Daisuke woke up to an argument. It wasn’t loud or violent, but it still made him freeze in disoriented panic. For a startling moment, he had no idea where he was or how he had gotten there. He sat for a minute, listening until things made sense.
He had fallen asleep while watching Ken; he had no idea what time it was, but it must have been late. He should have left hours ago.
It was Mrs. and Mr. Ichijouji arguing, about him. It sounded like Mrs. Ichijouji wanted him to stay the night, while Mr. Ichijouji wanted him gone. Surprisingly, it sounded like she was winning.
Daisuke risked cracking an eye open. Ken was awake as well; it had to be Ken, Ichijouji never had that cool, calculating look in his eyes. Ken seemed to be listening to the argument but he was looking at Daisuke; it reminded him of a time when people would look at him without paying him attention, like he was a piece of furniture or a blank wall. But that was fine; Daisuke could handle not being the center of attention, especially if that meant Mr. Ichijouji’s attention, because he seemed really pissed.
And no wonder, Daisuke was kneeling on the floor with his head resting at the head of the bed, face turned towards Ken’s. Actually, he was close enough to lean forward and kiss Ken without too much effort. And that was just an inappropriate thought at the wrong time. He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep; maybe he’d stay out of trouble that way.
“He needs to leave,” Mr. Ichijouji said in a harsh whisper.
“But Dear, it’s our fault we came back so late. But didn’t we have so much fun?” She was practically cooing.
He only mumbled in begrudged agreement.
“I don’t want to disturb them, they look so peaceful. You know Ken hasn’t been sleeping well.”
“He can’t sleep there!”
“Shhh shhh… Fine. But it’s too late for him to walk home.”
“I’ll take him.”
“Oh, don’t be silly. It’s much too late for that and you have to be at work early in the morning. My goodness, you should already be asleep. He can sleep on the couch. I’ll make breakfast and then take Davis home in the morning and explain everything to his parents. It will all be fine.”
“He can’t… He has nothing wear.”
And wow, Mr. Ichijouji was grasping at straws; he had already lost, and he knew it. Daisuke was going to stay; he knew he was smiling but there was nothing he could do about it.
“He can wear something of mine,” Ken said, putting a nail in the coffin.
Ken sat up and there was really no point in pretending to be a sleep anymore. Daisuke sat up as well. He tried to turn his expression into a look of sleepy confusion but he had no idea if it was working because he was carefully not looking at Mr. Ichijouji. Instead, he looked at Mrs. Ichijouji; she was grinning at Ken like he was her pride and joy.
“Oh, we woke them up,” She said, tapping her husband on the arm, playfully. “You two look worn out, what have you been doing all this time?”
“We were cleaning all day.” Ken answered.
Daisuke could hear the smirk in Ken’s voice and, at the edge of his line of sight, he could see Mr. Ichijouji start to shake with barely suppressed rage. Daisuke wondered what the hell was going on; he thought Ken hated Ichijouji’s parents, now it seemed as if he and Mrs. Ichijouji got along just fine. And whatever it was that they had planned, Mr. Ichijouji was out of the loop. Daisuke was out of the loop as well, but at least he wasn’t getting the short end of the stick.
“And the house looks lovely. You must have been hard at work all day.”
“Of course.”
“Well, you two must be exhausted; falling asleep like that couldn’t have been comfortable. And now it’s so late you might as well stay the night.”
“He can’t sleep in here.” Mr. Ichijouji repeated more forcibly.
“Well of course not. There isn’t a proper bed in here yet.” Daisuke’s eyebrows quirked up at her wording, “He can sleep on the couch tonight and then I’ll make breakfast in the morning. How does that sound?”
She had addressed the question to Daisuke but it was Ken who answered, “That will be fine,” taking the other two people in the room out of the conversation. He stood and walked over to his bureau, sorting through it and ignoring everyone else in the room.
“Excellent,” she clasped her hands in front of her, smiling.
