Kamen Rider W - Self Education
Title: Self Education
Fandom: Kamen Rider W
Pairing: Leading to... Phillip and Shoutarou.... >.>;;;;;
Rating: R? *going to hell*
Summary: Phillip can figure most anything out himself. But he stumbles upon something his books just can't make him understand.
Authors Notes: it's been a LONG time since I've written, and even I can see my attention to detail and setting scenes has gone down the drain. I'm making a point to get back into it though.
This was written for tayles, because I figured someone had to write it. Consider it an early Christmas present, because my actual one will be late at this rate.
There were no perks to being a Kamen Rider. And there was no convincing Shoutarou otherwise. Where was the glory? The fame? The girls?
No, really. Where the hell were the girls?!
It was no use. The office was quiet, dead quiet. It was late, and all that could be heard down the street was the rustle of leaves blowing down the street, and regular wind that blew through the city tonight just a gentle breeze. Akiko had already left for the night, Shoutarou was sure of that. Phillip had insisted that Akiko get walked over to her friend’s place. Of course, he didn’t argue, it made sense, what with the dopants becoming more and more bold. Akiko babbled on the entire walk how about how she was going to beat him at darts one day, and oh he should have seen it, she got a bulls eye, honestly! Shoutarou didn’t listen, she was acting too much like a kid again. But maybe that’s why he wasn’t getting the girls! They might all think he was going out with some middle schooler!
Shouarou shook the thought out of his head. God no, that would never happen. Not with Akiko, and not with some middle schooler.
…Though those uniforms they had looked quite cute when they rolled the skirts up.
Shoutarou nodded at the thought, a smug smile gracing his face as he tilted his fedora down over his eyes. Though, they were still young. The high schoolers though, they were much more interesting. Dark hair, bangs brushed over their eyes just so, huge brown eyes so huge you could see your reflection in them if you looked right into them... Dressed in a way that looked as if they spent little thought at what they were wearing, but it some how naturally just looked good. There was something about that thought that was warm and comforting. Coming home to someone with bright eyes and a curious smile, quiet, but not too quiet…
Before Shoutarou could give that image a second thought, his fingers dipped beneath the waistband of his pants. He leaned back in his chair, kicking his feet up onto his desk. Perhaps there were no girls, and no glory, but this could do, for now.
~~~
It was a well-known fact; when Phillip had something on his mind, it became an obsession. At the moment, Phillip was consumed by the idea of pocket monsters. They were monsters. That went into tiny balls. That sat in your pocket. Or, if you had the right attachment, your belt. They were commonly known as “pokemon” however. Short for pocket monsters, of course. There were 493 discovered pokemon, though there was always the chance that more could be discovered. There was a pokedex, which reminded Phillip much of his world library, except much smaller. He knew every pokemon, and how they evolved. He knew what level the evolved at, and how to get them to evolve a certain way. He knew all of the types, and had a complex map of which element types fought best against which. Akiko was going to lend him her copy of the latest game, but Shoutarou, unfortunately, told Akiko that it would be the worst idea ever. Something about the game having no ending, and being completely addicting, and how Phillip would have never finished the game, ever.
And so here Phillip was, at the end of his white boards, having mastered all of Pokemon without so much as touching a gameboy. Phillip was just about to go look through the library again, still not tired at all after his marathon research session.
And then he heard a noise.
It wasn’t so much as a noise than a groan. Phillip perked up, his head turning toward the door to the office. The noise came from in there. Phillip’s mind went racing, thinking of everything in the office and what could possibly make a noise like that. Akiko wasn’t going to be back until the morning, she had her own place. There should have been no animals, and Shoutarou wasn’t the type who snored. Phillip knew that, he knew everything about Shoutarou as well. Phillip never even bothered looking up the book on Shoutarou, because he didn’t have to. They were together, always. They shared their thoughts with one another, literally, and he was his partner. Up until Akiko arrived, Shoutarou was Phillip’s only friend.
And there was that groan again.
