Can you believe that guy? I'm 21 years old now & my dad STILL calls me
brat. Oh well, some things never change I guess. I suppose I should
introduce myself, my name is Uesugi Kiku. I'm adopted, I don't know who my
birth parents are, but I am the only son of the high profile couple Yuki
Eiri & Shindou Shuichi. Having a best-selling author & a popular rock star
as parents, & considering they're both men, you can probably guess that I
had a little different than usual upbringing, & I'm more than a little
spoiled. I know it, but I try not to show it & just live as normal a life
as always.
Over the years, I'll admit, that I've definitely perfected the art of
manipulating my parents... Especially Dad. It's something to be proud of &
not at the same time. Papa is like a teddy bear, give him some hugs & he's
fine to let you do what you want. But Dad, is an all-together different
case, he's tough to break, & won't relent usually on his decisions. Dad is
kinda like... one of those bears you see on the nature channel that go all
mean & stuff when the cameras get to close to its cubs. Actually, that's
exactly what he's like, literally. But, like I said, I still have my
special way with him... in other words, I've got my dad wrapped around my
little finger. Gotta love them! ^__^
So anyway, I guess you want to know what happened at my grad party, huh?
Seeing as how that's where my Dad stopped writing. I'll tell you what
happened! I'm visiting right now, it's Papa's birthday, & I'm here to
surprise him. I just finished college in America & he doesn't know I'm back
home yet. So I'm just waiting in Dad's study... & snooping a little... Yup.
Some things never change...
*~*
"Kiku!" One of my best friends, Daisuke, stumbled over & half leaned, half fell on my shoulder, I had a feeling that if I took a step to the right, Daisuke would fall flat on the ground, to drunk to stand on his own. "Awesome party, man!"
"Thanks." I laughed. Looking around the room, I began to wonder if I was the only one still sober. Propping Daisuki against the wall, I slid away & was going to open a window to get some fresh air when another person began calling my name.
"Kiku!" A girl with short black hair called, "Hi." She smiled sweetly.
"Hi."
"Where are you going?"
"I need to get some fresh air."
"Yeah. It's pretty hot in here isn't it?"
"Yup." I replied. "... Would you like to come with me?"
"Sure! I'd love to!" We walked out onto the upstairs balcony. "You have a really nice house. It's so big. Are your parents rich or something?"
"You don't know who my parents are?"
"No. Do they work at the school or something?"
I laughed. "Ha! Seriously? You've got to be kidding me. I thought everyone knew."
"Well, I've heard stories... but I didn't know if they were true or not." The girl replied.
"What kind of stories?"
"You're going to think it's strange. It's such an odd rumour." She blushed. "Someone told me that your parents were Yuki Eiri & Shindou Shuichi."
"Yeah, and?"
"They were being serious?" She blinked.
"Yeah."
"I had no idea!" She gasped & gave a little laugh. "Oh wait! I remember seeing you in the news a couple of times & on the TV & in the magazines a few years ago. It makes sense, now!"
"Do you think it's weird?" I asked her.
"No. I think it's kinda cool. That explains why you live in such a nice house. So, did you get to hang out with all those rock stars when you were a kid?"
"Yeah, They still all come over all the time. Hiro & Ryuichi are all like uncles to me. And Seguchi Tohma & Suguru ARE my uncles, one's married to my dad's sister, & the other to my Papa's sister so I see them & my cousins every once in a while too."
[A.N. Sorry, hehehe. I figured not as many people would understand that part just above. Tohma is obviously married to Mika. And I pretended just for no real reason at all except for another fic I wrote b4, that Suguru is now married to Shuichi's little sister, Maiko. Just FYI!]
"So, which one's your father?"
"Eh?"
"Whose son are you really? Yuki's?"
"N-no, they're both my parents. I'm adopted." I stuttered.
"Well then, what do you call them? Do you just call them by their names? What do you call Yuki Eiri?"
"Dad."
"Then what about Shuichi?"
"Papa."
"Ahh, I see. I always thought you were talking about the same person." The girl said. "Why is your name Uesugi, then?"
"It's my dad's real name, they used it to enrol me in school so that I wasn't bugged by people."
"So, your parents... are they like, a REAL couple? Or is that just a rumour too?"
"Well, if they're not, then I'd sure be the last to know." I laughed. "I mean, yeah. They've been together since before I was around."
"But do they ever... kiss? Have you ever seen them?"
"Yeah. Good night & stuff."
"Do they love each other?"
