A Tease Fest
"Nee, Kiyomaro, when are Tio and Megumi-dono coming?" a golden haired boy groaned, shaking his legs wildly as he hopped onto a bed.
"Well, give them a little more time. It is raining after all," a raven haired man answered without turning away from his book. He continued to lay on his bed, concentrating on the storyline.
"What are you reading, Kiyomaro?" Gash questioned, peering at the contents of the book. The mamodo gasped and leapt up. "Kiyomaro, the book has pictures in it! So many pictures!"
Kiyomaro sweatdropped, shaking his head. "It's called a manga, Gash."
"Oh~" Gash's eyes began to sparkle as he peered further. "Nee, Kiyomaro, why are those two characters sucking each other's faces?"
Kiyomaro immediately shut his book, sitting up straight. "It's called kissing, Gash."
The fifteen year old man shut his eyes calmly as his mamodo hopped up and down on his bed.
"Kiyomaro, do you want to do that to Megumi-dono too?"
Kiyomaro fell off his bed, flustered. With a red face, Kiyomaro got up, shouting at the mamodo's face, "What are you talking about, Gash?!"
Gash laughed sheepishly, before putting a finger on his chin with a thoughtful look.
"Because, Kiyomaro, because Tio told me that you like Megumi-dono!"
Kiyomaro looked blankly at Gash, though with a small blush on his face.
Gash gave his book keeper a playful grin.
"Kiyomaro, so it's true?" The mamodo asked daringly.
Kiyomaro turned beet red, picking up his mamodo by the mantle and dropping him onto the bed once more.
"Geez, Gash, don't go learning the wrong things."
"Eh?" Gash cocked his head to one side with a confused look. "But, Kiyomaro, back when we were getting a souvenir for Megumi-dono and that mannequin fell on you, I could almost see you visualizing the mannequin as Megumi-dono and you were blushing!"
Kiyomaro froze, before slowly sitting down on his bed. He pulled his mamodo to his side, and turned to him. He put on a serious face, and was about to say something, when he heard…
"Eh? Something like that happened?!"
Both Kiyomaro and Gash turned to the bedroom door only to see a pink-haired girl with an excited look.
"Tio!" Both said at the same time.
The said girl bounced into the room happily, hopping onto the bed with Kiyomaro and Gash.
"Kiyomaro, you didn't tell me something like that happened!"
Kiyomaro sweatdropped again. What did the two mamodos have against him to humiliate and embarrass him to this extent?
"Anyway, Tio, when did you get here?" Kiyomaro tried to change the topic.
"Megumi dropped me here first, she has a photo shoot for now, and I asked her to let me come here. I asked Hana-san too, and she said it was fine," Tio said cheerily.
"Unu! Haha-dono told us that you and Megumi-dono were coming!" Gash replied just as enthusiastically.
Tio gave Kiyomaro a sly look, instantly moving to Kiyomaro's side and giving him a nudge.
"Nee, Kiyomaro, so you do like Megumi right?"
Kiyomaro groaned. "Not you too, Tio!"
Both Gash and Tio started to laugh.
"But, Kiyomaro, back then when we were in Apollo's car while we were heading to Zophise's lair, you turned all red and agitated when Apollo commented about you bringing Megumi-dono!" The golden haired mamodo insisted.
"And Megumi turned all red, as red as an apple!" Tio added with a laugh.
Kiyomaro turned red, covering his ears as he pretended to whistle.
Tio pouted her cheeks and folded her arms. "I bet Kiyomaro was hoping that Megumi would come first, not me."
Kiyomaro stared at Tio, before shaking his head and waving his hands frantically. "No, Tio, of course not!"
Tio laughed. "Kiyomaro, I was just joking!"
Gash shook his head with arms folded and eyes shut. "Kiyomaro's always such a kid, even when we were all helping him while he researched where Zophise's lair was!"
Kiyomaro turned red again, before shouting at Gash, "Hey, Gash!"
Tio gasped, clapping her hands excitedly. "Kiyomaro, you're blushing! Something happened then right? Was it about Megumi telling us to hurry with the books? Were you the reason?"
Kiyomaro groaned, slapping his face with his hand.
"Kiyomaro~" Both mamodos squeezed closer to the genius.
"Okay, okay. I was just so concentrated on the research, that I told Megumi-san to hurry with the books. I think I sounded kind of rude," Kiyomaro scratched his head with an embarrassed look.
"Ara? That's nothing, Kiyomaro, because Megumi likes you so much!" Tio giggled.
Kiyomaro could not stop blushing. "S-she does?"
"Of course!" Tio nodded her head.
"And Kiyomaro likes Megumi-dono a lot too, like when we were battling Alumu and we were struggling in the water, Kiyomaro immediately went to rescue Megumi-dono!" Gash said excitedly.
"Megumi can't swim," Tio commented.
Kiyomaro eyed the two mamodos. "It was the most basic thing to do. A guy has to help the lady."
"I was there too!" Tio protested.
"Tio isn't a lady!" Gash quickly added.
"Say what?" Tio fumed, strangling the golden haired mamodo.
Kiyomaro shook his head, tired from the bombarding teases.
