"Murochin, it's too long and boring, let's do something else, I'll never get to your level anyway…"
Tatsuya held back a sigh.
Pinched in a contrite expression, he sat up stiffly.
Their last week of exams was about to begin and with the cancellation of practice, the boys were giving their best to achieve this obligation with a hint of confidence.
As always, since Tatsuya had joined Yōsen, Atsushi had asked for some help to complete his English homework.
And if the task went smoothly for the first few days, the titan's meager patience was beginning to reach its limits, and so were his capacities regarding this weird language.
Tatsuya reflected the same amount of exasperation.
Without ever fully giving in to the irking of his irritation, Tatsuya no longer restrained from openly blaming Atsushi for acting like a child. The latter seemed prone to rely on poor excuses like a hypothetical inability to memorize the slightest advice, or to apply a simple given correction.
It drove Tatsuya quietly mad, specifically because he felt like he was blowing away his precious free time.
Especially since Atsushi had expressed a strong reluctance to use the boarding school's study room, preferring to invade Tatsuya's bed, lying full length on it, leaving only limited room for its unfortunate owner.
Draped in an unshakable calm, Tatsuya tempered his kōhai's grumble, as if to tame the storm that threatened to overshadow Atsushi's initial good mood:
"For me, too, it was complicated at the very beginning. But when you don't have any choice, you need to make a move, it's as simple as that. If you want to pass your exams, you have to work hard."
"Easy for you to say that, you don't even have to study to pass your English exams, Murochin."
"No, but I have to work harder on other subjects, Atsushi. That's the pros, and the cons, of having lived far from here for all those years. If I managed to learn English at seven, you can't say it's too difficult. Go back to your exercise and let's get it done."
Thoughtful, Atsushi examined him.
Tatsuya was illustrating a logical fact as much as a bait.
If a seven-year-old could accomplish it, then he should be more than able to do it too.
Yet the prospect of working and thinking tired him.
Especially since for a few weeks, even months now, Tatsuya's company prevented Atsushi from fully concentrating on the subjects of their revisions or their discussions.
It was very embarrassing.
Interrupting his reverie, Tatsuya urged him to refocus on his exercises.
"So boring…," Atsushi hissed, looking up.
"After that, I won't be tormenting you much more, for today," Tatsuya promised with a hint of kindness.
Sighing angrily, Atsushi casted him a sideways glance.
Tatsuya had gone so far as to prevent him from snacking while they were completing their homework.
The obvious hunger was shaking him as much as his childish irritation at the idea of studying.
He nevertheless complied with the exercise, trying to do the best to get rid of it as soon as possible.
As Atsushi closed his textbook, Tatsuya congratulated him, before handing him an overflowing bag of Maiubō and chips.
"See ? It's quite fast when you put your mind into it and give it your best !"
Atsushi snorted disdainfully as he devoured one of the hard-earned Maiubō. Finally free, Tatsuya smiled gently, leaning against the headboard.
Out of nowhere, Atsushi inquired :
"How did you manage to understand everything when you arrived?"
A light laugh left Tatsuya's mouth.
There was something touching about Atsushi's naivety.
"I barely understood anything when we moved to LA. Everyone spoke fast and with different accents from those I had heard in Japan or from my parents."
"Mmmh," Atsushi hummed, puzzled but nonetheless all ears.
Tatsuya carried on chatting about his background :
"Before we moved abroad, since we knew that we would have to leave a few months before the big departure, my parents took me to English lessons with them. Sometimes with both, sometimes just with my mother. It was quite fun actually !"
Remembering those memories, he smiled.
It had been several years since he had pictured those. These memories led to what was a peaceful, and now elusive, time.
A happy nostalgia in contrast with the last months spent with his two parents, then busy managing their divorce.
"We had two teachers, and both were really great. My parents tried to speak English as much as possible, especially the last few weeks before leaving, but even more so when we arrived. At first, they would let me answer in Japanese, and gradually they wouldn't answer if I didn't try using English first. They quickly stopped, though, because after a few months I was already more comfortable than them."
"Were you sad to leave ?"
Sitting next to Atsushi, his eyes glued to the ceiling to recall the whole thing with clarity, Tatsuya pondered.
"I don't think so. I probably didn't really understand what was going on. It was a bit like going on vacation, plus I spent a lot of time with my mother to help move, buy new stuff, and go to English classes together. It was like a game, I wasn't really considering the fact that we had to leave. I mean, in a way that involved going away for a long time."
He paused to let his fuzzy memories rise to the surface. Atsushi then urged him:
"And then, Murochin?"
"It's quite unusual for you to be that curious or willing to hear stuff like that" Tatsuya quipped, casting an amused look towards his huge kōhai.
Atsushi shrugged. Tatsuya's backstory was interesting, and he was honestly surprised that he hadn't heard it earlier.
"Murochin never mentioned it, that's all."
"You never asked me about it," Tatsuya retorted.
"Mmmmh…," Atsushi hummed, eager to hear what happened next.
For some reason, he couldn't wait to learn more about his friend.
He liked to imagine Tatsuya as a child, marveling at every novelty.
A bit like he still happened to do, especially when he discovered a part of Japanese culture left unexplored or when Atsushi was preparing his weird Nerunerunerune Candy.
"Murochin, go on," he pleaded.
