don't Worry. i'll be Here for You.
[Mao Murakami. Olivia Matsumoto]
[Matsumoto Residence]
[PG-13]
[don't Worry.]
It had been far too, too long since Mao had dragged himself to Intetsu's house and despite the fact that he'd gotten sick of being there long, long ago it was only now that he was ready to leave- without even telling his friend. Just the sort of cowardly behaviour he was getting used to, leaving nothing but a note that said "I left, thank you"- but as far as he was concerned, fuck anyone who expected anything more.
And he couldn't have gotten to Olivia's house soon enough. The bus ride felt like hours, along with the time it took to drag his small bag up the street and knock on the door before realizing it was 11:32pm and she may very well be asleep.
...Fuck.
Oh, well. If that were the case he'd just sleep on her doorstep.
It was baby time for Olivia Matsumoto, so she was very much awake and playing with her mischievous child when she heard a knock.
Who the hell?
She got up, picking Sou up as she did (not trusting him not to crawl around and get into trouble). Letting out a sigh as her baby made a gurgling noise her hand deftly unlocked the door and let whoever it was in.
That whoever… was Mao.
“Mao!?!?!” Olivia’s eyes widened and she almost dropped Sou on the ground as she wrapped her arms around the small man (Sou’s strong grip kept himself from going boom). “Oh God Mao, where have you been?”
He swallowed, almost overwhelmed but not all that surprised, really. He had missed her- almost enough to cry at that moment. Almost.
"I was..." He took a deep breath. "I ran away from home and spent a couple weeks at Intetsu's house and now I'm here so..."
He bit his lip.
"C-can I stay here?" Until Kyo says he wants me again.
Olivia stared. Had it really gotten that bad? Had he really needed to leave? Why hadn’t he come here first? Was Intetsu more important than her?
All these thoughts ran through her head but she shook them away. What was important was not all of that, but making sure Mao knew he was welcome here and to make sure he was fed and comfortable.
“Of course!” Olivia finally explained, dragging Mao in and shutting the door behind her. Sou stared at Mao and then smiled, reaching his arms out to the boy he knew slightly as someone he had fun with.
Mao glanced down at the baby and allowed a small smile to touch his lips. The kid got cuter every time he saw him, which was really saying something.
He gave the baby a gentle pat on the head. "Thanks. S-sorry I waited so long, I just..."
He shrugged.
"Intetsu doesn't know everything that's happened and he isn't home all that much so I just... needed that time, I guess." It sounded dumb now that it was over.
Sou giggled and blew spit bubbles because they made people laugh. Olivia smiled at their interaction as she led Mao towards the kitchen.
“It’s all right, you can apologize later, are you hungry?” Olivia smiled. She was a bit amused at herself, ever since she had Sou she felt like some kind of deranged housewife who was sex obsessed. Not that she minded too much, just as long as no one made fun of her for her housewife tendencies.
She couldn’t help it when there was a baby on her hip.
When they reached the kitchen, Olivia put her child down, allowing him to crawl around. Everything had been childlocked by Kai so she didn’t’ worry about him killing himself on something. “Or maybe you just want some Hot Chocolate?”
"...Um, I..." Was he hungry? He rarely felt it these days and was probably getting too skinny but whatever. "I guess so. I, uh... I don't care."
He sighed. Olivia's house had been scary at one point but now it was sort of comforting. Despite all the illegal conduct inside he felt way more comfortable there than he did anywhere else.
...How backwards.
Olivia put Mao into the chair and went looking through the cupboards. Drugs, cereal, drugs disguised as cereal and oh! Macoroni and Cheese, the very American snack sounded really good right about then. She poured it into a pot and started to make it.
It reminded her of her random cravings while pregnant…
…never again never again.
Sou was crawling around and then decidedly attached himself to Mao’s pant leg, wanting up, or to at least cling to something.
Thank God she hadn't asked any further. Mao smiled down at Sou and picked him up, sitting him gently in his lap.
He sort of wished he could be that young again- or at least as naive as he had been before he met JJ Lin. Funny; he'd always wanted to grow up and be different but now that he was he wanted to go back to the way he was before.
"He's getting bigger, huh?" He kissed the top of Sou's head.
Sou gurgled and stared at Mao, tilting his head. His attention was quickly grabbed away by other things.
“Fuck yes, he’s becoming a giant, I’m going to need to get him on the bottle soon, he’s getting chompers.” And she didn’t want him chomping her poor breasts, men were the only ones who could do that, Ruki especially.
