Thank Me Later

"Taichi, you can tell me. I already know anyway!"

"Hikari, there's nothing to tell! I don't like Koushirou and there's nothing going on!"

I folded my arms gruffly and leaned into the back of the couch. As much as I loved my little sister, her creepily accurate intuition got really old sometimes.

"Taichi," she said from where she was sitting on top of the kitchen table. "It's nothing to be ashamed of-"

"I'm not ashamed!" I snapped.

"So you do like him, then?" she said, catching me off guard.

I opened my mouth and then closed it. "I didn't say that."

"Come on," she rolled her eyes.

"Let me lay it out for you one more time," I said, getting irritated. "I. Don't. Like. Him. Like. That."

Before Hikari could respond, the apartment was filled with the loud ringing of my cellphone. "Who is it?" she asked.

I gave her the nastiest death glare I could and flipped my phone open. "Hey, Koushirou," I said, trying to ignore my sister's knowing look. "What's up?"

"What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Miyako-kun found a new restaurant in Aqua City that she wants to try out, and she invited me to go with her and Hikari-san. Do you want to come with?"

I looked at Hikari with questioning eyebrows, but then realized she couldn't hear what Koushirou was saying. She mouthed 'what?' but I shook my head.

"Yeah, sure, I'm in. What time?"

"She said be ready at six, I'll call you."

"Alright, talk to you then." I hung up and turned to Hikari. "You're going out to dinner with Miyako tonight?"

"Yeah, how'd Koushirou know that?"

"I guess Miyako invited him to tag along and he asked me to come with."

"Are you going to?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure, why not?"

"I suppose if Koushirou asked you-"

"Hikari, I swear to God!"

She slid off the table. "Only kidding, onii-chan." She flashed me a bright smile and went to our room.

I fell backwards over the couch and flopped onto the cushions, face down in a pillow.

I wasn't nervous.

Okay, that's a lie. I was incredibly nervous. The truth was that Hikari was right. I did have a thing for Koushirou. I don't know how it happened. After Sora brutally rejected me for that bastard Yamato, I swore off girls for a while and spent more time hanging out with Koushirou after school. I didn't think that not pursuing girls would turn into pursuing another dude, but shit happens, I guess. I went from innocently going over after school to play videogames and do homework to daydreaming about ripping his clothes off in about two weeks flat. I knew it was sick, not only because he's a guy, but also because he's my best friend. You just don't do that to someone you know that well.

Anyway.

I tried not to act on it and pretend like everything was normal. Unfortunately, it's insanely hard to not flirt with someone you want to flirt with, especially when it's just the two of you locked in a bedroom. And I have a very active imagination. But like I said, it's not like I meant for it to happen- it just did. And I would be embarrassed as hell if Koushirou ever found out. One, I don't think he's even interested in, y'know, being intimate with people, the kid spends so much time on that damn computer. So I obviously didn't have a chance. Two, let me repeat the fact that we both have dicks, and three, it's just not okay. The whole thing was not okay.

Hikari, being Hikari, obviously picked up on my ridiculous crush. I don't know what gave it away, I thought I was playing it so cool. Sometimes I'm convinced she actually does have superpowers. One day when I got home from hanging out at his house, she straight-up asked me if I liked him. No lead-in, no nothing. I denied it immediately, but she wasn't convinced. She continued to ask me about it and I knew she wasn't going to give up until I came clean with her. Whatever, she could wait. I didn't give her shit about Takeru.

Not much, anyway.

…It wasn't that much.

And this was totally different, anyway. That was bound to happen, even I saw that coming, so she should be able to take it. This was not bound to happen, this is some fucked-up fluke. A really fucked-up fluke.

Fuck.

I sighed and rolled over on the couch. Four hours to kill until I had to be ready to go. Might as well take a nap to mentally prepare myself for the evening.

I woke up to Hikari poking me in the back.

"Onii-chan."

"Wha-?"

"I'm going over to Miyako's- she can't decide what to wear. We'll meet you guys there."

"Okay," I murmured, my brain still fogged with sleep.

"And dress nice, okay? Wear a nice shirt."

"Alright," I said, pulling myself up into a sitting position. "Later."

"Bye," she said, and left the apartment. I checked my phone. Forty-five minutes until it was time to go. I got to my feet and walked to my room. Dress nice. What did nice mean? A shirt without graphics, or a button down with a tie? I opened my closet. I didn't have many choices between my endless supply of t-shirts and athletic shorts. I eventually settled on a darker blue button down shirt with a black tie. I'd rather be safe than sorry, I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of Koushirou. I figured the jeans I was already wearing would be okay, they weren't dirty or anything. I changed and went back to the living room to play videogames and wait for Koushirou, stomach churning.

At exactly 5:45, my phone rang.

"'Sup," I said, pausing the game and tossing the controller on the coffee table.

"Hey," Koushirou said. "You ready?"

"Yeah, more or less," I said, getting up and walking to the bathroom to double-check my reflection. "You on your way?"

"Yeah, I'll be at your building in ten. Meet me outside."

"Sounds good," I said, hoping I sounded casual and my internal spaz wasn't showing through my voice.

"And Taichi?" he said.

"Yeah?" He had recently dropped the honorific when calling me by name. I liked it a lot. Maybe too much.

"You are wearing something decent, aren't you?"

I laughed, my nervousness fading. "Chill out, Hikari took care of me."

"Prodigious." I could hear the smile in his voice. "See you soon."

Once I was satisfied with my appearance, I headed down the stairs of my apartment building and stood on the sidewalk, waiting. The anticipation was killing me. I knew I would relax once I was in the car and we started talking, but right now I had huge butterflies in my stomach. After a few agonizing minutes, the Izumi's black car pulled up. I took a deep breath, opened the door and got inside.

"Hey," I said, sliding in the seat and buckling my seatbelt.

"Hi," he said, smiling. I grinned back and immediately took notice of his clothes. I had never seen him dressed up before. He was wearing a grey shirt with a black tie as opposed to my dark blue one, and the monochromatic colors went really nicely with his bright hair. The whole picture was attractive, more attractive than I had prepared myself for.

"…Taichi?"

"Huh?" I realized too late that I had been staring. And he'd noticed.

"You okay?" he said, looking at me.

My cheeks burned with his gaze. "Yeah, I'm fine," I tore my eyes away and looked out the window instead. "Ready?"

He nodded and started driving.

I held my breath and wondered what exactly I had gotten myself into.

A/N: My first chaptered fic + heads up, it's gonna get drrty in chapter three.