I had a really funny Lily joke, but it didn't fit in the scene properly so I cut it out and put it in the title instead. Tbh, the title was actually gonna go to Koyuki and I feel bad that Lily stole his place in the spotlight now...
Anyway, anyone see that movie trailer posted on Valentine's Day(aka Misono's birthday) because I was scREAMING OVER MIKUNI AND JEJE AND I TOOK SO MANY SCREENSHOTS OF MY BOYS! GOD I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH! Envy Pair is best pair and I will fight everyone in their defense!
Sorry, sorry! Talking about other characters in a Sloth Pair zone probably isn't a good idea. Please, ignore my rambling and continue on with the shipping~
"Uncle! You home now?" Mahiru called out.
As usual, it was quiet in the apartment. Mahiru sighed as he shut the door and walked into the living room. He was still home alone, even after being gone for a few hours. Mahiru went into the kitchen, deciding to get something to eat. He sifted around in the cabinets and in the fridge. The only thing he could find that he wanted to eat was some leftover rice from yesterday. He put it in the fridge in case his uncle wanted it, but since it was still there it meant his uncle hadn't been home. Mahiru decided to take it for himself. He put it in a bowl and placed it in the microwave. While he waited he checked his phone. It was a bit past five. As he held his phone in his hand, something dawned on him.
"Oh man! I should've taken pictures of Kuro when I had the chance!" Mahiru exclaimed.
He totally forgot he could have done that. He regretted not realizing it soon enough. The microwave beeped and Mahiru took the bowl of rice out. He placed it on the table, grabbed a fork, and got himself a glass of orange juice. He sat down at the table and started eating.
The apartment was quiet other than the sound of Mahiru's fork clinking against the bowl every so often. He thought about turning the television on just to have some noise, but he really didn't have it in him to get up from the table. He took a sip of his orange juice and as he put the glass down on the table it was like the noise of it echoed in the apartment. Mahiru just continued eating.
After a few minutes, Mahiru focused his attention on the chair that was across from him at the table. Just like almost every other day, that chair was empty. He was sitting at the table alone, no one else in the apartment, and the chair without another person in it. Mahiru placed his fork in the bowl and let go of it, crossing his arms on the table. He wasn't hungry anymore. Instead he drank the rest of his orange juice and stood up. He took the fork out of the bowl, picked up his empty glass, and brought them over to the sink where he washed them. After drying them off he put the glass in the cabinet and the fork in the drawer. He went back over to the table and picked up the bowl. It still had a small amount of rice left so he brought the bowl with him to the balcony. He opened the sliding glass door, moved the curtain, and stepped out. He looked around the small balcony and out at the sky. He bent down and put the bowl on the ground in the corner of the balcony. He stood back up and looked around again.
"I brought some food! ...It's rice!" Mahiru called out.
He waited and got nothing but silence. He backed up into the apartment and left the glass door open, but closed the curtain. He walked away by a few steps, but immediately whirled around and ran back out on the balcony.
"Gotcha!" Mahiru shouted.
There was nothing there. Mahiru sighed and went back inside, closing the curtain again. He sat down on the couch and felt something vibrate in his pocket. He pulled out his phone to check it. Koyuki was calling him so he answered it.
"Hey." Mahiru greeted.
"Hey, Mahiru! Are you home?" Koyuki asked.
"Yeah." Mahiru replied.
"Okay, good! You should go open your front door." Koyuki suggested.
Mahiru looked confused and glanced at the door to his apartment.
"Um… why?" He questioned.
"Because I want you to open your door. Please! For your buddy!" Koyuki begged.
Mahiru sighed and got up off the couch. "Okay, fine."
He made his way to the front door and opened it. To his shock, Mahiru saw Koyuki standing there. He waved at Mahiru.
"Hey! Can I come in?" Koyuki asked, his voice echoing in Mahiru's phone.
"What the hell!? Koyuki, what are you doing here!? What if I wasn't home yet!?" Mahiru shouted and hung up his phone.
"Well, it's a good thing you are. I wanted to ask how your time at the park with Ash went." Koyuki explained with an innocent smile on his face.
Despite not getting an answer, Koyuki went ahead and walked into Mahiru's apartment. He sat down on the couch and Mahiru reluctantly followed suit.
"I really can't believe you just showed up like this." Mahiru muttered.
"I'm not being a bother, am I?" Koyuki wondered.
"No, no. You're not." Mahiru reassured his friend.
"Good! Sooo, how did it go?" The taller boy asked.
"W-what do you mean how did it go!? We hung out at the park! There's not much else to it!" Mahiru tried to explain.
"No, Mahiru. I want the details. What exactly did you guys do? Did you talk about stuff? What did he say to you? I want to know everything." Koyuki practically interrogated his friend.
Mahiru sighed and gave in.
"Alright, alright. Geez. We just walked and talked."
"What did you talk about?"
"Cats, the myths about the park, ourselves."
"I need more details than that, Mahiru."
"Ugh, you are killing me Koyuki… Okay, fine, you win. He's eighteen, he's home schooled, he's open-minded to supernatural stuff, he doesn't care about history, all of him and his siblings have different moms, his mom is deceased, his is dad is apparently gone, and he probably knows more about cats than me."
"Wait, seriously? Heh, I don't know where to start with all that. I guess the homeschooling thing explains why I've never seen him at school before. So, what do you think of him then?"
"What… do I think of him…?"
Mahiru stared at Koyuki, who nodded at him. It took him awhile to come up with an answer.
"Um… I think he's mysterious." Mahiru answered.
Koyuki laughed. "Hahaha! He's mysterious? Haha!"
"No, I really mean that! Sure, he talked about himself when I asked stuff, but I could tell that he didn't really like talking about himself. He was really shy too, and maybe a little bit skittish. He's definitely introverted… I think he might be a shut-in." Mahiru clarified.
"Wow. He sounds like the opposite of you." Koyuki said.
"Ugh, well what are you getting at? Do you not like him?" Mahiru questioned.
Koyuki looked a bit surprised.
"Oh, no! Not at all. You know I don't dislike anyone, Mahiru. I'm just finding this fun is all. We're friends, I just want to know how your date went." Koyuki said.
