GUYS
GUYS I AM SO SORRY
LIKE SERIOUSLY I AM SO SORRY I'VE HAD SO MUCH HOMEWORK PLUS A COMPLETE LACK OF INSPIRATION. AND I HAVE BEEN FEELING LIKE SHIT ( sorry for my bad Language but that's how I have been feeling)
I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN like Almost TWO WEEKS
I AM SOOOOO SORRY.
*Clears throat* But anyway, I encountered a lot of problems, and I realised that the idea I was going to use for Roko's backstory was impossible, so I spent a lot of time stressing over how to recover this without dramatically changing chap 59. To some of you this may seem like a load of crap, because in all honesty this doesn't sound realistic at all, but... here it is. The reason Roko's scar exists.
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In the past
I feel like I'm completely dumping all of this on you, but I wanted to keep this a secret for as long as possible. If you feel like I should have mentioned this earlier to keep the plot consistent I totally agree with you
"Have a fun day at the tennis courts!" Rinko called from the doorway, and Nanjiroh turned in unison with his twin sons and waved back as they walked down thedriveway to the car. Rinko had work to take care of today, so she couldn't go with them, which Nanjiroh didn't mind much, since Rinko would only be able to watch anyway.
"Oyaji, let's go already!" Ryoma exclaimed in excitement, and Nanjiroh rolled his eyes as they reached the car. He unlocked it, and almost immediately Ryoma was inside behind the driver's seat, whilst Roko moved around the car casually and slipped into the other seat. Nanjiroh just chuckled as he moved into his own seat.
"Fine, fine, Ryoma. Let's go then" he said nonchalantly, starting the car with a smirk and pulling off the driveway, watching his sons through the front mirror.
"Yay! I'm so excited!" Ryoma declared, suddenly turning to Roko, "Are you excited, Roko?" he asked, and Roko nodded in response.
"Of course!" he said happily with a soft smile, "Dad will finally take us to the tennis courts". Ryoma smiled so widely his head looked like it split in half, and Nanjiroh smirked in amusement.
"Calm down you two, you're getting too excited" he stated amusedly, and Ryoma turned to him sharply.
"Dad! We are not being too excited!" he exclaimed in protest, and Nanjiroh just rolled his eyes.
"Whatever you say, Ryoma" he drawled, and Ryoma frowned and folded his arms, sinking deeper into the seat.
"Hmph!" he huffed, Nanjiroh and Roko smiling in amusement at him.
The landscape changed rather quickly as they entered the quiet town, the fields replaced by buildings and people bustling back and forth, and Nanjiroh noted from the wheel how Ryoma was shuffling in his seat.
"Oyaji! Are we nearly there yet?" he demanded, and Nanjiroh smirked.
"Yes, Ryoma, just a few more minutes" he replied nonchalantly.
"Ugghh! I can't wait that long!" Ryoma moaned loudly, and Nanjiroh sighed.
"Calm down Ryoma" he said flatly, "You should learn to enjoy the ride"
"But I don't care about the ride!" Ryoma declared loudly, "I wanna play tennis so badly!". Nanjiroh simply shook his head amusedly, looking ahead as the car pulled to a stop at traffic lights.
"And what about you, Roko?" Nanjiroh asked, glancing at his more patient son through the front mirror.
"I'm OK with waiting" Roko said simply, and Nanjiroh smiled. Sometimes he wondered how Ryoma and Roko were siblings from how differently they acted. Ryoma would always act so excited about tennis, whilst Roko would also be excited but he didn't outwardly express it as much as Ryoma did. It was how things worked, Ryoma was loud, Roko was quiet.
The light turned green and Nanjiroh pulled off the road through the crossroads, glancing back at Ryoma and Roko through the mirror as he did.
And then the familiar sound of a loud horn rang out, and Nanjiroh turned his head sharply, his eyes widening in horror as the large body of a truck came speeding towards them. It was going to hit them. It felt like time slowed down for a moment, and Nanjiroh simply stopped and watched, knowing there was nothing he could do.
