[Chapter 1: A Day With Onii-chan and Onee-chan] - (Don't) Leave Me Alone
Title: (Don’t) Leave Me Alone
Author: daisukidesuhsj
Pairing: Nakajima Yuto x OC [Kichida Mei]
Rating: PG-13 (some language here and there, but overall pretty G-PG~ xD)
Genre: Romance, Fluff, Angst, Attempted Comedy, Slice of Life
Summary: Kichida Mei, currently a high school student, has been best friends with Nakajima Yuto since who knows when. Being quite the tomboy, at times, she won’t even take a hint as to what Yuto feels for her. Mei takes him and his feelings towards her for granted, and she doesn’t appreciate them until, well-they might be gone. During a heated argument, she tells her best friend to just leave her alone. What is Mei supposed to do when she really is left alone? Thinking back, did she even want him to leave her life in the first place?
*.*.*.*
“Haah~” Mei yawned, stretching her arms out. “Good morning, world,” she whispered groggily as she squinted her eyes, scanning her messy bedroom. She cleaned her bed-though there could have been at least a hundred creases still left in the blanket-and walked out of her bedroom and into the bathroom. As Mei looked at herself in the mirror, she judged the messiness of her hair. Nine-point-nine-nine-nine out of ten, she thought in her head.
Mei tied her hair back scruffily and got herself ready for the day, which in fact was a Saturday: a day that consisted of staying home in her pajamas all day and possibly going to the park later in the afternoon to play baseball.
Walking into the kitchen to grab some breakfast, Mei noticed something strange. Why was the house so quiet? Her older brother was probably already at work, but how come she couldn’t hear her mother scolding her father to dry the laundry outside the way it was every Saturday morning?
And then she looked at the phone and realized that there was one new message:
“Hi Mei! Are you up? It’s Kaa-chan. Sorry I didn’t tell you this earlier, but your father and I won’t be home this weekend. Your father’s boss just called him to come to a business convention.. A little short-notice, I know.” Mei could hear her mother sigh. “I decided to come along so your father doesn’t lose his mind or anything. Don’t destroy the house, okay? Keep it nice and clean! You’re allowed have one or two friends over, but if it’s someone else, no matter who it is, do not open the front door! Love you, bye~”
“Got the whole house to myself.” Mei said out loud with a smirk. She made herself cereal and got out a spoon. Mixing whatever was in the bowl around a little, she began to pout just a little. “What the heck am I supposed to do now?”
Ding dong!
Mei immediately dropped her spoon into the bowl, making some milk splash onto the table. She then cocked her head to the side to see who was at the door.
Ikeda-san-with her baby..? Mei thought in her head as she crawled on the floor and looked through the window to get a better look of whoever was behind the door. She did say not to open the door for anyone..
Ikeda-san suddenly knocked on the door and found Mei on the floor as she looked through the window. She smiled at her and gave a friendly wave. “Shoot. I’ve been caught,” Mei muttered under her breath as she tried her best to give an equally friendly smile and wave back to the lady behind the door.
Awkwardly getting up from her position, Mei then opened the door to find Ikeda-san with her baby.. along with three bags left on the floor of the porch next to her. Curious, Mei looked at them and realized the bags were stuffed-with things obviously meant for babies.
“Good morning, Ikeda-san,” Mei tried to sound as polite as possible, though she was still a little tired as it was nine in the morning. “What can I do for you?”
“Is your mother home? She said she would watch little Jun over here,” Ikeda-san answered as she looked at her baby.
“She did?” Mei said as she gritted her teeth behind a smile. “I’ll go get her then,” Mei said without realizing; she turned around and paced into the living room.
“Crap! Why’d she have to do this?! What do I do?” Mei panicked as she walked back and forth in the living room. Not knowing what the heck was going to happen next, she just walked back to the front door and found Ikeda-san waiting. “Oh, my mother is actually out grocery shopping right now.. She’ll be back soon though,” Mei came up with this lie, hoping it would have Ikeda-san leave.