But it was Mr. Ichijouji who slowly drew Daisuke’s attention, despite how hard he was trying to avoid it. The man was practically radiating anger as he glared at Daisuke, as if he had orchestrated the whole thing. For a moment, Daisuke was sure that Mr. Ichijouji would flat out refuse to let Daisuke stay in the apartment. But instead, without a word, he turned and left the room.
If Mrs. Ichijouji noticed how upset her husband was, she didn’t show it. She was still smiling obliviously.
Ken tossed something at him before he had time to react. It hit Daisuke in the face, tumbled down his chest and fell into his lap, a wad of clothing. Daisuke turned to glare at Ken who met his look coolly, “It’s something for you to wear, for the night.”
“Oh, good. Thank you, Dear. Now Davis, you can change in the bathroom down the hall.”
He stood and Mrs. Ichijouji rushed over and started to bustle him out of the room. She probably would have escorted him all the way down the hall, if Ken hadn’t called her back with his question, “How did your evening go?”
Daisuke didn’t stick around for the answer but he did hear her say, “Oh it was wonderful! I’m so glad you suggested it…” before he was out of earshot.
Once in the bathroom, Daisuke changed out of his school uniform and into Ken’s clothing. It was just a pair of loose gray drawstring pants and a tee shirt, the kinda of clothing he associated with Ichijouji’s personality, relaxed and laid back. Daisuke stopped to stare at himself in the mirror, once again wondering what he was doing. He felt like a different person but he looked the same; same hair, same eyes, same blank expression…
Daisuke tore himself away from the mirror and yanked open the door only to find Ken standing there. He was startled.
“Problems?” Ken asked.
Daisuke shook his head, slowly, “No…”
“Good.” Ken said, stepping into the bathroom and closing the door behind them.
Daisuke backed up a step but he really didn’t have anyplace to go, so he crossed his arms and asked, “What’s this all about?”
“You’re staying the night.”
“Duh. What I was actually asking was—”
“I don’t care about what you were asking. I don’t have time to hold your hand—”
“Oh that’s funny,” Daisuke interrupted with a laugh, “Then why lock us in the bathroom?”
“Shut-up,” Ken ordered. “You need to decide if you’re going to call your Mother and what you are going to say if you do. It doesn’t matter what you tell her, just keep in mind that Rika will be listening to your side of the conversation and it’s in our best interest to make it seem like no one in your house cares where you are or what you do.”
“No one does—”
“Shut-up. In the morning, you will be kind, respectful and gracious. Rika will probably ask you questions about your home life. If you tell her the truth, she will call Social Services and they will commit your mother—”
“But that’s—”
Ken held up a hand and glared at Daisuke, who managed to shut his mouth without being told. “That is why you should explain that your mother works a lot and doesn’t have time for you. Rika is going to wake us up early so that she can meet your mother when she takes you home, but that is never going to happen. I’ve got another plan, so you’ll be wearing something else of mine tomorrow.” Then Ken opened the door to the bathroom and stood to the side, “Now, get out.”
Daisuke walked out of the bathroom and before he could turn and say a single word, Ken shut the door in his face. He stood there, mouth gaping for a moment, before he turned and headed back to the living room.
Mrs. Ichijouji was at the couch, putting on the last of the bedding. She turned as Daisuke entered the room. “You’re all set here. Is there anything you need before you go to sleep? Have you called your parents to let them know where you are?”
He wasn’t really offended by her presumption. Most people seemed to think that every child lived with a happy mother and father, especially if their homes worked the same way. It wasn’t like he was bitter or anything… “It’s just my mom and me,” He corrected politely; at least, he hoped it was politely.
“Oh,” she paused, “Have you called her? I’m sure she’s worried sick, not knowing where her son is.”
“She…” He took a deep breath and plunged in, “I won’t bother her. She’s… been working a lot of hours and she’s probably still at work… And even if she’s off, she’s at home getting some sleep. I’m sure that she’ll think I’m at a neighbor’s apartment if… when she notices I’m not at home. I sometimes crash there if they invite me over for dinner. I wouldn’t want to disturb her, she works so hard.
When he finished, a slight frown marred her face. Not that she didn’t believe him, she just didn’t look happy with what he had said. Daisuke blamed that on Ken; his plan, his story and his fault Daisuke was learning to lie so well.