"Of course!" I tried not to get to defensive, but this was starting to insult me. "Can we PLEASE talk about something else? This really isn't anyone else's business other than my family's."
"Sorry." The girl blushed. "I didn't mean to be rude."
"It's ok. I should be used to it. People react like that all then time when they find out." I smiled, "Do you want a tour?"
"Of your house? Really?! That would be amazing!" She smiled brightly, grabbing onto his arm.
I blinked. The only girls I ever let act like this were the ones that I'd known for a long time, the ones I was close with. I hardly knew this girl.
I showed her all around my house, trying to avoid running into Papa or Dad. As we got up to the living room, I could smell smoke. I went around the corner & took the cigarette from Dad's mouth & threw it in a glass of water on the coffee table. "What about your new years resolution? You promised that you wouldn't smoke."
"I promised that I'd quit. Just cause I haven't yet doesn't mean that I won't. I just was taking a break from writing. What are you doing up here, anyway?" Dad asked.
"Showing someone around the house."
"Oh?"
"Hello." The girl smiled shyly. "It's nice to meet you. I read all your books."
"Well then, thank you."
"We should keep on our way, there's lots of house left to go." As I left I turned back to Dad & saw him give me a 'Who's that girl?' look. I just shrugged my shoulders because I still didn't know her name.
We bumped into Papa in the kitchen, making juice. "Hello! How are you?!" Papa was ecstatic to meet the girl. "I'm Shindou Shuichi. Has Kiku told you about me?"
"Oh yes. I already know about you though, I have all of Bad Luck's CDs! I'm a fan!"
She's a fan of them both? I wondered. "Let's keep going, we'll come back again later." I led the girl around more of the house.
"Where's your room?" She asked.
"My room?" This was probably just an innocent question, but I couldn't help but feel like I was in a movie.
"Yeah. Could I see it? Isn't that all that's left to see?"
"Um... yeah. It's this way." I led her down the hall to my room & opened the door. "It might be a little messy. I can't remember if I cleaned it or not." I rubbed the back of my head & laughed a little.
"Oh wow! You have a balcony in your room too! You're so lucky! I'd love to have one in my room, I'd feel like Juliet!" She ran out again. It's such a beautiful night. I can't believe we've finally graduated, can you?"
"I know what you mean, it seems surreal almost, doesn't it?" I followed her out.
"Yeah." She replied. "Your parents are nice. Why did we have to leave so quickly?"
"Well, you know parents, if you're with them for too long they're bound to do something embarrassing..." I thought immediately of Papa.
"Are you ashamed of them or something?"
"No. It's just, none of my friends have ever really met them before..."
"Why not? You never had friends over to the house or anything?"
"Well, not really, they were afraid of my friends' parents not liking the fact that I had 2 dads."
"Oh. I see." She smiled. "Well then, why now? How come you're having this huge party with our entire graduating class?"
"I kinda didn't tell them until about a week & ½ ago... so my dad couldn't do anything about it." I laughed a little & blushed with embarrassment. "I know, it's not very mature, huh?"
"That's ok." She giggled. "You sure seem to have your way with them. Do you get anything you want?"
"Well, not all the time. I guess I am spoiled though, how many guys my age have been able to travel all around the world?"
"You don't act like a rich kid, though. You don't act like you're spoiled."
"Well, I guess that's a good thing."
"Isn't it nice out here?"
"Yeah. I come out here a lot at nighttime. I love how peaceful it is when everyone else is asleep."
"Yeah, me too. Say... Kiku... do you ever wish you could meet your real parents?"
"I used to wonder what they looked like, or if I had any siblings... I suppose I still do, but I'm not in any rush to meet the people who abandoned me. I'm happy here with my family."
"I see." She smiled. "You're a mystery Kiku, you really are. I've seen you all around school & it seems that you're always someone new. I'm so glad I finally got to talk to you, I've learned so much now."
"Sorry if I've been talking too much. I usually don't talk so much about myself, it's embarrassing." I blushed & looked up at the stars. "It's just that I've never told anyone all of this before."
"It's alright. I don't mind."
"But what about you? I don't know anything about you."
"What do you want to know?"
"Well, your name for the start."
"My name?"
"Yeah."
"It's anything you want it to be." She laughed; grabbing my hand & tugging me playfully back inside.
"No, come on. Seriously, what is it?" I laughed.
"You'll just have to find out on your own." She winked.
"But I've only seen you around school about 4 times in the 3 years I've been there. And now that school is over, how am I supposed to find you?"
"Would you want to see me again?"
