Missed Appointments and Omake [OtH verse]; Atobe, Yuuta & Cast, PG, 12095 words, complete.
Notes: Written because my favourite character didn’t get enough love in the first story. XD And Yuusuke because I’m uncreative and Yuuta + Shuusuke = Yuusuke. >__>;
Missed Appointments
“Will you be back for lunch, sir?” Marie called out, hurrying along behind Atobe on the footpath.
“No, I will not,” was his quick response. “I did say I was going to have lunch with the Fuji family, did I not? That implies I won’t be having two lunches, let alone be in two places at the same time,” he sighed.
“O-Of course sir,” Marie stuttered and curtseyed awkwardly, allowing him to walk the rest of the path alone.
A few steps down the path, Atobe considered his answer and stopped walking, talking over his shoulder.
“I’ll be back for dinner, I expect. Don’t bother preparing anything in case I’m not. I heard there was a new restaurant opening down that way so I…” he trailed off, a thought occurring to him.
“Actually perhaps I won’t be back tonight at all,” he smiled slightly.
Marie blinked at the way he changed his mind and lowered her head. “Of course sir. I’ll let Misters Oshitari and Shishido and the staff know.”
Atobe nodded. “Good. But you needn’t bother telling Oshitari and Shishido,” he mused. “I suspect they’re rather too busy with their plans to worry about missing me.”
His comment was lost on Marie, who always considered it her duty to do everything Atobe asked (and didn’t ask) of her, and set off again up the path to the house.
Atobe shrugged his coat off his shoulders as he walked down towards the hangar. He would hardly need any extra warmth up there in the cockpit today, and as he glanced upwards, squinting beneath the flat of his hand at the sky, he wondered if he’d really needed to take his coat at all. It looked to be a terribly warm day already.
***
The closest air strip to the Fuji residence was actually a private air club some twenty-five kilometres away. The landing itself was fine but the ride in the taxi from there to the house was bumpy and made Atobe wish he hadn’t drunk quite so much fluid before he’d left home.
Swinging his legs out the back seat of the car and getting out, he surveyed the house in front of him and the front garden behind him with some satisfaction. Evidently Fuji’s father had taken his advice and had his gardeners trim the shrubs to shape, rather than leaving them the messy lopsided things Atobe had seen the last time he’d visited. Of course, he’d had several other suggestions which appeared to have gone unheeded, but a little improvement was better than none at any rate.
The front doors burst open, just as he was beginning to wonder if he’d have to deign to ring the doorbell himself, and he found something hairy and four-legged threatening to jump at him enthusiastically. He dodged Yuusuke neatly and watched the silly dog wag its tail so hard that it wriggled its body almost comically from side to side.
Walking straight past the maid, who stopped to bow her head, was Fuji’s father.
“Yamato,” Atobe greeted. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Likewise!” he responded jovially, peering around Atobe. “You took a taxi, I assume? You should have told us you were coming and I’d have sent someone out to get you.”
Atobe smiled graciously and shook his head. “It was no bother at all.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have minded picking you up,” Yamato insisted, looking pleased. “I heard you got another new toy lately.”
“Ah, yes,” Atobe smiled. “If you can call her that.”
Yamato chuckled. “Be sure to give me a ride in her some time, won’t you? My wife still won’t let me buy anything new, even though I pointed out a newer model might now have the problems the old one has.”
He sighed. “Yuuta wouldn’t help me with it either. Sat there and told Yoshiko he didn’t think the accident was the plane’s fault in the first place. Said it was because I was blind as a bat, always had been and shouldn’t be let out of the house.”
Atobe smirked a little. “Well I don’t see a leash around your neck so I’m guessing Yoshiko hasn’t yet taken up his advice.”
Yamato sighed again, waving his arm towards the front garden where the dog was now happily rolling around in the grass. “Well, she takes an awful lot of his advice sometimes. He said the fish in the pond were the wrong type for the size of the thing, so she bought new ones.”
“Oh?”
“And the new ones ate all the old ones,” Yamato moaned.
“Problem solved then,” Atobe mused dryly.
Yamato ushered him inside, leaving the maid to take Atobe’s coat and close the door after them.
“You’re staying for lunch then?” Yamato asked, leading his guest through the house to the veranda at the back.
“I had thought I might,” Atobe smiled, “if you don’t mind the intrusion.”
“Oh no, it’s always a pleasure to have a guest around here, especially one who takes an interest in aviation,” Yamato grinned. “I’m sick of hearing about roses, you know.”
Then he coughed. “Of course, I know you also enjoy them, but you know…” And he mumbled under his breath.
Atobe only smiled slightly.
“You actually just missed Fuji,” Yamato said as he changed the subject. “He’s taken off…” He smiled wryly as he corrected himself. “Or should I say, he’s taken with one of your friends, as I understand, and they’ve gone off to lunch in the middle of nowhere. They seemed to think a picnic in a dirt field would be more interesting than staying at home.”
Atobe raised an eyebrow. “Indeed.”
He couldn’t share Tezuka’s enthusiasm for a dirt field, but he suspected it had less to do with what was under the picnic rug than what sat on top of it.
“And Yumiko?” he enquired. “I heard she was at home.”
Yamato shook his head. “She’s gone out with Yoshiko this morning. Yuuta and I were about to take lunch, although he’s gone and disappeared off somewhere again, I’d imagine.”
“Can’t stay in the same spot long enough to pin him down,” he added, muttering under his breath.
Atobe glanced towards the stairs and smiled. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen him.” A year and more than a few months, to be more precise, he thought. “How is he?” he asked politely.
He got a sigh in response, but Yamato’s lips curved upwards even as he complained, leaving Atobe in no doubt as to who was his favourite child.
“The same as always,” he answered. “He was telling us that we should turn our orchard into a landing strip the other day. Says he wants to fly when he’s at home and he hates the club so he won’t land there.”
He looked at Atobe in amusement. “He flies six days a week, if not more. Why does he think he needs to live up in an airplane? Honestly! And besides that, he says he’s saving up for his own plane, finally. Apparently the air force is tightening up regulations and he’s not happy about it so he thinks he’ll just run out and buy something and fly loop-the-loops over our house whenever he feels like having his feet over his head.”
Atobe had trouble keeping a straight face at the visual imagery. He was quite sure Fuji would have a field day if Yuuta did that, not to mention Yoshiko would probably bite off her fingernails, but Yamato only laughed.
“Of course Yoshiko said no, but I don’t doubt he’ll have his own plane within a year. He can be rather obstinate when it comes to things he wants.”
“Does he intend to freelance?” Atobe asked, slightly curious. If there was a spare pilot of Yuuta’s standard coming his way, he wouldn’t be turning him down.
Yamato shook his head, and Atobe found himself slightly disappointed.
“I can’t imagine him quitting the force, and certainly not now that…” He trailed off and put his finger to his lips. “Well, I’m sure he’ll tell you soon enough.”
Atobe blinked, a little intrigued. “Well then, maybe we should ask him to come down so I can find out,” he suggested.
Yamato nodded and called over Alice, and the two of them continued out to the veranda while she stepped up the staircase quickly.
***
Yuuta rounded the bottom of the stairs slowly.
“They’re out the back, sir,” Alice informed him. “Would you like me to bring you drinks? The gentlemen already have tea but I believe they’re waiting on you to start lunch.”
Yuuta nodded. “I’ll just have some coffee then, thank you.”
Alice bowed her head and ducked off towards the kitchen and Yuuta watched her go, wondering just what time Yumiko would be back. Atobe had probably come looking for Shuusuke primarily, but he was off with Tezuka, and Yuuta didn’t really fancy having to entertain Atobe for the afternoon, or however long he intended to stay.
“Yuuta!” Yamato waved his hand and called him over. “What took you so long?”
Yuuta walked over to the table, noticing the tea pot on the table. He picked up the lid, peering in, but all that was left were tealeaves, and he frowned at his father.
“You did take rather a long time to emerge,” Yamato noted, not without a slight look of guilt on his face. “It was the tea or starting lunch without you.”
Yuuta frowned. “I did not.” But he glanced at his wrist to see he wasn’t wearing a watch, and couldn’t really retort without being sure of the time. It was possible he’d taken longer to finish off his last letter than he’d thought. And perhaps the fact that he’d taken off his watch to be more comfortable was proof of that.
“Pressing business?” Yamato asked, beaming a little though he tried to look serious.
Yuuta frowned at him, trying to keep from outright glaring in front of a guest. “No,” he answered grouchily.
Since Yuuta was home for four days this time, things which were normally kept to working days were sneaking their way into his holiday time, and his father kept finding it amusing to ask him about the various letters and bits of correspondence coming and going from the house, sticking his nose in out of curiosity purely because he could. They were novel to him, but run of the mill for Yuuta, so the letters bothered him a lot less than his father’s curiosity.
