[fic] Mizuki-centric
Title: Flipside
Pairing: Mizuki-centric ~ Higa ensemble
Rating: PG-13
Summary: On holiday with his family, Mizuki meets someone who changes his way of thinking and the way he views himself.
a/n ~ Whereupon Mizuki embarrasses himself and Kite is walking sex. As usual.
Part I
The tall, imposing boy who opened the front door startled Mizuki to such a degree that he took a step backward. Directly into Rin.
"Hey, watch the shoes!" he said, both hands splayed at Mizuki's back to prevent any more unnecessary touching.
"Sorry," Mizuki muttered, sidestepping and bumping the gate with his hip. It hurt and he grimaced, but he didn't say a word.
"That was fast," the tall boy said, turning away from the door and leaving it open for his friends to follow.
Kite's friends went on ahead, elbowing one other and each issuing graphic, violent threats for trying to push the other aside. Mizuki stared, shocked. He was unused to such barbarism, even if he did attend Hyoutei.
"Let's go, graceful," Kite said, nudging Mizuki toward the door. "He won't bite."
Mizuki wasn't entirely sure he believed that, but he allowed Kite to steer him into the tiny house while he tried not to ogle his surroundings too much. It wasn't often that Mizuki had an opportunity to observe a peer's living conditions that were poorer than his own. But then, he wasn't sure he wanted to consider someone like that any peer of his. Kite's presence at his back, however - silent and somehow protective - made Mizuki almost immediately ashamed of his uncharitable thoughts.
The long, gangly fellow stood in the center of the tiny room looking ungainly while Rin flopped down in a ratty armchair and pulled trucker hat down with him.
"Hiroshi, let's play Resident Evil. Hook it up."
With a brief glance in Mizuki's direction, the tall one motioned the two boys away. "Get out of my chair," he said, taking a seat almost before they'd vacated.
"I brought a guest," Kite said. "I hope it's all right."
Shrugging, the boy said, "Whatever. Long as he doesn't steal anything."
"Steal anything?" Mizuki began, immediately indignant.
But Kite only laughed and moved past him toward the small kitchen. "His name is Mizuki," he told the other boys. "He's going to hang out."
The tall one nodded. "I'm Chinen."
"Kai Yuujiroh," trucker hat said, taking off his hat and stuffing it on Rin's head.
Frowning, Rin elbowed Kai and knocked the hat off into the floor. "Hirakoba Rin. Why don't I know you, Mizuki-kun?"
Glancing quickly at Kite, who was pilfering through Chinen's icebox and not looking at him at all, Mizuki sniffed and began to twirl his hair. "Well, I'm on holiday. I'm from Ya...Tokyo. I attend Hyoutei Gakuen."
"You must be rich," Kai said, sitting up and eyes sparkling. "We saw some Hyoutei players a couple of years ago at the Nationals in Kantou and they were-"
"Assholes," Rin supplied bitterly. "They were great, big, pompous assholes. Right, Eishirou?"
Shrugging, Kite uncapped a bottle of water and snagged a six-pack of beer off the counter on his way back into the sitting room. "I don't remember."
Dissolving into giggles, Kai lay against Rin again, ignoring the other boy's efforts to dislodge him. "He's still mad about Atobe Keigo stealing away that Seigaku captain's attention before he had the chance to do it."
Kite appeared unfazed, leaning against the wall and holding out the six-pack to Chinen. "Atobe who?"
Mizuki began to feel distinctly uncomfortable. They all had more in common than he'd originally suspected and it took away something of his mystery - his anonymity. While he dearly wanted to chime in with his own vehement agreement regarding Atobe's state of pomposity, Mizuki held his council - he'd do better to listen and learn.
Observing quietly, Chinen tugged a can free of the plastic ring and popped the top, though he didn't drink right away. Kite made no move toward helping himself to a beer and seemed perfectly content to sip water.
"Anyway," Kai went on, leaning over Rin to hook one finger between the beer cans and tug them toward him. "Enough about them. Sit with us, Mizuki-kun. Have a drink!"
Sparing Kite yet another uncertain glance, Mizuki faltered and Rin laughed.
"You don't need his permission," he said. "You're on holiday; drink up!"
"I...," Mizuki began. His phone felt like rocks in his pocket and his stomach knotted with apprehension. Mizuki didn't drink alcohol - he never had. For one, it was illegal, for another, he'd heard alcohol consumption had horrific effects on one's complexion. "Aren't you having any, Kite?"
Kite shook his head. "I don't drink."
Kai snorted. "He doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't eat red meat-"
"Runs five miles every morning, never skips breakfast and goes to bed early on school nights," Rin finished.
Eyes wide, Mizuki couldn't stop staring at Kite. He was a paragon of virtue! Or, he silently amended, as virtuous as a cheating bully could be. Looking at Kite now, however, and having had the opportunity to observe him and speak to him and watch his interactions with the rest of his team, Mizuki began to think that Yuuta was wrong in the things he'd said about Kite. Or perhaps Fuji Shuusuke had lied to Yuuta out of spite - Mizuki certainly wouldn't have put it past him.
"Mizuki-kun," Kite said, effectively derailing his Fuji-bound train of thought. "Call your parents first."
"Oh, right," he murmured, reaching into his pocket and turning away. As he entered his father's number, he wondered at his lack of hesitation where Kite's directives were concerned. And if the rest of the group was anything to go by, he wasn't the only one. They all seemed happy enough to rely on Kite's judgment and follow his lead.
After a few seconds, his father picked up. Mizuki could hear clinking coins and slot machines and his grandmother's drunken giggles in the background.
"Father?"
"Nanami?" His father asked, speaking too loudly into the phone.
Mizuki pulled his phone away from his ear and frowned. "No, Father, it's me, Hajime."
"Ahhh, of course. Hajime, my boy!"
"Father, you don't need to wait up for me tonight, all right? I've met some people and I'm hanging out with them."
"Already?" His father asked, and quickly cleared his throat. "Of course, Hajime. I'm glad you're having a good time. Stay out of trouble."
Mizuki rolled his eyes. He could hear his grandmother catcalling at someone. "I will. See you tomorrow."
Still irritated, he hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket. When he turned to face the others again, Kai was standing before him - so close that he could see his own reflection in the boy's eyes.
"Now." Kai said, grinning at Mizuki when he pressed the beer can into his hand. "Where were we?"