“In that case, we shouldn’t disturb her.” Mrs. Ichijouji said carefully. “But I’ll be sure to explain everything in the morning.”
Daisuke nodded in agreement.
“Well, if there’s nothing else…”
He shook his head as he moved to get situated on the couch. “Um, thank you, Mrs. Ichijouji.”
Her expression softened, “It’s no problem, Dear, I’m only sorry to have to stick you on the couch. Next time we should have a small cot, and you can stay in Ken’s room. I want you to feel welcome here, Davis.”
“Thank you,” he said again, not sure of what else to say.
She wished Daisuke goodnight just as Ken left the bathroom headed for his room. She turned and followed him, but stopped at the doorway, Daisuke could hear the whole conversation.
“I’ll be sure to wake you up early, with breakfast ready.”
“Fine,” his answer was short and dismissive.
“And tomorrow, I’ll go out a buy a cot for the floor in here. He really shouldn’t be staying on the couch; it can’t be too comfortable…”
“Fine.”
“Well, if there’s anything else…”
“No.”
“Oh…well, goodnight, then.” She started to head towards the back of the apartment, but then turned mid-step and headed back to the doorway for one last question. “Ken, I… Have you seen Osamu? He’s not in his room and… Has he been in at all today?”
“No.” Daisuke could hear the tightness in his reply. He supposed that that Ken was still angry, though Daisuke had other things to worry about.
As Mrs. Ichijouji turned to go back to the room she shared with her husband, Daisuke was faintly glad that the apartment was so dark. That way she couldn’t see the wide-eyed look of terror on Daisuke face as he stared at where the scuffs on the side of the table would be. He had completely forgotten about Osamu over the past half hour and now he could hardly think of anything else. What if Osamu came back in the middle of the night, bursting into the apartment like he had that afternoon? What if he trashed the table and the couch again, while Daisuke was lying there this time? Worse, what if he snuck in quietly and found Daisuke asleep and alone?
Daisuke felt that he was chasing his tail but he couldn’t help it. He knew there was nothing he could do that wouldn’t ruin the plan and piss off Ken. So he tried not to think about it, he tried to go to sleep but kept stirring at the slightest noises and smallest sounds. And even in the darkness, and behind his closed eyes, he could still see the scuffs as clear as day.
“Wake up, Daisuke.” Ken hissed.
“Wha,” Daisuke mumbled but made no move to get up.
So Ken smacked him.
“Ow! What the hell!” Daisuke woke up a bit more.
“Get up.”
“What time is it?” he asked, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.
“It’s morning.”
“I feel like I didn’t get any sleep at a—” Daisuke yawned in the middle of the word, “all. I spent all night worrying that Osamu—”
Ken smacked him again, harder this time. “I don’t care. I told you what you needed to do this morning. You will get up now. Go to the bathroom and splash water on you face if you need to. But you will not mess this up.” Ken pulled him up roughly and pushed him towards the bathroom. “Your clothes are already in there. Go. Now.”
Daisuke shuffled to the bathroom yawning and stretching all the way; his usual early morning routine. In the bathroom he tried Ken’s suggestion, splashing water from the sink on his face; it was freezing but it worked and he woke up a little bit more. He saw the clothing that Ken was talking about on top of the toilet, but he also saw a towel, washcloths, a new toothbrush and just about everything else he would need to get ready for the day. He wondered whom he had to thank for everything, it seemed a bit much, but then again he really didn’t have time to stand around and think about it. He figured a shower would be the best way to start.
When Daisuke stepped out of the bathroom, he was still a little wet behind ears, but he was dressed and fully awake, for the moment. He didn’t see Ken anywhere but he could hear Mrs. Ichijouji humming in the kitchen so he followed her voice.
“Good morning, Davis,” she said in a singsong voice.
“Um… morning,” He mumbled, a little startled by how much she resembled his own mother. She was bustling around the kitchen in her robe, smiling and happy without a care in the world. Though, to be fair, Mrs. Ichijouji just seemed genuinely excited, unlike the absent minded and empty joy his mother embodied.
