Chapter Text
The sweet taste of cherry cola lip gloss danced on his tongue as soft pink lips locked onto his own, gentle hands grazed the exposed skin on his stomach causing him to hold his breath. The unknown body that rested on top of his own melted against the heat of his skin, the unknown pair of lips slowly trailing down from his own and toward his ear.
"Okuyasu..." A whisper from an unknown voice. A soft, longing whisper. He reached out to touch the stranger's face, but his calloused hands felt nothing but air.
A loud slam pulled Okuyasu from sleep, he jolted upright and stared down at his hands. Drenched in sweat, his breath was ragged and frantic as he awoke to reality. Reaching up to touch his lips, he tried to put a face to the voice he'd heard but none came to mind. Any remnant of the dream now long gone, the taste of cherry cola now a distant memory. A wave of disgust hit Okuyasu, shame and guilt ate at his heart and he’d only just woken up. He shouldn't be trying to hold onto those kinds of dreams, he should be trying to ignore and forget them when they happened.
He should be ashamed...and yet that soft yearning that arrived with the dreams was a feeling he had become addicted to. Wrong as it was, he would always fall hard into those dreams.
Wiping the sweat and drool from his face, Okuyasu dragged himself off his crappy mattress and stretched his limbs. The early afternoon rays hit his face as they crept their way past the wooden boards covering his window frames, the glass from them being nonexistent. Another bang came from upstairs, dust falling through the floorboards and almost entering his eyes. Footsteps followed the banging and then shouting. Keicho's voice echoed through the thin walls as he began to yell at the thing that was their father. With a sigh, Okuyasu picked up a towel, worn through by use, which had been draped across an old wooden chair, and made his way to the washroom.
The water in their new house was cold, and only turned room temperature if you turned the tap to the hottest setting- but it was better than not washing. As he got undressed and turned the water on, Okuyasu took a moment to wonder if he could really call this a new house anymore. After spending a few months somewhere, it didn't feel all that new anymore. Not to mention, it was just as shitty as any place Keicho had taken them. Just because they seemed to be staying in Morioh for longer, didn't mean they would stay there forever. Only last night had he heard Keicho mulling over a map, muttering something about Angelo being defeated by some guy. Okuyasu didn't have many clothes or possessions in general, but those he did have he'd already put back into his bags last night.
The sound of water barely covered the whimpers and shouts that came from the attic, but Okuyasu was too distracted by his own thoughts to comprehend what was going on up there- not that there would be much point anyway, no need to comprehend what he already knew. Keicho was just taking anger out on their shitty green mess of a father, any anger left over his brother would channel into their training. It helped the ambushes from Bad Company to seem like real stand attacks and made for more efficient training according to Keicho. As he dried himself off with the moth-eaten towel, he looked at his hair in the cracked mirror, combing it back with his hands and pushing it around until it was alright.
Had Okuyasu had a choice in his day-to-day activities, he'd probably have already gone to meet up with his friends and would be at school with them now. Unfortunately, Okuyasu really didn't have a choice. Instead of having friends, he had chores to do and would be going to a hardware store to buy construction crap to start working on the house later if he was lucky. If he was unlucky he would be trailing Keicho and cleaning up his mess as his brother continued his search for possible stand users.
A dull pain numbed his thoughts as he hopped down the stairs two at a time, heading through the kitchen and out of the porch door to grab his clothes from the washing line. Gah- going downstairs and outside in his boxers and pajama shirt was such a pain, not to mention embarrassing as hell, he was lucky they had such a large wall between them and their neighbors. He used to hang it up inside, it was much easier that way but Keicho had shouted at him after his underwear had started to develop spores. Turns out, drying clothes in a house with mold growing in every damn corner wasn't his smartest move. Now Okuyasu had made it a goal of his to save up for a good dehumidifier so he could start hanging his clothes inside again. Yanking too hard on his shirt out of frustration, he accidentally pulled the entire washing line down. A loud huff escaped his mouth as he began to collect the semi-dry clothes, then bending down to pick the line up. It was a flimsy bit of string he'd found in a drawer when they first moved in anyway, he should have known to be more careful since it needed replacing as it was close to snapping. Tying one end of the string to the wooden porch collum, and the other to a thin pillar he'd made in the wall using his stand, he gently draped the still damp clothes back over it, though dropping his uniform onto the small porch so he could take it back inside.
