Sleepy Ash sat in the booth at the diner. He was stuck on the outer side since he sat down last and it was the only spot left. Tsubaki was the one next to him while Old Child was across from him. Doubt Doubt sat next to Child and had his knees pulled up to his chest while he stared out the window. If he had his way he would have been sitting under the table instead. Fortunately for Ash, Tsubaki kept himself distracted with the menu so his mouth was shut. Unfortunately, Old Child's wasn't. Ash wanted to have an empty mind, but he couldn't drown out whatever nonsense Old Child was ranting about.
"-and can you believe they did that to me?! We were supposed to watch the episode together! But nooo! He watched with Sister instead! The utter betrayal! The audacity!"
Ash looked off to the side to observe the diner. All those centuries on the island and Ash only ever went out to eat a handful of times. There was the bar next to the arcade, but he didn't actually go inside all that often, let alone have a drink in there more than a couple times. All the food he ever ate that wasn't cooked at home was bought from the store or leftovers that were given to him. When was the last time he went out to eat somewhere?
"-so now I only know some of what happened! And it doesn't have the same impact as watching it live! I'm going to have to watch the rerun before the next episode! When I already know what happens! It completely ruins the pace and the impact! The whole show might as well be ruined for me!"
Didn't he have dinner at the Alicein's house once? When was that? Wasn't it when he was a kid? There was definitely a time within the last century that he went over there to eat. So was he misremembering something from the past? Nearly six hundred centuries of being alive and everything started to blend together. It was especially hard to remember life before Old Child came along.
"Are you even listening to me, Ash?! Ignoring your own cute baby brother like my problems don't matter! Pay attention! This is serious!"
Ash was pulled from his thoughts as he felt a sharp sting in his shoulder. It didn't hurt, but it was certainly a strange feeling. Ash finally looked at Old Child and saw the scowl on the boy's face. His hand was in a position as if he just threw something.
"Um…"
Ash looked over at Tsubaki, who was staring at him with wide eyes. Even Doubt turned his attention away from the window to stare at Ash.
"What?" Ash asked the youngest brother.
Tsubaki just pointed at his chest and Ash looked down to see the knife poking out of his shoulder. Blood pooled around the wound and stained not only his jacket, but his shirt underneath as well. Neither Ash, nor anyone else at the table, gave a reaction to the sight. It was surprising, but in a normal way. It wasn't cause for concern, it was just unexpected.
Ash glanced at Old Child, certain the kid was the culprit. "Why'd you do that?"
"Because you weren't listening to me!" Old Child complained.
"So you… threw a knife at me. In public. Where people would panic." Ash responded.
"Not gonna pay attention to my problems? I'm not gonna pay attention to your problems." Old Child grumbled.
"Yeah, uh… this is less of a 'me' problem and more of a 'next human that sees a knife sticking out of me or at least the blood on my jacket and starts freaking out thinking I need to go to the hospital' problem." Ash stated.
"Waitress." Doubt spoke up.
Tsubaki just looked confused while Ash glanced over his shoulder to see the waitress walking closer and carrying a tray of food. Since they were sitting in the very back corner Ash hoped she would stop at a different booth, but she kept coming closer. He began to panic and yanked on the knife to pull it out. Tsubaki appeared concerned and like he wanted to help, but Ash shooed a hand at him. Old Child must have thrown it with inhuman strength since it was so deep in Ash's skin, but he managed to get it out after a moment of tugging. He nervously passed it off to Tsubaki, who held it up and looked around in a panic before sliding it across the table to Doubt. The third eldest quickly covered it up with his sleeve and Ash held a hand over the blood stain on his jacket just as the waitress walked up. Old Child only let out a slight chuckle at how fast the other three dealt with the situation.
"Here's your food, boys!" The waitress announced as she started placing plates down on the table. "And the usual extra for my favorite customer!"
Tsubaki smiled as he realized there was a hash brown on his plate that he didn't order. Of course, he knew he didn't need to order it since he always got it for free. The other three looked from the waitress to Tsubaki, surprised to hear him be called a 'favorite customer'. The waitress and Tsubaki waved at each other and as she walked away, Ash noticed the black hair tie holding her hair back. It looked like the one all of Tsubaki's friends wore.
"Why didn't you say you're a regular here?" Old Child questioned in an annoyed tone.
"'Cause I didn't know this is where we were going. I didn't think to say anything either, haha." Tsubaki cheerfully responded.
"Weird how you're well liked all over town." Ash said as he started eating.
"You think? I just like socializing and happen to always run into the right people. It's about finding those who are also ostracized." Tsubaki responded before taking a sip of his iced tea.
"How are you supposed to tell who's ostracized or not?" Old Child muttered while stabbing his fork into his food.
"Presentation, of course! Are they alone? Do they look down on their luck? In some cases it's hard to tell, but if you look ostracized too then some people are more willing to show themselves." Tsubaki explained.
Ash and Old Child glanced at each other. Did they look ostracized? Child probably just looked like a lost kid playing dress up. Ash on the other hand… Was his dead expression enough to make him look ostracized? He never exactly felt approachable. In fact, plenty of people tended to avoid him ever since he was a kid. Even when he was told to go play outside he just sat around in the dirt by himself while other kids played together around him. He never even had a friend back then. But the only person he had some kind of small connection with might have been considered ostracized. Did they both recognize that in each other? Ash would have liked to ask, but his relationship with that person was now tumultuous at best. He hadn't seen them in at least a century anyway.
There was Mahiru now though. But was Mahiru ostracized? Ash's first thought was no, but then he remembered some of what Mahiru told him at the park. Mahiru wasn't from the island. Mahiru was an outsider who lost his mom and had to move to Ashford at a young age. Ash wondered if Mahiru felt ostracized despite having friends. Ash knew that even though he was surrounded by family and had Kuro, he still felt so alone. Had he always felt like that? He didn't think that bothered him, but the ostracizing did. He prefered being alone, but was it only because he was always forced to be? The only person he had in the beginning was taken from him. Society eventually shunned him. And now that he embraced the loneliness that all caused him, he had seven people that wouldn't leave him alone.
