Chapter 10
Sure Fire Winners

Disclaimer-I own nothing!

René stood outside of the locker room knowing the team, including Michael were already inside. The team's first official practice was today. It was too cold still to play outside but with a new gym revamp they could run some things inside. Today was the day they were going to tell the guys they were dating each other. If they could manage to make everything work out with his grandfather then the guys could handle it. Michael was surprised when he suggested the idea. He was all for it, had been since the start of the new school year but he let René take his time. Obviously this whole idea scared him and after he saw what Yoshio could do he understood why.

The reaction they got wasn't what they were expecting.
"You owe me twenty Ryan, pay up."
"Man you guys suck."
René just looked at them as money was handed over.
"You guys bet on us dating?"
"Of course we did. It was hard not to, there was just something about how you guys acted when school started again. Almost as if you had been together all summer."
"Funny we weren't, I had gone back home and didn't see Michael at all."
"Told you, hand it back over."
"Damn."
Having that go even smoother then they could have imagined René relaxed to enjoy the start of the new season.

With baseball, school, and a somewhat of a social life outside of both, time flew by. It was hard to believe he was going into his senior year this coming fall. Tamaki had a hard time believing it. René would be turning twenty-two this August. Where was the time going? Soon he would be looking for a place to live and start a life away from him. The thought brought nightmares, making Kyouya invest in sleeping pills for them, if Tamaki wasn't going to take them then he was. The family had flown out to France to see the championship game since the school had made it again. This would be René's third and possible last year that he could play. He could play his senior year but he wasn't sure if it would fit with his class and the training he needed outside of the classroom. Everyone was hoping he could play next year but they understood why they shouldn't push it. René had been a little disappointed that the championship game was in Paris this year. Since this could be the last time he played he hoped to go somewhere different.

Having his family come to France right before the end of the year did make life interesting, trying to study at their place turned out to be impossible. He was all packed and ready to go so after the final game they could go visit his grandmother and then head back to Japan. He felt bad for living in the city and rarely taking a day he had off to go see her. She wasn't that far from him. He had planned to her more, after not knowing about her until after he moved to Japan he felt it was only fair to try to make an effort. His family hoped that he could enjoy this summer since it could be the last summer he lived with them. He had other plans though. He was hoping to spend some time with his dad and get a feel for what he did. The idea was already approved by Akito so now they just needed to pick a few days to do it. This summer would be great he could already feel it.

"Michael can come back with us this summer you know that we don't care." René was loading their bags in the car to head to the airport; the driver never knew what to do when he had nothing to do.
"I know but he is attending a camp this summer. He could get scouted from people all over the world. It's a great opportunity for him."
"Aren't you worried about what will happen if he does get scouted to a team here?" René shoved a suitcase in the back of the trunk, getting it all the way in he stood up straight to look at his father. What brought that up?
"A little bit I guess but he really wants this so I'll support him the best I can. He is hoping a team in Japan will try to get him. Who knows, if he doesn't join a Japanese team maybe he won't play. He is here for a business management degree so he has that to fall back on." The thought of Michael being put on a team either way did upset him; they would never see each other. With practices and games Michael would always be away from home. Even if he played too he doubted they would be on the same team.
"Well I'm sure you'll make it all work out one way or another. You two want to balance everything and your smart enough to."

René learned something about his sister, she loved to talk. She must have picked it up from their father. Sophia talked his ear off from the moment they boarded the jet until he shushed her so they could sleep. He loved her but he needed her to be quiet for a few moments. How did her parents handle her on the way over? No wonder their father pushed her to sit next to him. He would have to thank his parents for this once they landed.

Being home was great, he always said it but it was true. He could relax here; the pressure of doing well was gone. Laying across the couch reading sports magazine to enjoy the downtime was fantastic.
"Someone wants you René." Sitting up enough to look behind the couch he saw Isabelle walking towards him. It was hard to believe she was turning three this July. From not being home it didn't feel like three years had gone by. But Sophia was turning eleven in November and the twins were eight already.
"René!"
"Isabelle!" Lifting her up he played with her for awhile. Tamaki said next to them and just watched. It was nice to see all of his kids home and friendly towards each other. He feared that the younger three would end up as Kyouya was with his older brothers. It wasn't until René had wanted to work for the family that Akito and Jiro got involved, before then it none of them were really close. It was probably only for their gain at the start but everyone seemed to benefit from it. And René was excited to work for Akito so he wasn't going to step in the way of that.
"So father what do you think?"
"I'm sorry what were you saying?"
"I know I still have a lot of time to think about it but do you think you and dad could keep an ear out for any houses that go up for sale in the area? Michael and I discussed it a few times and we want something where we are close by but not something where we are always over." He also wanted something nearby in case things became rocky with Michael because of their careers but he wasn't going to mention that.
"Sure René we can do that for you. But you know that you both can live here when you get out of school while you both get settled into work."
"Thanks, I figured as much. I just don't want to miss a chance if one comes up. We know that houses around here don't go up all too often."
Tamaki already had plans to help his son with housing. He was just waiting until the right time to tell him. Maybe he would tell him as a graduation gift.

