Acceleration
Chapter 2
Downstairs, Touma learned that Shin had woken up several hours earlier, and after lunch had retired to the lake. Grabbing leftovers he moved to the porch to join a brooding Seiji. Touma wasn't worried; he knew he wasn't really mad at him. He waved cheerfully to Ryo who was beginning the walk to the lake.
"You joining us?"
"In a bit," Touma replied, gesturing to his half finished meal. Ryo took off at a jog, the only one unaffected by the heat.
"Lunatic," Touma mumbled. Seiji said nothing. "Y'know, if it really ruffled your feathers that much I won't grab your ass again," Touma mumbled around rice. Seiji sighed quietly. Cautiously, Touma leaned his head on Seiji's shoulder. He knew his friend wasn't normally one for physical contact, but on occasion he would tolerate a gentle touch.
"Don't chew in my ear," Seiji muttered. Touma laughed and sat up again, knowing they were ok again.
"You gonna go for a swim?" Touma asked, standing as he finished, brushing crumbs from his bare chest. Seiji made an ambiguous sound.
"C'mon, it'll be fun. You know Naste loves watching us be healthy young boys," Touma purred, sliding his hands over Seiji's shoulders.
"I'll go if you promise to not grope me the rest of the day," he grinned slightly not visible to his friend. Touma made a happy sound and pulled away,
"Deal," he laughed, leaving his plate on the porch where he was sure would see it and Shin would pitch a fit. He took off at a hip leading saunter towards the lake, and reluctantly Seiji followed a dignified distance behind.
Touma could hear them at the lake before he saw them. Naste was screaming and Shin was laughing loudly. Touma was jealous.
"Hey guys, how could you have fun without me?" He whined loudly look down on them. Ryo had Naste thrown over his shoulder. She shrieked and kicked loudly, splashing water over everyone. Touma didn't miss the way Ryo held onto her, his hands suspiciously high on her thighs. Shin was lying on the shore, curled up on his towel. Touma carefully made his way over to him, trying his hardest to be quiet. Kneeling down, he saw Shin was asleep. Looking over his shoulder, Shuu and Ryo were still fighting over Naste who continued to shriek and laugh. Jun rode proudly on Shuu's shoulders, assisting in trying to knock Ryo down.
Jun's hat sloshed on the shore and absently he scooped it up, grinning. Shin didn't move even as he approached noisily. He stared down at Shin's peacefully sleeping face, contemplating how much
of a jerk he'd have to be to disrupt such an angel. He decided he was. The reaction was better than he could have imagined. Shin sputtered and screamed and Touma was in the water before he could even figure out what was going on. Touma waited for him in the chest high water while Shin yelled angrily on shore. The water was like ice, and it took all of Touma's machismo to prevent him from shrieking at the cold.
"You – you sod!" Shin shrilled. Touma practically crowed, head thrown back in laughter.
"Shuu, what's a sod?" Jun inquired from the shoulders of the earth warrior.
"Um," Shuu started, looking anxiously a Naste for help.
"Shuu! I forbid you from telling him!" Shin continued to shout from the shoreline.
"It's nothing little guy," Ryo reassured him, pulling him from Shuu's shoulder. Ryo suspected that Shuu's strength would be needed to break up this squabble, though part of him was tempted to let Shin drown their increasingly rambunctious companion. Ryo retreated to shore with Naste and Jun, intent on keeping them out of harm's way.
"Aww, Fish, you're so cute when you're angry!" Touma shouted back. He'd never seen Shin's pretty little heart-shaped face so red before. His laughter stopped when Shin dove into the water. Now that he thought about it, escaping into the water was a very stupid decision. In the water, Shin was like lightening, faster than Touma was on the land. He'd only gotten a few frantic strokes away before Shin surged out of the water. Shin was pleased to see that Touma's expression was one of pure terror when he pulled him under the water.
Seiji arrived in time to see Touma disappear under the water. He wasn't surprised, the two blue warriors were the most distant from each other, and Touma's lack of sensitivity never ceased to grate on Shin's nerves. He suspected that Touma deserved this rather vicious attack.
They stayed under a long time. If it had been just Shin, no one would have worried, but Touma was the poorest swimmer of them all.
"Shuu, can you see them?" Ryo yelled from the shore. Naste's hand pressed to his chest in concern.
"You want me to get them?" Shuu shouted back, slogging through the water.
"Yeah, this is stupid, they need to cut the crap," Ryo seethed. He hated it when the others bickered. Touma's volatile nature always made him the center of scuffles. He thought it was boring when everyone got along.
Shuu's strong hands plunged beneath the surface and rose with one boy dangling by their wrists from each hand. Touma sputtered, coughing water before crying out in pain.
