[Action] Friday Night Friends
"...and so--quit laughing, Yamada--it's actually really good," Touya finished. He chucked a piece of popcorn at Chisato's head for good measure.
Daisuke nudged him in the back of the head with a knee. "Who found it for you?"
Touya tucked his piece of paper against his chest and turned to face Daisuke. "Naoko-san," he said with a grin. "She also said she'd loan me her mystery novels when she's done reading them. One of them is the one you mentioned. With the artist?"
"Ah, ah! I told Daisuke about that first! Who's 'Naoko-san'?" Kaibara Tsukino padded back into the living room. Her hair was a shocking purple but she was smiling.
Touya liked Daisuke's older sister. At twenty-eight she was among the oldest of his new friends but since most of his friends were closer to Sakura's age rather than his own, he was glad. She was as outgoing as her brother was quiet but just as kind. She admitted that she wasn't as smart as Daisuke was but--given that he'd been a freshman at Toudai right out of school--few were. Almost most importantly, she was willing to invite guests over to the apartment that she and Daisuke shared. Daisuke had softly apologized for not inviting them earlier and Tsukino had laughed saying that he couldn't have because it had been a mess until she'd moved in.
"Girlfriend?" Tsukino went on, dropping down to sit by her brother. "Not your sister, right? That's...Sakura?"
Whatever the reason, Friday night after work found Touya at the Kaibara residence with Chisato, Mari, and Mari's friend Risa. Arguably they were watching a movie, but in reality they were simply hanging out and chatting. Mostly. They were also playing 'My Job Sucks'.
"Yes, Sakura's my sister. Naoko-san's a friend," Touya said.
"Yanagisawa Naoko," Daisuke added. "If you come for okonomiyaki next time, you can meet her. But I've talked about her."
Tsukino nodded in understanding. "Ahh. You wanted to talk books with her more but didn't want to ask Kino-kun for her number."
Daisuki buried his face in his hands. "Aneeki, please," he muttered. "Please don't do that."
"Eh?" Tsukino's head tipped to the side and then she grinned, winking. "He means saying stuff straight out like that, not the names. But Kino-kun sounds pretty fun, yeah? Kino-Kun and Yama-kun and O-chan and Hiya-chan and Daisuke can be Kai-kun and I can be Aneeki."
"Aneeki, please that too," he mumbled.
Tsukino kissed him on the head. "It's good for you when I do stuff like that!" She waved one hand at the group. "But I'm only teasing for Daisuke's benefit. Sorry, everybody!"
As everybody murmured their own 'that's all right's Touya sighed. "I live with Mormomoto Haru," he reminded Tsukino. "And his daughter. I'm done with my list," he added.
With another bright smile Tsukino bounced to her feet. "All right! Now we cut them into strips and put them into a pile. And Kino-kun gives Kai-kun Naoko-san's phone number so he can call her and be a book geek with her, okay? Okay!"
Touya gave Daisuke a look as he took a pair of scissors from Mari. "Are you going to ask her out?"
"No," Daisuke didn't look at him as he cut his own list into strips. "Well, yes. But for friends only. You and Haru-san aren't the only ones who should make more friends. But I don't want to date her romantically."
"Okay. Throw me your mobile when you're done." He dropped his paper strips into the pile on the coffee table. "But if you do want to date her, let me know so I can--"
"--be the protective big brother," Mari cut in with a giggle. "It's almost cute if you didn't have such a scary face when doing it! That poor boy at the restaurant almost had a heart attack!"
Chisato dumped his strips too. "That's Tanaka-san. He expressed interest. And he keeps doing it, too." He gave Touya a look. "I caught him smiling at her so I made sure he knew I saw him."
"Boys!" Tuskino gave them the thumbs up sign as they high-fived. "It's probably lousy of you to do that, but I approve anyhow."
"Aneeki..." Daisuke sighed.