“What? You go away for a few days and they don’t miss you?” Yamato frowned. “Who does all the paperwork when the leader’s away?”
“I told you,” Yuuta frowned. “It’s just-”
“You were promoted?” Atobe asked, interrupting them.
Yuuta glanced at him. “Mm,” he answered. “Squadron Leader. Eighth squadron.”
Yamato grinned, winking at Atobe when Alice returned to serve Yuuta his coffee. “He doesn’t like talking about it,” he smiled.
Yuuta let out a sigh and gave his father a long stare. “You know, if you want to talk, talk. Just don’t talk about the same thing you’ve been talking about ever since I got in the door, okay?”
Yamato sat back. “Would you have preferred it if we didn’t say anything?” he demanded, looking a little annoyed.
“No,” Yuuta responded, pulling the sugar bowl close to his cup. “I just think you ought to know when to change the subject. I don’t like having a conversation that goes on for three days, you know.”
Atobe watched the two of them in amusement, finding Yuuta much the same as he remembered him. He hadn’t known him as a child, but Yumiko liked to tell stories about Yuuta and the Yuuta Atobe had met five years ago struck him as the same boy in Yumiko’s stories and the same man sitting across from him now. A short and somewhat resentful temperament, sometimes distrustful and uncertain, proud, and often troublesome like Fuji.
“Well, perhaps if you’re finished sulking about the tea, then we’ll have lunch,” Yamato suggested.
Yuuta snorted. “I was not sulking about the tea.”
“Were you sulking about the garden then?” Yamato teased. “Because that would make three days of sulking over the same thing and it’s no less annoying than three days of the same conversation.”
Yuuta looked slightly disgruntled, Alice brought out their lunch platters, and Yamato told Atobe to get started on the potatoes.
“If you wanted, you could drive Atobe back to the air club,” Yamato suggested, halfway through his second serve of salad. “Has he told you about his new toy yet?”
Yuuta glanced at Atobe, looking a little more interested in their company. “New toy?”
“New plane,” Atobe corrected. “She was delivered a month back and Tezuka took her on a trip for me. She flies well, but you might not find her as light to handle as what you’re used to.”
Yuuta still looked interested, eyes fixed on Atobe and he nearly missed his mouth with a forkful of lettuce.
“Single or twin engine?” he asked.
“Single.”
“Frame?”
“Aluminium.”
“Undercarriage?”
“Retractable.”
“Top speed?”
Atobe smirked. “Why don’t you take her for a ride and find out?”
Yamato laughed, echoing Atobe’s sentiments. “Why don’t you just go out with him? You can drive him back to the strip after lunch.”
Yuuta shook his head quickly, checking to see Atobe’s reaction. “But you’ll want to stay for dinner, won’t you?” he asked. “Coming all this way and not getting to see Shuusuke.”
And that had been Atobe’s original intention, but before he realised it, he’d waved his hand and shaken his head a bit. “I can see Shuusuke another day. I heard he was back here for a month this time.”
Yuuta nodded. “Mm.”
“But you’ll have to go out for dinner tonight, won’t you Yuuta?” Yamato corrected. “Six PM?”
Yuuta nodded again. “There wouldn’t be enough time to take much of a flight,” he said, “But if you’re staying tonight to see Shuusuke and Yumiko, I can drop you back after dinner, or tomorrow morning if you want to stay the night.”
Atobe paused. “Yamato, you won’t be here tomorrow, will you?” he checked, getting a shake to the negative. “So what if we just drive over after lunch in an hour? You can still take a look at her, while she’s here,” he suggested.
Yuuta’s look was slightly enquiring, and Atobe shrugged. “If you wait until the next time you have holidays, you might find Shishido’s decided to crash her already.”
“You’d actually let him near it?” Yuuta smirked.
Shishido’s accident, although small enough that the plane only needed a bit of fixing and rebuilding, was one which Atobe liked to mention rather a lot.
“No,” Atobe frowned. “But you never know. I suspect Shishido’s one of those people who doesn’t even have to touch a plane to be able to crash it.”
***
“You sure you don’t want to go home just to check?” Shishido asked, not for the first time.
Fuji smiled as he sat across from him. “Is there a need to go all the way home just to see if Atobe’s visiting? By the time we get there, perhaps he’ll already be on his way back.”
Oshitari pursed his lips beside Shishido, casting a glance towards the doors leading to the kitchen. “If you stay any later, won’t you be late home for dinner?”
Fuji considered seriously. “Unless we have dinner here,” he suggested, the tiniest smile at the edge of his lips.
Oshitari wondered if he did it on purpose, and looked again at the kitchen doors.
“Shishido, why don’t you go and see what’s on the menu for dinner?” he asked, though it was just as much an order. And Shishido might normally have protested, but under the circumstances, decided it wasn’t so bad to just do as Oshitari instructed.
“Yuuta should still be at home,” Tezuka mentioned, clearing his throat. “And Yamato.”
Fuji nodded. “I’m sure Atobe won’t be missing us in the slightest, and Yuuta probably won’t mind having someone to talk planes with. I think he’s sick of hearing about aerial photography.”
Oshitari looked a little put off, sipping at his tea disinterestedly. Having Fuji and Tezuka stop by after a picnic in a dirt field (he didn’t have to wonder for a second at which one of them would come up with such a preposterous idea) was hardly his idea of good company for afternoon tea, but at least Tezuka came attached with news of the inquiry. Fuji… only came with bother attached.
Shishido returned from the kitchen a moment later, plonking in his seat and looking strangely happy.
“So… Dinner?” Oshitari frowned, wondering at the look on his face.
Shishido shrugged. “Oh, nothing much. Just… pumpkin, pumpkin and pumpkin.”
Fuji smiled at him as Tezuka twitched a little, hands gripping his chair.
***
Yuuta did have to admit Atobe’s new plane was beautiful - magnificent even. Her lines were sleek, her wings sleek and smooth to the touch and her metal cool under his fingers in the shade of the hangar.
“Are you sure you don’t want to take her up?” Atobe offered again, climbing into the cockpit to pull the logbook from the interior. He flicked through it to the most recent page, noting he hadn’t finished jotting down his notes on the flight.
“Pretty sure,” Yuuta shrugged. “I’m not really feeling up to it right now.” And he grinned lazily, rubbing his hand at his hair.
“Not that she isn’t a nice plane,” he added, turning and walking towards the hangar exit.
Atobe frowned a little into his logbook, dissatisfied with such an unenthusiastic response. He had expected just a little bit more, somehow.
***
“Is Yuuta not up yet?” Yoshiko fretted, looking ready to stand up and get him herself.
Yumiko shook her head. “He got home after three this morning,” she said, prompting all eyes at the table to glance at the clock. “I doubt he’ll be up until midday, at least.”
“When Yuuta joined the force,” Yamato winked to Atobe, “Shuusuke said he was going to pack himself into his suitcase because Yuuta would need an alarm clock to wake him up every morning.”
“Not a morning person,” Yumiko smiled. “Unlike Shuusuke.”
Shuusuke gave a smile. “One of us had to be, or else we’d never have gotten out of bed at all.”
Under the table, something touched Atobe’s leg, and he looked down to see Yuusuke sitting and wagging his tail, poking his wet nose at him and looking rather hopeful.
“Anyway, you’d best set off with Shuusuke instead,” Yamato pointed out. “Around midday, the warmth throws up a lot of turbulence so it’s best to avoid it if you can.”
“As Yuuta would say,” Yumiko smiled.
“Yumi-”
“It’s either take the plane up now and keep your food down, or keep her down now and throw your food up later,” Yumiko finished, ignoring her mother’s warning and subsequent look of resignation.
Atobe sighed, not quite believing the thermals could be that bad, but unwilling to risk it.
He cast a glance at Fuji, curious to know why Tezuka had simply flown him home for dinner last night and left again straight away, but the breakfast table wasn’t quite the right place to ask.
But Fuji caught the look on his face. “If you’re thinking of sticking around until Yuuta drags himself out of bed, you’re going to be waiting a while,” he smiled at Atobe, who shook his head.
“No, that’s not what I was -”
“Not to mention people with hangovers don’t generally make good conversationalists,” Fuji laughed. “Oh, and Yumiko? There is some of that herb tea mix leftover, isn’t there?”
Yumiko nodded. “But you know he won’t drink it.”
Fuji blinked. “Why?” he repeated dully.
“I don’t think it needs to be repeated at the table, dear,” Yoshiko warned, before Yumiko could open her mouth again.
“Yamato mentioned you picnicked in a field yesterday,” Atobe said loudly, deciding a change of topic was in order.
