Be My Guest
White Flowers
Kiyami: More AtoJi. This burst of AtoJi-ness will probably die away soon…Until then I'll be updating as much as I can since I'm on Spring Break.
Uh, Slightly creepy Jiroh in this. Some mild
suggestions of yaoi. I'm not sure whether Iliked how I portrayed Jiroh in this chapter...
Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis.
You're going to live with me now.
Jiroh heard the words and for a moment wasn't sure whether they were speaking the same language. The sentence echoed inside his mind as he held onto Choco's body, which was losing heat rapidly.
"Come on, we're holding up traffic." Atobe held out a hand to Jiroh.
With his mind numb by the devastating event, Jiroh accepted the hand. He obediently followed Atobe until he found himself sitting on smooth, expensive leather.
"Let's go, Kabaji." Atobe said. The car moved. The back looked horrible now, but it was still functioning properly. "Forget about dinner, we're going back home."
Jiroh nodded while clutching tightly to Choco. Dan looked as though he was about to cry while Oshitari looked mildly disgusted by having a smelly boy and a smelly, dead dog in the car. Atobe looked stressed, his teeth biting into his tender lower lip.
Throughout the silent car ride Jiroh felt terrible. He wanted to cry, but found that no tears could be forced from his eyes. He wanted to scream for Choco, but every sound got caught in his throat. He could do nothing, but sit there and wait.
But wait for what? What was going to happen to me now?
The car pulled up into the long driveway. The passengers got out of the car. Oshitari gently led Dan to the mansion. They disappeared inside. Atobe patiently waited for Jiroh to slowly step out of the car. He held onto Choco as if it was the most important thing in the world.
"Hurry up." Atobe sounded exasperated at Jiroh's lifeless movements.
The two entered the house. Jiroh gasped softly at the sight. It was like something taken from a movie. Jiroh felt like he had just entered a surreal dream. There was no possible way he was holding onto Atobe Keigo's hand and there was no way that Choco was dead. It was impossible.
A maid tried to remove Choco from Jiroh's hands. Jiroh shrieked and bit the maid's hand. She looked shocked and disgusted. Jiroh held Choco closely not minding the fact that her body was broken and still bleeding onto his already stained clothes.
"No one…will take you away…Choco." Jiroh whispered reassuringly to the dog. He smiled at the dog as if she was happily barking and wagging her stubby tail.
Atobe sighed and brought his hand to his head. He felt an aching headache quickly approaching. He shook his head to the group of maids waiting for Atobe's orders. "Just prepare a dinner for four." He said quietly. "And get the guest room prepared." The maids rushed off to do as he ordered. They whispered amongst themselves of what was going on.
He ushered Jiroh up the grand stairs and into his own private bedroom. He turned on the water for a bath and personally took out a spare towel and bathrobe. Normally he would have his butler or maids do this for him, but he needed something to do. Something to concentrate on even if it was seeing whether the water was the right temperature.
He glanced up through the open door to see Jiroh sitting on his bed. He was petting Choco's head with one hand, an empty grin on his face. Atobe trembled at the sight. It was frightening.
Did some pesky dog matter this much? Did it matter so much that the boy had transformed into a lifeless shell stuck in his own happy delusions? The look in his eyes scared Atobe to the bone. The combination of sadness, horror, and childish purity was not meant to be.
He felt as though something was clawing at his heart. Something that was saying, "It's all your fault. Look what you did to him. You're a murderer." The only way Atobe could think of to stop the heart-wrenching pain and the whispers were to take this boy in. It was all in Dan's plan and it would improve his reputation around the public.
A tap on his shoulder stopped his train of thoughts. Atobe looked to see Jiroh standing next to him, his sleepy eyes staring at him.
"Mr. Atobe Keigo sir? Can I take a bath now? The water." Jiroh pointed to the elegant bathtub. It was overflowing with water and soaking the plush rugs.
"Sure." Atobe looked annoyed. He was getting too distracted by all of this.
Jiroh hummed merrily as he turned off the water flowage. He put down Choco onto the ground and immediately started to peel away the dirt-crusted clothing. Once naked he jumped into the bathtub causing a wave of water to spill over the edges. Atobe twitched, he just had to make it worse.
