Notes: Don't be confused if you're wondering where chapter 5 went and why this chapter is here where it wasn't before. XD I updated last time in a rush since I've been busy lately, and I didn't realise I'd skipped a chapter :D;; This is chapter 4.5; Ootori and Shishido.
Reviews: Nice, but not obligatory. I do appreciate them and they remind me to update. XD Thank you to the people who have reviewed so far.
Shishido didn't really get it.
He didn't really get a lot of things about Ootori.
Sometimes Ootori liked buying drinks on the way home from school, but then he'd take a single sip and decide he wasn't thirsty and give the rest to Shishido. Shishido didn't complain, because Ootori always bought the expensive ones which came in ten million flavours and all tasted like heaven; the ones he couldn't afford to buy himself. He suspected Ootori just wanted to test out all the flavours on the menu and hadn't found one he really liked yet.
Shishido liked them all.
Other times, Ootori would get this funny look on his face like he really wanted to say something, but he never did. Or sometimes he'd say something completely stupid and Shishido would wonder why he bothered opening his mouth only to say something about the weather, or about Atobe, or sometimes about other dumb things…
Today, the thing Shishido didn't get was why it took Ootori so damn long to get him a glass of lemonade from the kitchen.
He gripped his pencil a little harder and scratched a few more characters onto his piece of paper. Then, annoyed and impatient, he gave up on his homework and opened his bedroom door. He could hear voices from the kitchen; one was Ootori's and the other was his brother's.
He scowled a little and crept down the hallway.
"Hey, I really liked that one too!"
"No way! I took Shishido-san to see it and he hated it!"
"Really? Yeah, Ryou's got bad taste in movies, huh? He just likes the ones where they blow up stuff," Tooru said, leaning back in his chair a little.
"I noticed that a bit," Ootori laughed.
"Yeah, like when we were kids, we used to go to the cinema and I used to try to get into the R ones, you know? Ryou's boring though; he always wanted to get out after two minutes and go find the action movies."
Ootori's eyes were wide.
"You took Shishido-san to… to…"
"Porn?" Tooru laughed.
Shishido twitched from where he stood.
Ootori's lips made a kind of 'o' shape, but nothing came out, which just made Tooru laugh harder.
"I think maybe I kind of scared him though," he said, when he stopped.
Ootori smiled a little, and Shishido's heart started beating faster; seeing that smile… That one he sometimes had on his face right before he kissed him. His hand clutched at the doorframe a little harder as he tried to peek at the two boys.
"Why's that?" Ootori asked, when Tooru didn't elaborate.
"Eh, well, you know," Tooru said, looking awkward and rubbing at his neck. "He's never brought any girls home… Does he talk to them at school?"
Shishido grit his teeth a little. Trust his brother to bring up that topic in front of Ootori.
(S)
Ootori swallowed quickly, surprised at the question. He hadn't seen it coming.
"Um… Shishido-san… He…"
He grinned like an idiot and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know," he settled for answering, though he really did know the answer. "He's pretty popular though, you know…"
Shishido didn't hang out with the girls at school because he was always hanging out with him at lunch and after school, and sometimes before school as well. He didn't hang out with girls on the weekends either, because Ootori usually asked him to do something or go somewhere… It hadn't really crossed Ootori's mind that maybe he was monopolising all of Shishido's time.
He didn't really feel like smiling anymore, and Tooru wasn't really looking at him anyway, so he let his smile fall and glanced around the room.
"He had a girlfriend once when he was a kid," Tooru mused, feeling a need to fill in the silence.
He wasn't sure what it was about his brother's friend, Ootori, but he always gave him a kind of weird feeling, like he needed to be extra-nice to him all the time and look after him a bit. Otherwise Ootori had something of a tendency to become quiet, and once or twice, Tooru had seen his younger brother snap at him.
Tooru suspected he wouldn't last a second if Ootori ever gave him that dejected puppy-dog look.
It probably worked really well on girls too.
"Well, anyway," he smiled, "weren't you in the middle of getting something?"