Ash glanced at Old Child again. His baby brother had been there from almost the beginning. The kid was borderline one of the only things Ash cared about in the whole world, and even then Ash still had times when he resented Old Child. He didn't ask for a little brother, let alone one he had to raise all by himself. And because of that, Child was so painfully attached to him. Ash just wanted to be left alone.
He then glanced over at Doubt. The man didn't order any food, just a glass of water. Doubt must have been the first person Ash tried to reach out to. When the third brother finally came along, Ash and Old Child tried to help him get used to the situation he was now stuck in too. There was a bit of progress, but then Doubt quickly closed himself off to the world. Too quickly. Ash didn't get a chance to get to know Doubt at all. That could have been an opportunity for them both to form a bond, since Ash reached out first, but that opportunity was now long gone. Or at least it looked that way to Ash.
Tsubaki was the last one Ash glanced at. Had Tsubaki come along any time before that day a century ago, they might have gotten along. Tsubaki tried often to hang out with everyone in the family, Ash included. But even just looking at Tsubaki hurt. He wanted to be close with Ash. That was obvious. It was another chance to form a bond, but Ash just couldn't do it. He couldn't face Tsubaki. He couldn't speak to Tsubaki. He couldn't come into contact with Tsubaki. It all made his skin crawl. And yet Tsubaki never did a single thing to deserve that. Tsubaki was a victim and it was all Ash's fault, but Tsubaki didn't have a single clue.
How could Ash form a bond with someone he was constantly lying by omission to?
Ash put his fork down and stared at his plate.
How could he form a bond with Mahiru?
Doubt was the first one to notice Ash stopped eating. It was clear from the look on the eldest's face that he wasn't just done eating. Something was bothering him. Should Doubt try to check on him? The third eldest wasn't sure. He wasn't good at speaking up. Thankfully, Tsubaki caught onto Doubt's staring and looked at Ash as well.
"Not hungry?" The youngest wondered.
"Hm?" Ash looked up at him and hesitated. "Uh, guess not. Thought I was."
Old Child glanced up and raised a brow, knowing Ash was lying. "We don't feel hunger."
Ash side eyed the kid with a slightly annoyed expression. It wasn't hard for Ash to come to the conclusion that Old Child knew he lied and was trying to sabotage that. He really felt like Child was bothering him on purpose way more than usual today. Was the kid still upset about the Mahiru thing? Or was it something else?
"Whatever, I mean I guess I wasn't in the mood to eat. It's fine, I'll eat, just gimme a minute." Ash grumbled.
"No one's forcing you. Otherwise Doubt would be eating too." Old Child commented, making Doubt glance at him.
Ash scoffed as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Tell that to Sis…"
Tsubaki finished a bite of his food before opening his mouth. "Why didn't you get something to eat, Doubt-nii-san?"
"He doesn't eat unless it's family dinner." Old Child answered for him, deciding Doubt would take too long to respond.
"Hm?" Tsubaki cocked his head to the side. "Why not?"
Now that was a question Doubt definitely didn't want to answer.
Old Child just shrugged. "We've never seen him eat aside from that. Have we, Ash?"
Ash shook his head as he picked up his soda and took a sip of it. His eyes seemed glued to his phone.
"Geez, good thing we can't starve then, huh? But you're really missing out!" Tsubaki said.
Doubt wanted to respond, but he couldn't bring himself to speak and a nod didn't seem like the appropriate response. He simply picked up his water and drank it through the straw.
"Uhhhh…" Ash suddenly went wide eyed and laid his phone flat on the table, catching the younger three's attention.
"What? What happened?" Old Child quickly questioned.
Tsubaki leaned over really close to Ash's shoulder and the older brother had to lean away to get away from him.
"Mahiru… texted me back…" Ash sheepishly answered, suddenly nervous about having the attention on him.
"Oh." Old Child immediately switched to looking uninterested.
"The human that was over yesterday? What did he say?" Tsubaki wondered.
Ash didn't really want to have the conversation mostly with Tsubaki, but he didn't want to just internally panic either. He glanced down at his phone to make sure he read it right.
'Hey, afternoon! Sorry I didn't respond, I was in class. I'm okay. And how are you? Are you free tomorrow?'
"He… wants to know if I'm free tomorrow. I guess he wants to do somethin'." Ash said.
"Hmph. Well he didn't ask today at least. 'Cause then you'd have to tell him no, right?" Old Child said.
Ash felt physically crushed by the passive aggressiveness in Old Child's voice. "I didn't see the text until now, so yeah. It's not like I'd cancel when I'm already out here."
"You're gonna say yes, right? Unless you have plans tomorrow too." Tsubaki said.
"I'm about to." Ash replied.
"Oh? But you don't know what he's gonna suggest yet."
"Honestly I don't need to."
Tsubaki snickered. "You really are in love."
Ash looked a bit grossed out at Tsubaki saying that. Sure, it was true, but it made him uncomfortable having other people tell him that. He just wanted to keep his love life business to himself. And he wasn't even sure if that was what it was. He may have been trying to win Mahiru over, but if Mahiru wasn't interested like that then Ash felt it was wrong to keep thinking of their relationship in a romantic light. That didn't mean he would ever stop loving Mahiru though. Ash picked up his phone and started typing.
'It's fine. I didn't see your text til now anyway.'
Ash hesitated before he continued.
'Glad to hear. I'm same as usual. I'm free. Got something in mind?'
He once again hesitated before hitting send. As he saw the message sent properly, his gut was suddenly filled with anxiety. He turned off his phone screen and went back to eating, hoping that would get rid of the pain in his stomach.
