Disclaimer: Slam dunk is not mine.
Author's notes: A hint of a pairing but they are still kids so... well...
Kiyomori Rukawa looked bored as he sat on a chair beside Rhine in the Sendoh house living room. His wife and Rhine's wife were busy playing with his son and the baby Hanamichi.
"What happen?" he asked Rhine.
"The usual," Rhine answered. He sat back on his chair and smiled at the happy females. He glanced at his partner. "My son mixed a potion and accidentally made your son and Hanamichi into babies."
Kiyomori frowned. "When did it happen?"
"Last night."
"What's his plan of action?"
"Akira said that he forgot the main ingredient in the potion," Rhine said. He glanced back at the giggling women. "He asked his mom to mix a remedial. But I don't think the two women were too inclined to do his bidding. They seem to enjoy the little redhead's presence."
Kiyomori frowned. "Is his parents informed?"
Rhine shook his head. "The boy's an orphan."
Kiyomori nodded. He returned to studying the five on the floor. The baby was obviously the center of attention and Kaede was clearly trying to disappear from his mother's view but not from the redhead's. He smiled when he remembered his wife's reaction in seeing their only son as a little boy again. Pure happiness and nostalgia were written on her face, making Kiyomori winced in what his poor son would suffer under her overprotective care. Luckily for Kaede, Hanamichi monopolized the women's attention.
"The women thought that what happened was a blessing in disguise," he said to no one in particular.
"Of course, it's a blessing in disguise," Kana, Kaede's mother and Kiyomori's most precious, cried out loud as she waved a spoonful of baby food in front of Hanamichi. The baby automatically reached out for the spoon but Chiharu took his hands and placed them on top of baby chair. They found the chair in the attic and ordered the men to clean it for Hanamichi. They also found baby clothes for Hanamichi, and some clothes that fit Kaede nicely. The two children were now wearing the garments as they sat for dinner.
"Yes," Chiharu, Akira's mother and Rhine's queen, agreed. She glared at her son before she turned it into a sweet look. "I mean, you know. Hanamichi might change his mind about you."
Akira nearly choked on his food. Kaede looked green on the edges, and the older men gave the spiky-haired young man a sympathetic glance.
"Mom, please." Akira drank wine from a crystal goblet before wiping his lips with a napkin. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not gay!" He banged his hand on the table for emphasis.
Chiharu rolled her eyes dramatically. She turned her full attention on the little baby in front of her.
Kana crooned at Hanamichi as the baby opened his mouth for another serving. "Oh, you poor baby. Have they've been starving you?"
"Ma," Kaede butted in. "He drank three bottles of milk this morning." He frowned at his mother's head at the woman's groundless assumptions.
"What time is it now, Kaede?" Kana asked. Her back was to her son as she fed the little one.
Kaede's frown deepened. "Ten minutes to five in the afternoon."
Kana turned to face Kaede. She looked like a giant to the small boy, but Kaede stubbornly refused to let her intimidate him.
"You," --Kana pointed an accusing finger at Kaede- "should know how long the time interval was. You both practically starved him." She turned her glare at the pale Akira.
Akira immediately bent his head to start eating again.
Chiharu giggled. "Come on, Kana-chan. I'm sure the boys didn't mean it. And look at the good side. Akira could take care of Hana-chan now and Hana- chan's opinion of my son would change drastically. And both will be married soon."
Akira really choked this time. Rhine patted his back in a sympathetic action. The two women had been adamant in pairing Akira with Hanamichi since the boy had moved in with their sons. After all, it was only Hanamichi who made Akira work out a muscle in household chores.
But, honestly, do they really have to insist?
"I'M NOT GAY, MOM!" Akira screamed indignantly. "And Hanamichi isn't one either. You're only complicating our lives if you kept on insisting that I marry him."
Chiharu made a face at her son. And waved his arguments aside.
"And I thought you wanted a grandchild," Akira continued. "Both males can't reproduce, you know. That's basic nature."
"We're not basic," Chiharu pointed out calmly. She caught two wiggling arms and carefully held them down again. "A potion could do the trick quite nicely."
