AN: So I said March- my bad. XD Sorry. I had it written up and my computer crashed so I went on a temporary hiatus out of spite. Sorry about that. I haven't given up on the story, though. There're too many unresolved things…
EDIT: Just so you know, I changed Keiji's age to 7.75 yrs old. I have been informed that in Japan, orphans older than 8 cannot be adopted, SO I am changing the age- thank you very much to the person who told me! : D I appreciate constructive criticism regarding my cultural ignorance! I love learning more about Japan!
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Chapter 3
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"Excuse me." Nowaki called as he entered a small office building along a fairly busy road. "Kusama Nowaki, here."
A few men glanced up from huddling around their paperwork and one's face lit up at the sight of Nowaki.
"Kusama-kun!" The man waddled out from behind the other men and grabbed hold of Nowaki's hand, fondly shaking it. "I can't believe it, but you've gotten taller! How was America? I heard you got back a couple months ago!"
"Ah…" Nowaki laughed, rather nervously. "It was interesting-"
"Were you mistreated? Those Gaijin bastards can be such brutes!"
"I was well-liked, but that's common wherever I go…" Nowaki admitted.
"Of course it is!" The man chortled, clapping Nowaki roughly on the back. "Oh, who's this mangy mutt you got behind you?"
"This here is Keiji-kun. He is also an orphan from Kusama." Nowaki smiled, beckoning Keiji, encouragingly. "Introduce yourself."
"Yamaguchi Keiji… it's a pleasure to meet you." The boy held out his hand and the man smiled, taking his hand and shaking it, roughly.
"Oh, a big manly shake you got there, for such a small kid! I have a son about your age- you've got some good manners on you! Lookin' for a job? My son doesn't care for the route I've forced on him and his crappy-ass work ethic is starting to tick off some of our customers in the Kantou district."
"That's why we're here, actually." Nowaki smiled, petting Keiji on the head, affectionately. "He needs some extra money. Wants to start being a respectable working man, early."
"Ah?" The man stroked his chin, thoughtfully. "I was only kidding, really… I had to make an exception for my son, due to his age…"
"Your son isn't as motivated as me, I bet." Keiji stated, determined. "My work ethic will reflect the spirit of a true, respectable adult, I promise!"
The man laughed at his enthusiasm, smacking him on the head a couple of times. "I really like you, kid… alright, we'll try you out!"
"Really?!" Keiji gasped, excitedly, glancing from the man to Nowaki, then back up to him before bowing, politely. "Thank you very much! You won't regret your decision!"
"Glad to hear it! Start next week, kid."
"Thank you very much." Nowaki bowed, politely. "Let's get together for lunch sometime, Tanaka-san."
"Sure thing, Kusama-kun." The man smirked, waving goodbye.
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"That guy was so nice!" Keiji practically sparkled as the two made their way toward the orphanage.
"Actually he's a racist pig, and I never really cared for him… aheheheh…" Nowaki admitted. "I'm surprised he gave you the job, considering your lovely color."
"Lovely?" Keiji smirked, proudly. "You think so?"
"Ah… I admire darker skin ever since visiting America. One day my study group headed to the beach for a one-day recovery and celebration in having completed a very hard exam, and I had this tan friend, who was unaffected, a lighter skinned friend who came out beautifully tan, and I was so burned I spent the next week just sitting stiffly in my chair, at home, studying. Hahaha…"
"Yep, I never burn!" Keiji told him. "The only time I get red is when I think of my darling, Arisa!"
Nowaki smiled. He really liked Keiji's ability to speak his mind freely and without holding back. In the short time he'd known the boy, he'd really grown on him. He blamed it on their shared backgrounds at Kusama Orphanage.
Speaking of which…
"Here we are." Nowaki gestured to the front gate. "Shall we enter, together?"
"…" Keiji sighed. "I probably should have told you this, yesterday…"
"Mm?"
"…I'm sorry I called you a pedo."
Nowaki laughed, taking his hand and heading to the front door. "I'm actually a bit nervous that you so easily followed some stranger home and headed into his house…"
"You have kind eyes."
"…Rapists and murderers could have kind eyes, you know."
"Hmpf!" Keiji huffed. "I can tell."
"Please promise me you'll be more careful in the future." Nowaki implored.
"Yeah, I will." Keiji huffed.
