[Log] Banana wrapped in Seaweed
Characters: Momoshiro Takeshi, Kaidoh Kaoru, Tachibana Kippei
Location: Beach
Time: July 6th
Rating: PG for some swearing
Summary: Momo follows Kaidoh while he's out on a run and they come across something strange on the beach.
The entire thing was fucked up. Just … everything was. Why did he have to live in a shack with two guys? One who was in love with him, and the other had a crush on him in the past, and Momoshiro was pretty sure he sort of actually kind of still did. And he had to live with these two guys. It was not like he could escape either, it was his damn shack that he built, and he would never kick Echizen out, though kicking Kaidoh out was starting to look really appealing …
So Momoshiro went out on the beach to try and look for the snake. Maybe he could figure some things out, maybe he could try to make sense of the situation. Perhaps they could break the tension, a tension so thick it was hard to breathe in that shack. Finding Kaidoh wasn’t hard; that guy was already running, running, running-that snake had no life.
But while Kaidoh was easy to be found, Momoshiro had a hard time trying to call out to him. Perhaps ‘hey dumbass!’ or maybe ‘hey you loser!’ or even ‘you training freak!’ would be good, but Momoshiro’s throat felt like he swallowed a bunch of sand. How awkward could he be? He hoped this tension between them wouldn’t last that long. So instead of calling out at Kaidoh, Momoshiro ran after him alongside the beach-maybe he was stalking him a little bit-to try and come up with a way to approach him. And not have him run off. He liked to do that.
They had probably been running for about five minutes now, and Momoshiro’s legs felt like lead and his sides were burning and aching and oh god, did Kaidoh do this every day!?
“K-Kaidoh,” Momoshiro managed to squeak out. He stopped running and rested his hands on his knees, catching his breath. “Stop, you fucking moron,” he said in a much more quiet voice.
Kaidoh halted in his tracks and spun around, glaring at Momoshiro, who was probably the last person he wanted to see right now.
"Why are you following me, idiot?" he demanded, his words punctuated by shallow pants. He wiped at his forehead with his towel. "I'm kind of busy."
“With what, running away from me?” Momoshiro bit back. “Idiot.” He sighed and ran his hand through his black hair; it was starting to grow longer, he really needed a haircut. Or gel. “I just …” Wanted to solve this weird thing between them. Preferably now. And then they could get back to their stupid island life, and not be awkward, and everything would be happy and sparkly and just simple to understand.
Kaidoh gave Momoshiro a flat look. "Spit it out, Momoshiro," he hissed, getting more impatient with each slowing beat of his pulse. "Or else let me get back to my training."
Momoshiro really felt like punching Kaidoh’s face right now, but he didn’t (he’s nice like that), instead he simply walked closer to Kaidoh. “Do you still-HOLY, what is that!?” Momoshiro’s foot made contact with something hard and lumpy, and breathing.
That pile of seaweed between him and Kaidoh that he nearly tripped over? Not seaweed! Definitely not seaweed!
“Kaidoh, what the hell is that!?” sputtered Momoshiro as he backed away from the breathing ball of green mush. For once, it was Momoshiro who was scared, and not Kaidoh.
Kaidoh took a cautious step closer, his eyes going wide and worried. "Wh..." he started, unable to find words. The pile was definitely moving, the seaweed rising and falling like the whole thing was alive. It reminded Kaidoh of a lake monster he'd seen in a video game his brother played a while back. Only creepier. And right in front of him. Kaidoh had been so focused on his run that he hadn't even noticed, and now he wished Momoshiro hadn't pointed it out because it was sending his imagination into overdrive. Suddenly he was picturing a plague of deep sea zombies descending upon the island and eating them all alive.
He shivered. "Maybe... poke it with a stick?" he suggested nervously, taking a few steps back as well. At least he knew his running route around the island well enough to have an escape plan. He could outrun seaweed. Probably. Maybe.
“A stick … a stick …” Momoshiro looked around for anything to prod the pile with, but didn’t see a stick. He did however, see a rock. Right near his feet. He bent down to pick it up, and he looked at it for a while, debating whether or not it was wise to throw rocks at breathing seaweed. Maybe it was the Loch Ness monster?
“Uhh, here goes,” he said. Momoshiro flicked the small stone at the creepy leaves, and he heard it make contact with something, like a loud ‘thunk!’. Cautiously, he took a step back and awaited its reaction.
Tachibana had been having a pretty trippy dream, but was interrupted by something hitting him in the head. He flailed for a moment before sitting up. He rubbed his eyes and realized he was covered in seaweed. He began cleaning it off himself, not really looking around. “Ugh...I feel like I was hit by a truck.”
“AIIEEEH!” Momoshiro felt his heart beating a thousand miles in his chest, threatening to burst out into an explosion from that scare he got just now. But what was supposed to be the Loch Ness monster, was … a person. One who was talking. Japanese, no less. Momoshiro first looked up at Kaidoh to-wait, where was Kaidoh? No … seriously? Had the snake ran off? For real?
“A-are you alright?” Momoshiro asked as he took a few steps closer again. This was definitely no monster; Kaidoh was a pansy. He’ll have to look for him later, perhaps. If he felt like it. Right now though, his attention was on said strange person on the beach. Covered in seaweed, and had long messy blond hair. Hmm, he looked kind of familiar.