"What'd you say?" Tsubaki asked.
Ash paused and looked at the youngest brother. The second their eyes met, Ash quickly looked away.
"It's not your business." Ash mumbled.
"Aw, but I like hearing gossip!" Tsubaki whined.
"This isn't gossip, geez." Ash added.
Both Old Child and Doubt could tell Ash was getting annoyed at Tsubaki. That was another failure for Child's test and Doubt just grew worried that Ash would get too annoyed before the end of the day.
The brothers continued eating in silence until they finished everything they wanted to. Ash pulled his debit card out of his pocket and stood up to go pay. He left his phone on the table, so once he was far away enough, Old Child tried to reach over the table for it. Tsubaki snickered at the sight while Doubt lifted his hand up to pull the kid back.
"Hey! Don't stop me!" Old Child protested.
"Don't… ruin things for him…" Doubt mumbled.
"You don't know what I was gonna do." Old Child grumbled and crossed his arms.
"Oh, um, the knife." Tsubaki pointed out.
Doubt looked down to see the knife Old Child stabbed Ash with was still on the table. He actually forgot he was hiding it until he moved his hand. He checked his sleeve to see a bit of Ash's blood got on it. It was a bit irritating, but at least he could wash it out when they got home. Doubt picked up a napkin and wiped the blood off, then put the knife and napkin on Tsubaki's plate. The younger brother stared at it for a moment, but let it be.
Ash then came back to the booth and picked his phone up. "'Kay, we going?"
Old Child lifted his arms up and Ash groaned. The eldest stuffed his phone in his pocket and picked the kid up. Old Child took over from there to get on Ash's shoulders. The younger two scooted out of the booth and they all headed to the entrance together.
"Oh hey, Tsubaki!" The waitress called out, catching the group's attention. "My friend that works at the bar wanted me to tell you to tell Higan to pay his tab there already!"
A half-grin appeared on Tsubaki's face. "Will do. I'll pass it along."
As the brothers walked out of the diner, Doubt ducked so his bags wouldn't get knocked off his head. Ash stopped on the sidewalk and looked around, but didn't see Kuro anywhere.
"Kurooo!" Ash called out.
Just a moment later the sound of a bell reached Ash's ears and Kuro was spotted running on the roof of a nearby building. The cat jumped off the roof and landed perfectly on Ash's head. The little guy positioned himself properly and laid down. Ash reached a hand up to scratch the cat on the head.
"Sorry you couldn't come in with us." Ash said, earning a meow in response.
"Okay! Now onward to the hot springs!" Old Child demanded and pointed down the street.
Tsubaki nodded and Ash and Doubt were the firsts to start walking off.
On their way down the street, they passed by a boutique. The one Koyuki always liked to go to in fact. And it just so happened he, Ryusei, Sakuya, and Mahiru were looking around inside.
Mahiru thumbed through a rack of shirts when he felt the sudden urge to turn around. He did so and stared at the door to the boutique. He got that usual feeling again where he felt like he was being pulled towards something. What was it this time? Should he go check? He was with his friends though. He didn't want to just suddenly run off from them. But there was something familiar about it, like he recognized it. Unfortunately, the feeling slowly got smaller, like it was getting farther away. The urge to follow it dwindled and soon it disappeared all together.
"Hey, Mahiru! What about this?"
Mahiru's focus returned to the boutique and he turned around to see Ryusei holding a shirt up.
"That's a button up. I don't think a secret high schooler party is the place for a button up." Mahiru rejected the shirt.
"Ahh, good point." Ryusei replied as he put the shirt back from where he got it.
"You're catchin' on quick, Mahiru." Sakuya commented. "You gotta look cool and hip and especially swag. That way you make a statement and everyone wants to get to know you and they think you're the most popular guy around."
"Swag…? Stop making up words." Mahiru said.
"It's not made up! Look it up! Or just, I dunno, spend five minutes on the internet and you'll see it!" Sakuya defended himself.
"It's twenty-nineteen dude. No one even says swag anymore. Get with the times." Ryusei said.
Sakuya just groaned and pressed his forehead against the wall. "You guys just don't understand how to be cool."
"Don't worry, Mahiru! You don't need to dress in a way that'll make others find you cool. You should dress however'll make you feel cool to yourself." Koyuki encouraged.
"That's very uplifting, Koyuki, thank you, but I'm not really worried about that. I really think I can find something just fine in my own closet. Why don't we find an outfit for Sakuya then? He probably needs a new one." Mahiru responded.
"For me? Uhhh, nah, no way! I got cool enough stuff in my own closet." Sakuya countered.
"You wear the same shirt… everyday…" Mahiru muttered.
"It's a good shirt! I have multiples anyway so it's fine!" Sakuya exclaimed as he stepped over to occupy himself with a clothing rack.
"Hey, ya know. If you really wanna make a bold statement, show up in that maid dress you wore last year." Ryusei said.
Koyuki let out a slight chuckle at being reminded of that.
"That was one time and it was as a joke!" Sakuya shouted as he turned around. "None of you guys laughed anyway!"
"Because that was embarrassing. The rest of the class sure did laugh at you though." Mahiru said.
"How was that embarrassing to you?! I was the one in the maid dress! I put my dignity on the line to entertain and you refused to be entertained?!" Sakuya complained.
"You lost your dignity the second you put a maid dress on." Ryusei muttered under his breath.
"Well, it sure did entertain some people. But I don't get what was supposed to be so funny about that." Mahiru responded, not hearing Ryusei at all.
"Uh, because maid dress." Sakuya said.
"Yes? What about it?" Mahiru questioned.
Sakuya sighed. "You have no sense of humor…"
"Look, Mahiru, if ya don't get it then ya just don't get." Ryusei stated.
