Home for the Holidays(Ash)

[Mayu Yoshiko]

Mayu was wide awake at 5 that night, which was something normally going on whenever it was break time. However it was the day before her birthday and normally Ant was busy getting everything set up. But they had spent all day getting ready for tomorrow and the house was sparkling clean because of it. Everything was washed, cleaned, and put away except the obvious; them. Ant had come up with the grand idea of them baking a cake, something they did every Christmas. He had set out the sprinkles, frosting, and ingredients. Everything was planned out.

There was only one problem. Not one of those ingredients got into the giant mixing bowl. All around them devastation was going on, in the form of war. Who started this war was lost on both of them, but it was fun that was for damn sure. May dipped her hand into the almost empty flour packet and sent a handful of white-fluttery goodness all over her older brother. She laughed, dancing away at he dumped more frosting on top of her. “I shall never give in to your evil plans!!” she yelped, falling onto the floor covered in frosting and flour and just about every other ingredient you could possibly think of for a cake.

Mayu was already covered in flour from head to toe and her brother matched her own appearance. Her pigtails-braid were soaked in various colored frosting and she looked absolutely happy. “Alright! I give, I give!” she was laughing, sprawled out on the floor when the doorbell rang. Aw crap, she forgot to warn Ant that Ash was coming over to spend the holidays with them. Not that he’d care, but it was the thought that counted. “Coming Ash!”
she pulled open the door and gave her friend the biggest hug she could muster, smiling widely before backing away and blushing. Why did she just do that?

[Ashley Shaw]

Ashley hoped to hell that May had told Ant about their plans. If not then he’d be screwed. He wondered what May would think of her birthday this year. Hell, he hadn’t even decided which present was for which day. He was slowly trudging toward the house he might be calling home for the holidays, if not for a long time if May convinced Ant that it would be best if Ashley lived with them. He held a suitcase of clothes, enough for a week, if not a little longer, including a dressing gown and his long favoured teddy bear, which served as a reminder to his quiet childhood. Hooked over the handle of the suit-case-on-wheels were two plastic bags. One with all of Ant’s presents, and one with most of May’s. In his free hand he held a cage, with a warm blanket on its floor, with a small bundle wrapped up in thick cloth. Ashley was worried about what was inside. He hoped May would leave him and Ant to sort out the presents so he could fetch the cage from where he was going to hide it. He smiled to himself. He felt confident about this year.

Ash reached the door, and placed his stuff carefully outside, pulling out a thick blanket from May’s present bag. He walked over to the small garden bushes and placed the cage between two thick branches, covering it with a white duvet. Worry filled his heart, even if he knew it would stay warm. The wind wasn’t blowing, and the snow was still thick outside. He reached in the cage, making sure it was ok. When it was confirmed, he whipped his memory of worry, and wrote a note which he hid in his pocket, alongside his iPod, the huge headphones around his neck. He rang the doorbell, glancing over at the bushes once before hearing May’s voice ring out. For some reason he couldn’t fathom, that simple sound sent joy and warmth throughout him, banishing the cold from his body. He shivered as it left, and didn’t have time to take note of the door swinging open and Mayu literally flinging herself into a hug. Ashley smiled and hugged her back, her head buried in his chest. He smiled, holding her tight before she backed away, blushing. He blushed in turn, turning bright red.

“Whoa, wasn’t expecting that,” he smiled, grabbing his luggage and proceeding to step inside. It was only then he noticed she was covered in flour, and that she had left a mark on his jumper, very distinguished from the dark colour. He turned towards her, shaking his head with a smile. He was glad to he in the warm, patting flour off of his clothes. He was sure it was better than coming round to see Ant with a huge bewildered face like that of a cat viewing a tidal wave.

“It’s nice of you to let me stay, May. Where is Ant anyway?” Ash said, making sure Ant was ok with him staying round. He had to convince him to help with the presents. The sooner the better, the poor thing outside was going to freeze if he stayed out over night.