Fuji smiled. “Indeed.”
“Any particular reason why you chose a field of dirt?” Atobe asked dryly.
Fuji laughed. “It was scenic, Atobe. You had to be there to see it.”
Atobe frowned. “What’s scenic about a flat field?” he questioned, almost offended at the idea.
“Dirt,” Fuji answered happily, getting a raised eyebrow in response.
“And I suppose it must have been awfully stimulating?” Atobe continued.
“You could put it that way,” Fuji smiled. “But you should ask Tezuka, not me. He was the one who got down on his arms and knees to look at it, and he even went so far as to suggest we do it again.”
Atobe rather regretted bringing up the topic.
“Shuusuke, you’re ruining my appetite,” Yumiko scolded then, letting out a sigh.
“Only returning the favour,” Shuusuke chuckled, eyes twinkling as he looked at her.
***
“Hey, Yuuta?”
Yuuta looked up from the office floor, sprawled where he was with masses of papers in various stacks in front of him. “Hm? What?”
“Dad’s left,” Shuusuke informed him, walking in to sit on the edge of a chair.
“I know,” Yuuta frowned, sorting a stack of old bills into piles. “I wish he’d do something about this stuff before he left though.”
Shuusuke grinned. “Sick of tax already?”
Yuuta huffed. “I’m not sick of tax! I don’t have to do tax,” he pointed out. “Why do I have to sort his papers?”
Shuusuke shrugged. “Because you’re the responsible one,” he suggested.
“Am not,” Yuuta frowned, and pushed a bill under his brother’s nose. “And what’s this?”
Shuusuke studied the writing on the receipt for a moment. “Books for the library,” he answered. “You haven’t seen them in there?”
Yuuta looked a little taken aback, surprised by it. “No, not unless they’re the ones by the door.”
Shuusuke shook his head. “I’ll show you, if you want,” he offered, putting down the bill and standing up.
“I guess,” Yuuta accepted reluctantly, and got up, dusting off his pants.
“You know I’m going into town next month. I thought I’d go into the book store while I was there. Is there anything you want?”
Shuusuke shrugged as they walked down the hallway. “Not in particular. Why, do you have a meeting there?”
Yuuta nodded. “Lunchtime, last Friday of the month. The meetings only go four hours - two hours, two meetings, but then I have to wait around for the train to bring me straight back home,” he sighed. “I’m flying with Tezuka on the way up, but there’s no point flying back since I’d still have to take a train home anyway.”
Fuji smiled, understanding. “Do you want company?”
Yuuta stared at him. “Why would I need company? I’ll be with Tezuka, for a start. He has to go too.”
“You wouldn’t fancy a lunch with someone like Atobe?” Fuji prompted. “He mentioned today he’s going to be free around that time.”
Yuuta frowned. “Atobe’s too…” he shook his head, not knowing what to say. “It’s fine. Tezuka wanted to go to the book stores too, and I was going to see about having some clothes tailored.”
“I bet he’ll be sad to hear you turned him down,” Fuji joked. “And he even tried stalling leaving for a good hour today, even after Yumiko had told him about the weather… And about your sleeping habits.”
Yuuta rolled his eyes and pushed open the library door. “And? What’s your point?”
“Oh, just that it was unusual, don’t you think?” Fuji smiled. “Yumiko thought he wanted to be a nuisance and stay even longer.”
Yuuta shook his head, walking towards the widest wall of the library. “So where are the books?” he asked.
Fuji grinned, pointing to volumes on the shelf next to him. “In Latin.”
Yuuta stared. “You know I can’t read Latin,” he pointed out, irked. “Why didn’t you say so before?”
“Atobe can read it,” Fuji mused. “Maybe you could ask him to do it for you.”
“Would you shut up about Atobe?” Yuuta snapped, annoyed to think this might just be his brother’s favourite joke for the next half a year, or until another one appeared.
Feeling as though he’d seen enough of Shuusuke to remember why he hadn’t wanted to see him again so soon, Yuuta pushed him out of the room, shut the door behind him and flicked the lock. He could hear Yumiko and Yoshiko talking in the hallway, but he decided he’d rather spend the afternoon with a collection of books, not a collection of nuts.
***
Yuuta’s eyes were drooping closed again as Tezuka kicked him under the table.
“Is it over?” he yawned, earning him a frown from Tezuka and a snort from the other side of the room.
“It was over five minutes ago, yes,” Tezuka answered, sighing. “You missed the most important part of the meeting, by the way.”
“Oh, did I?” Yuuta asked sheepishly, rubbing at his eyes. “I thought the whole thing was supposed to be important, but then they kept talking on and on about procedure and -” He swallowed, noticing Tezuka’s expression.
“Er… Well anyway…” he coughed. “I’ll try to stay awake next time.”
Tezuka gave a wry smile. “Indeed. If you’re having trouble staying awake next time, I’m sure I can arrange something.”
Yuuta shook his head hurriedly, not liking the sound of it. “No, it’s okay. I’ll be awake next time.”
Tezuka nodded. “Good.” And with another flick of his watch, “Well, that’s it for today then.”
Yuuta scrambled to shuffled his papers into a neat pile and shove them at his briefcase, following Tezuka from the room after nodding his head to the higher-ups.
“Going out for lunch?” someone asked, and Yuuta found an arm thrown around his neck, yanking him backwards awkwardly.
“Yeah,” he grunted out, realising it was Sengoku. A flashy, toothy grin and Yuuta relaxed a bit. “Jeez, these things are so boring,” he complained. “Are they always like that?”
Sengoku chuckled, arm slipping down more comfortably to Yuuta’s shoulder. “The trick is that you have to sleep through the first half and stay awake for the second.”
“Really?” Yuuta blinked, seriously considering it. That would make more sense, wouldn’t it?
“And try not to sit next to Tezuka,” Sengoku whispered, as the man in question turned around to frown at them. “He doesn’t look like it, but he’s the worst of them.”
“Sengoku,” Tezuka warned. “What are you saying to Yuuta?”
“Nothing, nothing!” Sengoku grinned, and whispered to Yuuta, “Bad luck! I think he must be in a bad mood.”
Yuuta sighed as Sengoku pranced off, leaving him with Tezuka and a raised eyebrow.
“He really wasn’t saying anything… bad,” he answered, wondering why he felt guilty for it - it was Sengoku’s fault after all!
Then eyeing Sengoku’s retreating back, he smirked a little. “He was just saying you’re getting old these days. You fit right in with the old four-eyes guys.”
Tezuka narrowed his eyes at Sengoku, pushing his glasses up with a finger. “I’ll keep that in mind the next time we see him,” he observed, and Yuuta had to stifle a laugh.
As they stepped out the front doors of the building, Yuuta blinked to see a familiar man leaning up against the side of a car - Atobe.
“Your date?” he joked to Tezuka, stepping towards the taxi ranks. “Hey, I’ll see you after the weekend, Tezuka.”
Tezuka was caught between a nod and shake of his head. “I hope he’s not,” he frowned. “Ah - and have a good break, Yuuta,” he added distractedly, tilting his head a little in curiosity.
“I don’t know why he’s here,” he murmured, but still walked towards Atobe, intent on finding out.
Yuuta glanced back at the two of them, remembering his brother’s threat to send Atobe to entertain him while he was in town, and shook his head in amusement.
Watching the passers-by glance at the two men standing there talking, Yuuta blinked to realise they certainly caught a lot of attention. He rubbed at his hair awkwardly and headed up towards the first cab.
“To the train station,” he directed, getting into the back seat and pulling his briefcase onto his lap.
The driver nodded, and Yuuta felt the car beginning to pull away from the kerb, when there was a rapid knock on his window.
“Stop!” he instructed, and felt the jerk as the driver stuck his foot quickly on the brakes.
Yuuta blinked and opened his door, glancing up at Tezuka. “Did you forget something? Or did I…”
Tezuka shook his head, looking unimpressed. “Not I,” he answered. “Just some idiot who thought he’d wait for you to come out and then let you walk straight past.”
“Who…?” Yuuta frowned, peering around Tezuka.
“Of course, it would have been polite to stop and say hello,” Atobe frowned down at Yuuta. “One would think it the normal thing to do.”
Yuuta shifted a little uncomfortably, wondering exactly why he’d just walked straight past - Atobe was correct, of course, in picking him up on his manners. Normally he wouldn’t have, but he wondered if Shuusuke’s words had gone to his head too much and he’d gone out of his way to avoid Atobe instead.
But Atobe was Tezuka’s friend after all. Surely he’d come to see him.
“So you getting out or staying in?” the driver asked loudly, shooting him an annoyed look. “Can’t do both at the same time.”
