Notes: Fairly major edition as of 3/17. I am now pairing Sachiko and Heywood with different characters. You can thank episode 11 for that.
Chapter 21 – Heat of Summer
"Ryuu!" Io hollered as he made his way for his Mercedes, which he had taken to Ryuu's house. "Are you almost ready?"
"Just a second!" Ryuu scrambled about, feeling that he had a hundred things to pack before he could walk out the door. Calling to his 8-year-old brother, he asked in Chinese, "Yoshi, have you seen my outfielder gloves?"
"Takumi has them. He's going to be in Binan High next year and has been practicing for the baseball team."
"Without my permission?" Ryuu growled as he headed for the backyard, annoyed at what his 14-year-old brother had done. "That buttmunch is going to get it… Takumi!"
"Yoicks!" Takumi, who nearly dropped the ball his friend threw to him, jumped. "That voice means I'm in big trouble…"
"Care to explain why you're using my gloves?"
"Because… I needed them?"
Ryuu didn't buy the feigned innocence in his brother's voice. "Then get your own damn baseball gloves! Ugh!"
"Take a chill pill, dude! …Wait a minute, this doesn't have anything to do with that baseball game you're going to with your date?"
"I would appreciate it if you learned to mind your own business." Ryuu turned away as he reclaimed his gloves, wishing he could get away with hitting Takumi with them.
"Ooh-HOO!" Takumi whistled, as did his friend. "So, is she finally going to be the one you call your girlfriend?"
"..."
"Well, good luck and all that!" Takumi gave his elder brother a congratulatory pat on the back. "You better hope you don't encounter me and my date later, or there could be trouble, haha."
"Whatever." In complete disregard of that last sentence, Ryuu rushed out the door, but not before crashing into a group of three people. "Ouch! Watch where you're- Oh, crud… Mom, Dad, Tsuyoshi, I'm so sorry!"
"Where are you headed off to in such a hurry?" Mrs. Zaou questioned.
Ryuu didn't like the deep interest his mother took in his social life. "Um… I… I'm taking a cute girl out on a date?"
"Again?"
"Now, now!" Mr. Zaou's jovial voice brought to Ryuu a sense of relief. "I don't see anything wrong with Ryuu being popular with the girls. He reminds me of me in my younger days! Haha."
"Oh, stop it, dear." Mrs. Zaou gave her husband a playful slap. "You're filling his head with crazy ideas."
As Ryuu's parents sat down to watch the news on the couch, his 23-year-old brother approached him shyly. "Have fun… I guess."
"You okay, Tsuyoshi? You sound like someone just gave you an earful about the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus."
"Yeah… I'm just very tired, that's all."
"If you say so." Ryuu sensed that his brother didn't speak the truth, but let the matter slide. Worried that Io had begun to wonder about the stocks he could be looking at whilst waiting for him, Ryuu finally made it to Io's Mercedes with everything ready.
"Oh, good," Io began as he started the car for ballpark. "If the traffic is any good, we can make it by the first pitch."
"Damn…" Ryuu growled, despite the fact that the traffic was indeed very good. "I wanted to make it by batting practice so I could maybe catch a ball hit by Pahmpis B. Ahtch."
"Aw, don't act like that," Io reassured as he and Ryuu made their way past a rather congested crowd to their ballpark seats. "Hey, if I catch a foul ball or home run hit by Pahmpis, you owe me a kiss on the cheek."
"…Whatever." In his temporary embarrassment, Ryuu spotted an ice cream stand near his seat. Instantly dismissing Io's silly suggestion, he demanded, "Oh my gods! They've got cherry ice cream! Get me some, pretty please, Io?"
"It's amazing what cherries can do to you." Io shook his head with a smile, giving the ice cream to a rather ecstatic Ryuu.
"And before you ask…" Ryuu retrieved a bottle of lactase pills. "I came prepared."
"Glad to hear it," Io remarked as he and Ryuu barely made it to their seats before first pitch. He couldn't help but sneak a few spoonfuls of the ice cream from Ryuu, and to Io's surprise, Ryuu did not protest.
