Disclaimer: I don't own Junjou Romantica.
A/N: Dedicated to junjofangirl18 for the very nice PM she sent me. And for the four people who reviewed - faecree, invisiblemage, Paparoxi and Saysaeri and to everyone who favorited and followed. Thank you!
And, Of course to my dear sister wasabi cake who beta-ed Chapter 7 of When Cherry Blossoms Fall. Thank you!
This will be a dedication fic where I'll be posting chapters dedicated to other people as 'Thank You' for anything.
Warning: Unbeta-ed. Pointless fluff.
The Play Ground Imp's Home
"Young Master," Tanaka's soft voice pulled him out of his dream. He felt a soft pat on his shoulder as he slowly stirred from his sleep. "It's time to wake up."
He sluggishly opened his eyelids, revealing two purple orbs. The first thing he saw was the loyal Usami butler making his way to the window. The white curtains were pulled to the side, letting the soft morning sunshine flood his room.
He sat up then smiled as he remembered his promise to his new found friend. "Good morning, Tanaka-san." He mumbled as he moved to the side of the bed where the food cart was placed.
"You seem like you had a nice dream, Young Master." Tanaka commented as he made his way to the food cart. He took the pitched of warm milk then poured it over a tall glass. He handed it over to his young master with practice ease, a product of everyday routine.
Usami Akihiko's parents were always out of the country. The master of the house Usami Fuyuhiko was busy with the family business, while the mistress Usami Reiko was busy spending money. It had been part of his job to personally attend to the boy's needs as his parents had no time for him. From the first time he had held the young boy, he treated him as his own son.
"Can we go to the park today, Tanaka-san?" Akihiko looked at him hopefully, a smile plastered on his face. Through the many years that he had served the Usami mansion, it was the first time he had seen the heir waking up with a soft and genuine smile.
"Of course. Whatever you want to do, Young Master. It's your summer vacation after all."
After the small conversation, the master and the butler proceeded with the usual morning routine – Tanaka assisting his young master in taking a bath and dressing up. Although Akihiko was in his usual polite and finesse manner, there was slight haste in everything he did. Tanaka could only imagine what was going on inside the little master's head. He was definitely, definitely, excited to go to the park. The silver blond almost hopped into the limousine, still with elegance.
The ride to the park, which was usually in silence, was filled with Akihiko asking almost every minute "Do you think Misaki's already there?" or "Do you think he's waiting for me?" It was adorable how Akihiko got so excited to see his new friend.
As they were about to park, the limousine had not even come to a full stop yet when Akihiko opened the door and jumped out of the car. Tanaka could only sigh at this as he followed his young master.
"Can you see him? Can you see Misaki?" Akihiko asked.
"Can't see him, Young Master. Maybe he's hiding somewhere."
"Oh." Realization dawned on Akihiko. "He does love to hide in the bushes." The silver blond started running to the bushes. He searched and searched, calling his new playmate's name every now and then, but, he failed to find him. He had searched every part of the playground until he felt exhausted. However, there was no sign of Misaki. With a defeated sigh, he slumped under the giant slide.
"Young Master, maybe he's still in his house." Tanaka tried to lift Akihiko's mood. The boy looked up to him with a sliver of hope in his eyes. "Why don't you play with your best friends?"
"I'll wait for Misaki here." And so, Tanaka and Akihiko waited by the slides. But, an hour past and not even the shadow of the playground imp showed up.
"Usagi-chan?" The master and the butler both turned their heads. It was Takahiro who called. "Is there something wrong?"
"Takahiro," Akihiko acknowledged his best friend's presence. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just waiting for someone."
"Well, you've been there since I got here. Would you like to come to my house, instead? Maybe whoever you're waiting for won't be coming."
Akihiko looked at Tanaka as if asking for his permission. The older man smiled then said, "I think Takahiro-kun has a point, Young Master. You can wait for your friend tomorrow. Maybe then he'll show up."
The silver blond stood up then dusted off his short pants. "I'll go with you then."
Takahiro's face lit up. "Great! My baby brother will be happy to have a new playmate! He wasn't allowed to go out today 'coz he accidentally fed the gold fish with toy gun pellets."
