"Hey, Katsuro!"
A poke in his arm made the sleepy-eyed boy sit up straight and look around, momentarily confused. He realized he was in math class, and he mentally berated himself. Had he actually fallen asleep?!
"You okay? In all the years I've known you, I've never seen you fall asleep in class before," Akira Mikami sounded amused, though he was honestly slightly concerned. Seiji had cornered him this morning in the cafeteria and asked him to keep an eye on their friend during the day. Seiji seemed to think that Katsuro's schedule was getting to him. Akira had agreed, though not before teasing Seiji for being a mother hen. The younger boy had brushed the comment off, telling Akira that if Katsuro was having the slightest sign of trouble in any classes, that he would consider Akira to be responsible for helping him out.
He smiled now, thinking back on it. It wasn't like Seiji to be so worried about other people. Usually he was the one everyone else on the team had to look out for. But he'd promised Seiji that he'd keep an eye on Katsuro, and he was now starting to see why Seiji was concerned. He'd never seen Katsuro so tired before.
"I'm fine, thanks." The keeper shook his head slightly, trying to focus on his math textbook. The numbers were swimming in front of his eyes, though, and he had to look away. He'd gotten in late last night (two hours late, to be precise) so they could finish their load at the dock. Three guys had called in sick, so the rest of them had had to pick up the slack. He knew he could have left earlier due to the compromise his boss had agreed to on his behalf, but he didn't want preferential treatment. Besides, he didn't mind the extra money. But couple that with having to stay up late to finish some work for his English class, and he hadn't gotten to sleep until after one in the morning. He'd had a five o'clock wake up call for soccer training this morning (which he had completely forgotten about and would have missed if Seiji hadn't woken him up) and he was feeling the effects of it now.
Akira had a feeling that his friend wasn't really fine, but he wasn't about to pester him like Seiji. He'd respect his situation, but still keep an eye on him. "Well, make sure you stay awake. But if you happen to fall asleep again, I'll wake you up. And I'll let you copy my notes later too." Akira grinned and winked at his friend, who looked at him and smiled.
"Thanks, I appreciate that." He managed to remain awake for the rest of the class, though he found it a little hard. He knew it was just the tediousness of math that was making it hard – looking down and concentrating on small numbers was hard enough to do when fully energized, after all. Soon enough the class ended and it was time for lunch. He stood up, taking a moment to stretch his arms over his head.
"Let's go get some food into you, maybe that'll help," Akira grinned and nudged him in the side.
Katsuro grinned back and followed his friend out of the room. "Thanks again for waking me up. Not sure how I managed to fall asleep without Nuruni noticing, but good thing you did first." Their math teacher was notorious for requiring his students to pay full attention all the time, and was known for noticing sleeping students.
"He probably did. Maybe Coach asked everyone to go easy on you for a while until you adjust," Akira suggested. He figured that was probably true. Coach Kirihara always seemed to be able to fix favours for his favourite player.
"I'm sure he wouldn't have gone that far, Akira." Katsuro shook his head, wondering if everyone thought the coach favoured him. It wasn't that bad, was it?
Akira laughed, walking into the cafeteria and taking a spot in the line. "Are you kidding me? Of course he would have."
Katsuro frowned, not bothering to reply. He was already getting special treatment – he didn't want any more. He didn't have long to contemplate his thoughts before a figure squeezed itself into the line between he and Akira.
"Sorry for butting in line! This is important business!" Seiji smiled apologetically at the line of boys behind him, looking at Katsuro and grinning. "Heh, the perks of being an athletic prodigy never get old."
Akira grinned and shook his head. "You're horrible, Seiji. Crafty, but still horrible."
Katsuro frowned at his friend. "Seiji, you shouldn't be cutting in line, it's disrespectful and impolite. You're no more important than anyone else in the school."
Seiji just grinned, used to being reprimanded for doing thoughtless things every now and then. "Oh come on, I wouldn't have done that if you two hadn't been standing here! I just wanted to come and check up on you." He smiled innocently at Katsuro, knowing that the older boy wouldn't buy his excuse (nor would he even consider it an excuse) but knowing that it wouldn't be held against him.