“I’ll be okay as long as you don’t scream again.” Tachibana said, rubbing his eyes. He looked over to Momoshiro, squinting. “...Where am I?” The other man looked familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. “Last I recall, I was on my boat. And then there was a storm.”
Great, another person shipwrecked on this god forsaken island. It really should be called ‘Dumbnut Island’. “You are …” Well, Momoshiro didn’t know that either, even after being stranded here for over two months. “Well, on an island-guess you got shipwrecked here, just like the rest of us.” Momoshiro cocked his head to the side as he studied the man more closely … there was definitely something familiar about him.
Oh! The mole!
“Tachibana!?”
Tachibana’s eyes widened upon hearing his name. “...Yeah, that’s me.” Tachibana confirmed. He studied the other man a little more. “...I know I know you, but I...can’t put my finger on it...” Maybe it’s because his head was swimming. “You definitely are someone I know.”
“I’m Momo, of course!” Momoshiro basically glomped Tachibana right then and there, and started to clean the man from the excess seaweed and helped him stand up straight. “How can you forget me? I dated your sister for a while! Alright, my hair does look a little bit stupid right now, but I swear, it’s just me; Momo. I don’t have anymore hair gel to spare, so this is how I look like with flat stupid hair. And oh god, you must have come here knowing your little sister had gone missing! Don’t worry, An is doing fine, she was a little shaken up when the ship did crash, but other than that, just peachy! In fact, she makes sure everyone else is doing fine, what with being a nurse and all-and uhh no, don’t worry, we haven’t done anything weird together or anything like that. Be rest assured, I haven’t touched her at all! I did worry her though … like, I think, at one point, she was probably very stressed out, because I thought I was pregnant, but haha, who wants to hear that old story!? And-YO KAIDOH, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!” Momoshiro took a deep breath as he looked around for a certain bandana clad man.
Tachibana blinked as his brain tried to process everything. One thing stuck out in his head. “An is here? Why? What happened? What boat?” Questions rolled off his tongue. He didn’t know his sister had gone missing. He had been gone for a long time, apparently. “I didn’t know she had gone missing. I was on an excursion to find a rare mango. Funny, looks like I found a missing peach instead.” He chuckled at his own joke. “...But really. What happened?”
Kaidoh, who was now hiding behind a palm tree, could vaguely hear Momoshiro's voice some ways behind him back on the beach. And another voice too... Momoshiro sounded loud and friendly and annoying as usual, which wouldn't be how he'd sound if it really were a zombie sea monster... right? Unless Momoshiro had already been turned into one himself. No, Momoshiro didn't sound quite that brain dead yet.
Kaidoh slinked out from behind the tree and into the open again. Now he could see Momoshiro and some other guy he didn't recognize. But without all the seaweed, the man didn't look scary at all. Kaidoh definitely wasn't scared of people. He hadn't even been scared anyway! He'd just felt like running into the jungle. Yeah.
"Hey," he called hesitantly, once he was back within earshot.
Momoshiro ignored Kaidoh coming out of his hiding place, and directly addressed Tachibana. “What happened … hmm, do you want the long version or the short version?”
“Short.” Tachibana said. “My head is swimming from rocks hitting it.”
“Oh, we should probably get you back right away then, An can take a look at it!” Momoshiro gave him a friendly smile and patted his shoulder. “We’re mostly grouped together in a cave at the moment, it’s not that far from here. We uhh, were all on a cruise ship, most old tennis team members, and the ship crashed, so we got stranded on this island. We’ve been here for about two months already, and I’ve lost hope that we’ll be rescued … but! We’re doing fine. There’s still loads of food, and no one is eating each other …” Though Momoshiro should probably leave out there’s a really dangerous man living on this island as well, going by the name of Kite. THe purple yakuza man.
“But let’s get you back to where everyone is! Get you checked out. We’ve got loads of medical students here too, like Oishi, and uhhh … Yagyuu, I think.” Momoshiro tried to think of more names, but was coming up with a blank. “Are you thirsty? Hungry?”
“No...I’m okay.” Tachibana took in all of the familiar names. “That cruise...was that the cruise Atobe sent out invitations to, by any chance? All of those names make me feel rather nostalgic.”
“It sure was! Lots of people came … and lots of people got stranded on this island. Don’t worry, no one was-” Momoshiro swallowed his words. He would have liked to say no one got hurt, but that wasn’t true; Echizen got hurt. Badly. And he was still recovering from it too. “Well, no one died,” he said with a sheepish smile. He started to walk along the sand to guide Tachibana to their gathering spot.
Momoshiro looked back at Kaidoh. “Kaidoh, do you have anything to drink?” Even if Tachibana said he was fine, surely, no one would object to having something to drink. He remembered when he found Kaidoh; starved and dehydrated. He had to actually catch fish for him on the spot to feed him-and he was awesome at it, too.
Kaidoh stuffed his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small canteen of water. He passed it to Tachibana with a grunt.
"Drink," he said, still trying to remember who the guy was. He went to that other middle school near theirs, right? It was such a long time ago.
Tachibana smiled and took the canteen. “Thank you, Kaidoh-san.” He said. After hearing Momoshiro say his name, Tachibana recognized Kaidoh. “I’m Tachibana Kippei. Do you remember me? I won’t blame you if you don’t. Middle school was so long ago.” He chuckled softly before taking a long drink. “I didn’t realize I was so thirsty!”
