Chapter Twenty One
Keisuke looked down at his watch; it had been a half hour since she entered the hospital.
"So are you two ever going to tell me why Akemi has stiches on her face?" asked Yuta as they stood outside the hospital.
"Ask her" answered Keisuke leaning against a wall. Once Yuta had gotten a look at Akemi it was all he could talk about it, Keisuke tried his best to ignore it. His mind wandered back to the upcoming race with Tanaka. Even if winter wouldn't be over for a couple more months it was all he could think about.
"How's work?" asked Yuta pulling out his packet of cigarettes, Keisuke took a glance at him.
"Fine" he answered back his tone final. Yuta took it as a sign and kept quiet for a few minutes before speaking again.
"You know there's something weird about you two lately" he commented putting out his cigarette. Keisuke glared at him. "What? Fine don't tell me, one of you will cave soon."
About an hour past before Akemi walked out of the hospital. "Sorry I had you guys wait" she said looking at the boys. "She said today was going to be one of her slower days-"
"It's ok, now how about we go to that new café on Seventh Street" said Yuta wrapping an arm around her. She gave him a small smile, and turned to Keisuke.
"It'll be fun" she said worry evident in her eyes. Keisuke nodded and followed them as they walked down the block. He was grateful that Yuta was his usual talkative self; it meant he didn't have to engage in small talk for now. The past two weeks had been confusing to say the least, besides his thoughts of his upcoming race with Tanaka there was another thing bothering him, Akemi. For the last two weeks their relationship had gotten complicated. Their time alone was spent kissing, fooling around. The concept wasn't new to him, but it was new to her.
"Keisuke" he heard her say before he looked up. Yuta had already gone inside as she pulled the blond in. "People say they sell the best hot chocolate in the area."
"You don't care about that" he said before they could get to the table. She stopped turning towards him. "Why haven't you talked to Yuta about your Dad?" asked Keisuke, Akemi looked around.
"SHH!"
"What? You're scared he's going to tell you the same thing I told you" said Keisuke walking past her, she caught up to him.
"I'll tell him on my own time" she said a few feet away from Yuta who waved at them. Akemi sat next to Yuta while Keisuke took the seat across from them.
"What are you doing over break?" Akemi asked Yuta.
"Kyo and I are going to visit our mother."
Keisuke watched the conversation unfold before him as they waited for their hot chocolate. He took a look out the window, it was best if he didn't join the conversation. Akemi wanted to keep hidden her father's abuse. "It's not like he gives a shit about her" he thought trying to keep calm as he sipped on his hot chocolate.
He felt a kick underneath the table and turned to face Akemi who frowned back at him, Yuta had just gotten up.
"What the hell?!"
"Could you at least pretend to listen" she snapped looking around to make sure Yuta was out of earshot. "What's going on with you?"
Keisuke ran his hand through his hair. "Us" he answered plainly.
"I thought not-defining, us was what you wanted" she whispered.
"Yuta's suspicious, he's spent the last two weeks asking me about it, we might as well tell him" said Keisuke leaning back in his seat.
"Tell me what?" said Yuta as he stood behind Akemi. He took his seat next to Akemi. Keisuke leaned forward; Akemi sighed and turned to Yuta.
"It's nothing-" she began but before she could go on Yuta turned to Keisuke.
"You two are going out" said Yuta, Keisuke nodded, the boys both turned to Akemi who by this point was red.
"H-how did you know?" asked Akemi, Yuta smiled.
"I knew it because every time I asked Keisuke he'd tell me to shut up or he'd ignore me" answered Yuta turning to Keisuke with a toothy smile.
"Just keep this between us" said Keisuke, Akemi nodded in agreement.
"My lips are sealed" said Yuta as he pretended to zip his lips.
There was a moment of silence, Keisuke felt relief. There was someone he could talk to about what was going on. A loud guitar riff broke the silence Keisuke stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone. "It's Aniki" he said before standing, he picked up the call and walked outside.
