Impatience is a Virtue
My brother can be the most annoying person in the world sometimes. Well, okay, maybe like all the time. But when he's not inconveniently pissing me off by switching the channel when this really cute guy is on, or taking too much time in the bathroom when I need it so I can make myself beautiful to go capture my potential future husband's heart…he can be okay.
Like tonight. I mean, it's not like I have anything else better to do. So instead of sitting in my room and twirling my hair on a finger with a broken nail, I'm actually hanging out with my little brother's friends.
They're not bad or anything, I mean, most of them are my age anyway. And actually, a few of them are really popular, like Taichi-san, Sora-san, and Yamato-kun of course! Sometimes I wonder how different and amazing my social life would be had I won over Yamato-kun's heart, but considering that I'm such a proponent of true love—which he and Sora-san totally have—I've put all that to rest. Too bad nobody will believe me!
Anyway, so I decided to be nice and run out to get a few snacks and drinks and stuff. (Hey, like I said, I had nothing else better to do! It's not like I was all like, "Oh, ho hum, I think I'm going to be nice to Daisuke today and help him out!" Of course not!) Daisuke says that since Momoe-chan's little sister Miyako helps run the family's convenient store, she brings a lot of stuff, but it's always the host's responsibility to help out a little, too (especially since her parents don't appreciate her doing that all the time). I wish we owned a convenient store; we never have good snacks in our fridge.
I wasn't about to go so far and help him set-up, so I'm sitting on the couch watching him pour some chips into a bowl. He's gone out of his way to make himself look a little bit more presentable than usual, but he's still wearing those goofy goggles.
"For goodness' sake, Daisuke, you're hosting a party," I say to him. "You could at least take off those ridiculous things." I point to his head.
"For the last time, Jun," Daisuke retorts, his hands flying to his goggles as though to protect them, "they're a gift from Taichi-san, and it's a tradition to wear them when the others get together."
"Well, fine, jeez." I've been told the story behind them plenty of times, since I've got Xiaomon now and all, but if I have nothing else to tease him about, I choose those. I have to keep up with my goal of making fun of him at least ten times a day.
"You better not make this party really lame," he continues. "If you start screwing stuff up, I have the right to send you to your room."
"Ha!" I start laughing because he wishes so badly that he wasn't the baby of the family. "Last time I checked, I'm older than you. So, um, no."
He grinds his teeth and makes a fist, so I just sit back, sigh, and prepare for his usual shouting. But, luckily for me, the doorbell rings, and he quickly jumps to get it.
"Hi, Daisuke!"
I peer around the corner and recognize the girl, and I've seen the boy around sometimes, but I forget his name. It's Miyako, and it looks like she's about to fall over with the amount of bags she's carrying. Even the boy is helping her out, and their Digimon are riding along in a couple of the shopping bags. It's pretty cute!
"Food!"
I sigh and shake my head. Demiveemon is always the first one to the food. Always.
"Food!"
...And Xiaomon is never far behind him.
"Whatcha bring? Whatcha bring?" they both ask together, jumping up and down in excitement, as Miyako and the boy bring the bags over to the kitchen counter. Daisuke helps them, although Demiveemon and Xiaomon aren't making it easy as they impatiently try to take stuff out of the bags.
"Oh, stop it you guys!" Miyako laughs. "Don't worry, I brought all of your favorites!"
"Yay!" The Digimon high-five as they hear this.
Daisuke and I give each other a look. We've both commented on how it's funny that our Digimon get along so well when we barely go a day without making some snide comment to each other.
"Here you go." The boy gives a couple of those nasty liquid yogurt things to them, and they slurp away as Miyako brings other food to the kitchen table. Then, she notices me.
"Oh, hi Jun-san! Are you going to hang out with us tonight?"
I nod. "Yeah...I was going to make plans, but all of my friends are busy. I hope you don't mind."
"Oh! Not at all!" She gives a bright smile, which makes me smile back. "Considering you're one of the first new Chosen Children, we have to make you feel part of the group!"
"Thanks..." Even though I'm one of the new "Chosen Children" or whatever, I have to say that I don't feel so "Chosen." According to Izumi Koushirou, who's already asked me tons of questions, several new kids are getting Digimon every day. And really, how can I feel so special when it's my brother and his friends who've saved the world and all of that? I dunno...it's weird.
