[Log] Coffee and Chocolate [Jirou, Akaya, Kura-chan]
Characters: Akaya, Jirou, Shiraishi
Location: The Beach
Time: July 25th
Rating: PG-13-ish
Summary: More Kura-torture, plus cacao goop and some angsty chatting!
Picking up the backpack that was full of coffee beans and raw cacao, Akaya smiled over his shoulder at Shiraishi. “Ready to head down to the beach, Kura?”
Shiraishi gently poked at the snake on his neck, nodding. “Yep, we’re all ready!”
Walking over to gently run his hand over Cocoa’s scales, Akaya beamed and took hold of Shiraishi’s good hand. “Alrighty then! I’m sure Jirou-san will be happy to have all this stuff. And I’ll be right with you while he works on your arm.”
Shiraishi nodded hesitantly. “Are...are you sure you want to see this, Akaya? It’s okay if you don’t.”
“Do I want to see you in agonizing pain? Not so much. But I do want to help you not hurt and get better. And me seeing you in pain is nothing compared to how much pain you’ll be feeling. If I can do anything to make it hurt less for you, I want to do that.” Akaya looked at Shiraishi seriously before stretching up to brush his lips lightly over the blond’s cheek.
Shiraishi’s cheeks tinted with a faint pink. “You’re the best, Akaya.”
Akaya gave Shiraishi a dopey smile before starting toward the beach on one of the paths through the jungle. “I think you’re just biased. But I’m not complaining.”
Shiraishi walked alongside Akaya, humming happily. “I might be biased, but I really do think you’re the best.”
Akaya felt his smile turn into a goofy grin. “Thank you. You’re the best in my book too, you know.”
Shiraishi chuckled. “Such a charmer...”
“Only for you. And maybe for Cocoa.” Akaya laughed.
“A snake charmer?” Shiraishi joked.
“Well, I don’t have a flute. Which might be a good thing since I was never very good with instruments back in school, but I could give it a try.” Akaya winked as he pushed back a low hanging branch. The beach was much brighter than the river was, and the sun nearly blinded him for a moment. “Do you know what direction we need to go in to find Jirou-san?”
Shiraishi nodded and took charge leading the way. “I wonder if we’ll find him asleep? He seemed pretty excited about the prospects of coffee and chocolate.”
Akaya shrugged and let Shiraishi lead the way. “I don’t know. I hope he’s awake, mostly because I would feel bad waking him up.”
Shiraishi laughed. “He’s kinda adorable if you wake him up right. He called me Santa-san.”
Akaya laughed at that. “Did you have a bag over your shoulder?”
“Yeah!” Shiraishi laughed. “Ah, should be right around here.” He said as they approached the last place he had run into Jirou.
Akaya looked around curiously as he called out. “Ano, Jirou-san! We have coffee beans!”
Jirou turned over on the daybed he was napping on and fell off onto the pillows below, causing him to wake. “Mm?” he said, peering at his guest. Guests. One blond and one...”Oh! Aka-chan! Kuro-chan!” He carefully detangled himself then stood up, promptly launching himself at them. “Yay! You came! And you brought me chocolate! Yay!”
Akaya staggered ever so slightly as Jirou launched himself at them. “Jirou-san! You didn’t hurt yourself when you fell, did you?”
Shiraishi just chuckled. “You have to be more careful when you first wake up, Jirou-chan!”
“I am! That’s why I put some pillows down. The rug wasn’t quite enough,” Jirou explained. He stepped back and looked expectantly at them both. “Come on, Santa-san, what did you bring me this time?” He was bouncing on his toes in anticipation.
Akaya laughed and shook his head lightly. Setting the backpack down, he began pulling out the coffee beans and the cacao. “Lots of goodies. You said you can make this into chocolate, right?” He asked eagerly, holding up one of the cacao fruits. “Also, is it alright for me to sit in on Kura getting his arm treated?”
“Sure!” Jirou said, his eyes completely focused on the cacao pod. “That’s...chocolate.” He nodded slightly as he stared at it. “I read all about it. First I have to open them up and separate out the beans, then...Oh, and there’s coffee. That needs to be roasted and then...I’ll need to process the cocoa, and then...”
Akaya bit his lip to keep from laughing. He wasn’t used to seeing such focus from the narcoleptic man. “Anything you need us to do to help?”
Shiraishi just chuckled. He was happy their search made Jirou so excited.
“Huh?” Jirou looked back up at them, blinking. “Oh! Sorry!” He blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “I kind of get caught up in things. You came for your treatment too, right, Kura-chan? And...Aka-chan wants to sit on you?” He couldn’t remember what all Aka-chan had said, but he was almost certain that wasn’t it. “I’m not sure that would help...”
Akaya blushed lightly and scratched the back of his head. “Not sit on Kura, just...be close to him and maybe make it easier for him to go through this time. As long as I won’t be in the way.”
Shiraishi laughed. “Sitting on me might have the opposite effect.” He sighed after his laugh. “But Akaya being there would make it easier, I think.”
“Oh, sure, that makes sense. Just a second and I will go get the device. Make yourselves comfortable,” Jirou said. He disappeared into his cave. He knew exactly where it was, but he gave them an extra moment or two to arrange themselves. “Feel free to sit on the daybed,” he called out, making rummaging noises.
Shiraishi sat on the daybed, taking a deep breath. He hoped that this would go better than the last time. He looked over to Akaya, smiling and patting the bed on his right side. “I’ll need you on this side, Akaya!”
Akaya sat down on Shirashi's right side, taking the blond's hand in his own. "This ok? If it hurts really bad, just squeeze my hand as hard as you need to, ok?"
Shiraishi smiled softly and gave Akaya’s hand a squeeze. “Okay.”
“Found it!” Jirou called out before coming out of his cave again. He smiled at the two men on the bed. “Comfy, isn’t it? Okay, the safe word didn’t really work so well last time. However, that means you can use a mouth guard.” He opened a box on the table and pulled out a piece of dried fruit. “Good news is, it is completely edible. Bad news is, you’ll likely drool a bit.” He looked at the way the two were sitting. “Hm, that might be a bit problematic. He needs to hold the kill switch in his hand and it can’t be the one that is getting stimulated, because it won’t relax if he falls unconscious like the other will.” He pulled the two boxes out of their case as he spoke.
“Oh...that’s right...” Shiraishi bit his lip. “Ah...Well, Akaya being here is enough.” Shiraishi honestly felt a bit dull-witted for forgetting about the killswitch.
Akaya frowned softly before moving to sit so that Shiraishi's head was in his lap. It didn't take much to coax Cocoa to move to his own shoulders instead so that he could run his hands through Shiraishi's hair. "Will this work?"
Shiraishi nodded. “It works for me...” Shiraishi looked over to Jirou. “Do I have to be sitting up?”
“Is that a snake?” Jirou asked. If it was around Kura and Akaya’s shoulders hopefully it wasn’t poisonous. It looked soft and silky though. He stared mesmerized for a long moment before he shook himself and answered the question. “Uhm, nope. Whatever is most comfortable for you. But Aka-chan, you will have to make sure he doesn’t choke on his drool. The mouth guard will keep you from choking on your tongue and keeping your airway open,” he told Kura. He affixed the two boxes in the same spots they had been the first time.
"Maybe you should sit up a bit more then. But I'll hold onto you the whole time, and it's ok to scream or anything like that." Akaya smiled gently at Kura before looking up at Jirou. "This is Cocoa. We think he's a constrictor since we've yet to see fangs."
Shiraishi sat up a little. “ He has fangs, they just have no venom.” He smiled. “Okay...I think I’m ready!”
Jirou perched on the pillow covered rug next to Kura and gave him his serious look. “All right. Like last time, I am going to count down from three and then turn it on. If at any time you want me to turn it off...well, you’ll have a mouth guard in, and you had your teeth clenched too tight last time.” He placed the kill switch in Kura’s right hand. “If you want to stop and you are able, just drop that. It will stop the procedure immediately.” He nodded at the dried fruit. “Pop that in your mouth and I’ll start.”
Akaya took a deep breath and held onto Shiraishi. "I've got you, just focus on me and you'll be fine. I'm right here, Kura."
Shiraishi nodded as he put the fruit in his mouth. He gave Jirou a nod to tell him he was ready.
“All right,” Jirou took a deep breath and let it out. “In three. Two. One.” He turned the device on.
Akaya used one hand to pet Shiraishi's hair as the other arm wound around his chest. Whispering softly, he gave quiet reassurance and sweet nothings to the blond to distract him from the sensations the device was causing.
Like the last time, Shiraishi was okay with the sensation at first, but soon it got to be too much. This time, he began thrashing, the fruit muffling would-be screams as tears ran down his face. Still, he didn’t drop the killswitch just yet. It wasn’t quite at the point where he felt the need to.
With Akaya here, Jirou didn’t feel the need to try to distract Kura. If the dark-haired man with the loving expression on his face wasn’t enough, there wasn’t anything he could do. He monitored the device though. He had figured after last time that Kura was one of those stubborn types that would not give up until the last. Of course, having watched the match between Kura and Syuusuke back in Junior High told him that much.
Akaya contained Shiraiashi's thrashing as much as he could while trying to drown out the sounds of the blond's muffled screams with his own platitudes and declarations. In his ear, he could hear and feel Cocoa hissing in displeasure at Shiraishi's pain. 'At least he isn't trying to choke me by constricting around my neck. He's more attached to Kura than I thought.'