~***~
The sun was positively invasive when Mizuki awakened the next morning. The room was bright and he was warm. In the next room, he could hear the clatter of dishes and low voices. He shifted, stretching his legs and yawning, almost content when the sunlight streamed across the futon and over the floor. There were no blankets covering him - he wouldn't have needed them if there were - and the two warm, sleepy bodies on either side of him sandwiched him quite nicely indeed.
He hummed faintly, rubbing his cheek on the soft hair that brushed his face and tucked an arm around someone's waist.
"Rise and shine, princess," a familiar voice murmured against his ear and it wasn't until he felt the palm of someone's hand easing beneath his shirt and up along his belly that the previous night came rushing back to him.
He froze. "What are you doing?"
"Snuggling," came the immediate reply. Kai laughed, molding himself to Mizuki's back and breathing in the scent of his neck, his hair. "You don't like to snuggle?"
"Not particularly," he snapped, shifting against Kai and realizing that he should probably just remain still.
"Then why are you snuggling Rin?" Kai wanted to know. "You want to hurt my feelings or something?"
"Of course I don-" Mizuki began, but Rin reached behind him to shove at Kai's hip.
"Leave him alone, jerkoff," he said, voice thick with sleep.
Kai reached across Mizuki to slap at Rin's leg. "Mind your own business, butthead."
"Uh, excuse me," Mizuki said, scooting toward the end of the futon and hoping that Kai didn't make a grab for him. He needn't have worried; Kai and Rin had drifted closer to one another, burrowing in amongst the blankets even as they continued to trade lame, sleepy insults.
As warm as it had been amidst the blankets and pillows and comfortable, lazy boys, the floor beneath Mizuki's feet was chilly. Crossing the room in his bare feet, Mizuki hurried into the main room to find Kite and Chinen straightening up and preparing breakfast.
While he was dressed in the same clothes he'd been wearing the night before, Kite looked fresh and pressed and clean. His hair was damp; maybe he'd taken a shower.
Chinen noticed him first, glancing over his shoulder and grunting acknowledgment as he turned back to the stove. Kite looked over, then, and swept Mizuki with a look from head to toe.
"Good night?" he asked, steadying a teapot lid as he filled two cups.
"Uh, yes, I believe so. You?"
Kite shrugged. "I've had worse."
Chinen glanced over his shoulder at Kite, expression wry.
"What?" Kite asked, sounding innocent.
Declining to respond, Chinen turned his attention back to the task at hand and Kite offered Mizuki the barest of smiles. "How's your head?"
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Mizuki frowned. "Hurts a little. I feel a little queasy."
"Figured you would," Kite said, motioning Mizuki over. "Have some tea."
"How much did I drink last night?" Mizuki asked. He just knew he'd been completely wasted and had made an ass of himself. He hoped Kite would color the truth a little to spare what dignity he had left.
"Four, maybe five beers," Kite told him, placing the teacup on a tiny saucer and passing it over the half-wall to Mizuki.
"You passed out before you could finish the fifth one," Chinen added.
"Right. Kai drank the rest for you," Kite said. "You didn't tell me you were a lightweight, Mizuki-kun."
Mizuki sipped his tea, ignoring the way his stomach turned, and glared at Kite over the rim of his cup. "Like you had to ask?"
To his surprise, Chinen snickered and Kite actually cracked a smile. "Not really, city boy."
Mizuki sighed, afraid to imagine how his hair must look. "I'm sorry if I caused trouble."
"You didn't," Chinen turned then, transferring a couple of omelets from the pan to a waiting plate. "That's Kai's job."
"After we eat and tidy up, I'll walk you back to your hotel," Kite told him, adding a drop of honey to his tea and stirring it idly.
"I'm not a girl," Mizuki said, embarrassed and grumpy, and he shrugged his shoulders - slumping in on himself - when Kite raised a brow at him. "Sorry," he muttered.
Kite seemed unperturbed. "You can find your own way back?"
Mizuki shook his head, stared at the floor while he sipped his tea. Kite was no Yuuta - he would have to remember that.
Kite yawned, stretched and set his cup down to assist Chinen. They worked together in silence, each seeming to anticipate the other's moves, and Mizuki watched them closely. They didn't spare many words for one another, but Mizuki suspected that their bond was much stronger than the bonds they shared with the two boys sleeping just in the next room. It surprised him to realize that he didn't enjoy thinking about it and so he sat up a little straighter and nodded his thanks when Kite set a small plate of fruit and rice crackers before him.
"Eat this," he said.
Swallowing hard, Mizuki lay one hand against his belly and grimaced. "I'm not sure I can," he said honestly.
"Maybe he needs one of your health shakes, Kite," Chinen said, sitting down at the tiny kitchen table with a plate full of omelets.
Kite's almost-smile was enough for Mizuki to suspect that he definitely didn't want a health shake of any sort.
"I'll try this," he quickly assured, nibbling one cracker and trying not to focus on how the crumbs felt against his tongue. Kite leaned against the counter and it surprised Mizuki to realize that he seemed disinterested in taking a seat beside his friend. Even more surprising was that Kite watched him closely and didn't bother to hide it from Chinen.
"Sightseeing with the family today, I'll bet," he finally said and Mizuki shrugged. He didn't know Kite very well but he felt certain that he wasn't the sort to make small talk. His asking after Mizuki's plans wouldn't have been to satisfy idle curiosity.
Looking up, Mizuki met Kite's eyes and felt the rush of color to his face before he looked away again; Kite was unnerving. "Probably," he agreed. "What are you doing today?"
When Kite didn't answer right away, Mizuki snuck a glance at Chinen. Faced away from Mizuki, he leaned over his plate intently. Mizuki couldn't help feeling certain that the other boy was laughing at him, however secretly he might have been doing it. One look at Kite's expression confirmed his suspicions and he bristled, unwilling to be the butt of someone's private joke here, too.
"Forget it," he said, setting his cup on the half-wall beside the plate of mostly-untouched food. "I'm going."
He stumbled at the front door, losing his balance when he tried to slip his shoes on without sparing Kite and Chinen a second glance. He'd hoped to feel some sort of obligation or camaraderie when parting company with the boys he'd spent the night with but he knew that he never should have allowed himself to hope for anything of the sort. He was used to it, this dance to which he'd never quite learned the steps.