“Getting out,” Yuuta frowned, but handed over a small tip anyway. “Sorry for the trouble.”
“Atobe was about to go and get lunch,” Tezuka explained. “I have to go back, you know.”
Yuuta blinked suddenly, realising how hungry he was. “But what happened to the food at the meeting?” he asked, trying and failing to recall ever seeing any.
“You slept through the part with food,” Tezuka pointed out blankly. “You really didn’t notice?”
Yuuta shook his head. “Was that the important part?” he questioned, wondering if Tezuka only stayed awake for the food.
Tezuka gave him a stern look. “No, that would be the part where we decided to change in-flight procedures in the case of emergencies involving passengers and co-pilots.”
Yuuta blinked. “Oh.”
“Something you might like to remember the next time you take your brother up for a flight,” Tezuka frowned.
“Right,” Yuuta grinned. “I’ll read through the papers later anyway.”
Tezuka raised an eyebrow. “You’d better, Squadron Leader Fuji Yuuta.”
Yuuta suddenly recalled the way Tezuka had used to eye him when he was somehow not quite following rules, and squirmed.
“Speaking of obligations, Squadron Leader Tezuka Kunimitsu,” Atobe interrupted, “Don’t you have things you have to do?”
Tezuka cleared his throat. “Of course. Make sure you read those papers before Monday, Yuuta,” he answered, and made his way back to the building. The book stores would have to wait for another day for him.
“You mentioned you hadn’t eaten?” Atobe prompted.
Yuuta blinked. “Right,” he answered, wondering how he’d managed to sleep through the part with food.
“I know a good restaurant this way,” Atobe motioned, and Yuuta hesitantly fell into step beside him.
“Tezuka didn’t actually use to heed the rule books either,” Atobe mentioned as they walked. “Goodness only knows when he started to act like that. He’s worse than an old man these days,” he complained.
Yuuta chuckled. “He’s not that bad,” he answered. His own impressions of Tezuka had always been along those lines, but despite his love of keeping people in line with rules, he did know when to break them when it was necessary. He wasn’t as stiff as other people thought him to be.
And he couldn’t really be that bad - he was dating Shuusuke, and it took a certain type of person to be able to do that after all.
As though thinking along the same lines, Atobe smirked. “Well I’m sure Fuji can lighten him up a little. Or should that be… loosen him up?”
Yuuta cringed somewhat.
“How are things going with you?” Atobe asked, chuckling at Yuuta’s expression. “Tezuka seemed to think you were settling into your role when I asked him a fortnight ago.”
“Well, the only thing I wasn’t really doing before is the paperwork,” Yuuta sighed.
“And there’s more than enough of that to go around, I gather,” Atobe commented.
“Not to mention the mess this inquiry is causing,” Yuuta lamented. “As long as everything looks good on paper right now, they’re happy. They don’t care if we’re not.”
“You’re not happy?” Atobe asked carefully.
Yuuta glanced at him quickly. “No, I’m happy enough… It’s just the guys are unsettled because of it. It seems like every other week, someone’s starting rumours about the shuffling of the government cabinet or the higher-ups or something like that. If they’d left politics out of the appointment of the Force’s boards in the first place, this wouldn’t be a problem now.”
Atobe smiled. “But politics and the forces will never be separate,” he pointed out. “It’s a pain, but it’s not such a bad thing that the government plays a hand in it like this. The forces, after all, exist to serve the country and the government serves to control the forces. Better than the other way around.”
Yuuta shrugged at him. “You say the same thing as Aniki, but you don’t have to deal with it day-in and day-out.”
Atobe conceded the point. “But you’re on break at the moment. Tezuka said until Monday?”
Yuuta grinned, appreciating the subject change. “Next Monday. I decided I needed a decent holiday.”
***
“Oh, that’s right,” Yuuta blinked, fingers at the stem of his wine glass. “Did you get my father’s invitation for Saturday next week? The ball?”
Atobe nodded. “Eight PM if I remember correctly.”
Yuuta shrugged. “Or you could be late and miss all the formal stuff,” he suggested, taking a sip.
“That’s what you’d do,” Atobe mused, getting a laugh. “How late’s ‘late’ for you?”
Yuuta grinned a bit. “How about a day?”
Atobe rolled his eyes. “And your father goes to all the trouble of planning these things for when you’re home.”
“’T’s not for when I’m home,” Yuuta scoffed. “It’s for when he’s home, which happens once in a blue moon.”
“And they just so happen to coincide with your visits too,” Atobe teased lightly.
Yuuta shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t ask for it. I’d rather just have a quiet time at home without so many guests around, but he’s still trying to get Yumiko over Peter, so he’s trying to find her a new love interest.”
Then he snorted. “Or so he says. I think he doesn’t mind the extra company though.”
Atobe looked at him curiously. “And you don’t think he has you in mind as well?”
Yuuta blinked, slightly disconcerted. “No,” he answered tersely. “He knows I’d say no.”
He pushed his vegetables around his plate and glanced around the restaurant. “I’m not interested,” he said flatly.
What exactly he meant by that and whether that meant he already had someone or not, Atobe couldn’t quite decide.
***
“I have to say…” Yuuta stretched his arms above his head and leaned back against the tree trunk. “I did tell you to take the other road.”
Atobe rolled his eyes, frustration showing in the frown on his face. “If you had told me I’d be bogged by taking this road, I would have listened and taken the other one,” he huffed. “But all you said was that -”
Yuuta stared at him. “Was that you’d better not take this road and take the other instead because it rained heavily last night and these dirt tracks aren’t exactly known for drying quickly.”
Atobe raised an eyebrow. “And I was supposed to deduce that that meant bog, and a lot of it?”
Yuuta shrugged. “Nothing to be done now,” he sighed, and he was right.
Atobe sighed and glanced at him, almost wanting to argue more on the subject just because he could. He’d offered to drive Yuuta home - insisted, actually, if he were to admit it had been ten times harder getting Yuuta to get into the car than it had been to get him to lunch - and everything had been fine until they’d hit a large muddy patch in the middle of the road, less than half an hour’s walk away from Yuuta’s place.
Yuuta’s uniform sleeves were rolled up, and his arms were pink. His cheeks were pinker though, and he’d been sweating as he’d been trying to push the car out of the rut it was in, but the wheels were stuck and the tyres weren’t helping, wedged into the mud.
“We could walk,” Yuuta suggested calmly.
Atobe stared at him. “You’ve got to be kidding,” he retorted, glaring at the sunshine. “It has to be at least thirty-five now, and by the time we get there, we’ll be burnt not to mention dehydrated.”
“You ought to carry water in your car,” Yuuta frowned. “And walking for half an hour wouldn’t be that bad. It’d be better than sitting here.”
Atobe gave him a good, long, hard look and pursed his lips. “I’m not walking,” he insisted.
Yuuta stood up, his no-nonsense look on his face as he regarded Atobe from top to toe. “So how much do you weigh then?”
Atobe frowned. “None of your business,” he answered tersely. “You ought to worry about how much the car weighs instead, since we have to get it out sometime soon at this rate.”
“It’s stuck,” Yuuta said, and Atobe knew he wasn’t just saying that to be difficult. “You’ll be more affected by the heat if you sit around than if you walk.”
“Look,” Atobe sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and flicked it. “Why don’t we just sit and wait a while? We’ve only been waiting -”
“Twenty minutes,” Yuuta cut him off. “And you’ll be waiting a lot longer than that, you know. Almost no one is going to come down this road today because they’ll know it’s full of mud, and my parents aren’t exactly expecting me to come by car, nor are they expecting you at all. You’re dreaming if you think someone’s going to come this way and be able to drag us out.”
And he reached down and offered a hand to Atobe. “Come on,” he said. “If you really can’t stand the heat, there are other trees you can sit under on the way,” he smiled, seeing the humour in the situation.
Atobe didn’t look convinced, but finally took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.
“Why did you ask how much I weigh?” he asked, feeling the sun prickling his exposed skin.
Yuuta shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets and starting on their walk. “Because if you hadn’t gotten up, I might have carried you.”
Atobe blinked at him.
“What?” Yuuta asked, when he realised Atobe was looking at him strangely.
Atobe shook his head, realising he wasn’t even quite sure how to phrase just what he was thinking. Some days, he couldn’t quite see the resemblance between Yuuta and Shuusuke. Other days, he thought they were uncannily similar - especially when it came to getting what they wanted.
“Perhaps I should have stayed sitting,” he joked.
“I don’t think you’d like being carried by me,” Yuuta grinned. “You’d have been over the shoulder.”
Atobe considered. “You’re right. It might not be very dignified to greet your father that way.”
Yuuta laughed. “I don’t think it would bother him that much. I think it takes a lot to surprise him these days.”