Shiraishi was close to letting himself ride this all the way out again, but somewhere in his desperation and pain, he dropped the killswitch, effectively ending the session. He felt his body go limp against Akaya as it relaxed. Hey...he didn’t pass out that time! That’s was an improvement.
Jirou caught the killswitch as it fell from Kura’s hand. As the other relaxed, he smiled and gently removed the device boxes. “Very good! You stayed conscious this time and you didn’t bite yourself, yay!” he said, cheering the other’s success. He pulled out the bottle of aloe and quickly rubbed some into Kura’s arm. After he was done, he poured some mostly hot water from the kettle he kept near the coals into a cup with some guava tea and brought it and the box of dried fruit back over. “Here. This will settle your stomach and give you more energy now that you just burnt so much of it off.” He smiled at them both.
“Ah..thank you.” Shiraishi was a little shaky as he took the cup. “Don’t mind me while I recuperate. Perhaps you two can start roasting some coffee beans or something.” He gave them a weak smile.
Akaya kissed the crown of Shiraishi's head and smiled softly. "I can stay right here if you want me to, Kura."
“Ah...I won’t say no, but chocolate won’t get made if all time is spent doting on me.” Shiraishi teased. He let out a soft yawn. “I feel like I might need a nap.”
Akaya smiled softly as Cocoa slithered down to rest on Shiraishi's right shoulder. "Sleep all you need. I'll see what I can do to help Jirou-san."
“Yup!” Jirou added. He extended a hand to help Akaya to his feet. “Okay, if you want to help, I have to warn you, it might get messy! First we have to remove the beans and pulp from the pods. Then we’ll pile them up in a bin and let them ferment. This will take seven whole days,” he said looking all droopy and sad. “Then we’ll get into part two. But,” he perked up again. “In the meantime, we can start hulling the coffee beans too. They also require time to ferment and then they need to be washed.” He sighed. “Why is deliciousness so time intensive!”
Akaya carefully laid Shiraishi down once the blond finished his tea. Stretching as he stepped over to Jirou, he chuckled. "What can I do to start with?"
“Chocolate is more important,” Jirou said earnestly, taking both of Akaya’s hands in his. “But don’t tell the coffee addicts I said that.”
Akaya laughed. "I won't! Don't worry about that."
“All right!” Jirou punched the air, letting go of Akaya’s hands. “So, we cut the pods open and glop the innards into a bin I have ready!” He pulled out the bin, two oyster gloves and a couple of sharp knives. “I will warn you, I am doing all of this from reading a book. So, hopefully it will come out right!”
Akaya grabbed one of the knives and gloves before nodding. “Well, you still know more about it than I do, so we’ll give it a shot and see.”
Jirou opened one of the pods and scooped the insides into the bin. “Ew! It’s slimy! Cool!” he said with a large grin. “This is going to be fun!”
Akaya scrunched up his face a bit at first before deciding that the slimy feeling was indeed neat. “I really hope this turns out well. I’ve been craving chocolate for a couple weeks now!”
“Unfortunately you are going to have to keep craving it for another couple,” Jirou said. “Fermentation takes seven days, then we have to spread them to dry, crack the shells, remove the nibs and then process it.” He sighed. “If it weren’t for the fact that this is chocolate I would doubt it was worth the effort. But it is, so it is.” He grinned and picked up another pod. “Feel free to bring more pods though, these will go fast!”
Akaya nodded as he reached for another pod to open, a large smile on his face. “I can do that! I remember where the tree was, and there were several others near it. They should be ripe soon.”
Jirou jumped in excitement. Fortunately he dropped the knife on the table before doing so. “Yay! Thank you so much, Aka-chan! Remind me when we’re not slimy anymore and I’ll give you a big hug!”
Jirou’s cheer was infectious, and Akaya found himself beaming at the excitement the other was showing. “Ok, I can do that. So what do we do once we’re done scooping all the stuff out of the pods?”
“We shell the coffee beans,” Jirou said. “We just let the cocoa ferment. Nothing to do there.” He looked over at Kura to make sure the other was sleeping comfortably, then stepped over to adjust the umbrella to keep the sun off the other man’s face.
Once they were done gutting the cocoa pods, Akaya wiped the mess off of himself before sitting next to Shiraishi for a moment. He was glad that the blond was sleeping so easily after the pain of the procedure for his arm. Leaning in to brush his lips lightly over Shiraishi’s forehead, Akaya smiled before standing up and facing Jirou again. “Ok. How can I help with that?”
Jirou lugged the bin to a good spot in the sun and spread a bug net over it. He turned in time to see Aka-chan kiss Kura on the forehead. “We start by removing the beans from the fruit. They’re sometimes referred to as cherries, by the way,” he said. “But they sure don’t taste like cherries!” He took the cacao pods and bundled them up to take to the compost heap later and got out a couple of bowls to hold the cherries and the beans. “I’m not sure what method will work best here, so we get to experiment!” The way he said that last word made it clear that Jirou enjoyed experimenting.
Akaya nodded and sat down next to Jirou. “Experimenting sounds like a lot of fun.”
The silence of breaking open the little fruits and taking out the beans only lasted a little while. Jirou looked over at Aka-chan. “I appreciate you bringing me the freshwater fish ever now and again, Aka-chan. What all have you been doing with your days? I mean, there’s only so many hours of the day you can lay around working on your tan, after all,” he said with a grin.
Akaya smiled softly as he worked on his own pile of coffee seeds. "Ah, you're welcome. Mostly, I've just been spending time with Kura and getting to know him better while getting over some stuff that I didn't know was still a problem for me."
“Ah. Yes, clearing the brain and opening the heart are good ways to spend your days,” Jirou said, nodding. “So, no training yet? Or exploring? Are you staying in shape? You are eating more than just fish, right?” he asked.
Akaya nodded. "I have fruit, too. I haven't done much exploring, but I do a little bit of training at our camp. Mostly swimming up and down the river."
“You don’t do any stretching exercises? Calisthenics? Weight lifting for your arms?” Jirou asked. “You are going to have a hard time getting back in shape for tennis, you know. Oh! Do you want to see if my device can help your ankle any?” He tilted his head and smiled. “By the way, if your ankle is already healed the most you should feel is a little prickling, like if your foot had fallen asleep.”
"I do pushups and crunches sometimes, but I don't have any weights to use and I'm not sure if the trees that have branches straight enough for it would be strong enough for pull ups." Akaya shrugged and pursed his lips as he thought about Jirou's offer. "Maa... Maybe once Kura wakes up I'll try it."
“Sometimes?” Jirou tsked and shook his head. “You might want to ask either Renji-chan or Sada-chan to make a new training menu for you. If Kaidou-chan can make dumbells, perhaps he can show you how as well. You need to take this opportunity while you have it!” he said excited. “Come back to Japan all rested up and ready to hit the tennis world by storm again...not looking like you’d been convalescing somewhere and only just going into rehab. Besides,” he dropped his voice as he looked over at the sleeping Kura. “As his arm improves, he’s going to need to start using it more. If he’s, ‘helping’ you, it will give him more incentive than simply doing it for himself. Pain, and I know this sounds profound, hurts. The memory of pain, however, can sometimes be just as crippling.”
"I'm not worried about muscle loss, I'm worried more about my stamina. And that's something that I need to be on a court to get back. I do a fair share of lifting with all the fish I catch and the fruit I harvest. But I'll keep that in mind, thank you. I'm not afraid of pain, at least not the physical kind." Akaya shrugged and gave Jirou a slight hint of a sad smile before looking down at the beans he was separating.
Jirou had heard some of what had happened. He didn’t sleep all the time, after all. But Aka-chan had Kura to look after him and seemed to be doing fairly well. Although he was also rather dense. “Ahem. Perhaps, if Kura-chan thought he was helping you...?” he repeated. “And since when,” he said with a sudden frown, “do you need to be on a court to work on your stamina? Haven’t you ever run laps before? Done drills? Plus, we do have a court now! You should upgrade your training menu and ask Kura-chan for his help, in order to get back into fighting trim,” Jirou said.
Akaya frowned at Jirou. "Drills require a racket, which I don't have. The jungle is too dense and too dangerous thanks to Kite's traps to run laps. That leaves working on the beach. And using the court would presumably also mean being at the beach in addition to needing a racket. I'll talk to Kura and see how I can help him, but my own options are limited here."
“We have rackets,” Jirou said patiently. “We even have your rackets, the ones you like to use. And tennis shoes and the whole bit. We got them out of the pro shop on the ship, the one that Kei-chan went so overboard on. They’re in the supply cave with everything else. Did you not pay attention when Hiro-chan was listing the things we’d gotten?” Seriously, Jirou knew and he hadn’t been trying to get into the man’s pants! He shook off the thought, it was none of his business. He smiled again. “Okay, so you don’t like running on sand, that’s understandable. It’s a bit much for your ankle right now. You could talk to Kaidou-chan, though. He might know of more firmly packed sand or some dirt paths that aren’t trapped. Or heck, talk to Kite-chan and ask him to remove the traps on your route!” He picked up another handful of coffee fruits. “And just because the court is near the beach does not mean it is sandy. It’s actually a really nice grass court. Maybe not quite up to Wimbledon, but a lot better than the average backyard!” He grinned again.
