"Ryouga~" Rio rests her head on her brother's shoulder as they both sit on the couch in their small apartment. "Please."

Then she coughs.

Ryouga scowls, but he does not move away, instead he just shakes his head. "Just tell them you can't go."

"But it's easier if you just go as my replacement."

Every summer, the Arclights host a party at their mansion and everyone is invited and expected to come, always. A way for everyone who had fights before to finally become friends, or so. It actually even works. Sometimes.

But this year is different, because Rio can't go and Ryouga doesn't want to go, and Rio has accepted IV's invitation while Ryouga has not.

Ryouga didn't go last year (and his punishment was a private party at Yuuma's place which really wasn't so bad) and it's okay for the others when Ryouga does not go, because he's Ryouga and he's mean. Or so they say. 'Yuuma will drag him into something else in return anyway,' they say. And they are right.

Durbe still asked Ryouga to come this year, and he refused. It didn't surprise Durbe at all, and he didn't mind it much either - this party is the only one that Ryouga actively tries to avoid because there are definitely too many people there. There's Yuuma, his friends, the Arclights, Kaito, the Barians and a bunch of people Ryouga doesn't even know, and that's too much.

He does go to Yuuma's small house parties though, and he has never once skipped one of the Barian parties. So that's why it's fine to skip the most annoying party of them all.

Rio, on the other hand, never skips any of these parties, and so the fact that she got sick one day before the party, well, that comes in very inconvenient. Ryouga feels like she's overdramatizing (or outright lying), but he can't be sure, and he sighs.

"Please." Rio now says again, and she gives him that look that only little sisters knew how to give, and Ryouga has to look away so he doesn't fall for that.

"I'm not gonna crossdress so I can pretend to be you. The last time I did that was 7 years ago. You can just say you're sick, it's the truth anyway." He shifts his position so Rio has to move her head away.

Ryouga knows that Rio is aiming at something else, because there is no problem in just telling IV that she's sick, he just hasn't found out what her aim is, yet.

Rio picks up her mug full of tea from the table and drinks some of it. "But then none of us would go there and that'd make the others sad. Also I had to promise Yuuma I'd go because you aren't coming."

Ah, that's why. Ryouga sighs because Rio is right - Yuuma is a good reason to keep a promise. Still, there was the crossdressing part. "I'm not going."

"Are you still going to say that if I tell Yuuma about your obvious crush on him?" Rio grins triumphantly, because she knows she's hitting a nerve there.

Ryouga does not consider his crush that obvious. Sure, when Yuuma gets way too close to him, he blushes and all, but that's normal, right?

That's nothing that'd make a long-lasting crush (which is more than a just a crush by now) obvious. The last time Ryouga thought his crush was obvious, Yuuma didn't notice a thing, and that was when Ryouga had gotten himself into the hospital in a desperate attempt to prevent Yuuma from falling into a chasm (which didn't work at all since they both ended up hospitalized anyway, but he was still being extremely obvious right there).

Currently, his crush is not obvious and he's never talked about it with Rio, either, so hearing her say this... irritates him.

Ryouga tries to his hide expression by not looking at Rio. "What are you even talking about?!"

"You don't really believe that I haven't noticed in these last four years, do you? I mean, you almost died for him like two times? Or three times, I don't know." Rio chuckles, and then she suddenly coughs. "Anyway, will you go?"

Ryouga's shoulders slump a little because he knows that Rio must've noticed long ago. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"

When Rio nods, Ryouga knows there's no way out of this, because Rio means it when she says things like that. "...Fine, Rio, where is the wig and where are the clothes?"

It's the day of the party and there is Kamishiro Ryouga standing in his hallway, looking at his own reflection. He looks exactly like his sister, and he knows it. Red contact lenses, a wig, a stuffed bra, makeup and Rio's clothes - that is all it takes. He turns around to look at Rio. "Is that enough?"

Rio nods and smiles. "Yuuma's gonna come pick you up any minute now by the way. You better not talk too much, otherwise the others will notice. Just pretend you're sick if you don't know what to do, it wouldn't even be a lie since you're pretending to be me."

"You know all of this is obvious, right? Both the fact that you set this up and also that my disguise won't work for long." Ryouga frowns, but at that moment the doorbell rings and Rio tells him to just leave the house since Yuuma is standing outside.

Nice. His sister has tricked him into going on a date with his crush. Well, something like a date.

"Shark sister!" Yuuma greets, and Ryouga does not know how to react without speaking, so he scowls and that's enough for Yuuma, because Yuuma just starts talking about everything Rio has missed the last days.

They enter the train when Yuuma starts talking about 'how Shark is behaving strange lately', and this is when Ryouga suddenly is very attentive.

"I don't know, he just doesn't look at me lately, like he's avoiding me. I wonder what's bothering him..." Yuuma has a thoughtful expression, and then he looks at Ryouga. "Do you know anything?"

