"Achoo!" I sneeze into my shirt.
"I can't believe we're sick." Tsukishima mutters, annoyed.
"It's your fault." I say, rubbing my temples.
It's Saturday, and both Tsukishima and I have a cold from yesterday. It didn't hit me until I got home, so I texted him angrily saying that he owes me medicine.
Much to my surprise he texted me to come over today and get it, but when I arrived Akiteru insisted that I stay.
"I'm making miso soup for Kei! You should have some as well since you're both sick." Is what he said.
"Let's watch the videos now." He turns on the TV in the living room and searches through YouTube.
"Who are we going to watch?" I ask, pulling the blanket he provided to me closer around my body.
"Let's watch the National team play. They're good right? Maybe it will give us inspiration." He types that into the search bar and scrolls through the videos, choosing the most recent one.
Akiteru brings us both a bowl of soup and sits down with us on the opposite couch. We all sit quietly, eating and watching the team play.
They're seriously amazing. I wish I could play as well as they do. The amount of practice and effort they must have put into the sport amazes me.
Tsukishima flips through both the men's and women's team, without even asking. I feel like he only does that since I'm here, and I can't help but smile to myself.
"So? Feel inspired?" Akiteru looks at both of us as the 5th video ends.
"I feel more inspired to learn how to cook after eating your soup." I say, and we both laugh. I see Tsukishima gives me a weird look but I just shake it off.
"Aw, maybe if Kei invited you over more then I'll cook lots of food for you two." He grins.
I look over at Tsukishima and lean over to the other side of the couch, poking his shoulder.
"How about it Blondie-Kun? Why don't you invite me over more?" I laugh, sitting back in my seat.
"No, you just want a free meal." He sets his bowl on the table in front of us, which is only half eaten.
"That's not true." I dramatically gasp, but I can't keep the smile off my face. "I enjoy being in your presence, more than I like your brother's food." This, is of course, a complete lie. 100%.
"Yeah, sure." He scoffs.
You would think, after you make out with someone, you'd be a little nicer to them. Maybe flirt with them, make them feel special. A small part of me wished that would happen when I came over.
But I was hit with the harsh reality of remembering just who Tsukishima Kei is. Meanie.
"Kei I think it's really nice that you-"
"I don't care." Tsukishima cuts his brother off. "You know what? Actually, Gaijin, you need to go." He stands up and I look at him confused.
"Now." He demands.
"Kei, what is wrong with you?" Akiteru looks at his brother, astonished.
"Get out of my house." He glares at me.
"What the heck did I do?" I stare at him, wide eyed. I take the blanket off me and start to stand up but Tsukishima grabs my arm roughly, his hold on me tight, and yanks me up, almost making me fall. I look up at him, scared.
"Kei! Stop it." Akiteru stands up and pushes his brother off of me. "Dude, you need to calm down. I don't know what the hell happened to make you this mad, but you never lay your hands on someone like that. Please, go cool off in your room or something."
Tsukishima looks at his brother, and then back to me. A flash of guilt crosses his face, but it's gone as soon as it came. He sucks his teeth and goes upstairs.
I take a deep, shaky breath, before grabbing my bag and rushing to the door.
"Katsumi! Wait!" Akiteru follows me. "Let me take you home."
"No thanks. It seems I've caused enough trouble already." I say, looking at him once I reach their porch. "I'm sorry for intruding." I bow to him, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. The place Tsukishima once held me, throbs and I just know I'm going to have a bruise tomorrow.
"Hey, it's okay. It's not your fault." He gently grabs my shoulders and lifts me up. He takes me into a hug, wrapping his arms around me tightly.
I break, beginning to cry. I hug him back, feeling pathetic.
"I don't know what I did." I say, my voice shaky. "He's so hard to read, sometimes he's really nice and the next second he's like this. What did I do to him?" I ask quietly as Akiteru rubs my back.
"It's not your fault. He's been really moody lately, I'm not sure why. Something must be really bothering him, I'm not sure why he's taking it out on you though." He pulls away and offers a small smile. I sniffle, wiping my tears.
