Sorry for the long hiatus _ Low grades that I needed to focus on!
Chapter Nine
Aiko stared at the clock, her big brown eyes following the very tick of the second hand. I can't believe my parents think that Yuudai is a girl. She gently adjusted the strap of her favorite red dress. I wonder what they're going to think of him being a boy. Just then her father entered the eating area wearing semi-nice clothes. His usual messy black bangs were evenly groomed and came right above his black eyebrows.
"Well, your mother is upstairs still getting ready. Uncle Drager is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and I'm going to go to the bathroom. When should your friend be here?" Ranma asked, batting at his bangs.
"Um... he... she should be here any moment. I'll listen for the doorbell." Ranma nodded and crossed to leave. Aiko's heart was thudding in her ears. She couldn't let her parents meet Yuudai. No way would they approve of her going over to a boy's house. She could feel sweat beading up on the back of her neck. Aiko rose to her feet and jogged for the front door. She sat out on the porch until she saw Yuudai appear infront of her house. Her heart nearly pumped to a start. He was wearing a button up with a tie that was tucked into his black jeans. His chestnut brown hair was still messy though. "Yuudai!" Aiko called and met him halfway. They hugged each other.
"Hey, what's wrong? You look frazzled." He asked, cocking an eyebrow up.
"Look, I have to come clean with you," Aiko said, looking at their locked hands. She then threw a glance over her shoulder towards her house, "My parents think you're a girl."
"What?"
Probably could of worded that better... "No, not like that." Aiko took in a deep breath to calm herself to explain things more clearly, "As in, they don't your name and they've never seen a picture of you. I don't think they would approve of me going over to a boy's house." Yuudai's eyebrows knitted together and he became extremely confused. Aiko sighed roughly, "Just follow me! I have an idea!"
Aiko dragged Yuudai after her. They rounded the corner. The hallway door was open and Aiko spotted her parents sitting at the table with their backs to the yard. She signaled to Yuudai to be as silent as possible. They got onto all fours and began sneaking past the opening.
"Where'd Aiko go?" She heard her mother ask.
"I dunno. She just said she was going to wait for her friend."
"Hey, Akane! Could you come help me in the kitchen?" Drager shouted from the kitchen.
"Sure!" Akane called and began getting up.
"HEY WAIT! SHE'S NOT COOKING!" Ranma screamed. Aiko peeked into the hallway and saw it was clear.
"Perfect! C'mon!" Aiko grabbed Yuudai's hand and dragged him to the staircase, "Hurry! Before they come back out!" Aiko got behind Yuudai and pushed her hands into his shoulder blades. She heard her father coming out of the kitchen.
"Aiko, is that you?" Aiko shoved Yuudai up the stairs and out of sight. She heard a loud thud as Yuudai slammed onto the hardwood floor. She turned towards her father with her hands behind her back. Ranma appeared at the base of the stairs, "Is your friend here?"
"Um, yeah."
"Where is she?"
Aiko looked over her shoulder at Yuudai, who was sitting up and rubbing his forehead, "She needs to use the bathroom and wash up. We'll be down soon, I promise!" Ranma nodded and Aiko raced to the fallen Yuudai. She yanked him to his feet and pushed him into her room. She shut the door and flicked it lock, "I'm sorry for pushing you down." Aiko said as she threw open her closet doors and began searching through it.
"What are we doing?" Yuudai asked, uncomfortably sitting down at her desk chair, "Why don't you just tell your parents I'm a boy?"
"Because I don't want them to disapprove and not let me hang out with you," Aiko said, turning towards him, "Please just go along with me for tonight. We'll break the truth some other time, just not tonight." He was silent, "Yuudai... please."
Yuudai took in a deep breath and sighed, "Okay. What are we going to do?" Aiko flashed him a floral button up and a matching khaki skirt. "No. You're joking, right?"
"I'm sorry."
"I'm not wearing girl clothes." Yuudai stood up, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Just tonight. Please!" Her big brown eyes began begging him. Yuudai's knees buckled to this.
"Okay..." He said behind gritted teeth. She tossed him the clothes and began searching for acessories. He undid his tie and pulled his shirt out of his pants. He tossed them both onto her bed and slipped on the shirt, "Hey, Aiko... it's a little tight in the shoulders." He tried to cross his arms but it became restricted. Aiko turned back and became embarassed to see his chest.
