Hey, I'm back! One sick doggy to take care of and one out-of-the-blue sleepover later, I managed to string this together. I hope it was worth the wait.
Seriously, I have no updating schedule whatsoever. I'm just glad you guys put up with me, for get the nice comments that make me smile and squeal like an idiot.
It was the Wednesday after their little pool party when Ibushi and Akoya began discussing their next moves to take. The second-year was nestled under the soft blankets on his canopy bed, reclined against the pillows as he idly scrolled through his phone that night. It was getting late and he'd completed his nightly beauty routine over a half hour ago, but he wasn't particularly tired yet. So, he wound up laying there in the dark and staring at the brightness of his phone screen. Sleep would claim him eventually.
Akoya'd resorted to browsing around the website of some designer he'd never heard of, just taking a look at the kinds of clothes and accessories they made, when a text message appeared and took up half his screen.
Hey, are you awake? It was Ibushi.
Yes. What is it? Akoya typed back seconds later.
Not even a minute had passed before Ibushi replied. Can I call you?
Akoya rose an eyebrow at the request. What was so important that he couldn't send it over a text? Or have it wait until tomorrow if speaking was absolutely necessary? Maybe Ibushi couldn't sleep either. Or maybe Kinshiro had called and he was relaying a message?
I suppose? Is this important? Maybe Akoya could at least figure out the nature of this to prepare himself.
The little bell chime that was his text tone went off again and Akoya decided to put the phone on silent for the time being. It just won't seem right texting you about this.
Oh, so this was serious. It had to be. Okay, if you insist.
Akoya closed his web browser and stared at his phone's wallpaper while he waited for Ibushi's call. It was a photo that he'd taken while he, Ibushi, and Kinshiro were at the beach earlier that year. In all honesty, that image of the shoreline at sunset was one of the last calm moments of their trip. After it was taken, the trio had gone to the hot spring for a bath and, on the way back, became separated. The next thing Akoya knew, he was being tackled to the ground by Zaou… and he'd rather not think about anything that happened after that. He sighed. If only their whole trip was as calm and beautiful as the beach was in that picture. It would have been perfect if that were the case.
Akoya's phone vibrated in his hand and Ibushi's name came up on the screen. He answered after three vibrations. "Hello?"
"I'm not keeping you awake, am I?" The older boy's voice asked.
"No; I can't sleep right now." The younger assured. "What was so important you had to call me now, though?"
"It's about our next date. I've been thinking about this idea for a few hours now and I wanted to make sure you were okay with it."
Perfect, their talks about each other's comfort levels were paying off. "Alright. What are you thinking about?"
"Well, see… I was thinking about what we talked about last weekend and… I think you're right?"
"Right about what?" Akoya snuggled deeper under the blankets on his bed.
"About making them think you're bad for me."
Akoya smirked. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah, something's gotta give so my parents aren't a wreck when we break up. And they're coming home from their trip Sunday morning so I thought… what if they found out you spent the night without permission?" The older boy suggested. Even over the phone, Akoya could tell he had some mischievous look on his face. But his voice still hesitated a bit, like he was unsure if he should have brought it up.
"Huh?" Akoya said into his phone. "You mean you want to have a sleepover?"
"If you're okay with it." Ibushi assured him.
"I don't have an issue with it but, Arima, are you sure that's not too much?" The younger boy questioned. "With all the implications that come with that and all?"
"I thought about that too. But then I thought… they saw me being so nervous to kiss you for the first time; I doubt they'll think I got the courage to anything more so soon after."
Neither boy said anything for a short while; Ibushi must have been giving Akoya time to think about the idea. And he did just that, turning over possible results in his head. Yes, the plan worked in showing Ibushi being less thoughtful in his decisions, but was the step too big for the state of their "relationship?" Would it be a believable leap to, in just a couple of weeks, to go from having a first kiss to sharing a bed during an "unplanned" sleepover? It could be, so long as they had a decent excuse for Akoya staying overnight.
After a few minutes of listening to each other breathe, Akoya spoke up. "Alright, if you're sure about this." He sighed. "You know your parents better than I do."
All shyness was gone from Ibushi's voice now. "I am."
"Alright then…" Akoya was about to hang up when he realized something. "Are there any other details I should know about, Ibushi?"
"Well… you're more than welcome to take a guest bed for the night but… I think it'll be more convincing is we both slept in my room."
Akoya blushed and sat up. "Are you implying I share a bed with you?"
"It's not like it's too small for two people."
"Right…" Akoya remembered one time when he and Kinshiro were led through the other third-year's bedroom to access his personal garden. He'd taken note that Ibushi had a bigger bed than his own queen size. It was just an observation at the time, but that made it a king size bed. Thank goodness Ibushi wasn't in the room with him; Akoya could feel the heat radiating off of his face.
"Yeah, and we can do whatever you want. Just, if someone knocks on my door, we'll have to make it look more… romantic."