"Sure. Why not?"
"You really want to know my name?" She asked again.
"Yes."
"Alright then. But you have to do something for me first. Sit down, & close your eyes."
"What?" I didn't understand how that had anything to do with learning her name.
"Just do it, please?" She smiled.
"Okay..." This seemed more than a little weird. This girl was definitely different; I sat down on the edge of my bed & closed my eyes as I was told to. "Now what?"
"Relax." She kissed me.
My eyes shot open in shock. I hadn't been expecting her to kiss me! In fact, I had never kissed a girl before. I'd never even been on a date! I had a tendency to push girls away from me before ever getting to know them well enough. & I didn't even know anything about this girl.
So, I finally knew what all the fuss was about kissing. But still... this felt wrong. "Wait." I pulled away.
"What's the matter?"
"This doesn't seem right."
"Don't worry. It's not like we'll get caught." She grinned. The girl began kissing me again, wrapping her thin arms around my neck, pulling me back over her onto my bed. Her mouth tickled as she kissed my neck.
"Stop! Wait, what are you doing?" I pulled away again. "I don't even know your name. I didn't know THIS was what you wanted me to do!"
"My name doesn't matter. Come on."
"Stop it!" I got off my bed & stood up.
"Isn't this what you wanted? Why else would you bring me to your bedroom?"
"You asked to see it!"
"Relax. Don't be so nervous. It's alright." The girl pulled on my arm to make me sit again.
"It's just that... I-"
"What? You don't like girls or something?"
"Well, I-"
"Ha! I KNEW it! I knew you were gay! Like fathers like son!" She laughed. "Namie (Nah-mee-eh) & Maria owe me 20 bucks each!" The girl announced triumphantly.
"What?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My classmates were actually making bets on if I liked girls or guys? That was the worst thing anyone had ever done to me. Namie was the girl that liked me so much last year & now that I thought more about it, this girl was one of her annoying friends. Kisa was her name, Maria being the other friend. It took me a few moments to really let it sink in. Then I got mad. "Get out of my house." I said in a low voice as my rage slowly built.
"Chill out. Its not the end of the world."
"Now. Get out of my house, now."
"Come on! This is a great discovery! Besides, just think, if I pass it around to some people, you could have dozens of guys lined up at your door just begging for dates!"
"Shut the hell up! That's not what I want!"
"Ohh. I see. You already HAVE a boyfriend, don't you?" Kisa said. "Who is it? Tell me. It's Daisuke, isn't it?"
That was it. It was one thing for her to say such things about me. It was a complete other story when it involved my best friends.
"No! Get out! I want you out of my house & off my property in 2 minutes! Your friends too! And if I ever see any of your faces again or hear any rumours such as these, I promise, I will make you regret it, Kisa."
Okay, so maybe it was a little harsh of a threat. But she deserved it none- the-less. I still think she deserved way worse than what I told her. Those girls were always spreading awful rumours like that.
Needless to say, she was out of there with those 2 other girls pretty damn fast. I went back down to the party & pretended that nothing had happened to the best of my ability. I blew it off by dancing & drinking with my friends. Even some of my cousins were there, so I didn't feel so alone at my own party, wondering what people thought & believed about me... What my friends thought...
*~*
It wasn't until the next morning that I went to sleep, & not until that afternoon that I woke up again. I looked around & my basement was a complete mess. Littered with beer cans & bottles of vodka, kahlua, tequila & almost any liquor under the sun, as well as the passed out bodies of classmates. As I stumbled to my feet & made my way through the maze of bodies I could hear someone getting sick in the bathroom. The sound nauseated me & I rushed to get away sooner, praying that whoever it was, had been sober enough to make sure the lid of the toilet seat was up. I did NOT want to have to clean that mess up.
"Kiku... that was an awesome party..." Daisuke slowly got up as I walked past him. A few of my other close friends were awake as well so the 5 of us went upstairs.
Well all slumped around the kitchen table, yelling at each other whenever one of us spoke to loud, hurting our heads from our huge hangovers, and then yelling more at whoever yelled. The 5 of us eventually gave in & all shut up, content with the quiet kitchen.
"Kiku..." Miyako whispered. She was one of the few girls in my circle of friends. She had really pale blonde hair, just like me, without my red streaks, & light green eyes. I had always felt comfortable with her because she understood what it was like to have parents that were outside the common standard. Her mother had only been 16 when she was born & was used to getting those shocked or even disgusted reactions when people found out.
"What?" I whispered back. She was sitting right next to me.
