Chapter 44 - Stories Become Us


"WOOOO! Go Byakko! Make the kill shot! Kill shot!"

Alice was gunning to be the loudest person out on the field. She scrambled to her feet and pumped her fists repeatedly in the air like a mad-woman as she feasted her eyes on her boyfriend skilfully dribbling the soccer ball across the grass, deftly dodging and weaving past the other players as they attempted to steal it from him. Alice jumped up and down on the balls of her feet and clapped so hard, her hands stung. Her heart beated in her chest to the pace of Vivaldi and she stared mesmerised as he manipulated the ball to-and-fro, not letting another pair of feet come near it before taking a humungous stride and kicked the ball at an impossibly sharp angle. She held her breath as it torpedoed past the goalkeeper's head and pelted the net with a loud thwump!

"Alright! Woo!"

She cupped her reddening hands around her lips and hollered across the field. A bout of echoing cheers resounded from the other spectators who'd come to root for the home team.

She missed this a lot.

Supporting Byakko on the sidelines in one of the inter-school practice matches was something she used to do back in middle school. Being here right now brought up those blessed memories again. She remembered having to sneak out of the manor after faking being sick so that she could escape on one of her many forbidden trysts with her silent and gentle giant. He didn't like the fact that she was willing to lie to her family to be with him, so she stopped telling him she snuck out so that so he didn't have to feel uncomfortable. She was unsure if he still knew she had been sneaking off because he had never asked her again. Looking back, Alice didn't regret it one bit. She would've done anything for a moment of happiness with Byakko.

'But when his safety and career was in danger… Sacrificing my happiness was a small price to pay'

Alice shook her head and erased the overwhelming surge of sadness. This was different now. They were in a happier time. Ojii-sama approved of Byakko which was a tremendously good step.

Her boyfriend hi-fived another player as he jogged across the field, back to his own position as striker. He puffed and panted as his lilac-locks fell loose from his half-pony-tail, sticking to the side of his chiselled face slicked with sweat. Alice ran her tongue across her bottom lips. It was so easy to spot him, not only because of his hair, but also his height. He towered over all the other players. She smirked. Byakko lifted his arms to re-tie his hair and his short sleeves slipped down to reveal toned biceps flexing as he tugged his half-pony-tail through loops of his hair-band. She could definitely get used to this again. Alice patted down her shirt-dress and resumed side-kneeling on the picnic blanket she had brought along. After accumulating an accolade of back-pats from his team-mates, Byakko's fierce eyes sought hers with no effort. A soft smile played on his lips which Alice knew she was the only one who could detect it. Alice answered back with a teasing smile of her own, which she only reserved for him and gave him a short and demure wave. The shrill pierce of the whistle stole his attention again.

"Is that Kuchiyose-kun's girlfriend over there?"

"Is she? I thought he was single…"

"Rumous say he started dating not too long ago…"

"Awww man…"

Ha! Plebes. As far as she was concerned, Ayame-san said he hadn't dated in all the time she'd known him in Karakura High school. Alice fought the urge turn around and give the girls up on the grassy slope behind her one of her sultry sneers and a graceful one-finger salute. The wind was great at picking up sound and carrying it off to distant places, didn't they know that? Of course she could hear them as clear as day. How droll. She bit her glossy lips and suppressed a giggle instead and shook her head. She sighed and focused on the game. Another gust of wind picked up and she wrapped her thick cardigan closer around her.

The autumn always brought out the best of her fashion, which was why it was her favourite season. Such gorgeous colours! Red, orange, gold, bronze, all of them the perfect colour scheme. She donned a burgundy shirt-dress with a cute belt that went below her bust with gold buckles. She had on a pair of black-leggings beneath which was tight around her legs. Legs she worked out in her gymnastics elective class. She had on her sepia knee-high suade boots with the fluffy faux fur around the top lining too. They were her favourite boots! Alice had decided to forgo the scarf and instead brought a long and heavier cashmere dust-pink cardigan that was slightly over-sized so that she could cuddle to keep the biting winds at bay, like it did now. It was tailoured for her in Danmark so it was practically made to do the job in keeping warm a hundred and ten percent. Her silver tresses whipped delicately around her face and she swept them back around her ears with a manicured hand.

Alice spotted something from the corner of her eye.

A benched soccer play was throwing curious glances at her. Alice grinned. It was bound to happen… Once upon a time, she would've been flattered and might've thrown a wink over at him to tease out an amusing reaction, but right now all she thought about was throwing winks at Byakko whenever his beautiful hazel eyes strayed to her, just to see if his mental concentration during soccer was still as strong as people claimed it to be. Alice smoothed out her shirt dress again which barely made it to her knees. Watching Byakko stumble over his own two feet in the middle of a game because of her would've been funny to see. Too bad it was rare.

"Yoohoo! Alice-san!"

Alice shifted from her spot on her picnic blanket and twisted around in curiosity.

Well, well, well.

"Ayame-san! What a surprise. Oh! The Aldini twins and Yukihira-kun too"

The bright and smiling face of her new friend filled her with warmth. The group of them were carefully walking down the grassy knoll in her direction. The elder Aldini was clad in his forever stylish clothes walked in front of Ayame-san, holding her hand as he guided her after him down the slope, taking measured glances at her to make sure she didn't stumble. Meanwhile, Isami Aldini was hanging onto Yukihira-kun's sleeve as he dragged him along like a toddler. Alice excitedly waved them over. She had no idea they were coming to spectate the game today! Byakko hadn't said a word! Either way she was ecstatic to have someone intelligent to converse with while the match was still in full swing. She believed they had about forty-five minutes to go until it was over and filling up that time with Ayame-san was perfect. The Karakura student's face was bright pink from the cold winds as it nestled in what she knew was one of Takumi Aldini's fashionable checkered scarves. The Aldini-twin's noses were red too. Yukihira-kun on the other had a rather severe and pensive expression on his usually cheery and cheeky face. He seemed to be on autopilot or a trance compared to the rest of them, his feet clumsily plodding along the slope. How odd.

Once they reached her, Alice got up and gave Ayame-san a hug and pressed a friendly kiss to her cheek while the she nervously did the same.

"Long time no see~ Aww, you should be used to the European hello by now" Alice teased.