"Ryoma!"
Nanjiroh glanced back, noting in his muted form of adrenaline and fear that Roko was already moving. Somehow in the mere half a second that had passed Roko had managed to undo his seatbelt and was almost diving towards Ryoma, his arms spread outwards, immediately embracing Ryoma and holding him tightly and pushing him away from the oncoming truck at the same time, and in that one second that had passed Nanjiroh realised Roko was protecting him.
And then came the impact of the truck.
Nanjiroh groaned, opening his eyes to small slits as the harsh white light invaded his vision, causing him to hiss in slight pain, and he opened his eyes wider as he took in the white ceiling. He blinked, looking up as he took in the small room. There was a single chair next to the bed he was rested in, and a simple heart monitor.
He was in hospital.
For some reason it didn't surprise him and he simply took in the room once more, and looked back up at the ceiling.
"I see..." he muttered under his breath unconsciously, already piecing together what had happened.
They were in the car driving to the tennis courts, the truck hit them, Roko protected Ryoma.
Nanjiroh frowned. He was not the type of man who got worried about situations. He would look at the situation and take it in, because he knew that worrying would only make the situation worse, he would collect what he knew and construct a valid conclusion to rest his easiness on, and right now there was only one conclusion he could hope for:
Rinko had gotten word of the accident and was waiting outside, and his twin sons were both alright.
That's what he hoped for anyway.
As if on cue the door opened, and a woman dressed in a light pink loose t-shirt, apron and matching trousers stepped in holding a clipboard, and her eyes widened as she made eye-contact with Nanjiroh.
"You're awake" the woman stated evenly.
"Is my wife outside?" Nanjiroh cut in, not bothering with small talk. The woman's eyes widened again, and she paused for a moment.
"Echizen Rinko?" she asked, and Nanjiroh nodded. The woman's mouth formed a flat line in response.
"She is, but since you've woken up we have to perform some tests to make sure you're alright" the woman responded, and Nanjiroh frowned.
"How long will those take?" he asked bluntly, and the woman hesitated.
"I'll have to get a doctor first, but it should only take about ten minutes" she replied, and without a pause she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her, and Nanjiroh sighed, looking back up to the ceiling.
It was the longest ten minutes of his life.
"Nanjiroh!" Rinko cried, moving to his side in an instant, and Nanjiroh embraced her tightly, Rinko returning the hug.
"I'm so sorry, Nanjiroh" Rinko muttered into his shoulder, her voice cracking, and Nanjiroh hugged her tighter.
"It's not your fault" he said simply, and they simply held onto each other for a long while like lifelines.
There was a deep sound of someone clearing their throat, and the two looked up from their embrace to see a man in a doctor's long white coat and holding a clipboard standing at the door, and Rinko immediately straightened, sitting on the bed with Nanjiroh.
"If I'm not interrupting something..." the man began hesitantly.
"No" Rinko cut in quickly, "You aren't. Do you know how Ryoma and Roko are doing?" she asked bluntly, and the doctor frowned at her for a long moment.
"That's what I came here to talk about" he admitted solemnly, and Rinko stood up in an instant, Nanjiroh sitting up straight.
"Are they alright?" Rinko asked worriedly, and the doctor's mouth formed a hard line.
"Well I have good news and bad news" he said, and Nanjiroh's heart sunk into his stomach.
"The good news first" Nanjiroh said, and the doctor nodded.
"Your son Ryoma is relatively fine" he said, much to Nanjiroh's relief, "He has a broken leg, but that can be fixed in time, internal bleeding and many bruises. He also has some fractured bones, but over time those can heal"
"So he's fine?" Rinko asked quickly, and the man nodded.
"For someone who suffered in a car crash, he is relatively fine" the doctor declared, and Nanjiroh frowned deeply.
"And the bad news?" he asked lowly, and the doctor paused, and then gave a long sigh.
"Your other son is in not so good health" he admitted, and Rinko gasped slightly. Nanjiroh frowned but said nothing. He'd expected this.
