Archive: NO
Notes: Sorry for any confusion caused by the numbering of the chapters XD This is chapter 5 but I should have posted chapter 4.5 last time and didn't realise I'd skipped it. :D; So click backwards a chapter for the newer chapter which is Ootori and Shishido. This is chapter 5 so now everything is in the right order! Enjoy:D
Reviews: Appreciated. :D I like them and they remind me to update. Thank you to the people who have reviewed so far.
About Us
Chapter 5
By Miki
"It really is a shame Syuusuke can't be here," Yumiko sighed.
Yuuta, barely over the piece of pie crust he'd nearly inhaled before, managed to give his sister a sort-of-glare in response. Why did she have to go and bring up their brother? It wasn't like Atobe had come over to see him, was it?
Yuuta's glare wavered in the face of her smile though, and he wasn't sure it was a very scary look; nothing like the glares he gave to the stupid first years when they accidentally hit balls into his court, and nothing like what he directed at Yanagisawa whenever he was really driving Yuuta insane with his 'da ne' and his incessant questions.
"Fuji's not here?" Atobe asked, seeming to snap out of whatever it was that had kept his mouth shut until now.
Yuuta tensed a little. Was it just him, or did Atobe actually sound disappointed? He snuck a sideways glance at Atobe, but it was pretty hard to tell from his face what he was actually thinking.
Atobe's hand, still resting a little awkwardly on his back, shifted a little.
He hadn't moved it even after Yuuta had stopped coughing, but it made Yuuta feel weird, and kind of conscious about the fact that Atobe suddenly looked weird about it too, like he'd wanted to take his hand away but hadn't, and now couldn't, because it would look doubly weird as having had it there in the first place.
Yoshiko gave a slight smile in response to Atobe's question, and Yumiko looked a little more surprised than Yuuta thought she should.
He couldn't help but feel a little suspicious about it.
"Syuusuke went to stay the night at Kikumaru-kun's place," Yuuta's mother explained. "He said Kikumaru-kun invited him before he knew Yuuta meant to come home for the weekend, so he was a little annoyed about it."
"Ah," Atobe said, and Yuuta guessed from the way Atobe frowned slightly that he wanted to ask more but was keeping himself in check.
Yumiko's eyes twinkled.
Yuuta was sure that now the introductions were complete, they should escape somewhere his sister wasn't.
"I'm sure he'll be sorry he missed you," Yumiko smiled, as though she guessed Yuuta was starting to think of leaving. "He was just saying the other day that it would be nice see Atobe because he's done so much for you lately, Yuuta. Syuusuke wanted to pay him back for it."
Yuuta swallowed, uncomfortable with where his sister was heading. Where his brother was concerned, payback most certainly did not consist of nice friendly dinners and bunches of flowers, and he'd felt a lot better about having Atobe to dinner when he'd found out that his brother had already told Kikumaru Eiji he'd stay over for the night.
Atobe gave a flick of his hair, his hand sliding a little down Yuuta's back before he removed it entirely. "Well, he should be sorry," he stated, and Yuuta watched as Yumiko's lips curved with an amused smile.
He wondered if she thought this was fun.
He didn't think it was fun.
"It isn't every day that Ore-"
Yuuta blinked as Atobe cut himself off, suddenly stopping speaking before he finished the sentence. "Ato-" he looked sideways.
"I mean, he's missing out on a good cake," Atobe corrected, looking – and sounding – incredibly awkward.
Yoshiko looked a little lost at the sudden change in Atobe's demeanour, and she smiled at him. "That's very true, though I'm sure we can save him a slice for tomorrow when he gets home."
Yuuta noted that his mother was using her 'encouraging' smile; the one she used to use on him whenever Syuusuke beat him at something. Like tennis. Or board games. Or card games. Or anything, really.
At that thought, he felt himself frowning again, and hurried to change his train of thought. He didn't quite know why, but he suddenly felt really conscious of frowning in front of Atobe. It wasn't like Atobe hadn't been the subject of his anger before, but Yuuta just…
He just wasn't quite sure what he and Atobe were doing yet, and he felt like Yumiko just knew which buttons to press to really rub him the wrong way, and he didn't want to act like this around Atobe because…
Aniki never frowned around people, did he?