"Y-Yeah" said Ayame-san shyly. She threw the blonde Italian a bashful smile and he smiled back. He lifted his fingers and brushed a bit of something from Ayame-san's cheek before pulling the scarf over her face to keep the cold out again. How adorable!

"Good afternoon Alice-san" said Aldini-kun who offered her a stationary wave. She needed to ask him what brand was that scarf of his.

"Likewise" she said in her usually lilting voice.

She turned around to the other brother and smiled. She leant over and gave Isami-kun a hug and kiss on the cheek, and he too returned the greeting.

"Hi Yukhira-kun. Are you contemplating the meaning of life? 'Cause you're wasting your time. I'll tell you now, the answer is forty-two" laughed Alice as she slapped him on the back.

"Hey…" he replied airily with no sense of conviction or even awareness of who said 'hi'. The red-headed student stumbled forward and rooted himself to the spot again. His squinted golden eyes were still glazed over and his brows were knitted together tightly. He didn't extend his response in any verbal or physical way, only his fingers grasping his chin in deep concentration.

"Hello there~?" Alice clucked her tongue in annoyance and snapped her fingers in front of his face.

Nothing?!

"He's having an existential crisis" chuckled Isami-kun. "Ayame-chan dropped him a real doozy about black holes and now he's questioning everything around him"

"Told him that falling into the centre of the black hole involves snapping at the waist, bifricating a million times before getting squeezed like toothpaste out the tube on the way to the singularity" said Ayame-san.

Alice hummed and pulled away from Yukhira-kun, quickly growing bored and mildly perturbed of his blank face. Trust Ayame-san to turn one's world upside down by simply having a conversation to do with science. She should be on a watchlist. She guessed in Yukihira's case, she turned it inside out and slingshot it through to the fifth dimension at the speed of light. Alice knew enough about black hole theories to have a decent conversation with her. Molecular gastronomy weren't the only things they bantered about. Black hole theories and String Theory were sometimes part of water cooler gossip amongst the scientists back at Nakiri International. But Yukihira-kun and his vulnerable brain? He didn't stand a chance.

"And I think I broke him" Ayame-san continued. She also stepped forward and waved her hands in front of Yukihira-kun's eyes. Again, no response.

"You didn't break his legs. He still followed all the way here us like a zombie. Couldn't shake him off" said Takumi Aldini as if it was a nuisance.

"Now, now Fratello, that's not a nice thing to say" Isami Aldini attempted to placate his brother and he patted him on the back.

Takumi Aldini merely shrugged and continued to throw furtive looks at Yukihira-kun. Alice quickly tired of discussing Yukihira-kun's frozen state of perpetual introspection and took Ayame-san's hand and dragged her down to the picnic blanket. Time for some girl chat! It was spacious enough for all five of them, which was fantastic. She shoved her picnic basket out of the way for more room to stretch their feet and they settled comfortably with her.

"Anyone hungry? I've got plenty of food"

The silver-haired Danish eagerly dug through the basket and procured small boxes of bentou and passed it around to each person before they could say anything. Next she passed bottles of mineral water and juice

"A-Ah grazie, but… why do you have so much food?" asked Takumi Aldini, as his eyes bulged wonder.

"Byakko eats for a family of five" she chuckled.

"Don't I know it" Ayame-san chimed in.

She had given Takumi Aldini a small box which encased a koi pond inspired bentou dish. She had two boxes of this one, so she wasn't worried about Byakko missing out. The edges were surround by boiled soy-glazed teeny-tiny new potatoes with the skin still onfor the rock-pond border and in the middle, was filled with rice which she carefully boiled in her special stock of spirulina algae, the new super-nutritious food trend in Japan. Byakko would only get the healthiest dishes from her! The spirulina algae gave the rice a sky-bluish tint resembling the water and Alice had fashioned squid and gourmet sausages pieces into koi-fish. It was basic, but she had a lot of fun making it. The Aldini carefully picked at the rice with the accompanying pair of chopsticks and once he dug it up, it revealed colourful layer of seasoned seaweed, lean teriyaki chicken and tobiko buried underneath.

"This is amazing Nakiri-san" said the Aldini as he took a mouthful of the first morsel.

"Tak. Byakko and I were going to have a romantic picnic together after the game, but having it with you guys is fine too, I suppose" Alice sighed dramatically and gave him a pointed look.

Takumi Aldini spluttered and had the decency to look all red-faced and embarrassed.

"I'm just kidding! Åh min gud, take a joke will you? Having lunch with you guys is fun. Don't worry your pretty little head about it" Alice got up on her haunches and patted the red-faced Italiensk on his golden head to make her point. He huffed and swatted her hand away, but his face remained cherry-red. It was too good a chance to miss, making him all flustered. Takumi Aldini was always entertaining!

"Ohmahgash, shish ish sho gooood!"

Alice turned around and was filled with joy to see Ayame-san stuffing her face with her famous temarizushi bentou, not giving an ounce of notice to how uncomfortable she was making Takumi Aldini. Those temarizushi were the same ones she made during the Autumn Election competition last year. Her heart ached a bit when she was preparing them this morning, but it quickly dissipated when she remembered she was making them for their lunch, rather than for a competition. She watched as Ayame-san's face was exuding beams of sunshine and unabashed satisfaction as she gobbled them up one by one. Ayame-san picked one up and offered it to her boyfriend's lips who'd already managed to get his blood pressure under control. He looked a bit stunned before accepting it and carefully plucked the intricate termarizushi from her dainty fingers with his teeth with a light blush.

'Ah young love!'

Ayame-san began to happily distribute more temarizushi and was adamant to make everyone take a piece to share the delicious joy. That girl was one in a million. Alice liked people who loved food as much as she did and accepted all food that was laid out before her. Eat first, ask questions later. That was how it had to be in the food world. She knew how to enjoy eating which was very refreshing to see. She and Takumi Aldini made a good couple.

"Are you sure it's okay for us to eat this? They're for Kuchiyose-san…"

Alice swivelled around to whoever was addressing her. It was Isami. Ah she almost forgot he was here too. What a scatter-brain she was today. He hesitantly fingered the lid of the bentou-box before gingerly accepting a temarizushi piece from Ayame-san's impatient fingers. The same fingers were then forcefully prying the stone-faced Yukihira Souma's jaw and shoving a piece of temarizushi into his mouth and then clamping it shut.

"Don't worry about it, there's plenty more. Dig in!"