"How bad?" Rinko asked hesitantly, and the man leafed through sheets on his clipboard, finding the sheet and frowning at it.
"Both of his legs are broken in multiple places" the doctor began, "There are too many fractures to simply heal, and so they will require physical therapy. A large amount of internal bleeding and a lot more damaged tissue. There are a lot more broken bones, but most can heal over time". The man looked up and bit his lip, and Nanjiroh scowled at him.
"What else?" he asked sharply, and the man's eyes widened slightly before he cleared his throat and continued.
"There is a... permanent complication" he said hesitantly, and Nanjiroh felt his heart rise into his throat, and Rinko's eyes widened as they stared at the man. When it became clear they wouldn't ask the man bit his lip again and opened his mouth to speak.
"When the paramedics found your son, he had a four-inch glass shard in his left eye. He was immediately taken to surgery to have it removed, but..."
"What?" Nanjiroh demanded, his voice shaking.
"His left eye has been destroyed" the doctor amended, "There is no way we can recover it, and so we were forced to remove what was left of it"
Rinko instantly broke down crying, and Nanjiroh grabbed onto her tightly, already feeling the tears saturating his hospital robe. This couldn't be right. Roko's left eye couldn't just be gone.
"An artificial eye" Nanjiroh said quickly, his head snapping up to the doctor's, "You could give Roko one of those". The doctor simply shook his head.
"In most cases you would be correct" he said solemnly, "But the glass shard also damaged the muscles in his eye. An artificial eye must be attached to the eye muscles, or it would simply fall out of the patient's eye socket"
"What else?" Nanjiroh returned quickly, "There must be something"
"There is" the doctor declared, and Rinko looked up sharply.
"What is it?" she almost demanded loudly, and the doctor hesitated for a moment at her sudden outburst.
"It's not exactly the best method" he amended, "But it is one. It would still technically be an artificial eye, but it would be similar to a contact lens". Nanjiroh frowned at him.
"What does that mean?" he asked confusedly, and the man paused.
"Well, since Roko's left eye has been removed, and a full artificial eye cannot be placed, the first problem is to fill the eye socket. That can be done by placing an artificial mass in the socket". Nanjiroh frowned deeply.
"Artificial mass?" Rinko echoed, and the man nodded.
"Like when patients have artificial hip replacements, it will be an artificial mass to fill the socket" he explained, and Nanjiroh cocked his head.
"You said about a contact lens" he stated, and the doctor nodded.
"The mass placed in the eye wouldn't take up the whole socket, and so there would be room for a thick contact lens, which would be the artificial eye" he explained, and Nanjiroh frowned.
"I don't understand" he said slowly, and the man nodded.
"It is a complicated thing, but in short, the artificial eye would be a contact lens one centimetre thick that would be placed over the artificial mass in the eye socket" he said bluntly, and the two blinked at him.
"That's it?" Nanjiroh asked incredulously, "That's all you can do? Give my son a contact lens?"
"I understand what you mean" the doctor returned quickly, "But if the muscles in his eye are destroyed, the only option we have left is to give him a contact lens".
A long silence fell in the room, and Nanjiroh scowled, his wife frowning in worry next to him.
"There is one more thing" the doctor said, and Nanjiroh looked up sharply.
"The glass shard may have also damaged part of Roko's brain" he stated, and the two's eyes widened, "He will be put in for a brain scan later to determine what part of the brain was affected, but until he wakes up we cannot be certain of the damage"
There was a very long silence in the room, and the doctor pulled on his collar uncomfortably.
"Two broken legs" Nanjiroh said slowly, "Broken bones, internal bleeding, his left eye is gone and he might have brain damage?". The doctor cleared his throat and paused.
"That's right, Mr. Echizen" he stated.
Rinko instantly broke down crying again, and Nanjiroh held her tightly.
For the first full 24 hours Roko had slept, the doctors were calm and simply said he suffered much trauma and would wake up.
The next full day he was still asleep, the doctors wasted no time putting Roko on life support, concerned that he may have fallen into a coma, and he continued to sleep the day after.