The first day René went to work with Kyouya he was a little overwhelmed. He wasn't sure what to expect at times and with paperwork procedures, checking all of the assigned patients and dealing with any sudden emergencies would make anyone feel overwhelmed.
"You'll get used to it trust me. And when you move back home you'll be shadowing me for a full year at minimum. I hope I didn't just scare you away from today's events though." About an hour or two after they arrived the hospital was put on stand-by to receive victims from a multi-car accident on one of the major highways.
"No way today was a great learning experience. It will be great to learn from you too. I'm really glad we'll get to work together for years."
Kyouya looked at the excitement and smile on his sons face; he really was glad that they would be together. He was too and since he was still young they could work together even longer than most.
"Bet your glad your assumption about my age was wrong the first time."
He didn't understand what his dad was getting at at first, and then he remembered. When he first met him he guessed his age and thought he was in his thirty's. If he had been right then his dad would be in his mid to late forties and could be planning on retiring in a few years.
"Yea I am."

René had gone with his dad all week and was exhausted by the time they got home. He knew his body needed time to adjust but right now he just wanted to sleep every chance he got. That Saturday he didn't realize he slept in later than normal until he heard Sophia run out of the room yelling something. What was she doing now? Rolling over he covered his face with his covers and tried to go back to bed.
"René are you okay? René can you hear me?"
Flopping on his back he opened an eye to see his father standing over his bed.
"Something wrong father?"
"Are you feeling okay? It's almost noon, you've never slept in this late." Sitting up he looked at his clock to see his father was right.
"Sophia came in to see if you wanted to go out and got scared when you didn't acknowledge her and that you were still asleep."
"Oh, well, I'm fine. Guess I'm just exhausted from being with dad all week."
"Want to go back to bed?"
"No, I should get up."
"Yay! Now we can do something today!" Sophia ran into the room excited that she wouldn't have to be bored anymore now that he was up.
"On second thought never mind my pillow seems to be calling my name."
"Noooooooooooo! Don't go back to bed René, come on get up." Sophia was the best, always so dramatic, just like their father. Tamaki got up to let leave them alone, his job of seeing that René was alright was finished.
"Sophia, have you ever thought about doing drama at school?"
"No why?"
"Thank you!" Tamaki was glad that someone had the same thought he did about her.

After that week René decided not to go with his dad as often. Kyouya busted him that he couldn't handle it; luckily for René his father had sudden business conference for two weeks in Kyoto. For two weeks at least he had an excuse as to why he couldn't go. Why make the housekeeper watch the others when he was home? It did get him away from the possibility that he was weaker energy wise then he thought.

Tamaki and Kyouya stopped in the hall by the stairs as they heard footsteps running down them. That was probably the twins having yet another race. Tamaki really wished they wouldn't do that for fear of them falling down. There were a lot of steps they could fall and roll down on. Both of them came close to it a few times already.
"Those two are the ones that will make me old."
"I thought you were already."
"Kyouya! You're so mean. We are the same age so if I am then so are you."
"Fine."
"What? No not fine. Take it back, take it back, take it back!" And Tamaki wondered where Sophia got it from.
"I take it back but you really should have known I was kidding to begin with. You'll be old when you turn forty in two years."
"Kyouya!"
"Hey father, dad, can Michael come stay with us for the rest of the summer?"
Both stopped bickering with each other realizing that what they thought were the twins was really René.
"Can who do what for how long?" Neither could understand a word René said when he saw them by the stairs.
"Can Michael come over for the remainder of the summer?"
"Well I don't care, Kyouya do you?" Not letting him answer he went back to talking to René.
"Wasn't he attending a camp or something all summer?"
"He is and a few team coaches looked into getting him too but he turned them down since they were in France. But that interested a few teams here once they learned that he wanted to play in Japan. So, instead of him renting a hotel while the teams test him out, I was thinking he could stay here. If that's cool with you guys."
"Its fine, of course he can stay here."
"Alright! Thanks father." Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket he ran back up the stairs. "Did you hear that? Yea you can stay here I told you they wouldn't care."
"Is it really a smart idea to let them stay together Tamaki?"
"Well René is going to be twenty-two in August and if they are going to do something they could do it at Michael's hotel room or they've done it in France."
"I never thought I'd hear those words leave your mouth Tamaki."
"I'm trying so leave me alone."