"Hello, there, Keiji." A woman approached the two, smiling. "Kusama-kun." She bowed. "I'm sure there's a long story as to why the two of you are showing up, together."
"Please invite us inside and we'll explain everything, thoroughly." Nowaki smiled.
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"What was the favor you needed?" Kamijou muttered as he sat at his desk at lunch. Akihiko had ever-so-politely dropped by, unannounced. "Must be important if you'd show up, here."
"There's this novel I'm working on and I need your help."
"I'm busy."
"It's due, today."
"It was probably due yesterday!" Kamijou scoffed.
"…Last week."
"What is it? References?"
"Ugh… I don't know how to say this without making you more irritable than you already are." Akihiko admitted. "Do you remember that stream you almost drowned in, when we were kids?"
Kamijou huffed. "I remember it! What of it?!"
"I can't, for the life of me, remember the name, and I need it for the novel. I've put it off, thinking I could figure it out without asking you, but I have no other choice."
"…I don't remember."
"Yes you do."
"No, I really am trying to think of it, now… I just mentioned it, days ago, if you hadn't waited to ask me…" Kamijou pulled away from his desk and folded his arms, struggling to recall.
"I know. It's at the tip of my tongue, but when I try to say it, I get nothing… or an incoherent word." The novelist admitted.
"Had a te sound in it…"
"Or tsu… maybe?"
"It was in Kumamoto…" Miyagi spoke up from his side of the office, raising a photo. "It's written on the back of this photo-"
"WHERE did you GET that?!" Kamijou fumed, snagging it.
"You left a book lying around I was interested in and when I opened it- flup. It fell to the ground. When I picked it up, I saw that written on the back, flipped it around, and saw a chibi-Kamijou and a chibi… him." Miyagi pointed, and Usami smiled.
"I was cuter."
"Even back then, our lovely Hiroki had those horrible furrowed brows…"
"It's amazing he doesn't have wrinkles." Akihiko nodded.
"I was frightened that the two of you would ever meet." Kamijou muttered, turning back to his work. "Kyouju, this is the person who harasses and antagonizes me when I'm not here. Akihiko, this is the person who makes my life a living hell at work."
"I know who he is, we've only debated over his writing style a thousand times." Miyagi huffed, shaking Akihiko's hand, nonetheless. "Though I may not be as big a fanatic of your literary works, I've always been a fan when it comes to your ability to agitate Kamijou!"
"I've admired your work, in that department, as well."
Kamijou's eye twitched as he watched the two men radiate evil.l
"Anyway, I'm in your debt, this time, Hiroki, for bringing up bad memories." Akihiko turned to him. "As compensation, I offer you a warning… your mother sent me some strawberries, last weekend-"
"WHY YOU?!" Kamijou fumed.
"And she mentioned that she'd be stopping by for a surprise visit at your place, this weekend."
"…" Kamijou dropped the picture, gawking. "…WHAT?! Unannounced?!"
"Kamijou, you should call your mother, more often." Miyagi stated. "She calls here for you, and is so sad when you won't take her calls."
"…Please tell me you don't talk to her…"
"Of course I talk to her, a bit! I give her weekly reports on what a great assistant you are!"
"I hate you… how can you betray me this badly?"
"I also give weekly reports." Akihiko stated, just for the pure pleasure of seeing Hiroki squirm.
"You're both bastards!" Kamijou snapped, grabbing up his things and storming off to his next class.
"…Anything in particular you dislike about my writing style?" Akihiko inquired.
"Eh?" Miyagi blinked.
"He said you two debate over it… he's been in love with my novels since we were kids, so you must take an opposing view."
"…Ah… they're fine."
"…Fine…"
"Mediocre, at best…"
"…"
"…If it's any consolation, I prefer much older works… modern stuff just doesn't quite strike my fancy- oh and science fiction… those are alright…"
"So you don't like romance, drama, or horror?"
"Well… I'm not like Kamijou- I'm a guy, so romance doesn't do much for me, I like your suspense novels, but as far as drama goes… well, I'm more into poetry and such."
"Ah…" Akihiko blinked, taken aback by the man's reference to Kamijou's gender. "You're aware that Hiroki is-"
"AAAAH!!! I'm late for class- please be so kind as to show yourself out!" Miyagi grabbed up his things and hurriedly left for his class. "Crap!"