And Atobe supposed it did, considering who he had for children.
***
Comments appreciated! ♥ Continue to next part~
Missed Appointments
“Will you be back for lunch, sir?” Marie called out, hurrying along behind Atobe on the footpath.
“No, I will not,” was his quick response. “I did say I was going to have lunch with the Fuji family, did I not? That implies I won’t be having two lunches, let alone be in two places at the same time,” he sighed.
“O-Of course sir,” Marie stuttered and curtseyed awkwardly, allowing him to walk the rest of the path alone.
A few steps down the path, Atobe considered his answer and stopped walking, talking over his shoulder.
“I’ll be back for dinner, I expect. Don’t bother preparing anything in case I’m not. I heard there was a new restaurant opening down that way so I…” he trailed off, a thought occurring to him.
“Actually perhaps I won’t be back tonight at all,” he smiled slightly.
Marie blinked at the way he changed his mind and lowered her head. “Of course sir. I’ll let Misters Oshitari and Shishido and the staff know.”
Atobe nodded. “Good. But you needn’t bother telling Oshitari and Shishido,” he mused. “I suspect they’re rather too busy with their plans to worry about missing me.”
His comment was lost on Marie, who always considered it her duty to do everything Atobe asked (and didn’t ask) of her, and set off again up the path to the house.
Atobe shrugged his coat off his shoulders as he walked down towards the hangar. He would hardly need any extra warmth up there in the cockpit today, and as he glanced upwards, squinting beneath the flat of his hand at the sky, he wondered if he’d really needed to take his coat at all. It looked to be a terribly warm day already.
***
The closest air strip to the Fuji residence was actually a private air club some twenty-five kilometres away. The landing itself was fine but the ride in the taxi from there to the house was bumpy and made Atobe wish he hadn’t drunk quite so much fluid before he’d left home.
Swinging his legs out the back seat of the car and getting out, he surveyed the house in front of him and the front garden behind him with some satisfaction. Evidently Fuji’s father had taken his advice and had his gardeners trim the shrubs to shape, rather than leaving them the messy lopsided things Atobe had seen the last time he’d visited. Of course, he’d had several other suggestions which appeared to have gone unheeded, but a little improvement was better than none at any rate.
The front doors burst open, just as he was beginning to wonder if he’d have to deign to ring the doorbell himself, and he found something hairy and four-legged threatening to jump at him enthusiastically. He dodged Yuusuke neatly and watched the silly dog wag its tail so hard that it wriggled its body almost comically from side to side.
Walking straight past the maid, who stopped to bow her head, was Fuji’s father.
“Yamato,” Atobe greeted. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Likewise!” he responded jovially, peering around Atobe. “You took a taxi, I assume? You should have told us you were coming and I’d have sent someone out to get you.”
Atobe smiled graciously and shook his head. “It was no bother at all.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have minded picking you up,” Yamato insisted, looking pleased. “I heard you got another new toy lately.”
“Ah, yes,” Atobe smiled. “If you can call her that.”
Yamato chuckled. “Be sure to give me a ride in her some time, won’t you? My wife still won’t let me buy anything new, even though I pointed out a newer model might now have the problems the old one has.”
He sighed. “Yuuta wouldn’t help me with it either. Sat there and told Yoshiko he didn’t think the accident was the plane’s fault in the first place. Said it was because I was blind as a bat, always had been and shouldn’t be let out of the house.”
Atobe smirked a little. “Well I don’t see a leash around your neck so I’m guessing Yoshiko hasn’t yet taken up his advice.”
Yamato sighed again, waving his arm towards the front garden where the dog was now happily rolling around in the grass. “Well, she takes an awful lot of his advice sometimes. He said the fish in the pond were the wrong type for the size of the thing, so she bought new ones.”
“Oh?”
“And the new ones ate all the old ones,” Yamato moaned.
“Problem solved then,” Atobe mused dryly.
Yamato ushered him inside, leaving the maid to take Atobe’s coat and close the door after them.
“You’re staying for lunch then?” Yamato asked, leading his guest through the house to the veranda at the back.
“I had thought I might,” Atobe smiled, “if you don’t mind the intrusion.”
“Oh no, it’s always a pleasure to have a guest around here, especially one who takes an interest in aviation,” Yamato grinned. “I’m sick of hearing about roses, you know.”
Then he coughed. “Of course, I know you also enjoy them, but you know…” And he mumbled under his breath.
Atobe only smiled slightly.
“You actually just missed Fuji,” Yamato said as he changed the subject. “He’s taken off…” He smiled wryly as he corrected himself. “Or should I say, he’s taken with one of your friends, as I understand, and they’ve gone off to lunch in the middle of nowhere. They seemed to think a picnic in a dirt field would be more interesting than staying at home.”
Atobe raised an eyebrow. “Indeed.”
He couldn’t share Tezuka’s enthusiasm for a dirt field, but he suspected it had less to do with what was under the picnic rug than what sat on top of it.
“And Yumiko?” he enquired. “I heard she was at home.”
Yamato shook his head. “She’s gone out with Yoshiko this morning. Yuuta and I were about to take lunch, although he’s gone and disappeared off somewhere again, I’d imagine.”
“Can’t stay in the same spot long enough to pin him down,” he added, muttering under his breath.
Atobe glanced towards the stairs and smiled. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen him.” A year and more than a few months, to be more precise, he thought. “How is he?” he asked politely.
He got a sigh in response, but Yamato’s lips curved upwards even as he complained, leaving Atobe in no doubt as to who was his favourite child.
“The same as always,” he answered. “He was telling us that we should turn our orchard into a landing strip the other day. Says he wants to fly when he’s at home and he hates the club so he won’t land there.”
He looked at Atobe in amusement. “He flies six days a week, if not more. Why does he think he needs to live up in an airplane? Honestly! And besides that, he says he’s saving up for his own plane, finally. Apparently the air force is tightening up regulations and he’s not happy about it so he thinks he’ll just run out and buy something and fly loop-the-loops over our house whenever he feels like having his feet over his head.”
Atobe had trouble keeping a straight face at the visual imagery. He was quite sure Fuji would have a field day if Yuuta did that, not to mention Yoshiko would probably bite off her fingernails, but Yamato only laughed.
“Of course Yoshiko said no, but I don’t doubt he’ll have his own plane within a year. He can be rather obstinate when it comes to things he wants.”
“Does he intend to freelance?” Atobe asked, slightly curious. If there was a spare pilot of Yuuta’s standard coming his way, he wouldn’t be turning him down.
Yamato shook his head, and Atobe found himself slightly disappointed.
“I can’t imagine him quitting the force, and certainly not now that…” He trailed off and put his finger to his lips. “Well, I’m sure he’ll tell you soon enough.”
Atobe blinked, a little intrigued. “Well then, maybe we should ask him to come down so I can find out,” he suggested.
Yamato nodded and called over Alice, and the two of them continued out to the veranda while she stepped up the staircase quickly.
***
Yuuta rounded the bottom of the stairs slowly.
“They’re out the back, sir,” Alice informed him. “Would you like me to bring you drinks? The gentlemen already have tea but I believe they’re waiting on you to start lunch.”
Yuuta nodded. “I’ll just have some coffee then, thank you.”
Alice bowed her head and ducked off towards the kitchen and Yuuta watched her go, wondering just what time Yumiko would be back. Atobe had probably come looking for Shuusuke primarily, but he was off with Tezuka, and Yuuta didn’t really fancy having to entertain Atobe for the afternoon, or however long he intended to stay.
“Yuuta!” Yamato waved his hand and called him over. “What took you so long?”
Yuuta walked over to the table, noticing the tea pot on the table. He picked up the lid, peering in, but all that was left were tealeaves, and he frowned at his father.
“You did take rather a long time to emerge,” Yamato noted, not without a slight look of guilt on his face. “It was the tea or starting lunch without you.”
Yuuta frowned. “I did not.” But he glanced at his wrist to see he wasn’t wearing a watch, and couldn’t really retort without being sure of the time. It was possible he’d taken longer to finish off his last letter than he’d thought. And perhaps the fact that he’d taken off his watch to be more comfortable was proof of that.
“Pressing business?” Yamato asked, beaming a little though he tried to look serious.
Yuuta frowned at him, trying to keep from outright glaring in front of a guest. “No,” he answered grouchily.
Since Yuuta was home for four days this time, things which were normally kept to working days were sneaking their way into his holiday time, and his father kept finding it amusing to ask him about the various letters and bits of correspondence coming and going from the house, sticking his nose in out of curiosity purely because he could. They were novel to him, but run of the mill for Yuuta, so the letters bothered him a lot less than his father’s curiosity.