Phillip was getting concerned. If Shoutarou were out there, and he was sounding in pain like that, he would be trying to access Phillip, wouldn’t he? But when Phillip tried to see where Shoutarou was, tried to think with him, it was like running into a wall. He couldn’t find his thoughts. Everything that he heard that should be Shoutarou felt like a whole different language, filled with words and sounds he’d never heard before.
After deciding it most certainly was not a dopant, because they were far noisier, Phillip quietly peaked his head through the doorway, blinking his eyes a few times to adjust to the darkness in the room.
Phillip was smart, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind. He knew everything, could do everything, and if he didn’t know, it would only take a matter of seconds to become a master at it. But, Phillip was book smart only. He was also sheltered, and dreadfully naïve. He didn’t understand people much at all, not unless there was a book on the subject. So when he first saw Shoutarou sitting at his desk, eyes closed, feet up on the desk as he slumped back in his chair, Phillip made the logical conclusion that his partner was merely asleep.
But then that noise came again. And it was distinctly coming from Shouatrou.
Phillip blinked, some how knowing that this was one moment where he should observe quietly without interrupting Shoutarou. He had to gather all of his data before making an accurate decision.
In the darkness, it was difficult to make out what was going on. Shoutarou was moving though. At first, he looked to be in pain - his legs would tense up and straighten out, only to relax a moment later. His head arched back against his chair, pushing his trademark fedora nearly off his head. He writhed in his chair, squirming as if something were crawling under and over his skin. His breathing was heavy and laboured, as if they’d just finished fighting off some particularly difficult dopant.
Everything about Shoutarou looked as if he was in pain. With his face covered with the hat, all Phillip could see was the tensing and the squirming, and could hear the difficult breathing. But something froze him in his tracks, not letting him move. He didn’t know what was going on, but he just knew that it was hasty to rush in then. With that thought holding him back, another loud noise broke Phillip’s attention away from his thoughts and back to his partner. Shoutarou had moaned. Loudly. Phillip took another step closer to see what exactly was going on, and his eyes went wide with surprise with what he saw.
Another loud groan and an arch of his back caused Shoutarou’s hat to fall off. His face told a story different to pain. His eyes were scrunched up closed, mouth slightly slackened as his breath panted out shallowly. While Phillip couldn’t see or understand what Shoutarou was doing, Phillip could see that Shoutarou’s pants were shoved down slightly, his hand doing… some kind of repetitive action, frantically. The faster his hand went, the faster Shoutarou’s breath panted out, and the more he squirmed about. There was a sound of skin hitting skin as well, and Phillip couldn’t understand why on earth Shoutarou was hitting himself in such a place. And why, despite the sounds, and the breathing, and the squirming, and the moaning… Shoutarou really seemed to be enjoying himself.
It was fascinating, really! Phillip wished he had a notebook or a whiteboard or something so he could take detailed notes of his observations. But those were too far, and something had cemented his feet in place so he couldn’t leave. Phillip was sure there was more to come.
The gasps became loud and sharp, the moans much more vocal. Shoutarou, to put it frankly, looked down right wanton at that moment. He couldn’t keep still, nor could he keep up with himself, his hand moving violently over himself, hitting himself in a way that Phillip was sure had to hurt. He couldn’t understand. But then suddenly, as it all seemed to build up, in a split second, Shoutarou froze in place, his hand covering himself as he gave a last, final groan and relaxed into his seat. Phillip’s eyes were wide as saucers as he watched the strange spectacle come to an end, still unsure of what he just saw. All he knew at that moment was that whatever trance that Shoutarou seemed to have been in, he was being pulled out of it, slowly. Despite his curiosity, and the millions of questions he had, Phillip had a suspicion that Shoutarou was better off not knowing Phillip had just seen that. With a quick scurry back to his room, Phillip shut the door behind him.
It was only then, in the silence of the back room, that Phillip finally could hear his own heart racing, his own breath heavy with some kind of strange anticipation and rush from that moment. How peculiar. He had to know more. Closing his eyes, Phillip easily slipped into the library, countless bookshelves surrounding him.
“Library, I need to know something. Keywords… Young male. Alone. Heavy breathing.”