[Antosha Vikenti]

Antosha yelled loudly, on the top of his lungs, and threw a blob of frosting at his sister laughing as it got a direct hit into her hair. SCORE ONE FOR THE MEN! Or a man at least. Fuck math, this was war. "I AM GOING TO WIN malenkaya devochka!" he screamed, using the words for little girl as he aim another handful of flour at her- who miraculously was already white as a ghost.

Next time, they needed to skip the war. He laughed evilly as his little sister fell on her butt, knowing she hadn’t hurt herself with that older brother sense he owned. But the doorbell rang and she was up and at them, running to the door with all she could muster. God damn, now their fun was ruined. Antosha frowned, jumping upstairs to find his pack of cigarettes while May made her introductions or whatever the hell they did around each other. Now normally he wouldn’t smoke around his sister, but he really wanted to see the look on Ash’s face. Plus Ant thought he looked cool whenever he smoked. He lit a cigarette and walked down stairs while taking a drag. Now this was more like it.
Ant stopped before reaching the door, mistletoe in hand and put the small thing above both of May and Ash. “Chose Ash- you kiss her, or you kiss me!” he laughed, setting it back down without waiting for an answer. Standing beside his sister-looking a bit less white all over- you could mistake them as a couple rather than a brother and sister but he only patted her head then stared at the suitcase with a suspicious glare. “May…. Upstairs, NOW.” All the playful gleam that was normally found in his eyes was was gone as he took another drag of the cigarette, leading his sister upstairs. “Ash, bring all your shit in and TAKE YOUR DAMN SHOES OFF AT THE DOOR!! So help me god if you track mud through our house.” He growled, swinging his sister around to face them once they were safely upstairs and out of the hearing range of Ash. Well he thought he did, but screaming usually made it much easier to hear.

“MAYU! What the fuck is wrong with you??? You gave me NO warning he was coming over! No, I don’t give a shit if you ‘thought I wouldn’t have a problem with it’. It’s the fact I NEED TO KNOW this kind of shit! I’m supposed to be responsible for you and it doesn’t help if you keep shit from me!!” this he yelled at the top of his lungs, ignoring the panicked look of his sister- how dare she do this?? Ant wouldn’t normally care but it was the fact HE would get in trouble with Kent for this shit. He frowned at her next words, facing turning red the more she spoke-and not the good embarrassed kind of red. “YOU DID WHAT?!! DAMNIT MAY!” He growled, glaring down at her. “That’s it, go take a fucking shower. We’ll talk about this later.

He stomped downstairs without another glance at her, mumbling to himself the entire time. What the fuck possessed the girl to invite Ash to live with them?? Bad enough he was staying but now Ant had to talk to the school about living arrangements. No, Ant wouldn’t take back the offer- Ash was welcome into their house always. But DAMNIT May had fucked up everything!! He was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t notice when his cigarette got dangerously close to Ash, whom he had almost collided with. “You’re going to be staying in my room babe, alright? And look I can hear that obnoxious barking from in here. Let’s go get whatever the fuck that is while May is in the shower, though I have no idea what you plan to do with it in the mean time…” He snapped at the boy, walking out in only his shirt and bare feet to get the last of Ash’s shit. It wasn’t that he was mad at the boy. But Ant never wanted to be the responsible adult, yet whenever it came to shit like this. It pissed him off. “You going to stay the entire break, Shaw?” he asked, trying to control his temper while putting stuff gently on the floor. Upstairs music started blaring from the stereo system meaning; he’d made May cry. Damn it today was turning out like a piece of shit.

