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January |
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January |
Tatsu blew a bit of jet black hair out of his eyes and tried to concentrate on the video game he and Kevin were playing. It was hard though, especially with Kevin playing footsie with him every time he got ahead. Those toes sliding over Tatsu’s calf would have been distracting in a very different way if they didn’t belong to Kevin. Sure, his friend was hot, in that blond, surfer boy sort of way but they didn’t click like that. They were like brothers and Tatsu liked it that way. Besides, he was pretty sure Kevin was into girls.
“Yeah, eat that combo!” Kevin tossed his hands in the air as his character killed Tatsu’s.
Tatsu sighed as the theme from The Exorcist echoed from his pocket. He glanced at the number and answered it just as Kevin started his damned victory dance. Tatsu didn’t understand why his friend had to do that stupid dance every time he won.
“Hey mom, what’s up?”
“Tatsu? Where are you? You know we have to be at the temple by 5:30 right?”
“Wait, what?”
“You forgot didn’t you?” His mother’s tone changed slightly. Tatsu was pretty sure she had one hand on her hip in the usual scolding position. She probably would have been shaking a finger at him, if she didn’t have to hold the phone. “I swear you’d forget your head if it wasn’t attached.”
“Mom…”
“We have Obon tonight, remember? And, it’s your grandfather’s first so you need to be there.”
“Wait, I thought that was next week?”
“No, your grandfather’s one year service is next week, Obon is tonight.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll meet you and dad at the temple.” Tatsu raked a handful of hair out of his eyes. That would explain why his mom had been kind of mopey the last few days. His mom, more then anyone else missed his grandfather.
“No, you still need to stop by and get your kimono, too.”
“Bu--”
“No buts, your aunty made it for you and if you don’t wear it tonight you’ll hurt her feelings.”
“Okay…” Tatsu rolled his eyes. Boy, his mom really knew how to kill an evening.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, you. I’ll see you at home.”
Tatsu slipped his phone back into his pocket. How did she know he was doing that? He shook his head. She always seemed to know things like that. It must be some sort of mom sense, or something.
“So, you ready to get your ass kicked again?” Kevin sat back on the couch, grinning at him.
“Can’t, I gotta go.” Tatsu stood, shouldering his backpack. “My mom’s dragging me to Obon.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s sort of a Japanese-Buddhist festival for the dead.”
Kevin raised a blonde eyebrow in curiosity. “Isn’t it a little early in the year for that sort of thing? It sounds like something that should happen closer to Halloween.”
Tatsu shrugged. “It’s usually a summer thing, actually. There’s food, a dance…sort of, and other stuff. The food’s usually pretty good but I could skip the dancing part. It’s all traditional stuff and unless you follow the lead dancers you look like an ass.”