The boy comes over to the couch and sits down. He doesn't say anything; he's always seemed like the really quiet type. Well, I can't take quiet types, so I have to say something.
"Hey...I'm Jun, Daisuke's older sister. What's your name?"
"Hida Iori," he replies quietly. "And this is Upamon."
"Nice to meet ch'ya, d'gya!" the little white Digimon replies. …A Digimon that speaks Nagoya-ben. Really? Really?
"Nice to meet you, too..."
And then, really awkward silence.
But the doorbell rings again, so I decide to get it to avoid said silence.
"Yamato-kun! Sora-san! Nice to see you!"
Yamato-kun doesn't look very excited to see me. I wish everyone would just believe me already!
"Ah...Jun...hey..." Yamato-kun looks away awkwardly, but Sora-san is polite enough to smile.
I just roll my eyes. "Yamato-kun, I promise you that I am now totally capable of being around you without asking over and over if you'll go on a date with me." I clasp my hands together in delight and smile back at Sora-san. "You guys are the cutest thing anyway!"
"Aww...thanks, Jun-chan." Sora-san is so nice! "Are you going to be here tonight?"
"Mhmm! Hope you don't mind."
She shakes her head. "Of course we don't. Right, Yamato-kun?"
"Uh...right..." Yamato-kun just walks towards the food.
"I'm sorry about him," Sora-san apologizes, rolling her eyes as well.
"No, it's okay... I mean, I wish he could at least be my friend," I admit to her. "If...you're okay with that."
"It's fine, of course! It's just hard for him, I think, since a bunch of other girls want to be his friend, too...and more." She sighs and shakes her head again.
"Oh...that must be annoying for you, too, your boyfriend being wanted by half of Tokyo."
Sora-san just laughs. "We try to make jokes out of it more than anything else. The only really annoying thing is paparazzi...but anyway." She walks inside, and I close the door behind her. "He likes being with his friends 'cause it's away from all that."
"Right."
We talk for a few more minutes, and it makes me happy to reaffirm that Sora-san is such a nice person. She excuses herself to go to the restroom, and I start to look around. I notice that Hikari-chan, Taichi-san's younger sister, is talking with Miyako, so I figure that Taichi-san must be here as well.
When I find him, my mouth drops open.
He's talking with Daisuke, but his arm is around…Koushirou. Koushirou. The freaking computer nerd who uses all of the words I can't understand! I mean, beyond the fact that it's Koushirou of all people, it's a guy! Yagami Taichi-san the soccer star is gay!
I feel like freaking out, jumping up and down and pointing and gawking and telling everyone, but considering that no one else seems to even notice it...something tells me that they already know. I just gape at my brother, who is acting so calm and as though nothing is unusual. And there's Koushirou, blissfully nuzzled into Taichi-san arm while Taichi-san looks as though his date is some hot supermodel or something.
When Daisuke walks away from them, I waste no time in pulling him aside.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me about this!?" I demand of him.
"Uh...about what?" He seriously looks clueless.
"That!" I motion over to the couple.
He looks over, but when he looks back at me, he has a very stern expression on his face.
"Jun, you need to understand something: If you're going to hang out with us, you need to know that this is completely normal. There is nothing weird about Taichi-san and Koushirou. Once you hang around them for awhile, you'll realize that. Just don't be annoying about it, okay?"
"You mean that everyone acts as though it's...?" I blink a couple of times. "You guys weren't, you know, surprised or anything?"
"I mean, a little at first, but once we realized how good they were together and stuff, it was all fine."
"Well, I understand how you'd be okay with it..."
He winces. "Don't even go there, Jun."
I can't help but grin. "If everyone's so okay with them, why wouldn't they be okay with you?"
"They'd be fine with it, Jun, I just..." He grinds his teeth and fists again. "I'll tell them when I want to, okay!?"
"Oh, little brother..." My eyes wander for a minute, and that's when I notice that none other than Ichijouji Ken has joined the party.