But she digressed. Her attention returned to the food she was creating and making sure it didn’t overboil or anything retarded like that.
"I don't think he'll ever become a giant," Mao replied softly. "All things considered..."
Though it was possible. Would be strange, though. If that were the case then Sou would be taller than both of his parents by the 8th grade and that would be funny but kind of strange.
"But it means he's healthy, right?"
Olivia smiled. “Yes, he’s healthy, apparently Ruki and I are better parents than anyone would have predicted, I mean we all thought that the kid would be dead by now, but I think he’s in better condition than the rest of us.” She laughed.
When she first got pregnant all those months ago she was scared shitless. She was still child. While she was pregnant though, she had grown up.
Maybe it was when she hired Kei? Maybe it was when they took in Temari? So many things had happened and she had really grown from the bratty little girl who had been kicked out of the house.
We thought the kid would be dead by now. "...Oh, I see... well, I'm glad you're doing better than you thought."
They were, and he was proud- despite all the stress and awful shit that was relentlessly occuring Olivia and Ruki had done a remarkable job considering who they were.
Maybe they all had grown up a little bit.
“Me too, I would be suicidal if Sou died, though that’s a secret.” As much as she wished it was, she was pretty sure everyone knew how much she loved her child. She doted on him constantly. Lately it was all she did when Ruki wasn’t around to converse with her, especially when Mao disappeared.
“He seems to like you a lot.” Olivia smiled at Sou who was banging on the table with his little fists, giggling.
Suicidal. Mao flinched. If Sou or anyone else died, he'd be more than suicidal- and that would just kill everyone, from what he gathered.
They really needed to stop caring, for their own sakes.
"I think so too, but I don't know why." Another small smile at the baby who somehow seemed calmer in his arms than Olivia's.
Sou blew raspberries as if to answer that question and Olivia laughed, turning back to the macaroni which was pretty much done. “You have a very calm and attractive personality, why do you think I became friends with you in the first place? Believe it or not you probably kept me from doing a lot of things that would have killed me in High School.” It was true, whenever she was about to do things that she would have regretted she always thought of Mao’s reaction.
He had kept her from doing so many stupid things without saying or even being there.
Calm and attractive? That was nothing Mao had ever considered himself. On the contrary, he felt constantly jittery, but if that was how he was coming across...
"Oh... I'm glad."
And if it had stopped her from further damaging himself then that was something to be grateful for. He'd trust her judgement even if he couldn't believe it himself.
“Yes me, too,” Olivia replied as she strained the noodles and mixed up the cheese. The Matsumoto household had a lot of American food due to her heritage based need for them and the fact that Ruki just liked cheeseburgers.
She scooped food out for her and Mao.
“Sou can have a bit, but not too much, actual milk still isn’t very good for him. He does like to put his hands in it though so I can put him in the high chair if you want.” It was all routine with Sou, she knew him better than she knew herself.
A tired laugh. "Okay..." As long as he didn't throw any food at Mao then everything will be all right. Any other day he wouldn't care, but on that day...
He needed a break from surprises.
Desperately.
"Thank you." He wouldn't be able to thank her enough for what she was doing him. Never had been.
Olivia picked up an unwilling Sou, who had caught sight of something fun to play with (the food) and put him in his high chair before digging in to her own food.
“God America has amazing food.” Even if it was the worst for you. Olivia was never ashamed of her American heritage, it made her beautiful and exotic. It also made her interesting.
That and California was an amazing family vacation when she was a child.
Mao took a small bite and nodded silently. Western food always made him feel a little dirty but right then he didn't really care. It was pretty amazing.
"I want to go to America." Just because it was supposedly the greatest place on the planet. "And meet Mickey Mouse."
He was everywhere, wasn't he? The national symbol? Or maybe that was a hamburger? Mao couldn't remember- if he'd ever known in the first place.
Olivia smiled brightly. The image of Mao asing Mickey Mouse for a hug was one of the cutest things ever in her mind. “I will bring you to Disneyworld one of these days Mao, just get your passport and I’ll ask Ruki if we can hire a jet to take us there!” It seemed like a plan to her.
“We can go to Seaworld and Universal Studios as well! You can see Shamu if you want.” Olivia laughed. She had always wanted to see Shamu as a kid, and when she finally went there as a young teenager she was only interested in partying and going through the shark tunnel.
Sou started to fidget in his chair and Olivia automatically gave him a couple of noodles to entertain him with. The babe took them and squished them with his fingers, giggling at the noise they made.