Of course, Ryouga knows why, and maybe his crush is obvious after all. He tugs a little at his skirt, it feels cold around his legs and he wonders how Rio even duels with that kind of clothing. Then he shakes his head and mumbles, in the most Rio-sounding way he can: "Sorry, no."

And Yuuma raises an eyebrow, but then he smiles. "I guess I'll have to ask him myself. I don't think I've been behaving normally, either."

No, you definitely haven't been behaving normally, Ryouga thinks, and the way lately Yuuma tries to hug him all the time (more than usual) comes to his mind. "Mhm."

Yuuma drops the topic because the train arrives at its destination and Ryouga has the urge to tug at his skirt all the time because it feels so short and he's wearing boxers under it and he's sure that someone will notice that this evening.

They ring at the Arclights' doorbell and are greeted by IV who still has that regret in his eyes whenever he sees Rio (and Ryouga wonders if he should tell IV the truth, but he scraps the idea because he does not want to risk Rio telling Yuuma things that Yuuma should not know).

Ryouga waves for a greeting and wonders if that's something Rio would do. Apparently it is, because IV reacts normally and Yuuma runs off to greet his friends.

It is then that, right as Ryouga goes to the buffet to get some food, Durbe greets him, and he knows he won't be able to hide it from Durbe. "Come." Ryouga gets some fish before pointing at the balcony door so Durbe would follow him there.

Durbe does a sign with his hands that Ryouga does not know what it's about, but he sees Alit returning it in the distance, so he decides to not give too much thought to it.

"So, Nasch, what are you doing here, disguised as Merag?" Durbe asks, and he seems amused as he looks at Ryouga.

Ryouga sighs. "She said she's ill and told me to take her place."

"It surprises me you even came here." Durbe raises an eyebrow and Ryouga curses the fact that his friends know him so well.

"I had no other choice."

"Oh, why?"

"Merag said she'd spill some of my secrets if I did." Ryouga's choice of words is strange and he knows it, but that's the only way to word it without saying something like 'I am desperately trying to hide my middle school crush on Yuuma that I've never gotten rid of'.

He hears something from the balcony door and turns to look there, but the door is still closed, so he lets it slide. Probably just the wind.

"Is that about Yuuma?" Durbe chuckles. It's rare to hear it, and Ryouga is definitely not happy that it's in this situation. It does not feel natural.

"How do you know that?" Ryouga clenches his teeth.

"Well, everyone knows about your crush on Yuuma except for Yuuma himself, so..." Durbe doesn't act like himself, and Ryouga realizes Rio must have somehow set this up and that Durbe's hand sign from earlier must mean that Alit is involved in this, too.

The balcony door opens and Yuuma is standing there. And Ryouga sees Alit wave at Durbe from behind Yuuma. Great. All of this was planned.

"Shark sister..." Yuuma looks at Ryouga with confused eyes. "Is that true, what Durbe just said?" He doesn't look happy about it.

"Yuuma!" Ryouga exclaims. There's a pause. He realizes that he's just revealed his identity.

Great, less than ten minutes in, and it's already not working.

"Wait... you're Shark!" Yuuma's eyes lighten up and Ryouga barely registers Durbe leaving the balcony to go inside to Alit.

Ryouga makes a mental note to have a serious talk with his fellow Barians about not playing matchmaker without his permission. He tugs at his skirt and he's glad he has a change of clothes in his bag, because it probably won't take long until everyone has realized who he is anyway.

"So..." Yuuma looks at him with an expression that Ryouga does not really know how to interpret. "Was what Durbe said... true?" That question again, this time in a less negative way. Ryouga wonders whether this is his own wishful thinking or if Yuuma actually prefers the idea of him having a crush on Yuuma over Rio having a crush on him.

"You really look like your sister right now, by the way, I wouldn't have noticed." Yuuma laughs nervously.

Ryouga looks from the left to the right, then tugs at his skirt again. "Give me a second, I'm changing."

After a slightly embarrassing rush through the mansion that involved Vector tripping Ryouga up (Ryouga makes a mental note to take revenge for that), Ryouga finds the bathroom and quickly changes his clothes before getting rid of the makeup, the contact lenses and the wig.

He fixes his hair the best he can within just a few minutes, then he sprints the way back to the balcony while pointedly ignoring Vector's "Oh, that was faster than expected".

Ryouga curses Rio for this stupid matchmaking plan.

"I'm back," he says, and he notices Yuuma has a rice ball in his hand now.

"Want some?" Yuuma asks, and Ryouga accepts because he does not know where he's left his fish (and assumes Durbe has taken it).

"So, why were you disguised as your sister?" Yuuma asks, and he seems more serious than usual. A bit, at least.