[Ashley Shaw]

Everything was moving to fast for him, as Antosha came in smoking a cigarette. What, Ash didn’t know who in their right mind would smoke. It was disgusting. He’d make an exception for Ant, he was an old friend. A good one non the less, where the hell would Ashley be without him? A few feet under he guessed. He fanned the vile smoke away with his hand, not to keen on chocking or coughing, he hated smoke anyway. It clouded up his vision and usually meant their was a fire. He shook his head, banishing a thought that usually came with description of fire. It was only a few seconds afterwards that he had mistletoe dangling over his head by Ant, who gave him a very awkward question. Kiss May or kiss Ant. Well, Ash was straight, not gay. But this was Mayu! She was Antosha’s little sister, she was to good for just about anyone. Before Ash could answer, May and Ant had shot up the stairs. Ashley looked to his stuff, along with the two present bags. He sighed, rocking on his heels before the shouting started. Ash flinched with every cuss and swear, his head and his heart told him he should leave now. He wasn’t doing any good for Ant or May at this point.

He cast his gaze to the floor, and then outside, gazing back down the road.
He took a deep breath and grabbed his suitcase, and was about to leave out the door when the shouting stopped and Ant came charging down the stairs like a runaway train. All the commotion had the puppy inside the cage outside yapping. The poor thing was scared shitless. Ashley began to cough from Ant’s cigarette smoke, which was right in his face now. He backed up outside, wincing in both fright and in sympathy as Ant walked past him and into the snow. Of course he’d be sleeping in Ant’s room if he stayed. Ash shook his head as Ant came back in, asking if he would be staying over the holidays. Ashley bit his lip before taking the handle of his suitcase.

“Actually, uh, I think it would be best if I left,” he said, a lump in his throat, like he was about to start crying. Damn he’d ruined May’s day, and pissed off Ant. These two defiantly didn’t want anymore trouble. Even though he was facing the doorway, something stopped him from leaving. His eyes transfixed on the white and the wind picked up. Something wasn’t right here. Something was horribly wrong. Maybe staying would be the best idea for him, but for the others it might be somewhat a disturbance. Everything bad that had happened today had stemmed from him being here. Was he that much of a trouble maker? Ashley sighed again, gripping the handle hard, trying to make a decision. He walked outside after forcing himself to move. He kneeled by the bush and brought out the cage, the yapping turned into a high pitched single yell, then it fell silent.
Ash opened the cage and brought out a red and white puppy, with standing triangle ears and dark eyes. It licked his face before stopping and looking over at Ant.

“Is this what you’re complaining about?” Ashley asked with a smile. He placed the puppy back in its cage, wrapping the duvet around it before brining it in with everything else.
“I think I’ll be staying,” any bit of joy of happiness was void from Ash’s eyes. Ant was giving him obvious clues to why music that loud was bad. He placed everything down gently, taking off his shoes before walking past Ant, their shoulders colliding. He walked up the stairs, tracking the source of the noise. He reached the door it seemed to be coming from, and knocked a few times, before opening the door slowly, just in case she didn’t want him there.

[Mayu Yoshiko]

Mayu gave Ash a sad smile as she followed Ant upstairs, knowing full well she was about to get yelled at. Really, it wasn’t anything new to her; she constantly found herself in trouble for forgetting things. From her homework to more important things- like the fact Ash would be spending the holidays with them. Not that there was doubt in her mind that Ash would be staying with them- Ant always seemed to let her get her way, no matter what. However it didn’t mean she liked getting yelled at, no not one bit. So she stood there and listened to Ant screaming at her-tears welling in her eyes the entire time- and spoke only once. “But… Ant… I invited him to live with us!” alright, admittedly this was the worst thing in the world to say as he started screaming again, only louder.

She clapped her hands over her ears and started crying while her brother ran downstairs and yelled at her. Everything was her fault today. May tried to keep her crying silently as she grabbed a big fuzzy white towel-the one with pink polka dots all over it. It didn’t take her long to have the hot water in the shower going at full blast and mind-numbing music playing in the background-the kind so loud you could feel it in your bones. She wasn’t exactly sure when the trip from her room -to get the towel- and showing up in the bathroom had happened but she was pretty out of it. A thing like that was too much work to notice when you were crying your eyes out.

