1449A Annunciation St. - The Aidou Residence

[More than Music]

The duplex that the Aidous are renting part of is thin as far as width to the street goes, but it is long for it extends far back. Which looks rather comical next to the huge house next to it. The building is on the street corner of Annunciation and Euterpe, painted sky blue with brown windows, with two stories - the first story being apartment A and the second story being apartment B. The Aidous occupy apartment A.

It's a rather small apartment, but they don't need much space between the two of them. There are two bedrooms side-by-side at the end of the house, right next to the only bathroom. There is also a decently sized kitchen with yellow walls that they both agree should be covered up, and a living room/dining room that occupies the rest of the building. The old fridge and stove came with the apartment, as did the purple paisley couch with matching armchairs, and the dining set of white table and chairs to seat four.

It's usually a quiet house; Hideo and Kagayaki wander the town often, and don't say or do much when they are home. Neither of them are NPCs. But their upstairs neighbor, who is a fat old man who watches SpongeBob SquarePants and Powerpuff Girls all day, is, in fact, an NPC.





Since Yukito decided that Erin was moving in with him, thus leaving Kagayaki with... hm... NOWHERE TO STAY, here's the place Hideo got for them. Yesssss.

Let plots proceed. >

[More than Music]

OOC: This is Kagayaki's birthday party, set on his birthday. Sorry if this confuses people... I know March 12th is pretty far ahead of the rest of our plots, but we've been planning this for MONTHS already :3
BIC:

Hideo Aidou

Alright. This was the first of Kagayaki's birthdays he'd really been around for since he'd come back, so Hideo was determined not to blow this one. He was going to seriously break this kid in. Kagayaki was going to be twenty-one this year, legal drinking age in America, and one year past a legal adult in Japan. This had to mean something! When Hideo had been twenty-one--

Never mind that. Kagayaki was a more modest and well-behaved kid than he had been.

Kagayaki wasn't back to the apartment yet. Hideo had forced him out to get ready. Because his son couldn't know exactly how much booze he'd bought, that's why. A forty year old like Hideo wasn't very suspicious to be buying alcohol, unlike the look that would have been on his son's face if he'd been at the store. That would have ruined everything.

So, here he was, cleaning up the apartment and getting ready for whatever might come. He remembered what it was like to be drunk, and to have friends over while being drunk – oh, memories from his college days made him laugh in a way that could have been mistaken for insanity.

Box up all valuables; including all pictures, glass cups – besides a few, to drink out of, of course – , and articles of clothing that would be a shame to see burned. Shut away all possible – even vaguely possible – poisons until tomorrow afternoon, a cupboard with a combination lock alongside said valuables because drunks are horrible with locks. Also slip in all metal chairs and other possible weapons for someone with blurry vision. And... Kagayaki's laptop, cellphone, and medication. Ha, Freya would never know he hadn't taken them, right? She wouldn't get here until tomorrow night, and they'd be sobered up by then.

Also, with a sigh, Hideo put his glasses in there. He blinked fiercely from the contacts, which he hated, but he couldn't take a chance of breaking his glasses.

Again.

They'd be here soon. From what he knew of, it would only be him, Kagayaki, and Yukito. Maybe Erinchan, but that might be... trouble. He'd had some bad – though entirely hilarious – experiences with girls being at the parties he'd thrown. Especially young, pretty, energetic, high school girls. He laughed again as he locked the door. Yeah, it would probably be better to just let her see the video. Hideo held his drink pretty well – though he experienced some gabbiness and had a habit of saying anything that came into his mind... anything at all – so he'd man the camera. He had no idea what the boys would do. The little video camera on the table was the only valuable thing still out here that he knew of, and he'd just bought it, so it still had a warranty on it. It covered all accidents in the next 30 days.

As long as he didn't get into a coma, he'd remember to return it. Preferably without the tape this time. That had been a real bummer.

Okay, so he'd stashed the drinks in the fridge – it was now very, very, very full – and cleaned up the apartment pretty well. Anything that happened from this point on would be credited to the birthday party, which meant it would be just like the old days, with everyone cleaning up with a hangover the next morning. Because there was no way Freya could find out about this party.

Nooo... That would be bad.

Someone knocked half-heartedly on the door before letting themselves in. Hideo looked up. “Kaki-kun?” he called with a hopeful expression. His son soon came into sight, nodding. He looked like he was suffering from mild depression, like he had been ever since the holidays. Sighing, Hideo reached over and touched his son's shoulder. “Hey, it's gonna be okay.” Kagayaki forced a small smile and nodded.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Kitto. Defini'ely.”

“So desu, it is,” Hideo told him, smiling knowingly. “It won't be like this forever. I know you miss her, but--”

“No, you don't know,” Kagayaki said, his voice quiet, not even bothering to look up from the floor. “You know how it feels to leave, but not how it feels to be left behind.” Hideo withdrew his hand. His son didn't know what he'd been through, did he? He had no idea.

“That's what you think.”

“Whatever,” Kagayaki groaned, starting to go past. Hideo grabbed his son by the sleeve, his eyes burning. Kagayaki looked up slowly, meeting his father's gaze with an angry one of his own. “What?”

“You're not getting out of this party. You promised.”

Kagayaki let his gaze fall. ”I did?”

Hideo nodded, letting of Kagayaki again as he turned to gesture towards the table. “Let's get ready for your guest, okay? Is anyone besides Yukito-kun coming?”

Kagayaki shrugged. “I don't know.”

Eyes flashing with interest, Hideo poked Kagayaki in the stomach. His son looked up, surprised. “Say that in English,” he challenged, eyes still sparkling. The young man didn't seem too thrilled about this.

“I don' 'ow.”

Hideo shook his head. “Say it clearly.”

“I can't!” Kagayaki cried, throwing his hands up. “You know I can't!”

“I know you can,” Hideo corrected, pointing an accusing finger. “Say it clearly. I dare you.”

Kagayaki sent him a look, then took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. “I don' know.”

Smirking, Hideo put his hand on his son's shoulder. “Much better.” Kagayaki just rolled his eyes. “Come here, sit down. I'll get us a drink while we wait for Yukito-kun.” He was reluctantly followed over to the table, where Kagayaki sat down while Hideo reached into the fridge. “Hm...”

Someone knocked on the door. Kagayaki's head slammed down on the table. “Whyyy...”

“I'll get it, you big baby,” Hideo laughed, closing the fridge and walking over to the door. “Some birthday boy you are. You're such a whiny little emo kid sometimes.” He yanked open the door without checking to see who it was first. A smile crept onto his face when he saw their visitor. “Yukito-kun. Speaking of emo.” He gestured inside. “Come on in. I think we could all use a party right now.”

[Elda Forever]

OOC: Note that none of us are supporters of underage drinking. It is a special occasion, and I am being told that Hideo is taking proper precautions, etc. BIC:

Yukito Maki

Yukito stood outside the apartment door that Kagasan and Aidousan shared, experiencing a very ominous feeling. He heard Aidousan's laugh inside, and couldn't keep the disappointed frown on his face. Why hadn't he done just what he'd been doing the last fifteen years or so and just go away on Kagasan's birthday? It felt like one of them was intruding, either Aidousan or himself. He didn't want to admit out loud his guesses, finding it a lose-lose situation. But then again, he wasn't good with parents. He sucked at dealing with his own, and he was sure that was one of the reasons why no one's parents liked him. Yukito shifted his weight from foot to foot. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He once thought Yumi's mom kind of liked him. But that did him little good now. Or ever, really. And 'kind of liked' didn't mean much relatively. He let out a sigh, mentally shrugging off his thoughts. He could at least try to stay under control and decent for Kagasan's birthday. He had pretty much ruined the last one. Admittedly, Kagasan had randomnly raced out of his own party that Yukito and his mother had thrown for him just to go see Erin, who Yukito couldn't bear to see at the time. But that was a year ago, right? Hopefully both of them were a little older, and little more mature. He knew he'd basically turned to mush in the last year, but he wasn't sure about Kagasan. He was taking the down plummet with Cassie pretty hard. Bracing himself for any sort of crowd or lack thereof inside, he knocked.

It only took a few moments for Aidousan to open the door, his eyes not immediately on Yukito, but whoever was inside. Probably Kagasan. When he finally turned to see the teen standing on the doorstep, he smiled like they were old friends. Or old rivals. “Yukito-kun. Speaking of emo.” He gestured inside. Yukito's face darkened at the jab. “Come on in. I think we could all use a party right now.”