"Who was it?"
"Who was who?"
"That gave you that!" She whispered again, pointing to my neck.
"Eh?" I obviously couldn't see what she was pointing to.
We had attracted the attention of the rest of our friends at the table. "Kiku has a hickey!"
"Eh?" I blinked. "Damn that bitch!"
My friends all stared in shock. I usually didn't use bad language; they knew this was a special situation. "Who was it?"
"Not important."
"You can tell us! We're your friends."
"She's nothing. Just someone I want to forget ok? Not a good person, lets just leave it at that." I was embarrassed. I had been used & I hated it. What I hated even more was that I wasn't sure if she was right or not. How could Kisa have won that bet if I wasn't even sure. Was the only reason I pushed her away because I didn't know her very well?
"Okay..." Daisuke, who was sitting on the other side of me said. "Are you okay?" He put his hand on my shoulder as I sat with my head resting in my folded arms on the table. I immediately flinched away when he touched me like he had been made of fire. "Sorry." Daisuke apologized.
"I'm sorry. It's ok." I apologized, feeling like a first-class jerk. "I'm just really hung over."
"I don't think I've ever seen you drink before."
"It's cuz I don't." I moaned.
"GOOD MORNING!"
"PAPA!" I groaned & we all held our throbbing heads. "Ow..."
"Although, it's not really morning... it's 3:30." Papa smiled brightly.
I self-consciously covered they purplish mark on my neck with my hand as he walked by. "Papa... please keep it down... our heads." I pleaded.
"Ohh. I see... I'll go make some coffee."
"Thanks!" I sighed.
"I don't think I've ever met your papa before." My friend Kamui said.
"Really? I thought you had." I blinked.
"I haven't either." Shoji said.
"Heh. I'll have to introduce you then."
"You know who I still have yet to meet? Your dad." Miyako nodded. The other 2 boys agreed that they had never met him.
"I met him once... when we were little. How come we never see him?" Daisuke asked.
"He pretty much stays in his study & works all day." I explained. "He's not very sociable."
"Ohhh."
"Here you go!" Papa came bubbling in with some hot coffee & 5 mugs.
"Uhn!" Was the collective sound we all made in reply. He doesn't remember things very well all the time... his natural cheeriness was at an all time high that morning... err.. Um.. Afternoon. ^_^;
"Papa, this is Kamui & Shoji. They're 2 of my friends you've never met."
"Hello." Papa smiled brightly, Definitely too cheery for his own good... who could be so happy when their only son was in so much pain? "It's nice to meet you both. I've heard about you. Hello, Daisuke, Miyako."
"Hello." They all replied.
Then the never-before happened. Dad came out to get coffee too & my friends finally saw him in person. "Dad. Come meet my friends." I introduced them all.
"Nice to meet you." He said & went into the kitchen to pour his coffee.
"There. Now you've finally met my dad." I smiled. "He pretty much keeps to himself."
"Oi, Kiku." Dad came back out of the kitchen. "What happened to that girl that you were with yesterday? The one with the short black hair."
"She went home last night." I replied, trying not to blush.
"Ah." He nodded & walked back to his study to keep writing.
"Why?" Papa asked as he sipped from his oversized mug.
"She had to go home. She couldn't stay here any longer."
"What was her name?"
I felt like dying. I didn't want my friends to know it was Kisa. I didn't want them to think that I'd sink that low intentionally. "I'll tell you later."
"Is something wrong?" Papa asked.
"I said I'll tell you later!" I shouted.
"Kiku!" Great. Just great. I had succeeded in getting Papa mad. Something that only happened once in a blue moon.
I went into the kitchen to talk to him, away from my friends. "Papa, I'm sorry. I'm just a little moody right now. I'd rather tell you about it later, okay. I don't want to say anything in front of them. Can I just wait until everyone leaves?"
"Ok." Papa smiled. "That's fine." He gave me a much-needed hug.
"Thanks, Papa."
*~*
After everyone left, & the basement was clean again, I sat down with my parents to talk to them. But instead I avoided Kisa by dropping an even bigger bomb on them. "I'm going to Julliard to study Liberal Arts in the fall. I'm moving to New York. I just thought I should tell you now, because I'm the Valedictorian for my graduating class, & at the ceremony tomorrow, it will no doubt be mentioned... and I want you both to be there."