And the day after.
And the day after.
And the day after.
And finally after six days of a semi-coma on life support, Roko finally woke up.
However because of hospital procedures, Nanjiroh and his family were not allowed to see Roko until the day afterward.
It had one full week of Roko in hospital, and Nanjiroh himself was worried. Of course he was, his son had no left eye and multiple bone fractures. He had full rights to be worried, but he refused to show it, if he showed his concern in front of Rinko and Ryoma that would only make it worse for them.
Rinko cried a lot at first, she cried herself to sleep the day Nanjiroh was discharged from the hospital, and then she did it again when Ryoma was discharged from the hospital four days later. But Rinko also wasn't stupid, and she knew she had to be strong, like Nanjiroh did, and so they both agreed to put it behind them for now, because Roko would be fine.
Ryoma however, was far worse. They visited him in hospital every day for the four days he was in care, and Ryoma cried every time. Neither of them were surprised, after all, he was a five year old whose twin brother was on life support and in a semi-coma, so they did what they had to do as parents and made him feel better. They assured him that Roko was fine and he would be alright, and it worked for the time he was in hospital.
However Nanjiroh realised the problem immediately when they had taken Ryoma home that day. Roko and Ryoma had always shared a room, and so they were with each other most hours of the day, and the new void in Ryoma's life was obvious. It was especially obvious when it was time to put Ryoma to bed, and Nanjiroh could see him cast desperate glances at Roko's own bed, as if he was hoping for Roko to suddenly appear out of thin air. Ryoma cried himself to sleep for those three nights, and Nanjiroh felt so helpless it frustrated him. Ryoma also flat-out refused to leave the house under most circumstances, the only exception of this was to go and play in the outdoor tennis court in their back garden, and Nanjiroh found a rather devoid sense of relief in this.
So when it came to the day that they could finally see Roko, Ryoma was excited. It made Nanjiroh happy, kind of, until he looked deeper and saw the desperation in Ryoma's excitement. It was almost poetic how desperate Ryoma was to see Roko again after only a week, but neither parent did nothing to discourage him.
Because they shared the same desperate excitement Ryoma did, so on that morning when they were getting ready to leave for the hospital the tension was so thick Nanjiroh imagined cutting it in half with a butter knife. Ryoma didn't even bother to change clothes, wearing the exact same things he wore yesterday, since he had ended up falling asleep in exhaustion wearing them, but again neither parent scolded him, and so they got ready in the agonising silence.
So there they were, standing in the corridors of the hospital waiting and watching the door to Roko's hospital room like hawks, Ryoma pacing like a starved animal. After what felt like an eternity the door opened, and Ryoma stopped pacing in an instant, and the three looked up to the doctor in the doorway.
"Are you Roko's family?" the man asked.
"Yes" Nanjiroh replied instantly, "Can we see him?". The doctor frowned for a moment, and Nanjiroh returned the frown.
"There is one thing I need to say before that" the doctor declared, and Rinko's eyes widened.
"What is it? Are there more problems?" she asked anxiously, and the doctor paused.
"Well, we believe it is temporary, but in short your son has lost his voice" he stated, and Nanjiroh's eyes widened. He could feel a tight grip on his hand, and he looked down into Ryoma's wide eyes, and he returned the comforting grip.
"What do you mean?" Rinko asked tightly, and the man held up his hands in defense.
"Don't panic" he assured, "Roko can't talk, but we are sure it is a temporary side-effect from six days in a coma". Nanjiroh could feel his stomach settle, and Rinko audibly sighed in relief.
"How long will he be like that for?" Nanjiroh asked curiously, and the man eyed him wearily.
"We're not sure" he admitted, "It could only be a few days or it could be a few weeks"
"Can we see him now?" Ryoma demanded suddenly, ignoring his statement entirely, and Nanjiroh, Rinko and the doctor blinked at him, before the man hesitated.
"Of course" he said after a while, and without a moment's pause Ryoma dashed into the room.
"Ryoma!" Nanjiroh cried, moving after him in an instant, and stepping into the room.