Alice flapped her hands at them like a mother shooing her kids for asking a ridiculous question. Honestly! She said it was okay, so it was okay! Geez, what was with people trying to be all overly-considerate and self-conscious when having a clear invitation to eat? She hated that. If she didn't want them to eat with her, she would've told them the picnic basket was dry and empty.

"Were you here since morning?" asked Ayame-san who was taking a break from inhaling sushi.

"Mmhhmm. Byakko's team get up super early to fit in laps around the field before playing"

"That sounds about right. So, where's the game up to now?"

"Karakura is currently leading seven to five. He's got it in the bag" Alice flicked a non-committal gesture at the players on the field.

Alice's eyes tracked Byakko's tall frame up and down the field. She wondered if he had already spotted the four new guests who joined her on the picnic mat too. Probably not. "So what about you, Ayame-san? What were you four up to today?" asked Alice, turning to face the girl bundled up in the checkered scarf.

"Takumi-kun, Isami-kun and I went to visit Ojii-san at the hospital. He had a mini-stroke a week ago. He's fine now and he'll be discharged in a couple of days"

"Oh sorry to hear that, but at least he's coming home soon, so he must be doing pretty well" said Alice. She patted Ayame-san's hand.

"Then we met up with Yukihira-san at the ice-cream parlour. When we finished, we all decided to see if Kuchiyose-kun's practice match was on today and here we are!" said Ayame-san with a flourish of her hands.

"Ice cream in this wea—"

"Everyone talks about black holes being portals to another universe. There has to be a scientific theory behind it to kick-start that idea first, right? Could that be true? There's evidence that they could actually be portals?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Ah welcome back Yukihira-kun" laughed Isami Aldini.

The Danish Nakiri Princess gawked at the red-headed chef. Hearing the words 'black hole' coming from the diner-chef's mouth was almost surreal and she had to blink a few times at him to ensure that he had indeed said something for the first time since sitting down. But Seriously? Now he tuned in? Not that he tuned into his actual surroundings properly in the first place, because that would've been too much to ask for. She could see Takumi Aldini rolling his eyes and Ayame-san was holding back a laugh and clutching her stomach.

"Oh yeah! Hey Alice, the bentou's are great by the way. Thanks for the invite. Sorry I wasn't all there. Had to get something off my mind first" said Yukihira-kun as he lifted up his bottle of juice in cheers. The acuity in his honey-gold eyes had already returned and his huge smile took over his face like it normally did. He looked kind of embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Not at all" she sighed.

Ah… the things that went on in Yukihira-kun's brain were such as mystery. One needed a crowbar to pry out that noggin of his.

"Ayame, do you want to break him again?" asked Aldini-kun, who prodded Ayame-san in the ribs, earning him a cute squeal and a blush.

"Hmm… maybe another time" she answered back by stealing a sausage koi fish from his bentou.

With Yukihira-kun back in the land of the living, the five high schoolers melted back into some light-hearted conversations, with the added bonus of Yukihira-kun regaling tales of his latest concoction with a new style Yukihira diner secret burger, which wasn't so secret now. While the three boys started preening and metaphorically strutting around each other as they continuously one-upped each other in their latest recipes escapades, and whatever other locker-room talking nonsense, Alice turned her attention back to Ayame-san.

"So how've you and Kuchiyose-kun been?" asked Ayame-san.

Alice gave a rueful smile. "As good as I could hope for" she said, tracing her nails against her thighs

"Oh? Lots of hoping lately?" Ayame whispered with concern.

"That's all I can do. But Nothing's wrong or anything. Ojii-sama likes Byakko, even though Byakko didn't say much in the initial meet-and-greet a few weeks ago. I think that worked in our favour because Ojii-sama doesn't like people who are all talk. He said he liked a man who talked because they have something to say, rather than talk because they have to say something. I still feel… guilty, about what I did to him. I'm not sure if I still deserve his feelings. He said he never stopped loving me... But he must still resent me at times. He has every right to"

Alice exhaled loudly and craned her head to the pinking sky. She watched the heavy clouds drift by at a glacial pace, wondering if all this would come to pass and everything would be alright again. Well, it was but it felt it like everything could slip right from under her when she least expected. being with Byakko again was already too good to be true so maybe all her luck and good karma had run out and her future hopes would be meaningless. She wouldn't be surprised. She reckoned she had a lot of bad karma saved up to ruin the little bubble she tried to patch up for herself. This anxiety hit her like an earthquake. It shook her world and suddenly stopped. Everything moved back to the way it was before, but not quite right. Just a few millimetres out of place and it was as if she was the only one who noticed it and couldn't right anything. It drove her mad. She feared the earthquake was never over in first place, and that the aftershock was must biding its time in the distance, waiting for the right moment to deal the final blow.

"That's not it" said Ayame-san. "Kuchiyose-kun as you know doesn't show his emotions often, but trust me when I say, that ever since you two have gotten back together, he's the happiest Chizuru-chan and I had ever seen"

She reached over and grasped Alice's hands, causing her to stiffen in fright. They were soft and warm, the opposite of her heart and it made her unusually uncomfortable but she didn't move away. She looked up in surprise and her lips fell slack into a small 'o' shape as she stared into Ayame-san's vibrant green eyes and was immersed in the earnest and worry which etched into her face.

Alice finally retracted her hand.

"Oh come on, of course Byakko must've felt it at some point. Every human would"

"Maybe he did when he didn't know why you ended it. But he does now. To him, what's the point of resenting you for something that was out of your control? All that matters to him is… well, you still love him and want to take another chance with him"

Alice scoffed and regretted it instantly when Ayame-san pursed her lips at her cold gesture.

It was more like another chance with her… He had done nothing to deserve all the crap she flung at him. Ayame-san's words made some sense though, but that did little to dissuade the guilt that weighed like a boulder in her gut. Alice looked away from Ayame-san, too uncomfortable with her strong gaze and continued to stare listlessly out into the field until it narrowed on Byakko as he passed the ball half-way across the length of the field to another team-mate. The burning concentration marring his face kindled heat in her gut. Her heart twisted in her chest again. He still loved her and it made her breath-takingly happy! But… the guilt… the guilt was her poison spoiling any good feelings she desperately wanted to escape with.

Ayame-san poured herself another drink.

