Kazuki had invited Ryotaro over for a night of gaming. When he first asked, it took Ryo a moment to process the series of ideas that was being presented to him.
"Games? You?"
"Yeah…not anything really serious, but you know…"
Ryotaro was nonplussed, but the very image of Kazuki trying to succeed in beating something like Mrs. Pacman made for extremely entertaining brain fodder.
"I guess I don't have anything to do later…"
"Really! Yay! Come by at 6 then!"
Kazuki ran off, presumably thinking of games. He wasn't.
Ryotaro showed up at Kazuki's house promptly at 6. He left his own house early enough to allow time to grace over the gaps in remembering how to get to Kazuki's home. It wasn't hard, but he certainly lived out of the way.
Ryo knocked on the door, waiting for the inevitable elephant-thumping of Kazuki rushing to and almost crashing into the door. He heard the elephant-thumping, but this time Haruki opened the door instead of his brother. Ryotaro noticed Kazuki waving from behind his taller and apparently faster sibling. He supposed the "tiger" won the race.
"Hey Ryotaro, come on in."
The stripe-less winner backed out of the doorway to allow Ryo room to pass through. This also allowed Kazuki clear access to Ryotaro.
"Ryo! I'm so glad you made it!"
"I told you I would…"
"I know, but it still makes me happy!"
Kazuki had lightly tipped his fingers onto Ryo's shoulders, before running off into what Ryotaro now knew to be the living room. Haruki was still leaning on the edge of the door.
"I heard you guys'll be playing tonight."
"That's the plan."
"I'll try to stay upstairs if you need me."
"Thanks."
Ryotaro still kept a wary eye out for Kazuki's somewhat protective older brother, but had grown increasingly more comfortable around him. At least Haruki didn't bite like the nickname Ryo had given him.
"Hey Ryo!"
Kazuki's voice sounded from the nearby room.
"Yeah?"
"I think I've got everything all set up!"
"Alright, I'll be in there in a sec."
Ryotaro wandered into the kitchen (another room he'd previously been introduced to) to check for Kazuki's parents. He thought he'd at least say hello. Neither of them appeared to be in there though, not even in the dishwasher Ryotaro knew well enough not to check.
"Huh…"
He knew he should probably let it go, but his formal rearing did sink deep.
"Hey Kazuki…"
Kazuki looked up from the game console he was kneeling in front of; triple checking to make sure he'd connected all the plugs into the right outlets.
"Hey, I've got it all set!"
"Great. Are your parents home by the way?"
"No, why?"
"I thought I'd say hello to…wait, what do you mean they aren't home?"
"Just that they aren't. Dad's at some work convention and Mom went with him. They should be back in a day or two…"
The images that strayed into Ryotaro's mind gave him suitable reason to leave the house immediately. He knew however that there would be no point in doing so.
"Oh, alright…"
Kazuki glanced back at the wires again before returning his focus to Ryo. He was biting his lip.
"Hey Ryotaro…"
Ryotaro knew that when Kazuki bit his lip and said his name that something was coming, something he wasn't sure if he'd like.
"Yes?"
"I was actually sort of hoping that you'd stay over while they're gone…"
"What?"
Kazuki floundered.
"Not that you have to or anything! I just sort of thought it would be nice…like a sleepover…"
Ryotaro considered, but wanted to cover what seemed creaky in this idea.
"Kazuki…"
"Yeah?"
"Did you ask your parents about this?"
"Oh yeah, of course. They said they didn't mind…actually they thought I was afraid or something to stay by myself. I told them I wasn't and that Haruki would be with me, but they didn't listen…"
Ryotaro chuckled.
"Your parents remind me of you a lot."
"Oh? Why?"
"They can be ditzy," Ryotaro thought.
"They seem easygoing," he said.
Kazuki flowered and nodded.
"Yep, that's them."
Ryotaro leaned over to observe the wiring Kazuki had been working with.
"Kazuki?"
"Hm?"
"You do realize you're plugging the game up to the stereo, right?"
"Wha…Aah!"
Ryotaro supposed it would be a little while before they would be playing.