“Who cares what 'all of us' needs? It's a birthday party. Isn't that supposed to be about whoever was born on that day?” he remarked sullenly, nimbly slipping past Aidousan to get into the wider space of the apartment so they were standing too close. “And you're still trying too hard, ojiisan.” Yukito looked around and caught sight of his friend, a small smile coming to his face. “Otanjobi omedeto, Kagasan,” He said, bowing a little and studying his friend's posture. Seeing the expression there, his own smile faded. He felt like any bit of comfort he could offer to him was hypocritical. Yukito remembered how bad he had when Erin and him had broken up. It had torn down on everyone around him like a rotten tooth eating away at anything it could touch, just spreading pain. He paused, then reached out to timidly touch Kagasan's shoulder, “Hey.. Erin says she's coming later. Still had some things to do. But she can't wait to see you.” Yukito pulled out the largish box from under his arm and held it out to Kagasan, the crimson wrapping paper glaring against his darker colored wardrobe as it sat on both his palms. “I don't know if you want to wait or not, but...” he shrugged, waited a moment, then sat down. For the first time since he'd walked in her turned to look at Kagasan's father, one eyebrow giving a little twitch. He was really bad at parents. Working his bottom lip between his teeth a little, he sent Kagasan a look, “I don't suppose I can get curry under the tatami mats on his watch....”

~~~~~

Hideo Aidou

“Yukito-kun. Speaking of emo.” He could see Yukito-kun wasn't pleased by that. He always seemed to be in a bad mood. No wonder Kagayaki got so depressed around him... Hideo felt the urge to grab a dictionary, open to the words 'happy', 'joy', and 'pleasant' to see if Yukito recognized them at all. He could be cool... if he wasn't stiff and rude. But now wasn't the time to stir up trouble. Right now was Kagayaki's birthday party. And they would have fun. It was a requirement. “Come on in. I think we could all use a party right now.”

“Who cares what 'all of us' needs? It's a birthday party. Isn't that supposed to be about whoever was born on that day?” Yukito snapped, making Hideo raise an amused eyebrow as the boy moved past him.

“Well, he doesn't feel like being very important right now. Check out the gloom shadow over there,” he said, gesturing towards his son, who was currently slumped in his chair. Hideo had to laugh. “The two of you match right now, you know? Seriously, did someone pee in your cheerios or something?”

“And you're still trying too hard, ojiisan.”

Hideo smiled. “You called me an old man.” He laughed. “Well, that's okay, because my son is old now too, so I reserve the right to be the old man around here.”

Yukito ignored him, instead looking over at Kagayaki. Hideo thought he saw a small smile, like he'd just seen something wonderful he hadn't seen in a while. Or, at least, that's what he should have seen. Instead, he saw a very depressed Kagayaki. He didn't seem to notice at first. He would have, if he'd actually been listening to Hideo. Which wasn't like him anyway.

“Otanjobi omedeto, Kagasan,” Yukito bowed a little, then caught on to the fact that his friend was a shadow of his former self. Hideo sighed, but kept his mouth shut. Kagayaki and him had reached as far as they would with that conversation for today. But Yukito and Kagayaki didn't seem to have spoken on it much yet. Yukito reached out and put a hand on Kagayaki's shoulder, which finally made him react.

But he didn't speak. He just slowly looked up into Yukito's eyes. Hideo could see that Kagayaki's eyes held contempt that slowly melted into tears after a few seconds. It was almost like he was beginning to thaw out inside. ”What?”

“Hey.. Erin says she's coming later. Still had some things to do. But she can't wait to see you.”

That brought a smile to Kagayaki's face. One that hadn't been there in a while. “Good.” Just then, Yukito showed Kagayaki the present he'd brought, which made the birthday boy's smile fade. ”You shouldn't have gotten me anything...” His voice echoed something else. Like he was upset to be given a gift. Hideo kept his mouth shut, watching these two interact as they proceeded to ignore him. He decided he should get some of the drinks out.

“I don't know if you want to wait or not, but...” Yukito shrugged, obviously missing the look. Then he turned to Hideo for a moment before looking back at Kagayaki. “I don't suppose I can get curry under the tatami mats on his watch....”

Hideo laughed. “Oh, no, by all means. Just as long as you can get him to smile. I'm tired of living with a zombie. But that's why I bought this.” He held up a finger to show them he was getting something, then he darted to the fridge to pull out a bottle. Setting the sake on the table triumphantly, Hideo saw Kagayaki's eyes widen.

”Wha-... Why'd you get that?” he asked, somewhere between taken aback and stuck in dumb wonder.

“It's your birthday present, of course,” Hideo told him, in a matter-of-fact way. “I want you to enjoy yourself for a change. It's your birthday, son, you should smile a little bit.” He let a rather mischievous look come onto his face. “It just so happens you are legal to drink in America today. And I thought, well, from what you've told me, Yukito is mature enough to not tell anyone about it. I wasn't expecting Erinchan to come, but... I have a feeling she'll keep our secret too.” He winked. “I got the house ready so none of you will get into any trouble. Just have some fun and stay inside.”

”Tosan...” Kagayaki whispered, slowly reaching over and taking the bottle into his hands. ”You're gonna get me drunk for my birthday?”

Hideo shrugged, grabbing three small glasses and setting them on the table. “Thought it might be worth a try.”

Very slowly, Kagayaki looked up at his father. Just when Hideo became under the impression Kagayaki was dissatisfied, the young man began to laugh. It was quiet, but definitely a laugh. ”Bring it on,” he said, handing the bottle to Hideo.

“Alright,” Hideo murmured with a smile, opening the bottle. He looked over at Yukito. “You okay with this?” 'Or are you going to back out on the it's 'about the person who was born on this day', that's what I'd like to know.' His eyes shown with a challenge. 'Well?'

~~~~~

Yukito Maki

His birthday wishes brought no real response from Kagasan. His comments went received by a zombie-fied version of the person who had once been his overtly bubbly friend. But at least mentioning Erin brought a smile to the roundish face. Yukito wondered on that – it was almost like he'd become more friends with Erin than himself since he'd met her online through their mutually linked livejournals. It was weird. And he didn't know what it meant. Yukito held up his gift to Kagasan, and the brief smile faded. Yukito tried not to think that now Kagasan was just putting up with him, humoring him with as little tact as possible until he went away. He did want me to come... didn't he?

”You shouldn't have gotten me anything...” His voice echoed something else Yukito didn't like. The present sounded more like an insult. Yukito set it on the table awkwardly.

“Why the hell not?” he tried to keep his tone flippant as he sat down on the table. “I don't know if you want to wait or not, but...” Yukito shrugged. He had expected to feel Aidousan's eyes on him too much, or for them to snap back and forth like rivals. But he hadn't expected a cold reception from Kagasan. Trying to cheer him up in his own quiet way, he looked at Aidousan and added, “I don't suppose I can get curry under the tatami mats on his watch....”

Hideo laughed. “Oh, no, by all means. Just as long as you can get him to smile. I'm tired of living with a zombie. But that's why I bought this.” He held up a finger to show them he was getting something, then appeared moments later and setting a bottle on the table, looking proud of it. It was sake. Surprised, Kagasan's eyes widened, and Yukito's eyebrow arched in confusion.

”Wha-... Why'd you get that?” Kagasan asked, obviously not expected Aidousan's simple solution to the mood than Yukito was.

“It's your birthday present, of course,” Hideo told him, in a matter-of-fact way. “I want you to enjoy yourself for a change. It's your birthday, son, you should smile a little bit.” He let a rather mischievous look come onto his face. “It just so happens you are legal to drink in America today. And I thought, well, from what you've told me, Yukito is mature enough to not tell anyone about it. I wasn't expecting Erinchan to come, but... I have a feeling she'll keep our secret too.” He winked. “I got the house ready so none of you will get into any trouble. Just have some fun and stay inside.” Yukito said nothing, still a little confused. This was supposed to be the fatherly parenting that he and Kagasan had missed out on?

”Tosan...” Kagayaki whispered, slowly reaching over and taking the bottle into his hands. ”You're gonna get me drunk for my birthday?”

Hideo shrugged, grabbing three small glasses and setting them on the table. “Thought it might be worth a try.” Everyone was quite for a long time. Yukito watched as Kagasan looked up at his father, as though looking for answers for some unspoken question. He said nothing, sitting still across from two people he really didn't know. At least not anymore. The sake was started to look very appealing. Then.... Kagasan laughed. It sounded hollow compared to the full, warm laughter that usually bubbled between his lips, but it was still a laugh. ”Bring it on,” he said, handing the bottle to his father.

“Alright,” Aidousan murmured with a smile, opening the bottle. He looked over at Yukito. “You okay with this?”

Instantly, Yukito shrugged, “Only if you seriously let me join in.” He wasn't sure yet if Aidousan was just teasing him by suggesting that they were all going to get drunk. As carefree and odd as Kagasan's father was, it was illegal to let him drink at his age. Not that it mattered to him before, but it was still odd for him to feel like the only adult in the room.

[More than Music]

OOC: Of course not. I do plenty of things with my characters I'd NEVER EVER EVER do...

In my LIFE.

BIC:

Hideo Aidou

”You shouldn't have gotten me anything...” These words seemed lined with something else, something Hideo didn't fully understand and didn't like either.

“Why the hell not?” Yukito replied in such a tone that Hideo couldn't help smiling. They knew each other better than they thought. They could tell the best way to deal with this was head-on.

Kagayaki's eyes flickered up to Yukito's face. "I don't deserve a present. I keep saying that, but no one believes me." His volume had dropped at Yukito's reply; something wanted to be said but he was refusing. He needed to loosen up. Hideo had just the thing. "But I guess I shouldn't say no," he cut in as Yukito set the present on the table like it was a pistol or an unwanted contract. "I mean... you already got it and everything." He looked back at Yukito's face. "I do appreciate you, when you're around."

“I don't know if you want to wait or not, but...” Yukito's words trailed off into a shrug that said what he obviously meant: He didn't know what else to say. What could he say? Kagayaki was being ridiculous, unacceptable. What could a friend possibly do? “I don't suppose I can get curry under the tatami mats on his watch....” Kagayaki smiled a little, looking down at the table and becoming silence once again.

But Hideo wasn't the shy one of the family: he laughed. “Oh, no, by all means. Just as long as you can get him to smile. I'm tired of living with a zombie. But that's why I bought this." That's when he brought out his first present: sake. He set it on the table before two surprised boys.

'Boys... Kagayaki's not a boy anymore, is he? That's why I can do this.' He held still a moment, watching Kagayaki's eyes shine like they always had, a moment of his previous light. 'He's not... he's not a kid anymore. He's a man now, isn't he? And I need to start treating him like it.'

”Wha-... Why'd you get that?” Kagayaki's voice echoed his shock.

“It's your birthday present, of course,” Hideo said, in a matter-of-fact way. “I want you to enjoy yourself for a change. It's your birthday, son, you should smile a little bit." He explained himself, noting Kagayaki becoming legal drinking age and that he'd taken necessary precautions. He didn't want anyone getting hurt, oh no that wouldn't be good at all. Yukito didn't look impressed. 'Hey, I'm doing the best I can. I'm not exactly the model of a good parent. In high school, I was known as 'most likely to die before the age of twenty-five', not 'most likely to have a happy family'.

”Tosan...” Kagayaki whispered, holding the bottle with a reverence that made Hideo smirk. ”You're gonna get me drunk for my birthday?”

'I know, perfect, right?'

But he held in his delight, getting some cups and covering up his smile with a shrug. “Thought it might be worth a try.”

They were all quiet for a moment, and Hideo was reminded of how much they probably needed this alcohol right now. 'We're kinda failures, aren't we? We're really failing right now. We just need to relax, to let it out and just throw all our emotional baggage out the window. It's just the only way.'

Slowly, Kagayaki began to laugh. It wasn't full of his normal mirth, but it was a laugh, and that was good. ”Bring it on,”

Hideo took the bottle with a smile, then paused and looked at Yukito. “You okay with this?” Yukito just shrugged at first, a gesture that Hideo subconsciously mirrored. "Do you know if you're okay with this?" he teased, laughing.

“Only if you seriously let me join in.”

