Chapter 5 - Ryoma's Point of View

It wasn't all too late when we got out of practice. We changed and made our way back to my house. Ty was silent the whole way, his eyes lowered to the ground. I didn't really want to say anything until we got to my place, so I remained silent as well. He seemed nervous about something. I was just having trouble figuring out what it was.

Once we arrived at my house we headed up to my room where we were greeted by Karupin. He jumped into my lap once I sat down. I saw Ty smile and reach out. Karupin hopped down and rubbed against his hand.

"So, tell me. What's going?" I asked as I watched him pet Karupin.

He frowned.

"You promised not to tell anyone and please don't laugh at me." His eyes looked like they were sparkling in such a way that I really couldn't tell what he was feeling.

I nodded. He continued.

"Kaido wanted to talk to me yesterday. After classes. We didn't really get the chance 'cause I got scared and ran away. So when I saw him this morning I thought it would be alright to try to talk to him again."

Another nod.

"He said he wanted to see me more... I was happy about that." I could see Ty's cheeks become red as he spoke.

Then it hit me.

"What! You like Kaido!" I almost shouted it. He pounced on me and covered my mouth quickly.

"Not so loud, Ryoma. Please! I don't want anyone to know. Besides, Kaido seems to like me too." He smiled and sat back, releasing me.

"Okay. I won't tell anyone. I promise." I made an "X" over my chest and we shook hands. Then he gave me a sly smile.

"What?" I looked a little bewildered at him.

"So what's going on between you and Momoshiro?" He asked. It was my turn to redden.

"Nothing!"

I could tell he didn't believe me. He knew when I was lying just like I knew when he was lying.

"Alright, alright..." I mumbled helplessly as he poked me in the arm with one finger.

"Out with it." He had a grin on his face. I sighed.

"Me and Momoshiro are a couple, but promise not to tell anyone." I admitted.

His turn to nod.

"I wouldn't tell anyone. You can trust me. But be warned! I will have to pick on you." He replied, punching me in the shoulder playfully.

"If you do that then I'll have to pick on you about Kaido." I laughed and jumped to my feet.

He grumbled a little and jumped up as well.

"You're so cruel, Ryoma!" He shouted and grabbed a pillow off my bed.

The next I knew, we were having a pillow so loud that my father had to come in a yell at us. We calmed down a little and sat back down on my bed.

"I guess I better get home." Ty was staring at the clock as he spoke.

I nodded and walked my friend to the door.

"See you in school tomorrow then." I said and closed the door behind him.

It was late so I told my parents goodnight and went to my room. I gave Karupin a quick pat on the head and crawled in bed.

Ty's Point of View

I smiled happily as I made my way home. Things with Ryoma went pretty well and I had learned something new about him. I never thought that Ryoma would actually fall for another male. I guess it didn't surprise him all that much that I would.

I felt happier then I ever had before. My mind kept wandering to Kaido. Once or twice I almost ran into some one because I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going.

I can't believe this happened to me. I was a few blocks from my house when I actually did run right smack into some one. I fell backwards and landed on my butt.

"Ouch!" I looked up and grinned slightly.

"Nyah! Are you okay down there?" Kikumaru was staring down at me with worried look on his face.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I laughed a little and looked behind him.

I saw Oishi, Tezuka, and... Kaido

I could feel my face flushing a little as I got to my feet and brushed myself off.

"I gotta get home. Don't worry about bumping into me though. I'm fine really." I said with a smile.

"Why don't you walk him home, Kaido. The streets can be pretty dangerous at this time of night, but we all know that you can be even more dangerous." Tezuka gave Kaido a little push forward and told the other two to come with him.

Kaido hissed as the captain left. Once they were out of sight he turned to me. A smirk was on his face and I could feel myself blush again.

"Come on. I'll take you home." Kaido glanced around and then took my hand. I almost jumped in surprise.

"Which way do you live?" He asked looking back down at me.

I pointed.

"Down there. It's not too far from here. Maybe another five blocks." I replied. He looked a little surprise.

"You walk that far to get to school?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, but I normally walk during the day. Plus I was at Ryoma's. He doesn't live too far from my house anyway."

His turn to nod.

"How did things go with him? You did tell him right?" His grip on my hand tightened a little.

"Yes... He was okay with it though. He thought that you were threatening me, but he promised not to tell so it'll be ok." I gave his hand a squeeze to reassure him.

"Which way now?"

I didn't realize that we had walked so far and had gone almost five blocks already. I looked at where we were then pointed.

"My house is right over there."

We came to the front door and stopped there. I looked up at Kaido.

"Wanna come in? My mom won't mind if you stay a little while." I opened the door and waited for his reply.

He nodded and we stepped inside.

"Mom! I'm home!" I called.

"Where you at Ryoma's?" I heard her ask.

"Yeah! I got a friend over. Is it ok for him to stay a little while?"

My mom stepped out of the kitchen and looked at Kaido.

"He's welcome to stay the night if he wants, but he should call his parents to let them know where he is." My mother smiled and walked back into the kitchen to continue what ever she was doing.

I smiled.

"So? Wanna stay the night?" I asked and headed for my room.

"I suppose. But you have to remember that I do have a reputation to uphold, so that means we'll have to walk different ways to school." He replied following me.

I let out a sigh.

