StarLit / Yaoi

StarLit / Chapter 12

The following morning I awoke to find Ayase, Kioko, and Yuki at the kitchen table already eating breakfast. I first took notice of the food and toast, then I noticed Yuki's sudden change in wardrobe. I stared at him, give it take five minutes, and swallowed a piece of dry toast. "You changed"

It was strange because it didn't look like anything of mine and it wasn't Kioko's either. Ayase grinned at me from her side and I couldn't help but think she was somehow involved. "Like it?" That grin never fading.

I took a second look at him and nodded. "Yeah. It's a nice outfit"

She groaned. "Men have no taste in fasion"

"Right" I swallowed another piece of dry toast. "So now your buying clothes for him?"

"He can't keep wearing the same thing over and over again. It's unhygienic"

"Is that so?" I found myself starring at him. He wasn't eating along with everyone else. Instead, he sat there with a confused looked on his face as he stared at the food placed on the table.

Ayase must have noticed because she was quick to pull him out of his daze. "Eat anything you like. If you want something else I can make it for you" she was behaving so sweet I was beginning to think this woman was an imposter.

I remember clearly when Kioko and I were kids she would force some of the worst crap down our throats. If we refused to eat she wouldn't replace our meal. Our only option was to eat the food we didn't want.

Yuki smiled and reached for some toast. He ate it plain, like me, but I had a feeling he felt too awkward to top anything on. "Would you like some jam?" Ayase asked politely.

He nodded slowly and she took the toast back from him to top on some jam. The first bit he took all his worries seemed to melt away.

"Is it good?" Ayase pulled forward, but he didn't flinch. "Made it myself actually," holding her hand onto her chest proudly. "It's an old English recipe I found from my father's study. He was very interested in the West culture. I am too, actually. The mystery of the Mona Lisa and the Scream painting are what actually got me interested in art"

Kioko frowned. "Damn do you talk a lot. Did you do that often when we were kids? I can see why were so exhausted living here"

Ayase glared over at Kioko, clenching her teeth. "Would you prefer I send you back to your parents?"

Kioko lifted off her chair, grabbing her plate and casually walking back into the kitchen to drop off her dishes. Conveniently forgetting to answer Ayase's question.

"Well, we should get going" I said, standing up to pull my backpack over my shoulder and head out. Yuki followed closely behind me without a word.

We were almost to the school when I looked over my shoulder to see him stuck in thought. It was, obviously, about his uncle. That soft, lost expression always meant his uncle was on his mind. "Your apart of the family now" I mentioned.

He looked up suddenly, dropping his expression and replacing it with basic confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Ayase" I ended up stopping so I could turn to look at him. "She bought you that, didn't she?"

He nodded. "She was really scary" that look reminded me of me. "She came right into the room and dragged me off. I told her no, but she insisted. It was so scary"

From the looks of it she was silently terrifying him. All the more reason to consider him family. "That's Ayase's way of saying she likes you. Apparently she was like that when she was younger too. Things never change, I guess" We got to the school and went our separate ways. The entire day my thoughts were strictly on Yuki and what we were going to do about his uncle. I was going to take care of it today, whether he knew that or not.

The bell rang waking me from my fantasy and I looked at the clock. It was lunch time now and I was going to meet up with Yuki. I quickly gathered my things together and was about to walk off when I heard the teacher call my name. It was the same teacher who talked to me about Yuki before. "Hey, glad I caught you. Could I ask you a few questions?" I didn't want to, but at the same time I thought it would be a good idea to hear him out since both of us were clearly suspicious about Yuki.

I followed him into the faculty room over to his desk. Compared to the others, his desk was far more disorganized and messy. The others had their mess, but his papers were overflowing on the desk to the point where the floor was carpeted in a fine layer of random white paper. It was amazing he found anything in this mess. "Yasuma. You've noticed haven't you?" I didn't answer, but that didn't seem to matter since the question was rhetorical anyway. "He has red marks on his wrists and I've heard the rumors surrounding him"

"So you know is problem?"

He nodded. "And I want to help in anyway I can. He's in my class, after all, and I have to help my students" he paused for a breath. "Now, the other students. Do you know who they are?"

I shook my head. "Not really" then my memory went back to the day we met. "But I did pull two guys off him"

"Do you know their names?"

"No. They're all in a year below me and I didn't take the time to get to know them"

He sighed. "Well how am I gonna-"

"But you know... I did knock both of them out" remembering what I did to dissolve the situation. "I think I left some marks"

"Some marks... Some marks..." He thought to himself all of the boys in his class, reviewing each one. "Wait! In class 2-B. The teacher there was complaining about how these boys had black eyes. Said they were rough housing too much and sent them to the principal"

"Are they the same guys though? If they are why not rat me out?" 

"They're own pride? I don't really know. But if you could identify these two that would help us" 

I frowned. I could understand this guys concern, I mean, I was concerned about Yuki too, but I had a problem with this. If I identified them that would bring the problem closer to school. Even though it was obvious what was happening just based off all the rumors, it would just get worse when they discovered where his uncle fit in the equation. "Okay, but, can I make a request?" 

"Sure" he seemed a bit put off by that and sat up straight in his chair. 

"I don't want the school to know about this. It would just get harder for Yuki" 

"I understand. This will be between you, me, and the police. The school might have to get involved, but we can keep it from the students" 

I nodded, although I was fairly skeptical he could keep the students here from gossiping like school girls. "Thanks" I bowed slightly with my gratitude and identified the students. It was the two idiots I punched the day I met Yuki. "That's them" 

Shortly after that I left him in the faculty room. Honestly, I wasn't sure what he was going to do next or with that information, but I was really hoping I wouldn't regret what I'd just done.