[Action] Birthday morning
He woke up because there was somebody kissing him. "The hell?" he muttered. He rubbed his cheek and blinked.
Kokoro was kneeling next to his bed. "Happy birthday, 'Ji-san!" she said. "You don't get your present until later because I'm giving it to you later and that's all I'm going to say, okay?"
"O...kay." He rubbed his cheek again.
"I'm going to school so if Peter calls for Cottontail please tell him that we left already, okay, and that I'll be waiting at the gate and then, and then, we'll talk about later but you can't ask about it, okay? It's a secret."
Touya rubbed a hand over his eyes and did the mental translation. Kasumi might call and she and Kokoro had a secret. Seeing as he wasn't interested in giggly, little girl secrets he didn't see as to how that was a problem. "Okay."
"Okay!" Kokoro bounced up. "Bye, 'Ji-san! I'll see you later! Oh, oh, oh! And you're not picking me up after school! I have something else to do!"
"Okay." Touya flopped back into his pillow as Kokoro clattered out of the room and then, presumably, the apartment. He'd just closed his eyes again when he was pounced on again. "Mfh. I'm still in here, Haru," he muttered.
Haru, who'd sat directly on him, didn't bother to move. "Happy birthday, Touya! We're not going to do this every year but last year was your first with us and this year it's your actual calendar birthday. So!"
The small, red-wrapped box tapped against his forehead. "Thanks," Touya muttered as he pushed Haru off enough to sit up. He slipped the ribbon and wriggled the tape up on the edge. A small white box slid out. Haru was fidgetting expectantly. Inside the box was a strand of dark, reddish-brown beads faintly speckled with black.
Haru beamed. "It's a mala. A wrist mala. Bohdi seed."
Touya lifted it it out of the box and turned it in his hands. In the place where the meru bead would have been, however was a a comma-shaped bead in a pale green stone. He slipped the beads through his fingers and showed it to Haru in a silent question.
"I had the meru replaced with a magatama." Haru reached out and Touya let him brush the hair off his forehead, the way he did with his own daughter. "I worry about you. I know you don't like it so I thought that I should get you something so you could..." Haru gestured vaugely. "But and then you've grown so much, especially since Christmas and...and... Well, I thought you might be like to have a tangible connection to...anyhow! So I asked at the temple if it would be okay to alter it and then, when the monks said it would be okay, I took it to my shrine and asked if they could help. So this magatama isn't just an ordinary one! It was one of the shrine's own!"
It was a thoughtful gift and, from Haru, a very important gesture. Because it was, he slung a quick arm around Haru's shoulders and squeezed. "Thanks," he said gruffly.
"You're welcome!" Haru hugged him back, hard and long until Touya shoved him off. "I have the night off from Planet Okonomi! So I won't see you until later tonight! I've going to make something special for dinner so I have to go shopping!"
Touya groaned. "Don't make a fuss!" he called as Haru, like his daughter, bounced out of the room. The apartment door banged shut and Touya sighed. Haru and Kokoro were plotting something so sleeping in was no longer an option. He threw back the blanket and then paused. Well, if they wanted to fuss they could fuss. It was only once every four years, anyhow. He slipped the mala on to his wrist and got ready for the day.
He didn't really have any plans for his birthday. He didn't have students to tutor for the afternoon and his classes were both self-study for the day since both professors were attending a confrence. He had the morning to himself. He went to see his mother.
"Hey, Mom," he made himself comfortable, resting his back against her stone. He had a cup of warm sake and he rolled it between his hands. "It's my birthday. I'm six today." He chuckled quietly under his breath and rolled the cup again. "Twenty-seven. I don't know how you did it, I really don't. You were so--" he sighed. "And my life is a bit of a mess. I'm sort of thinking I might take after Dad more than you." He was silent for a while, thinking of nothing in particular. "I miss you, Mom," he said. "Dad is great--he's the best--but I still miss you. You wouldn't believe how sloppy he let me get with the piano. I cheat on the pedals so bad just to disguise how mushy the notes are. I'm much cleaner on the violin so I brought that out here again. Sakura bought me a bunch of sheet music, though, so eventually I'll record myself at the bench and bring that out for you." He poured the sake into the cup set in the stone. "I miss practicing with you."