Sea World? Universal Studios? Mao had heard of all these places but he couldn't really tell them all apart in his mind. America was a haven for theme parks, apparently.
"If I see any seals I might scream..."
He shuddered. The tattoo on his ass had become something of a simple sour memory that he could pretty much avoid on most occasions but any mention of sea life brought it right back up.
“We can make sure to avoid the seals,” Olivia replied laughing and finishing off her meal. “But before I forget, go ahead and pick any room that you want, if it’s not locked it’s available.” Temari’s room was locked. Everything was left there, everything that they had bought for Temari, no one could bring themselves to move anything.
The room where Olivia had detoxed was locked as well. The young mother had the key, but she wanted to keep that room to herself. It was the room she had fallen in love with Ruki in. The other locked rooms held drugs or whatever else Ruki wanted to store.
"All right..."
Mao didn't really feel like moving, though- even if he was dead tired. He'd finished half his macaroni and didn't really feel like eating any more. He felt like an intruder even if it was Olivia's house. Even if it was huge.
He always did, always had- even in his own home. Probably always would so it was best to get used to it.
Olivia watched Mao, watched him space out, his arms looked like they were being held down by a ton of bricks. She smiled. “Why don’t you sleep on the couch for now?” She got up and went over to get a wet piece of paper towel and wiped Sou’s face. She picked up the fussy baby. You can sleep with Sou next to you if you want, it’s his nap time and he falls asleep pretty easily.
A godsend for her and Ruki who often needed to put him to bed so that they could uh… use the time wisely for other things.
"Okay."
He didn't really care where he slept as long as he slept. He hugged himself, not really cold but sort of chilled. "I have bad dreams, a lot, so... if you hear something..."
He shrugged. She could figure the rest out herself.
Olivia smiled and nodded. “Don’t worry I’ll be here. If you ever need me Mao, I’ll always be here.” Sou was already falling asleep in her arms. She was wary to leave Mao completely alone so she’d probably lay against the couch and watch her child and read a bit, or watch television softly when her best friend fell asleep.
“We’ll talk more when you’re awake and when you’re up to it.”
Mao didn’t have to tell her anything he didn’t want to, but if he had gotten kicked out of his house… she knew how he felt.
[Matsumoto Residence]
[PG-13]
[don't Worry.]
It had been far too, too long since Mao had dragged himself to Intetsu's house and despite the fact that he'd gotten sick of being there long, long ago it was only now that he was ready to leave- without even telling his friend. Just the sort of cowardly behaviour he was getting used to, leaving nothing but a note that said "I left, thank you"- but as far as he was concerned, fuck anyone who expected anything more.
And he couldn't have gotten to Olivia's house soon enough. The bus ride felt like hours, along with the time it took to drag his small bag up the street and knock on the door before realizing it was 11:32pm and she may very well be asleep.
...Fuck.
Oh, well. If that were the case he'd just sleep on her doorstep.
It was baby time for Olivia Matsumoto, so she was very much awake and playing with her mischievous child when she heard a knock.
Who the hell?
She got up, picking Sou up as she did (not trusting him not to crawl around and get into trouble). Letting out a sigh as her baby made a gurgling noise her hand deftly unlocked the door and let whoever it was in.
That whoever… was Mao.
“Mao!?!?!” Olivia’s eyes widened and she almost dropped Sou on the ground as she wrapped her arms around the small man (Sou’s strong grip kept himself from going boom). “Oh God Mao, where have you been?”
He swallowed, almost overwhelmed but not all that surprised, really. He had missed her- almost enough to cry at that moment. Almost.
"I was..." He took a deep breath. "I ran away from home and spent a couple weeks at Intetsu's house and now I'm here so..."
He bit his lip.
"C-can I stay here?" Until Kyo says he wants me again.
Olivia stared. Had it really gotten that bad? Had he really needed to leave? Why hadn’t he come here first? Was Intetsu more important than her?
All these thoughts ran through her head but she shook them away. What was important was not all of that, but making sure Mao knew he was welcome here and to make sure he was fed and comfortable.
“Of course!” Olivia finally explained, dragging Mao in and shutting the door behind her. Sou stared at Mao and then smiled, reaching his arms out to the boy he knew slightly as someone he had fun with.
Mao glanced down at the baby and allowed a small smile to touch his lips. The kid got cuter every time he saw him, which was really saying something.
