Chapter 7

"Thanks for, uh, stopping by today." Cecil said with only a slight smiled as he showed his friends to the door. "I'm sorry for worrying you so much."

"Oh, quit apologizing already!" Iori exclaimed, "We already said its okay! Besides, that's what friends are for!"

"You're leaving all ready?" Cecil's Mother called from the kitchen, "Why not stay for dinner? I certainly don't mind. Or why not all night? You all go to the same school, so it's okay."

"Hey, maybe someone should stay." Taichi whispered, the group all leaning in to each other, "You know, just in case?"

"No, no, you don't have to. You've already done enough." Cecil said, his hands waving in the air.

"Yeah, Taichi's right." Inaba said, "But of course, Iori, Layla, and I are out of the question there. So it has to be one of you two."

"Guys. I'm sure it will be fine!" Cecil was actually starting to panic again. He was happy that they would go as far as to do this; too, bug he was also afraid that something worse would happen if someone did stay.

"I wouldn't mind if no one else can." Layla said her voice barely audible.

"Layla, no. I said its okay. I can handle it!" Why were they ignoring him?

"I know I'm the one who suggested it, but I'm honestly not sure if I can or not." Taichi frowned, "What about you, Aoki?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can." Aoki smiled.

"Great! Then it's settled." Inaba exclaimed, "See you all tomorrow."

And then they left, aside from Aoki.

The two boys turned to each other. "Are you really sure this is a good idea?" Cecil whined, "I mean, what about clothes? I'm pretty sure my uniform will be too small for you."

Aoki placed his hand on his chin and looked Cecil up and down, making him uncomfortable. Then he set his elbow on Cecil's shoulder. "Yeah, you are kind of small."

"Oh shut up." Cecil turned to go inside.

"So what's for dinner?" Aoki followed.

"I don't know. Why don't you do look for yourself." He said as they headed for the stairs.

"But I'm babysitting you, so I'm not allowed to leave you alone."

"Babysitting, huh? Then should I start crying and make you feed me?" Upstairs he opened his door and let Aoki in first.

"Yeah, you're right." Aoki said as he took a seat on the floor. "You're definitely more like a dog."

The first thing that came into Cecil's mind was not the animal, but rather the events from the night before. His smile faltered and he looked away from Aoki. "So what do you want to do?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Well, what do you have to do?"

"Uhm…" He looked around his room, searching for anything they could do.

As if on cue, the door flung open, surprising the two boys. In strutted his older Sister, happily calling "Oh Cecil, I'm ho-" She stopped one she saw Aoki, "Oh! You have a friend over… Well this is a pleasant surprise!" She sighed, placing her hands on her hips.

"Yeah. He's staying the night." Cecil said.

"But isn't it a school night?"

"Mom was the one who originally suggested it."

"All right… Well, are you going to introduce us or will I forever be known as the obnoxious sister?"

"You'll be known as that anyway." Cecil smirked, the comment making Aoki smile as well.

"Oh just shut up and do it, shorty."

Cecil laughed, "All right. Cleo, this is Aoki. Aoki, this is my older sister, Cleo."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Aoki said, bowing his head slightly.

"Wow, he even has manners! You should learn a few things from him." She came in and took a seat on the floor with them.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, where have you been all day?"

She gave a wide smile, "A date."

"Ooo~" Cecil gawked like a five year old. "I'm gonna tell Daddy~!"

"Shut up, he already knows!" She exclaimed, shoving him playfully. "But what about you? I hear you didn't go to school today. Were you sick?"

"W-well… No. Not really." Suddenly he felt extremely nervous. He had completely forgotten the reason he had said that he didn't go to school was because of the bruise on his face. That bruise, as he said, was a result of a fight between he and his sister, but that's not what actually happened. If she were to ask about it, he would have to tell her a different story than the one he told his friends, however, as one of those friends was currently in the room as well, that would not be a wise choice. If only he had thought through this before hand…

Luckily, it seemed she hadn't noticed it yet or anything… Somehow.

"So you skipped then." Her tone changed to a scolding one.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"You naughty boy! What did Mom and Dad say about it when they found out? What did you do all day? And if you weren't sick, why did you stay home? Don't tell me you just skipped because you wanted to. Come on, Cecil, you're I high school now, you're better than that!"