So now, instead of spending time with Ash like she had planned, May found herself sitting on the floor crying her eyes out, shirt and pajama pants thrown to the side in her half hearted effort to get ready for this shower. This left her in a fairly awkward position when someone knocked on the door. She figured it was Ant and simply turned down the volume so he could apologize through the door; since after all, he had been the one to make her cry. What she did expect was to look up with those red rimmed eyes to see Ash standing above her. May yelped, pulling the towel to cover herself and wiped at her eyes to erase any evidence of her melt-down. “What do you need…?” Her voice was quite and hard to hear over the music and water running.

[Ashley Shaw]

Before he could ever register what May was saying, Ash has shot back out the door, apologizing as he went. He shut the door and stood outside, bright red from both shock and embarrassment. Oh shit, what the hell would Ant do now? Would he know he’d gone charging into May’s room when she was about to have a shower? The music was also killer loud, his ears were ringing like dinner bells. He’d be in some deep trouble if Ant had seen or even thought that Ash had seen May. He had no idea what to do, should he run down the corridor and hide? Or go back in to check on May, hopefully she still has the towel on if he decided to. He didn’t want to get beaten up for sure. Ant would have little to no tolerance for someone walking in on is little sis like that. He didn’t know she was undressed! It had never even crossed his mind that she was going to go into the shower.

“Uh, Ant!” Ashley called, tugging on his sleeves, “so, I’m staying in your room, right?”
Of course you dumb shit, Ashley thought to himself A demon like you won’t be able to keep his bearings around a pretty girl.
Ash shook his head, that voice was growing independent very quickly. He didn’t think he could take much more of it’s incessant comments. It was like being in a prison cell the old testament God. Always putting down human nature, berating anything so much natural to humanity. In general, being damn depressing. It was working all right, and even it knew that.

[Antosha Vikenti]

Antosha was staring at the cage holding the dog Ash had bought. Damn that boy had it bad if he bought a dog for May for Christmas(or her birthday, either way it was the same), and just who did he think was going to watch it? It sure as hell wasn't going to be Ant, he was resisting the urge to hiss as it was, and this dog was setting his teeth on edge. He let out a low growl, just to release this pent up anger that seemed to swamp him today. "Alright, doggy. Your going to my room, and if you poop on my floor I'm kicking you out!" Ant was rewarded with silence, so he hoped the dog understand. If not, it would meet it's doom in the cold snow outdoors. Or something along those lines. Though Ant would probably lose his nerve and forgive the dog, and yell at Ash.

Yes, today was looking up. Not.

He carried the cage upstairs, not noticing Ash down the hall, and loaded it onto his hospital worthy black-sheeted bed. With a sigh be opened to door for the puppy to wiggle out of before leaving again, holding his hand to his heart. "SHAW! What else did you get her??" Ant walked up the hall, took one look at Ash's red face and jumped to conclusions. After all, why else would Ash be blushing while hiding outside the bathroom. "Dude, rule: DON'T CATCH MY SISTER NAKED!! Be lucky you didn't know that's the bathroom. Oh, white door to her room. Black one to mine. Now get your ass in gear." he gave his friend (brother, boyfriend, Ant's not sure what to call him) a weak glare before heading back to his room, foot in place so the dog couldn't get out. "Shaw, I don't care where you sleep. Pick a spot and crash."

[Ashley Shaw]

He wasn’t sure what the hell was happening anymore, but he was sure as hell Ant didn’t like the puppy. That was a fail and a half. It was house trained, he’d taught it to sit and stay, they only yelled when someone they liked arrived or when they were handled inappropriately. He should warn Ant about that, don’t be horrible to Vegas or he’ll start making high pitched barks. Vegas was a sweet little thing. Loyal, warm, and very friendly. If not a little dumb. The poor thing would have been terrified by Ant’s size and all, since the poor thing was tiny in comparison to even Ant‘s shoes. Ashley had to look to the sky in order to look him in the eye. He was well over a foot taller than he was, that was a reason to never piss him off. Ashley sighed. It seemed he already had upset him as he came storming up the stairs almost as viciously as he had stormed down them. Thank god gravity was there to slow him down on the way up. Ant literally shouted at him, making Ashley wince a little, before he noticed he’d put a foot in front of his door. Ashley rolled his eyes.

