Asami saw the door on the side of the dojo, which was slid partially open. He glanced through to see one boy standing in the middle of the large room in his hakama and kyudo-gi.
The older man is stunned. The boy before him looks so grown up with the exception of the long hair with the front and sides pulled back out of his face, which reminded the older man of a certain Chinese dragon. Asami was going to need to make that boy cut his hair.
Rykou takes aim, calm and focused. When the arrow hits the target it lands dead center. The boy does not seem all that excited about it. Another man pulls the arrow out while Rykou does some breathing and once again turns his attention to the target.
The boy set up, aims, and releases the arrow. Again, the arrow lands in the very center of the bulls eye. He is amazing. By the lack of admission that the boy hit perfectly, Asami realized that his son is very skilled.
Quietly, the older man watches his son put away his equipment and head to a changing room. When he emerges from the room, he is back into his school uniform. He stops when he is approached.
"You did well today," the man states.
"Thank you Sensei," Rykou bows, his eyes sparkling.
Asami stepped forward and Rykou spied his father by the side door. The boy walks up to his father, glancing to see that Sensei has left through the other door. Asami steps aside to allow Rykou to step outside.
Once outside, Rykou sees the car and another man standing near it. He turns abruptly, his scowl in place.
"What are you doing here?" The boy snarls.
Casually, Asami answers, "I thought I would give you a lift home."
"I don't need a ride from you!" He snaps, "I don't need anything from you!" Then the boy took off running down the street.
Asami could see a myriad of emotions flash across the boy's face as he yelled at his father. Then the boy took off. Asami felt what little remained of his heart explode from the harsh words.
When Asami made to follow, a hand clasped his shoulder. Asami shot Kirishima a murderous glare.
"Boss, you need to let him go. He needs some time to think."
Asami sighed, "Follow me in the car."
Asami walked the same path down the street some distance from the boy. As he passed some shops, he saw his son run into one. Asami stopped, not wanting Rykou to see him yet.
It was only a couple of minutes before his son came back out again and walked quickly further down the street but before he could follow, another boy came out of the shop, hot on Rykou's heels.
"Rykou!" The boy called, trying to catch up to his friend.
By the time Asami caught sight of them again, they were in a park, sitting on the ground under a huge tree.
Asami kept his presence discreet while taking in the scene. His son was sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest, arms resting on the knees. The other boy and Rykou seemed to be talking. Then the other boy put his arm around Rykou's shoulders. After a few minutes, Rykou stood abruptly and appeared to be yelling at the other boy.
All of a sudden the other boy grabbed Rykou by the arms, slamming him against the tree and kissed him. Asami moved to take a step, no way was someone going to hurt his son. But before he can, Rykou's arms encircle to boy's neck and he returned the kiss.
No one would ever believe the look on Asami's face at what he was watching. Kirishima even took a step back from his place beside Asami. The shorthaired boy moved his mouth to Rykou's neck. As he did so, Rykou tilted his head to give the other boy better access as his fingers made their way up into the other boy's hair.
The wanton expression on Rykou's face nearly caused Asami to have a heart attack. Just a quickly as it started, the other boy stopped his ministrations and the two boys had words.
Rykou started walking with his head down while the other boy snaked a protective arm about Rykou's waist.
Asami turned toward Kirishima, "You say nothing to anyone about this, understood?"
Kirishima nodded and followed Asami to the car.
Asami Ryuichi could not believe it, his son was interested in men, at least at this age he was. Maki couldn't know about it or she would have said something when she heard Asami's confession earlier in the day.
Kirishima continued to follow the boys, which brought them back to the shop. They went inside and it was a while before Rykou emerged again with the other boy. Both were much calmer in appearance and demeanor as they took their time walking to a café to get something to eat.
They were not in a hurry as they ate and met with some other friends. Asami rubbed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose to try to delay the already mild headache that he was sure would get out of control very soon.
Maki was anxiously waiting when Asami came back into the house. Her startled expression gave Asami pause. She knew something was going to happen, though she didn't know what.
Well, what could Asami tell her? He certainly wasn't going to tell her what he saw in the park a while ago. He did however, want to know who Rykou's friend was. In order to check the boy and his family out, Asami needed a name.
"Well? How did it go? Where is Rykou?" Maki interrogated Asami while glancing behind the tall man to find her son.
"He didn't accept my invitation for a ride." Asami said with amusement.
"Oh Ryu, what did he say?"
"He said he didn't want anything from me," Asami reiterated.
Maki looked stricken. Well, sadder than anything. She had held out hope that by some miracle, the two most important men in her life would get along.
"Ryu, he is a fifteen year old boy. Do you remember when you were fifteen?" She tried to excuse her son's behavior away.
Asami chuckled, "Yeah, I was working hard to get you pregnant."
"Ryuichi!" Maki scolded mockingly.
They both laughed over that. They always had a way of easily talking to each other. Both Maki and Asami felt better after relieving some tension through their laughter.
"Maki, I saw him talking to another boy. They looked to be good friends." Asami asked casually.
"Well, that was probably Yanase Eto. They have been friends since we first moved here." She offered.
"What kind of kid is he?" Asami pushed further.
"Oh, he is a wonderful boy. The two of them have a great time together." Maki smiled.
Rykou was calm on the outside but beaming on the inside. He had seen the look of admiration in his Sensei during practice. He had a talent and was excelling in his sport.
But the happiness was short lived when he saw the man at the door, his father. The nerve of that man, thought Rykou. There was no way he would make it easy on the man. All of a sudden, those repressed feelings of sadness and anger flooded to the surface.
He yelled at the older man and ran. He was distraught and needed Eto. His friend always made him feel better, just the loving way Eto looked at him made him feel good, wanted, needed.
"Rykou!" Eto said startled when Rykou came running in the shop.
"Eto…its….its….my father," Rykou said fighting back the tears that threatened to spill and panting from his run.
"Rykou, calm down." Eto insisted coming around the counter to grasp his friend's arms.
"No, no," Rykou shook his head, "I….he…." Rykou turned and fled.
Eto remembered that when Rykou and he were younger, the only time Rykou acted so out of control was when he had seen his father over the weekend. Then he would come to school full of anger and confusion.
The rest of the time, Rykou never mentioned the man and Eto didn't ask, not after that first time when Rykou snapped at Eto saying he would sever the friendship if Eto ever brought the subject of his father up again.
Eto tried to console his friend while they sat under the tree.
"Look Rykou, maybe you should hear him out?" Eto offered.
Rykou stood, "How could you say that. Whose side are you on anyway?" Rykou yelled.
"Yours," Eto said in a low angry tone before grabbing Rykou and kissing him. Eto immediately felt Rykou submit to his kiss and relax. Eto had been the one to suggest they help each other release one night four months ago when Rykou was freaking out about an awful archery practice. Eto had a way to control Rykou when he got like that.
Though they had never done more than give each other hand jobs or Eto would suck him off, it was inevitable that it would happen eventually. Both had imagined it in their fantasies.
In the open park was not the right place to take things too far so once Eto felt that Rykou had calmed down enough, he stopped his advance.
"Rykou," Eto breathed, "You can not run from him, or yourself. I'll be here for you and I'll help you through this. Whatever you need, I'll give it to you."
"Alright," Rykou said lowering his head in defeat, "As long as you promise to stay by my side."
Eto smiled, "I'm not going anywhere."
Feeling better, they went to meet up with their friends after Eto begged his parents to give him the rest of the day off from work. After the café, Eto walked Rykou home and gave him some time to deal with his father before showing up to see how it went.