[To the displeasure of many of its users, it's been a little more than 24 hours since a certain song made its debut on AppleNET. But one user in particular (perhaps the only one) didn't seem to mind too terribly the cacophony that was produced. Somehow, through the arrangement of manly yelling and blaring car and air horns, he'd even managed to memorize the actual melody.
Kouyuki wasn't spinning tall tales when he'd said he thought the song was catchy. And as proof, that morning before school he was humming it to himself as he wandered about the kitchen of the Yamashita home putting together his lunch: a little rice, a packet of natto (not his favorite, but he'd never been one to protest too much what his aunt and uncle bought), some fish, and some leftover sweet dumplings. It wasn't fancy, but it was healthy, and as he softly snapped one of the lids down onto its container, he couldn't quite refrain from singing under his breath...]
β« Beep, beep~ β«
[He might not have figured out quite how to feel about Luci, but he couldn't deny that whatever or whoever they were, they seemed to have a sense of humor he found relatable.]
[Kidou's taken to getting up earlier than he used to, and uses that opportunity to prepare his meals in a slightly more artistic fashion. His parents have simpler food, which isn't something Kidou minds, but the lack of variety around is going to start to wear at him eventually. So instead of letting that happen, he's taken to the next best thing: using spices and decoration to keep them from being boring. While he's busy grilling fish, he's cutting out careful shapes out of seaweed with scissors, placing them delicately onto a small, plain onigiri to pattern it like a penguin. (He could have just kept it a portion of rice, but ... he could also do this, so he's doing this.) Getting up super early seemingly just to do this might seem like overkill - and it is - but it's worthwhile overkill.
Kouyuki shows up when he's just about done with making everything and is carefully arranging things with a pair of chopsticks to be just so. Initially, Kidou barely looks up beyond an acknowledging nod, but when he just barely catches something that sounds distressingly and impossibly familiar, his head shoots up, staring intently at Kouyuki. The chopsticks hang in the air, inches above his masterwork in progress.
Kidou says nothing. Not at first.
He just.
Stares.
While the gears in his head spin overtime. That couldn't have been what he thought it was. It just couldn't have. Yet what else could it be? That wasn't a song that he was aware of as being around. He and Kouyuki usually shared enough that they had about the same reference frame, so it wouldn't be that he'd just not heard it when Kouyuki had, right? So if it's that song... either it's a very unsettling coincidence, or -
Kidou doesn't even want to think about what that actually hints at. The idea that his brother would be trapped with that app - and the contract, and the war, and the very real, mortal danger it brought - is a bit too much right now. Kidou hasn't even finished repressing and settling things with himself in order to handle that app. He can't handle this. Does he have to anyway? Is he just hearing things?]
[Although they were born months apart and even spent years living separately from one another, Kouyuki and Michi have always had a strong bond. Even with Michi's Awakening and becoming Kidou, the connection between them, between brothers, remains unbroken. For that reason, it doesn't take Kouyuki very long to feel something different in the kitchen's atmosphere that morning. Even without raising his gaze, he's vaguely aware he's being watched.
The sudden stillness of Michi's movements, his brother no longer moving methodically about his own lunch preparations (far more artistic than any Kouyuki's ever seen him make before) communicate that something is wrong. But what? Offhand, Kouyuki can't imagine anything. If his brother had hurt himself cooking, there'd be some indication, but this silence means that there's a different kind of problem and he can't help wondering if...
...could it have had something to do with the song?
After sealing the last container, he looks up finally and smiles brightly at Michi. The same as he's always done. As if there isn't any cause for alarm. Even if this morning doesn't feel the same as it used to, and mornings in their household haven't felt "normal" for a few weeks now, that doesn't mean Kouyuki is willing to give up.]
Your lunch looks really good.
[He's careful not to draw attention to that being unusual by adding something like "today" to the end, but he's thinking it. Although Michi's lunches have never been poor quality, there is certainly something gourmet about them nowadays, which is impressive given what they usually have on hand to work with. Where did the change come from? Or the interest? With all they shared, Kouyuki ought to have known if his brother was taking any extra lessons...]
[Yet again, Kidou finds himself grateful for the sunglasses; Kouyuki can't see his eyes widen when he looks up. But what he says has nothing to do with Luci's song at all; it's instead acknowledgement of all that hard work. Kidou forces himself to relax; first breathing, then moving again instead of being a statue. He can't give away there's a reason that song was strange.
At least his return attempt at a smile is genuine enough, especially once he focuses on what Kouyuki said now, instead of that half-heard song he's busy shoving to the back of his mind. Even though he did this for him, getting praise for it went a very long way with Kidou.]
...
[Of course, replying would help. He should do that. Yes.]
Yeah, it turned out well. I was worried I might run out of time.
[He turns the burner off, and deftly places the still hot grilled fish (complete with marinade) into a curled spiral in the last slot of his bento. They'll cool off there fast enough, with a cooling pack. Nothing here will suffer for the heat. Still, he should time this better tomorrow. One more gentle nudge to fix the placing of an errant vegetable...
And now. Now. He gently snaps the cover over, clicking it shut.]
[Trying not to focus on the differences in Michi's behavior only makes them stand out more. He's never been the type to fall behind or be late for anything, but he never seemed so tightly wound about mundane tasks before, either. Where was this sudden passion for cooking and presentation coming from?
Kouyuki considers, briefly, if there might be someone at school his brother likes, but just as he'd wondered for a while if there was anyone bullying Michi and learned there wasn't, he knows it's probably not true. Something like that...there's no way he wouldn't have noticed, and no way that his brother wouldn't have told him. Not to brag, but because they shared almost everything.
