°˖✧Gaijin✧˖°

°˖✧double take✧˖°

[Author's Note: Merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate! Here's a gift from me to you!]

The stage of life we call "adolescence" often means finding yourself in uncomfortable situations that are unavoidable. Somewhere in Seasoning City, there likely is a girl who has awoken and gone to the bathroom to pee, but pulled her shorts down to find a bloody mess on the inside of her underwear. Then, this girl might have to yell for her younger brother to get her another pair. A truly awkward situation for both siblings.

Young Kageyama Shigeo, unfortunately, is experiencing something similar this fine morning. His dark eyes flutter open and he rubs the sleepiness from them. He's about to sit up, but then he feels it. Something sticky and uncomfortable in the confines of his futon. He lifts the blanket and peeks inside it, his eyes widening at the sight that befalls him.

That's how he finds himself stuffing the blanket, as well as his pajama pants and underwear, in the washing machine, his face burning in pure shame. With trembling hands, he puts the appropriate detergent inside and shuts the lid, just wanting to get rid of the evidence before his mom finds out.

"Oh, Shige! You're up early!" His mom greets him from behind, nearly making him jump out of his skin.

"G-Good morning," he squeaks out, not having it in his heart to look at her face.

"You're doing laundry? Look at you, taking some initiative! I'm proud of you, dear," she coos, giving him an affectionate pat on the head before heading towards the kitchen so she can make breakfast. "Honey, can you believe it? Shige's doing his own laundry!"

"Is he really?" His dad sounds impressed. His face just gets hotter.

50%

"Sooo... had a good dream last night?" Dimple asks with a teasing grin on his face as he floats around him. "Give me all the details. How spicy was it? Just have been pretty good for you to - "

He begins to cough loudly, hurrying into the living room in hopes that it'll shut Dimple up. Thankfully, it does, especially as he flops onto the couch besides Ritsu.

"Morning, Nii-san," Ritsu gives him a little bit of a smile before he looks back at the TV, which is playing the morning news. On screen, it seems like they're talking about the incident at Soryo Private Boy's Academy.

"Good morning, Ritsu..." he says back, though he keeps his eyes trained on the TV screen. This was the assignment Ari was just on, too...

"One of the boys described being grabbed by the uniform and tossed down the stairs, which is what landed him in the hospital," the anchorwoman explains, her eyes trained on the camera - or perhaps the teleprompter behind the camera. "But, thanks to a brave individual, the evil spirit is said to have been taken care of, and the boys of Soryo can continue classes without fear."

He quirks his lips up a little bit. He's happy that she was able to exorcize the spirit all on her own. It was her first time doing it without her master's help, so it's quite a feat. Though, he really wishes she wouldn't have gotten hurt in the process. She insisted that she was fine, but he still finds himself worrying about her.

"Nii-san, you're going to be hanging out with Ari-senpai today, aren't you?" Ritsu asks, looking over at him with a tilt of his head.

His posture stiffens a little bit. He had completely forgotten about that! "Yes, I am," he nods. Though, he's pretty on edge about it because their parents have finally badgered him enough to bring her to the house. "But... I'm a little nervous."

"You don't need to be nervous, Shige!" His mom calls from the kitchen, which basically tells both of them that she was totally listening in on their conversation. "We're going to love her! Ritsu told us all about how sweet she is since you've been so secretive."