Outside, the sun was bright and he knew it was getting quite late in the morning. He supposed that both Rin and Kai had consumed far more alcohol than he had to keep them in bed so long. Shielding his eyes, Mizuki crossed a quiet side road and tried to tell himself that the ache in his belly had everything to do with too much beer and nothing at all to do with the regret he was stupid to feel. Paramount in his mind was the certainty that the remainder of his week would be spent trying to avoid Kite and his friends and being too aware of both himself and the people he saw. Stuffing both hands into his pockets, he kicked at a cluster of insects, but sidestepped at the last moment to keep from crushing them under his sandals. He really just wanted to go home.
"Hey," Kite called behind him, not rushing and appearing all too confident that Mizuki would stop. "Wait, Mizuki-kun."
Scowling, Mizuki walked faster. Self-satisfied asshole. "Just leave me alone!" he called back, picking up his pace in the hopes that he could get away from Kite before he said anything else to humiliate himself. He hadn't factored in, however, Kite's much longer legs and apparent inability to be put aside in the interests of an award winning flounce.
Laying one hand on Mizuki's shoulder, Kite turned him easily, stepping closer than he might have under normal circumstances but appearing disinterested in putting space between them again once he'd caught Mizuki.
"What was that?" he asked.
Mizuki shook his head, squinting against the sun. "What was what?"
"Why did you leave?"
Shaking Kite's hand off, Mizuki gripped his own arms and looked away. "Like you don't know."
"If I knew, Mizuki-kun," Kite said, patience entirely exaggerated. "I wouldn't have asked."
"You were laughing at me," Mizuki spat, taking a step backward. "You're just like them. All of you."
When he snuck a glance at Kite, he was surprised at the expression on his face. He didn't look sheepish, didn't look guilty or as though he were about to twist the knife a bit deeper. He looked confused.
"I wasn't laughing at you," he said, shaking his head. "And Chinen wasn't paying any attention to either of us. So what, exactly, gave you the idea that I was laughing at you?"
Silent for a moment, Mizuki could only shrug. While it was true that neither Kite nor Chinen had done anything to indicate that they were making fun of him, Mizuki couldn't help feeling as though their silence and propensity for shared, secret looks were at his expense. Considering it now - and realizing how self-absorbed he'd really been - Mizuki couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
"I..." he began, watching bugs scurry in the dirt and wishing he could disappear.
Kite only sighed and nudged Mizuki's forehead with his knuckles. "You're a real piece of work, Mizuki-kun. Anybody ever tell you that?"
In answer, Mizuki only shrugged. How many times could he apologize before Kite grew bored of hearing it?
"Here," Kite finally told him, holding Mizuki's jacket out. "You left this."
Taking it without looking at Kite, Mizuki wrapped the sleeves around his waist and tied the jacket low on his hips. He could feel Kite's eyes on him. "Thanks," he murmured, his words as close to an apology as he could manage. "You don't have to walk me back."
But Kite had already begun walking in the direction of Mizuki's hotel and so Mizuki could only follow. His ears burned, and not from the sun.
Side by side, they walked in silence for several minutes. Mizuki was careful where he stepped - the sidewalks were cracked and uneven. In some shady places, dew still clung to the grass and Mizuki wondered what the very early morning sunlight would have been like. Tomorrow, he told himself, he'd get up early enough to enjoy it.
Away from the tiny houses and toward the businesses and touristy areas, activity picked up quite a bit and Mizuki remembered that - despite all the free time that was his - it wasn't a weekend. On the island it was business as usual and it made him shudder to think about which family activities his father might have planned for him today.
They stopped at the crosswalk opposite the hotel and Kite nodded a greeting to a tall, blonde woman who waved to him from the front lawn of a scuba-equipment shop.
"Do you know her?" Mizuki asked, unable to help gawking at her. She was easily six feet tall and built like a wet dream. Big tits, tiny waist, round butt. She wore board shorts and a bikini top and her long, thick braid brushed the small of her back when she moved.
"Yeah," Kite said, hands in his pockets and idly staring. "They offer scuba tours and things like that. I've done a few dives for them before when it got busy."
After a moment, a shorter, equally blonde and even more voluptuous woman stepped outside to join her. The short girl had two long, thick braids that brushed the swells of her breasts when she leaned forward to hand her companion a water bottle and Mizuki watched, eyes wide and mouth hanging open when the taller one bent to brush a kiss to the corner of her mouth.
"They...she...did you see that?" Mizuki hissed, afraid that the women would hear him and scamper back inside where he couldn't watch their boobs touch.
"Yeah," Kite said, walking again. "Light's green, Mizuki-kun."
Mizuki's followed, though he kept glancing back at the shop while his shoes flapped against the pavement. "I can't believe they just...just..."
The short woman had gone back inside and the tall one busied herself with boring activities like arranging lawn ornaments and moving sidewalk ropes. Mizuki wondered if he could see the storefront from his hotel window.
"You've never seen two girls kiss, Mizuki-kun?" Kite asked.
"What? Of course I haven't!" Mizuki exclaimed, glancing around to make sure no one was listening in.
"How about two boys?" Kite pressed, clearly amused.
Before he had the opportunity to become flustered and embarrassed, Mizuki recalled the night before and smiled smugly at Kite. "Yes. Last night, remember? Your teammates."
Kite laughed and Mizuki crossed his arms, looking proud of himself. "So there."
"Other than that," Kite said, stepping close again, his voice low and pitched only for Mizuki's ears. "Tell me, Mizuki-kun. Have you ever seen two men touch each other simply because they couldn't resist even a second longer?"
Mizuki swallowed. Hard.
"Have you ever stood close enough to another guy that you could smell his skin and you didn't want to move away?"
Yes, Mizuki thought. Right now.
His throat tightened; the words would simply not come.
"I wonder what you've seen, Mizuki-kun," Kite continued, standing so close and yet careful not to touch Mizuki. "And what you haven't seen. And what you think about while you hope like hell that nobody can read your mind just by looking at your face."
Mizuki's breath hitched and he closed his hands into fists to keep from reaching out and touching Kite's arms, his tanned, smooth skin.
"You don't remember last night, do you?" he asked, voice nearly a whisper.
Mizuki shook his head and wondered if his knees would continue to support his weight when they felt like jelly. "Nothing happened," was all that he could say. So foreign was his voice to his own ears, he felt certain the words hadn't been his.
"Nothing happened," Kite agreed mildly. "But that wasn't my question, was it?"
Staring out into the street, past Kite, Mizuki searched his memories of the previous night for anything that might give Kite reason to lean in close like that and suck all of Mizuki's common sense and self-assurance away into some sort of evil Okinawan vortex.