Katsuro knew better than to continue scolding his friend since it never did any good, so he gave up. "How's your morning been?"
Seiji shrugged and fiddled with his shirt button. "Eh, boring really. It would have been cool, because we had biology, and Shigeru and me were lab partners! But then he got kicked out for dissecting our frog without waiting for our teacher to explain what we were doing. So I had to do it by myself." Seiji frowned. He was lucky he hadn't gotten thrown out of class too, since he had been watching Shigeru doing the dissecting and had been laughing.
"You were lucky you didn't get thrown out of class too, Seiji!" Katsuro had guessed at what had happened, imagining the two with the frog.
"Whoa, I was just thinking that in my head! It's like you read my mind," Seiji grinned and moved closer to Akira when he saw Katsuro's eyes narrow. "Please don't hurt me, I promise I'll be better behaved this afternoon!"
Akira laughed and studied the menu for today's lunch selection. "Who do you guys have for biology? I don't recall Masami being so strict last year."
"Because he's not here anymore! We have some new guy, Chen. Chinese guy, his accent is strange! Makes it kind of hard to understand what he says." Seiji had been looking forward to the relaxed Masami for his class, and had been sad to find out the older man had retired.
"Oh that sucks. Masami probably would have had everyone crowd around your desk and comment on Shigeru's dissecting style."
"It's better off that they have someone who actually keeps some kind of order in class," Katsuro butted in to the conversation.
Akira grinned at Seiji following Katsuro's outburst. "Says the guys who fell asleep in math class forty minutes ago."
Seiji laughed upon hearing the news. "No kidding, huh? I had to wake him up for soccer practice this morning, you know. Seems someone forgot to set their alarm." Seiji winked at Katsuro, hoping his friend wouldn't mind having his secret revealed. When Katsuro just frowned and looked away from the pair of them, Seiji grinned in victory. "So, what's for lunch today?"
"It's pasta day, Seiji! There's even a cheese and ground beef dish I think you'll like," Akira grinned and waited for the response. Seiji loved cheese and beef.
"Oh is there? Really? That's awesome!" Seiji's eyes lit up – they'd served the dish two weeks ago and he'd managed to charm the lunch lady into giving him seconds and thirds. Of course he'd paid for it during the afternoon (and they'd had an early soccer team practice, so that had made it even worse) but it had definitely been worth it. Today though, he thought he'd just stick to seconds.
Katsuro also looked over at the menu, though he oddly didn't feel too hungry. He just wanted to sleep. How was he possibly going to get through the afternoon? Maybe he should have gone back to his room for a nap instead of getting food. He hadn't, though, because he knew that the right thing for him to do was to eat lunch. Even though he might not feel hungry, the energy from the food would wake him up a little.
The three of them moved up to order, taking their food and wandering off to find a table. They found Seiya sitting alone and joined him. Katsuro didn't bother getting involved in the conversation, he just sat silently beside Seiji and concentrated on eating his lunch. He'd decided to go for the pesto chicken linguine, and it wasn't too bad.
They were soon joined by Shigeru, who came over to the table and sat on Seiji's other side. The two third year boys soon began discussing their frog dissection, and Katsuro felt compelled to reprimand Shigeru for causing trouble in class, but he was too tired to be bothered.
Suddenly he felt Seiji leaning in close to him, and soon the other boy was whispering in his ear. "Are you okay? You haven't said a word to Shigeru about biology and I thought for sure you'd be jumping out of your seat to tell him to respect his teachers a little more," though Seiji was concerned, he made the comment with a touch of amusement in his tone of voice.
"I'm fine, Seiji. Just tired, I got in late last night."
"I know, I heard you come in." Seiji grinned, hoping Katsuro wouldn't be upset with him.
"Hold on, were you waiting up for me, Seiji?" Katsuro turned to look at his friend, noting his slightly sheepish smile.