I motion over to him with a shameless, mischievous grin, and Daisuke follows me. His eyes lay on him for quite a little while, so I take that as my cue to lean over and whisper to him, "Ken...Ken...oh, Ken!" I go on to make the most obnoxious moaning noises.
"Would you shut up, Jun!" he hisses through his teeth, giving me the dirtiest glare. Then he stomps away muttering, "Why do I have to talk in my sleep...!?"
I savor the moment and start laughing. I'm going to get him good tonight. And by get him good, I mean shove him out of the closet and make him confess to Mr. Ichijouji Ken!
The Digimon are all happily munching on the snacks, and the rest of us have formed a circle that takes up the whole living room, just so we can talk. Everyone's here now, including the recently reunited long-distance couple that is Jou-san and Mimi-chan, and Takeru-kun, who has his arm around Hikari-chan. Watching the group dynamic has actually been pretty entertaining.
Taichi-san and Yamato-kun bicker, while Koushirou-san and Sora-chan try their best to calm them down.
Jou-san looks simply delighted—and yet still has red cheeks of embarrassment—at Mimi-chan, who's rambling about how she's gotten into cooking lately to Miyako and Hikari-chan.
Takeru-kun is clearly disinterested in that, so he casually chats to Iori about how Daisuke spilled the beans about his and Hikari-chan's secret relationship to everyone a couple of weeks ago, which apparently ticked-off Hikari-chan but actually relieved him. According to them, it's because Taichi-san is overprotective, but he took it better than everyone expected (with a couple of death threats still thrown in if Takeru-kun breaks her heart, which of course, is totally warranted). Not quite sure what led Daisuke to do that besides the fact there might still be some residual bitter feelings about how Hikari-chan picked Takeru-kun over him, but hey, at least I don't have to listen to him ramble about that situation anymore! Of course, that was before he unlocked the other side of his sexuality…
And Daisuke? He happily talks to Ken, who listens intently and watches him with this calm smile on his face. They're actually kind of cute, the two of them, and even if Ken doesn't return Daisuke's feelings, they still make really awesome best friends. Ken comes over a lot, and I've talked with him a couple of times. He's as nice as they say he is on TV. Well, err, apparently that was back when he was evil, so I guess that was all fake, but anyway! He's nice and that's the point!
Right. So for the past fifteen minutes, everyone has been taking turns telling funny stories about school or the Digital World (which I still have yet to see). I've mostly been keeping to myself, trying to scheme up a plan, filing away at my broken nail.
"Hey, Jun-chan!"
I look up from my nail file. It's the first time anyone has addressed me for a while. "Hmm?"
"Do you have a funny story you could share with us?" Sora-chan has decided to invite me into the conversation.
Everyone is staring at me, and I go red a little bit. "I…um…well…" It feels like a rite of passage, or an initiation of sorts, the way they're looking at me. It would be kind of nice to feel more like a part of these "Chosen," so I scan my brain for ideas…but unfortunately most of them seem to involve me getting into a trouble while stalking a guy. I need to work on that… I'm about to give up hope, when suddenly…
I break into a wicked grin. Opportunity.
"Actually, I do have a funny story…"
I glance over to Daisuke, who's looking bored and distracted. Probably thinking about Ken, who's sitting there, completely oblivious. Well, I'm about to get his attention…
"So I have this friend, and, well, unfortunately he has this habit of talking in his sleep."
It doesn't take long for Daisuke's head to shoot up and give me an incredibly harsh glare. What number glare is that today? Thirteen? Yeah, that seems about average for any given day.
"Ooh, really?" Hikari-chan seems intrigued. "Onii-chan talked in his sleep for a period of time. I was even able to have conversations with him!"
"Hey! That stuff's personal!" Taichi-san interjects, with a slight pout on his face that Koushirou can't help but chuckle at.
"Well, in this case, I wasn't able to have conversations with him, but he did say everything he was saying in his dreams out loud."
Daisuke looks like he's ready to pummel me. I see myself slowly closing in on a victory; it's my job as his onee-san, after all.
"So one night he asks me to stay in his room so he can know exactly what he's saying, because he's afraid to go to sleepovers where someone could hear. And let me tell you, he said some of the most hysterical things."
A couple of people start giggling. "Like what?" Miyako asks.