But then Kite straightened and brushed a particularly tight curl away from Mizuki's forehead. At Mizuki's blank look, he smiled - that genuine smile that made him look so different - and took a step backward. "I'll ask you again," he said. "Later."
Mizuki watched him go, unable to believe what had just transpired, and when he turned to trudge back inside the hotel, Kite's words still rang in his ears.
'You don't remember what happened last night, do you?'
'I wonder what you've seen, Mizuki-kun.'
'I'll ask you again.'
'Later.'
"Hajime!" his mother called, startling Mizuki enough that he had to stifle the squeal that had very nearly escaped him.
He looked around, his head swimming, and noticed his family seated inside the hotel's restaurant. As far as Mizuki could ascertain, they were enjoying a spare, healthy breakfast over what was probably very cheap coffee. 'The poorman's special' he liked to call it.
"Come and have breakfast, son," his father said, motioning to an empty chair.
"Out rather late, weren't you?" His mother sniffed.
"Late?" His grandfather spoke up. "It's early!"
"Where's Nanami and Natsuru?" Mizuki asked, taking a seat.
His father shrugged. "The girls were tired. They had a late night, too."
"They must be hungover," Mizuki muttered, wrinkling his nose at the sausage his grandfather was eagerly sawing into.
"Hungover?!" His mother exclaimed. "Don't be absurd!" And then, lowering her voice, she leaned toward Mizuki. "You'd better not have been drinking alcohol, Mizuki Hajime."
Mizuki frowned, straightened his shoulders and hoped he looked as offended as he wanted to. "Of course I wasn't."
"Hm," his mother sniffed, seemingly mollified as she helped herself to more tea and several spoonfuls of sugar. His grandmother mentioned the boutique she'd seen the day before and began to talk to Mizuki's mother about looking for a new pair of beach shoes after breakfast.
Mizuki tuned them out, sipped at an untouched glass of water and allowed his thoughts to return where they'd been before his parents had found a way to ruin it all.
He thought about Kite walking away from him, the sun bright on his shoulders and bare arms, attracting more than a few admiring glances with his loose-limbed, lazy walk.
He thought about Kite chasing after him and wondered why he'd bother. He thought about the secret glances between Kite and Chinen and wondered why they'd set his teeth on edge.
He thought about waking up with Rin's warm body against him and Kai's hands under his shirt. Distantly, he remembered Kai dancing on Chinen's bed and Rin smacking him with a pillow. He remembered Chinen going outside to talk on the phone and Kai running around the living room in a Viking hat and a bath towel. He remembered feeling very warm and drowsy and being very interested in the way the TV lights flickered over Rin's bright hair.
He remembered leaning against Kite on the floor while Rin and Kai played video games and finished off the last of the beer.
Staring into space, Mizuki was only barely aware of the pace at which his pulse had begun to hammer. Just like that - he remembered. Remembered laying his head against Kite's shoulder and the way his head had spun when he buried his face in the curve of Kite's neck. He'd smelled good and had felt even better and when Mizuki had lay one hand on Kite's thigh to inch just a little bit closer, Kite had turned his head to look at him.
Closing his eyes and allowing the abject mortification to rush over him, Mizuki remembered his own words and wished that he could die a hundred times.
"Touch me," he'd said. "I don't mind."
Kite had stared at him - through him - and Mizuki could remember feeling as though every nerve ending in his body had stood immediately at attention.
Finally, he'd whispered, "You're drunk, Mizuki-kun." His breath had been warm and Mizuki could almost imagine how hot his mouth would be when they kissed. Because of course they were going to. Kiss.
"No, I'm not," he'd protested, head spinning and so, so happily buzzed when Kite's arm had draped so snug around his shoulders.
"Yeah, you are," Kite had said, standing and tugging Mizuki to his feet. "Chinen, where can I put him?"
Head lolling forward, Mizuki had giggled against Kite's shoulder, his dick instantly, painfully hard when Kite swept him right off his feet to lift him up. He hadn't heard Chinen's answer, didn't care that Kai and Rin were laughing at him and making very inappropriate comments regarding Kite's plans for the remainder of the evening. All he knew - all he cared about - was that Kite was carrying him off someplace so that they could be alone. His heart had pounded then as it was in that very moment and Mizuki took another long drink of water as his last words to Kite came back to him.
"Take me to bed," he'd said, fingers fisting in Kite's shirt to bare one tanned, strong shoulder.
Kite had laid him down, leaned over him to stare at him for long, tense moments. And then he'd turned out the lights, draped a thin blanket over Mizuki's body and turned away.
"Sleep," he'd said, his voice sounding to Mizuki as though it were coming to him from the end of a very long tunnel.
For about half a minute, Mizuki had considered rising to go after him, to clarify his thoughts and desires, whatever they'd been. He'd just been so tired - too tired to speak or to move and he'd been so, so warm and comfortable.
And then he'd slept, just as Kite had said that he should.
"Don't you think so, Hajime?" His father was asking.
"Hm?" Mizuki asked blankly.
His mother leaned in to press the back of her hand to Mizuki's forehead. "You're flushed, Hajime; are you sure you're all right?"
Mizuki turned his head away, not wanting to look at anyone in that moment. He was flushed all right - his dick was hard and his stomach ached and he wanted to climb the highest cliff on the island so that he could throw himself right over the edge - and his father was still blathering.
"I was saying that we should visit the aquarium in Motobu today or tomorrow. I hear it's breathtaking."
Mizuki pressed his water glass against his forehead and tried not to pant for air. His father didn't know shit about 'breathtaking'.
"Yeah, sure," he said, setting his glass down and standing awkwardly and suddenly enough that his chair rocked back and very nearly tipped over.
"Hajime?" His mother asked, concern apparent in her voice.
"I'm fine, Mother," he said, making an effort to smile. "I'm just really hot and tired and I need a shower."
He turned then, raking a hand through his hair and forgetting to twirl his curls artfully. His hair was probably a bird's nest and - worse - he couldn't have cared less. Trudging toward the elevator, he knew he'd have to use his parents' bathroom if he wished to avoid interfacing with his sisters. He didn't think he was in any state of mind to deal with their teasing or probing questions and figured that it would be better for everyone involved if he just kept to himself for now.
All that he could think about - all that was in his mind - was what Kite must think of him and how in the world he was going to get through the hours or days until he could find Kite and tell him that he remembered.
Somehow, Mizuki knew it didn't matter. Right now, he felt worse than he'd ever felt in his life. And that was saying something.
