The Bishonen of February
Chapter 18
Nuriko quietly sat up in his sleeping bag. He was up earlier than usual, he noticed. The morning hadn't quite arrived fully, and the sky was still tinted gray. He shifted slightly and rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes, flipping his braid over his shoulder. Looking down, he allowed a small smile to cross his lips. Hotohori was still sleeping like a baby, his expression calm and relaxed. Nuriko's hand reached down and brushed a stray chestnut-colored hair out of his friend's face. Violet eyes filled with deep emotion for a brief second before the purple-haired boy silently got up from his makeshift bed. He'd let Hotohori sleep for a little while longer.
~*~
The mouthwatering aroma of waffles and hot chocolate awoke Kina from her deep, exhaustion-induced sleep. Her eyes shot open and she was in the kitchen in a record time of 2.67 seconds, drooling.
"A-are any of those for meee??" she demanded of Chichiri.
"Umm...they'll be ready in a minute, no da," he replied, sweatdropping and backing away. Mitsukake chuckled from his seat at the kitchen table, but said nothing.
"Mmm! 'Chiri, that smells divine!" Shiva exclaimed, walking into the room. "Want I should set the table for you?"
"That sounds good, no da," the blue-haired bishonen answered, still a bit warily. Why did he always get stuck with the weird ones? He dropped the subject and turned back to his waffles.
Kina followed her friend over to the silverware drawer. "So...your bishonen don't talk much, do they?"
"Oh, they won't for a while around you. They're under strict orders not to frighten you off. After a while, you won't be able to get them to shut up- well, 'Chiri, that is. 'Kake, on the other hand...he never talks. A regular Trowa in the making, except without the clown suit."
Kina laughed. "They oughta meet my Nuri and Hori."
Shiva blinked. "Hey, that reminds me! Where are your bishonen, by the way?"
The redhead turned away. "..."
"C'mon, spill."
"They didn't come with me." Kina muttered.
"What? Are you crazy, girl?" Shiva grabbed Kina by the shoulders and shook her hard. "Do you have any idea how risky that is, to come out here all the way by yourself?! There have been reports of wild Shishios in the area- do you have any clue as to how dangerous those are? What if I didn't find you? What would you have done?!" she demanded.
Kina looked up at her friend, tears welling up in her eyes.
Shiva softened. "Aw, Kina, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell."
"No, that's not it!" Kina managed. "It's just....the forks are poking into my arm!"
"Oh. Whoops."
~*~
Minutes later, things were much quieter in the household. All of the occupants were busy stuffing their faces with Chichiri's homemade waffles.
"Kina," Shiva managed to get in between mouthfuls, "I have the best idea. Meet me outside after breakfast with as many stuffed gorillas as you can find, some rubber boots, and a liter of honey. It'll be just like the old days!!"
A piece of waffle lodged itself in Kina's throat, and she began to cough. Whether it was in shock at Shiva's statement or because of the waffle was debatable.
Shiva stood up abruptly. "Hey, Kina, you OK?"
"It's OK, no da!" Chichiri called. "Mitsukake knows the Hiemlich maneuver, no da!"
The healing bishonen obligingly got up from his seat and placed his strong arms around Kina's abdomen. In one swift movement, he jerked his hands up into her diaphragm and the offending waffle flew out across the table.
"OK, now that's just gross," Shiva noted.
"Oh, thanks ever so much for being worried about me," Kina grumbled. "Here I am, your best friend hacking out a lung on your table, and the best you can manage is 'that's gross'?"
Shiva sniffed. "Don't write me off as being completely self-absorbed yet...I was worried about the table!"
Kina laughed, feeling a twinge of homesickness pull at her heart. Hotohori would have said the exact same thing. She shook her head slightly, hoping to get rid of the unattractive thoughts. She pushed them to the back of her mind and sat back down to finish her waffles.
~*~
Yue wrinkled his nose at the unappetizing specimen in front of him. "And you're sure this is edible?" he questioned the bishonen in front of him.