Eventually the two of them managed to get everything in working order, mainly with Ryotaro's help and because Kazuki hadn't messed the cables up as badly as he'd thought, thanks to the handy color-coding.
By the time they were ready to start, the house was silent and Haruki had disappeared, as he'd said, upstairs. Ryotaro noted.
"It's kind of weird with things being quiet."
Kazuki was pressing the "on" button to the gaming console before settling onto the couch that Ryo was sitting on.
"It won't be quiet for long!"
They both attended the television in front of them as various software developing companies' logos made their appearance on the screen. Shortly afterwards, music began to play as the title screen rolled up.
"Galaga?"
Kazuki grinned.
"Anniversary Edition!"
Well…it wasn't Mrs. Pacman…but…
As it turned out, the "anniversary edition" Kazuki had spoken about was a compilation of several classic games. Though Ryotaro seemed unsure at first as to whether he wanted to give up time to such an endeavor, he consented upon seeing Kazuki was rather adroit in playing the games…and Ryo loved a good challenge.
They burned their way through Galaga, part of the first two Zelda games, some bizarre version of Dr. Mario, Mrs. Pacman (there was no way around it), and a spin-off of Tetris, competing against each other to see who could get the higher score.
The last game of the compilation was an odd adventure type of RPG that Ryo hadn't heard of. There always seemed to be one of those games on collections. Knowing full well that the game would take a while to move through, both Ryotaro and Kazuki trudged into it irresolute (they'd each won an equal number of games).
It had already been hours since they'd started playing, but by the time it was Ryotaro's final chance at beating Kazuki's high score, the term "early morning" was becoming more appropriate. Ryo edged closer to the number, swiping at man-eating spiders and slashing at odd troll-like creatures. If he could just get past the number, then—
Suddenly Ryotaro noticed a bonus floating above him. He leaped upwards to activate it and found to his sheer jubilation that the ten thousand points it added to his current score put him above Kazuki's mythic target.
Ah, the joys of gaming.
"Yes! Take that!"
Ryo quickly looked over to further sequester his victory by capturing Kazuki's expression, but should have known that his excitable gaming partner had been quiet for a tad too long. Kazuki was asleep, very much not waking up. He had also somehow dovetailed himself in amongst Ryotaro and try as he might, Ryo could see no way of getting loose.
He sighed, shifting backwards into a more comfortable position. Kazuki had apparently saved up some serious snuggle points. (Regardless of who had won)
The two of them slept soundly on the sofa, the remaining hours until daylight quietly passing through. At some point, Haruki crept downstairs to get a glass of water and upon still hearing the television screen playing the theme song of a game, peered in the living room.
Further investigation provided him with an image of the two of them looking perfectly comfortable, except that Kazuki had fallen over into Ryotaro's lap and Ryo still didn't look pleased leaning back. Oh well, Haruki told his brotherly instincts. He walked over and shut the game off before returning to his room with his glass of water.
Morning, accompanied by the sounds associated with it arrived a short time later. An even shorter time later, Kazuki and Ryotaro awoke. Kazuki woke first. Ryo woke to Kazuki's shouts of embarrassment.
"What on earth is going on!"
"I'm so sorry Ryo, I didn't notice that…"
Ryotaro looked confused at Kazuki who had sat bolt upright after realizing the intimate position he'd woken to. Ryo still didn't know what had happened.
"Oh…never mind…"
"Ugh…why did you fall asleep on the couch…my neck is killing me!"
"I'm sorry…it was just you were taking so long on the game…"
Ryotaro twitched.
"Hey, I beat you!"
Kazuki frowned.
"I didn't see it. It didn't count."
"What!"
Kazuki then bounded up off the couch and ran from the living room while Ryotaro gave chase.
"It does count! Come back here!"
Somewhere upstairs, Haruki's brother senses were disturbed.
Kazuki was still running about, almost into the living room again when Ryotaro went through the kitchen. Kazuki looked behind him into the front room, not seeing anyone and so continued hurtling forwards before slamming into Ryo who'd just entered the room. This knocked Kazuki to the ground and made Ryotaro lose his balance…and then he tripped. And fell. Forwards.