Of course, Yuuta knew he wasn't his brother, or even his sister. But he felt like he wanted to make a conscious effort just not to be so –
"Yuuta?"
His mother's voice interrupted him. "Huh?" he looked at her, feeling like he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself under her stare.
She frowned a little at his response, looking sorely tempted to tell him off for it, but then she seemed to change her mind, and instead smiled.
"I think dinner will be another few minutes, so do you want to take Atobe to your room?" she said, in that way that Yuuta realised wasn't actually a question or suggestion, but was more of an order. "Yumiko and I will set the table today," she explained, when he didn't move.
Yuuta took her words to mean he didn't have to struggle with the plates and bowls and chopsticks and only hesitated for a moment before grunting a bit and turning on his heel.
"Come on, Atobe" he said to Atobe, and didn't bother waiting as Atobe excused himself a little more politely from the kitchen.
(S)
Yuuta fiddled with the hem of his shirt.
They'd only been sitting at the table for about ten minutes, but he was already feeling like they should hurry up and finish eating so he and Atobe could get away. He was sure Yumiko was going to say something; he didn't know what, but he was sure she wouldn't be able to help herself. It made him feel nervous, even though Syuusuke wasn't here, and even though his dad wouldn't be at home for another hour yet.
He hadn't gotten a chance to change his clothes either, and Atobe had definitely noticed the stain before, though he hadn't said anything… Which had made Yuuta feel relieved and even more nervous at the same time.
His mum, too, kept looking at Atobe like he was fascinating or something and it was creeping Yuuta out.
"So how do you actually know each other?" Yoshiko asked, smiling and looking between Yuuta and Atobe.
Yuuta swallowed a piece of fish and glanced sideways at Atobe.
They were sitting next to each other – Atobe on Yuuta's left – and facing Yumiko and his mum, and Yuuta felt like had Yumiko had her way, she'd have had them isolated and would have been cross examining them both by now.
As it was, his mum just kept asking weird questions that he didn't really feel like answering. She hadn't said it, but he suspected it was because she thought there was something weird about someone like Atobe wanting to hang out with someone like Yuuta.
Atobe currently looked ten times more mature than Yuuta had ever looked, and the way he handled everything with grace wasn't doing anything to make Yuuta feel any better about having dropped food on the floor already.
He shrugged in response to his mother's question, and didn't say anything, stabbing his chopsticks into his fish again.
The fish wasn't very thick though, so it wasn't a satisfying feeling to stab his chopsticks in and have them hit the plate so soon.
"We bumped into each other at a café," Atobe said carefully. "I already knew Fuji… through tennis," he added as an afterthought, and glanced sideways at Yuuta.
Then he picked up his cup of green tea and took a sip.
"Yes, I knew you knew Syuusuke," Yumiko smiled. "Which café?"
"Ah, the little French one near the Adidas store. It's not that far from St Rudolph," Atobe answered. "They have a green tea crème brulee there that I'm somewhat fond of."
"Green tea crème brulee?" Yoshiko repeated, looking amused. "I wonder what it tastes like."
"Green tea, obviously," Yuuta muttered under his breath, feeling a little stressed and more than happy to direct his annoyance at his mother. He stabbed his fish again. Yoshiko sent him a scolding look but didn't say anything.
Yumiko simply laughed. "You don't need to kill the fish, Yuuta," she said, quirking the corners of her lips in amusement. "It's already dead."
Yuuta scowled at her and she smiled back at him.
"I know," he snapped, "I wouldn't eat it if it weren't."
He stuffed a piece into his mouth as though to make his point.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Atobe smile for a moment. He paused his scowling and tried to look at Atobe without looking like that was what he was doing.
Atobe glanced back at him, and Yuuta's eyes were immediately drawn to his lips.
Atobe parted them for a moment and Yuuta could have sworn he was about to say his name, but then Yumiko interrupted and Yuuta turned his head quickly back to stare at his plate as he swallowed his fish.
"No, I'm sure you wouldn't," Yumiko conceded, belatedly replying to Yuuta's comment.
"You always have been very careful about what you put in your mouth, haven't you?"
She glanced at Atobe for a moment as she spoke, and Yuuta caught the movement and blinked; feeling his chest tight with worry.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he questioned, fidgeting and running his finger around the outside of his cup of tea.
