Family Matters: Chapter 2
Jan. 2nd, 2016 11:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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yume_to_ameTitle: Family matters ~ Chapter 2
Pairing: Jun, Masaki, Sho, Satoshi, Kazu (there are going to be additional side-characters though. No OCs.) I'm trying to give each of the five their well-deserves spot-light <3
Rating: PG
Multi-chapter
Beta:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lover_youshould
Genre: family!AU in which Arashi are brothers :-) slice of life, a little drama (and I'm trying to add some light-hearted, funny moments to it too)
Summary: Since they were little they were always close to each other. And when unfortunate events force them to live together without their parents, it's only natural that they try to make the best out of it.
Note: As an artist Satoshi is really unique... :D
It’s a Tuesday, which means that Satoshi meets Sho for lunch. “Your shirt has blue splatters all over it,” Sho complains when they make their way through the crowds. Sho has reserved a table in a pretty fancy restaurant, last minute. He still got a table – of course, whenever Sho, the famous super-lawyer, appears somewhere, they make room for him. The benefits of being a well-known and respected lawyer it seems.
“So what?” Satoshi says lazily. “I had to prepare the oil colours and the canvas. I have to work afterwards you know.”
“Next time please bother and take a fresh t-shirt along!” Sho argues.
Satoshi chuckles softly. “Fine, if you insist. But it wouldn’t do you any harm to loosen up occasionally.”
Sho’s eyes basically snap open and he turns his head towards Satoshi, while he hands their jackets to the cloakroom attendant. He looks irritated all of a sudden, much to Satoshi’s surprise. “What do you mean?” Sho asks.
“I mean that you’re a little tense sometimes,” Satoshi says, trying to sound rather casual than reproachful.
“You and Jun don’t give me any break, don’t you?” Sho mumbles. He sounds a bit tired, and Satoshi finally understands his weird reaction.
“No, that’s not it! I personally just like it when you are relaxed and not worried,” Satoshi defends his words. “As for Jun, he is getting easily irritated in general recently. Don’t take it to heart too much, okay?”
“He is not getting irritated at you,” Sho says and leads Satoshi through the huge hallway towards the more private section of the restaurant. “It’s always me. When I met him last night and he was heading to the toilet, he shot little invisible daggers at me.”
“He has just very intense eyes,” Satoshi jokes, glad when he finally hears Sho laugh. “But did you just say you met him at night, in the hallway?”
Sho nods.
“Don’t you think it’s weird that Masaki dreams of Kazu climbing through Jun’s window and then you miraculously meet him outside his room? Sounds like a distraction strategy to me. These two stick together like glue – it’s almost frustrating.”
Sho lets out a sigh. “I know, but it could just be a coincidence. We don’t know it. And seriously Jun just started talking to me again and I really don’t want to ruin it once more. He is so freaking stubborn and resentful.”
Satoshi can’t hide a grin. “Well, I wonder who he learned that from.”
“Very funny!” Sho huffs.
Before Satoshi continues his teasing, they reach the main hall of the restaurant and Satoshi lets out a tired sigh. This place is so top notch that he feels uncomfortable immediately. It’s more like a place his brother would normally go for business meetings and not with him, but today he has been able to allure Satoshi with the promise of the best steak he has ever eaten.
“Sensei,” the waitress bows politely. “Today with a guest, I see.” She smiles at Satoshi warmly and bows again.
“Yes,” Satoshi smiles. “I’m his twin. Nice to meet you.”
For a moment the woman blinks like she isn’t sure if he is joking or not. He can’t blame her. They don’t look alike at all, let alone be as similar as twins should be. When they were younger they received a lot of stupid Did the nurse actually mix up the babies when you two were born jokes. Gladly Satoshi is the spitting image of their mother and Sho resembles their father – they had already realized as much when they were only 8.
Before Satoshi can explain his words to the waitress, Sho does so. “He really is my twin brother,” he explains in his perfect serious business-manner. Well, it has the advantage of everyone believing in his words, Satoshi has to admit that much. Sho is simply respectable and looks sincere. Also this time it helps, because the young waitress believes him immediately.
Five minutes later they take their place at a nice table in a silent corner. “See, everyone likes and respects you! Don’t stress yourself over some tiny issues at home,” Satoshi says, trying to make up for his previous teasing.