"I'm not going to let history repeat itself," Ryuu spoke in between bites of ice cream. "The last time I let someone cute offer me ice cream, I had to turn them down because I forgot my lactase pills. Now I get to share ice cream with someone, no issue."
"Why, thank you for your compliment." Io looked up briefly as a high foul ball was hit. "Someone thinks I'm cute. Heheh."
"I would watch my words if I were you, fool." Ryuu snarled, now guarding the bowl of ice cream from Io.
"And I would watch what's above me…" Io noticed that the foul ball was a lot closer than it seemed.
"Eh?"
"Ryuu, watch out!" To guard Ryuu from a plunk to the face, Io reached two arms in front of the pink-haired buffoon, thankful that the foul ball hit neither of them. In fact, it didn't even hit the floor… "Thank the gods that you didn't get bruised or anything. Say, did you see where the ball went? I wonder if it ricocheted off my arm and into a trash can, and now there's a big free-for-all as to who's going to get it… Hey, why is everyone cheering?"
"Congratulations, dude!" a nearby Peacocks fan cheered. "You caught the ball."
"What a wonderful catch by one of the fans!" the announcer sounded as the ballpark T.V. now focused on Io and Ryuu. "I'd hate to see what would happen to his friend if he didn't catch it… Whoa!"
A gasp resounded across the entire ballpark as in broad daylight, with the entire crowd to see on the ballpark T.V., Io planted a kiss on the cheek of a very embarrassed Ryuu.
"Aw, cuuute!" A yaoi fangirl sitting next to Ryuu squealed after the hoopla died down a little. "Let me tell you that in the 162 baseball games I've been to with my boyfriend, neither of us have ever caught a foul ball or home run. Nothing like catching a foul ball for your boyfriend! Congrats."
"You're going to pay for that later," Ryuu spoke in a slight growl as even when the game resumed, yaoi fangirls still shot very interested looks in his direction.
"Yeah, I'm going to pay for it later, as in 'I'm going to give you a foul ball that I worked hard to get,' and 'I gave you a bowl of cherry ice cream.' You're welcome!"
"That ice cream was very good… And Pahmpis B. Ahtch was the one who hit the foul ball. Okay, fine, but if you do it again, I'm going to hit you with my Fruit Ninja pillow."
Io disregarded this advice, however, as the ballpark T.V. didn't seem to want to leave him and Ryuu alone. Reveling in the attention he got, Io continued to tease Ryuu with multiple kisses to the cheek and side hugs. Even after the game had ended with a Peacocks victory, Ryuu continued to hit Io with that Fruit Ninja pillow, and to his chagrin that only spurred more squeals from the yaoi fangirls. To make matters worse for Ryuu (but better for Io), those squeals followed him all the way to the snowboarding slope. Ryuu's only consolation was that there was no huge T.V. to broadcast every humiliating moment… at least to the best of his knowledge.
"What are they, stalkers?" Ryuu muttered as he prepared to go down a 55-meter slope. "Seriously… The lengths to which fujoshis go to get their fill. It's creepy. And you, Io! You don't seem to be daunted one bit. Wipe that grin off your face before I do it for you."
"You can't really blame me, can you?" Io took a spot at the top of the slope, next to Ryuu. "You should have seen the look on your face when the T.V. focused on you specifically. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to wet my pants. I'm sure just about every fujoshi at that ballpark felt the same."
"Buttmunch," Ryuu mumbled as he only just remembered Io's inexperience in snowboarding. "Uh, Io… Do you have any idea how steep this slope is?"
"No," Io replied as he teetered on the apex of the slope. "Why- Aaaah!"
"Holy…" Ryuu watched in horror as Io sped down that 55-meter slope. "Io! Hey!"
"Oh, no!" A young bystander hid her face in her boyfriend's shoulder, unable to watch Io's horrid fall. "Someone, help him!"