“Tell him to stay and he’ll stay,” Ash informed him, trudging back downstairs, trying to find somewhere to sleep so that he wouldn’t be disturbing anyone up stairs. The sofa, maybe? Or perhaps he could go Harry Potter and sleep under the stairs. He didn’t feel comfortable about sleeping in Ant’s room at the moment, and he sure as hell knew it would be a bad idea to stay in May’s room now. He hadn’t made the best impression on his first time round his best friends house, although he was starting to feel like and enemy in the way he was behaving toward both him and Mayu. It wasn’t exactly… brotherly of him. Maybe smoking made him a little cranky.
Ashley wandered back up the steps, keeping his head down. He looked at Ant for a quickly glance, before ducking his head again. Shit this was awkward. Ash finally looked up and shrugged.

“What else did I get her? If you don’t like the puppy then I’ll take him back to my dorm and check up on him over the holidays,” Ash suggested, peering into Ant’s room. The red and white Shiba sat down and tilted it’s head to one side as he caught its masters eyes, looking away after a few seconds.
“I got her an external hard drive for her laptop if she ever needs it… um, some flowers, and manga, oh, and, well, a ring. I think now I probably should have just stuck to the first three things.” Ash said in a very pessimistic tone. He was feeling pessimistic. Hell, he could outrank the doomsday preachers with his current pessimism. He felt like all his efforts in hunting around for something nice to give to May had been… a little bit of a waste.

[Antosha Vikenti]

Ant sighed, running a hand through his head before ducking down and looking at the tiny dog. Alright, it was cute. Annoying as fuck, but cute. He picked it up carefully, looking at it-trying to maintain eye contact-now he did something really stupid. "Alright little doggy, you stay in this room tonight. That okay? Good boy..." with that he sat it back down, ruffling the fur between it's ears. He twirled on his feet, still pretty short. Now to deal with the next problem.

Ash.

Not that he was a real problem but Ash seemed sad. Ant didn't want his friend to be sad. "Shaw, didn't mean to yell. It's been a long week." A long week is his excuse for everything since, well, every week is long for him. "I mean, I've been putting in job apps everywhere and then you showed up out of the blue. Look Shaw, let me show you around and then you can sleep in my room or May's." he paused, looking at Ash seriously for a second. "That does not mean I give you permission to mess with her, alright? Let's clarify that. However if you got her a ring, then you can't give it to her unless you plan to date her." Antosha chuckled, thinking that it was a fair trade. After all you can't give a girl a ring for no reason! It could be a promise ring or some cheesy shit like that.

Not that he trusted Ash completely with his sister. He trusted no one with his sister unless it was himself.

Ant stood up, dusting himself off before fully opening the door to his room. "Ash this is my room, as you can see it has the works: mini-fridge, microwave, TV, bed, easel. Down the hall his our awesome bathroom: with a shower that has jets on three of the walls. And then there's May room, which you could stay in. But first let us look at those presents." he chuckled, grabbing the smaller boy (Ant just noticed the height difference between the two boy and wow he must be a foot taller then Ash) and gently-but firmly- shoved him into his abnormally(for Ant) clean room. The water and music that must have been going for twenty minutes suddenly stopped, so Mayu must have been done with her shower. "No peeping at her, she'll find us when she's ready. Now show me her presents!"