Sho shrugs. “I don’t need everyone to like and respect me. I just want my family to like and respect me. Nothing more.”
Satoshi smiles. “They do.”
Sho looks up from the wine card once one of the waiters assigned to their table approaches them. He orders a bottle of white wine for them before he shifts his attention back to Satoshi. “You think so?”
Satoshi picks his nose absent-mindedly, stopping when Sho glares at him. He chuckles. “I know it,” he says. “They do.”
~~~
The steak was the best he has ever eaten, Satoshi has to admit that much already, but it makes it more difficult to focus on work when he is that full. Also his model is new right now and needs more attention.
“Shift a bit to the right. Your leg is in the way a little.” Satoshi instructs while he tilts his head to the side to eye the young man sitting on the small pedestal.
“Hm,” Kame nods and turns over.
“Too much.” Satoshi sighs and steps away from his canvas to walk towards the young man he hired to pose as a nude model. What Satoshi likes are authentic women and men, in all body shapes. He is not doing any print work for all those trashy modelesque magazines, but rather for the artistic ones. This Kame guy is actually almost a bit too pretty for his taste, but he has a certain depth in his eyes and a certain edge in his character that caught Satoshi’s attention immediately.
Now Kame robs to the side, watching intently as Satoshi shows him which pose he needs to take. “You are going to be a merman in the end version,” he explains. “In midst of the polluted sea. It’s for the fairy-tale gone wrong series.”
Kame nods. “Understood,” he says and once Satoshi is away, he shifts his body into the correct position. He learns fast it seems.
When Satoshi is in front of his canvas again, Kame looks up. He doesn’t change his position but his eyelids flutter slightly and the look in his eyes is a little darker than before. Satoshi looks at the picture that is growing and forming beneath his fingers and brush, then back to the young man. He isn’t sure if he finds Kame annoying, alluring or interesting. It’s possibly all three options at once. “You are trying to seduce me, aren’t you?” Satoshi asks and puts the brush aside.
“Is it working?” Kame wants to know.
Satoshi takes his time to answer. Instead he eyes the guy in front of him. He has a well-built body – actually almost too perfect for Satoshi’s liking. He likes them a little softer and not that trained – but his eyes are freaking intense, his smile bright and shiny, and his lips. A pair of wonderful lips. He wonders what this guy will be able to do with these pretty lips and mouth.
Satoshi makes a step forward. “I guess I might be interested in checking how you look when lying on your back. Or on your hands and knees.”
“Hm,” Kame hums and when Satoshi is right in front of him, he wraps his arms around his neck. “Do you say that to all your models?”
“Secret,” Satoshi teases.
Kame seems to take the bait and not to mind much, Satoshi thinks, when he can feel how he gets pulled down and into Kame’s arms. Well, fine with him.
~~~
His little interaction with Kame has messed up his whole schedule and he has spent his whole afternoon organising his upcoming convention, but Kame was worth it, definitely. That dude definitely knew what he was doing. It’s almost frustrating to know that he won’t call back – Satoshi knows that much already. It’s always the same with them. They want to lay or get laid by the well-known famous painter, but nothing more…
“Sho! Help me carry. Help, now!” Satoshi feels how his arms are getting heavier and more tired every second. “Come on, idiotic twin! I know you are home – I saw your car.”
When Sho finally opens the door, his dark eyes look at him in surprise. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing? Solving my tax problems?” Satoshi jokes lightly. When Sho throws him a glare, he just smiles soothingly. “Sorry, sorry, don’t be mad now. I’ve no idea about taxes at all – glad you do them for us.”
Sho relaxes visibly before he eyes the huge package Satoshi is carrying. “What’s that?”
“Just finished a few paintings for the exhibition and made my final decision on which ones to present. These are the ones I didn’t choose.” Satoshi explains and hands some of them to his twin brother. “Pretty heavy.” Satoshi sighs slightly when the heavy weight gets lifted a bit, his arms suddenly feeling light.
Sho wavers while he tries to wrap his arms around the huge paintings. “Where do you want to have them?”
“Kitchen.”
Sho is still wearing his tux from work; little sweat drops are starting to appear on his forehead. Sure, it’s late afternoon and pretty warm, Satoshi thinks. Should have changed into more casual clothes. “Why didn’t you change yet?”