Nodding, Hideo poured them each a glass, sending Kagayaki a look as the young man took his a little too eagerly. "You better be careful," he said, warning in his voice. "I won't have any casualties, got it? No getting yourself hurt, and no serious puking." Kagayaki nodded, starting to take a drink before Hideo stopped him. That earned the father a glare from his son, but it would take more than that to sway him. "Hey. It's just to help. It won't fix your life or anything. It's a party, not Oktoberfest."

Hideo sat down with a sigh, finishing his glass in one drink. "Here we go."

~ - ~ - ~ - ~

BAM! Kagayaki's head hit the table. "Woah..."

Hideo laughed, shaking his head. "Slow down, kid."

Pouting, Kagayaki held up his glass. "I will... Please?"

"You're not," Hideo reminded, unknowingly slipping into English as he poured them both another glass. "And this is... this is strong stuff. So you better be careful."

Kagayaki just nodded, but disregarded everything as they both - once again - finished their glasses in a drink. It was as if he was just trying to find a reason to bang his head against the table! That brat!

"Look! I won't have you doing that!" Hideo snapped. "God, we just barely started and you're already ruining everything."

"Don't give me that crap," Kagayaki said, his head still on the table, not even looking up. "It feels good to hurt myself."

"So are you gonna start cutting yourself too?" Hideo asked, not expecting a reply.

"Nah," Kagayaki mumbled, waving a hand. "Too messy."

"And a concussion isn't?" That time, no answer. "Oh, so you'll answer my rhetorical question, but not the one I actually care about? I see how it is."

"Shut up, you know I hate myself."

Hideo raised an eyebrow. "So that's what it is," he said, beginning to laugh. "You're already getting drunk? What a wimp!"

"Shut up, you know I hate myself." He was repeating himself.

"You only needed to say it once," Hideo said, slowly prying the cup from Kagayaki's hands. "No more for you for a while."

Kagayaki jumped up and yanked the glass back, eyes wide. "No! he cried. "Don' be takin' my... my cup!"

Hideo felt a laugh coming on, but this wasn't really a funny thing. Kagayaki was taking this bad. Worse than he'd thought. "Why not?"

"Need my cup," he explained, a little madly. "Need my cup for... for drinkin'." He was speaking strangely... Hideo fought a smile.

"Say, 'this is my cup'," he playfully challenged, glancing at Yukito. "Do it. You'll sound stupid."

"I... I don' th... thound... thupid!" he said, sounding confused by the sound of his words.

Okay, here it came.

"Oh my god," Hideo cried, laughing a bellowing laugh. "You have a drunken lisp!"

"Th... thop," Kagayaki whined, curling up in his chair. "I hate you."

Hideo just couldn't stop laughing. "Of course you do."

"I do!"

"I know, son." Still laughing. "Alright, let me get this camera out..." He looked at Yukito. "You better join in soon. I can't wait to see what you do."

This was going to be an interesting party.

[Elda Forever]

Yukito Maki

He didn't know where, but Yukito had once read that drunkenness was equal to your body weight minus how often and how much you drink. If that was true, he should have been completely wasted after the first couple of glassfuls, but he didn't feel very out of it. Just... a little numb.

Kagasan, on the other hand, was drunker than a skunk. He had a brief idea that maybe he himself was naturally able to have more sake than some of his peers. Maybe it's because my dad drank so much. That would make sense. He stared blankly at his hands folded on the table in front of him, and the other two started to argue with notably more mirth than normal. Yukito, on the other hand, felt a million miles away. It made him a little more optimistic - if he was as messed up today as he was a year ago, shouldn't that show now that he'd had too much to drink? Being distant should have meant he didn't have many secrets to reveal, not much to hide or be ashamed of anymore. Or at least, that's how his logic was working at this moment. He was fairly sure things were supposed to be this fuzzy.

"Shut up, you know I hate myself."

"So that's what it is," Aidousan said, beginning to laugh. "You're already getting drunk? What a wimp!"

"Sake has a higher alcohol content than a lot of drinks," Yukito mumbled simply, giving a shrug. But it felt weird to raise his shoulder like that. He felt weighed down by something. Quietly, he reached over and poured himself a little more. Aidousan was busy with Kagasan and didn't notice. He used to do the same thing when he was little, but to his own father. He didn't get caught, because it didn't show very well. And he was small. Very small. He'd always been shorter than the other kids, and he was too light. Yukito wondered if that bothered him.

"Shut up, you know I hate myself." Kagasan said again.

"You only needed to say it once," Aidousan said, slowly prying the cup from Kagayaki's hands. "No more for you for a while."

Kagayaki jumped up and yanked the glass back, eyes wide. "No!" he cried as though he'd been threatened. "Don' be takin' my... my cup!"

"Why not?"

"Need my cup," he explained, a little madly. "Need my cup for... for drinkin'."

"Say, 'this is my cup'," he playfully challenged, glancing at Yukito. "Do it. You'll sound stupid."

"Leave him alone," Yukito growled. He was sipping at his drink slowly, "You're always picking on him like he's your little brother." Yukito stopped to think. "I have a little brother. I don't give him sake, though."

"I... I don' th... thound... thupid!" he said, sounding confused by the sound of his words. Yukito looked over at him in surprise, a smile coming to his lips that felt wider than usual. He had to smile wider - he could barely feel his own lips by now. A minute ago he'd been cautiously counting each cup or half-cupful, in a way hoping to prove he wasn't a light-weight. But Kagasan had beat him hands down in light-weight history. And he had a lisp. Yukito slipped another glassful in victory, again proving Aidousan wouldn't notice him. He was laughing openly at Kagasan's lisp.

"Oh my god, you have a drunken lisp!"

"Flash of the obvious," Yukito snarled.

"Th... thop," Kagayaki whined, curling up in his chair. "I hate you."

Aidousan just couldn't stop laughing. He must have thought himself very clever and smart by now. "Of course you do."

"I do!"

"I know, son. Alright, let me get this camera out..." He looked at Yukito, who was tempted to growl at him. Unfortunately, he did a few moments later. "You better join in soon. I can't wait to see what you do."

"You just want this for show," Yukito mumbled, his foot starting to tap on the floor. He was surprised when he could still do it evenly. Maybe he hadn't drank that much after all. It didn't hit him for several minutes that he couldn't get his foot to stop moving. He couldn't. A cramp started somewhere around his shin but it felt as though some unseen force was yanking his foot up and down constantly. Stupidly, he looked underneath the table. Of course he found nothing, but now he could confirm himself past the buzz period. His leg was already going numb, and he turned to Aidousan, "Just wait until Erin gets here. She'll drink you under the table." Yukito smirked, "Actually, she's lighter-weight than Kakikun. But I won't tell her that."

A pause, then Yukito looked to Kagasan, "I'm a sick person. But she still likes me. " Another pause, "My foot is numb now. But it won't stop moving." He smiled, "It's weird. Can you turn off your foot without taking it off?" To Aidousan he said, "Shutup. I don't like you. I'm too scrawny." Yukito narrowed his eyes with suspicion at the only parent available, "You lied to me." Both feet were tapping now. It was like he was trying to jerk himself into feeling them again, and it wasn't stopping. He'd seen Erin fidgety, but had never felt like that himself. It was amusing to see him moving around like that, and he smiled a little. It hurt, but it sort of tickled, and he wasn't stopping any time soon, so why not enjoy it?

"Buzz or stoned?" he wondered aloud, "Dad drank too much beer and not enough sake around the house. He was trying to not be too drunk, see. So I haven't drank much lately. It's kind of good for me. And for Erin." More tapping of his feet. "I think I need to move."

~~~~~

Hideo Aidou

"Say, 'this is my cup'. Do it. You'll sound stupid."

"Leave him alone," Yukito said in a low voice, drinking visibly slower the more he had. "You're always picking on him like he's your little brother. I have a little brother. I don't give him sake, though."

Hideo smirked. Yukito was coming along too, slowly but surely. But he had a point... Hideo tended to treat Kagayaki more as a younger brother than a son... How to remedy that? How did someone treat their son? How different was it from how they treat other adults, or how they treat their siblings?

This was harder, the more he thought about it. Hideo got another drink.

"I... I don' th... thound... thupid!"

Kagayaki looked confused. Yukito was smiling now. Hideo couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Oh my god, you have a drunken lisp!"

"Flash of the obvious."

"Th... thop," Kagayaki whined, curling up in his chair. "I hate you."

"Of course you do."

"I do!"

"I know, son. Alright, let me get this camera out..." Hideo looked at Yukito, earning a growl. "You better join in soon. I can't wait to see what you do."

"You just want this for show."

“Partially,” he laughed. “To show you later, when you're sober and older.” He turned on the camcorder.

"Just wait until Erin gets here. She'll drink you under the table. Actually, she's lighter-weight than Kakikun. But I won't tell her that."

Hideo raised an amused eyebrow, putting the strap on his hand. “Is she now? That'll be fun.”

Yukito turned to Kagayaki, who was still holding his cup not unlike Gollum held the One Ring. "I'm a sick person. But she still likes me. "

Kagayaki looked up, eyes becoming a little red and glazed. ”I'm a sick person too, but nobody likes me.”

“Yay, optimism, son,” Hideo called over from behind the camera. “Yay optimism.”

”Well, it's true,” Kagayaki said, looking back at his cup. ”Can hath more, yah?”

“No,” Hideo scolded. “Not for a while, you can't.” He turned back to Yukito. “What's up, kid?”

"My foot is numb now. But it won't stop moving," he remarked with a smile.

Hideo tilted so he could see under the table, where Yukito's foot was tapping incessantly. “I see.”

"It's weird. Can you turn off your foot without taking it off?"

“I'm afraid not.”

"Shutup. I don't like you. I'm too scrawny." Yukito's eyes narrowed. Kagayaki could be heard muttering in the background for more sake. "You lied to me."

“Wow, you two are some of the lightest weights I've ever seen. You should get awards for this.”

”Yuyukun... ith... right,” Kagayaki said in a slurred voice, switching languages halfway through his short sentence. “You... you lie loth, don' you?”

“I do not,” Hideo laughed. “I think you're in fast-forward drunkenness or something. It's too soon to be depressed. I won't allow it.” He turned the camera to glance at the door. “I hope Erin-chan gets here soon. I'm sure she'll love this and I really want to meet her. She sounds cute.” He turned the video camera to show his face. “And I mean that in a totally non-perverted way.” Nodding in agreement to himself, he turned the camcorder around again, watching the others.

"Buzz or stoned?" Yukito wondered aloud, making Kagayaki look up.

“Eh?”

“Stoned is drugs, I believe,” Hideo put in. “Buzz is alcohol. But you're beyond buzzed.” He punctuated that with a laugh, looking between Yukito and Kagayaki. “Both of you are.”

"Dad drank too much beer and not enough sake around the house. He was trying to not be too drunk, see. So I haven't drank much lately. It's kind of good for me. And for Erin." Yukito's feet were tapping so loud Hideo could hear them, and he laughed. "I think I need to move."

“I think so too, or your feet will run off without you. Just don't leave the house.” Hideo turned to Kagayaki. “So, son, how's the first five minutes without sake going for you?”

”Thuckth,” he muttered almost inaudibly. Hideo chuckled.

“Sucks? I'm sorry.”

”Eeeeeh,” Kagayaki waved his hands above his head. “'Leath I no gettin' them j-j-j-itterth.”

“Think you're getting thomthing elth,” Hideo said, playfully mocking his son. “I'll give you another cup if you promise not to get up and move around.”

”I no movin'!” Kagayaki suddenly produced some energy, as opposed to his almost lifeless state from just moments ago, and held up his glass with a huge smile. ”I be good, yah! I be good!”

“I'm a really horrible parent,” Hideo sighed, setting down the camera to pour another glass for them both. Finishing his off, he grabbed the camera, clearing his throat. “Woo, that's good stuff.” He looked around. “Erin-chan hasn't come. That's no fun, because Kagayaki, my son, has more keg than ton.” Laughing at his own senseless joke, Hideo looked around. “Where's Yukito...?”

