If you think you cannot do something you must do it. You must do the things you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt

(Monday, 4.45pm~ Hiroto and Midorikawa's place)

He bit his lip, his hands pressed into his thighs in anticipation "Kiyama. Look, look!-" I turned my head only for my boyfriend to climb over the sofa, plopping himself down next to me. "Look!" He was holding a magazine of some sort, oh wait "Is that?-"
"Yep!" He said excitedly before nuzzling in next to me and flicking it open to the relevant page "I didn't think they were serious, but I mean-Ah!" He couldn't contain his excitement-which I totally get since I know how much this means to him.

Midorikawa let out a breath "Remember when I told you I was happy? They said they'd accepted but-I mean a full two page spread?! Not even edited?!" he beamed and hugged it tightly to his chest. He then blushed a little "Do you-would you like to read it Kiyama? I mean you don't have to, only if you want to..."
I chuckled, taking the magazine from him "Of course baby." I cleared my throat before pretending to push up my imaginary glasses and putting on a posh voice "James I has long since been revered as a monarch renowned for his extravagant expenditure and taste for luxury; however, was it truly the case that he was just another 17th century ruler with a godly complex view of Divine Right, or was there more to the story-" he punched my arm lightly
"Be serious!" He said jokingly as I laughed at him.

He sat there intently as I read the article he'd written aloud. To be honest, I knew most of it word-for-word by now, thanks to my boyfriend's insistence that I read every single one of the numerous drafts he'd made. He looked at me nervously, his smile having dropped "What do you think? Is it-is it okay?"
I gave him a sideways glance "Well they wouldn't publish crap now would they? Of course it's good-no it's great! It's like I told you before, you need to have more faith in yourself, you're so much better than you give yourself credit for Ryuuji." He rubbed his arms "I guess, I guess you're right. It's just-"
"-just nothing! You're simply amazing baby-stop always doubting yourself okay?" I replied, squeezing his hand. He gave me a small smile, nodding.

I put the magazine down on the coffee table, pulling my boyfriend closer to me and giving him small butterfly kisses on his neck. He began laughing uncontrollably since I know that's where he's the most ticklish "KIYAMA! HA-STOPP-HAHHAAAHA!" He tried to roll away from me but my grip was too strong. "You're not going anywhere Ryuuji, not until you admit that you are a perfect, amazing person!" I said between kisses.

He tried to hold out but in the end he was no match for my tickling prowesses. "OKAY OKAY FINE! I'M PERFECT AND AMAZING!" He yelled, clutching his belly that was probably aching by now. I held his face in my hands, giving him a passionate kiss "Yes you are."
He blushed before grinning at me. "There's that smile I was looking for!" I exclaimed, grinning back at him. He reached up, wrapping his arms around my neck and bringing me close "I think you're amazing too. I love you." He whispered, lips almost touching mine.

I leaned closer, eager to feel his lips on mine for a second time. Just as I was about to close the gap between us, I saw a mischievous grin appear on his face. His hands suddenly flew up, grabbing my butt "And...I think you're also amazing in bed~" he whispered as my face went slightly red. 'Dammit Ryuuji, you make my head spin!' He grinned before letting out a small laugh and flipping us around so he was on top of me. He stood up "Now get that cute little tushie of yours off the sofa, I'll race you~" he said with a wink.

"Excuse you-my little tushie is not 'cute', yours is the cute-" I began before he cut me off, placing a hand on his hip
"Excuse you-my butt is bootyful thank you very much Hitoto Kiyama." He said and I let out a small laugh "Well, I can't argue with that can I Midorikawa Ryuuji?"

(Same time, Endou and Kazemaru's house)

"Just try again, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it eventually."
I sighed, flicking yet another spider off the essay I was marking. It was a nice day outside so I thought I would do my work outside for once; well that turned out to be a rubbish idea. I swatted away a fly from my face before deciding to just give up, placing the stack of papers down in a huff. "I'm going inside." I yelled to Endou but I don't think he heard me. Regardless, I stood, making my way over to the patio doors. Once inside I dropped the stack of papers rather unceremoniously on the sofa before stretching.