Mahiru flinched and stared at Koyuki with wide eyes.
"Wait a minute! Koyuki! Do you think I went on a date with him!?" Mahiru frantically shouted.
"You mean you didn't? But you went to the park. Alone. Together." Koyuki stated.
"And you and Ryusei went to lunch! Alone! Together! Just because it's two people and no one else doesn't mean it's a date! I mean, sure, we went to the campsite together, but that was kind of an accident!" Mahiru defended.
"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah! You and him, alone, went to the campsite. The place that everyone at school goes to for dates. The place that if you're seen there alone, everyone laughs at you. The place where the invite-only alcohol parties are held by the popular kids. At that point, Mahiru, whether you wanted it to be or not, it was a date. You and Ash went on a date." Koyuki argued.
"No, Koyuki! Both people have to know and agree to it being date or it's not a date! He invited me to hang out, not to go on a date! And his cat was with us, too! So we weren't alone."
"Was the cat your chaperone?"
"Oh my god, Koyuki. I-I can't keep doing this. It wasn't a date. We did not go on a date. There was no romantic interest anywhere between us. It was just two guys going to the park together."
"Do you want there to be romantic interest?"
Mahiru fell silent and unbeknownst to him, he went into denial.
"Koyuki. Other than today, I've only met the guy twice. He seems nice, I like him, I want to know more about him... I want to keep his cat... but that's it." He denied.
"Do you think he's cute?" Koyuki asked.
"Koyuki!" Mahiru screeched.
Koyuki flinched. "Eep! Okay, okay. I'm done. I'll stop asking."
Mahiru sighed. "Why are you even questioning about my supposed 'love life' anyway?"
"Because I love love! And for as long as I've known you you've never expressed interest in anyone. I don't want you to become old and alone with twenty cats. I just want you to be happy." Koyuki answered.
"Twenty!? What happened to ten? Ugh, either way, it's none of your business." Mahiru responded.
Koyuki whined.
"Aaaanyway… I invited Ash to hang out with us after school." Mahiru informed him.
"Oooh, really? Tomorrow is your turn to pick. What do you want to do tomorrow?" Koyuki asked.
"Hmm… I don't know yet. I think I'll sleep on it before I decide." Mahiru responded.
It was quiet between the friends for a moment until the front door opened.
"Mahiru! I'm home!"
Mahiru looked over his shoulder to see his uncle walk into the living room. His face lit up with a bright smile.
"Uncle Toru! Welcome home!" Mahiru greeted.
"Hi Mr. Toru!" Koyuki greeted as well.
Mahiru got up and ran over to hug his uncle. Toru hugged his nephew back and ruffled the boy's hair.
"Well, well, well. Hey there, Koyuki. Haven't seen you in awhile. So what are ya boys doing?" Toru inquired.
"We're talking about Mahiru's love life!" Koyuki answered.
Mahiru yelped and frantically glared at Koyuki.
"No! We are not! Koyuki's being delusional, Uncle! Just ignore him." Mahiru protested.
Toru stared at the two teens.
"Mahiru has a love life?" He wondered.
Koyuki laughed and Mahiru groaned.
"Ignoring the insult, no. I don't and I don't want one." Mahiru stated in a harsh tone.
"Aw, Mahiru. I don't want you to be alone with nothing but cats when you're older." Toru said.
"Not you too!" Mahiru groaned.
Koyuki and Toru laughed at Mahiru. Koyuki then stood up from the couch.
"Welp, I guess I should head home now." He said.
"Oh, okay. Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow." Mahiru said.
The two teens walked to the door together and Mahiru opened it for his friend.
"Yep. Bye Mahiru, bye Mr. Toru." Koyuki waved goodbye as he stepped out.
"Bye." They both replied.
Mahiru closed the door and sighed. He may have been happy to see his friend, but he was also glad Koyuki was finally gone. He didn't want to keep discussing his make believe 'love life', especially not with his uncle now home. He couldn't help but think back on what Koyuki said, though. It couldn't have been a date. Mahiru knew that wasn't his own intentions and it couldn't have Ash's either. Right? Well, Ash did blush a lot around him, but Mahiru assumed that was because he was shy. Ash did stutter quite a bit too. That had to be it. Ash was just extremely shy. He did prefer the indoors and played video games. People like that tended to be shy.
"Hey Mahiru, you eat yet?" Toru asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just a little bit ago." Mahiru answered.
"Aw, sorry I didn't get home sooner then." Toru apologized as he walked into the kitchen.
"Oh, it's fine. No worries." Mahiru said with a fake smile.
There was a sudden sound out on the balcony and Mahiru practically sprinted for his life past the curtain.
"Ah hah! ...Huh?" Mahiru exclaimed.
The moment he pushed the curtain aside something black disappeared out of the corner of his eye. The bowl of rice he left on the ground was tipped over and rolling on its side slightly. Not a single piece of rice was left in it. Mahiru let out a sigh of defeat. He bent down to pick up the bowl and walked back into the apartment. He closed the glass door and fixed the curtain. Toru, who was now looking around in the fridge, glanced over to his nephew. Mahiru brought the bowl to the sink to wash it out.
"Still trying to catch that neighborhood stray?" Toru wondered.
"Uh, yeah. Something like that." Mahiru replied as he dried off the bowl.
"It'll trust ya eventually, Mahiru. I know it." Toru tried to reassure the boy.
Mahiru nodded and put the bowl away in the cabinet.
"So what did ya do today?" His uncle asked.
"Oh, nothing much. Went to the park for a little while with a new friend." Mahiru replied.
"Ya did? Oooh, so is that why you and Koyuki were discussing your love life?" Toru inquired.
Mahiru flinched and made stuttering noises like he was trying to get a word out, but couldn't.
"I'm not interested in him like that!" Mahiru blurted out.
Toru just stared at his nephew for a moment. Mahiru realized what he said and immediately put a hand over his mouth.
"Mahiru, you know you can like whoever you wanna. There's nothing wrong with it. If ya like this guy-"
"I know that! We had this discussion when I came out, geez! But it's not like that! I mean, sure, I like him as a person, but it's not- not like… that! Am I not allowed to just be friends with other guys now!?" Mahiru interrupted, being a little more defensive than he expected himself to be.