He gave the baby a gentle pat on the head. "Thanks. S-sorry I waited so long, I just..."
He shrugged.
"Intetsu doesn't know everything that's happened and he isn't home all that much so I just... needed that time, I guess." It sounded dumb now that it was over.
Sou giggled and blew spit bubbles because they made people laugh. Olivia smiled at their interaction as she led Mao towards the kitchen.
“It’s all right, you can apologize later, are you hungry?” Olivia smiled. She was a bit amused at herself, ever since she had Sou she felt like some kind of deranged housewife who was sex obsessed. Not that she minded too much, just as long as no one made fun of her for her housewife tendencies.
She couldn’t help it when there was a baby on her hip.
When they reached the kitchen, Olivia put her child down, allowing him to crawl around. Everything had been childlocked by Kai so she didn’t’ worry about him killing himself on something. “Or maybe you just want some Hot Chocolate?”
"...Um, I..." Was he hungry? He rarely felt it these days and was probably getting too skinny but whatever. "I guess so. I, uh... I don't care."
He sighed. Olivia's house had been scary at one point but now it was sort of comforting. Despite all the illegal conduct inside he felt way more comfortable there than he did anywhere else.
...How backwards.
Olivia put Mao into the chair and went looking through the cupboards. Drugs, cereal, drugs disguised as cereal and oh! Macoroni and Cheese, the very American snack sounded really good right about then. She poured it into a pot and started to make it.
It reminded her of her random cravings while pregnant…
…never again never again.
Sou was crawling around and then decidedly attached himself to Mao’s pant leg, wanting up, or to at least cling to something.
Thank God she hadn't asked any further. Mao smiled down at Sou and picked him up, sitting him gently in his lap.
He sort of wished he could be that young again- or at least as naive as he had been before he met JJ Lin. Funny; he'd always wanted to grow up and be different but now that he was he wanted to go back to the way he was before.
"He's getting bigger, huh?" He kissed the top of Sou's head.
Sou gurgled and stared at Mao, tilting his head. His attention was quickly grabbed away by other things.
“Fuck yes, he’s becoming a giant, I’m going to need to get him on the bottle soon, he’s getting chompers.” And she didn’t want him chomping her poor breasts, men were the only ones who could do that, Ruki especially.
But she digressed. Her attention returned to the food she was creating and making sure it didn’t overboil or anything retarded like that.
"I don't think he'll ever become a giant," Mao replied softly. "All things considered..."
Though it was possible. Would be strange, though. If that were the case then Sou would be taller than both of his parents by the 8th grade and that would be funny but kind of strange.
"But it means he's healthy, right?"
Olivia smiled. “Yes, he’s healthy, apparently Ruki and I are better parents than anyone would have predicted, I mean we all thought that the kid would be dead by now, but I think he’s in better condition than the rest of us.” She laughed.
When she first got pregnant all those months ago she was scared shitless. She was still child. While she was pregnant though, she had grown up.
Maybe it was when she hired Kei? Maybe it was when they took in Temari? So many things had happened and she had really grown from the bratty little girl who had been kicked out of the house.
We thought the kid would be dead by now. "...Oh, I see... well, I'm glad you're doing better than you thought."
They were, and he was proud- despite all the stress and awful shit that was relentlessly occuring Olivia and Ruki had done a remarkable job considering who they were.
Maybe they all had grown up a little bit.
“Me too, I would be suicidal if Sou died, though that’s a secret.” As much as she wished it was, she was pretty sure everyone knew how much she loved her child. She doted on him constantly. Lately it was all she did when Ruki wasn’t around to converse with her, especially when Mao disappeared.
“He seems to like you a lot.” Olivia smiled at Sou who was banging on the table with his little fists, giggling.
Suicidal. Mao flinched. If Sou or anyone else died, he'd be more than suicidal- and that would just kill everyone, from what he gathered.
They really needed to stop caring, for their own sakes.
"I think so too, but I don't know why." Another small smile at the baby who somehow seemed calmer in his arms than Olivia's.
Sou blew raspberries as if to answer that question and Olivia laughed, turning back to the macaroni which was pretty much done. “You have a very calm and attractive personality, why do you think I became friends with you in the first place? Believe it or not you probably kept me from doing a lot of things that would have killed me in High School.” It was true, whenever she was about to do things that she would have regretted she always thought of Mao’s reaction.
He had kept her from doing so many stupid things without saying or even being there.
Calm and attractive? That was nothing Mao had ever considered himself. On the contrary, he felt constantly jittery, but if that was how he was coming across...