Nuriko crossed his arms. "Hey, when my materials consist of grass and pancake mix, a gourmet chef I'm not. I had to ad-lib it a little."
"I really don't want to know what's in this now."
"That's probably a good idea."
"That's not helping." Yue poked his food again, something he'd found himself to be doing a lot. "Hey, where's Hotohori?"
"Oh, he's still sleeping."
"Aren't you going to wake him up, then? We have to get started soon."
"I know. I just want him to sleep in as much as possible. He's been under a lot of stress lately, you know."
"Which one of us hasn't?" Yue replied wryly, venturing a bite of the unknown substance. "Blech!" He spat it out instantly.
Nuriko made an apologetic motion with his hands. "You have a point. But Hori has a habit of worrying a lot about the people he cares about. He doesn't show it, so not many people can tell, but he really worries about them. And Kina, well...he cares about her a lot. He's been out of his mind with anxiety these past few days. I just want him to take care of himself, but he's not. So I'm letting him sleep in a bit today. Besides, it's not like he's missing much," he finished lamely, trying and failing to cover up the concern in his voice. "This breakfast's not exactly edible."
~*~
"So when's Arashi due back?" Kina asked, placing her dirty dishes in the sink.
Mitsukake raised an eyebrow. "Is this really dirty?" he questioned quietly.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, it is. I just licked it clean," Kina replied casually.
She became the recipient of three very disbelieving stares.
"What?! I was hungry!" she defended herself.
"I can't believe you," Shiva muttered, shaking her head. "You haven't changed at all."
"Heh." Kina grinned, then asked, "Like I said, when's Arashi due back?"
"Oh, I'm already here!" a voice caroled, causing the two girls to jump almost a foot into the air. They turned around.
A redhead of average height stood before them, decked out in a black tank top and khakis. She wore black shoes, and her long, fire-red hair went down past the brown belt around her waist that held her bishonen balls. Her gray eyes flashed cheerfully as she grinned.
"A-A-Arashi?!" Shiva stuttered. "When did you get back?"
"Last night," Arashi replied, waving her hand in a friendly manner.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
The gym leader shrugged. "You guys seemed fine on your own. Besides, you were having your whole memories thing going on with that stuffed rabbit of yours, so..."
"You LISTENED to that?!?!?!" Shiva demanded in embarrassment.
Arashi blinked. "I wasn't supposed to?"
Chichiri shook his head and turned back to his dishes as the girls continued to talk. He had given up on understanding trainers long ago.
"I'll help you with those," a deep voice said from behind him. Chichiri looked in the direction of the voice to see Mitsukake step to his side and begin scrubbing a plate. The aqua-haired monk turned his head away and began to clean the waffle iron. Underneath the water in the sink, the two bishonen's hands brushed each other's slightly. With identical blushes on their faces, they quickly pulled their hands away and continued the chore.
~*~
"Mm." Hotohori remarked to himself from his position in his sleeping bag. It was a nice morning, and he had slept wonderfully. Pulling himself out of bed, he walked over to where Nuriko and Yue were packing.
"'Morning, Nuri," he drawled, coming up and hugging the other boy from behind. "How's it going?"
Nuriko blushed slightly and grinned. It was going to be a good day, if this was any indication. "Pretty good, actually," he replied. "We're almost ready to leave."
"We're leaving already? What time is it?"
"About 11:15," Yue answered.
"11:15?!?!" Hotohori screeched. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Ow, Hori. That's right in my ear!" Nuriko complained. "And we wanted to let you sleep. You looked exhausted."
"We?" asked Yue.
Nuriko glared at him. "Well, it's too late to do anything about it now. Just get dressed, and then we can all get back to finding Kina."
Hotohori grumbled a bit about certain purple-haired bishonen who needed to learn about alarm clocks, but went off to do as Nuriko said.
"Oh, Hori?" Nuriko called sweetly. "If you complain about me one more time, you'll find something verrrry interesting in your lunch today."
Hotohori promptly shut up.
