"You never told me you had a boyfriend!"
"Shh! He's sleeping, and he isn't my boyfriend!"
He opened his eyes at the sound of Akemi's panicked voice, sitting up he realized he had been sleeping on the floor. Keisuke threw the blankets aside, standing he walked towards the door of the small room.
"He was in your room! Akemi, it's alright if you two-"
"I-no- h-he slept on the floor!" stammered Akemi, he then heard her roommate laugh. Keisuke pushed the door open causing the two girls to turn towards him. The tall blonde girl smiled at him while Akemi stared at him slightly pink.
"I'm Mori Yuki" said the blonde girl smiling stretching her hand, Keisuke took it.
"Takahashi Keisuke" he said as she released his hand, the girl smiled at Akemi who by this point looked mortified.
"Well Takahashi, I think Akemi should go get you a shirt" she said bringing Akemi's attention to her. Keisuke looked down at himself; he was shirtless wearing a pair of red shorts, he felt his face grow hot.
Akemi signaled Keisuke to follow her. They walked towards the end of the hall; he ran his hands through his hair. "Sorry about Yuki" said Akemi opening the bathroom closet, she pulled a large white t-shirt and handed it to Keisuke.
He pulled the shirt over his head when he remembered last night's events. The spiky haired blonde cursed under his breath before turning back to the bedroom he'd slept in, Akemi followed him as he rushed back not knowing what was going on. Keisuke hadn't let his brother know he wasn't coming home and knew Ryosuke would be worried.
"Keisuke-"
"My cellphone, have you seen it?" he asked entering Akemi's room, she nodded walking past him towards her nightstand.
"Here" she said handing it to him. "What's got you so worked up?" Akemi asked as he flipped the phone open. The screen was dark.
"Battery's dead" he thought before putting the phone down.
"It vibrated a few times after you fell asleep" said Akemi taking a seat on her small bed. He sat down next to her.
"As long as it wasn't the old man calling me" he said, she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You never told me what you and your father fought about."
Keisuke kept his eyes on the door in front of him "I asked for a car, my brother and I thought that if I did well in school maybe the old man would budge." He clenched his teeth, the previous night's argument coming to the back of his mind again.
"You could try getting a job" she said bringing his attention towards her.
"Knowing the old man it'll just piss him off-"
"So what" she said now standing in front of him "look at me, I moved out" he looked up at her unsure if what Akemi was suggesting would be a good idea.
"Who the hell is going to hire me?" he asked standing running his hands through his hair "I don't have any experience."
"Neither did I" argued Akemi, for a moment he thought about it. If he got a job he could buy the car on his own, without his father's money he could choose whatever car he wanted. He felt himself smile. "See" she said after seeing him smile "we'll start looking in the paper today! Believe me you'll get a job in no time!"
Before he could say anything there was a knock on the door. "Breakfast is ready!" shouted Yuki pushing the door open. Akemi turned her back on Keisuke and followed Yuki to the table, he did the same.
Breakfast with the girls went smoothly; Keisuke even thought it was fun. It was nearly noon when Akemi and Keisuke left in search of a job. They'd taken a newspaper with them just in case.
Keisuke was still weary but continued on his search despite being turned down twice at two different stores. "Cheer up!" she said as they turned a corner, she continued speaking but he wasn't listening. All he saw was a small sign outside a bakery that read: Help wanted.
He immediately stopped in front of the door, Akemi too noticed the sign and smiled "Go on, I'll wait out here!" she whispered patting his back. Keisuke nodded, he pushed the door open alerting the man behind the counter. He was a short man with gray hair and small square glasses.
"Come in, what can I do for you?"
"The sign outside says you're looking for help" said Keisuke pointing at the door. The man smiled.
"I put that sign up a few minutes ago; anyway do you have any experience?"
"No" he answered; the man frowned for a moment.
"I see, well would you be willing to work ten hour shifts?"
"Yes" answered Keisuke as the man stepped out from behind the counter.
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen" answered Keisuke as the man led him towards a small table.
"Are you still in school?" asked the man, Keisuke nodded; finally he saw the man smile. "Alright then, you start on Monday, you come here straight after school and I'll teach how to use the cash register." With that he extended his hand, Keisuke took it shaking it firmly. "I'm Nakamura Goro."
"Takahashi Keisuke."
"Alright Takahashi, I'll see you on Monday then" said Nakamura standing from the table along with Keisuke. As Keisuke walked out of the bakery he felt excited, this would be the first step in proving to the old man that he wasn't just some worthless punk.
"So?" asked Akemi as he walked out of the bakery, they walked for a few moments before he spoke.
"I got it" he answered, Akemi 's eyes lit up as she smiled.
"Really!" she said practically jumping he nodded, for now nothing could ruin his mood.
For the rest of the afternoon they stayed in town. The pair walked into different stores just looking around. Keisuke usually felt at ease around her but today he felt slightly nervous every time his hand brushed with hers. I'm imagining things he thought as he walked her back to her apartment building; she walked a few steps ahead. She had suddenly gone quiet, something he found strange, Akemi was usually couldn't stop talking.