“Kaidoh should know,” said Momoshiro with a snort. “He’d been stalking me about me and An dating, so he should know about you.” Well, not really; Momoshiro didn’t know if Kaidoh knew about him and An dating, but he had a hunch Kaidoh did. After all … he did have a crush on him. And Kaidoh was such a fucking stalker.
Kaidoh's fingers clenched into fists. "What the hell, I never did that!" he growled. He was about ready to punch Momoshiro when he thought better of it and let out a long hiss instead. He turned back to Tachibana.
"Sorry," he said slowly. "Yeah, I do remember you now... You were Fudomine's captain."
“And An’s brother,” Momoshiro added. “You should know.”
Kaidoh just snarled back at him. Momoshiro snorted.
Tachibana chuckled lightheartedly. “There, there, you two. No need to act like that. I happen to look a lot different now, don’t I? Especially when I still have bits of seaweed all over me.” Tachibana took another drink when a thought passed his mind. “....Momoshiro. Is An the only girl on this island?” His eyes turned dark and serious.
“Oh, yeah, the only girl out of all the guys.” And perhaps the only other straight person besides Momoshiro himself. He was tempted to outright ask Tachibana if he was gay, too. But then he remembered when he asked Kaidoh, and Kaidoh punched him in the face. Maybe not such a good idea. “But don’t worry; I make sure no one touches her! And she can handle herself well.” And the fact that no one wants to touch her.
“Well, now I’m here, so I can protect her from everyone.” Tachibana looked at Momoshiro for a moment, a hint of distrust in his voice, before grinning. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen her, so I’ll be sure to spend lots and lots of time around her.”
“Haha,” Momoshiro laughed a bit nervously. “I’m sure she’d … love that.” Probably not. Momoshiro had heard about An ranting about her brother overprotectiveness, and that she was happy to get away from him sometimes. However, Momoshiro could sympathise with Tachibana; he wanted to protect An too. Echizen was also included. Kaidoh wasn’t. He could be eaten by the Loch Ness monster for all he cared.
“Currently she sleeps in a cave with a bunch of guys though …” Momoshiro trailed off.
Tachibana kept a grin on his face, but his aura was black. “I see....” Tachibana thought about the amount of time Momoshiro had said they had been on the island. “So...wait a minute. You’ve been on this island for months... and no one has tried anything? Is everyone here gay?!” Even Tachibana had to admit that was pretty fishy behaviour for men stranded on an island.
“Yes.” Momoshiro had a flat expression on his face.
Tachibana grinned. “Awesome.” Was all he had to say.
Momoshiro shook his head. “No it’s not. It’s definitely not awesome.” Then he looked over at Kaidoh. “Since people are gay for me.”
“Well, I’m not gay for you.” Tachibana reassured. “So don’t worry.”
“Aww, I can always count on you!” Momoshiro threw an arm around Tachibana and chuckled at him. Screw Kaidoh.
Tachibana chuckled. “Yes, well...” He sighed a bit. “I can’t believe I crashed my boat. I was so close to finding that mango!”
Momoshiro raised his eyebrows. “Mango? You … alright in the head?” He slipped his arm away.
Tachibana nodded. “I’m a chef, Momoshiro. I was on an excursion to find a mango to make a rare dish.”
“Chefs …do that kind of stuff?” Momoshiro looked over at Kaidoh and gave him a weird look. “Really?”
“Well...” Tachibana laughed. “Maybe chefs whose best friend in middle school had an extreme wanderlust. I always wondered what it would be like to just...up and travel like that.”
“Well buddy, now you know; it sucks ass. Getting stranded has not been fun. Though we’ve been doing alright, I guess. The island isn’t that bad. We catch a lot of fish, and I even build a shack that I live in, along with Kaidoh and Echizen.” Which was probably something that needed fixing; since it was currently very awkward to live with them both. “Other people seem to be treating it as a long vacation, but not me …” Momoshiro sighed as he remembered how long he’d been here. “I’m sure I’ve already been kicked out of my apartment; it’s been two months and no one even found us-I’m surprised you didn’t know!”
“I’ve been gone just as long on this search...I cut myself off from technology, which was apparently my downfall.” Tachibana just laughed. Then he looked over at Kaidoh, handing back the canteen. “Thank you again. I appreciate it.”
"No problem," Kaidoh replied, grimacing in a way that sort of might resemble a smile if you were to squint.
Tachibana smiled at Kaidoh, being friendly. “I’m glad you two found me. I might have baked out there. But wrapped in seaweed, it might have smelled delicious!”
I’ve seen better,” joked Momoshiro. “But I guess you should thank Kaidoh, he’s the one who came running here.” Then he mouthed the words ‘running freak’ behind Tachibana’s back towards Kaidoh.
Tachibana smiled at Kaidoh. “Thank you Kaidoh-san.” He was, of course, unaware of Momoshiro’s antics.
“Yeah, thank him for running away screaming like a little girl.” The screaming part might have been him though.
“It wasn’t his scream that gave me a headache.” Tachibana said, teasing Momoshiro. “Of course, maybe he threw those rocks that made the headache even worse...”
Momoshiro made a tiny little squeak, and then his face heated up in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I had to make sure you … weren’t some thing.” That came to eat them. Momoshiro had been hanging out way too much with Kaidoh to start thinking about stupid stuff like that. “But now I know it’s you, nothing weird will happen anymore! I promise. I’ll even cook you some food if you’d like. No wait, perhaps you should do it, you’re a chef after all. I can give you some fresh caught fish. Or maybe Kaidoh can catch some, since he seems to be soooo good at it.”
