FIC: Look Here
Title: Look Here
Author: huabot
Recipient: hamburgerjack
Rating: PG
Summary: Inui visits Kaidou at home.
Notes: I started many many fantasy AU stories, but... this is based on the Hazue prompt.
Inui knocked well - without hesitation, at what he'd calculated to be an ideal volume. He liked to think he made it look effortless.
Kaidou answered the door. This was a good result, of course, but it always made Inui stop a moment. He didn't see Kaidou that often these days; just on the weekends and sometimes after school like today, when both their schedules were free. Inui had a plan for when he forgot his plans, of course, but sometimes it didn't kick in right away when he was looking at Kaidou; this just happened to be one of those times.
Kaidou had answered the door with messy hair, uneven breath, and eyes that were dark and wide. Inui didn't think he'd been running; it wasn't on the schedule, and even if that didn't mean much Kaidou wasn't flushed but pale, only a light sheen of sweat at his temples. And he was looking back at Inui, taking in his expression. Whatever he made of it had Kaidou's mouth turning down, a little color rising in his face. His eyes had narrowed a little (had he greeted Inui?), but they still looked kind of fathomless. It was a little different from the kind of look that made Inui wonder just exactly what Kaidou was paying attention to, but it was still interesting. Something touched Inui's hand and he jumped.
But it was just Hazue, pulling him inside, chattering happily. Kaidou stepped aside and let them pass. Inui resisted the urge to turn his head around and stare over his shoulder. It probably wouldn't have helped anyway.
Outside it was getting cooler as afternoon slipped on, but the sun was still shining brightly. Inside of the house it was a little warmer, but dim, curtains pulled closed. Then Kaidou closed the door and it got even darker, so Inui was glad to let Hazue lead while his eyes adjusted. Now that he'd finished talking, Inui heard how quiet the house really was, footsteps echoing oddly in his ears. Even though he seemed to feel the smooth floor through his socks, Inui glanced down to make sure he hadn't just imagined slipping out of his shoes. He'd got a ghostly glimpse of his feet before he understood that the sounds were coming from the television in the living room, right where Hazue was leading him.
"Hazue!" Kaidou's father called out from the couch, in a strained voice that smoothed out when he saw they had company. "Oh, Inui-kun? Welcome." Everyone was watching the television - Kaidou's mother was playing a game, it seemed, but she shushed them before they got to far into the explanation. Hazue pulled him down on the couch, throwing his whole weight into it as kids did, so that he seemed improbably strong. Kaidou folded himself up on floor to one side. A fuchsia bandanna was crumpled at Inui's feet; he leaned down and passed it over to Kaidou, who took it without looking, putting it on the table. Inui'd already forgotten what his reason for stopping by was, but he spent so much time thinking up reasons, he wasn't worried that he won't be have an answer if pressed. No one asked him anyway; something was happening on the screen and their attention followed it.
Inui leaned back. He was still wearing his light jacket, but after he'd settled in place for a few seconds he could feel the half of his spot that was closer to Hazue was warmer. Kaidou, he thought. Hazue grinned up at him and he realized he'd been listing a little in that direction.
"It's Zero, so it's okay if you want to hide!"
Inui didn't know what to say to that, so he deflected. "But what about your brother?"
Hazue, looking very serious, leaned forward and repeated the question to Kaidou.
Kaidou said nothing, his face red again, but he ruffled Hazue's hair before pushing him away.
Kaidou didn't like scary things, but his face didn't turn away from the screen. Instead he pressed closer to Inui's legs little by little.
Today he was wearing one of his sleeveless black shirts and his arms were a little cold at first, but Inui's leg warmed up fast. He was concentrating on that, on Kaidou and also thinking about taking off his jacket, not paying much attention to the game, which seemed to involve exorcising ghosts in some rundown house by taking pictures with a camera. Inui had missed out on it on any narrative reason for this strange gameplay. There was a lot of really slow running and stopping to reading clues, but all the waiting around just seemed to raise the Kaidou family's tension. Even Hazue tensed up when a creaking door loaded a new area. On the other side of Hazue, Kaidou senior (who in Inui's previous experience was usually about as composed as any normal adult) shrieked and hid his face every time a ghost popped out of nowhere. "Nurse! Another Nurse!" Inui thought he heard him say, muffled in his son's shoulder. It's easy to imagine the scene before he came, Kaidou sitting where Inui was now, hiding on this side of the broadly grinning Hazue. He imagines Kaidou hiding his face in Inui's shoulder (and shakes away the image that lays a flash of cold over his skin, of Kaidou's dad snuggling up on his other side). He wants to sit on the floor next to Kaidou, but it might seem strange. And Kaidou probably wouldn't be that familiar with Inui, anyway.