~~~~~

Yukito Maki

Yukito wasn't sure when the camera had been turned on, but he could feel it on him, and he knew he didn't like it. But he couldn't keep his mind still long enough to even demand it be turned off. Everything outside was numb, everything inside was now churning around as though he was about to explode. And his leg wouldn't stop pounding. He turned to Kagasan, still staring at his cup and mourning its emptiness. He could remember Kagasan saying a lot about hatred, which Yukito thought was stupid. “I'm a sick person. But she still likes me. " It hadn't come out right, but it was there, just the same. Kagasan looked up at him, and he wondered if he had heard himself wrong. Maybe he'd said something that made a little bit of sense to his best friend. Then today would have been a success. That's a rarity.

”I'm a sick person too, but nobody likes me.” Yukito's face fell as he realized Kagasan was just using his words to plummet himself deeper. It was very tiresome, actually.

“Yay, optimism, son,” Aidousan called, making Yukito look up in surprise. He'd forgotten he was there. But he'd just been talking to him, hadn't he? He was confused, and he couldn't think straight. He wanted to move. He wanted to do anything to prove he was still somewhat in control at this point. His foot kept tapping. “Yay optimism.”

”Well, it's true,” Kagayaki said, looking back at his cup.

“Well, I like you,” Yukito stated simply, frowning. “Even if you irritate me.”

”Can hath more, yah?” Kagasan asked his father as sweetly as he could.

“No,” Hideo scolded. “Not for a while, you can't.” He turned back to Yukito, apparently the more interesting subject at the moment. “What's up, kid?”

"My foot is numb now. But it won't stop moving," he remarked with a smile, feeling like a little kid again as he wriggled at the table. Aidousan leaned down until he could see Yukito's moving feet, making Yukito feel awkward – he had the camera with him. Wasn't that weird? He was pointing it everywhere. "It's weird. Can you turn off your foot without taking it off?"

“I'm afraid not.” Aidousan told him, in a strange tone that Yukito didn't really like. It sounded like he was just humoring Yukito. Or being amused by him.

"Shutup. I don't like you. I'm too scrawny." Yukito's eyes narrowed. He ignored Kagasan in the background and frowned at Aidousan, though he couldn't really see him. "You lied to me."

“Wow, you two are some of the lightest weights I've ever seen. You should get awards for this.” In response Yukito growled at Aidousan.

“I told you, I'm too scrawny. But you're too stupid to get that.” He rolled his eyes, “And I don't want awards. I have a girlfriend who takes care of that.”

”Yuyukun... ith... right,” Kagayaki said in a slurred voice, switching languages halfway through his short sentence. “You... you lie loth, don' you?” But by this time Yukito was distracted again. Aidousan was holding the bottle closer to him to keep Kagasan away from it. But he had to get it somehow... At the sound of Erin's name he looked up eagerly, disappointed when it was just Aidousan talking to himself.

“I hope Erin-chan gets here soon. I'm sure she'll love this and I really want to meet her. She sounds cute. And I mean that in a totally non-perverted way.”

“Erin is cute. But I don't call her that.” He might have been saved by speaking in Japanese, but Aidousan's constant English was making him follow along without him realizing it. "Buzz or stoned?" Yukito wondered aloud, making Kagayaki look up.

“Eh?”

“Stoned is drugs, I believe,” Aidousan put in, the picture of parental logic. “Buzz is alcohol. But you're beyond buzzed. Both of you are.”

"Dad drank too much beer and not enough sake around the house. He was trying to not be too drunk, see. So I haven't drank much lately. It's kind of good for me. And for Erin." Yukito's feet were tapping hard, and Aidousan just kept laughing at him. "I think I need to move."

“I think so too, or your feet will run off without you. Just don't leave the house.” As soon as the words left Aidousan's mouth, Yukito vaulted off the chair and raced across the apartment. He felt better, moving. As if the motion of running back and forth from the front wall to the farthest back he could go, the sensation of letting out the nervous energy beneath his skin, was a relief. He ran past the table just as Aidousan look around for him, but he didn't stop until he'd ran back and forth twice more. Then, out of breath and feeling waves of heat all over himself (a result of the adrenaline and the alcohol now moving significantly faster through his system) he stopped in front of Aidousan, leaning his face towards him and pointing an accusing finger in his face. His voice was solemn and desperate.

“Don't. Touch. Me.” His fingers worked nervously, clenching an releasing. “I'm too scrawny.” He stared into the lens of the camera for a moment, then seemed to realize the nervousness was working on him again, and the weight of the camera lens wasn't helping any. He took off running again, almost stumbling over a chair on his way to a most direct path from one side of the apartment to the other, gasping and going in circles like an animal caught in a cage. Back and forth, back and forth, hitting the wall harder and harder as he returned each time, until he finally fell on the ground behind the couch.

“Ouch.” he swore loudly, reaching up to feel his head. Then, as if fascinated by his own words, he started recounting each swear word he had ever learned. He even knew a few in Norwegian, thanks to Natalie, though he'd been sure he would never remember them. He didn't use those words around Erin. He sat up, slowly, and looked for Aidousan. "I need another cupful to make an even number or I'm going to vomit." he said innocently.

[More than Music]

OOC: I think it's time for Erin to come in. Let me now if I'm taking too many liberties, okieday? : D
BIC:

Hideo Aidou

“Wow, you two are some of the lightest weights I've ever seen. You should get awards for this.”

“I told you, I'm too scrawny. But you're too stupid to get that. And I don't want awards. I have a girlfriend who takes care of that.” Yukito kept switching languages, a sure sign he was getting very drunk.

”Yuyukun... ith... right. You... you lie loth, don' you?”

Hideo ignored his son and went off on a monologue, which amused him but no one else.

“Erin is cute. But I don't call her that.” Yukito seemed a bit puzzled, by his thoughts or his words, Hideo didn't know. "Buzz or stoned?"

“Eh?” Kagayaki's first response in several minutes had to be a bad one.

“Stoned is drugs, I believe,” Hideo told him, just trying to help but realizing he wasn't being the most mature. “Buzz is alcohol. But you're beyond buzzed. Both of you are.”

"Dad drank too much beer and not enough sake around the house. He was trying to not be too drunk, see. So I haven't drank much lately. It's kind of good for me. And for Erin."

Hideo laughed but said nothing, letting Yukito continue.

"I think I need to move."

“I think so too, or your feet will run off without you. Just don't leave the house.” He turned to Kagayaki, who looked somewhere between depressed, sober, and hung-over. “So, son, how's the first five minutes without sake going for you?”

”Thuckth."

“Sucks? I'm sorry.”

”Eeeeeh,” Kagayaki waved his hands a little, his manner showing drunkenness even more so than his voice. “'Leath I no gettin' them j-j-j-itterth.”

“Think you're getting thomthing elth,” Hideo mocked, laughing. “I'll give you another cup if you promise not to get up and move around.”

”I no movin'!” Kagayaki beamed and held up his cup. ”I be good, yah! I be good!”

“I'm a really horrible parent,” Hideo sighed and poured them both a glass. He quickly finished his, then looked around. “Erin-chan hasn't come. That's no fun, because Kagayaki, my son, has more keg than ton.” He laughed a little, then sighed. “Ah, where's Yukito...?” He heard feet pounding on the floor and someone ran up to him.

“Don't. Touch. Me.”

"Ah, speak of the devil."

“I'm too scrawny.” Yukito then stared at the camera like an awe-struck animal, looking at it as either something offending or something foreign.

"Oh are you?" Hideo laughed. "Had no idea." Feet began racing again. "There he goes...!" He watched Yukito pace at super speed for a few minutes before glancing back at his son. "Better?"

Kagayaki nodded and was about to speak when something hit the floor. Well, to be more specific, someone.

“Ouch.”

"Uh-oh," Hideo sighed, walking over to where Yukito was reciting a few choice words under his breath. "What are you doing down there?" He peered at the boy through his camera. "Having fun?"

Yukito looked at him curiously. "I need another cupful to make an even number or I'm going to vomit."

Hideo raised an eyebrow. "Even? Never heard of that rule." He looked around a little. "Just one more, that's it, because I don't want you to be going on like that when Erin-chan gets here." Hideo poured Yukito a glass, noting the hilarious envy and rage in his son's eyes as he realized only one was being filled -- and it wasn't his. He held the cup out to Yukito. "Come and get it." Hideo shook the bottle a little once Yukito had the glass, still holding the video camera with one hand. "Oh boy, we're downing this **** too fast." He sighed, setting down the bottle. "I wish someone fun would get here already..."

Then he heard something. Hideo gasped dramatically. "Everybody be quiet." There it went again. "She's here!" He turned to Kagayaki and spoke in a deeper voice: "Don't. Move." Then he rushed to the door, unlocking all three locks with a sigh. "It's called careful, not paranoid," he remarked, opening the door slowly. "You must be Erin-chan." He beamed, the look hidden behind his camera. "Youkoso. Welcome." Stepping back, Hideo gesturing with his free hand inside. "Come on in. I hope you're ready to see them out of it... I meant well, I promise."