Seiji nodded and laughed a little. "I was a little worried when ten thirty passed and you weren't back yet. So I left my door open a little to listen for you. It's okay though, I had an essay to work on anyway."
Katsuro was still surprised at the act, though he thought it was awfully decent of Seiji to do. He smiled and was about to return to his food when another thought struck him. "Wait, so if you stayed up that late, then how on earth did you manage to wake up in time for practice this morning? And wake me up too?" He was surprised he hadn't thought of that yet – usually he had to drag Seiji out of bed for their early morning practices. The other boy usually refused to physically get out of bed on his own if it was earlier than seven in the morning.
Again Seiji just smiled. "Well, I knew you must have been really tired after working late, so I thought I'd drag myself out of bed extra early to make sure you woke up on time." He hadn't been joking about it being extra early – he'd set his alarm for four o'clock instead of five, knowing it would take him an hour of repeatedly hitting the snooze button before he could manage to get up.
Katsuro grinned and shook his head. Seiji just kept surprising him this year. "Well, thanks, Seiji. I appreciate the help. Hopefully though I can get used to this schedule so you can start sleeping in again and we can get back to normal." He winked at the other boy before turning back to his lunch.
Seiji just grinned and didn't bother responding. While he did miss being the one that had to be dragged out of bed, he found it surprising that he didn't really mind having to be the responsible one who woke up early to ensure Katsuro could get to where he needed to be. That was what being a good friend was all about, after all.
hey pochi! sorry i havent written you earlier but you know im lazy haha. tatsubon tells me you have started rehab. thats good news! i hope its going well for you, dont give up! youre a tough kid, and soon you will be back and beating us all again. and yes its true im staying with mister uptight himself, but i think hes happy to have me around, even if he refuses to admit it! hes not as anally retentive when im here all the time. you would be shocked pochi! he actually makes jokes and laughs now! its a shocking transformation and i take all the credit! i also think he might like kojima but dont tell him i told you. he would probably hurt me in my sleep, haha. you should see them, they smile at each other all the time. its kind of gross and sometimes it makes me feel like throwing up. but he seems happier so im happier too! kojima is cool anyway, she would make a good match for him. i think he needs a girlfriend with a lot of balls, and i dont mean soccer balls pochi!! dont tell him i said that either. ;)
well pochi i hope you are well and i look forward to hearing about your rehab! we are supposed to have our first training session with the national team soon. i am excited but i think tatsubon is nervous. dont worry about him though. i will take care of him in my own way haha!
goodbye for now pochi!! work hard!! but have fun too!!
shige
Shige grinned and sent the e-mail off, snickering to himself and hoping that Sho would indeed keep his mouth shut about everything he said. He hadn't been joking when he'd mentioned Tatsuya hurting him in his sleep!
"What are you laughing about?"
Shige turned around, looking up at Yuriko, who was leaning against the door frame to the office. He grinned at her, trusting in her ability to conspire against Tatsuya with him. "I was just e-mailing a friend of ours, telling him all about Tatsuya's new girlfriend." He knew the second the words left his mouth that he'd be sleeping with one eye open all week, but he didn't mind. Telling Sho was one thing, but telling Yuriko was something completely different that hadn't even crossed his mind until now. He knew she'd harass the hell out of her nephew.
"What?! Girlfriend?! Tell me more!" She came into the office and shut the door, sitting on the couch next to him. "Come on, out with the details! He's in the kitchen doing dishes, so he won't bother us."
Shige grinned, amused with his decision. "Well, see it's this girl he's been friends with for a while now, actually I think she's the only girl he's friends with. You know, I was actually starting to wonder if he was, you know..." Shige could barely contain his laughter – this was fun!
Yuriko nodded conspiratorially, "You're not the only one. Takako and I have been wondering why he only ever brought guys home! She thought he was just young, but I work in the fashion industry and I know guys, and he spends an awful lot of time on his hair." She winked at him, and Shige was barely able to keep it together. He'd only been joking, but to hear that Tatsuya's aunts honestly did debate about whether or not he was gay was too much to bear!