*~*
So, needless to say, they were pretty shocked. I hadn't told them that I was chosen to be Valedictorian & I had kept my decision to go to Julliard a secret for so long, I didn't know how to tell them. I just hoped that they would understand, & they did. And, in sunglasses they both showed up for my ceremony & speech. It was pretty obvious to me & the others up there with me, that Papa was crying, It's no real surprise, he cries all the time. And even though dad kept his sunglasses on the whole time, I know he was very proud of me, & maybe he cried a little too. I knew I could always count on them.
*~*
Oh my gosh! Papa's home! That means that Dad will be coming in here any moment to reveal our surprise... me! Crap! Where did all this stuff go?! Son of a-! I'll just stuff it in this bottom drawer for now. I'll see you all around, ok? I've got to go to the party now, but I've got another secret to tell you a little later... so check back with me then. Jaa!
*~*
TBC... it's gonna continue from either during or after the party from Kiku's POV still.
*~*
*~*
"Kiku!" One of my best friends, Daisuke, stumbled over & half leaned, half fell on my shoulder, I had a feeling that if I took a step to the right, Daisuke would fall flat on the ground, to drunk to stand on his own. "Awesome party, man!"
"Thanks." I laughed. Looking around the room, I began to wonder if I was the only one still sober. Propping Daisuki against the wall, I slid away & was going to open a window to get some fresh air when another person began calling my name.
"Kiku!" A girl with short black hair called, "Hi." She smiled sweetly.
"Hi."
"Where are you going?"
"I need to get some fresh air."
"Yeah. It's pretty hot in here isn't it?"
"Yup." I replied. "... Would you like to come with me?"
"Sure! I'd love to!" We walked out onto the upstairs balcony. "You have a really nice house. It's so big. Are your parents rich or something?"
"You don't know who my parents are?"
"No. Do they work at the school or something?"
I laughed. "Ha! Seriously? You've got to be kidding me. I thought everyone knew."
"Well, I've heard stories... but I didn't know if they were true or not." The girl replied.
"What kind of stories?"
"You're going to think it's strange. It's such an odd rumour." She blushed. "Someone told me that your parents were Yuki Eiri & Shindou Shuichi."
"Yeah, and?"
"They were being serious?" She blinked.
"Yeah."
"I had no idea!" She gasped & gave a little laugh. "Oh wait! I remember seeing you in the news a couple of times & on the TV & in the magazines a few years ago. It makes sense, now!"
"Do you think it's weird?" I asked her.
"No. I think it's kinda cool. That explains why you live in such a nice house. So, did you get to hang out with all those rock stars when you were a kid?"
"Yeah, They still all come over all the time. Hiro & Ryuichi are all like uncles to me. And Seguchi Tohma & Suguru ARE my uncles, one's married to my dad's sister, & the other to my Papa's sister so I see them & my cousins every once in a while too."
[A.N. Sorry, hehehe. I figured not as many people would understand that part just above. Tohma is obviously married to Mika. And I pretended just for no real reason at all except for another fic I wrote b4, that Suguru is now married to Shuichi's little sister, Maiko. Just FYI!]
"So, which one's your father?"
"Eh?"
"Whose son are you really? Yuki's?"
"N-no, they're both my parents. I'm adopted." I stuttered.
"Well then, what do you call them? Do you just call them by their names? What do you call Yuki Eiri?"
"Dad."
"Then what about Shuichi?"
"Papa."
"Ahh, I see. I always thought you were talking about the same person." The girl said. "Why is your name Uesugi, then?"
"It's my dad's real name, they used it to enrol me in school so that I wasn't bugged by people."
"So, your parents... are they like, a REAL couple? Or is that just a rumour too?"
"Well, if they're not, then I'd sure be the last to know." I laughed. "I mean, yeah. They've been together since before I was around."
"But do they ever... kiss? Have you ever seen them?"
"Yeah. Good night & stuff."
"Do they love each other?"
"Of course!" I tried not to get to defensive, but this was starting to insult me. "Can we PLEASE talk about something else? This really isn't anyone else's business other than my family's."
"Sorry." The girl blushed. "I didn't mean to be rude."
"It's ok. I should be used to it. People react like that all then time when they find out." I smiled, "Do you want a tour?"
"Of your house? Really?! That would be amazing!" She smiled brightly, grabbing onto his arm.
I blinked. The only girls I ever let act like this were the ones that I'd known for a long time, the ones I was close with. I hardly knew this girl.
I showed her all around my house, trying to avoid running into Papa or Dad. As we got up to the living room, I could smell smoke. I went around the corner & took the cigarette from Dad's mouth & threw it in a glass of water on the coffee table. "What about your new years resolution? You promised that you wouldn't smoke."