Kaidoh narrowed his eyes at Momoshiro. "I am," he said, admittedly kind of dreading the idea of having both Momoshiro and Tachibana watching him try to fish. Maybe Tachibana wouldn't be that hungry after all. Or maybe Kaidoh wouldn't take three hours to catch something like usual. "There's plenty of food on the island if you know where to look," he added.
Tachibana looked at the other two men, then shook his head. “I’m not very hungry, honestly. My head still hurts, and it’s making me nauseous. I’m hiding it well though, right?” He laughed nervously. “Mom says I should stop doing that.” He was feeling pretty out of it. The water had helped, but he had just wrecked his boat, so he figured he was allowed to feel not-so-great. “I would mostly just appreciate somewhere to sleep.”
“Ah, that’s bad, head injuries … I know all about it. Recently, someone hit my head so hard, I lost my memories for an entire week! Man, that was scary, not knowing who I was. Hope you’re doing fine though. We’ll definitely let An check you out. And then you can sleep too, they’ve made the caves they live in pretty comfortable.”
By now, they had already been walking several minutes, and Momoshiro already saw his shack in sight, which meant several more minutes to reach the caves.
“Is it much farther. I’m exhausted.” Tachibana yawned. “I think I’m fine. Just, you know, a little bewildered and banged up.”
“I bet! But no, we’re almost there. We can stop at my shack if you want, it’s right there.” Momoshiro threw his head to the side, and just as he said, his shack was clearly in sight. Built out of bamboo and wood from the cruise ship, it looked shoddy and unstable. Thankfully, it had made him survive for over a month at least.
“Won’t Echizen get startled?” asked Kaidoh in a grumpy voice. He wasn’t really all that concerned about Echizen, he was more concerned about scaring away Karupin.
“No, he should be fine, I mean, when you dropped in, Echizen didn’t look startled, right? Just a bit confused. So how about it, Tachibana? We’ve got a nice comfy bed there too, if you want to sleep in there. Though I’d rather still have An check you out first …” Momoshiro scratched the back of his head, wondering what to do.
Tachibana could see the worry emanating off of Momoshiro. “I can make it to the caves. I wouldn’t want you to worry.” Tachibana smirked. “Though I will probably collapse once we’re there. Just a warning.”
“Oh, that’s not good,” said Momoshiro. Though he’s he could get Kaidoh to use those buff looking arms of his to carry in a grown-up man. “Let’s hurry up then, I’m sure An would love to see you again.” Sort of.
They walked by the shack Momoshiro had built, and Momoshiro gave it a wary glance; Echizen was still inside. Probably waiting for him to return, or maybe banging his head against the wall. Or maybe he went ahead and drowned himself in the ocean. The thought of Echizen drowning made his blood turn cold. He’d rather not think about something like that.
The trek from the shack to the caves wasn’t that much longer, but Momoshiro knew Tachibana was exhausted, and probably had a pretty rough day already. Why did he build the shack so far away from the caves again? Right. Privacy.
“So uhh, you’ve never heard of a cruise ship missing or something?” asked Momoshiro.
“Hm? No...Like I said, I left about the time Atobe sent out the invitations. I actually haven’t seen anyone from my family in six months.” Tachibana looked sentimental. “It’s been pretty lonely.”
“Wow … you’re.” A pretty bad brother. “Pretty cut-off from the rest of the world, huh? Six months is a long time. We’ve been gone for about … four months now? I don’t know-Kaidoh, how long have we been gone?”
At the mention of his name, Kaidoh hissed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts. “Moron, I got here later than you did.”
“Oh right, you did,” said Momoshiro sheepishly. “Well, I think, including the time spent on the cruise, it’s been about four months. But six months and no contact with family? I’m surprised they didn’t think you were dead already.”
Tachibana frowned. “...I didn’t mean to go so long without seeing them...” He looked guilty. “Mom and Dad finally have an empty nest, and they seemed happy about it...and An...well, I doubt she wanted her big brother pestering her all the time.” Tachibana had been pretty lonely even around his family.
Momoshiro zipped his mouth shut. Tachibana was right; An did have a lot of complaints about her brother breathing down her neck. “Well, whatever happened back then, I’m sure she wouldn’t think like that at all right now.” She’d probably hit Momoshiro for dragging Tachibana all the way over to the caves, probably.
“Look, we’re almost there,” said Momoshiro. He could finally see the caves at the end of the horizon. People were already out and about; it seemed pretty lively. Much livelier than the part of the beach he lived on.
Tachibana nodded, falling silent. “Yeah...” Tachibana could feel himself losing energy. “...Maybe I should just stop here.”
“No, no, no-don’t pass out now!” Momoshiro grabbed Tachibana’s arm, and threw it over his own shoulder so he could support him. “Kaidoh, help me out here.” Kaidoh simply nodded curtly and took over the other side, so that they were both carrying Tachibana, supporting him, in case he’d fall right then and there.
“We’re almost there, hang in there, Tachibana,” said Momoshiro.
“Sorry you two.” Tachibana apologized weakly. “I suppose I overdid it.” He closed his eyes. “Sorry...”
“Don’t apologize,” said Momoshiro. Together with Kaidoh they managed to get Tachibana at the mouth of the cave; and he was still alive. Not alive and well, but hey, well enough! Momoshiro smiled happily as he spotted An inside. She was sure in for a surprise.