“I just came home, I didn’t have time to change yet. Unlike you.” Sho explains and eyes Satoshi sceptically. The latter pretty much knows that he is not particularly pleased with his casual outfit, especially after it’s the same t-shirt he wore during their lunch. Satoshi shrugs it off. It’s not his fault that he can work whenever he wants and wear whatever he wants.
“Oh, new paintings?” Masaki asks once they reach the kitchen. He could sound more excited, Satoshi thinks, but at least he tries. In the kitchen, the air is basically stuck and almost sticky. Satoshi breathes in sharply; every oven and plate they have is running at the moment and he can feel how his hair starts sticking to his forehead immediately. Also the heavy sugary scent lying in the air seems to block his whole nose. Makes it difficult to breathe. Masaki doesn’t seem to mind the heat though he is sweating like crazy. He is wearing an apron with little strawberries on it, green gloves and a pink hairnet. It’s a surprise that he doesn’t look more ridiculous.
Sho lets out a sigh. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Masaki grins while he shoves a baking tray into the oven and takes the other one out. There are little cupcakes on it. On the kitchen table, he has already prepared sugar icing in all kinds of colours, little decorations for the cakes and food colouring pens to write with. “Tomorrow is cupcake day in my shop.”
“Can we taste one?”
“No.” Masaki shakes his head firmly. “They are for tomorrow! For business!”
“Hm.” Satoshi opens the window and takes a deep breath when the fresh air is flowing into the room. “So,” he turns around and points at his paintings. “Where do you want me to put them?”
Sho and Masaki exchange a glance with each other. “Well-“ Sho muses while he looks at his pictures. He frowns when he sees a particularly dark one. “What’s that supposed to be?” he wants to know.
“The Plague Column,” Satoshi explains.
Masaki’s eyes twitch a bit. He almost looks desperate. “Cool, but I’d rather stick with another one. Oh-” he grabs another painting. “That one has animals in it.”
“Yeah, but they are obviously dead,” Sho says dryly.
Masaki’s expression gets blank all of a sudden. He puts the painting aside like he has just touched something infected. “Oh.”
“Yes.” Satoshi points at several animals that are laying on the ground, the forest around them an idyllic contrast to the dark atmosphere of the theme. “It doesn’t have a name,” he explains. “It’s about the road to ruin of humans, visualised by the animals’ corpses.”
Masaki stays silent for a moment. “Wouldn’t that fit in your office more?” he finally asks Sho, with a begging look in his eyes.
“Why don’t you paint something nice here and there? With colours and happy feelings, nothing overly depressive. Nothing like your exhibition about abuse and domestic violence last year – I swear, I had nightmares for weeks.” Sho says instead of giving Masaki an answer. “I mean, you are certainly skilled.”
“I’m a social-critical painter, Sho,” Satoshi explains calmly. “I’m not doing fun and light pictures.”
“Do you have something lighter than that?” Masaki tries once more and points at the two pictures. “You know, a lot of children visit my shop.”
“No, these were the lightest ones I have. They didn’t fit the theme of the exhibition.”
“Which is?”
“The perdition we brought upon us.” His brothers look at him like he is supposed to reveal to them that it’s all a joke. He can’t help a grin. “Your faces. Awesome. But it really is the truth.”
Sho and Masaki exchange yet another glance, but apparently, they have both run out of excuses, so Sho grabs the painting with the animals on it and sighs. “I’ll take it then,” he gives in. “On another note-“ He sits down at the kitchen table, smiling when Masaki hands him a cup with tea. “School called me today.”
“Oh?” Both Satoshi and Masaki shift their attention to him. Satoshi frowns. “Any problems? Did something happen?”
“No, but it’s parents-teacher day soon,” Sho explains. “Jun’s homeroom teacher wants one of us to go.”
Masaki tilts his head and looks at Satoshi sceptically. “Is that good or bad?”
The latter shrugs. “Well, how should I know?”
“Who is going?” Sho wants to know. “We haven’t been there in a while.”
Masaki takes the tray with cupcakes again and puts them on the kitchen table before he starts decorating them. “We are all going!” he says.
“What!?” Sho blinks. “All of us? Why isn’t Satoshi going alone instead? He has basically nothing to do.”
