"I'm fine, Alfred," Kiku insists for what must be the eighth time, from where he is sitting on his bed. "I just over reacted, I…" He stops then, mouth hanging open slightly for a moment, prepared to continue the lost train of thought. He closes it, turning his head.
"You just…" Alfred is leaning back in the rolling computer chair, hands over his eyes. "God, Kiku. A computer? I don't think I've ever seen you cry before. I thought someone died, or something. That you were dying."
"I'm sorry," the smaller boy whispers, not turning to look at his friend. Out of the corner of his eye he can see the shadows moving, the creak of the chair as Alfred presumably shifts position.
There's a click as the blond presses the power button. A whir of technology running smoothly. If Kiku doesn't look, his computer sounds just as it always does when it's on. Healthy, and normal…
A faint "tsk" of disappointment passes through Alfred's mouth as he presumably sees the problem, turning around. "You don't happen to have a screwdriver, do you?"
"…A screwdriver?" Kiku repeats, as if not understanding. He turns back towards the room's other occupant. "I think there might be one downstairs. What do you need it for?"
"I'm going to open it up and see how it all looks on the inside…" Alfred trails off as he notices the look of shock on Kiku's face. "What? I'll be careful with it. I'm used to taking them apart and stuff. I put mine together myself!"
"Ah…" Kiku hums noncommittally, getting to his feet. "I'll go see if I can find one."
Yao is sitting at the kitchen table, looking up with rapt interest at the screen. Some sort of Hello Kitty thing, most likely. Nothing else would interest him enough for him to not even glance up upon Kiku's entrance.
Ignoring his older brother, Kiku goes to the farthest right drawer, rummaging among the miscellaneous objects. It takes awhile for him to find it. Long enough that the shuffling of various items draws Yao's attention from the screen.
"Kiku?" he turns around after hitting 'pause'. "What are you doing?"
The younger one turns around, indirectly displaying the tool in his hand as an answer.
His older brother frowns in bewilderment, looking from the red-handled object to Kiku's face, and back. "Why?"
"Alfred's going to take a look at my computer," Kiku answers, making his way towards the stairs.
"Oh…I thought I heard the door," Yao shrugs to himself, turning back to the TV, but not hitting 'play'. "You two better behav—"
"Don't finish that sentence," Kiku cuts off his older brother, coloring to the tips of his ears. Yao sends him a quick teasing grin, before restarting his program.
The younger boy shakes his head, unwilling to let his older brother's baseless insinuations get to him. There are more important issues at stake.
Wordlessly, Kiku hands the screwdriver to Alfred, standing by awkwardly as his friend flips the console over to get better access at the screws. The smaller boy winces.
"Relax, Kiku!" the blond grins that reassuring grin of his, the one he always shows Ivan before swiping his books the moment his back is turned. "I'm an expert!"
Kiku tries to allow himself to be reassured. Surely the smile must have a different meaning in such a different context? Alfred does know a thing or two about the mechanics of computers. And he wouldn't purposefully harm a friend's computer. Definitely not.
But it is his computer, his most prized possession without a doubt. He should be worried about it, shouldn't he? Of course he should.
Exhaling, trying to expel the tension and butterflies from his stomach, Kiku turns to his bookshelf and starts scanning through the manga. Death Note, Bleach, Zombie-Loan, Spiral… The titles blur before his eyes. Meaningless words. He can't seem to get his mind to concentrate. Absently, he pulls a volume off the shelf at random.
When he turns around, he takes care not to look at Alfred, only plopping down on his bed, back against the wall. He doesn't want to see it being dissected, its lifeless carcass being invaded by foreign instruments.
'It's just a computer…just my computer…my computer.'
He shakes his head, trying to concentrate on the black and white page. The pictures look dull and uninteresting. No matter how hard he tries, the characters swim, refusing to align themselves in a logical order.
Alfred glances up from his work after several moments, in Kiku's direction. Only to be met with the cover of 07-Ghost, Volume 3. He doesn't have the heart to tell the other he's reading it upside down.
If only he could figure out what was wrong with this machine. He hates to see any of his friends upset, even more so when he can't do anything to help. And Kiku cares so much about his computer. More so than Alfred had already thought, at any rate.