Location: Beach
Time: July 6th
Rating: PG for some swearing
Summary: Momo follows Kaidoh while he's out on a run and they come across something strange on the beach.
The entire thing was fucked up. Just … everything was. Why did he have to live in a shack with two guys? One who was in love with him, and the other had a crush on him in the past, and Momoshiro was pretty sure he sort of actually kind of still did. And he had to live with these two guys. It was not like he could escape either, it was his damn shack that he built, and he would never kick Echizen out, though kicking Kaidoh out was starting to look really appealing …
So Momoshiro went out on the beach to try and look for the snake. Maybe he could figure some things out, maybe he could try to make sense of the situation. Perhaps they could break the tension, a tension so thick it was hard to breathe in that shack. Finding Kaidoh wasn’t hard; that guy was already running, running, running-that snake had no life.
But while Kaidoh was easy to be found, Momoshiro had a hard time trying to call out to him. Perhaps ‘hey dumbass!’ or maybe ‘hey you loser!’ or even ‘you training freak!’ would be good, but Momoshiro’s throat felt like he swallowed a bunch of sand. How awkward could he be? He hoped this tension between them wouldn’t last that long. So instead of calling out at Kaidoh, Momoshiro ran after him alongside the beach-maybe he was stalking him a little bit-to try and come up with a way to approach him. And not have him run off. He liked to do that.
They had probably been running for about five minutes now, and Momoshiro’s legs felt like lead and his sides were burning and aching and oh god, did Kaidoh do this every day!?
“K-Kaidoh,” Momoshiro managed to squeak out. He stopped running and rested his hands on his knees, catching his breath. “Stop, you fucking moron,” he said in a much more quiet voice.
Kaidoh halted in his tracks and spun around, glaring at Momoshiro, who was probably the last person he wanted to see right now.
"Why are you following me, idiot?" he demanded, his words punctuated by shallow pants. He wiped at his forehead with his towel. "I'm kind of busy."
“With what, running away from me?” Momoshiro bit back. “Idiot.” He sighed and ran his hand through his black hair; it was starting to grow longer, he really needed a haircut. Or gel. “I just …” Wanted to solve this weird thing between them. Preferably now. And then they could get back to their stupid island life, and not be awkward, and everything would be happy and sparkly and just simple to understand.
Kaidoh gave Momoshiro a flat look. "Spit it out, Momoshiro," he hissed, getting more impatient with each slowing beat of his pulse. "Or else let me get back to my training."
Momoshiro really felt like punching Kaidoh’s face right now, but he didn’t (he’s nice like that), instead he simply walked closer to Kaidoh. “Do you still-HOLY, what is that!?” Momoshiro’s foot made contact with something hard and lumpy, and breathing.
That pile of seaweed between him and Kaidoh that he nearly tripped over? Not seaweed! Definitely not seaweed!
“Kaidoh, what the hell is that!?” sputtered Momoshiro as he backed away from the breathing ball of green mush. For once, it was Momoshiro who was scared, and not Kaidoh.
Kaidoh took a cautious step closer, his eyes going wide and worried. "Wh..." he started, unable to find words. The pile was definitely moving, the seaweed rising and falling like the whole thing was alive. It reminded Kaidoh of a lake monster he'd seen in a video game his brother played a while back. Only creepier. And right in front of him. Kaidoh had been so focused on his run that he hadn't even noticed, and now he wished Momoshiro hadn't pointed it out because it was sending his imagination into overdrive. Suddenly he was picturing a plague of deep sea zombies descending upon the island and eating them all alive.
He shivered. "Maybe... poke it with a stick?" he suggested nervously, taking a few steps back as well. At least he knew his running route around the island well enough to have an escape plan. He could outrun seaweed. Probably. Maybe.
“A stick … a stick …” Momoshiro looked around for anything to prod the pile with, but didn’t see a stick. He did however, see a rock. Right near his feet. He bent down to pick it up, and he looked at it for a while, debating whether or not it was wise to throw rocks at breathing seaweed. Maybe it was the Loch Ness monster?
“Uhh, here goes,” he said. Momoshiro flicked the small stone at the creepy leaves, and he heard it make contact with something, like a loud ‘thunk!’. Cautiously, he took a step back and awaited its reaction.
Tachibana had been having a pretty trippy dream, but was interrupted by something hitting him in the head. He flailed for a moment before sitting up. He rubbed his eyes and realized he was covered in seaweed. He began cleaning it off himself, not really looking around. “Ugh...I feel like I was hit by a truck.”
“AIIEEEH!” Momoshiro felt his heart beating a thousand miles in his chest, threatening to burst out into an explosion from that scare he got just now. But what was supposed to be the Loch Ness monster, was … a person. One who was talking. Japanese, no less. Momoshiro first looked up at Kaidoh to-wait, where was Kaidoh? No … seriously? Had the snake ran off? For real?
“A-are you alright?” Momoshiro asked as he took a few steps closer again. This was definitely no monster; Kaidoh was a pansy. He’ll have to look for him later, perhaps. If he felt like it. Right now though, his attention was on said strange person on the beach. Covered in seaweed, and had long messy blond hair. Hmm, he looked kind of familiar.
“I’ll be okay as long as you don’t scream again.” Tachibana said, rubbing his eyes. He looked over to Momoshiro, squinting. “...Where am I?” The other man looked familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. “Last I recall, I was on my boat. And then there was a storm.”