"No, no. That's not it. I just want ya to know that you don't have to be afraid to admit it if that is the case. Either way, I'm glad to hear ya made a new friend. What's he like? He someone from school?" Toru responded.
Mahiru looked away. "Um, no. He's a graduate, uh but, he was home schooled. I met him when I was out with Koyuki and Ryusei. He's… I think he's really shy. Oh, and he likes cat like I do. His name is Ash."
Toru liked what he was hearing until Mahiru said his name was Ash. It made the man freeze. He wasn't entirely sure what to think. It could be a coincidence, but then it was possible that it wasn't either. He wanted to make sure his nephew wasn't in any danger.
"His… name… is Ash?" Toru asked.
"Uh, yes. His name is Ash, so I'm pretty sure he's not Japanese if that's what you're getting at." Mahiru clarified.
"Noo… That's not a problem." Toru said.
He didn't want to press the matter any further in case he was wrong. He trusted Mahiru to have good judgement when it came to making new friends, so if Mahiru liked the guy then Toru didn't want to start an issue over it. As long as Mahiru was happy then he'd let it be. It still made him nervous though. He just hoped he wasn't putting Mahiru in danger by not doing anything about it.
Mahiru took notice of his uncle's silence. He couldn't figure out why his uncle was being so uncharacteristically quiet. Let alone why he was curious about Ash's name. Mahiru didn't really want to keep talking about it anyway.
"I'm going to go to my room now." Mahiru said.
"Oh… alright then." Toru responded.
Mahiru made his way down the hall and to his bedroom. He opened the door, stepped inside, and shut it for the night.
Sleepy Ash finally got home. He opened the front door and walked into the house. He immediately wanted to head up to his room and fall asleep. He hadn't even been up for long, but he didn't have the energy to do half of what he already did today. He started to walk up the stairs when he heard footsteps coming out of the main room.
"Ash? Oh goodie, you're home!"
Ash looked down the stairs to see All Of Love standing in the hallway. He sighed, knowing going back to bed was no longer an option.
"Sis told me everything! How was your little date with Mahiru?" Love inquired.
Ash flinched before walking back down the stairs.
"I-It wasn't a date… We just hung out. I don't really wanna talk about it anyway." Ash grumbled.
"What!? It didn't go bad, did it?" Love asked, sounding very worried.
"No, no… Surprisingly, I think it went great. He wants to hang out again tomorrow. I just- I'm tired, I walked a lot... I'm thinking too much right now… I just wanna go to bed." Ash muttered.
"Oh, I suppose you do deserve a well earned rest. It's not often that you go out and socialize all on your own." Love agreed.
Ash nodded and began to walk away to finally go upstairs. Ash paused and turned around on the steps.
"Hey, Love. Can I ask for your help with doing laundry tomorrow?" Ash requested.
All Of Love looked a bit surprised at his eldest brother's request. Cleaning and asking for help wasn't all that normal for Ash, especially cleaning. Nonetheless, Love smiled and clapped his hands together.
"Of course! I'll make sure you're up in the morning so it can get done nice and early!" Love happily accepted.
Ash regretted asking. He didn't actually know how to do laundry and it was usually Love's job to do it for the siblings that didn't know how to. That's why he asked the second youngest, but at the thought of getting up in the morning he wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. The decision was already made though, so he couldn't back out.
"Alright, thanks." Ash reluctantly said.
Love watched as Ash disappeared up the stairs and to his room. The blonde returned to the main room where Old Child was sitting on the middle couch. All Of Love sat down to join him.
"I didn't miss anything, did I?" Love asked.
"No. It's still a commercial break." Old Child answered.
It was quiet between them for a moment.
"Ash is home." Love stated.
"So I heard." The elder brother responded.
All Of Love looked at his tiny big brother. Something seemed off to the blonde. It wasn't normal for Old Child not to be excited over Ash's presence. He didn't know if something happened between them and Old Child was just upset at Ash, but it worried him. He wanted to try doing something about it.
"Um… are you doing okay, Old Child." Love questioned.
"Yes. Just fine." Old Child replied.
The way the elder brother said it was very serious and flat. Like he was trying to make it known that he really wasn't doing fine. He didn't even look away from the television. Love desperately wanted to say something more, but without knowing what the issue was he couldn't think of what to say. He just sighed and gave up even trying.
Upstairs in his room, Ash was leaning against his door and staring blankly at the floor. Kuro jumped down and sat in front of his owner. Ash crouched down to pet Kuro on the head.
"Ya think it went well? I mean, I know he wants to hang out tomorrow, but… I dunno…" Ash grumbled, unable to figure what he was trying to say.
Kuro meowed at him several times, like the cat was trying to explain something to Ash.
"I wish I could speak cat. I think I'm pretty good at understanding you, but when you just meow like that I have no idea what you're saying. I know you're talking and I know it must be something important. I'm sorry I can't understand you, Kuro." Ash said.
Kuro shook his head, letting Ash know there was nothing to be apologizing for. He knew other cats couldn't understand humans so Kuro was just glad he could understand them. Even if Kuro's words couldn't reach Ash, it didn't matter to him. He didn't think anything he had to say was all that important in the first place. Although, sometimes he wished he could slap Ash across the face and tell him to stop being so stupid. Kuro actually wasn't sure what he was claiming Ash to be stupid about. He thought it was stupid that Ash had fallen for a human, but he also thought it was stupid that Ash couldn't tell Mahiru how he felt. Then again, Kuro was just a cat. The issue didn't have anything to do with him and he placed his position as a pet first and foremost. Even if he hated said term.
Ash stood up and walked to his bed, sitting down on the edge of it. He lazily slipped his boots off and laid down on his bed. Kuro jumped up on the bed and curled up next to Ash's pillow.
"Not gonna sleep in your own bed?" Ash asked.
"Meow."
Ash took that as a no. He rubbed behind Kuro's ear and pulled his blanket over himself. He adjusted his body until he was comfortable and closed his eyes. He cleared his mind until it was blank and just laid there, trying to fall asleep. He was silent and still for a few minutes, then several, then a whole hour. He finally opened his eyes again, realizing going to sleep just wasn't going to happen. He glanced at Kuro. The cat seemed like he was asleep and if he was then Ash didn't want to wake him just to find out. Kuro wasn't a light sleeper, so Ash didn't see a problem in getting out of bed and walking over to his desk. He picked up one of his handheld systems and got back in bed. Ash played his game throughout the night and as the sun rose again. He got so caught up in it that he didn't realize it was already morning until he heard a knock on his door.