Pairing: Mizuki-centric ~ Higa ensemble
Rating: PG-13
Summary: On holiday with his family, Mizuki meets someone who changes his way of thinking and the way he views himself.
a/n ~ Whereupon Mizuki embarrasses himself and Kite is walking sex. As usual.
Part I
The tall, imposing boy who opened the front door startled Mizuki to such a degree that he took a step backward. Directly into Rin.
"Hey, watch the shoes!" he said, both hands splayed at Mizuki's back to prevent any more unnecessary touching.
"Sorry," Mizuki muttered, sidestepping and bumping the gate with his hip. It hurt and he grimaced, but he didn't say a word.
"That was fast," the tall boy said, turning away from the door and leaving it open for his friends to follow.
Kite's friends went on ahead, elbowing one other and each issuing graphic, violent threats for trying to push the other aside. Mizuki stared, shocked. He was unused to such barbarism, even if he did attend Hyoutei.
"Let's go, graceful," Kite said, nudging Mizuki toward the door. "He won't bite."
Mizuki wasn't entirely sure he believed that, but he allowed Kite to steer him into the tiny house while he tried not to ogle his surroundings too much. It wasn't often that Mizuki had an opportunity to observe a peer's living conditions that were poorer than his own. But then, he wasn't sure he wanted to consider someone like that any peer of his. Kite's presence at his back, however - silent and somehow protective - made Mizuki almost immediately ashamed of his uncharitable thoughts.
The long, gangly fellow stood in the center of the tiny room looking ungainly while Rin flopped down in a ratty armchair and pulled trucker hat down with him.
"Hiroshi, let's play Resident Evil. Hook it up."
With a brief glance in Mizuki's direction, the tall one motioned the two boys away. "Get out of my chair," he said, taking a seat almost before they'd vacated.
"I brought a guest," Kite said. "I hope it's all right."
Shrugging, the boy said, "Whatever. Long as he doesn't steal anything."
"Steal anything?" Mizuki began, immediately indignant.
But Kite only laughed and moved past him toward the small kitchen. "His name is Mizuki," he told the other boys. "He's going to hang out."
The tall one nodded. "I'm Chinen."
"Kai Yuujiroh," trucker hat said, taking off his hat and stuffing it on Rin's head.
Frowning, Rin elbowed Kai and knocked the hat off into the floor. "Hirakoba Rin. Why don't I know you, Mizuki-kun?"
Glancing quickly at Kite, who was pilfering through Chinen's icebox and not looking at him at all, Mizuki sniffed and began to twirl his hair. "Well, I'm on holiday. I'm from Ya...Tokyo. I attend Hyoutei Gakuen."
"You must be rich," Kai said, sitting up and eyes sparkling. "We saw some Hyoutei players a couple of years ago at the Nationals in Kantou and they were-"
"Assholes," Rin supplied bitterly. "They were great, big, pompous assholes. Right, Eishirou?"
Shrugging, Kite uncapped a bottle of water and snagged a six-pack of beer off the counter on his way back into the sitting room. "I don't remember."
Dissolving into giggles, Kai lay against Rin again, ignoring the other boy's efforts to dislodge him. "He's still mad about Atobe Keigo stealing away that Seigaku captain's attention before he had the chance to do it."
Kite appeared unfazed, leaning against the wall and holding out the six-pack to Chinen. "Atobe who?"
Mizuki began to feel distinctly uncomfortable. They all had more in common than he'd originally suspected and it took away something of his mystery - his anonymity. While he dearly wanted to chime in with his own vehement agreement regarding Atobe's state of pomposity, Mizuki held his council - he'd do better to listen and learn.
Observing quietly, Chinen tugged a can free of the plastic ring and popped the top, though he didn't drink right away. Kite made no move toward helping himself to a beer and seemed perfectly content to sip water.
"Anyway," Kai went on, leaning over Rin to hook one finger between the beer cans and tug them toward him. "Enough about them. Sit with us, Mizuki-kun. Have a drink!"
Sparing Kite yet another uncertain glance, Mizuki faltered and Rin laughed.
"You don't need his permission," he said. "You're on holiday; drink up!"
"I...," Mizuki began. His phone felt like rocks in his pocket and his stomach knotted with apprehension. Mizuki didn't drink alcohol - he never had. For one, it was illegal, for another, he'd heard alcohol consumption had horrific effects on one's complexion. "Aren't you having any, Kite?"
Kite shook his head. "I don't drink."
Kai snorted. "He doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't eat red meat-"
"Runs five miles every morning, never skips breakfast and goes to bed early on school nights," Rin finished.
Eyes wide, Mizuki couldn't stop staring at Kite. He was a paragon of virtue! Or, he silently amended, as virtuous as a cheating bully could be. Looking at Kite now, however, and having had the opportunity to observe him and speak to him and watch his interactions with the rest of his team, Mizuki began to think that Yuuta was wrong in the things he'd said about Kite. Or perhaps Fuji Shuusuke had lied to Yuuta out of spite - Mizuki certainly wouldn't have put it past him.
"Mizuki-kun," Kite said, effectively derailing his Fuji-bound train of thought. "Call your parents first."
"Oh, right," he murmured, reaching into his pocket and turning away. As he entered his father's number, he wondered at his lack of hesitation where Kite's directives were concerned. And if the rest of the group was anything to go by, he wasn't the only one. They all seemed happy enough to rely on Kite's judgment and follow his lead.
After a few seconds, his father picked up. Mizuki could hear clinking coins and slot machines and his grandmother's drunken giggles in the background.
"Father?"
"Nanami?" His father asked, speaking too loudly into the phone.
Mizuki pulled his phone away from his ear and frowned. "No, Father, it's me, Hajime."
"Ahhh, of course. Hajime, my boy!"
"Father, you don't need to wait up for me tonight, all right? I've met some people and I'm hanging out with them."
"Already?" His father asked, and quickly cleared his throat. "Of course, Hajime. I'm glad you're having a good time. Stay out of trouble."
Mizuki rolled his eyes. He could hear his grandmother catcalling at someone. "I will. See you tomorrow."
Still irritated, he hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket. When he turned to face the others again, Kai was standing before him - so close that he could see his own reflection in the boy's eyes.
"Now." Kai said, grinning at Mizuki when he pressed the beer can into his hand. "Where were we?"