Akihiko wondered if it was accidental.
xxx
"We're here!" Takahiro announced as the limousine stopped in front of a traditional Japanese manor. It was not as grand as the Usami manor, but, it can easily be seen that it belonged to a well-to-do family, as is all the houses in their subdivision.
The boys hopped out of the car with Tanaka in tow. Akihiko marveled at the large koi pond that greeted him when they stepped in the manor. There was a wooden bridge in the middle and bamboos lining the sides.
"You like it? We can play there later. But, I have to go see my baby brother first."
Akihiko answered with a nod as he followed Takahiro. Before they could even enter the house, a very naked Misaki came running out, hair covered in bubbles, his little wang was dangling in the air. There maids going after him.
"Young Master, please stop running! You might get hurt!" The brunet only answered with a giggle.
"Misaki!" Takahiro called, catching the younger boy's attention.
"Niiiiiii-chaaaaan!" The four-year old hugged his brother, not minding his nakedness.
"Misaki, you're running naked again."
"Young Master, please finish your bath." The maid approached the siblings. However, as she was about to grab the youngest Takahashi, the boy detached himself from his brother and started running again. He was not able to go far, though, as Tanaka was waiting for him. Like a wild animal, he was caught in a trap that was the butler's arms.
Akihiko could just watch, still not believing that the infamous playground imp was Takahiro's little brother.
"Looks like the little master of the Takahashi manor is really, really naughty." Tanaka laughed softly.
"Let me go!" The brunet trashed but to no avail. "We're still playi – AAAAHHHHH" he shouted as he was lifted up in the air. He shouted in glee when he landed on the man's arms again. "Do it again!"
Tanaka shook his head. "Finish your bath first," he reprimanded the way a doting grandfather would his grandson. "My Young Master is here to visit you and you can't play with him if you're naked."
The boy followed where Tanaka was looking then smiled widely as he recognized Akihiko. "Suki-san's friend!"
Akihiko laughed softly, remembering that he failed to introduce himself yesterday.
"You know Usagi-chan?" Takahiro asked his younger brother.
"We played hide and seek yesterday." Misaki answered. "Hello Usagi-chan!"
"Hello, Misaki. Hurry up and finish your bath so we can play."
The brunet answered with an okay then jumped out of Tanaka's arms only to pull the maid into the house to finish his bath.
"My brother's adorable, isn't he?" Takahiro said as he motioned them to follow him inside the house.
"I didn't know your brother's the playground imp."
Takahiro stared at him, brows furrowed, confusion evident on his face. "You mean the one who terrorizes kids in the park? No, no!" then, he smiled. "My brother's an angel. He's not the playground imp."
Akihiko could only nod while thinking, Takahiro really is an airhead. He only smiled as his second best friend pulled him by the hand.
Takahiro lead him to the playroom very much like the one he had in his house. The floor was carpeted with puzzle mats of different letters and shapes. Several shelves lined the walls where the toys were neatly stacked. The ceiling was decorated with dangling airplanes and glow-in-the-dark stickers.
Once the boys were settled, Tanaka bid his farewell and went back to the mansion, leaving his master to the Takahashi household's care.
The two boys had agreed to build the Chuchu train tracks while waiting for Misaki. Building things were one of the reasons why Akihiko and Takahiro became friends. They were both ahead of their age when it comes to intelligence so it had become easy for them to get along.
They had meticulously connected each piece until the tracks covered the whole floor.
"Usagi-chan, how did you and my brother meet?" Takahiro was the first one to disturb the silence.
Akihiko contemplated whether to tell Takahiro that his brother kidnapped Suzuki-san or not. It did not take him long to decide that Takahiro is not ready to know of Misaki's mischievous side so he said, "He asked me to play with him because he thought I was lonely." It was partially the truth.
There was a proud smile on his second best friend's face when he said, "That's my brother, always trying to help out."
Akihiko just smiled in answer because somehow, despite Misaki's mischief, he knew that the younger boy's intentions are pure.