Akaya threw down the knife he'd been using and raked his hands through his hair with a growl. "It's not about the goddamned sand, ok? I can run on some stupid sand. It's about this beach and people who are here at the beach. There are people here who don't want to see me probably ever again so long as the Earth keeps spinning, and for my own mental health, I need to respect that." Almost immediately, Akaya's eyes widened as his skin paled. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, you don't know. You didn't deserve that and I shouldn't have.... Please, forgive me? I'm really sorry."
Jirou looked at him, his eyes wide. “Wow,” he said after a moment. “You really do change moods pretty quickly, don’t you? I’m sorry, I was unaware that your issues with the beach had more to do with the people than the sand. Uhm...did you and Kaidou-chan have an argument?” he asked.
Akaya winced. “Sorry, I don’t know why I have such crazy mood swings so much of the time. Kaidoh...he’s the guy who hisses, right? I didn’t even know he was here to be honest. It’s...it’s Niou and Yagyuu that I...gods, I fucked things up bad with them.”
“Wow, you’ve been rather out of touch,” Jirou said. “You really should get out more. Or, at least, check people’s blogs and stuff. And I thought you were friends with those two! What happened?” He put down the beans and fruit and leaned forward to provide Aka-chan with a friendly ear.
Akaya sighed and looked down as he tried to sort out his thoughts. "I tried to have more than just a friendship with both of them, and it blew up in my face. I thought I could wait for them to let me in and trust me, and that Niou and I could put each other back together from the shit that we've each been through. I was wrong, so very wrong. And I didn't want to believe I was wrong until Kura showed up and he and I just...clicked. I'm not walking on eggshells afraid to say the wrong thing, I don't have to hide my own damage to focus on breaking through his, and he doesn't pull away from me for no reason. So I ended things with Niou and Yagyuu, and I hurt them both so much. I didn't want to, but I deserve to have my own happiness."
“Oh.” Jirou thought a moment then got up and poured some water out of the tea kettle near the fire into a mug with mint tea leaves and handed it to the younger man. “Here. Now, if I may say...first, yes, you do deserve your own happiness. Second...I’m glad that Kura-chan and you have gotten together, you both seem very good for one another from what I’ve seen. Third,” he paused a moment. “How are you doing on getting put back together?”
Akaya took the tea with a grateful smile. Nursing the steaming beverage as he waited for it to steep and cool some, he nodded slightly. "Way better than I was on my own, that's for sure."
“Then, as a sempai, I recommend that you continue to put yourself back together with Kura’s help and help him put himself back together as well.” He sighed and looked actually serious for a change. “My hints were too subtle earlier. If you ask him to help you rehabilitate your ankle, you will be, in fact, helping him rehabilitate his arm. Now that it is getting treated he needs to use it so that he doesn’t suffer from atrophy. Now, regarding the beach,” he said, pouring himself some tea as well. “Niou doesn’t use the main beach as far as I’ve been able to determine. I think he has a private spot somewhere. I don’t suppose he ever showed it to you so you know where to avoid? Never mind,” he waved off his own question. “Not relevant. He’s often in his cave or further up the mountain, but as I said, he doesn’t use the main beach. Yagyuu does, but very rarely. He does go to the supply cave occasionally and to the medical cave to talk to An-chan. I think he even spells her once in a while so she can get out and work on her tan.” He looked at Akaya. “So far, neither of them have been to the tennis court.”
Akaya took in all that Jirou had said and nodded slowly. "Ok, but how will helping me with my ankle help his arm? His grip is almost nonexistent, and he can't even feel it at times. Watching me do sprints or swing drills won't do him any good, will it?" He thankfully didn't flinch at the mention of Niou's secret spot. Akaya knew exactly where it was since he'd probably made it an intolerable place for the trickster.
“Doing sprints with you, tossing the ball to you for swing practice, things that get him using his arm in small ways at first, then, as you both improve, he can be your practice partner. Don’t forget, he was a captain. He’s got a wealth of knowledge under his belt,” Jirou said. He strained the tea leaves out and added some sugar, then took a sip. Mm, perfect. “Take advantage of that. If his arm starts to hurt or stops working, make him put his sling on, too.”
Akaya smiled softly at the suggestions. “I can do that. And it would be good for him too. I’ll talk to him about it later today, after he wakes up and stuff.” Taking a long sip of the tea, his smile widened a bit. “This is really good. Thank you for sharing.”
Jirou beamed. “I enjoy sharing! I can pack up a little tin of leaves for you, if you like!” He looked over past the table to the ocean view. “It’s not a bad place, really. I mean, it would make a great vacation spot, it’s just that...we’re forced to be here and have no way of contacting our families and friends.” He rolled his eyes then. “Of course, our friends seem to be coming to us, dropping in all over the place these days.”
“Would you? That would be great! I didn’t think I would miss something as simple as tea, but I really have. And you’re right, this place wouldn’t be so bad if we could come and go as we please. Kura is worried about his parents, and so am I. Not to mention I have bills that may or may not be getting paid since I still owe money to my PT.” Akaya sighed and looked out to watch the waves rolling in onto the beach. It was peaceful to watch, sure, but not like it would be anywhere else in the world.
“I’m sure that your manager or family has relayed your predicament to your PT. I would personally consider this a reasonable excuse,” Jirou pointed out. “And of course I will give you some tea! Oh, I also have guava, you know, for when you have an upset tummy or other digestive problems.” He gave Aka-chan a significant look. “In fact, if your parents didn’t make other arrangements, I bet your belongings are in some Atobe warehouse right now, waiting on your return. I know my family misses me...but honestly, I’m more worried about my lab assistants and secretary right now,” he said with a smile. “I bet they’ve been poached and I’m going to have to build my team from scratch when we get back.”
"I'm not worried about my stuff really, other than my rackets and my favorite shoes. I'm more worried about my savings and stuff like that. But the tea would be great, thank you." Akaya smiled and drained the rest of his tea. "I hope you can rebuild your team easily when we get home. Maybe they'll come back on their own because they like you."
“I hope so. Not every boss allows nap breaks,” Jirou said with a grin. “Would you like another cup, or should we go back to work?” He thought for a moment. “I wouldn’t worry much about your money and such. Once the boat was reported missing, Kei-chan’s people probably froze all of our accounts. After all, if one of us was responsible for the ship sinking, or the possible kidnapping of Kei-chan, they wouldn’t want us to have access to our money. However, since they wouldn’t know which of us it was, they’d give the moneys to one of the Atobe money managers, oh! Who would pay off any bills out of it, etc. Which means that your manager’s probably moved on by now. Sorry,” he said, gently patting Aka-chan on the arm.
"Wow, I never even thought of that. I hope she's moved on to some other client so I won't have to fire her, but I will probably still take a long hard look at my finances to be sure she didn't try to trick Atobe's manager out of more than she was due." Looking at the remaining pile of fruits from the coffee plant, Akaya smiled and picked his knife back up. "I suppose we should get back to work."
“Nh,” Jirou said in agreement, nodding. They went back to peeling the little fruits and removing the raw beans. However, Jirou couldn’t keep quiet for too long. “So, Aka-chan...isn’t Bun-chan like one of the most Awesome People Ever? What was it like to be on the same team as him?” he asked, his eyes all shiny.
Akaya was quiet for a beat before bursting up laughing. "Marui? He was alright. Whined a lot though, especially if he knew we were going to be doing a lot of laps."
“But...but, he’s a genius!” Jirou protested. “Were laps really necessary for one of his caliber? And whined? Really? Wow.” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine Bun-chan whining. Are you sure you don’t have him mixed up with some other member of your team?”
"Genius is debatable with him. And yeah, we all ran laps, even Buchou. And I know I'm not mixing him up with any other member of my team because Marui was the only one who ever begged and whined over cake." Akaya had to stop working so that he wouldn't risk cutting himself while laughing.
“Mm, yeah. He sure loves his cake,” Jirou said fondly, remembering the times that he’d arrange to have one delivered to his idol back in Junior High. “Hey, what do you mean by debatable!” Jirou asked. “He is a genius! Can you do that Tightrope Walking trick of his?”
Akaya snorted in amusement. "No. But he can't do muga or my knuckle serve."
“Neither can Syuu-chan or Yuushi, but they’re both geniuses,” Jirou pointed out. “Only you and Ryoma-chan have done the knuckle serve, does that mean you are claiming the two of you are the only ones? Hm?” he asked.
"No, I just reject your theory that Marui is a genius based on experience." Akaya shrugged and smiled easily, doing his best to show Jirou that he wasn't trying to fight.
Debating the relative genius of one Marui Bunta made Jirou feel rather nostalgic. “What experience? And, if he was not the genius of your team, then who was? Huh? Got you there, didn’t I?” he said, looking a little smug, just for the fun of it.
"The experience of being on the same team as him for so many years. And Buchou and Niou were way more of geniuses than Marui. Who else could do such flawless illusions or steal people's senses?" Akaya pointed his knife at Jirou as he made his argument. "Who else could do that?"
“I’m not saying that they don’t have their talents,” Jirou said. “I mean, look at Kei-chan! But he doesn’t go around calling himself a geniu...okay, bad example. Tezuka-chan! He doesn’t go around calling himself a genius and yet he is one, undoubtedly. So, what’s the difference between someone like him and someone like Bun-chan?” he asked.
“He’s got more than just one technique that he could brag about, if he were the type to do so. A lot of it is because Tezuka-san is a much more humble person. And you wouldn’t be calling Marui a genius if you saw his grades. He was close to not being allowed to play because of them on several occasions.” Akaya’s tone was nearly conspiratorial as he shared that particular tidbit with Jirou.