"Oh Aaash! Wakey, wakey!"
Sleepy Ash groaned and closed his system. He could tell it was All Of Love by the annoyingly cheerful tone in his voice. He slowly got out of bed and trudged over to the door. Ash opened it to see Love standing there with a happy smile on his face. It was too bright for Ash to look at, especially since he was just staring at the bright screen of his game for who knows how long. He rubbed his eyes with the edge of his jacket sleeves.
"Ash, you need to stop sleeping fully dressed." Love advised.
"Too much work… Ugh, what time is it?" Ash groaned.
"It's nine o'clock." The blonde answered.
"Can't deaaal… Why'd it have to be so early?" Ash complained, almost sounding like he wanted to cry.
"Nine is not early, Ash. I woke up at six. I waited to get you up so you'd have some extra time to sleep in." Love argued.
"I didn't sleep…" Ash quietly stated.
Love's smile disappeared.
"We don't have to do laundry if you don't want to then." Love suggested.
Ash shook his head. "I gotta get it done sooner rather than later."
Something dawned on Love.
"Oooooh~ You want to impress Mahiru, don't you?" Love teased.
Ash went wide eyed.
"Noooo… No, no, no, no. No! Noooo!" He protested.
All Of Love got a wide smile on his face and started giggling. Before Ash could react, Love hugged him and began bouncing up and down.
"Ash wants to improve himself so Mahiru will like him! Hehehe~!" Love cheered.
"No! Stop! Please! Can't deal!" Ash groaned.
He was too lazy to do anything other than complain and beg. Love suddenly pulled away but kept his hands on Ash's shoulders.
"We'll get laundry done then you'll have lots of nice clothes to wear so you'll look good for Mahiru!" Love said with great determination.
"That's not- ugh… Fine, it might be part of the reason…" Ash half admitted and removed Love's hands from his shoulders.
"So, may I enter your room?" Love requested.
"I know I don't let people in my room, but you don't have to ask permission like that every time." Ash said as he stepped aside so his brother could come in.
"It's only polite." Love stated.
The blonde stepped inside his brother's room and immediately froze upon seeing how messy it was.
"Ash! When did this happen?" He questioned.
Ash closed his door and turned around. He looked around the room and simply shrugged his shoulders. He realized yesterday how bad his room looked so looking at it now didn't really affect him.
"Um… I dunno. It just sorta… happened." Ash responded.
"Ah, well… At least something's being done about it now. So, where's your laundry basket?" Love inquired.
Ash stared at the closet. He really didn't know. Last time he saw the basket it was in front of his closet. He remembered throwing dirty clothes in it and he was sure he never moved it so it had to still be in his room. He walked over to the large pile of clothes and hesitated before kicking some stuff off to the side. Underneath the pile he saw white plastic poking out.
"Found it." Ash announced.
He grabbed onto it and pulled it out from under the dirty clothes. It was a large basket, but much more wide than tall. Both brothers could tell the basket wouldn't be enough for all of Ash's clothes.
"Well, I did except this to take more than one load of laundry. Is this all your clothes?" Love questioned, pointing at the pile.
"Uh, yeah. Everything I have is on the floor. The stuff I'm wearing is all that was left in the closet. Oh, and my usual outfit is still on my bed I think." Ash answered.
Love looked over to Ash's bed. "We should wash your sheets too."
Ash groaned lightly.
"Ash! We might as well get it done since we're washing everything. Now let's start putting it all in the basket." Love said.
Ash groaned again, but dropped the basket on the floor. He got down on his knees next to it and started haphazardly grabbing bunches of clothes and tossing them in the basket. Love walked over to the pile and bent down. He began picking up the clothes closer to the closet doors by the edges one by one and placing them in the basket as well. It was a few minutes later when the pile in the basket was getting too tall so Ash opted to stand up instead. There was a shirt part way in the closet that Love had to scoot closer to in order to pick it up. Thin, long legs started crawling out of the closet in front of him. It took Love a second to realize what it was. A spider. Not an itsy bitsy one, but certainly nothing close to the size of a tarantula either. Of course, the size of it didn't matter to Love. The fact that he was staring at one at all was enough to make him freeze with pure terror.
"A-a-a-a-a… Aaaaaaaaahhh!"
The scream almost didn't register to Ash. It was so high pitch and he wasn't entirely sure if Love was screaming his name, or just screaming. The scream didn't actually startle him, but Love running at him and clinging onto him did. The blonde almost tried climbing up Ash and even managed to get one leg around Ash's waist. Ash wasn't anywhere near close to falling, but in a desperate attempt to get his little brother to calm down, Ash grabbed onto Love. In response, Love wrapped his arms around Ash's head. To make the situation worse, Ash's bedroom door burst open and Doubt Doubt quickly stepped inside. He was pointing a gun, seemingly a rifle, right at Ash. The suddenness of it scared Ash far more than the gun itself.
"Put it down! There's no danger. I dunno what he's freakin' out over." Ash ordered, sounding annoyed.
"Sp-sp-spi-spi-s-s-spiiiiideeer!" Love barely managed to say while shaking like a leaf and pointing at the closet.
Doubt put his gun down at his side and just stared at his two brothers. Ash simply groaned.
"Really?" The elder two said at the same time.
"Y-y-yeees!" Love whined.
Kuro, who had woken up when Love screamed, jumped off the bed. He calmly made his way across the room as the three brothers watched him. Spotting the spider crawling around on the carpet, Kuro readied himself to pounce and jumped on the spider. He easily caught it and ate it like it was a treat. Satisfied, Kuro sat down and meowed. The brothers stared at him in disbelief.
"Eeeeeewww! Kuro!" Love exclaimed.
"...Gross…" Doubt muttered.
"He's a cat. It may be gross, but if he wants to eat the bugs let him eat the bugs. At least it gets them out of my room." Ash stated in Kuro's defense.
