Disclaimer: I do not own Super GALS! and am only writing this fiction out of pure entertainment (although I'm not sure whether it's for me or for the readers out there…I presume it's the former). But I do own Akai Mizuno and the next character that'll be revealed. And I do own this silly plot for keeps. So nobody dare steal it or I'll have rabid Yuuya-chibis spawn at your house and eat the innards and bodily fluids of whoever dares to take without or use the plot for reasons concerning financial profit and the idea of taking it without the permission and authorization by yours truly.

Freaky…but just to make myself feel better, I'll rant it out here. Guys, always watch your back. I dunno with me, but I feel like someone is keeping an eye on me and is always following me around.

As if I'm not noticing it…as if he/she/it wants to let me know that he/she/it is just there…looking at me…licking his/her/its lips…baring his/her/its fangs…hngrrr…

Gulp…now I think I'm the one who has the stalker…(swoon)

-

Chapter 16

"Uh…h…hi…" Yuuya reached his hand out to the newcomer nervously, an anxious grin on his face.

"Hi, Mr. Asou. It's a pleasure finally meeting you…" The teen took the hand, and instead of shaking it, brought it to his lips and kissed the hand sensuously.

Yuuya nodded, taking his hand back and massaging it gently, smiling a bit.

His eyes wandered to the sight before him, a bouquet of white roses and some other flowers, which served to contrast the sallow tone of the petals.

"They're for you…I hope you like them…" He blushed on cue, looking away, and then back, hoping for Yuuya to like them.

"Yes…yes, I do. Thank you…" Yuuya took them in and placed it on his side.

"He looks like Ran's big brother, Yamato. But his hair is of an azure shade, his eyes metal gray. He's roughly taller than me, and bigger…Could it be?" Yuuya thought, eyeing him unsurely.

"Psst, hey Yuuya…aren't you gonna invite him with us?" Akai whispered, kicking Yuuya in the shin.

"Oh…yeah, yeah. Join us…err…" Yuuya directed a seat, stopping a bit when he realized he didn't catch the guy's name.

"Tsubaki, Ojirou." He introduced himself, before taking the seat being proffered to him.

"Ojirou…hey, aren't you that guy who won that art contest for our school?" Yuuya pointed out, rather excitedly.

"Yeah…" Ojirou turned red again, as Yuuya stifled a giggle. Akai gave them a weird look as he raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

"You see…" Yuuya rolled his eyes. "…he did win that national art contest. The judges loved the rendition of the male human body…purely nude and sensual mind you. They gaped when they saw that Tsubaki is a boy."

"Male artists using male models aren't in the majority." Ojirou added, clearing his throat." Most artists use models of the opposite sex, out of preference or style."

"So…the point…" Akai ushered them to go on.

"I have no single work that depicted a female." Ojirou sighed. Even that got Yuuya his attention.

"Really? What…you hate girls or something?" Yuuya rested his head on the table, admiring the flowers on the side.

Ojirou stopped, his speech temporary faltering before continuing.

"Let's just say…I'm not your average-ordinary guy…" Ojirou scowled softly. He gazed hesitantly at Yuuya, wondering if he'd be experiencing discomfort with it.

"Please don't take the nice introduction and the flowers, the wrong way, Yuuya. I just like you…err, as a friend I mean. You're a really nice guy and all, and Akai told me that you…uhm…could use a friend or two." Ojirou bit his lip, as if backstabbing himself.

Yuuya gazed into Ojirou's gray eyes, admiring the metallic tone in it. Sitting up, he took one of Ojirou's hands and cupped it in his own.

Ojirou let a sigh out, surprised by Yuuya's actions.

"It's okay, Ojirou. I'm not uncomfortable with that fact." Yuuya smiled gently, standing up. Ojirou heaved a breather, smiled and followed suit.

Taking their leave of Akai, both walked out of the café, hand in hand, as they talked down the street.

"Besides…I'm not your average, ordinary guy too…" Yuuya grinned at him.

-

It's been already 7 pm, and Yuuya was still out in downtown.

Rei was now starting to worry, even just a bit. He finally found a voice message on the phone, which explained the absence of his parents. (Hi, sweetie! Your dad and I had to leave town for a while. We've a surprise for Yuuya. Please take care of the house and Yuuya, dear!)

"Maybe…I'd been too harsh on him." Rei sat on the couch remorsefully. He didn't like how Yuuya reacted to his scowls and harsh way of treating him, but he needed some space at least until he can get his bearings back.

