Ms. Tanada surveyed her students. She was fairly bursting with teacherly pride. They beamed back at her.
"All right class, this is it. The moment you have all been waiting for, the final presentation for the year. Class 2-3, let's play house!"
— 0 —
"Then we had to go through the whole schedule thing…"
"We couldn't decide whether we wanted the blue or the pink diaper so we fought in the middle of the aisle…"
"I never knew washing dishes could be so much fun!"
"I broke a nail."
"It was a miracle that the baby was still alive after that!"
"Then we found out that we had something in common after all—our shampoo!"
"Then we saw this infomercial and we were hooked."
"No matter how much we wanted to, we just couldn't make the budget work!"
"Hey I got that right!"
"We knew right away that we would file for divorce if it was real."
"I would have the house of course."
"I'd get the furniture especially those antiques."
"Did you know that there are about a hundred ways to cook tofu?"
"I just had to get out of the house before I hit something."
"She didn't want to listen."
"He snored."
"Washing clothes is tricky."
"The fox and I actually had a good time."
The silence that lapsed after Sakuragi's statement covered even the rooms outside.
Hanamichi looked at everyone, confused at their reaction. Then he transferred his gaze to his partner.
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
Kaede sighed.
"Dumbass."
Hanamichi screeched and pounced on the other boy. The whole class sweatdropped and relaxed. Yup, they were still the same Sakuragi and Rukawa. They hadn't been abducted by aliens and replaced with buddy-buddy look-alikes.
— 0 —
Mrs. Tanada walked to the front of the class after the last presentation.
"This is supposed to be the part where I make a grand speech about how proud I am of all the things that you've done. But I won't bore you with that. Instead, I'll tell you all about—call it a present from me for making this project a reality."
Several students began murmuring excitedly.
"On your last day, I have been given permission to hold an informal gathering of all those who have been part of this project."
"Yay! It's party time!"
— 0 —
The whole class cheered. The feeling of euphoria was already so high that they cheered for anything and everything as they gathered in the gym.
"To fastfood for giving us instant food whenever we have to do our reports!"
Cheers!"To calculators that helped us do our budget!"
Cheers!"To never seeing those electronic babies again!"
Yay!Hanamichi added his loud voice to that particular salutation.
"Hana-darling!"
He turned and was horrified to see Mrs. Rukawa bearing down on him.
"And how are you sweetie?" she asked, pinching his cheek.
He yelped. Mrs. Sakuragi, who was sitting beside him, shook her head.
"Kaede don't be such a bore and greet darling Hana.
Hanamichi glared at Kaede. His eyes narrowed. If he didn't know that it was impossible, he would have sworn that Kaede was laughing at his predicament.
"Mrs. Rukawa, why don't we leave these two alone for a while and get something to drink?" Mrs. Sakuragi interrupted.
"Oh! Yes! Lets!"
The two ladies moved to the table and left their sons eyeing each other. A few minutes later a loud cry was heard from the table. The two saw Mrs. Rukawa staring at them then scurrying over to Hanamichi. She immediately began patting his chest and checking his muscles.
"Oh my!" she gasped, fanning her face. "I thought he…oh my!"
Kaede helped his mother sit down while Mrs. Sakuragi handed her a drink.
"Uh…mom, what happened?" Hanamichi asked.
"I told her that you're a boy."
"Oh my!"
"She seems to be taking it quite well."
Mrs. Rukawa took a long sip then finally regained her composure. She stared at Hanamichi. And stared. And stared.
Finally, unable to stand the scrutiny any longer, Hanamichi looked around and spotted Youhei talking with Mina's parents.
"Uh…I see Youhei…I think he's waving at me. I'll just go to him!"
"Wait! Hana-darling!"
Hanamichi stopped in mid-stride. He looked down at Mrs. Rukawa who took one of his hands.
"I don't know how I could have mistaken you for a girl…but anyway I just want you to know that even though you're a boy…"
"Uhm…even though I'm a boy?"
"Even though you're a boy…" Mrs. Rukawa suddenly surged upward and started pinching Hanamichi again. "I still think you're the perfect partner for my Kaede!"