Akihiko blinked before frowning. Had Hiroki come out at work, without telling him? Would Hiroki even tell him such a thing? Maybe they weren't as good of friends as he thought…
Suddenly depressed, he headed off to wait for Misaki's next class to end so he could protect him from being whisked away by that retched Sumi idiot.
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"So you see, he's simply trying to grow up too fast." Nowaki smiled, ruffling Keiji's hair. "But he's a good kid, and he's going to continue being a good kid- but with a few more responsibilities, and I think the extra tasks will help him to build character!"
"True, true." The head of the orphanage sighed, scratching his ear. "Very well, Nowaki… since it's you who says it, I think it sounds reasonable."
"Yes." Nowaki smiled. "He'll do a good job."
"Keiji, don't try running off again, though, alright?" The man asked.
Keiji nodded, frowning. "I promise."
"Good… go on to lunch, hurry up."
"Thank you… Kusama-san… it was nice meeting you… I hope you'll visit me, again, sometime." Keiji smiled.
"Yes…" Nowaki handed him a piece of paper. "This is some of my information as far as where I work, my cell phone number, et cetera. If you ever need to talk… maybe you've taken on too much or just want to say hello and tell me how you're doing, I'd love it if you'd contact me. And don't hesitate to call me for the first day of your new job."
"Thank you very much." Keiji smiled, hesitating only for a moment before hugging him. Nowaki smiled, patting his back.
"Take care, Keiji-kun."
"…Can I call you Nowaki?" Keiji inquired.
Nowaki smiled. "That'd make me happy, Keiji-kun."
"…Nowaki… I'm glad to have met you."
"Me, too."
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Nowaki sighed, kicking a rock on his way back. He didn't have the same bike he'd had when he had first begun his paper route, and he had wished to be able to give it to Keiji, but he had donated it, or something…
He didn't mind dipping into his kotatsu fund and buying a bike… but would that be overstepping bounds? Would it be a silent promise to continually take care of and support Keiji when he really wouldn't be able to?
He slid his hands into his pockets and blinked, startled. He pulled the envelope Keiji had given him out of his pocket and frowned. "…Osaka… Osaka…" He sighed, putting it back. "…So Arisa's father lives in Osaka… I wonder why he wanted to find him…"
Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Nowaki continued along his path.
He didn't get far before Tsumori called him, requesting he come in for assistance, as the hospital was, yet again, understaffed.
When he arrived, there were doctors and nurses hustling and bustling, trying to keep up with the number of children who were being brought in.
"What happened?" Nowaki asked, turning to Tsumori once he reached the main floor.
"A school bus crashed on its way to a field trip of some sort," Tsumori told him, reading over some charts as he walked. "There were quite a few injuries- luckily no one seems to be in critical condition."
"That's a relief." Nowaki sighed, taking some charts from his friend. "I'll get to work, quickly."
"Good ol' Nowaki!" Tsumori smiled.
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After work, the two sank down onto a couch in the waiting room, together. Both men were positively exhausted and drained, both emotionally as well as physically.
"…How was your morning?" Tsumori pulled out a cigarette, lighting up.
"Aren't you always griping about not smoking in here?" Nowaki huffed.
"If you smoked, you'd understand the need, right now."
"How can a doctor smoke, anyway?" Nowaki sighed. "…Sempai…"
"Mm?"
"…You enjoy working with children, don't you?"
Tsumori chuckled. "Of course I do. Why else would I be a pe-"
"Do you ever want kids of your own?"
"Mm?" Tsumori blinked. "…Maybe… I guess… they're great when you can give them back to their parents and get paid to take care of them, am I right?" He smirked, hitting his knee against Nowaki's.
"…" Nowaki smiled. "…I don't know… I think it'd be nice to have one or two of my own…"
"…" Tsumori frowned. "…You want kids, huh?"
"I'd love to raise children." Nowaki smiled, getting a distant look on his face.
"Well, then my advice would be to dump the grump." Tsumori shrugged, standing. "I'm heading home. Walk with me?"
Nowaki huffed. "I would never break up with Hiro-san."
"Well you have to choose which is more important, raising kids or-"
"Don't you think that someday-"
"If you focus too much on 'someday,' then you'll never achieve your goals. You have to focus on the now, Nowaki." Tsumori told him. "Let's catch a beer on the way home."
"…Alright…" Nowaki frowned.
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AN: Shorter chapter, for which I apologize- and I guess the fight happens in chapter 4-5, sorry about that! The next chapter should be out on June 25.