Sighing, he looks back down at the wires and gadgets, at a loss. Everything seems in order, physically, so it must be something internal. A virus or something, maybe. Unfortunately, programs and the actual computer stuff have never much been his strong suite. Much more up Kiku's alley, and if Kiku hadn't been able to fix it…
"You weren't downloading porn or something, were you?" Alfred teases, trying to make it a joke.
Flushing visibly, Kiku lowers the book. He doesn't say anything, just fumbling for words.
"No denial?" fair eyebrows lift, skeptical. "Kiku, le gasp! I never thought that about you! What was it? Kitty-girl hentai or something?"
"N-No…" the Asian manages to stutter, shaking his head.
"Then what?" Alfred continues, grinning. He hadn't expected his jibe to actually be true. "Come on, you can trust me!"
"I mean…n-no," the smaller boy clarifies, continuing to shake his head with new vehemence. "No, I haven't been downloading anything…l-like that."
"Whatever you say~" the blond chimes back in a teasing voice. Skillfully, he places everything back in its correct spot, before screwing the machine back together and standing it upright again.
Two sets of eyes eagerly watch the screen as Alfred reboots it.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"…!" Kiku's mouth opens in some sort of horrified, not-scream. Just hanging there, aghast.
Alfred is in a similar frame of mind. He knows he didn't do anything wrong, he knows that, but then why…?
"S-sorry!" it is his turn to stutter, scratching sheepishly at the back of his neck. "I don't know what happened. Everything's in place! I put it back together correctly..."
He nervously trails off, not knowing what else to say. The way Kiku is looking at him…!
"Hey," he claps the other on the arm, earning a significant jolt. "Everything's going to be fine, I promise. We'll call troubleshooting or something. Later. But for the time being…my invitation still stands! Do you want to change your answer, seeing as you…no longer have plans?"
Kiku is dumbstruck by the blatant-ness. But grateful in a way. If it weren't for Alfred, he probably would have spent the night staring at a wall. Or his computer, rather, hoping to get it to work via mind power.
Still, he can't even fathom going elsewhere and enjoying himself while his computer is like this. But what excuse does he have? This would be the ideal time to come through on that 'sometime' promise. He doesn't have anything else to do, with school over.
"I…suppose so," Kiku replies after an extended pause. When did he last go out somewhere? Has he ever even been over to Alfred's? He thinks he must have been, surely.
"Wohoo!" Alfred cheers, throwing a fist into the air. "You'll like it, I promise. It's been so long since we last hung out! All the guys probably miss you, too. In fact…I can't even remember the last time we were all together."
"Neither can I," Kiku admits, suddenly feeling a bit sick with nerves. It's been so long. Can he even remember how to act around other people outside of school? Apart from Alfred and Yao, that is.
"Don't worry!" the blond assures, as if reading his mind. It catches Kiku off-guard: Alfred is not one to read minds, or do anything even remotely in that direction. "There won't be that many people. You're always such a hermit!"
"A-all right," Kiku stutters, allowing himself to smile ever so slightly. Perhaps this will not be a bad thing, after all.
"I think people should actually be getting there about now…" he says, as if to himself. "Do you mind if I just drive you over?"
"I…" Kiku hesitates, doing a bit of mental math. Alfred has had his license since some point near the end of freshman year. So it should be legal. "I suppose."
"Awesome!" grinning brightly, Alfred grabs the smaller boy by the wrist and tugs him out the door. They are down the stairs before Kiku can protest.
"I'm borrowing Kiku!" Alfred calls towards wherever Yao is. Probably still in the kitchen.
"Okay!" Yao's voice returns absently. So absently, Kiku is afraid the other isn't even listening properly.
"Goodbye!" Kiku shouts, as much as he can shout—he's not a very loud person—but it gets Yao's attention. Funny that.
"Go on!" Kiku can just see the smirk on his older brother's face. "I can't remember the last time you've left, apart from school. It will be good for you~!"
"Y-yes," Kiku responds, so quietly he's rather certain his brother can't even hear him.
Sensing the conversation is more or less finished, and ready to leave, Alfred yells a final "Bye!" before dragging the Asian out the front door.
Kiku hopes Alfred is a better driver than his personality seems to indicate. He really hopes so.
Chapter two done! Don't except updates to be this consistent…I'm kind of making it up as I go along =.=' Thank you to all who faved/alerted/reviewed!