Great, another person shipwrecked on this god forsaken island. It really should be called ‘Dumbnut Island’. “You are …” Well, Momoshiro didn’t know that either, even after being stranded here for over two months. “Well, on an island-guess you got shipwrecked here, just like the rest of us.” Momoshiro cocked his head to the side as he studied the man more closely … there was definitely something familiar about him.
Oh! The mole!
“Tachibana!?”
Tachibana’s eyes widened upon hearing his name. “...Yeah, that’s me.” Tachibana confirmed. He studied the other man a little more. “...I know I know you, but I...can’t put my finger on it...” Maybe it’s because his head was swimming. “You definitely are someone I know.”
“I’m Momo, of course!” Momoshiro basically glomped Tachibana right then and there, and started to clean the man from the excess seaweed and helped him stand up straight. “How can you forget me? I dated your sister for a while! Alright, my hair does look a little bit stupid right now, but I swear, it’s just me; Momo. I don’t have anymore hair gel to spare, so this is how I look like with flat stupid hair. And oh god, you must have come here knowing your little sister had gone missing! Don’t worry, An is doing fine, she was a little shaken up when the ship did crash, but other than that, just peachy! In fact, she makes sure everyone else is doing fine, what with being a nurse and all-and uhh no, don’t worry, we haven’t done anything weird together or anything like that. Be rest assured, I haven’t touched her at all! I did worry her though … like, I think, at one point, she was probably very stressed out, because I thought I was pregnant, but haha, who wants to hear that old story!? And-YO KAIDOH, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!” Momoshiro took a deep breath as he looked around for a certain bandana clad man.
Tachibana blinked as his brain tried to process everything. One thing stuck out in his head. “An is here? Why? What happened? What boat?” Questions rolled off his tongue. He didn’t know his sister had gone missing. He had been gone for a long time, apparently. “I didn’t know she had gone missing. I was on an excursion to find a rare mango. Funny, looks like I found a missing peach instead.” He chuckled at his own joke. “...But really. What happened?”
Kaidoh, who was now hiding behind a palm tree, could vaguely hear Momoshiro's voice some ways behind him back on the beach. And another voice too... Momoshiro sounded loud and friendly and annoying as usual, which wouldn't be how he'd sound if it really were a zombie sea monster... right? Unless Momoshiro had already been turned into one himself. No, Momoshiro didn't sound quite that brain dead yet.
Kaidoh slinked out from behind the tree and into the open again. Now he could see Momoshiro and some other guy he didn't recognize. But without all the seaweed, the man didn't look scary at all. Kaidoh definitely wasn't scared of people. He hadn't even been scared anyway! He'd just felt like running into the jungle. Yeah.
"Hey," he called hesitantly, once he was back within earshot.
Momoshiro ignored Kaidoh coming out of his hiding place, and directly addressed Tachibana. “What happened … hmm, do you want the long version or the short version?”
“Short.” Tachibana said. “My head is swimming from rocks hitting it.”
“Oh, we should probably get you back right away then, An can take a look at it!” Momoshiro gave him a friendly smile and patted his shoulder. “We’re mostly grouped together in a cave at the moment, it’s not that far from here. We uhh, were all on a cruise ship, most old tennis team members, and the ship crashed, so we got stranded on this island. We’ve been here for about two months already, and I’ve lost hope that we’ll be rescued … but! We’re doing fine. There’s still loads of food, and no one is eating each other …” Though Momoshiro should probably leave out there’s a really dangerous man living on this island as well, going by the name of Kite. THe purple yakuza man.
“But let’s get you back to where everyone is! Get you checked out. We’ve got loads of medical students here too, like Oishi, and uhhh … Yagyuu, I think.” Momoshiro tried to think of more names, but was coming up with a blank. “Are you thirsty? Hungry?”
“No...I’m okay.” Tachibana took in all of the familiar names. “That cruise...was that the cruise Atobe sent out invitations to, by any chance? All of those names make me feel rather nostalgic.”
“It sure was! Lots of people came … and lots of people got stranded on this island. Don’t worry, no one was-” Momoshiro swallowed his words. He would have liked to say no one got hurt, but that wasn’t true; Echizen got hurt. Badly. And he was still recovering from it too. “Well, no one died,” he said with a sheepish smile. He started to walk along the sand to guide Tachibana to their gathering spot.
Momoshiro looked back at Kaidoh. “Kaidoh, do you have anything to drink?” Even if Tachibana said he was fine, surely, no one would object to having something to drink. He remembered when he found Kaidoh; starved and dehydrated. He had to actually catch fish for him on the spot to feed him-and he was awesome at it, too.
Kaidoh stuffed his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small canteen of water. He passed it to Tachibana with a grunt.
"Drink," he said, still trying to remember who the guy was. He went to that other middle school near theirs, right? It was such a long time ago.
Tachibana smiled and took the canteen. “Thank you, Kaidoh-san.” He said. After hearing Momoshiro say his name, Tachibana recognized Kaidoh. “I’m Tachibana Kippei. Do you remember me? I won’t blame you if you don’t. Middle school was so long ago.” He chuckled softly before taking a long drink. “I didn’t realize I was so thirsty!”