Hazue had no such reservations; he tugged at Inui's sleeve with his free hand (the other, despite his bold front, was wrapped in his dad's shirt). Inui looked down to see the boy looking up at him with wide eyes. "Really, aren't you scared?" he asked. Inui adjusted his glasses and looked at the screen. Kaidou's mother had just managed a picture; as a reward, the game showed a clear shot of a ghost's distorted, grimacing face for a moment before she was free to go find another.
"Not particularly."
Hazue shut his mouth and stared at Inui as though he didn't need a camera - he meant to catch Inui's soul with his bare eyes. Kaidou's dad stopped whimpering on the other side of Hazue and looked up. Over their shoulders, Kaidou's mom hit pause and looked over at him.
Three pairs of eyes stared at him unblinkingly. Without the ambient sounds from the game, Inui couldn't help but notice again that the house was very quiet. He managed to look over at Kaidou at last. He was looking up at Inui with the exact same expression as the rest of his family.
Maybe Inui was a little scared, now.
"What are you showing off for," Kaidou's dad asked in a deep, impressive voice. Inui couldn't think of anything to say. "Even mother can't make it through without the support of her family." Kaidou's mother laughed. Hazue and his father didn't look at all amused.
"Are you looking down on us?" Hazue asked, very serious.
Inui caught Kaidou's eye again. This time he came to Inui's rescue after all. "Huh," he said. "When you take your eyes off it it just makes it easier to get you."
"Yeah!" Hazue shouted, bouncing to his knees. "That's why dad is the weakest!" The atmosphere dissolved as he and his dad started to fight it out, neither seeming to get the upper hand.
Kaidou's mother turned off the game and stood up. "Oh, well. Time to start dinner. Will you be staying, Inui-kun?"
"If it's no inconvenience," he managed. Kaidou put away the controller while Hazue and Kaidou Senior's argument shifted to whose turn it was to help with dinner. In the end, Kaidou-san won, and bounded into the kitchen after his wife.
"Wait here!" Hazue told Inui, running up the stairs with similar enthusiasm. The couch was empty except for Inui then, but Kaidou kept himself on the floor, frowning at something far beyond the living room walls. "How are things working out with Horio now?" Inui asked. They talk for a little bit about Kaidou's team, the quality of Kaidou's frown changing in a way Inui liked to think he was special for noticing.
Hazue ran back in. "Here! Here! Here!" he said, holding up a camera, scrambling back up beside Inui to show him the pictures he had taken. It was a rather nice camera, maybe even better than Inui's own at home. Kaidou stayed on the floor, not joining in. But he smiled as he listened to Hazue explain each pictures. Inui thought there was a good chance he knew them by heart. There were a whole bunch showing a rock that Hazue thought was cool, pictures of his feet and his knees and the sky and one of the toilet for some reason; Hazue'd just giggled at that one. There were also candid shots of his family, too, including Kaidou.
"Maybe we can trade pictures," Inui said, trying not to linger over the picture of Kaidou brushing his teeth with sleepy eyes. He had some nice ones of beetles that might do.
Hazue looked doubtful. "You can even trade something like pictures?" he asked carefully.
Kaidou looked up. He'd stretched his legs out in front of him and was running the bandanna through his hands. "Of course," he told his brother. Hazue looked like he'd just been told there was such thing as candy rain. Eventually they made it through all the pictures. Inui took off his jacket and Kaidou stood up. Hazue took a picture of them and ran off to the kitchen to find more interesting stuff to practice on.
Kaidou gave Inui a look. "Are you really going to trade with him? Because he won't forget." You better not forget either, Sempai, his tone said.
Inui wouldn't forget. It was another reason, after all.
Dinner wasn't ready yet, so they went up to Kaidou's room. "Was there something you wanted, Sempai?" Kaidou asked when they got there, as though this question had only now occurred to him. Maybe he'd managed to read Inui's mind somehow.
"Hmm," Inui said. The curtains were open up here, but it had gone dark outside. When Kaidou flicked on the light, The black rectangles in the bright room became impenetrable, scarier than being in the dark itself. Except when Inui looked again he could see their reflections. That was kind of ghostly. "Kaidou," he said. Kaidou stopped with his hand on the switch and looked back over his shoulder, frowning at something in the way Inui'd said his name, surprised when he noticed how close Inui stood.
Inui floated closer still, until Kaidou's was the only reflection in the window, eclipsing his own. "I like you," he said. This time it came out without hesitation, not to loud and not too soft to be heard either.
Kaidou hid his face in Inui's shoulder after all.