Once back in his room, clothes in hand, he shut the door and began to get changed, carefully buckling his belts and pinning his Yen and Dollar Sign pins in place. Okuyasu may have only owned one real outfit, but he was damn proud of the outfit he did own! He had spent hours customizing them, even teaching himself embroidery just to do it and had found a way to get really awesome pins and metal clasps for the front. Keicho had called it lame at first, and a waste of their time and energy but when Okuyasu did the same to his uniform, he didn't seem upset at all. Keicho was funny like that, criticizing Okuyasu for things that really didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Sometimes Keicho would call him out on shit he did too, or he would complain about how little Okuyasu helped him when it came to stand user things even though Keicho hardly even told him what was going on anyway.
Man, thinking like this so soon after waking up was starting to bum him out.
"Shut up, dumbass, can't be sad already, ya only just got up." Okuyasu muttered to himself as he rolled his shoulders back, quiet popping sounds cut through the silence in his room as he cracked his knuckles. A quick look around his room, then he was gone- breakfast wasn't going to make itself.
Heading downstairs, Okuyasu was careful to jump over the stairs and floorboards he'd marked with red crosses, since he didn't feel like breaking any more of the crappy house and getting yelled at by Keicho for it. As he passed down the hallway he noticed something moving quietly in the shadows of the mostly unlit house and paused, turning his head quickly in an attempt to catch whatever moved. Unfortunately, nothing looked back at him as he scanned across the shadows.
"Whatever." He muttered again, it was probably just Bad Company as Keicho often just let his stand loose around the house. Turning back to the task at hand, Okuyasu slumped into the kitchen and stood in front of the stove. On the hob sat one pan and one pot, with only one lid between them. The pot was burnt at the bottom and full of yesterday's left over pasta, Okuyasu had had a craving for italian food that night and since he was the one who did the cooking between them, he'd made spaghetti. Reaching up into a cupboard to his left, he pulled out a tuppaware container and began to shovel the pasta into it so that he could use it later on and it wouldn't go to waste. If he couldn't think of anything to use it in, he'd give it to their father. Even if Keicho insisted that it didn't matter, Okuyasu still felt it was cruel to let the thing eat rotting wood chunks as a meal.
With the lid on tight, he dropped the container on the surface to put in the minifridge when he had a second and then dropped the pan into the sink to wash up. That was one thing Okuyasu wished he could train his stand to do, as much as he loved cooking, he hated cleaning up. The water felt disgusting on his hands, mushed up food mixing with it and sloshing against his skin and his clothes whenever he cleaned. If only he could get The Hand to have better precision, then he could just vanish away all the food remnants and be done with it! He glared at the pot with disdain before deciding he'd clean it up after making his and Keicho's breakfast, just imagining the feel of filthy pasta-infused water on his fingers was too much for him at that moment. Turning back to the stove he moved the frying pan onto one of the two working stove rings, the bottom left one, his personal favorite. He wasn't sure how it came to be that way, but he'd much rather only use that one and only used the bottom right one when he really had to.
"Nrrhm..." He scratched his hand whilst thinking, picking at a bug bite while he mulled over his options. What to cook, what to cook...
Shifting on his feet, Okuyasu clicked his tongue. Best not to get ahead of himself, he should check the minifridge to see what ingredients they actually still had. Grabbing yesterdays leftovers, he took a few steps to his right and pushed gently down on the handle of the fridge, careful not to disturb the duct tape that held it onto the door as he maneuvered it into position so that he could actually open it. Upon opening the door, he was met with the distinct smell of almost rot. An unpleasant smell, food that wasn't rotten but soon would be, a cold, stale stench. Sometimes Okuyasu was uncertain if the damn thing even worked. They'd bought it at a second-hand shop, he'd joke about it previously belonging to a pimp but it felt too close to the truth. The pink paint on the outside was glossy but had been scraped away in some areas and the silver metal underneath stood out. The door had a clear, deep dent in it which was suspiciously close to the shape Bad Company's bullets left in metal. Despite this, it was a sturdy thing and the state of it actually helped, since they'd been able to get it much cheaper than it would have been without all the damage. The main downside was that it was unfortunately small, so they could only have a limited amount of chilled foods at a time.
Pulling out three eggs and sliding the tupperware in their place, Okuyasu decided to make do and cook tamagoyaki for the two of them. He'd have liked four eggs, that way there was more to share between him and his brother. He'd have liked to put some meat or other ingredients into it for more flavor but their ingredients were limited as he hadn't gone grocery shopping since last week. Okuyasu made a mental note to remind Keicho of this, despite the fact he knew he'd have forgotten it by the time he saw his brother. Usually, he'd write it down on some scrap paper and put it somewhere he went often, but ever since Keicho got angry about the sheer amount of paper scattered across the bathroom or the hallway, he was making an effort to get better at remembering things.
