Home is where the heart is (2/?)

Spoilers for some bits of the manga concerning Fujikake's oranges, Mitsuru and his family, Suka and his family and maybe Misako if you don't know about her already? I don't really know how to write spoilers, so be warned!!!

Mitsuru slipped through the quiet corridors of Greenwood, grateful that the weather had held long enough for him to slip through the open window before pouring. Outside, the rain had begun its pattering and the chilly draft that wafted through the corridor would deter the most hardy of residents from venturing out. A silent specter ghosting through, Mitsuru silently took note of which room lights were on. Given that the next day was a school day, it would not do for so many people to be awake. Suka would have to do something about that. Then again, the fact that they were in their room and awake at such a late hour meant that they were not in the 24hr arcade and could actually possibly be trying to cram some last minute knowledge for the next day, or more precisely the next test.

Mitsuru shook his head. It was not his place to judge things, since he was no longer the dorm president of Greenwood. It was Suka's duty to keep things in order. Of course there was the matter of where he had just recently been and the tiny little fact that light too peeked from under his room door, but that was besides the point.

He opened the door. Unsurprisingly, Shinobu was seated at his desk, engrossed in the notations that he was making, but did condescend enough to tilt his head and face his roommate in acknowledgement.

Mitsuru raked his hair as he sat down on Shinobu’s bed so as to be on eyelevel with his friend, ignoring the sharp look that came his way. “It was a riot considering the hyperactivity of Nitta Mieko, and she couldn’t say no to the encores that kept coming her way so in the end the concert ended 2 hours later.” He shrugged, head inclined to the clock. “And that’s why I got here so late, but you probably surmised that.”

The boy shuddered and glared at Shinobu. “Ah yes, my best friend who just conveniently left me standing there with her holding the two concert tickets in hand and no way to weasel out of it. Misako.” But try as he might to stare his roommate into feeling any semblance to guilt, Mitsuru soon quickly found out that it was easier to squeeze water out of rocks. Finally he shrugged.

“Oh all right, it was actually okay. Beyond her gushing, she wasn’t that bad in public once she stopped floating and walked around like a normal human.”

His mouth twitched in an unwilling smile. “She really is a big fan of Nitta Mieko. You know, sometimes I forget how young she is. As much as she annoys me to no end, she’s really not that bad a person. Uh, not that I still want her to keep haunting me of course,” he added hastily seeing a slight smirk creeping on his roommate’s face. ”But you know what I mean.”

He shivered, mind having no problem conjuring up the amount of girl problem that kept coming his way just in the last month. What exactly was it about him that kept attracting these strange girls? And people wondered why he was single. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. No point in lingering in that. “So, anything interesting happen in the dorm while I was away?”

Shinobu smiled faintly. “Well, beyond the fact that the whole dorm was cheering when you finally agreed to take Misako out to stop her accidental rampage of Greenwood?”

“Beyond that.” Mitsuru waved his hand hurriedly. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. That was not a good memory.

“Well three things actually. Firstly, Fujikake’s seasonal shipment of oranges came in today and he hid half of them in the storeroom by the staircase for fear that you would come by tomorrow and confiscate some of them when you found wind of that.”

“I have started the betting pool for Shun’s date, and as of now the odds are quite high favoring his success. Most of the Greenwood residents believe that perhaps this is the girl for Shun.”

“It went that well huh? What do you think?” Mitsuru’s eyebrows rose as he smiled. It was good that Shun was going out. If it was to last, so much the better.

Shinobu eyes slid closed in thought, weighing his words before he spoke. “I think given that she is slated to return back to Hokkaido in the next week, Shun would have to work very fast if he wants to stand a chance.”

Shinobu gestured at a gray canister sitting by the table. “Well, your mother made some black chicken tonic as she feared that you weren’t getting enough sleep preparing for the festival and given the showers that we've been having, she made some to boost your spirits.”

Mitsuru stared at the canister with the greeting attached for a long moment before hopping off his friend’s bed to approach the container almost reverently. He did not have to turn the canister to see the childish scrawl that was his and Sho’s as they fought over the ownership of the container years ago. He did not have to look to feel the scratches on the side of the metal casing where it had hit the curb of the temple after they argued over it.

Gingerly, he unscrewed the lid. It was still warm. The aroma of homemade broth wafted through the air, filling the room in its smell. It tickled his nostrils, reminding him of a different place, a different time when he had smelled it.