"He's a different person now, Alice-san. He's not a shell anymore. He has life in him because of you. I could see him texting you under his school desk with a smile on his face when he thinks we're not looking. He's bantering with Chizuru-chan a lot more and even gave her a noogie. He doesn't zone out when I'm helping him with his physics homework, the soccer captain said his performance is just sky-rocketing. Need I say more? Yeah I do, actually. His eyes are just brighter in general, like he's realising something magnificent for the first time or having an epiphany every twenty seconds"

Alice forced her eyes back to Ayame-san's green ones and fought the oncoming flinches from having to confront the eyes of her boyfriend's best friend. Her heart unclenched a little more, allowing her to breathe. Byakko was happier with her? Was that true?

"I mean, I-I'm sure he wasn't 'dead' inside when you guys w-were first together and I guess I just assumed that-that he was devoid of all energy when you guys split and w-well, Chizuru-chan and I hadn't met him until high school so… so u-uh… w-we wouldn't truly know for sure what he was like before- oh I'm so s-sorry, I'm babbling and not making sense!"

Ayame hand floundered a bit and then buried her face in it with a high pitched-groan. Alice sighed. She smiled again and gently eased Ayame-san's hand from her face.

"I get it Ayame-san, I guess… I just need time to adjust and… Even though Byakko thinks he doesn't need to forgive me for anything, I still need to forgive myself" said Alice. "I want to make it up to him for lost time, for hurting him, just for everything"

"Does Kuchiyose-kun know you're still in torment over it?" asked Ayame-san.

"I don't know. He'll probably find out sooner or later. I could never keep secrets from him for very long. Except the one where I broke up with him. Well, keeping that secret for one and half years is really good for my record. I mean, there were countless of times I just wanted to pick up the phone and tell him everything to make the pain disappear"

"It's to do with the eyes I think. Kuchiyose-kun has these sets of incredibly intense eyes that make you feel really stupid if you tried to keep something from him. It's impossible to lie to his face" said Ayame-san in thought.

"Bwahahahaha! That's so true!"

Alice doubled over and gripped her stomach. Ayame-san did the same thing and soon the two girls were guffawing with no reservation. They gripped onto each other's hands. Tears leaked from her eyes and she wasn't sure it was out of laughter or she was actually crying out of frustration. Once Alice got a hold over herself and wiped the tears from her eyes. The laughter ebbed away until there were just deep breaths and the silence settled between them, only permeated by the occasional whistle or audience cheering in the distance.

"Honesty is the best policy. I think you should just tell him how you feel, before he finds out himself" said Ayame-san.

"I suppose you're right"

She turned back around to the boys."Hey Aldini! You're so lucky that Ayame-san— huh?"

They were all in a trance.

She was miffed that none of the guys were giving her an ounce of attention when she called for one of them immediately, but it didn't last long. The Aldini twins and Yukihira-kun's eyes were bulging out of their sockets and all their upper limbs were frozen in mid-air! Their jaws laid open for the flies to park and each of their face was tinged with a fine dusting of pink which quickly morphed into crimson. There was such interest in their eyes as they stared across the soccer field. What was going on? Since when were they that into soccer? Alice huffed and traced their line of vision and gasped once she realised why they were possessed so ardently with the game.

"How does… How does he get that?" muttered Isami Aldini, patting his stomach.

"A-Are they for real?" murmured Takumi Aldini, leaning forward.

"I want abs like Kuchiyose-san…" whispered Yukihira-kun with sorrowful yearning.

In slow motion, Alice's eyes locked onto Byakko like a lioness on a prey. Blades of green grass kicked up around him from players sprinting by. He panted from his latest score, his chest heaving up and down as he inhaled the cold air through his flaring nostrils and exhaled through his wide mouth. Alice was transfixed on his bobbing Adam's apple as he occasionally swallowed. That wasn't the main attraction through…

One of his sinewy arms had pulled the hem of his shirt over his chest and used it to wipe the sweat off his face, lips and brow. He revealed a set of very defined and toned abdominal muscles rippling under his flawless skin as he slowed his jog to a walk, encompassing long strides across the field. Years of soccer training had sculpted his body to be the perfect athlete and Alice couldn't thank the lord enough. His sweat riveted through ever dip and crevice on his body, trailing down a perfectly trim waist beneath his waistband, like snakes slithering into cracks in the earth. As Byakko pulled his shirt higher to reach his brow, Alice had to bite back a whimper and squirmed in her seat from visually molesting his firm pectorals that were just begging to be pawed. She was starting to feel hot all over and was in dire need of ridding her cardigan. All too soon, the lilac-haired soccer player dropped his shirt, ending the show, and resumed jogging to his designated area.

'Oh my…'

Alice released a strangled breath and muffled a groan before catching herself from slumping forward and embarrassing herself. There was no way she could show to her friends how affected she was just from perving on her boyfriend wiping away sweat. Åh gud, she missed cradling him against her softer body when they found a moment's peace just to be with each other. It felt like a life-time ago. She was at a lost at how she would get used to it again. Thinking about it now, she didn't think she was ever used to seeing and feeling every inch of Byakko's figure. Each encounter felt like the first…

"In times like this, we remember that us girls aren't the only ones who're concerned about body aesthetics" said Ayame-san.

Amen to that.

Alice caught her squinting at her Italiensk boyfriend whose chopstick had fallen into his lap while he ogled Byakko shamelessly. In a similar fashion, Isami Aldini's hold on his plastic cup was tipping precariously to the side, dribbling the juice down the rim towards the grass and his sky-blue eyes too, were all over Byakko. Yukihira-kun's jaw was practically on the ground and it was a miracle that his chewed-up food wasn't tumbling out. The three boys were still hypnotised as they continued babbling nonsense to themselves about vague hopes and wishes for bodies as ripped as Byakko's, having no idea how ridiculous they sound or looked. Meanwhile Ayame-san tore grass from the ground and threw them at their heads with very loud and throaty coughs of displeasure. It had very little effect on their induced state of pure and creepy admiration.

Yukihira was the first to snap back to reality.

"Hold up guys! Kuchiyose-san's abs look like that tray of mini-banana bread Megumi made last week. Takumi! That blue-rice bentou that looked like a koi-pond was dope. Then there was the Doraemon themed bentou Isami just had. It's all coming together…"

Of course… Yukihira-kun could twist anything to be food-related.