"Ow…"
Kazuki had bumped his head in the initial fall to the floor. It wasn't as though the floor was soft or anything, but the second impact might have been more uncomfortable than the first. Kazuki moved, thinking he'd fallen twice, once onto his back and then again on his stomach.
"Oh…"
Kazuki opened his eyes to the small noise. And saw another pair of eyes.
"Hello…"
Ryotaro blushed, having fallen and then in the process of gravity slid into the spaces of Kazuki's limbs, making the pose all the more suggestive. There really wasn't any way they could move without it becoming more awkward.
"—ah…"
Kazuki's light gasp was his first real response to the situation he was lying in. He noted their abdomens pressed together, then Ryo's legs planted in between his.
"…could you, um…"
The air hit Ryo's lips, inhaling Kazuki's breath.
"Oh, yeah, of course…"
He tried to back up without any real way of doing that. He moved his arms to push up, but Kazuki groaned in discomfort while Ryo took his knee away from a certain location. Ryotaro stood up on his knees, offering a hand and pulling Kazuki up, with his legs tucked under him.
They weren't really sure what to say.
"Well good morning."
Haruki was in the doorway to the kitchen.
"Would either of you like some breakfast?"
They nodded.
"Good. Then, when you're done in here, let me know."
He then walked away. Ryotaro muttered through a blush.
"Is he mad?"
Kazuki replied.
"No…just stunned I think…"
"Ah…"
The two of them stood up and entered the kitchen. Haruki had left them obviously empty cereal bowls.
When all three (the brother joined them a little later) of them had finished breakfast and had sufficiently woken up, Kazuki began pulling idea after brilliant idea out of his head of what he and Ryotaro should do that day. Haruki drank his coffee trying not to listen.
"And I heard they were going to have a concert and everything! So I thought we could go there! Also, I heard that Keiichi might be playing in the park sometime, but I don't really know if you'd want to do that, but that's alright because Keiichi probably wouldn't care anyway, but—"
"Can we potentially narrow this list down some?"
"Yeah! What do you want to do? We could go to an amusement park, or take another walk, or clothes shopping, or—"
"Clothes shopping. That sounds nice and not requiring large amounts of energy."
Ryotaro had chosen the most boring one he'd heard Kazuki say.
"That's sounds great! I've been meaning to check out this place actually a little ways from here. It's supposed to be really neat and all…"
Haruki thought to himself that Ryo had blundered thinking anything he did with Kazuki wouldn't require large amounts of energy.
Ryo and Kazuki set off after they'd sufficiently gotten ready (Ryotaro had gone home to arm himself with changes of clothes) and headed for the part of town Kazuki had been informed about. It wasn't very busy that day, which was pleasant in finding a place to park, but also because it seemed so much hotter out when crowds of people were jostling along beside you.
Kazuki pointed the way he thought the clothes store was, and fifteen minutes later after they'd determined it was not anywhere in that direction, they found it a good thirty steps from where they'd parked except the other way.
Kazuki was still complaining after they'd entered the store.
"I knew I had seen it somewhere…but I was sure it was the other way…"
"That's okay Kazuki. We've found it now."
Ryotaro looked around and was surprised at the rather disconcerting selection. This store was full of tropical, eccentric, and bizarre clothing. It was brightly lit thankfully, otherwise Ryo might have thought some sort of horrifying dragon lived among the "treasure hoard" of odd clothes.
"Kazuki…"
"Yeah?"
"Where did you hear about this store?"
"…I think from Kanayan? Or maybe Shinobu sensei?"
Ryotaro sighed. Great, he should have known those two had interesting tastes. Kazuki ran over to a rack of colorful shirts, holding one up and almost squealing with pleasure.
"Look Ryo! This shirt has pineapples on it!"
Ryotaro began to regret choosing the least exciting place in Kazuki's endless list. Even going to hear Keiichi didn't sound too bad at this point…
Kazuki practically coerced Ryotaro into modeling clothes for him so as he could get a feel for how the clothes looked when worn. He really wanted to examine every aspect; how they hung, how bright they actually were, was it really that good-looking or did it just fool the eye, and of course whether or not Kazuki really wanted to buy them. The ulterior and far too obvious motive was still that Kazuki wanted to examine Ryotaro.
