Geez, where does the time go? I can only think it's all the people I've got lying about that's doing it...taking up the time. Well, and jobs and school and planning for Yokohama and looking for a new apartment.

Got an e-mail from Spinel about the river god. I am behind on doing stuff down there. I mean, I put in SOME water plants and Mari's working on an idea for the building debris and we've got plans to haul that junk out this weekend but...I meant to have so much more done by now.

Which I could say about a lot of my life right now. I am nowhere near where I thought I was going to be when I first moved out. Some times I think I'm beyond where I 'should' be. Some times I know I'm way behind. Most times I just think that things are different. Apples to oranges from what I had planned. Take things with Yuki. Things are so weird. It's like we don't talk. We talk around Haru and Nishimoto and us. Mostly that me. I don't want to hear what needs to be said--by him or by me. Nishimoto's been giving me looks when he sees me so I know he's on to things.

The thing is? I keep thinking about my dad's e-mail. If it's right for me then it'll be right for the excess of people I've got strewn around. I just...

Yukito was my haven. My place to rest. I didn't need to protect him or be protected by him. We were equals. I didn't have to be anybody but who I was. I could be everything and nothing and it was home to be with him. And as much fun as it is sometimes to hang out with him and Nakuru and Nishimoto and Nishimoto and Yue...it's not quiet. Even when it's just him and me and Nishimoto, it's not quiet. They gang up on me and it's FUN but it's not the same. Even Christmas with Nishimoto was more of what I lost than what I have with both of them.

I don't even know where I'm going with this. It's like I said to Itou--there are some moments where you look around and are surprised by your own everyday life. I remember moments like that with Chisato and Mari and Daisuke and Haru and Kokoro and... I remember being home with them. Throwing on Chisato's clothes, sleeping over at Mari's when I was dead on my feet. Going over the day, planning out the whiteboard with Haru. Reading with Kokoro and getting hit with her weird ass questions. Going over to Daisuke's when I couldn't go home and I couldn't go talk about it.

Sometimes I just don't know anymore. And I figure it's better to throw it all here instead of chucking it at Spinel. I can't even imagine.

[Ooc: Backdated to early April--probably about the fifth or sixth.]

Touya sat under the cherry trees and silently wished he'd brought another book along. Things were getting downright boring and his only company were corporate peons forced out of their offices by their higher-ups.

"Kinomoto Touya, dark and brooding, alone under the cherry trees," a familiar voice said. "One of those things just doesn't belong."

"Itou Akashi," Touya greeted, "you are correct. The answer being: me." Still, he scooted over on his picnic blanket, making room for Akashi to sit down. ( ... )

[Ooc: Backdated to 1st April]

He snuck into the house before the sun did. "Hey, I'm on time, right?" he asked quietly as he went to the kitchen.

His father smiled at him. "She's still asleep, Touya-kun," he confirmed.

"Great. Heya, mutt," he greeted Rei. "Hey, Plushie," he greeted Kero.

"You'll wake your sister if you keep roughhousing," his father said cheerfully as Kero tranformed and bore Touya down to the floor.

"Right," Touya managed to cough out as Kero pressed the air out of his lungs. ( ... )

Kingdom of...Salad? What?

Touya folded one of Kokoro's uniform blouses and set it on top of her 'school' pile. "Look, I don't mind," he said, picking up another shirt.

"I mind!" Haru said, passing Touya a folded pair of slacks. "I didn't know you were going to feel like you had to move out!"

"Haru," Touya rolled a pair of socks and threw them to him to get his attention. "You're gonna get married. Even if there was room for all of us in this apartment, you and Aiko-san deserve as much privacy as you can get."

"But..." Haru set one of Kokoro's skirts down on her 'home' stack. "What would Kokoro and I do without you? You make dinner!"

Touya smothered a chuckle. "You two did fine before I showed up. And it's not like I wouldn't be coming around. You and Aiko-san and Kokoro are going to be doing something great, Haru. You're going to be building a family. It's not going to be easy, though." Kokoro had been clingy and standoffish in turns. "There's not really room for a live-in ojisan in that. I don't mind finding a new place. It's not like you're getting married tomorrow, anyhow."

Haru nodded, but looked down. "Is it because of Yukito? She's friends with him and I...I'm not?"

For a guy who acted like a freak half the time, Touya thought, Haru did have a brain in his head. "No. It must not be a big deal between you two if she agreed to marry you without ever dating you. No, this is all about the fact that this is a great apartment and there isn't room for a married couple with a pre-teen girl AND some random guy. Oof!"

