Aoyama family was a mess in the dinner-table. There was laughter, the clatter of chopsticks and the quarrel of three sisters as to who received the largest portion of fried pork cutlet.
"Rika, stop hogging the plate!" The first child, Hana, was extending her hand over the table, but was swatted off by her younger sister.
"I saw it first!" Check-check, squirrel cheeks, Rika said.
The middle sister, Emi, scowled with an exaggeration. You two are just playing that dad will not cook more should we ask him.
Through the commotion Suki leaned back in his chair with a smile on his face. He was a follower of this confusion--full of noise, disorder, yet love. He put in a scoop of rice in the bowl of Emi because she would not continue complaining.
Balance it out, here, Suki said in good humor.
His sisters all groaned. Oh, Suki the peacekeeper again.
Rika narrowed her eyes at him. You smiled too much in school today. Spill it."
Suki froze mid-bite. "Huh?"
Emi smirked. "Don't 'huh' me. You've got that look. The interesting look.
Hana shook her head and looked inwardly with interest. "Ohhh. had our little sunshine, at last, a crush?
Suki almost choked on his rice. "Wha--no! It's not like that! It's just--"
"Who is he?" Rika cut in immediately.
"HE?!" Hana and Emi gasped in unison.
Suki dropped his chopsticks. "Wait, I didn't say--! Oh, come on!"
But his sisters were already bawling with laughter and were leaning on each other in a dramatic manner. They continued to tease him, and his face turned red, and Suki wrapped his hands around it.
"Okay, okay!" Hana wheezed. "So, what's his name?"
Suki answered, "...Ryuzi, I admit.... His sisters looked at each other knowingly.
"Ryuzi, huh? Sounds like a delinquent." Emi arched an eyebrow.
Suki huffed. "He's not! He's just... misunderstood."
Rika grinned wickedly. "A cold prince types? Suki, you're doomed."
Suki could not stop smiling in spite of their constant teasing. It made his heartbeat for even thinking of that silent face, those eyes looking like they would have broken the world--a thought that made his heartbeat even though, after all, Ryuzi had hardly spoken to him.
Meanwhile, in town, there was nothing going on in the Takeda household.
At one end of the long-polished table dinner lay untouched. Ryuzi was sitting there poking at his food, Daichi was reading the paper and Ayumi was filling teacups. The rattle of knives and forks was too great a noise in the silence.
"Did you... eat lunch today?" Ayumi finally asked.
Ryuzi didn't look up. "Yeah."
"What did you have?"
"...Bread."
That is not sufficient, Ayumi said to herself. Her hands would wiggle in her lap and be ready to stretch across the table and then hung in mid-air.
Daichi cleared his throat. "Bread is fine. He must not be picky, but rather focused.
Ryuzi's jaw tightened. He set his chopsticks down. "I'm done."
He got on his feet, pushing back his chair. Ayumi parted her lips--"Ryuzi, wait--" yet he was already climbing up the staircase, and closing his bedroom door.
The silence that remained behind was more than ever.
The fingers of Ayumi were jammed between her napkin. "...He looks thinner, Daichi."
The paper in the hands of Daichi crinkled upon itself when he folded it. His voice was very low, almost apologetic. "...I know."
Ryuzi was sitting on the side of his bed in his room, mindlessly scrolling through his phone. He stopped because he remembered the lovely smile of Suki. That annoying voice of his-- Not yet.
He could not help twitching his lips. "...Idiot."
But his chest was a little warmer than it was an hour ago.