[GGJ5]

Erin Spenser

She'd procrastinated on making her present for Kagayaki too long, justified by her desire for everything to be "fresh, fresh, fresh" when she arrived with the chocolate-flavored cupcakes in one box and her own version of buffalo chicken wings in the other box. A weird combination, maybe, but both were fun at parties, and both smelt awesome when she was making them, so it worked.

She'd gone with a friend to the store before Yukito left, but was still cooking and baking by the time he headed out. Thank God for GPS, because that was the only way she got here, since her ride's car was awesome enough to have it installed, so eventually, she did get there. And with warm food, too. Hopefully it hadn't been too boring without her, she thought with a smile, thanking her friend brightly as she slammed the car door and skipped around til she met the walkway and was at the door. Voices were filtering in from outside, and she could hear the door unlocking, but she "knocked" with her foot anyway (her hands were full with the presents of food). In between one of her "knocks", the door was tugged open, and a face only half-familiar greeted her. The similarities in their personages made the first meeting much more familiar, even with the camera he held. "Hi! Aidousan?" She held up her presents, one box in each hand. "I was knocking with my feet," she explained with a smile, glancing down for a moment at the black and white dotted flats she wore. (Granted, they didn't techinically match a thing she wore-- her green plaid skirt and black t-shirt with a clover near the bottom of it -- but she was going to take the shoes off anyway as soon as she could.)

"You must be Erin-chan," was his greeting, and she nodded, still smiling. Um, yeah, who else would I be? "Youkoso. Welcome."

"Domo," Erin tried, stepping inside as he gestured and immediately making herself barefoot. "Come on in. I hope you're ready to see them out of it... I meant well, I promise."

Erin sent a curious grin from Aidousan to the interior of the home, then back again, a surprised look crossing into her face. "What?" she said, tone taken aback and a little laugh coming through. "You meant 'well' or 'wasted'...." She shook her head and started giggling, and without another word set her two containers down on the table, sliding their lids off. The scent filled the surrounding air, and her eyes drifted over to Kagayaki, who looked way too mopey for his birthday, especially if it was his 21st. She sat down next to him and nudged him amiably. "Hey! Hey! Happy birthdaaay," she sang out, then started giggling, giving him a sideways hug. "You need to smile, my brother! I love youuu! Lookit your presents, goofball! God, how much did I miss?" Erin asked no one in particular. "Where's Yukito?"

She got up again and looked for a moment until she spotted him on the floor. And she realized what all Aidousan must have meant about "seeing them out of it." "Yukito!" she squealed, crossing her arms and standing defiantly. "Nice to see you, too!" she pouted. "You weren't gonna even wait for me?" The expression didn't last much with her urge to laugh, which won over soon as she rolled her eyes at him.

[Elda Forever]

Yukito Maki

He couldn't be sure of the exact time he realized just how much alcohol had gone down his throat, but he knew that in the moments afterwards he didn't feel as if he regretted it as much as he should. Instead, he asked Aidousan for another drink to 'make it even', sending him a look.

"Even? Never heard of that rule."

“It's new,” he informed him with a grin. “I make it up as I go.”

"Just one more, that's it, because I don't want you to be going on like that when Erin-chan gets here."

Yukito shot up, the world spinning furiously around him. “Erin?” he murmured, his tone excited, “That's right!”

"Come and get it." Yukito turned to see Aidousan holding out the cup for him. Yukito scooted over, rolling onto his knees and reaching up for the cup and scooting back to the spot where he had fallen. It was a comfortable spot. He tried to drink laying down, but it didn't work. Logically, he should have known. But he was feeling out of the loop, so he propped himself up on one elbow and sipped slowly, his feet pressing against the wall. A few moments later a thudding noise that seemed to reverberate through the room as if it was full of water, and Yukito arched both eyebrows. It felt weird. He did it again, then turned over to his stomach, looking toward the door. “Erin?” Aidousan opened the door, and he could hear them talking. He grinned at the sound of her voice – she sounded happy. She was really good at happy. Before she could see him, he set aside his cup and rolled over and over until he was hidden behind furniture. Yukito couldn't be sure, but he thought it was a couch. She wouldn't spot him easily from here. Unfortunately, he could see straight, either. Rolling over like that had sent him into a serious case of vertigo.

Erin's laugh permeated the air, making him grin again despite the weird feeling in his head. "Hey! Hey! Happy birthdaaay," she sang out, then started giggling, "You need to smile, my brother! I love youuu! Lookit your presents, goofball! God, how much did I miss?" There was a pause, then. "Where's Yukito?"

Yukito scooted a little forward until he could peek around the back of the couch to send her a grin. “Kore!”

"Yukito!" she squealed, crossing her arms and standing defiantly. Yukito beamed, flopping over onto his back as she pouted down at him. "Nice to see you, too! You weren't gonna even wait for me?"

“Hi, Sunshine...” his smile went crooked. “It was tempting to save a bunch for you. You're cute when you're drunk. Me, not.” He leapt to his feet, chuckling at the way the world swirled at an angle and flying forward to wrap his arms around her. “I love you. My breath probably smells already, but I don't care.” Roughly, he pulled her towards him and kissed her, deepening the kiss and inhaling sharply as her scent finally hit him like a brick wall. "I like that," he growled in a low voice, "You're good at that..."

[More than Music]

Hideo Aidou

When he opened the door, Hideo found a pretty young lady on the other side, holding boxes of food and wearing a huge smile.

"Hi! Aidousan?" she chirped, holding up her packages as she continued. "I was knocking with my feet."

Hideo smiled widely from behind his camera. "Very nice. You must be Erin-chan. Youkoso. Welcome."

"Domo," she replied easily, coming inside and taking off her shoes without hesitation. He had a feeling he would like Erinchan very much.

"Come on in," he told her. "I hope you're ready to see them out of it... I meant well, I promise."

Looking a bit suspicious of of him -- well, he'd earned it, she just didn't know that yet -- before turning back to him with a laugh in her eyes. "What? You meant 'well' or 'wasted'...." They both laughed.

"Some of both."

"Erinchan?" Kagayaki's tired voice came, sounding a bit more energetic. Hideo turned and, though the camera lens, saw a sparkle in his son's eyes. "Imouto!"

"What's this?" Hideo whispered thoughtfully to himself, smirking. "Imouto?"

Kagayaki frowned. "Be quiet."

"Fine, be rude to your father."

Erinchan went over to the table, setting her items on the table and opening the lids. A lovely scent filled the room, and she sat next to Kagayaki, still smiling. "Hey! Hey! Happy birthdaaay," she sang, nudging him a little, then hugging him a little. Kagayaki seemed cheered by this, moving to carefully hug her. He looked drowsy. Hideo frowned that wasn't good.

"Tanjobi omedeto, to me, to me," Kagayaki tried with a little laugh. "To me, to me..."

"You need to smile, my brother! I love youuu!" Erin pressed, making Kagayaki really laugh.

"Okay, okay!" he said, hugging her a little tighter as Hideo came to sit in one of the other chairs. "All better, yah?"

"Lookit your presents, goofball!" She was pushy but loving and wonderful to hear. Hideo understood why Kagayaki perked up at the sight of her: it was impossible NOT to feel better when she was around.

Kagayaki nodded, sitting up but a little shaky. "Yeah, yeah! I dizzy, be nice to meee..." He leaned over the boxes and his face lit up. "Aaah, so ne?" Hideo could see a light in his son's eyes that hadn't been there earlier. If he was like this around Erinchan, what had he been like around Cassiechan? Kagayaki turned to Erinchan with a wide smile. "Ch... Choc'late!"

"Chocolate," Hideo corrected underneath his breath. Kagayaki turned to him, looking a bit disapproving, but the expression disappeared into a gentle smile.

"Ch... chocolate."

"God, how much did I miss?" Erinchan thought aloud, looking around the room.

"A lot," Hideo laughed, shaking his head. "This guy seemed to be on depressants or something."

"Where's Yukito?"

Hideo glanced back to where he'd last seen Yukito. "Somewhere..."

"Kore!"

Smiling, Hideo gesturing with his head. "There he is." Erinchan disappeared to his side, and Hideo turned back to his son. "You feel better with Erinchan here, don't you?"

Kagayaki nodded, smiling and reaching for a cupcake. "The... The... Erinchan love me, tosan. Does." Hideo's face twisted a little from confusion, and he swallowed. 'He trusts this girl more than he'll ever trust me, right? And I'm his father. I should be held in higher regard. How will I ever earn that?'

"Let's pause this for a moment." He turned off the camera and set it down, smiling a little when he saw his son doing something strange with his jaw. "What are you doing?" he laughed.

"Trying to open my mouth wide enough to eat this," he explained, opening and closing his mouth a few times. "I feel... numb..." Kagayaki wouldn't let that stop him though. He pushed his mouth open with his free hand, taking a big bite of the cupcake. The young man's eyes widened at the taste and he turned to Erinchan with surprise.

Hideo chuckled to himself. "You like that?" Kagayaki nodded fervently, his eyes still wide. "Here, can I have one?" His son looked a little protective of the cupcakes, but handed one to Hideo nonetheless. "Thanks." Taking a bite, Hideo glanced over as Yukito kissed Erin fervently. "Saiko," he muttered quietly. "Saiko desu ne."

"Erinchan!" Kagayaki shouted all of a sudden. "Erinchan, come... come have!" He held up the bottle of sake with a smile. "For... for you too!"

Hideo looked down at his cupcake. Yes, this was the side of Kagayaki he rarely got to see. The outgoing, unsuppressed boy that was friends with all and trusted strangers.

Maybe, someday, he'd get that smile too. Until then, he had to see the one meant for Erinchan.

[GGJ5]

Erin Spenser

"Hey! Hey! Happy birthdaaay," Erin sang out, giving Kagayaki a hug which he returned halfheartedly-- or maybe just clumsily, it was hard to tell. My dad would never allow this... much less promote it... wow, Kagayaki.... wow.

"Tanjobi omedeto, to me, to me," Kagayaki tried with a little laugh. "To me, to me..."

Erin giggled. "You need to smile, my brother! I love youuu!" Erin pressed, and Kagayaki started laughing fully. Erin counted that as a success.

"Okay, okay!" Finally he gave her a real hug, and she kept the quieter laughter bubbling out a bit. He hadn't even noticed her gifts. "All better, yah?"