"No, I apparently don't." Mahiru muttered.
"Now what would have been funny is if ya put on cat ears and a tail with it." Ryusei added.
"Oh, I bet you woulda liked that, huh." Sakuya grumbled.
"Enough to actually bother taking blackmail photos, yeah." Ryusei replied.
The blonde looked over his shoulder and flashed a cheeky grin as Sakuya glanced over and glared at him in return.
"Okay guys, can we drop the dress topic now?" Mahiru requested.
Neither teen responded as they went back to mindlessly looking at clothes. None of them but Koyuki were even sure if they were supposed to be looking for clothes for Mahiru or not. Mahiru wasn't exactly interested in finding an outfit for the party, but if he found something he liked he wouldn't be opposed to getting it.
He wondered for a moment if Ash would dress up for it. The man seemed to have an interesting wardrobe filled with cat themed clothes. Or, at least as far as Mahiru had seen. Whatever Ash wore would probably fit in just fine. Although Mahiru supposed nothing in the man's wardrobe really mattered if he didn't want to go to the party in the first place.
That reminded Mahiru that he still needed a response from Ash. The brunet slipped his school bag off his shoulder to search inside for his phone. Pulling it out, Mahiru read the notifications on his lockscreen and realized he had a text from Ash. Mahiru felt his heart skip a beat. He didn't even know what Ash said yet, and somehow that scared him. Was he actually worried that Ash would say no? Did he really want to go to the party with Ash? Would he be disappointed if Ash was busy? Would he even want to go anymore if it couldn't be with Ash? Trying to ignore his concerns, Mahiru opened his messages and read the text.
'It's fine. I didn't see your text til now anyway. Glad to hear. I'm same as usual. I'm free. Got something in mind?'
Mahiru felt a sense of relief wash over him. He was halfway there. Ash was free at least, so there was hope the man would agree to go.
And then Mahiru had to wonder what he was so worried about to begin with. Inviting Ash was supposed to be for Ash's benefit, not Mahiru's. But if they didn't go together, it just felt pointless to Mahiru. Was he even still going for Suzuhara's sake? Would he still be happy to go with Ryusei? Why did it suddenly become such a big deal to Mahiru that Ash came along?
"Did he respond?"
Mahiru flinched and gripped his phone against his chest as he heard Koyuki whisper right next to his ear. The taller brunet had leaned his shoulder without him even realizing it.
"Yes, geez! Was that necessary?" Mahiru loudly responded.
"For me, yes." Koyuki said with a smile. "So, what'd he say?"
The question caught Ryusei and Sakuya's attention and the other two boys walked over to join the conversation.
"Catboy text back? He said no, right? I'm going, right?" Ryusei quickly asked and reached for Mahiru's phone.
Mahiru swatted Ryusei's hand away and the blonde whined as he rubbed his hurt hand.
"Can you be any more impatient? Geez…" Mahiru looked down at his phone to remember what Ash said. "He said he's free tomorrow. I didn't even mention the party yet."
"You guys are taking too long with this. Just call him." Ryusei complained.
Mahiru just stared at Ryusei for a moment. "C-call him?"
Mahiru hadn't actually talked to Ash over the phone yet. They only texted and talked in person. He didn't know why the idea of calling Ash felt so weird to him, but it really did. The only people he ever called or got called by were his uncle and Koyuki. Ryusei called him once during an emergency, but otherwise that was it.
"That does seem like the easier choice." Koyuki agreed. "You can explain better while talking instead of texting."
"You think…?" Mahiru replied.
Sakuya stared intently at his friends and stuffed a hand into his pocket to hold onto his phone. If Mahiru was going to call Ash, then Sakuya had to be fast in contacting Tsubaki. Koyuki was right that a call was easier, but he couldn't do that in front of his friends where they could hear what he was saying. Mahiru would probably recognize Tsubaki's voice anyway if they met at Ash's house last night.
"I-I dunno…" Mahiru continued. "I think I'll just text him and if he doesn't respond soon then I'll call."
"Uuuuuuggghhh!" Ryusei dramatically groaned. "Making me wait!"
Mahiru sighed at Ryusei's whining. "Yes, I'm making you wait to personally spite you."
Ryusei stared at him for a second. "That was sarcasm, right?"
"Yes, geez! I'm not that hard on you guys, am I?" Mahiru responded.
Sakuya shrugged. "I dunno, Mahiru. Sometimes you really do punish us like you're a mom when we act up."
Ryusei snickered while Mahiru just stared at Sakuya with an unamused expression.
"Well anyway, I'll just text him back and if he doesn't respond in, like, ten minutes or whatever then I'll call him." Mahiru repeated, choosing to ignore Sakuya.
"Ugh, fine." Ryusei said.
"Ten more minutes at most won't kill you, Ryu." Koyuki said.
Ryusei whined and leaned his face against Koyuki's shoulder. The brunet simply patted him on the back in response. Ryusei suddenly tensed up just a bit at the contact.
Mahiru tapped away at his phone to text back Ash.
'Yeah actually. There's this party tomorrow night at the park that I got invited to and I can bring one guest so I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?'
Mahiru checked over the text for a second before sending it and putting his phone away.
"Okay, and now we wait ten minutes." He said.
"It's the finaaal countdooown." Sakuya mumbled to himself.
"Dun-na-na-naa-dun-na-na-na-na." Ryusei hummed into Koyuki's shoulder.
"Glad you two are having fun with this…" Mahiru grumbled.
Koyuki clapped his hands together. "Well, let's make the most of our last ten minutes then, shall we?"
"My thoughts exactly." Mahiru agreed as he turned away to take a look elsewhere in the store.
