Rating: K
Summary: Shougo and his family are invited for dinner at the Kise's.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.
Hellooo
This was originally written for HaiKise week 2016 with the prompts family & food. I never finished it though, but I love the meet-the-family trope so here I am.
Haizaki and Kise are in their twenties.
Enjoy!
One-shot: Bright meeting
There is something awkward in being invited over for a dinner that is probably twice as expensive as the food they normally eat at home. Shougo is incredibly nervous. And Kenta's behavior isn't smoothing things over with the way he's smiling and acting like a sweet and charming man. Not that he isn't kind in general, but he's too stiff and if Kenta is stiff, Shougo is bound to be as well. Only their mother seems perfectly at ease, chatting with Ryouta's parents, radiant and happy and making such a good impression on them Shougo is surprised that Ryouta hasn't made a comment yet. Maybe because he already knows that his mother is too nice for her own good.
"I've always known our Ryou-chan had a thing for bad boys," the younger sister sings. "He's playing like a good boy but deep down he likes an adventurous life!"
"Chika-nee!" Ryouta whines. "Stop saying stuff like that!"
Apparently this isn't the first time it happened, and strangely enough it doesn't surprise Shougo despite the fact he has just met his boyfriend's sisters. The younger, Chika, seems closer to Ryouta's personality than the older one, Akemi. Well. At least they all share beautiful physical features, with perfect and smooth hair of a blonde hue that would make the sun jealous. Why is this family so pretty?
Akemi chuckles and pats her brother's head. She's sitting on his left, while Shougo sits on the right, and Chika faces directly Akemi. The table is still full of food, as if everyone is way too engrossed in their conversations to properly eat what is on their plate, even though it looks delicious as hell. Somehow Shougo can't see his boyfriend cook all this.
"Well, he has good tastes," Akemi says. "And Shougo is very respectful. Too bad we couldn't meet him sooner."
At this Shougo can't repress the snort that escapes his throat, because they really don't want to see how he was a few years ago. He likes to think he's changed for the better, or at least matured a bit, and his teenage tantrums as well as his very quick temper (quicker than now) probably wouldn't have agreed with Ryouta's sisters. Or the other way around. Whatever.
Both sisters raise an eyebrow while Ryouta rolls his eyes, and Kenta joins in by softly laughing behind his glass of water. Even his brother agrees on this, tsk.
"He was a brat, I'm glad you meet him now," Kenta chuckles.
"Worse than a brat, you wouldn't have stood him," Ryouta adds. "I didn't stand him."
"The feeling was mutual," Shougo grumbles.
Chika gasps and clasps her hands together, and Shougo can see the fucking stars in her eyes.
"A love born from dislike! Oh my god, it's like a movie! Ryou-chan you're such a cliché!"
"A cliché? What does that mean?! At least it's not love at first sight!"
Shougo honestly doesn't know if he should be offended by this comment, but considering he hated Ryouta's guts at the beginning he can't really complain. But he had a good reason to.
"I bet you're not the one cooking," Chika continues with a smug face. "You've always been the worst at cooking among us. Do you remember that time you mistook the dishwashing liquid for—"
"Aaand that's not a necessary story!" Ryouta interrupts with a wave of his hands—he almost smacked Shougo. "You're the worst, Nee-chan!"
"What are older siblings for, do you think?"
"I can second this," Kenta pipes up.
Shougo shoots a glare at his brother (sitting next to him), who in turn sweetly smiles at him. The bastard. Kenta seems to become more comfortable in the Kise household, and soon he's going to get sassy and tease the life out of Shougo just because he can, and then his mother will catch wind of this and join him in what will be dubbed 'the Delightful Embarrassing Records of Little Shougo' (and gods know how much of a troublesome kid he was). He really doesn't like the way the conversation is turning. He clears his throat, maybe a bit too loudly, and gestures to the food.
"I may be the one cooking at home, but I sure can't prepare all that. I know basic stuff."
"Oh, you know, even though food can win hearts, I'm sure that meals cooked with love are the best!" Chika squeals.
Does she ever stop?
"Chika, be nice," Akemi reprimands, but her voice lacks any kind of actual scolding.