The bookshelves sorted themselves, with hundreds of shelves still at his disposal. Phillip looked baffled. “I need more keywords. Hrm… Moaning?” More shelves disappeared, but not enough. “…Pleasure?” He was sure that was a look of pleasure on his partner’s face when he finally stopped.
That keyword seemed to do the trick, narrowing the bookshelves down to one, filled with books still. Phillip ran a finger over the spines of the old looking books, finally grabbing a large one that looked near ancient. He ran his fingers over the gold print on the spine, reading the title. It was a word he wasn’t familiar with. “Masturbation?” Phillip said the word cautiously, flipping open the book. “Seems like I’m in for a lot of reading tonight.”
~~~
It was too early on a Saturday morning for Akiko to be arriving at the office. “Why are you here anyways?” Shoutarou grumbled over his breakfast. He stirred his coffee over and over, the sound of the spoon clinking against the side of the mug going along with the wind chimes that he could hear from across the street.
“There’s no rest for the weary!” Akiko exclaimed, striking a triumphant pose. She turned dramatically and poked Shoutarou in the side. “Besides, we still have to go find that lost puppy!”
“I AM A DETECTIVE!” Shoutarou exclaimed, jumping up in annoyance, and also so he could get some height over the tiny girl who claimed to be chief. “I DON’T GO CHASING AFTER LOST PUPPIES AND OTHER USELESS THINGS! I AM -“
“Behind in your rent!” Akiko slapped him across the back of the head with her trusty green slipper. “And as long as little old ladies looking for their dog pay us in advance, you’re going to look for dogs!”
Shoutarou opened his mouth to argue, ready and rearing for a fight this morning, when the door from the back room opened.
“Wanking… jacking off…jerking off…” Phillip was reading aloud to himself as he walked out into the main room, running on auto pilot as he went to grab himself a piece of toast. “Beating off… wack off… choaking chickens… polishing candlesticks… spanking monkeys…”
“EEEEEHHHHHH?!?!” Shoutarou nearly choked in horror as he heard his young partner reading off such a list. “What the hell are you reading about?”
“Mastub-“ Phillip began to answer, only to be jumped by the older detective, his mouth covered by Shoutarou’s hand in silence.
“IT WAS A HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION!!” Shoutarou bellowed. The volume of his voice seemed to go louder the more embarrassed he got. Akiko was practically covering her ears, he was that embarrassed.
Pulling away from the taller man, Phillip rushed over to Akiko, eager to share what he’d learnt. She was always impressed with the things he learnt each day! “It’s fascinating! People have been doing it for as long as humans can remember! It reduces depression, promotes a higher sense of self-esteem, and some believe it can even reduce chances of getting prostate cancer! It can even solve congestion, apparently, by reducing the swelling of nasal blood vessels.” Phillip began pacing around the room, as if he’d just discovered the wheel overnight, he was that pleased with his discoveries. “In parts of Europe, it’s encouraged that people do it at least once a day, while in other countries, it’s still considered taboo to talk about. Do you think it’s taboo to talk about, Akiko?”
Oh god, he’s was asking the girl now. Shoutarou jumped after his partner again, covering his mouth again and getting a firm grip on him so he couldn’t pull away. “Don’t answer that. PLEASE don’t answer that.”
Akiko, luckily, was so horrified by the entire situation, she was stunned silent at the question. “…Is he… talking… about what I think he’s talking about?”
“I think so. I’ve no clue wh-“ Shoutarou trailed off, his face a mixture of expressions, mostly horrified, embarrassed, and somewhat pained. “Ne, Phillip…” Shoutarou lowered his voice so he wasn’t shouting so much, asking the boy who was still firmly held against his chest, mouth covered by Shoutarou’s hand. “Did you come out of the back room last night?” Phillip nodded, looking up at Shoutarou with his huge brown eyes. There was something in those eyes that looked… frustrated. Like he did when… “Was one of your books locked when you looked that up last night?”
