Chapter Twenty
"Good morning! Ishii residence. Ishii Yume speaking."
"It's Haru…"
"What's wrong? You sound sad. Did everything go okay yesterday? Do I need to beat someone up?"
"Nothing's wrong… because I get to play tennis in June!"
"Oh wow! Congratulations! You really had me worried there."
Giggles. "Sorry. I wanted to surprise you. We even had a really nice dinner last night. Father's promised to reduce etiquette lessons over the next few months so I can do two activities He is insisting I do the acrobatics course in the fall before school."
"I was thinking about doing that class too, actually. Let me know if you do sign up."
"Of course! It would be really nice to know someone going in."
"Will you be okay with your sports this summer?"
"Oh yes. I'm sure I'll meet some new people. And I'll phone you to let you know how much fun tennis is."
"Alright, Haru. Will you have your second sport decided by Monday?"
"Most likely. Oh, but I'll tell you then! Sorry for phoning and leaving so suddenly. I had no other time to call today."
"It's no problem! See you Monday!"
"Bye Yume!"
;;;
"I saw you out running again today," Ms. Eguchi says, smirking when the little girl pauses with her spoon in the air. "You won't be too tired to play with the others today, will you?"
"No," Yume shakes her head and continues eating lunch. She swallows and pouts, head turning to the door. "When are they coming?"
"The Kurusu family will be here soon," the woman assures the girl. "Then we can all meet up with the others."
"But what about Sojiro?" Yume pouts at the woman.
Ms. Eguchi sighs and shakes her head. "He's coming tonight." Under her breath she mutters "I don't know how you did it…"
Yume grins and shows her an empty plate, messing with the woman. "Ta da!"
The older woman chuckles and gathers the things, setting them to the side for Mr. Enomoto to wash later. Yume moves to the end of the bench and swings her legs, bored.
"Hey, mum," says a male voice, the door above the shop ringing. Yume freezes for a split second, and then continues swinging her legs, leaning to see the black haired man. She almost can't believe it. "Oh, hey, um… Yume, right?"
"Hai!" Yume nods her head. "Hello Hitoshi!"
Ms. Eguchi's youngest son smiles easily at her, and Yume hides her tense reaction. Is he here because of Tetsuya? Or because he wants to see his mother? "Why's it so quiet here today?"
"Enomoto is busy this weekend," Ms. Eguchi says with raised eyebrows. She forces her son into a hug and then starts pinching his cheeks. "Now, what's with the surprise visit?"
"Mum," he whines, shaking out of her grip. He rubs his cheek and sticks out his tongue. "Don't you believe I just wanted to say hi?"
"I would if you did normally."
"Fine," he sighs dramatically. "I wanted to treat you today, since I know you have the weekend off. But if you're busy, maybe little Yume and I can hang out."
"Oh no," Ms. Eguchi laughs. "You can join us when we meet the other families. You remember the Devinia's, don't you?"
He makes a face. "Unfortunately."
"Not you too," Ms. Eguchi laughs. She elaborates at his confused face. "Yume irritated their kids to the point they're staying in the hotel this afternoon."
He barks a laugh and turns to kid in time to see her shrug. Yume looks up with wide, innocent eyes and sweetly tells him, "It's not like they didn't deserve it."
"I believe ya, kid," he cackles. "I remember those girls went they were babies. Attention hogs from the get-go."
"They aren't so good with kids either." Yume dimples and pokes her cheek with a deliberate wink.
"You're probably a little terror, aren't you?" Hitoshi laughs.
The door rings open again Yume straightens and waves, cheeky expression falling away. "Hi Akira!"
The boy shows his small smile and nods back. As soon as his parents are distracted by Ms. Eguchi and her son, he slips over and offers her a hand.
"Aren't you a gentleman," she teases, taking it and jumping down. He steadies her before stepping back. "Are you excited to see Shibuya? I've only been a few times since it's a long walk and they don't really sell that many groceries. They have a good bookstore, though." She'll never admit she looked that piece of information up this morning.
He nods, blinking the hair out of his eyes.
"We aren't paying for you to get a book," Ms. Kurusu says, suddenly standing over them. Yume notes the woman's eyes are a lighter shade of grey then her son, and the teasing expression on the blonde, supermodel-body woman is a bit too sharp. "So if you want anything, make sure you pay with your own money."
Akira, stiff as a board, nods.
"What was that, hun?" Ms. Kurusu asks, leaning down.
"Yes mother," Akira replies, still a whisper but louder than what he's used to talk with Yume.
Ms. Kurusu taps her nails on her son's head like a pat. Akira stands perfectly still, and Yume watches with eyes a little too wide. It's very interesting, seeing a… dysfunctional family and knowing none of them have a dungeon. The girl lightly pokes the boy, drawing his attention. Steely grey eyes watch her unblinking, and then turn to the hand she holds out.