Sakuya groaned and rubbed the back of his head. He walked off in the opposite direction as he pulled out his phone. He had ten minutes until he needed to text Tsubaki. He just had to hope Tsubaki would actually listen to him. The guy's habit of not taking important things seriously sometimes got a little too annoying for Sakuya's liking. It also depended on if Tsubaki was even in the mood to help anyway. Sakuya started to feel like the whole world was against him, which wasn't much different from usual.
He put his phone away and checked out a clothing rack against the wall. He sifted through different jackets until a bright orange one caught his attention. As he picked it up to get a better look at it, a small smile crept its way onto his face.
"Hey, Mahiru!"
The brunet looked over to see Sakuya running up to him. Sakuya excitedly held up the jacket for Mahiru to see. Koyuki and Ryusei walked over to get a look at it.
It was plain orange with white drawstrings and a zipper for the upper half to unzip. On the hood were cat ears that made Mahiru's eyes widen a bit.
"Look, look! It's your favorite color and it's got cat ears! Ya know, your favorite animal!" Sakuya cheerfully exclaimed while pointing to the ears. "It's cool, right?"
"Yeah, it is!" Mahiru replied as he took the jacket and checked the tag inside. "And it's my size. Awesome find, Sakuya."
Sakuya let out a nervous chuckle as a small blush appeared on his face. "W-well, ya know, it's important to know what my friends like."
"Oh yeah? Name one thing I like." Ryusei said.
"Being annoying." Sakuya grumbled as he looked over to glare at the blonde.
"Nice to know we have something in common then." Ryusei replied with a smirk.
"Knock it off." Mahiru ordered while still inspecting the jacket.
"So are you gonna get it?" Koyuki asked.
"How could I not? It's like it was made for me." Mahiru replied.
"You could wear it to the party!" Sakuya suggested. "I bet it'll get lots of compliments!"
"And I'm sure it'll match with whatever Ash wears. It's like all his clothes are cat themed." Mahiru added.
The group fell silent and Mahiru looked up at his friends. Sakuya was frozen with wide eyes, Ryusei looked aggravated, and Koyuki had a goofy grin on his face.
"He hasn't even responded and you're already acting like he said yes?!" Ryusei suddenly yelled.
"You really want him to go, huh?" Koyuki teased.
Mahiru flinched and struggled to get words out fast enough. "U-uh, n-no! I just- I mean, like, in general! It's not like I'd just wear it to the party and never again! If he doesn't go then I could just wear it some other time around him too! Geez! I-I'm gonna go buy this."
He stormed off to the front of the store so he could pay for the jacket, leaving his friends where they were.
"Mahiru's a natural born tsundere, isn't he?" Koyuki commented. "It's kind of adorable seeing him like this."
"It's not adorable when it's ruining my life." Ryusei complained.
The blonde glanced over to Sakuya, who was still standing there in complete silence.
"I think it's ruining Sakuya's life too." He added.
Without a word, Sakuya walked past the duo and to the store's entrance so he could leave. Koyuki and Ryusei shared a confused look with each other.
Outside, Sakuya sat down on the curb and pulled out his phone to look at the screen. It hadn't quite been ten minutes yet. He sighed and wondered why he bothered to check. Maybe he just wanted to distract himself.
Ever since Mahiru met Ash, the whole group flipped upside down to focus on it. Mahiru kept hanging out with him, Koyuki was referring to their relationship as a part of Mahiru's 'love life', and Ryusei was being more irritating than usual, especially today. And Ash being around at all risked Mahiru finding out about Sakuya's other friends. Couldn't he just keep those two lives separate like he always intended?
Even the jacket led to Ash getting brought up. Sakuya wanted that to be a moment between only himself and Mahiru. Sakuya wanted to see Mahiru happy because of him, not someone else.
Why did it always feel like the whole world was against him?
The boutique's door opened and Sakuya's friends walked out.
"Sakuya! There you are!" Mahiru called out.
Sakuya glanced over his shoulder to see Mahiru run up to him.
"Koyuki said you left. I thought you were going home." Mahiru continued.
"Oh, uh… no, sorry. I just wanted to sit down." Sakuya replied.
Mahiru sighed. "Well say something first. You scared me."
Sakuya's gray eyes widened a bit. He then chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.
"Geez, what a mom." He teased.
Mahiru groaned and lightly kicked Sakuya. "Knock it off with the mom thing."
Mahiru suddenly felt a heavy weight on his back and he yelped as a phone was shoved in his face from behind him.
"It's been ten minutes!" Ryusei shouted as he jumped on Mahiru. "Call the catboy! Call him, call him, call him!"
"Get off! You've been like a monkey today with this! Does my personal space mean nothing to you guys?!" Mahiru yelled as he shoved Ryusei.
"Kinda." The other three all said.
Mahiru just groaned and pulled out his phone. "I'll call him…"
"Yaaaay!" Koyuki and Ryusei cheered.
Sakuya quickly pulled out his own phone and started tapping on the screen as fast as his hands would allow.
Ash's phone vibrated on the towel behind his head. He couldn't notice it, so Mahiru's text went unanswered. He simply relaxed in the water of the hot spring. He would have loved to tilt his head back, but Kuro was resting on his head, so he couldn't move around too much.
Old Child was across from him and had one arm hanging onto the edge. He was small enough that if he sat down he would sink to the bottom, so he had to hold himself up. Tsubaki sat diagonally from them with his sunglasses left on the edge and Doubt was across from him. The tallest brother had his long hair in a messy bun and his towel draped over his face so the other three wouldn't be able to see it. They had to wonder if that made it hard for Doubt to see them though.
It was quiet between the four brothers for several minutes as they all just relaxed. Ash closed his eyes and felt like all his worries suddenly melted away. He couldn't feel any concern over his troubles with Mahiru anymore. It was like the thoughts completely left his mind.
And then something didn't feel right.