He sat up and opened his violin case. "Sakura got me the sheet music for 'Try to Remember'. I remember you teaching me that one. Been forever since I've played it. And it's for the piano, so if I screw up you'll have to forgive me."
It had been a long time but the memories helped him keep the tempo. He couldn't remember the words--neither he nor his mother had ever been much for singing--but he could remember the warmth of his mother at his side and the way Sakura would wake up from her naps singing to herself.
He went to the river after visiting his mother. Something red next to the pool where the river god lived drew him over even though he'd intended to check the debris under the bridge. "Huh." There was a flat, black stone and on it, a small tojii.
"Hey! Kinomoto!" Inoue waved to him from the bridge and then came skittering down the bank to him.
"Hey. Ever heard of a coat?"
Inoue was wearing a green t-shirt and his blue work apron. "Funny. I'm only on break long enough to say 'happy birthday' and point out the present that Great Grandfather and I got for you." He pointed at the little altar set up.
"Oh." Touya was rather stupidly touched, he had to admit. Inoue's cranky great-grandfather certainly had no reason to give him a gift. Neither did Inoue, when he thought of it. He hadn't even known Inoue's birthday until he'd held his drunken young friend's hair for him while he threw up ever drop of alcohol they'd poured into him. "Thank you."
"Nice mala," Inoue said as he slid his hands up under Touya's coat sleeves.
Touya hissed at the icy contact. "Thanks. Haru gave it to me this morning. Why are you under my coat instead of going back to your job?"
"Because I'm freezing." Inoue beamed at him. "Hey, listen, I don't know what you have planned for today but I've got something going on tonight."
Touya blinked. "Huh?"
"It's Friday so you've got okonomiyaki, right? I won't be by because I've got something doing."
"Okay. I didn't have any thing planned, anyhow. Just work."
Inoue grinned. "Then I won't worry about it."
"SUSUMU!"
"Coming, Great-Grandfather!" Inoue shouted. "Later, man," he told Touya. He scrambled up the bank. "Hey! Think about putting in stepping stones!" he called, waving from the top.
Touya looked after him and laughed. He set his violin case down beside the altar and went to examine the concrete and construction debris. He was definitely going to need help moving it out of the water and then he'd need to find something to do with it.
"You could ask Mari if she's got ideas," Chisato's voice interrupted his musing.
"Yeah." He stood and winced, realzing that he'd been crouched by the river for longer than he'd thought. "Guess which group of guys I know is going to end up helping me haul that crap out of there?" he offered.
Chisato laughed. "Man, who else is going to do it?"
Touya grinned. He and Chisato were back to normal, it seemed. "Hey, I could always make more friends," he thumped Chisato on the arm.
"You could not. You suck at meeting people." Chisato thumped him back. "Nice shrine. You honestly believe there's something in there, huh?"
"Yeah." Touya shrugged. "Why wouldn't I?"
Chisato shrugged. "Dunno. I just never thought of it before. Or stuff like that, you know?"
Touya went to the edge of the pool and fished out the rice cake that he'd brought for an offering. He set it on the stone and then sat down. Chisato joined him after a moment. "Any reason why you're thinking about it now?" he asked his friend.
"No." Chisato sighed. "Yeah. I gave you shit about Tsukishiro never coming down here but then, I've never joined you down here either. So. Here I am."
"Thank you." He was having a sloppy birthday. "Hand me my case, will you? And shut your eyes. I don't have any incense but I do have the violin." He tucked his instrument under his chin. "Any requests?"
Chisato rested his chin on his knees, eyes closed. "Nah. Whatever you play here is fine."
He smiled, lifting his bow. "I'll go for something manly," he promised. Well. Maybe manly, he thought, as he started in on the Legend of Zelda theme song.