"I promised that I'd quit. Just cause I haven't yet doesn't mean that I won't. I just was taking a break from writing. What are you doing up here, anyway?" Dad asked.
"Showing someone around the house."
"Oh?"
"Hello." The girl smiled shyly. "It's nice to meet you. I read all your books."
"Well then, thank you."
"We should keep on our way, there's lots of house left to go." As I left I turned back to Dad & saw him give me a 'Who's that girl?' look. I just shrugged my shoulders because I still didn't know her name.
We bumped into Papa in the kitchen, making juice. "Hello! How are you?!" Papa was ecstatic to meet the girl. "I'm Shindou Shuichi. Has Kiku told you about me?"
"Oh yes. I already know about you though, I have all of Bad Luck's CDs! I'm a fan!"
She's a fan of them both? I wondered. "Let's keep going, we'll come back again later." I led the girl around more of the house.
"Where's your room?" She asked.
"My room?" This was probably just an innocent question, but I couldn't help but feel like I was in a movie.
"Yeah. Could I see it? Isn't that all that's left to see?"
"Um... yeah. It's this way." I led her down the hall to my room & opened the door. "It might be a little messy. I can't remember if I cleaned it or not." I rubbed the back of my head & laughed a little.
"Oh wow! You have a balcony in your room too! You're so lucky! I'd love to have one in my room, I'd feel like Juliet!" She ran out again. It's such a beautiful night. I can't believe we've finally graduated, can you?"
"I know what you mean, it seems surreal almost, doesn't it?" I followed her out.
"Yeah." She replied. "Your parents are nice. Why did we have to leave so quickly?"
"Well, you know parents, if you're with them for too long they're bound to do something embarrassing..." I thought immediately of Papa.
"Are you ashamed of them or something?"
"No. It's just, none of my friends have ever really met them before..."
"Why not? You never had friends over to the house or anything?"
"Well, not really, they were afraid of my friends' parents not liking the fact that I had 2 dads."
"Oh. I see." She smiled. "Well then, why now? How come you're having this huge party with our entire graduating class?"
"I kinda didn't tell them until about a week & ½ ago... so my dad couldn't do anything about it." I laughed a little & blushed with embarrassment. "I know, it's not very mature, huh?"
"That's ok." She giggled. "You sure seem to have your way with them. Do you get anything you want?"
"Well, not all the time. I guess I am spoiled though, how many guys my age have been able to travel all around the world?"
"You don't act like a rich kid, though. You don't act like you're spoiled."
"Well, I guess that's a good thing."
"Isn't it nice out here?"
"Yeah. I come out here a lot at nighttime. I love how peaceful it is when everyone else is asleep."
"Yeah, me too. Say... Kiku... do you ever wish you could meet your real parents?"
"I used to wonder what they looked like, or if I had any siblings... I suppose I still do, but I'm not in any rush to meet the people who abandoned me. I'm happy here with my family."
"I see." She smiled. "You're a mystery Kiku, you really are. I've seen you all around school & it seems that you're always someone new. I'm so glad I finally got to talk to you, I've learned so much now."
"Sorry if I've been talking too much. I usually don't talk so much about myself, it's embarrassing." I blushed & looked up at the stars. "It's just that I've never told anyone all of this before."
"It's alright. I don't mind."
"But what about you? I don't know anything about you."
"What do you want to know?"
"Well, your name for the start."
"My name?"
"Yeah."
"It's anything you want it to be." She laughed; grabbing my hand & tugging me playfully back inside.
"No, come on. Seriously, what is it?" I laughed.
"You'll just have to find out on your own." She winked.
"But I've only seen you around school about 4 times in the 3 years I've been there. And now that school is over, how am I supposed to find you?"
"Would you want to see me again?"
"Sure. Why not?"
"You really want to know my name?" She asked again.
"Yes."
"Alright then. But you have to do something for me first. Sit down, & close your eyes."
"What?" I didn't understand how that had anything to do with learning her name.
"Just do it, please?" She smiled.
"Okay..." This seemed more than a little weird. This girl was definitely different; I sat down on the edge of my bed & closed my eyes as I was told to. "Now what?"
"Relax." She kissed me.
My eyes shot open in shock. I hadn't been expecting her to kiss me! In fact, I had never kissed a girl before. I'd never even been on a date! I had a tendency to push girls away from me before ever getting to know them well enough. & I didn't even know anything about this girl.
So, I finally knew what all the fuss was about kissing. But still... this felt wrong. "Wait." I pulled away.