"Tch… Just leave it to the master, eh?" Ryuu, with breakneck speed, raced the slope in hopes that he'd save Io in time. "One clean motion, no hesitation."
"Kyaaaaaa!" Io continued his unfortunate descent down the slope. He thought for sure he was going to meet a terrible fate as the ground stood a mere few meters across from his face, until…
"Phew…" Ryuu sighed in relief, catching Io with admirable grace. "Io, I don't know what in the name of all the gods you were thinking, but you need to watch it! You could have broken your neck, or worse!"
"Ah…" Io could only feel love and joy, despite the fact that mere seconds ago he was within inches of a lengthy, costly hospital stay. "My hero."
"Oh, can it." Ryuu nearly dropped Io, but the half-Greek managed to regain his footing. "Maybe I should have let you barrel roll all the way down the slope, if I had known you'd act like I'm your knight in shining armour. …You are okay, though, yes?"
"My foot does hurt a little," Io replied. "I can walk on it, but I don't think I can snowboard for the rest of the night."
"What a pity." Ryuu frowned, moreso because Io was injured rather than because they had to cut the snowboarding short. "It's approaching 19:00, so are you in the mood for dinner?"
"Yes, yes." Io grinned, retrieving the Kathenas Agapi café coupons from his handbag on his way to his Mercedes. "I've got these, so why don't we go to Kathenas Agapi's restaurant?"
"Kathenas Agapi? Isn't that from where Kinugawa-sempai brought the chocolate manju for Yufuin-sempai on Valentine's Day? I heard that it's crazy expensive!"
"Not with these three coupons, it's not," Io commented as he and Ryuu took their seats at the restaurant. To their fortune, they were the only ones in that section of the restaurant, save for one gay couple in the corner. "50% off on any item whatsoever. What do you have in mind?"
"Hmm…" Ryuu perused the menu, overwhelmed by the obscure-sounding Greek dishes on it. "I'm in the mood for Cabernet Sauvignon… Oh, but that fasolada and galaktoboureko sound good, too… Decisions, decisions. Ah, to hell with it, I want all three of them!"
"Consider it done, love." Io summoned the waiter, who in little time brought them Ryuu's requested items, as well as beef youvetsi and Cabernet Sauvignon for himself.
"Thank you very much, sirs," the waiter thanked. "It's all been paid in full, too, so don't worry about anything."
"Paid in full?" Ryuu questioned before having a taste of anything he ordered. "Io, you didn't just…"
"Oh, yes I did." Io cast a wink at the other teen, taking a sip of fake Cabernet Sauvignon.
"You should have let me at least contribute a yen or two! Oy…" Before touching the main course, Ryuu took a taste of the dessert, highly enjoying the sweet milk taste. "I can barely pronounce the name of this dish, but boy, is it awesome!"
Io wasn't sure whether to be more concerned about Ryuu's tendency to eat desserts first or about the fact that the galaktoboureko consisted of 80% milk. "You ordered another milk dish?"
"You forget that I remembered the lactase pills." Ryuu took a pause from the fasolada to take one lactase pill. "Of all dates I have ever been on, this is the only one for which I've actually remembered them."
"So, I'm actually of importance to you, then." Io's face became covered in a blush, accentuated by the Cabernet Sauvignon he drank. "…Thanks, I guess."
"Hey there, now…" Ryuu waved his hands slightly, as if to signify he didn't mean what Io had in mind. "Don't get the wrong idea. It's just… It's just coincidence."
It was at his own suggestion that Io had remembered the Pahmpis B. Ahtch card and the dark chocolate cherries, which he luckily had in his handbag. "If I am important enough for you to remind you about your lactase pills, then what I am about to do is important to me."
"Ooh!" Ryuu quickly surmised that Io was about to give him a gift. "What do you have there? Dirty magazines?"
"Better." Io grinned slyly.
"So freaking tell me, then!" Ryuu spoke playfully.
"Freaking tell you what?" sounded a voice from the entry to this section of the restaurant.