The small cat looked back over to the closet. He crept inside and started rummaging around.
"Ohhh, Kuro! Don't eat more!" Love protested.
"Would you like to see more spiders instead?" The eldest questioned.
Love flinched. "N-no…"
"Then let him be and get off me." Ash demanded.
Love dropped down to the floor and nervously looked around for any other creepy crawlies. Doubt Doubt walked up beside him and nudged the blonde in the arm. Love looked over at the taller male.
"I-I'm okay, Doubt. Really. It's gone, there's nothing to worry about anymore. I'll be just fine… Ehehe…" Love said with a smile and a nervous giggle.
"Why are you… in here?" Doubt asked.
"I'm helping Ash with laundry. It's turning out to be a bigger process than I expected. I mean, really Ash, when was the last time your laundry was done?" Love turned around and questioned the eldest.
Ash just shrugged. "I really have no idea."
Doubt looked at the pile of clothes on the floor. Half of them were in the basket, which was already overflowing, and the other half was still all over the floor. Inside the closet it was basically nothing but hangers and Kuro's tail was sticking out.
"...How do you... live like this?" Doubt questioned.
"I dunno, geez. Can everyone stop judging and just help?" Ash grumbled.
"That's a perfect idea! Doubt, you should help!" Love cheerfully suggested.
The blonde latched onto Doubt's arm and he tensed up, both because it was physical contact and it was contact specifically from All Of Love. Since it was a negative and a positive it made Doubt very conflicted on how to react, so he just stood there like he was frozen.
"Doubt doesn't have to help if he doesn't wanna." Ash stated.
"Nonsense! It would be a nice bonding moment for the three of us!" Love claimed.
A sudden loud crunch sound made the brothers flinch. Kuro walked out of the closet and they could see he was chewing on something a bit bigger than a spider or silverfish. There was even an antenna poking out of his mouth.
"Okay, I don't even wanna know what that one was." Ash said and looked away.
"Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!" Love shouted and grabbed onto Doubt, hiding his face in the taller brother's chest so he wouldn't have to see.
"I'll help." Doubt immediately stated at an uncharacteristically normal volume, which was considered loud for him.
Kuro finished eating whatever disgusting monstrosity he found in the closet and sat down at Ash's feet, letting out a meow. Ash crouched down and hesitated before petting Kuro on the head.
"Ya get all those creepy freeloaders outta there, did ya? Good boy. Uh, go find a way to wash your mouth out though, I don't want you licking me or anything else after that." Ash advised.
Kuro meowed in agreement and made his way out of the bedroom through the door Doubt left open. All Of Love let go of Doubt and even though the elder brother had his face covered, it was still obvious to tell that he was saddened by it.
"Okay, here's how we'll do this! Doubt, you can get all the stuff from his bed. Ash, you can carry everything that won't fit in the basket. And I'll carry the basket!" Love decided.
Without a word, Ash went back to the pile and started trying to stack as much as he could into the basket.
"Ash, no! It's not fair that way. Besides, there's no way all of that will fit. It'll fall over like that. Take some of it off." Love ordered.
Ash groaned and lazily slid half of the overflowing clothes back onto the floor. Love just sighed and Doubt shook his head. The third eldest walked over to Ash's bed, placed his gun on the nightstand, and began picking up the sheets. He felt kind of weird about it and was surprised Ash wasn't protesting over someone else messing with his bed.
"Why do you have so many clothes in the first place? Not even Law or I have this much, and I don't think I've seen you wear most of this." Love inquired as he walked back over to the basket.
"I never got rid of stuff." Ash answered and scooped up clothes in his arms.
"Okay, wait. Stop." Love announced.
Doubt looked over his shoulder for a moment and Ash dropped everything he picked up.
"You mean to tell me, you have clothes in here that are over five hundred years old!? Aaaash! That's just hoarding!" Love scolded.
"...I can't bring myself to get rid of stuff from back then…" Ash muttered.
Love sighed. "Alright, change of plans. Ash, make a pile of everything you want to get rid of and everything you want to keep. We'll wash the things you keep."
Ash stared at his little brother with wide eyes.
"N-no way! It's my stuff. I don't have to get rid of anything." Ash protested.
"Ash, remember Christmas eleven years ago? Getting rid of things helps you move on." The blonde advised.
"I have nothing to move on from!" Ash denied.
"Stop lying to yourself." Doubt muttered.
Ash glared at the third eldest and groaned. He didn't like being read by others so easily. Especially getting lectured about it too.
"Ash, you've already made progress, you know. You willing went out to the park all by yourself, you cleaned up nicely before you left, and now you want to take care of all your dirty clothes. I'm very proud of your progress, but it can't stop here." Love said.
The eldest brother didn't want to believe that. He just wanted to stay stagnant for the rest of eternity. He didn't want to change, or make progress, or anything like that. But then how would he be able to get closer to Mahiru? That's all he could think about for the past few days. Getting Mahiru to like him as much as possible. For someone who seemed so together and mature and responsible, how could he like Ash, who was an insomniac slacker that played video games and hated going outside. Ash didn't want to change, and yet here he was anyway. Changing. Trying to take better care of himself to impress Mahiru.
Without a word, Ash crouched down and began sloppily tossing some of his oldest clothing across the room to make a throw away pile. All Of Love smiled as he watched his eldest brother get to work.
At school, Mahiru stared down at the textbook in front of him as he wrote down answers on a piece of paper. Ryusei and Koyuki were sitting across from him and eating their lunches. Ryusei had a school lunch while Koyuki had one from home. Sakuya walked up to their table and stood next to Mahiru. He flipped the textbook closed, which confused Mahiru until he realized what happened. With a frown on his face, the brunet jabbed his friend in the side.
"Ow! No need to get physical." Sakuya whined as he sat down next to Mahiru.
"Well knock it off and I won't." Mahiru said and flipped through his textbook to get to his lost spot.
Sakuya snickered and patted Mahiru on the shoulder. His hand lingered for a few moments too long before he finally pulled away.
"I'm just teasin' is all. Lunch ain't really the place to do homework, ya know." Sakuya told him.
"It's called being responsible and productive, unlike you. Why are you late to lunch anyway?" Mahiru asked.