Ryoma was already at Roko's side, embracing him in a hug and shaking as he began to cry into his chest, and Roko returned the hug, his eye filling with his own tears.
Roko was lying on a hospital bed, both of his legs in casts, wearing a hospital robe and he had a thick bandage around his head, covering his left eye. Nanjiroh felt a stab in his gut, and Rinko moved into the doorway after him, staring at Roko similarly.
"Roko" he managed to breath, and Roko looked up and smiled weakly.
The first time Roko had to clean his artificial eye was possibly the most gruelling thing Nanjiroh had ever seen in his life. It was exactly like the doctors said; a contact lens that looked exactly like Roko's other eye that went over the mass in his eye socket. It was rather daunting to think about slipping your eye in and out, but when Roko was instructed he did not hesitate to remove the contact without a problem. He still had not regained his voice, but it had only been a week since he had woken up, and so Nanjiroh hoped his voice would come back soon.
Roko removed his contact without a problem, and Nanjiroh had to supress the urge to vomit at how carelessly Roko removed his false eye, placing it in the jar of disinfectant placed in front of him, and seeing Roko's eye slowly sink to the bottom of the jar made Nanjiroh shudder.
It however, was not nearly as disturbing as the scar on Roko's left eye under the lens. The doctors had stated it was unpredicted, but a thin layer of skin had healed between the mass in his eye socket and the artificial eye, leaving a pale and jagged scar exactly formed like the glass shard that went through his eye, right underneath his artificial eye. So as Nanjiroh watched his son clean his own eye with a passive expression and without a care in the world, he also had to stare at the horrific scar left on his eye.
It was worse off because of the fact that the base of the lens was made of a suction cup material, so it stayed on your eye but it could still be removed. It meant that during strenuous activity or exercise where you run around a lot the eye could not be worn, or it would simply fall out. That meant Roko couldn't wear his eye playing tennis, and Nanjiroh scowled at the realisation.
"Do you need any help?" Nanjiroh asked, and Roko glanced at him and shook his head, turning back to the jar and taking a pair of tweezers from the table, holding them and picking his eye out of the jar with the tweezers, drying it thoroughly with a towel before placing it on the table to dry. It was a simple process, remove the eye, disinfect it, dry it, leave it for a few minutes and then put it back in, but it still felt like Nanjiroh was watching his life crumbling away at how careless Roko was. How many times would he have to do this? How many times had he removed his own eye already?
"How are you doing, Roko?" Nanjiroh asked when the silence came, and Roko looked up at him and reached for the notepad and pen on the table, grabbing them and writing quickly on the pad. Nanjiroh felt a knife in his heart as Roko did this.
"I'm doing well. I start physical therapy tomorrow" the paper read, and Nanjiroh's eyes drifted towards the crutches by Roko's bed and he forced down a scowl.
"Ryoma misses you a lot" Nanjiroh stated amusedly, and Roko smiled, writing more on his paper.
"I'll be in the hospital for another month at least. Ryoma visits every day already" the paper read, and Nanjiroh forced down a frown.
"He does" Nanjiroh agreed, "But he doesn't think it's the same without you around". Roko's smile left his lips, and he wrote some more on his paper, and Nanjiroh found his eyes drifting towards the scar on Roko's left eye, but the mere sight of it forced his gaze back to Roko's other eye.
"It's nice to have my own room" the paper read, and Nanjiroh chuckled despite himself. But internally he felt his gut fold at how he remembered Ryoma crying alone in their room.
"I'm sure it is" he agreed, and Roko smiled softly at him. A moment passed, and then Roko turned back to the table, reaching for his false eye, and Nanjiroh felt the bile rise in his throat again. Without a single care in the world Roko took the eye and glanced at it for half a moment before tilting his head back and slipping the thick contact onto his eye, hiding the scar, and he blinked several times before nodding to himself.
Nanjiroh however, felt like running out of the room at the mere sight.
"Good" he stated, "Do you need anything?" he asked, and Roko simply shook his head. Nanjiroh nodded to himself in response.