“Well, unfortunately, it seems I forgot to go to the store this week so I didn’t have as much to offer you this morning as I would have liked,” she said with an apologetic smile, setting a bowl of cereal in front of him.
He paused for a moment, thinking about Ken’s words from the previous night, “kind, respectful and gracious,” he snorted to himself, Yeah, right.
She looked up at the slight sound, “Davis? Is there something wrong? I mean I could go—”
“No, everything’s perfect,” he said, hopping on to the stool with a little too much enthusiasm. “It’s just, I never get breakfast.” He started digging in with more vigor than he felt despite how hungry he actually was.
“Its just cereal. Surely you have time for a bowl in the morning.”
“Oh, no,” He took a second to swallow his mouthful. “I mean, yeah, I have time. But it’s my mom… She doesn’t have time to make breakfast like she used to and umm the only time I really get to see her is in… I mean, I try to hang out with her in the morning but she really doesn’t have time… and I usually just take like a breakfast bar. I hardly ever have time to sit down and eat breakfast, even cereal.” He took another giant spoonful of cereal so he could chew instead of talk. He didn’t like lying, especially not about his mother. Now he had to wonder if he had said too much or something wrong.
“I’ll just have to go out to the store and buy some things for breakfast as well. I’ll have a hot breakfast for you the next time you come over, how does that sound? Is there anything you’d like?”
Daisuke was spared answering when Ken came into the room. He dropped Daisuke’s book bag beside the stool as he walked up to the countertop. The bottle that Daisuke had completely forgotten about clinked slightly as the bag hit the floor but Mrs. Ichijouji didn’t notice and Daisuke tried not to breath a sigh of relief, as it would have blow chunks of cereal all over her.
“Let’s go,” Ken said.
“Now? But, Ken, Dear, you haven’t had your cereal.”
“Later,” He said, basically ignoring her and staring at Daisuke. “Let’s go. Now.”
Daisuke swallowed again and looked between the two of them. Ken looked a little angry, and a lot impatient, basically he looked normal. Mrs. Ichijouji’s smile was faltering, but she recovered when she noticed Daisuke was looking at her.
She chuckled, “Well, I guess… I’ll have to get some breakfast bars as well… I’ll just be a minute, I need to freshen up and then I’ll take Davis home.”
“Don’t bother,” Ken grabbed Daisuke’s arm and started to pull him off the stool.
“You know, I forgot it was Saturday last night, she’s probably already gone to work. Don’t worry I’ll call her and tell her what happened,” Daisuke smiled weakly, but what he really wanted to do was get out of the apartment and away from the hurt expression on her face. “Thank you, Mrs. Ichijouji, for everything, really,” he said reaching down to grab his book bag as Ken dragged him away from the counter.
“You’re welcome, Davis, you should come back soon.” She said, following them to the door. “And if there’s anything you need… I can call your mother and explain everything so you won’t have to.”
Ken rounded on her just as they reached the door, “That won’t be necessary.” He motioned for Daisuke to get out.
He managed to shove his feet in his shoes and stumble out of the apartment without falling on his face, but it was a close thing. v “Oh well…” She looked a little crestfallen and Daisuke was only too glad to get away.
“Thank you, again,” he said one last time.
“You’re welcome. Oh, have a good day bo—” She was cut off as Ken shut the door in her face.
“That was kinda mean, don’t you think.” Daisuke said, still struggling to put his shoes on correctly while following Ken down the stairs.
“She’s starved for attention, and she starting to meddle. What do you think would happen if she did have the conversation with your mother that she’s so anxious to have?”
Daisuke shuddered slightly; Ken had a very good point but he didn’t have to be so rude about it. “She’s just trying to be a good mother.”
“There was a time and place for that and now it’s long gone.”
That sounded like the end of the discussion. Daisuke didn’t have anything to add so he continued to follow Ken silently. They were walking away from the school and his house, not that he had been expecting to go to either of those places, but they were also headed away from the park, the ice cream shop, Miyako’s store and everything else Ken had shown him on this side of town. Daisuke had no idea were they were going.