Jiroh happily splashed in the water and began making a soapy solution with the liquid soap to blow bubbles with. Choco was temporarily forgotten with the long missed luxury. Atobe stared at the dead dog then at Jiroh. Jiroh was clearly distracted. Quickly he grabbed the dog and ran out of the room.
His face was contorted with disgust. Why the hell did he pick up the stinky dog? He shuddered at the feel of greasy, bloody fur. Better get it to a maid as fast as he could.
He dashed through the halls until the black and white uniform came into view. He thrust the dog towards the maid and went to the nearest bathroom to cleanse his precious hands. The maid followed while daintily holding the dog by the scruff of his neck.
"S-sir, what should I do with the dog?" Her voice shook probably due to holding a dead animal, but it would be very unprofessional to scream.
"Bury it in the back. By the flowers…White flowers." Atobe said softly as he used an overgenerous amount of soap to clean his hands.
"Ugh, so disgusting. What the hell am I thinking?" Atobe grumbled to himself as he rinsed his hands. Once done he dried them on a nearby towel. A soft sigh left his lips.
A shrill shriek echoed throughout the house. Atobe stuck his head out the door to see what was wrong. He saw an all too familiar orange-headed boy coming towards his way. Problem was…he was completely naked.
He stopped in front of Atobe and grabbed a fistful of Atobe's shirt. "Where's Choco!" He demanded and attempted to shake Atobe. It failed.
"Put something on." Atobe tossed him a towel from the bathroom he was in. Jiroh grabbed it, but did nothing with it.
"CHOCO!" He screamed.
"I refuse to communicate with a naked stranger." Atobe stated.
Grumbling Jiroh wrapped the towel around his waist. He glared up at Atobe. "Where is my Choco?" He asked while on the verge of tears.
Atobe felt relieved. So that moment of surrealistic happiness was only temporary. Even though Jiroh was upset, Atobe felt happy. He was an empty shell no more. Jiroh was being angry with him. Atobe didn't really care. He was just glad that not all of Jiroh's sanity had departed. He was just glad Jiroh wasn't acting creepy anymore.
"I threw her away." Atobe lied.
"What!" Jiroh shrieked. Tears streamed down his cleansed face.
"I said, I threw her away. I don't want a rotting dog inside my house. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm rather hungry right now."
"Bastard! That was my Choco!" Jiroh yelled as his hand came up and slapped Atobe hard across the face.
"Why you!" Atobe placed his hands on Jiroh's bare shoulders. He started pushing Jiroh towards the opposite wall. Jiroh mimicked this action.
"I hate you!" Jiroh screamed.
"I hate you more!" Atobe replied just as loud.
They struggled to see who was stronger. For a moment it seemed as though Jiroh was going to win. For the last several months he had been carrying heavy bags of fertilizer for the old lady who ran the flower shop.
Suddenly Jiroh slipped with his body slick from the soapy water. He was in the middle of washing when he realized Choco wasn't there. Normally Choco hated bathing and it just seemed natural that her presence wasn't known.
Jiroh fell onto the carpeted floor. The towel slipped away since Jiroh had rushed in tying it. Atobe fell on top of Jiroh with his hands still on Jiroh's shoulders. The scene didn't look good what with Jiroh completely naked and Atobe on top of him.
Snap!
"Dadadan!" Taichi exclaimed while holding onto a digital camera.
"Honestly, Atobe, are you really that desperate? It's hardly been an hour since he arrived here." Oshitari muttered. He covered Dan's staring eyes with his hand and forced the boy to move on. Dan, even though he was an adult now, was still far too pure and innocent to understand what was going on. Childishly he still held onto the theory that babies came from storks.
Atobe made a disgusted sound and got off the ground. He walked away with his feet pounding on the floor. His body looked tense. His shoulders were rigid and his hands clenched into tight fists.
Jiroh stayed on the floor for a while. His cheeks were pink from blushing whether from struggling with Atobe or the embarrassing scene that just occurred, it was unclear. Soon he got up off the floor and left also leaving behind evidence of their struggle. Wet marks stained the dark red carpet.