"Oh, this one time he was like, 'No! No! The catfish! We must catch all of the catfish!' And another time he said, 'Please, Mr. Hamster, can you give me back the salad dressing?'"
More people begin laughing. Daisuke seems to relax a little, thinking that maybe I'll only mention those silly things. Ah, but before he gets too comfortable…
"'Oh no! A giant peacock has eaten my ramen cart!'"
There's still laughter, and Daisuke tenses up again. A couple eyebrows rise, though; that should have been a dead giveaway that it's Daisuke, but this all makes sense anyway because he only dreams about food. Oh, and Ken.
"And oh, here's the kicker: 'Oh, oh, I want to kiss him so—'"
"That's enough, Jun!"
Silence.
…My brother isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.
Daisuke's now standing up, his fists clenched, and everyone is staring at him. He's such an idiot; now that he's said something, it's obvious that it's him. I thought that maybe he would be smart enough to realize that, but I guess not…
"Daisuke…is she talking about you?" Koushirou asks, incredulous, blinking in confusion.
"I, uh, no! I just don't think that she should, uh, be telling people about someone's personal life!"
"But why would you care, Daisuke?" Yamato-kun asks, clearly not buying it.
"Yeah, you had no trouble telling everyone that Takeru-kun and I were in a relationship a couple of weeks ago," Hikari-chan mentions, still sounding kind of irked.
"It's just, well…"
"Wait, wait, please correct me if I'm wrong. Did my ears just deceive me, or did Jun-san say that you wanted to kiss a guy?"
Miyako, I think you're my new best friend.
Daisuke can't escape. Perfection. He looks at me with a mixture of anger and fear in his eyes, and I coyly smile back.
"Daisuke, if you won't tell them, I will."
Daisuke grinds his teeth in fury, but then his eyes dart around the room nervously as he realizes that everyone is waiting for an explanation. He seems to concede defeat, takes a deep breath, and states: "Guys…I'm, uh…I'm bisexual…"
No one says anything for a moment before Taichi-san reacts, "Dude. Why would you have any problem telling us that? I mean, uh, especially with me and Koushirou?"
"I don't know, okay!?" he screams, making everyone jump a little. "I was going to tell everyone when I was comfortable! Which I didn't plan on happening so soon! Jun, this is all your fault!"
"Daisuke! You know it's okay!" Mimi-chan exclaims.
"Yeah, really, Daisuke. Everyone's okay with that," Iori adds, finally saying something after what seems like forever. "I mean, everyone's so comfortable with Taichi-san and Izumi-senpai that it's just normal."
Everyone chimes in with similar encouraging comments, and I can't help but beam with pride. Yeah, I know I'm kind of obnoxious, but at least this is one less thing Daisuke can worry about. See? I'm always just trying to be helpful! While, of course, providing myself some entertainment…
"Miyako, what's bisexual?" I hear her Digimon ask. When I glance over, I find that the rest of the Digimon are all looking over for the answer as well. Hmm, I guess they wouldn't know much about that, would they…
"It means Daisuke like both girls and guys," Miyako replies.
"Ohhhhhhhhh," they all chant together. Everyone starts laughing.
Through all the commotion, I realize that the only one who hasn't reacted is Ken, who is ridiculously quiet. He's staring at the ground, pensive, and I try really hard to read what he's feeling, but it's difficult to tell with him…
Ah, well. I'm hoping they'll move on and start asking him who he likes, but as luck would have it, the doorbell rings.
It's the pizza guy, who's really late. After calming down the Digimon and paying him, it doesn't take long for everyone to be caught-up in eating pizza. As I indulge in my slice of pepperoni, I feel a tap on my shoulder.
I look up, and to my surprise, it's Ken.
"Hello, Jun-san, um… I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute?"
I blink a couple of times before I break into a wide grin. Well, this sounds promising! "Sure, Ken. Let's go to my room."
We try to walk over discretely, and as I close the door, I ask, "Alright, so what's up?"
"I, um…" And that's when I notice that he's blushing. The Ichijouji Ken, blushing! I'm a little surprised, but nothing prepares me for what he says next: "I was wondering…considering this, uh, new information I've recently acquired about Daisuke…do you think I would have a chance with him?"