“Whaaat?” Jirou looked shocked. “But how is that possible? He’s so smart and so good at tennis!”
"He's alright at tennis, I'll give you that. But he's absolute shit at math." Akaya laughed lightly at the shocked look on Jirou's face.
“But math is awesome! And Bun-chan is awesome! How is this possible that two awesomes don’t go together?” Jirou said, staring blindly down at his hands as if they could give him answers.
Akaya shrugged as he kept separating coffee beans. "Not a clue. But he was always getting tutored in math to stay on the team."
“Oh, man! He should have told me! I would have loved to tutor him in Math!” Jirou said. “It isn’t my strongest subject, mind you, but I’m not bad at it!” He looked over at Aka-chan. “What about you? Did you need to get tutored also?”
Akaya nodded and chuckled. "Yeah, I did. I was terrible at English back in school, but I've gotten much better since going pro. Kind of had to to get by, you know?"
“It certainly helped. Although, both Kei-chan and Kaba-chan are fluent, so we never had any real difficulties on our school outings,” Jirou said.
Akaya chuckled and shook his head. "I didn't always have the luxury of having a translator close by, so I had to learn so I could get around."
“Bummer!” Jirou cocked his head to the side. “How do you fare in France and Germany?” he asked. “They don’t often have English speakers among them and those that do have really bad accents often! At least, I think so,” he said with a wink. “Trying to understand English is hard enough when at least one of you is a native speaker!”
“When I’m there, I definitely make sure I have a translator around to help me out! And I do less tourist-y stuff in France and Germany than I do in the US.” Akaya gave Jirou a wry smile.
“Really? But there are so many cool things in France! Like the Louvre and the Eiffle Tower and Versailles and all those cute little passitiers, mm,” Jirou said with a dreamy look on his face. “And Germany has cool castles and really good chocolate! And beer, but I’m not supposed to know that, so keep that to yourself, okay?” Jirou asked with a wink.
Akaya looked at Jirou in mild shock. “You make it sound like you’ve spent a lot of time in France and Germany. Do you travel much with your job?”
“Me? Not really. Most of the time we went were for school trips. Paris, Vegas, London. Didn’t you go on any school trips?” Jirou asked, surprised at the question.
Akaya blinked owlishly. “Our school trips never went anywhere farther than Okinawa one year!”
“Oh. Uhm. Huh, that’s interesting. Did your school trip committee just like Okinawa? We were influenced by Kei-chan, of course,” Jirou said. “But you get to travel and stuff now, right?”
“Yeah, now I do. And it was more the fact that Rikkai wasn’t nearly as rich as Hyotei. I’m pretty sure you went to the most expensive and high class school in Japan. And since Atobe went there, of course your school trips were extravagant. Rikkai didn’t have that kind of money.” Akaya shook his head in amusement as he smiled.
“Aw, you should have said something, I’m sure we could have arranged something,” Jirou said. “Of course, you would likely have had to pay for your ride on Kei-chan’s jet with a series of tennis matches between Kei-chan and Sanada-chan!”
“Hmm, pretty sure Sanada would have been too proud for that. Not to mention I can’t exactly picture Buchou being willing to ask Atobe-san for that.” Akaya felt a little embarrassed even thinking about having asked Atobe to take them on a trip like that. Being invited along was one thing, but asking to be taken along was totally different.
“Oh, right, good point,” Jirou said with a nod. “Pride. It has its place, true, but really can take the fun out of things sometimes.” He looked down at the piles of coffee beans and fruit. “We are really going fast! You are a wonderful partner for this, Aka-chan!” he said with a grin.
Akaya grinned in response, happy that he was being helpful. “Thanks a lot! It’s nice to have something to do with my hands other than gutting and cleaning fish. If school doesn’t work out after I retire from the pro circuit, I know I can at least get a good job at a fish market.”
“Gutting and cleaning fish is important work,” Jirou said firmly. “No one wants to eat a smoked fish that still has all its insides. That’s just nasty! But,” he said, shooting the other man a grin, “I would also recommend you for pod stripping and bean husking, too! You are a man of many hidden talents!”
Akaya gave Jirou a bashful smile as he kept working. “Thanks. It’s nice to be useful for something since we’re stuck here.”
“Anytime you are feeling the need to be useful, you are more than welcome here,” Jirou said. “I love the company and you, as I said, are quite handy.” He grinned at Akaya. “You can even bring Kura-chan with you, if you want.”
“I might take you up on that, we’ll have to see. Kura might take the time to visit with his sister since I pretty much monopolize his time by the river.” Akaya smiled back at Jirou a little wider, happy to be doing something that other people would be grateful for.
“I’ll even feed you and water you and if he’s late picking you up, I have an extra blanket if you want a nap,” Jirou said, looking excited at the idea of having Aka-chan visit him. “But you are responsible for your own walkies,” he added with a laugh.
Akaya threw his head back with a laugh. "I think I can handle that. You're a lot of fun to hang out with, you know."
Jirou blushed. “Thank you. Most people tend to tire of me rather quickly, I find. Piyo-chan out and out tries to avoid me,” he said with a put-upon sigh. “But while he can run, he cannot hide,” he added with a grin.
Akaya wiped his hand on his shorts before reaching over to pat Jirou's head. "You do seem to have an uncanny knack for finding him here."
“Yes, yes I do,” Jirou said with a giggle. “But my method is a proprietary secret!” Aka-chan was such a nice person. He and Kura-chan were so lucky. He smiled; he loved it when his friends were happy. “Hm, I wonder how long Kura-chan is going to sleep. He must really have been tired!”
Akaya looked over at his partner and smiled softly. “I’m never sure how well he sleeps on the ground by the river, so he might be catching up on his rest. Plus, I don’t think he’s the type to sleep very much to begin with, so it’s kind of a treat to get to see him so relaxed. He’s usually the first one up, so I never get to watch him sleep.”
“You might think about taking some of the deck cushions to your river spot. They’re made for all weather, but they’ll get him off the ground. They’re about the thickness of a good futon,” Jirou said. “You might also consider putting together a canopy or something for when it rains. You have more than just yourself to think about now, you know.” He smiled at the younger man.
Akaya nodded and grinned. “I’ll have to come back and get some another time, I don’t know if I’ll be able to carry them back when Kura wakes up. And a canopy is a good idea for the small storms. I was thinking we would try to find a little space in the caves when the big storms start rolling in.”
“Doesn’t hurt to find a space and start fixing it up now. You can use it to store stuff in the meantime,” Jirou pointed out. “That way you don’t have to run around like crazy when the weather is bad.”
“Well, I think the hut Momoshiro built for me is still standing, but that won’t survive the weather. I think Kura and Yukarin had found a cave, but I’m not sure that Yukarin will want us to be around her that much.” Akaya looked a bit bashful as he thought about living in such close quarters with Yukari.
“Girls do need their privacy from time to time. For dressing and the like,” Jirou said, nodding wisely. “Although, Sakuno-chan likes her hut. If Yukarin wants to move into yours, I would be happy to help you all fix it up for her,” he said with a smile.
“I’ll have to see if she wants to do that. But I would really appreciate the help if that’s the case, thank you.” Akaya smiled brightly at Jirou.
Shiraishi let out a yawn, signalling that he was waking up. "Hm..? How long was I asleep?"
Akaya put down his knife and turned to smile at Shiraishi. Moving closer to the blond, he leaned down a stole a quick kiss. “Oh, a little while, but I figured you needed it. Have a good nap?”
Shiraishi smiled. "I did. Did you have fun while I was asleep?"
“Oh yes. I helped scoop the guts out of the cacao pods, and I’ve been separating coffee beans from their shells.” Akaya chuckled softly and gently ran his fingers through Shiraishi’s hair.
Shiraishi chuckled. “But you still had fun because you were in good company, right?”
“I did. Jirou-san is good company to hang out with. Which is good, because I have a feeling we’re going to be bringing a lot of coffee fruits and cacao pods his way.” Akaya grinned brightly at Shiraishi.
“That we will!” Shiraishi beamed.
Akaya leaned in for a quick kiss. “How’s your arm feeling?”
Shiraishi flexed it a little. “Great!”
Akaya smiled widely in relief. “Good, I’m glad.”
Rinsing off his hands, Jirou looked over at the two of them. They really were cute together. He was so happy for them. “He said he’d come back and help again, too,” he told Kura-chan. “Not just when I’m tortur...helping you with Science,” he said with a grin. “I’m glad we’re already making progress, that’s a very good sign!”
Shiraishi laughed. “I feel like I’ll be better in no time, thanks to you, Jirou-chan!”
"Yep! The more we do it, the more chocolate will be available." Akaya laughed lightly and nodded.
“That too,” Jirou said, laughing along. “I can finish up the rest, Aka-chan, if you want to take Kura-chan back to your spot to rest. Feel free,” he said with a little emphasis, “to stop and get a mat or futon from the supply cave. While the ground is comfy, cushions by their very nature are more so.”
“I suppose I can’t argue with that.” Shiraishi chuckled.
"You carry Cocoa and the bags, and I'll get some cushions for us." Akaya smiled at Shiraishi as he wiped off his knife and stuck it back in its holder.
“Sounds like a deal.” Shiraishi smiled, taking Cocoa and the bags.
“Feel free to visit again!” Jirou said, waving at them. “I love company!”
"We can do that! Thanks for making chocolate!" Akaya bounced slightly and grinned as he waved back.