"Well, he does have nice hair," Shige nodded, and then realized what she'd said. "Hey wait a second! I spend a lot of time on my hair too..."
Yuriko grinned and winked at him again. "And seeing as how you're the one he brings home the most, you can see why I was concerned!"
Instead of being upset with her Shige laughed, finding the whole thing to be quite hilarious. "Well, anyway, back to the girlfriend. Her name is Yuki Kojima, and while she is just as addicted to soccer as Tatsuya, and just as good, you'll be happy to know that she's actually really pretty, too. And she has more balls than most guys I know, in fact last year she used to dress up and beat the crap out of any guys who badmouthed the soccer team. It was pretty funny, especially since quite a few people thought it was me." He hadn't known it was her at the time, but Tatsuya had told him the truth after the attacks had stopped.
To say that Yuriko was shocked was an understatement. She was silent for a few moments, not knowing what to say. Her little baby nephew, the only kid in the family, was finally in love!! She was overjoyed! "Oh Shige, thank you for telling me! How long have they been together?" She wanted details.
Shige ran his hand through his hair, scratching his head. "Well see, that's the thing. They're not actually dating, yet, but I know they like each other!" He had a sudden jackpot of an idea, and grinned. "I think he just doesn't know how to approach her. Despite growing up surrounded by women, he gets kind of nervous when talking to girls his age."
Yuriko squealed with excitement. "Awww! That's so adorable! I should help him out."
Shige nodded excitedly, happy she was playing right into his plan. "Would you? I think he'd appreciate the help, though knowing him, he'll probably be embarrassed I told you. In fact, at first he'll probably ignore you and yell at me for telling you."
Yuriko nodded, not doubting that one bit. "That wouldn't surprise me, kid needs to work on taking advice sometimes. Well then, I'm off to go offer my love tips. Wanna come for the show?" She stood up and headed for the door, pausing to look back at him.
Shige shook his head. "No I think I'm going to go and hide instead. Do me a favour and tell him I went out?" She grinned and told him she would before leaving the office and skipping down the stairs. He heard her call for Tatsuya, who was still in the kitchen. Shige crept out of the office, pausing by the top of the staircase to listen. The first words out of Yuriko's mouth were 'Why didn't you tell me you had trouble talking to girls?' and that was all the warning Shige needed.
"SHIGE!!"
Laughing to himself he raced into Tatsuya's bedroom, knowing that was the last place his friend would think to look for him. He heard Tatsuya racing up the stairs, along with Yuriko laughing and following along behind him. Shige hid in Tatsuya's closet, grinning and chuckling as he heard his own bedroom door slam open.
"SHIGE!!"
Soon enough he heard Tatsuya's door open, and Shige braced himself, knowing it was only a matter of seconds before he was found. He figured he would at least have the balls to come out of hiding before being found, so he flung open the closet door and jumped out.
"You called, Tatsu-bon?"
As Tatsuya leveled his best friend with a withering glare, Yuriko unexpectedly cracked up into laughter behind her nephew. "Oi, Shige, you're picking an awfully awkward time to come out of the closet, don't you think?"
Two seconds later and he was on the floor, laughing maniacally, feeding off of Yuriko's own amused shrieks. Tatsuya stood in the middle of the room between his aunt and the person who was supposed to be his best friend, and he wasn't sure who deserved his wrath more. So instead of speaking he simply walked past Yuriko (who was also on her knees, doubled over from laughing so hard) and paused at the doorway.
"I hate you both."
There was silence for a few seconds as the other two stopped laughing. But the second their eyes met, Yuriko broke first and soon their peels of laughter were resonating off the walls and Tatsuya stormed away and down the stairs, not stopping until he was outside.
For the first time he was starting to wonder if he'd made the right choice by asking Shige to stay with his family.
"Are they teasing you again, Taachan?"
Tatsuya spun around, looking at the smiling figure of his mother, who was sitting on a couch on the patio. She'd had a rare burst of energy today and had cooked them all a wonderful dinner, before deciding to retire to the patio to enjoy the unusually warm evening air. He frowned at her and nodded. "Yeah, I should have been expecting it, really."