"I figured as much." Akoya claimed.
"Does that mean you're okay with this idea?" Ibushi clarified.
"I suppose so." The second-year replied, his free hand beginning to pick at a loose thread on one of his blankets. "We just need to make sure this comes across as something more innocent. Like… we fell asleep watching a movie or something?"
"I could check the weather forecast for the weekend. Maybe it'll rain and we can blame it on that."
Akoya stopped picking but kept a grip on the blanket. "Not a bad idea, Ibu-chan."
The pair had stayed up conversing for maybe fifteen minutes after that. Though, it was mostly more planning and tossing out a few ideas for their cover-up story. It turned out that rain wasn't in the forecast for the weekend, so the two of them couldn't rely on nature to provide any assistance while formulating a story. Their conversation carried on until Akoya started to yawn into the phone and Ibushi took the sounds he heard as a reason to hang up and let the both of them get some sleep.
The rest of the school week went by without much incident. That is, aside from the latest failed monster they'd sent to attack those troublesome Battle Lovers. Yet another plot thwarted, but Lord Zundar was sure that they were making progress, though it seemed miniscule to them.
The weekend came and, right on schedule, Akoya found himself being dropped off in front of the Arima house on Saturday afternoon. And he looked super cute, in case anyone wanted his own opinion on his outfit. Honestly, he never thought he'd wear a jean jacket over a dress but there he was, pulling it off beautifully... and trying not to adjust the two little hair bows he had clipped to the sides of his head. Both pink bows were staying in place, save a few centimeters, but it seemed Akoya's hands were convinced that they would slip down if he didn't make sure they stayed stationary.
One more look in the mirror inside the car and Akoya slid out, seeing his driver off as the vehicle went back down the way they came. He took the large bag that had been sitting in his lap and slung it over his shoulder before making his way towards the front door.
Honestly, no matter how many times he walked through the iron gate, the garden in the Arimas' front yard would always amaze him. All the different colors of the flowers, the workmanship of the stone path and the brick flower beds, the well-maintained lawn, everything about it was beautiful. If only the concrete wall gave way to more fencing instead, then more people could see its beauty in passing…
Akoya rang the doorbell and took a step back. He waited not even a minute before a woman in a white polo shirt and black pants answered the door. Huh… must have been a housekeeper or something.
"Oh, hello." She greeted. She looked confused and kind of surprised to see him. "You're… Ibushi-san's girlfriend, correct?"
Akoya nodded and smiled. "Yes, I came over to surprise him. Is he here?"
"Yes, he is." The woman looked over her shoulder, calling out "Ibushi-san! You have a guest!" before looking back at him. "Would you like to come in, um… forgive me, I forgot your name."
"Akoya." Ibushi's voice sounded behind the pair. "Her name's Akoya."
"Ibu-chan!" Akoya squealed upon seeing Ibushi entering the foyer. He slipped past the housekeeper and jogged over to him.
"Hello, beautiful." Ibushi greeted back. Akoya leapt when he was close enough and hooked his arms around Ibushi's neck, who in turn put his hands on the shorter boy's waist. "I didn't expect you to be here so soon."
"I know, I'm sorry!" Akoya went on. "I was gonna go do some shopping in town, but we were near your house and I wanted to see you and I couldn't wait until tonight so I had my driver take me here. I didn't interrupt anything important, did I?"
"Of course not." Ibushi assured. "Here, let me take your bag."
They separated and Akoya took the purse off his shoulder. He held it out and Ibushi took it by the handle.
"So you planned on going out today, Ibushi-san?" The woman wondered.
"Yes, we planned to go out somewhere for dinner tonight." Akoya nodded enthusiastically confirmation. Crap, one of the hair bows slipped down his hair…
"Alright then." She closed the front door and went back to whatever it was she was previously doing. When she was out of sight, Akoya's hands went searching for the displaced bow.
"Think we were convincing enough?" The younger boy asked, gripping the bow when he found it, resting against his ear, and put it back in place.
"I think so." Ibushi answered. "You're a great actress."
"Thank you." The pair headed up the stairs towards Ibushi's bedroom. "I can take my bag back if you don't want to carry it."
"Oh, I don't mind." The taller boy assured. "It's just heavier than I thought it'd be… what's in this thing?"
Akoya looked up at the ceiling and huffed. "You told me not to bring a whole bunch of bags, so I took the largest one I had and stuffed it. I'm high maintenance, you know."
"Oh, I know." Ibushi rolled his eyes. He opened the door to his bedroom and they both entered. "So what now?" He put the bag down on his bed. "Do you still want to set out early or would you rather stay here for a while?"
"I'd still like to go out." Akoya replied, walking over and taking a small clutch purse from inside his bag.
"Then we'll go out." Ibushi declared, swiping his wallet off of his desk.