Tatsuya offered him an affable smile, before looking back to the pristine ceiling.
"Well, I don't really know where I stopped, but basically I went back to elementary school after a few weeks, in the meantime we went to other English lessons so as not to get left behind. I had also discovered TV programs for children, so I had gotten used to the speaking rate. I went to a school in our neighborhood, purely English-speaking. It was quite nice. Subsequently, in middle school, as my parents were quite satisfied with my level of English, they sent me to an international school so I could go on with Japanese outside the private home lessons."
"So, Murochin, what language did you speak at home then?"
"Japanese. It was quite difficult not to mix with English-"
Atsushi cut him off :
"Murochin still does that."
Embarrassed, Tatsuya winced.
"I'm doing my best to stick to Japanese, though."
Atsushi looked at him sideways, it was quite unusual for Tatsuya to take offense that easily. He put his huge hand on his friend's perfect head, gently ruffling his hair.
"It's no big deal, Murochin. I like it, because only you talk like that, so we can identify it right away."
Tatsuya, who strived to approach excellence in everything he did, could only feel a little bothered by such a comment. But coming from Atsushi, there was a pleasant kind of warmness to it.
"To switch onto another matter, without straying too far, that's also why I started playing basketball. As it is a common activity, with incomparable popularity, it was the best way to befriend others. My parents pushed me to give it a try, and it really allowed me to blend into North American life."
"Murochin took up basketball to speak English better," Atsushi mumbled as if talking to himself.
"Among other things, yes. It helped me for so many things, though. Without basketball, I think everything would have been more complicated," Tatsuya assured with satisfaction.
Atsushi gave him a wary look. So that was the origin of Tatsuya's love for this discipline.
"And what about you, Atsushi ? You never explained how you got started. It's pretty weird now that I think about it, we talked about our high school choices, but never about why we started playing even though we spend most of our time training."
"There is a court not far from a playground near our house, and I was invited to play one day. It was pretty easy, so I kept going, and then my older brothers insisted that I come and play with them and their friends."
"Ah, I understand better now, it must have been tough playing against you," Tatsuya laughed.
"Why ?"
"Are your brothers as tall as you are ?"
"Mmmh not really, well more than Murochin, though. But I was already taller than the others, even if they were in middle school or high school…"
Tatsuya paused.
He was far from being small, so all the Murasakibara must have been huge. Especially since Atsushi had just revealed that in elementary school, he was already towering over most high school students.
"You always claim that playing is a bother, but you actually loved it then, didn't you ?"
As jaded, Atsushi snorted. He bit the hook anyway.
"When I played, they gave me snacks for me to stay, so it was worth it. And it was more... uh... easier than in school because on the outside basketball's court I was only with older people, so I didn't always have to be careful not to jostle them or hurt them."
"What about middle school ?"
"My parents wanted us to pick a club because it gave them time to work. And since everything else seemed boring, and I was already good at basketball, I simply picked that."
"So that's also how you met your friends," Tatsuya concluded.
"Don't start believing I enjoyed it or anything, Murochin. It was mainly because I had to pick something…"
"Why did you carry on upon entering high school then ?"
"I told you my parents insisted on doing a club related activity," he hissed, looking away, his pride stinging. "Plus, Masakochin came to recruit me to play here."
"Don't be offended, I'm just asking out of curiosity," Tatsuya tempered.
Atsushi sighed. He couldn't blame Tatsuya's curiosity after bombarding him with questions about his expatriation.
"It's a good thing that you carried on. I was very lucky. Persevering, I made lots of friends, including Taiga, I was lucky to be coached by a former pro player, it's quite incredible, actually. And you Atsushi, if you hadn't continued you wouldn't have met all your friends in Teikō and you would never have come to play with us, here, in Akita."
"And we wouldn't have lost the Winter Cup," he muttered angrily.
Tatsuya rolled his eyes.
"Losing is part of the game, Atsushi... No one likes that…"
"Urgh, next time we're up against Seirin, I'll crush them from the very start, especially Kagami…"
Tatsuya sneered, making him frown even more.
"What ?"
"Nothing. You're quite funny when you get offended", he conceded, a mocking smile on his face.
"I'm not offended," Atsushi grumbled.
"No, of course you're not," he scoffed, unconvinced.
Eager to change the subject, Atsushi asked:
"When is Murochin leaving?"
"The last Friday, as soon as we finish school and go on vacation. I return to Tōkyō to go directly to Los Angeles."
"For the whole holiday ?"
"No, just the first week, I thought I had already told you…"
Atsushi shrugged.
"Murochin is going to bring back some snacks," he rejoices.
"Write me a list of what you'd like," Tatsuya prompted.
"I don't know any of those foreign snacks… Murochin must just send pictures when he sees something that looks yummy."
"With the jet lag it'll take too long before you'll answer me every time I stumble across something that might fit. I'm only staying for a week, you know."
"Murochin pretty much knows what I like," he reassured himself. "If there's any kind of Nerunerunerune we don't have in Japan, I want to taste it."
Tatsuya looked skeptical.
"I had never seen those in real life before getting to know you, Atsushi."
"Eeh, really? Must be awful living out there."
Bewildered, Tatsuya laughed.
"Not really, you can find so many things, it's a place with a lot of expats you know... I loved living there, actually I can't wait to go back."