Jiroh slammed the door of the room a maid had directed him to. He threw the towel in a random direction and moodily took the bathrobe off the comfortable chair that had been set there for him. He pulled it on and dived into the large bed.
For a while he laid there. Then he remembered Choco and got angry with that bastard, Atobe. He grabbed the closest pillow and threw it across the room. He took another pillow and placed it over his head. He started to scream into the mattress as loud as he could. The sound was muffled, but it was still loud enough to be heard outside of the room.
He pounded a fist against the mattress repeatedly and continued to scream. When all of the energy he could muster had been used up he stopped. He panted and felt the aching pain of hunger in his stomach. Jiroh really wanted to go get something to eat, but he refused to go anywhere near Atobe. Choco, Choco was gone thanks to him!
Exhaustion sank in quickly afterwards. His eyes felt heavy. So heavy he could hardly keep his eyes open. He finally fell asleep still wearing only the bathrobe. Problems could be solved tomorrow. The bed was so comfortable the way his body just sank into it. Too warm, too tired, sleep.
He regretted hiring Dan to be the assistant manager. Dan worked as an assistant to Sakaki, the manager for the musical group Oshitari and he were in, Pull Tab to Can. Sakaki was away on vacation for now so Dan was in charge of his duties.
Dan had convinced him to bring food to Jiroh as much as he was reluctant to. Dan had a talent for persuading people with his big, innocent, puppy eyes that you could never refuse. Maybe being around Oshitari was a bad idea too. Dan was starting to frequently use that ability of his.
Atobe banged on Jiroh's door. He could have just walked in, but he did not want to see an indecent Jiroh. When no response came Atobe reluctantly entered the room.
Jiroh hadn't changed into the set of pajamas his maid had gotten for him. He was dressed in some sort of baby blue bathrobe that one of the maids had placed there for him. He was lying face down on the bed. Jiroh was probably asleep.
Atobe placed the plate of food and the glass of water on an empty desk. He moved over to Jiroh and turned him over onto his back. "I brought food. Eat." He ordered. Jiroh mumbled something inaudible in his sleep and turned his back to Atobe.
"Listen up. I didn't throw away Choco. I buried her. Got that? Aan?" Atobe admitted to what he had done with Choco's body.
Jiroh continued to sleep with the words deaf to him.
The morning was just like every morning for Atobe. He woke up to the sounds of his alarm clock. He took a shower, got dressed, and headed downstairs for breakfast. Atobe was surprised to see what he saw next.
It was as if a bag of flour had exploded in the middle of his kitchen. The baking material was everywhere. Eggs dripped off the counters and a gallon of milk was spilling onto the floor. Atobe wanted to shriek and scream foul words at the mess.
"Hey, it's Mr. Atobe Keigo sir!" Jiroh shouted as if he recalled nothing from the night before.
"Ah! Atobe-san! Sorry for the mess, desu. We'll clean it up soon, desu." Dan apologized while bowing.
"What are you doing? Aan?" Atobe shouted. He liked things clean and orderly.
"Making pancakes!" Jiroh shouted.
Atobe stared at the three men. They were all covered with flour along with other things. Oshitari stood at the center as the tallest. For a moment he looked like a father making pancakes with his two sons, or maybe son and daughter. Dan could sometimes pass a girl.
Dan was to the right of Oshitari. His green headband was dusted with flour and his green apron was covered with some sort of liquid. Probably milk. In one hand he held a spoon.
Jiroh was the messiest of them all. His hair was literally white with flour. The area around his mouth and the tips of his fingers were stained with blueberries. At least he was wearing clothes.
"You better clean it up!"
Dan and Jiroh nodded while Oshitari walked away from them towards Atobe.
"He doesn't seem angry. Why isn't he angry with me anymore?" Atobe asked quietly towards the singer.
"Hm?" Oshitari pretended as though he didn't know what Atobe was speaking of.
"The dog, idiot, the dog." Atobe didn't have much patience for anything today.
"Oh, he knows. We told him this morning when he refused to get out of his room. He talked with Kabaji too. Jiroh, he knows what happened. I think he's over it." Oshitari explained while sticking his index finger into his mouth. There was still some blueberry juice on it.