"You won't let me get lost, right?" Yume asks, wiggling her fingers.
He breathes out and shakes his head, grabbing her hand. "You know the area."
"Not well," Yume says, face drawing into a small pout. He blinks, surprised. "And you're taller than me, so you can see easier."
The tension leaves his shoulders and he smiles that small smile again. "Shorty."
"I'm not short," Yume dramatizes. She can see the laughter in his eyes and keeps going. "I eat carrots and drink milk just like everyone else."
Akira gently pulls her along as the adults exit the café. His head tilts, mocking her with his smile. "…Aren't carrots for sight?"
"…Nerd," Yume ducks her head.
"Geek," he calls her, referring to her late night talk about computers. She lets her hair fall further around her head, shielding her smile. He pulls her hair back, catching the smile before she can squash it. Letting her hair drop, he stands a lot taller.
They keep behind the adults, bantering quietly. Ms. Eguchi keeps an eye on them, looking back and softly smiling with every glance. Yume catches her once or twice, and smiles back. She knows the older woman was worried she had scared everyone off with her act the day before. Thankfully, Akira seemed more impressed than weirded out at how fast she could change from sweetheart to annoyance.
The group eventually meets with the other adults. Yume apparently scared off Muze as well, so they are the only kids. Ms. Eguchi eventually convinces her youngest son to look after them when Yume explains they want to go to the bookstore. Once in, the young girl marches to the nearest employee and asks where the mythology and literature sections are.
"I don't really want anything," Yume answers Akira's unspoken question. Truth is she doesn't have time to read anything, not that all these myths and literature are all that different from her past life. She drags the amused boy behind her by their clasped hands. "But you said you like this stuff, so I've got a challenge for you."
She stops, pretending not to notice Hitoshi moving a few rows over to hover without intruding. Akira stares back at her, interest in his gaze.
"Pick three books you want to read," Yume tells him, smiling winningly. "And I'll pick three I want to read. And then I'll pick one I want you to read. And then help me pick out a book for me to read."
His eyebrows furrow, question on his face.
"Trust me," Yume says, clasping her free hand around their joined ones. He looks down when she squeezes before stepping back and dropping his hand. "And if you can't hold them all, give them to Hitoshi to hold."
"I'm not your butler," the man calls from another aisle.
"Says you," Yume calls back puerilely. She meets the curious grey gaze and motions to the nearby section. "Go; be free you literature nerd."
He smiles and bows cheekily. "Your majest-geek."
"You did not!" Yume shouts at his retreating back. "I will pun you back for this, Akira!"
"Where are you going?" Hitoshi asks as she storms by.
"To find a book on puns," Yume grits out.
She ends up in the manga/visual novel section first because of course she does. It's almost painful to choose only three of the options. Akira and Hitoshi find her there, petting the shiny covers and whining at all the options.
"Stop it," Yume pouts at Akira's soft giggling. Hitoshi rolls his eyes and she interrupts before he can say anything. "So, you can obviously see my choices. Show me yours."
Akira's three choices are a book of basic myths in all religions, the first of many books detailing Fae myths, and a literature piece called The Fallen Heist. All three are very much above the normal reading level for their age.
"Well," Yume shows him the three manga volumes she chose. "I guess you should pick mine first, then we'll do yours."
He nods, looking through the many flashy covers with thoughtful glances. Yume reads over his choices again. An idea forms when she reads the synopsis of the Fallen Heist. When Akira comes back with an educational-looking – it's really not, but she's not telling him that – manga, Yume takes it without question and starts to the literature section. "Hey, Akira, do you like crime novels?"
He glances to the side and shrugs. She takes it to mean, yes but that his parents don't like him reading them. "What do you like in your main character?"
He thinks about it for a moment before he shrugs. "They do good things."
Yume reaches up on her toes and slips The Great Thief from the shelf. She hands it to him with a smile. She enjoyed the few literature works she read of Maurice Leblanc in her last life. Besides, she's a regular at a café named Leblanc. A café they met at. It would be harder to make this more ironic. "Does it look alright?"
He nods, placing it on his pile.
"Now," Yume winks. "Follow me."
He and Hitoshi keep close as she marches to the almost silent till. The attendant perks up, glancing at the kids first and then Hitoshi. The adult in the group tries to ask what Yume's doing, but the girl just reaches up to the till. The attendant takes the books, looking a little worried. Then Yume picks up the books from a confused Akira and repeats the motions.
"Can you ring those up?" Yume says, eyes just wide enough and smile and head tilted just enough. "I have the money to pay for them."
She ignores the disbelief coming from the boy beside her. Hitoshi falls silent as Yume pays with a credit card. He takes the bags of books when she asks him.