"Ok then, I'm going to get lunch, I'll be back soon" he declared, and Roko nodded again, and Nanjiroh turned and left the room, sliding the door behind him.
And then took one step forward and then steadied himself on the wall as he felt bile rise in his throat again, but he swallowed and forced it back down as far as it would go, refusing to vomit. He would not be weak for Roko, not now or ever.
After a moment of almost-vomiting Nanjiroh took a deep breath and moved his hand from the wall and stood on his own two feet, continuing on.
None of them were allowed to watch Roko during his physical therapy for both his broken legs, and so Nanjiroh, Rinko and Ryoma were waiting anxiously in the waiting room for him. Roko had been in the hospital for one month now, and he was rapidly improving. He was still on crutches, but he wasn't in pain every time he took a step on them anymore, and he no longer needed the casts on his legs.
However, against the doctor's predictions, Roko still had no voice, and it was becoming a worry for Nanjiroh. They had said it may last a couple of weeks, and it had been one month. What if this continued on? What if it was permanent?
Things at home had become much more mechanical since Roko's awakening. It was always breakfast, get ready, take Ryoma to school while Rinko goes to work, do nothing the entire day, pick up Ryoma from school, wait for Rinko to arrive, and then go to the hospital to see Roko. That pattern had not once broken since Roko's admission to hospital, and Nanjiroh could see it was becoming a problem.
Ryoma was becoming depressed, and Nanjiroh could see it clearly. He didn't talk to his friends as often as he did, as he learned from his teacher, he didn't talk about school much, though his grades didn't drop. He was quieter than usual, only finding peace in tennis. It was more than that though, the desperate look at Roko's bed whenever Nanjiroh put him to bed was gone, and instead he just obeyed him hollowly and without a word spoken. Ryoma was changing, and Nanjiroh did not like that one bit.
The door slid open, and the three stood up in an instant as one of the doctors held the door open for Roko to limp out on his crutches, and Ryoma moved to him in an instant.
"Roko, are you OK?" he asked quickly, and Nanjiroh would have chuckled in amusement if he didn't see how desperate Ryoma's expression was.
"He's fine" the doctor answered, "Roko is improving rapidly, and we think he should be ready to leave by next week".
The three looked up sharply at the doctor, their eyes lighting up with hope.
"Really?" Ryoma asked excitedly, and the doctor nodded. Ryoma squealed in delight, and Nanjiroh's throat tightened. Ryoma had never been so happy in the month Roko was in hospital.
"However" the doctor said quickly, "Roko will be on crutches still for at least a week after he is discharged"
That did nothing to stop the excited mood in the air, and Nanjiroh could tell Ryoma was restraining himself from hugging Roko. He was on crutches after all.
Echizen Household
"And that's about it" the old monk finally finished.
There was a long silence in the room, and no one made a move to comment, all gazing off in their various worlds.
So Echizen's left eye was the result of an accident. Sanada wasn't overly surprised by that, since he had guessed it before, but the fact that Echizen had suffered so much weighed down on him.
"But" Marui said suddenly, attracting the group's attention, "Why wasn't Echizen wearing his eye today?" he asked.
"Roko prefers not to wear his eye" the monk stated after a pause, and the team looked at him curiously.
"Why not?" Yanagi asked.
"He thinks it's easier to have his hair styled across his left eye than wearing an eye that could fall out" the monk explained, and the team frowned. Sanada had to agree with him, he couldn't even imagine what kind of situation could occur if someone saw Echizen's eye fall out.
"So any more questions?" the monk asked, and there was a long pause.
"Where is Echizen Ryoma, by the way?" Yanagi asked after a moment, and Sanada glanced at the monk curiously.
"Ryoma said something about getting lunch with the regulars after their match" the monk answered, and the room lapsed into another silence.
Then there was the distinct whistling of a kettle, and the group looking up sharply at the sound.