~***~
The sun was positively invasive when Mizuki awakened the next morning. The room was bright and he was warm. In the next room, he could hear the clatter of dishes and low voices. He shifted, stretching his legs and yawning, almost content when the sunlight streamed across the futon and over the floor. There were no blankets covering him - he wouldn't have needed them if there were - and the two warm, sleepy bodies on either side of him sandwiched him quite nicely indeed.
He hummed faintly, rubbing his cheek on the soft hair that brushed his face and tucked an arm around someone's waist.
"Rise and shine, princess," a familiar voice murmured against his ear and it wasn't until he felt the palm of someone's hand easing beneath his shirt and up along his belly that the previous night came rushing back to him.
He froze. "What are you doing?"
"Snuggling," came the immediate reply. Kai laughed, molding himself to Mizuki's back and breathing in the scent of his neck, his hair. "You don't like to snuggle?"
"Not particularly," he snapped, shifting against Kai and realizing that he should probably just remain still.
"Then why are you snuggling Rin?" Kai wanted to know. "You want to hurt my feelings or something?"
"Of course I don-" Mizuki began, but Rin reached behind him to shove at Kai's hip.
"Leave him alone, jerkoff," he said, voice thick with sleep.
Kai reached across Mizuki to slap at Rin's leg. "Mind your own business, butthead."
"Uh, excuse me," Mizuki said, scooting toward the end of the futon and hoping that Kai didn't make a grab for him. He needn't have worried; Kai and Rin had drifted closer to one another, burrowing in amongst the blankets even as they continued to trade lame, sleepy insults.
As warm as it had been amidst the blankets and pillows and comfortable, lazy boys, the floor beneath Mizuki's feet was chilly. Crossing the room in his bare feet, Mizuki hurried into the main room to find Kite and Chinen straightening up and preparing breakfast.
While he was dressed in the same clothes he'd been wearing the night before, Kite looked fresh and pressed and clean. His hair was damp; maybe he'd taken a shower.
Chinen noticed him first, glancing over his shoulder and grunting acknowledgment as he turned back to the stove. Kite looked over, then, and swept Mizuki with a look from head to toe.
"Good night?" he asked, steadying a teapot lid as he filled two cups.
"Uh, yes, I believe so. You?"
Kite shrugged. "I've had worse."
Chinen glanced over his shoulder at Kite, expression wry.
"What?" Kite asked, sounding innocent.
Declining to respond, Chinen turned his attention back to the task at hand and Kite offered Mizuki the barest of smiles. "How's your head?"
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Mizuki frowned. "Hurts a little. I feel a little queasy."
"Figured you would," Kite said, motioning Mizuki over. "Have some tea."
"How much did I drink last night?" Mizuki asked. He just knew he'd been completely wasted and had made an ass of himself. He hoped Kite would color the truth a little to spare what dignity he had left.
"Four, maybe five beers," Kite told him, placing the teacup on a tiny saucer and passing it over the half-wall to Mizuki.
"You passed out before you could finish the fifth one," Chinen added.
"Right. Kai drank the rest for you," Kite said. "You didn't tell me you were a lightweight, Mizuki-kun."
Mizuki sipped his tea, ignoring the way his stomach turned, and glared at Kite over the rim of his cup. "Like you had to ask?"
To his surprise, Chinen snickered and Kite actually cracked a smile. "Not really, city boy."
Mizuki sighed, afraid to imagine how his hair must look. "I'm sorry if I caused trouble."
"You didn't," Chinen turned then, transferring a couple of omelets from the pan to a waiting plate. "That's Kai's job."
"After we eat and tidy up, I'll walk you back to your hotel," Kite told him, adding a drop of honey to his tea and stirring it idly.
"I'm not a girl," Mizuki said, embarrassed and grumpy, and he shrugged his shoulders - slumping in on himself - when Kite raised a brow at him. "Sorry," he muttered.
Kite seemed unperturbed. "You can find your own way back?"
Mizuki shook his head, stared at the floor while he sipped his tea. Kite was no Yuuta - he would have to remember that.
Kite yawned, stretched and set his cup down to assist Chinen. They worked together in silence, each seeming to anticipate the other's moves, and Mizuki watched them closely. They didn't spare many words for one another, but Mizuki suspected that their bond was much stronger than the bonds they shared with the two boys sleeping just in the next room. It surprised him to realize that he didn't enjoy thinking about it and so he sat up a little straighter and nodded his thanks when Kite set a small plate of fruit and rice crackers before him.
"Eat this," he said.
Swallowing hard, Mizuki lay one hand against his belly and grimaced. "I'm not sure I can," he said honestly.
"Maybe he needs one of your health shakes, Kite," Chinen said, sitting down at the tiny kitchen table with a plate full of omelets.
Kite's almost-smile was enough for Mizuki to suspect that he definitely didn't want a health shake of any sort.
"I'll try this," he quickly assured, nibbling one cracker and trying not to focus on how the crumbs felt against his tongue. Kite leaned against the counter and it surprised Mizuki to realize that he seemed disinterested in taking a seat beside his friend. Even more surprising was that Kite watched him closely and didn't bother to hide it from Chinen.
"Sightseeing with the family today, I'll bet," he finally said and Mizuki shrugged. He didn't know Kite very well but he felt certain that he wasn't the sort to make small talk. His asking after Mizuki's plans wouldn't have been to satisfy idle curiosity.
Looking up, Mizuki met Kite's eyes and felt the rush of color to his face before he looked away again; Kite was unnerving. "Probably," he agreed. "What are you doing today?"
When Kite didn't answer right away, Mizuki snuck a glance at Chinen. Faced away from Mizuki, he leaned over his plate intently. Mizuki couldn't help feeling certain that the other boy was laughing at him, however secretly he might have been doing it. One look at Kite's expression confirmed his suspicions and he bristled, unwilling to be the butt of someone's private joke here, too.
"Forget it," he said, setting his cup on the half-wall beside the plate of mostly-untouched food. "I'm going."
He stumbled at the front door, losing his balance when he tried to slip his shoes on without sparing Kite and Chinen a second glance. He'd hoped to feel some sort of obligation or camaraderie when parting company with the boys he'd spent the night with but he knew that he never should have allowed himself to hope for anything of the sort. He was used to it, this dance to which he'd never quite learned the steps.
