat centered in the room, the covers of the bed tangled and hanging over the edge to the floor, manga and CDs were scattered around the room. In the wall at the head of Daisuke's bed was a three-tiered shelf. Takeru decided that would be the most interesting place to look considering it was covered with stuff.
Nothing was too out of the ordinary on the top-shelf – more manga, books, magazines... a whole bunch of reading things. Takeru hated reading. The second shelf had a stereo centered on it with CDs laying everywhere. "Geez, does this kid ever exist in silence?" he mumbled as he poked a mini-disc player out of the way.
The bottom shelf was more interesting and diverse. Bracelets and necklaces were sprawled over it, some of them sitting in a small ceramic dish but most just lazily thrown there. An alarm clock and a game boy were stuffed into a corner, and there was a half-empty bottle of a Jones soda mixed in there somewhere, ringed with more bracelets. There was a box of strawberry pocky, a half-empty carton of cigarettes, and a cell phone.
The most interesting thing was a square shiny wrapper. Maybe it was the shining silver colour that made Takeru pick it up or maybe it was because he just didn't recognize it, but a few seconds later Takeru discovered he was holding an empty condom wrapper.
"Holy..." he dropped it back on the shelf and moved on. Roller blades, a skateboard, and a soccer ball were all stashed at the bottom of the bed. Against the other wall was a dresser with more interesting things, so the blonde headed that way and hoped he didn't come across the contents of the aforementioned wrapper.
Most of what was on the dresser was spare change, receipts, a CD or two... Takeru opened one of the cases and tilted his head to the side. "Jimmy Eat World? What the hell?"
"They're really good," a voice made him jump and drop the case. A hand caught it before it had even fallen a foot, and Takeru followed the arm up to find Daisuke smirking at him. Crossing to his bed, Daisuke slid the CD from its case and placed it in the stereo, then sat down heavily on his bed with a yawn. "You don't listen to punk much, do you? Your music tastes suck ass," the darker boy murmured as music filled the room.
"Did you find your dad's laptop?"
"Nope. Not where Jun said it would be. No big deal though."
The blonde shrugged and turned back to the dresser. A photo album was sitting there, and he opened it and started flipping through. It didn't take him long to verify that Daisuke was (finally) telling the truth about living in California. "Lots of girls in here."
"I like girls," came the response.
"Lots of guys, too."
"I like guys."
Takeru raised an eyebrow and turned to Daisuke, laughing nervously and passing it off as a joke. "So who are all these people?"
Shoving off the bed, the red haired boy sauntered over, singing under his breath. He took the album and started flipping through, pointing and naming people. "Bridget. Nel. Ross. Keith and Kyle, that's Crystal. Kevin and Joe and Tony and Richie. This is Dusty and that's Eva. This is Blue and that's Purple, we called 'em that because the trucks on their boards were that colour no matter how often they'd switch to a new board. Flamer, he's gay, obviously. Lizard and Lily and Rosa."
"Wait, what are trucks?"
Daisuke lifted his eyes and gave him a look that bluntly read 'You fucking moron' as he stared in silent disbelief. He passed back the photo album, and headed towards his bed where he kicked the skateboard up and held it out to Takeru, who'd followed him over. "The trucks are what the wheels go on. See? Mine got flames. I would have been Flames 'cause I always have flaming trucks but yanno, we already had a Flamer. Besides, I'm not gay."
"How come it's so scratched up?" Takeru eyed the deep grooves etched into the board.
"Grinding on it."
Takeru decided not to ask what grinding was. "So if you weren't Flames, what were you?"
"Huh? Oh. Ferret. They called me ferret because I skate the way a ferret runs. Which is to say I sort of go fast and recklessly weavin' around everywhere. Ah well. All in good fun, right?" Daisuke leaned the board against his bed and sat down again. "Lemme see the album, I'll show you more people."
Takeru sat down next to him and listened as Daisuke ran through the pages, pointing out people and places and things and explaining nicknames and stories all the way. There was something in the way Daisuke talked that stuck out to Takeru, but he couldn't put his finger on it or name it. It was like he... missed it? Homesickness? No, it wasn't really that because he didn't sound sad. It was sort of nostalgic, but in a good way. Like he was happy remembering everyone back home. It suddenly occurred to Takeru that he must not have mentioned any of these people since he'd moved. Everyone at school, even those who were hanging around Daisuke more often, still thought he came from Osaka. How they'd bought into the story the blonde had no idea – it was so obvious – but they still believed the act and the darker boy was still keeping it up.