"He talked with Kabaji?" The butler normally didn't say much at all. "And he's over it?"
"Yeah, apparently some kids threw food into the street and the dog went after it. It wasn't our fault really." He glanced back towards Dan and Jiroh. "I hope you don't mind, but I think I'd like to have him when the year ends." He smirked then walked off to clean himself.
Atobe turned to watch Dan and Jiroh. Jiroh splashed Dan with water, which in turned got Dan shrieking from the sudden cold water. He retaliated by throwing a handful of sugar at Jiroh. They laughed.
He felt envious of Jiroh. In a matter of hours he had been able to forgive even when something so precious was gone.
If there was anything in the world Atobe wanted right now it was to have that ability.
The ability to forgive so easily.
Atobe watched and yelled at them until the kitchen was spotless. Dan did most of the work since Jiroh was horrible with cleaning. He only made it worse so Atobe made Jiroh stop.
Dan collapsed onto the seat. He was exhausted since Oshitari refused to clean after washing and Atobe wouldn't allow Jiroh to clean. At least his hands smelled lemony fresh.
"Oh, Atobe-san!" He suddenly remembered something he had to tell Atobe. "There's an interview set up! Some news people heard of what happened yesterday, desu, and they called asking of what happened, desu."
"Really? When?"
"Let me check, desu." Dan flipped through the planner in his hand. His eyes went wide. "Today, desu!" He shouted.
"What?" Atobe snatched the planner out of Dan's hands to see if it was true. "Today? Why today you idiot? Aan? Why not next week?"
"Sorry, desu! Forgive me! The guy made me panic and I didn't know what to do, desu." Dan squeaked as he shielded himself with his arms as if Atobe was going to hit him.
"It's in three hours. We have to get him ready." Atobe muttered angrily.
Jiroh was sitting outside by the white flowers. He stared sadly at the dirt-covered mound. No grass was growing yet, which was how he knew it was where they put Choco.
He had been with the dog for only several months, but he had grown attached to the dog so strongly. She was his only real companion. She was the only one who cared for him unlike his family.
Jiroh had family problems, which was why he left home. He ranaway since he was unable to take the abuse any longer. Jiroh was sick of life at home and as hard as he tried he could never be happy while he was there.
His parents oppressed his dreams. Unlike his siblings Jiroh didn't get very good grades. Because of that his parents were forcing him to take over the family business instead of having him pursue his own dreams. He hated the thought of running a dry cleaning store for the rest of his life sounded dreadful.
He was the scapegoat to their problems. Whenever they were in a foul mood they would insult Jiroh. They would tell him how worthless he was to their family. How he only wasted space, food, and air.
Well, he wasn't their scapegoat any longer. He was out of that wretched house.
Jiroh played with the grass. He took out a blade of the green grass and slowly ripped it into several pieces. He would repeat this action over and over again while staring at the dirt mound.
Choco made him feel like he was worth something. That made him happy because he knew that he wasn't some worthless piece of trash.
But Atobe made him feel inferior too. Jiroh had yelled and hit him while being given nice hospitality. He wanted someone to blame and that was Atobe who was the first person he saw after seeing Choco dead. Thinking about Atobe made Jiroh feel like a bad person. Atobe had shown him kindness and Jiroh had turned it into anger and dislike.
He felt really guilty after having them explain what had really happened. He didn't want to be a bad person because that was what his family thought him to be. He was a good person who deserved a place in this world…Just like Choco.
"Jiroh?"
It was Atobe.
"Hm?" Jiroh turned around.
"Are you just pretending to not be angry with me?" Atobe asked softly.
"What are you talking about? I'm not angry with you." Jiroh replied.
"Well you seemed rather angry last night."
Jiroh grinned. "Don't worry, I'm not angry at you. I'm just…" He didn't finish.
"Come on, Jiroh, we don't have any time, desu!" Dan came running towards them. He grabbed Jiroh's hand and pulled Jiroh back inside.
A mob of stylists awaited Jiroh. Some attacked the tangled mess that was his hair while others applied make-up to him and got clothes ready.