It backfired.
Crud, why did I say that last sentence?! Mei discreetly face-palmed herself as she realized what she had just done.
“Oh, that’s fine. It should only take her about an hour, right? I’ll leave Jun with you for now; all he’ll do is sleep. I promise.” The lady walked into the house after Mei had gestured her to. Mei picked up the bags and placed them on the table. Ikeda-san thanked her and decided to go over a few things.
“He’s not really one to cry too much, but if he does, just give him some milk I’ve already prepared and the crying should stop. And I’m sure your mother will be back soon so you don’t have much to worry about~ . Tell your mother that I appreciate this so much! Oh, and that I’ll be back by tomorrow morning.” Ikeda-san said. She then planted a kiss on the sleeping baby’s forehead and handed him gingerly into Mei’s arms. She held him a little awkwardly as she gave a sheepish smile to Ikeda-san.
“Bye,” Mei whispered at a volume that was loud for the mother to hear but quite enough for the baby to do otherwise. “Thank you too, Mei. You’re such a sweetheart,” Ikeda-san said and left the house. Mei smiled in response as Jun’s mother left.
“Tomorrow morning..?!” Mei shouted in a whisper, trying not to wake the baby. Gotta call Kaa-chan.
*.*.*.*
Ring.. Ring.. Ring..
“Hello?” Mei heard the voice of her mother for the second time today.
“Why would you do this?!” she paced in her bedroom. Jun was sleeping soundly on the bed, surrounded by pillows to make sure that he wouldn’t fall if he rolled around or something.
“What are you talking about? I left a message saying-“ Mei didn’t allow her mother to finish.
“Not that! Why would you forget that you were supposed to watch Ikeda-san’s baby this weekend? What do I do?” Mei’s voice began to rise, not because she was angered or anything. She was just feeling worrisome about having to take care of a baby for a whole day-something she had never done in her entire life.
“Oh my goodness! I completely forgot about that! Did you tell her that I wasn’t going to be home?” Mei’s mother couldn’t believe she had forgotten such a big thing.
“Well.. not exactly.. I told her you were at the grocery store and she said that it was fine! She said I could watch him for an hour or so!” Mei began to get flustered.
“Why would you tell her that? You know lying gets you nowhere!” Mei’s mother scolded her daughter through the phone. “I thought she’d leave so I said that!” Mei answered. For a couple of minutes, Mei couldn’t hear anything. “Kaa-chan..? You still there?”
“Just thinking..” her mother answered. “Listen, I really can’t come home right now, so you’re just going to have to take care of him yourself. Call me if you need anything, alright? I have to go! Bye.”
“Wait-“ the call was cut off by now.
At least I didn’t get in trouble for opening the door for someone.
Mei slumped down on the floor with a thud, causing the baby to make a faint sound. She turned her head and looked at the baby to make sure he hadn’t woken up. “Huuh,” she breathed out quietly in relief.
For about an hour, just as Ikeda-san had said, things just stayed this way-Mei watching Jun as he slept peacefully-until he had finally woken up.
“Ehh! Ehh! Ehh!” the baby began to cry. Mei put a hand over her mouth and widened her eyes. She said he wasn’t one to cry! She carried the crying baby into her arms and walked downstairs and grabbed the landline phone. Who do I call?! Mei shouted in her head as she tried everything to stop the baby from crying. She tried to pat his back, rub his back, and even sway around slowly until she had even gotten herself a little dizzy.
“Kimi!” Mei said as her eyes widened. She quickly dialed her best friend’s number but was greeted by the voicemail at least three times. Why won’t you answer Kimi?! You’re the one that took that babysitting class thing! Who am I supposed to call now?
Yuto.
Ring.. Ring.. Ring..
“Hello? Who’s thi-“
“Yuto! I need your help! Please,” Mei tried to say over the baby’s crying. “I-Is that a baby?!” Yuto asked, a little surprised. “What are you doing?” he asked once more. “Long story. I just need you to come over.” Mei said and hung up.