The said boy sprung up onto his knees. He dropped his bentou on the picnic blanket but luckily it landed upright so Alice was saved from belting out a three-hour lecture of food and dining etiquette regarding her Burberry Blue Label edition picnic blanket. His golden eyes shimmered and he looked like was about to discover the secrets of the universe, or whether black holes were actually portals to another world. But what the hell was he talking about? What was coming together!?

The twins were finally roused by Yukihira's loud announcement and they promptly ripped their eyes away from Byakko. They gave questioning and mildly confused look towards Yukihira-kun.

"I'm on the verge of something here… That's it!"

He snapped his fingers.

"I've come up with a new recipeehhh!"

Alice had never laughed so hard in her life.


"But I wasn't staring at him that much!"

Takumi groaned at Ayame. She firmly had her eyes focused on her phone screen. Her thumb zipped through the buttons, typing at lightning speed, while her other arm was loosely looped around his elbow. They lead each other around the shopping centre with their friends some distance away. He leaned his head towards her and spied a tiny smirk teasing the edge of her lips. He wanted to kiss her and wipe it off her face, so he did.

Ayame tipped her head upwards at the last second and kissed him fully on the mouth making him melt.

"There's no shame, Takumi-kun. It's not a sin to want to have a good physique" she said in that good-two-shoes tone of hers.

Takumi didn't grumble as much, but she was not letting it go. Could this get anymore humiliating? Out of all people to gape at, it had to be Kuchiyose Byakko. Well, the soccer player did have something worth looking at from a platonic and non-creepy sort of way… uno momento per favore… he took that back. It was all-creepy and he was too embarrassed for words. It didn't help that Ayame sounded as if she was immune to Kuchiyose and his athletic build. He felt like a vapid high-school girl. If she thought he was that distracted, she should've seen Yukihira's face. It was like he was lost before he discovered the lilac-haired giant. He'd found another reason to make Kuchiyose into his new best friend and strengthened their one-sided bromance. As evidence, the said red-headed was firing inane questions at the Karakura soccer star regarding his training regime and dieting, all to get the perfect muscled body. It was shameless, really. Takumi shook his head. As further evidence on how annoying Yukihira was being, Kuchiyose was trying very hard to situate Alice-san between them in attempts to buffer Yukihira's obvious idolisation, and be polite about it.

But Yukihira Souma was damn persistent.

Takumi tucked his hands into his pockets and measured his strides to match Ayame as she expertly weaved past people without taking her eyes off her phone. But all in all, that was some match, he had to admit. After the final whistle, as expected the Karakura team had defeated the opponents. Even though it had only been a practice game for the winter tournaments, it was still a big deal. When Kuchiyose had come over after his team de-brief, Takumi had greeted him as per normal and had acted normally and everything (at least he hoped). Only he had avoided looking at his exposed biceps and calf muscles for too long. He had been shocked when he crouched down beside Alice-san and pecked her on the cheeks. She had gasped in indignation and complained about the sweat and smell, but Kuchiyose ignored it completely, and rubbed his sweat-stained face into her hair, making her shriek.

Takumi was sure she enjoyed it though.

He still wasn't used to seeing Kuchiyose being affectionate and engaging in conversation. It was just too weird. Nonetheless, he was happy for them all things considered.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom" said Ayame, snapping her flip phone shut. She turned around and pressed a sweet kiss to Takumi's cheek and he returned it gladly. The bright sparkle in her eyes genuinely made his day.

"I'm coming too!" Alice-san jumped up and linked arms with Ayame ripping her from Takumi, causing her to stumble into the well-endowed chest of the Danish Nakiri. "So where's the public bathroom?" asked Alice-san, lifting her hands up to her brow and dramatically surveyed the Karakura shopping centre like a sailor searching for dry land.

"This way, up the escalators" Ayame pointed up.

"I'll wait for you, then we can go check out that new clothing store" said Takumi, pointing in the other direction.

He leaned over and pressed his lips to Ayame's cheeks again and smiled when she nodded and beamed at him. Before Ayame could say anything, Alice-san dragged her away up the escalator. Takumi grinned, waving at his girlfriend as she waved helplessly back. A warm comfort settled in his chest and he inhaled the air deeply. Today was relaxing in its own way and he couldn't be happier to be spending time with people he loved as well as people he wouldn't admit were friends aloud, as strange as that sounded. He didn't think spending time with Kuchiyose, Alice-san and Yukihira would be that enjoyable but they sure surprised him. They were loud and lively, raucous and very much embarrassing in more ways than one. But it was fun and it felt like he had been missing that in Tootsuki for far too long. The only solace he could ever find was spending as much of his time with his amore and by extension, her weird and wacky friends. Perhaps after meeting Ayame, he became a lot more chilled and easy-going too, compared to the hot-headedness he was once before.

"Suit yourself, I'm gonna check out that gaming store again. Let's go Isami"

"Be right with you"

Takumi stuttered a 'huh' before he realised that he was left with Kuchiyose. He was starting to regret thinking being with that guy was fun.

Kuchiyose shifted his bag of soccer gear from one shoulder to the other.

"Let's just head out to the clothing and get those new shirts you wanted"

Okay… so Kuchiyose was paying attention to his conversation with Ayame earlier about needing new clothes.

Kuchiyose began walking away and Takumi was deciding between catching up to walk beside him, or hobble behind a bit so that he didn't have to suffer in awkward silence by his side. The new shirts were to replace his stained ones. He'd been practicing in the kitchen at home as always and one day he wasn't careful and splattered chilli oil on his shirt. All the aprons in the apartment were in the laundry and he did remind himself to be extra careful, but like Murphy's Law as quoted by Ayame 'If something could go wrong, it will go wrong' and she was right on the money. Chilli oil stains were the worst. It just wouldn't come off and he tried every trick in the book. Even the ones on the internet under the title of 'life-hacks'. His shirt was dotted with orange droplets… the only orange he ever liked were the trimmings on his Trattoria Aldini chef's uniform, so they had to go.

He decided to run after him.

"Umm… shouldn't we wait for Ayame and Alice-san?" he asked.

"Empires rise and fall in the span it takes for Alice to finish doing whatever she does in the bathroom. Trust me. She won't allow Ayame to leave before her" said Kuchiyose.

