The Boys of Summer: Revamped and Edited for Proper Reading Pleasure!
Complete
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Takeru, Daisuke, Yamato, Taichi, Hikari, Ken (Taikeru, Daito)
Summary: Old summary - What do you get when you put four boys together for a whole summer? A lot of chaos! With the beach, the pineapples, the banana nut muffins, and the really hot Bishounens, anything could happen.
New Summary – Takeru gets stuck reuniting with his long-lost brother for four weeks. Can he tolerate Yamato's crazy roomates or will he miss the opportunity of becoming a 'boy of summer?'
A/N: Okay, so this story seems to have been the most popular out of all my creations, which is beyond me since it was full of typos, grammatical errors and all-together cringe worthy horridness. And since this story's popularity always made me smile, I thought it deserved a "Revamped and Edited for Proper Reading Pleasure!"ness. And so here is the first RaEfPRP chapter. I hope you all enjoy the New and Improved Boys of Summer! Review for comments, criticism and clucks!
Chapter 1
June 3-
My life is officially over. Totally wiped, gone, trashed, smashed into an oblivion. My mother has finally flipped. I new it would happen, but not like this. She's done some crazy things in her past, like allowing me to cook my own pot roast while she runs off for a last minute business trip. I set fire to the kitchen and the local firehouse occupied my living room until my mother returned at 2 am. But this tops them all.
Let's just say that my mother is not the most responsible maternal figure in the world. Or, we can be straight and plain out state that she's a selfish workaholic who sometimes even forgets that I exist. But do I care? No! It makes life so much easier. Oh, sure, there's the regular teen angst, the "I'm so alone!" feeling, but then she comes home from work and tells me that she's too tired to cook, and why don't I take this here yen and buy myself a nice snack? While I by default love my mother, I hold no strong attachment toward her.
And now she wants me to try to attach myself to someone that I haven't lived with my whole life. I've hardly ever even heard my father's name growing up. What makes her think that I need him now?
Oh, by the way, as I am writing this right now at this here exact percise moment, I'm moving clear across Japan to some dinky coastal town for the summer, and I'm not very happy about it. Four weeks with a family I've never known is not how I want to spend my summer vacation.
I had plans. I was going to do things this summer. Most of them, sure, consisted of reruns of Degrassi and downloading songs from Limewire, but they were still things I wanted to do.
But now I'm stuck on this bus, my bags packed and my scowl properly placed on my face. I'm not going to make this summer enjoyable. My father, whoever he may turn out to be, will realize by the end of this week that he made the correct decision on only having custody of one kid.
That's right. I also have a brother. I always forget about him, due to the fact that I haven't the slightest about anything concerning him. He could die tomorrow and I wouldn't even do more than shrug.
And so not only do I have to catch up on all those wasted years that I didn't spend with my father, I also have to get all buddy-buddy with this Yamato. Yeah, right. If he thinks that I'm gonna be all brotherly and try to make up for all the years missed, he's oh so wrong.
No, I don't think I could forgive a man who left his wife and second son 11 years ago, or his ... son, my "brother."
………………………
"Welcome to Odiaba. Have a nice day!"
A blonde of about fifteen hesitantly sat up and slung his duffle bag across his shoulder. People began to unboard the bus, a low buzz following the crowd. The boy sighed and made his way towards the exit.
Once outside he stretched and blinked into the sunlight. The air was crisp and a light breeze pushed the humidity away. It was a perfect summer day, and in the distance seagulls were cawing, a sure sign that the ocean was around the bend. Too bad he wasn't here to enjoy himself.
"Takeru! Takeru Takashi!"
The blonde slowly turned in the direction of the voice that called his name, fearing the worst.
"See? Told ya!"
Takeru's eyes found the location of the voice and saw a bouncing burgundy about his age, smiling as he taunted a harassed looking blonde with his poking fingers and little pushes as they approached him. The older boy actually looked almost exactly like Takeru, same blonde hair and same cerulean eyes, except Takeru was leaner and nearly as tall as the other. The so-far quiet one walked up to Takeru, smiling as he held out his hand.
"Hey. I'm Yamato, your brother." Takeru stared at the hand apprehensively for a minute before the small, spiky-haired boy that had shouted out his name swung his head left, right and then left again. Then with much enthusiasm, he came between the two blondes. He quickly slid his hand in to Yamato's and shook it vigorously.
