Courting Cherries
Fleece Comes from Sheep
Disclaimer: I feel the need to say this at the beginning as always. Old habits die hard. I don't own Hot Gimmick. 'Shoots and hopes it dies'
A/N: I'm very sorry. It's been a while and hopefully this can make up for it. More notes at the bottom.
This is a ridiculously stupid show, Ryoki thought as he watched a game show on the television in his room. He was leaning back on his pillows, head propped up to see the bright screen that illuminated the rest of the room. Who the hell would willingly put themselves on a show like this. Someone with less then half a brain. Hmm, I know someone like that… He sighed and removed his glasses, placing them on the table next to his bed. He grabbed the bridge of his noise for the thousandth time and pinched.
Ryoki had come back to his apartment realizing he had no where else to be. He was going to go wonder around, but after the altercation with Azusa he'd just ran around to the back door of the apartment complex. He was confused, and surprised. Seriously surprised. He's just decked Azusa.
Coming back home he'd crashed into his room, with nothing better to do then watch television. Television was the kind of thing that did not require much effort, but still made you feel involved in something.
The screen showed a man getting inside a tank filled with fake money . Covered with honey, the man moved like a maniac to collect the green pieces of paper. Ryoki cringed and changed the channel, an anime program came on. Girls dressed up as exotic animals were jumpy around some stupid stone…. What the hell! "This is why I don't watch television during the daytime."
He flicked off the t.v. and sunk down further on his giant bed, laying in the dark. He would have stared at the ceiling, if he could have seen it. This was not like him, and he knew it. He was mean, rude, and a jerk to most of people around him, but not a loner who sat alone in the dark. Especially in the middle of the day like this, usually he'd be doing something a little more productive. With a huff he sat up and pushed himself off the bed, lazily he stood. He walked over to the left carefully avoiding things he knew to lie on the floor. Opening the window, pulling curtains all the way to the side walls, the city was revealed to him. Bright light lit up the gloomy room, and shown down on Ryoki himself causing him to put a hand up to his eyes. Getting used to the light he saw down, people looked like ants without his glasses.
"Master Ryoki," someone called to him from his door. Turing he discovered Mariko to have returned, probably from getting groceries or some errand. "I just thought I would stop by the apartment on my way to the next store. I had to tell you that I received a call from your mother. She's told me that she will be coming home tonight around six, your father with her as well."
"She's coming home early, and with my father as well," Ryoki drawled out. Oh great… "Why?"
"You remember the annual benefit dinner that is held every year, the one that your father is a sponsor of for medical research. The date has been moved up this year. I'm not really sure why but both your parents are going to it, as per usual."
"And I'm expected to go as per usual as well, right?" Ryoki asked bitterly.
"I'm afraid so, is something wrong Master Ryoki? I know you don't like those things, but you seem more agitated then usual." Mariko moved into the room leaving the doorway. "Not going to answer?" Mariko changed the subject, coyly after a pause. "Hmm… I was thinking then, that it might be a good idea to bring someone with you this year. That would relieve you of some unwanted boredom, yes?" She turned her head a little waiting for a response, killing two birds with one stone.
"Who would you suggest that I bring, Subaru?" Ryoki added the ending sarcastically. He walked back form the window the exit his room, and Mariko followed. She wasn't going to give up so easily.
"No Master Ryoki, I would suggest someone more along the lines of your girlfriend. Don't you think that Hatsumi would be more appropriate for that role?" She had followed him to the kitchen, it seemed that all of their serious talks always took place here. Ever since he was a child it had been so, probably because no one other then the help came to this part of the apartment. Yeah, his mother was too good for the kitchen and his father was never around.
He leaned against the counter, starring her down as she entered after him. "Don't push my buttons," Ryoki stated. Not in a threatening tone, or even a loud voice, but the message was still strong.