"Ah, how about that time when Kiyomaro was washing his face and Megumi gave him a towel?" Tio said suddenly, dropping Gash on the bed.
Gash let out a weak cry as he reached out his arm, before completely lying flat on the bed.
"What about that?" Kiyomaro said, pretending to look bored to hide his blush.
"Megumi gave you a towel right? I don't think she got it back!"
Gash suddenly got up, face bright. He was just about to say something, when Kiyomaro turned to glare at him. The mamodo helplessly hid his face.
Tio, having noticed this, raised an eyebrow and folded her arms.
"Kiyomaro?"
Kiyomaro laughed nervously, "Ah, Gash was just going to tell me… that uh, well…"
"Well?" Tio asked, unconvinced.
"Well, uh…"
"Kiyomaro keeps this towel where he always holds it and smiles to himself!" Gash blurted out.
Tio stifled a laugh, while Kiyomaro turned to Gash with a demonic face.
"G-a-s-h…"
"Ah! Kiyomaro's gonna kill me!" Gash ran around the room wildly while Kiyomaro chased him.
Gash was able to escape from Kiyomaro's grasp when Kiyomaro fell on the floor upon tripping over some books.
"Ah!" Tio suddenly gasped, only to have the two males turn to her with a puzzled look. "Megumi told me once that Kiyomaro has always been there to help her up when she falls down."
Kiyomaro immediately sat up on the floor, scratching his cheek.
"Really, Kiyomaro! And she meant it literally!"
Kiyomaro raised an eyebrow with a confused look. "Literally?"
"Yup!" Tio answered enthusiastically. "Like when we were running away from one of the millennium mamodos, and Megumi fell down. Kiyomaro immediately lifted her up and carried her away safely!"
Kiyomaro's cheeks turned a bright pink when he remembered that moment.
"And, there was that time when we were in Faudo's body, and we were running away from that drill! Megumi-dono fell down and Kiyomaro was the first to run to her!" Gash added cheekily.
"And he held her hand and pulled her away!" Both mamodos finished, each looking at Kiyomaro with a sly look.
Kiyomaro was all red by now, and he turned to the two mamodos. "Seriously, what have you two got against me?"
"And, and!" Tio cried urgently. "There was the time when we were on Faudo and Faudo started to move. Kiyomaro called us to grab something and Megumi grabbed him!"
Gash and Tio both burst out in laughter, while Kiyomaro could only blush and be embarrassed.
"W-well, she did fell from above… What else could she grab?" Kiyomaro said quickly.
Both Gash and Tio eyed Kiyomaro with a smirk.
"I bet Kiyomaro actually liked having been hugged by Megumi," Tio grinned.
"There's more!" Gash cut in before Kiyomaro could argue. What about that time when Megumi-dono was helping Kiyomaro tend to his injuries?"
"That's not strange, Megumi-san has always been kind and helps me with all my injuries," Kiyomaro shot back.
"That's not what I was trying to say. What I wanted to say was that Kiyomaro was blushing every time Megumi-dono does this!"
"That's definitely strange! You don't see Gash blushing when I tend to his wounds!" Tio added.
Both Kiyomaro and Gash turned to each other with a blank face, knowing what each of them was thinking. Tio might be a great regenerator during battles with her spells, but her injury tending skills were… deteriorating the injuries instead.
"Hey!" Tio glared at both Kiyomaro and Gash, who laughed nervously.
"Kiyomaro definitely likes Megumi-dono! I used to think he liked Suzume but`-"
"Mizuno?" Both Kiyomaro and Tio sweatdropped.
"Look, Gash, Mizuno's a great friend, but not my kind of girl," Kiyomaro shut his eyes.
"Megumi is his kind of girl!" Tio teased.
Kiyomaro immediately opened his eyes.
"It was weird how Suzume was reacting when we went to the department store to look for Sunbeam-dono's housewarming present!" Gash added.
"That lie detector, she tested it on you, that's why it was opened, right Kiyomaro?" Tio leaned towards the fifteen year old man.
"Uh, y-yeah," Kiyomaro answered nervously.
"I heard that she asked questions like whether you and Megumi are close friends, and whether you see Megumi often," Tio said thoughtfully.
"She did?" Gash asked.
Tio nodded her head. "I was shocked to hear her ask whether you and her share the same secret, Kiyomaro. Megumi's normally so nice, but it seemed as though she was bullying that girl."
Kiyomaro blinked. He never thought that Megumi was actually bullying Suzume.
"I think she was kind of jealous back then," Tio added, causing Kiyomaro to blush and lower his head.
"Unu! Kiyomaro is really protective of Megumi-dono, like how when we were heading to Zophise's lair and he warned Megumi-dono about Folgore-dono being a pervert , and how when Folgore-dono was doing some weird actions with the melons in his shirt, Kiyomaro scolded him!" Gash continued.
Kiyomaro sat quietly, head still lowered.
"There was that time when that guardian of Faudo asked Megumi to say his name loudly too!" Tio said excitedly. "Megumi was so embarrassed then."
"Why was Megumi-dono embarrassed?"