“What? You go away for a few days and they don’t miss you?” Yamato frowned. “Who does all the paperwork when the leader’s away?”
“I told you,” Yuuta frowned. “It’s just-”
“You were promoted?” Atobe asked, interrupting them.
Yuuta glanced at him. “Mm,” he answered. “Squadron Leader. Eighth squadron.”
Yamato grinned, winking at Atobe when Alice returned to serve Yuuta his coffee. “He doesn’t like talking about it,” he smiled.
Yuuta let out a sigh and gave his father a long stare. “You know, if you want to talk, talk. Just don’t talk about the same thing you’ve been talking about ever since I got in the door, okay?”
Yamato sat back. “Would you have preferred it if we didn’t say anything?” he demanded, looking a little annoyed.
“No,” Yuuta responded, pulling the sugar bowl close to his cup. “I just think you ought to know when to change the subject. I don’t like having a conversation that goes on for three days, you know.”
Atobe watched the two of them in amusement, finding Yuuta much the same as he remembered him. He hadn’t known him as a child, but Yumiko liked to tell stories about Yuuta and the Yuuta Atobe had met five years ago struck him as the same boy in Yumiko’s stories and the same man sitting across from him now. A short and somewhat resentful temperament, sometimes distrustful and uncertain, proud, and often troublesome like Fuji.
“Well, perhaps if you’re finished sulking about the tea, then we’ll have lunch,” Yamato suggested.
Yuuta snorted. “I was not sulking about the tea.”
“Were you sulking about the garden then?” Yamato teased. “Because that would make three days of sulking over the same thing and it’s no less annoying than three days of the same conversation.”
Yuuta looked slightly disgruntled, Alice brought out their lunch platters, and Yamato told Atobe to get started on the potatoes.
“If you wanted, you could drive Atobe back to the air club,” Yamato suggested, halfway through his second serve of salad. “Has he told you about his new toy yet?”
Yuuta glanced at Atobe, looking a little more interested in their company. “New toy?”
“New plane,” Atobe corrected. “She was delivered a month back and Tezuka took her on a trip for me. She flies well, but you might not find her as light to handle as what you’re used to.”
Yuuta still looked interested, eyes fixed on Atobe and he nearly missed his mouth with a forkful of lettuce.
“Single or twin engine?” he asked.
“Single.”
“Frame?”
“Aluminium.”
“Undercarriage?”
“Retractable.”
“Top speed?”
Atobe smirked. “Why don’t you take her for a ride and find out?”
Yamato laughed, echoing Atobe’s sentiments. “Why don’t you just go out with him? You can drive him back to the strip after lunch.”
Yuuta shook his head quickly, checking to see Atobe’s reaction. “But you’ll want to stay for dinner, won’t you?” he asked. “Coming all this way and not getting to see Shuusuke.”
And that had been Atobe’s original intention, but before he realised it, he’d waved his hand and shaken his head a bit. “I can see Shuusuke another day. I heard he was back here for a month this time.”
Yuuta nodded. “Mm.”
“But you’ll have to go out for dinner tonight, won’t you Yuuta?” Yamato corrected. “Six PM?”
Yuuta nodded again. “There wouldn’t be enough time to take much of a flight,” he said, “But if you’re staying tonight to see Shuusuke and Yumiko, I can drop you back after dinner, or tomorrow morning if you want to stay the night.”
Atobe paused. “Yamato, you won’t be here tomorrow, will you?” he checked, getting a shake to the negative. “So what if we just drive over after lunch in an hour? You can still take a look at her, while she’s here,” he suggested.
Yuuta’s look was slightly enquiring, and Atobe shrugged. “If you wait until the next time you have holidays, you might find Shishido’s decided to crash her already.”
“You’d actually let him near it?” Yuuta smirked.
Shishido’s accident, although small enough that the plane only needed a bit of fixing and rebuilding, was one which Atobe liked to mention rather a lot.
“No,” Atobe frowned. “But you never know. I suspect Shishido’s one of those people who doesn’t even have to touch a plane to be able to crash it.”
***
“You sure you don’t want to go home just to check?” Shishido asked, not for the first time.
Fuji smiled as he sat across from him. “Is there a need to go all the way home just to see if Atobe’s visiting? By the time we get there, perhaps he’ll already be on his way back.”
Oshitari pursed his lips beside Shishido, casting a glance towards the doors leading to the kitchen. “If you stay any later, won’t you be late home for dinner?”
Fuji considered seriously. “Unless we have dinner here,” he suggested, the tiniest smile at the edge of his lips.
Oshitari wondered if he did it on purpose, and looked again at the kitchen doors.
“Shishido, why don’t you go and see what’s on the menu for dinner?” he asked, though it was just as much an order. And Shishido might normally have protested, but under the circumstances, decided it wasn’t so bad to just do as Oshitari instructed.
“Yuuta should still be at home,” Tezuka mentioned, clearing his throat. “And Yamato.”
Fuji nodded. “I’m sure Atobe won’t be missing us in the slightest, and Yuuta probably won’t mind having someone to talk planes with. I think he’s sick of hearing about aerial photography.”
Oshitari looked a little put off, sipping at his tea disinterestedly. Having Fuji and Tezuka stop by after a picnic in a dirt field (he didn’t have to wonder for a second at which one of them would come up with such a preposterous idea) was hardly his idea of good company for afternoon tea, but at least Tezuka came attached with news of the inquiry. Fuji… only came with bother attached.
Shishido returned from the kitchen a moment later, plonking in his seat and looking strangely happy.
“So… Dinner?” Oshitari frowned, wondering at the look on his face.
Shishido shrugged. “Oh, nothing much. Just… pumpkin, pumpkin and pumpkin.”
Fuji smiled at him as Tezuka twitched a little, hands gripping his chair.
***
Yuuta did have to admit Atobe’s new plane was beautiful - magnificent even. Her lines were sleek, her wings sleek and smooth to the touch and her metal cool under his fingers in the shade of the hangar.
“Are you sure you don’t want to take her up?” Atobe offered again, climbing into the cockpit to pull the logbook from the interior. He flicked through it to the most recent page, noting he hadn’t finished jotting down his notes on the flight.
“Pretty sure,” Yuuta shrugged. “I’m not really feeling up to it right now.” And he grinned lazily, rubbing his hand at his hair.
“Not that she isn’t a nice plane,” he added, turning and walking towards the hangar exit.
Atobe frowned a little into his logbook, dissatisfied with such an unenthusiastic response. He had expected just a little bit more, somehow.
***
“Is Yuuta not up yet?” Yoshiko fretted, looking ready to stand up and get him herself.
Yumiko shook her head. “He got home after three this morning,” she said, prompting all eyes at the table to glance at the clock. “I doubt he’ll be up until midday, at least.”
“When Yuuta joined the force,” Yamato winked to Atobe, “Shuusuke said he was going to pack himself into his suitcase because Yuuta would need an alarm clock to wake him up every morning.”
“Not a morning person,” Yumiko smiled. “Unlike Shuusuke.”
Shuusuke gave a smile. “One of us had to be, or else we’d never have gotten out of bed at all.”
Under the table, something touched Atobe’s leg, and he looked down to see Yuusuke sitting and wagging his tail, poking his wet nose at him and looking rather hopeful.
“Anyway, you’d best set off with Shuusuke instead,” Yamato pointed out. “Around midday, the warmth throws up a lot of turbulence so it’s best to avoid it if you can.”
“As Yuuta would say,” Yumiko smiled.
“Yumi-”
“It’s either take the plane up now and keep your food down, or keep her down now and throw your food up later,” Yumiko finished, ignoring her mother’s warning and subsequent look of resignation.
Atobe sighed, not quite believing the thermals could be that bad, but unwilling to risk it.
He cast a glance at Fuji, curious to know why Tezuka had simply flown him home for dinner last night and left again straight away, but the breakfast table wasn’t quite the right place to ask.
But Fuji caught the look on his face. “If you’re thinking of sticking around until Yuuta drags himself out of bed, you’re going to be waiting a while,” he smiled at Atobe, who shook his head.
“No, that’s not what I was -”
“Not to mention people with hangovers don’t generally make good conversationalists,” Fuji laughed. “Oh, and Yumiko? There is some of that herb tea mix leftover, isn’t there?”
Yumiko nodded. “But you know he won’t drink it.”
Fuji blinked. “Why?” he repeated dully.
“I don’t think it needs to be repeated at the table, dear,” Yoshiko warned, before Yumiko could open her mouth again.
“Yamato mentioned you picnicked in a field yesterday,” Atobe said loudly, deciding a change of topic was in order.
Fuji smiled. “Indeed.”
“Any particular reason why you chose a field of dirt?” Atobe asked dryly.