Ootori's eyes widened and he pushed himself off the wall where he was leaning, standing up straight as though snapping to attention. "Ah, yes, of course! Shishido-san… I mean, I can't believe-" he blurted, flustered as he looked around as though his Senpai was going to walk in and catch him slacking off on the job.
Which he did.
"Choutarou!"
Tooru chuckled a little at his younger brother's entrance and didn't even bother pretending to bury his nose in his book.
Ootori Choutarou…
He'd been visiting more and more lately, so and it wasn't the first time Tooru had seen that look on his face, but it was definitely the first time that it had occurred to him… Ootori was kind of… cute.
(S)
Ootori turned around, looking every bit as guilty as Shishido had intended him to feel. He scrambled to the fridge.
"Shishido-san, I was just… Sorry, I kind of got carried away," he apologised, pulling out the bottle of lemonade and twitching his fingers as he tried to remember where the glasses were.
"Top cupboard on the right," Tooru offered, enjoying the show.
"Thanks," Ootori said, hurrying to get two glasses and fill them with lemonade. "Sorry, are you thirsty Shishido-san?"
Shishido crossed his arms and leaned against the wall where Ootori had been just a moment before.
"Why else would I tell you to get drinks?" he scowled, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"Give the guy a break, Ryou," Tooru said, eyes meeting his brother's. "He's not your dog, you know."
Shishido directed a glare at his brother; his words for a moment filling him with a sense of shame. "What are you doing here anyway?" he demanded, annoyed and directing his annoyance at his brother because if he'd known Tooru was in the house, he wouldn't have sent Ootori to get the drinks by himself.
"What?" Tooru scowled back, "I have to have a reason to be in my own house?"
"Um…" Ootori began.
"No, I'm saying, don't you have somewhere else to be?" Shishido questioned, not liking the feeling that his brother was going to corner him again. He hated losing to his brother, even more than he hated losing to Atobe or Oshitari or anyone else. Even if they were in the stupid kitchen and not on a tennis court.
"Um…" Ootori interrupted again, looking uncomfortable.
Tooru glanced at him and then glanced at the drinks on the counter. "The trays are over there," he said, waving a hand. "Ice cubes are in the freezer."
Ootori mumbled another 'thanks' and looked embarrassed as he tried to pretend he wasn't seeing Shishido and his brother bickering with each other.
Shishido glanced at his team mate's back, and then at his brother again. "Whatever," he grumbled, and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Hurry up with the drinks already, Choutarou."
"Shi-" Ootori began, but Shishido had already left the kitchen.
Tooru sighed at his brother's childishness, though he couldn't help but feel a little stupid and childish too when Ootori looked at him. What was it about Ootori that made him feel like that? Maybe Ryou felt the same way too, he mused.
It was kind of funny when he thought about it, because he wasn't sure which of the boys was more of a sucker.
(S)
Ootori shuffled back into Shishido's room and lowered himself to his knees, sliding the tray onto the table. He had to push his books aside to make space.
"You know how long that took?" Shishido asked.
Ootori bowed his head slightly. "Sorry."
Shishido rolled his eyes and would have told him that 'sorry' was not the answer to the question, but Ootori was already looking dejected so he let it slide.
"Do you really not like it when I talk to your brother?" Ootori asked, quietly because he'd left the door open.
Shishido stood up. Ootori looked up at him for a moment. He wished he could take that question back.
Shishido walked to the door and closed it. Then he walked back over to the table and sat down again.
"Where'd the biscuits come from?" he asked, picking up the packet on the tray and finding the red tab to pull to open it.
"Shi- I mean, your brother told me you liked them," Ootori replied, shifting slightly, moving one leg to sit on top of it.
Then he realised how Shishido was sitting with his shoulders slumped, and felt kind of tall. He shifted again and sat still, feeling like he was making too much noise in the quiet room.
Shishido's eyes met Ootori's. His cheeks were a bit pink. "I just like the flavour," he said, a little defensively. "Not the other stuff."