In silly clothes.
But still.
"Kazuki…why on earth would anyone want to wear something like this?"
He was standing outside the changing room while Ryotaro forced himself into going through with it.
"Come out and let me see! Maybe it'll look better to me!"
He'd said that the last three times.
"This won't look good to anyone…"
"You don't know that. C'mon…please?"
"…fine."
Ryotaro unlocked the door and stepped out, garbed in a mélange of burning orange and sunset mahogany. Specifics included a thin button down shirt, ripped and hemmed tight black shorts, and matching sandals. Kazuki blinked.
"Well…it doesn't look bad…"
He'd also said that about three times. Ryo dashed back into the dressing room to swap into his original clothes.
"Kazuki! Let's just give up on this store already!"
"No, just one more! Please!"
"No."
"Please Ryo, it won't take long…then we can leave…"
"Kazuki, no."
"I promise this will be the last one…"
A sigh.
"Fine. But no more after this."
Kazuki smiled with glee and ran off to pick some more clothes out at random. He never said he would be putting an outfit together. He just wanted to observe the clothes. He came back with a slightly less horrible looking garment choice. Ryotaro sighed again.
"This is it?"
"Uh-huh."
"Fine."
Kazuki noted the black shorts drop from the space underneath the door. He blushed and turned around, leaning back against the flimsy white wood. An unexpected side effect of clothes-shopping…but a good one. The soft rustles of fabric moving went on for a minute or two before Ryotaro announced the final time he was wearing these clothes. Kazuki moved out of the way as Ryo pushed the door open.
And it was surprising.
Ryotaro stood in a half buttoned silk shirt (to save time) that was a deepening blue, somewhere a little past cerulean. It overlapped casual, loose fitting white shorts that covered almost to about his knee. A similar pair of sandals were back.
"…you look really good…"
Ryo frowned.
"You've got to be kidding…"
"No…I want you to get that…"
"No way! Where would I wear something like this Kazuki?"
"All sorts of places! I mean, the beach is one…and when it's hot, and…the amusement park…and…"
"That's plenty, thanks."
Ryotaro was afraid Kazuki would start repeating his list of things to do again.
"So…?"
Another deep sigh.
"There had better be a good reason to wear these things…"
Kazuki grinned.
Once the two of them had exited the shop (Kazuki didn't buy anything for himself), they decided to walk through that part of town. Maybe they'd find something? And Kazuki's own words that it was "fun to explore" were becoming hauntingly true as Ryotaro began to become infected with Kazuki's curiosity. Although, begrudging curiosity could also be called destiny, but Ryotaro had no time for deep thoughts.
As the two started their exploration of the not-so-busy, but by-no-means-empty section of the city, Ryo was self-conscious about his clothing. Kazuki had somehow convinced him that it was a great idea to not change back into his other clothes. Too bad Kazuki wasn't fit for the law field, or even advertising because a lot of people would end up buying some really weird stuff…
At least it was enjoyably warm out, so the clothes were comfortable.
Far more conscious of Ryotaro's clothes was Kazuki who spent moments staring at Ryotaro's back as he lagged along dividing his staring time between him and shop windows. He was also very conscious of the looks that other people were giving Ryo.
Ryotaro became less aware of the looks, if he was aware of them all that much to begin with. He was more focused on his clothes than other people. Kazuki became increasingly more annoyed by the looks, mainly because very few of them were confused or derogatory. They were checking Ryo out. Kazuki cursed the rare miracles of his fashion sense.
Kazuki jogged up to catch up to Ryotaro after one particular lady had stared a little too long. Kazuki shot her a dirty look, but he was relieved that he hadn't seen any other guys staring…yet. Ryo looked over as Kazuki came into view. He smiled and faced forward again. Kazuki was looking at Ryotaro from the side now rather than the back.
"You're pretty tall, aren't you?"
"Eh?"
Kazuki thought to himself.