"He'd never been out for this long without me…maybe something happened…" Rei thought urgently, sitting up and preparing to take his jacket to find Yuuya.

Just as he reached out to open the door, he heard the spirited laughing of Yuuya and some other guy.

-

"It's been really fun…I'm glad I met you today…" Yuuya said his thanks to Ojirou.

"Don't mention it. I enjoyed as well." The other boy said the same.

Ojirou never left until he saw to it that Yuuya was inside the house. Yuuya waved a goodbye to him before closing the door.

And to his surprise, Rei was staring at him, his face quite unreadable of any emotion.

Both gazed at each other until Rei broke contact and made for his room.

Yuuya just looked back at him, still a bit sad that Rei wouldn't want to talk to him. Walking towards the kitchen to prepare himself something to eat, he stopped a bit when he looked at the table.

A full meal had been set just for him. His rice bowl to the brim, noodles on the side, the small pot of hot broth and meat and vegetables boiling cheerily on the middle of the table, and still piping-hot tea.

A white piece of paper was beneath the chopsticks, noticeable that it wasn't tissue but writing paper. Yuuya carefully slid the paper out and opened it.

Inside was a short note, written in neat kanji. It surely explained the meal and a few things for Yuuya at least.

Yuuya,

I hope you like your meal.

Rei

Yuuya frowned a bit, folding the paper into his pocket and sitting on the table. He ate silently, wondering what to do later.

-

Rei was reading a book silently inside his room, dark and lit only by the lamp in his study table.

Three knocks emanated from the doorway, which elicited Rei to come and get the door.

Does Yuuya want something with me? Rei thought as he opened the door.

He saw no one outside, save for the flurry of blonde hair that hurriedly closed the other door in front of his room. A piece of paper caught his attention neatly clipped in the floor.

Rei deftly picked it up, his eyes momentarily fixed on Yuuya's door. Then going inside, he turned the lights on and opened the simple note.

Rei,

Are you mad?

Can you please talk to me, even for just a few minutes?

I'll wait for five minutes outside.

Yuuya

Rei sighed a bit, looking towards the door, yet not moving.

-

Yuuya shifted endlessly as he waited for a full four minutes outside.

"I guess he doesn't want to talk about it…" He sighed, playing with the bangs of his hair. He huffed a deep sigh as he prepared to leave for his room.

He slowly made for his room, still hesitating to enter, hoping that the door would at least creak open in the slightest.

There was no hope for it, Yuuya knew.

Rei would not want to talk about it.

-

"Would you still want me…Yuuya?" Rei asked softly to no one in the room, hearing the sound slam on the outside.

Rei turned the lamp on his study table off, then went for the switch near the door. The whole room was bathed in darkness save for the meager illumination the stars and lampposts provided outside.

Rei shifted his gaze to a picture at his bedside. Though it was dark, the light from the outside provided enough light to show two young boys. The brunette was reading a book while the blonde peacefully slept on the brunette's back. He looked very peaceful…

Rei remembered the time it was him who was the only one who could calm the blonde down. When he cried, got lost or just plain scratched his knee or elbow, it was always Rei he would turn to.

But now, it seemed to him that Yuuya might just be following him around for lack of better gratitude. People would just stare at him, some with looks of longing, others with hunger and possibly more.

The common price of fame.

Rei wondered how Yuuya would react if he came close as to professing his attraction to the blonde. Well, given the disadvantage of the environment, Yuuya would maybe have taken it all simply as a pure joke.

Maybe if he'd come close as to try and feign rejection, then Yuuya might be happy or something near to that, deducing from the idea that Yuuya isn't meekly interested in him at all one bit. But it was a surprise that Yuuya almost fell back to the old days when he was very sensitive of people around him.

"He seemed deeply affected by it, too much if you'd ask. Could this be a sign that Yuuya would have some sort of hidden feelings for me?" Rei thought.

Rei fell somewhat short of thinking, as his eyes closed on necessity. The space he thought he needed that would clarify his befuddled mind had added to the pressure it already was in.

-

It was about 5:30 when Yuuya woke up.

After taking an early shower (thank God, Rei was still asleep…), he wore his school uniform just to make things convenient when he'd leave the house. He cooked breakfast for both of them (rice balls and omelet) and ate his fill. Resting a couple of minutes, he took the vacuum out of the storage area and turned the machine on, busying himself over the whole house.

The phone suddenly rang.

"Hello?" Yuuya dutifully answered the call, taking the cleaning apron off of him.