She patted him absently on the head, gathering all the paper strips into an empty baseball cap. Touya had to smile. She reminded him of himself, in some ways. "Okay, now everybody picks one and that's your new career path," she said as the hat went around the circle. "Everybody have one? Okay, go!"
"...a monk?" Chisato said, staring at his slip. He turned to his girlfriend. "Babe, yours says 'nun', right?"
Mari shook her head. "Pilot of a nuclear submarine. Thanks, Kinomoto-kun!"
"Anytime," Touya answered.
"I'll trade you 'architect'" Tsukino said, holding out her slip. "I don't want to get married again, since I screwed up my last one." She held up her other hand, fingers spread in the victor sign. "He was a jerk, so it was okay."
Touya twisted to look at her as Risa announced that she was going to win the lottery and slack off for the rest of her days. "You too, huh?" he asked Tsukino with a slightly rueful smile.
"You were married?" she asked in surprise.
"As good as," he said. "Your brother hasn't told you about Yuki?"
Tsukino frowned lightly. "Didn't you break up?"
"Aneeki," Daisuke interrupted. "Did you put 'Ice-cream man' in the pile?"
"I like ice-cream," she said placidly but she was giving her brother a confused stare. "But don't interrupt, I was asking--"
"Aneeki, can't it wait?"
Touya gave both siblings a good-natured smile. "I cheated on my boyfriend during a rough patch and wrecked stuff. But I love him and want him back so I'm working towards that even though he has a new boyfriend and I won't give up until I have a spot in his life again. Haru probably makes it more interesting but this is why being a..." he read his slip again with a shake of his head "...a porn star is not a good move for me right now."
"Who put that in there?" Risa giggled.
Daisuke raised his hand.
Tsukino hugged him around the shoulders. "That's my boy!"
Chisato put down his new career as an architect. "If Kinomoto gets porn star while I get monk, I demand that we go out and do something fun before we start our new jobs."
"Print Club?" Touya offered.
"..." said Tsukino. Then, "And we can get ice-cream after!"
"At Thousand Cranes," Chisato said. "Kinomoto can make up for making his story boring by taking us to see Tsukishiro."
An hour later, Touya led them into the Thousand Cranes. He was laughing as they tumbled into a booth together, wedging himself and the Kaibaras on one side and Chisato, Mari, and Risa on the other. "You did not, Aneeki," Daisuke was saying. "She really led a respectable life in America," he appealed to them.
Touya shook his head. "No, no, that's got to be true. Nobody could make that up."
"It is true!" Tsukino said, flashing the victory sign at Mari and Risa. "But only because the other stuff was true, too. I think he expected me to be like some ideal woman in a kimono and geta so I..." she broke off with a giggle.
"You think that's bad?" Chisato grinned at Daisuke. "Oh, man, you must not have heard Kinomoto's Valentine's Day story!"
"Damn it, man," Touya said with no real heat.
Risa giggled. "I thought it was sweet! Even if you didn't come off so very well," she said apologetically.
Mari nodded. "Besides, Tetsuya-kun said he was too far away to hear what was going on..."
"SHIN wasn't," said Tetsuya. He was glaring at Touya. "Orders."
Touya grinned at Tetsuya. "Yeah, send Yukito over." He leaned around Tetsuya and waved at Nishimoto Shin who was sitting at the counter.
"That's Tsukishiro's new boyfriend," Daisuke told his sister. "Nishimoto Shin."
"He's cute!" she said. "Don't you think?"
Daisuke shrugged. Touya looked at her. "It must be a girl thing," he said. He looked at Daisuke. "Ono once asked me if I thought Yamada's ass was hot."
"Not yours," Mari said kindly to Tetsuya. "And we all want hotfudge sundaes with whipped cream and cherries. Now send Yukito over. Kinotmoto-kun has a Print Club sticker for him!"
Touya grinned and settled back in his seat before sitting forward abruptly. "Kaibara," he said to Daisuke, "switch places with me. If I'm by the wall, Tetsuya won't be able to drop my ice cream in my lap."