"Heh? So you were listening the whole time, Roko?" the monk said loudly, and a moment later Echizen appeared in the doorway, a cup of tea in both hands, looking paler than usual, and a very familiar cat brushing against his ankles. Suddenly Niou was on his feet, and Sanada turned to him sharply.
"It's that cat!" Niou cried, pointing at that cat like a demon, and Sanada frowned. Echizen's cat was the one who attacked Niou's rat tail. The cat looked up and scanned the room, its eyes widening as they made contact with Sanada, and in an instant the cat was moving.
"Meow~" it cried as it leapt at Sanada, landing on his lap and rubbing his head on Sanada's torso. He felt his face heat up, and he glanced up at Echizen, who was narrowing his eyes dangerously at Sanada.
"Karupin seems to like you a lot" the monk stated amusedly, and Sanada flushed.
"Oi Echizen!" Niou cried, whirling on him, "Since when has this been your cat?" he demanded, and Echizen simply raised an eybrow.
"That cat" Niou said lowly, "Give him to me"
Echizen narrowed his eye dangerously, and Niou stopped, and it was clear from his expression he was only just remembering who exactly he was talking to. The one who nearly killed Niou twice.
"Niou-kun" Yagyuu intervened, "You should leave Karupin alone" he advised, and Niou nodded absent-mindedly, sitting back down, the anger suddenly leaving him, and the old man chuckled amusedly.
Meanwhile Karupin continued to purr and rub himself on Sanada, and Sanada stroked his fur awkwardly, not missing the death stare Echizen was sending him.
"So you were listening Echizen" Yanagi stated, and Echizen glanced at him and nodded once, sipping his tea absently.
"Echizen..." Jackal muttered, and Echizen simply rolled his one visible eye. Sanada frowned at his reaction, and the monk chuckled, confusing him further.
"Roko couldn't care less" the monk stated, and Sanada blinked, glancing back at Echizen.
"Are you sure you're OK with this, Echizen?" Yanagi asked hesitantly, and Echizen simply nodded, sipping his tea again, and Sanada blinked.
He really doesn't care if we know, he realised. The rubbing on his torso knocked him out of his temporary brooding, and he looked down in annoyance at Echizen's cat who was still purring on Sanada's lap. Karupin suddenly turned in a short circle, and then settled down on his lap quickly, and Sanada was mixed between annoyance and embarrassment.
He could also feel Echizen's boring stare on him, and he promptly ignored it.
"Roko, you should go to bed if you're sick, I'll call school and say you won't be in tomorrow" the monk stated, and Echizen simply nodded obediently, walking out the room without so much as a gesture before anyone could protest, and the team blinked, unsure what to do now. The monk simply chuckled again.
"Roko has a knack for creating awkward moments" he stated amusedly, and Sanada agreed with him.
"Meow~" Karupin drawled, and Sanada frowned in annoyance at the cat on his lap.
"That cat really likes you, fukubuchou" Kirihara stated amusedly, and Sanada looked up sharply and glared at him, to which Kirihara flinched and immediately shut up.
"Tarundarou..." Sanada muttered.
"You must be Sanada Genichiro then" the monk declared, and Sanada looked up at him curiously.
"How do you know that, Echizen-san?" Yanagi asked curiously, and the monk smirked.
"Roko talks about you a lot" he said simply, and the team blinked. Echizen talked about them? The monk glanced at Sanada amusedly.
"Sanada Genichiro, the tall cap-wearing taskmaster who mutters 'Tarundarou' a lot. You're Roko's best friend if I'm right" he declared, and Sanada frowned. Echizen thought he was his best friend? The monk then glanced at Yanagi next.
"Yanagi Renji, the guy who never opens his eyes and has a bowl haircut" he stated, and Yanagi nodded.
"That's right, Echizen-san" he replied monotonously, and the monk glanced at the rest of the team.
"Marui Bunta, the pink-haired tennis 'tensai' who loves cake as much as my son" he stated amusedly.
"That's right" Marui replied.
"Jackal Kuwahara, the dark-skinned tall guy with a bald head" the monk stated, and Jackal blinked at him.