Author: huabot
Recipient: hamburgerjack
Rating: PG
Summary: Inui visits Kaidou at home.
Notes: I started many many fantasy AU stories, but... this is based on the Hazue prompt.
Inui knocked well - without hesitation, at what he'd calculated to be an ideal volume. He liked to think he made it look effortless.
Kaidou answered the door. This was a good result, of course, but it always made Inui stop a moment. He didn't see Kaidou that often these days; just on the weekends and sometimes after school like today, when both their schedules were free. Inui had a plan for when he forgot his plans, of course, but sometimes it didn't kick in right away when he was looking at Kaidou; this just happened to be one of those times.
Kaidou had answered the door with messy hair, uneven breath, and eyes that were dark and wide. Inui didn't think he'd been running; it wasn't on the schedule, and even if that didn't mean much Kaidou wasn't flushed but pale, only a light sheen of sweat at his temples. And he was looking back at Inui, taking in his expression. Whatever he made of it had Kaidou's mouth turning down, a little color rising in his face. His eyes had narrowed a little (had he greeted Inui?), but they still looked kind of fathomless. It was a little different from the kind of look that made Inui wonder just exactly what Kaidou was paying attention to, but it was still interesting. Something touched Inui's hand and he jumped.
But it was just Hazue, pulling him inside, chattering happily. Kaidou stepped aside and let them pass. Inui resisted the urge to turn his head around and stare over his shoulder. It probably wouldn't have helped anyway.
Outside it was getting cooler as afternoon slipped on, but the sun was still shining brightly. Inside of the house it was a little warmer, but dim, curtains pulled closed. Then Kaidou closed the door and it got even darker, so Inui was glad to let Hazue lead while his eyes adjusted. Now that he'd finished talking, Inui heard how quiet the house really was, footsteps echoing oddly in his ears. Even though he seemed to feel the smooth floor through his socks, Inui glanced down to make sure he hadn't just imagined slipping out of his shoes. He'd got a ghostly glimpse of his feet before he understood that the sounds were coming from the television in the living room, right where Hazue was leading him.
"Hazue!" Kaidou's father called out from the couch, in a strained voice that smoothed out when he saw they had company. "Oh, Inui-kun? Welcome." Everyone was watching the television - Kaidou's mother was playing a game, it seemed, but she shushed them before they got to far into the explanation. Hazue pulled him down on the couch, throwing his whole weight into it as kids did, so that he seemed improbably strong. Kaidou folded himself up on floor to one side. A fuchsia bandanna was crumpled at Inui's feet; he leaned down and passed it over to Kaidou, who took it without looking, putting it on the table. Inui'd already forgotten what his reason for stopping by was, but he spent so much time thinking up reasons, he wasn't worried that he won't be have an answer if pressed. No one asked him anyway; something was happening on the screen and their attention followed it.
Inui leaned back. He was still wearing his light jacket, but after he'd settled in place for a few seconds he could feel the half of his spot that was closer to Hazue was warmer. Kaidou, he thought. Hazue grinned up at him and he realized he'd been listing a little in that direction.
"It's Zero, so it's okay if you want to hide!"
Inui didn't know what to say to that, so he deflected. "But what about your brother?"
Hazue, looking very serious, leaned forward and repeated the question to Kaidou.
Kaidou said nothing, his face red again, but he ruffled Hazue's hair before pushing him away.
Kaidou didn't like scary things, but his face didn't turn away from the screen. Instead he pressed closer to Inui's legs little by little.
Today he was wearing one of his sleeveless black shirts and his arms were a little cold at first, but Inui's leg warmed up fast. He was concentrating on that, on Kaidou and also thinking about taking off his jacket, not paying much attention to the game, which seemed to involve exorcising ghosts in some rundown house by taking pictures with a camera. Inui had missed out on it on any narrative reason for this strange gameplay. There was a lot of really slow running and stopping to reading clues, but all the waiting around just seemed to raise the Kaidou family's tension. Even Hazue tensed up when a creaking door loaded a new area. On the other side of Hazue, Kaidou senior (who in Inui's previous experience was usually about as composed as any normal adult) shrieked and hid his face every time a ghost popped out of nowhere. "Nurse! Another Nurse!" Inui thought he heard him say, muffled in his son's shoulder. It's easy to imagine the scene before he came, Kaidou sitting where Inui was now, hiding on this side of the broadly grinning Hazue. He imagines Kaidou hiding his face in Inui's shoulder (and shakes away the image that lays a flash of cold over his skin, of Kaidou's dad snuggling up on his other side). He wants to sit on the floor next to Kaidou, but it might seem strange. And Kaidou probably wouldn't be that familiar with Inui, anyway.