[Ashley Shaw]

Ashley exhaled a sigh of relief as Ant picked Vegas, to tiny little thing looked so small, like a raisin against lemon. It seemed that Ant had gotten some compassion for the fluffy little thing that had fallen silent. At least Ant could put up with it, made his efforts a little less wasteful. He looked a little bit like an idiot, talking to it in full sentences, but then again, Ash couldn‘t really say anything. He talked to Vegas like he was his own child. The dog would react to ‘stay‘, ‘sit‘ and ‘walkies ’, generally going hyper at any mention of the word ‘walk’. It made for an excellent hyper-button. When Ant turned back to him, he started to worry again, his heart began to beat faster in fear of being chucked out. He had no intentions of going back to his dorm, not after the email Rael had sent him. He would probably storm his dorm over the holidays if he could track the computer the email was received on.
Ashley let out a sigh of relief as Ant’s tone changed, explaining that the week had been long. Wasn’t that the nature of weeks? They went really slowly? Especially when you were in school. Damn he hated it when that happened. He was given the option; sleep in Ant‘s room or in May‘s room. He knew Ant well, he‘d probably do something really stupid to him, and as far as he knew, May didn’t have any habits in the night. It might just be safer to sleep in May’s room.

“I think it would be safer for me to sleep in May’s room, I’m afraid you might abuse me in my sleep,” Ashley smiled, being a sarcastic little jerk again. At least he had cheered up, but as he knew, he might soon be hearing that little voice again. The voice that reminded him of Old Testament God. Hated anything remotely related to human nature. At that meant anything. Including being independent. Ash blushed bright red when Ant mentioned the ring. Was he serious? Seriously? Go on a date? With May?! Christ alive, something must have changed in Ant, he usually let no-one near his precious little sister.

“Excuse me?” Was all Ash had time to say before Ant was explaining where everything was, and then picked him up and brought him into his room. Yep. Picked. Him. Up. Now, Ashley wasn’t exactly used to being picked up, the only time he remembered was vaguely when he was six years old and his mother was with him. But this was Ant. He was tall, homosexual, and very promiscuous on top of that. He was shoved into his room, and he was rather surprised at its cleanliness. Jeez, it was better than his own dorm! He was, needless to say, rather surprised, if not a little shocked over what Ant had said about dating Mayu. This day was going from worse to weird very quickly. He wasn‘t sure what was happening anymore. Ash smirked when Ant told him not to peek, and he nodded loyally, then looking at Ant with a strange expression.

“Alright,” he said, unhooking one of the bags from his suitcase, “please tell me if I‘ve done good, I don’t want to look like a douche come Christmas…or May‘s birthday,” he smiled, and gently took out the first present he knew Ant knew about. It was a small black box, with May‘s name in silver lettering on the front. He opened it up, showing Ant the ring he had gotten May. A white gold sapphire and diamond ring. Talk about expensive.
“You know this one. It‘s the ring,” Ash said, biting his lip just encase Ant had underestimated just how expensive and drop dead beautiful the ring was. Then he asked the question about his deal with Ant about the ring, “Christmas or on her Birthday?” while he was waiting for an answer, he passed the ring to Ant, and pulled out her other presents, such as a rose bouquet, skilfully attached to a rather nice vase with ribbon. Then came the 10 chapters of Oran High School Host Club, and the external hard drive. Ash shrugged.
“What do you think? To much? And what do I give her for her birthday?”

[Antosha Vikenti]

Antosha winked at Ash, grinning like a mad man before going to his drawer and pulling out a blanket to lay out on the floor for the little puppy. "Shaw, your like family to me. Besides that your the only guy who I trust with May. Don't look so shocked." He whistled for the puppy, back turned to Ash as he showed the tiny dog around the room. Let it look at it's new home. "Ring, Doggy, and flowers for tomorrow. And if your asking her out be a good boy and make her breakfast in bed." Ant stood up and stretched, his back popping painfully.

Anyway, whatever these two did wasn't up to him: Ash knew that if he hurt May he'd be dead. So no harm in leaving them alone! Right? Oh well he'd kick Ash's ass if anything happens. Besides, he really wanted this inking done. He had an appointment set up for awhile now to get this done, the tattoo of course. It was a gorgeous panther he had been working on creating that normal artist. The thought made him shudder but this tattoo was way more important then some small hatred. "Shaw, I have to go. You take care of May and I'll be back about... Nine? Don't hold up dinner for me. And uh... Fucking hurt her and your dead, okay?" Antosha chuckled, leaning over to kiss his friend on the cheek before throwing on his jacket. "She's probably in the kitchen, bye!" with that he ran downstairs and out the door so he could make it to the appointment on time.