"I wonder if that means…"
It wasn't a good thought to have in his head, especially after Ryotaro had just chosen to look questioningly at Kazuki due to the somewhat irrelevant statement. Kazuki was blushing furiously. Ryotaro closed his eyes and turned back around. He didn't even want to know what was going on inside Kazuki's head right now. He didn't want to know…but he was vexed since he thought he already knew…
For once, the exploring hadn't paid off. Neither of them found anything other than annoyances, assorted by degree of an amorous nature. However, by the time they'd decided they didn't want to look anymore, they were a considerable distance from the car.
"How'd we get so far…?"
"Maybe we weren't paying attention…"
Ryotaro looked at Kazuki accusingly.
"Um…I guess…"
They started walking back.
"Ryo…"
"What?"
"Do you want to play a game when we get home?"
"You want me to stay over again?"
"Oh…well, I hadn't planned it, but it would be really nice…"
"…I don't mind. What other kinds of games do you have because I am not playing those classic ones again."
"…I have board games…"
"Board games? Kazuki…"
"They're really fun once you get into them! My family plays them all the time!"
Not what Ryotaro really imagined a fun Saturday night to be.
"Do you have anything else in mind later tonight?"
Kazuki touched his lip. He hadn't really planned anything…he was too excited that Ryotaro was just going to come over and stay. He tried to think seriously for a second. What could they do later that night?
Images. Images. Images. Oh dear…
Kazuki was turning redder and redder as the scene kept unfolding in his head. This really wasn't the best place for this to happen.
"Well? Any thoughts?"
"Uh…ahm…"
"Kazuki, you don't have to be embarrassed. I don't care if it sounds dorky."
"It doesn't!"
Ryotaro noticed a very unusual tinge to the blush.
"Kazuki?"
"Mm?"
"What are you thinking about?"
"Oh…nothi—"
He immediately tripped and smashed into the cement of the sidewalk. Ryotaro flinched before bending down to help.
"Kazuki, are you okay!"
"Fine…I think…"
He was slightly roughed up, with mild abrasions on his face, turning red and sticky as he started noticing the pain.
"Ow…"
"Can you tell if you're hurt anywhere else?"
"Um…hold on…"
He moved to get up, bending up and not feeling anything else scraped. When he put pressure on his ankle however, there was a very definite jolt of pain.
"Ah!"
"What's wrong?"
"This."
Kazuki pointed in the direction of his foot.
"Your ankle?"
"Yeah. I think so…"
"You might have sprained it…"
"The car is still way over there…"
He pointed to space he couldn't see since it was still several minutes before they would reach it walking. Ryotaro thought for a moment. If he could get through the clothing incident, he could get through this. He turned around, his back facing Kazuki and crouched down, bending forward slightly. Kazuki looked at him curiously.
"Get on."
The curiosity got a little hotter.
"Wh…at?"
"Get on. I'll carry you."
"But Ryo, you don't have to…"
"Yes, I do. What will your brother think if I let you walk half crippled back to the car?"
Kazuki blinked before laughing.
"I'm not half crippled!"
The laughter settled into a smile as Kazuki noted an interesting concern over what his brother might think. He nudged forwards, until he could stretch his arms around Ryo's shoulders. Ryotaro reached back and, not being able to see, grabbed onto Kazuki's butt before quickly sliding onto his thighs.
"Sorry!"
"That's okay."
Ryotaro then lifted Kazuki up, momentarily letting out a funny noise.
"Ack! Kazuki, you weigh a ton!"
"I'm sorry…"
"Ugh…"
And Ryotaro began walking with Kazuki on his back, neither of them really comfortable, but comforting at least. Ryo returned to an earlier train of thought.
"So, Kazuki…"
"Hm?"
"What were you thinking about before you tripped?"
Oh no. Not now. No, no bad thoughts, please don't return. Don't come back. Not now, not now, not—
Too late.
Kazuki blushed, ducking his head down, letting his chin rest on Ryo's neck.
"…do you promise not to be mad…?"
Ryo struggled to keep perfect balance along with workable coordination. The ideas were not helping, but considering the position, it would be somewhat unfair to say no.
