Komyo, Ryu, Setsu and Sowa sat in various parts of the small apartment, each of them lazily doing nothing in particular. They were waiting on Kai to finish doing what he started.
Kai decided to make them lunch, the infamous tofu with vegetables and rice that they had all had gotten so use to. The eldest Inui decided to stay away from meat, if he had his way they would never eat meat ever again, thanks to Sowa and to a smaller extent, Setsu. He sighed in frustration when he remembered what they'd been doing to him for the past week. What the hell was wrong with them? Setsu knew better but no matter how he tried to explain to Sowa, his younger brother just wouldn't understand!
No part of him from his head to his toes was edible. Nada. Zilch. None.
Ryu put down the book he was reading in favor of looking at his cousin, watching him chop vegetables to go with the tofu lunch.
"Kai-san, what's the matter?" He knew something was wrong with the head of the family, but no matter how much he asked Kai, he wouldn't tell him.
Sowa sat lazily on the couch with Chicho in his arms and he kept scratching the back of the cat's ear, liking the way she purred at his touch.
Cute. Too damn cute his little kitty cat.
Setsu was sitting beside Sowa and he turned and draped his hands lazily over the back of the couch so he could get a better view of his brother.
"Kai-nii, when is the food going to finish? I'm hungry," Setsu sighed.
Sowa stopped suddenly and looked up, "Meat."
Kai dropped the knife he was holding when Sowa uttered that word; it scared him half to death nowadays.
"Kai-nii! Are you ok?" Komyo asked fearfully while running over to his brother who was kneeling to pick up the knife.
Holding the knife with shaky hands, Kai nodded his head nervously while Komyo helped him to his feet.
Komyo worried about Kai, he'd become so jumpy lately. Maybe being poor, not being able to go back to the Inui household and owing the loan shark is finally getting to him.
"I'm fine, Komyo, don't worry about me," Kai smiled nervously. He stole a glance over to where Sowa was sitting before concentrating on the food once again.
Setsu sighed before taking up the toy robot he left on the table before him and playing with it. The control was broken and he wanted to fix it.
"All done!" Kai smiled a moment later before carrying the pot to the centre of the table. The others gathered around and when they were settled, they started eating.
Komyo was a little surprised Sowa wasn't complaining about how white everything was, so he decided to ask him about it.
"Sowa, you're not complaining about the color of the food."
Sowa stopped his eating and glanced at Kai, spotting his nervous expression before answering, "I'm getting meat."
"Where?" Komyo asked enthusiastically. "I want some too."
"You can't have any," Setsu answered while pointing his chop sticks at the youngest Inui; two was a crowd, three's over kill.
Kai listened uncomfortably to what was being said and Ryu didn't pay them any attention. It was their business after all.
Komyo pouted, "You're both mean."
"Kai-nii doesn't think so, do you onii-chan?" Sowa asked. "I do give in return, right?"
Kai wanted to gag. He put his hand over his mouth and ran from the table towards the bathroom.
Everybody watched Kai run away. "What's wrong with him?" Komyo asked.
"He's been getting his fill of meat also," Setsu answered.
"Are you guys hiding a cow or a chicken somewhere, maybe on the balcony?" Komyo prodded, he couldn't understand where they were getting meat from that he knew nothing about.
"Kai-nii," Sowa answered simply.
"Kai-nii has it?" Komyo asked expectantly.
Sowa barely nodded his head.
"I'm going to get some!" Komyo shouted before leaving the table to find Kai.
Sowa and Setsu shared a look with themselves, then Ryu, before continuing to eat.
A little later there was a loud thump, then a cry of pain coming from the bathroom and Komyo emerged with a pout on his face and a hand on his forehead.
"What happened?" Ryu asked while watching Komyo sit in one of the two couches.
"When I demanded he give me some of his meat he hit me over the head with his fan."
Setsu smirked; Komyo had a long way to go before he was ready for that kind of meat. Besides, it was like he said before, three was overkill.