“They miss you, you know.” A quiet reproach broke through Mitsuru’s thoughts.

Mitsuru fingered the note, refusing to look at his roommate. “I know. But to take more of their love when they’ve given so much would be wrong.”

Mitsuru looked up, his eyes rough with open emotion. “I am an orphan,” he stated simply. “I owe them too much to take more of their love. They will thank me in the end.”

Shinobu stared back at his friend, eyes gleaming with hidden emotion, but said nothing. Outside the shower turned into a downpour.

At the infirmary, Hasukawa Kazuya waited for his turn. He scowled, pinching his nose to stop it from running and causing it a further mess than it already had. Walking to school in the middle of a thunderstorm had been a bad idea. But there was no helping it, school began on time whether the rain that was pouring since the day before abated or not, and waking up late hadn’t helped matters much either.

He sneezed. No point feeling sorry for himself, he groaned, rubbing his noise with one hand while fishing for a pack of tissues with the other. If his sorry excuse of a brother diagnosed him as sick, then sick he was. But whatever the result was, he was not, not, not in any way, going to let Hasukawa Kazuhiro get under his skin again.

The door open as a boy let himself out. Yasushi Onuki from class 2-G, if Hasukawa’s memory was to be believed. The boy gestured towards the door behind him and left. Hasukawa got up and stalked through the door. Sitting down without thought, he started reciting the problem, the cure and if Kazuhiro would hurry up and give it to him and leave him alone for the rest of his life, he would appreciate it very much.

The doctor lifted his head, eyebrows arched. “Is this anyway to talk to a sensei? Especially one who is more senior in age to you?”

“Sorry sensei, I thought you were somewhere else.” As it was, the person who was seated before him in no way resembled Kazuhiro. Kazuhiro was blond, this man had salt and pepper hair. Kazuhiro was young, this man bordered on perhaps 60. But in Suka’s haste to get in and out of the infirmary as fast as he could, he had not noticed.

He blinked and looked around, even as he dived for another tissue to stop the flood. “Where’s Kazu – uhm, Hasukawa-san?”

The doctor stared at Hasukawa steadily for a moment, as if wondering whether or not to divulge information to such a young upstart or not. Finally he relented. “Hasukawa has taken a leave of absence. I’m taking over until he comes back.”

Suka frowned. It would just be like his brother to do such a thing! Typically irresponsible! It was bad enough that he had to be an infirmary doctor in a boy’s school instead of a proper hospital and now he was even slacking on this job? He looked at the doctor. “Do you happen to know when he will be back?” Mentally, his brain started churning, thinking of the amount of time before he would scold his brother good and proper.

The doctor shrugged. “As soon as he gets back from Komagome hospital I suppose.”

Hasukawa paused for a moment, jaw dropping slightly and foul mood and cold forgotten for a moment. He had not expected this. “Hospital?” he reiterated dumbly. “Why would he be going to the hospital?”

“Well, I suppose it’s because he was due to be in the operating room and – “

The doctor opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t get further as the boy bolted out of his office and footsteps could be heard scrambling down the hallway and out of the school.

Hasukawa silently berated himself as he dashed down the school corridors; ignoring his sniffy nose, ignoring the concerned shouts of friends passing by asking what was the matter, ignoring the slight moisture that was leaking from his eyes. Stupid Kazuya! There were all the signs for him to see now that he thought about it as his mind turned back to view the events the week past – that strange visit when Kazuhiro dropped by to visit him, the rings around Kazuhiro’s eyes which Shinobu had noted but Suka had just huffed aside, the opportunities to tease / humiliate his younger brother that went strangely untaken, the bento meals that Sumire-chan started bringing to Ryokuto… and now this!

As much as he was disappointed how his brother turned out, and angry how often Kazuhiro would do things to deliberately to taunt him, Kazuhiro was still family. And still ultimately, the closest and only kin and family that he had. And to picture the next day without him…

Notes:

(1) If you actually want to know, Mitsuru blackmails Fujikake into handing him oranges everytime oranges come in from his family. And what he blackmails Fujikake, uhm, try and guess... it involves someone walking in on someone at the wrong time... *red face*

(2) And apologies if people find this too meandering... Jop's fault, Jop's fault. -_-