Quinn looked up at me but didn't say anything, going back to her work. She furiously scribbled something out before grumbling to herself, I took a seat next to her.
"Hey. It's nice weather outside, maybe you should take a break. You've been doing that for ages now." I offered and she sighed.
"I need to get it right, it's annoying me." She replied. I was going to try and convince her to go outside again when Micah walked in from the garden, looking exhausted. "You alright bud?" I asked and he gave me a half-hearted smile before walking into the kitchen.

I could tell something was up so I followed him. "Everything okay?" I asked as he poured some apple juice into a beaker. He glanced at me before dropping his eyes to the floor "Yuhuh..."
I walked a little closer to him, kneeling down so that I was his height, tapping him on the shoulder "You know you can always talk to me, what's up little buddy?" He let out a small sigh, mumbling something whilst drinking the juice.

I tilted my head "What was that Micah?" He sighed again and put the beaker back on the counter. He pouted "I'm sad." He said simply before playing with the hem of his top. "Why, what happened?" I asked concerned, taking his little hands in mine and rubbing them softly. Micah began chewing on his bottom lip, stealing a glance towards the window before turning back to me; lowering his voice to a whisper. "I'm not good at it, but I don't wan't Endou to not be proud of me...I wish I was better..." he frowned before sniffling. His lip trembled. "Hey hey." I cooed, not wanting him to cry; he sniffed before wiping his eyes a little with his fists and looking up at me.

"I just...am not good at it..." he said quietly and I immediately understood what was going on. I pulled him into a warm hug, rubbing his back a little "Well if you want, you could play with me. Mamoru can get a bit...passionate when it comes to football." I said softly. I know it's not been easy for Mamoru, coming back to football like this; he didn't feel ready to start coaching properly so this was the compromise.
"I don't think that would help. It's not-not real fun...I'm sorry please don't tell him! I just don't like it!" He replied, snuggling into me. "You're not enjoying yourself?" I asked and felt him shake his head. "I really don't like it." He mumbled into me and I patted his head softly before pulling away. I sympathised with him really, he thinks of Mamoru like his best friend, he just didn't want to disappoint him. I smiled at my son "If you don't like it then you don't have to keep doing it anymore, no one's going to force you Micah okay?"

"But, but Endou-"
"Micah, he's not going to get angry at you, and he won't be disappointed in you either. He and I, we both just want what's best for you and Quinn, we want you two to have fun and to be able to express yourselves however you want-be that through sports, art, music, dancing, writing or anything else you want to do; the choice is yours Micah." I remarked, giving his hand a light squeeze before standing up. Micah smiled, nodding his head at me.

"Soooo...." I began, pushing him gently towards the living room "What is it you want to do, or rather, what do you enjoy doing?" He thought for a moment before mumbling something quietly, I gave him a look and he suddenly went all shy, shuffling his feet around awkwardly. "I...I like drawing pretty pictures...and colouring in...but the other boys in my class say that's girly..." he said quietly and I stiffened up, remembering the time when I first started to grow my hair and got called girly-boy for the best part of three years.

I shook my head, placing both hands on my boy's shoulders, Micah looked up at me. "Liking drawing does not make you girly Micah, in the same way that liking football doesn't make you boyish, we do the things we do because we enjoy them, not to please others or to adhere to social norms; you shouldn't be afraid to do the things you find fun and you should never think there's something you can't do or shouldn't do or that you can't like one thing over another. It's your choice and you're free to choose however you wish to live your life. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." I exclaimed, letting out a short breath. Micah looked up at me with his big, hazel eyes and I remembered that he's only eight years old-well, I'm sure he got the gist of what I was saying anyway.

The big smile he gave me in response cemented my thoughts. "So, so I can?" He asked, joy shining in those hazel eyes of his, I laughed "Of course! But how's about we tell dad first huh?"
"Okay!" He replied, running off into the garden to find my husband. I turned around to catch Quinn staring at me before quickly going back to her work, face a little red.