Shiraishi waved as well before heading back “home” with Akaya.
Location: The Beach
Time: July 25th
Rating: PG-13-ish
Summary: More Kura-torture, plus cacao goop and some angsty chatting!
Picking up the backpack that was full of coffee beans and raw cacao, Akaya smiled over his shoulder at Shiraishi. “Ready to head down to the beach, Kura?”
Shiraishi gently poked at the snake on his neck, nodding. “Yep, we’re all ready!”
Walking over to gently run his hand over Cocoa’s scales, Akaya beamed and took hold of Shiraishi’s good hand. “Alrighty then! I’m sure Jirou-san will be happy to have all this stuff. And I’ll be right with you while he works on your arm.”
Shiraishi nodded hesitantly. “Are...are you sure you want to see this, Akaya? It’s okay if you don’t.”
“Do I want to see you in agonizing pain? Not so much. But I do want to help you not hurt and get better. And me seeing you in pain is nothing compared to how much pain you’ll be feeling. If I can do anything to make it hurt less for you, I want to do that.” Akaya looked at Shiraishi seriously before stretching up to brush his lips lightly over the blond’s cheek.
Shiraishi’s cheeks tinted with a faint pink. “You’re the best, Akaya.”
Akaya gave Shiraishi a dopey smile before starting toward the beach on one of the paths through the jungle. “I think you’re just biased. But I’m not complaining.”
Shiraishi walked alongside Akaya, humming happily. “I might be biased, but I really do think you’re the best.”
Akaya felt his smile turn into a goofy grin. “Thank you. You’re the best in my book too, you know.”
Shiraishi chuckled. “Such a charmer...”
“Only for you. And maybe for Cocoa.” Akaya laughed.
“A snake charmer?” Shiraishi joked.
“Well, I don’t have a flute. Which might be a good thing since I was never very good with instruments back in school, but I could give it a try.” Akaya winked as he pushed back a low hanging branch. The beach was much brighter than the river was, and the sun nearly blinded him for a moment. “Do you know what direction we need to go in to find Jirou-san?”
Shiraishi nodded and took charge leading the way. “I wonder if we’ll find him asleep? He seemed pretty excited about the prospects of coffee and chocolate.”
Akaya shrugged and let Shiraishi lead the way. “I don’t know. I hope he’s awake, mostly because I would feel bad waking him up.”
Shiraishi laughed. “He’s kinda adorable if you wake him up right. He called me Santa-san.”
Akaya laughed at that. “Did you have a bag over your shoulder?”
“Yeah!” Shiraishi laughed. “Ah, should be right around here.” He said as they approached the last place he had run into Jirou.
Akaya looked around curiously as he called out. “Ano, Jirou-san! We have coffee beans!”
Jirou turned over on the daybed he was napping on and fell off onto the pillows below, causing him to wake. “Mm?” he said, peering at his guest. Guests. One blond and one...”Oh! Aka-chan! Kuro-chan!” He carefully detangled himself then stood up, promptly launching himself at them. “Yay! You came! And you brought me chocolate! Yay!”
Akaya staggered ever so slightly as Jirou launched himself at them. “Jirou-san! You didn’t hurt yourself when you fell, did you?”
Shiraishi just chuckled. “You have to be more careful when you first wake up, Jirou-chan!”
“I am! That’s why I put some pillows down. The rug wasn’t quite enough,” Jirou explained. He stepped back and looked expectantly at them both. “Come on, Santa-san, what did you bring me this time?” He was bouncing on his toes in anticipation.
Akaya laughed and shook his head lightly. Setting the backpack down, he began pulling out the coffee beans and the cacao. “Lots of goodies. You said you can make this into chocolate, right?” He asked eagerly, holding up one of the cacao fruits. “Also, is it alright for me to sit in on Kura getting his arm treated?”
“Sure!” Jirou said, his eyes completely focused on the cacao pod. “That’s...chocolate.” He nodded slightly as he stared at it. “I read all about it. First I have to open them up and separate out the beans, then...Oh, and there’s coffee. That needs to be roasted and then...I’ll need to process the cocoa, and then...”
Akaya bit his lip to keep from laughing. He wasn’t used to seeing such focus from the narcoleptic man. “Anything you need us to do to help?”
Shiraishi just chuckled. He was happy their search made Jirou so excited.
“Huh?” Jirou looked back up at them, blinking. “Oh! Sorry!” He blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “I kind of get caught up in things. You came for your treatment too, right, Kura-chan? And...Aka-chan wants to sit on you?” He couldn’t remember what all Aka-chan had said, but he was almost certain that wasn’t it. “I’m not sure that would help...”
Akaya blushed lightly and scratched the back of his head. “Not sit on Kura, just...be close to him and maybe make it easier for him to go through this time. As long as I won’t be in the way.”
Shiraishi laughed. “Sitting on me might have the opposite effect.” He sighed after his laugh. “But Akaya being there would make it easier, I think.”
“Oh, sure, that makes sense. Just a second and I will go get the device. Make yourselves comfortable,” Jirou said. He disappeared into his cave. He knew exactly where it was, but he gave them an extra moment or two to arrange themselves. “Feel free to sit on the daybed,” he called out, making rummaging noises.
Shiraishi sat on the daybed, taking a deep breath. He hoped that this would go better than the last time. He looked over to Akaya, smiling and patting the bed on his right side. “I’ll need you on this side, Akaya!”
Akaya sat down on Shirashi's right side, taking the blond's hand in his own. "This ok? If it hurts really bad, just squeeze my hand as hard as you need to, ok?"
Shiraishi smiled softly and gave Akaya’s hand a squeeze. “Okay.”
“Found it!” Jirou called out before coming out of his cave again. He smiled at the two men on the bed. “Comfy, isn’t it? Okay, the safe word didn’t really work so well last time. However, that means you can use a mouth guard.” He opened a box on the table and pulled out a piece of dried fruit. “Good news is, it is completely edible. Bad news is, you’ll likely drool a bit.” He looked at the way the two were sitting. “Hm, that might be a bit problematic. He needs to hold the kill switch in his hand and it can’t be the one that is getting stimulated, because it won’t relax if he falls unconscious like the other will.” He pulled the two boxes out of their case as he spoke.
“Oh...that’s right...” Shiraishi bit his lip. “Ah...Well, Akaya being here is enough.” Shiraishi honestly felt a bit dull-witted for forgetting about the killswitch.
Akaya frowned softly before moving to sit so that Shiraishi's head was in his lap. It didn't take much to coax Cocoa to move to his own shoulders instead so that he could run his hands through Shiraishi's hair. "Will this work?"
Shiraishi nodded. “It works for me...” Shiraishi looked over to Jirou. “Do I have to be sitting up?”
“Is that a snake?” Jirou asked. If it was around Kura and Akaya’s shoulders hopefully it wasn’t poisonous. It looked soft and silky though. He stared mesmerized for a long moment before he shook himself and answered the question. “Uhm, nope. Whatever is most comfortable for you. But Aka-chan, you will have to make sure he doesn’t choke on his drool. The mouth guard will keep you from choking on your tongue and keeping your airway open,” he told Kura. He affixed the two boxes in the same spots they had been the first time.
"Maybe you should sit up a bit more then. But I'll hold onto you the whole time, and it's ok to scream or anything like that." Akaya smiled gently at Kura before looking up at Jirou. "This is Cocoa. We think he's a constrictor since we've yet to see fangs."
Shiraishi sat up a little. “ He has fangs, they just have no venom.” He smiled. “Okay...I think I’m ready!”
Jirou perched on the pillow covered rug next to Kura and gave him his serious look. “All right. Like last time, I am going to count down from three and then turn it on. If at any time you want me to turn it off...well, you’ll have a mouth guard in, and you had your teeth clenched too tight last time.” He placed the kill switch in Kura’s right hand. “If you want to stop and you are able, just drop that. It will stop the procedure immediately.” He nodded at the dried fruit. “Pop that in your mouth and I’ll start.”
Akaya took a deep breath and held onto Shiraishi. "I've got you, just focus on me and you'll be fine. I'm right here, Kura."
Shiraishi nodded as he put the fruit in his mouth. He gave Jirou a nod to tell him he was ready.
“All right,” Jirou took a deep breath and let it out. “In three. Two. One.” He turned the device on.
Akaya used one hand to pet Shiraishi's hair as the other arm wound around his chest. Whispering softly, he gave quiet reassurance and sweet nothings to the blond to distract him from the sensations the device was causing.
Like the last time, Shiraishi was okay with the sensation at first, but soon it got to be too much. This time, he began thrashing, the fruit muffling would-be screams as tears ran down his face. Still, he didn’t drop the killswitch just yet. It wasn’t quite at the point where he felt the need to.
With Akaya here, Jirou didn’t feel the need to try to distract Kura. If the dark-haired man with the loving expression on his face wasn’t enough, there wasn’t anything he could do. He monitored the device though. He had figured after last time that Kura was one of those stubborn types that would not give up until the last. Of course, having watched the match between Kura and Syuusuke back in Junior High told him that much.
Akaya contained Shiraiashi's thrashing as much as he could while trying to drown out the sounds of the blond's muffled screams with his own platitudes and declarations. In his ear, he could hear and feel Cocoa hissing in displeasure at Shiraishi's pain. 'At least he isn't trying to choke me by constricting around my neck. He's more attached to Kura than I thought.'