"…I'll try."
"…okay…"
He was quiet for a moment.
"…I was sort of…thinking about um…us…"
"Yeah?"
"…doing things…"
"Oh…"
Ryotaro could have sworn that images transferred from Kazuki's mind to his. He wanted to blame the skin to skin connection.
"…are you mad?"
"…no. Just a little embarrassed…"
"Me too..."
Ryotaro was distracted enough that he'd walked all the way past the car. Lovely.
After loading Kazuki into the passenger's seat, they drove back to Kazuki's house without incident. They chatted idly, not really approaching the "heated" topic from earlier, but everything remained light and funny.
"I dread to think of where else Kanazawa shops if that place was a recommendation…"
"Oh, c'mon! It was nice in there!"
"Well, better than some of the clothes that Keiichi's sister made for us…"
Kazuki shuddered as they both remembered them. They were sincerely glad Keiichi had their backs in trying to burn every outfit that came in the mail. He was sleepy and strange, but he had some (fashion) sense.
They arrived home, to Ryo's relief, before Haruki and went inside without fearing an outburst of brotherly concern. It seemed as though Haruki was perfectly cool and stoic about everything…except his brother.
Ryotaro helped Kazuki to the living room couch as he hobbled along, leaning on Ryo's shoulder. He flumped down onto the cushions and looked up at Ryotaro, smiling. A thought hit him.
"Ryo, go check the hallway closet! I think the board games are in there…"
Ryo complied, thinking he might as well as other more strenuous activities might make the sprain worse. (Ryotaro had carefully checked Kazuki's ankle and confirmed it was a sprain. He'd seen enough swelling in soccer to recognize it quickly) He walked upstairs, sighting the closet a few feet away and opening the door. He looked around. No board games.
"Kazuki!"
He heard an answer drift up from downstairs.
"Yeah!"
"Where precisely are they!"
"Look at the top!"
Ryo looked and hidden under a comforter laid several board games. He chose a few that wouldn't bore him into trying to escape.
Once Ryo had pulled a coffee-table from across the room to the couch and iced Kazuki's ankle, he unpacked one of the board games. It seemed fun enough. Seemed.
"Oh, I like this one…I'm not very good at it though…"
"That's alright…I'm not positive how to play…"
"Oh…well, you kind of have letter blocks and you get a certain number…and we take turns trying to build words on the board…then…you get more to make the number again…um…I think the words can't overlap, but they can cross each other to make other words…and then you score depending on where they are…"
"…do you play this game often with your family?"
"No one else likes it…"
They dealt out letters, score boards and set out the board, which was printed with a sort of grid. Phrases like "triple score" and "double points" were scattered over the area. Kazuki went first.
"So…um…I have 'face.'"
"Okay…so just put it on the board then?"
"Yeah."
Kazuki placed the letters. Ryotaro considered his choices.
"Okay…how about 'ford?'"
"That's great. Put it on. Okay…now my turn…"
He looked at his letters.
"…'roll'."
" Kazuki, were we supposed to be keeping score?"
"Oh! Um…well, we could, but we don't have to…"
He thought back to the video game competition that had kept them up so long. As fondly as it may have went, it wasn't all that pleasant.
"Alright. Here's my next word then: 'egg.'"
Kazuki nodded, glancing back at his letters. He glanced at them again to make sure he wasn't mistaken. He wasn't. Lined up were the letters x, q, z, k, o, c, and r. Kazuki began getting red again.
"Uh…um…"
"What?"
"…I only have one word…"
"Well, then, put it down."
Kazuki did.
"Cock?"
"You know, like a chicken…"
Ryotaro slightly smiled as Kazuki dissembled, trying to hide in excuses.
"Of course. Well Kazuki, your 'cock' just scored triple points."
Kazuki didn't have any more words after that, so Ryo won by default.
Haruki got back after it had gotten dark. He walked into the living room and predictably had a fit when he noticed the ice on Kazuki's foot.
"Kazuki! What happened!"
"Oh, hey bro…"
Haruki rushed over to check and see how bad it was. Ryotaro was thankful it was only a sprain. Anything worse and Haruki might have called an ambulance. But, that might have been getting carried away…
"Tell me what happened!"
