KOF School

Busted Plans

"So you're going out?" Masaomi asked, sipping his warm mugicha.
Iori nodded. "Aiko's coming along too."
"I am?" Aiko said in surprise.
"Yeah, you're gonna hang out with Kula and Isolde while we go out together," Iori added.
Aiko frowned. "Niisan, you decided for me?"
Iori realised how dumb it sounded now. "You don't wanna come?"
"No! I wanna come if I'm hanging out with you, not with Kula and Isolde," Aiko said, much to Iori's dismay. "I'm not even that close to them."
"But we were planning to leave you at Kula's place and go out..." Iori sheepishly said, much to her shock. "Oops..."
Masaomi was surprised too. "Oi! What is this? You're leaving her to daycare so that you can have fun?"
Iori flushed at that. "I didn't think about it that way..."
Aiko sighed. "Niisan, if you wanna hang out with your friends, don't bring me into it. Let me stay at home."
That was a blow to the plan. Iori sighed and just agreed with it before retreating into his room, this time pulling Yua along with him. He closed the door and placed the cat down on his lap before calling Kay with a frown.
"Houston, we've got a problem," Iori said. "Aiko doesn't wanna come this Saturday."
Kay gasped on the other end. "What?! Then how a we gonna distract the girls?"
"I don't know, dude, but that's something for you to worry about," Iori said. "Because if you ain't coming, I'm just gonna go with Aiko anyway."
"What? No!" Kay groaned. "Give me a minute, I can try to work something up."
"You better, because I'd be ditching you guys if not," Iori said.
Kay grumbled something incoherent on the other side. "Whatever. Maybe we should ditch this idea too."
"What? Dude, I was kidding!" Iori sheepishly said.
That was a lie. Even Yua gave him a strange look, knowing full well that Iori wasn't actually kidding when he said he'll just ditch the idea and go with his sister. He just grinned at the cat and turned back to the phone to see what Kay had to say.
"Well, fine," Kay said after a quick rather long pause. "I'll get back with you later."
Iori nodded. "Aight. Update me."
Iori hung up and lifted Yua to eye level. "You knew I was lying, weren't you?" The cat just gave him a bored look, eventually letting out a yowl when Iori cuddled it. "Come on, you knew, didn't you."
Yua started purring in his arms.

Kay just stared at his phone, feeling half-betrayed and annoyed. Would Iori really ditch him if they were to not come up with a plan to distract Kula and Isolde? He didn't really know.
When he left the room, Kay spotted his brothers playing a video game in the living room television. He sighed and joined them.
"Is something wrong?" Krizalid asked, trying to beat Zayn in a ranked fighting game match.
"It's Iori, he said his sister doesn't wanna come so we can't distract Kula and Isolde," Kay groaned. "What makes it worse is he wants us to come up with a plan to distract them or he's gonna ditch us and go out with his sister instead."
"What?!" Zayn gasped. "He actually said that?" He shrugged. "Then again, I don't blame him. I wouldn't choose anyone else from you guys."
"Aww," Krizalid was touched.
Kay sighed. "Yeah, it's cute and all, but now we need a plan to distract the girls so that we can go shopping for Valentine's gifts for them."
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that," Krizalid said. "But why don't we just go on our own? I'm sure your friend wants to shop too, right?"
Kay nodded slowly. "You're right. I think I'll just tell him the plan has been cancelled then."
It's not like Iori was going to mind, he was planning to do the same anyway.

Yashiro groggily sat up on his bed and scratched his eyes. There was a sound that woke him, a loud thud from an unknown source. At one point, Yashiro thought he had imagined it and was about to go back to sleep. It was only five in the morning, after all, on a Saturday.
But then the thud came again.
Yashiro immediately rushed out of bed and pulled on a fluffy dressing gown because of the cold before rushing out. The sound repeated itself, louder this time. Yashiro realised the sound was coming from downstairs. He went straight over to investigate and...
Found his father doing jumping jacks in the living room.
"Dad, what are you doing?" Yashiro asked, his eyes still droopy from sleep.
"Warmups!" Yoshiro enthusiastically said. "I'm about to go jogging, you following?"
Yashiro looked at his father in surprise, only just realising that Yoshiro was dressed in sportswear. And he was doing jumping jacks as a warmup before jogging? Seems like the warmup packed more than the actual exercise.
"Pass," Yashiro shook his head as he turned to go back upstairs. "You go on, Dad. I wanna go back to bed."
Yoshiro frowned slightly. "Oh. I thought you'd wanna get in shape."
Yashiro just groaned as he walked back to his room to resume his sleep.
Apparently, Yoshiro not going back to the military had a slight downside to it.
"Come on, Yashiro," Yoshiro said, going after his son. "It would be fun, a jog around the neighbourhood at dawn. It would be fun, wouldn't it?"
"Dad, please," Yashiro groaned again. "It's so early. Why are you even awake? It's Saturday!"
Yoshiro smiled sheepishly. "I'm used to it, son. Always been like this."
Yashiro sighed. "Fine. But I'm still gonna go back to bed."
The father pouted pitifully. "So you're leaving your old man to go running out in the dark cold alone?"
Yashiro looked at him in surprise. It was just a few days ago did the... Yagami mishap happen where Iori and Masaomi were nearly robbed in a similar setting. He didn't want that to happen to his father when he was out alone. Yashiro sighed and asked him to wait as he went back upstairs to get changed.
Yoshiro grinned in triumph. He successfully got his son to come along on his morning jogging trip.
Yashiro returned a few minutes later, changed into athletic clothes and looking a little more sober than he had been before.
"Let's go," Yashiro said as soon as he hit the foot of the stairs.
Yoshiro enthusiastically opened the door and graciously motioned his son to go out first before following along. Yashiro watched as he locked up before jogging off in the neighbourhood.
"You sure you're gonna be okay without warmups?" Yoshiro asked as he jogged alongside his son.
Yashiro shrugged. "It's just a jog. I'm pretty fit anyway, with swimming and all."
"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting," Yoshiro said, earning a sigh. "Sorry, boy. I'll come for your tournaments now that I'm here."
That made Yashiro stop, surprising his father slightly.
"You okay?" Yoshiro asked, jogging backwards to check on him. "Is it a cramp? What happened?"
Yashiro shook his head. "No, it's not that." He met his father's gaze. "You wanna come for my swim tournaments?"
Yoshiro gave him a strange look. "Why, of course I do. I couldn't come before, but I can now." He frowned slightly when he realised how Yashiro looked uneasy. "Is something wrong? You don't like me coming?"
"No, I'd love for you to come," Yashiro quickly said. "It's just... new for me. Mom never comes."
Yoshiro looked at him in surprise. "You mean... you go alone?"
"Not always, but she'd usually just drop me off," Yashiro said. "Maybe she came in once or twice, but that was a long time ago." He paused as he turned away. "I like it better when she doesn't come."
Yoshiro groaned, inwardly scolding his wife for letting him feel this way. "That's not gonna happen anymore, you got that? I'll be there for you from now on. Both of us, you hear?"
"I guess I do..." Yashiro shrugged, resuming his jog alongside Yoshiro. "I know that Mom is trying now too. She bought me these really expensive shoes when we went shopping last week. I didn't actually want them, she asked me to try them on, and then bought them even when I refused."
Yoshiro smiled tiredly. "Yeah, she feels real bad for how she treated you. She's trying to make amends, but I know that it will be hard for you to accept her."
"I know, but I'm trying too," Yashiro sighed. "It needs some time to get used to, it's still a little awkward now."
"I know it is, and that's okay," Yoshiro comfortingly said. "I'll be with you, okay?"
"Alright."