Making sure they didn't roll across the surface and splatter across the floor, he placed the eggs down and bent down to open a cupboard, retrieving a large plastic bottle full of a deep golden liquid in one hand and a medium-sized bowl in the other. As he stood up and turned back to where he placed the eggs, he pushed the cupboard door with his hip and giggled slightly, he couldn't explain what but there was something so fun about closing doors like that.
He left the oil to one side as he picked up the eggs one at a time, cracking them as slowly as he could, trying not to crush any eggshell into the bowl. Grabbing a chopstick from a drawer beside him, he started mixing the whites and yolks together. When all three eggs had been whisked together, he took the bowl over to the hob along with the oil and fiddled with the knob for the bottom left stove ring. It took a moment since the hob was just as broken as everything else in the damn house but eventually, the ring lit up with blue flames and the frying pan began to heat up. Just a small amount of oil slid down the side of the pan and began to sizzle as Okuyasu poured it in, he turned down the heat as he tilted the square pan to spread the oil then set it down once more.
A small frown crept onto his lips, he'd much rather use butter for this, but it became too soft in their fridge and so Keicho had stopped buying it, plus it was much more expensive than oil and ran out much faster. Argh- nothing he could do about it now. Huffing, he picked up the bowl of eggs and poured about a fifth of it into the pan, then grabbed the chopsticks he'd taken out and popped all the air bubbles that appeared as it began to cook. Messily, after popping the bubbles, he rolled the egg with the chopstick and added a dash more oil before pouring another fifth in. Once again he popped the bubbles, then rolled the previously rolled egg into the newly added egg. He repeated this until all the egg was gone, then turned off the heat and waited for a moment, hovering the pan over the ring, so that it would stay warm without burning.
A worn wooden chopping board, covered in deep knife gashes and scrapes, sat on the drying rack by the sink. Okuyasu leaned over, careful not to move the pan from where it was hovering, but so that he could still reach the chopping board. Tossing the board behind him onto the kitchen island counter, he turned back to the square pan and shook it gently before taking it away from the heat completely and quickly moving over to the island. He slid the tamagoyaki onto the chopping board before discarding the pan in the sink, a loud sizzling coming from the sink as the hot pan's surface met the wet metal. Ignoring the noise, he reached down to the drawer he got his chopsticks from and pulled parchment paper from the one underneath it. Another thing he wished he had, a bamboo mat, it meant he wouldn't have to waste so much damn baking paper. That crap was expensive, they barely bought it because of the price so when he did use it, Okuyasu would measure out only just enough.
He unrolled some of the paper and covered the tamagoyaki with it, then ripped it off as neatly as he could before chucking the paper back into the drawer. Pressing it tightly shut he left it out on the counter then turned to the sink.
Okuyasu glared at the menacing pile of dishes and growled under his breath at it. Damn these pans. Not wanting to dirty his awesome jacket and have to wash it again, he undid the metal clasps and laid it down on the side of the island. He wasn't quite sure what about those dishes made him so enraged, but he could feel the anger rising up in his chest. Taking a step towards the dishes, he exhaled with closed eyes, counting down from 5 in his head. Another step and he was right in front of the sink, he bit his lip and made a strangled noise as he turned on the tap and grabbed a sponge and soap from next to the sink. A scornful, pained expression as he began to scrub the pot from last night clean, every mushy piece of pasta that grazed his skin made him squirm in disgust.
He was halfway through drying the pan from the tamagoyaki when the loud rustling of greaseproof paper caught his attention. When had Keicho come down? Okuyasu could have sworn he hadn't even heard the shower start yet. Was Keicho really not going to wash that morning?
"It's not ready yet, bro, you're gonna have to wai-" He began, turning around after placing the half-dry pan and damp drying towel. Expecting to see Keicho, he was surprised at what actually faced him. "Oo?" He sounded.
There on the island, paw kneading into the edge of their breakfast, sat a stocky grey cat with a small patch of it's fur clumped with dried blood by its ear. The cat was sniffing around, trying to get into the paper as it licked around it. Okuyasu's first instinct was to push it away, but he fought that the longer he looked at the cat. It looked sad, lost, and hungry. He'd always been a kind guy at heart and he adored cats.