"I skipped last period. Took me awhile to get back." Sakuya answered.
"And where'd ya go this time?" Ryusei questioned.
"Just out with some people." Sakuya replied.
"It's always 'out with some people'. I'm beginning to doubt that there's actually any people." Mahiru commented.
"Nu-uh! There's people! Is it really so hard to believe that I have other friends besides you three?" Sakuya argued.
"Sometimes, yes." Ryusei stated.
"Geez, some friends you guys are." Sakuya grumbled and dropped his head down.
Koyuki slid a small bottle of chocolate milk across the table to Sakuya. He looked up and frowned at the younger brunet.
"Stop giving me stuff from your lunch everyday." Sakuya said.
"I'll stop when you start bringing a lunch." Koyuki told him with a determined expression.
"And I keep telling you I don't bring lunch and I don't buy lunch. That's just how it is." Sakuya explained.
"Drink it, Sakuya." Mahiru ordered.
Sakuya groaned, but complied anyway and opened the bottle to start drinking it.
"So, you guys hear the word goin' around?" Ryusei started.
"I never hear any of the gossip around here." Mahiru said.
"What is it? What is it?" Koyuki cheerfully asked.
"The seniors are doing another party at the campsite again and I hear the number of invites is bigger this time. There might finally be a chance for one of us to be invited!" Ryusei explained.
"Speak for yourselves. I've gotten invited to the last two so of course I'll be invited again." Sakuya bragged as he put the bottle back down on the table.
"Phfft, yeah. As a third rate invite every time." Ryusei mocked him.
"Better than no invite!" Sakuya claimed with a scowl on his face.
"Well count me out. You can keep trying to kiss up to seniors all you want while I enjoy staying home and partaking in non-illegal activities." Mahiru said.
Sakuya put an arm around Mahiru's shoulders and pulled his friend close. Mahiru was annoyed, but he let it happen anyway.
"Oh c'mon Mahiru, you've always wanted to see that campsite right? It's not like you'll ever go there on a date so the party's your only option." Sakuya teased.
"Actually, I went there for the first time yesterday. With Ash." Mahiru stated.
Sakuya froze. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It wasn't true, it couldn't be true. He wanted to be the first person Mahiru went to the campsite with. Why couldn't it be him? Why did it have to be Ash? The lazy, annoying, uncaring, absolute jerk that was Tsubaki's eldest brother. Sakuya wouldn't let himself be beat by a loser who was obviously hiding the truth from Mahiru. He couldn't let it happen.
"Oh, Mahiru! That reminds me! Don't you think there's something important you should tell Ryu and Sakuya?" Koyuki hinted.
Sakuya and Ryusei looked at Koyuki, then to Mahiru.
"K-Koyuki! Ugh… Fine. I invited Ash to join us after school today." Mahiru admitted.
"Oh, cool. That'll be interesting." Ryusei said.
Sakuya didn't think he could freak out anymore than he already was. Clearly he was just proven wrong.
"U-u-uhhh… Are ya sure that's a good idea, Mahiru?" Sakuya questioned.
"Why would it not be? I'd say he and I get along nicely. Maybe you would get along with him well too if you took the time to make friends with him. There's no need to hate the guy just because he's better at video games than you." Mahiru suggested.
Sakuya groaned at the thought of making nice with Ash. He didn't want to lie to Mahiru, so he opted to keep his mouth shut instead.
"Well, I can't wait! Have you decided on what we're going to do yet?" Koyuki wondered.
"Nope, still nothing. I'll come up with something before the end of the day, though." Mahiru said.
The bell rang for lunch to end and the group got up from their table. Mahiru packed up his work and Ryusei and Koyuki threw away the remains of their lunches. Sakuya held onto the chocolate milk bottle since he wasn't finished drinking it. He was actually thankful to Koyuki for always feeding him, but he didn't like that it happened in the first place. Sakuya trailed a few feet behind his friends as they all walked to their next class together.
Sleepy Ash sat down on the floor of the laundry room with his game system in his hands. Doubt Doubt was sitting on the floor as well with his knees pulled close to his chest. There were a few inches between the brothers due to personal space issues with both of them. All Of Love was leaning against the wall near the dryer while waiting for the clothes inside to finish.
"I still can't believe it's that easy…" Ash muttered.
"And I still can't believe you didn't know that. Think you could do your own laundry from now on?" Love inquired.
"Can you write down an extremely detailed list of instructions?" Ash asked.
"Yes." Love answered.
"Then we'll see." Ash replied.
All Of Love sighed. He was looking for more of an actual confirmation on that.
"Perhaps you could do… Old Child's laundry too…" Doubt quietly suggested.
"Now that's just asking for too much." The eldest said.
Doubt Doubt sighed as well.
A dinging sound came from the dryer and it stopped shaking.
"Finally." Ash said as he stood up and put his system in his pocket as far as it would go.
Love opened up the top of the dryer and pulled out the blanket to Ash's bed. He held it out to Ash as the eldest walked up.
"Now fold it." Love said.
"Ugh, you already made me fold everything else." Ash complained.
"And this is the last of it so just power through it the best you can." Love advised.
Upon grabbing the blanket, Ash couldn't believe what he was feeling. His blanket never felt so nice, and soft, and warm before. He immediately pressed his face into the blanket and moaned into the blue fabric. Love giggled at him.
"Is that enough incentive for you to do your laundry more often?" Love wondered.
"Ooooh-ho-ho-hooo~ Yeeeeees. Oh, I wanna go to sleep in nothing but this right now." Ash said in a muffled voice due to the fabric.
"...Weird…" Doubt mumbled.
"Well, the quicker you fold it the quicker you can do just that." The blonde said with a smile.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ash began folding the blanket the best he could. It wasn't something he was properly taught to do, nor did he do it often, so the blanket was folded in a rather sloppy manner. Still, it was the best Ash could do and he did with surprising enthusiasm. Love grabbed the two pillow sheets from inside the dryer and placed them on top of the now folded blanket in Ash's arms. Ash walked to the laundry basket and put the stuff in his arms on top of all his terribly folded clean clothes.
"Isn't stuff supposed to be ironed too?" Ash wondered.
"Well, do you want it ironed?" Love asked.