Satoshi snorts at that. “Excuse me? Nothing to do? I’m working too, just so you know.“ He pulls an eyebrow up. “No surprise that Jun goes from loving to hating you almost every month. You are just lucky that Kazu doesn’t care much for diplomacy and apparently seems to have a weird grudge against me instead. He is distracted.”
Sho blushes slightly at that while Masaki giggles. “The problem is that you, Sho, and Jun are both too strong headed and stubborn,” he agrees and smirks slightly. “On top of that, Sho, you lack diplomatic skills.”
Sho frowns and looks at them in annoyance. “And you guys have them?”
“Not at all. Otherwise Kazu wouldn’t keep his distance from me the way he does.” Satoshi teases. “But in comparison to you, we win. It’s enough for me to know that I won’t ever be the least favourite brother. We are the good and nice brothers. You are… you, lil’ bro.”
“Oh, shut up. And who are you calling little brother? I’m just one hour younger than you!” Sho grumbles. Sore topic in general, it seems. Hence, Satoshi drops it before Sho is going to be mad at them for real. It’s never a good idea to piss him off. Younger twin still has problems with keeping his temper under control.
It’s a good timing to drop the teasing anyway because he can hear how the door opens and Jun’s voice calling a “Hello” towards them.
“Jun~” Masaki waves happily. “Come and eat one of my cupcakes.”
“Wait a moment,” Sho intervenes. “When I asked you, you said it’s solely for tomorrow.”
“Well,” Masaki grins. “Solely for tomorrow and for Jun and Kazu, my cute younger brothers. Where is Kazu anyway?”
“Oh,” Jun shrugs a bit and sits down. “I’m not sure. I think he is still in school for a project.”
Satoshi doesn’t say anything, but he thinks Jun could have been a bit more convincing and less calm with his answer. It was lacking any surprise, like he has actually planned his answer beforehand. But for now Satoshi decides not to say anything. He doesn’t want them all to get into a fight again. Besides, he hates jumping to conclusions and starting a drama before he even checked on the facts.
Sho angles for a plate and hands it to Jun. “How was school?” he asks. “Anything you want to tell us?”
Satoshi knows that Sho doesn’t actually mean any harm, but what Masaki said before was the plain truth. First, no diplomatic skills at all, and on top of that, every one of his questions sounds like an interrogation, even though he hasn’t even intended it. Maybe it comes natural for him because of his work as a lawyer.
Apparently, Masaki’s thoughts are going in the same direction because he intervenes immediately. He is probably a little sick of all the fighting too. “Yes, tell us a nice story from your day. It was dead boring today. Anything interesting happened?”
“No,” Jun answers calmly. “Just-“ He turns around to Masaki and Satoshi. “Sensei said he hasn’t seen you in forever and wants someone from the family to come next month. So which one of you is going?”
Masaki’s grin gets a bit too bright, Satoshi thinks. But it’s so obvious that Jun doesn’t want Sho to go that it’s pretty difficult to keep a straight face. “Oh-“ Masaki chirps. “We are making this a family event.”
“What?” Jun blinks. “Are you nuts? It’s probably boring as hell.”
“My words exactly,” Sho mumbles.
“On a different note,” Satoshi points at the pictures. “Do you want one for your room?”
“What did you paint?” Jun wants to know.
“Plague Column,” Sho answers dryly.
“And something about dead animals,” Masaki adds.
Jun grins. “Awesome. What else?”
“That’s the one Sho is taking.” Satoshi points at the picture with the animals in it.
Jun frowns slightly. “Animals’ corpses?” he muses. “Is it a symbol for the destruction of the world by human beings?”
“Finally, someone who understands me.” Satoshi grins and gives him a high five when Jun reaches out his hand.
“You know-“ Jun looks at the other painting again. “If you added red to that, symbolising blood, it might look even more awesome.”
“I know, it needs a contrast. I wasn’t too happy with the outcome either. That’s why I didn’t choose it for the exhibition.” Satoshi agrees and puts the pictures aside again. He switches on the coffee machine. “I can pimp it up if you want me to. Make it more abstract.”
“Fine,” Jun agrees.
“You really like them?” Sho asks in disbelief, eyeing Jun sceptically.
The latter only nods happily and bites into his strawberry-vanilla cupcake. Apparently it tastes good, because he smiles in approval.
It leaves Satoshi with only one more question now: Where the hell is Kazu? And why isn't he back yet? Unfortunately he can't ask. It's not the right timing.