After an hour Jiroh looked better. His hair was tamer, but still had that wild wavy appearance. The make-up was very basic to hide any imperfections on his skin. The clothing, fortunately, did not mimic that of Atobe. It was just a basic white T-shirt with blue shorts and brand new sneakers. Jiroh insisted he didn't wear anything too fancy. He claimed it made him feel uncomfortable.
During that time Atobe and Dan drilled him on how to answer questions. Jiroh tried his best to remember everything, but it was so much. Dan's nervousness was starting to rub off on Jiroh too.
Then the time came to go.
Atobe, Dan, Oshitari, and Jiroh climbed into the black car. Atobe had a lot of cars, most of them being just for show. Atobe sat in the front next to Kabaji while Jiroh was placed in-between Dan and Oshitari.
"Do you remember everything?" Atobe asked.
"Yup! I say that you found me picking through the trash for food. I say how you're such an awesome person and how nice you are. Um…And look sad?" Jiroh's voice was filled with enthusiasm Atobe noted. It could possibly work even with the limited time that they had.
The black car stopped in front of a tall building. It was the headquarters of a popular newspaper that was partially responsible for all the Atobe scandals going on lately.
They got out of the car and walked towards the entrance. Oshitari looked like the only one who was relaxed. Dan was quietly panicking to himself and Jiroh was thinking hard to remember everything. Atobe looked annoyed.
A man dressed in a black suit with a red tie greeted them at the door. He led them to a private room at the highest floor. The room was large and spacious with several, comfortable chairs placed around a table set with an assortment of food.
The first thing Jiroh did was run to the windows. His eyes were wide and he pointed excitedly towards the tiny cars and people below.
"Look! Woah! That's so cool!" Jiroh shouted.
"Jiroh, take a seat." Atobe sat cross-legged on one of the black chairs.
"Wait one minute, Mr. Atobe Keigo sir." Jiroh said with his eyes glued on the scenery below.
"Would you stop calling me that! It makes me sound old. Just Atobe will do." Atobe snapped.
"Alright, Mr. Atobe Keigo sir." Jiroh obviously hadn't paid attention to anything Atobe said.
"Mr. Atobe Keigo sir? How cute!" A woman squealed from the doorway. She held up a camera and snapped several pictures before approaching them. "Atobe-kun! Oshitari-kun! Uwaa, I'm so lucky to meet them today. I'm Shiba and I'll be interviewing you all today." She took out a slim recorder from her pocket and sat down on one of the chairs.
"I'm assuming that is him?" Shiba pointed to Jiroh. Atobe nodded.
"Get over here, Jiroh." Atobe commanded.
"Okay." Jiroh sounded saddened by that and slowly walked over to a chair. He plopped down on it.
"Let's start then." Shiba smiled. "How about some basic questions first. What's your name?"
"Jiroh!" He grinned.
"Just Jiroh?" Shiba held the recorder towards him.
"Uh…Yeah." He refused to use the last name of his family. To him they were no longer his family, but just people he knew.
"Okay, so, Jiroh-kun, how did Atobe-kun find you?" She asked.
"Oh his car ran over and killed my best friend." Jiroh merrily replied.
"What!" Shiba stared at Atobe and moved away from him as if he was a homicidal maniac.
"Ahem." Atobe coughed with a deadly glare directed towards Jiroh.
"My best friend, Choco. She was my dog. She's dead now. She's next to the white flowers in Atobe's backyard." Jiroh explained.
"Oh, I see." Shiba looked immensely relieved.
"Atobe felt guilty about the dog. He brought Jiroh home with us." Oshitari added.
"Wow, Atobe-kun's so nice!" Shiba squealed. "Now, Jiroh-kun, what do you think of Atobe-kun?"
"Well, at first I thought he was this psycho bastard who ran over dogs for a hobby. I was wrong though. I think he's a really nice person. He didn't make me clean when we made pancakes this morning. He gave me a nice room to sleep in too." Jiroh placed his finger on his chin. "But."
"But what?" Shiba leaned forward her interest growing by the second.
"But he took Choco without asking and put her in the yard." Jiroh grumbled still being very sensitive on the subject.
"Ah…" Shiba nodded understandingly. She turned to Atobe. "Anything to say, Atobe-kun?"
"Well Jiroh wouldn't let go of Choco and I didn't want a dead animal in my house." Atobe replied.