"If your parents ask," Yume smiles to Akira as they leave the store, "I bought you those books because I'm one hundred percent bribing you to play with me tomorrow."
His grey eyes haven't left her since she paid for the books. There is a jocose feel to his smile. "Are you?"
"Is it working?" Yume counters.
His smile answers yes through the silence.
"Keep walking," Hitoshi sighs and the kids scamper to catch up. "Why didn't you get me anything, Yume?"
She wants to roll her eyes at the smirking man. Instead she sticks her tongue out and makes a face. "We can go back and get you something if you really want a book."
He makes a face, and Akira snorts. Hitoshi shakes the heavy bags, answering, "No thanks. How do you not get bored reading those big things, Akira?"
The boy shrugs. "Good reads."
"We all have different tastes," Yume nods at his answer. "The one Akira picked for me is about a harem."
Hitoshi chokes while the curly haired boy frowns. Akira makes a pattern on his arm. It takes Yume a moment to recognize that he's writing the word. "Yes, that's harem."
"Definition?" he asks.
"A bunch of women who are all in love with one man," Yume replies calmly, trying to tone down the depth of the concept. Hitoshi is choking on laughter, not believing this is what his life has become. "A reverse harem is the opposite of a harem; one woman with many men in love with her." She narrows her eyes and pouts at the boy. "You're cute enough you could probably get a harem one day."
"Alright, kids," Hitoshi chokes out and stops Akira from replying to that. "This is the movie theater. Now, where are the others?"
The adults find them, Ms. Eguchi raising her eyebrows at the bags her son carries. The man continues to carry them through the theatre, and promises to on the way home as well. Yume buys him a bunch of snacks as thanks. Akira is excited when she gives him the 'free' pop and candy bar that comes with her popcorn. They sit side-by-side in the movie theatre, passing the tub of popcorn back and forth the whole kid-friendly movie.
There's a pang in her heart, near the end when the hero is confronting the true villain of the movie. It's been years, even with her previous life, since she's stepped foot inside a theatre. Movie nights with friends were a thing, but an actual, big screen, movie experience hasn't happened in far too long. Everything is so much more exciting, more engaging, than she remembers.
Yume's missed this kind of normal.
They return to the café after, Yume and Akira locked in an intense discussion of who was better: the hero or the sidekick. He's for the hero, and she's for the background character. They settle side-by-side in a booth, Hitoshi dropping the book bags and effectively stopping the conversation when Akira pulls out a book from his pile.
"I don't mind if you read it," Yume insists with a shrug. "Just pass me one of mine."
He hands her the harem book and she bites down an eye roll. They relax, letting the silence be broken only by page turns. Eventually, the children who missed today's outings are dragged to the café from the Devinia's hotel room. They move to a different booth, completely ignoring the readers. Yume shuffles over and leans against Akira. He sighs and rests against her, tilting his head to hit her shoulder and moving his book sideways against hers so it blocks the other kids out.
Halfway through her book, the bell over the door rings and Yume perks up curiously. Akira leans away, still reading, so she can get up and look.
"Futaba!" Yume shouts, scrambling over the bench divider so she has a free shot at the girl. "Sojiro! Futaba! Hi!"
Futaba wastes no time zooming from behind Sojiro's leg to Yume once the girl gets on solid ground. The orange haired child says a muffled hello as she koalas Yume. Yume protectively hugs the girl closer.
"Hi, Yume," Sojiro sighs, glancing wearily to the other adults in the café. "We're not staying long, but I thought we should check in, see if Maki left you high and dry."
"It's good to see you too," Ms. Eguchi says with a wry smile. "Get over here so I can introduce you."
Sojiro clicks his tongue and gives Yume a knowing look. "If Futaba wants to go, you'll let me know, right?"
"Ee!" Yume nods, curling her shoulders as if to protect the girl. She smiles at him. "Thank you for coming."
He sighs and nods, starting towards social interaction with a pained look. "Only because of you, kid."
"Futaba," Yume mutters, petting the girl's hair. "There's someone I want you to meet." The girl squeaks and squeezes Yume tighter. The red and black haired girl wheezes and keeps soothing the smaller one. "He's really nice and there's no need to be scared of him, alright? And you can decide to leave whenever you want. Just tell me and I can shout for Sojiro, okay?"
"Okay," Futaba squeaks, slowly pulling back. She then lifts Yume's shirt up – the older girl squawking in surprise – and pulls it over her head to cover her face. "Lead me to him."