Slowly and carefully, he shifted away from the sink and towards the island. He walked carefully with as little noise as possible and hesitantly extended his hand towards the feline. The cat's head jolted and it's eyes stared right into his, for a brief second Okuyasu was worried it would run away, but the cat blinked at him. He blinked back. The cat blinked. Okuyasu blinked.
Suddenly, it mewed and moved towards him. He moved his hand forward and hovered it above the cat's head, and in return, the cat rubbed its head against his palm and purred. Okuyasu grinned and let out a small squeal of joy as the cat rubbed against his hand and he pet it. He moved forward, now using both hands to pet the cat's head and back as it purred and moved clumsily against him. The cat wriggled against him, falling onto it's back and curling it's arms while exposing its neck. Okuyasu took this as some kind of signal and gently scratched the animal's neck and stomach, which made the cat purr and wriggle even more.
Somehow he managed to get so caught up in petting the cat that when Keicho eventually entered the kitchen, he didn't notice until his brother's voice scared both him and his new friend.
"Okuyasu, the hell are you doing?!" He barked, causing both him and the cat to jump. He turned to his brother, suddenly remembering what he'd been doing before he saw the cat.
"Oh, Keicho, Look wh-" He began, but was cut off.
"Get that mangy thing off the damn table!" His brother demanded, going further into the room. His hair was still damp at the end of his braid, and he was without his uniform jacket, wearing just his trousers and a blue short-sleeved shirt. Keicho's jacket had been one of the semi-dry clothes that Okuyasu had knocked off the line earlier, so he supposed it still wasn't dry yet if his brother wasn't wearing it.
The cat in Okuyasu's arms wriggled, this time in an attempt to get away. It jumped from the counter and ran into the shadows of the room and disappeared from sight. His brother was growling something about germs now, but Okuyasu was just sad that the cat had left now. He sighed and tried not to look so sad, after all the cat might come back later! He'd be able to give it some of his tamagoyaki if he saved some, and then maybe the cat would start coming back and he could make it his pet. For now, though, it was just a stray cat. Oh, that's a good name for it! Stray...yeah! That worked.
Finally tuning back into what Keicho was saying, he turned to look at his brother and caught on. He managed to listen in time to hear something about him being hungry, which was just as well since the food would go too cold if they waited much longer. He nodded and with a hum, grabbed a knife and paper plate from the cupboard. Keicho grumbled under his breath as he pulled one of the wobbling seats from the other side of the island counter and sat down. Okuyasu removed the paper from the egg roll, as it had set nicely now and he'd be able to easily cut it, and easily cut it he did. Slicing it into six pieces, he put three on the paper plate and slid it over to Keicho along with his pair of chopsticks. The other three were his, and after putting one of the pieces aside he leaned against the counter as he began to eat his breakfast- lunch? He wasn't sure, he hadn't a clue what the time was.
It tasted as good as it possibly could have, so he was fairly satisfied with his work. He looked at Keicho while he ate, hoping for some kind of positive reaction. His brother nodded as he finished his final bite.
" 'S kinda plain. Try putting stuff in it next time, but 's fine." Keicho said as he stood up, dropping the paper plate into the bin and chucking his chopsticks into the sink. Okuyasu grinned to himself, that was great! He was right, it was kinda plain, but that wasn't his fault. Oh! That was right, he had to remind Keicho about groceries.
"There's nothing in the fridge." He said, pointing to the damaged thing.
Keicho sighed, nodding slightly. "That's what you're doing today then." He turned around and began walking away, "And chase that damn animal out, I don't want it pissing on my stuff."
All things considered, grocery shopping was a decent activity when it came to everything he could have been asked to do. It, unfortunately, involved some math, and he'd probably find some way of fucking it up. He'd have to ask Keicho for a list of things they needed, and for the cash too. Okuyasu wasn't entirely sure where this money was coming from, since as far as he was aware, Keicho had no job. He'd never put too much thought into it, whenever he did it felt wrong. Really, he shouldn't question Keicho, since he knows far much more than him. However Keicho was getting the money, it was money all the same. Okuyasu couldn't be certain Keicho wasn't just going out and doing odd jobs, his brother often went out for hours at a time without telling him where he was going.
Though it couldn't hurt to ask. "What 'bout you?"
"Huh?" Keicho turned around, raising an eyebrow, "Wha'd'ya mean?"
He shifted on his feet for a moment, "What're you doing?"
