Tokyo Boys

Additional notes:
In Japan it's not common for younger siblings to call the older sibling by the private name, they use various forms that mean 'older brother' (or 'older sister')... Akira is actually calling Daisuke 'nii-san'... but I preferred "translating" it as 'brother'... (same reason in my other fic Ayumu is calling his older sister 'sis')



TOKYO BOYS
Chapter 28


Yuuto was so tired when he returned home on Friday from the week-long trip. They’ve made it back late in the evening. He threw his kitbag at the entrance and dropped down on the wooden floor at the genkan, resting a bit and gazing up at the ceiling before forcing himself to sit up to take off his shoes.

He loved Kyoto. The entire atmosphere there was so different from Tokyo. It was a slower city, quieter, prettier. It was more inspiring for him and he could barely put down his pencils. He remembered looking up on the internet art universities in the area. It was before Emi, his older sister, got married. When she moved away to the other side of Japan, he opted to stay in Tokyo with his mother, since she was already left behind twice. Even though he wasn’t doing a good job taking care of her, he felt she was happy he was there to take care of.

Despite himself, his thoughts wandered to Daisuke again. He knew all along they were going to part ways some day. Daisuke always said he was going to leave home as soon as he graduated from High School. He was surprised when Daisuke chose to take the entrance exam of the same public high school as Yuuto, which was only known for its good art department. Yuuto was sure Daisuke would try to get into one of the schools known as powerhouses for their sports clubs, and he was even sought out by some of them, but Daisuke had turned them all down.

Yuuto shook his head from the thoughts. “Why should I care what he does?” he grumbled as he stripped to take a shower. “He’s not even sparing me a moment’s thought when he’s with Moriyama-sensei all the time…”

He got up and walked to the bathroom, but his mind was still reeling with thoughts. He was shocked when Daisuke had told him Moriyama-sensei took him in. Then the shock was replaced with anger. If he could, he would have told Moriyama-sensei what he really thought about adults like him.

But even if he had lost respect for the teacher as a man, Moriyama-sensei was still an adult and his homeroom teacher. That status dictated that Yuuto had to outwardly accord him the respect it was due. However, his chats with the teacher during and before club had completely ceased.

They'd become good 'buddies' after the end of summer vacation, so the fact that Moriyama-sensei no longer sought his company assured Yuuto that Daisuke had told the man that he knew of their relationship.


Under the roar of the stream of water, Yuuto could hear the phone ringing. He didn’t bother to hurry up. If it were something important, they would call again. It was probably just a marketing phone call anyway, the house didn’t get many personal calls.

When he closed the water and was about to dip himself in the small tub, he heard the phone was still ringing. If that was the same person, he was pretty persistent.

Yuuto put on his bathrobe and went to get the phone.

~*~

Daisuke was sleeping peacefully in Shouji’s arms. They were spooned together after another wild session of love making. It seemed they just couldn’t get enough of each other. Daisuke felt so content. Even though sensei had told him it wasn’t love, it was the only love he has ever known, and it was fine with him.

He was still half awake, feeling as if sensei was still inside of him, when he heard his phone ringing. “What does she want now…” he mumbled, opening his eyes slightly. He quickly realized it couldn’t be his mother, as the phone was new. A strange feeling overcame him. Did the boss somehow find out his new number? But Tachibana had said he will take care of the boss. Or maybe Akira gave his number to their mother? No, he wouldn’t…

Daisuke slid himself away from underneath sensei’s arm, feeling a little sad and a little cold. He was at such a cozy place, and now the warmth was gone. It seemed sensei had already fallen deep asleep because he didn’t even move when Daisuke sat up.


The phone was shoved inside the backpack he threw in the hallway when they hurried on to the bedroom. By the time he got to it, the ringing had already stopped. He made a face and took it out to see who it was. When he saw it was Yuuto’s number, he immediately returned the call.

“Daisuke…” He heard Yuuto crying to the phone.

“Yuu-chan, what’s wrong?” He felt his heart skipping a beat. “What happened?”

The boy kept crying and he couldn’t make out a word of what he was saying.

“Are you home? I’ll come over, wait for me…”

“Hospital…” The boy continued crying. “I’m at the hospital… my mom…”

“Your mom?” Daisuke grabbed tight the phone. “Which one? Yuu-chan!”

He finally managed to elicit from the weeping boy the hospital his mother was taken into and ran back into the room, picking up a set of clothes from his bag.

“Sensei…” He kneeled on the bed and shook Moriyama-sensei gently. “Wake up…”

“Wh- what…” Shouji slowly came to. “What do you want?”

“I have to go… Yuu-chan’s mom was hospitalized…” Daisuke said quickly. “Can I borrow money for a taxi?”

“Kaname-kun?” Moriyama-sensei was jolted awake.

“Yeah, he just called me… didn’t sound good… I have to go to him.”

“I’ll come with you, let me get dressed…” Shouji said and got up.

He called a taxi to pick them up.

~*~

Daisuke was glad Moriyama-sensei was with him. He was a little freaked out. Yuu-chan sounded so bad. He couldn’t make from his words what condition his mother was in. Daisuke tapped on his knees nervously during the car ride. After sensei paid the driver, he also talked to the staff to see what room Kaname Chika was in.

Daisuke walked quietly behind him in the hall. Sensei explained he was her son’s homeroom teacher and they were allowed in without any problems.