Shiraishi was close to letting himself ride this all the way out again, but somewhere in his desperation and pain, he dropped the killswitch, effectively ending the session. He felt his body go limp against Akaya as it relaxed. Hey...he didn’t pass out that time! That’s was an improvement.
Jirou caught the killswitch as it fell from Kura’s hand. As the other relaxed, he smiled and gently removed the device boxes. “Very good! You stayed conscious this time and you didn’t bite yourself, yay!” he said, cheering the other’s success. He pulled out the bottle of aloe and quickly rubbed some into Kura’s arm. After he was done, he poured some mostly hot water from the kettle he kept near the coals into a cup with some guava tea and brought it and the box of dried fruit back over. “Here. This will settle your stomach and give you more energy now that you just burnt so much of it off.” He smiled at them both.
“Ah..thank you.” Shiraishi was a little shaky as he took the cup. “Don’t mind me while I recuperate. Perhaps you two can start roasting some coffee beans or something.” He gave them a weak smile.
Akaya kissed the crown of Shiraishi's head and smiled softly. "I can stay right here if you want me to, Kura."
“Ah...I won’t say no, but chocolate won’t get made if all time is spent doting on me.” Shiraishi teased. He let out a soft yawn. “I feel like I might need a nap.”
Akaya smiled softly as Cocoa slithered down to rest on Shiraishi's right shoulder. "Sleep all you need. I'll see what I can do to help Jirou-san."
“Yup!” Jirou added. He extended a hand to help Akaya to his feet. “Okay, if you want to help, I have to warn you, it might get messy! First we have to remove the beans and pulp from the pods. Then we’ll pile them up in a bin and let them ferment. This will take seven whole days,” he said looking all droopy and sad. “Then we’ll get into part two. But,” he perked up again. “In the meantime, we can start hulling the coffee beans too. They also require time to ferment and then they need to be washed.” He sighed. “Why is deliciousness so time intensive!”
Akaya carefully laid Shiraishi down once the blond finished his tea. Stretching as he stepped over to Jirou, he chuckled. "What can I do to start with?"
“Chocolate is more important,” Jirou said earnestly, taking both of Akaya’s hands in his. “But don’t tell the coffee addicts I said that.”
Akaya laughed. "I won't! Don't worry about that."
“All right!” Jirou punched the air, letting go of Akaya’s hands. “So, we cut the pods open and glop the innards into a bin I have ready!” He pulled out the bin, two oyster gloves and a couple of sharp knives. “I will warn you, I am doing all of this from reading a book. So, hopefully it will come out right!”
Akaya grabbed one of the knives and gloves before nodding. “Well, you still know more about it than I do, so we’ll give it a shot and see.”
Jirou opened one of the pods and scooped the insides into the bin. “Ew! It’s slimy! Cool!” he said with a large grin. “This is going to be fun!”
Akaya scrunched up his face a bit at first before deciding that the slimy feeling was indeed neat. “I really hope this turns out well. I’ve been craving chocolate for a couple weeks now!”
“Unfortunately you are going to have to keep craving it for another couple,” Jirou said. “Fermentation takes seven days, then we have to spread them to dry, crack the shells, remove the nibs and then process it.” He sighed. “If it weren’t for the fact that this is chocolate I would doubt it was worth the effort. But it is, so it is.” He grinned and picked up another pod. “Feel free to bring more pods though, these will go fast!”
Akaya nodded as he reached for another pod to open, a large smile on his face. “I can do that! I remember where the tree was, and there were several others near it. They should be ripe soon.”
Jirou jumped in excitement. Fortunately he dropped the knife on the table before doing so. “Yay! Thank you so much, Aka-chan! Remind me when we’re not slimy anymore and I’ll give you a big hug!”
Jirou’s cheer was infectious, and Akaya found himself beaming at the excitement the other was showing. “Ok, I can do that. So what do we do once we’re done scooping all the stuff out of the pods?”
“We shell the coffee beans,” Jirou said. “We just let the cocoa ferment. Nothing to do there.” He looked over at Kura to make sure the other was sleeping comfortably, then stepped over to adjust the umbrella to keep the sun off the other man’s face.
Once they were done gutting the cocoa pods, Akaya wiped the mess off of himself before sitting next to Shiraishi for a moment. He was glad that the blond was sleeping so easily after the pain of the procedure for his arm. Leaning in to brush his lips lightly over Shiraishi’s forehead, Akaya smiled before standing up and facing Jirou again. “Ok. How can I help with that?”
Jirou lugged the bin to a good spot in the sun and spread a bug net over it. He turned in time to see Aka-chan kiss Kura on the forehead. “We start by removing the beans from the fruit. They’re sometimes referred to as cherries, by the way,” he said. “But they sure don’t taste like cherries!” He took the cacao pods and bundled them up to take to the compost heap later and got out a couple of bowls to hold the cherries and the beans. “I’m not sure what method will work best here, so we get to experiment!” The way he said that last word made it clear that Jirou enjoyed experimenting.
Akaya nodded and sat down next to Jirou. “Experimenting sounds like a lot of fun.”
The silence of breaking open the little fruits and taking out the beans only lasted a little while. Jirou looked over at Aka-chan. “I appreciate you bringing me the freshwater fish ever now and again, Aka-chan. What all have you been doing with your days? I mean, there’s only so many hours of the day you can lay around working on your tan, after all,” he said with a grin.
Akaya smiled softly as he worked on his own pile of coffee seeds. "Ah, you're welcome. Mostly, I've just been spending time with Kura and getting to know him better while getting over some stuff that I didn't know was still a problem for me."
“Ah. Yes, clearing the brain and opening the heart are good ways to spend your days,” Jirou said, nodding. “So, no training yet? Or exploring? Are you staying in shape? You are eating more than just fish, right?” he asked.
Akaya nodded. "I have fruit, too. I haven't done much exploring, but I do a little bit of training at our camp. Mostly swimming up and down the river."
“You don’t do any stretching exercises? Calisthenics? Weight lifting for your arms?” Jirou asked. “You are going to have a hard time getting back in shape for tennis, you know. Oh! Do you want to see if my device can help your ankle any?” He tilted his head and smiled. “By the way, if your ankle is already healed the most you should feel is a little prickling, like if your foot had fallen asleep.”
"I do pushups and crunches sometimes, but I don't have any weights to use and I'm not sure if the trees that have branches straight enough for it would be strong enough for pull ups." Akaya shrugged and pursed his lips as he thought about Jirou's offer. "Maa... Maybe once Kura wakes up I'll try it."
“Sometimes?” Jirou tsked and shook his head. “You might want to ask either Renji-chan or Sada-chan to make a new training menu for you. If Kaidou-chan can make dumbells, perhaps he can show you how as well. You need to take this opportunity while you have it!” he said excited. “Come back to Japan all rested up and ready to hit the tennis world by storm again...not looking like you’d been convalescing somewhere and only just going into rehab. Besides,” he dropped his voice as he looked over at the sleeping Kura. “As his arm improves, he’s going to need to start using it more. If he’s, ‘helping’ you, it will give him more incentive than simply doing it for himself. Pain, and I know this sounds profound, hurts. The memory of pain, however, can sometimes be just as crippling.”
"I'm not worried about muscle loss, I'm worried more about my stamina. And that's something that I need to be on a court to get back. I do a fair share of lifting with all the fish I catch and the fruit I harvest. But I'll keep that in mind, thank you. I'm not afraid of pain, at least not the physical kind." Akaya shrugged and gave Jirou a slight hint of a sad smile before looking down at the beans he was separating.
Jirou had heard some of what had happened. He didn’t sleep all the time, after all. But Aka-chan had Kura to look after him and seemed to be doing fairly well. Although he was also rather dense. “Ahem. Perhaps, if Kura-chan thought he was helping you...?” he repeated. “And since when,” he said with a sudden frown, “do you need to be on a court to work on your stamina? Haven’t you ever run laps before? Done drills? Plus, we do have a court now! You should upgrade your training menu and ask Kura-chan for his help, in order to get back into fighting trim,” Jirou said.
Akaya frowned at Jirou. "Drills require a racket, which I don't have. The jungle is too dense and too dangerous thanks to Kite's traps to run laps. That leaves working on the beach. And using the court would presumably also mean being at the beach in addition to needing a racket. I'll talk to Kura and see how I can help him, but my own options are limited here."
“We have rackets,” Jirou said patiently. “We even have your rackets, the ones you like to use. And tennis shoes and the whole bit. We got them out of the pro shop on the ship, the one that Kei-chan went so overboard on. They’re in the supply cave with everything else. Did you not pay attention when Hiro-chan was listing the things we’d gotten?” Seriously, Jirou knew and he hadn’t been trying to get into the man’s pants! He shook off the thought, it was none of his business. He smiled again. “Okay, so you don’t like running on sand, that’s understandable. It’s a bit much for your ankle right now. You could talk to Kaidou-chan, though. He might know of more firmly packed sand or some dirt paths that aren’t trapped. Or heck, talk to Kite-chan and ask him to remove the traps on your route!” He picked up another handful of coffee fruits. “And just because the court is near the beach does not mean it is sandy. It’s actually a really nice grass court. Maybe not quite up to Wimbledon, but a lot better than the average backyard!” He grinned again.
Akaya threw down the knife he'd been using and raked his hands through his hair with a growl. "It's not about the goddamned sand, ok? I can run on some stupid sand. It's about this beach and people who are here at the beach. There are people here who don't want to see me probably ever again so long as the Earth keeps spinning, and for my own mental health, I need to respect that." Almost immediately, Akaya's eyes widened as his skin paled. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, you don't know. You didn't deserve that and I shouldn't have.... Please, forgive me? I'm really sorry."