"Keisuke" he heard his brother's voice say.
"Are you tired Aniki?" asked Keisuke, he could hear his brother type away.
"It's nothing for you to worry about; Matsumoto wants you to drop by the shop tomorrow."
"Sure, I'll be there early" responded Keisuke taking a glance inside; Akemi and Yuta looked like they were in a deep conversation.
"I ordered new tires for you; they should in the shop tomorrow."
"Aniki thanks! I promise I'll pay you back!" said Keisuke, he was excited much like a child on Christmas.
"You don't need to, think of it as a Christmas gift." The typing in the background stopped "when you get home come to my room, there's something I want to show you."
"Alright, I'll be home soon." With that Ryosuke hung up and Keisuke turned only to find his friends had walked outside.
"I need to get home" said Akemi pulling up the hood of her coat.
"We can walk you" offered Yuta, she shook her head.
"I'm going to meet my Dad at the train station on the next street over" she said hugging Yuta she then turned to Keisuke who she gave a quick kiss on the cheek. "I probably won't see either of you until Christmas, my father leaves the twenty third-"
That's four days from now he thought as she walked away.
"I'll keep in touch!" she shouted waving.
The boys waved back. "I've got to get back home, Kyo's calling me" said Yuta pulling his cellphone out of his pocket. "I'll see you after break then?"
"Yeah, I got to get home too."
Yuta patted Keisuke's back "alright, if you need anything call me."
The blond nodded before turning his back on Yuta. He walked away towards the nearest bus stop.
Keisuke arrived home after an hour of leaving his friends, he entered the house. It seemed empty as he walked up the stairs he noticed the dim light coming from under his brother's door, the blond walked towards it and before he could knock on the door he heard his brother speak.
"Come in."
Keisuke turned the knob and walked in, his brother's room was the polar opposite of his. Everything was in order, and clean. Keisuke on the other hand had forgotten when was the last time he cleaned his room.
"What did you want to show me Aniki?" he asked, Ryosuke turned away from his computer to face Keisuke. The older Takahashi had black circles under his eyes but wore a satisfied smile.
"I've created a program" began Ryosuke turning back to his laptop, he signaled Keisuke to come closer. The blond took his place behind his brother as Ryosuke opened an unfamiliar program. In front of them popped up a few maps and to the side empty slots.
"What the hell is this?" asked Keisuke recognizing a couple of the maps.
"This program will help me predict the outcome of a race by inputting information like a car's specs along with a driver's information, I've only been able to upload a few mountain passes like Akagi and Myogi but once Spring comes by I'll be able to study others-"
"You did this?" asked Keisuke speechless.
Ryosuke took a glance at his brother with a smirk "I borrowed a book on computer programing, it's not as hard as you'd think it would be."
"This is crazy" whispered Keisuke. "Have you tested it out yet?"
"I've ran some simulations on it" began Ryosuke as he shut down the program " but I've haven't been able to use it for a real race, I'll have to wait for spring." Keisuke walked back to his brother's bed and took a seat at its edge.
"I'm starting to think there's nothing you can't do" said Keisuke before throwing himself back on his brother's bed.
"There are things I can't do" answered Ryosuke as he stood up. "Changing the subject, you've been pretty distracted lately."
"Working and trying to keep decent grades isn't easy." Keisuke felt his brother take a seat next to him.
"I was talking about Kaneda, I saw you two outside her job a few days ago" began Rysouke, Keisuke sat up ready to explain but kept quiet allowing his brother to go on. "If it makes you happy go right ahead, just keep you head free of distractions, even if the race with Tanaka seems like it's far away, I want you to concentrate on that."
"I am-" began Keisuke until his brother lifted his hand.
"I also want to remind you that her father, and for that matter ours, wouldn't be too happy if they caught you two together."
The blond frowned "I understand hers but Dad, what does he have to do with it?"
"Simple, both Kaneda's father and ours have a business agreement" began Ryosuke facing Keisuke. "Dad once asked me about you two" the blond made a face but kept quiet, "I simply told him you were classmates. Nothing more."