"Oh hell no. That'd take forever. I just wasn't sure." Ash refused as he picked up the basket.
"Heh. Do you need anymore help?" The younger brother asked.
"Nah, I got it from here. Thanks for the help. You too, Doubt." Ash said and walked out of the laundry room.
"Happy to be of service!" Love called out.
Doubt stood up and began to walk out of the room.
"Thank you for helping out, Doubt! You know, I think you've made very nice progress of your own too!" Love complimented.
Doubt stopped and turned around to face his little brother.
"...Progress…?" He quietly repeated.
"Yes! You willing helped out Ash with laundry. It wasn't something huge and life changing, sure, but any tiny piece of progress eventually adds up to a whole lot! I'm very proud of you!" Love cheerfully said with a smile on his face.
Doubt tugged on the edge of his paper bag and started mumbling something that All Of Love couldn't hear. The blonde simply giggled and Doubt looked at him with a hidden curious expression.
"Maybe next we could work on getting you to speak louder. Oh, or being okay with showing your face like back then. Or! Being okay with physical contact from others! Or, or! Not being scared by loud noises!" Love suggested loudly, making Doubt tense up.
"Love…"
"Yes?"
"You're being loud."
All Of Love flinched and immediately shoved both his hands over his mouth.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was getting over excited! You know how I am when I'm over excited! I couldn't help it! I'm sorry! I know loud noises scare you and that wasn't my intention at all! I'm so sorry Dou-"
"You need to make progress too." Doubt said loud enough to effectively interrupt Love.
"H-huh?"
"You help so much… so you have a reason… to keep going…" Doubt attempted to explain.
All Of Love fidgeted with his fingers and looked down at the floor. He didn't want to admit it, but Doubt was right. They were more than close enough for both of them to easily know that. Love let out a nervous giggle and put on a fake smile.
"I don't want my problems to seem more important than anyone else's." Love said, refusing to discuss the matter.
"That's exactly it… You're too selfless… It's not going to get rid of any guilt you have… so let yourself be selfish once in awhile… You deserve it..." Doubt advised.
Without another word, the elder brother walked out of the room and All Of Love stood there in silence.
"I stopped caring about myself a long time ago. I just want to make everyone happy, no matter what I have to give." Love whispered to himself.
Upstairs, Ash walked into his bedroom and kicked his door closed. He put the basket down on the floor. Kuro was curled up on Ash's bed and lifted his head up when his owner walked in. The cat jumped off the bed and walked over to the basket to sniff it. The clothes lacked the familiar scent he was used to and he didn't like that, but he had to admit that the lavender fragrance he was smelling was nice. Still, he needed to remark it all as his and by extension, Ash's. Kuro jumped on top of the pile so he could start rolling around, but the warmth from the blanket was too much. He laid still and began purring.
"K-Kuro! That stuff just got washed! I know it's super comfy, but you can't get fur all over it so soon!" Ash scolded as he picked up his cat.
Kuro whined over the loss of warmth as he was placed on the floor. The old carpet felt nowhere near as wonderful as the freshly washed blanket.
Ash picked the blanket up and set it on the bed so he could work on the clothes first. He pulled out his usual outfit consisting of his blue jacket, black shirt, and white pants, and also placed them all on the bed so he could change into them when he was done. He absolutely did not want to put all his laundry away, but he knew if he didn't do it now then it would never get done. It was the last part so he just had to power through it like Love said.
Ash dragged the basket over to the closet and tried to push open the folding doors. One of them opened up all the way, but the right one seemed jammed and wouldn't open more than halfway. He pushed on it a bit and heard a metallic snap as the door slid all the way to the side.
"...I hope that didn't break anything." Ash muttered to himself.
Ash peeked inside closet just to make sure he couldn't see any broken pieces on the floor. There were shelves on the sides of the closet. He never really used them from what he could remember, so it confused him when he saw what looked like a scarf hanging halfway off one of the shelves. It must have been forgotten about for a long time if it didn't get washed with the rest of his clothes. He reached in and pulled it out. Upon looking at it in slightly better lighting, Ash tensed up and went wide eyed. The scarf was white with three extremely thin black lines going across one end to the other. Ash crouched down to the floor and gripped the scarf tightly to his chest.
"Happy birthday, Sleepy. You're mother taught me how to sew, so I made this for you."
"I don't want anything from a fake mother!"
Kuro looked at his owner. He didn't know what was wrong with the man, but his keen animal senses were picking up a lot of negativity. The cat took a few steps forward, but stopped when Ash stood up.
"I have to get rid of it." Ash mumbled.
He began walking to his bedroom door and was about to leave the room when something tugged on the other end of the scarf. He looked down to see Kuro holding the end in his mouth, stopping Ash from leaving.
"Let go of it, Kuro. You weren't around back then. You have no idea what this scarf means." Ash ordered, tugging on the scarf.
"Mrw! Mrw, mrw, mrw, mrw!" Kuro's meows were bit muffled from the scarf, but Ash wouldn't have been able to understand him either way.
"Getting rid of the old stuff will help me move on! I can't keep it!" Ash argued.
Kuro tried to pull the scarf back, but Ash kept a tight grip on the other end. Since they both were inhuman they were fairly matched in terms of raw strength, meaning they were at a stalemate if neither one of them wanted to risk tearing the scarf.
"Mrw mrw mrw! Mrw mrw!" Kuro continued to meow, apparently protesting Ash's attempt to throw away the scarf.
"Whatever you're saying, I refuse!" Ash said.
They'd be stuck there forever if one of them didn't give up, but neither was okay with the other's decision so that wasn't an option. Ash wanted to get rid of it because of the memories associated with the scarf that he wanted to forget and move on from. Kuro didn't want Ash to do that because he believed that getting rid of everything was the same as running away and he wanted Ash to face his problems, not run from them.
Ash was the first to waiver. He wasn't determined enough in his choice to keeping fighting for it. There was a part of him that desperately wanted to keep the scarf anyway. He loosened his grip and as soon as Kuro stopped feeling a resistance, the cat stopped pulling as well. Ash dropped to his knees and let the scarf lay on the floor. Kuro walked up to his owner and sat in front of Ash. He meowed and nudged his nose against Ash's knee as an apology. Ash was silent as he pet Kuro's head and picked the scarf back up.