"Oh"

Manipulating people into doing whatever she wanted with the irresistible power of her whining and play-acting as a damsel in distress was what Nakiri Alice did best. The thought made him worry more about Ayame now. The blonde Italian was still a bit hesitant to leave his amore behind in Alice's clutches in the dreaded public bathrooms, but if Kuchiyose thought it was perfectly fine to go on ahead, then he guessed it was and he shouldn't be so nervous or anxious… it wasn't like he was condemning Ayame to a terrible fate. It was just two friends visiting the bathroom together, girls did it all the time! There must be something so wonderful in there for them to always want one of their flock to come with them. Boys never did that. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder towards the escalator riding up the next floor before falling into long strides with the soccer player. At least Ayame knew which clothing store he was talking about so she could find him again. Just to be extra sure, he pulled out his phone and texted her where he'd be.

"This is the store you wanted to check out right?" said Kuchiyose.

Takumi looked up and caught an earful of blaring trance and techno music. It wasn't too bad, not what he was used to but it did get his head bobbing and feet tapping a bit. It was a tad too loud and tried to block most of it out as he wandered around, browsing the men's section and fluttered his fingers along the different textures of shirts and jackets on display. He opened and ran his fingers along jackets that caught his fancy and pulled shirts, both short and long sleeved from the rack and inspected the length, material, size, and price carefully deciding which was the best to go with. Nope, didn't find any that he thought was good. Takumi replaced the long sleeve navy blue t-shirt and unlatched a red one from the rack. He hummed in thought. Not finding what he wanted, he meandered towards the discounts table and decided to try his luck there. He looked around to see where Kuchiyose was up to and found that he was looking over the jeans section before the tall boy quickly pulling his phone out of his pocket and placed it at his ears. Kuchiyose spun around and started moving quickly towards the store entrance, weaving pass the rack like an expert on a mission and Takumi distinctly heard a growling 'Okaa-san' fall from his lips just before vanishing outside.

'I wonder what his mother could be saying that would warrant him dashing from the store like that…'

Takumi shook his head as it was none of his business and went back to sifting through a mountain of shirts.

"Why hello there"

"H-Huh?!"

A shiver ran up his spine as he dropped the hoodie-tee. He turned around.

It was a boy.

It was a boy, right?!

For the life of Takumi he couldn't tell! Non, non. It was a boy. His voice told him so. Just an extremely feminine looking one. He was short with golden blonde hair which was styled to look naturally unruly and his sun-kissed skin was sprinkled with light freckles which gave him a hint of childhood innocence, which belied the rest of his fashion. He looked like he strutted off the cover an audacious youthful punk magazine. Big blue feminine eyes glinted with delight at Takumi before giving him a searing once over, gliding down his body before back up to his own eyes. His clothes were as outlandish as what one would expect from the streets of Harajuku and Takumi couldn't begin to find the words to describe it except it was punk or grungy. It was some sort of black shirt with silver geometric patterns which reminded him of the circuits on Ayame's collection of motherboards. On top of that he wore a dark, open leather biker's vest with an array of hand-stitched badges with words and phrases Takumi wasn't familiar with. He wore leather arm bands around his slim upper arms, and had black fingerless leather biker gloves on each of his hands, which propped themselves of his sharp, jutting hips. Takumi continued to take in this visually striking boy because… well look at him! He had charcoal black skinny jeans with faded leopard prints, as if he had worn it to death. Around his hips was a tied up red flannel shirt hanging behind his… behind. When Takumi looked closely… not that he was trying to! The boy had skull motifs imbedded in both his belt buckle and the buttons of his vest. Finally, the finish of the look he had thick booths with white fur lining the tops.

As if the wardrobe wasn't saying enough, he had a tattoo of a barcode on his neck…

"U-Uh… Hi. I'm j-just browsing" Takumi stuttered.

"Do all your clothes look like this at home? Because this is doing you no favours, my friend"

The boy sighed and snapped his fingers to the side before twirling his finger at Takumi in random spirals going from head to toe in obvious disapproval. Takumi quickly inspected himself in typical panic fashion and embarrassment heated his cheeks.

"W-What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"So many things. I don't know what kind of look you're going for with that old waist coat, medieval tunic and sloppy cravat, but the 1832 Milan street-walk look has been over since… 1832"

"What?"

"You are so lucky I'm here to help you"

The boy dived next to Takumi and shuffled him to the side and fished out something navy white from the pile and spun around and … sashayed… over to another rack with more expensive looking shirts and swiped something from it. Takumi was on the tip of being acrimonious about a stranger who suddenly felt he could dictate and criticise his clothing choice in that lilting and flamboyant voice of his like it was his god-given right, however when he bent down, a yellow lanyard dangled from his belt hoop.

'He works here. That explains it'

"Now try these on! Change room's that-a-way"

The boy shoved a pile of jeans, t-shirts and jackets in his unsuspecting arms and thumbed the direction of the change room.

"Uh…"

"Hurry honey, I haven't got all day"

Honey?! Takumi was promptly pushed into the room. He wasn't even going to start thinking why somebody other than Ayame, Mama and Nonna was calling him honey. He should've known that all sense of his control was lost the moment he entered the store. How could he have not seen this coming. It looked like he had no choice but to follow the whims of this weirdo, knowing in full horror that the beast of a fashionista was waiting for him on the other side of the curtain. Takumi stared at the clothes in his arms with lingering bewilderment and battled over what the hell he should do. He'll just have to get this over and done with, get some plain shirts, leave and never come back again! Takumi swallowed hard and changed as quickly as possible.

'Huh. Not bad'

Takumi kind of liked this outfit. He was in a white v-neck shirt with Shakespeare quotes all over the front with a smart gun-metal blazer over the top and he had put on a pair of dark jeans. It was simple. Not only did it look trendy and casual, it fitted him perfectly! How did that guy know his size? Takumi turned around to examine all the other details like the stitching and the seams. They were very well made, so it must be on upper end of the price chain.

"Done yet?!"

"J-Just hold on!" Takumi yelled back.

He blushed bright red and tried to reign in his indignation over the whole affair. How on Earth did it get this far. He was just minding his own business, looking for some shirts and then bam! A storm of blonde hair and punk-grunge slammed into him with an edict to go change his clothes pronto! He should've stayed where he was and just waited for Ayame… He crept to the curtains and poked his head out. He was met face-to-chest with that guy again and the curtains were ripped to the side with no more room for hiding. He felt those blue eyes appraising him again in a critical way.