From there, the two left Ibushi's bedroom and went back downstairs. Akoya waited by the front door while Ibushi wandered off to find that woman again and tell her that they were going out. Akoya heard a brief debate about taking a car, but Ibushi opted out of it and insisted on walking into the city. It seemed that the housekeeper wasn't too fond of the idea, but backed off when Ibushi refused to change his mind. It must have been the "I just want to take a nice walk with my girlfriend" that sold it… or him immediately taking Akoya by the hand as they walked out.
On their way into town, Ibushi explained that she was in charge of keeping track of him when his parents were away, which was frequent. But, surprisingly, she'd only done that job twice since he and Akoya started "dating."
It was strange to Akoya, how differently their families handled them. Sure, the Geros had a small army of people working for them but only about five of them actually interacted with him. The rest of the people who worked for his family, the cleaners, the gardeners, the maintenance workers, even the cooks, they all ignored him unless he spoke to them first. Sometimes Akoya thought that he could disappear for a couple of days and no one would notice, given his parents were away on business. Meanwhile, Ibushi was almost always being watched by someone. Every person who worked in the house spoke openly to him, greeted him when he walked past them, but they were always watching. Akoya wondered which fate was worse: being ignored enough to have some freedom, or being acknowledged enough to become trapped in some spotlight?
They wound up walking all the way into town hand in hand, each content keeping quiet and taking in their surroundings. In fact, Akoya only noticed that they were still holding hands when people walking by them held their gaze for longer than normal. Women in particular smiled and whispered to each other about how "adorable" it was. Once he realized the comments were aimed at himself and Ibushi, Akoya tightened his grip on the hand in his own and hoped he wasn't blushing again.
This instantly gained Ibushi's attention. "What's the matter?"
"People need to mind their own business." Akoya muttered.
"Just ignore them." Ibushi advised. "Is there anywhere in particular that you want to go?"
"Other than for dinner, no." The younger teen admitted, glancing around at the buildings in the immediate area. "I was hoping something would stick out to me…"
"Well…" The older mused. "I might know a place you'd like to see, if you don't mind walking some more."
Their pace slowed as Akoya mulled over the idea. "Alright. Take me there."
Another fifteen minutes of walking and three crosswalks later, Ibushi found himself and Akoya in front of the concrete walls of the building holding something he knew his "date" would like visiting: a store that sold nothing but scented candles and incense. He was pretty sure Akoya smelled it before he saw it, because a little surprised expression grew on his face as they got closer.
"I didn't know they had a place like this in town." He claimed.
"I thought you got out more than I did?" Ibushi taunted.
"I probably do, but I don't normally go to commoner stores." Touché, Akoya, touché.
A bell attached to the glass door rang as the pair entered the store, the mixed scents of the products pouring into Ibushi's nose. It was a bit overwhelming to him, preferring natural scents to artificial ones, but Akoya took a deep breath with a smile on his face.
"Welcome!" The young man behind the counter greeted.
Akoya had already began wandering down an aisle, leaving Ibushi to do the talking… again… "Good afternoon."
"Are you two looking for anything in particular today?" The cashier questioned.
"Um…" Ibushi looked back towards Akoya and saw him take a candle off of a shelf. "not really; we're just browsing."
"Okay." The cashier chirped. "Let me know if anything sticks out to you."
"Thank you." Ibushi made his way back to Akoya's side and looked over his shoulder at the candle he was holding. The candle itself was contained in a glass jar with a lid and a white label was wrapped around its circumference. Towards the top of the jar, it grew more concave and a ribbon matching the label color was tied. Then he read what the candle was called: "Angel Wings."
Ibushi stepped back and read some of the other labels he could see. "Chocolate Cake," "Apple Cinnamon," "Black Plum Blossom," "Cranberry Pear," the rest of them seemed to have clues about what they would smell like in the name but… what would angel wings even smell like? Would they even have a scent?
He looked back at Akoya and saw he'd taken the lid off and was sampling the scent. It seemed to be satisfactory because he was smiling.
Seconds later, he came back to reality and caught Ibushi staring. "You wanna smell, Ibu-chan?"
He held out the candle for the taller boy, still smiling. Ibushi leaned in closer and sniffed. He figured Akoya would be drawn towards more… flowery scents, so he was surprised when the candle smelled of vanilla and sugar instead. There was a hint of flowery smell to it, but that may have just been the other candles mixing with it. The candle's scent was delicate and calming… and suddenly the name "Angel Wings" made sense.
"I think I'm gonna get this one." The younger teen mused. "Or maybe two; I want to burn them tonight."
Ibushi stood upright again and gawked at Akoya. "That's fine but…why do you want to burn them tonight?"
"You can't put on a mud mask without a nice smell to relax you." Oh god, that voice sounded too sweet to be innocent right now…
"But why at my house?"
That devilish smiles of Akoya's came back. "Because you, Ibu-chan, are going to learn the beauty of them tonight."