It was nice and a little strange to have Michael staying over. He had before but for some reason it felt different. Maybe this was because his father was constantly asking him where they were going whenever they went out. Apparently his parents got his thought in their heads that Michael was only here to look for houses. The thought hadn't crossed their minds but since they learned that they wanted to pull some pranks.
"You should get a ring for your finger."
"My parents would kill us, though they would think that's why I mentioned for them to keep an ear out for houses."
"You did tell them we weren't going to live together officially until after graduation right? And the only reason I want to live together so soon is because my Japanese isn't great and I don't trust myself living alone with it."
"I did but come on you know my father."

To help prove the point that as much as René and Michael were together, they weren't Michael slept in a guest room, just like he did whenever he came to visit. He wanted to stay on Tamaki and Kyouya's good side, and he had never gotten on their bad side before. He also knew they were being kind enough to let him stay here since he wasn't here visiting René. Though being able to had its advantages.

Everyone minus Kyouya, who couldn't get out of work, was heading to the stadium to watch Michael. Today was the last day he would practice with different teams and they would bid for him. He hadn't told René what teams he could go to though he had a pretty good idea from watching a few of the open practices. Since friends and family of the teams were allowed to go and Michael's family couldn't fly out so Tamaki decided to go for him. Watching the practices before this one René couldn't wait to play again next year. He would do the best he could to balance baseball into his day, even if he wasn't a starter so he wouldn't play as much at least he was playing.
"Will Michael have to leave school if he gets signed?"
"Technically their not allowed to. See the baseball camp is designed for players in college going into their final year. All teams that scout players have already agreed to not pull players out of school."
"Well that's good."
"Hey René can you come here for a second?"
Running to the gate to talk to Michael, Tamaki and the others sat on one of the first rows behind home plate. This was the first time any of them were at an actual stadium. Even sitting in the stands you felt small, how did the players manage it? René vanished over the wall to the dugout to climb back over it a few minutes later in a daze.
"René are you okay?"
"Ah ha. I've never been better."
"What's with the smile?"
"I got to talk with Hayato Sakamoto. I've been following his career since he joined the Yomirui Giants. He has so much talent. Michael will learn a lot if they are teammates."
"What position is he?"
"Shortstop."
So that was it, René looked up to him. He had wanted to be as good as him that's why he played shortstop in school. That was his idol he spoke to making him so happy. And knowing that Michael could be on his team he would get to see more of him.

Today had gone well for Michael and once he graduated he would be an official player for the Yomirui Giants. He was too excited to sleep. This was huge for him and his family who were supporting his decision all the way. Rolling over again he tried to get his eyes to stay closed.
"Hey Michael are you asleep?" He heard René whispering from the door. Well if they talked then maybe he could fall asleep sometime tonight.
"No."
"Great." Walking in René moved over to the bed to sit on the edge of it. "I couldn't sleep and I figured you couldn't either."
"Thinking of Hayato again? You're lucky I'm not the jealous type."
"Oh ha-ha. If you're going to be that way I'll go back to my room."
"Alright I'm sorry, I'm sorry. So what really brought you here? I don't need your parents to come after me when they see you're not in your room."
"I'm not little they don't check on me. I just wanted to say congratulations on your new career, you deserve it." To prove how happy he was for him he brought their lips together. René could feel his body tensing to make sure this didn't go too far just as it always did every time they kissed each other. He wasn't stupid, he was smarter from past experiences, they both were. Moving closer, forcing Michael down he felt him move away slightly so he could speak.
"René are you sure about this?" Both knew what this was leading to if they let their bodies take over their minds.
"Let's take this as far as we want." He wasn't sure what came over him just then he only knew that he didn't care right now. He wanted Michael as much as Michael wanted him.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

New record, two chapters where nothing serious happens to anyone. Let's see how far I can keep this up shall we? Also little fun fact. I named the chapter as before I started typing it up and I just chose something that sorta fit I thought. Anyway I chose it from my Itunes list and it's Adam Lamberts Sure Fire Winners. As I was getting ready to post this it started playing and it fits nicely actually. Go me. There is your fun little fact now please review.
~Femalefighter~