And there was the question. "Mom has yet to say anything, no surprise there, and Dad… He was really angry."

"… Did he yell?" Now she sounded almost sympathetic.

Cecil nodded, "They heard it." He pointed to Aoki, who also nodded.

"What did he say?"

"Nothing really…"

"Why am I even asking you." She shook her head and turned to face Aoki, "What did he say to Cecil?"

Aoki shrugged, "We couldn't really make anything out, because we were in here and they were downstairs."

"Oh." She folded her arms and looked away, "Well at least he had the decency to not yell in front of you all."

"Cleo, Cecil, and friend, dinner is ready!" They heard Mom call from downstairs. Cecil thought that this was the first time he had actually been called down to dinner in quite possibly his whole life. Still, though, he knew it only was because they were trying to put up a facade.

The three got up and headed downstairs and into the kitchen where they were greeted by a delicious smell.

"I'll come in and sit in a second." Cleo said to Mom, then disappearing into the living room.

"All right, sweetie." Mother replied, "You two go ahead and sit at the table. I'll be out there with the food in just a second. Oh, wait, Cecil. I almost forgot. Could you go get your Father? I think he's still in the basement or something."

"Yeah, sure." Cecil thoughtlessly replied.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Aoki asked, worry written all over his face.

It was then that Cecil realized what he would be doing. He had to go downstairs, where his Dad was, alone. "No, I'll be fine." Cecil lied. Then he left, heading toward the basement.

The stairs descending down into the dungeon were dark, with only a small light peeking under a door at the end of a long hallway. Cecil took slow, quiet steps as he got closer to the dreaded destination. What if he did try to do something? They were all alone down here, and in this house, the sound doesn't travel as well as in others. He sighed as he stood before the door, not wanting to go any further. He silently reached up and tapped his knuckles on the on the door.

"H-he-hey, d… Dad? Dinner is ready." He said, his voice sounding shaky.

Suddenly the door opened and Cecil tried to jump back as two arms shot out and wrapped around him. Then he was pulled tightly against the man's chest as they slowly started to back into the room. Cecil's mind screamed at him to do something and to fight back.

"G-get off me!" He exclaimed, pushing away from the man. He dug his feet into the ground and pounded against the man's chest.

"Pathetic." The man whispered, these things having next to no effect on him.

With one more, a better idea, Cecil quickly brought up his right knee, swiftly ramming it into the man's crotch. As he immediately doubled over in pain, Cecil made his getaway. Not needing to think on it, he bolted for the door.

"What's up with you?" Mom asked as Cecil entered the room, again. Cecil only shook his head as he took his seat next to Aoki, who was sitting next to Cleo, leaving three other open seats, both of them slowly picking away at the food on their plates.

His friend leaned in and asked, "Did something happen?"

"No, it's fine." Cecil replied, getting food from the plates in front of him on the table.

"Well, here's some milk for you guys." Mom said, setting down a few glasses in front of them, and then sitting directly across from Cecil. "Isn't your Father coming up?"

"He'll be up soon." Cecil replied emotionlessly.

"Okay then… Well, you're being a downer. So… Aoki, was it?"

"Yes ma'am." Aoki replied, taking a sip of milk.

"Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself? How old are you? Do you have any siblings? How did you two meet?"

"I'm a third year, so two years older than Cecil."

"Oh wow. So you wouldn't have any classes together, so how did you meet?"

"This year both he and Layla joined the club we're all in. We were glad to finally get some more members and, as it turns out, they're both amusing people as well."

Cecil watched as his Mom's mouth twitched a little. She hated the fact that he joined the Cultural Research Club instead of something 'more useful' like track, which was his original plan. "Well, I'm glad he has someone like you on his side now." That was an obvious lie. She couldn't care less.

"How far behind schedule are we now, because of today?" Cecil asked kind of wanting to stay on this subject simply to annoy his Mother.

"Considering we were already pretty behind, what do you think?" Aoki replied, "We could have gotten a little done before we stopped by, but Layla was being too impatient and worried."

"Of course she was."