Pairing: Jun, Masaki, Sho, Satoshi, Kazu (there are going to be additional side-characters though. No OCs.) I'm trying to give each of the five their well-deserves spot-light <3
Rating: PG
Multi-chapter
Beta:
lover_youshouldGenre: family!AU in which Arashi are brothers :-) slice of life, a little drama (and I'm trying to add some light-hearted, funny moments to it too)
Summary: Since they were little they were always close to each other. And when unfortunate events force them to live together without their parents, it's only natural that they try to make the best out of it.
Note: As an artist Satoshi is really unique... :D
It’s a Tuesday, which means that Satoshi meets Sho for lunch. “Your shirt has blue splatters all over it,” Sho complains when they make their way through the crowds. Sho has reserved a table in a pretty fancy restaurant, last minute. He still got a table – of course, whenever Sho, the famous super-lawyer, appears somewhere, they make room for him. The benefits of being a well-known and respected lawyer it seems.
“So what?” Satoshi says lazily. “I had to prepare the oil colours and the canvas. I have to work afterwards you know.”
“Next time please bother and take a fresh t-shirt along!” Sho argues.
Satoshi chuckles softly. “Fine, if you insist. But it wouldn’t do you any harm to loosen up occasionally.”
Sho’s eyes basically snap open and he turns his head towards Satoshi, while he hands their jackets to the cloakroom attendant. He looks irritated all of a sudden, much to Satoshi’s surprise. “What do you mean?” Sho asks.
“I mean that you’re a little tense sometimes,” Satoshi says, trying to sound rather casual than reproachful.
“You and Jun don’t give me any break, don’t you?” Sho mumbles. He sounds a bit tired, and Satoshi finally understands his weird reaction.
“No, that’s not it! I personally just like it when you are relaxed and not worried,” Satoshi defends his words. “As for Jun, he is getting easily irritated in general recently. Don’t take it to heart too much, okay?”
“He is not getting irritated at you,” Sho says and leads Satoshi through the huge hallway towards the more private section of the restaurant. “It’s always me. When I met him last night and he was heading to the toilet, he shot little invisible daggers at me.”
“He has just very intense eyes,” Satoshi jokes, glad when he finally hears Sho laugh. “But did you just say you met him at night, in the hallway?”
Sho nods.
“Don’t you think it’s weird that Masaki dreams of Kazu climbing through Jun’s window and then you miraculously meet him outside his room? Sounds like a distraction strategy to me. These two stick together like glue – it’s almost frustrating.”
Sho lets out a sigh. “I know, but it could just be a coincidence. We don’t know it. And seriously Jun just started talking to me again and I really don’t want to ruin it once more. He is so freaking stubborn and resentful.”
Satoshi can’t hide a grin. “Well, I wonder who he learned that from.”
“Very funny!” Sho huffs.
Before Satoshi continues his teasing, they reach the main hall of the restaurant and Satoshi lets out a tired sigh. This place is so top notch that he feels uncomfortable immediately. It’s more like a place his brother would normally go for business meetings and not with him, but today he has been able to allure Satoshi with the promise of the best steak he has ever eaten.
“Sensei,” the waitress bows politely. “Today with a guest, I see.” She smiles at Satoshi warmly and bows again.
“Yes,” Satoshi smiles. “I’m his twin. Nice to meet you.”
For a moment the woman blinks like she isn’t sure if he is joking or not. He can’t blame her. They don’t look alike at all, let alone be as similar as twins should be. When they were younger they received a lot of stupid Did the nurse actually mix up the babies when you two were born jokes. Gladly Satoshi is the spitting image of their mother and Sho resembles their father – they had already realized as much when they were only 8.
Before Satoshi can explain his words to the waitress, Sho does so. “He really is my twin brother,” he explains in his perfect serious business-manner. Well, it has the advantage of everyone believing in his words, Satoshi has to admit that much. Sho is simply respectable and looks sincere. Also this time it helps, because the young waitress believes him immediately.
Five minutes later they take their place at a nice table in a silent corner. “See, everyone likes and respects you! Don’t stress yourself over some tiny issues at home,” Satoshi says, trying to make up for his previous teasing.
Sho shrugs. “I don’t need everyone to like and respect me. I just want my family to like and respect me. Nothing more.”