I was about to offer her again the chance to go outside when I heard Mamoru's voice. "Hey. Just keep trying and I'm sure you'll get the hang of it, don't give up!" I sighed and pulled a hand down my face, jogging out into the garden to see Endou standing there with his signature grin and our son desperately trying to actually get a word in. "Mamoru..." I sighed, placing an arm around his shoulder. "What? I'm just trying to teach him the importance of not giving up-I know he'd make a great footballer if he tries a bit harder-"

He stopped when Micah began sniffling, tears pricking at his eyes "I-I'm sorry da-Endou! I just-" he looked over at me, wiping his nose "Kazemaru said I could be whatever I want a-and that's not a footballer!" He exclaimed, hugging onto Endou's leg. I gave my husband a look and he knelt down, holding Micah's face in his hands. "Gee I'm sorry bud, I didn't mean to make you upset. I'm sorry, I didn't know you hated it-I promise I'll listen to you more in the future okay?" He said and Micah nodded his head. I let out a sigh of relief, patting Micah's shoulder "Now that that's out of the way, how's about you show those nasty boys at school just what you can do huh?" He grinned up at me "Yep!" before scampering off inside.

I smiled before turning back to my husband "We promised we wouldn't be those kind of parents Mamoru..." he gave me a sheepish look "Yep, you're right sorry. I just didn't want him to just give up on it on the first try..."
"You're right stubborn you know that?" I remarked "But I love you that way." I said, giving him a small peck on the cheek.

I walked over to the living room again, seeing Micah run out with a pad of paper and some crayons, I ruffled his hair as he ran past me.
"Quinn, enough now, come on out and relax a little-"
"-I just need to finish this bit-"
"-Nope. Out now." I said, going inside and having to practically drag our daughter away from her work and into the garden. She grumbled but soon stopped when she felt the warmth of the Sun on her skin.

I smiled smugly to myself before Endou threw the football at me "Hey Quinn, wanna have a go?" He asked, putting on his goalie gloves, she looked at him surprised "I've never really played before." She said before crossing her arms "Besides, football's for boys..." she half-mumbled to herself, eyes downcast.
"Nu-uh! Kazemaru told me you can do whatever you want if you like it and not have to add hear to so shall norms!" Micah yelled, shooting up from his seat. I chuckled a little at his interpretation of my words but nevertheless nodded, rolling the ball towards our daughter. "Your brother's right you know, come on why don't you give it a try? Who knows, you might find you're really good at it!" I encouraged, giving her a small thumb's up.

She puffed out her cheeks before sighing defeatedly "Fineeee. But don't be surprised if I'm sh-"
"-Language." I warned and she fixed me a smirk before turning back to her brother, winking at him. He giggled before quickly covering his mouth. 'Jeez this girl...' I shook my head and she became serious again "I'll give it a go, I guess."

She took to it quite quickly actually. Well...until...
"Alrighty! Try and aim for the goal Quinn!"
"Heh, she won't get through me that easily Ichirou!" My husband replied, readying himself.
"Here I go!" Quinn yelled, booting the ball with as much force as she could muster.
Whereupon she missed the goal-by quite a high margin. It bounced on our shed, rolling down it before swiftly disappearing into our neighbour's garden with a thud. "Oh shi-"
"Language!"

She pulled a hand down her face, kicking the grass at her feet "I'm-I'm sorry I just thought..."
"Hey, it's alright." I reassured, walking over to her "Next time, try and hit it with this part of your foot instead, it will give you more precision but with less power-you only really need to boot it if you want to send it very far okay?" I said and she nodded her head "Got it."
"Mamoru, I'm gonna go and get it." I offered just as Micah ran up to me "Can I come? Kazemaru can I?" He exclaimed, grabbing my hand. I just laughed. "Sure bud."

"Ooh can I see, can I see?" He asked me and I smiled a little before hoisting him up into my shoulders so he could see over the fence.
"I see it, I can see the ball!" He replied excitedly, patting my head. I laughed at his actions before bringing him down and walking around to our neighbour's house. I knocked on the door and waited, Micah grasping my hand tightly.

The door swung open and my neighbour peered at us through her thick glasses. "Ah, Rani. Sorry to bother you but Quinn accidentally kicked a ball into your garden." I explained and she nodded in understanding before inviting us inside. "I was wondering what the sound was-I was doing some yoga so..." she said before turning around and pinching Micah's cheek. "Such a cutie!" She exclaimed before going back to retrieving the ball.

"She's a funny lady." Micah whispered to me while she was out of earshot. "Yes, and very nice as well." I added, seeing her walk back inside, pushing her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose. She handed me the ball before clasping her hands together. "I couldn't interest you in some chai could I?" She remarked, picking up a mug. "Ah, you know I'd love one. But we-" I gave Micah a quick squeeze and he giggled "-should probably be getting back soon before Mamoru and Quinn think we've been abducted by aliens or something." I said, earning another giggle from Micah."