Haru had grabbed him in a choking hug. "You're not a random guy! You're the one who turned us around! You're my hero even when you're stupid! And you're my little brother."

Geez. "Yeah, yeah, you don't have room for one of those with a wife and a twelve-year-old girl, either."

"You can't make these decisions on your own. Let me talk to Aiko-chan and--"

"Haru. I'd tell her the same thing--think of it as a gift from me to the both of you. You act like you're afraid to be left on your own with her once you're married."

"I am! I'm afraid to be alone with her now!"

Touya sighed and patted Haru's back. "Somehow, I thought it might be that bad." But he was amused anyhow. "Let go of me. There's laundry to do."

"And then my manga?"

He wondered how Aiko would do in shading Haru's shady manga. "Yeah, and then that."

[OoC: Backdated to Friday March 14th, obviously. Had to get some stories straight.]

For Touya, White Day officially started the night of the thirteenth because that was when he made his chocolate. Usually he just bought a pound of white chocolate and melted it into his rose molds but this year...

"No, you can't help. You're going to get some of this chocolate. Shoo. Begone, female child." He waved Kokoro out of the kitchen.

"But it's a new recipe from Dai-'niisan! I want to see you make it."

He didn't want to experiment in front of Kokoro with something she was eventually going to eat. Maybe. If it worked. It should. It was only milk, sugar, and cocoa butter. "I should have done this at Dai-'niisan's, since I can't get any peace here."

Kokoro gave an irritated sigh and flounced out. "One day, 'Ji-san, I'm gonna be grown up and moved out and you'll miss me!"

"I miss you now--you're so tiny that you're hard to see without a magnifying glass." ( Kokoro and Kasumi )



He was watching the girls dart off, giggling together, when he heard a familiar laugh behind him. "Kinomoto Touya--how did I know you'd be a soft touch. Giving chocolates to elementary school girls."

"Shut up. She's my kid's best friend." He turned and gave Itou a friendly scowl. He let it soften as he shrugged. "She's been through a rough time, as well."

"And he's weak against little girls." ( Terada )



( Mothers )



He felt lucky that the next person he ran into was smiling, obviously pleased with the day. ( Mari and Tsukino )


Upon reflection, bursting into the police station at a dead run and looking a little wild around the eyes was probably a bad idea. ( Nakuru )


( Sakura )


He was flipping ten when Naoko came in. ( Naoko )


Haru had barrelled into the kitchen and was digging frantically through the coats on their hooks. "Touya, stay on break okay? I don't want you to come out!" He pulled a white box out of his coat and dashed back out into the dining area. "Don't, okay!" he called back. ( Haru Has a Spazz )


The shock kept him moving until closing time. As Suzuki locked the door behind him, he felt the first set of muscles slacken. He made it half a block before he stopped and leaned against a building. The brick facade was pleasantly chill against his back. His fingers were nerveless as he found his phone. There was no answer to his call but, then again, he hadn't really expected there to be one. "We have got to talk," he said to Yukito's answering machine. "We're going to be related."

Tomorrow. Be findable.

He was doing a beautiful job of not thinking, focused only on the sound of running shoes hitting the paving, when reality called out to him.

"Oi," Nishimoto Shin was standing by the bench at the curve of the path.

"Oi yourself." He tagged the lamppost beside him as he jogged past.

"Where are you going?" Shin demanded when he didn't stop.

Touya half-turned. "Around."

"I'm not running with you!" Shin shouted.

Touya waved one hand, not bothering to turn this time. "Not asking," he called back. ( ... )

Remembered something from last week--I think. If I quoted poetry... well, I wasn't trying to tell Nishimoto that I blamed you or him for anything. I was just saying that I had been trying, that's all.

Did I give Nakuru my cake?

ETA: We've got to talk.

To: booksandshovels@livejournal.com
From: peach_arrow@livejournal.jp
Subject: Just wondering

Dad,

There's this issue I've been thinking about and I thought a good second opinion might help. So just...

Say you're Holger Osieck and you're putting together the Red's lineup for next year and you want to keep Yamada Nobuhisa as team captain but you want to promote Hosogai Hajime to vice captain. Not because Yamada and Suzuki Keita don't do okay together or anything but just because you really think Yamada and Hosogai is the way to go. But say the only way you can keep Yamada as captain is by keeping Suzuki Keita as the vice. Yamada just won't do it otherwise. He'll give up captain if Suzuki isn't vice and he won't negotiate.