Kokoro was kneeling next to his bed. "Happy birthday, 'Ji-san!" she said. "You don't get your present until later because I'm giving it to you later and that's all I'm going to say, okay?"
"O...kay." He rubbed his cheek again.
"I'm going to school so if Peter calls for Cottontail please tell him that we left already, okay, and that I'll be waiting at the gate and then, and then, we'll talk about later but you can't ask about it, okay? It's a secret."
Touya rubbed a hand over his eyes and did the mental translation. Kasumi might call and she and Kokoro had a secret. Seeing as he wasn't interested in giggly, little girl secrets he didn't see as to how that was a problem. "Okay."
"Okay!" Kokoro bounced up. "Bye, 'Ji-san! I'll see you later! Oh, oh, oh! And you're not picking me up after school! I have something else to do!"
"Okay." Touya flopped back into his pillow as Kokoro clattered out of the room and then, presumably, the apartment. He'd just closed his eyes again when he was pounced on again. "Mfh. I'm still in here, Haru," he muttered.
Haru, who'd sat directly on him, didn't bother to move. "Happy birthday, Touya! We're not going to do this every year but last year was your first with us and this year it's your actual calendar birthday. So!"
The small, red-wrapped box tapped against his forehead. "Thanks," Touya muttered as he pushed Haru off enough to sit up. He slipped the ribbon and wriggled the tape up on the edge. A small white box slid out. Haru was fidgetting expectantly. Inside the box was a strand of dark, reddish-brown beads faintly speckled with black.
Haru beamed. "It's a mala. A wrist mala. Bohdi seed."
Touya lifted it it out of the box and turned it in his hands. In the place where the meru bead would have been, however was a a comma-shaped bead in a pale green stone. He slipped the beads through his fingers and showed it to Haru in a silent question.
"I had the meru replaced with a magatama." Haru reached out and Touya let him brush the hair off his forehead, the way he did with his own daughter. "I worry about you. I know you don't like it so I thought that I should get you something so you could..." Haru gestured vaugely. "But and then you've grown so much, especially since Christmas and...and... Well, I thought you might be like to have a tangible connection to...anyhow! So I asked at the temple if it would be okay to alter it and then, when the monks said it would be okay, I took it to my shrine and asked if they could help. So this magatama isn't just an ordinary one! It was one of the shrine's own!"
It was a thoughtful gift and, from Haru, a very important gesture. Because it was, he slung a quick arm around Haru's shoulders and squeezed. "Thanks," he said gruffly.
"You're welcome!" Haru hugged him back, hard and long until Touya shoved him off. "I have the night off from Planet Okonomi! So I won't see you until later tonight! I've going to make something special for dinner so I have to go shopping!"
Touya groaned. "Don't make a fuss!" he called as Haru, like his daughter, bounced out of the room. The apartment door banged shut and Touya sighed. Haru and Kokoro were plotting something so sleeping in was no longer an option. He threw back the blanket and then paused. Well, if they wanted to fuss they could fuss. It was only once every four years, anyhow. He slipped the mala on to his wrist and got ready for the day.
He didn't really have any plans for his birthday. He didn't have students to tutor for the afternoon and his classes were both self-study for the day since both professors were attending a confrence. He had the morning to himself. He went to see his mother.
"Hey, Mom," he made himself comfortable, resting his back against her stone. He had a cup of warm sake and he rolled it between his hands. "It's my birthday. I'm six today." He chuckled quietly under his breath and rolled the cup again. "Twenty-seven. I don't know how you did it, I really don't. You were so--" he sighed. "And my life is a bit of a mess. I'm sort of thinking I might take after Dad more than you." He was silent for a while, thinking of nothing in particular. "I miss you, Mom," he said. "Dad is great--he's the best--but I still miss you. You wouldn't believe how sloppy he let me get with the piano. I cheat on the pedals so bad just to disguise how mushy the notes are. I'm much cleaner on the violin so I brought that out here again. Sakura bought me a bunch of sheet music, though, so eventually I'll record myself at the bench and bring that out for you." He poured the sake into the cup set in the stone. "I miss practicing with you."