“Kaidoh should know,” said Momoshiro with a snort. “He’d been stalking me about me and An dating, so he should know about you.” Well, not really; Momoshiro didn’t know if Kaidoh knew about him and An dating, but he had a hunch Kaidoh did. After all … he did have a crush on him. And Kaidoh was such a fucking stalker.
Kaidoh's fingers clenched into fists. "What the hell, I never did that!" he growled. He was about ready to punch Momoshiro when he thought better of it and let out a long hiss instead. He turned back to Tachibana.
"Sorry," he said slowly. "Yeah, I do remember you now... You were Fudomine's captain."
“And An’s brother,” Momoshiro added. “You should know.”
Kaidoh just snarled back at him. Momoshiro snorted.
Tachibana chuckled lightheartedly. “There, there, you two. No need to act like that. I happen to look a lot different now, don’t I? Especially when I still have bits of seaweed all over me.” Tachibana took another drink when a thought passed his mind. “....Momoshiro. Is An the only girl on this island?” His eyes turned dark and serious.
“Oh, yeah, the only girl out of all the guys.” And perhaps the only other straight person besides Momoshiro himself. He was tempted to outright ask Tachibana if he was gay, too. But then he remembered when he asked Kaidoh, and Kaidoh punched him in the face. Maybe not such a good idea. “But don’t worry; I make sure no one touches her! And she can handle herself well.” And the fact that no one wants to touch her.
“Well, now I’m here, so I can protect her from everyone.” Tachibana looked at Momoshiro for a moment, a hint of distrust in his voice, before grinning. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen her, so I’ll be sure to spend lots and lots of time around her.”
“Haha,” Momoshiro laughed a bit nervously. “I’m sure she’d … love that.” Probably not. Momoshiro had heard about An ranting about her brother overprotectiveness, and that she was happy to get away from him sometimes. However, Momoshiro could sympathise with Tachibana; he wanted to protect An too. Echizen was also included. Kaidoh wasn’t. He could be eaten by the Loch Ness monster for all he cared.
“Currently she sleeps in a cave with a bunch of guys though …” Momoshiro trailed off.
Tachibana kept a grin on his face, but his aura was black. “I see....” Tachibana thought about the amount of time Momoshiro had said they had been on the island. “So...wait a minute. You’ve been on this island for months... and no one has tried anything? Is everyone here gay?!” Even Tachibana had to admit that was pretty fishy behaviour for men stranded on an island.
“Yes.” Momoshiro had a flat expression on his face.
Tachibana grinned. “Awesome.” Was all he had to say.
Momoshiro shook his head. “No it’s not. It’s definitely not awesome.” Then he looked over at Kaidoh. “Since people are gay for me.”
“Well, I’m not gay for you.” Tachibana reassured. “So don’t worry.”
“Aww, I can always count on you!” Momoshiro threw an arm around Tachibana and chuckled at him. Screw Kaidoh.
Tachibana chuckled. “Yes, well...” He sighed a bit. “I can’t believe I crashed my boat. I was so close to finding that mango!”
Momoshiro raised his eyebrows. “Mango? You … alright in the head?” He slipped his arm away.
Tachibana nodded. “I’m a chef, Momoshiro. I was on an excursion to find a mango to make a rare dish.”
“Chefs …do that kind of stuff?” Momoshiro looked over at Kaidoh and gave him a weird look. “Really?”
“Well...” Tachibana laughed. “Maybe chefs whose best friend in middle school had an extreme wanderlust. I always wondered what it would be like to just...up and travel like that.”
“Well buddy, now you know; it sucks ass. Getting stranded has not been fun. Though we’ve been doing alright, I guess. The island isn’t that bad. We catch a lot of fish, and I even build a shack that I live in, along with Kaidoh and Echizen.” Which was probably something that needed fixing; since it was currently very awkward to live with them both. “Other people seem to be treating it as a long vacation, but not me …” Momoshiro sighed as he remembered how long he’d been here. “I’m sure I’ve already been kicked out of my apartment; it’s been two months and no one even found us-I’m surprised you didn’t know!”
“I’ve been gone just as long on this search...I cut myself off from technology, which was apparently my downfall.” Tachibana just laughed. Then he looked over at Kaidoh, handing back the canteen. “Thank you again. I appreciate it.”
"No problem," Kaidoh replied, grimacing in a way that sort of might resemble a smile if you were to squint.
Tachibana smiled at Kaidoh, being friendly. “I’m glad you two found me. I might have baked out there. But wrapped in seaweed, it might have smelled delicious!”
I’ve seen better,” joked Momoshiro. “But I guess you should thank Kaidoh, he’s the one who came running here.” Then he mouthed the words ‘running freak’ behind Tachibana’s back towards Kaidoh.
Tachibana smiled at Kaidoh. “Thank you Kaidoh-san.” He was, of course, unaware of Momoshiro’s antics.
“Yeah, thank him for running away screaming like a little girl.” The screaming part might have been him though.
“It wasn’t his scream that gave me a headache.” Tachibana said, teasing Momoshiro. “Of course, maybe he threw those rocks that made the headache even worse...”
Momoshiro made a tiny little squeak, and then his face heated up in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I had to make sure you … weren’t some thing.” That came to eat them. Momoshiro had been hanging out way too much with Kaidoh to start thinking about stupid stuff like that. “But now I know it’s you, nothing weird will happen anymore! I promise. I’ll even cook you some food if you’d like. No wait, perhaps you should do it, you’re a chef after all. I can give you some fresh caught fish. Or maybe Kaidoh can catch some, since he seems to be soooo good at it.”