"Jesus fuck, dude, you're gonna dislocate my shoulder!" He cursed and was released, splashing back into the water. Shin was lowered for gently, blue eyes giving Shuu looks of utter betrayal. Seiji smirked when Touma punched Shuu's arm out of anger and reeled backwards, clutching his hand and cursing more. Carefully Seiji disrobed to his boxers, wading slowly into the water to inspect Touma's hand. Shuu apologized to Shin before disappearing into a backstroke to float in the middle of the lake.
Seiji frowned down at the swollen red fingers of Touma's right hand, feeling bones shifting. Ryo would be angry if Touma was unable to draw his bow in battle, and that's certainly what it felt like.
"Was it really necessary to get the last blow in, Touma?" He chastised. Touma didn't answer. Seiji looked up and saw his gaze was elsewhere, on Shin, intense and calculating. He recognized this as Touma's version of confusion. Shin was looking away, thinking as well, his face flushed for reasons Seiji couldn't determine.
"What happened?" Seiji pried again.
"Nothing, it was stupid," he replied curtly. Shin bit his lip. Touma's own lip curled. "Fucking poof," he snarled in Shin's direction, pulling away from Seiji's touch. He let him, unused to this sort of venom, even from Touma. Shin let out a heavy sigh, and let himself sink below the water again.
"Did he just call Shin what I think he did?" Ryo whispered hesitantly. Naste felt it was safer not to answer, and instead watched Touma and his vicious mood disappear back to the house.
The power finally went out that evening, causing the boys to emerge from their rooms to escape the heat, all except Touma. Shuu laid sprawled on the floor a wet rag over his head.
"Goddamn it's hot," he murmured, receiving a couple groans of agreement. Ryo just relaxed in a chair nearby, flipping through a sport magazine that was by now several months old. "Ryo, what kind of freak are you that this heat doesn't bother you?" Ryo just laughed, flipping through his magazine more.
"How long do you think Touma's going to sulk?" Shin questioned aloud, clothes soaked from when he jumped into the lake in desperation. Seiji was silent, despite their expectant looks. None of them knew Touma particularly well, even Shuu who'd known him the longest.
"Has he seemed bitchier to anyone?" Shuu questioned.
"Maybe it's the heat."
"Maybe he ran out of books to read." Any laughter was discrete. Then below them, they heard a crash.
In the beam of the flashlight, Touma's hands shook. The feeling of the house pressing around him, compressing the air, made him nauseous. With the flashlight held firmly between his teeth, he eyed the contraption before him. He had no experience using a generator; this would be a learning experience. The instructions were full of mouseholes. He hoped this would earn forgiveness for what he'd done.
He was embarrassed by what happened at the lake. The bruises on his wrist in the shape of Shuu's fingers only reminded him of Shin's face before they were pulled from the water. He cursed and jumped when something sharp pinched his stiff fingers. The thought of Shin unnerved him, now more than ever. But that didn't mean Shin deserved Touma's bad mood. Then again, Touma was generally on the receiving end of Shin's ill humor.
Stepping back he looked over the wiring and hoped it worked. Now all he needed to do was start it. He found a pull cable, like a lawnmower. When he tugged it didn't budge. Fantastic. He tried again, with both hands. It still didn't move, but he was stubborn. His jaw clenched as he felt the bones in his injured hand grind.
In an act of desperation he pushed off with his foot, leg straining. Suddenly the cable gave, and the generator grumbled to life as Touma fell backwards into a shelf. Old dishware rained down around him, shattering and crashing. Pain flared in his chest in panic and he clutched at his overworked heart, waiting for the angina to pass. He couldn't believe how shitty this day had been.
The Ronin's were halfway to the basement door when the lights in the house flickered on and the appliances hummed to life in the kitchen. Only Seiji continued to the door while the others looked around in surprise. Touma was slowly ascending the stairs, pale and shaking what were certain to be small pieces of antiques from his hair.
"I found a generator," he rasped proudly. Seiji didn't let his frown show on his face.
"How long will it last?" Asked Shuu, who stood in front of a fan.
"As long as there's gas," he answered, straightening and continuing to brush himself off. Shin looked up when he moved into the living room.
"How much was in the tank?" Shin murmured. He was still upset, but Touma looked so much like a child to him, admittedly, a very tall, very intelligent child. His hair was several levels beyond tousled, and dust was still clinging to the sweat on his cheeks and clothes.
"Dunno, I didn't check," Touma muttered, glancing away awkwardly. Shin moved closer to him, observing a small trickle of blood on his cheek from a cut above his eye. Seiji saw Touma go rigid until, with a mighty silence, the power went out again. "Apparently that much," he finished. His breath caught in his throat as fingers on his cheek wiped the blood away.