"Eh?" Ryuu, who did not recognize the voice, turned around. "Who are… Oh, holy…"
"Callista?" Io recognized the voice of his 14-year-old sister. "What are you doing here? And with such a big group, no less?"
"Dad just gave me a whopping amount of spending money for making it into Efyu High's honour society," Callista answered. "I thought I'd put that money to good use by treating my friends and my boyfriend to a nice dinner here."
"And what are you doing here, Takumi?" Ryuu didn't like the presence of his brother in the restaurant. Heck, he really wondered how Takumi learned about it to begin with.
"Just on a date with my girlfriend, that's all." Takumi wrapped an arm around Callista's waist and kissed her hand.
"Ye gods…" Io stared at his sister, wondering how a wayward prospect like Takumi could get her to be his girlfriend. "All this time, our own siblings were dating each other, Ryuu. Go figure."
"That can't be…" One of the people accompanying Takumi took note of Ryuu's presence.
"You're that guy who went haywire at that GSA!" The guy's friend pointed an angry finger at Ryuu.
"Eh… Who are you guys again?"
"We're Heywood Jablomie and Justin Aswhole, that's who!" the best friends spoke in chorus. "And we're going to have your ass for doing what you did to us!"
"Hey, hey!" A rather timid boy, wearing glasses and somewhat messy red hair, calmed Justin down. "Take it easy, love."
"Yeah, Heywood!" Sum Ting Smelz gave his boyfriend a hug from behind. "It's bad enough that we interrupted their date in the first place. Don't go causing trouble, now."
"Besides, I'm sure it was all part of a big misunderstanding," another Binan High student, who looked very mature for his age, spoke up. "I'm sure he's a really good person at heart."
"That's my boyfriend!" Sachiko proudly kissed her boyfriend's cheek. "You're too wonderful for words, Igarao."
"I can't believe all of you are dating people I know…" Io recognized the other three people as Sum Ting Smelz, Megawa Rui, and Igarao Oyaji. "The more GSA members, the merrier, I guess."
"Thanks for that, you guys…" Ryuu felt touched that people he barely knew the names of defended him.
"Anytime, dude." Takumi gave his brother a thumbs-up sign.
"So…" Ryuu's voice as he addressed Takumi sounded nervous. "You're not creeped out that my date just so happens to be a guy?"
"Hell, Ryuu. I'm just glad to see you happy and with someone, man."
Sachiko exclaimed, "First Onii-san, and now you, Ryuu-san… Ah, the real life yaoi going on in my life."
"Yes, bestie," Callista addressed Sachiko in Greek. "Real life yaoi is good for the soul."
Speaking in Japanese, Callista asked Io, "So, Onii-san, he really is your boyfriend, then? What a great choice."
"I wouldn't really say that…" Io turned back to Ryuu, who looked like he had a ton to say. Go ahead and deny the romance in our relationship as you always do, Ryuu. It's okay, I've accepted it already.
To Io's surprise, Ryuu didn't rant as usual, but instead blushed deeply, barely making his voice audible. "Um, Io…"
"What is it?" Io placed a hand over Ryuu's, hoping to hear something dulcet come from Ryuu's lips.
That… That fantasy… Ryuu's heart raced, much faster than it had in the fantasy that inspired his date. Am I… going to make it come true at last? Am I finally going to tell Io that I…
"Ooh, you're handsome looks rendered him speechless." Callista whistled. "You're my brother, all right."
"Oh, shush." Io didn't bother to turn back to Callista to scold her, because he wanted to see Ryuu's face when he made his announcement.
"Io… They're not entirely wrong you know," Ryuu finally managed. "You have no idea how it annoys me that I'm constantly beating around the bush when it comes to my feelings for you. But now, I am 100% certain of how I feel about you, and I am not ashamed to admit them despite the fact that we are in a pretty large company. Io… Io, I really lo-"
The final words of Ryuu's confession, however, could be heard by no one, not even Io. It didn't help the pink-haired teen that what prevented the confession from becoming known was an irritating buzz from his Lovracelet.