Chika tries to look sheepish, but her excitement is way too overwhelming for her to conceal completely, and even Ryouta starts to get really annoyed at all the teasing, if Shougo can read his pout correctly. Families meeting for the first time seem to be lively but also really painful if you don't steer the conversation in the right direction. But Shougo is relieved, or jealous, or both, he doesn't quite know what he's feeling, because he's glad Ryouta's family doesn't hate him and gets along with his mother and his brother. Then he thinks that the same scenery could have been depicted in his own house if his father has stuck around. He quickly represses the thought, though, because he's not here to contemplate the what ifs of a life that clearly wasn't his, and he eats a piece of tofu to distract himself.
"Well, I'm just happy we get to meet the boyfriend our baby brother has been dating for the last eight months," Chika clarifies. "Take care of him, Shou-chan, alright? Ryou-chan can be a little hopeless at times, so bear with him."
"Technically, I'm the one who looks after Shougo-kun," Ryouta interjects with a—is that a smirk?
"I'm not the disaster who can't even remember where I put my make-up," Shougo mutters.
"That's because you're messy and my stuff gets buried under yours!"
"I'm the messy one? Get your facts fucking straight, Ryouta."
Kenta elbows him in the side with a quiet warning and Shougo groans. This is stupid, Ryouta's sisters aren't delicate damsels who are going to get offended by a swear word. So he elbows his brother back. Honestly, at this point it seems like everyone is trying to one-up each other with teasing and embarrassing stories from forever ago, and it started getting old thirty minutes ago.
Ryouta catches on the little interaction and chuckles, his eyes telling Shougo that this is highly amusing to him. Shougo doesn't see why but he doesn't care.
"I think we've known each other long enough to know what is annoying and what we have to bear with."
"Ha, you admit you can be impossible to live with."
"Well, you aren't perfect either!"
As childish as it is, Ryouta sticks his tongue out while Shougo snorts, and just like this they show what kind of relationship they have—if someone had told him he'd be bantering with Ryouta in front of their families so naturally, he would have laughed at their face and labeled them as dumb. He can't see Kenta's expression but he's pretty sure he's smiling like an idiot, and Ryouta's sisters are displaying equally disgusting happy faces, like they just witnessed the cutest shit ever. That's why he doesn't like family meetings.
"In all seriousness, it's nice to be able to have this dinner together," Akemi says. "Let's hope we can keep doing it in the future, alright?"
"Yeah, Shou-chan, you can even call us nee-chan!" Chika chirps, and Ryouta chokes. So does Shougo.
"You can't say that to my boyfriend you just met!" he screams.
"And why not? Aren't you calling Kenta 'nii-chan'?"
"No!"
Listening to Ryouta and Chika talking to each other is exhausting.
Shougo turns to his brother, who flashes him a thumbs up. In Kenta language, it can mean everything and nothing, but in this particular case, it's probably reassurance, because his brother is weird and has a sixth sense for detecting Shougo's moods, telling him that this dinner is going on the right path and that they shouldn't have worried.
"You were the one who looked constipated at the beginning," Shougo points out.
"Like you can talk," Kenta replies with a smile.
After two more hours of eating and bonding over all kinds of stories, Shougo can finally breathe and get away from the incessant chatting of Chika (she's worse than Ryouta and that is something he didn't think possible at all). He is sitting on the couch, considering asking his mother if she wanted to leave since she looked tired, but suddenly the space next to him sinks and when he glances at it, he meets Ryouta's radiant face.
"Did you like the dinner?" he asks softly.
Shougo shrugs. "It wasn't bad. The food was good. Your sister is fucking annoying though."
"Yeah, she can be... overwhelming."
"And you're the one who says it, I can't believe there is someone worse than you."
Ryouta rolls his eyes and scoots closer to Shougo, who grumbles but doesn't move away. For a few seconds they don't say anything, the faint voices of their siblings carrying over from the kitchen, while their parents are still seated at the table talking. Shougo thinks he didn't show much of his true self during the evening, too occupied with how comfortable the Kise household is; it will certainly bite him in the ass in the future, and he doesn't know if he should care or not, but right now he decides there are no consequences.
