He walks Oboro home, not because he's worried, but because he cares (and also he's a little worried, just a bit, because it's been a while since she's broken down like that). She leans on him, arm in arm and hands intertwined, resting her cheek on his shoulder. The walk back is quiet, filled only with the chirps of birds and the rustling of small animals. Takumi doesn't pay attention to much other than the feeling of warmth against his side and the sunrise in his eyes. He thinks about Leo and his text, curious but unable to respond just yet.
Once they stop at the gate, Takumi does a double take. He thought he'd known where Oboro was taking him, but he was mistaken. Hinata's family's dojo, stands before them, and the name card at the front reads both 'Miyamoto' and 'Nakano'. Oboro must notice his pause, because she squeezes his hand reassuringly, pulling him forward towards the sliding front door of the dojo.
"The Miyamoto's are letting us stay in one of the spare rooms. It's not half bad, just a little dusty. And it's only until my parents get back on their feet." She says, shooting him a tired but genuine smile. "Come on in, I want to show you your Halloween costume!" She looks so happy that Takumi can't say no.
They both slip their shoes off outside the dojo, walking through the training room towards the back rooms. The main training room is empty at this time of the day, but the sunrise casts orange shadows over the wooden floor. The nostalgia hits him like a wave, memories from his childhood playing with Hinata and Oboro throughout the dojo. It's been a while since he's been back, due, in part, to school, but something about the old room brings back those fuzzy memories.
Oboro is giggling as she pulls Takumi along by his hand past some of the weight rooms until they both stand in the doorway to the kitchen. The kitchen is small, just the bare essentials, but the Miyamoto's always seemed to make do. When Takumi peeks in, Hinata sits at the kitchen table, delicately nursing a steaming cup of coffee. He looks suspiciously hungover, and the dark circles and the messy hair are a dead giveaway.
"Oh." Hinata blinks, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. Takumi gives him a little wave while Oboro scoffs, half-heartedly rolling her eyes as she pulls him into their little kitchen. "Well, good morning to me." Hinata gives them both a toothy grin from his place at the kitchen table. "Whatcha doing here?"
"Halloween costume!" Oboro cheers, continuing through the kitchen towards the door to the small backyard. There's a shed out back, and Takumi can only assume that's where she's taking him. Hinata grunts from his seat, leaving his coffee on the kitchen table in favor of following the both of them out onto the small stone patio out back.
The shed is directly adjacent to the patio, off to the side of the door from the kitchen. Oboro fumbles with the lock quietly while Hinata sidles up to Takumi, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "You're looking a little rough around the edges. Got anything you wanna tell me?" Hinata's grin is contagious, and Takumi wraps his arm around Hinata's waist.
"Have you looked in the mirror recently?" Takumi's voice is nothing more than a grumble, even through his smile. Hinata laughs so loudly that it startles Oboro from her place in front of the shed.
"You're gonna love the costumes. Wanna give it a guess before Oboro spoils it?" Oboro shoots Hinata a glare as she struggles with the lock on the shed.
"Hm, I'm going to go with the Survey Corps?"
"Ooo, so close and yet so far!" Hinata says, and Oboro scoffs from where she's standing in front of the shed, hands clasped back behind her as she holds the doors closed. She's so excited to show him that she's practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"If you two idiots are done flirting, are you ready?" Takumi only has time to nod before Oboro throws open the shed doors, revealing four upright mannequins clad in Oboro's handiwork. Fabric genius. His eye catches on the purple material, shining in the morning sunlight that streams through the open doors. It's a Hawkeye costume, Oboro's made him a Hawkeye costume for Halloween. His brain short circuits.
"The Miyamoto's were nice enough to give me a little space where I can work on stuff while I'm back home." Oboro says, turning to admire her handiwork herself. She takes a moment to fix the collar of one of the other costumes with a smile. "So, what do you think? Do you like it? Is it 'Marvelous'?"
He steps forward, eyes still caught on his costume as he reaches out to touch the material. It's soft, like he first thought, and there's a sheen that covers the whole torso. It always amazes him what Oboro can make with a little time and some cheap fabric.
"I think that's a yes." Hinata laughs, and Takumi's grin must be plain on his face, because his cheeks have started hurting with the force of his jubilation. He steps back, taking in the other three costumes with curiosity. The first two are easy, a Black Widow costume made out of faux leather for Oboro and a Deadpool costume for Hinata, but the last costume eludes him. It's a purple jumpsuit made out of the same material as his costume, but fit for someone far more slender than he.
"Of course I love it, but who's the other one for?" He asks, and as he turns to Oboro, her eyebrow raises.