Okay? And you know that what you want is not Yamada and Suzuki but Yamada and Hosogai but you can't have that because Yamada won't give up having Suzuki for vice. And say Yamada or Suzuki maybe suggests having two vice captains. And, so, okay, maybe you're tempted because you really, really, really want Yamada and Hosogai for the C-and-V and maybe you think you can deal with Suzuki also being vice captain because you're getting what you want anyhow, right? Even though you're just not comfortable with Suzuki Keita still being vice captain.

But you're Osieck and you don't want two vice captains and you just know it's going to throw off your midfield to have Hosogai AND Suzuki as Yamada's vice captains. And if you screw up your midfield, it's going to come down heavy with your defenders. You just know the defenders are going to have a problem with it and that you'd have to find a way to explain why you have Suzuki as vice captain even though you don't want him there and you really just want Hosogai and Yamada. And Hosogai being defender almost more often than defensive mid-field--you know it's REALLY going to piss off your defenders that Suzuki is still vice captain, too. I mean, you'd have to TELL the defenders that you're only keeping Suzuki as vice because Yamada won't stay captain if Suzuki doesn't stay vice captain.

I know it seems like you should just...just tell Yamada no way, no deal. But you can't force Yamada, obviously, and Hosogai really wants to keep the team happy--he can accept not being vice captain as long as the team keeps working and the game goes on. Because it's not like Yamada and Suzuki aren't still on the field or anything and he can still be on the team with them. I mean, he'd have to see Suzuki as vice captain even though he wants to be vice captain but as long as Yamada is top of his game, all right, right? It really seems like that's what you should do--but having Yamada and Hosogai is just...everything you want. And it's really not like Suzuki isn't a good mid-fielder and you DO sort of think that he'd work well with the team you've got ready for next season. I mean, you really don't mind that Suzuki is on the team. So maybe sometimes it seems like everything--the team being mad and Suzuki being vice captain when you don't think it'll work to have three vice captains--maybe it seems sort of worth it to get Yamada and Hosogai.

So if you were Osieck, what would you do? Would you give up the dream of having Yamada and Hosogai? Would you put Hosogai into vice captaincy with Suzuki and Yamada and hope that your defenders don't all quit or beat the crap out of Suzuki for not giving up vice or shun Yamada for being unwilling to give up Suzuki even though he knows he does all right with Hosogai?

I just really want to know what you think about that. And don't bring it up to Plushie or Sakura. Plushie'd kill anybody who upset Nobuhisa and Sakura really doesn't know much about Suzuki Keita and it would probably upset her if she thought Hosogai was unhappy about this whole vice-captain thing.

~Touya

Touya tucked Satoshi against his chest and wandered in Nakuru's direction. It was the first time all evening he didn't have a crowd around him and he hadn't yet had the time to talk to Nakuru. This, he knew, was most likely due to actual party business rather than his friends trying to keep him away from Nakuru.

They knew she was Satan and that she was friends with Yukito but he doubted that any of them actually knew that she lived with Yukito.

And he had the feeling that if he could freak her out enough by having a child in arms, he might be able to find out just how she'd come to be at his party and Yukito had not. If nothing else, he'd be able to steal a kiss off of her and make her shriek. That was always fun.

"SURPRISE!"

Touya ducked back instinctively. "What?" he asked, looking around the school gym. The decorated school gym. Suddenly all the 'I won't be by later's and the 'I've already got plans' made a lot more sense. "Oh, geez," he muttered. He could feel a blush working its way over his face and he rubbed a hand over it, trying to hide it. "What's all this for?"

"For your birthday, 'Ji-san!" Kokoro was the first person to swarm up out of the crowd.

"Yeah!" Kasumi was at her elbow. "Kokoro and I got you a present together!"

Kokoro shoved a bento box at him. "Okay, and so we didn't have a lot of pocket money between the two of us because we're just kids so we got you a plain one and then we painted it ourselves. And sensei," she waved back at the crowd.

"Terada-sensei," Kasumi piped in.

"He helped us to do other stuff to it so that the paint won't get washed off or worn off and stuff."

He looked at Terada. "You knew about this?" he asked, letting Sakura, Kasumi, and Kokoro pull him all the way into the room.