“Okay..” he said unsurely and hung up his phone as well. I wonder what this is about.. Yuto thought in his head. He grabbed his cellphone and house keys and rushed across the street to Mei’s house. He rang the doorbell and Mei answered, moving up and down gently as she held the baby and fed him milk.
“Mei, don’t tell me that that’s your ba-“ Yuto began.
“Yuto! I thought you were the smart one! This is obviously not my baby! You saw me at school yesterday, right? Did I look the least bit pregnant to you at all!?” Mei shouted at him before he could even say much.
“I’m kidding, Mei!” Yuto defended himself before she could kill him-which was something he was sure Mei was capable of doing-or anything. “What are you doing with a baby?” he asked. “Awwh, so cute~” he then gently poked at the cheek of the baby.
Seeing this, Mei rolled her eyes and gave Yuto a slight grin and laughed. “Just come inside first and then I’ll tell you everything.” Yuto and Mei-who was of course still holding little Jun- then sat themselves down on the couch in the living room. By now, Jun’s eyes had widened a little more, showing that he had really adorable, round eyes.
As Mei explained the whole situation, Yuto would make silly faces in an attempt to make the baby laugh although he failed a little miserably. “Yuto? Are you even listening?”
“Wh-what? Oh yeah.” He stopped sticking out his tongue and pulling at his ears and awkwardly settled his hands down on his lap. “Yeah, of course I was listening. You said Ikeda-san just came all of a sudden and left Jun here with you, right?” Yuto answered, hoping he heard the story right while he was goofing off. If he didn’t, Mei would have probably hurt him or something, considering her slightly rough nature.
“Yeah,” Mei sighed, relieved he was actually listening and knew of her problem, “I just need help for the day, and Kimi wouldn’t answer so I called you.. You know stuff about babies, right?”
“I guess so.. I mean, my mom made me go to a babysitting class a few years back because she didn’t think I could watch Raiya without learning a thing or two. The lady at the class taught everyone a little about babies and whatever,” Yuto sighed, as he had just reminded himself of how paranoid and protective his mother could be when it came to his younger brother.
“Did everybody take a babysitting class but me?!” Mei looked at the ceiling and yelled a bit because she was a little frustrated with that fact. After doing so, Yuto opened his mouth to say something, but the baby began to cry again.
“Look what you did!” Yuto panicked and widened his eyes. “Me? Look what I did? I didn’t do this! Or at least I didn’t mean to!” Mei answered immediately as she gently rocked the crying baby back and forth in her arms.
“How do I make it stop?!” Mei instantly reached for the bottle of milk and tried to feed it to little Jun, but he refused to drink it any of it. Each time the bottle came in contact with his mouth-which was open because of his crying-he would close his mouth, making Mei flustered.
“He doesn’t want milk,” Mei sighed, gently wiping the corner of the baby’s mouth. At this moment, Mei began to look really.. really motherly-like, no matter how worried she looked. After all, being worried at times is a quality of a good mother, right? Yuto noticed this, and for some reason, he felt as though his lips were being tugged at to form a fond smile.
Just yesterday she was threatening and chasing Yamada for teasing her for being the only girl on the baseball team. Now she’s being all tender and caring towards the baby. Aw, little Mei is growing up. Yuto thought in his mind while he looked at Mei who was doing her best to cease the baby’s cries.
*.*.*.*
“Yuto? Are you listening at all? Stop daydreaming and sniff the baby’s butt!” Yuto heard Mei suddenly interrupt his thoughts, almost making him take them all back. “Wha-why!?” Yuto inquired with wide eyes, really reluctant to do such a thing.
“Because baby’s cry when they’re all.. you know, constipated and what have you. Right?” Mei told him as she held Jun away from her so that the baby could face her while his butt was a few inches from Yuto’s face.