Fuji laughed. “It was scenic, Atobe. You had to be there to see it.”
Atobe frowned. “What’s scenic about a flat field?” he questioned, almost offended at the idea.
“Dirt,” Fuji answered happily, getting a raised eyebrow in response.
“And I suppose it must have been awfully stimulating?” Atobe continued.
“You could put it that way,” Fuji smiled. “But you should ask Tezuka, not me. He was the one who got down on his arms and knees to look at it, and he even went so far as to suggest we do it again.”
Atobe rather regretted bringing up the topic.
“Shuusuke, you’re ruining my appetite,” Yumiko scolded then, letting out a sigh.
“Only returning the favour,” Shuusuke chuckled, eyes twinkling as he looked at her.
***
“Hey, Yuuta?”
Yuuta looked up from the office floor, sprawled where he was with masses of papers in various stacks in front of him. “Hm? What?”
“Dad’s left,” Shuusuke informed him, walking in to sit on the edge of a chair.
“I know,” Yuuta frowned, sorting a stack of old bills into piles. “I wish he’d do something about this stuff before he left though.”
Shuusuke grinned. “Sick of tax already?”
Yuuta huffed. “I’m not sick of tax! I don’t have to do tax,” he pointed out. “Why do I have to sort his papers?”
Shuusuke shrugged. “Because you’re the responsible one,” he suggested.
“Am not,” Yuuta frowned, and pushed a bill under his brother’s nose. “And what’s this?”
Shuusuke studied the writing on the receipt for a moment. “Books for the library,” he answered. “You haven’t seen them in there?”
Yuuta looked a little taken aback, surprised by it. “No, not unless they’re the ones by the door.”
Shuusuke shook his head. “I’ll show you, if you want,” he offered, putting down the bill and standing up.
“I guess,” Yuuta accepted reluctantly, and got up, dusting off his pants.
“You know I’m going into town next month. I thought I’d go into the book store while I was there. Is there anything you want?”
Shuusuke shrugged as they walked down the hallway. “Not in particular. Why, do you have a meeting there?”
Yuuta nodded. “Lunchtime, last Friday of the month. The meetings only go four hours - two hours, two meetings, but then I have to wait around for the train to bring me straight back home,” he sighed. “I’m flying with Tezuka on the way up, but there’s no point flying back since I’d still have to take a train home anyway.”
Fuji smiled, understanding. “Do you want company?”
Yuuta stared at him. “Why would I need company? I’ll be with Tezuka, for a start. He has to go too.”
“You wouldn’t fancy a lunch with someone like Atobe?” Fuji prompted. “He mentioned today he’s going to be free around that time.”
Yuuta frowned. “Atobe’s too…” he shook his head, not knowing what to say. “It’s fine. Tezuka wanted to go to the book stores too, and I was going to see about having some clothes tailored.”
“I bet he’ll be sad to hear you turned him down,” Fuji joked. “And he even tried stalling leaving for a good hour today, even after Yumiko had told him about the weather… And about your sleeping habits.”
Yuuta rolled his eyes and pushed open the library door. “And? What’s your point?”
“Oh, just that it was unusual, don’t you think?” Fuji smiled. “Yumiko thought he wanted to be a nuisance and stay even longer.”
Yuuta shook his head, walking towards the widest wall of the library. “So where are the books?” he asked.
Fuji grinned, pointing to volumes on the shelf next to him. “In Latin.”
Yuuta stared. “You know I can’t read Latin,” he pointed out, irked. “Why didn’t you say so before?”
“Atobe can read it,” Fuji mused. “Maybe you could ask him to do it for you.”
“Would you shut up about Atobe?” Yuuta snapped, annoyed to think this might just be his brother’s favourite joke for the next half a year, or until another one appeared.
Feeling as though he’d seen enough of Shuusuke to remember why he hadn’t wanted to see him again so soon, Yuuta pushed him out of the room, shut the door behind him and flicked the lock. He could hear Yumiko and Yoshiko talking in the hallway, but he decided he’d rather spend the afternoon with a collection of books, not a collection of nuts.
***
Yuuta’s eyes were drooping closed again as Tezuka kicked him under the table.
“Is it over?” he yawned, earning him a frown from Tezuka and a snort from the other side of the room.
“It was over five minutes ago, yes,” Tezuka answered, sighing. “You missed the most important part of the meeting, by the way.”
“Oh, did I?” Yuuta asked sheepishly, rubbing at his eyes. “I thought the whole thing was supposed to be important, but then they kept talking on and on about procedure and -” He swallowed, noticing Tezuka’s expression.
“Er… Well anyway…” he coughed. “I’ll try to stay awake next time.”
Tezuka gave a wry smile. “Indeed. If you’re having trouble staying awake next time, I’m sure I can arrange something.”
Yuuta shook his head hurriedly, not liking the sound of it. “No, it’s okay. I’ll be awake next time.”
Tezuka nodded. “Good.” And with another flick of his watch, “Well, that’s it for today then.”
Yuuta scrambled to shuffled his papers into a neat pile and shove them at his briefcase, following Tezuka from the room after nodding his head to the higher-ups.
“Going out for lunch?” someone asked, and Yuuta found an arm thrown around his neck, yanking him backwards awkwardly.
“Yeah,” he grunted out, realising it was Sengoku. A flashy, toothy grin and Yuuta relaxed a bit. “Jeez, these things are so boring,” he complained. “Are they always like that?”
Sengoku chuckled, arm slipping down more comfortably to Yuuta’s shoulder. “The trick is that you have to sleep through the first half and stay awake for the second.”
“Really?” Yuuta blinked, seriously considering it. That would make more sense, wouldn’t it?
“And try not to sit next to Tezuka,” Sengoku whispered, as the man in question turned around to frown at them. “He doesn’t look like it, but he’s the worst of them.”
“Sengoku,” Tezuka warned. “What are you saying to Yuuta?”
“Nothing, nothing!” Sengoku grinned, and whispered to Yuuta, “Bad luck! I think he must be in a bad mood.”
Yuuta sighed as Sengoku pranced off, leaving him with Tezuka and a raised eyebrow.
“He really wasn’t saying anything… bad,” he answered, wondering why he felt guilty for it - it was Sengoku’s fault after all!
Then eyeing Sengoku’s retreating back, he smirked a little. “He was just saying you’re getting old these days. You fit right in with the old four-eyes guys.”
Tezuka narrowed his eyes at Sengoku, pushing his glasses up with a finger. “I’ll keep that in mind the next time we see him,” he observed, and Yuuta had to stifle a laugh.
As they stepped out the front doors of the building, Yuuta blinked to see a familiar man leaning up against the side of a car - Atobe.
“Your date?” he joked to Tezuka, stepping towards the taxi ranks. “Hey, I’ll see you after the weekend, Tezuka.”
Tezuka was caught between a nod and shake of his head. “I hope he’s not,” he frowned. “Ah - and have a good break, Yuuta,” he added distractedly, tilting his head a little in curiosity.
“I don’t know why he’s here,” he murmured, but still walked towards Atobe, intent on finding out.
Yuuta glanced back at the two of them, remembering his brother’s threat to send Atobe to entertain him while he was in town, and shook his head in amusement.
Watching the passers-by glance at the two men standing there talking, Yuuta blinked to realise they certainly caught a lot of attention. He rubbed at his hair awkwardly and headed up towards the first cab.
“To the train station,” he directed, getting into the back seat and pulling his briefcase onto his lap.
The driver nodded, and Yuuta felt the car beginning to pull away from the kerb, when there was a rapid knock on his window.
“Stop!” he instructed, and felt the jerk as the driver stuck his foot quickly on the brakes.
Yuuta blinked and opened his door, glancing up at Tezuka. “Did you forget something? Or did I…”
Tezuka shook his head, looking unimpressed. “Not I,” he answered. “Just some idiot who thought he’d wait for you to come out and then let you walk straight past.”
“Who…?” Yuuta frowned, peering around Tezuka.
“Of course, it would have been polite to stop and say hello,” Atobe frowned down at Yuuta. “One would think it the normal thing to do.”
Yuuta shifted a little uncomfortably, wondering exactly why he’d just walked straight past - Atobe was correct, of course, in picking him up on his manners. Normally he wouldn’t have, but he wondered if Shuusuke’s words had gone to his head too much and he’d gone out of his way to avoid Atobe instead.
But Atobe was Tezuka’s friend after all. Surely he’d come to see him.
“So you getting out or staying in?” the driver asked loudly, shooting him an annoyed look. “Can’t do both at the same time.”
“Getting out,” Yuuta frowned, but handed over a small tip anyway. “Sorry for the trouble.”
“Atobe was about to go and get lunch,” Tezuka explained. “I have to go back, you know.”