His brother hummed, then shook his head and turned around, "Doesn't concern you, just go shopping." Keicho disappeared out of the room and his footsteps began to fade. Okuyasu tapped his fingers on the counter, slightly annoyed. It bothered him that Keicho kept so much a secret from him! He felt damn near useless when he did! He wasn't so stupid that he couldn't help or anything. He'd show Keicho, he could be useful. If he only had a more useful stand, like something that could create money, or control people's minds. Something he could actually put to use! Even just a stand that was better at fighting, or something he could use in his day-to-day life. If he had a stand that could fix things, he would be able to make their house better or even heal his father. His stand was powerful, yeah, Keicho always said that. It just sucked that Okuyasu was so crap at controlling it. He was a terrible fighter, he'd always aim wrong and end up making something important vanish into thin air. If his stand could bring things back from wherever it took them to, that would be fine! But it couldn't. He'd always destroy things they needed by accident, or ruin something that would have been useful later.
Keicho's voice pulled him out of his daze as it echoed around the house, "Money and a list are on the coffee table! Go soon or else we won't have anything for dinner!"
Shoving his hands in his pocket he huffed under his breath, "Yeah, Yeah, I Know!" He shouted back as he passed the stairs. Walking into their crappy excuse of a living room, he flicked on the light switch and went further inside, almost tripping on the edge of the old couch which sat in the middle of the room. He cursed at it, knocking the uncomfy thing with his fist as he bent down to pick the money and paper off the coffee table. Now in his hand sat two 1,000 yen notes; three ¥500 coins; four ¥100 coins; two ¥50 coins and a handful of other coins, along with a short list of generic vegetables, ingredients, and everyday items like toilet paper, underwear (to replace Keicho's ruined pair), shaving cream, 3-in-1 shampoo, batteries- all that crap. ¥4,000 would probably be enough for it all, anything left he would stash away into his dehumidifier savings, or maybe he'd buy some butter...or actually, thinking about it, he should probably buy cat food and a bowl since he'd befriended stray! He'd have to keep it a secret from Keicho, so hopefully, Keicho would be out when Okuyasu got back.
Turning off the light, he shut the living room door and hopped down the small step to the entrance, shoving his foot into his shoe as quickly as he could. The back of the shoe twisted and dug into his ankle as he put them on, he leaned down and straightened it out before shoving his foot into the other. The shoes were scuffed, and were only a size too large for him but still rubbed his ankle bare, so much so that he often wore two pairs of socks at once to try and cushion it. New shoes were something else he was saving up for, ones that were comfy but didn't look dweeby. Just as Okuyasu was about to leave, he passed the key hook and grinned to himself. On the third hook across was a shiny, new silver key. Reaching out to grab it, he quickly opened the door and turned around.
"Oi, Keicho!" He called out as loud as he could, "I'm taking the bike!"
It took a few seconds for Keicho to begin racing down the stairs, his heavy footsteps echoing as he yelled. "LIKE HELL YOU ARE!" But it was too late, Okuyasu was already out the door.
His grin only grew as he wheeled the motorbike outside the front gate, lining it up with the sidewalk as he admired the purple vehicle. Keicho's motorcycle was almost entirely off-limits, ever since he got it a few months back. Okuyasu always wanted to ride it, no matter where he was going but Keicho was extremely protective of it, and so Okuyasu had only managed to ride the thing twice. He was basically a pro though, having crashed a total of both times! The crashes weren't even bad, especially considering he never even read the damn manual. He was certain though, after watching Keicho start the bike so many times, he could do it.
Third times the charm, right?
Fiddling with the key, he managed to get it in after a few tries. Lifting one leg over and jumping on, he turned the key as he settled into the seat. Inhaling slowly, his lips curled into a smile as he flipped (what he believed to be) the engine switch, gripped the clutch, and then hit the red button. Straight away the bike began to purr, it was on! Now, making sure it was in first gear, he slowly loosened his grip on the clutch and instead began to give it some throttle. Okuyasu's smile widened as the bike began to move forward, success!
Confidence began to build in his stomach as he lifted his feet from the ground, placing them on the footpegs and giving it more throttle. The wind raced past him as he began to zoom down the street, it felt absolutely amazing. Riding the bike felt as refreshing as a cold cola on the hottest day of summer! It felt like running through a field, tumbling through the grass as the wind licked your face! The fact Keicho would never have let him only added to the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he turned the corner, it felt like a rebellion beyond his normal delinquency. Something so bad, not even Keicho let him do it. Of course, he knew it was only riding a bike, but something about it felt so freeing. Plus, he bet he looked really, really cool right now! Like, so damn cool.