Am I really hearing what I think I'm hearing?
For the first time in my life, it seems as though my plans are actually helping someone out!
My initial reaction is to jump up and down and absolutely squeal with joy, but I stop myself. This isn't the moment for Ken to find out. No, not at all. I'm not the person who should be telling him; it's not my place. My work is done. Now it's all up to Daisuke.
So I control my smile and simply shrug.
"I mean, I guess it's more likely since he isn't completely straight, right?"
"Well, yes, statistically speaking, I'd say it's certainly more likely," he responds. "Granted, I'm not sure if it's significantly more likely, but… Ah, well, perhaps I'm just being tragically optimistic."
Strangely enough, he doesn't seem to be embarrassed or shy about this. He's openly thinking out loud, his pointer finger placed right below his lips, staring off into space. There is still a hint of red on his cheeks, though. Oh, this is just adorable!
"Well," I chide, "if you're so curious, why don't you just ask him?"
"That would be a reasonable course of action to take, right?" He looks back at me and sighs. I'm still not entirely sure why he's confiding in me. I mean, he did just witness the fact that I'm really, really terrible at keeping secrets…
"Hey, that's always been my strategy," I reply, shrugging sheepishly. "It doesn't always work, but—"
He raises an eyebrow at me.
"…Okay, it usually doesn't work, but I just don't see the point in keeping it to myself, you know!?"
"Well, I'm not sure I would take as an—hmm—aggressive approach as you do, Jun-san."
"I wouldn't expect you to." I laugh. Ken's a nice guy. Not quite sure what he sees in Daisuke, but this is certainly the cheeriest I've probably ever seen him, so I guess it must do good things for him.
And clearly, it would do wonders for Daisuke if they got together. Ah, requited love! It's such a beautiful thing!
I cross my arms and smirk, interested in what's about to happen in the next few minutes. "So what are you going to do?"
"Well, you're not advising me against the idea," he says, "so I suppose I can take that as a good sign."
I laugh. "You're the smart one."
"I also don't expect that he'll be too taken-aback by my proposition to be more-than-friends if he does not return the feelings. Clearly he understands what it's like to have those kinds of sentiments, so he couldn't possibly feel hostile towards me. And he's such a happy-go-lucky person that I'm sure everything would return to normal quite smoothly, and—"
"Ken."
He looks up me like a deer in headlights.
"Just go tell him."
I can't help it: I give him a little wink.
He bursts into a giant smile and nods as he walks out of the room.
I stand there and let out a pent-up "Ha!" I can't even begin to believe this! Ichijouji Ken—the Ichijouji Ken—actually likes my brother! My dimwitted little brother! I'll never understand it, not for a moment, but wow! My brother is actually going to have his dreams come true! My brother is actually going to get to be in the arms of the one he loves!
And then it hits me.
My little brother is having more luck in his love life than I ever have.
…Well, this sucks.
Pushing that thought aside, I heave a satisfied sigh and walk back out to the living room.
I haven't taken two steps outside my bedroom door when Daisuke grabs my arm with a death grip and drags me to his bedroom.
He slams the door behind him and hisses, "What the hell did you tell Ken!?"
More sighs on my part. Oh, Daisuke, just have patience for once! Just once! Especially now! "I didn't tell Ken anything."
"That's bullcrap! That's bullcrap and you know it!"
I just laugh. "Look, all you have to do is go ask Ken what we talked about, and you'll find out for yourself."
He opens his mouth to yell at me again, but closes it and rests his shoulders when he realizes I'm right.
That happens it lot. And each time, it is never any less satisfying.
He suddenly gets really nervous. "Did…Did he say anything about me? Like is he uncomfortable being best friends now? I-I can't afford to lose his friendship."
"Daisuke, didn't you hear what I just said? Go. Talk. To. Him."
Gosh, you know, I was going to leave it up to them to sort it all out, and I'd still really like them to do it on their own, but it seems as though it's still going to take some more orchestrating on my part.
Boys! They're so silly!
Daisuke just shuts his mouth, grunts at me in defeat, and walks away.
My brother is so stupid!
