TOMORROW'S SOLACE
-- Ch. 05; Act 01 - How to get rid of an unwanted houseguest. Plan A. (version. Ryou)
About ten minutes after Ichigo had finished adding to what I would like to call a "masterpiece", a meal was spread out on a cafe table with four people and one robot hovering around it.
"You kids sure went all out on lunch..." Max noted, cupping his chin in one hand as he looked it over. He didn't comment on the smell, however, which would have been a bit rank even if he had had a cold. Which he didn't.
"Ryou... is this a new recipe of yours?" Keiichiro inquired, looking over at me. I had counted on this much... Keiichiro was a culinary genius after all, and since he knew all of the cafe's recipes like the back of his hand... and since he could read me almost as well as he could read his own mind...
"It's an experiment..." I explained calmly, "I assure you the taste is to die for." I could hear the catgirl shifting nervously beside me. Maybe I shouldn't have dragged her into this... but what could it hurt? I enjoyed bossing her around.
The phone rang before he could question me further, demanding attention. Keiichiro went to answer it as I silently thanked Rei Nishina for actually going along with my request and calling the cafe at this precise time.
Keiichiro returned a moment later, looking a bit distraught.
"What is it, Akasaka-kun?" Max was the first to ask.
"It was Rei-san..." Keiichiro replied, glancing at me as I raised an eyebrow in question, "She said she found a mineral at her study site that she wasn't able to identify. She thinks there might be a connection between it's presence in the area and a species of butterfly that she's researching, and believes that if there is, this could be a huge breakthrough. So I'm afraid I'll have to decline the invitation to dine with all of you."
"It's quite alright..." Max assured him, "I'm sure there will be other opportunities."
Keiichiro nodded, sweeping into a bow, and then rising to grab a jacket and head out.
Max turned nervously to Ichigo and me, "I suppose this means it'll just be the three of us..."
I put on a troubled face, glancing at my watch, "Actually, Ichigo and I had other plans. Maybe next time."
Before the girl could even think to protest, I had clamped a strong hand around her wrist and was tugging her with me towards the door.
"Oh..." Max mumbled in a puzzled tone, "It's a date, then?"
Hearing this, Ichigo's face turned a dark, angry red.
"It's not a date, I can tell you that!" she fumed loudly.
Max held back a chuckle, "So I see..."
Before Ichigo could protest further, I had dragged her out the door, down the front steps, and around the side of the building where I ducked beneath one of the stained glass windows and finally released her.
"Shirogane!" she hissed, "Why'd you have to say something like that? And you have no right dragging me around like some animal!" Oh. She was ticked. But I didn't have time to be amused by this; my attention was on the window.
"Quiet," I ordered in a hushed voice.
"Hm?" Ichigo blinked vacantly before realizing that I was observing Max's actions. She turned on her tiptoes and joined me in peering through the window.
Inside Max had been left to his own devices. Masha was hovering a few meters away, trying to be companionable.
"It looks like it's just you and me..." the adult sighed, pulling out a chair and lowering himself slowly into it.
"You and me, you and me!" Masha cheered, landing lightly on the table infront of him.
"Well, there's no point in letting all of this good food go to waste, is there?" he asked no one in particular, reaching for the sugar bowl in the center of the table.
"What's he doing?" Ichigo whispered.
"Dunno..." I replied with a frown, studying the old man's every move.
Max had begun spooning sugar into his food. First one spoonful, then three, then another and another... With each spoon of sugar, the looks on our faces became more and more baffled, until finally Max took a large forkful of the mixture to his lips and ate it.
Ichigo and I stared on from the other side of the glass, waiting for a reaction of any sort. Choking, hacking, color-changing, even reaching desperately for the water pitcher... but none ever came.
Max shook his head, taking another bite after that, "It's rather bland, actually. But it's not bad."
"Shirogane, what the heck are we up against!?" Ichigo hissed. Was this guy indestructable or what? Who could possibly eat that?
I shook my head in disbelief, looking rather pale, "I have no earthly idea..."
"So now what?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips and staring at me like I was an eight ball who had just given her an answer she didn't want.
"What do you mean 'now what'?" I asked, scratching my neck nervously, "This just means we'll have to proceed to Plan B."
"Oh... right! ...wait, what's 'Plan B'?"
"Come on, Strawberry... consider this war."
Ichigo huffed in annoyance, but begrudingly followed.
-- Ch. 05; Act 02 - How to get rid of an unwanted houseguest. Plan B. (version. Ichigo)
"Done," the blond announced half an hour later, stepping back from the couch.
"Shirogane, I hate to break it to you, but it even looks like you did something to the sofa. He's going to notice..." I admitted, running a hand over the now paper-stuffed cushion. Not only that, Shirogane had made sure to starch the blankets; they were scratchy. He had also thrown some random items under the cushions for good measure: springs, hardcover books, a belt chain...
"How's he going to notice when he can hardly see through that nest of hair?" Shirogane pointed out, unphased.
"Just like he managed to eat our connotation..."
"'Concoction', Ichigo."
"Whatever..." I grumbled, wondering where my boss' genius had gone to when it came to things like this.
-- Ch. 05; Act 03 - How to outsmart a genius. (version. Ryou)
My alarm went off at exactly 7AM the next morning. I awoke refreshed. It was going to be a beautiful day.
Tiptoeing down the hallway, I peered into the study room to find it devoid of Max. Very good. Very, very good. Now to check the rest of the cafe...