“It seems she overworked herself and didn’t sleep much either,” Shouji told the boy. “She collapsed in the middle of the shift…”

“Well, it’s a good thing she was already at the hospital…” Daisuke said quietly.

Shouji opened the door and Daisuke saw Yuuto sitting at the bedside. He looked so small and vulnerable at that moment.

“Yuu-chan…” Daisuke said quietly and the boy turned his head. He stood up when he saw him.

Daisuke covered the distance between them with a few large steps and pulled the smaller boy into his arms. Yuuto started crying again, burying his face in his friend’s chest.

Shouji looked at the boys tacitly. He felt before there was a special bond between them, but never witnessed it at first hand. Daisuke held the younger boy tightly and looked completely different than he had ever seen him before. Caring, sensitive, loving.

“She’ll be fine, Yuu-chan…” Daisuke whispered. “The doctor talked to sensei…”

Yuuto’s crying subsided, but he was still shivering. Daisuke ran his fingers in the boy’s hair. “It will be fine…”

Shouji’s phone started ringing and he walked out of the room to answer. It was the headmaster. He told him that he got a call from the hospital about Kaname’s mother being hospitalized and that he should go down there to see his student. Shouji didn’t wish to raise any suspicions by saying he already knew about it and just said he will go there immediately.

His eyes wandered to the vending machine and he decided to get the boys some hot cocoa.

Yuuto mumbled a small gratitude when he received the hot can.

Daisuke was relieved to know Chika-san would be released later in the morning. The doctor, one she was working with, ordered her a few days rest, and prescribed her some sleeping pills. It turned out she was working herself so much that even though she was exhausted she wasn’t able to sleep at night and just did house chores. It went on for months.

He knew she was working a lot, but Yuuto had never said a word. Daisuke thought he must have been feeling lonely, he knew how much the boy was attached to his mother. Daisuke stayed in her room when Shouji asked to have a word with Yuuto outside.

They left the room with Yuuto dragging his feet unwillingly behind the teacher.

Shouji had heard it all from the doctor, but he still wanted to talk to the boy. It was part of his job as the homeroom teacher.

Yuuto, on the other hand, was not keen to speak to his teacher. He was trying his best to hide his family’s situation for so long and the teacher had probably figured it out right away. He only needed to put one and one together.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Shouji asked quietly once they sat down on a bench in the hallway. “It’s a big burden for a young boy to carry alone.”

Yuuto kept silent. His face was still damp and sticky from crying so much. He wrapped his hands around the hot cocoa can.

“What good is it to keep quiet and suffer alone?”

“What could you do anyway? It’s my fault…” Yuuto whispered after a moment. “I didn’t let her sell the house…” His voice trembled. “I went to work even though she told me not to… I’m nothing but a burden to her.”

“No you’re not,” The teacher hurried to interrupt him. “Don’t worry about it anymore. You’re a good student so the school wouldn’t wish to lose you. I’ll see if they can do something about next year’s tuition fee if your situation doesn’t improve.”

“Thank you… sensei…” Yuuto said quietly. “But please, I don’t want to be tagged as the poor kid in school, so please don’t tell the headmaster anything…” he continued to plead.

Shouji sighed and just said he will think about it. He didn’t want to stress Yuuto more than he already was, he could tell the boy had been through a traumatic experience.

The boy nodded solemnly and they both got up. Shouji looked at him.

“You should go home and rest. Your mother will be fine, don’t worry.”

“No, I need to stay with her…” Yuuto shook his head.

“You can’t stay here.” Shouji stepped towards him, but the boy stepped back. “You need to rest. Your mother will be released tomorrow.”

“Daisuke, come here.” Shouji called the other boy from the room. “I’m taking Kaname-kun home. Stay with him tonight, okay?”

“Sure…” Daisuke got up.

~*~

Shouji dropped the boys off at Kaname’s house and directed the taxi driver back to his apartment. He will have to give the headmaster a report about the situation in the morning, and although he assured Yuuto things will be fine, he felt conflicted between his duty as a teacher to disclose everything to the school and his sympathy with the boy. He was already hiding so much from the school’s management…

“Yuu-chan, are you hungry?” Daisuke asked when they entered the small house. “I can make you something quick.”

Yuuto shook his head without saying anything. Daisuke looked at him, concerned. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ll… I’ll just go to sleep… I’m tired.” Yuuto headed up the stairs without waiting for Daisuke.

Moriyama-sensei understood right away the circumstances behind the hospitalization. But Daisuke wasn’t as quick to figure it out, Yuuto knew. Daisuke thought Chika-san worked a lot because she was a hard working single mother. Yuuto constantly lied to Daisuke about going to cram school, even though the number of lessons shrank down to one per week.

He buried himself in the futon, feeling the tears building up in his heavy chest again. It was painful. He hated feeling like a burden.

Suddenly, he felt Daisuke’s weight. The older boy lay down next to him on the futon and hugged him tight.

It brought Yuuto some distant memories.

“What happened to your face?” Twelve year old Yuuto asked Daisuke when he opened the door. The hour was late, and they had only said goodbye a couple of hours before.

“Can I stay over tonight?” Daisuke asked. “I had a fight with my dad…”

“Did he do this to you?” Yuuto asked, standing on his tiptoes to touch lightly Daisuke’s swollen cheek.

“He slapped me a good one…” The boy winced. “But I deserved it, I was rude…”

Just like that night, they slept cuddled in one futon. Yuuto took in Daisuke’s smell, burying his face in the boy’s chest. It felt good. For that night, it felt like they were kids again.

.
.
.