When I walk back out to the living room—first making sure that no one else is suddenly going to whisk me off to another interrogation room—I'm hoping for the best-case scenario: Daisuke on his knees professing his love to Ken. Of course, what I find instead is both of them standing on the opposite sides of the room, stealing bashful glances at each other. Oh, this is just infuriating. This could all be solved with one simple step, but again, I know I should really stay out of it.
I skillfully slither my way across the room to where Ken is talking to Koushirou, and I attempt to excuse him from the conversation in my most polite Japanese, but Koushirou just ends up looking at me funny as I put on a completely guilty grin and guide Ken a few steps away. I swear, that kid just makes me so nervous! He always talks really politely, and I never know if I'm going to insult him if I'm not polite back and stuff!
"Why haven't you told Daisuke yet?" I borderline hiss to him through clenched teeth.
Ken goes slightly pink and averts his eyes as he replies, "I don't know… I'm still nervous, I guess…"
"There's no reason to be nervous!"
He looks back at me with a serious, confused, and yet inquisitive look.
I mentally face-palm myself as I insist, "Just go do it!" And I trudge away without another word.
Then, with a little less grace than before, I slide on over to Daisuke, who loudly protests as I death-grip him by the arm and drag him away just as he's about to bite into another slice of pizza.
"This is no time for eating!" I growl. "It's time for Ken!"
"But Juuuuun," he whines, "What if he—"
"Less worrying and more talking!" And with that, I shove him in Ken's direction. He looks back at me for a moment with a worried look, then turns towards Ken, who has been watching him. He instantly notices Daisuke's gaze and hastily turns away with noticeable and embarrassed shyness.
I place myself on the couch directly between them and cross my arms and legs. Look at the two of them. Pathetic. Here they are, perfectly reciprocating each other's feelings, and they don't even have the balls to tell each other! Hmph! I've never had any problem telling the other person how I feel! As long as there's a chance, why not!? And there's always at least a .1 percent chance!
Seriously, I don't have the capacity for this kind of patience!
They spend the next five minutes or so darting each other's eyes and fiddling with their phones to make it look like they're focused on something else. I try to just sit back and watch the show, but honestly I'm literally about to explode! Miyako and Hikari-chan end up joining me on the couch, and it's not long before they notice the two and start whispering to each other, giggling every so often. I'm not quite sure what their speculation is exactly, but I think anyone with half a brain could figure out what's going on.
I take a peek at the clock on the wall. Okay. If they're not making out within the next five minutes, I'll get up and pester them again.
A couple of the others join Miyako and Hikari-chan, and it's not long before they're alerted to the grand display of awkwardness my little brother and his soon-to-be-boyfriend are putting on. We all sit, with big smirks and eyebrows raised, and look back and forth: Daisuke's gazing at Ken, oh, nope, Ken starting to look over, now Daisuke's back to fake-texting on his phone. Ken looks away, Daisuke looks back, and, OH! No, aw, it looked like Ken was about to take a step forward, but nope, he chickened out and is back to staring at the wall next to him.
Seriously, we need to get one of those overly enthusiastic sports announcers that I always overhear when Daisuke is watching soccer to narrate this thing. That, and some popcorn. That would be just perfect.
I look at the clock again. It's been three minutes. Come on, guys, don't let me down! True love is at stake! And why the hell would you want to give up true love!? Like, that's what life is about, DUH!
Three minutes and fifteen seconds. I think my eye is starting to twitch. If I were in one of their shoes, I would have glomped the other one ages ago! Like, I have never in a million years been as certain about someone liking me back as they both are right now! Just the patience…the patience… They both deserve to be rewarded the "Crest of Patience" or something right now! I just don't understand how they can do it!
Three minutes and forty-five seconds. Come on, guys, I don't want to have to bother you again. It shouldn't even be necessary!
WHY AREN'T YOU MAKING OUT YET!?
…Um, not like I want to see my little brother make out with someone, gross. I just can't stand to see love at a standstill like this! It's like they're both waiting to jump out of an airplane to go skydiving, but they just won't jump! Psht, but me of course, it's like I've skydived lots of times, on jumps much more riskier than this! Like, jumps in thunderstorms and stuff! This is like skydiving on a perfect summer day!