Satoshi smiles. “They do.”
Sho looks up from the wine card once one of the waiters assigned to their table approaches them. He orders a bottle of white wine for them before he shifts his attention back to Satoshi. “You think so?”
Satoshi picks his nose absent-mindedly, stopping when Sho glares at him. He chuckles. “I know it,” he says. “They do.”
~~~
The steak was the best he has ever eaten, Satoshi has to admit that much already, but it makes it more difficult to focus on work when he is that full. Also his model is new right now and needs more attention.
“Shift a bit to the right. Your leg is in the way a little.” Satoshi instructs while he tilts his head to the side to eye the young man sitting on the small pedestal.
“Hm,” Kame nods and turns over.
“Too much.” Satoshi sighs and steps away from his canvas to walk towards the young man he hired to pose as a nude model. What Satoshi likes are authentic women and men, in all body shapes. He is not doing any print work for all those trashy modelesque magazines, but rather for the artistic ones. This Kame guy is actually almost a bit too pretty for his taste, but he has a certain depth in his eyes and a certain edge in his character that caught Satoshi’s attention immediately.
Now Kame robs to the side, watching intently as Satoshi shows him which pose he needs to take. “You are going to be a merman in the end version,” he explains. “In midst of the polluted sea. It’s for the fairy-tale gone wrong series.”
Kame nods. “Understood,” he says and once Satoshi is away, he shifts his body into the correct position. He learns fast it seems.
When Satoshi is in front of his canvas again, Kame looks up. He doesn’t change his position but his eyelids flutter slightly and the look in his eyes is a little darker than before. Satoshi looks at the picture that is growing and forming beneath his fingers and brush, then back to the young man. He isn’t sure if he finds Kame annoying, alluring or interesting. It’s possibly all three options at once. “You are trying to seduce me, aren’t you?” Satoshi asks and puts the brush aside.
“Is it working?” Kame wants to know.
Satoshi takes his time to answer. Instead he eyes the guy in front of him. He has a well-built body – actually almost too perfect for Satoshi’s liking. He likes them a little softer and not that trained – but his eyes are freaking intense, his smile bright and shiny, and his lips. A pair of wonderful lips. He wonders what this guy will be able to do with these pretty lips and mouth.
Satoshi makes a step forward. “I guess I might be interested in checking how you look when lying on your back. Or on your hands and knees.”
“Hm,” Kame hums and when Satoshi is right in front of him, he wraps his arms around his neck. “Do you say that to all your models?”
“Secret,” Satoshi teases.
Kame seems to take the bait and not to mind much, Satoshi thinks, when he can feel how he gets pulled down and into Kame’s arms. Well, fine with him.
~~~
His little interaction with Kame has messed up his whole schedule and he has spent his whole afternoon organising his upcoming convention, but Kame was worth it, definitely. That dude definitely knew what he was doing. It’s almost frustrating to know that he won’t call back – Satoshi knows that much already. It’s always the same with them. They want to lay or get laid by the well-known famous painter, but nothing more…
“Sho! Help me carry. Help, now!” Satoshi feels how his arms are getting heavier and more tired every second. “Come on, idiotic twin! I know you are home – I saw your car.”
When Sho finally opens the door, his dark eyes look at him in surprise. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing? Solving my tax problems?” Satoshi jokes lightly. When Sho throws him a glare, he just smiles soothingly. “Sorry, sorry, don’t be mad now. I’ve no idea about taxes at all – glad you do them for us.”
Sho relaxes visibly before he eyes the huge package Satoshi is carrying. “What’s that?”
“Just finished a few paintings for the exhibition and made my final decision on which ones to present. These are the ones I didn’t choose.” Satoshi explains and hands some of them to his twin brother. “Pretty heavy.” Satoshi sighs slightly when the heavy weight gets lifted a bit, his arms suddenly feeling light.
Sho wavers while he tries to wrap his arms around the huge paintings. “Where do you want to have them?”
“Kitchen.”
Sho is still wearing his tux from work; little sweat drops are starting to appear on his forehead. Sure, it’s late afternoon and pretty warm, Satoshi thinks. Should have changed into more casual clothes. “Why didn’t you change yet?”