"Hey Yama! I'm Daisuke Motomiya. You know, Dais, Dai, Davis, anything you want to call me really. I actually prefer hottie, sexy or even hey! you da man Dais! That would be totally cool!" Although he was facing Yamato, Daisuke was directing this "intro" towards Takeru.
Yamato smiled patiently at the overexcited Dai and replied, "Yes Dais, we thank you for your-"
"Entrance? Opening? Breach? Initiation?"
"Whatever."
The genki boy pouted and dropped the older's hand. Yamato side-stepped to get closer to Takeru and stuck his hand back out. This time Takeru took it. Smiling, Yamato shook it gently.
"Alright! Brothers united!" Daisuke jumped into the air with joy. "Okay, let's go already. I'm hungry."
As Daisuke started running off towards the many parked cars, Yamato gave a half smile to his new brother. Nodding towards his friend, Yamato rolled his eyes. "You learn to love the crazy."
Takeru just stood there, trying hard not to blink in the sunlight. He would definetially be needing some sunglasses.
Takeru followed as Yamato walked behind Daisuke, who was skipping through the parking lot. "Yama, let's stop for ice cream! Yea! And-and then we could check out the arcade! And then the skate park! Oooh! And the beach! We've sooo gotta-"
"Dais, chill. I think that maybe Takeru would like to settle in back at my place first." Yamato turned to Takeru. "What do you think? It's your say." Daisuke peered over Yamato's shoulder and mouthed 'ice cream.'
"I really don't care."
Daisuke jumped up and down, pumping his fists into the air. "Score! Ohboiohboiohboi! I CANNOT wait! I vote we go hit Cold Stone and grab a combo of butterfinger, peanut butter cup, oreos, strawberries and caramel with some cake batter! Yea! And then maybe another with-"
Yamato cut off the brunette with a laugh. "Let's wait and see what Tai has to say."
As they rounded past a green suburban, a chocolate eyed boy with wild brown hair popped out from behind a black convertible. "What will I have to say?"
When he noticed the lagging younger blonde, he smiled wickedly. "So, you're Teeks, huh? Nice to meet you."
Takeru sneered and quickly turned away from Tai's glance, walking instead towards the black car that he assumed would be taking them wherever it was that they were going.
With a raised eyebrow, Tai turned and sent a glance to Yamato and Daisuke. Daisuke, still raving on about ice cream flavors, wasn't paying much attention, but Yamato gave Tai a look that pleaded for patience.
"Lay off and give him time, man," the blonde whispered.
Tai shrugged and trailed behind the silent blonde, climbed into the diver's seat of the car that Takeru had correctly assumed was their mode of transportation.
Takeru waited for Yamato to jump into the passenger seat and slided out of the way just in time to aviod being mauled by the rabid burgundy-brunette as he flung open the back seat.
"Time to get some ice cream! Yea! Step on it Tai!
…Takeru POV: Angst, angst, angst…
I sat in the back seat of the car, next to this really really hyper redhead. He kept muttering, "Ice cream! Ice cream!" I really wanted to punch him. My "brother" sat in the passenger seat and was talking to that guy, Tai.
Yamato. I hope he knew what he was getting himself into. I can be a real bitch if I want to.
We pulled up to an apartment complex and Daisuke proceeded whine.
"Ya-ma!"
Yamato turned around in his seat to face the boy and sighed. "Calm down Dais. We've got some in the freezer."
"Okay!" The chipper boy leapt – yes, literally leapt - out of the car. Yamato followed and they walked together towards the ugly building that loomed before me. So, this was where I was going to spend the next suffereing days. Hopefully, I wouldn't be put up with for more than a week. I'd make this place a living hell until they finally strap me onto the next bus out of here and off to Tokyo.
I stayed put in the car, kind of lost in thought – mostly plots to foil this summer prision camp. I was a little surprised when Tai turned in his seat to face me. I hadn't realized that he never left and was still in the car.
"You know, you look a lot like your brother." I stared coldly at him, hoping that he'd get my point and go play with himself and leave me in my time of childish self-pity. Instead, he did quite the opposite. He sat up and stared at me, his chocolaty eyes glittering and a wry smile playing on his face.
