"Oh, that is so rude!" Miyako exclaimed as she scoffed at the couple passionately kissing on the other side of the hall. "The nerve of some people! Can't they do that in the privacy of their own – DAISUKE!? KEN-KUN!?"
Daisuke emerged with a wide grin and Ken a thin, yet amused, smile.
"Hey Miyako! Iori! What's up?"
Iori, who had been dutifully listening to Miyako's squabbling, quietly – yet slightly bitterly – replied, "Well, we were trying to find a birthday gift for Takeru-san, but now we've gotten a little, um…sidetracked."
"Oh, our bad," Daisuke chirped. "I mean, considering you need all the time in the world to find the perfect gift to compete with Hikari's…"
Iori's fists clenched. "For the last time, Daisuke-san, I have no romantic feelings for him!"
"Really?" Ken asked in mock surprise. "You seemed to be much more focused on something other than the movie we were watching the other night…"
"Well, why were you looking at me!? And don't talk; you and Daisuke-san were practically drooling all over each other half the time!"
"He's not denying it…" Miyako sang, Daisuke snickering.
"Denial should be understood!" Iori barked at her.
"Well, you pretty much just admitted that you're in it…" she continued.
"I AM NOT IN DENIAL!"
"Alright, alright, chill, chill," Daisuke said, amused. "We're just bustin' on you."
"Aren't we supposed to be doing that to you?" Iori raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah!" Miyako snapped back to the couple who had their arms around each other. "Why do you guys have to do that crap at the mall?"
"'Cause both our parents are out of the house, and we're not allowed to stay home alone." Daisuke winked.
Miyako and Iori grimaced. "Thanks for the mental image," Iori grumbled.
"At least Takeru and Iori doing that would be more attractive…"
"Miyako-san!"
"HEY! We are twice as hot as they'd ever be!" Daisuke insisted.
"Well, now that I think about it…" Miyako proceeded to go into a thinking pose, although it was rather obvious that she was simply teasing Iori.
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Iori snapped at her, not noticing.
"Getting defensive, are we?" Ken teased.
"I am not…!" Iori suddenly stopped and sighed. "Forget it. You're all hopeless." He turned to Miyako. "And I hope you don't imagine me in that situation on a regular basis. Or Takeru-san. Or those two." He waved his hand at the couple.
"Well, I mean, it's Daisuke and Ken-kun, it's kind of hard not to…"
"Damn right!"
"Indeed."
"You can't be serious."
"Hey, what's going on here?"
The four turned to see Takeru walking towards them…hand-in-hand with Hikari.
"What!?" Miyako gawked at them. "What is this? Has it finally happened!?"
Takeru laughed. "Let's just say that it involved Taichi-san, Koushirou-san, and a dare."
"MORE MENTAL IMAGES!" Daisuke shouted.
Everyone laughed, that is, except Iori, who managed to give a smile. But no one noticed.
"So what are you guys doing?" Miyako asked. "Just walking around?"
Takeru nodded, and Hikari said, "I'll sneak away and get him a present at some point." She winked at him.
"See, that's why we were here!" Daisuke exclaimed. "But we, uh…we got…"
"Sidetracked?" Ken finished with a smile.
"Hehe…yeah…" Daisuke admitted sheepishly.
"Don't tell me you guys were making out again!" Hikari sighed.
"Yeah! So that sidetracked us!" Miyako exclaimed.
Takeru laughed. "Well, glad to see that this year won't be present-less anyway." He gave an admiring look towards Hikari, who blushed and giggled.
"Alright, lovebirds, we're actually gonna go do something productive now," Daisuke said. "See you all later."
"Don't talk," Miyako muttered.
"At least it'll never be reproductive," Hikari added.
"Technically anyway," Takeru finished.
"We can hear you, you know," Ken said as he turned around, smirking, then hugging closer to his boyfriend as they rounded the corner.
"Well, you guys take care," Miyako said, beaming. "Iori and I have some shopping to do!"
"Alright then, I'll see you this Saturday at my party!"
"Bingo!"
Takeru looked down to smile at Iori, but it faded when he noticed that he was simply stone-faced. That's when he realized that he hadn't said anything at all.
"Congratulations," Iori muttered, avoiding Takeru's eyes.
"Err, thanks…" Takeru tried to make his smile reassuring, but it didn't seem to be working. "I'll...see you Saturday."
"Yeah."
Iori gave him a curt nod and then walked away with Miyako without another word.
"Come on, Takeru-kun, let's go," Hikari urged, pulling him in the other direction.
He nodded, but before he began walking, he turned around to give one last look at Iori, hoping he was alright.
His stomach lurched as he caught him glancing back. And then there was the wide-eyed look and the hasty turnaround. And…a slight blush?
Takeru turned back around and jogged to catch up with Hikari.
I'm sorry, Iori-kun.
A/N: This was actually meant to be a Daiken, but it turned into more a one-sided Takori, didn't it? I don't even ship Takori that much…haha. But it worked out anyway with the Takari and brief mention of Taishirou, if you didn't catch it, tee hee. Well anyway, this was a product of math and Spanish boredom, so there might be more of these to come.
Oh…and I'm working on "Samson"! I promise!!