Yuto shook his head, afraid of what he might inhale. “Just do it!” Mei screamed at him softly, trying not to provoke the baby to cry any more. “I’m only doing this because I don’t want him to cry,” Yuto said as he neared Jun. He took a whiff and cursed under his breath. He abruptly took a pillow from the couch and covered his nose with it. Even though half of his face was covered, Mei could see the look in his eyes which meant that she was right, and that Jun needed to have his diaper changed. Badly.
“Okay, I’m gonna go upstairs and figure out how to change him. All his diapers are up in my room anyway,” she sighed. “Oh, and can you look in the bag with the milk and stuff? It’s in the kitchen. Ikeda-san left a recipe for baby food and I’m guessing she wants us to feed it to Jun,” Mei said as she was about to leave Yuto.
“Wait! You want to feed him right after you change him?! Are you crazy? Just wait a little longer so that we don’t have to go through this again too soon!” Yuto exclaimed. Pushing the baby a little up in her arms to hold him better, Mei then answered. “Just look over it at least! If she left a recipe I’m sure she wants Jun to have it,” Mei said, “-uh, oh my goodness, I’m starting to smell it.” She said with her eyes a little dazed. Mei then tried to rush upstairs to change his diaper.
After about twenty of struggling with the baby, Mei was able to change him. She was unwilling at first, since she had never done anything like this. And afterwards she vowed that she never would do something like this again either. But after quietly swearing at the earlier smell, she realized that if she ever became a mother one day she would have to go through this. Whatever. Mei sighed in her head and shrugged off all her thoughts.
She picked up the baby-who had stopped crying the second he had been changed-and began to walk downstairs. She played with the baby a little as she entered kitchen, gently jumping up and down until the baby let out a squeal. Little Jun’s face had brightened up as he smiled adorably, making Mei smile back.
“Did you.. uh, did you fix him?” Yuto asked awkwardly, not really sure of what to say. Mei let out a loud breath of relief. “Yup,” she said in triumph, “but he kicked me so many times! I swear this kid’s gonna be a soccer player one day.”
Yuto laughed out and stood up to look at the baby. But once he did so, Yuto remembered he practically towered over her, being at least a good six inches taller. He bent down a little and puffed his cheeks and pulled at his ears, making the baby reach over to try and touch Yuto’s face. Mei handed little Jun over to Yuto, and he played with the baby some more as Mei plopped down on the couch, lying down lazily.
Yuto took Jun’s hands and pointed them at himself, “See? Onii-chan~ O-nii-chan,” he said. He then took the baby’s hand and spun around so the two were facing the couch. Yuto used baby Jun’s little hand to point at Mei and said, “That’s Onee-chan~” Yuto explained to the baby as if he would understand. “O-nee-chan,” Yuto said each syllable slowly. “Onee-chan’s lazy, ne?” Yuto laughed, making the baby laugh too.
“I heard that.” Mei said with her face buried in a pillow, her finger pointing to exactly where Yuto was standing as he held the baby. A little creeped out by this, Yuto awkwardly scooted away from the place he once was. For the next ten minutes or so, Yuto held the baby as he strolled around the first floor of the house slowly. Jun eventually began to rest his head on Yuto’s shoulder, falling asleep easily. Once Yuto realized the baby had fallen asleep, he walked back to the living room where Mei had practically dropped dead and tried to wake her up-she had fallen asleep just the way Jun had.
“Hey, Mei,” Yuto whispered, trying not to wake Jun. “Mei!” he shouted in a hushed tone. She won’t wake up. Knowing that she would wake up if he shook her hard enough, he poked her at first with his free hand while the other hand held Jun carefully. Yuto shook her body, and almost as if it were an instinct, Mei kicked his leg, causing him to groan in pain. “Ittai!”
“Who told you to wake me up?” Mei said annoyed, but she sat herself up on the couch anyway. She saw that Jun was sleeping, making her expression immediately change into one that was full of relief. “Whoo~ Just in time, Ikeda-san’s note in the bag said that his nap time is usually just about now,” Mei whispered as she checked the time on her phone. The two went upstairs to lay the baby on Mei’s bed, surrounding him with pillows the way Mei had done before.