— 0 —
The party lasted until well into the evening. Mrs. Rukawa had insisted on bringing Mrs. Sakuragi home while their sons stayed. Prof. Matsu's electronic baby had been a success with some of the parents. One rich father who owned a factory for toys wanted to develop a whole line of products for the baby toys.
In a quiet corner of the gym, Hanamichi and Kaede were indulging in their favorite pastime, glaring at each other.
"I won," Hanamichi insisted.
"Moron," Kaede muttered through clenched teeth.
They were interrupted by the gundan with Mina walking towards them.
"Yo! Hanamichi we're going to get some grub somewhere!" Takamiya said.
"Wanna come?"
Hanamichi wrenched his eyes away from Kaede's and grinned at his friends.
"Do you have to ask?" he smirked.
The others turned and began to walk away. Hanamichi took a few steps forward then stopped. He looked back at Kaede who was eyeing everything else but him. He turned his head to the side.
"What the hell are you doing you dumbass?" Kaede growled. "Your friends are waiting for you?"
"What're you going to do now?"
"What do you care? It's not as if we're still partners or anything."
Hanamichi continued to contemplate Kaede.
"Stop staring at me and go!" Kaede snarled, looking directly at Hanamichi.
He instantly regretted that decision. The redhead was grinning at him. He became even more nervous when Hanamichi stepped forward, hooked an arm around his shoulder and propelled him towards the waiting gundan.
"What the—let go of me you idiot!"
"Y'know, fox, technically we're still partners until the end of this year so wherever I go, you go too! See, like Youhei and Mina."
"They're different from us!"
Kaede struggled but Hanamichi's arm on him was firm. The redhead also went on as if he had not said anything.
"Who knows that newbie teacher might still be judging our performance until now," Hanamichi continued saying.
Kaede managed to catch a glimpse of Ms. Tanada looking at them.
"So, I figured we might as well go on with this. Next year we can go back to hating each other."
Hanamichi's grin widened as Kaede stopped struggling.
"Yo! Guys! The fox is coming with us too!"
"Cool!"
Kaede mumbled something.
"Hey, can we go to your house again?"
Kaede glared at Takamiya who smirked at him. He kept muttering under his breath but he allowed himself to be propelled outside with Hanamichi's arm still slung over his shoulder.
The redhead was right. He might get bonus grades for this sacrifice so he would just mutter and bear it. He'd eat with them and watch them makes fools of themselves.
His eyes met those of Hanamichi's.
He'd think about his absolute disgust of his partner tomorrow. Or next year. Maybe.
— 0 —
Ms. Tanada watched the two tall boys walk out of the gym. Of all the accomplishments her project had achieved, she would forever be proud of the fact that she had managed to convert the most stubborn duo in school. The future held more serious games but somehow she knew that Hanamichi Sakuragi and Kaede Rukawa would be able to survive anything thrown at them. Who knew, maybe one day they wouldn't be "playing house" but living in a house on their own.
-END-
A/N:
1. There. It's finally done. It's been one year. Let me acknowledge all those who have been a part of this project:
Annachan, Crescent Quetzalcoatl, Ginji-ban, sLL, ~kyou, has, vero, annedrew, anime_luverjc, silvercross, Kuroi Neko-kun, Jan1, Ilweran, SHF, Hagane, YUki-Yuki, Migo, keli, Ohmigod, Misaoshi, aki, sspanchan, Shinichi Dori-chan, kimeno-pebols, kimi-chan, Seonaid Mist, fiery frost, Hikaru Itsuko, Sae3, ||jayne||, chris37, sakura1988, Kenren, Mizu17, foxgaze, Wednesday, Seraph_Kirin, zaiduck, Rook, chris, ayu, foxhana, lykalyn, Angel Fire, kitsune-kun, okia, frozenfemale, GeNo C. iDe1, Rivers2, Unquestionable, Scalet Iori, Aoi-chan, rhygell, IcyMagno, unchained, Abyss, lambie, Tina Caps, Hisashi Loves Yelen, annalei, the nutty imp
To anyone I may have forgotten, sorry about that, but thank you everyone! Until the next fic!