Whatever this was, it was something different. A phase, maybe. Michi did tend to cycle through various activities...]
I think you made good time even sharing the kitchen with me.
[Not that he'd have it any other way. Kouyuki liked spending time around his younger brother. Having only his parents those five years he spent traveling with them made living with Michi and the Yamashitas something he appreciated deeply and didn't take for granted.
He thinks Michi feels the same, or similarly. Not for the very same reasons, but for his own. He's never made Kouyuki feel like he wasn't welcome. Even these past few weeks, while he's been more and more distant, he's still kind. Just...trying a lot harder. And that's what worries Kouyuki.
Back to humming that song as he slips his lunch into his bag like things are normal, he wonders why Michi would ever feel like he needs to push himself so far? Has he done something to make his brother think the way he was before wasn't enough?]
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Action πΉ July 20th
Kouyuki wasn't spinning tall tales when he'd said he thought the song was catchy. And as proof, that morning before school he was humming it to himself as he wandered about the kitchen of the Yamashita home putting together his lunch: a little rice, a packet of natto (not his favorite, but he'd never been one to protest too much what his aunt and uncle bought), some fish, and some leftover sweet dumplings. It wasn't fancy, but it was healthy, and as he softly snapped one of the lids down onto its container, he couldn't quite refrain from singing under his breath...]
β« Beep, beep~ β«
[He might not have figured out quite how to feel about Luci, but he couldn't deny that whatever or whoever they were, they seemed to have a sense of humor he found relatable.]
no subject
Kouyuki shows up when he's just about done with making everything and is carefully arranging things with a pair of chopsticks to be just so. Initially, Kidou barely looks up beyond an acknowledging nod, but when he just barely catches something that sounds distressingly and impossibly familiar, his head shoots up, staring intently at Kouyuki. The chopsticks hang in the air, inches above his masterwork in progress.
Kidou says nothing. Not at first.
He just.
Stares.
While the gears in his head spin overtime. That couldn't have been what he thought it was. It just couldn't have. Yet what else could it be? That wasn't a song that he was aware of as being around. He and Kouyuki usually shared enough that they had about the same reference frame, so it wouldn't be that he'd just not heard it when Kouyuki had, right? So if it's that song... either it's a very unsettling coincidence, or -
Kidou doesn't even want to think about what that actually hints at. The idea that his brother would be trapped with that app - and the contract, and the war, and the very real, mortal danger it brought - is a bit too much right now. Kidou hasn't even finished repressing and settling things with himself in order to handle that app. He can't handle this. Does he have to anyway? Is he just hearing things?]
no subject
The sudden stillness of Michi's movements, his brother no longer moving methodically about his own lunch preparations (far more artistic than any Kouyuki's ever seen him make before) communicate that something is wrong. But what? Offhand, Kouyuki can't imagine anything. If his brother had hurt himself cooking, there'd be some indication, but this silence means that there's a different kind of problem and he can't help wondering if...
...could it have had something to do with the song?
After sealing the last container, he looks up finally and smiles brightly at Michi. The same as he's always done. As if there isn't any cause for alarm. Even if this morning doesn't feel the same as it used to, and mornings in their household haven't felt "normal" for a few weeks now, that doesn't mean Kouyuki is willing to give up.]
Your lunch looks really good.
[He's careful not to draw attention to that being unusual by adding something like "today" to the end, but he's thinking it. Although Michi's lunches have never been poor quality, there is certainly something gourmet about them nowadays, which is impressive given what they usually have on hand to work with. Where did the change come from? Or the interest? With all they shared, Kouyuki ought to have known if his brother was taking any extra lessons...]
no subject
At least his return attempt at a smile is genuine enough, especially once he focuses on what Kouyuki said now, instead of that half-heard song he's busy shoving to the back of his mind. Even though he did this for him, getting praise for it went a very long way with Kidou.]
...
[Of course, replying would help. He should do that. Yes.]
Yeah, it turned out well. I was worried I might run out of time.
[He turns the burner off, and deftly places the still hot grilled fish (complete with marinade) into a curled spiral in the last slot of his bento. They'll cool off there fast enough, with a cooling pack. Nothing here will suffer for the heat. Still, he should time this better tomorrow. One more gentle nudge to fix the placing of an errant vegetable...
And now. Now. He gently snaps the cover over, clicking it shut.]
no subject
Kouyuki considers, briefly, if there might be someone at school his brother likes, but just as he'd wondered for a while if there was anyone bullying Michi and learned there wasn't, he knows it's probably not true. Something like that...there's no way he wouldn't have noticed, and no way that his brother wouldn't have told him. Not to brag, but because they shared almost everything.
Whatever this was, it was something different. A phase, maybe. Michi did tend to cycle through various activities...]
I think you made good time even sharing the kitchen with me.
[Not that he'd have it any other way. Kouyuki liked spending time around his younger brother. Having only his parents those five years he spent traveling with them made living with Michi and the Yamashitas something he appreciated deeply and didn't take for granted.
He thinks Michi feels the same, or similarly. Not for the very same reasons, but for his own. He's never made Kouyuki feel like he wasn't welcome. Even these past few weeks, while he's been more and more distant, he's still kind. Just...trying a lot harder. And that's what worries Kouyuki.
Back to humming that song as he slips his lunch into his bag like things are normal, he wonders why Michi would ever feel like he needs to push himself so far? Has he done something to make his brother think the way he was before wasn't enough?]