"Calm down bro, nothing much. I just tripped and fell."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah. Ryo carried me back afterwards."
Haruki cocked an eyebrow at the other couch occupant.
"Oh he did, did he?"
Kazuki nodded while Ryotaro almost started sweating. Haruki stood up.
"Well, okay then. As long as you're looked after."
He calmly walked away through the kitchen and then upstairs. Ryo could hear a door close.
"Do you think he's angry now?"
"No…I don't think so…"
"Good…"
Neither of them could think of anything else to do.
"Here, I'll help you upstairs."
Ryo reached out his arms and gingerly pulled Kazuki to his foot. They limped up the stairs slowly, almost falling back a few times. Thank goodness for handrails. They entered Kazuki's bedroom and the owner flopped onto his bed, happy that he'd make it back to comfort. Ryotaro looked around.
The room was obviously a place well lived in: posters here and there, clothes, junk, and the odd piece of sheet music littering the floor, and several pieces of furniture, all messy it seemed or covered in stuff. It wasn't as though Kazuki seemed organized anyway…
"Make yourself at home."
"I can try…"
Kazuki smiled as Ryotaro cleared off a seat, cautiously lifting things to avoid causing an avalanche.
"Do you ever clean?"
"Yeah!"
An inquiring look from Ryo.
"…No."
"I thought as much."
"…I just never know where to begin…"
"I'd say anything that is decomposing is a good start."
"Ryo! It's not that bad!"
"Are you sure?"
They laughed and descended into conversation, moving into the night.
"I wasn't sure if I would want a pet panda if I could have one…I mean they are big and sort of eat bamboo…and we don't have bamboo, so I had to tell the pet lady that I wasn't interested, which was a shame…"
Ryo wondered how they'd come to this topic.
"Kazuki…where did this come from?"
"Huh? Oh, you asked me if I had any pets."
"Right…"
"What about you Ryo? What's your life like?"
"What?"
"I mean, your family and all. I don't know any of them…you know my family now…"
"Oh…well…it's my parents, older sister, younger brother and me. Not that much else really…"
"You're kidding! What do you do? What do they do?"
"…just normal stuff. My mom teaches and my dad works. And my siblings go to school. Just normal things for them to do."
"Oh…I see…"
Ryotaro wasn't sure if Kazuki was let down because Ryo's family wasn't exciting or if it was because Ryo's family wasn't like Kazuki's family. The let down quickly turned into fascination though.
"But…what about your life then? What did you do growing up?"
Ryotaro considered.
"I went to school…played piano, played soccer, hung out with friends…just stuff you do. Nothing all that exciting, sorry."
Ryotaro smiled. Kazuki waved his hands.
"No, that's okay! I guess I was just wondering…if your family was like you too…"
He paused.
"Are they?"
"I don't know! I don't think so anyway!"
Ryotaro wasn't sure how to interpret that question.
"That's okay then…"
Kazuki hovered over the thought of Ryotaro's family. Was the family like Ryotaro? Would his family like Ryotaro's family? Would Ryotaro's family like him? What kind of family has Ryotaro lived around all his life? What kind of family has lived around Ryotaro all his life?
It made him wonder, considering if he might like the family almost as much as he did Ryo…
"It's getting late…"
Kazuki looked up.
"What?"
"It's almost three in the morning."
"What!"
And indeed it was.
"We should probably go to sleep…"
"Yeah…I guess…"
Ryotaro stood up from his chair and approached the door. Kazuki blinked.
"Wait, where are you going?"
Ryotaro looked puzzled.
"To sleep on the couch. What did you think?"
"Oh…I just thought…"
Kazuki looked at his bed.
"…you could sleep up here…"
Ryotaro opened his mouth a little.
"…um…"
It was a big step. Kazuki mumbled.
"…if you want to, you know…"
Ryo slowly moved away from the door and approached the bed. Kazuki looked up at him.
"Well…scoot over."
Kazuki immediately moved, lifting his legs and edging to the other side. Ryo sat down before stretching out. He looked over to see Kazuki staring a bit incredulously.