Ash opened his eyes and glanced at his younger brothers. Old Child and Tsubaki were clearly enjoying themselves, and Doubt probably was as well since he was even there in the first place. The silence between them was almost deafening. Only the occasional noise from the nearby deer scare broke it.
"This is suspicious." Ash finally piped up.
The trio all looked at him and Tsubaki especially looked confused.
"Care to elaborate?" Old Child asked.
"This just... feels normal, ya know? And that's not normal for us." Ash explained.
"Then enjoy it while it lasts. Pointing it out will only make it end quicker." Child replied.
"I can make it end right now if you want." Tsubaki offered.
"Uh, no… please don't." Ash refused.
"Too late. You jinxed us. He's gonna do it now." Old Child grumbled.
Tsubaki lifted a hand up and slammed it down to splash water everywhere. The eldest two shielded themselves and Kuro hissed.
"Knock it off! That's against the rules! Do you want us to get kicked out?!" Old Child shouted.
He and Tsubaki stared at each other as Tsubaki raised his hand again. He was about to slam his hand down, but a gun was pointed at his face from across the spring. Ash went wide eyed and sunk down a bit so only his eyes and above were visible.
"I won't do it, I swear." Tsubaki quickly said as he sunk his hand back down into the water.
"Now put that away before we get in trouble! I'm sure that's illegal somehow too." Old Child ordered.
The gun in Doubt's hand faded away into a yellow mist and Ash thought he finally understood how Doubt could pull out so many guns from under his sleeves. Well, that had to be the explanation behind the glowing yellow ones at least. Ash knew he had a collection of real guns back home.
"Now this is the normal I'm used to." Ash paused for a moment. "I hate it actually. Can we go back to quiet time?"
Old Child just groaned and Tsubaki snickered.
"We had quiet time until you decided to open your big mouth and point it out." Child noted.
"...My bad…" Ash muttered.
"So quiet time over, right?" Tsubaki eagerly asked.
"I guess… Just don't forget you can't be too loud here." Child said.
Tsubaki excitedly opened his mouth but then closed it. "I don't know what to say now."
The eldest two sighed.
"Oh! Actually, I know what I can say! Did that human enjoy his stay yesterday, Nii-san?" Tsubaki asked.
Ash stared at Tsubaki before registering that he was talking about Mahiru. His eyes darted down to the water. He wasn't going to be able to do much relaxing at the hot springs, was he?
"I… guess." Was all Ash said.
Tsubaki pouted. "Oh c'mon. Is that all I get?"
"Yes, now stop asking." Ash turned away from his youngest brother.
Tsubaki huffed and crossed his arms.
"Well anyway, do you really think you have a chance with him?" Child inquired, obviously being sarcastic.
Ash furrowed his brow. "We're really gonna talk about him, huh? Mnn… I don't think I really mind if it turns out I don't… so long as I can keep being his friend then that's good enough for me."
Remembering that Mahiru called Ash his friend last night felt like a huge relief. Even despite the whole incident that was last night, Mahiru still called Ash his friend in the middle of it all. Ash still stuck by his belief that Mahiru wouldn't trust him if he knew the truth, but hearing Mahiru call him a friend still meant something to him. As did the fact that Mahiru still wanted to hang out with him at all.
Old Child scoffed. "What a sappy answer."
"Well what do you wanna hear? That I'd rather die than not end up with him like this is some kinda romance movie? I'd rather die than anything frankly." Ash complained.
"Yeah, yeah. You say that at least once a day. It's a given at this point." Old Child said.
Ash groaned. He wasn't really sure at what, but Old Child was just being really annoying right now.
"Aw, Nii-san, that's no way to live." Tsubaki whined.
"I have no reason to live." Ash bluntly stated.
"He barely counts as alive in the first place." Old Child added.
Tsubaki shook his head. "That can't be true. I mean, what about us? Or Kuro? Or this human? Or all your video games even? Or the ones you haven't gotten the chance to play yet?"
Ash's brow twitched. "I'd still rather die."
"It's no use, Tsubaki. Nothing outweighs Ash's overwhelming desire to die. The edginess is just too strong with him." Child informed him.
Tsubaki stared at the eldest as he sank down a bit in the water again.
"Don't call it edginess… I'm not some angsty teenager you know." Ash argued.
"Ash! You literally are though!" Old Child exclaimed.
"Alright. Then you're a spoiled little brat that doesn't know how to handle being told no."
"Yeah! I am! It's called being self aware!"
The eldest two glared at each other and Tsubaki looked back and forth between them before looking at Doubt across from him. The third eldest hadn't budged in a while. Tsubaki wasn't sure if Doubt was used to seeing the other two bicker or not. He wasn't even sure if it was normal for them. He rarely ever saw Old Child not act clingy in front of Ash.
"It's just not edginess, okay? I mean, I can't be the only one, right?" Ash grumbled.
"What, that wants to die?" Tsubaki asked.
"Yeah."
Old Child rolled his eyes.
Tsubaki glanced down at the water and tapped his fingers together below the surface.
"Well… I used to." Tsubaki mumbled.
The eldest three looked over at him, not expecting him to get serious about that kind of topic.
"Seriously…?" Old Child asked, actually sounding concerned for the first time in a long while.
"Oh sure. I wanted to die every single second back when I was with C3. Not just every time they did something to me, and not just every day, but… every single second. The only times I didn't was when Shamrock would come talk to me. And then he told me he would get me out of there, and I started to question if I still wanted to die. Because if I died, I wouldn't get to see freedom. I wouldn't get to meet my family." Tsubaki looked up with a smile on his face. "And now I have dozens and dozens of reasons to live."
His brothers just stared at him. Sometimes they forgot Tsubaki went through a lot while he was held captive.
Hearing about it just made Ash want to die even more. He couldn't help but blame himself for what Tsubaki went through. If only he had known Tsubaki even existed… But Ash always had that thought on loop in his head. Bringing attention to it again wouldn't help anything right now.