Keisuke nodded, Ryosuke threw his arm around him as he used to when they were kids. "Take care of yourself; keep your nose out of trouble."
The blond nodded. "I will."
Christmas Eve came and the bakery was busier than Keisuke had ever seen it. He spent the afternoon refilling displays, ringing up customers, even Nakamura's two sons were in the bakery, both of them like Keisuke all over the place.
Nakamura's older son, Junji, was a year older than Keisuke and had come home from college. The young man was studying business administration hoping to expand his father's business. His younger son, Kenta, was finishing up his second year of high school.
"Takahashi go fetch some shortcake in the back" said Junji as he pulled the empty shortcake tray off the display, Keisuke nodded putting the broom back in place and heading to the back of the bakery.
"Who knew sweets could be this popular" he thought as he found the tray noticing a young boy in a corner whispering to someone over the phone. Keisuke frowned holding the tray. "Hey kid!" he shouted, Kenta jumped dropping his cellphone.
"It's not-"
"Stop hiding and get the hell out there" said Keisuke turning his back on Kenta who kept sputtering excuses for hiding in the back.
The next few hours were the busiest the bakery had seen that day, and once it closed the four men sat down at a table, each with a cup of coffee.
"Damn Dad I've never seen it like this" said Junji brushing his long black hair out of his face, Kenta looked down at his cell phone nodding.
"I know, it's getting busier by the day" said Nakamura rubbing his temples. "I'm going to have to hire someone else."
Keisuke nodded while taking a glance at Kenta. The small boy had been on his phone all day, barely of any help. He even complained when he was told to clean the tables. "Yeah a little help around here would be nice" said Keisuke.
"Keisuke you've done enough, go home" said Nakamura with a small smile "your family must be waiting." Keisuke looked down at his watch, it was nine o'clock.
"Yeah, Aniki's probably waiting for me."
"Don't come here tomorrow, we aren't open until after New Year" said Junji balancing himself on the chair.
Keisuke nodded grabbing his coat from a nearby chair. "I won't be, hell after today I don't know if I want to come back."
Nakamura and Junji chuckled as Keisuke walked out of the door,
The winter wind slapped him in the face. He slipped on his coat before walking around the corner to his car. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and opened the door before his phone rang. "Keisuke did you get out of work?"
"Yeah I'm just getting in the car"
"I'll meet you at the gas station near Akagi, I'm bringing food" he could hear his brother's voice somewhat annoyed. Keisuke frowned as he stepped into the car, in the background he could hear his brother start the car. Before he could speak Ryosuke hung up leaving Keisuke confused for a second before starting up his own car. He threw his phone onto the passenger seat before leaving the corner. Ryosuke rarely ever had such emotional "outbursts." Keisuke could count the times Ryosuke showed little control, even as kids Ryosuke was always in control, of anything he did.
He couldn't help but be curious, what could have Ryosuke…annoyed.
"Those words don't even belong in the same friggin' sentence" he thought stopping at a red light. "Whatever went and pissed him off, it's definitely something crazy" the light changed and he continued his way, he tried to keep his mind quiet. All he could think of were scenarios that he thought could annoy his brother. "Maybe he ran out of cigarettes?" thought Keisuke hoping his brother's annoyance was something minor.
He felt a pit in the bottom of his stomach, the only time Ryosuke lost control frightened him. It was during his first year of middle school, Keisuke could only remember the wild look in his brother's eyes.
"Go away!" shouted Keisuke on his knees, behind him was Tsugumi holding a small teddy bear trying to hide behind Keisuke.
The older boys looked down at him "she told on my brother, make her say sorry!" Keisuke tried to stand but instead held his side as he looked up at the two older boys.
"Ryosuke!" shouted Tsugumi through her tears. Keisuke looked past the boys who turned to face him.