Yumiko smiled. "I just meant that it must be a side effect of having Syuusuke for a brother," she laughed.
Yuuta frowned at her.
Yumiko never said exactly what she meant, and from the way she was smiling, he was pretty sure she could see he knew exactly what she was getting at.
"Ever since that time he fed you wasabi ice cream, you've always wanted to know exactly what anything was before you tasted it," she said; her words still dancing too dangerously close to clarity for Yuuta's liking.
"He said it was pistachio," Yuuta said, deciding not to let her get the better of him.
"But you don't like pistachio anyway," Yumiko pointed out.
"You don't need to remind me," Yuuta grumbled.
"I'm sure Atobe's no different," Yumiko continued stubbornly.
"I don't have a problem with pistachio," Atobe frowned.
"No," Yumiko laughed, glancing at her mother.
Yoshiko was lost though, and merely gave Yumiko a befuddled looking smile in return.
"Nevermind," Yumiko smiled, taking a long sip of her tea.
Yuuta had half an idea where she'd been going, and was glad she'd stopped before she'd spelt everything out in front of his mum. It was true she didn't really have his siblings' senses of humour, but she wasn't stupid. Nee-san didn't need to toe the line like that just to tease him.
(S)
Yumiko closed her eyes for a moment as she held her cup between the palms of her hands. As she'd thought, it was a little dull without Syuusuke here to appreciate her humour. On top of that, their father had rung to tell them he'd been delayed with a work function, so she felt a little as though Atobe had been let off too easily.
She narrowed her eyes at him over the top of her cup; not because she meant to intimidate him. It was more of a habit she'd learnt, perhaps from Syuusuke when they were children. Perhaps from their father.
Atobe noticed her gaze faster than she'd expected him to, since he had always struck her as an incredibly self-absorbed person. Apparently he wasn't quite so self-absorbed though, that he didn't notice people around him.
He looked at her for a moment, and Yumiko saw the movement of his right arm at the same time as she saw the surprised look on Yuuta's face.
Yuuta's face flushed a dull pink, and he hurriedly brought his hand up to take a sip of his tea.
Yumiko noted that it was his right hand that held his cup and his left which stayed under the table.
Likewise, Atobe picked up his cup with his left hand, and took a slow sip, looking unhurried.
He smiled at her.
"Yuuta mentioned that you like cakes, Fuji-san," he said, breaking the silence.
Yumiko was taken aback for a moment.
"I… do," she answered carefully, trying not to look as though she'd noticed anything odd.
She was starting to think that Atobe was much more perceptive than she'd previously given him credit for.
"Yumiko's always liked desserts, haven't you?" Yoshiko interrupted, momentarily breaking the tension between the Yumiko and Atobe.
Yumiko could still feel Yuuta looking at her slightly suspiciously, and she leaned back a little in her chair. "Of course. The more the merrier," she smiled, thinking of the fact that they'd have both cake and pie for dessert. Then she glanced at the gap between Yuuta and Atobe's chairs and took another long sip of her tea. She'd thought she was ready for tonight, but without Syuusuke here with her, she felt a little lost.
Yuuta was growing up, and he was growing up and growing into a life which perhaps wouldn't be as picture perfect as Yumiko had imagined it would be. It wasn't that she wanted to steer her brothers in any direction, or that she wanted to limit them to walking the same paths their parents had walked, but somehow…
The thought that he'd love someone who was… of the same gender… hadn't occurred to her.
She wasn't angry or upset about it at all; that wasn't what bothered her. What bothered her was the thought that ever since she and Syuusuke had been young, they had always protected Yuuta as though he were somehow less capable of defending himself than they had been.
And now, she realised, she couldn't really continue to protect him.
She had realised it when he transferred to St Rudolph and left Seigaku behind, but now, as she watched Atobe and realised that he was more confident and more demanding, less yielding and perhaps less patient than Yuuta, she couldn't help but wonder if Yuuta might just grow up a little faster than she'd wanted him to.
Being with Atobe, he might just have to.
Certainly, society was less than forgiving of anyone who didn't walk a straight and narrow path.
She couldn't help but wonder if the fact that it was Atobe would make it easier or harder on Yuuta, and she frowned.