He started to ask and then stopped himself several times because he didn’t want yet another lecture, but after three minutes his curiosity got the best of him, “Where are we going anyway?”
“To the Hida residence.”
“As in Hida Iori? Why are we going to see Iori?”
“I have a task from him.”
“But— ” Daisuke stopped himself just short of saying ‘But I thought you gave him to me,’ which, even in his head, was just completely wrong. He could only guess at how it wrong it would have been if he had actually said it.
“It was an extraordinary stroke of luck that I was able to obtain Iori’s help—”
“Manipulated him into submission,” Daisuke corrected under his breath.
“Exactly, I’m not going allow this opportunity to be wasted. There are task that I need taken care of which are perfectly suited for Iori, and if you’re not going to put him to good use, I will.”
“Good use? What ‘use’ could I possibly have for him? I mean aside from keeping Miyako away from me, which you said I wasn’t allowed to do, what else could I possibly need him for?”
“It’s your decision. If I had told you what to do with him, there would have been no reason to give him to you at all.”
“So now you’re taking him back?”
“No, he’s still yours to do with what you wish. But he’s perfectly capable of doing more than one thing at a time.”
“You mean following more than one master. Won’t that be confusing, I mean what if we tell him two different things?” Daisuke asked, not really sure if he was actually joking or not.
“What ever made you think that I haven’t always had final say over everything you tell him?”
“Oh, that’s great. How much trust does that show?”
Ken stopped, and for once Daisuke was expecting it. They faced each other on the sidewalk and Daisuke realized that he wasn’t about to get the response that he had been expecting.
“Do you really want to know how much I trust you?” Ken asked calmly.
Daisuke was stunned. It wasn’t like Ken to offer something like that. He had been expecting some kind of threat, vague or explicit… but now it seem that Ken was about to give honesty. A couple of weeks ago and he would have jumped at any sort of honesty from Ken but now, he was hesitating. Standing there, looking Ken in the face, seeing the kind of answer that he might be given; Daisuke knew he wasn’t ready for that kind of truth.
He looked away, “Come on. You were in such a rush a minute ago. Don’t wanna be late.” And at that moment, Daisuke had never felt like more of a coward at any time in his life.
“That was disappointing.” Ken’s tone was positively chilly.
Daisuke’s shoulders stiffened as he turned to look at Ken. He was glaring so hard that Daisuke took an involuntary step backwards.
“I don’t like being disappointed.”
“I-”
“You shouldn’t ask questions that you don’t want answered, next time I won’t be the one who ends up disappointed.” Ken stared at him until Daisuke looked down and away, finding it way too difficult to continue meeting that harsh look.
“Go home,” Ken said, his voice tight with anger. “You’re not ready for this and I don’t want you here.”
Daisuke’s head snapped up but Ken was already walking away. He could practically feel Ken’s regard withdrawing from him as if he wasn’t worthy of Ken’s consideration any longer.
“Wait a minute!” Daisuke called out, surprised at how stricken he sounded.
Ken stopped but didn’t turn.
“Ken, I…”
“Go home, Davis,” Ken said more forcefully.
“No!” Daisuke shouted, flinching from the use of his other name, like Ken didn’t know him anymore.
Ken turned then and stalked forward, eyes livid. Daisuke was sure that whatever Ken would do next was going to hurt, and it wasn’t something that he would be able to forget.
“Just stop,” Daisuke pleaded, shaking his head. “I’m not leaving, OK. I’m sorry that I asked…. No. No, I’m not. I’m sorry that I asked like it was a joke, cuz it’s not. I didn’t expect you to offer an answer, and that’s my fault. But I am not sorry that I asked, I’m just sorry that I asked right now. I do want an answer, but I don’t want to have that conversation out on the street. Cuz it’s private, it’s personal, at least to me it is, and –”
“Shut up, Daisuke,” Ken interrupted with absolutely no rancor. “You’re babbling.” Ken turned and started walking again, making no comment when Daisuke fell in step beside him.
Contact the author at Apple_qb@hotmail.com