"Oh um... okay. Let me see if I have any bigger shirts." She turned around and Yuudai quickly stumbled into the skirt. It only fit him if he brought it up to her waist. It looked odd though because it was a hip-skirt. "If you wear it hitched up so high I can see the lining of your boxers." She pointed to the plaid sticking out just below the khaki, "Try this." She handed him a stripped blue and green dress. She turned around as he dressed in it, "Yuudai..." She said as she stared into his closet.
"Yeah?" He asked, rather strained as he sucked in to zip the dress up the side.
"Thank you so much for doing this."
"I guess it's what friends do." Aiko turned around to see him fitting rather well in the dress. It looked like it was squeezing him near his torso, but she could cover that up.
"Can you bend and sit?" After a little bit of moving around slowly, the dress began to give and he could breathe a little more easily. "Alright, here." She held out a light pink sweater. He gave her a "seriously?" look. "You have man arms!" He laughed at this and shrugged into the sweater. "And this bracelet." She slid a blue flower rainbow on his left wrist. "And this is from Halloween, but it should work." She pulled out a black wig that was shoulder length. She pulled his bangs back in a hairband and slowly fit the wig over his head. She tugged lose hair into it. Yuudai crossed to mirror and stared in disbelief. "Oh! Here!" She put some light blue eye shadow on and some lip balm that gave his lips a glossy look.
"I could pass as a girl..." He muttered as he stared into the mirror. Aiko gently combed his hair out.
"Beside the broad shoulders, yeah. We did a pretty good job." She froze for a moment and looked at Yuudai from the side. She then grabbed some socks and offered them out to her. "We should give you some boobs."
"What?" Yuudai instantly became embarassed, "Not all girls our age have them."
"Doesn't matter! You need some to top this off." Yuudai sighed and began stuffing the socks in. Aiko quickly checked to make sure they were even and the same size.
"Alright. Your name is... something witty... Katsu?" Aiko offered. This made Yuudai's glossy lips crack a smile.
"Victory?"
"I think we're going to get away with this Katsu." Aiko joked, patting his arm gently. "Alright. Let's go. They should be expecting us." Aiko bounded down the stairs first with "Katsu" slowly following after. "Hi, Mom, Dad, Uncle Drager. Sorry to keep you guys waiting." Aiko smiled over at Yuudai who was hidden behind the wall from her family, "I'd like you to meet Katsu Takurashii." Yuudai slowly appeared beside Aiko. Both of their hearts were thudding as the Saotome's stared the kids down.
"It's so very good to meet you, Katsu." Akane was the first to speak. She stood and gestured for them to sit.
"Yeah, same goes for me." Ranma nodded. Yuudai and Aiko seated themselves. Drager put some rice on both of their plates and dished out all the wonderful food he made. "So, are you part of any sports?" Ranma asked as they ate.
Yuudai looked over at Aiko who nodded to speak. Yuudai cleared his throat and in a higher pitched voice said, "Yes sir. I'm part of the schools dance team."
"Oh how wonderful," Akane smiled, after swallowing her food. "Twirler? Ballet? High kicker?"
"Um. Twirler." Yuudai quickly replied.
"So, how'd you and Akane meet?" Drager leaned forward. Aiko could feel her skin become clammy when she saw that devilish smile on her uncle's face. The smile was suspecting or knowing.
"We're in... Math together," Yuudai said, shoveling as much food as he could into his mouth, "We uh, sit next to each other."
"That's nice." Drager sat back and pushed his food around on his plate, "Aiko, will you help me get the dessert?"
"Um, sure." Aiko followed her uncle into the kitchen. He passed her a gelatin with pineapple chunks in it and grabbed a chocolate cake he had prepared. Drager then crossed to the doorway and blocked it.
"Aiko, who is that pretending to be a girl?" Drager asked, putting one hand on his hip and balancing the moist chocolate cake in his other hand. Aiko felt her face flush. She looked at the gelatin as if it were the most interesting thing in the world, "That's not really a girl out there. He sure does look like one and he's fooling your parents, but I went through years of asylum work. I can't fall for those tricks anymore."