Yume rolls with it, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders and guiding her a few steps to the bench seat. Akira is staring under his dark fringe, a tension lining his shoulders. Yume doesn't know whether it's because of Sojiro and Futaba's arrival, of Yume jumping up to greet them, or of meeting someone new. Maybe all of it, or maybe none of it. He's suddenly unreadable and it bothers her. "Akira, may I present to you the most amazing Isshiki Futaba. Futaba, this is the wonderful Kurusu Akira."
Futaba squeaks.
Akira nods, head lifting slightly.
"Eyes," Futaba whispers through the shirt.
Yume nods. "He does have awesome eyes, doesn't he?"
Akira's cheeks turn slightly pink. Futaba nods quickly, lifting Yume's shirt off her face to really look at him. "Just like Grey Dove!"
Akira sits up straight, mouth widening into an 'O' shape. "…You watch Phoenix Ranger Feathermen?"
"Yes!" Futaba shouts, running up to the booth. Yume helps her up, Akira making room for her to sit. Yume comes up next, watching them talk with a smile. "Seen every episode!"
"Seen a few," Akira says with a sad smile and a hesitant glance at his parents. "They are remaking it… aren't they?"
Futaba nods sternly. "Mhmm! Phoenix Ranger Feathermen R! Starting this Fall!"
Akira tilts his head to look at Yume. "Book?"
Yume nods and sits up on the table to get around Futaba. She struggles grabbing the book at the bottom of her bag but exclaims positively when she pulls it. She holds it towards Futaba. "Ta da!"
Futaba yanks it from her hands. "They already make book?"
"I thought it was a knock-off," Yume says bashfully. "Is it… really the remake?"
Futaba makes an unsure noise in the back of her throat. "Maybe." She looks up with wide eyes. "Read it?"
"Have I read it?" Yume clarifies. Futaba nods. "No, I just got it. Do you want to read it?"
"Yes," she nods thrusts the book at Yume. "Read together."
Yume gingerly takes the book in her hands, eyes wide. She looks over to Akira, who's smirking under his fringe. "Are you alright if I read out loud?"
He nods and shuffles over, although there's not much room for him. "Read to both of us?"
Just three kids reading manga. Yume smiles and ducks her head to hide how touched she feels. "Un," she nods, shuffling over to sit between them. "That sound like fun."
They read the rest of the night, only stopping to eat dinner. Futaba falls asleep soon after the third chapter. Sojiro comes to pick her up, patting Yume and wishing her a goodnight before they leave. Yume and Akira continue to read it, Akira doing the short fourth chapter before handing it back with a small embarrassed blush at Yume's winning smile and her complements on how great he is at reading.
She doesn't expect his phone call that night, but call he does; not even three hours since they split up and left the café.
"I convinced my parents to let me play with you tomorrow," Akira says softly through his hotel phone. "It's only for a few hours but… I didn't want to stay at the café the whole morning."
Yume feels touched that he's comfortable enough with her to use her as an excuse to get away. She gets the feeling his parents care too much about him and not enough about who he is. Restrictive, but Yume's proven to have no impact on the social circle of the adults. Or maybe it was the books. Who knows, they could be hoping she buys him more things tomorrow; which she totally would because it became rather obvious back with Makoto that buying things for others is her way of showing she cares and that she is trying to make life a little easier for others. And this kid needs someone to make him smile. "Would you be against going to a park tomorrow? We could play or you could show me how to dance. Or we could go around shops. Or something."
He chuckles quietly. "The park sounds wonderful. Thank you."
"Alright!" Yume cheers, bookmarking her book with one hand. "Oh and how are the books?"
"Good," he pauses. "My parents didn't ask."
Huh. "About how the books are or where you got them?"
"They didn't ask about you," which means they didn't ask where he got them. "The Great Thief is good."
"I knew you would like it," Yume celebrates again. She looks down at the manga on her lap. "The harem book is going well. The main character just hugged the very pretty girl." That's keeping it at a kid-friendly level.
Akira chuckles. "I did that today too."
Yume almost face-palms. That was smooth and how the heck did he do that? He's five. "So did I. Futaba is really, really cute, isn't she?"
Take that, she thinks while he giggles. They get talking about their books, and it lasts until his parents come back from wherever. He hurriedly says goodbye, and she's left staring at the phone again.
And… she's really looking forward to playing with someone at the park tomorrow. It's just too bad Ryuji won't be there. She thinks the boys might have gotten along well.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Any thoughts?
Thank you, myth-maiden, for your review! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thank you so much for reviewing!
Thank you, Harukawa Ayame, for your review! It was interesting you mentioned them… :) Some angst may be incoming, but hope you enjoyed the fluff of this chapter! Thank you for reviewing!
Thank you, Mia, for your review! Glad you're enjoying! Thank you again for your review, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Thank you, Guest, for your review! I'm always worried it may seem forced, so thank you so much for the reassurance. I really hope you enjoy the chapter, and thank you again for your review!