"Oh... I'm glad."
And if it had stopped her from further damaging himself then that was something to be grateful for. He'd trust her judgement even if he couldn't believe it himself.
“Yes me, too,” Olivia replied as she strained the noodles and mixed up the cheese. The Matsumoto household had a lot of American food due to her heritage based need for them and the fact that Ruki just liked cheeseburgers.
She scooped food out for her and Mao.
“Sou can have a bit, but not too much, actual milk still isn’t very good for him. He does like to put his hands in it though so I can put him in the high chair if you want.” It was all routine with Sou, she knew him better than she knew herself.
A tired laugh. "Okay..." As long as he didn't throw any food at Mao then everything will be all right. Any other day he wouldn't care, but on that day...
He needed a break from surprises.
Desperately.
"Thank you." He wouldn't be able to thank her enough for what she was doing him. Never had been.
Olivia picked up an unwilling Sou, who had caught sight of something fun to play with (the food) and put him in his high chair before digging in to her own food.
“God America has amazing food.” Even if it was the worst for you. Olivia was never ashamed of her American heritage, it made her beautiful and exotic. It also made her interesting.
That and California was an amazing family vacation when she was a child.
Mao took a small bite and nodded silently. Western food always made him feel a little dirty but right then he didn't really care. It was pretty amazing.
"I want to go to America." Just because it was supposedly the greatest place on the planet. "And meet Mickey Mouse."
He was everywhere, wasn't he? The national symbol? Or maybe that was a hamburger? Mao couldn't remember- if he'd ever known in the first place.
Olivia smiled brightly. The image of Mao asing Mickey Mouse for a hug was one of the cutest things ever in her mind. “I will bring you to Disneyworld one of these days Mao, just get your passport and I’ll ask Ruki if we can hire a jet to take us there!” It seemed like a plan to her.
“We can go to Seaworld and Universal Studios as well! You can see Shamu if you want.” Olivia laughed. She had always wanted to see Shamu as a kid, and when she finally went there as a young teenager she was only interested in partying and going through the shark tunnel.
Sou started to fidget in his chair and Olivia automatically gave him a couple of noodles to entertain him with. The babe took them and squished them with his fingers, giggling at the noise they made.
Sea World? Universal Studios? Mao had heard of all these places but he couldn't really tell them all apart in his mind. America was a haven for theme parks, apparently.
"If I see any seals I might scream..."
He shuddered. The tattoo on his ass had become something of a simple sour memory that he could pretty much avoid on most occasions but any mention of sea life brought it right back up.
“We can make sure to avoid the seals,” Olivia replied laughing and finishing off her meal. “But before I forget, go ahead and pick any room that you want, if it’s not locked it’s available.” Temari’s room was locked. Everything was left there, everything that they had bought for Temari, no one could bring themselves to move anything.
The room where Olivia had detoxed was locked as well. The young mother had the key, but she wanted to keep that room to herself. It was the room she had fallen in love with Ruki in. The other locked rooms held drugs or whatever else Ruki wanted to store.
"All right..."
Mao didn't really feel like moving, though- even if he was dead tired. He'd finished half his macaroni and didn't really feel like eating any more. He felt like an intruder even if it was Olivia's house. Even if it was huge.
He always did, always had- even in his own home. Probably always would so it was best to get used to it.
Olivia watched Mao, watched him space out, his arms looked like they were being held down by a ton of bricks. She smiled. “Why don’t you sleep on the couch for now?” She got up and went over to get a wet piece of paper towel and wiped Sou’s face. She picked up the fussy baby. You can sleep with Sou next to you if you want, it’s his nap time and he falls asleep pretty easily.
A godsend for her and Ruki who often needed to put him to bed so that they could uh… use the time wisely for other things.
"Okay."
He didn't really care where he slept as long as he slept. He hugged himself, not really cold but sort of chilled. "I have bad dreams, a lot, so... if you hear something..."
He shrugged. She could figure the rest out herself.
Olivia smiled and nodded. “Don’t worry I’ll be here. If you ever need me Mao, I’ll always be here.” Sou was already falling asleep in her arms. She was wary to leave Mao completely alone so she’d probably lay against the couch and watch her child and read a bit, or watch television softly when her best friend fell asleep.
“We’ll talk more when you’re awake and when you’re up to it.”
Mao didn’t have to tell her anything he didn’t want to, but if he had gotten kicked out of his house… she knew how he felt.