~*~
"Nono, it's okay. I know where we're going."
Miaka, seated next to her
boyfriend in the passenger seat of the Toyota, shook her head. "Taka," she growled, "you do not."
Taka glanced at her, having
just finished peering frantically at the signs on the side of the highway, and
gave a bright smile. "Don't be
silly. I know where we're going. We just need to...ah..."
Ryuuen cleared his throat from the back seat. "Turn off that exit right there, drive for three blocks, then turn right?"
Taka nodded, granting the
older man a brief, thankful glance before returning his eyes to his
girlfriend. "Exactly. See, Miaka?
You've just got to trust me."
Giggling and shaking her head, Miaka turned in her seat. Ryuuen and Sai sat side by side in the back, Ryuuen enduring the lack of shoulder strap provided by the middle seatbelt so he could lean against his boyfriend. His head was resting on Sai's shoulder, while Sai had his arm slipped behind the smaller man's back, holding him close despite the bumping and jarring of the exit ramp.
"Hey, thanks a lot,
Ryuu-chan," Miaka offered good-naturedly.
"He almost had to admit that he had no idea where we're
going."
Not bothering to lift his head from the warmth of Sai's shoulder, Ryuuen smiled. "I try to be helpful." The eighteen-year-old wrapped his arms a bit more tightly around his boyfriend's chest, closed his eyes and yawned. "So, are Gen-chan and the others meeting us at the front gates?"
He heard the rustle of Miaka
nodding. "Yep." She giggled. "You know how Gen-chan is." She lowered her voice into a surprisingly-accurate
imitation: "He doesn't fuckin'
wanna go to some stupid goddamn carnival if he can't bring his own fuckin' car
so he can get the hell outta there when he wants to, damn it!"
Ryuuen's eyes flared
open. "M...Miaka!"
The girl glanced around the
small car, realizing with a start that all eyes seemed to be on her--even
Taka's, which she was fairly certain should've been on the road. "Hehehe..." She grinned. "Sorry. But, we've
all heard those words before, haven't we?"
Saihitei, who was still
staring at her as if she'd sprouted two heads and one of them had started to
spin around, shook his head.
"Certainly, we've heard them before, Miaka. But...well, just not from you."
Miaka turned back around in
her seat, crossing her arms over the white cotton of her blouse. "Well.
I'm not that sheltered that I...Taka, watch it! You're gonna miss the turn-off!"
The brakes squealed, sending all four occupants of the car surging forward into their restraints. Despite the sudden groans from the passengers, however, Taka managed to coerce the Toyota into turning onto the haphazardly-paved side road, and a moment later, they were off again, speeding towards the colorful "Ferndale Carnival" sign.
"Hey, Miaka..."
The girl blinked, twisted in
her seat. "Hmm?"
Ryuuen, still wrapped in
Sai's arm, had nonetheless straightened somewhat, and was currently pulling his
hair back into a high ponytail, a black scrunchie cinched around his wrist as
he worked. Sai occasionally had to duck
his head to the left to avoid an elbow to the temple, but Ryuuen didn't seem to
notice. "Remind me again why we're
going to this carnival?"
Miaka sniffed. "We do every year, Ryuu-chan! It's a
Yuuki family tradition! And, now that
I'm living with you and Taka and Sai, you guys are my family, so you get to
come with me!"
Ryuuen was silent for a long time, ponytail limp and unfinished, arms dropping slowly to his sides. Finally, though, he smiled. "Your family," he echoed softly. "Yeah, I...I guess we are."
There was a slight, comfortable pause. The radio was playing, very softly, turned onto the Soft Rock station Miaka'd insisted on, and the hum of the Toyota's engine was a soothing lull to the recent chaos of their lives. Ryuuen smiled, fixed the ponytail, and returned his head to the warmth of boyfriend's shoulder.
A few minutes later, they pulled through the painted carnival archway and were directed, by a very bored-looking man in an orange vest, to the parking lot. After finding a space approximately eighty-five miles away from the entrance, Taka stopped the car, turned off the car, and pulled the key from the ignition.
"Yaaaaaay, we're here!" Miaka chirped.
Ryuuen blinked sleepily, rubbing a hand at his eyes as he sat up. "Not so loud, huh, Miaka?"