Doubt started mumbling to himself and Kuro's ears perked up. The cat was the only one who could hear him. He stopped and hesitated before trying to force himself to be louder.
"For me it's less... wanting to die and more... wishing I never existed..." He finally admitted.
The trio stared at Doubt with solemn expressions on their faces. So he felt the same way too? Somehow that didn't come as a surprise to Ash and Child. There was still so little anyone knew about him though. What had he been through that made him not even want to exist in the first place? None of them really wanted to come up with ideas.
Doubt hung his head low, staring down at what parts of the water he could see behind his towel. And then it slipped off his face. Before the others could register what they were looking at, he ducked his head under the water in a panic.
"Doubt! You're not supposed to put your head under! It's against the rules!" Old Child exclaimed.
"It fell off. Can you blame him?" Ash defended the third eldest.
Tsubaki just laughed.
Doubt came back up with his towel and faced away from his brothers to put it back on his head. He pushed back his wet hair and groaned over knowing he would have to wash and dry it once they got back home.
"He could at least cover himself with his hand instead." Old Child insisted.
"Are we still talking about his face?" Tsubaki wondered and the eldest two just flashed him unamused expressions. "Why hide it anyway? Think you're ugly or something? Oh, or you got some kinda horrific disfigurement?"
Doubt didn't say anything as he turned back around with his towel now properly secured on his face again.
"Last time we saw it, it looked normal." Ash noted. "He just kinda… looked like the equivalent of a kicked puppy."
Doubt felt embarrassed as Old Child chuckled at the comparison. He didn't really used to like a kicked puppy, did he? Well, he supposed he did usually wear that kind of expression on his face back then. The way All Of Love described his face almost felt like the exact opposite though.
"You look even more likely to stab someone in a back alley than World End does. O-oh, but- I mean, n-no offense!"
Doubt slumped his shoulders as Love's words back then still echoed in his head. He went from apparently looking like a puppy to looking like a back alley robber. What happened to cause such a drastic change? Doubt couldn't pinpoint any one specific incident that might have caused it.
"I think you two have similar faces actually! Well, barring the Japanese features." Old Child commented.
Ash had no idea Old Child noticed it too. Tsubaki seemed surprised to hear that and if the other's could see Doubt's face they would know he was embarrassed all over again. Doubt knew it too. Even with the Japanese features, Doubt still recognized his own face in Tsubaki's. And that meant Doubt felt like he was looking at their father every time he looked at Tsubaki. Hiding his face didn't work anymore with Tsubaki around now.
"You know Old Child-nii-san, you look like if you were older you'd look like us too." Tsubaki pointed out.
"Oh?" Old Child thought for a moment. "I suppose us three dark haired ones just took more after him than the rest of us then."
Ash and Doubt tensed up while Tsubaki stared at his smallest big brother before laughing. Old Child glanced at Ash, knowing Ash was still failing his test.
"You think? Father always told me I look like my mother. Thinking about it now, maybe he was just saying that to make me feel good." Tsubaki responded.
"Depends on what she looked like. I read that children usually take more after their mothers. Something about more DNA always coming from the mother than the father. The mitochondria or something." Old Child groaned. "It's been a while so I can't remember perfectly, heh. Anyway, Ash has always told me the same thing too, but being five, it's hard to know who I would actually end up looking like most."
Ash dropped down even further in the water so only the top of his head was visible. Kuro visibly panicked for a moment on Ash's head before realizing he was still safe from the water.
"I... have my mother's hair." Doubt spoke up.
"I can see that. It's darker than Father's and not wavy." Old Child noted.
"I guess that must be the case for me too then." Tsubaki said.
"Again, depends. It's his color, but your hair is straight. That's probably from her." The boy responded.
Ash suddenly brought his head back above the surface.
"How do you even remember this stuff?" He blurted out, almost sounding irritated.
"I have his hair so it's not hard to forget, Ash. It's not that deep. I never saw her and yet I can tell you look just like your mother." Child stated.
Ash tried not to let his brow twitch again, but he failed. He didn't want to hear about how he looked like her. It wasn't true anyway. His hair was just like her's, but his face was his own. It didn't look like either of their faces.
He didn't want to discuss the topic of mothers anyway. That topic was what started his incident with Mahiru last night. It was frustrating that the very topics he wanted to avoid were what kept getting brought up anyway. He almost began to wonder if Old Child and Tsubaki were doing it on purpose.
Ash opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by his phone's ringtone going off.
'Nya nya nya~! Nya nya nya~!'
Doubt Doubt flinched at the sudden noise, Old Child's eyes widened, and Tsubaki started giggling like a madman before he heard his own phone vibrate on the rocks next to his sunglasses. Ash scrambled to turn around and answer his phone. Kuro jumped off his head and he picked his phone up to see it was Mahiru calling him.
"Oh crap, oh crap, oh craaaap." Ash frantically mumbled.
"What! Who is it?! House emergency? Love being dramatic?" Old Child gasped. "It's not the human, is it?!"
Ash shushed the kid. "Nobody say anything."
Tsubaki immediately stopped giggling as he checked his own phone and Old Child rushed across the spring to get close to Ash so he could hear. Ash pushed the kid away and practically shoved him under the water. Doubt had to grab Old Child to save him from drowning.
"Uh, hey Mahiru." Ash greeted.
"Hi, Ash. Sorry if calling is bothering you at all."
"Oh, uh- no, no, don't worry! It's not! It's fine!" Ash tried to reassure him.
"Speaker! Sp-Spreek-Rh!" Old Child tried to shout but Doubt shoved a hand over the kid's mouth to silence him.
Ash just glared at him out of the corner of his eye.
"Good, good. So uh, did you get my last text…?"
