Yukio Oikawa had taken a turn for the better. Now at age 36, He was quite possibly the most attractive single man at his current job, computer engineering for a major Laptop company in Tokyo. He wasn't the same man that came to mind when people thought of Yukio Oikawa. That cold, self-loathing, easily manipulated, shell of a human being.
No. Not Anymore.
After the whole Malo-Myotismon incident, the four guardians decided that Yukio should stay on earth until he is needed once more. He vowed to never become the way he was before ever again and took a very obvious, (and much obliged) turn for the better.
He was still pale, but his disposition wasn't as clammy and depressing as before. He held himself with a noticeable sense of self-pride that made women notice him, followed by that sly little smile that sometimes crept across his face. His eyes were deeper, richer and fuller, a feature that made him seem almost mysterious, and to his co-workers, he was. Most of the guys at his job had neatly cut, simple hair-styles, except for the ones that had no hair at all. Mr. Oikawa on the other hand had long, straight, glossy, raven-black hair that trailed down to the upper-middle of his back. He never spoke much to the other technicians outside of the office, and he -never- talked about his personal life, leaving much to imagination.
That was a good thing, too.
-Especially- if anyone were to ever find out what he does in his free time.
This whole little endeavor started out during a very early point in his time on earth after the final battle with Myotismon. Since he really didn't have much money, he was reduced to using the subway as a means of transportation.
It was around 1:30 P.M. on a Friday when he was taking the subway home from an interview when he woke up with a start, as a Small, rectangular gadget suddenly jabbed him in the side. He glanced around the train to see who the owner was. Only two people sat in the subway cart besides him; a pregnant woman and a very somber-looking girl dressed in a hoodie WAY too big for her reading Artemis Fowl. She was sitting too far away for the DS to belong to her, and it obviously didn't belong to the pregnant lady. Both females were too engrossed in other things to notice Oikawa place the tiny device in his coat pocket and quietly leave.
The next day, Davis, Cody, Yolei, T.K., Kari and ken stopped by for their customary visit, and according to Yolei, Davis was hoping to convince him to admit whether he was gay or not, something that had been brought up thanks to an old picture Cody had found of Yukio and his father dancing. Both Cody and Yukio tried to explain to Davis that they had merely been having fun that day, and Cody's grandmother decided to take a picture of them, but nothing they said got through that kids thick skull.
As always, the meetings took place in Yukio's tiny, one room apartment. Kari and Yolei sat on the couch, while Davis and T.K. sat on the floor. Ken sat on Yukio's bed taking extra care not to mess the sheets up, and Cody sat on one of those shitty legless chairs people in japan use when they decide that cushions aren't proper enough for their tiny little table with legs that go barely a foot off the ground.
"Soooo?" Yolei asked as Yukio sat down at the table with Cody. "How did the interview go?" Yukio merely shrugged, and placed one arm on the table. "I hope it went well. The Manager seemed quite impressed with me after I fixed some coding that one of the interns had created. It was a mess, really-"
"Were any of the interns cute?" Davis interrupted.
Yolei kicked him in the head and started to scold him for his interruptions, when Ken abruptly hopped off of the bed. "Davis, Yolei! Quit fighting with each other!" He snapped. "Or else I'll haul both your asses outside and drive you home!"
As per usual, both Yolei and Davis fell quiet.
"Geez, Ken. We didn't mean to upset you like that." Davis said apologetically. Yolei nodded in a sincere way, and removed her foot from Davis' head.
Ken signed quietly and massaged his temples. "I'm sorry. It's just that my mom is pregnant and she fell down some stairs earlier today, and we don't know if the baby is all right. I've been a bit stressed out about it."
Kari and Yolei glanced at each other worriedly, and T.K. touched Ken's shoulder gently. "I'm sorry to hear that." He said quietly. "But the fact that you care so much means that you'll make a good big brother."
Ken nodded slowly and attempted to smile. "Thanks, T.K." He murmured quietly.
There was a short moment of silence, until Cody spoke up. "Hey, Davis? Wasn't there something you were going to ask Oikawa?"
At this one moment, everyone familiar with the whole Yukio-Is-Gay-Question-Mark thing looked around, excluding T.K. and, of course, Cody.
Yukio's eyes darted to the door for a split second as he decided whether or not running would be a good idea. In the end, he decided against it since they would be waiting for him to come back, and because he hardly had the money to buy a hotel to spend the night. Plus it was snowing outside and all he had on was a sweater and some jeans.
"Before I really say anything, I just want to tell you that you're surrounded by friends and none of us will judge you for your sexuality." Davis began in what Yukio assumed was supposed to be a comforting tone.
"Here we go." Yolei groaned.