Chapter 18
Nuriko quietly sat up in his sleeping bag. He was up earlier than usual, he noticed. The morning hadn't quite arrived fully, and the sky was still tinted gray. He shifted slightly and rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes, flipping his braid over his shoulder. Looking down, he allowed a small smile to cross his lips. Hotohori was still sleeping like a baby, his expression calm and relaxed. Nuriko's hand reached down and brushed a stray chestnut-colored hair out of his friend's face. Violet eyes filled with deep emotion for a brief second before the purple-haired boy silently got up from his makeshift bed. He'd let Hotohori sleep for a little while longer.
~*~
The mouthwatering aroma of waffles and hot chocolate awoke Kina from her deep, exhaustion-induced sleep. Her eyes shot open and she was in the kitchen in a record time of 2.67 seconds, drooling.
"A-are any of those for meee??" she demanded of Chichiri.
"Umm...they'll be ready in a minute, no da," he replied, sweatdropping and backing away. Mitsukake chuckled from his seat at the kitchen table, but said nothing.
"Mmm! 'Chiri, that smells divine!" Shiva exclaimed, walking into the room. "Want I should set the table for you?"
"That sounds good, no da," the blue-haired bishonen answered, still a bit warily. Why did he always get stuck with the weird ones? He dropped the subject and turned back to his waffles.
Kina followed her friend over to the silverware drawer. "So...your bishonen don't talk much, do they?"
"Oh, they won't for a while around you. They're under strict orders not to frighten you off. After a while, you won't be able to get them to shut up- well, 'Chiri, that is. 'Kake, on the other hand...he never talks. A regular Trowa in the making, except without the clown suit."
Kina laughed. "They oughta meet my Nuri and Hori."
Shiva blinked. "Hey, that reminds me! Where are your bishonen, by the way?"
The redhead turned away. "..."
"C'mon, spill."
"They didn't come with me." Kina muttered.
"What? Are you crazy, girl?" Shiva grabbed Kina by the shoulders and shook her hard. "Do you have any idea how risky that is, to come out here all the way by yourself?! There have been reports of wild Shishios in the area- do you have any clue as to how dangerous those are? What if I didn't find you? What would you have done?!" she demanded.
Kina looked up at her friend, tears welling up in her eyes.
Shiva softened. "Aw, Kina, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell."
"No, that's not it!" Kina managed. "It's just....the forks are poking into my arm!"
"Oh. Whoops."
~*~
Minutes later, things were much quieter in the household. All of the occupants were busy stuffing their faces with Chichiri's homemade waffles.
"Kina," Shiva managed to get in between mouthfuls, "I have the best idea. Meet me outside after breakfast with as many stuffed gorillas as you can find, some rubber boots, and a liter of honey. It'll be just like the old days!!"
A piece of waffle lodged itself in Kina's throat, and she began to cough. Whether it was in shock at Shiva's statement or because of the waffle was debatable.
Shiva stood up abruptly. "Hey, Kina, you OK?"
"It's OK, no da!" Chichiri called. "Mitsukake knows the Hiemlich maneuver, no da!"
The healing bishonen obligingly got up from his seat and placed his strong arms around Kina's abdomen. In one swift movement, he jerked his hands up into her diaphragm and the offending waffle flew out across the table.
"OK, now that's just gross," Shiva noted.
"Oh, thanks ever so much for being worried about me," Kina grumbled. "Here I am, your best friend hacking out a lung on your table, and the best you can manage is 'that's gross'?"
Shiva sniffed. "Don't write me off as being completely self-absorbed yet...I was worried about the table!"
Kina laughed, feeling a twinge of homesickness pull at her heart. Hotohori would have said the exact same thing. She shook her head slightly, hoping to get rid of the unattractive thoughts. She pushed them to the back of her mind and sat back down to finish her waffles.
~*~
Yue wrinkled his nose at the unappetizing specimen in front of him. "And you're sure this is edible?" he questioned the bishonen in front of him.