"What's the matter?"
"This doesn't seem right."
"Don't worry. It's not like we'll get caught." She grinned. The girl began kissing me again, wrapping her thin arms around my neck, pulling me back over her onto my bed. Her mouth tickled as she kissed my neck.
"Stop! Wait, what are you doing?" I pulled away again. "I don't even know your name. I didn't know THIS was what you wanted me to do!"
"My name doesn't matter. Come on."
"Stop it!" I got off my bed & stood up.
"Isn't this what you wanted? Why else would you bring me to your bedroom?"
"You asked to see it!"
"Relax. Don't be so nervous. It's alright." The girl pulled on my arm to make me sit again.
"It's just that... I-"
"What? You don't like girls or something?"
"Well, I-"
"Ha! I KNEW it! I knew you were gay! Like fathers like son!" She laughed. "Namie (Nah-mee-eh) & Maria owe me 20 bucks each!" The girl announced triumphantly.
"What?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My classmates were actually making bets on if I liked girls or guys? That was the worst thing anyone had ever done to me. Namie was the girl that liked me so much last year & now that I thought more about it, this girl was one of her annoying friends. Kisa was her name, Maria being the other friend. It took me a few moments to really let it sink in. Then I got mad. "Get out of my house." I said in a low voice as my rage slowly built.
"Chill out. Its not the end of the world."
"Now. Get out of my house, now."
"Come on! This is a great discovery! Besides, just think, if I pass it around to some people, you could have dozens of guys lined up at your door just begging for dates!"
"Shut the hell up! That's not what I want!"
"Ohh. I see. You already HAVE a boyfriend, don't you?" Kisa said. "Who is it? Tell me. It's Daisuke, isn't it?"
That was it. It was one thing for her to say such things about me. It was a complete other story when it involved my best friends.
"No! Get out! I want you out of my house & off my property in 2 minutes! Your friends too! And if I ever see any of your faces again or hear any rumours such as these, I promise, I will make you regret it, Kisa."
Okay, so maybe it was a little harsh of a threat. But she deserved it none- the-less. I still think she deserved way worse than what I told her. Those girls were always spreading awful rumours like that.
Needless to say, she was out of there with those 2 other girls pretty damn fast. I went back down to the party & pretended that nothing had happened to the best of my ability. I blew it off by dancing & drinking with my friends. Even some of my cousins were there, so I didn't feel so alone at my own party, wondering what people thought & believed about me... What my friends thought...
*~*
It wasn't until the next morning that I went to sleep, & not until that afternoon that I woke up again. I looked around & my basement was a complete mess. Littered with beer cans & bottles of vodka, kahlua, tequila & almost any liquor under the sun, as well as the passed out bodies of classmates. As I stumbled to my feet & made my way through the maze of bodies I could hear someone getting sick in the bathroom. The sound nauseated me & I rushed to get away sooner, praying that whoever it was, had been sober enough to make sure the lid of the toilet seat was up. I did NOT want to have to clean that mess up.
"Kiku... that was an awesome party..." Daisuke slowly got up as I walked past him. A few of my other close friends were awake as well so the 5 of us went upstairs.
Well all slumped around the kitchen table, yelling at each other whenever one of us spoke to loud, hurting our heads from our huge hangovers, and then yelling more at whoever yelled. The 5 of us eventually gave in & all shut up, content with the quiet kitchen.
"Kiku..." Miyako whispered. She was one of the few girls in my circle of friends. She had really pale blonde hair, just like me, without my red streaks, & light green eyes. I had always felt comfortable with her because she understood what it was like to have parents that were outside the common standard. Her mother had only been 16 when she was born & was used to getting those shocked or even disgusted reactions when people found out.
"What?" I whispered back. She was sitting right next to me.
"Who was it?"
"Who was who?"
"That gave you that!" She whispered again, pointing to my neck.
"Eh?" I obviously couldn't see what she was pointing to.
We had attracted the attention of the rest of our friends at the table. "Kiku has a hickey!"
"Eh?" I blinked. "Damn that bitch!"
My friends all stared in shock. I usually didn't use bad language; they knew this was a special situation. "Who was it?"
"Not important."
"You can tell us! We're your friends."
"She's nothing. Just someone I want to forget ok? Not a good person, lets just leave it at that." I was embarrassed. I had been used & I hated it. What I hated even more was that I wasn't sure if she was right or not. How could Kisa have won that bet if I wasn't even sure. Was the only reason I pushed her away because I didn't know her very well?