"It's a Hawkeye costume for Sakura. Did she not tell you?" When Takumi shakes his head, Oboro sighs. "She said she wanted to come to campus for Halloween. I guess I kind of assumed she'd already asked you if it was okay." She smiles sheepishly, giving a little shrug as well.
Takumi turns back to the costumes, a hand massaging the bridge of his nose. "Well, I'm not opposed to the idea of it, but I was kind of hoping we could like.." His sigh is long and heavy. "I was hoping we could go to a club this year, since we're all old enough now." Oboro and Hinata look at each other, before Hinata shrugs.
"If you're that worried about it, she could stay in your dorm room when we go out." Hinata says, throwing his arm back over Takumi's shoulder. "Or we could just go to an under 18 bar and bring her along."
Takumi hums, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. On one hand, he loves his sister dearly, and he knows that he can't turn her down lest she get sad. But on the other hand, Takumi just wanted to spend Halloween getting wasted and grinding on strangers, and would rather his baby sister not see that side of him. Choices choices.
"Let me talk to her about it before I make any decisions." He says finally, slipping out from underneath Hinata's arm, checking his phone as he does so. The bright screen reads 7:13 AM, and Takumi frowns. "I should probably start heading home before Mom gets worried." As if on queue, his phone vibrates with Mikoto's name, and Takumi sighs.
Oboro smiles softly and nods. "Let me walk you out, okay?" She links her arm with Takumi's, and Hinata ruffles his hair from behind.
"I'll talk to you later 'Kumi." He says, and they both wave at each other as Oboro pulls him back into the main building.
She sees him to the door, leaving him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and he leaves her with a promise to come back tomorrow and help with the costume, as she needs another set of hands that aren't just Hinata's fat-ass fingers.
Once outside, he opens the text from his mother and responds in earnest, giving her a time estimation while he deals with a growling stomach. It should only take him ten minutes to get home if he speed-walks.
It's then that he's reminded of Leo's mysterious text, somehow still sitting in his messages without a response. He opens it once more.
leo astarot (6:32 AM): sorry
He never would've pegged Leo as the type to text without proper capitalization and punctuation, but he's learning more and more about his roommate every day, he supposes.
Takumi (7:15 AM): You should be sorry for texting me this early in the morning. What if I was asleep? And not using proper capitalization and puncuation? Who are you and what have you done with my roommate?
leo astarot (7:15 AM): You misspelled punctuation. Try again.
Takumi can't keep the smile off his face, nor can he keep the heat from his chest.
Takumi (7:16 AM): Don't sass me, tomato. Now what's up and why are you apologizing at 630 in the morning. Scratch that, why are you even up at 630 that's unheard of for you.
The typing bubble pops up instantly, then disappears, and then pops up a second time. Takumi waits, and waits, and waits some more, but it seems like Leo doesn't really want to send this text, so Takumi pockets his phone for the time being and focuses on his surroundings instead. The little Hoshidan town he grew up in is quaint, all reds and yellow with the falling leaves. The feeling of nostalgia permeates his mind, and the memories of his childhood along with it.
His mother greets him at the genkan when he returns with a soft smile faint on her face. "Sakura has breakfast in the kitchen." She says as Takumi slips off his shoes and hangs up his coat. The silence in the air afterwards is palpable, and the tension more so. He waits for Mikoto to say something, anything, but she just continues smiling like she has not a care in the world.
He steps onto the wooden floorboards before Mikoto steps forward into the genkan to pull her own shoes on. He turns, beginning to pad towards the kitchen before Mikoto calls his name, bringing his gaze back to her.
"I'm going out to buy flowers." She says, and Takumi blinks, confused.
"Flowers?" His voice is a bit dry, rough almost, and it scratches on the way up. "Who are you buying flowers for?"
She reaches over to grab her parasol from the hanger by the door, all grace and flowing lines. The parasol sits comfortably on her outstretched arm, and the smile drops from her face entirely, only to be replaced with an expression of exhaustion. The icy grip of panic that Takumi had had that morning blossom once more, curling around his chest like vines.
"We're going to see Hinoka today, all of us, as a family."
Takumi hates the hospital. Since the moment he set foot in one for the first time, the white walls and sterile air felt so choking.
The first time, it had been his mother. He was so young when it happened, just barely three when she collapsed in the kitchen. At first, the doctors had said it was from overwork, that she should be on bed rest because of the pregnancy, but it was so much more than that. He doesn't remember much of it, but he does remember the grief it caused and how the hospital halls had seemed so lifeless to him.
