az: Pardon the randomness at the end. I felt that I cannot leave this piece incomplete, like this. Some slight reference on Hiden Disc Act 1.
Peaceful day: Omake
Written by Izzu alias honou-no-izumi
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Ryunosuke stared suspiciously at the barbecue grill as he made no movement whatsoever to approach it or even to place any meat on it to start cooking. He just let the others do what they like as he brood on his stool.
Takeru stepped back from the grill as he let the others grill their own meat and seafood as he brought his plateful of barbecue meat and sit beside him.
"Not eating?" he asked casually as Ryunosuke just shrugged.
"I'm just not feeling up to it. Don't mind me... my lord."
"Eh! Ryunosuke... you can't say—here, at least eat some—" said Takeru as he shoved a piece of meat towards Ryunosuke's face.
"Mmmph! No—" Ryunosuke protested, not letting Takeru to shove the meat into his mouth as he pushed his hand away. "No, Tono... I said—ahh!"
Ryunosuke grimaced before turning towards Chiaki who had attacked from behind; himself feeling very much victimized as Takeru succeeded to shove the meat into his mouth during that unguarded moment. He chewed the food tearfully as both Takeru and Chiaki grinned.
"It still tasted good, isn't it? Just like last time... I think I'm a natural at cooking barbecue—Ryunosuke, come on... eat some more—" said Takeru as Ryunosuke refused again as he made Takeru ate it instead.
"It's okay... I'm fine. Tono... you don't have to—"
"Aww... Ryunosuke! Don't be such a ninny... relax a bit, will ya?" said Chiaki as well as he forced down sake into Ryunosuke's mouth as the older lad coughed on it.
"Chiaki—!"
"Aah... I finished my food. Time to get some more—Ryunosuke, come on! I'd definitely won't let you run off to your room so early..." said Takeru again as he dragged him along.
"Tono—! Chiaki—" cried Ryunosuke helplessly as both of them pinned him and dragged him along towards the barbecue pit, where the rest of them were.
"Even Jii had been happily enjoying the food with the rest of the kuroko—"
"Tono...! I'll get my own later when I'm feeling hungry—Right now I'm not—"
"But by then, the meat and seafood would have been gone already—you'll miss out on some of the good stuff!" Chiaki argued as Kotoha and Mako greeted them later.
"Tono-sama! See!" exclaimed Kotoha as she showed them her barbecued squids and shrimps. "I cooked it myself... Ryu-san, did I cook it right?" she asked again as she pondered aver her barbecue beef slices.
Takeru and Chiaki snorted as Ryunosuke just shrugged helplessly at her before glancing towards Genta, who had been occupying the barbecue grill. He sighed.
"So, are you up to teaching us how to cook barbecue meat perfectly like how it should be?" teased Chiaki some more as Ryunosuke finally laughed. He slapped Chiaki's head silly as the younger lad chuckled.
"Enough of teasing me..." he muttered irritably as Takeru laughed.
"That's the whole point of it, silly. We just can't enjoy ourselves fully anyhow if one of us is miserable. And it's not fun much if we can't tease you for a day—"
Ryunosuke turned towards Takeru in alarm. "Tono! How could you—" he whined as he started to cry. Genta, ignorant of what happened between the five; called out for them as he placed the cooked meat onto separate plates...
xxx
Kusakabe Hikoma chuckled in amusement as the Kuroko cleaned up the lawn and the leftover trash. It had been such an enjoyable evening. In fact, if he had any say in this, he would say that it had been like this ever since the four kids had joined the household. Five, if he should count Genta. Honestly, this had all been such a good change for his young master. He would never think it could happen before... that child after all, having to bear such heavy responsibilities. It warmed his heart to see Lord Takeru so happy...
Hikoma chuckled again as he glanced towards the corridors.
Mako and Kotoha had already retired to their rooms after the barbecue ended and Genta back to his place. So now, it was just this three. He smiled as he watched his young charges sleeping.
At that corner of the corridor, young master Takeru was currently resting his head on Ryunosuke's arm as Chiaki's legs were sprawled between the two. Too much sake, he chuckled. The three of them had fell asleep right after they managed to clean up most of the stuffs, before they started running around later. Such adorable children...
"Nyaa... Tono. Stop... the vege shouldn't... the meat shouldn't go there..." Jii glanced towards Ryunosuke, amused. He started talking about some other random babble as Chiaki kicked Ryunosuke's head.
"No more cookie..." Chiaki moaned as Takeru started hugging Ryunosuke's arm protectively, mumbling something about not letting a squid monster to take away his kitten. (When did Tono have a kitten anyway?, Jii wondered in glee.) He laughed some more as Takeru started talking about eating an ice cream.
Still smiling, Hikoma gently shook the three awake and ushered them towards their rooms...