"I wasn't pushing any buttons, I was just trying to help you. If you have to go to that high-class party it might be a little more bearable if someone went along with you, is all." Mariko moved behind the island disappearing. She remerged with a couple bags of food and placed them on the counter. "Is something still wrong with you and Hatsumi," she asked out of no where, "I thought you fixed that." Mariko really liked to point things out didn't she?
"I'm not in the mood to talk about her," he replied like an emotionally challenged rock. "I Haven't even seen her since the other night, anyway." He admitted.
"Well, that's not good," Mariko closed the door of cabinet and came to stand in front of him.
"Thank you captain obvious!" Ryoki yelled.
"Your quite welcome."
That damn Mariko-san. "Do you have anything important to say or are you just going to annoy me to the point where I want to pluck out my eyeballs?"
"I have not intention of making you pluck out those cute little eyes of yours." Mariko approached him, raising her hand to pinch his cheek.
"Ryoki through up a hand in defense and brushed hers out of the way, "Hey!"
"I do though hold the intention of making your life better. Someone has to take care of you," Mariko walked back to the island and mimicked his position, leaning back.
"I'm capable of taking care of myself," Ryoki spat out, her take care of him!
"Of course, you know your like a little brother to me."
Ryoki looked to the side, partially because of the growing annoyance and also because of the fact that he didn't know how to handle a situation like this. "I will take care of the problem my own way," he told her in response to her earlier comments of Hatsumi.
"And we all know how well your way always works out."
"Mariko-" he growled out and was silenced.
"I think that you should go confront the problem right now. It seems to me that you are avoiding her, which is odd. Usually you can't leave her alone for two seconds," Mariko had that shifty look in her eyes.
"I'm not avoiding anyone!"
"Oh really, then why are you here? You don't have anything scheduled for the day."
"I-"
"Don't…just take my advice and go find Hatsumi. Confronting the problem is better then not," Mariko walked over to the fridge and brought out a pan. Handing it out for him she spoke, "I made this for dinner tonight, it's a red velvet cake. You should bring it over to Hatsumi's mother and go from there, hmm?"
"What about after dinner?"
"I'll make something else for desert, that's not important."
Ryoki accepted the cake, a little less then careful about the contents, and made an unreadable angered noise. "Fine, I'll go! I wouldn't want to stay here with you anymore anyways!" Ryoki left, slamming the door.
Mariko heard the loud bang and thought, next I'm going to have to teach him to control that temper… That is If he ever gets the girl thing down. Ha, that will be the day!
Ryoki stood in front of the Narita Home. One of his hands held the cake to his side and the other was held up to the door, ready to knock; it had been like that for a couple minutes. So he goes in, gives them the cake, but what comes after that? What should he do about Hatsumi? There was no point to this! He knew what had happened, he wasn't blind. Now he was going to go confront her about it? What good could that possibly bring about? That's right, nothing!
He knocked anyway, or maybe it was just that his hand had fallen on the door. He wasn't really sure, but it opened none the less revealing Mrs. Narita with a bright smile. "Ryoki Tachibana! What a surprise, what have you come for? Oh come in, come sit down. I'll make you some tea."
What have I come for? Must be where Hatsumi's brain comes from…
Ryoki went in though, saying nothing at first, closing the door behind him. He heard Mrs. Narita moving about in the kitchen and went to her, moving about in their small apartment. How anyone moves in here is a mystery to me.
"Oh you don't have to be in here, I'll bring the tea out to you. Please go make yourself comfortable in the living room. I'll be out in a minute."
Ryoki gave in, nodding with frustration. He went to the living room, which was the size of a box!
"Here we are!" Mrs. Narita exclaimed brightly. She sat down across from where he had seated himself after serving him. "So what brings you here?"
"Our maid made a cake for your family," Ryoki told her, void of emotion.
"Oh, how nice! You must thank her and you mother for me, please." Hatsumi's mother excepted the cake, placing it on the table. "How is your mother?"
Small talk, yay! Ryoki thought sarcastically. "She's fine. She is coming home from a business trip tonight."
"Well that's good, I will have to stop by and say hello to her after she is settled."