“I just came home, I didn’t have time to change yet. Unlike you.” Sho explains and eyes Satoshi sceptically. The latter pretty much knows that he is not particularly pleased with his casual outfit, especially after it’s the same t-shirt he wore during their lunch. Satoshi shrugs it off. It’s not his fault that he can work whenever he wants and wear whatever he wants.
“Oh, new paintings?” Masaki asks once they reach the kitchen. He could sound more excited, Satoshi thinks, but at least he tries. In the kitchen, the air is basically stuck and almost sticky. Satoshi breathes in sharply; every oven and plate they have is running at the moment and he can feel how his hair starts sticking to his forehead immediately. Also the heavy sugary scent lying in the air seems to block his whole nose. Makes it difficult to breathe. Masaki doesn’t seem to mind the heat though he is sweating like crazy. He is wearing an apron with little strawberries on it, green gloves and a pink hairnet. It’s a surprise that he doesn’t look more ridiculous.
Sho lets out a sigh. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Masaki grins while he shoves a baking tray into the oven and takes the other one out. There are little cupcakes on it. On the kitchen table, he has already prepared sugar icing in all kinds of colours, little decorations for the cakes and food colouring pens to write with. “Tomorrow is cupcake day in my shop.”
“Can we taste one?”
“No.” Masaki shakes his head firmly. “They are for tomorrow! For business!”
“Hm.” Satoshi opens the window and takes a deep breath when the fresh air is flowing into the room. “So,” he turns around and points at his paintings. “Where do you want me to put them?”
Sho and Masaki exchange a glance with each other. “Well-“ Sho muses while he looks at his pictures. He frowns when he sees a particularly dark one. “What’s that supposed to be?” he wants to know.
“The Plague Column,” Satoshi explains.
Masaki’s eyes twitch a bit. He almost looks desperate. “Cool, but I’d rather stick with another one. Oh-” he grabs another painting. “That one has animals in it.”
“Yeah, but they are obviously dead,” Sho says dryly.
Masaki’s expression gets blank all of a sudden. He puts the painting aside like he has just touched something infected. “Oh.”
“Yes.” Satoshi points at several animals that are laying on the ground, the forest around them an idyllic contrast to the dark atmosphere of the theme. “It doesn’t have a name,” he explains. “It’s about the road to ruin of humans, visualised by the animals’ corpses.”
Masaki stays silent for a moment. “Wouldn’t that fit in your office more?” he finally asks Sho, with a begging look in his eyes.
“Why don’t you paint something nice here and there? With colours and happy feelings, nothing overly depressive. Nothing like your exhibition about abuse and domestic violence last year – I swear, I had nightmares for weeks.” Sho says instead of giving Masaki an answer. “I mean, you are certainly skilled.”
“I’m a social-critical painter, Sho,” Satoshi explains calmly. “I’m not doing fun and light pictures.”
“Do you have something lighter than that?” Masaki tries once more and points at the two pictures. “You know, a lot of children visit my shop.”
“No, these were the lightest ones I have. They didn’t fit the theme of the exhibition.”
“Which is?”
“The perdition we brought upon us.” His brothers look at him like he is supposed to reveal to them that it’s all a joke. He can’t help a grin. “Your faces. Awesome. But it really is the truth.”
Sho and Masaki exchange yet another glance, but apparently, they have both run out of excuses, so Sho grabs the painting with the animals on it and sighs. “I’ll take it then,” he gives in. “On another note-“ He sits down at the kitchen table, smiling when Masaki hands him a cup with tea. “School called me today.”
“Oh?” Both Satoshi and Masaki shift their attention to him. Satoshi frowns. “Any problems? Did something happen?”
“No, but it’s parents-teacher day soon,” Sho explains. “Jun’s homeroom teacher wants one of us to go.”
Masaki tilts his head and looks at Satoshi sceptically. “Is that good or bad?”
The latter shrugs. “Well, how should I know?”
“Who is going?” Sho wants to know. “We haven’t been there in a while.”
Masaki takes the tray with cupcakes again and puts them on the kitchen table before he starts decorating them. “We are all going!” he says.
“What!?” Sho blinks. “All of us? Why isn’t Satoshi going alone instead? He has basically nothing to do.”
Satoshi snorts at that. “Excuse me? Nothing to do? I’m working too, just so you know.“ He pulls an eyebrow up. “No surprise that Jun goes from loving to hating you almost every month. You are just lucky that Kazu doesn’t care much for diplomacy and apparently seems to have a weird grudge against me instead. He is distracted.”