"Lookit your presents, goofball!" Erin prodded.

Kagayaki nodded. "Yeah, yeah! I dizzy, be nice to meee..." Erin laughed again, rolling her eyes at him and meanwhile glacnign for Yukito. "I wonder why.." she joked, nudging him just a little.

"Ch... Choc'late!" He'd finally paid attention to her present. She grinned.

"Chocolate," Aidousan echoed, over-enunciating according to Erin's standards. She thought about correcting the over-accurate speech but ended up letting it drop, too busy thinking about everything around her, and wondering where Yukito was.... "God, how much did I miss?"

"A lot," Aidousan said with a laugh. It was harder and harder or Erin to believe this was her friend's parental guide or whatever. Not that she was complaining, it was just weird. "This guy seemed to be on depressants or something."

Erin didn't think of a response to the comment, eyes scanning for Yukito... again. "Where's Yukito?"

"Somewhere..." Aidousan wasn't much help.... Erin got up and started to move when Yukito suddenly showed himself, peering around to see her. Immediately, she started giggling. He just looked out of it. Was it wrong to laugh?

"Kore!"

"Yukito!" she squealed, crossing her arms and standing defiantly. Yukito was grinning at her as he looked up from his place on the floor. She pouted. "Nice to see you, too! You weren't gonna even wait for me?"

“Hi, Sunshine...” he said, still smiling, and Erin couldn't help but feel a little stupid flutter at the nickname she loved to hear him say. And now in front of people, even if it was just Kagayaki and someone passing as his father. And she could smell whatever they'd been drinking already. “It was tempting to save a bunch for you. You're cute when you're drunk. Me, not.”

She'd hardly had time to protest that she wasn't cute at all when she was drunk, when Yukito suddenly leapt to his feet and, a little unsteadily, wrapped her in his arms. "I'm not-- oh! Okay..." Erin giggled as she returned the hug.

“I love you. My breath probably smells already, but I don't care.” Once more, he didn't give her time to respond before roughly pulling her closer and pressing his lips against hers. The kiss was particularly long, Erin perfectly happy to let the moment continue as long as he wanted until guilt twinged in her and she pulled back. He wasn't entirely himself, after all.. it didn't feel fair. "I like that," Yukito growled in a low voice, "You're good at that..."

Despite the guilty seed, Yukito's words flattered her, making her giggle and cling to his hug a bit more. "I love you, too," she said, giving him one more kiss. Already she felt the buzz at the base of her brain, and she hadn't even done anything. Erin wondered if it was physically possible to feel drunk from a kiss, or the smell of alcohol, or whatever it was. She pulled back again, her hand against his chest. "It's not fair," she said, though she was still smiling from the sense of elation. It was a form of taking advantage, Erin was sure, to hold onto him so much if he might not normally want that sober. It didn't sit well....

"Erinchan!" Kagayaki called, and she turned to him curiously. "Erinchan, come... come have!" He was holding up an opened bottle of whatever they'd been drinking. "For... for you too!"

No, her parents would have never let this happen.

And that was one more tick to the reasons she shouldn't refuse. After all, it was for Kagayaki and for his birthday, and his dad was there with them, and it would be no fun if she was the only boring one, and she didn't like to think that she was taking advantage of Yukito or something. Without any more thought, Erin shrugged, giggling, and briskly walked over to take the bottle and poured a cup, and tossed it back.

That was kind of stupid.

It burned going down at first, and Erin coughed hard, forcing out a shocked and ragged, "What is that?" When she could, Erin giggled. "Are you trying to kill me?" Already she felt herself swaying a little, and she dropped to sit down. Woah.... "Wait, I wanna try that again," she blurted quickly, filling another cup and gulping it back. It didn't sting nearly as much that time, and tasted better in general. Erin turned to look at Yukito and smiled proudly, like she'd just achieved a great feat. Even though it felt like the table on which she sat, next to her cupcake presents, was already spinning under her.

"Maybe I shoulda made more of these..." Erin thought aloud, biting into one of her cupcakes. She finished it quickly and declared, "That made me so thirstyyyy!" Erin didn't ask before taking another drink and then clambering to her feet, still on top the table. The ground looked too far away, then too close, back and forth, and she started gushing out giggles. "I'm taller than all of y'all... Yukito!!" She turned around, stumbling for balance, to find him. "Hiii! Catch me!" Erin didn't really give him a chance to catch her, stepping off the table and back onto the ground, still reeling but not falling. "Ha!" she announced in defiance. "I mastered gravity! Hey, why's it so quiet here? Why don't we have music? Let's play music!" She turned on her heel, feeling the world spin fast around her, laughing loudly with the feeling overwhelming her. "Yuyukuuuun..." She reached out to find him, clasping her arms around him and leaning her weight against him. "Go sit down with me.... You got another drink for me?" Erin asked, her tone higher pitched than normal and rife with giggles.

[Elda Forever]

OOC: For clarification's sake, all of Yukito's italics this post are in Japanese. XD Though I'm not exactly sure if they would remain in that order, with the different sentence structure style. Try not to overthink it too much. He wouldn't make sense anyways. BIC:

Yukito Maki

“I love you. My breath probably smells already, but I don't care.” He pulled her quickly over to kiss her, drawing it out and feeling her give into it after the initial surprise. Eventually, she was the one to pull away, and he didn't see clear enough to note the trace of guilt in her eyes. "I like that," Yukito growled in a low voice, "You're good at that..."

As usual, she giggled and clung to him a little tighter. "I love you, too," she said, giving him one more kiss. She pulled back again, her hand against his chest. He couldn't feel the weight of it, but it still sent thick waves of surprise all over his nerves. "It's not fair," she said with a smile. He smiled, too. But he didn't really know what she was talking about.

"Erinchan!" Kagayaki called, "Erinchan, come... come have!" He was holding up the sake in offering. Yukito clung a little tighter to Erin, squinting over at the fuzzy-looking bottle and frowning. "For... for you too!"

"Ersun..." he started, but she'd already slipped out of his arms, letting him stumble over the thin air that felt heavier than it should have. Then, she took the bottle and drank a good swallow from her cup. Instantly, she started hacking and coughing, and Yukito smirked.

"What is that?" When she could, Erin giggled. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"S-sake," he explained, "Much more alcohol than your wimpy American drinks. Works faster." He was vaguely aware that he switching languages on her, and what he did say was mumbled or muffled.

"Wait, I wanna try that again," she blurted quickly, filling another cup and gulping it back. Slowly, Yukito went over to sit at the table as Erin crawled atop it. He shifted his chair until it was right in front of her, as close as he could get, and folded his legs beneath him Indian-style.

"Maybe I shoulda made more of these..." Erin thought aloud, biting into one of her cupcakes. Yukito's eyes locked on the bit of frosting still left at the corner of her lips, and he became fixated on them, unable to stop staring at her.

"You even make look cute," he mumbled nonsensically. Making a face, he tried to rethink his words. But they didn't make any sense now, he'd lost it. "We're gonna hate this later, ne?"

She finished her cupcake and declared, "That made me so thirstyyyy!" As soon as her next drink passed her lips, Yukito shot up and caught her in another kiss, rushing and deepening it then pulling away from her before she had time to react very much at all. Feeling the rush of adrenaline from the combination of kiss, alcohol and how she smelled, he rushed away to start the fast-pace back and forth in the room, trying to work off the restlessness in his feet.

He'd only gone back and forth twice when Erin's giggles made him start to go faster. "I'm taller than all of y'all... Yukito!!" Yukito looked over at her in question. "Hiii! Catch me!" Yukito rushed forward with his arms out, feeling stupid when she came to the ground without him anyways. "Ha!" she announced in defiance. "I mastered gravity! Hey, why's it so quiet here? Why don't we have music? Let's play music!" She swirled, and Yukito continued watching her openly, his expression transfixed. Music was the last thing on his mind. "Yuyukuuuun..." She reached out to find him, and he moved forward until they both automatically grasped each other. He could feel her weight against him heavily now, and he held her tighter than he trusted himself to.

"Go sit down with me.... You got another drink for me?" Erin asked, her tone higher pitched than normal and rife with giggles. Yukito could only kiss her again, not trusting his voice. It felt like someone was strangling him, but he didn't do anything and didn't want to do anything about it. Biting at her lip and hissing, he started to pull away.

"I'm not gonna remember this," he muttered. "Not anything at all.. So I wanna try I guess.." Yukito blinked hard, seeing her eyes catching the light again, and he had to kiss her, more frantically this time, as if he'd just been told he never would be allowed to again. When he pulled back, laughing almost maniacally and turning the mingled profanity muttered beneath his breath into a prayer of thanks. "I should sit. Sit. Where's a **** chair?"

[More than Music]

Hideo Aidou

"You feel better with Erinchan here, don't you?"

With a nod and a smile, Kagayaki reached for a cupcake as he stammered out, "The... The... Erinchan love me, tosan. Does."

"Let's pause this for a moment." Turning off the camera, he almost missed the face his son was making. "What are you doing?" he asked with a laugh.

"Trying to open my mouth wide enough to eat this," Kagayaki explained, doing some strange things with his jaw. "I feel... numb..." But he somehow managed to fit more than half the cupcake in his mouth. Hideo rolled his eyes.

"These are the manners of my full-grown son." Just then, Kagayaki's eyes widened and he looked at Erin like he wanted to say something, but his mouth was definitely too full. Hideo couldn't help but laugh. "You like that?" Kagayaki nodded fervently, his eyes still wide. "Here, can I have one?" The young man seemed protective of his sweets; he handed one over like it was a ransom. Hideo muttered a thanks, and they both glanced over just in time to see a mini-makeout session that seemed ready to break into full awkward turtle mode. "Saiko," he muttered quietly. "Saiko desu ne."

That seemed to remind Kagayaki of something, because he suddenly called out to Erin. "Erinchan! Erinchan, come... come have!" He held up the bottle of sake with a smile. "For... for you too!"

Erin skipped over. It didn't take her long to get too much. Hideo felt his face make contact with the table, but he didn't feel it. 'Kids.' "What is that?" she asked, giggling somehow. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Aw, I thought you might like it," Hideo said in a low, teasing voice, not looking up from the table. He couldn't stop laughing, and it was kind of embarrassing.

"SAKE!" Kagayaki chirped.

"S-sake. Much more alcohol than your wimpy American drinks. Works faster." Yukito's words made Hideo glance up. It took him a moment to half translate half what the boy had said.