She grinned, turning around in the seat and offering a truly-frightening giggle. "But...we're...HERE! C'mon c'mon 'cmon, let's go let's go! They have the best cotton candy here--and the corn dogs! Ahhh! C'mon c'mon!"
Smiling, Ryuuen reached down and unbuckled his seat belt, waited while Sai did the same and reached for the door handle. A moment later, the four of them had vacated the car and were starting off towards the entrance, cutting through the parking lot with Taka in the lead, Miaka bouncing faithfully beside him, Ryuuen and Saihitei following close behind.
~*~
Genrou, Houjun, and Kouji were waiting for them at the front gate, Houjun leafing quietly through a map of the carnival's layout, Genrou and Kouji playing Poker for stones on the grass. Judging by the mound of pebbles piled up in front of Kouji--as well as the flood of curse words already drifting to their ears--Genrou was having yet another off day.
At the sound of their approaching footsteps, Houjun glanced up and smiled. "Hi," he said, folding the map up and slipping it into his pocket. "I'm glad you guys made it. Genrou and Kouji were st--"
"Fuckin' no!" Genrou shrieked, leaping to his feet and hurling his cards at the grass. "Fuckin' no way you've got another fuckin' Royal Straight! You're fuckin' cheating!"
Kouji smiled placidly,
already pulling the last of the pebbles to his own pile. "These are your cards, man. Not my fault if you can't play Poker worth
sh--"
"Heyyyy!" Miaka
exclaimed, dashing up and placing herself in between the two. "Let's not fiiiiiight. Please?" She sniffled, granting both her most practiced puppy eyes. "Pleasepleasepleeeease? Let's just go in and have fun, okay? We've only got until five, and it's almost
nooooooon."
Genrou, currently gathering
the fallen cards and stuffing them into his bookbag, frowned at her. "Why only 'til five? We got someplace to fuckin' go or
somethin'?"
Miaka slipped her arm around
the waist of her boyfriend, who was currently digging through his wallet for
the correct change to give the ticket man at the gate, and smiled. "We're going out to dinner, then,"
she said. "To someplace nice. Right, Taka?"
"Someplace nice but inexpensive," Taka corrected.
"Someplace nice," Miaka insisted, giving her boyfriend a playful swat on the shoulder. "Now, stop counting pennies and pay so we can go in. I'm so hunnnngryyyy!"
"Yeah, fuckin' really, Taka,"
Genrou grumbled, falling into line just behind Ryuuen and Saihitei. "There're other people who wanna get
in, too, and before fuckin' Christmas."
Ryuuen turned, cast his friend a brief glare. "Gen-chan," he hissed, "there're little kids around."
Genrou shrugged, slipping his
hands into the pockets of his ripped jean shorts. "Eh, they'll learn all those words sooner or fuckin'
later."
Sai shook his head. "Sooner, in this case, I suppose."
"Hey," Genrou exclaimed, "I'm doin' these kids a service! How the hell're they s'posed ta know what words not to say if no one tells 'em what they fuckin' are first? Huh? Huh-huh, Mr. Fancy Fuckin' Self-Employed?"
Ryuuen smiled, tightening his
grip on his boyfriend's arm and resting his cheek on the taller man's
shoulder. "I hope you have kids
someday, Gen-chan."
Genrou blanched. "Kids?
Fuck, no, man. I'd hafta have a wife
to have kids, and fuckin'...fuckin'..."
"That's enough, you know," Houjun interjected, coming up behind them. He smiled slightly, pressing a finger to his chin. "I don't think you should teach these kids about that yet..."
Genrou flushed and went silent, and as they entered the carnival, there was no sound among them but Ryuuen's and Miaka's giggles, and Sai's low, chuckling laughter.
"Not fuckin' funny," Genrou growled under his breath.
~*~
(And now, for your viewing pleasure…)
An Unfortunate Outtake:
Genrou, Houjun, and Kouji were waiting for them at the front gate, Houjun leafing quietly through a map of the carnival, Genrou and Kouji playing a rousing game of Egyptian Ratscrew on the grass. Which...sounds really bad, now that I think of it. So, nevermind. ^^;;;;;;;
^_^()
