Begin!
~Normal POV
5/27 - Friday
That evening, Yu brought Adachi over for dinner as promised. Tonight was good enough for him honestly. He needed the distraction while they waited for Kanji's recovery. And Nanako liked having company. It was a little weird having him around without Dojima, but they didn't want to dwell on it too much.
"Big bro? The potatoes are still hard." Nanako said, joining the two at the table. "Today, we're having shoe!" She explained to Adachi.
Adachi gave her a puzzled look. "Shoe? Oh, you mean stew?"
"Yeah, shoe... Stew!" Nanako said, brightly.
"Hey, you did it."
"Do you like stew, Adachi-san," Nanako asked.
"Hm. Yeah kind of... I mean, yeah I do like it. It's been a while since I had some." Adachi turned his attention to Yu. "So, do you cook like this all the time? I bet Dojima-san tells you all the time what a great help you are!"
Yu smiled. "Not really. He lets things like that go unspoken."
Adachi laughed. "I knew it. He's probably just embarrassed. I heard you're moving back in the spring, I bet Dojima-san's gonna cry!"
This reminder made Nanako frown and fidget uneasily. She didn't want to think about that yet. Adachi was quick to notice her discomfort though.
"Oh, sorry, sorry! That's still a long way away!"
"Yeah..." Nanako mumbled.
Adachi sheepishly rubbed his neck looking for something to change the subject. He then perked up and asked. "Hey, Nanako-chan, have you ever seen this trick?"
He pulled a 500-yen coin out of his pocket and showed it sitting in his palm. "Now watch closely." He clutched the coin so that it was no longer visible, and shook his clenched fist a couple times. He then opened his fingers to reveal the coin was gone!
Nanako gasped in awe; cheering up instantly. "What?! How?! Why!? Again! Do it again!"
"Nah, this time I'll show you a better one!" Adachi pulled out another coin and closed his fist around it again. "Now... look in your big bro's pocket."
Playing along, Yu reached into his pocket and pulled out the same coin. "Whoa..." He said, very shocked that it worked.
Nanako couldn't help clapping excitedly. "Wow! You're the best, Adachi-san!"
Yu handed the coin back to him. "That was a surprise... I didn't peg you for being good at magic tricks."
Adachi shrugged modestly. "I'm pretty good with my hands, so it comes easy to me." He looked more relieved at Nanako being cheerful again. "Maybe I should have been a magician. Then I wouldn't have such a- uh, well. I guess there's no job like a government job. It's not like I can make a living working with my hands... That's smelling pretty good. I think the shoe's about ready."
"It's stew!" Nanako argued.
"Shiatsu?"
"Shoe!"
"Wrong!"
"No, I said it right!"
Yu chuckled at their silly argument. He made the right call by inviting Adachi over. He made a mental note to do it again soon. It made dinner a lot more lively.
~...
5/30 - Monday
Seeing as how Kanji was still absent from school, Yu kept up his ongoing schedule of killing time with his friends or doing something more productive. In the spirit of doing so, he opted to bring Adachi over for dinner again tonight. The original intent had been to get him to help with studying, but that went out the window instantly. Apparently, Adachi forgot everything he learned in high school. He agreed to come anyway for the prospect of free food, and to see Nanako again.
"I don't even want to look at your homework, Narukami-kun," Adachi joked, watching him work. "Too complicated looking. Though I could probably help with Nanako-chan's."
Nanako perked up eagerly. "Really?! You would? I have some homework. A book review!"
"Oh, those... They're really easy if you know what to do. You don't have to read the whole thing. Just read the notes in the back and then summarize those."
Nanako looked up at him curiously. "I don't? But my teacher said, 'Read it and write what you think.'"
"Don't worry about that," Adachi replied, dismissively. "We have to be efficient here."
"You're right." Yu said, smiling.
He actually did agree with him too. While Yu wasn't against reading novels, he preferred manga over them. He just so happened to not get very lucky in the books he'd read throughout his life. Most of them just didn't interest him. Easily, the worst one he ever read was a book titled Witch Detective. That one practically melted his brain, and he never wanted to think about it again. And Adachi did have a point about being efficient in doing your homework- even if it's not the most responsible way.
"Are you the same way?" Adachi asked, laughing. "What a bad older brother!"
"Big bro, are you a punk?!"
"No, I'm not! I always do my homework properly, unlike Yosuke..."
Nanako pulled out her assigned book and opened it to the back page. "...It's not a review!" She whined. "I guess I can't do it that way... I just have to read it. And then get a mark from a grown up saying I did."
"Ah, ok," Adachi said, "That's easy enough. Though... a mark? Hm, Dojima-san's going to be late today..."
"Will you give me one, Adachi-san?"
"Me? Ok... if you're good, I'll draw you a big flower!"
This got Nanako motivated and she started reading the book aloud. It sounded like some little kids' book about a pink alligator. It was mercifully short too, so she kept reading until she finished.
"Oh, you're done?" Adachi asked, seeing her finally set the book down.
"Uh huh! Do I get a big flower?!"
Adachi pulled her homework paper over and put a rather poorly drawn flower on it as requested. He then gave Yu a teasing smile and asked. "What about you? Don't you have anything you want me to draw a flower on?"
Yu grinned. "No thanks. My homeroom teacher would just make fun of me for it!" And he definitely didn't need a reason for King Moron to yell at him. He got enough of that just from listening to how he teaches class normally.
"Aww, you're no fun... are you really related to Nanako-chan? Eh, nevermind." Adachi paused, studying Yu for a moment. "You look mature, but you're still in high school, you know. I'm not saying it should be me, but if something happens, you shouldn't hesitate to bring it to a grown up."
If Yu didn't know any better, it sounded like Adachi was concerned for him. Dojima must have told him about the incident with the model weapons. Though that was Yosuke's fault. He decided they'd have to be more careful. Even Dojima mentioned recently that he heard the gang makes an odd number of trips to the Junes electronics department. They might have been less discreet than intended. But it was nice to know Adachi cared for them.
"Man, I'm tired," Adachi whined suddenly. "Mind if I take a nap? That old lady from before came by yesterday, and brought me a bunch of photos of potential matches..."
"Oh, why?" Yu asked.
"She kept insisting that I see these girls because they're nice, and I had to do overtime because of it." Adachi scoffed. "Like I'll ever get married."
"You don't want to get married?" Nanako asked, innocently.
Adachi shook his head. "No. Nononono... Marriage is where fun goes to die. You'll understand in about 20 years, Nanako-chan."
"Don't listen to him," Yu said, quickly. "Marriage is nothing like that. He's just a cynical old brat."
"Oh? And I suppose you see it differently, huh?" Adachi asked.
"Of course I do," Yu replied. "Marriage is supposed to be fun. What could be better than getting to build a life with the person you love and cherish?"
Adachi gave him a look, but didn't seem interested in arguing with him. "Gonna have to agree to disagree on that one, kid..." He mused aloud, "Come to think of it, Dojima-san will be father-in-law to whoever she wants to marry. Yeesh, that's gonna put a damper on your chances..."
"They'll have to go through me too," Yu said, quietly. He was getting to be rather protective of his little cousin.
"Hmph. I don't want to get married either!" Nanako said, loudly. "I don't like people with holes in their socks!"
"I don't have holes in my socks!" Adachi replied, defensively.
"You did the last time you were here!"
Adachi chuckled sheepishly. "I stand corrected..."
~End of Chapter