"It must suck not to be able to tell anyone about this," he thought out loud, mumbling under his breath.
Daisuke turned his head to eye him carefully. "What?"
"Uh. Nothing, just thinking." The blonde shrugged and grinned stupidly, trying to shrug it off.
Unfortunately, he wasn't being let off easily. "What were you thinking about? What did you mean?"
Chewing his lip in thought, Takeru tilted his head. "Well, I was just thinking about how everyone thinks you're from Osaka and so you haven't been going on and on to people about California and how cool it was and how much you miss it..."
"I don't miss it," came the flat, sharp reply.
"Whatever," the other snorted, not buying it for a second. "I heard every bit of longing in your voice. You haven't made one close friend here, have you? Huh? You want to just go back home and fall in with everyone who already worships you. And you know why you haven't made close friends yet? Because you're afraid. You don't want to have to move again and lose everybody just like you did before."
Amazingly, Daisuke had remained silent and thoughtful during the lecture and raised an eyebrow. "You through?"
"Yes," came the meek response.
In an instant, Daisuke had tossed the photo album aside and tackled Takeru, throwing both of them off the bed and to the floor. Pinning him there with one hand on each shoulder, the darker boy snarled, "I am not afraid. You don't even understand."
The blonde, pinned and confused by the sudden change from calm to anger, blinked. "What don't I understand?"
"Everything. You don't even know what a goddamn grind is, how can I expect you to get what's happened in the last two years? I can't. So shut the hell up and stick with what you know, okay? Play your little stupid basketball games and flirt with the girls and talk shit about people you don't even know with your goddamn preppy friends. Don't try to figure me out and don't even start to think you understand me. You got it?" When Takeru didn't answer right away, Daisuke slammed him against the floor again.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," the other nodded hurriedly. They stayed that way for a minute, Takeru pinned against the dirty bedroom floor with Daisuke angrily glaring at him from above.
The doorbell rang and Daisuke sat back. "Go answer the door."
Takeru rose shakily and hurried to the door, half expecting a bullet to rip through his back any second. As he opened the door to see Ken standing there, he sighed with relief. "Hey, you made it."
"Yep," the indigo haired boy nodded slightly. He then peered closer and raised an eyebrow. "Are you all right? You look a bit shaken."
"I'm fine," he assured Ken, then pushed open the door.
Daisuke shut the door to his room behind him and brushed past Takeru, hardly giving him a glance. There was a funny look on his face, somewhere between anger and calm and extreme confusion. "Let's go, Ichijouji."
Ken gave Takeru a questioning glance as they followed the darker boy outside, and Takeru shook his head a bit as they waited for Daisuke to lock the door behind them. There wasn't time for an explanation, and it wasn't the place for it anyway. Not with Daisuke there – he wasn't about to talk shit about him behind his back, not literally anyway.
The three walked to the subway in an awkward silence, Ken making slight attempts at conversation with Takeru for the first few minutes, and then finally giving up as they all settled down in a train car. He strategically placed himself between Takeru and Daisuke, however, not eager for an all-out brawl between them in a confined area that they wouldn't be able to escape from until the next stop.
As the train pulled from the station and headed towards the side of town Taichi's apartment was on, Daisuke sighed heavily. He leaned forward and studied the blonde on Ken's other side. "Sorry. Shouldn't have taken it out on you."
Takeru blinked and suddenly recognized the tone he'd heard in Daisuke's voice earlier when he was talking about California. It was the same tone he was using now.
It was regret.
"It... it's okay, no big deal. I'm sorry too," the blonde shrugged.
That same weird look that was a mix of about five emotions at once stayed on the others face as they stared silently across Ken for a long moment, then both turned away at once. Daisuke sighed again and slumped back against the subway seat. Takeru sighed as well, picking at his shirt idly. Ken, in the middle, groaned in confusion.
The ride continued in silence between the three.