Four minutes and ten seconds. Fifty seconds left before I bother them. They haven't stopped their little game, and let's see, now it's Hikari-chan, Miyako, Takeru-kun, Mimi-chan, and Iori who's watching them. Just looking back and forth like I am. Oh my god, this is infuriating. I really don't think I can wait another—what is it now?—thirty-nine seconds. I am seriously going to blow up.
No, calm down, Jun, calm down. You can do it. Do your breathing exercises! Exercise restraint! Restrain your desires! Desire to be calm! Calm down! Yes, yes, just like this, I can do it, twenty-eight more seconds, I can—
"OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!"
The next thing I know, the entire room is silent and everyone is staring at me. I get up and stomp over to Ken.
"Ken, Daisuke likes you."
I stomp over to Daisuke.
"Daisuke, Ken likes you."
I stomp right into the middle of the room and throw my hands in the air.
"NOW KISS!"
Then I stomp right on back to where I was sitting, turn around, and sit my bottom down.
…If anyone deserves the Crest of Impatience, I think it's me.
I look up, and both of the boys are bright red, still averting each other's eyes, but now they each have a small, shy smile. The rest of the group, well, they're all kind of laughing awkwardly and just waiting for what will come next.
"Well…" Yamato-kun starts. I look over at him immediately, and he is just incredibly amused. I beam a bit. "Get on with it then," he finishes.
Everyone gives genuine laughs, including myself. The boys blush again and then finally—finally—they turn to each other and meet in the middle of the room. They work up the guts to look up at each other, and when their eyes first meet, it's like the joined gaze was too hot, and they look away real fast. But then they look up again, and Ken is the first to speak.
"Is…is that true, Daisuke?"
"Heh, yeah… Is it true for you, too?"
"Yes."
They both just look at each other for a few moments.
"Ahem!"
Daisuke shoots yet another glare at me—and of course I'm just grinning wildly and innocently—but Ken just smiles, places his fingers under Daisuke's chin, turns Daisuke's now-confused face towards his, and places a kiss on his lips.
And of course, the entire room awws and then claps.
"Well, looks like we're no longer the token gay couple of the group," Taichi-san says from my right, and I look over to see Koushirou walking towards him.
"It appears that you're correct, Taichi-san," he replies as he places himself next to Taichi-san's side. "Though, I have to say, the chances of there being two same-sex couples in our group of friends was, well, quite unlikely."
"The more, the merrier?" Taichi-san jokes, grinning at Koushirou.
Koushirou just sighs and shakes his head, but of course he's still smiling. "I suppose so."
They both chuckle as Taichi-san puts an arm around Koushirou and gives him a small side hug.
I smile lightly at them. I guess they are pretty cute.
Ken and Daisuke are simply glowing at each other as they walk out of the room's spotlight to a more convenient and private place to talk. Daisuke looks back at me again, and it seems like he wants to beat me to a bloody pulp, but I can tell that secretly, he's pretty thankful.
"Hey Jun," he calls.
"What?"
"You misbehaved. You should go to your room."
I just throw back my head and laugh. Ken is laughing, too.
"Not a chance, little brother."
We just give each other friendly sibling grins and he goes back to giving a loving gaze at Ken, who gladly returns it.
I really can't help but just puff myself up with pride.
"Well, I have to say, Jun…" I look over. It's Yamato-kun, with Sora-san by his side. They're both smiling at me. "In this case, looks like your—hmm—audacity was pretty convenient."
Yamato-kun is complimenting me! I just want to hug him! Jump up and down and then give him a big, big—
No, no, Jun. No. Just say thank you and be on with your day!
"Thank you, Yamato-kun," I reply with unusual calmness. "I just, well, did what needed to be done!"
They both laugh. "Good for you, Jun." And with that, they go back to talking with others.
I give a satisfied sigh and place my hands on my hips as I sit on my valiant throne, pleased at what I've accomplished in my household tonight.
Sometimes, I think, my impatience can be a virtue.
A/N: I'm so happy that this is finally done! This story has been sitting on my external hard drive for literally more than three years, and I've been writing it in chunks when I've felt like it. (The file was named "omgitsjun," which always amused me.) Now it's finally finished! Hooray! Hope you enjoyed it. I quite like writing from Jun's point-of-view.