And not have to reschedule. God help them if he has to reschedule.

[Ashley Shaw]

Ashley smiled as Ant finally settled down around the puppy, laying out a makeshift bed for it. He listened to him without breaking or butting in. What could he say? He had technically asked him to go out with May. A first time in history, should been in the record books. Ant whistled for Vegas, the small red shiba came bounding over to the blanket, sniffing it and walking around its perimeter before settling down into the middle and looking up with big brown eyes. Ash swore those eyes could kill. They were just so damn cute, it had love written all over itself, like a walking furry billboard selling love. Well, not exactly. It would be a funny thing to see though. I walking billboard advertising love. Tacky in all respects, but damn right hilarious, no question about it at all. Ashley had a sudden urge to actually do that now, but that could be considered animal cruelty. Ash winced and Ant’s back gave a popping sound as he stretched. Ouch, that must have hurt. Ashley nodded at Ant’s warning, and then went red as he kissed his cheek. That. Was. Weird. Even more awkward than that time in the cafeteria. Oh jeez, that was weird too.
Ashley watched Ant as he dashed down the stairs like a hurricane on wheels with an engine. He could move fast. Ash was taken out of his trance when something started nuzzling his hand. Ash ruffled Vegas’ neck fur, kissing the puppy between the ears and snuggling it before he place it down on it’s make-shift bed. At least he still had $1’640 left, he could buy a bed and a few toys for it on boxing day.

“Stay,” Ash commanded in a gentle voice, waiting for Vegas to curl up before leaving Ant’s room and shutting the door behind him. He scratched the back of his neck before he yawned, walking down the stairs. He looked around, the house was dead silent. Ashley found his way to a sofa and invited himself to lay down, one hand behind his head, the other hanging over the side of the sofa, his fingertips touching the carpet floor. He felt tired, but he’d probably get himself up to stop May from cooking, it was her birthday tomorrow, and she shouldn’t have to do all the work. Speaking of May, he couldn’t hear her downstairs. Where was that girl?

[Mayu Yoshiko]

Mayu turned off the cold water, and then the hot. Which left room very steamy (but not in the way you'd think). She got dressed quickly: a pair of light gray sweats and a white Hello Kitty shirt. That didn't hide her hair thought, so of course like any girl would do May brushed it out and pulled it into two pigtails. Bangs sitting right where they always were: in her face. May could hear both girls- sorry, boys-gossiping in their room. God only knows what they were on about. So rather then disturb them (since it probably concerned her) she headed back down to the kitchen, and blinked.

Alright.. Why was it cleaner? She looked around just as a man walked out of their unused bathroom, he looked very smug about something. "Hey Uncle! You staying for the break?" she tried hopefully, already moving across the no longer sticky floor to open their fridge door. "Afraid not. Work, I hope you have a good birthday. Tell Ant the stuff is in the attic." with that, he left. Humming some weird melody to himself, she noted with a smile.

So she actually managed to grab a few things (namely fruits and rice) so she could make dinner for her and Ash. And Ant. Maybe. Who knew. May threw the rice into her panda rice cooker (she just had an addiction to cute things, alright?) and pulled out a huge knife and started cutting the shapes she needed out of them. It would become.. Hello Kitty! Yes hello kitty would work. It was easy enough (for her) to make it. After all it was just fruit and rice.

Not like she's done this a million times before.

When the rice was done she put on the finishing touches and headed to the living room to set up the little box. It might look small but it was enough for three people. Unless Ant was eating. "Ash! Look what I made!" She leaned over the couch and set the little box in his lap: not surprised that he was down here. Ant had come tearing down a little bit before so it would just be them. Alone.. In the house... Alone... "Do you want some? It's really yummy." May smiled at him before coming over and sitting at the edge of the couch. "Oh, you still need to see the entire house!"