He sat up and opened his violin case. "Sakura got me the sheet music for 'Try to Remember'. I remember you teaching me that one. Been forever since I've played it. And it's for the piano, so if I screw up you'll have to forgive me."
It had been a long time but the memories helped him keep the tempo. He couldn't remember the words--neither he nor his mother had ever been much for singing--but he could remember the warmth of his mother at his side and the way Sakura would wake up from her naps singing to herself.
He went to the river after visiting his mother. Something red next to the pool where the river god lived drew him over even though he'd intended to check the debris under the bridge. "Huh." There was a flat, black stone and on it, a small tojii.
"Hey! Kinomoto!" Inoue waved to him from the bridge and then came skittering down the bank to him.
"Hey. Ever heard of a coat?"
Inoue was wearing a green t-shirt and his blue work apron. "Funny. I'm only on break long enough to say 'happy birthday' and point out the present that Great Grandfather and I got for you." He pointed at the little altar set up.
"Oh." Touya was rather stupidly touched, he had to admit. Inoue's cranky great-grandfather certainly had no reason to give him a gift. Neither did Inoue, when he thought of it. He hadn't even known Inoue's birthday until he'd held his drunken young friend's hair for him while he threw up ever drop of alcohol they'd poured into him. "Thank you."
"Nice mala," Inoue said as he slid his hands up under Touya's coat sleeves.
Touya hissed at the icy contact. "Thanks. Haru gave it to me this morning. Why are you under my coat instead of going back to your job?"
"Because I'm freezing." Inoue beamed at him. "Hey, listen, I don't know what you have planned for today but I've got something going on tonight."
Touya blinked. "Huh?"
"It's Friday so you've got okonomiyaki, right? I won't be by because I've got something doing."
"Okay. I didn't have any thing planned, anyhow. Just work."
Inoue grinned. "Then I won't worry about it."
"SUSUMU!"
"Coming, Great-Grandfather!" Inoue shouted. "Later, man," he told Touya. He scrambled up the bank. "Hey! Think about putting in stepping stones!" he called, waving from the top.
Touya looked after him and laughed. He set his violin case down beside the altar and went to examine the concrete and construction debris. He was definitely going to need help moving it out of the water and then he'd need to find something to do with it.
"You could ask Mari if she's got ideas," Chisato's voice interrupted his musing.
"Yeah." He stood and winced, realzing that he'd been crouched by the river for longer than he'd thought. "Guess which group of guys I know is going to end up helping me haul that crap out of there?" he offered.
Chisato laughed. "Man, who else is going to do it?"
Touya grinned. He and Chisato were back to normal, it seemed. "Hey, I could always make more friends," he thumped Chisato on the arm.
"You could not. You suck at meeting people." Chisato thumped him back. "Nice shrine. You honestly believe there's something in there, huh?"
"Yeah." Touya shrugged. "Why wouldn't I?"
Chisato shrugged. "Dunno. I just never thought of it before. Or stuff like that, you know?"
Touya went to the edge of the pool and fished out the rice cake that he'd brought for an offering. He set it on the stone and then sat down. Chisato joined him after a moment. "Any reason why you're thinking about it now?" he asked his friend.
"No." Chisato sighed. "Yeah. I gave you shit about Tsukishiro never coming down here but then, I've never joined you down here either. So. Here I am."
"Thank you." He was having a sloppy birthday. "Hand me my case, will you? And shut your eyes. I don't have any incense but I do have the violin." He tucked his instrument under his chin. "Any requests?"
Chisato rested his chin on his knees, eyes closed. "Nah. Whatever you play here is fine."
He smiled, lifting his bow. "I'll go for something manly," he promised. Well. Maybe manly, he thought, as he started in on the Legend of Zelda theme song.