Outside, the sun was bright and he knew it was getting quite late in the morning. He supposed that both Rin and Kai had consumed far more alcohol than he had to keep them in bed so long. Shielding his eyes, Mizuki crossed a quiet side road and tried to tell himself that the ache in his belly had everything to do with too much beer and nothing at all to do with the regret he was stupid to feel. Paramount in his mind was the certainty that the remainder of his week would be spent trying to avoid Kite and his friends and being too aware of both himself and the people he saw. Stuffing both hands into his pockets, he kicked at a cluster of insects, but sidestepped at the last moment to keep from crushing them under his sandals. He really just wanted to go home.
"Hey," Kite called behind him, not rushing and appearing all too confident that Mizuki would stop. "Wait, Mizuki-kun."
Scowling, Mizuki walked faster. Self-satisfied asshole. "Just leave me alone!" he called back, picking up his pace in the hopes that he could get away from Kite before he said anything else to humiliate himself. He hadn't factored in, however, Kite's much longer legs and apparent inability to be put aside in the interests of an award winning flounce.
Laying one hand on Mizuki's shoulder, Kite turned him easily, stepping closer than he might have under normal circumstances but appearing disinterested in putting space between them again once he'd caught Mizuki.
"What was that?" he asked.
Mizuki shook his head, squinting against the sun. "What was what?"
"Why did you leave?"
Shaking Kite's hand off, Mizuki gripped his own arms and looked away. "Like you don't know."
"If I knew, Mizuki-kun," Kite said, patience entirely exaggerated. "I wouldn't have asked."
"You were laughing at me," Mizuki spat, taking a step backward. "You're just like them. All of you."
When he snuck a glance at Kite, he was surprised at the expression on his face. He didn't look sheepish, didn't look guilty or as though he were about to twist the knife a bit deeper. He looked confused.
"I wasn't laughing at you," he said, shaking his head. "And Chinen wasn't paying any attention to either of us. So what, exactly, gave you the idea that I was laughing at you?"
Silent for a moment, Mizuki could only shrug. While it was true that neither Kite nor Chinen had done anything to indicate that they were making fun of him, Mizuki couldn't help feeling as though their silence and propensity for shared, secret looks were at his expense. Considering it now - and realizing how self-absorbed he'd really been - Mizuki couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
"I..." he began, watching bugs scurry in the dirt and wishing he could disappear.
Kite only sighed and nudged Mizuki's forehead with his knuckles. "You're a real piece of work, Mizuki-kun. Anybody ever tell you that?"
In answer, Mizuki only shrugged. How many times could he apologize before Kite grew bored of hearing it?
"Here," Kite finally told him, holding Mizuki's jacket out. "You left this."
Taking it without looking at Kite, Mizuki wrapped the sleeves around his waist and tied the jacket low on his hips. He could feel Kite's eyes on him. "Thanks," he murmured, his words as close to an apology as he could manage. "You don't have to walk me back."
But Kite had already begun walking in the direction of Mizuki's hotel and so Mizuki could only follow. His ears burned, and not from the sun.
Side by side, they walked in silence for several minutes. Mizuki was careful where he stepped - the sidewalks were cracked and uneven. In some shady places, dew still clung to the grass and Mizuki wondered what the very early morning sunlight would have been like. Tomorrow, he told himself, he'd get up early enough to enjoy it.
Away from the tiny houses and toward the businesses and touristy areas, activity picked up quite a bit and Mizuki remembered that - despite all the free time that was his - it wasn't a weekend. On the island it was business as usual and it made him shudder to think about which family activities his father might have planned for him today.
They stopped at the crosswalk opposite the hotel and Kite nodded a greeting to a tall, blonde woman who waved to him from the front lawn of a scuba-equipment shop.
"Do you know her?" Mizuki asked, unable to help gawking at her. She was easily six feet tall and built like a wet dream. Big tits, tiny waist, round butt. She wore board shorts and a bikini top and her long, thick braid brushed the small of her back when she moved.
"Yeah," Kite said, hands in his pockets and idly staring. "They offer scuba tours and things like that. I've done a few dives for them before when it got busy."
After a moment, a shorter, equally blonde and even more voluptuous woman stepped outside to join her. The short girl had two long, thick braids that brushed the swells of her breasts when she leaned forward to hand her companion a water bottle and Mizuki watched, eyes wide and mouth hanging open when the taller one bent to brush a kiss to the corner of her mouth.
"They...she...did you see that?" Mizuki hissed, afraid that the women would hear him and scamper back inside where he couldn't watch their boobs touch.
"Yeah," Kite said, walking again. "Light's green, Mizuki-kun."
Mizuki's followed, though he kept glancing back at the shop while his shoes flapped against the pavement. "I can't believe they just...just..."
The short woman had gone back inside and the tall one busied herself with boring activities like arranging lawn ornaments and moving sidewalk ropes. Mizuki wondered if he could see the storefront from his hotel window.
"You've never seen two girls kiss, Mizuki-kun?" Kite asked.
"What? Of course I haven't!" Mizuki exclaimed, glancing around to make sure no one was listening in.
"How about two boys?" Kite pressed, clearly amused.
Before he had the opportunity to become flustered and embarrassed, Mizuki recalled the night before and smiled smugly at Kite. "Yes. Last night, remember? Your teammates."
Kite laughed and Mizuki crossed his arms, looking proud of himself. "So there."
"Other than that," Kite said, stepping close again, his voice low and pitched only for Mizuki's ears. "Tell me, Mizuki-kun. Have you ever seen two men touch each other simply because they couldn't resist even a second longer?"
Mizuki swallowed. Hard.
"Have you ever stood close enough to another guy that you could smell his skin and you didn't want to move away?"
Yes, Mizuki thought. Right now.
His throat tightened; the words would simply not come.
"I wonder what you've seen, Mizuki-kun," Kite continued, standing so close and yet careful not to touch Mizuki. "And what you haven't seen. And what you think about while you hope like hell that nobody can read your mind just by looking at your face."
Mizuki's breath hitched and he closed his hands into fists to keep from reaching out and touching Kite's arms, his tanned, smooth skin.
"You don't remember last night, do you?" he asked, voice nearly a whisper.
Mizuki shook his head and wondered if his knees would continue to support his weight when they felt like jelly. "Nothing happened," was all that he could say. So foreign was his voice to his own ears, he felt certain the words hadn't been his.
"Nothing happened," Kite agreed mildly. "But that wasn't my question, was it?"
Staring out into the street, past Kite, Mizuki searched his memories of the previous night for anything that might give Kite reason to lean in close like that and suck all of Mizuki's common sense and self-assurance away into some sort of evil Okinawan vortex.