'Stage three breast cancer' they'd said, and his older siblings had wept, so Takumi did too. His mother hadn't been able to receive treatment immediately because his little sister was still growing inside her. Takumi hadn't understood at the time, but because of Sakura, his mother had chosen to forgo treatment so that she could deliver.
The delivery was successful, but by the time little Sakura was born, the cancer had spread and grown. Cancer is a potent beast, and it claimed his mother so quickly afterwards. In the blink of an eye, she was gone, and her room was empty, and there was an empty slot in his heart where his mother had been.
Mikoto had filled that emptiness as best she could. She's a wonderful mother, but being in the hospital makes the hole in his heart ache once more.
The second time had been his father when he was eleven. He was older, smarter, understood what was happening when it was happening. This time, he had Kamui by his side, crying all the tears that Takumi didn't have the energy for, not anymore.
His older sister is here now too, and that makes it so difficult to be here again. His breath leaves him at every step, heart pounding around every corner. He remembers the two times before, and flashes of his trips burn his memory. His mother, stroking his hair, holding him close. His father, the life in his eyes draining as he continued the fight, before finally succumbing.
And now his sister, losing her hair but never losing her smile. She fights so much harder than Takumi could ever dream of. She inspired people, she pushed them to be the best they could be. She always had a grin on her face and a hand on her heart, and Takumi couldn't do any of those things.
He doesn't know what he'd do if they lost Hinoka, but he's been preparing for that moment since the diagnosis. He's tried so miserably to forget her, forget everything, to steel himself for the news, and that alone disgusts him.
He's disgusted by himself. But he's been hurt twice before and forgetting is easier than remembering.
The walls feel so suffocating, but Kamui's hand comes to grasp his own, warm and reassuring against the cold of white.
"It's okay." Kamui says, just out of earshot of Mikoto and Sakura, who are ahead of them with a bouquet of flowers for Hinoka's room. All Takumi can do is nod silently, letting Kamui pull him through the hallways of the hospital without a fight until the door is before them. Through the window, Takumi can see Sakura hugging Hinoka and Mikoto arranging the peonies in the bedside vase.
He's preparing to enter the room when his phone vibrates in his pocket, giving him pause. He pulls his hand from Kamui's to grab his phone from his pocket, and smiles when he sees the name. It's Leo texting him, so he gives Kamui a little wave and an excuse as he unlocks his phone.
leo astarot (11:11 AM): Sometimes sleep eludes me. I was just saying sorry because Xander can be a bit scary, so I just wanted to make sure you weren't, um, shook, as they say. How are you doing?
He smiles, and his shoulders loosen as the vines of guilt lessen. He doesn't know who this Xander guy is, but just the fact that Leo was concerned about him is enough to draw a smile.
Takumi (11:12 AM): I'm alright, thanks for checking in. Hope you're taking care of yourself too.
Kamui tugs at his shirt, returning his soft smile when he looks up. "I see you and Leo are getting along well." A flush covers his cheeks, and he hopes Kamui doesn't notice.
"Uh, yeah. We're doing okay I guess." He says as he pockets his phone.
"C'mon, Hinoka is waiting for you. She said she had something she wanted to talk to you about."
"Me? Specifically?"
"Yes, you specifically." Kamui says, pushing him towards the door where it stands in front of him, open and waiting. He takes a breath, steeling himself.
He steps through the frame, more than ready to see his big sister.
A/N: Wow, so this is fucking late, my bad. Depression and school really caught up with me D: have some interesting notes about this chapter:
- Oboro's family name is Nakano, after Nakano Takeko. I saw someone on serenes with the name Oboro Takeko, but Nakano was the family name so Nakano stays.
- Somewhat similar thing with Hinata and Miyamoto, as their family is named after Miyamoto Musashi.
- according to wikipedia, peony flowers mean 'bravery' in japanese flower language (take this with a grain of salt, it's wikipedia)
- ideally, Mikoto bought her flowers from Nyx, but Takumi didn't see that so it didn't make it in
- in case it wasn't clear in the chapter (i'm kinda tired, so proofreading is a little iffy right now), both of Takumi's birth parents died of cancer (breast and colorectal), and Mikoto is technically his step mother.
- One another note: Takumi's mother was pregnant during the diagnosis, and didn't get treatment immediately, meaning the breast cancer probably reached stage four before Sakura's birth, but I'm not a doctor so I may have taken some time/reality liberties.
- I'm not sure how quickly colorectal cancer grows/spreads but my friend has the gene for it and he gets colonoscopies every year. In this story, Hinoka probably has stage three right now and is currently undergoing chemo.
Again, sorry this is so late! I'm hoping to update one more time before the new years, so stay on the lookout! And once again, your favs, follows, and comments inspire me to write! Thank you all so much for reading!