Ryoki nodded, enough of this. "Is Hatsumi here?" He asked, wanting to get to the point already.
"Hatsumi isn't here right now, I haven't actually seen her since yesterday," Mrs. Narita said with a look of confusion and annoyance. "You are welcome to stay and wait for her though, she should come home soon."
Ryoki contemplated inwardly, go back to Mariko or stay here? I choose here. Neither choice was appealing, but at least Mrs. Narita would not shove his bad qualities in his face. Interrupting the silence, a small child burst into the room. The kid was probably five or maybe even six, must be her little brother. I think I've seen him before…
"Ryoki I'm not sure if you've met, but his is Hikaru, Hatsumi's little brother."
Ryoki looked over the kid, nodding.
"Hi!" Hikaru said, he moved close to Ryoki, enough to make him lean back and make a face.
"Hikaru, be a good boy. This is Mrs. Tachibana's son." Mrs. Narita moved to get up from her seat, "I'll be back in a minute. I'm going to go put this cake in the fridge."
"Cake?" Hikaru questioned, a light coming to his face.
"Yes, Ryoki brought us a one, isn't that nice?"
Hikaru nodded before his mother left the kitchen leaving Ryoki and him alone. Ryoki noticed he had the same color hair as Hatsumi, the same shade of orangey-golden brown. Just like her eyes, his were brown as well. He was like an exact little copy.
"I know you!" Hikaru pointed at him, coming to sit next to him on the couch.
"Yeah, you just met me," Ryoki told him moving over more.
"No, I saw you with Hatsumi," Hikaru told him, proud of himself for remembering.
"So?"
"Do you wanna play video games with me?"
Wow! This kid has the attention span of a gold fish! "What video games?" Ryoki asked, he wasn't really into hanging out with a little kid, but it was better then Hatsumi's mom.
"I have mortal combat!"
Mortal combat, huh? Ryoki was definitely in a fighting mood today. Hell, he just punched Azusa in the face. "Where are they?"
"In my room," Hikaru got up off the couch, pulling Ryoki's arm. "Com'on, let's go."
Ryoki stood up and allowed himself to be dragged by the small child, going past the kitchen Hikaru yelled to his mother. "Mama, we're going to go play video games!"
"Umm," Mrs. Narita looked a little surprised. "Alright…"
The two entered the boy's room. Ryoki snorted at the fact that it resembles Subaru's before he'd redone it. The room was like a shrine to Dragon Ball Z, oh my god…
"There over here," the boy told him, pulling out the controls and handing one to Ryoki he turned on the Playstaion. "You can pick who you want to be first." Ryoki nodded and sat down on the floor like Hikaru had done, his back against the bed. "Are you and my sister's friend?"
Can we say attention disorder? At least this kid was not that annoying, yet…
"Sort of," It was a simple answer, good enough to satisfy the kid. Ryoki choose his fighter and waited for Hikaru to pick.
"My sister likes you too. She talks about you sometimes!"
Ryoki was a little stunned that this little boy knew about him. "She does?"
"Yeah, I hear her and Akane say stuff," Hikaru told him, happy that Ryoki was interested.
Maybe this kid wasn't so bad after all…
"Ryoki-san," Mrs. Narita called from the door, distracting the two of them. Ryoki looked up, he's just found a spy! What could she want now?
"I have to go out for a work-related problem. My office just called and they need me. I'm sorry, but you'll have to come back later. Hikaru, get a toy to bring, you have to come with me." Mrs. Narita told them, ready to leave the room.
"I'll watch him if you have to go out," Ryoki surprised her by saying.
"I couldn't ask you to do that!" Mrs. Nartia said.
"It's fine, I want to wait for Hatsumi anyway. I don't mind." plus I need to milk the kid for information…
"Please, mama!" Hikaru begged.
"Well, I suppose it's alright. You really would not mind?"
"No."
"Okay, I'll be back in a little while. Be good, Hikaru," Mrs. Narita kissed his head and left saying a quick thank-you to Ryoki.