"I see, I see. So what are your feelings about living in the same house as a superstar like Atobe-kun…And Oshitari-kun? You do know the popularity of their group, Pull Tab to Can, right?"
"Well I haven't been with them long. I guess it's normal. I haven't been with them long." Jiroh paused for a moment. "Pull Tab to Can! Are you serious!" Jiroh's eyes went wide.
"You didn't know?"
"My former sister is going to kill me. She really likes that group. She used to listen to them all the time." Jiroh grinned at the irony. His sister would go insane if she ever read this interview.
"Excuse me for asking, but is your family dead? What did you do before Atobe found you?" Shiba stared intently at Jiroh.
"No, they're alive. I used to sleep in the park and help the really nice lady at the flower store. She used to feed me and hosed me down every time I got too stinky. I used to help her at the store like water the flowers. She was really nice."
"Ah, I see. So I take it you have family problems?"
"Yeah, I ran away eight months ago. I hated it at home." Jiroh's voice went soft and his eyes started to water when he remembered the painful memories of what he called Home. Atobe looked up to Jiroh. His eyes narrowed.
"So sad, but in the end you get a nice stroke of luck. I bet lots of fans are jealous of you now considering you're living with Atobe-kun."
"I guess it's luck. I didn't mind living on the streets though." Jiroh shrugged.
"Now, Atobe-kun, some questions for you. What made you take Jiroh-kun in? What were your feelings?" Shiba held the recorder out towards him.
"I guess I did it because I felt bad for Jiroh. If you saw him you would know. It would be inhumane to give the cold shoulder to him, Shiba-san." Atobe stated while his eyes looked towards Jiroh. Jiroh was sitting there stuffing his face with the tasty pastries.
"Such a nice person you are, Atobe-kun. What do you plan to do with Jiroh-kun?"
"For now I'm not sure. He's going to live with us for now." Atobe pointed to the corner of his mouth. Jiroh stared at him blankly, his cheeks bulging with all the pastries.
"So nice. Well, that's all the time we have. Thank you very much for coming to this interview, Atobe-kun, Jiroh-kun, Oshitari-kun." Shiba nodded to them while completely ignoring Dan. She turned off the recorder and smiled to them. "Thank you for coming!"
They all stood up. Atobe pointed to the corner of his mouth again to indicate the dab of cream on Jiroh's face. Jiroh did nothing, but chew and swallow the food in his mouth. Atobe sighed and grabbed a napkin from the table.
"Look this way, please!" Shiba shouted with the camera in her hands. She snapped a picture just as Atobe was wiping the cream from Jiroh's face. "Cute!" She squealed.
Two more pictures were taken with Jiroh and Atobe next to each other. Jiroh smiled to the camera while Atobe gave one of his smug expressions. The interview wasn't a complete disaster. After that they left the building. They returned to Atobe's house with an awkward silence throughout the car ride.
The four men got out of the car. Once everyone was clearly out Kabaji drove on. Dan was the first to enter the house following with Oshitari. They didn't really live here, but Atobe didn't really care whether they stayed here or not. The house got lonely sometimes anyway.
"That was a nice nap." Jiroh muttered after leaning on top of Dan during the car ride. He stretched his arms and yawned. "Sleep." He muttered still feeling tired.
"Jiroh." Atobe called.
"Huh?" Jiroh stopped walking.
"You never finished what you were saying."
"Oh, well I'm not angry at you. I'm…angry with myself. I…didn't watch…Choco." Jiroh admitted.
There was a silence. Jiroh turned his back to Atobe and moved towards the door.
"Why did you leave your home? Why don't you go back to living with them?" His voice stopped Jiroh. The matter started to concern Atobe while on their way back. His family would surely come for him once they saw the interview.
"Why?" Jiroh didn't want to say anything about his personal background.
"If you have a home you should go live there. If I'm going to take a person in, it's going to be someone who actually doesn't have a home. Got that?" Atobe replied harshly. "Go back to your family." He went inside leaving behind a dumbfounded Jiroh. "You have a home."
A guest?
Or not.
Kiyami: I wonder what will happen to Jiroh. I wonder…-smile-
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review?