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About Us

Chapter 4

By Miki

"Yuuta?"

Yumiko didn't hesitate as she walked into her brother's room. He'd left the door open, so she assumed she was allowed in, and truthfully, she missed the days when he'd drop onto his bed after coming home from school. She used to poke her head in when she got home, and he'd often be asleep. Somehow, those days seemed a long time ago.

A lot of things had changed since then.

His scar had stayed the same shape, and he had kept the same haircut, but he wasn't as easily open with her or with Syuusuke… The way he looked at her had changed too…

He had used to look at her with wide, curious eyes. Now, more often than not, he narrowed them.

Yuuta looked up from his magazine as she walked in. "Nee-san."

"What are you doing?" She asked, though it was obvious enough.

He didn't get up from where he laid on his back, but managed a grunt.

Syuusuke was out of the house, and Yumiko was caught between her happiness at seeing Yuuta like this, and knowing that the only reason he looked so relaxed in his own house was because his brother was out of it.

"Do you mind if I sit down?" she questioned.

Yuuta grunted again, so Yumiko sighed a little and sat down at the edge of his bed, near his head. "What time did you tell Atobe to come?"

Yuuta tensed slightly, and Yumiko did well to keep a straight face. "Six," he answered quickly, staring at one spot in the magazine he held above his head.

"Oh? So early?"

Yuuta put down the magazine. "It isn't early," he retorted. "I… I have to introduce him to mum and dad before dinner."

"Is it necessary to be so formal?" Yumiko asked, knowing the exact reason behind Yuuta's nervousness.

She could see that familiar twitchiness of his fingers now, and she absentmindedly touched his hair.

"I like Atobe," Yuuta said suddenly, and Yumiko blinked. The statement was unexpectedly clear, and she looked down at Yuuta, curious as to what would prompt him to be so open with her for a change.

He swallowed, trying not to meet her eyes; trying to pretend it wasn't a weird thing to say. "I mean, he's kind of… a friend… So if he comes over again, then they'll know who he is properly, right?"

Yumiko duly noted Yuuta's awkward emphasis on the word 'friend'. She smiled at it and let her fingers run through his hair.

"Of course. Perhaps by then, the soup will be ready and we can make an early start."

"Early start?" Yuuta repeated. "Why?"

"Well, then you could squeeze in a movie afterwards," Yumiko suggested, keeping her tone carefully neutral so that Yuuta didn't think anything of it. She could see the way Yuuta was struggling to interpret her words, and didn't want to annoy him and lose her precious time with him.

"A-Ah, right…" he eventually stuttered out, turning his head to face the wall, away from her.

Her hand paused for a moment in its movement, and she wondered if she should take that as her cue to leave.

"Well, I should get back to the kitchen before we have to eat charcoal for dessert," she said, beginning to get up.

"Nee-san."

"Hm?"

She sat back down again.

"Do you…"

Yumiko waited for a moment, curious as to what Yuuta would say.

"Actually… it's nothing," Yuuta mumbled, closing his eyes. "What are we having for dessert?"

"Blueberry pie."

"Oh."

Yumiko patted her brother's hair once more and then walked toward the door.

"I forgot to tell you before…" Yuuta added, "Atobe's bringing a cake."

"Oh," Yumiko smiled. "How nice of him," she said, though she reflected with amusement on the fact that Syuusuke was going to miss out on what looked to be a funny evening. Then she hurried down the hallway and back to the kitchen. Charcoal really didn't taste good with whipped cream after all.

(S)

Yuuta sat on the edge of the sofa and scrunched his toes on the floor in front of him. It had been nearly ten minutes to six when he'd walked out from his room. Somehow he'd managed to misjudge the time, and now he was annoyed.

He didn't want to walk back to his room, just in case Atobe arrived soon, but he didn't like sitting here and waiting either. It would have been better if he'd hung around in his room until he heard the doorbell ring, at least. It wouldn't have been so weird then, and his mother wouldn't keep checking up on him like there was something strange about sitting on the sofa.

He pushed his hands flat under his thighs and hunched forward as he waited.

He hoped his sister wasn't too annoyed about the cake thing… She'd been in the kitchen for the past hour and a half, helping his mother and preparing the blueberry pie. Maybe he should have told Atobe not to bring anything…

He sighed and restlessly flopped backwards, pulling his hands out from underneath him and instead throwing his arms wide out along the top of the sofa.

At least he didn't have to worry about his brother.

And with that thought, Yuuta heard the doorbell and startled at the sound.

"Yuuta? Are you going to get that or should I?" his mother called out, and Yuuta jumped off the sofa quickly.

"I will," he called back, and found himself with his hand on the door before he'd even realised it. He didn't have any time to be surprised, however, as the doorbell rang again and he heard Yumiko talking to their mother. Her voice seemed to be coming closer, so Yuuta quickly opened the door.

And blinked.