The kid was not kidding, Hatsumi really did talk about him, a lot! And the kid wasn't shy either…he didn't squirm at all when he spilled the information that Hatsumi thought he was a good kisser. Yes, this had turned out well. He'd gotten to hear how great Hatsumi really thought he was. He also took into account that Hikaru might not have spoken about the bad things Hatsumi might have said, but it didn't matter. The little chat had given him a much needed ego-boost.
And now they were just playing video games. It was a good waste of time, and made Ryoki momentarily forget about his dumb girlfriend. His dumb girlfriend who had slept with Azusa. Couldn't forget about it forever, I guess…
Ryoki put down the controls after winning the last round of Mortal combat. He looked over at Hikaru, not mad at all by the fact that he'd lost every time. "Is there something else we can do? I'm getting sick of this," Ryoki got up and turned off the game consol.
Hikaru shrugged his shoulder's, and stood up as well. He heard Ryoki mumble, "Where the hell's your sister?"
"She didn't come home last night, but shh! You can't tell mama!" Hikaru said, placing a finger over his lips.
"Yeah I know!" Ryoki yelled, the kid didn't flinch. "It's been three hours! Your mother should have been back by now, and your sister too!"
Hikaru shrugged his shoulders once more, completely relaxed, despite Ryoki's bad temper flaring. Maybe he's adopted too. He may look like the idiot, but he's not a thing like her.
"Let's go watch some t.v." Ryoki told him, giving up. He went and found the remote control for the second time today."
Hatsumi was on her way to pick up her little brother after getting the mail. She shifted through it, looking for anything of interest, as she walked through the hallway. The daycare her little brother went to was on the first floor, three doors down to the right. Pushing open the door she was greeted by the sight of children, running and playing.
"Hello, Hatsumi. How are you today? " Ms. Takada asked, coming over with children clinging to her legs.
"I'm fine, just picking up Hikaru. Hi Misu, Hiro," Hatsumi leaned down to greet two of them she knew.
"Oh, Hikaru didn't come today. Mrs. Narita called and said she had a day off. I hope nothing got confused and Hikaru-" Ms. Takada started to say, worried.
"Oh no. I haven't seen my mother. She probably just didn't have a chance to tell me," Hatsumi looked down, because I was at Azusa's.
"Oh, okay. It was nice seeing you then, bye." Ms. Takada said as Hatsumi left, she nodded and closed the door.
Hatsumi felt odd, she realized as she departed from the daycare. She'd started to feel this way as soon as she'd parted with Azusa and now she thought she knew why.
She felt guilty. That little conversation with the daycare worker had made her realize it. She felt bad because she had stayed with Azusa at his place, she felt bad because of what had happened with Ryoki… Oh god, Ryoki! Azusa had distracted her, putting her in a good mood. The truth was though, was that she had stayed with him. How could she explain that to him? He'd kill her!
Part of her wanted to say he deserved it, that he had left and she needed to get home, but she couldn't do that. She was going to have to tell him, he'd know something was wrong with her anyway. She was as transparent as glass and he was as smart as a whip. He would be angry, but she'd tell him she was sorry and hope he forgave her…
Who was she kidding though, she thought as she got into the elevator. He wasn't going to forgive her just like that! Ryoki hates Azusa, and Ryoki is your boyfriend. You should respect his wishes. At least that was something that Akane had told her once.
Hatsumi was confused and nervous. In the spectrum of things, sleeping over at someone's house was not a horrible thing, but Ryoki would not see it that way at all.
Hatsumi had a feeling that this was not going to be a very good night at all. She didn't want to go home, not yet. If she did she'd run into her mother, or Akane, possibly even both. Postponing the inevitable a little longer couldn't hurt, right? Maybe she'd go up to the roof, hang around the first spot that she'd meet her 'knight in shinning armor.'