Heading downstairs, I found that the dining area was also Max-free. So far, so good... Continuing to the kitchen, I found Keiichiro working alone, flipping pancakes onto a large platter.
Rubbing down my hair, I rested my weight on the counter, watching him, "Hey, Keiichiro. What's the occasion? I never see you fixing pancakes for breakfast anymore."
I had to admit that I rather wished he would. Sure, he served them to customers when they ordered him, but I found myself missing my guardian's cooking. They weren't Mama's pancakes to be sure, but they were the next best thing.
Keiichiro smiled, preparing a tray and sliding it across the counter to me, "It has been a while, hasn't it? I asked Max-san this morning and he said he'd love to try them. Would you mind taking these to him?"
My high spirits immediately fell, "...where?"
Keiichiro added a butter dish, maple syrup, and a steaming cup of tea to the tray as he spoke, "It appears he spent the night on the balcony. Max-san is a very interesting person, isn't he? He also said that you and Ichigo-san were wonderful cooks and that he hoped you would have the opportunity to make a meal for him again."
Well, I had just about had it. Soon I arrived on the balcony, standing there crossly with tray in hand as the sun danced off my hair.
Max did indeed appear to have spent the night outside judging from the rolled up sleeping bag in the corner. The adult was presently standing with his hands gripping the railing, watching passersby - scattered dots sliding up and down the hillside and the web of sidewalk that led from the cafe deeper into the park. His attention soon shifted to me, however. It was hard not to notice the tension in the air.
"Good morning, Ryou-kun. You really should join me next time. The weather's especially nice for this time of year, and the cafe is far enough away from the city where you can actually see the stars at night." Max's cheerful tone did not falter, not even after my frown deepened.
I merely rolled my eyes, "I'd rather you didn't take a familiar tone with me. Keiichiro sent me with your breakfast."
"I see. Thank you very much," the man replied, taking the tray from my hands with ease.
I said nothing in response, but inside of me there was a storm. You may have to ignore my dislike of storms to make that analogy work out...
"Is something wrong?"
The way he asked it caught me off-guard. The tone was one I expected out of a grandfather or an uncle or something, not one who had blackmail against the Mew Project. For a moment, I found myself yearning for adult company, someone who wasn't Keiichiro to give me a different perspective on whether or not I was doing the right thing with my life. It was not long after this thought crossed my mind that I shoved it back down. I refused to fall for this. Keiichiro might be fool enough to trust Max, but I was not going to do the same. It angered me to think that this guy assumed I would sway easily.
"Nothing," I replied sharply after a short time had passed, and I turned away.
Max fell silent, as if the words that had come out of my mouth actually hurt him.
"Should I be asking whether or not there's salt in this cup of tea?"
I grew rigid, staring behind me with fiery eyes.
Nervously, Max offered a smile in return, "You know, we do not have to be enemies..."
I shook my head, "I don't know why Keiichiro agreed to it, but I don't want you here. I'm not going to fall for the whole 'let's be friends' act, even if it works on him. Just as soon as I figure out who you're working for and what you're really after, I'll be having the police relocating you."
Max's voice grew quiet, "I... I see..."
With that said, I retreated, leaving Max to stand there alone.
"Ah... if only I could tell you..." Max murmured to himself, taking a sip of the tea which had long since grown cold, "But for now, I suppose I'll just have to fight prank with prank... after all, you deserve a fair fight."
-- Ch. 05; Act 04 - The outcome. (version. Ryou)
At 9AM a I finally wandered into the bathroom to take a shower, and exactly fourteen minutes later, I walked out with red hair. Purin had been brave enough to ask about it, and had only gotten a growl in response. Ichigo had just laughed. Retasu tried to console me, assuring me that it would wear out soon, and that I could try dying it in the meantime to make the color less vibrant.
At noon when I went to rinse my mouth out with Listerine, I found that it had been replaced with rubbing alcohol. And at 1PM, a bucket of chilled water - still accompanied by icecubes - came crashing down on my head when I opened the back door to take out the trash.
And so, dinnertime came with me holding my crimson-dyed head in my hands miserably, wondering what else would befall my person.
"You know... we could call it a truce..." Max offered, his voice carrying a hint of concern as he sat down across from me.
One aquamarine eye glared in stubborn response, "Not. A. Chance."
The adult sighed, "Very well then..."
A whole can of glue, a few smoke bombs, and a couple thousand of my threats later, I found myself in the very same situation with the addition of a bruised knee from having tumbled down the steps after another of Max's counterattacks.
Keiichiro had finally caught light of the entire situation and demanded a "cease-fire". Max was our guest, and blah blah blah... I had stopped listening halfway through the lecture. What did Keiichiro know about it?
I was still sore. For the first time in my life, I was losing at something.
I slumped on the bed, staring wearily at the ceiling before flipping over onto my stomach and removing the photograph from its resting place.
My fingers brushed the dust from the frame, and I found myself tracing the outlines of my parents. Were they really up there somewhere, watching me? What in the world did they even think if they were? I stared hard for a moment at the boy in the picture. Had I ever been this small and this happy? It seemed as if I was staring at a complete and total stranger. A cousin or something.
'No, it's the third time,' I corrected myself silently. Hadn't I already lost at life and love?
For that matter, could I even manage to continue living in this way? Sure, there was the clean-up process, but what would I do now? It crossed my mind for the first time in a while that I might very well be single for the rest of my life.
But it was the first time I had lost in a battle of wits.
And for a genius, that is unacceptable.