"What?"
"It's just…I…I don't know…"
Ryo laughed.
"It's fine. I'm fine with it if you are."
Kazuki bounced his head up and down. Ryotaro moved to turn out the lamp sitting near the bed. It was total darkness then as slight snuffling filled up the space with sound. They both got under the sheets, thankfully for the night to be cool enough to not need anything else.
Kazuki lightly squeaked when he accidently touched Ryo.
"Sorry!"
"Kazuki…"
"What…?"
Ryotaro grabbed Kazuki around the middle, causing another surprised noise to escape. Ryo grinned, though Kazuki couldn't see it, he could hear it in Ryotaro's voice.
"Kazuki…don't be so nervous. You're the one who invited me in."
"I know…"
Silence.
"Ryo?"
"Hm?"
"Do you like staying with me?"
"…Yes."
"Even clothes shopping?"
"Sure."
"Even playing old games?"
"Yeah."
"…why are you holding my belly?"
"…to be honest, I did that to convince you I wasn't going to do anything."
"…but you did."
"…not yet."
"What?"
"Kidding."
Kazuki could feel another smile. He smiled too.
"I want you to stay tomorrow…too…"
They were getting sleepy.
"You mean today…"
"Yeah…"
They fell asleep.
Light came again soon, morning illuminating the serenity as it floated around in the remnants of night. Odd sounds however were coming along with the morning sounds. It was like older voices bustling, getting louder.
Kazuki's bedroom door opened with a flourish.
"Kazuki, we're ba—"
His parents stood in the doorway, noticing the lit up scene of their son, comfortably nestled into Ryotaro's arms, thrown into the soft light. They closed the door.
Kazuki's father turned and began walking away.
"I didn't see anything. I didn't see anything. I didn't see anything. I didn't see anything. I didn't—"
Kazuki's mother remarked.
"Aw…"
His father turned around surprised.
"What?"
"Isn't that sweet?"
He sighed, feeling a headache coming on.
"What's sweet, dear?"
"Kazuki must have been afraid without us here, so he asked Ryotaro to sleep with him…he's such a sweet boy…"
Kazuki's father wondered where his side of the chromosomes had gone.
A/N:
Oh, Kazuki's family, please forgive me.
Anyway, hello! I hope you enjoyed my fluffy, sort of tiny bit raunchy fic. I hope you enjoyed it enough to review that is. Ha.
The ideas in this were originally prompts I gave to a friend for drawing ideas. I also noticed they'd work for stories though, and sort of made the most of them. They were meant to just be little glimpses, but this turned into a whole fic…oh well. I like it anyway.
I have to admit that my characterizations of Kazuki's family surprise even me. Haruki is serious in my mind, so I try to make him serious too. But…the brother thing…oh dear.
And Kazuki's parents…I don't know. Kazuki honestly seems to be the only oddball in his serious, stressed out family, but I like imagining (apparently) him coming from a slightly nutty household, which compares nicely to Ryotaro's.
I think I also might have just set up a little parallel between Kazuki's parents and Kazuki and Ryotaro…guess which one is which. Oh dear.
This fic happens after some of my previous Ryo/Kazuki fics do, thus eliminating my necessity to have to "prove" the pairing.
Well, I don't know almost anything about games, do I? Or the rules to Scrabble. Hahaha. For any Scrabblers (did I create this word?) out there who can think up some other words Kazuki could have made, please pretend that his slightly pervy mind could only concentrate on the one in front of him. (Is it really his mind or mine?) I didn't want to give him seven "x's" or "z's".
And the classic games…obviously I don't own any of them, but I have enjoyed playing several of them, even Mrs. Pacman where there is a feud in my family over who can last the most levels.
Also, yes, I did once again "quote" the manga with some things. I had to check up on Ryotaro's family stats after all. I also had some other manga in my head while writing this…(ssh, yaoi manga)
I'm happy with this…even though it did sort of veer away from fluff. It appears that when I try to write fluff, it doesn't work. Oh well.
I hope you enjoyed it enough. Review please!