Luckily for him, the streets of Morioh happened to be quite quiet this early into a Monday afternoon, he hardly passed any cars and the traffic lights only changed a couple of times. Stopping in time was easy, it was just pulling the brake gently until he came to a halt, and starting up again was simple too! Okuyasu got the hang of it all really quickly, and it was just the confidence boost he needed for his day to finally feel alright. It didn't take long for him to reach the store, only 15 minutes in total. When parking, he was careful not to put the motorcycle too close to any others and checked twice to make sure it was locked. He felt inside his pocket, double-checking for the list and money, just in case he had lost them. Taking Keicho's bike was one thing, but losing that much money was something else! He woulda been in for a whole world of hurt.
The hot summer air had barely gotten to him before the rush of cold that exploded by the automatic doors of the store covered him completely, cooling him down even more. Okuyasu pulled the list from his pocket and grabbed a basket from the entrance, then began making his way down the list. First, he grabbed whatever vegetables he thought they'd need, A daikon, Negi, dried shiitake, nothing too expensive, and all of it was the packaged kind, they couldn't afford fresh just yet. Then, other ingredients: dried beans, noodles, rice, soy sauce, the must-haves.
On the back of the list, Okuyasu wrote down the exact price of everything he picked up, making sure it all stayed under budget. When he hit the ¥1,500 mark, he moved on to other essentials. The basket filled slowly as he found the cheapest of each needed item. A ¥70 bar of soap that smelt like chemicals and grass; A ¥228 bottle of shaving cream; ¥500 worth of the world's cheapest 3-in-1. Eventually, he'd been able to tick off everything on the list, it took longer than he'd expected and had cost just under ¥3,500, which left him just enough money to buy the cat food he wanted.
Every so often he kept getting distracted by something else, like the expensive soap that smelt like flowers and candy, or the cleaning section and how many different brands of toilet paper there were! The thing that distracted him the most though, was the small magazine stand that was just before the tills.
After filling his basket, he made his way down the snack aisle and went towards the checkout, only for him to stop dead in his tracks so that he could stare at the brightly colored gossip pieces on the front. There were so many, and all looked wildly different but were almost entirely about fashion. On one end sat an 'egg' fashion magazine, the front page had a slim, blonde model on it, dressed in a short silver dress and huge black platform shoes, and on the other was an issue of 'Zipper', the front cover had two people riding a bike together, a girl and a guy. The girl was stood in the back basket of the bike, gripping the boy's shoulders and smiling. The boy was in the front, wearing a nude turtleneck, a reddish-pink blazer with white flower patterns on it, and tight leopard print trousers. The model's hair was styled in a way that had some pushed back, but mostly swished forwards and fanned out slightly. Okuyasu stared at it for a moment, the outfit was something he absolutely would never wear, but the model was considerably pretty, his face was framed in just the right way and his lips shined, they looked soft...
His chest felt tight, and suddenly he couldn't feel the cool air anymore. Okuyasu raised the back of his palm to his cheek and felt the heat radiating off his skin. Without even realizing it, he was getting flustered at the image! That wasn't good. Shame began to creep into his mind as he looked around. Did anyone see him? Did someone know? What if someone here could read minds? They'd think he was disgusting. Swiftly, he turned his head away and walked towards the checkout. There was no way, he was being paranoid! There wasn't a possibility someone could have seen, so who cares? As long as he stopped thinking, it never even happened. A slip of the mind, that's all.
Without hesitation, Okuyasu began to unpack his items from the metal basket and lay them out at the checkout. Instead of letting his mind wander whilst the employee accounted for all his items, he decided to start planning the rest of the day. When he got home, Keicho would probably spend about ten or so minutes yelling at him for using the bike if he was home, but after that he could put all the shopping away and would probably be free to mess about. Hopefully, the rest of his day would consist of playing video games and watching movies, then he could make them dinner and go to bed earlier than he had last night. Truthfully, he was still tired, despite sleeping in until the afternoon. How long had he been awake for? Okuyasu wasn't really sure, he didn't know what time it was right then and he had no clue the exact time he woke up either.
Looking around, he scanned the walls for a clock or some way to tell the time. He probably looked dumb, turning around like that, but he was curious now. Next time he had enough money, he'd definitely remember to get an alarm clock or something! Spotting a clock on the wall behind him, Okuyasu felt his jaw drop as he read the time. How was it ten past three already?! He couldn't believe how late he'd gotten up! How long had he spent in the store?!