Another nod, and then a mumble against Shoutarou’s hand. With a moment of caution, Shoutarou removed his hand to let Phillip repeat himself. “Yeah, quite a few were…”
Shoutarou groaned (a different type to the night before, Phillip noted) as he realized the situation that was in his hands, quite literally. Luckily, Akiko was there to vocalize just what was on everyone’s mind, in that oh so charming way she had about putting things. “Did he catch you… EW. EW EW EW. AND NOW HE’S GOING TO BE GOING ON AND ON ABOUT… EW. EW.” She smacked Shoutarou over the head with her green slipper once again. “YOU BETTER FIX THIS. I DON’T WANT TO LISTEN TO HIM GO ON ABOUT… ABOUT… THAT AGAIN!”
Thoroughly horrified, Akiko marched out of the office, rambling on about how Phillip was so much more interesting when he talked about pokemon and didn’t act like some guy.
With Akiko gone, Shoutarou felt no need to cling to Phillip, letting his young partner go. “Shoutarou, I don’t understand…”
Those three words seemed to catch Shoutarou off guard. “You… don’t… understand? What do you mean, you don’t understand? You never not understand, it’s just not possible!”
“Using a double negative isn’t the correct sentence structure, You need to choose if that means an absolute positive or a single negative,” Phillip automatically recited. “And I know, but the books were locked. I can’t get into them, I’ve tried.”
Shoutarou paced around the room, wringing his hair between his fingers. “Of course they would be locked. Of course you couldn’t explain something like that with just a book…”
“…Ne, Shoutarou?” Phillip asked, flipping through the book in his hands a few times, trying to find the right answers again. “Do you know the keyword for my book? Since you know what’s in the book?”
“EEEEEHHH?” Shoutarou couldn’t help the loud exclamations sometimes. “I… No, I don’t know the keyword for your book.” This was stupid and frustrating. “Look, just… go back to reading about pokemon, okay? Sometimes, you’re not meant to read some books till you’re older.” Changing his hat, Shoutarou began to pull on his shoes. He needed some fresh air, some coffee, something to get his mind off this strange conversation. “I’m going out to pick up some food and look for this stupid dog. I’ll let you know when I find him.” Before Phillip could even protest, Shoutarou was out the door.
But even if Shoutarou tried to ignore it, it was a well-known fact; when Phillip had something on his mind, it became an obsession.
Fandom: Kamen Rider W
Pairing: Leading to... Phillip and Shoutarou.... >.>;;;;;
Rating: R? *going to hell*
Summary: Phillip can figure most anything out himself. But he stumbles upon something his books just can't make him understand.
Authors Notes: it's been a LONG time since I've written, and even I can see my attention to detail and setting scenes has gone down the drain. I'm making a point to get back into it though.
This was written for tayles, because I figured someone had to write it. Consider it an early Christmas present, because my actual one will be late at this rate.
There were no perks to being a Kamen Rider. And there was no convincing Shoutarou otherwise. Where was the glory? The fame? The girls?
No, really. Where the hell were the girls?!
It was no use. The office was quiet, dead quiet. It was late, and all that could be heard down the street was the rustle of leaves blowing down the street, and regular wind that blew through the city tonight just a gentle breeze. Akiko had already left for the night, Shoutarou was sure of that. Phillip had insisted that Akiko get walked over to her friend’s place. Of course, he didn’t argue, it made sense, what with the dopants becoming more and more bold. Akiko babbled on the entire walk how about how she was going to beat him at darts one day, and oh he should have seen it, she got a bulls eye, honestly! Shoutarou didn’t listen, she was acting too much like a kid again. But maybe that’s why he wasn’t getting the girls! They might all think he was going out with some middle schooler!
Shouarou shook the thought out of his head. God no, that would never happen. Not with Akiko, and not with some middle schooler.
…Though those uniforms they had looked quite cute when they rolled the skirts up.
Shoutarou nodded at the thought, a smug smile gracing his face as he tilted his fedora down over his eyes. Though, they were still young. The high schoolers though, they were much more interesting. Dark hair, bangs brushed over their eyes just so, huge brown eyes so huge you could see your reflection in them if you looked right into them... Dressed in a way that looked as if they spent little thought at what they were wearing, but it some how naturally just looked good. There was something about that thought that was warm and comforting. Coming home to someone with bright eyes and a curious smile, quiet, but not too quiet…
Before Shoutarou could give that image a second thought, his fingers dipped beneath the waistband of his pants. He leaned back in his chair, kicking his feet up onto his desk. Perhaps there were no girls, and no glory, but this could do, for now.