"Yumiko?"
"Huh?" she looked up at the sound of her mother's voice, and realised she'd slipped into her own thoughts.
"Ah, sorry," she apologised quickly, glancing at the empty plates on the table and realising that her mother probably wanted her to help clear the table.
She tried not to meet Atobe's gaze as she picked up the plates and the two boys stood up and stretched.
"Fuji-san."
She turned around as she was about to leave the room.
"Atobe-kun?" she questioned, balancing dishes in both her hands.
He was looking at her intently.
"If you're near St Rudolph anytime soon, it would be nice if you could join Yuuta and I and try out the crème brulee at 'Jacques'."
Yumiko blinked at the invitation; almost surprised Atobe could ask her so easily. She realised she was supposed to give him some sort of answer, so she gave him half a smile. "We'll see," she said as she walked to the kitchen.
Her mother fumbled a little with the fridge door as she turned around at the sound of someone entering.
"Yumiko? What are you doing?" she questioned, and hurriedly took the plates from Yumiko's right hand.
"Are you okay? You look a little sick," Yoshiko observed, putting the dishes into the sink and holding the back of her hand to Yumiko's forehead.
Yumiko gently removed her mother's hand, shook her head and smiled.
"No, I'm just a little tired…" she lied.
She pulled a clean glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. As she sipped it and watched her mother piling the dishes in the sink, she glanced over at the clock.
Why was it that it felt like it was just a few days ago that Yuuta and Syuusuke used to run around on the courts together; happy when they hit balls within the lines and determined when they hit them out?
She wondered if she would take up Atobe's offer.
And then she heard a snort followed by a laugh.
It was Yuuta, laughing at something Atobe had said. She could hear the other boy's murmurs, but she couldn't quite work out what he was saying. Perhaps it didn't matter what he said anyway.
The fact that he could make Yuuta laugh had caught Yumiko's attention, and she drunk the last of her glass of water before adding the glass to the growing pile of dishes to be washed.
Then she rolled her shoulders a little, stretching as she walked back out to the table where Atobe and Yuuta were still sitting, albeit somewhat more sloppily than they'd sat during the meal.
"Actually I'd prefer not to," Atobe was saying; his tone somewhat dry. "I've never been partial to feral birds and I never will be."
Yuuta gave him a look, pursing his lips slightly.
"Why?"
Atobe flicked his hair.
"Where's no 'why', Yuuta," he admonished, "it's a matter of personal taste."
Yuuta raised an eyebrow.
"I'm pretty sure I said that to you before you shoved that snail in my mouth, right?"
Yumiko paused in her steps just before she reached the table, and watched as Atobe's serious expression turned into one of exasperation.
"Besides, what's so wrong with turkey?" Yuuta questioned, noticing Yumiko standing in the room. His cheeks flushed pink and he turned back to Atobe.
Atobe noticed Yumiko too, and promptly clasped his cup again when she took her seat opposite Yuuta.
"I don't like it," was his reply.
Yuuta grunted and turned to face Yumiko again. Yumiko jolted a little, and was about to speak again when Atobe gave a decidedly resigned sigh.
"Fine," he conceded. "But next time we're going back to the usual place," he huffed slightly, looking childish for a moment.
"I still think your tastes are rather odd," he grumbled a little.
"Tastes in what?" Yuuta grumbled.
"Everything," was Atobe's answer, though Yumiko thought he didn't really look as though he meant it.
"Everything, Atobe?" she teased, feeling much more like herself again.
"I'd have said Yuuta's taste is…" she began, and hesitated, glancing at her brother.
He was looking at her curiously, as though not sure whether he'd like what she was about to say.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with Yuuta's taste," she corrected, and smiled at him.
Seeing the slightly befuddled looks on both boys' faces, she once again lamented the fact that Syuusuke wasn't here, although she imagined he'd have said Yuuta's taste could have done with some improvements.
Atobe might not have been exactly the person she'd envisaged Yuuta might one day date, if she'd ever really thought about it at all… But they were Yuuta's choices to make, weren't they?
And as Yumiko watched the slight quirk at the sides of Yuuta's mouth, and the raised eyebrow that followed, she thought he wasn't doing such a bad job after all.
.tbc.