To Fly Free: Resolve

Chapter 8 - Accepted

It was just as Shoyo thought. Tsukishima skipped. Noah let him in and sent him in the direction of Shoyo's room. He entered to see Hinata, Evan, and Asahi sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed. They were having a conversation about what it was like living in Canada. None of them heard the door open, so Tsuki stood there confused for a minute, wondering why Asahi was there.

"Asahi-san?" They all turned to look at him.

"Kei!" Shoyo jumped up to hug his friend, who hugged back. The confused look never left his face.

"Hey Tsuki." Evan greeted with a small wave, getting up off the floor along with Asahi who just smiled.

"Hey." Tsukishima said as Shoyo pulled away from the hug.

Hinata gasped, "Wait! What time is it?" He quickly pulled out his phone to check. "Yes! Haha! You both owe me ten bucks!" He triumphantly pointed his finger between Asahi and Evan who both groaned, pulling out their wallets to pay up.

Kei was even more confused now, "What is happening?" he asked no one in particular.

Evan was the one to respond, "We made a bet on whether you would skip any classes or not. Shoyo won."

"I see." Tsukishima said as Hinata came up to him again for a high five, which he reluctantly gave him. "And why is Asahi-san here?"

"Oh, that." It seems the only person willing to give answers was Evan. "We have to grab Himari-san and Noah first, we'll explain it to all of you at the same time." Tsuki nodded.

They all headed downstairs to see Noah sitting on the couch watching some game show on an American channel. It couldn't have been that interesting since he was also on his phone. Kazu was on the floor in front of the coffee table, working on a colouring book. They both looked up when they heard the group of boys come into the room.

"Oh, hey. What's up guys?" Noah watched as the four chose their seating. Evan and Shoyo sat with no room between them beside him on the couch, while Asahi took the armchair. Tsukishima had stretched out on the loveseat, his shoulders resting on one arm, his legs on the other.

"Just wanted to talk about something. Do you know where my Mom is?" Shoyo asked, taking hold of Evan's hand purely out of habit. Kazu got up and climbed into Shoyo's lap, abandoning his crayons for something that was, in his opinion, much better. Shoyo immediately wrapped an arm around the little boy to hold him.

"Yeah, she went to pick Natsu-chan up from school. She should be back soon though."

As if on cue, the front door swung open and a very bouncy ginger came running in. After taking off her shoes of course.

"Kei!!! You're here!!" She exclaimed, Tsukishima quickly adjusted himself on the couch to make room for the little girl as she leaped onto the empty spot beside him. Asahi watched in wonder, and the others in amusement as he held open his arms and she immediately crawled into his lap. The energetic little girl had taken a quick liking to Kei, who was apparently really good with kids. Evan wasn't sure why, but the scene made him smile softly.

Himari came walking into the room a few seconds later, smiling at the group of guys and one girl in her living room. "I'm home." She directed towards Shoyo.

He replied, "Welcome home Mum. Come sit, there's something we want to tell you." Seeing the look on Shoyo's face she understood.

"Natsu, how about you go play in your room for now, I'll come get you in a bit. Okay honey?" She asked sweetly as the girl's happy face turned sad.

Natsu wasn't dumb. She knew that there was a good reason that her family and the Cortmans often sent her away to 'talk'. She also knew it had something to do with the time when Shoyo went missing for a long time and that her family would eventually tell her what they talk about when they think she's old enough. No one ever told her any of this, and she didn't eavesdrop to find out either. She just knew. She understood that this was going to be one of those times. She wasn't old enough for this conversation.