~~~
It was a well-known fact; when Phillip had something on his mind, it became an obsession. At the moment, Phillip was consumed by the idea of pocket monsters. They were monsters. That went into tiny balls. That sat in your pocket. Or, if you had the right attachment, your belt. They were commonly known as “pokemon” however. Short for pocket monsters, of course. There were 493 discovered pokemon, though there was always the chance that more could be discovered. There was a pokedex, which reminded Phillip much of his world library, except much smaller. He knew every pokemon, and how they evolved. He knew what level the evolved at, and how to get them to evolve a certain way. He knew all of the types, and had a complex map of which element types fought best against which. Akiko was going to lend him her copy of the latest game, but Shoutarou, unfortunately, told Akiko that it would be the worst idea ever. Something about the game having no ending, and being completely addicting, and how Phillip would have never finished the game, ever.
And so here Phillip was, at the end of his white boards, having mastered all of Pokemon without so much as touching a gameboy. Phillip was just about to go look through the library again, still not tired at all after his marathon research session.
And then he heard a noise.
It wasn’t so much as a noise than a groan. Phillip perked up, his head turning toward the door to the office. The noise came from in there. Phillip’s mind went racing, thinking of everything in the office and what could possibly make a noise like that. Akiko wasn’t going to be back until the morning, she had her own place. There should have been no animals, and Shoutarou wasn’t the type who snored. Phillip knew that, he knew everything about Shoutarou as well. Phillip never even bothered looking up the book on Shoutarou, because he didn’t have to. They were together, always. They shared their thoughts with one another, literally, and he was his partner. Up until Akiko arrived, Shoutarou was Phillip’s only friend.
And there was that groan again.
Phillip was getting concerned. If Shoutarou were out there, and he was sounding in pain like that, he would be trying to access Phillip, wouldn’t he? But when Phillip tried to see where Shoutarou was, tried to think with him, it was like running into a wall. He couldn’t find his thoughts. Everything that he heard that should be Shoutarou felt like a whole different language, filled with words and sounds he’d never heard before.
After deciding it most certainly was not a dopant, because they were far noisier, Phillip quietly peaked his head through the doorway, blinking his eyes a few times to adjust to the darkness in the room.
Phillip was smart, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind. He knew everything, could do everything, and if he didn’t know, it would only take a matter of seconds to become a master at it. But, Phillip was book smart only. He was also sheltered, and dreadfully naïve. He didn’t understand people much at all, not unless there was a book on the subject. So when he first saw Shoutarou sitting at his desk, eyes closed, feet up on the desk as he slumped back in his chair, Phillip made the logical conclusion that his partner was merely asleep.
But then that noise came again. And it was distinctly coming from Shouatrou.
Phillip blinked, some how knowing that this was one moment where he should observe quietly without interrupting Shoutarou. He had to gather all of his data before making an accurate decision.
In the darkness, it was difficult to make out what was going on. Shoutarou was moving though. At first, he looked to be in pain - his legs would tense up and straighten out, only to relax a moment later. His head arched back against his chair, pushing his trademark fedora nearly off his head. He writhed in his chair, squirming as if something were crawling under and over his skin. His breathing was heavy and laboured, as if they’d just finished fighting off some particularly difficult dopant.
Everything about Shoutarou looked as if he was in pain. With his face covered with the hat, all Phillip could see was the tensing and the squirming, and could hear the difficult breathing. But something froze him in his tracks, not letting him move. He didn’t know what was going on, but he just knew that it was hasty to rush in then. With that thought holding him back, another loud noise broke Phillip’s attention away from his thoughts and back to his partner. Shoutarou had moaned. Loudly. Phillip took another step closer to see what exactly was going on, and his eyes went wide with surprise with what he saw.