“So what now?” Yuto asked, staring at the sleeping baby.
“Now? Now we just act like it’s a normal Saturday-minus the baby,” Mei smirked and began to walk downstairs.
“Wait! What about Jun?” Yuto stopped her and pointed at the baby. “It’s okay. Ikeda-san left these baby-monitor walkie talkie thingies, so it should be okay. Just chill, Yuto,” she said nonchalantly and continued making her way downstairs.
“If you say so..” Yuto made sure the baby was wrapped snugly enough by the blanket and left to follow Mei.
*.*.*.*
“Whatcha doin’?” Yuto strolled into the kitchen as Mei dialed a number on her phone. “Calling Kimi..” she replied, “she better answer this time,” Mei grumbled softly at the end of the sentence.
“Hello?” Kimi answered after a couple of rings.
“YO! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED YOU, GIRL?” Mei shouted into the phone, making Yuto shush her. He pointed up at the ceiling, and Mei realized he was pointing at the upstairs floor where Jun was sleeping. She quieted herself down a little but still continued to scold her friend.
“Sorry!” Kimi answered, “I was out shopping with my mom, she wants us to start this ‘Girls Day Out’ sort of thing..” she sighed. “You should join us next time; that way things won’t be so awkward.”
“Ahh, so that’s why. And maybe, if I feel like it,” Mei easily forgave her friend. “Hey, so you wanna come over right now? My mom’s friend just left her baby over here and I know how you love taking care of babies and all that jazz..”
“Aww, not today, Mei. Maybe next time, I’m sort of busy right now,” Kimi explained.
“Ohh, it’s okay. I’ll just see you at school then!” Mei said through her cellphone and closed it. “Let’s go watch some TV,” she then suggested to Yuto and walked over to the sofa in the living room. She sat down sloppily on the sofa, her legs open and her back slightly arched over the way a boy would normally sit.
“Mei! Stop sitting like that!” Yuto scolded her. “Like what?!” she answered him back.
“Like that,” he said as he pointed at her, “it’s not lady-like at all.”
“What’s your point? I’ve been sitting like this for almost 17 years. You’re only complaining now?”
“Yeah, well, Mei, now that you’re getting older, I think you should start acting a more like a girl, y’know? Guys like proper girls, and what you’re doing isn’t really helping.” He said in an older-brotherly like tone.
“Who said I never act like a girl,” she mumbled under her breath and sat herself up on the couch, sitting with her back straight and her knees touching. “Happy, sir?” she shot him a glare as she picked up the remote.
“Much better,” he said as he filled the space next to her on the sofa. “What’s good on TV..” Mei said to herself as she browsed through the channels. “Ahh~ here we go!” She stopped on the kid’s channel which was playing a cartoon Yuto and she would watch nearly ten years back.
“Brings back memories, huh?” Mei smiled before she laughed at a corny joke one of the characters on the television just said.
“Yeah,” Yuto grinned with her as he watched. For the next hour or so, Yuto and Mei would do what they normally did when they hung out. They watched some TV, ate a snack Mei dug out of the pantry, and even resulted in playing cards out of boredom.
“That’s bull-crud,” Mei said as Yuto put down what he had said were two Aces. (Teehee, they’re playing that card game that’s a badword~~ bull$%!# xD).
“And how would you know, huh?” Yuto challenged the younger girl.
“Because! I just put down three Aces like five turns ago!” She picked up the first two cards on the sloppy deck they created and found an Ace of spades and a two of clubs. “See?” she practically rubbed the cards in his face, “These are all yours now~” she stuck her tongue out of him and slid a huge pile of cards in front of him. He rolled his eyes and accepted the cards, mixing them in with the ones he already had.