Kagayaki took the words right out of his mouth, just saying, "You confuse me."

"Wait, I wanna try that again," Erin said suddenly. She rocked the table a little as she got on top of it, Yukito sitting as close as he could to her without getting up there too.

Hideo raised an eyebrow. "Most people get drunk under the table... then again..." He shrugged. "Being different is a good thing in America, isn't it?"

"Maybe I shoulda made more of these..." Erin puzzled, taking a cupcake of her own.

"Hai!" Kagayaki quickly agreed. Hideo looked over and realized he'd eaten three already.

"...Uh-oh..." He braced himself for a sugar high, but that's when Kagayaki looked over at Yukito. What had been a bright smile faded off into confusion as he followed Yukito's gaze to Erin's lips. Something didn't seem quite right about the look in Kagayaki's eyes after that point.

"You even make look cute," Yukito muttered, making a face. Kagayaki smiled a little, but it looked painful. Hideo glanced between the two of them. Yes, something definitely wasn't right. "We're gonna hate this later, ne?"

"Yeah," Kagayaki whispered, not looking away from Yukito now.

"That made me so thirstyyyy!" Erin cried, getting another drink. Hideo pushed himself back from the table.

"This is the responsible person in the room saying: Hey, back off, shojo!" His tone was slightly serious, but mostly playful. After all, he was just the supervisor, not the overlord. He didn't want to make enemies of these kids when he was outnumbered: 3 to 1. And two of them already had it in for him.

"Be nice, tosan," Kagayaki said in a low voice, glancing over for a second to frown at his father. Again. "She's not doing anything bad."

Hideo crossed his arms. "But she might," was his only argument.

Then Yukito jumped forwards and kissed Erin. Kagayaki moved back a little, a look of shock on his face as he got up from his chair. "I... I'll be right back..." He stumbled over his own feet on his way to the bathroom, so Hideo followed him.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?"

Kagayaki kept his hand on the doorknob, not looking up. "I... I'm fine..." His voice sounded strange. Hideo grabbed Kagayaki's shoulder and turned him around. For a moment, he caught a tear on his son's face, and it made him let go. "Leave me alone!" The door slammed in his face.

Hideo bit his lip a little, not sure what to think. "You're as emotional as a girl," he muttered.

It took only a moment and a pathetic little, "No I'm not..." to tell Hideo that Kagayaki had heard him.

"Sure you're not." He made his way back to the table, smiling a little at the two crazy kids at the table as he decided not to try for the sake. He took the bottle of rum out of the fridge. It had been a while since he'd had rum, so he figured it would be nice. Sitting on a chair in the living room -- where he could clearly see the door -- Hideo took a swig, feeling his eyes grow heavy. "Some parties you kids have..."

[GGJ5]

Erin Spenser

"What is that?" she asked, recovering from the choking sensation. Then finally she giggled a little, now recovering from the moment of potential embarrassment. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Aw, I thought you might like it," she heard the supposedly-father-figure of Kagayaki say, laughing at her. She made a defiant face at him, then heard Kagayaki pipe, "SAKE!"

"S-sake," Yukito put in, then rattling off in a half-Japanese mix that made Erin smile at him completely bewildered. "Wow, Yukito... wow. I have no idea what you're saying."

Kagayaki just responded more in words Erin didn't understand, and she made a note to herself not to be the only English-speaking person in a room full of foreign people tanked up on sake. At least not if she wanted to understand anything anyone was saying... And she also decided then that it was not going to be any fun if she was the most sober-person, too. Not like she planned on getting as smashed as Kagayaki seemed to be already.. just not boring.

"Wait, I wanna try that again," she said, finding her seat on the table next to her cupcakes. This time, the shock and burn was less, but still pretty undesirable to say the least.

This Aidousan didn't really get her like everyone else did, apparently. "Most people get drunk under the table... then again..." He shrugged. "Being different is a good thing in America, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "Who said I was getting drunk, anyway? People don't get drunk from two drinks, you know." Even if she did already feel a lightheaded rush. It didn't mean she was getting drunk that fast. "Maybe I shoulda made more of these..." she switched thoughts, occupying herself with one of the cupcakes. The frosting was awesome.

"Hai!" Kagayaki agreed, thankfully using at least one of the words Erin knew. If we get married and move to Japan I'm gonna be so lost.... she thought somewhat randomly.

"You even make--" More words from Yukito that Erin couldn't understand. He made a face, and Erin giggled at him. "What are you talking about?"

"We're gonna (something else foreign) this later, ne?" he said, either clueless to the language switching or assuming she could understand, making her laughter increase. "Whaaaat?" She crumpled the cupcake wrapper into a little ball and threw it in Kagayaki's direction. "That made me so thirstyyyy!" She reached for the sake again, already forgetting the unfamiliar burning it had caused her earlier.

Aidousan seemed to come to life a bit at that. "This is the responsible person in the room saying: Hey, back off, shojo!"

In defiance, she swallowed the liquid (no burning this time) and made a face at him. "You can't tell me what to do," Erin objected with a grin.

The two Aidous responded with an exchange between themselves in words Erin didn't know, but, "Hey, you're talking about me! Not fair!" she drawled out, trailing off into giggles. Kagayaki added something else, but it wasn't to Erin, so she didn't pay attention, busying herself with standing above everyone else in the room.

"I'm taller than all of y'all... Yukito!!" she called to him. "Hiii! Catch me!" Instead of waiting for him, Erin hopped down on her own, clumsily "sticking" the landing. "Ha!" she announced in defiance. "I mastered gravity! Hey, why's it so quiet here? Why don't we have music? Let's play music!" She turned around on her heel until stopping in front of Yukito, suddenly feeling pretty dizzy. "Yuyukuuuun..." He pulled her to him, and Erin leaned into him heavily, relishing the warmth of his closeness.

"Go sit down with me.... You got another drink for me?" Erin asked, her tone higher pitched than normal and rife with giggles. Yukito didn't answer, just kissing her again. "I liked that," she said breathlessly between kisses. Biting at her lip and hissing, Yukito started to pull away. "Nooo...." Erin protested, pulling him back.

"I'm not gonna remember this," Yukito told her, then came more English-Japanese that didn't compute, making Erin start giggling again. "What're you talking about?" she asked, clinging to his shirt. Yukito responded with another, fervent kiss. When he pulled back, he was laughing ridiculously, losing Erin with his words more. "I should sit.... Where's a **** chair?"

"No, keep kissing me," Erin objected hastily, although meanwhile she dropped down to sit on the couch and took Yukito with her, unwilling to part now at all. And she kissed him now, the guilty feeling from earlier hardly a memory, keeping Yukito close to her tightly.

"Some parties you kids have..."

The comment distracted Erin, who pulled away just enough to look for its source, her hand still on Yukito's face as she pouted in rejection of Aidousan's words. "We aren't kids and there aren't enough people for this to be a party. Or music!" She laid her head on Yukito's chest, snuggling close. "You cain't have a party when it's so friggen quiet and there's no music..."

Impulsively, she left her hold on Yukito for the sake, and held it up as if to see how much remained in there before claiming it as her own by gulping from it. In a moment she was reeling, and it took a couple of tries to find the table and set the bottle down. Erin started laughing at herself, leaning back towards Yukito and snuggling up again. "I'm spinning," she complained through perpetual giggles, then shifted from Yukito again, looking around. "Where's niisan?" she pouted, then lifted her shirt enough to see her stomach. "I wanna get my bellybutton pierced," she announced, words running together. "It'd look so cute when we go swimmin' in the shummer..." Then she looked over at Yukito for his approval. "Let's go now!" Erin took a hold of Yukito's hands and hopped back to her feet, swaying even as she held them, still giggling. "I wanna go now, Yuyukuuun... Where'd he go?" she asked again, referring to Kagayaki. Then back to Yukito, "I love you... Gah-jou're fine... didjou know thah..? I feel woozy, Yuyukun.... There's face in my hair."

Her wandering eyes settled at one point on Aidousan--what was his first name, again? It was getting confusing in her head now because she still thought of Kagayaki by that name and nothing fit right. "S'that do music?" she asked, pointing a finger at the camera he'd had when he'd opened the door. "Ooooh," Erin giggled as she realized--or recalled-- it was a camera. She left Yukito's side and clumsily made her way to where the cameraman sat. "Can I play with it? Pleeease?" Erin pleaded, clasping her hands together like she was praying. "I wanna use the cayam'ra. I'll be it to good, I sweeeaarrr!"

[Elda Forever]

Yukito Maki

It was a cute little game they were playing now. Yukito would say something random, and Erin's brow would furrow a little in adorable confusion, obviously not understanding him. What, can't you speak English? Haha...that was lame.. When Erin reached for the sake again, declaring how thirsty it had made her, Hideo stepped in to tell her to take it easy. Defiantly, she evaded him, taking more. Yukito stared at her jawline, accentuated as she swallowed more mouthfuls of insanity.

"You can't tell me what to do," Erin objected with a grin once she had finished her refreshment. Yukito started to space out a little more, until Erin called out for him to catch her. His heart leapt to his throat in the instant before she safely reached the ground, proud of herself instead of hurt. In moments, they were holding each other again, practically glued to each other at the shoulders. He seized the moment of absolutely no clarity, kissing her and not even feeling the stares of the Aidous. He couldn't remember why he had cared before.

"I liked that," she said breathlessly between kisses. He loved it when she lost her breath, when he could feel her gasp. Biting at her lip and hissing, Yukito started to pull away. "Nooo...." Erin protested, pulling him back. He was too inebriated to fetch at any suitable argument, and gave way to her draw.

"I'm not gonna remember this," Yukito told her, "Not anything at all.. So I wanna try I guess.." Erin just giggled, that tiny furrow between her eyebrows appearing again at the Japanese he didn't realize he was using.

"What're you talking about?" she asked, her hands clinging to his shirt. The slight pull shot a surge of energy through him. Yukito blinked hard, caught her eye, and continued the kiss from earlier, but with more desperacy in each movement. By the time they finished, rising up for air again, he was laughing, alternating chuckles with profanity. "I should sit.... Where's a **** chair?"

"No, keep kissing me," Erin objected hastily, pulling him down to the couch with her. The warning squeal in his head was dulled down, sounding as muffled as a siren's call at sea. He supposed Erin was the siren at this point. The instant her mouth touched his he was reminded, of everything. Well, all the good parts, at least. That sensation of the best sort of drowning overwhelmed him again, taking his breath away.