Another loud groan and an arch of his back caused Shoutarou’s hat to fall off. His face told a story different to pain. His eyes were scrunched up closed, mouth slightly slackened as his breath panted out shallowly. While Phillip couldn’t see or understand what Shoutarou was doing, Phillip could see that Shoutarou’s pants were shoved down slightly, his hand doing… some kind of repetitive action, frantically. The faster his hand went, the faster Shoutarou’s breath panted out, and the more he squirmed about. There was a sound of skin hitting skin as well, and Phillip couldn’t understand why on earth Shoutarou was hitting himself in such a place. And why, despite the sounds, and the breathing, and the squirming, and the moaning… Shoutarou really seemed to be enjoying himself.
It was fascinating, really! Phillip wished he had a notebook or a whiteboard or something so he could take detailed notes of his observations. But those were too far, and something had cemented his feet in place so he couldn’t leave. Phillip was sure there was more to come.
The gasps became loud and sharp, the moans much more vocal. Shoutarou, to put it frankly, looked down right wanton at that moment. He couldn’t keep still, nor could he keep up with himself, his hand moving violently over himself, hitting himself in a way that Phillip was sure had to hurt. He couldn’t understand. But then suddenly, as it all seemed to build up, in a split second, Shoutarou froze in place, his hand covering himself as he gave a last, final groan and relaxed into his seat. Phillip’s eyes were wide as saucers as he watched the strange spectacle come to an end, still unsure of what he just saw. All he knew at that moment was that whatever trance that Shoutarou seemed to have been in, he was being pulled out of it, slowly. Despite his curiosity, and the millions of questions he had, Phillip had a suspicion that Shoutarou was better off not knowing Phillip had just seen that. With a quick scurry back to his room, Phillip shut the door behind him.
It was only then, in the silence of the back room, that Phillip finally could hear his own heart racing, his own breath heavy with some kind of strange anticipation and rush from that moment. How peculiar. He had to know more. Closing his eyes, Phillip easily slipped into the library, countless bookshelves surrounding him.
“Library, I need to know something. Keywords… Young male. Alone. Heavy breathing.”
The bookshelves sorted themselves, with hundreds of shelves still at his disposal. Phillip looked baffled. “I need more keywords. Hrm… Moaning?” More shelves disappeared, but not enough. “…Pleasure?” He was sure that was a look of pleasure on his partner’s face when he finally stopped.
That keyword seemed to do the trick, narrowing the bookshelves down to one, filled with books still. Phillip ran a finger over the spines of the old looking books, finally grabbing a large one that looked near ancient. He ran his fingers over the gold print on the spine, reading the title. It was a word he wasn’t familiar with. “Masturbation?” Phillip said the word cautiously, flipping open the book. “Seems like I’m in for a lot of reading tonight.”
~~~
It was too early on a Saturday morning for Akiko to be arriving at the office. “Why are you here anyways?” Shoutarou grumbled over his breakfast. He stirred his coffee over and over, the sound of the spoon clinking against the side of the mug going along with the wind chimes that he could hear from across the street.
“There’s no rest for the weary!” Akiko exclaimed, striking a triumphant pose. She turned dramatically and poked Shoutarou in the side. “Besides, we still have to go find that lost puppy!”
“I AM A DETECTIVE!” Shoutarou exclaimed, jumping up in annoyance, and also so he could get some height over the tiny girl who claimed to be chief. “I DON’T GO CHASING AFTER LOST PUPPIES AND OTHER USELESS THINGS! I AM -“
“Behind in your rent!” Akiko slapped him across the back of the head with her trusty green slipper. “And as long as little old ladies looking for their dog pay us in advance, you’re going to look for dogs!”
Shoutarou opened his mouth to argue, ready and rearing for a fight this morning, when the door from the back room opened.
“Wanking… jacking off…jerking off…” Phillip was reading aloud to himself as he walked out into the main room, running on auto pilot as he went to grab himself a piece of toast. “Beating off… wack off… choaking chickens… polishing candlesticks… spanking monkeys…”
“EEEEEHHHHHH?!?!” Shoutarou nearly choked in horror as he heard his young partner reading off such a list. “What the hell are you reading about?”
“Mastub-“ Phillip began to answer, only to be jumped by the older detective, his mouth covered by Shoutarou’s hand in silence.