Ash mentally cursed himself as he pulled his phone away to check his messages. Even though he didn't want to, he put the call on speaker so he could hear Mahiru better while he read it.
'Yeah actually. There's this party tomorrow night at the park that I got invited to and I can bring one guest so I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?'
"Uh, no. I'm sorry. I… haven't really been looking at my phone much today. I see it now though." Ash said.
Tsubaki came up beside him and Ash was about to shoo him away before he held his phone up beside Ash's. Ash squinted to read the message on Tsubaki's phone. It was from someone named 'Sakuyakumama', which was clearly some stupid nickname for that Sakuya guy.
'I need the world's biggest favor right now. I am begging u here man. Plz go find your brother Ash and tell him to say no. Plz plz plz plz plz plz!'
Ash and Tsubaki glanced at each other. It was pretty clear to them that Mahiru and Sakuya were together right now and Sakuya was once again trying to sabotage things. Only Tsubaki was confused as to why though, since he didn't know Mahiru was one of Sakuya's school friends.
"That's okay. S-so um… there's a little bit of a time crunch is all, so… do you… want to go? I-it's okay if you don't want to though!"
"Say no! Say no, say no, say- Ack!"
"Ryusei! Back off!"
Ash just stared at his phone. Apparently it wasn't just Mahiru and Sakuya together right now.
Tsubaki's phone vibrated again and both brothers looked at the screen.
'Tsubaki plz. R u there? Go tell him. I'll pay back the favor later just plz do this for me.'
Tsubaki wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he was sure nothing he said would sway Ash's answer in either direction. Though he did feel a bit bad at the idea of ignoring Sakuya's plea.
'I told him. Idk whats going on tho.'
That was technically true. Tsubaki didn't say anything, but the message still did get passed along to Ash.
Ash looked at his phone, then to the confused look on Tsubaki's face. He glanced over at Child, who was squirming around in Doubt's grasp and trying to shout something. He was just trying to relax at the hot springs and now he suddenly felt like he was shoved in the middle of a war zone. It was almost like everyone was yelling at him to say no. Sakuya didn't want him to go, for some reason Ryusei didn't either, and obviously Old Child was against it too.
He didn't even know anything about this party. He definitely didn't want to be around a bunch of strangers at a party either, but being with Mahiru again sounded nice. And Mahiru was asking him so how could he say no?
After believing his time with Mahiru was over forever last night, he was actually ecstatic on the inside at the prospect of hanging out with him again. The only thing stopping Ash from saying yes immediately was the pressure he felt from everyone around him. It was as if the universe itself was sending him a sign that it wasn't a good idea.
But how badly could a party go? At least with other people around it was less likely that another incident would happen between them. Ash could just use someone else there as a distraction if he needed one. And he wouldn't have to deal with the awkwardness of being alone with Mahiru. Although, he ultimately would have preferred they be alone together. But maybe being around others would be for the best after last night.
"You, uh- you said tomorrow night?" Ash asked.
"Yes! Uh, Sakuya! What time is it at?"
There was a yelp on Mahiru's end of the line.
"Eight?! Seriously?! Uh, he said eight. Does that… work for you…?"
Ash glanced at Old Child and saw the kid bite Doubt on the hand. The tallest brother shoved his other hand over his own mouth so his whine of pain wouldn't be heard.
"Yeah. That works. I can go." Ash finally answered as he effortlessly dunked Old Child under the water before the kid could jump on him.
Ash heard the sound of Ryusei screaming in the background.
"Shut up!" Mahiru shouted. "Really though…? Uh- great! Um, do you mind… coming to my place first? We can walk there together."
"That's fine." Ash replied.
"Okay! So maybe like, 7:40-ish would be a good time to get there? It doesn't take too long to walk to the park… Huh? Okay, so what? I like being on time… Well being fashionably late is stupid… Okay, whatever. Uh, sorry Ash! I guess just any time before eight would work. Do you remember where my place is?"
"Yeah, pretty sure. I'll be able to find it." Ash said.
"Okay! I could text you the address if you need it though. So, uh… I'll… see you tomorrow then, I guess?"
Ash stared at his phone and Tsubaki snickered, causing Ash to side-eye the younger brother.
"Yeaah… See you… tomorrow."
Ash suddenly felt embarrassed about saying that in front of half his family and he understood now why Mahiru sounded nervous too. Mahiru ended the call and Ash just stared at his screen, not quite sure how to feel.
Tsubaki's phone vibrated again and he read Sakuya's text.
'YOU BASTARD!'
Tsubaki let out a huff as he responded.
'You realize I dont control him right? I told him but its not like I can make him do it. Btw for the favor you can tell Higan he needs to pay his tab at the bar.'
Ash took his hand off Old Child's head as he turned to put his phone back down on his towel. Old Child screamed as he came up to the surface, startling Doubt and Tsubaki.
"Sleepy Ash! What the hell! How dare you do that to your sweet innocent precious baby brother! I don't deserve this kind of treatment! This is abuse! I'm trying to have a good calm relaxing day and I'm being yanked and shoved and pushed and grabbed and I'm little! And you know that! This isn't fa- mn!" Old Child gagged before suddenly throwing up hot water that he must have swallowed while he was underwater.
Doubt tensed up and scrambled to climb out of the spring as fast as he could. Ash just sighed as he lifted up his towel and Doubt quickly snatched it so he could tie around his waist.
"Well this is a little familiar…" Ash plainly noted.
"...I think my insides burn…" Old Child mumbled with a vaguely traumatized look on his face.
Tsubaki just laughed far too loudly for what was appropriate at a hot spring.
"We should probably leave now before we get kicked out." Ash said.
Kuro meowed in agreement.
The sliding door to the spring opened and a tall blonde guy poked his head out.
"Hey, my dad says you guys need to be quiet or leave." He bluntly stated.
Ash sighed. "Spoke too soon…"