Daisuke nudged him in the back of the head with a knee. "Who found it for you?"
Touya tucked his piece of paper against his chest and turned to face Daisuke. "Naoko-san," he said with a grin. "She also said she'd loan me her mystery novels when she's done reading them. One of them is the one you mentioned. With the artist?"
"Ah, ah! I told Daisuke about that first! Who's 'Naoko-san'?" Kaibara Tsukino padded back into the living room. Her hair was a shocking purple but she was smiling.
Touya liked Daisuke's older sister. At twenty-eight she was among the oldest of his new friends but since most of his friends were closer to Sakura's age rather than his own, he was glad. She was as outgoing as her brother was quiet but just as kind. She admitted that she wasn't as smart as Daisuke was but--given that he'd been a freshman at Toudai right out of school--few were. Almost most importantly, she was willing to invite guests over to the apartment that she and Daisuke shared. Daisuke had softly apologized for not inviting them earlier and Tsukino had laughed saying that he couldn't have because it had been a mess until she'd moved in.
"Girlfriend?" Tsukino went on, dropping down to sit by her brother. "Not your sister, right? That's...Sakura?"
Whatever the reason, Friday night after work found Touya at the Kaibara residence with Chisato, Mari, and Mari's friend Risa. Arguably they were watching a movie, but in reality they were simply hanging out and chatting. Mostly. They were also playing 'My Job Sucks'.
"Yes, Sakura's my sister. Naoko-san's a friend," Touya said.
"Yanagisawa Naoko," Daisuke added. "If you come for okonomiyaki next time, you can meet her. But I've talked about her."
Tsukino nodded in understanding. "Ahh. You wanted to talk books with her more but didn't want to ask Kino-kun for her number."
Daisuki buried his face in his hands. "Aneeki, please," he muttered. "Please don't do that."
"Eh?" Tsukino's head tipped to the side and then she grinned, winking. "He means saying stuff straight out like that, not the names. But Kino-kun sounds pretty fun, yeah? Kino-Kun and Yama-kun and O-chan and Hiya-chan and Daisuke can be Kai-kun and I can be Aneeki."
"Aneeki, please that too," he mumbled.
Tsukino kissed him on the head. "It's good for you when I do stuff like that!" She waved one hand at the group. "But I'm only teasing for Daisuke's benefit. Sorry, everybody!"
As everybody murmured their own 'that's all right's Touya sighed. "I live with Mormomoto Haru," he reminded Tsukino. "And his daughter. I'm done with my list," he added.
With another bright smile Tsukino bounced to her feet. "All right! Now we cut them into strips and put them into a pile. And Kino-kun gives Kai-kun Naoko-san's phone number so he can call her and be a book geek with her, okay? Okay!"
Touya gave Daisuke a look as he took a pair of scissors from Mari. "Are you going to ask her out?"
"No," Daisuke didn't look at him as he cut his own list into strips. "Well, yes. But for friends only. You and Haru-san aren't the only ones who should make more friends. But I don't want to date her romantically."
"Okay. Throw me your mobile when you're done." He dropped his paper strips into the pile on the coffee table. "But if you do want to date her, let me know so I can--"
"--be the protective big brother," Mari cut in with a giggle. "It's almost cute if you didn't have such a scary face when doing it! That poor boy at the restaurant almost had a heart attack!"
Chisato dumped his strips too. "That's Tanaka-san. He expressed interest. And he keeps doing it, too." He gave Touya a look. "I caught him smiling at her so I made sure he knew I saw him."
"Boys!" Tuskino gave them the thumbs up sign as they high-fived. "It's probably lousy of you to do that, but I approve anyhow."
"Aneeki..." Daisuke sighed.
She patted him absently on the head, gathering all the paper strips into an empty baseball cap. Touya had to smile. She reminded him of himself, in some ways. "Okay, now everybody picks one and that's your new career path," she said as the hat went around the circle. "Everybody have one? Okay, go!"