Rani nodded, leaning up against the countertop, her glasses sliding down her nose a little. She pushed it back up. "That's fair, well you must swing by later with Mamoru and have some." She urged and I nodded my head. "Oh before you go-" she began, hurrying over to the fridge "-I made some gulab jamun this morning." She walked over to Micah before popping something in his hands. "Rani..."
She gave me a toothy smile before hitting my arm playfully. "It's just one!" She then turned to Micah, pressing a finger to her lips "Don't tell your sister or Endou, this will be our little secret okay?" She said playfully and Micah giggled before nodding his head furiously.

He looked up at me before showing me the sweet ball of dough in his hands, I sighed, knowing it was futile "What do you say?"
"Thank you!" He said to her loudly before stuffing the whole thing in his mouth and grabbing my hand to leave.
"Thanks and sorry again Rani." I said as I was dragged out of the house. She just smiled and waved.

Once outside, Micah made me stop whilst he chewed his food, clearly regretting stuffing his mouth with the sticky dessert. I was about to say something when a faint sound made both of us stop. "Huh?" I thought aloud, straining to hear it again. It sounded like... I followed the source of the noise to our garage, with Micah following behind me. The sound was louder now, it sounded like, meowing?
I hastily unlocked the garage, swinging the door up and sure enough, inside sat a black and white cat.

It mewled pitifully at us as Micah's eyes widened "Cat!" He exclaimed before trying to grab for it, only for the cat to give a weak hiss and back away. He tugged on my shirt "Kazemaru, can we keep it, please?" He pleaded, giving me his best puppy-dog eyes. "Ha, I'm afraid not bud, this cat belongs to someone else." I said, beckoning the cat towards myself. It hesitated momentarily before seeming to recognise me and coming willingly into my arms. "Aww." Micah pouted as I headed back over to Rani's house. Micah knocked this time and I fully expected to see Rani peering at us through those thick glasses of hers like always-but that wasn't the case.

"Er..."
It was a man, similar height to me, with jet black hair, hazel eyes and Rani's caramel skin. "Rajah!" The young man exclaimed taking the cat from me instantly and nuzzling into its fur.

"What are you prattling on about Ro-" Rani said opening the door fully before noticing the man, who I presumed was the son she was always going on about, and the cat. "Oh Rajah, my baby! How did you?-" she asked me and I shrugged. "He must have been hiding out in my garage this whole time, I could have sworn I checked but-"
"-Thank you so so much!" Rani's son said, putting the cat inside before shaking my hand furiously. "You must be Ichirouta right? Mum and dad are always talking about you and, is it Mamoru?"

"Yeah, uh, sorry you must be Rowan. Rani and Bobby didn't tell me you were here." I said, getting out of his strong grip. "Ah well, he's only staying for a little while, then he'll be gone again-"
"-And the sooner the better, there's not one moment of quiet when he's around!" Bobby interrupted jokily, ruffling his son's hair.

Micah tugged on my sleeve, reminding me we should be going. Just as I was about to say my goodbyes, my phone rang. The three of them waved to me and headed back inside as I answered it. The voice on the other end was not what I was expecting.
"Kaze? Oh, I know you're probably busy, but I was just hoping I could catch you." He sounded, almost happy-no-he sounded calm and collected.
"Han I-"
"-I won't keep you long I-" he laughed lightly "God it's so good to hear your voice...I..." he laughed again.

"Are you alright Han?" I inquired, I could almost hear the tiny smile he was sporting. "Yes, yes I am, I'm...I am alright for once you see because someone did something very nice for me and, well it was a small gesture but it meant a lot to me and I just-Afuro cared about me. He cared enough to show it and I just feel, really good right now. I think...I'm feeling a lot better, I'm feeling happier...I just, thought I should let you know that." He said wistfully and a smile grew on my face as I headed back into our garden, throwing the ball to Quinn.

"Well I'm so glad to hear that. I really am. I have to go."
"Bye Kaze."
"Bye Han."
I hung up, pondering over what my friend had said before grinning as Quinn very nearly scored a goal.

(Genda)

So, after much deliberation-or more so the toss of a coin-Sakuma got his way on picking our long overdue honeymoon destination. It would have been Orkney but he changed his mind and so we ended up going to the Isle of Lewis instead. And yes, I was mourning the loss of a lovely trip to Venice practically all of Friday but actually-and I can't believe I'm saying this-it's been great so far.