I had had enough. I opened the car door and was about to grab my duffle bag when I noticed that it was gone. It wasn't where I had placed it, which was right next to me. I looked up at Tai, as if this would solve my problem, and glared at him as I realized that it did. In his hand was my bag and his smile had become an annoying smirk.
I quickly snatched it and stepped out. I slammed the door shut and started to walk away. As I reached the building, I grasped that I had forgot something else. So, I turned back around and found myself back at the car, knocking on the driver's window. Tai, as if knew I would be back, opened the door.
"Yes?"
I tonelessly asked, "What apartment is it?"
The scumbag stepped out and laughed. "So he can speak!" I scowled and waited for him as he grabbed the keys out of the ignition and shut the door behind him. He sniggered as he began to walk towards the apartment complex. I trailed behind him as he led me up in the direction that Yamato and Daisuke had left in.
We decended up two flights of stairs in silence. I liked this silence. It left me time to contemplate Tai's inevitable demise, at the hands of a particular Takeru Takashi.
Once we reached the second floor, Tai trotted past the 200's that labled the door. All of a sudden, Tai turned around and stopped to face me. Not expecting it, I ran smack into him and nearly fell over. He began to chuckle as I tried to regain my balance. I glared hotly at him and he smiled widely.
"Yes, you're exactly like Yamato was when I first met him. Exactly!"
About to snidely answer his remark with well placed profanity and crude insults, I was interrupted by a, only until recently, familiar voice.
"Taichi? Takeru?" Yamato's head popped out of a nearby door and saved Tai's nearly skinned ass. "Oh, there you two are. Come on! Before Dais eats all the ice cream by himself." He glanced back into the apartment at the sound of grunting and scraping. "Oh, too late."
I roughly pushed past Tai and quickly made my way into the apartment. Daisuke was perched on the kitchen counter, spoon and carton of cookie dough ice cream in hand. "Hey Takeru! Want some?"
I shook my head and turned my attention towards the living room I had just walked into. It was a basic male home; TV, N64, PS2, DVD, beat up coffee table, dishes lying here and there, and clothes hanging off of the couch. Setting my stuff down on the cleaner end of the sofa, I heard Taichi and Yamato come in behind me.
"Oooh! I'll take some Dai." Yamato rolled his eyes as Taichi hurriedly made his way towards the ice cream fiend and dug into the almost empty carton with his fingers.
"Never mind them. They have way too much in common." Yamato was talking to me, but I didn't so much as glance at him in response. "You'd think that they were brothers. Ha!" I did a corner-of-the-eye, but he wasn't looking at me, thank goodness.
He continued his story. "They are cousins, though, only not blood. Dais' mom married Tai's mom's brother. I think that it was one hell of a coincidence that they both had basically the same son."
As he laughed, Yamato then noticed the dishes that were scattered on the coffee table. His face quickly became all scrunched up. "Daisuke! Taichi! I thought I told you to put these dishes away!" He gathered them and took them into the kitchen. I could hear mumbled sorries and the sounds of Yamato trying to explain to the two boys "the importance of maintaining a clean kitchen." After a few clattering seconds of him placing the dishes into the sink, Yamato came back to my side, an apologetic look on his face.
"Sorry. This place is a mess." Before I could say that I didn't mind, which I really didn't, he started to talk again.
Sighing, he looked down and continued, "Okay, I know that you don't want to be here. I'll understand if you really don't want a brother-to-brother relationship. So, I'm gonna give you your space until you settle in and are okay with this situation. I don't know why Dad even did this, he's not even here..."
He looked up at me and laughed airily, as if unsure of what else to tell me. Reserving my judgement for once, it slowly dawned on me that I was actually beginning to maybe like this guy. This summer all of a sudden had a slight potential to not be so bad after all.
This was ruined in about three point two seconds. Taichi, finnished wiping the carton of ice cream clean, walked up and sat down on the couch, dragging me down with him by my arm. He draped his arm around my shoulder and smiled his annoying smile that suddenly made me desire the chance to punch his lights out.
"Well, you're gonna get used to me real quick. I stick like glue."
At that moment I knew who my true enemy was. It wasn't Daisuke, or Yamato, or even my "father." It was that damned Tai.