But then Kite straightened and brushed a particularly tight curl away from Mizuki's forehead. At Mizuki's blank look, he smiled - that genuine smile that made him look so different - and took a step backward. "I'll ask you again," he said. "Later."
Mizuki watched him go, unable to believe what had just transpired, and when he turned to trudge back inside the hotel, Kite's words still rang in his ears.
'You don't remember what happened last night, do you?'
'I wonder what you've seen, Mizuki-kun.'
'I'll ask you again.'
'Later.'
"Hajime!" his mother called, startling Mizuki enough that he had to stifle the squeal that had very nearly escaped him.
He looked around, his head swimming, and noticed his family seated inside the hotel's restaurant. As far as Mizuki could ascertain, they were enjoying a spare, healthy breakfast over what was probably very cheap coffee. 'The poorman's special' he liked to call it.
"Come and have breakfast, son," his father said, motioning to an empty chair.
"Out rather late, weren't you?" His mother sniffed.
"Late?" His grandfather spoke up. "It's early!"
"Where's Nanami and Natsuru?" Mizuki asked, taking a seat.
His father shrugged. "The girls were tired. They had a late night, too."
"They must be hungover," Mizuki muttered, wrinkling his nose at the sausage his grandfather was eagerly sawing into.
"Hungover?!" His mother exclaimed. "Don't be absurd!" And then, lowering her voice, she leaned toward Mizuki. "You'd better not have been drinking alcohol, Mizuki Hajime."
Mizuki frowned, straightened his shoulders and hoped he looked as offended as he wanted to. "Of course I wasn't."
"Hm," his mother sniffed, seemingly mollified as she helped herself to more tea and several spoonfuls of sugar. His grandmother mentioned the boutique she'd seen the day before and began to talk to Mizuki's mother about looking for a new pair of beach shoes after breakfast.
Mizuki tuned them out, sipped at an untouched glass of water and allowed his thoughts to return where they'd been before his parents had found a way to ruin it all.
He thought about Kite walking away from him, the sun bright on his shoulders and bare arms, attracting more than a few admiring glances with his loose-limbed, lazy walk.
He thought about Kite chasing after him and wondered why he'd bother. He thought about the secret glances between Kite and Chinen and wondered why they'd set his teeth on edge.
He thought about waking up with Rin's warm body against him and Kai's hands under his shirt. Distantly, he remembered Kai dancing on Chinen's bed and Rin smacking him with a pillow. He remembered Chinen going outside to talk on the phone and Kai running around the living room in a Viking hat and a bath towel. He remembered feeling very warm and drowsy and being very interested in the way the TV lights flickered over Rin's bright hair.
He remembered leaning against Kite on the floor while Rin and Kai played video games and finished off the last of the beer.
Staring into space, Mizuki was only barely aware of the pace at which his pulse had begun to hammer. Just like that - he remembered. Remembered laying his head against Kite's shoulder and the way his head had spun when he buried his face in the curve of Kite's neck. He'd smelled good and had felt even better and when Mizuki had lay one hand on Kite's thigh to inch just a little bit closer, Kite had turned his head to look at him.
Closing his eyes and allowing the abject mortification to rush over him, Mizuki remembered his own words and wished that he could die a hundred times.
"Touch me," he'd said. "I don't mind."
Kite had stared at him - through him - and Mizuki could remember feeling as though every nerve ending in his body had stood immediately at attention.
Finally, he'd whispered, "You're drunk, Mizuki-kun." His breath had been warm and Mizuki could almost imagine how hot his mouth would be when they kissed. Because of course they were going to. Kiss.
"No, I'm not," he'd protested, head spinning and so, so happily buzzed when Kite's arm had draped so snug around his shoulders.
"Yeah, you are," Kite had said, standing and tugging Mizuki to his feet. "Chinen, where can I put him?"
Head lolling forward, Mizuki had giggled against Kite's shoulder, his dick instantly, painfully hard when Kite swept him right off his feet to lift him up. He hadn't heard Chinen's answer, didn't care that Kai and Rin were laughing at him and making very inappropriate comments regarding Kite's plans for the remainder of the evening. All he knew - all he cared about - was that Kite was carrying him off someplace so that they could be alone. His heart had pounded then as it was in that very moment and Mizuki took another long drink of water as his last words to Kite came back to him.
"Take me to bed," he'd said, fingers fisting in Kite's shirt to bare one tanned, strong shoulder.
Kite had laid him down, leaned over him to stare at him for long, tense moments. And then he'd turned out the lights, draped a thin blanket over Mizuki's body and turned away.
"Sleep," he'd said, his voice sounding to Mizuki as though it were coming to him from the end of a very long tunnel.
For about half a minute, Mizuki had considered rising to go after him, to clarify his thoughts and desires, whatever they'd been. He'd just been so tired - too tired to speak or to move and he'd been so, so warm and comfortable.
And then he'd slept, just as Kite had said that he should.
"Don't you think so, Hajime?" His father was asking.
"Hm?" Mizuki asked blankly.
His mother leaned in to press the back of her hand to Mizuki's forehead. "You're flushed, Hajime; are you sure you're all right?"
Mizuki turned his head away, not wanting to look at anyone in that moment. He was flushed all right - his dick was hard and his stomach ached and he wanted to climb the highest cliff on the island so that he could throw himself right over the edge - and his father was still blathering.
"I was saying that we should visit the aquarium in Motobu today or tomorrow. I hear it's breathtaking."
Mizuki pressed his water glass against his forehead and tried not to pant for air. His father didn't know shit about 'breathtaking'.
"Yeah, sure," he said, setting his glass down and standing awkwardly and suddenly enough that his chair rocked back and very nearly tipped over.
"Hajime?" His mother asked, concern apparent in her voice.
"I'm fine, Mother," he said, making an effort to smile. "I'm just really hot and tired and I need a shower."
He turned then, raking a hand through his hair and forgetting to twirl his curls artfully. His hair was probably a bird's nest and - worse - he couldn't have cared less. Trudging toward the elevator, he knew he'd have to use his parents' bathroom if he wished to avoid interfacing with his sisters. He didn't think he was in any state of mind to deal with their teasing or probing questions and figured that it would be better for everyone involved if he just kept to himself for now.
All that he could think about - all that was in his mind - was what Kite must think of him and how in the world he was going to get through the hours or days until he could find Kite and tell him that he remembered.
Somehow, Mizuki knew it didn't matter. Right now, he felt worse than he'd ever felt in his life. And that was saying something.