"What was it about this time?" She patted the cushion next to her, and he obligingly sat down.
"Oh nothing, just Shige being an idiot."
Mariko laughed, patting her son's knee. "You complain about him all the time, dear, but I know you enjoy having him around. He's good for you."
Tatsuya was a little shocked by his mother's words, and though he hated to admit it sometimes, he knew she was right. "I know, he just gets annoying."
"If only you could mix your serious nature with his carefree one and come out with something in between, it would be quite perfect." Mariko mused on the subject, entertained that two boys who were so different in nature could be such good friends. "It's almost like the two of you are one person split in half."
Tatsuya shook his head, not agreeing at all. "You always make everything so much more dramatic than it really is, mom."
Mariko simply laughed, amused at his reaction. "I make everything dramatic? Sweetheart, you are the master when it comes to that, not me." She patted his knee again.
"I am not," Tatsuya crossed his arms, a slight pout on his lips without even realizing it was there.
"You're doing it now." Mariko smiled at her son before reaching out and brushing her fingers over his cheek. "Life is too short to spend so much time being so serious, Tatsuya. You need to laugh more."
He flushed when he felt her touching his cheek, glad that Shige wasn't here to witness this. He did shuffle a little closer to her on the bench without being consciously aware of doing so, though. "Yeah, those two tell me that all the time."
"Well, maybe they say it because they care about you. No one wants to see you go through life unhappy, and I fear these last few years have been harder on you than I thought they would be." Mariko leaned towards her son, resting her head on his shoulder.
Tatsuya stiffened a little at her words, hoping that she wasn't feeling guilty. That was the last thing she needed right now! "Mom, I'm fine, really. Don't start feeling bad about leaving dad."
To his surprise she giggled at his comment. "Oh dear, I don't. You and I both needed to get out then, it's been hard but I know it was the right choice. I'm just worried about you right now. I know I'm better, but are you?"
"Of course I am! Do you really even need to ask that?" He could feel her mouth pull up at the corners into a smile against his shoulder, and he wished he hadn't yelled. He knew it didn't bother her, but it bothered him. He shouldn't be yelling at her right now.
"Oh, my Taachan, you're still so much like him. But I trust that having Shige around will change that this year. He doesn't let you sit around and mope, does he?"
Now he felt like she was teasing him, and even though it was slightly annoying, he didn't mind. It was a nice change from having her lying in bed, so he'd let her say whatever she wanted to.
Meanwhile back inside, Shige was sitting on the kitchen counter, staring out the back window, watching Tatsuya and Mariko. He sensed company and glanced across the room at Yuriko, who was creeping over to him.
"What are you looking at?" She looked out the window and saw her sister and nephew, then looked at Shige with a devilish grin. "He likes to pretend he's so cold, but he really loves his mommy, doesn't he?" They both snickered as they watched the pair for a moment.
"Yeah, it is pretty cute. Sometimes I'm tempted to take a picture during a moment like this and then stick copies of it up at training. It would totally ruin his reputation." Shige hopped off the counter and stood next to Yuriko.
She laughed at the idea. "Not a bad plan! I'll provide the camera." She walked over to the fridge and opened it, taking out two bottles of Sapporo. She walked back over to him and offered him one. "I won't tell them if you don't," she winked at him as he took the bottle from her.
"Awesome! I wish my sisters were more like you, they're all spoiled princesses. You're fun!" Shige grinned as he made the comment to Yuriko, who just smiled in response before throwing an arm around his shoulders.
"Thanks, kid! You're pretty decent too. I'll gladly consider you my new little brother! To new family members!" They clinked their bottles of beer together before both taking sips. Shige couldn't help but smile broadly at her comment – Yuriko really was like the older sister he'd always wished he could have had, instead of the ones he'd been given. Couple that with Mariko's kindness, and he was quite happy to consider himself an honorary member of the Mizuno family.