Agh! This wasn't good! Sure, it wouldn't take long to get home but the longer he took here, the less time he had to play games later! Turning back to the cashier, he noticed she only had a fifth left to scan, how had it taken her that long!? Gah! Why didn't time work according to how he wanted it to! Everything was either too slow or too fast, time was stupid! Okuyasu couldn't help but begin fidgeting on his feet, shifting from one to the other. Too long! Too Long! It was taking way too long!
Biting his lip, he subconsciously began to scratch at his hand, his finger twitching in a backward and forwards motion and scratching until his skin felt raw, only then did he even realize he was doing it. The skin on his hand now rubbed away, the cool air began to sting at the new layer and the small amount of blood that grew from it. Not good! Not good! Why wasn't this trip going well?! He brought his hand closer to his face to inspect it, looking at the small patch carefully and frowning slightly. The urge to lick the wound was almost too much, but he ignored it and dropped his hand back to his side.
The cashier cleared her throat, pulling Okuyasu from his thoughts and looking at him with a small smile. "Your total is ¥3,982 together."
Digging into his pocket he pulled out all the notes, and a few miscellaneous coins, then handed them to the cashier. She took them with a polite nod, adding a 'have a nice day' and then handed him his bags.
The moment he was out of the store, Okuyasu sighed. He wasn't sure why. Something about leaving it felt like getting to the end of a really long queue! He hated queues. He hated waiting for anything!
Careful not to rip either of the two bags he'd been given, Okuyasu jumped back onto the motorbike, putting in and turning the key, starting it up and getting back on the road as soon as he could. The journey home was much less fun, he felt suffocated and he couldn't explain why. His heart felt like it was beating a hundred times a second, and yet not at all. It was an awful feeling, he just wanted to get home and jump into his bed.
Stopping at his front gate, he took the key from the bike and began to wheel it back into the back garden. The grocery bags, he just gently dropped down by the front porch and left there. Stepping over some tall weeds and pushing the bike on some grass that had already been squished into the ground to create a pathway, he breathed in slowly and tried to get rid of whatever feeling was currently tormenting him. Putting the motorbike away took a few minutes since he had to make sure it was absolutely spotless and was somewhere safe where it wouldn't get damaged. Fortunately for Okuyasu, the grass where Keicho had left it last was still clear, and so he propped the bike up on its stand and he checked over it to make sure there were no scuffs, then walked around to the front of the house again.
Just as Okuyasu bent down to pick up his bags, he noticed a noise coming from outside the gate.
"[...] Someone in the window just now!" A shrimpy voice floating into earshot. Okuyasu shifted back, concealing himself from sight by backing up against the wall. He looked up but couldn't see anyone, was Keicho still in? He was sure his brother would have gone out by now. Oh well.
"Huh? Nah, can't be. My house is just over there, right?" A different voice said, it was a cooler sounding, smooth, and reassuring to listen to. "I'd know right away if someone moved in." It felt familiar, like he'd heard it somewhere before.
"Besides, realtors are always checking in to make sure no homeless people crash there." The cool voice added.
Okuyasu tried to determine how far away they were, but couldn't really tell. He wanted them to leave so he could go inside. It was too late for him to now, since he'd already hidden and had been listening in for a while- it'd be far too awkward to just step out now and walk in while they were there! Not to even mention how embarrassing it would be to let someone know he lived in such a crap house. The voices sounded young, probably around his age or at least one of them was, and to be perfectly honest he didn't want people his age to know he even existed.
"Now you mention it," The shrimpy voice began again, "that's true." The owner of the voice hummed.
Then he spoke again, though his voice was louder now and Okuyasu could tell he was right by the gate. "How strange...I wonder if I actually saw a ghost!" It exclaimed. Silver hair peeked through the heavy metal gate, and then an entire head. Whoever this guy was, he was terribly short.
Okuyasu was starting to get pissed off, he wanted these people to leave. He wanted to go inside, lay down, and take a god damn nap or something!
"H-hey, don't say that kinda stuff!" The cool voice returned, "Ghosts are scary, and we're right by my house."
That was it, stepping out from the shadow, Okuyasu kicked his foot up and slammed it against the gate, trapping the little shits head in between the two slabs of metal. The kid let out a strangled choking noise, unpleasant to say the least. Finally taking a good look at the loser who pissed him off so much, he realized it was a boy probably one or two years younger than him.