Nuriko crossed his arms. "Hey, when my materials consist of grass and pancake mix, a gourmet chef I'm not. I had to ad-lib it a little."
"I really don't want to know what's in this now."
"That's probably a good idea."
"That's not helping." Yue poked his food again, something he'd found himself to be doing a lot. "Hey, where's Hotohori?"
"Oh, he's still sleeping."
"Aren't you going to wake him up, then? We have to get started soon."
"I know. I just want him to sleep in as much as possible. He's been under a lot of stress lately, you know."
"Which one of us hasn't?" Yue replied wryly, venturing a bite of the unknown substance. "Blech!" He spat it out instantly.
Nuriko made an apologetic motion with his hands. "You have a point. But Hori has a habit of worrying a lot about the people he cares about. He doesn't show it, so not many people can tell, but he really worries about them. And Kina, well...he cares about her a lot. He's been out of his mind with anxiety these past few days. I just want him to take care of himself, but he's not. So I'm letting him sleep in a bit today. Besides, it's not like he's missing much," he finished lamely, trying and failing to cover up the concern in his voice. "This breakfast's not exactly edible."
~*~
"So when's Arashi due back?" Kina asked, placing her dirty dishes in the sink.
Mitsukake raised an eyebrow. "Is this really dirty?" he questioned quietly.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, it is. I just licked it clean," Kina replied casually.
She became the recipient of three very disbelieving stares.
"What?! I was hungry!" she defended herself.
"I can't believe you," Shiva muttered, shaking her head. "You haven't changed at all."
"Heh." Kina grinned, then asked, "Like I said, when's Arashi due back?"
"Oh, I'm already here!" a voice caroled, causing the two girls to jump almost a foot into the air. They turned around.
A redhead of average height stood before them, decked out in a black tank top and khakis. She wore black shoes, and her long, fire-red hair went down past the brown belt around her waist that held her bishonen balls. Her gray eyes flashed cheerfully as she grinned.
"A-A-Arashi?!" Shiva stuttered. "When did you get back?"
"Last night," Arashi replied, waving her hand in a friendly manner.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
The gym leader shrugged. "You guys seemed fine on your own. Besides, you were having your whole memories thing going on with that stuffed rabbit of yours, so..."
"You LISTENED to that?!?!?!" Shiva demanded in embarrassment.
Arashi blinked. "I wasn't supposed to?"
Chichiri shook his head and turned back to his dishes as the girls continued to talk. He had given up on understanding trainers long ago.
"I'll help you with those," a deep voice said from behind him. Chichiri looked in the direction of the voice to see Mitsukake step to his side and begin scrubbing a plate. The aqua-haired monk turned his head away and began to clean the waffle iron. Underneath the water in the sink, the two bishonen's hands brushed each other's slightly. With identical blushes on their faces, they quickly pulled their hands away and continued the chore.
~*~
"Mm." Hotohori remarked to himself from his position in his sleeping bag. It was a nice morning, and he had slept wonderfully. Pulling himself out of bed, he walked over to where Nuriko and Yue were packing.
"'Morning, Nuri," he drawled, coming up and hugging the other boy from behind. "How's it going?"
Nuriko blushed slightly and grinned. It was going to be a good day, if this was any indication. "Pretty good, actually," he replied. "We're almost ready to leave."
"We're leaving already? What time is it?"
"About 11:15," Yue answered.
"11:15?!?!" Hotohori screeched. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Ow, Hori. That's right in my ear!" Nuriko complained. "And we wanted to let you sleep. You looked exhausted."
"We?" asked Yue.
Nuriko glared at him. "Well, it's too late to do anything about it now. Just get dressed, and then we can all get back to finding Kina."
Hotohori grumbled a bit about certain purple-haired bishonen who needed to learn about alarm clocks, but went off to do as Nuriko said.
"Oh, Hori?" Nuriko called sweetly. "If you complain about me one more time, you'll find something verrrry interesting in your lunch today."
Hotohori promptly shut up.