"To be honest I wasn't expecting it to go that well," Ryouta chuckles.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Exactly that, I was afraid you'd spout out some crap and my family would think you're some asshole or something."
Shougo stares at Ryouta, face blank.
"Have you met me?" he deadpans.
What kind of question is that? It was extremely stupid and borderline smack-worthy, but Shougo figures that he should restrain himself if he doesn't want to see Ryouta's fucking smug face.
Ryouta's lips curl into a smile, nothing telling him that he's mad or satisfied, there's just this ridiculous content air around him.
"They saw our matches in high school."
Shougo doesn't know what he was expecting. It's a given families watch the games, because basketball, as far back as he can remember, has always been a constant in their lives, even more so for someone like Ryouta who barged into this world without being invited. Shougo isn't surprised, nor is he particularly upset, so he looks at Ryouta, waiting for an explanation.
"I did tell them you somewhat changed, and that we fixed things. Doesn't mean they weren't worried. But I guess that eight months are enough to show them we're getting along, now."
Ryouta doesn't wait for Shougo to say anything back, and pokes him on the nose like the child he is, which earns him yet another grumble from Shougo accompanied by a low "what the fuck".
"Chika-nee wanted to give you the shovel talk, just so you know" he laughs.
"As if I couldn't handle some shovel talks, give me some credit Ryouta," Shougo mutters.
"I know you can handle it!"
As if on cue, Chika comes back in the living room, pretends she wasn't eavesdropping (Shougo recognizes the look of someone trying to act innocent and miserably failing), and grins at them.
"Since you're Ryou-chan's boyfriend, don't hesitate to come to us if you need help with anything, alright Shou-chan?"
"Yeah," Shougo answers as flatly as possible. "Even if I don't ask people for their help."
"You'd be surprised to know that one day you're going to need ours!"
That sounds very ominous, judging by the expression Chika wears, so Shougo mumbles a "whatever" to drop the subject. In all seriousness, he knows that Chika is the kind of woman who doesn't let anyone walk all over her and means every word she says; Akemi looks more subdued, but she without a doubt shares the same determination as her siblings. A Kise thing, probably.
"Time to go," Kenta announces, shooting a knowing look towards their mother.
Shougo nods, and gets up, with Ryouta following suit. They head directly to the entrance, letting Shougo's mother and Kenta saying goodbye first. Akemi though stops them, quietly drawing their attention while Chika and the parents are occupied. She smiles softly at Shougo, while Ryouta just shrugs (did a fucking silent conversation occur in the span of two seconds).
"Chika has said everything that needed to be said, I think," she begins. "But I'm still the big sister, and I know what happened a few years ago. So Shougo, I hope you know full well what you're getting into."
And at last, Shougo loses it and bursts out laughing, to both Ryouta's and Akemi's confusion. This isn't the quiet type of laugh that fades after the initial reaction, this is the one that makes the stomach hurt and the throat close up at each intake of breath because it's just so unexpected, or too expected, and somehow Shougo can't help but think the situation is hilarious.
"Holy shit," he wheezes. "The sisters are scarier than the brother."
Shougo, of course, doesn't take their threats lightly because he'd be a dumbass for doing so, but having the two sisters telling him to be on his best behavior strikes him as kind of amusing, and maybe a bit ironic.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," he says, still laughing. "I doubt you'd need to make an intervention."
"Well, I hope so," Akemi replies, a bit perplexed, but she doesn't make further remarks.
"Shougo-kun can be rude, but don't mind him, that's how he is," Ryouta pipes up.
"Shut up."
Akemi shakes her head at the exchange, and though Shougo can now see the doubts that are still plaguing her mind, he thinks that perahps it's best she doesn't trust him right from the start, given his history. He will be able to prove her wrong, that way.
His mother and Kenta join him in the hallway, both sporting smiles. There is a promise of a next time, at the Haizaki's though, and that makes Shougo quietly guffaw because like hell Kenta is going to step into the kitchen to prepare any dishes—the only thing he'll be allowed to do is wash the vegetables.
They leave the house, the image of a bright home burned into Shougo's mind. Well, he won't be opposed to the idea of getting used to so much light.