[Ashley Shaw]

]Ashley was happy enough, sitting there on the sofa, lazing around like most teenage boys do on the holidays. Well, not entirely lazing. He was partially thinking about how he could ask May out. He was thinking so damn hard, his head almost hurt. He needed something to drink. Water, cola, Red Bull, whatever! He just needed something to hydrate him again. He was stressed out to hell. He couldn’t tell why, he wanted to know! Why was he being so cruel to himself?
You deserve it, you piece of shit! The Voice came back, his grating speech gave Ash an even bigger headache. Jeez, it wouldn’t stop, would it? It wouldn’t leave him the hell alone! Why? He couldn’t fight it, it would get worse and yet even ignoring it made it stronger. Was it even his imagination anymore? It seemed to be getting stronger. Like it was some kind of demon. He didn’t want it anymore. Ashley was drawn out of his mind as May made her way into the room. He looked over to her as she called to him. He smiled, genuinely impressed by it. It was cute, and looked like the stuff she’d had in the cafeteria. He sat up and looked over to her. She placed it in his lap before sitting down on the sofa with him. Would he like some? It looked delicious, but it was so cute… could he, or couldn’t he? Oh alright, he could.

“It looks lovely, May,” he said, “I would like some, but yeah, a tour of the house?” he believed that would be the better option because he would be staying here for a while, and he didn’t exactly want to walk into a room which happen to be a bathroom and find Ant in there… that would be the worst thing to happen to him. Rather find May in the shower than that… yet again, he was straight and not gay. And May was pretty, so he was bound to think that.

[Mayu Yoshiko]

Mayu smiled, offering him a fork so she wouldn't have to watch him use chopsticks. Somehow she figured he'd fail at that. "Ash, eat while we walk." she giggled, standing up slowly and motioning around the room. "living room: complete with TV and a titanic worthy movie collection- if it exists, we probably have it." This was very true as Ant had the habit of collecting movies he hasn't seen and them sorting them by suckiness. Alright so maybe their living room as lacking something, like: somewhere to eat. But they had a couch, a love seat, and a chair. What more did you need? SHe moved on to the kitchen, motioning to the pantry and then the fridge. "Ant's food is in the pantry, please note the millions of ramen. I keep the fridge stocked with real food so most of what you'll eat is ACTUAL food. Made from scratch."

So there wasn't much to see in their house, it was furnished scarcely right now as a majority of their stuff lies in the attic. Or just doesn't exist. May opened a door near the end of the kitchen revealing a not so working bathroom. But a very working washer and dryer. "The downstairs bathroom, it doesn't work. But we do laundry down here. Well... I do laundry." She giggled again, bounding up the stairs and a furry ball of black came racing up to her. It was black, large, and very very fuzzy. With claws. "This is Boo, our resident kitty. He sleeps with Kent." Mayu kept a hold of the kitty, giving Ash time to pet it, before moving on. "You know Ant's room. Uh the bathroom is here."

Yet again she opened the door to another clean room: with a stereo and huge mirror. Yes, everything in here worked surprisingly. How though was beyond her, neither boy seemed to be able to break this bathroom. "Um... This door leads to the attic. And this one is my uncles room." she touched each door as she spoke, pausing at the old mahogany wood. This door must have been through a lot because it was old, older then all of them. May figured it must have been from the Renaissance. "That room is off limits though."

Mayu went back tot he white door that served as her room. God she hoped she remembered to clean it. She pushed open the door and gave a 'TA DA' pose. Yes the room was very white and clean: the carpet was plush and a slight off white but clean, her bed resembled a cloud, and the only real color was from her stuffed animals thrown everywhere. There were a lot of them. Oddly though there was a second bed, smaller, in there with pale lilac sheets. It had been there since Ant's first day here, he had set it up for his baby sister whom he always hoped would show up. "This is my room!"