(S)

Atobe peered out of the window, squinting to see the numbers on the houses as they passed. The car was going too fast though so he gave up quickly, telling himself he wasn't really anxious at all. Still, he glanced across at the bouquet of flowers he'd picked out and pulled them closer to him on the seat, fingering the cellophane and tissue paper wrapping. He played with the ribbon around the middle of the stems, and then looked out of the window again.

The houses around here were pretty small. He'd been here several times before, but the size of the houses still didn't fail to strike him with a sense of curiosity. How did people live in them? Didn't they feel claustrophobic? Cramped? Did they really have room to move inside?

Was this why suburbs had public parks in them? Because the gardens weren't even big enough to throw a stick in?

Atobe recalled the size of Yuuta's bedroom and almost shuddered. One hardly had enough space to breathe in there, and he imagined the other rooms of the house were no better either. For a moment, he almost felt curious to know what Fuji's room was like. Yuuta's was quite bare really, though he'd admit it was hard to fit in any more furniture given the size of the room.

Perhaps Fuji's was similar in size and layout. He'd heard once that Yuuta's brother collected cacti, and at the thought of multiple, unpleasantly spiky plants squeezed into a small room, Atobe cringed.

Then he absentmindedly fingered the ribbon on the flowers again, and looked down at them, forgetting about Fuji.

He wondered if it was too over the top to bring flowers as well as the cake…

With that thought, he swallowed nervously.

He'd asked Jirou what he thought, but Jirou hadn't said much other than to give a vague description of his mother's gift-giving habits, and, as Atobe had pointed out, Jirou's mother was most probably socialising with a different class of people and furthermore, Ore-sama was not a forty-year old woman and had no inclination to act like one.

Commoners really were confusing.

Atobe sighed and sunk down slightly in his seat. He wanted to give Yuuta's parents a good impression, but he really felt like his nerves were fraying at the edges.

He felt like he was out of his depth, and it wasn't a feeling he was used to. He'd always prided himself on his social skills.

His ability to converse with grownups about anything and everything had become an instinct over the years, as slipping into talks about the economy and politics became habit – his father's motto was that since it was inevitable he'd have to do it in the future, he should start now – but before now, he'd never felt quite so weird about sitting around a dinner table with a family…

But then, he hadn't ever really cared about anything like this before either.

(S)

Yuuta stared at the huge bouquet of flowers tucked in Atobe's arm.

He didn't have much of a clue about flowers, but the bunch looked… kind of flashy… and it smelt kind of strong.

The I-think-I've-just-accidentally-walked-in to-a-florist kind of strong.

"Yuuta," Atobe greeted, a slight smile on his face.

Yuuta blinked at the flowers, noticing they matched the colour of Atobe's tie… Why was Atobe wearing a tie? Did he normally wear ties to other people's houses? He was even wearing dress pants, Yuuta realised with surprise, eyes not knowing where to look. He'd hardly seen Atobe not wearing his school uniform before, and all of a sudden, he realised…

Of all the things he'd worried about, he'd worried about his clothes the least! And now he was standing here in front of Atobe wearing worn-out house slippers, cargo pants with an ink stain on the hem – Yanagisawa didn't mix well with paintbrushes and Yuuta had told him never to bother trying again – and a shirt which… well, the shirt was okay, but the slippers had frogs on them and the pants had a stain, and he felt like Atobe was staring at him strangely.

"Yuuta?" Atobe questioned, raising his eyebrow.

"Huh?" Yuuta looked at him, swallowing.

Maybe he could go and change before Atobe realised, he thought, half-worrying that he wouldn't get a chance to change and Atobe would be thinking weird thoughts in his head all night, and half-worrying that when he was worrying so much over his clothes, there was really something wrong with him.

"Are you okay?" Atobe asked, and Yuuta realised he was standing in the doorway and blocking it.

"Ah, yeah," he responded, distracted.

Well, it was possible Atobe didn't think much of his clothes anyway. He probably expected him to dress in 'common' clothing or –

"So… Are you going to let me in? Or is there some secret password I have to guess?" Atobe drawled.

Yuuta felt his face turning pink. "No, I… Don't be so dumb…" he muttered, scowling just a little as he tried not to look even stupider than he already did.

He stepped aside, and as he did so, he noticed Atobe's chauffeur standing awkwardly on the footpath, two boxes in his arms.

"Er… Hello," he greeted, a little startled and suddenly conscious of the fact that he had not the slightest clue what the man's name actually was.

Atobe did however, calling him impatiently and instructing him to put his boxes down just inside the house.

Then Atobe pushed the door shut and looked at Yuuta. "You look a bit funny," he commented.

"So do you," Yuuta scowled back, his embarrassment making him feel just a little cranky.

Atobe ignored Yuuta's retort and adjusted a strand of hair. "No, I mean, you look pale," he clarified, stepping closer and putting the back of his hand to Yuuta's forehead.

"I'm fine," Yuuta insisted, blushing even more as Atobe touched him.