"Can we talk about this later?" Aiko asked, almost pleading.
"Fine. But you're not off the hook." Drager told her. He then plastered on a smile and appeared out of the kitchen, "Who wants pineapple gelatin and rich damp cake?" He cheered and set it down on the table between Yuudai and Aiko's parents.
...
"How do you get this off?" Yuudai asked, as he sat on a stool and dipped his wash cloth into a bucket of warm water.
"Just rub." Aiko said, "I didn't put your make up on too dark." She dropped the clothes Yuudai had used into the dirty clothes hamper. He was back in original clothes. His shirt was untucked and his tie not tightened up to his collar. "Look, Yuudai, thanks so much for that. I know that was really awkward and kind of weird, but we pulled it off."
"When are you telling your parents I'm a guy?" Yuudai cocked an eyebrow up at her. His bangs were wet and stuck to his forehead as he scrubbed furiously at his face.
"Soon." Aiko promised, sitting on the edge of the tub, "I'll say something happened between Katsu and I and that we became friends. It's the perfect story." Aiko marveled at her work. She then leaned over and dropped the plug into the tub.
"What are you doing?" Yuudai asked, checking his face in a mirror nearby.
"When you leave I'm going to take a bath." Aiko mumbled as she began fetching her shampoos and body washes. Yuudai nodded and ran the cloth over his face again. "You ready to sneak out?"
"Yeah. I guess." Yuudai followed Aiko back to her bedroom. She pushed the window open and leapt onto the ledge, "Whoa wait." He held his hands up, "I'm no acrobatic martial artist like you. I can't jump from heights."
"It's the only way." Aiko said. She leaned further out the window, "Besides it's not that far."
"Aiko!" Her mother called. She heard footsteps.
"Oh crap!" Aiko exclaimed. She leapt down and slammed the window shut, "Quick! Under my bed!" She held the covers up while Yuudai scrambled under it. He knocked a few things that were stored under her bed over onto him. Before he could move them, Akane opened the door. "Yes, Mom?"
"Did Katsu go home?" Akane asked, pleasently, unaware there was a tense boy hiding under Aiko's bed.
"Yup." Aiko nodded.
"You'll have to have her over again sometime. She's a real sweetie."
"Yeah. She sure is." Aiko replied, trying her hardest to get her mother out.
"Are you going to be taking your bath soon?" Akane asked. "I need your clothes to do the next load. It's a dark load." Aiko looked down at her clothes then up at her mother, nodding.
"Yeah, I'll get in in a few moments."
"Good," Akane smiled. She crossed to her daughter who was the spitting image of her father. She gently pecked her forehead, "I love you, Aiko."
"Love you too, Mom." Aiko said, slightly hurried. Yuudai had managed to wiggle free of the things that had fallen on him. He couldn't help but notice a red leather bound book. He popped the lock and slowly inched it open. The words Dear Diary caught his attention.
"Your father and I are so proud of you." Akane told her.
"Thanks."
"Get in the bath, sweetheart."
"I will." Aiko promised. Akane crossed and left. Aiko let out a long sigh, "Alright. It's safe to come out now, Yuudai." He looked up from the leather book. Quickly he shoved the book into his shirt and tucked it in. Aiko peaked under the bed, "Did you hear me?"
"Yeah," Yuudai said and began his crawl out from under the bed, "Sorry."
"Now c'mon. You gotta jump out of the window!" This made Yuudai gulp. Aiko leapt up onto the window sil again and slid the window open. She then looked over her shoulder at Yuudai. His heart was thudding in his ears. The evening air was blowing Aiko's black hair around. She then held her hand out to him, "Do you trust me?"
After a moment of silence, Yuudai placed his hand in hers. "Yeah. I do."
...
"What a day..." Aiko moaned as she slowly dipped herself into the steaming bath. She leaned her head against the side of the tub and closed her eyes, allowing the soothing water to calm her. She reviewed how everything went down. Yuudai was really swell to actually dress up like a girl. He sure did trick her parents. Not her Uncle Drager, but he had yet to talk to her about it. Part of her hoped he forgot that it even happened. Aiko let a small smile twitch on her face as she thought about Yuudai. That boy...