We booked a little stone cottage right on the beach, overlooking the sea, it was very pretty actually and came with a hot tub which made it a definite winner for me. Not to mention the owners threw in a really cute honeymoon hamper full of local produce and lots of booze which made it a definite winner for my husband too.

On the Friday the weather was great, Sakuma dragged me along to this gallery, An Lanntair Gallery I think he said it was called. Yeah, that was pretty good I guess, not entirely my thing but at least Jirou seemed to enjoy himself. Then we went home and I was delighted to find a substantial amount of butterflies flying about near the house. So I took some pictures-because there were many, many different types, and I wanted to add the photos to my scrapbook.

Okay so I like butterflies whatever.
Sakuma makes such a big deal about it.
Who doesn't like butterflies?
I just happen to like them a lot more than other people. I think they're cool.
Anyway, after that the weather turned on us.

Torrential rain. Near-on gale force winds. Bitterly cold.
I knew this would happen, I called it. We had to bare through a sea tour since we'd already paid for it and I wasn't about to let that money go to waste. And whilst it did mean I ended up wringing water from my socks for a good half hour; we did get to see basking sharks and dolphins-I even got to touch one. Besides, cuddling up to my equally soaked and shivering husband was a nice way to warm up a little.

Actually, the terrible weather did us a favour I think. Even though we were basically stuck inside for what seemed like forever, it gave us a chance to get a little closer. We turned into prunes in the hot tub, acted like children as we tried to do countless jigsaw puzzles (which for some reason were all missing the final piece-that was when I also learnt that I have rather a lot more patience than Jirou), we saw spotted deer and sea birds through the telescope, we played poker, got absolutely smashed, then decided strip poker was a better game to play (it wasn't and we both just ended up falling asleep halfway through the game anyway) and we spent the nights curled up to each other, just saying how much we loved each other over and over and over again.

When I woke up this morning it wasn't raining as bad and Sakuma convinced me to go to Stornoway with him. It was a while away but since we'd eaten our way through the entire contents of the kitchen as well as the hamper we thought we should probably get some food before we starved out here. So we made it to Stornoway, in the rain, got some grub before realising that this would probably be the only good-ish day to be outside. And well, Sakuma and I, we tend to go a bit overboard when it comes to buying souvenirs and omiyages but I mean come on! I'm sure Yuuto and Akio will like their handcrafted penguin nesting dolls-of course Sakuma decided to by one for us as well...so now we'll match...yay.....

He gave them all names too.

And since there's no internet at the cottage, Sakuma took the opportunity to upload our holiday pics at an Internet cafe. Our many, many pictures.
Mainly pictures of us. In our kilts. Of me. In my kilt.
Well, we do have the legs for them.

Then my husband dragged me down to the beach when we got back, and even though it was raining we ran about, splashed in around in the waves, chased each other and generally just gave no shits about anything other than having fun. It was great.

But then it got really fucking cold so we went inside.

"Enjoying yourself?"
Sakuma draped his arm over me before handing me a big mug of hot chocolate. I smiled and kissed his cheek "You bet."
He was still wearing his yellow raincoat and his hair was still damp but he looked so cute like that, he smiled and took a sip from his own mug before setting it down and walking over to the telescope.
"Hey Kujirou, Kujirou look!" He exclaimed, patting my arm excitedly. I went over to him and peered through; there were some seals gathering on some rocks on the far side of the beach. "Cool, seals."
"Not that, that-" Sakuma positioned the telescope properly and I let out a small chuckle "Otters."

I pulled back from the telescope and was captured in a hug from my husband "You know, otters hold hands with their loved ones as they sleep so they don't accidentally float away from each other." He muttered before intertwining our fingers together.
He looked up at me before stealing a quick kiss.
"I love otters, they're my favourite animal."
I laughed "I thought penguins were your favourite animal?"
"Can a man not have two favourite animals?" He asked, leading me over to the bed, lightly pushing me down onto it. "No, otherwise that makes the entire premise of favourites pointless." I said as he climbed on top of me, running a hand through his damp hair.

"Is that so?"
I pulled him in for a kiss "Yes it is."
He smiled down at me "Whatever you say....butterfly boy."