"Man," Chisato said, coming up behind him and offering him a bottle of water, "he knew all about all of this." He grinned when Touya looked at him. "So did I."

Touya laughed. "I can't believe I trusted you guys."

( Itou )


( Fujitaka )


( Daisuke )


( Baby )

He woke up because there was somebody kissing him. "The hell?" he muttered. He rubbed his cheek and blinked.

Kokoro was kneeling next to his bed. "Happy birthday, 'Ji-san!" she said. "You don't get your present until later because I'm giving it to you later and that's all I'm going to say, okay?" ( Kokoro and Haru )


He didn't really have any plans for his birthday. He didn't have students to tutor for the afternoon and his classes were both self-study for the day since both professors were attending a confrence. He had the morning to himself. He went to see his mother. ( Mom )


He went to the river after visiting his mother. Something red next to the pool where the river god lived drew him over even though he'd intended to check the debris under the bridge. "Huh." There was a flat, black stone and on it, a small tojii. ( The river )

To: cooking_daisy@yahoo.com
From: peach_arrow@livejournal.jp
Subject: Itou

Been hanging out with your friend a little. He's a good guy. The thing is I'm not sure if things are going all right. Normally I spend a few hours a week grinding a guy into the dirt and getting noodles before I do anything like invite him around my apartment. Obviously there's not a lot of soccer going on so I sort of skipped that. Don't know if he told you that I've had him over to the apartment a few times. He hung out with me and a few friends a couple of nights ago. He's coming around tomorrow, to hang out and cook with me and a few other guys.

He'd tell you if it was weirding him out, right? If it was just way too close for how well we know each other? I can sort of steamroll people and I wanted to make sure it wasn't the case here.

~Touya


To: nameless_book@livejournal.jp
From: peach_arrow@livejournal.jp
Subject: So...

You know, Planet Okonomi is a pretty good place for friends to hang out some times.

~Touya

"Hey, open up!" Touya kicked the bottom of Nakuru and Yukito's apartment door. "I've got my hands full!"

It was Nishimoto who answered the door. "It's your own fault for smashing all the snacks," he sniffed, stepping aside to let Touya in. "Show me this experimental vegetable."

"Experimental?" Nakuru gave him a look from the couch. "I didn't agree to let him experiment anything on me."

Touya headed for the kitchen. "I have a recipe," he called over his shoulder. "That's celeriac root," he said, toss the root ball to Shin as he began to empty his bags. "It's the main part of celeriac bisque with duck confit and cracklings."

Shin gave him a long look, weighing the root ball in his hand. "You know," he said at last "most people, when they learn to cook, start with simple things."

"I aim high," Touya grinned.

"You've got a whole duck in here," Shin observed, taking things out of the other bag. "What the hell did you get a whole duck for? It's looking at me." ( ... )

It's been a long day. I've missed you. I love you.

Chisato showed up before the sun did.

"Skip your classes today," was all he said as he fidgeted outside the door. He was wearing faded denims, his favorite sneakers, a red pullover hoodie under his long coat. Comfort clothes.

"Okay," I said. I went to get dressed. Old jeans worn into such comfort that they probably weren't really fit for public anymore, a teeshirt, my blue zip-up hoodie, my own long coat, my own favorite sneakers still grass-stained from summer in the park. ( ... )

Image heavy, so it's under a cut. But suffice to say--everybody who has been trying to find icons for me, I have finally posted the poll. It's looking to be a full swap-out. Potentially. I don't know. But now everybody can quit giving me crap. You can vote for one icon in each catagory.

( Seriously, lots of icons under here )

He had a lot rattling around in his head. Naoko, Yukito, Rika-and-Terada, secrets, not-secrets, choices...it was a good thing Chisato had sake. He and Chisato were spread out on the floor, Daisuke was sprawled on the couch, leaning over it and looking down at them. He was laughing softly under his breath. They were supposedly looking at icons for Touya's journal and they had been a good deal more sober before Itou and Tsushima had left. ( ... )

The door buzzed earlier than Touya expected but the voice that came with it made him smile. "Security is very lax in this building," Akashi said, his smile coming clearly through despite the crackle of static in the intercom. "Two different women just held the door for me and one invited me in."

He snorted in amusement before pushing the button to reply. "They do that when they think you have a pretty face." He hit the button to open the security door. "It's open now. C'mon up." He opened the door and went back to his books. "I'm almost done," he called when he heard a knock on the door. "So come in, kick off your shoes." ( ... )