"Okay..." Daisuke, who was sitting on the other side of me said. "Are you okay?" He put his hand on my shoulder as I sat with my head resting in my folded arms on the table. I immediately flinched away when he touched me like he had been made of fire. "Sorry." Daisuke apologized.
"I'm sorry. It's ok." I apologized, feeling like a first-class jerk. "I'm just really hung over."
"I don't think I've ever seen you drink before."
"It's cuz I don't." I moaned.
"GOOD MORNING!"
"PAPA!" I groaned & we all held our throbbing heads. "Ow..."
"Although, it's not really morning... it's 3:30." Papa smiled brightly.
I self-consciously covered they purplish mark on my neck with my hand as he walked by. "Papa... please keep it down... our heads." I pleaded.
"Ohh. I see... I'll go make some coffee."
"Thanks!" I sighed.
"I don't think I've ever met your papa before." My friend Kamui said.
"Really? I thought you had." I blinked.
"I haven't either." Shoji said.
"Heh. I'll have to introduce you then."
"You know who I still have yet to meet? Your dad." Miyako nodded. The other 2 boys agreed that they had never met him.
"I met him once... when we were little. How come we never see him?" Daisuke asked.
"He pretty much stays in his study & works all day." I explained. "He's not very sociable."
"Ohhh."
"Here you go!" Papa came bubbling in with some hot coffee & 5 mugs.
"Uhn!" Was the collective sound we all made in reply. He doesn't remember things very well all the time... his natural cheeriness was at an all time high that morning... err.. Um.. Afternoon. ^_^;
"Papa, this is Kamui & Shoji. They're 2 of my friends you've never met."
"Hello." Papa smiled brightly, Definitely too cheery for his own good... who could be so happy when their only son was in so much pain? "It's nice to meet you both. I've heard about you. Hello, Daisuke, Miyako."
"Hello." They all replied.
Then the never-before happened. Dad came out to get coffee too & my friends finally saw him in person. "Dad. Come meet my friends." I introduced them all.
"Nice to meet you." He said & went into the kitchen to pour his coffee.
"There. Now you've finally met my dad." I smiled. "He pretty much keeps to himself."
"Oi, Kiku." Dad came back out of the kitchen. "What happened to that girl that you were with yesterday? The one with the short black hair."
"She went home last night." I replied, trying not to blush.
"Ah." He nodded & walked back to his study to keep writing.
"Why?" Papa asked as he sipped from his oversized mug.
"She had to go home. She couldn't stay here any longer."
"What was her name?"
I felt like dying. I didn't want my friends to know it was Kisa. I didn't want them to think that I'd sink that low intentionally. "I'll tell you later."
"Is something wrong?" Papa asked.
"I said I'll tell you later!" I shouted.
"Kiku!" Great. Just great. I had succeeded in getting Papa mad. Something that only happened once in a blue moon.
I went into the kitchen to talk to him, away from my friends. "Papa, I'm sorry. I'm just a little moody right now. I'd rather tell you about it later, okay. I don't want to say anything in front of them. Can I just wait until everyone leaves?"
"Ok." Papa smiled. "That's fine." He gave me a much-needed hug.
"Thanks, Papa."
*~*
After everyone left, & the basement was clean again, I sat down with my parents to talk to them. But instead I avoided Kisa by dropping an even bigger bomb on them. "I'm going to Julliard to study Liberal Arts in the fall. I'm moving to New York. I just thought I should tell you now, because I'm the Valedictorian for my graduating class, & at the ceremony tomorrow, it will no doubt be mentioned... and I want you both to be there."
*~*
So, needless to say, they were pretty shocked. I hadn't told them that I was chosen to be Valedictorian & I had kept my decision to go to Julliard a secret for so long, I didn't know how to tell them. I just hoped that they would understand, & they did. And, in sunglasses they both showed up for my ceremony & speech. It was pretty obvious to me & the others up there with me, that Papa was crying, It's no real surprise, he cries all the time. And even though dad kept his sunglasses on the whole time, I know he was very proud of me, & maybe he cried a little too. I knew I could always count on them.
*~*
Oh my gosh! Papa's home! That means that Dad will be coming in here any moment to reveal our surprise... me! Crap! Where did all this stuff go?! Son of a-! I'll just stuff it in this bottom drawer for now. I'll see you all around, ok? I've got to go to the party now, but I've got another secret to tell you a little later... so check back with me then. Jaa!
*~*
TBC... it's gonna continue from either during or after the party from Kiku's POV still.
*~*