"...Old Child's mother made it for me for my fourteenth birthday… I hated how much she tried to act like she was my mother… I wore it everyday after she went missing. I even wore it when I-..." Ash cut himself off, not wanting to hear those words come out of his own mouth.
Kuro didn't know what Ash was going to say. He'd never seen the scarf before so it clearly wasn't something he was in the family during. That didn't mean he wanted to know, though. Ash's secrets were Ash's secrets and Kuro's secrets were Kuro's. Granted, if he was able to Kuro would tell Ash everything. Sometimes one way communication felt like a curse to the cat. Being able to understand humans but not being able to speak back to them in a way they would understand was just part of his life now. It really worked against him in situations like this. He wanted to make Ash forget about the scarf for now. He had to remind his owner of what was really important at the moment. Even if Kuro didn't like it.
"Mah!"
Ash looked at Kuro in shock. That wasn't a meow he ever heard before. It reminded him of something.
"Oh crap! Mahiru! What time is it!?" Ash realized and sprung to his feet.
He scrambled around for his phone, looking everywhere for it. He pulled his game system out of one pocket and checked the other. Nothing. He checked his bed and picked up one of his pillows, finding his phone underneath it. He let out a sigh of relief and checked the time. It was half past eleven. He had a decent amount of time left. He groaned at the revelation that he still had to put his clothes away. Apparently Kuro came to the same conclusion because when Ash turned around he saw the small cat dragging a shirt out of the basket with his teeth.
"I don't think this is something you can help with, boy." Ash said as he walked over and picked up the shirt.
He also grabbed the scarf from the floor and paused for a split second before tossing it on top of his desk. He'd figure out exactly what to do with it later. Ash grabbed a hanger from the closet and began putting his clean clothes away.
Mahiru, Sakuya, Koyuki, and Ryusei all walked out of their last class of the day. Everyone except Ryusei seemed to be in a relatively decent mood. The blonde stared down a pink slip of paper in his hand before shoving it in his pocket.
"I can't believe I got detention…" Ryusei groaned.
"That's what you get for choosing not to do your homework." Mahiru said.
"It's still not fair! Why's it hafta be tomorrow!?" Ryusei complained.
"Don't worry! We'll get a freshman to hang out with us tomorrow so you won't be missed!" Sakuya assured him.
"Why a freshman!?" Ryusei questioned.
"Because they're small enough to fill the you shaped gap in the group!" Sakuya happily teased.
"Call me short again! I dare you, ya grass head!" Ryusei shouted.
He lunged at Sakuya, but Koyuki quickly grabbed him from behind and attempted to hold his smaller friend back.
"My hair does not look like grass!" Sakuya loudly protested.
"No, you're right! It doesn't! It looks like lettuce!" Ryusei corrected himself.
"Oh yeah!? Well- Ow!" Sakuya was interrupted by Mahiru violently smacking him in the back of the head.
"Hah! That's what you- Ow!" Ryusei was cut of by Mahiru smacking his head as well.
"Knock it off. Both of you." Mahiru ordered.
Koyuki let go of Ryusei. Both he and Sakuya rubbed the back of their heads and whined in pain.
"Don't you think that might've been a bit too much?" Koyuki asked.
"Nope. You know it's difficult to get them to stop otherwise." Mahiru responded.
Koyuki sighed. The pain subsided for the two injured friends and the group went back to walking down the hall in silence. It wasn't quiet for long when they passed by an intersection and a soccer ball bounced down the hall, bumping into Koyuki's leg. The younger brunet stopped and picked up the ball, curious about where it came from. The other three stopped and looked at it as well. A tall blonde jogged down the hall and stood in front of Koyuki.
"Hey, sorry 'bout that. I dropped it by accident." He said.
"Oh, heh. No problem." Koyuki replied.
Koyuki was about to hand the ball back to the other student when Mahiru got an idea and took a step forward.
"Excuse me, are you using the ball right now?" Mahiru asked.
"Um, no. I was taking it back to the gym storage." The blonde answered.
"Can we borrow it then? We'll take it back to storage when we're done." Mahiru requested.
Koyuki and Ryusei looked at Mahiru with confused expressions.
"Sure. I don't mind." The other student responded.
"Hey, Tetsu! Hurry up!" A female voice called out.
The blonde, Tetsu, looked over his shoulder to see a girl and two boys standing down the hall. The girl was waving at him. Sakuya and one of them, a short boy with shoulder length tan hair, recognized each other. The boy subtly waved at him and Sakuya frantically shook a hand in front of his throat as a signal to stop. The boy flinched and immediately put his hand down.
"I gotta go. Bye." Tetsu said before running off to join his friends.
"Cool, we got a soccer ball." Mahiru said and kindly took the ball from Koyuki's hands.
"Don't tell me… You wanna play soccer, huh?" Ryusei assumed.
"Yep." Mahiru confirmed.
"But… Ash will be with us. Isn't he a hermit? What if he doesn't want to play?" Koyuki wondered.
"It'll be good exercise for him. And if he refuses then I'll just force him. Simple as that." Mahiru stated.
Sakuya secretly smirked. A shut-in like Ash wouldn't be able to keep up with a bunch of active teens. He'll only end up embarrassing himself and Mahiru will think less of him. Then Sakuya will finally be able to best him at something, even if it's not video games.
"Well, alright then. I could go for a game of soccer." Ryusei agreed.
"Yes! Me too." Koyuki added.
"Count me in! I'm gonna kick some serious ass!" Sakuya shouted.
"Nice to see you're pumped up for once. Okay, it's decided then. Let's play a game of soccer!" Mahiru announced.
This was another chapter where I let unimportant scenes get out of hand. It's like chapter two all over again... I just don't know how to stop. At least I'll have a minimum of 9,000 words of freedom to figure out what to do with a soccer match...
Anyway, apologies for this chapter taking way longer than the other ones. I lost a bit of motivation by some stuff that happened then got distracted because I was working on a whole bunch of other stuff.
Ya know, every time I finish writing and have to start proofreading I wanna die. I dunno what it is about this fic compared to others, but proofreading it is slowly killing me...