It took Ootori a moment to realise that when Shishido said 'stuff', he meant the pink packaging and the fact that both sides of each biscuit were shaped like Hello Kitty's face. He took one when Shishido offered the packet, and decided that biting into the biscuit was a good excuse not to say anything right now.
Ootori would never have called himself a fan of things like this. He sometimes noticed them in the shops, or at the Candy Land, where he liked to buy snacks, but for the most part, he stayed away from biscuits and cookies.
Chewing on the crumbly mess of a biscuit, he couldn't really say it was anything spectacular, though the strawberry filling did taste like something you could get addicted to pretty quickly.
Shishido was looking at him, he realised, so Ootori looked back at him.
"You're not allowed to mention this, you know," Shishido scowled, as if he thought Ootori was going to ring up Gakuto and Oshitari and Hiyoshi and Jirou to tell them all that Shishido Ryou liked eating biscuits with Hello Kitty faces on them and pink, strawberry-flavour fillings.
Seeing the blush on Shishido's face, Ootori couldn't help the tightness in his chest; the slightly squeezing, slightly painful feeling that made his heart beat faster and his fingers feel tingly.
"I wouldn't," he answered, and hurriedly ate the rest of his biscuit.
Shishido picked up his pencil and grunted. He figured if they got back to their homework again, Ootori would forget about the biscuits, though that didn't mean he was letting his brother off the hook for giving them to Ootori. Tooru probably just wanted to make him look stupid or something.
"Shishido-senpai?"
"Huh?"
Shishido looked up from his book and jerked in surprise, instinctively shuffling back along the floor. When did Ootori get so close?
"I'm sorry," Ootori apologised, and Shishido frowned.
"What are you apologising for?"
Ootori swallowed and looked at him earnestly. "I just wanted to be nice to your brother; that was all."
Shishido grunted and played with the end of his pencil. He didn't want to let Ootori off easily, even if… Well, it wasn't like talking to his brother was a crime, but Shishido just didn't like it. He really hated it when Ootori paid attention to other people, even if he knew it couldn't be helped. But it wasn't as though he had to do it right under his nose.
They couldn't be 'together together', as Ootori put it, at club activities, because things were still a secret from everyone else. Neither of them really said it, but they both felt it was better if things stayed that way too. That only left the weekends.
Couldn't Ootori just think about him when they were together?
Sometimes Shishido felt bad always being with Ootori, because he kept wondering if there were other people Ootori wanted to spend time with, but then that thought always killed off any feelings of consideration he might have held, and he ended up monopolising all Ootori's time anyway.
He didn't realise he had completely zoned out of the conversation until Ootori put his hand on his thigh and leaned in again.
"Shishido-san, are you okay?"
"Yeah," Shishido grunted, "but I wasn't listening," he added, just in case Ootori had been saying something important.
"I didn't say anything," Ootori explained.
He didn't move his hand.
"Why do you like my brother anyway?" Shishido grumbled.
Ootori looked pink in the face. "Because," he said, and Shishido deliberately didn't look at him, waiting for a better answer.
"I mean, he's kind of like you," Ootori said, feeling like he was talking too loudly again. He hesitated in explaining the other thoughts that were running through his mind then, just in case Shishido got grouchy at him for thinking such dumb thoughts.
"Does it really bother you?" he questioned softly, a little worriedly.
Shishido shrugged. It did, and there were a lot of things he wanted to say to Ootori about it.
The sound of Ootori's voice speaking so softly stopped him though, so he settled for a half-arsed explanation, because he felt like he owed Ootori at least that for getting him all worried and upset.
"I just… I wanted you to pay attention to me instead," he huffed, trying to sound not quite so stupid as he thought he did.
Ootori wrapped his arms around him easily. He shuffled his knees a little, so they weren't so far apart and so he could put his head against Shishido's shoulder.
"Sorry," he apologised again.
Shishido slumped into his embrace, grumbling under his breath slightly. Trust Ootori to be so annoyingly cute, he thought.