Kaidoh narrowed his eyes at Momoshiro. "I am," he said, admittedly kind of dreading the idea of having both Momoshiro and Tachibana watching him try to fish. Maybe Tachibana wouldn't be that hungry after all. Or maybe Kaidoh wouldn't take three hours to catch something like usual. "There's plenty of food on the island if you know where to look," he added.
Tachibana looked at the other two men, then shook his head. “I’m not very hungry, honestly. My head still hurts, and it’s making me nauseous. I’m hiding it well though, right?” He laughed nervously. “Mom says I should stop doing that.” He was feeling pretty out of it. The water had helped, but he had just wrecked his boat, so he figured he was allowed to feel not-so-great. “I would mostly just appreciate somewhere to sleep.”
“Ah, that’s bad, head injuries … I know all about it. Recently, someone hit my head so hard, I lost my memories for an entire week! Man, that was scary, not knowing who I was. Hope you’re doing fine though. We’ll definitely let An check you out. And then you can sleep too, they’ve made the caves they live in pretty comfortable.”
By now, they had already been walking several minutes, and Momoshiro already saw his shack in sight, which meant several more minutes to reach the caves.
“Is it much farther. I’m exhausted.” Tachibana yawned. “I think I’m fine. Just, you know, a little bewildered and banged up.”
“I bet! But no, we’re almost there. We can stop at my shack if you want, it’s right there.” Momoshiro threw his head to the side, and just as he said, his shack was clearly in sight. Built out of bamboo and wood from the cruise ship, it looked shoddy and unstable. Thankfully, it had made him survive for over a month at least.
“Won’t Echizen get startled?” asked Kaidoh in a grumpy voice. He wasn’t really all that concerned about Echizen, he was more concerned about scaring away Karupin.
“No, he should be fine, I mean, when you dropped in, Echizen didn’t look startled, right? Just a bit confused. So how about it, Tachibana? We’ve got a nice comfy bed there too, if you want to sleep in there. Though I’d rather still have An check you out first …” Momoshiro scratched the back of his head, wondering what to do.
Tachibana could see the worry emanating off of Momoshiro. “I can make it to the caves. I wouldn’t want you to worry.” Tachibana smirked. “Though I will probably collapse once we’re there. Just a warning.”
“Oh, that’s not good,” said Momoshiro. Though he’s he could get Kaidoh to use those buff looking arms of his to carry in a grown-up man. “Let’s hurry up then, I’m sure An would love to see you again.” Sort of.
They walked by the shack Momoshiro had built, and Momoshiro gave it a wary glance; Echizen was still inside. Probably waiting for him to return, or maybe banging his head against the wall. Or maybe he went ahead and drowned himself in the ocean. The thought of Echizen drowning made his blood turn cold. He’d rather not think about something like that.
The trek from the shack to the caves wasn’t that much longer, but Momoshiro knew Tachibana was exhausted, and probably had a pretty rough day already. Why did he build the shack so far away from the caves again? Right. Privacy.
“So uhh, you’ve never heard of a cruise ship missing or something?” asked Momoshiro.
“Hm? No...Like I said, I left about the time Atobe sent out the invitations. I actually haven’t seen anyone from my family in six months.” Tachibana looked sentimental. “It’s been pretty lonely.”
“Wow … you’re.” A pretty bad brother. “Pretty cut-off from the rest of the world, huh? Six months is a long time. We’ve been gone for about … four months now? I don’t know-Kaidoh, how long have we been gone?”
At the mention of his name, Kaidoh hissed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts. “Moron, I got here later than you did.”
“Oh right, you did,” said Momoshiro sheepishly. “Well, I think, including the time spent on the cruise, it’s been about four months. But six months and no contact with family? I’m surprised they didn’t think you were dead already.”
Tachibana frowned. “...I didn’t mean to go so long without seeing them...” He looked guilty. “Mom and Dad finally have an empty nest, and they seemed happy about it...and An...well, I doubt she wanted her big brother pestering her all the time.” Tachibana had been pretty lonely even around his family.
Momoshiro zipped his mouth shut. Tachibana was right; An did have a lot of complaints about her brother breathing down her neck. “Well, whatever happened back then, I’m sure she wouldn’t think like that at all right now.” She’d probably hit Momoshiro for dragging Tachibana all the way over to the caves, probably.
“Look, we’re almost there,” said Momoshiro. He could finally see the caves at the end of the horizon. People were already out and about; it seemed pretty lively. Much livelier than the part of the beach he lived on.
Tachibana nodded, falling silent. “Yeah...” Tachibana could feel himself losing energy. “...Maybe I should just stop here.”
“No, no, no-don’t pass out now!” Momoshiro grabbed Tachibana’s arm, and threw it over his own shoulder so he could support him. “Kaidoh, help me out here.” Kaidoh simply nodded curtly and took over the other side, so that they were both carrying Tachibana, supporting him, in case he’d fall right then and there.
“We’re almost there, hang in there, Tachibana,” said Momoshiro.
“Sorry you two.” Tachibana apologized weakly. “I suppose I overdid it.” He closed his eyes. “Sorry...”
“Don’t apologize,” said Momoshiro. Together with Kaidoh they managed to get Tachibana at the mouth of the cave; and he was still alive. Not alive and well, but hey, well enough! Momoshiro smiled happily as he spotted An inside. She was sure in for a surprise.