“Okay, umm, two seve-“
“Ehh! Ehh! Ehh!” Mei and Yuto faintly heard a noise from upstairs. “Aww man,” Mei sighed as she rushed upstairs. Jun was crying. He had probably just woken up from his nap.
“Shh, shh,” Mei hushed the baby as she picked him up. “You don’t smell like you need to..”
“Maybe he’s hungry,” Yuto guessed before Mei could finish her sentence. “Probably.. Go use the recipe Ikeda-san left! I’ll try to calm him down,” Mei said as she swayed back and forth as Jun still cried. She wiped the tears off of his face with a small towel while Yuto went downstairs to make the baby food. Mei managed to quiet little Jun down for a while, and after doing so, Yuto called her downstairs.
“It’s done,” he said triumphantly as he transferred the food into a little bowl. He washed one of the baby spoons from the bag and dried it as Mei walked in with Jun in her arms.
“Ooh, it doesn’t smell as horrible as I thought baby food would be,” Mei said as she sat down. She sat Jun on the table and supported him by putting her hands on his sides. “Here, taste it just to make sure it isn’t too hot,” Yuto said and gave her a small spoonful of the homemade baby food.
“BLEEH!” Mei gave Jun to Yuto and ran to the garbage can. She spit out the baby food and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “What in the world did you put in that!?”
“I don’t know! I just followed what was on that piece of paper,” Yuto defended himself as he held baby Jun.
She grabbed the paper and stared at it for a while. The heck? They make babies eat this stuff? Mei thought as she could still taste it in her mouth. “I heard you’re not supposed to season baby food at all,” Yuto explained, “something about their taste buds.. I dunno.” He shrugged it off.
That’s probably it, she thought as she opened the fridge and grabbed a water bottle. “So? Is it cooled yet?” Yuto asked as she chugged down almost the whole bottle.
“Yeah, it seems perfect,” she took the bowl and began to feed baby Jun. He seemed to like it, as he would smile each time he took a bite. “How do you like this stuff?” Mei looked at the baby incredibly as she continued to feed him.
Yuto laughed at this sight, “Like he can understand you.”
“Hey! Babies happen to be really smart! Or a least I heard that from somewhere,” Mei began to tap her chin. She finished feeding Jun and decided to play with him. Mei spread a blanket on the living room floor to let him crawl around; she would play little games with him and his toys every so often, and Yuto would join along. By the time it got dark, Yuto decided to head home.
“Hey, I gotta go, my mom’s probably got dinner ready by now-“ He was interrupted by his ringing phone.
“Hello? Ahh, Kaa-chan. Yeah, I’m going home right now,” he was obviously speaking with his mother. “No, I’m just at Mei’s house. Oh, but she sort of has company and her parents are out..”
“Invite them over then!” Mei could hear Yuto’s mom shout through his cellphone. He held the phone a little farther from his ear and answered her. “Okay, okay, I’ll ask her.”
He turned to Mei and said, “Hey, do you wanna come over and have dinner with us? My mom said you can bring over your friend,” he chuckled a little as he saw Jun smiling in Mei’s arms.
“Uhh, sure, I’m starved anyway,” Mei replied.
“Okay, she said yes. See you in a few minutes,” Yuto said and hung up.
--------------------
Okay, so I know I'm a terrible person for not updating and what not.. I know, I've been practically dead here on LJ .__. But school has just been really hectic! There's just so many things to juggle throughout my day. And I know that's not a great excuse, but I'm really sorry *bows*
On the plus side, I got the results for my high school entrance exam back!!! *drum rolls* I made it into all the schools I applied for and got two scholarships~~ I'm so excited for high school! Even though I know it's gonna be a lot of work =3= xD
I hope I can update soon! And if it isn't obvious enough, Kinda Mine is on a hiatus. I'm doing my best to get it finished it with, but I have two options as to where I want the story to go. You probably don't understand what I'm saying right now because I'm just confusing like that xD Well, until next time~! *waves goodbye*