"Hey… Choutarou…"
"Yes?"
Shishido shivered slightly.
Ootori had turned his head so his mouth was next to Shishido's neck.
It felt kind of funny and ticklish.
"You don't have to spend so much time over here, you know."
Ootori tensed a little.
Shishido pretended not to notice it, and continued on. If he didn't say it now, he probably wouldn't say it at all. "It's not like I don't like spending time with you, but shouldn't you do stuff with your sister sometimes too?"
"No!" Ootori yelled, a little loudly. He lifted his head from Shishido's shoulder and held the boy's shoulders in his hands tightly, looking him straight in the eyes.
Shishido blinked.
"I like being with you, Shishido-san," Ootori insisted; voice and words painfully honest. "I… Does it annoy you?"
Shishido shook his head quickly.
Ootori breathed out; relieved. Then he smiled awkwardly, shyly.
"Sorry, I just get so worked up whenever it's you… I don't want to be a bother to you, so I… Tell me if I'm crowding you, Shishido-san. You're probably-"
"You can stop apologising," Shishido scowled.
"So-"
"Choutarou," Shishido said, cutting him off.
"Yes?"
Ootori cringed at the tone of his Senpai's voice.
Shishido sighed dramatically and put his hands to Ootori's face, palms of his hands against Ootori's jaw. He leaned forward until their foreheads touched. "Stop acting so weird."
"But I-"
"You can tell me off sometimes, you know… I mean… Cause sometimes I know I'm stupid about this sort of stuff," Shishido swallowed, not quite sure if his words were coming out the way he wanted them to.
He was so bad at all this romantic stuff, even when he tried. So he took a breath and closed his eyes. "I like you… so… I just get jealous too much, and I'm sorry."
Shishido felt Ootori shift. Their lips pressed together tentatively.
"Me too," Ootori said, and Shishido opened his eyes.
"I like you too," Ootori smiled.
It felt so good to say the words to Shishido, so he repeated them again. "I really like you… so much… Shishido-san… And I don't care if you get jealous…"
He pulled Shishido against him again, content to hold him. "Actually I… That's not really what I mean," he mumbled, "I mean… because it makes me kind of happy that you'd get jealous… so I do care…"
Ootori's arms tightened around Shishido, and Shishido realised he really had been silly to want to punish Ootori for his own, little insecurities. There were so many better things they could do when they were together.
Ootori was still mumbling a sort of confusing explanation, and Shishido didn't really get it.
But that was okay.
He liked Ootori.
He liked everything about him.
There was a clack, and all of a sudden the door opened. Shishido and Ootori jumped apart, and Shishido fell backwards, awkwardly staring at the doorway as his heart thumped in his chest.
"What are you doing?" Tooru asked, a look of amusement on his face.
"What are you doing?" Shishido growled back.
Stupid brother. Ruined a perfectly good moment.
"I wanted to show Ootori something," Tooru said, and leaned against the doorway.
"Hey, Ootori, you know this movie right?" he said, and waved a DVD in his hand.
Ootori grinned. "You have that?" he asked, getting up and walking over. "That's so cool! I mean, I saw it at the movies twice but it's not-"
He froze as Shishido put his hand on his shoulder.
Tooru raised an eyebrow. He would have said something too, except that Shishido walked over to him then and glared.
"Choutarou's my guest," he said; eyes narrowed. "Go get your own if you want someone to bug."
Then he shut the door in his brother's face, and there was a thump from the other side of the doorway as Tooru fell onto the floor.
Shishido turned around and stared at Ootori. "Where were we, Choutarou?" he asked.
Ootori blushed ten shades of red, but he didn't protest at all about continuing what they'd started before the interruption.
Shishido kissed him, and Ootori's mouth tasted like vanilla biscuit and strawberries.
He knew Ootori liked him.
But that didn't mean he couldn't get jealous every so often, right?
He still didn't entirely get it – this sort of relationship-thing – but he knew that unlike everything and everyone else in his life, Ootori wasn't someone he wanted to share.
.tbc.