Ryouga sighs. "She told me she was ill and that I should go in her place."

"Aah." Yuuma takes a bite from his half of the rice ball.

There's a bit of silence, they eat up and then Yuuma looks as if he's remembered something, and Ryouga prays it's not about what Durbe has said.

"You were acting weird lately," Yuuma says, and then he smiles. "Since I mentioned it earlier and all, can you tell me now what's wrong?"

Yuuma rarely ever is serious at all, Ryouga knows that, but when it comes to his friends' well-being, he always is.

"It's none of your business," Ryouga tries weakly, and Yuuma pouts.

Yuuma's pouts are even harder to resist than Rio's sister faces, on an entirely different level. "Tell me!"

"...Fine, if you tell me why you are behaving strangely, first." Inwardly, Ryouga tries to justify his weakness by making Yuuma give out information first. He knows that does not make it better.

Yuuma gulps. Then. "I asked first! Besides, you didn't tell me yet if Durbe was right."

Ryouga eyes Yuuma's cheeks. Is that a shade of red he notices? Somehow, within all of the feelings that he has been carrying around for four years that are now making it hard to think, he tries to force himself to think logically so he does not screw up.

"...Shark?" Yuuma's voice rips him out of his thoughts.

Ryouga scowls, but the color of his own cheeks matches Yuuma's. "What do you think?"

"I don't really kn-" Yuuma looks to the side, but Ryouga lifts his chin up slightly, and their gazes meet.

"You sure you don't?" Ryouga has to hold himself from getting lost in that moment, because he looks at Yuuma's eyes and notices details he hasn't before, and he realizes he's never really had an opportunity like this.

He makes a mental note to reward himself for his good choice of words, but then Yuuma laughs and Ryouga moves away, irritated.

"Shark, that sounded like one of these cheesy romance movies that Kotori would like," Yuuma keeps laughing, and Ryouga feels like he's the most embarrassing being in this world.

"You're the one who started this!" He scowls, but the scowl quickly turns into a chuckle. He feels like he screwed up, but it was a nice moment to have regardless, right? A voice inside his head that sounds a lot like his own (and probably is his own) tells him No, you've fucked up, but he shoves it aside.

Yuuma has stopped laughing. "But Shark, I'm not good with words, either." He stands on tiptoe and leans in, making his lips brush over Ryouga's.

It just lasts for a second, and Ryouga feels like his body is burning, because he's waited for this like, what, four years?, and so he decides to be brave and pulls Yuuma in closer, leaning in for another kiss.

They quickly realize they both have no idea what they are actually doing, because one of them is a former alien that has spent around 550 years without a mouth and two human lives without any form of romance; and the other is... well, Yuuma.

But Ryouga feels like it's fine this way, because Yuuma's lips are warm on his and they taste sweet and he wonders if the Barians made Yuuma eat candy before this. Regardless of whether that is the case or not, he appreciates it, and he feels like Yuuma does, too, so he puts his arms around Yuuma's waist.

They break the second kiss after what seems like an eternity (but probably was less than thirty seconds) and this time Ryouga is sure that Yuuma is blushing.

"Your face matches your hair," Ryouga laughs.

"Well, your face also matches my hair." Yuuma pouts.

Ryouga scowls, and everything is how it should be.

"So, uhm, are we...?" Yuuma looks at him.

"Yeah," Ryouga says, and he tries to keep himself from smiling too much when he takes Yuuma's hand so they can go back in, because well, Ryouga still has to have a word with the Barians.

"What the fuck, Rio," Ryouga greets his sister as he comes back home that night. He's really late, and it's because he brought Yuuma back home first.

Rio is in the living room, playing Dance Dance Revolution on the PS3 they bought two years ago. She stops moving so she can look at her brother. "Oh, welcome back, Ryouga."

"Don't give me that. You set this up, didn't you? Also, weren't you sick?" Ryouga throws his bag onto the couch. He's aware that Rio probably faked the whole sickness from the start. He isn't that mad anymore, though.

Rio laughs. "I'm better now. Shouldn't you thank me? You have a boyfriend now."

"How do you know that?"

"Durbe."

"Tch."

Rio keeps playing for a while, then Ryouga speaks again. "So, whose plan was this even?"

"Well, it was my idea, so I asked Gilag and Mizael for help with the planning. But Mizael said something about galaxies and stargazing, but we all know that Yuuma would totally miss the romantic tension of that. So I took Gilag's suggestion - the crossdressing - and added some of my own ideas." Rio looks like she's proud of what she's done, and secretly Ryouga thinks she has the right to be.

"Oh," Ryouga doesn't scowl anymore, and he smiles a little. "Well, thank you."

Turning off the PS3, Rio sits down next to Ryouga. "You're welcome. So... did you have your first kiss while you were crossdressing?"

"Obviously not!"