Hours later, not really quite aware of how many, Hatsumi pushed open the door to her home as she took out her key. It was strange that the door was locked, usually that meant that no one was home. Good, Hatsumi thought. I need some time to think about what I'm going to tell Ryoki. Despite spending a large amount of time on the roof, not much thinking had gone on. She threw down the mail on the counter in the Kitchen and went to go walk around to the living room. It might be nice actually, to lose her mind in some t.v. for a couple hours. As she walked around the corner though, she found that two people had already had that idea. Said two people being Ryoki and her little brother.
Hatsumi stood still, shocked by the scene she'd walked into. Ryoki was leaned against the side of the couch, unmoving and her brother was laying out on the floor, quietly watching television. It took Hikaru a couple minutes to see his sister, but he rose and came over to her. "Shh," he whispered, "Ryoki's sleeping."
Hatsumi took her little brother's hand, walking over to see Ryoki's face. A peaceful sight came into view, Ryoki had indeed fallen asleep on her couch. Hatsumi let go of her brother's hand and moved to get a blanket off a chair. Placing it over him she was careful to not wake him up. She starred a little longer then necessary before moving over to her little brother, picking him up.
Carrying him, she walked into the kitchen and placed him down, whispering for him to speak quietly. "Why is Ryoki here, and where's mom? Is she home?"
"No, mama had to go to work. Ryoki's babysitting me!" Hikaru got a little excited and Hatsumi had to remind him to stay calm.
"How long has he been here?"
"Three hours," he told her while holding onto her leg. "We played video games."
"Well that's nice, but when is mama coming home, Hikaru?" Hatsumi took a juice box of the counter and gave it to him.
"She called and said she was sorry to Ryoki and that she was going to be back home at nine," Hikaru told her without taking a breath, instead sipping his juice box.
Hatsumi looked at her watch, it was eight o'clock. "I think that you should go to bed now, Hikaru. We don't want mama to be mad. I'll come tuck you in, okay?"
Hikaru made a face, not wanting to go to bed, but was lead to his room by his sister. He jumped up into bed as she kneeled down next to it. "So you and Ryoki played video games, huh?" Hatsumi asked, she'd wished she could have seen that.
"Yeah, he won all of them!"
"I bet he did," she smiled, rubbing his head.
"What else did you guys do together?"
"We watched lots of t.v. and Ryoki was really funny! He made fun of all the shows, and we had cake for dinner!" Hikaru had obviously enjoyed himself, if Ryoki didn't kill her she'd thank him for that.
"You had cake for dinner?" She laughed, Ryoki had entertained him fine, but nutrition was not one of his strong points. "Alright, go to bed now." Hatsumi got up and turned off the lights, closing the door.
She moved back into the living room, unsure of what to do about Ryoki. It would be really awkward to have her mother come home and find him like this.
To wake him up, or not to wake him up…? Maybe she'd just wait a while; she had a good hour before her mother got home.
She walked over to a chair opposite the couch occupied by him and sat down. Watching him exhale small breaths she smiled, he moved a little every now and then. She noticed his glasses were gone as well, just making him look even more…tempting? Where did that come from?
Hatsumi didn't care where it came from she decided, moving off the chair to sit and lean against the couch. She laid her face on the side inches from him and just accepted being content for the time being.
Shinogou hadn't wanted to come home, he hadn't wanted to at all. But he needed to ask his mother some questions. She'd be upset, he knew she already was, but these things were necessary for him to continue in trying to separate himself from the family. Separate himself from the family… How horrible did that sound? Really horrible, he was leaving the people that had given him a home and taken care of him. He wanted to separate himself from the people that loved him. It was screwed up, really screwed up, and he knew it.
He was doing it because of Hatsumi, because he couldn't stop thinking about her. Because he loved her. But what about Akane and Hikaru, he didn't know how he was going to explain this to them. They had no idea about what Hatsumi knew now.
He's worry about that later though, first thing first, he actually had to go through with it. He was ready too, and the quicker the better.
He opened the door, it was unlocked. He just wanted to do this quickly. "Hello, anyone home?" He called as he walked though the door. No one answered, so he explored the kitchen and found his way to the living room. He thought no one was there as well until he walked around the couch.