"If I just admit that I'm gay, will you leave me alone?" Yukio asked tersely. "I don't really get what your fascination with this whole sexuality thing is." Davis grinned wolfishly, and shrugged. "I just care about my friends."
"But you never asked any of us about our sexuality." Kari said curiously, removing her winter coat. Yolei coughed awkwardly and glanced around the room. "Weeeelllll…..He did ask me…." She said slowly. "And I told him I was straight."
Yukio noticed Ken, T.K. and Cody glance guiltily at each other. "He asked me, too." T.K. murmured. "He also asked Ken and Cody as well."
Davis coughed nervously.
"Besides, didn't you tell him when you came out of the closet?" Cody questioned. "I mean, even Yukio knows…"
Another awkward and long pause filled the room.
"Come out of the closet?" Davis asked, tilting his head. "Isn't that a term used for gay people?" He then glanced from T.K. to Ken, Cody, Yukio, Yolei, then turned to face Kari. "You're gay?" He said.
Kari coughed and shrugged. "I'm Bisexual. I'm happy with girls and guys." She explained. "I sent you an e-mail about it, but you never responded. At first I thought you were mad, but you seemed fine."
Davis sat down for a minute, dumbstruck. Yukio sighed softly and glanced around. The room atmosphere was so thick and tense, you could cut it with a butter knife. Deciding that something must be done to break the tension before he choked, He came up with an idea.
"I made some Hot Chocolate." He declared. "I'll fix everyone a cup." And with than, he bounded out of the living 'room' and into a small area with an L-shaped kitchen counter that made up his so-called kitchen.
After the general confusion, (and by that we mean Davis) has calmed down, and everyone had a cup of Hot Chocolate in their hands, Yukio showed them the device he had found in the subway. Ken took the object from Yukio's hands and fiddled around with it for a few seconds. "Wow." He muttered. "I haven't seen a DS in years." Yolei took the DS from Ken. "I used to have one in High School." She gasped. Yukio shot them a curious stare, and hoped someone would explain to him what was going on. Kari was the first one to notice, and responded accordingly. "DS is short for Nintendo Dual Screen. It's a handheld gaming device. The top screen shows what's going on in the game, while the buttons and lower screen allow you to interact. The lower screen is a touch screen, and is the first Nintendo device to have one."
"Nice explanation, Kari." T.K. said. "You never came off to me as someone who knew much about this stuff." Kari held up her hands to reveal the IPhone she was hiding in her purse. "I don't actually." She giggled. "I just read this off of Wikipedia. Besides, the only electronic devices I'm interested in are my IPhone, and Kitty."
Yukio raised an eyebrow. "Kitty?" He questioned. Kari held up the black Sony Alpha camera that hung around her neck. "This," She said, pointing to it. "Is Kitty." Yukio nodded slowly. "Anyway," Yolei chirped. "Your DS is out of battery, so you should go by Game Stop or somewhere that sells chargers." Yukio fidgeted slightly. "It's not mine." He said, nodding to the DS. "I found it on the subway. To be honest, I didn't know what to do with it."
"Charger." Yolei repeated with her signature –well duh- expression. "You found it, so it's yours now." While Yolei was speaking, Ken was looking at something on the back of the DS. He pressed something down with his thumb, and a small chip popped out. "Looks like there's a game inside." T.K. noted, glancing over Ken's shoulder. "Good. Now Yukio won't have to buy one." Yolei declared, before picking up her Hot Chocolate a bit too enthusiastically.
"Regardless, what makes you guys think he'll -want- to play it?" Cody asked aloud. "I mean, Pokémon IS a kid's game." He placed his hot chocolate down, and turned to face him. "I mean, I don't have a problem if you do, but I don't want them to force this on you." Cody quickly glanced back down at hot chocolate. He seemed almost….coy?
"Do you play Pokémon, Cody?" Yukio asked, out of curiosity. Maybe if Cody knew how to play, he could ask him for help. It would certainly beat swallowing his pride to call Yolei, or even worse, Davis. "I have played…" Cody replied shyly. "Once or twice."
"Once or twice?" Davis teased. "By that do you mean every day?"
By the way Cody flinched, Yukio assumed Davis had a point.
"Okay, so I did play it a lot, but just because I played it doesn't mean he has to." Cody said defensively. "Besides, if I recall correctly, you lost every time we battled!"
Davis made a quiet gagging sound.
"Sounds like he's choking on his pride." T.K. teased gently. "Now there's a noise coming from Davis that I actually enjoy." Ken muttered into his cup, but Yukio could tell that Ken was merely joking by the look in his eye. "I'll try it." Yukio said, taking the DS back from Ken. "I guess it wouldn't hurt."