Akihiko was elevating one part to make it look like a bridge when Misaki came stumbling in, fully dressed, behind him was a middle age man resembling Takahiro. His green eyes sparkled as he caught sight of the elaborate train track Akihiko and Takahiro had built.
"I want to play, too! I want to play, too!" Misaki jumped up and down.
"You've eaten too much sugar again," the man said as he lifted Misaki up.
"Otou-san!" Takahiro greeted as he ran to the man and hugged his legs. "Welcome home, Otou-san."
The oldest Takahashi knelt down and hugged Takahiro back. "Did you miss me?" Takahiro answered with a hum.
Akihiko just watched, feeling a little out of place. The familial display of affection was uncommon in the Usami household and he could not help but feel envious of Misaki and Takahiro.
When his attention turned to Misaki, the boy was staring at him, as if reading his mind. Misaki squirmed out of his father's arms and ran to Akihiko. He smiled his most dazzling smile then hugged the older boy. Akihiko stiffened, not knowing how to react.
"Usagi-chan wants a hug too!" Misaki declared.
The head of the Takahashi household approached them. Then, he ruffled Akihiko's hair.
"Hello, Usami-kun. We weren't introduced yet. I'm Nanjiro Takahashi, Misaki and Takahiro's father."
Akihiko bowed his head. "It's nice to meet you, Takahashi-san."
"Wow. You're really polite just as Takahiro said." Nanjiro Takahashi stood up. "I'll leave you three now. Misaki, behave yourself, okay?" then he turned to Takahiro. "Take care of our guest, big brother." He teasingly ruffled his eldest son's hair.
"Don't worry, Otou-san! I wil!"
So, the three boys were left to play by themselves.
XXX
When the three boys got tired of playing with the Chuchu Train, they resorted to take Akihiko on a tour around the manor. However, they were ushered back to playing inside the house when Misaki attempted to jump to the koi pond because he wanted to swim with the fish.
They ended cooped up in the playroom, surrounded by pillows, as they tell their own adventures at the park. When they ran out of stories to tell, Takahiro pulled out a book from one of the shelves. Opening the first page, the picture of a pumpkin greeted them. Takahiro and Akihiko already knew how to read, so Takahiro declared that either one of them should read aloud for Misaki to understand. However, Misaki protested.
"I want to tell the story!"
"But, Misaki, you don't know how to read yet."
"I do."
Takahiro chuckled good-naturedly. "Okay, okay. You do the reading."
And so, Misaki's picture reading began.
The second page showed a farmer on his backyard garden touching a giant pumpkin. The text read:
'It was a very nice day and the farmer visited his garden. He was happy to see his pumpkin had grown. He said, "This is perfect for making a pumpkin head!"'
Misaki said aloud, "Mister Farmer went to the garden. And, there he saw a monster pumpkin and he said, 'Yum! Yum! Pumpkin soup!'"
Akihiko and Takahiro stifled a laugh.
"Nii-chan, Usagi-chan, are you laughing at me?" Misaki pouted.
"Of course not." It was Akihiko who answered. "Why don't you continue with the story?"
"Oh… okay." Misaki flipped another page. It showed the farmer carving the pumpkin's face. The text read:
"And so the farmer brought the pumpkin inside his house and started carving the pumpkin's face."
Misaki read aloud, "It turned out that the pumpkin was an evil pumpkin and he controlled Mister Farmer to make him a face!"
Akihiko and Takahiro just giggled at Misaki's interpretation. They found his efforts adorable. Misaki interpreted the giggles as excitement on the stories progress because who would not be excited when you have an evil pumpkin?
A few more pages and Misaki's reading became slurred as he fought to keep his eyes open. It didn't take long before he involuntarily leaned on Akihiko as he succumbed to sleep. Takahiro and Akihiko just smiled as they both watch the youngest boy doze off.
Takahiro laid him on one of the pillows. After that, both he and Akihiko settled down with Misaki in between them. Soon, they too slumbered, following Misaki to dreamland.
And this is how Tanaka found his Young Master when he came to fetch him.
-end of chapter 2-
Thank you for reading!