"Hello…Yuuya? Is that you? It's me, Akai…" The caller greeted.

"Ah, hi! Is there something you need?" Yuuya greeted back, his tone cheerful.

"Erm…yes, actually. I need to speak to Rei. Has he awoken already?" Akai asked.

"No…not yet. But if you want, I could wake him up. Is it that urgent?" Yuuya queried.

"Yes…if it's not a big deal. It's really important." Akai almost sounded pathetic in his voice.

Yuuya snorted a bit, before placing the receiver down on the couch and made for Rei's room.

Opening the door, Yuuya wondered to himself how to wake the boy up. It wouldn't be that hard though, considering Rei was a light sleeper…

"Rei, there's a…" Yuuya meeped at the sight that greeted him, somehow caught off-guard.

Rei was stretching languidly in front of the body mirror, nothing but a blue boxer on his body. Sweat lightly flecked his torso and back sparkling in the morning sun, his muscles taut from a just-finished workout. Even as Rei turned around towards him, his eyes was somewhat clouded and glazed over, a mild blush was forming on his cheeks. He simply just looked so…vulnerable.

"Would you learn to knock?" Rei turned his gaze at Yuuya, his voice betraying his vulnerability. Apparently, he wasn't in a good mood.

"There…was…I mean, uh…there's a cone fall…I mean…phone call! Phone call! Uh…it was a kite…err…Akai…and uh…" Yuuya stuttered, sensing his own blush forming right and there.

Rei saved him the trouble, nodding his affirmation and taking a white face towel from the arm of a nearby chair. "I'll come down as soon as possible."

Yuuya nodded dumbly, closed the door and leaned on the other side, apparently slack and weak. He has got to work on his temptations…it was spending too much of his energy just resisting!

Yuuya placed the heavy vacuum machine away, lugging it back to the storage room before taking his bag from his room. When he got down, Rei was already on the phone, his expressions a bit crossed. Yuuya wondered what they were talking about, but his attention was suddenly brought towards the window.

Ojirou was outside (apparently in the nick of time) waving at him somewhat enthusiastically. Yuuya grinned, waving back and passed by Rei (who didn't seem to take notice) towards the door.

Yuuya was awed that Ojirou took the time to come to their house from his home (which was a couple of blocks away). The azure blonde had thought of it as no big deal and even brought home made lunch for both of them.

Yuuya blushed from the immense attention he was finally getting. Here was a guy that he hadn't noticed for a long time, but was giving him attention and more than what he expected he deserved!

"Listen…Yuuya? Tomorrow's Saturday, and I was wondering…if you could go with me for a bit of shopping…" Ojirou asked, blushing (!) at the awkwardness of the request.

Yuuya only faced him, a smile spread on his face, as his eyes lighted up with the eagerness of a child.

"Of course…"

-

Rei looked ready to murder someone as he soundly banged the receiver down.

Whatever he and Akai had discussed on the phone certainly had placed him in a very, very bad mood. And add to the fact when he was ready to reconcile with a certain blonde from leaving him yesterday all alone, did that certain blonde decide to leave him with some other guy Rei didn't even know.

Rei wasn't really an emotionally open person on the outside…but this…he was ready to make an exception for the day.

-

Okaay…to tell the truth, I really didn't like this chapter much. Go figure why. Mental block had taken its toll on me, and classes had now started, so it means lesser time on the computer and lesser updates. Sigh…

Just to comment on something useful, I still stipulate yaoi is different from being gay. Need proof? The other day, I saw a gay magazine/book and it was laced with…uh…provocative pictures. Good looking guys I tell ya'…it was nice at first…but after a few minutes, it seemed like I wanted to hurl or just plain throw the book away.

I'm certainly not gay (evidenced by my revulsion of the said pics), nor can I say I'm bi (I'm still not interested in girls in…that sort of way). But I do like the idea of you-know…ehm…boy and boy…oh this is ridiculous.

Getting an answer for this debate with myself and a non-existent judges' panel is like fighting over if angels have genders or not (which of course, they do not! Duh!)

A friend just commented I might be anti-social, or that I have a warped sense of masculinity, or I just have a viral attitude against the apparent weakness the female sexuality has. I'd like to think otherwise. :P Well, I ranted about myself again, to which I am disappointed with myself somehow. Maybe people might notice the start of some characters (or all of them) turning OOC. I don't have access to watching anymore (my schedule broke it) so I'm sorry for the upcoming chapters.

drinks coffee and mumbles something about mental block and pregnant college psychology teachers…