"Some parties you kids have..." The deep voice yanked Yukito into a half-dazed state, flickering over to see Aidousan. Erin pulled back, leaving him noticing the clammy feeling on his chest and neck where she had previously been. His eyes locked on her pout, rejecting his warning words.

"We aren't kids and there aren't enough people for this to be a party. Or music!" She laid her head on Yukito's chest, snuggling close. He let out a slow exhale. He was sure he'd never be able to take a deep breath again. "You cain't have a party when it's so friggen quiet and there's no music..." She left him, then, and he fell off into his own head again, distracted while she struggled with her dizziness. By the time she returned to him, he was mumbling under his breath in an unintelligible speech about tongue twisters and microphones.

"Where's niisan?" she pouted, then lifted her shirt enough to see her stomach, and for a long moment Yukito was confused.

"He's not in there.." Yukito declared, finding his finger poking the skin of he abdomen before could resist.

"I wanna get my bellybutton pierced," she announced, words running together, so he wasn't quite sure he understood her. "It'd look so cute when we go swimmin' in the shummer..."

She looked up at him, and he tilted his head to the side, arching an eyebrow at her and widening his eyes. "You always look cute in the summer. I think we should..."

"Let's go now!" Erin took a hold of Yukito's hands and hopped back to her feet, swaying even as she held them, still giggling. "I wanna go now, Yuyukuuun... Where'd he go?"

"I... don't know?" Yukito said, tilting his head again at her until he was almost looking at her completely sideways. It was amusing that way. Like she was standing on the wall, smiling at him like that. "I dunno. I dunno? Hm..."

"I love you... Gah-jou're fine... didjou know thah..? I feel woozy, Yuyukun.... There's face in my hair."

Yukito's eyes widened in surprise, as if she had suggested a foul thing. "What? Where!?" But she ignored him, looking around the room. He tried to follow her gaze, and failed. The more she turned her head, the more the room swam and tilted.

Bored for the moment, and feeling the rush of Erin's kiss starting to slip away, Yukito stood up from the couch, and placed both hands in the tangle of his hair. As Erin walked toward the camera Aidousan held he squeezed his eyes shut, and let out a half growl half scream, his body cringing with the effort. With a smirk he looked up toward Erin and said in a soft voice, "...Hi."

While Erin started to beg for usage of Aidousan's camera, Yukito flopped back to the couch, frowning with boredom already and pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. He skimmed through his contact list, half-tempted to call Erin to see if she had her phone on her (as if she ever went without it) and laugh at the silliness of it. She'd find it adorable, probably.

When he punched the number in, he took a little longer than usual to put it to his ear. His hand was having trouble moving. It made him frown. Were his hands shaking, or was that just the drinks? The voice on the other end of the line was deep, and familiar. Yukito remembered hearing that voice, soft and gentle in praise and encouragement, harsh and venomous with rage.

"Hey, dad..." he said after a pause. "What are you doing?" Without waiting for a response, Yukito laughed bitterly, his finger trailing a circle around the hole on the knee of his jeans. "It's been awhile. Maybe you forgot which son I am. It's Yukito. The one named after you. Don't even try to forget me. I'm gonna be upset when you die, and that hurts, Dad..." A pause. His dad said something, surprise evident in his tone. The words were muffled and heavily accented. Yukito sighed, as though worn out, and dropped his head to the back of the couch, looking up at the ceiling. "Yeah, I'm pretty drunk today. Out of practice and all. Guess I can't say same for you..." He sighed again. Then sat up quickly, holding the cell phone in front of his mouth and screaming/growling a long string of profanity in three languages, hesitating what he thought was exactly three seconds before calmly putting the cell phone to his ear again. "Bet you wish you were here. It'd be easy, then, wouldn't it, dad? Y'know I told her. I promised I'd tell her..." He chuckled, "You probably thought it would be so easy now, didn't you?"

He arched an eyebrow at the continuing silence on the other end of the line, looking more and more confused by it. Why didn't he say anything? "Aren't you even gonna talk to me? Are you there, dad? Dad?"

"I'm here, Yukito..." came the chilling voice. The goosebumps rose again, and he couldn't keep the look of fear out of his eyes. So he closed them.

"There you are!" He tried to smile his way through it, sinking back into the couch again. "Why'd you have to come back, dad? Why couldn't you have just stayed in ******* Japan, huh? Was it not big enough for you?"

"I needed to see your mother...and to see you."

"Shutup!" He screamed into the phone, "You talk too much! Why couldn't you have given me that ability, huh? Keep yourself away! She can need you all she wants, but all you bring is hate, and I never understood it..." He sighed, unsure now that his volume had risen. His drew his knees up and laid his forehead on them, his voice quieter now. "I'm gonna have her...she's so pretty, dad. You don't even know. She's gonna be so pretty..."

"What are you talking about? Yukito, I need to..."

"Don't get off the phone!" He screamed into the receiver, frantic. "You have to hear it!" Yukito hissed at the phone, smiling bitterly, "I'm gonna have her someday, and it's not gonna be your doing. She's so pretty, dad...It's gonna be something big, and it's gonna be right. And good. And...all things you are not....not are...whatever." He stared off at the ceiling again, smiling and touching his open palm to his lips, tapping them and then grinning wider. "She kisses me real well, dad. I can't even hear you anymore." The blurred sound of his father's irritation, the commands to get a grip on himself, were all met with a cheeky grin and a slight sway of his head as he started to hum Redeemer by Gackt. "I can't even hear you any...isn't that great? She really good..."

[More than Music]

Hideo Aidou

"Some parties you kids have..."

'My son has locked himself in the bathroom at his own birthday party, the only friends here are making out with each other, and I'm about to fall asleep...' He took another drink of rum, the strange drink burning at his throat.

'It's like being back at college again.' He smiled a little. 'Yeah, it sort of is. Only, I had more people at my parties.'

"We aren't kids and there aren't enough people for this to be a party. Or music! You cain't have a party when it's so friggen quiet and there's no music..."

Hideo looked around his chair at Erinchan. "True, very true." Then he paused. "And you are kids. You're certainly not adults."

His vision was getting blurry even though he was still wearing his contacts. They hurt his eyes...

A person slunk out and sat beside him. Hideo smiled a little at his son, who looked like he'd skipped right to the hangover.

"Why so blue?"

Kagayaki looked at him curiously. "What does blue have to do with anything?"

Erinchan appeared, pointing at the video camera. "S'that do music?" Kagayaki smiled more when Erinchan giggled.

"Happy, imouto?"

"Can I play with it? Pleeease? I wanna use the cayam'ra. I'll be it to good, I sweeeaarrr!" Her hands were folded together in mock-prayer and she had a precious look on her face.

"I might end up adopting you someday, kid," Hideo laughed, catching the sparkle in Kagayaki's eyes when he said that. "Sure thing, just don't break it. I want my money back for it." He gestured freely towards the equipment. "Feel free. I'm not up to being the director right now." He turned to Kagayaki once Erin was distracted again. "Imouto, right?"

Kagayaki was still smiling. "Yes, she is my imouto."

Hideo sent his son a wink. "You never know. That might become legal some day. I haven't heard anything about her parents yet..."

"I haven't met them yet."

"Hm... Not a good sign." Hideo sighed, shaking his head, and took another drink. "We should do something, since your friends are switching between laying on the floor, making out, and..." He looked at Yukito when he heard a string of profanity -- and several words he didn't understand. "Hm. And cussing someone out."

"His dad." Kagayaki's face was blank but his English was clear. Hideo raised an eyebrow, and Kagayaki looked at him. "He is... Yukito-kun's... dad. He is talking to." He'd stammered on 'talking' some, but otherwise...

"You're getting a little better. Maybe I should get you drunk more often." He was teasing, and Kagayaki must have gotten it because he smiled a little.

"Or depressed more often."

"No," Hideo said with a laugh. "That'd be no fun."

"... Dad..."

Hideo looked at Kagayaki, having spaced for a moment. "Hai?"

"I... I need to... ask you something."

"What's up?"

Kagayaki hesitated, then looked at his father for the first time since coming in the room. "How... how do you know..." He paused and swallowed. "How do you know the difference between someone you love, and someone who's special to you?"

He didn't know how to respond to that at first. Then a slow smile took over his face, and he put a hand on Kagayaki's shoulder. "You have to give it a chance to be love. Your heart will tell you if it's the right thing. You just have to go with your gut."

Half-expecting a rejection, Hideo was very quiet. Kagayaki waited before he replied, saying only, "... I... I guess... so..." Hideo ruffled his son's hair a little, earning a small grunt of displeasure but a smile also.

"Trust me. I've been there. It's not easy, but you'll get through it."

Then Kagayaki jumped, scaring Hideo and making him sprawl backwards. "HANDPHONE!" Kagayaki explained in a frenzy, pulling something out of his back pocket. A phone. Hideo laughed until Kagayaki pointed to the screen.

Freya.

Hideo kept his profanity to a low hiss as he took the phone that Kagayaki refused to answer. "Moshimoshi," he said, feeling an irresistible smile on his face that grew when he heard her voice.

'Speaking of finding the difference between someone you love and someone special to you...'

"Hideo-san, where is your phone?"

He frowned. "It broke."

Freya sighed, then pulled herself back together. Hideo smiled, imagining her utsukushii face. "How's our son?"

Hideo paused a moment, looking at Kagayaki who immediately gave him a shaky thumbs-up. "He's... great. Just... tired..."

"...Tired?"

"Yes," he said, growing in confidence. "He... he's been cleaning up the house today." Yeah, that would work.

Wait, no.

Freya laughed. "I love my son, but he's useless with any manner of cleaning equipment."

Kagayaki slumped. He must have heard that too. Hideo slumped a little too. "Well, he--"

"YOU DIDN'T TELL HIM, DID YOU?!?"

Hideo took a deep breath, the only calm one. "No, Freya, I did not."

"...Good." He was about to speak, but she got there first. "And don't call me 'Freya', Hideo-san. You call me 'Freya-chan'. You always forget your respect."

He sighed. "I have to let you go, darling so we can go back to cleaning."

"HIDEO-SAN!"

"Bye-bye~!" He hung up the phone as another string of Japanese came at him. Hideo smiled at his son. "I love her."

Kagayaki's eyes were wide. "Don't make Kaachan mad anymore."

Hideo laughed. "But it's so fun..."