Jirou looked at him, his eyes wide. “Wow,” he said after a moment. “You really do change moods pretty quickly, don’t you? I’m sorry, I was unaware that your issues with the beach had more to do with the people than the sand. Uhm...did you and Kaidou-chan have an argument?” he asked.
Akaya winced. “Sorry, I don’t know why I have such crazy mood swings so much of the time. Kaidoh...he’s the guy who hisses, right? I didn’t even know he was here to be honest. It’s...it’s Niou and Yagyuu that I...gods, I fucked things up bad with them.”
“Wow, you’ve been rather out of touch,” Jirou said. “You really should get out more. Or, at least, check people’s blogs and stuff. And I thought you were friends with those two! What happened?” He put down the beans and fruit and leaned forward to provide Aka-chan with a friendly ear.
Akaya sighed and looked down as he tried to sort out his thoughts. "I tried to have more than just a friendship with both of them, and it blew up in my face. I thought I could wait for them to let me in and trust me, and that Niou and I could put each other back together from the shit that we've each been through. I was wrong, so very wrong. And I didn't want to believe I was wrong until Kura showed up and he and I just...clicked. I'm not walking on eggshells afraid to say the wrong thing, I don't have to hide my own damage to focus on breaking through his, and he doesn't pull away from me for no reason. So I ended things with Niou and Yagyuu, and I hurt them both so much. I didn't want to, but I deserve to have my own happiness."
“Oh.” Jirou thought a moment then got up and poured some water out of the tea kettle near the fire into a mug with mint tea leaves and handed it to the younger man. “Here. Now, if I may say...first, yes, you do deserve your own happiness. Second...I’m glad that Kura-chan and you have gotten together, you both seem very good for one another from what I’ve seen. Third,” he paused a moment. “How are you doing on getting put back together?”
Akaya took the tea with a grateful smile. Nursing the steaming beverage as he waited for it to steep and cool some, he nodded slightly. "Way better than I was on my own, that's for sure."
“Then, as a sempai, I recommend that you continue to put yourself back together with Kura’s help and help him put himself back together as well.” He sighed and looked actually serious for a change. “My hints were too subtle earlier. If you ask him to help you rehabilitate your ankle, you will be, in fact, helping him rehabilitate his arm. Now that it is getting treated he needs to use it so that he doesn’t suffer from atrophy. Now, regarding the beach,” he said, pouring himself some tea as well. “Niou doesn’t use the main beach as far as I’ve been able to determine. I think he has a private spot somewhere. I don’t suppose he ever showed it to you so you know where to avoid? Never mind,” he waved off his own question. “Not relevant. He’s often in his cave or further up the mountain, but as I said, he doesn’t use the main beach. Yagyuu does, but very rarely. He does go to the supply cave occasionally and to the medical cave to talk to An-chan. I think he even spells her once in a while so she can get out and work on her tan.” He looked at Akaya. “So far, neither of them have been to the tennis court.”
Akaya took in all that Jirou had said and nodded slowly. "Ok, but how will helping me with my ankle help his arm? His grip is almost nonexistent, and he can't even feel it at times. Watching me do sprints or swing drills won't do him any good, will it?" He thankfully didn't flinch at the mention of Niou's secret spot. Akaya knew exactly where it was since he'd probably made it an intolerable place for the trickster.
“Doing sprints with you, tossing the ball to you for swing practice, things that get him using his arm in small ways at first, then, as you both improve, he can be your practice partner. Don’t forget, he was a captain. He’s got a wealth of knowledge under his belt,” Jirou said. He strained the tea leaves out and added some sugar, then took a sip. Mm, perfect. “Take advantage of that. If his arm starts to hurt or stops working, make him put his sling on, too.”
Akaya smiled softly at the suggestions. “I can do that. And it would be good for him too. I’ll talk to him about it later today, after he wakes up and stuff.” Taking a long sip of the tea, his smile widened a bit. “This is really good. Thank you for sharing.”
Jirou beamed. “I enjoy sharing! I can pack up a little tin of leaves for you, if you like!” He looked over past the table to the ocean view. “It’s not a bad place, really. I mean, it would make a great vacation spot, it’s just that...we’re forced to be here and have no way of contacting our families and friends.” He rolled his eyes then. “Of course, our friends seem to be coming to us, dropping in all over the place these days.”
“Would you? That would be great! I didn’t think I would miss something as simple as tea, but I really have. And you’re right, this place wouldn’t be so bad if we could come and go as we please. Kura is worried about his parents, and so am I. Not to mention I have bills that may or may not be getting paid since I still owe money to my PT.” Akaya sighed and looked out to watch the waves rolling in onto the beach. It was peaceful to watch, sure, but not like it would be anywhere else in the world.
“I’m sure that your manager or family has relayed your predicament to your PT. I would personally consider this a reasonable excuse,” Jirou pointed out. “And of course I will give you some tea! Oh, I also have guava, you know, for when you have an upset tummy or other digestive problems.” He gave Aka-chan a significant look. “In fact, if your parents didn’t make other arrangements, I bet your belongings are in some Atobe warehouse right now, waiting on your return. I know my family misses me...but honestly, I’m more worried about my lab assistants and secretary right now,” he said with a smile. “I bet they’ve been poached and I’m going to have to build my team from scratch when we get back.”
"I'm not worried about my stuff really, other than my rackets and my favorite shoes. I'm more worried about my savings and stuff like that. But the tea would be great, thank you." Akaya smiled and drained the rest of his tea. "I hope you can rebuild your team easily when we get home. Maybe they'll come back on their own because they like you."
“I hope so. Not every boss allows nap breaks,” Jirou said with a grin. “Would you like another cup, or should we go back to work?” He thought for a moment. “I wouldn’t worry much about your money and such. Once the boat was reported missing, Kei-chan’s people probably froze all of our accounts. After all, if one of us was responsible for the ship sinking, or the possible kidnapping of Kei-chan, they wouldn’t want us to have access to our money. However, since they wouldn’t know which of us it was, they’d give the moneys to one of the Atobe money managers, oh! Who would pay off any bills out of it, etc. Which means that your manager’s probably moved on by now. Sorry,” he said, gently patting Aka-chan on the arm.
"Wow, I never even thought of that. I hope she's moved on to some other client so I won't have to fire her, but I will probably still take a long hard look at my finances to be sure she didn't try to trick Atobe's manager out of more than she was due." Looking at the remaining pile of fruits from the coffee plant, Akaya smiled and picked his knife back up. "I suppose we should get back to work."
“Nh,” Jirou said in agreement, nodding. They went back to peeling the little fruits and removing the raw beans. However, Jirou couldn’t keep quiet for too long. “So, Aka-chan...isn’t Bun-chan like one of the most Awesome People Ever? What was it like to be on the same team as him?” he asked, his eyes all shiny.
Akaya was quiet for a beat before bursting up laughing. "Marui? He was alright. Whined a lot though, especially if he knew we were going to be doing a lot of laps."
“But...but, he’s a genius!” Jirou protested. “Were laps really necessary for one of his caliber? And whined? Really? Wow.” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine Bun-chan whining. Are you sure you don’t have him mixed up with some other member of your team?”
"Genius is debatable with him. And yeah, we all ran laps, even Buchou. And I know I'm not mixing him up with any other member of my team because Marui was the only one who ever begged and whined over cake." Akaya had to stop working so that he wouldn't risk cutting himself while laughing.
“Mm, yeah. He sure loves his cake,” Jirou said fondly, remembering the times that he’d arrange to have one delivered to his idol back in Junior High. “Hey, what do you mean by debatable!” Jirou asked. “He is a genius! Can you do that Tightrope Walking trick of his?”
Akaya snorted in amusement. "No. But he can't do muga or my knuckle serve."
“Neither can Syuu-chan or Yuushi, but they’re both geniuses,” Jirou pointed out. “Only you and Ryoma-chan have done the knuckle serve, does that mean you are claiming the two of you are the only ones? Hm?” he asked.
"No, I just reject your theory that Marui is a genius based on experience." Akaya shrugged and smiled easily, doing his best to show Jirou that he wasn't trying to fight.
Debating the relative genius of one Marui Bunta made Jirou feel rather nostalgic. “What experience? And, if he was not the genius of your team, then who was? Huh? Got you there, didn’t I?” he said, looking a little smug, just for the fun of it.
"The experience of being on the same team as him for so many years. And Buchou and Niou were way more of geniuses than Marui. Who else could do such flawless illusions or steal people's senses?" Akaya pointed his knife at Jirou as he made his argument. "Who else could do that?"
“I’m not saying that they don’t have their talents,” Jirou said. “I mean, look at Kei-chan! But he doesn’t go around calling himself a geniu...okay, bad example. Tezuka-chan! He doesn’t go around calling himself a genius and yet he is one, undoubtedly. So, what’s the difference between someone like him and someone like Bun-chan?” he asked.
“He’s got more than just one technique that he could brag about, if he were the type to do so. A lot of it is because Tezuka-san is a much more humble person. And you wouldn’t be calling Marui a genius if you saw his grades. He was close to not being allowed to play because of them on several occasions.” Akaya’s tone was nearly conspiratorial as he shared that particular tidbit with Jirou.