"I'm sorry. I'm not sure why I'm crying. He is always mean, it's not a surprise. I'm pathetic for crying like this, aren't I?" I chuckle a bit, but it's forced.
"Not at all. Let me take you home, okay?" He says and peeks his head back in the house, grabbing his keys off the wall.
"Okay." I give in, and he leads me to his car.
I get into the passenger seat and we take off.
"I don't know where to go, so please direct me." Akiteru laughs and I chuckle, nodding.
I expected it to be awkward, just Akiteru and I. But it's surprisingly not. The whole way there, he tries to cheer me up with jokes and funny stories.
He makes a wrong turn and I frown.
"You were supposed to keep going straight." I say quietly.
"Hm? Oh, we're making a pit stop first." He glances over at me, grinning.
"Oh?" I force a chuckle, but start to panic. I bite my lip, wondering if I should sneakily try to call 911 or something. Maybe I should try to open the door and jump out?
I keep quiet for a few minutes, panicking on the inside and thinking of ways to escape. And then he turns into Gelateria Fruits Laboratory. Is this where I die? In front of an ice cream shop?
"This will cheer you up. It surely did the job when I was younger." He parks, taking off his seatbelt.
"W-What?" I look at him, shocked.
"Um...ice cream?" He furrows his eyebrows, confused. "I'll buy you ice cream." Realization hits me and I smack my forehead.
"Of course." I laugh.
"What...?" He tilts his head in confusion.
"Oh, it's nothing." My face heats up from embarrassment and I exit the car.
We walk into the shop together and I look around. There's so many flavors to choose from, I'm getting excited.
"You look like you just seen an angel." Akiteru laughs from beside me.
"I feel like I'm in Heaven." I grin.
We order the flavor we want, and I try to pay but Akiteru refuses. We find a table to sit at and I squeal excitedly.
"Thank you for the meal." We say in unison and then start to eat.
"Thank you." I smile.
"Sure. I'm going to try to talk to Kei when I get back home, see if I can find out what's bothering him. We don't get along that well since...well since I was in high school. So I'm not sure if I can get it out of him. But I'll try my best." He looks down, smiling sadly.
"Did something bad happen between you two?" I frown.
"I just...I thought I was protecting him. I really thought it was for the best. But in the end, I let him down. I...betrayed his trust. We used to be really close, and now we hardly talk. I miss him." He sighs sadly.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm sure things will get better one day. It takes a different amount of time for everyone to heal. I'm sure he still cares about you." I try to offer an encouraging smile.
"You know...being with you...whenever you're at our house- it just." He chuckles. "It makes me feel like I have a little sister. A sibling that cares. Though you don't come often, whenever you're here you ask how I am, what I'm up to, you enjoy my cooking. I hope I'm not overstepping any boundaries by saying this." He bites his lip.
"No! Not at all." I shake my head furiously. His words pull at my heart. Surely Tsukishima still cares for him, right? "I'm an only child, so having someone who's like an older brother is really nice." I smile.
"Thank you for saying that." He chuckles softly.
We spend the half an hour eating ice cream and telling stories, just enjoying each other's company.
"Oh, we should get going. Kei is probably wondering where I am." Akiteru checks his phone and I nod. We throw away our trash and get in the car.
The rest of the drive is quick and when I got home I thank him.
"Hopefully you and Kei make up soon." He frowns.
"I'm not even sure what he's holding against me. So we'll see." We both laugh and he watches to make sure I get into my house before leaving.
"What a day." I huff out a breath. I look at my arm where Tsukishima grabbed me. A feint ring of blue and purple is already visible.
Fuck him. This is the second time he's touched me like this. I take a deep breath, pushing down my feelings. I'll just ignore him. From now on, he'll just simply cease to exist in my world.
The door opens and I jump, looking behind me.
"Oh! Sorry hunny, did I scare you?" My mother appears in front of me, holding a ton of shopping bags.