"Mhhhm. And this is why Koko-chan does what he does. That's me, by the way"

'Koko? Chan? That's his name?!'

Takumi yelped as Koko (Over his dead body he was going to add -chan) grabbed his wrist and yanked him into the shop with all the bright lights pointed at him. He dropped his wrist and circled Takumi closely with one hand on his hips and the other gripping in chin in admiring deep thought. He felt like a manaquin on display. Once he finished his circuit, s bright smile broke over his face and he gave a little clap at his handiwork

"Oh you look fabulous. Your boyfriend or girlfriend will thank me later" he winked at Takumi.

"Uh—!"

"Now let's get rid of your disaster of a cravat for good and get you a snazzy, chic scarf for the Autumn"

Koko didn't even wait for Takumi as he sauntered over to the scarves and accessory section, leaving Takumi to escape back into the change room. He just wanted shirts… decent plain shirts… He went through the quick task of stripping out of these trendy clothes and putting back on his 'medieval tunic', jacket, 'sloppy cravat' and jeans. He only got praises for his sense of style when he was in Italia, and Italia was the homeland for fashion!. Everyone was stylish in Firenze. Takumi exited the change rooms and dumped the new clothes a bit angrily into the nearest pile with a groan.

He looked around to see how fast he could escape the pushy shop assistant named Koko but his searching eyes caught Kuchiyose instead who was finally returning from his phone conversation. He stopped in front of Takumi and tilted his head at him, silently regarding his newly tried on clothes for a second. He hadn't felt so glad to see him in such a trying time.

"Are you done yet? The others are waiting" said Kuchiyose.

"I wished I was. Now quickly before—

"Oh my wooooord~ Is it my birthday?"

'Merde… too late'

Kuchiyose looked down at the nut, Koko who seemed to magically appear from the side. Dio mio, he was quick. The tall Karakura student blinked a couple of times with a blank expression. A knowing grin split Koko's face as he hung a navy-blue scarf over his shoulders to free his hands so that they can cross over his chest and his eyes roved all over Kuchiyose. Takumi narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Oh Kami-sama. So jealous" He sighed at Takumi "I wish I was you right now. And what do they call you, Dream-boat?"

"…"

"Tall and silent eh? Me likey. Tell me next time" He spun around to look at Takumi. "Relax, I won't steal your man. I'm no slut. Except between ten and three on Friday nights" he patted Takumi on the lower back, a little too closely to the hips.

Takumi's jaw dropped, trying to hold everything together but he was violently screaming in lingua Italiano on the inside. Kuchiyose did very well to keep his poker-face intact but his stiff posture said 'uncomfortable and confused and I want to get out of here' all over it. It was as if Koko was unaware of how mortified he was making Takumi feel because he just scooped up the clothes and scarf he abandoned like nothing and strutted with his red flannel swishing behind him to the counter at the front of the store to scan them.

The two boys were still shell-shocked.

"So…" Takumi muttered. "He thought—"

"Yep"

"Nobody will ever know about this"

"Way ahead of you"


"So all that time and no shirts?" asked Ayame.

Takumi tensed all over "Um… Non. They didn't have the ones I wanted. I-I'll look for them another time" he said.

Ayame nodded slowly and Takumi squeezed her hands tighter as the group of them wandered aimlessly through the shopping centre with no specific destination in mind. He searched for Kuchiyose out of the corner of his eyes to see if he was dealing with the post-traumatic stress as badly as Takumi was, but he was just listening to Alice chatter animatedly about something. Takumi could still detect traces of discomfort in his hazel eyes, no doubt still feeling raw over and befuddled about what transpired in the clothing store a few minutes ago. If anyone knew about what happened, he'd never hear the end of it.

Takumi and Kuchiyose had high-tailed it out of there and didn't look back. Forget the shirts. He'll get some later from a different store.

"Hey…" piped up Yukihira. "Why are people crowding over there? Let's check it out"

Yukihira dashed past them, accidentally knocking into Takumi's shoulder and he hissed at the bruising contact. The red-head was right. People were massing at a spot on the other side of the mall and it was steadily growing. He was curious. Ayame tugged his hand, clearly interested to see what was going on too and so Takumi carefully lead her through the thickening throng of people. He carefully placed his hand on the small of her back to protect her from getting ribbed by others whose attention was also caught.

"Oh! The games arcade! We haven't been there in ages, right Byakko?"

He nodded.

Loud and upbeat music echoed and thumped in the air, making Takumi's heart vibrate in his chest. He craned his neck upwards to see what fuss was stirring in the games arcade, but he could only make out the flashing lights in the dimness.

"Someone's having a competition. Isami, what's that game called?" said Yukihira from Takumi's other side.

"It looks like a new version of Dance Dance Revolution. Whoever's on it, they are really good. Look at the high scores!"

Takumi didn't know much about Dance Dance Revolution except what Isami told him. It was a rhythmic game where players just stamped their feet on pressure-sensing arrows on the ground to the instructions displayed on the screen and the beat of the music. It could hardly be called 'dancing'. But the rolling numbers on the split screen adding up to the tens of thousands did deserve to be called an achievement. The crowd buzzed around the console with excitement and anticipation. Takumi watched Ayame carefully and she was every bit as excited as Isami and Yukihira. Between the gaps of people, Takumi still couldn't quite identify who the players were, only the flooding arrows sprinting up the screen and the vibrant and pulsing words like 'O.K', 'N.G' messing up his eyes.

"Hey isn't that—"

"Chizuru-chan?! It's Chizuru-chan! Hmph! She told me she was at work today!" Ayame gasped.

Oh so it was Namikaze!

And the other was… Terunori Kuga?

He rubbed his eyes, but it was true. They were stamping their feet furiously with solid gold concentration. While Namikaze was exerting excessive force and was all around a lot more clumsy and banging around, Terunori-senpai was a lot more fluid, like he knew exactly what he was doing. Namikaze was gripping the metal safety bar behind her with shaking and whitening knuckles, whilst Terunori was just gripping it firmly. One could definitely tell the little troll was using everything she had to beat Terunori. Finally the song ended with a massive electronic trill and the winner was flashed on the screen. It was Terunori-senpai. The audience clapped, whooped and cheered as the ex-ninth seater turned around and gave a magnificent bow with an enormous smirk on his round face. Meanwhile, Namikaze slumped against the metal safety bar as if she was done with life.