Hazue had no such reservations; he tugged at Inui's sleeve with his free hand (the other, despite his bold front, was wrapped in his dad's shirt). Inui looked down to see the boy looking up at him with wide eyes. "Really, aren't you scared?" he asked. Inui adjusted his glasses and looked at the screen. Kaidou's mother had just managed a picture; as a reward, the game showed a clear shot of a ghost's distorted, grimacing face for a moment before she was free to go find another.
"Not particularly."
Hazue shut his mouth and stared at Inui as though he didn't need a camera - he meant to catch Inui's soul with his bare eyes. Kaidou's dad stopped whimpering on the other side of Hazue and looked up. Over their shoulders, Kaidou's mom hit pause and looked over at him.
Three pairs of eyes stared at him unblinkingly. Without the ambient sounds from the game, Inui couldn't help but notice again that the house was very quiet. He managed to look over at Kaidou at last. He was looking up at Inui with the exact same expression as the rest of his family.
Maybe Inui was a little scared, now.
"What are you showing off for," Kaidou's dad asked in a deep, impressive voice. Inui couldn't think of anything to say. "Even mother can't make it through without the support of her family." Kaidou's mother laughed. Hazue and his father didn't look at all amused.
"Are you looking down on us?" Hazue asked, very serious.
Inui caught Kaidou's eye again. This time he came to Inui's rescue after all. "Huh," he said. "When you take your eyes off it it just makes it easier to get you."
"Yeah!" Hazue shouted, bouncing to his knees. "That's why dad is the weakest!" The atmosphere dissolved as he and his dad started to fight it out, neither seeming to get the upper hand.
Kaidou's mother turned off the game and stood up. "Oh, well. Time to start dinner. Will you be staying, Inui-kun?"
"If it's no inconvenience," he managed. Kaidou put away the controller while Hazue and Kaidou Senior's argument shifted to whose turn it was to help with dinner. In the end, Kaidou-san won, and bounded into the kitchen after his wife.
"Wait here!" Hazue told Inui, running up the stairs with similar enthusiasm. The couch was empty except for Inui then, but Kaidou kept himself on the floor, frowning at something far beyond the living room walls. "How are things working out with Horio now?" Inui asked. They talk for a little bit about Kaidou's team, the quality of Kaidou's frown changing in a way Inui liked to think he was special for noticing.
Hazue ran back in. "Here! Here! Here!" he said, holding up a camera, scrambling back up beside Inui to show him the pictures he had taken. It was a rather nice camera, maybe even better than Inui's own at home. Kaidou stayed on the floor, not joining in. But he smiled as he listened to Hazue explain each pictures. Inui thought there was a good chance he knew them by heart. There were a whole bunch showing a rock that Hazue thought was cool, pictures of his feet and his knees and the sky and one of the toilet for some reason; Hazue'd just giggled at that one. There were also candid shots of his family, too, including Kaidou.
"Maybe we can trade pictures," Inui said, trying not to linger over the picture of Kaidou brushing his teeth with sleepy eyes. He had some nice ones of beetles that might do.
Hazue looked doubtful. "You can even trade something like pictures?" he asked carefully.
Kaidou looked up. He'd stretched his legs out in front of him and was running the bandanna through his hands. "Of course," he told his brother. Hazue looked like he'd just been told there was such thing as candy rain. Eventually they made it through all the pictures. Inui took off his jacket and Kaidou stood up. Hazue took a picture of them and ran off to the kitchen to find more interesting stuff to practice on.
Kaidou gave Inui a look. "Are you really going to trade with him? Because he won't forget." You better not forget either, Sempai, his tone said.
Inui wouldn't forget. It was another reason, after all.
Dinner wasn't ready yet, so they went up to Kaidou's room. "Was there something you wanted, Sempai?" Kaidou asked when they got there, as though this question had only now occurred to him. Maybe he'd managed to read Inui's mind somehow.
"Hmm," Inui said. The curtains were open up here, but it had gone dark outside. When Kaidou flicked on the light, The black rectangles in the bright room became impenetrable, scarier than being in the dark itself. Except when Inui looked again he could see their reflections. That was kind of ghostly. "Kaidou," he said. Kaidou stopped with his hand on the switch and looked back over his shoulder, frowning at something in the way Inui'd said his name, surprised when he noticed how close Inui stood.
Inui floated closer still, until Kaidou's was the only reflection in the window, eclipsing his own. "I like you," he said. This time it came out without hesitation, not to loud and not too soft to be heard either.
Kaidou hid his face in Inui's shoulder after all.