Ryosuke walked towards them and with each step Keisuke's fear grew. His brother walked towards them with an icy, calculating look his eyes focused on the boys who began to taunt him .
"Aww, the school nerd!"
"Here he is to tutor us to death!"
Keisuke fell back, Tsugumi hugged him from behind. He could feel her hands tremble.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" he said, his voice cold enough to freeze the air around them.
"Your cousin told on my brother!" said one of the boys. "I'm going to teach her a lesson, girls need to be quiet, not demanding-"
Keisuke tried to stand but before he could jump up Ryosuke punched the boy in the jaw knocking him down. Shocked the second boy watched as Ryosuke kept punching him, without a word.
"AHH! STOP! STOP!" shouted the boy, Ryosuke only then wrapped his hands around his neck.
"You do even realize what your brother was trying to do you moron!" he snarled, the second frightened took a step forward
"Takahashi, you're killing him…"
Keisuke was in a daze as he watched his brother continue to choke the kid as his friend begged him to stop.
Tsugumi's sobbing snapped him back to reality. "Aniki!" shouted Keisuke jumping up despite his pain.
Ryosuke was still snarling threatening the boy and his brother when Keisuke put his arm around his brother's neck trying to pull him back. "Aniki! Aniki!" he shouted begging "you're scaring her!"
Ryosuke's grip loosened allowing Keisuke to pull him off the boy. Tsugumi ran towards them. The boy choked as his friend pulled him away.
He could feel his brother's heartbeat against his arm. "I'm okay, it's ok!" said Tsugumi sobbing on Ryosuke's chest, for a second Keisuke got a look at his face.
Ryosuke's eyes were wide open, tears at it's edges.
It took him about a week but Keisuke was able to figure out what the boy was trying to do to his cousin. He tried to take her in the back of her school and trick her into being with him, after that Keisuke kept a closer eye on Tsugumi.
Keisuke stopped the car, and just as Ryosuke had said he was there leaning against a building trying to light a cigarette. The blond was too far away to see the expression on his brother's face.
He stepped out, shutting the door behind him he could see Ryosuke walk towards him. This time Keisuke saw something unfamiliar in Ryosuke's eyes…sadness?
"I brought something to eat, it's in the car-"
"Are you okay?" asked Keisuke, Ryosuke sighed before running his hand through his hair.
"You worried I'm going to kill someone?"
Keisuke frowned as his brother lifted up his cigarette. "My lighter's out of gas-"
"Aniki, you don't look right…" said Keisuke cautiously, for one Ryosuke never went out in sweatpants, Keisuke didn't even think his brother owned a pair.
"I'm fine Keisuke, I just need a favor" he said putting his cigarette away.
Keisuke frowned for a moment before speaking. "Ok, what is it?"
"I have a question, just answer honestly" began Ryosuke before holding out his hand, Keisuke handed him his lighter. The blond watched his brother light the cigarette. "What's it like…to be in love?"
Keisuke frowned "you're sad over some chick?" he blurted out earning him a sharp look from his brother. The blond then cleared his throat "well I guess you'd do anything for them, you don't want them to miserable."
Ryosuke sighed looking over at his brother with a small smile. "That's all I needed Keisuke, go eat your food, I've got something to do" he turned his back on Keisuke.
"Aniki?"
"It'll be a quick trip, I should be back a bit after sunrise" Ryosuke stepped into the car leaving Keisuke out underneath the lamp post.
The blond looked down at his food. "Takoyaki" he said taking a bite before stepping back into the FD. He finished his food with the heater on, it had been a while since the temperature had dropped much. Keisuke took out the trash, and smoked a cigarette knowing what awaited for him at home.
Drunk parents.
If Ryosuke wasn't there to deal with them, he wasn't going to do it. Instead he decided his time would be of better use driving around the city.
He started the car heading in the direction from which he came, the bakery was already dark. It meant no hope of going back, at least tonight.
Keisuke could always turn to her, it was late, she was most likely awake.
Though in the back of his mind all he could think about was his brother.