"Stop gawkin' at my house, ya little brat." He said as he applied pressure to the gate. Honestly, it wasn't even that much! The kid wouldn't be that hurt, and as soon as they left, Okuyasu would never bother him again. "Say somethin'." He ordered. He wanted an apology off this kid, then he'd let him go.
"Koichi!" Was that this kid's name? Seemed about right... "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" The cool voice yelled out, bringing Okuyasu's attention from the kid in the gate to the other boy there.
Just as he thought, the boy was about his age and...and...was fuckin' stunning?! This guy, whoever he was, looked just as cool as his voice sounded. His hair was styled in an old pompadour, not a single hair out of place; his uniform was a bluey-purple and had just as many modifications as Okuyasu's! The boy's uniform jacket was open in the middle, pinned into a heart by a golden peace sign clasp and a golden heart, revealing a tight yellow shirt with two slightly diagonal, vertical zippers on each side. The collar of the uniform had a golden anchor pinned to one side, and two golden hearts pinned to the other. The boy's face was just as perfect as the rest of him, with two wonderfully shaped eyebrows, two blue eyes with long eyelashes, and the softest looking lips Okuyasu had ever seen. This boy...something about this boy made Okuyasu want to be near him. His heart was racing again. This time even faster, and in a completely different way to the way, his heart was racing before.
He wanted to slap himself, why the hell did he have to get so pissed off at this guy! He couldn't back down now though, it would just be too embarrassing! It made him angrier, except angrier at himself than at the two boys.
"That's my line." He replied, his voice wasn't aggressive, just annoyed. "You two are in front of my house..."
That's right, don't even think about it. Turn off all thoughts. Okuyasu wasn't in the wrong here, those two were for sticking their noses in his yard! Gah- so annoying!
"Are you insane?" The perfect boy was talking to him now, he looked just as annoyed as Okuyasu was, but his voice sounded as cool and collected as before. "Let him go." He demanded.
"My father bought this house, don't go diggin' around here." Just leave! That's all Okuyasu wanted, was for the two of them to leave. "Never do it again!"
Just go. Get out. Leave him alone! Why was everything going so wrong today?!
"I'm not talking about that, I'm tellin' you to let him go, bastard! If you don't let him go, I'm gonna get pissed off."
Okuyasu felt like laughing, what had he done to deserve that! The kid, Koichi, was the one who started snooping around his house! "Come on, Bastards a bit much, ain't it?" He pointed at the guy, "Callin' someone you just met a bastard right in front of his house..." He lessened the pressure on Koichi's neck, "Do ya even know how to talk to people?"
Did this count as teasing? He wasn't sure.
"Well, I know how to shut that mouth of yours." Okuyasu knew that the other didn't mean it in the way he instinctively imagined, but, god, yes please. He couldn't help but laugh a little, no matter how pretty this guy was, Okuyasu was gonna punch the shit out of him.
All of a sudden, the sound of wind being cut in two whipped past him as something landed just by his foot. He looked down to see an arrow planted firmly inside the kid in green's throat. Shit! He whipped his head around and looked up into the upstairs window of the house.
"Bro?!" He called out in surprise, what the hell was Keicho thinking?! This kid? Why the hell was Keicho trying to give this shrimpy little bastard a stand?!
~
Time seemed to be broken. The day moved far too quickly, and yet the moment Okuyasu was left on his own, time seemed to stop. Nothing seemed real.
The quiet of the house bothered him, but the occasional bumping from the attic bothered him more.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Okuyasu removed his uniform jacket and silently stared at it. After all that had happened, Okuyasu had been left alone in his partially destroyed house. It wasn't much different, and yet it was completely different. He stood up, dropping his jacket down onto the bed and leaving the room, having just remembered he forgot to pick up the bags he'd left outside earlier in the day. The echo of his own footsteps seemed incredibly loud as he walked down the stairs, holding onto the handrail as he went. The walls had fresh holes in them, and the smell of burnt wood and...something else, still lingered in the air. Opening the front door, he scanned around until he located the bags before walking over to them, picking them up, and bringing them back inside.
Everything was still there, it was all warm now thanks to the sun, but it was still there. He brought the bags to the kitchen and began to empty them, putting the vegetables and ingredients into the minifridge and other cupboards. The leftover money from the store and the motorcycle keys were still in his pocket, he took out the coins and left them on the kitchen island. He probably won't need to go back to the store for a while, since he bought enough for two earlier. For a moment he debated leaving the keys there too, but it'd be messy of him and seemed inappropriate. Throwing the plastic bags into a drawer, he left the kitchen and returned to the dark silence of the rest of the house.