"We spilt here" she said as they stood in front of her apartment building. "Promise you'll go straight home."
"I will" he said turning his back on her.
"Call me!" she shouted, Keisuke raised his hand to let Akemi know he heard her. He walked towards his motorcycle excited to be able to tell his brother about his new found job.
It took him around half an hour to arrive home, Keisuke parked the motorcycle in the garage like usual. It was then that he noticed his brother's car was there and that his father's was nowhere to be seen. Keisuke pulled out his keys as he walked towards the door, behind the door stood Ryosuke, mostly likely alerted by the Fireblade's engine.
"Keisuke" he said taking in Keisuke's appearance, the younger brother walked inside slipping his shoes off before walking into the kitchen. "Where have you been?" Ryosuke asked following Keisuke into the kitchen.
"I got a job," Keisuke said as he turned to face his brother.
The shocked look was unmistakable despite the short time it was on Ryosuke's face. Keisuke started for the stairs with a slight smirk at being able to shock his brother.
"Where?" Ryosuke asked as he followed Keisuke up the stairs.
"At a bakery" the younger brother answered, he stopped on the top step and turned toward his older brother "I'll get my own car."
Ryosuke wore a small smile walking past Keisuke who followed him to his older brother's bedroom. "You do realize you'll have to make sure our father doesn't find out" said Ryosuke taking a seat at his desk. "You never answered my question Keisuke, where were you last night?"
"I slept over at Akemi's apartment" he answered but immediately regretted those words when his brother smiled. "It's not like that! She saw me last night at the convenience store, we talked-"
"Alright, I believe you" as Ryosuke spoke he pulled out his pack of cigarettes and signaled Keisuke to join him in the balcony. "Keisuke, I'm glad to know you now have someone else to talk to besides me."
Keisuke took a cigarette out of his brother's pack, he didn't say anything, his thoughts on last night.
"You'll sleep here" she said shoving a quilt and a few blankets into his arms.
"Are you sure you don't want me on the couch?" he asked placing the blankets on to the floor beside Akemi's small bed.
"No, if my roommate comes back in the middle of the night she'll probably freak out" answered Akemi taking a seat on her bed. "Besides what's the worst thing that can happen if you stay here" she said handing him a pillow.
Keisuke decided not to answer her question and instead laid down on his pillow facing the ceiling.
"Keisuke?"
"Hm"
"I missed you." He turned towards her and noticed she was looking down at him her cheeks slightly pink, there was a small pause as Keisuke searched his mind for an answer.
"I-I missed you too." Before he could turn away from her he saw her smile.
The last bell of the day rung, his school day had been awkward to say the least. Akemi had tried on various occasions to get him and Yuta together, they had all failed. Keisuke was alone in the classroom waiting for the person that had been assigned to clean the classroom. He heard the door slide open and looked up only to find a messy dark haired boy.
Before either of them could react Akemi pushed Yuta into the classroom and closed the door behind her. Keisuke looked away, his eyes on the window.
"Akemi what the hell has gotten into you!" he heard Yuta shout, this caught Keisuke's attention and he watched Akemi point a finger at Yuta.
"What the hell is wrong with both of you!" she shouted back causing Yuta to take a step back. "I'm the only one who has a right to be pissed and I'm not!"
The classroom then went silent until Keisuke stood up from his seat, Yuta ran his fingers through his hair.
"I haven't smoked all day, you up for one Keisuke" he said his eyes away from Keisuke. The blond felt shocked for a moment, before speaking he took a glance at Akemi who wore a small smile.
"Yeah."
Yuta looked relieved, both of the young men turned to Akemi who was wiping her face.
"You don't have to cry" said Yuta who was closest to her, Keisuke walked over towards them.
"I know, I'm just happy to see you two talk" she said looking up at both of the boys.
"Don't you have practice?" asked Keisuke his hands in his pocket, Akemi's eyes widened.
"Dammit! I've got to go, enjoy cleaning the classroom!" With that she opened the door and practically flew out of the classroom.
"Keisuke-" began Yuta before the blond turned his back on him.
"We'll catch up later, I've got to finish up here, I've got places to be."
The boys cleaned the classroom as they chatted or rather he listened as Yuta spoke. Once finished Yuta and Keisuke split up since Yuta would be walking Akemi home after her practice while Keisuke would make his way to the bakery excited for his first day at work.
After a bus ride he arrived to the bakery, pushing the door open he noticed the older man from before.
"Takahashi" he said signaling Keisuke to come behind the counter. "Look in the back, there's a locker you can put your belongings in, grab an apron and I'll teach you how to manage the register."
Keisuke nodded and did as he was told. Once back at the register Goro explained to him how to use the register and explained to him the various sweets they had on display and even let him try a couple.
"Now that you've got the gist of this I'm sure you can handle it yourself" said Goro patting Keisuke on the back.
Keisuke's first day at work went better than he had expected, he didn't face any difficulty with the register, and the bakery's clients had all been kind. At the end of his day Goro had even let him take some of the left over sweets. Keisuke had never felt prouder; finally he was going to prove to his father that he wasn't useless.