"Oh, hi mom. Sorry, I just wasn't expecting you to be home. What are you doing here? Let me help you with those." I grab some bags from her.
"Oh, thank you. I did not expect to come here either. Your father said that he'll cover my work for me today so we can spend the day together- baby were you crying?" She drops the bags and cups my cheeks.
"Huh? Oh- I'm fine. I watched a really sad movie." I chuckle, and a look of relief passes over her.
"Oh, thank goodness. You made me worried. Let's bring these bags to my room alright?" She smiles giddily and picks up the bags again, rushing upstairs.
I watch her retreating form and smile. She worries about me too much. My mother and I have always been close, my father and I as well, but the bond I have with my mother...is just different. Though my parents both work a lot, they've never failed to make me feel loved. Constant phone calls and face times, spending the most time with me as they can when they're home. I love them so much.
I quickly follow my mother up to her room, and when I get there I see her excitedly waiting for me.
"Why are you so excited about shopping?" I laugh.
"Not just any shopping, hunny! These are for you!" She grins brightly.
"For me?" I furrow my eyebrows, putting the bags down with the rest of them. "All of it?"
"Yes, well-" she laughs. "I got a thing or two for myself. But yeah! I spent all morning and part of this afternoon shopping for you. I know we didn't get to buy new clothes for the school year."
"Mom." I laugh, plopping onto the bed next to her. "We're not in America anymore. We have to wear school uniforms again, remember?" She gasps.
"Ahhh! I forgot! I'm so sorry!" She puts her hands on the side of her head, laughing.
"It's okay." I grab her hands, laughing with her. "I mean...clothes are clothes. I'll wear them."
"You're right. Why don't you give a fashion show? We can send pictures to your dad to show him where our hard earned money went to." We both giggle and she starts to hand me different articles of clothing to try on.
This day has gotten way better than I hoped it would. My mother and I laugh as I try on different clothes, posing for the camera.
"You look so beautiful! You're stunning! Look at your long arms and legs- why aren't you a model?" She grins, making me blush. My mother has always been my number 1 fan.
"Okay, try this one now." She hands me a cropped short sleeve T-shirt.
"Mom, it's been cold lately." I laugh, holding it up.
"There's nothing wrong with shopping for different seasons." She grins, making me roll my eyes and chuckle.
I slip it on, raising my arm to untuck my hair from it. She usually looks away as I change, but she sees that I have the shirt on and glances at me. I hear her gasp and before I know it, she's standing in front of me grabbing my arm gently.
"Baby, what happened here?" She lightly touches the spot where Tsukishima grabbed me. I totally forgot about that. Until now, everything shes given me to try on has covered it.
"O-Oh. That's nothing." I take my hand away and put it behind my back.
"Sweetheart..." my mother looks at me sadly. She slowly raises her hands to cup my cheeks, but I look away from her.
She turns my face her to again and tears start to roll down my cheeks. Why am I crying? Maybe because I feel guilty.
Guilty about kissing Tsukishima, guilty about staying around him after the first time he manhandled me, guilty about still liking him after that, and guilty about lying to my mother.
"Hunny, you can tell me what's wrong okay? Is it because you think I'm going to get mad at you? I promise I won't." She says, her voice gentle.
I shake my head furiously, and hug her, sobbing into her chest. God, I'm so pathetic. I'm so pathetic.
"It's okay baby, y-you're okay." She holds me tight.
"I don't want to worry you okay? Please don't worry about me. It's nothing." I whisper.
"If you say it's nothing..." she rubs my back, and pulls away, holding me at arms length. "then I'll believe you, okay? I trust you to make the right decision." I look at her, the guilt eating me alive. I hate lying to her.
"I-I promise. It's okay." I whisper.
"Okay." She lets out a breath, leaning in and kissing my forehead. "I love you sweetie, okay? I'm always here for you."
"I love you too mom." I say. We look at each other and chuckle, despite the tears. "We are a mess huh?"
"Yes we are." She smiles at me. "Now, let's get some rest, yeah?"