They heard the sound of a door slamming down the hallway. A few seconds later in walked Cecil's Dad, not looking too happy. He stopped in the doorway and smiled, then walked over to take the seat next to Cecil.

"Hey, Hun, how is it going down there?" Mom asked, putting large amounts of food on his plate for him.

"Just fine, dear, thanks." The Man replied, not even waiting till she was done to start eating. "Did you hear that Cecil didn't go to school today?"

"Oh really! No, I did not!" She faked being surprised.

"Yeah! So what are we going to do about that?"

"Maybe we should ground him?"

"No, that seems a little too easy for skipping a whole day of school."

"Could we find a few things for him to do around the house?"

"Still too easy." Cecil could tell that their whole conversation was just screaming fake. His Mom didn't actually care and the Man was definitely just- "Maybe we could do both? Make him stay home all after school and I think I will need some help down in the basement pretty soon."

"All right! That seems like a reasonable punishment!"

The Man chuckled, "Did you hear that, Cecil? That means you and I get some good long Father and son bonding time this weekend!" Suddenly there was a hand feeling up Cecil's leg from under the table.

Cecil could feel his heart drop six feet, but he had to do his best and try to keep a normal face. "Y-yeah." He said, using all his will power not to make a scene and cringe away from the Man's hand as it massaged his inner thigh.

"How is the food, Aoki dear?" Mom asked.

"It's very good, thank you." Aoki replied.

"By the way, it is okay with your parents that you're staying, right?"

"Oh yeah, they don't mind, unless it's a girl's house. Then again, Cecil is kind of girl." Aoki snickered at his own joke.

'Have I ever told you how fucking pretty you are? You're even prettier than a girl.' Those words played in Cecil's mind as if they had been recorded. Did Aoki seriously think that, too? What about Taichi? W-were they the same as-

No, no, no, can't think like that! Aoki and Taichi are friends, so they wouldn't… But what if they did? What if that's why Taichi suggested someone stay here tonight? He knew Inaba would say that girls are out, thus preventing Iori or Layla to volunteer. Maybe Aoki picked up on Taichi's idea and that's why he said he would stay and because of this, Taichi couldn't say anything against it, because it would risk him looking suspicious.

But wait, considering what Aoki just said, he isn't innocent, either. What if the actual reason he said he would do this is so that he could-

No, Aoki isn't like that! Th-they were just worried… Right? And they always talk about girls and breasts and stuff. Besides, Aoki already has someone he likes, so-

No, that doesn't mean anything. The Man is in love with Mom, and yet he still did that. Cecil recalled the background picture on Aoki's phone. The girl, she… Well, she was lacking in the chest region. Maybe Aoki preferred small/non-existent breasts, so if that was the case, then those arguments were invalid.

Cecil's heart plummeted even further as a sense of impending danger washed over him completely.

"Cecil?" The quiet voice from beside him jolted Cecil from his thoughts, "Are you okay?"

"Cecil, sweetie, what's wrong? Don't you like the food?" The sugar coated voice said.

"Huh?" Was the only thing Cecil could say.

"You've been zoning out for a while now." The first voice said.

"Oh, uhm… Sorry." Cecil apologized, quickly shoving in a few bites, barely even tasting any of them. He didn't really have much of an appetite anymore. "I… Think I'm full." He said, pushing back in his chair and finally ridding himself of that wandering hand that really was the cause of all this in the first place. He stood up, grabbing his plate, and dumped the leftovers into the garbage disposal, leaving them in the sink after. "I'll be up in my room."

"All right, sweetie." The Man said, mocking the nickname his Mom was using.

"Oh, hold up. I'll come too." Aoki said, scrambling to get up and take care of his dishes. Cecil didn't wait for him and started for the stairs. "Dude, what's up?" He asked, quickly catching up, "You don't seem so good all of a sudden. Not that you were good before, but. Whatever."

"I'm sorry. I think I'm just a little tired for some reason." Cecil lied, adding a yawn at the end to make it seem more believable.

"Okay then. Well, let me do my homework and then we'll get some sleep!" Cecil nodded, honestly just wanting to get this dreadfully long day over with.


A/N: I actually kind of like this chapter. It was fun writing Aoki and Cecil interacting. ^_^