"Hey Kuga-senpai! Namikaze! I didn't know you guys hang out together" Yukihira bounded up to them.

Terunori flipped his head around and spotted them. His eyes brightened up.

"Ah, Yukihira-chin. Long time no see. Care to test your mettle? I exhausted this one over there. She can barely walk now" Terunori-senpai jabbed his thumb at Namikaze.

"Nah, I'm alright, mate"

Terunori stepped off the console and brushed the sweat from his brows with the back of his sleeves. Once Namikaze had the energy to look up, Ayame released Takumi's hands and made her way to her. She bent over her best friend with a raised brow, pushing her face right into Namikaze's. Her face drained of colour.

"Uh- I can explain—"

"That you lied to me so you could go on a date with Terunori-san?"

"What?! No! Y-you got it wrong! I-I-It's not a date!"

Takumi was enjoying watching Namikaze squirm under Ayame's heavy gaze.

"So he 'forced' you to come with him to one of the places you love to hang out?" Ayame kept going, trying to see how much further Namikaze could dig her own grave.

"I was at work! I wasn't lying… But- But then, he came along and y-you know how it is. He comes unannounced and just drags me to places and my boss does nothing about it! And-and-and then he challenged me to DDR! I couldn't miss an opportunity to thrash him!"

"The date didn't go according to plan, huh?" Ayame leaned back with a self-satisfied smile dance on her lips.

"It's. Not. Like. That. And stop laughing at me Franco!"

Takumi kept sniggering anyway for her benefit.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night. Since you've ditched work anyway, how about we all go out together to have some late lunch?" Ayame grabbed Namikaze's elbow and hauled her from the console. She closed her other hand around Takumi's. He lifted her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles as she hummed in delight with an iron grip around her best friend's limb.

"Hi Terunori-san. How are you?"

Said boy turned around and a moment of recognition flashed across his brown eyes. He darted his eyes towards Namikaze in Ayame's grip, lingering on her for a long moment, and then he smiled and gave her a salute.

"Not bad, thanks. I remember you. You're Namikaze's friend. Kanda Ayame, right?"

"Yes I am. Would you like to come have lunch with all of us?" asked Ayame sweetly, gesturing to everyone in the group.

"Sure why not. I'm famished. Where are we going?"

"How about we get some halal snack-packs? I've been dying to try some, but Takumi won't take me" said Yukihira.

"For obvious reasons" Takumi bit back.

"Oh! Me too" Alice-san jumped in with Kuchiyose close behind her. "How about Zesar? They also do fantastic charcoal chicken and their garlic sauce is to die for. Let's go there"

The group nodded excitedly.

Takumi had no objections. He and Ayame had eaten halal snack packs amongst other things there many times. Zesar it was.

Ayame tugged on Kuchiyose's sleeve with an innocent smile and as if reading her mind, he hefted Namikaze over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes despite her shrill protests. He held her in place with no effort. Terunori-senpai trailed behind the giant and continued to tease his most recent muse as she struggled in futile to breathe as Kuchiyose's shoulder buried into her diaphragm. Once she submitted to what was probably Ayame's punishment for her, she instead tasked herself to try and slap Terunori-senpai across the face whenever he teased her. However, the Sichuan cuisine expert ducked out of reach each time which enraged her further. It looked like Terunori-senpai's taste in girls included short, loud, crazy and obnoxious trolls. Too each their own, he supposed. Ahead of himself and Ayame, Alice-san was non-stop yapping to Isami about one of her many past dates with Kuchiyose at the arcade and he listened with rapt attention, peppering comments in between that made the Danish Nakiri laugh. Meanwhile, Yukihira walked on the other side of Ayame, with his arms folded behind his head. He was pleading his amore to answer his dying question from earlier about black holes and portals and if there were connections. And like the beautiful science nerd she was, slaughtered him with her mind-bending answers.

Takumi had a feeling he would be remembering this outing even after he was pruny, old and grey.


"Akira sahib! Your many friends are here. They ask for you"

Akira wiped the sweat beading on his temple with his chef's uniform sleeve, and looked up from the sizzling pan towards the head-chef Mohammed.

"Friends?" he reconfirmed dubiously.

He was almost finished with frying the duck meat in the green curry spices. He just needed to plate up. Once he finished his tasks, plated up his dish and garnished it, he placed it on the long metal counter in front of the kitchen station for the waiter to take out, he wiped his hands in a tea towel and approached his hulking head-chef, feeling puzzled.

"Yes. Friends. Go make them feel welcomed!"

The burly man slapped him on the back and Akira stumbled forward before catching himself. His back stung like a bitch. He was the assistant chef! He didn't come out of the kitchen to talk to people! But head-chef Mohammed didn't seem to care. He was always making a grand entrance from the kitchen doors, and greeting the customers like a member of his family, asking how their sons and daughters were, as per the Middle Eastern hospitality. People from three blocks away could hear his booming laughter, he was sure of it.

But Akira was still racking his brains about 'friends'.

Might as well find out. As soon as he opened the kitchen doors he regretted it.

Red hair.

Blonde hair.

Black hair.

Silver hair.

Purple hair.

Brown hair.

Brown hair with blonde dye.

and Namikaze.

What the—

"Yo Hayama! There you are. Six halal-snack packs, two whole charcoal chickens and double the garlic sauce please!"

.

Akira's brain short-circuited.

.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LOT DOING HERE?!"


Oh Akira, you didn't think you were done with Tootsuki did you? In case you forgot, Akira got a job at Zesar as an assistant chef a few chapters ago. Yukihira managed to hang onto the grapevine long enough to find out where Akira ended up.

Poor Kuchiyose and Takumi. They must be traumatised. And Takumi isn't as stylish as he'd thought! But everyone has their own sense of taste and style. Some are more judgmental than others, like the fabulously dressed Koko-chan, another comic character who might appear again.

We've spotted a wild Chizuru and a Kuga :P Those two are as thick as thieves now and Ayame will never let her forget it. I've always imagined that Kuga would be game-savvy and quite good at arcade games haha.

Let me now what you think and I'll see you soon!

Signing off

-TripWire-dono