“Whaaat?” Jirou looked shocked. “But how is that possible? He’s so smart and so good at tennis!”
"He's alright at tennis, I'll give you that. But he's absolute shit at math." Akaya laughed lightly at the shocked look on Jirou's face.
“But math is awesome! And Bun-chan is awesome! How is this possible that two awesomes don’t go together?” Jirou said, staring blindly down at his hands as if they could give him answers.
Akaya shrugged as he kept separating coffee beans. "Not a clue. But he was always getting tutored in math to stay on the team."
“Oh, man! He should have told me! I would have loved to tutor him in Math!” Jirou said. “It isn’t my strongest subject, mind you, but I’m not bad at it!” He looked over at Aka-chan. “What about you? Did you need to get tutored also?”
Akaya nodded and chuckled. "Yeah, I did. I was terrible at English back in school, but I've gotten much better since going pro. Kind of had to to get by, you know?"
“It certainly helped. Although, both Kei-chan and Kaba-chan are fluent, so we never had any real difficulties on our school outings,” Jirou said.
Akaya chuckled and shook his head. "I didn't always have the luxury of having a translator close by, so I had to learn so I could get around."
“Bummer!” Jirou cocked his head to the side. “How do you fare in France and Germany?” he asked. “They don’t often have English speakers among them and those that do have really bad accents often! At least, I think so,” he said with a wink. “Trying to understand English is hard enough when at least one of you is a native speaker!”
“When I’m there, I definitely make sure I have a translator around to help me out! And I do less tourist-y stuff in France and Germany than I do in the US.” Akaya gave Jirou a wry smile.
“Really? But there are so many cool things in France! Like the Louvre and the Eiffle Tower and Versailles and all those cute little passitiers, mm,” Jirou said with a dreamy look on his face. “And Germany has cool castles and really good chocolate! And beer, but I’m not supposed to know that, so keep that to yourself, okay?” Jirou asked with a wink.
Akaya looked at Jirou in mild shock. “You make it sound like you’ve spent a lot of time in France and Germany. Do you travel much with your job?”
“Me? Not really. Most of the time we went were for school trips. Paris, Vegas, London. Didn’t you go on any school trips?” Jirou asked, surprised at the question.
Akaya blinked owlishly. “Our school trips never went anywhere farther than Okinawa one year!”
“Oh. Uhm. Huh, that’s interesting. Did your school trip committee just like Okinawa? We were influenced by Kei-chan, of course,” Jirou said. “But you get to travel and stuff now, right?”
“Yeah, now I do. And it was more the fact that Rikkai wasn’t nearly as rich as Hyotei. I’m pretty sure you went to the most expensive and high class school in Japan. And since Atobe went there, of course your school trips were extravagant. Rikkai didn’t have that kind of money.” Akaya shook his head in amusement as he smiled.
“Aw, you should have said something, I’m sure we could have arranged something,” Jirou said. “Of course, you would likely have had to pay for your ride on Kei-chan’s jet with a series of tennis matches between Kei-chan and Sanada-chan!”
“Hmm, pretty sure Sanada would have been too proud for that. Not to mention I can’t exactly picture Buchou being willing to ask Atobe-san for that.” Akaya felt a little embarrassed even thinking about having asked Atobe to take them on a trip like that. Being invited along was one thing, but asking to be taken along was totally different.
“Oh, right, good point,” Jirou said with a nod. “Pride. It has its place, true, but really can take the fun out of things sometimes.” He looked down at the piles of coffee beans and fruit. “We are really going fast! You are a wonderful partner for this, Aka-chan!” he said with a grin.
Akaya grinned in response, happy that he was being helpful. “Thanks a lot! It’s nice to have something to do with my hands other than gutting and cleaning fish. If school doesn’t work out after I retire from the pro circuit, I know I can at least get a good job at a fish market.”
“Gutting and cleaning fish is important work,” Jirou said firmly. “No one wants to eat a smoked fish that still has all its insides. That’s just nasty! But,” he said, shooting the other man a grin, “I would also recommend you for pod stripping and bean husking, too! You are a man of many hidden talents!”
Akaya gave Jirou a bashful smile as he kept working. “Thanks. It’s nice to be useful for something since we’re stuck here.”
“Anytime you are feeling the need to be useful, you are more than welcome here,” Jirou said. “I love the company and you, as I said, are quite handy.” He grinned at Akaya. “You can even bring Kura-chan with you, if you want.”
“I might take you up on that, we’ll have to see. Kura might take the time to visit with his sister since I pretty much monopolize his time by the river.” Akaya smiled back at Jirou a little wider, happy to be doing something that other people would be grateful for.
“I’ll even feed you and water you and if he’s late picking you up, I have an extra blanket if you want a nap,” Jirou said, looking excited at the idea of having Aka-chan visit him. “But you are responsible for your own walkies,” he added with a laugh.
Akaya threw his head back with a laugh. "I think I can handle that. You're a lot of fun to hang out with, you know."
Jirou blushed. “Thank you. Most people tend to tire of me rather quickly, I find. Piyo-chan out and out tries to avoid me,” he said with a put-upon sigh. “But while he can run, he cannot hide,” he added with a grin.
Akaya wiped his hand on his shorts before reaching over to pat Jirou's head. "You do seem to have an uncanny knack for finding him here."
“Yes, yes I do,” Jirou said with a giggle. “But my method is a proprietary secret!” Aka-chan was such a nice person. He and Kura-chan were so lucky. He smiled; he loved it when his friends were happy. “Hm, I wonder how long Kura-chan is going to sleep. He must really have been tired!”
Akaya looked over at his partner and smiled softly. “I’m never sure how well he sleeps on the ground by the river, so he might be catching up on his rest. Plus, I don’t think he’s the type to sleep very much to begin with, so it’s kind of a treat to get to see him so relaxed. He’s usually the first one up, so I never get to watch him sleep.”
“You might think about taking some of the deck cushions to your river spot. They’re made for all weather, but they’ll get him off the ground. They’re about the thickness of a good futon,” Jirou said. “You might also consider putting together a canopy or something for when it rains. You have more than just yourself to think about now, you know.” He smiled at the younger man.
Akaya nodded and grinned. “I’ll have to come back and get some another time, I don’t know if I’ll be able to carry them back when Kura wakes up. And a canopy is a good idea for the small storms. I was thinking we would try to find a little space in the caves when the big storms start rolling in.”
“Doesn’t hurt to find a space and start fixing it up now. You can use it to store stuff in the meantime,” Jirou pointed out. “That way you don’t have to run around like crazy when the weather is bad.”
“Well, I think the hut Momoshiro built for me is still standing, but that won’t survive the weather. I think Kura and Yukarin had found a cave, but I’m not sure that Yukarin will want us to be around her that much.” Akaya looked a bit bashful as he thought about living in such close quarters with Yukari.
“Girls do need their privacy from time to time. For dressing and the like,” Jirou said, nodding wisely. “Although, Sakuno-chan likes her hut. If Yukarin wants to move into yours, I would be happy to help you all fix it up for her,” he said with a smile.
“I’ll have to see if she wants to do that. But I would really appreciate the help if that’s the case, thank you.” Akaya smiled brightly at Jirou.
Shiraishi let out a yawn, signalling that he was waking up. "Hm..? How long was I asleep?"
Akaya put down his knife and turned to smile at Shiraishi. Moving closer to the blond, he leaned down a stole a quick kiss. “Oh, a little while, but I figured you needed it. Have a good nap?”
Shiraishi smiled. "I did. Did you have fun while I was asleep?"
“Oh yes. I helped scoop the guts out of the cacao pods, and I’ve been separating coffee beans from their shells.” Akaya chuckled softly and gently ran his fingers through Shiraishi’s hair.
Shiraishi chuckled. “But you still had fun because you were in good company, right?”
“I did. Jirou-san is good company to hang out with. Which is good, because I have a feeling we’re going to be bringing a lot of coffee fruits and cacao pods his way.” Akaya grinned brightly at Shiraishi.
“That we will!” Shiraishi beamed.
Akaya leaned in for a quick kiss. “How’s your arm feeling?”
Shiraishi flexed it a little. “Great!”
Akaya smiled widely in relief. “Good, I’m glad.”
Rinsing off his hands, Jirou looked over at the two of them. They really were cute together. He was so happy for them. “He said he’d come back and help again, too,” he told Kura-chan. “Not just when I’m tortur...helping you with Science,” he said with a grin. “I’m glad we’re already making progress, that’s a very good sign!”
Shiraishi laughed. “I feel like I’ll be better in no time, thanks to you, Jirou-chan!”
"Yep! The more we do it, the more chocolate will be available." Akaya laughed lightly and nodded.
“That too,” Jirou said, laughing along. “I can finish up the rest, Aka-chan, if you want to take Kura-chan back to your spot to rest. Feel free,” he said with a little emphasis, “to stop and get a mat or futon from the supply cave. While the ground is comfy, cushions by their very nature are more so.”
“I suppose I can’t argue with that.” Shiraishi chuckled.
"You carry Cocoa and the bags, and I'll get some cushions for us." Akaya smiled at Shiraishi as he wiped off his knife and stuck it back in its holder.
“Sounds like a deal.” Shiraishi smiled, taking Cocoa and the bags.
“Feel free to visit again!” Jirou said, waving at them. “I love company!”
"We can do that! Thanks for making chocolate!" Akaya bounced slightly and grinned as he waved back.
Shiraishi waved as well before heading back “home” with Akaya.