"...a monk?" Chisato said, staring at his slip. He turned to his girlfriend. "Babe, yours says 'nun', right?"
Mari shook her head. "Pilot of a nuclear submarine. Thanks, Kinomoto-kun!"
"Anytime," Touya answered.
"I'll trade you 'architect'" Tsukino said, holding out her slip. "I don't want to get married again, since I screwed up my last one." She held up her other hand, fingers spread in the victor sign. "He was a jerk, so it was okay."
Touya twisted to look at her as Risa announced that she was going to win the lottery and slack off for the rest of her days. "You too, huh?" he asked Tsukino with a slightly rueful smile.
"You were married?" she asked in surprise.
"As good as," he said. "Your brother hasn't told you about Yuki?"
Tsukino frowned lightly. "Didn't you break up?"
"Aneeki," Daisuke interrupted. "Did you put 'Ice-cream man' in the pile?"
"I like ice-cream," she said placidly but she was giving her brother a confused stare. "But don't interrupt, I was asking--"
"Aneeki, can't it wait?"
Touya gave both siblings a good-natured smile. "I cheated on my boyfriend during a rough patch and wrecked stuff. But I love him and want him back so I'm working towards that even though he has a new boyfriend and I won't give up until I have a spot in his life again. Haru probably makes it more interesting but this is why being a..." he read his slip again with a shake of his head "...a porn star is not a good move for me right now."
"Who put that in there?" Risa giggled.
Daisuke raised his hand.
Tsukino hugged him around the shoulders. "That's my boy!"
Chisato put down his new career as an architect. "If Kinomoto gets porn star while I get monk, I demand that we go out and do something fun before we start our new jobs."
"Print Club?" Touya offered.
"..." said Tsukino. Then, "And we can get ice-cream after!"
"At Thousand Cranes," Chisato said. "Kinomoto can make up for making his story boring by taking us to see Tsukishiro."
An hour later, Touya led them into the Thousand Cranes. He was laughing as they tumbled into a booth together, wedging himself and the Kaibaras on one side and Chisato, Mari, and Risa on the other. "You did not, Aneeki," Daisuke was saying. "She really led a respectable life in America," he appealed to them.
Touya shook his head. "No, no, that's got to be true. Nobody could make that up."
"It is true!" Tsukino said, flashing the victory sign at Mari and Risa. "But only because the other stuff was true, too. I think he expected me to be like some ideal woman in a kimono and geta so I..." she broke off with a giggle.
"You think that's bad?" Chisato grinned at Daisuke. "Oh, man, you must not have heard Kinomoto's Valentine's Day story!"
"Damn it, man," Touya said with no real heat.
Risa giggled. "I thought it was sweet! Even if you didn't come off so very well," she said apologetically.
Mari nodded. "Besides, Tetsuya-kun said he was too far away to hear what was going on..."
"SHIN wasn't," said Tetsuya. He was glaring at Touya. "Orders."
Touya grinned at Tetsuya. "Yeah, send Yukito over." He leaned around Tetsuya and waved at Nishimoto Shin who was sitting at the counter.
"That's Tsukishiro's new boyfriend," Daisuke told his sister. "Nishimoto Shin."
"He's cute!" she said. "Don't you think?"
Daisuke shrugged. Touya looked at her. "It must be a girl thing," he said. He looked at Daisuke. "Ono once asked me if I thought Yamada's ass was hot."
"Not yours," Mari said kindly to Tetsuya. "And we all want hotfudge sundaes with whipped cream and cherries. Now send Yukito over. Kinotmoto-kun has a Print Club sticker for him!"
Touya grinned and settled back in his seat before sitting forward abruptly. "Kaibara," he said to Daisuke, "switch places with me. If I'm by the wall, Tetsuya won't be able to drop my ice cream in my lap."