“IT WAS A HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION!!” Shoutarou bellowed. The volume of his voice seemed to go louder the more embarrassed he got. Akiko was practically covering her ears, he was that embarrassed.
Pulling away from the taller man, Phillip rushed over to Akiko, eager to share what he’d learnt. She was always impressed with the things he learnt each day! “It’s fascinating! People have been doing it for as long as humans can remember! It reduces depression, promotes a higher sense of self-esteem, and some believe it can even reduce chances of getting prostate cancer! It can even solve congestion, apparently, by reducing the swelling of nasal blood vessels.” Phillip began pacing around the room, as if he’d just discovered the wheel overnight, he was that pleased with his discoveries. “In parts of Europe, it’s encouraged that people do it at least once a day, while in other countries, it’s still considered taboo to talk about. Do you think it’s taboo to talk about, Akiko?”
Oh god, he’s was asking the girl now. Shoutarou jumped after his partner again, covering his mouth again and getting a firm grip on him so he couldn’t pull away. “Don’t answer that. PLEASE don’t answer that.”
Akiko, luckily, was so horrified by the entire situation, she was stunned silent at the question. “…Is he… talking… about what I think he’s talking about?”
“I think so. I’ve no clue wh-“ Shoutarou trailed off, his face a mixture of expressions, mostly horrified, embarrassed, and somewhat pained. “Ne, Phillip…” Shoutarou lowered his voice so he wasn’t shouting so much, asking the boy who was still firmly held against his chest, mouth covered by Shoutarou’s hand. “Did you come out of the back room last night?” Phillip nodded, looking up at Shoutarou with his huge brown eyes. There was something in those eyes that looked… frustrated. Like he did when… “Was one of your books locked when you looked that up last night?”
Another nod, and then a mumble against Shoutarou’s hand. With a moment of caution, Shoutarou removed his hand to let Phillip repeat himself. “Yeah, quite a few were…”
Shoutarou groaned (a different type to the night before, Phillip noted) as he realized the situation that was in his hands, quite literally. Luckily, Akiko was there to vocalize just what was on everyone’s mind, in that oh so charming way she had about putting things. “Did he catch you… EW. EW EW EW. AND NOW HE’S GOING TO BE GOING ON AND ON ABOUT… EW. EW.” She smacked Shoutarou over the head with her green slipper once again. “YOU BETTER FIX THIS. I DON’T WANT TO LISTEN TO HIM GO ON ABOUT… ABOUT… THAT AGAIN!”
Thoroughly horrified, Akiko marched out of the office, rambling on about how Phillip was so much more interesting when he talked about pokemon and didn’t act like some guy.
With Akiko gone, Shoutarou felt no need to cling to Phillip, letting his young partner go. “Shoutarou, I don’t understand…”
Those three words seemed to catch Shoutarou off guard. “You… don’t… understand? What do you mean, you don’t understand? You never not understand, it’s just not possible!”
“Using a double negative isn’t the correct sentence structure, You need to choose if that means an absolute positive or a single negative,” Phillip automatically recited. “And I know, but the books were locked. I can’t get into them, I’ve tried.”
Shoutarou paced around the room, wringing his hair between his fingers. “Of course they would be locked. Of course you couldn’t explain something like that with just a book…”
“…Ne, Shoutarou?” Phillip asked, flipping through the book in his hands a few times, trying to find the right answers again. “Do you know the keyword for my book? Since you know what’s in the book?”
“EEEEEHHH?” Shoutarou couldn’t help the loud exclamations sometimes. “I… No, I don’t know the keyword for your book.” This was stupid and frustrating. “Look, just… go back to reading about pokemon, okay? Sometimes, you’re not meant to read some books till you’re older.” Changing his hat, Shoutarou began to pull on his shoes. He needed some fresh air, some coffee, something to get his mind off this strange conversation. “I’m going out to pick up some food and look for this stupid dog. I’ll let you know when I find him.” Before Phillip could even protest, Shoutarou was out the door.
But even if Shoutarou tried to ignore it, it was a well-known fact; when Phillip had something on his mind, it became an obsession.