Kaede slammed down his knife and fork on the table. "I don't like that idea, Sendoh-san."
The adult males looked at Kaede with respect. Only the boy could stand up to the two women's manipulation.
Chiharu raised an eyebrow at the boy's tone. "Oh? Why is that?"
Kana gasped. "You're interested in Hanamichi too."
Chiharu gasped as well. "Oh my! That is complicated."
The males in the dining room, with the exception of the oblivious Hanamichi, sweat-dropped. Women's brains couldn't be that simple, could it?
Kaede closed his eyes in frustration and sulked back in his chair. Akira glanced at his roommate in understanding. Their fathers silently plead ignorance and began drinking their wine quietly. Hanamichi giggled and threw Kaede a small gooey ball of baby food. The ball landed on Kaede's shirt in a messy splatter. Kaede was feeling shitty so he picked up a piece of the ball and threw it back at the baby. The small particle landed on the baby's forehead. Hanamichi was a silent for a second before started screaming.
The spoon that used to serve Hanamichi food instantly landed on Kaede's head with a 'tok'.
The audiences winced at Kana's retribution.
"That was not very nice, Kaede," Kana reprimanded her son angrily. "He's just a baby! How could you!"
"He started it," Kaede murmured defensively. He glanced at the crying Hanamichi and felt sorry. But he'll be damn if he'll allow the adults to see it.
Chiharu wiped the baby foods away from the redhead's face before picking him up. She danced around the room to calm the baby but Hanamichi only screamed louder.
"How do you calm him?" she asked her son desperately. The baby was turning very red.
"Give him to Kaede," Akira replied with his mouth still filled with food. "He always shut up when Kaede held him."
Chiharu and Kana glanced at each other before Kana nodded to Chiharu to do Akira's suggestion. Akira's mother carefully placed the baby on the table in front of Kaede.
Hanamichi hiccupped and pouted at Kaede. When Kaede didn't made a move to hold him, the rosebud lips quivered and tears fell in big drops from the brown eyes. Kaede sighed and opened his arms to the baby. The baby reached out and nearly fell from the table to get to Kaede. Kaede calmly caught him and cuddled him close. The small fists seized a handful of Kaede's shirt and were obviously not letting go.
"Wow!" the women exclaimed in amazement as they watched Hanamichi and Kaede.
Kiyomori looked at his son and his bundle with a frown. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What is the meaning of this, Kaede?"
Kaede stared back at him coldly.
Akira grinned as he continued eating. He could feel that he's off the hook.
Rhine tried to hide his grin but failed miserably. Looks like the women had another crazy conclusion on this one.
"Kaede, are you and Hanamichi..?" Kana made her two index fingers touched each other.
"Lovers?" Chiharu finished for Kana. She glanced at her son and was not surprise to see a smug look on the handsome face. "Did you know about this, Akira?"
Akira shrugged his shoulders.
Kaede shook his head in the helplessness of the situation and carefully lowered himself to the floor with his bundle. "I'm going to bed now," he declared with a haughty snort. "FYI, Hanamichi and I are not lovers."
"Oh?"
Kaede made a face before turning his back on the adults. "Tsk! Green-minded people!" he murmured.
All adults sweat-dropped when they heard the boy.
Rhine coughed delicately, and Kiyomori sipped his wine again. Akira chewed his food thoughtfully and pretended that the two women were not boring holes into him. Kana sighed and sat on a chair beside Kiyomori. Chiharu sat beside Akira.
"Spill it out, Akira Sendoh!" Chiharu shouted sternly after a few minutes of silence.
Akira winced. "Mom!" he whined. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about. The three of us had been roommates for a couple of years now, but the two never shown any signals that they're together."
The women were not convinced.
Rhine looked at his son then to Kiyomori then back again. "What do you know?"
"That they're best friends."
"Tell us what we don't know," Kiyomori growled.
Akira blankly looked at the adults. "Oh please!" he exclaimed. "The two are not lovers. They're sweet on each other but they're not like that. You're making Hanamichi and Kaede into something they are not."
"You sure?" Kana asked doubtfully.
"Of course, I'm not sure!"
Another collective sweat-dropped.