"Alright. As long as I get to see you. That's all I care about." I opened the door to my room and walked over to the closet.

"I have some extra blankets in here so we can make a bed on the floor. 'Kay?" I pulled the blankets down and laid them out on the floor. I then grabbed a pillow from my bed and tossed it to him. He caught it easily and placed it on the floor.

"I'm gonna go change in the bathroom. I need a shower." I laughed and walked to the bathroom.

Kiado's Point of View

I had no idea what I was doing there let alone staying the night. His mother invited me though, so how could I refuse? I watched him as he made my bed for me. Then I watched him as he left the room. My heart seemed to just climb up my throat. I had this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I saw him leave. It hurt in a way.

I sat down on the floor and laid back on the bed Ty had made for me. It was actually pretty comfortable despite the fact that it was on the floor. I didn't mind though. I was just happy to be there. I would be able to spend the whole night with him and then the morning.

After our kiss I sometimes would tell myself to just forget about my reputation. I really liked him. I really didn't want to lose him over something so stupid as an image. If that started to happen though I made a promise to myself that I would just stop acting as if this wasn't happening. I would admit to the world that I liked him if I had to.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't even hear him come back in.

"Kaido? Are you in there?" Ty was waving his hand over my face and I snapped out of my own little world.

"Oh... When did you get back?" I stared up at him and smiled when I saw his dripping blonde hair.

"A few minutes ago. When I saw that you weren't moving I thought you had fallen asleep. Then I realized that your eyes were open. Is something wrong?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"No. I was just thinking." I reached up to him and ran my hand through his wet hair.

"You should dry your hair a little more. You might catch cold."

He got up and grabbed a towel which he started to dry his hair with. I sat up and watched him. When he was done, he threw the towel to one side and sat down on his bed. He was staring right at me. It was his turn to smile now.

I got to my feet and sat down next to him.

"What are you smiling at?"

He shook his head and put his hand on my shoulder. I leaned down and our lips met for the third time that day. I could feel the warmth from his small body through my thin tee-shirt and I pulled him closer. It felt so nice to hold him like that. His arms were back around my neck as they had been before and I was pushing my tongue into his mouth. I was getting hotter and it was getting a little hard to breath, but I didn't want to let him go.

But I finally had to let go. He had to turn his head from me and break the kiss in order to get some air into his lungs. I chuckled.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to cut of your breathing."

He smiled and gave me a kiss on my lips.

"It's alright. It's as much your fault as it is mine. I liked the kiss." Ty curled up in my arms and I heard him let out a sigh as he started to fall asleep.

I laid him back.

"Get some rest. It's really late and we need to get up for school." I kissed him again and got down to the floor. I glanced back up at him and I could see that he was curled up under his blankets. I smiled again and closed my eyes to go to sleep. Then I heard his soft voice.

"Kaido?"

"Hm...?"

"Are you asleep?"

"No. Why?"

"Can you sleep up here with me? Please."

I tossed the covers off my body and crawled onto his bed. He seemed so frail in the moonlight. I was afraid that I might break him in half if I wasn't careful. I got under his covers and held him close.

"Now will you get some sleep?" I asked softly.

He nodded and rested his head on my chest. I closed my eyes again as I stroked his hair softly. It was still damp, but not as bad as before. I pulled the covers up more so that he wouldn't catch a cold. I knew that my body heat would also help. I tried to sleep, but found that I was having a little trouble with it.

I opened my eyes again and looked at him. He looked so peaceful as he slept and I couldn't help but give him a gently kiss on the forehead. He smiled. Ty also looked so pale in the moonlight.

Finally I decided that I really should go to sleep. I closed my eyes again and forced myself into a light sleep. I didn't realize until the morning just how deep of a sleep I had really gone in. All night I was having dreams. The were mostly about tennis, which was normal for me. But I also had an occasional dream about Ty. That made me happy.

My dream was cut short though when I felt something poking at me.

"Kaido? It's time to get up." Ty was saying. My eyes fluttered but refused to open. He continued to poke at me. My eyes opened slowly.

"I'm up... I'm up. What time is it?" I asked rubbing my eyes.

"Almost 6:30. Get up. We gotta get ready for school."

I slowly got to my feet and stretched. A yawn came and I tried to stifle it, but it didn't work. He giggled at me and growled a little. I could tell he cringed. I could also tell that when I made a noise like that to him he became afraid of me for a little while. I didn't like that. I frowned and looked at him.

"I didn't mean to scare you, Ty." I reached out and pulled him close to me again. "Come on. Let's get to school."

He nodded and got dressed.

"Let's get some breakfast. I'm hungry."

He lead me down stairs and into the dinning room. We had a quick break fast and he told his mother good bye. With that all done, we walked out the door and made our way to school.

"Want me to walk ahead of you?" Ty asked.

I shook my head. I didn't want him to leave me. I could always say that we were just friends and that the captain told me to take care of him while he was at Seishun Academy. It was pretty to deceive people. Especially if you were some one like me. Besides, no one would really mess with me anyway. Not many people liked being around me. I knew I was safe.

"Walk with me."

He smiled and I could tell that he wanted to take my hand, but he didn't. He knew better. He glanced around and saw Ryoma and Momoshiro. They ran over. I hissed at them, but we continued on our way to school.