Ryoki was asleep, his head resting on the arm of the couch, a blanket neatly draped over him. And there was his sister, sleeping peacefully against the couch, her hand knotted in the blanket. It would have been a scene that anyone in love could have smiled at. The only reason he couldn't was because he was in love with someone in it.
He frowned, standing there. His mother was obviously not home. Thinking it over, he debated what to do. Maybe just leaving was the best option. He was going to follow up on that plan, too angry to think about anything else until he saw Ryoki twitch. He was waking up, his eyes opening slowly. Shinogou backed up a little as Ryoki rubbed his eyes, taking in his surrounding's. He should just leave right now, before anyone saw him. That option though wouldn't work, so he took the next best one. Shinogou silently darted to his old room, he didn't need to cause anymore problems for himself.
He shut the door quietly, he was a coward and he knew it.
Something smelled nice, like strawberries. Ryoki drew in a long breath as he inhaled the scent, waking him from sleep. He opened his and went to take off his glasses, realizing that he didn't have them on. It took him a minute to adjust, before he sat up and took in where he was. Oh crap, he fell asleep at Hatsumi's when he was supposed to be watching her little brother. Fuck… He went to look down on his watch, lifting his hand away from…honey golden hair?
Ryoki looked down more, as if he really needed a face to confirm who exactly the hair belonged to. He knew, but her face in a cute catnap confirmed it for him. "What the hell," he spoke quietly, sitting up more. Hatsumi moved at the noise in her sleep, cuddling more into the couch.
Maneuvering around her, he managed to wiggle himself off the couch without disturbing her. This was not how he'd planned things at all… He looked down at his watch again to discover it was almost nine. Her mother will be home soon. He looked down at her again, from his place above her. She must have come home after I'd fallen asleep, and then she had to come cuddle up with me… Ryoki glared, but It didn't last long. They needed to talk. The things that had been swimming around in his head hit him hard from actually seeing her, especially like this. The idea that something may have happened between Azusa and her didn't really seem possible, almost like a dream when he'd thought about it. Now though, reality sunk in, and it sunk low. He wasn't leaving here until he got something. He'd go wait in her room, Akane was probably out, like always. She'd be in after he mom found her sleeping. Then they'd talk, and he would figure out how the hell things had gotten so messed up. Maybe he really shouldn't have left her after all…
A/N: Did I mention I was sorry before? Yeah well I had a lot of computer glitches, life glitches, and just basic crap that was working against me to get this out. I honestly don't feel too well about this chapter, but that may just be me being a dork.
Review of the Reviews:
I'm not getting to all the reviews because I'm an ass and have ducked doing it for a while. So if I don't get to you don't think anything of it. I appreciate ALL of everyone's comments.
lunawolf79: It's great that you convince your friends to read my story! I do that to my friends too with stories that I like. Thank's to Dark Angel as well.
Sarah: A lot have people have said that they live off my story…it makes me feel awesome that something I enjoy doing kicks ass for other people too!
Twofang: Thank you very much! I love that you read the volumes that quick! It's such a great manga! I really hope they make it into an anime!
Littlest Weasley, Michellesdaughter, and Jenbo: You guys always review! I love you guys!
IloveRyoki: Thanks! It's nice to know you think the story is developed well. I try hard to make sure things make sense and fit together.
Who do you think this is… : Hmm. I haven't the slightest idea. 'giggle' I would like you all to meet Ashley. She kicks me around when I'm lazy!
Tessa99999: The manga has kept slowing down on the updates! There are only 11 books though, so I don't mind waiting for them.
Like I said, thanks to everyone. It's nice to know the story is well liked. In closing, I'm going against one of my primal morals. Beta reader. Let's face it, I feel like I can write well enough, but my spelling's always been bad. So I think I'm going to ask someone to just read over chapters for spelling mistakes. If your interested, just give me a buzz. Oh, and also, If I don't get right back to you it's because Sat. I'm leaving on vacation 'til weds. Later, Little Emo.