Sho blushes slightly at that while Masaki giggles. “The problem is that you, Sho, and Jun are both too strong headed and stubborn,” he agrees and smirks slightly. “On top of that, Sho, you lack diplomatic skills.”
Sho frowns and looks at them in annoyance. “And you guys have them?”
“Not at all. Otherwise Kazu wouldn’t keep his distance from me the way he does.” Satoshi teases. “But in comparison to you, we win. It’s enough for me to know that I won’t ever be the least favourite brother. We are the good and nice brothers. You are… you, lil’ bro.”
“Oh, shut up. And who are you calling little brother? I’m just one hour younger than you!” Sho grumbles. Sore topic in general, it seems. Hence, Satoshi drops it before Sho is going to be mad at them for real. It’s never a good idea to piss him off. Younger twin still has problems with keeping his temper under control.
It’s a good timing to drop the teasing anyway because he can hear how the door opens and Jun’s voice calling a “Hello” towards them.
“Jun~” Masaki waves happily. “Come and eat one of my cupcakes.”
“Wait a moment,” Sho intervenes. “When I asked you, you said it’s solely for tomorrow.”
“Well,” Masaki grins. “Solely for tomorrow and for Jun and Kazu, my cute younger brothers. Where is Kazu anyway?”
“Oh,” Jun shrugs a bit and sits down. “I’m not sure. I think he is still in school for a project.”
Satoshi doesn’t say anything, but he thinks Jun could have been a bit more convincing and less calm with his answer. It was lacking any surprise, like he has actually planned his answer beforehand. But for now Satoshi decides not to say anything. He doesn’t want them all to get into a fight again. Besides, he hates jumping to conclusions and starting a drama before he even checked on the facts.
Sho angles for a plate and hands it to Jun. “How was school?” he asks. “Anything you want to tell us?”
Satoshi knows that Sho doesn’t actually mean any harm, but what Masaki said before was the plain truth. First, no diplomatic skills at all, and on top of that, every one of his questions sounds like an interrogation, even though he hasn’t even intended it. Maybe it comes natural for him because of his work as a lawyer.
Apparently, Masaki’s thoughts are going in the same direction because he intervenes immediately. He is probably a little sick of all the fighting too. “Yes, tell us a nice story from your day. It was dead boring today. Anything interesting happened?”
“No,” Jun answers calmly. “Just-“ He turns around to Masaki and Satoshi. “Sensei said he hasn’t seen you in forever and wants someone from the family to come next month. So which one of you is going?”
Masaki’s grin gets a bit too bright, Satoshi thinks. But it’s so obvious that Jun doesn’t want Sho to go that it’s pretty difficult to keep a straight face. “Oh-“ Masaki chirps. “We are making this a family event.”
“What?” Jun blinks. “Are you nuts? It’s probably boring as hell.”
“My words exactly,” Sho mumbles.
“On a different note,” Satoshi points at the pictures. “Do you want one for your room?”
“What did you paint?” Jun wants to know.
“Plague Column,” Sho answers dryly.
“And something about dead animals,” Masaki adds.
Jun grins. “Awesome. What else?”
“That’s the one Sho is taking.” Satoshi points at the picture with the animals in it.
Jun frowns slightly. “Animals’ corpses?” he muses. “Is it a symbol for the destruction of the world by human beings?”
“Finally, someone who understands me.” Satoshi grins and gives him a high five when Jun reaches out his hand.
“You know-“ Jun looks at the other painting again. “If you added red to that, symbolising blood, it might look even more awesome.”
“I know, it needs a contrast. I wasn’t too happy with the outcome either. That’s why I didn’t choose it for the exhibition.” Satoshi agrees and puts the pictures aside again. He switches on the coffee machine. “I can pimp it up if you want me to. Make it more abstract.”
“Fine,” Jun agrees.
“You really like them?” Sho asks in disbelief, eyeing Jun sceptically.
The latter only nods happily and bites into his strawberry-vanilla cupcake. Apparently it tastes good, because he smiles in approval.
It leaves Satoshi with only one more question now: Where the hell is Kazu? And why isn't he back yet? Unfortunately he can't ask. It's not the right timing.