"Niou Masaharu" the monk declared, glancing at Niou next and smirking widely, "The one who made my son's hair blue and was nearly killed by him twice, and has completely white hair"
"Puri~" Niou responded, and the monk smirked wider.
"Your prank on Roko was great by the way" he stated amusedly, "I'd never laughed so hard as when Roko came home with blue hair". Niou smirked widely in response, and the monk glanced at Yagyuu.
"Yagyuu Hiroshi, the purple-haired gentleman who played Roko in the Ranking Tournament" he declared, and Yagyuu nodded politely.
"That's correct, Echizen-san" he stated, and finally the monk glanced at Kirihara.
"Kirihara Akaya, the devil of the team with distinct curly hair and a big mouth" he stated, and Kirihara twitched.
"Echizen thinks I have a big mouth?" Kirihara muttered.
"You do, Bakaya" Marui stated, and Kirihara's gaze snapped to him.
"Stop calling me Bakaya, Marui-senpai!" he snapped, and Marui smiled amusedly.
"Enough" Sanada said in annoyance, and they shut up. The monk chuckled, glancing back at Sanada, and Sanada frowned.
"You're just like Roko described" he said simply. Sanada blinked, wondering what Echizen had described him to be like, but he said nothing.
"We should probably leave" Yanagi stated after a pause, and the team nodded, knowing that their welcome was wearing down. Sanada glanced down at the cat on his lap, and picked him up gently, and Karupin meowed in protest as Sanada held him in the air as he stood up. He could hear the team chuckle in amusement, but he ignored it, setting the cat down and stepping away as Karupin eyed him curiously.
"Thank you for having us, Echizen-san" Yanagi said politely, and the man nodded back.
"Have a safe trip home" he said simply, and the team nodded in unison and walked out of the room and out of the door. Sanada only took three steps out of the door before Niou was smiling devilishly, and he frowned at Niou in response.
"I saw that blush at Echizen's cousin" he stated, his voice laced with amusement, and Sanada glared in response.
"Sanada-fukubuchou was blushing?" Kirihara asked incredulously, joining the conversation, and Sanada glared in annoyance at him, and Kirihara immediately shrank back.
"How do you know she's Echizen's cousin, Niou?" Marui asked curiously, and Niou simply scoffed.
"She called Echizen's dad 'uncle'" he responded, and Sanada dimly remembered her saying that.
"Genichiro" Yanagi stated simply, and Sanada turned to him curiously.
"Please refrain yourself from blushing so senselessly at Echizen's cousin, it is rather embarrassing"
Sanada cracked.
"TARUNDAROU!"
Echizen Household
"TARUNDAROU!"
Roko smirked into his tea, sipping it gently and setting it on the bedside table. Sanada was definitely loud, and he had to wonder what was riling up Sanada so much. Niou was probably involved, but Roko couldn't guess any more than that. Not that it mattered anyway, since for the second time Sanada had stolen his cat away from him, and Roko was decidedly annoyed.
"Meow" Karupin drawled, and Roko glanced down at his cat who was sitting on the floor staring at him expectantly, and Roko narrowed his eyes.
You are getting nothing from me, betrayer
Karupin's eyes softened, immediately getting the point and walking away without a pause, and Roko mentally sighed.
So Rikkaidai knew about how he had the scar. That at least made things easier in the future, and Roko was dimly happy in the back of his mind that they knew now. It would save a lot of awkward moments in the future, and so he was fine with it. He never planned on telling them, but now they knew it didn't make much of a difference. He supposed it didn't really matter how they found the scar, but since he'd fallen asleep at the courts and woken up at home, they must have carried him home and seen the scar then.
The old man had missed out a lot of details, but most of them were rather personal and the team knew what they needed, so it didn't matter anyway.
But Roko had more important things to worry about, like how heavy his head felt. He had to admit to himself now, he was sick, and he would probably miss school tomorrow, but he supposed it didn't matter. A day in bed sounded great right now, and all Roko could think of was sleeping.
So he did exactly that, falling asleep before he'd even put his head on the pillow.