Yuuta blinked suddenly, realising how hungry he was. “But what happened to the food at the meeting?” he asked, trying and failing to recall ever seeing any.
“You slept through the part with food,” Tezuka pointed out blankly. “You really didn’t notice?”
Yuuta shook his head. “Was that the important part?” he questioned, wondering if Tezuka only stayed awake for the food.
Tezuka gave him a stern look. “No, that would be the part where we decided to change in-flight procedures in the case of emergencies involving passengers and co-pilots.”
Yuuta blinked. “Oh.”
“Something you might like to remember the next time you take your brother up for a flight,” Tezuka frowned.
“Right,” Yuuta grinned. “I’ll read through the papers later anyway.”
Tezuka raised an eyebrow. “You’d better, Squadron Leader Fuji Yuuta.”
Yuuta suddenly recalled the way Tezuka had used to eye him when he was somehow not quite following rules, and squirmed.
“Speaking of obligations, Squadron Leader Tezuka Kunimitsu,” Atobe interrupted, “Don’t you have things you have to do?”
Tezuka cleared his throat. “Of course. Make sure you read those papers before Monday, Yuuta,” he answered, and made his way back to the building. The book stores would have to wait for another day for him.
“You mentioned you hadn’t eaten?” Atobe prompted.
Yuuta blinked. “Right,” he answered, wondering how he’d managed to sleep through the part with food.
“I know a good restaurant this way,” Atobe motioned, and Yuuta hesitantly fell into step beside him.
“Tezuka didn’t actually use to heed the rule books either,” Atobe mentioned as they walked. “Goodness only knows when he started to act like that. He’s worse than an old man these days,” he complained.
Yuuta chuckled. “He’s not that bad,” he answered. His own impressions of Tezuka had always been along those lines, but despite his love of keeping people in line with rules, he did know when to break them when it was necessary. He wasn’t as stiff as other people thought him to be.
And he couldn’t really be that bad - he was dating Shuusuke, and it took a certain type of person to be able to do that after all.
As though thinking along the same lines, Atobe smirked. “Well I’m sure Fuji can lighten him up a little. Or should that be… loosen him up?”
Yuuta cringed somewhat.
“How are things going with you?” Atobe asked, chuckling at Yuuta’s expression. “Tezuka seemed to think you were settling into your role when I asked him a fortnight ago.”
“Well, the only thing I wasn’t really doing before is the paperwork,” Yuuta sighed.
“And there’s more than enough of that to go around, I gather,” Atobe commented.
“Not to mention the mess this inquiry is causing,” Yuuta lamented. “As long as everything looks good on paper right now, they’re happy. They don’t care if we’re not.”
“You’re not happy?” Atobe asked carefully.
Yuuta glanced at him quickly. “No, I’m happy enough… It’s just the guys are unsettled because of it. It seems like every other week, someone’s starting rumours about the shuffling of the government cabinet or the higher-ups or something like that. If they’d left politics out of the appointment of the Force’s boards in the first place, this wouldn’t be a problem now.”
Atobe smiled. “But politics and the forces will never be separate,” he pointed out. “It’s a pain, but it’s not such a bad thing that the government plays a hand in it like this. The forces, after all, exist to serve the country and the government serves to control the forces. Better than the other way around.”
Yuuta shrugged at him. “You say the same thing as Aniki, but you don’t have to deal with it day-in and day-out.”
Atobe conceded the point. “But you’re on break at the moment. Tezuka said until Monday?”
Yuuta grinned, appreciating the subject change. “Next Monday. I decided I needed a decent holiday.”
***
“Oh, that’s right,” Yuuta blinked, fingers at the stem of his wine glass. “Did you get my father’s invitation for Saturday next week? The ball?”
Atobe nodded. “Eight PM if I remember correctly.”
Yuuta shrugged. “Or you could be late and miss all the formal stuff,” he suggested, taking a sip.
“That’s what you’d do,” Atobe mused, getting a laugh. “How late’s ‘late’ for you?”
Yuuta grinned a bit. “How about a day?”
Atobe rolled his eyes. “And your father goes to all the trouble of planning these things for when you’re home.”
“’T’s not for when I’m home,” Yuuta scoffed. “It’s for when he’s home, which happens once in a blue moon.”
“And they just so happen to coincide with your visits too,” Atobe teased lightly.
Yuuta shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t ask for it. I’d rather just have a quiet time at home without so many guests around, but he’s still trying to get Yumiko over Peter, so he’s trying to find her a new love interest.”
Then he snorted. “Or so he says. I think he doesn’t mind the extra company though.”
Atobe looked at him curiously. “And you don’t think he has you in mind as well?”
Yuuta blinked, slightly disconcerted. “No,” he answered tersely. “He knows I’d say no.”
He pushed his vegetables around his plate and glanced around the restaurant. “I’m not interested,” he said flatly.
What exactly he meant by that and whether that meant he already had someone or not, Atobe couldn’t quite decide.
***
“I have to say…” Yuuta stretched his arms above his head and leaned back against the tree trunk. “I did tell you to take the other road.”
Atobe rolled his eyes, frustration showing in the frown on his face. “If you had told me I’d be bogged by taking this road, I would have listened and taken the other one,” he huffed. “But all you said was that -”
Yuuta stared at him. “Was that you’d better not take this road and take the other instead because it rained heavily last night and these dirt tracks aren’t exactly known for drying quickly.”
Atobe raised an eyebrow. “And I was supposed to deduce that that meant bog, and a lot of it?”
Yuuta shrugged. “Nothing to be done now,” he sighed, and he was right.
Atobe sighed and glanced at him, almost wanting to argue more on the subject just because he could. He’d offered to drive Yuuta home - insisted, actually, if he were to admit it had been ten times harder getting Yuuta to get into the car than it had been to get him to lunch - and everything had been fine until they’d hit a large muddy patch in the middle of the road, less than half an hour’s walk away from Yuuta’s place.
Yuuta’s uniform sleeves were rolled up, and his arms were pink. His cheeks were pinker though, and he’d been sweating as he’d been trying to push the car out of the rut it was in, but the wheels were stuck and the tyres weren’t helping, wedged into the mud.
“We could walk,” Yuuta suggested calmly.
Atobe stared at him. “You’ve got to be kidding,” he retorted, glaring at the sunshine. “It has to be at least thirty-five now, and by the time we get there, we’ll be burnt not to mention dehydrated.”
“You ought to carry water in your car,” Yuuta frowned. “And walking for half an hour wouldn’t be that bad. It’d be better than sitting here.”
Atobe gave him a good, long, hard look and pursed his lips. “I’m not walking,” he insisted.
Yuuta stood up, his no-nonsense look on his face as he regarded Atobe from top to toe. “So how much do you weigh then?”
Atobe frowned. “None of your business,” he answered tersely. “You ought to worry about how much the car weighs instead, since we have to get it out sometime soon at this rate.”
“It’s stuck,” Yuuta said, and Atobe knew he wasn’t just saying that to be difficult. “You’ll be more affected by the heat if you sit around than if you walk.”
“Look,” Atobe sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and flicked it. “Why don’t we just sit and wait a while? We’ve only been waiting -”
“Twenty minutes,” Yuuta cut him off. “And you’ll be waiting a lot longer than that, you know. Almost no one is going to come down this road today because they’ll know it’s full of mud, and my parents aren’t exactly expecting me to come by car, nor are they expecting you at all. You’re dreaming if you think someone’s going to come this way and be able to drag us out.”
And he reached down and offered a hand to Atobe. “Come on,” he said. “If you really can’t stand the heat, there are other trees you can sit under on the way,” he smiled, seeing the humour in the situation.
Atobe didn’t look convinced, but finally took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.
“Why did you ask how much I weigh?” he asked, feeling the sun prickling his exposed skin.
Yuuta shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets and starting on their walk. “Because if you hadn’t gotten up, I might have carried you.”
Atobe blinked at him.
“What?” Yuuta asked, when he realised Atobe was looking at him strangely.
Atobe shook his head, realising he wasn’t even quite sure how to phrase just what he was thinking. Some days, he couldn’t quite see the resemblance between Yuuta and Shuusuke. Other days, he thought they were uncannily similar - especially when it came to getting what they wanted.
“Perhaps I should have stayed sitting,” he joked.
“I don’t think you’d like being carried by me,” Yuuta grinned. “You’d have been over the shoulder.”
Atobe considered. “You’re right. It might not be very dignified to greet your father that way.”
Yuuta laughed. “I don’t think it would bother him that much. I think it takes a lot to surprise him these days.”
And Atobe supposed it did, considering who he had for children.
***
Comments appreciated! ♥ Continue to next part~