"Of course, an idol couldn't say something so vulgar," Kiyomaro reasoned out.
"Eh?" Tio turned to Kiyomaro with a weird look. "I thought you were smart, Kiyomaro, but I guess I was wrong. Megumi just didn't want to say it because you were there. She would have been embarrassing herself in front of you!"
Kiyomaro blinked, before scratching his cheek. "I wouldn't have thought that she was being vulgar. Besides, that Unko Tintin was going overboard."
"Yup, that lunatic is so scary, that he even called out to Megumi back when he was battling Wonlei! He said he had something to show Megumi, but Megumi immediately cried as soon as she heard his voice!" Tio gave a disgusted look.
Kiyomaro frowned, having not been at the scene then.
"You were half-dead then, Kiyomaro. We were trying to get you some Faudo liquid then so that you would get better!" Gash explained.
Kiyomaro nodded his head.
"And back when you were dead, Megumi was so anxious that she wouldn't leave your side! She was so happy when you started to breathe again, and when Sunbeam-san said that you needed CPR, she almost did it on you until Momon beat her to it!" Tio yelled in disappointment.
"Eh?! Momon? My first kiss was already lost?" Kiyomaro shouted in shock. The genius fell to his knees, head lowered, hands on the floor, with a depressing aura around him.
"Unu!"
"I bet you would have wanted it to be Megumi if you could choose!" Tio smirked.
Kiyomaro raised his head, taking a deep breath as he tried to keep cool.
"Okay, guys, let's talk about something else…"
"Nee, Kiyomaro, when are you going to confess to her?" Tio cut in.
Kiyomaro immediately froze in shock and embarrassment, and was just about to ask the two mamodos to stop.
"Confess to who?"
All three froze when they heard the voice, turning around to see a brunette standing at the door, blinking.
"Megumi!" Tio cried out excitedly, running forward to hug her book keeper.
Megumi giggled, returning the hug and patting Tio's head.
"You're earlier than usual today!" The pink-haired mamodo said in surprise.
"They couldn't carry out that outdoor shoot because of the rain," Megumi nodded her head with a smile, before sitting down beside a red Kiyomaro.
"Kiyomaro-kun, why are you so red?" The idol asked, confused.
"Uh, well," Kiyomaro stammered.
"Megumi, guess what? Kiyomaro likes you too!" Tio blurted out.
Both teenagers immediately turned beet red and lowered their heads.
"Megumi-dono, are you happy?" Gash climbed towards the idol and beamed at her.
"Eh?" Megumi let out a cry of surprise.
Kiyomaro's clenched fists began to tremble, and he could feel anger rise within himself. The genius got up on his feet, and with a demonic face, he stomped.
"Enough, you guys, get out!" Kiyomaro hollered.
Both Gash and Tio let out a yelp, before running out of Kiyomaro's room and slamming the door shut behind them.
Kiyomaro took a deep breath, before looking down at Megumi who had on a look of surprise.
"Sorry about that," Kiyomaro mumbled sheepishly, sitting down beside Megumi again.
"It's okay," Megumi simply smiled with a slight blush.
There was a moment of silence between the two, until Kiyomaro began to fidget uncomfortably.
"Megumi-san…"
"Hai?" The idol gasped in surprise, embarrassed.
"I… I hope you weren't that affected by what Gash said. He's still just a kid."
Megumi nodded her head. She took a deep breath, before looking down. "But, well, if it weren't for Gash-kun and Tio, I probably wouldn't know all these…"
"All these?" Kiyomaro echoed.
Megumi nodded her head nervously. The idol gulped, closing her hazel eyes before opening them again to meet Kiyomaro's own eyes.
"K-Kiyomaro-kun, was what Tio said actually true?" The idol asked timidly.
"Uh…" Kiyomaro scratched his cheek.
Megumi turned away in disappointment.
"Kiyomaro-kun, it's okay," Megumi forced a smile. "I'm sorry I asked and embarrassed you."
The idol was just about to get up, when Kiyomaro pulled her arm.
"No, Megumi-san, wait."
Megumi turned around, her heart a flutter and in hope.
"Well, it's kind of hard to say this, but…" Kiyomaro stammered. "But… well, I really like you."
Megumi immediately blushed, sitting next to Kiyomaro once more. The idol smiled cheerily at the genius.
"Well, I feel the same way about you too," Megumi answered.
Kiyomaro could not help but smile. He closed his eyes, leaning towards the brunette, who turned all red and in turn closed her eyes too. Both teenagers were just about to have their lips meet, when they were interrupted rudely by two voices.
"Tio, look, look! Kiyomaro and Megumi-dono are going to suck each other's faces, like in the manga Kiyomaro was reading!" Gash hollered.
Tio hammered Gash in annoyance.
"Shut up! And it's called kissing, not sucking each other's faces, idiot!" Tio scolded.
The two mamodos continued bickering by Kiyomaro's bedroom door, until Kiyomaro slowly got up from the floor with a demonic face. Kiyomaro slowly walked to the door, while Megumi laughed nervously.
"Why, you two…" Kiyomaro roared, pulling open the bedroom door abruptly.
"AH!"