His nose twitched a little as the scent of the flowers also got closer to him and he turned quickly.

"Anyway, my mum's in the kitchen."

"Hey," Atobe pulled him back.

"What?" Yuuta asked, sniffling a little.

Atobe's flowers were really doing weird things to him.

"Where's my greeting?" Atobe demanded, and Yuuta instantly recalled the last time Atobe had said something like that.

"You don't need one," he grumbled.

Where was Yumiko anyway? He'd been sure he'd heard her footsteps coming this direction and the longer she took to show up, the more nervous he felt.

He eyed the boxes the chauffeur had left on the floor, walked towards them and then glanced at Atobe. "Should I bring these in?" he questioned, curious as to what was inside.

Atobe didn't reply, and Yuuta glanced at him, taken aback to see him frowning. He hesitated.

"Jeez," he grumbled.

Then he marched the few steps back to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

It was fast enough that it was almost more like a peck than anything else; fast enough that Atobe had hardly blinked and Yuuta was already pulling away again –

But it wasn't quite fast enough that Atobe couldn't grab Yuuta's arm and hold him still.

Yuuta thought Atobe's face looked just as red as his felt, and wondered just a little miserably why Atobe chose such horrible places to want to do it. Didn't he worry about people catching them?

It wasn't that he didn't like it, but the feeling he felt was almost like exhilaration mixed with fear, and it made his chest feel so tight he felt like he might burst.

As Atobe's lips met his, he decided he'd think about it later.

Still, he really wished Atobe would –

"Atobe."

Yuuta's eyes flew open – when had he shut them? – and he pushed Atobe from him without a second thought.

"I was wondering what was taking so long," Yumiko smiled, smoothing down her apron.

"Nee-san…" Yuuta swallowed, lost for words.

There was no way his sister hadn't seen that. She'd have to be blind to have missed it, and Yumiko was nothing if not observant.

Yuuta squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, trying to get his panicked thoughts into order. He vaguely heard Atobe greeting her, but he wondered what she was thinking. Was she surprised? He'd said Atobe was just a friend, right?

What if she thought…

"I didn't realise you were so cultured these days, Yuuta."

Yuuta looked up at her at the mention of his name. He didn't understand what his sister was talking about, and didn't think he wanted to know. He hurriedly picked up the boxes on the floor, realising he had to make his escape now before Yumiko got too comfortable.

"Well, I'm going to introduce Atobe to Kaa-san…"

Yumiko smiled. "Of course."

Yuuta used his spare hand to tug lightly on Atobe's sleeve, yanking him along though he looked like he wanted to say something else to Yumiko. Whatever it was, he was probably better off not saying it anyway.

(S)

Yumiko watched Yuuta leading Atobe to the kitchen and couldn't help but want to smile about it. Perhaps she'd been a little hard on Atobe the last time he was here, she thought, but then, she wasn't willing to hand over her little brother to just anyone.

And certainly not anyone who wasn't willing to work for him. She wanted to know how far Atobe was willing to go, and she wanted to be sure he wasn't a person who would quit halfway there.

His reputation, of course, preceded him everywhere he went, and Yumiko had thought when she'd met him that most of what she'd heard had been true.

He was every bit as proud as Syuusuke had said, and it was funny to tease him, as she'd already learnt.

Still, she didn't think he'd back down from her challenge. At least, somewhere in her, she almost hoped he wouldn't.

Hearing her Yuuta sounding grouchy in the kitchen, she pulled out her hair tie and ran a hand through her hair. Then she walked into the room and leaned against the counter. If she wasn't wrong, it looked like her mother was already impressed with Atobe and he'd barely been in there a minute.

"You know, Okaa-san," she smiled, wanting to stir things up a little, "I don't know what Atobe's told you about himself, but he's probably being modest."

She noted the shocked look on Yuuta's face. They all knew that modesty was not exactly one of Atobe's more prominent character traits, if it was there at all.

"I think we should expect him to be a good influence on Yuuta from now on," she continued.

Atobe was looking at her, his mouth open slightly in surprise, and she wondered if she should tell him he looked like a guppy. Movement caught her eye and she noted Yuuta was picking off a piece of crust from her blueberry pie, obviously thinking no one was noticing.

"Atobe-kun's already taught Yuuta all about European greetings, haven't you?" she purred, keeping her eyes on Atobe's face. "They take a lot of practise to feel natural, don't they?"

Yuuta coughed then, and spluttered and choked.

Yumiko watched as Atobe's face turned red and he awkwardly patted Yutua's back. Her mother hurried to fill a glass with water.

It really was a shame Syuusuke wasn't here. She missed him when he wasn't around to appreciate her sense of humour, which, all too often, flew over other people's heads. On the bright side however, she now knew that her blueberry pie was a killer, and that the evening would be an interesting one.

She did so like it when entertainment like Atobe turned up on the doorstep, after all.

.tbc.