-Recap of Chapter 5-

Otori turned a bright red. Share…the bed…? Well, that was kind of unexpected. Then again, it wasn't like things were awkward between them or anything…plus, it would look suspicious if Otori wimped out from even being in the same room with Shishido.
Just as he was putting the backpack on the floor, Gakuto's stomach growled.

"Lunch time," Oshitari declared.

All four of them crept back down the staircase and walked into the dining room to find a meal already set on the table, with a maid standing in the corner of the room.

They picked their seats and Otori looked up in time to see Gakuto winking at Shishido.He pretended not to notice it, but somewhere in the back of his mind, Otori couldn't help but think that this camping trip wasn't planned just to have fun.
He looked up again to see Shishido playing with his food.

Oh well…he'd just have to ignore it for now and see what happened.

-End-

"…Oi, Oshitari, don't tell me you're really doing the 'construction on every room except one' thing…" Shishido put his fork down on the table and started whispering to Oshitari and Gakuto. Now they would just have to somehow change the weather to make it snow (1). Somehow.

"Don't be stupid, Shishido. You know that that's way too much effort and money for Yuushi and me, just so you and Otori can get together. I thought it would be fun, anyways." Gakuto whispered back, and then spoke in a normal tone, "Hey, hey, why is everyone so awkward? This is supposed to be a fun trip, right?"

Otori started. "Ah! R-right! You three went through all this trouble to bring me to such a nice place, and…and it really would be a waste to just sit here! Eh…so, what would everyone like to do?"

"Well, you and Shishido should unpack, for one thing", Oshitari suggested.

"Okay! Um…what about the…room thing…"

"Oh…about that, we were just kidd-" Oshitari stopped talking when a hand slapped onto his mouth.

"Ne, can't you think about that later? Let's play together right now! It's already two! Come on! Let's go outside!"

Shishido sighed. Gakuto and his oh-so-dirty thoughts…Shishido and Otori didn't really have to room together, right? Shishido had stayed in this house before, and he certainly knew that there were probably at least five other bedrooms that were three times the size of the room that was picked out for them. He wanted to stay there and think about the situation for a while longer, run through the plan again, but Shishido was interrupted by the sound of Otori's voice.

"Eh…Shishido-san? Are you feeling well? Do you want to stay inside…?"

Oops. He forgot about the fact that time was refusing to freeze for him to sit around.

"No, I'm fine…let's go then."

"Finally. Does the drama queen always have to make other people wait for him? Oh, Yuushi, where are we going again?"

The tensai shrugged. "Not sure. Want to go out to the lake?"

"Aw…that's no fun." Gakuto put on the cutest pout and started tugging on Oshitari's sleeve. Of course, once again, being Gakuto's partner for so many years had made Oshitari oblivious to Gakuto's constant whining.

They ended up walking to the lake.

The plan was, to put it bluntly, not working. For some reason or another, Gakuto, Oshitari, and Otori were leading in the front while Shishido lagged behind. Shishido, as Gakuto had pointed out many times before, was not very great at following up on plots. Gakuto sighed, but he couldn't do much, because if he started yelling at Shishido, Oshitari would probably get mad.

And if Oshitari was mad, how on earth would Gakuto be able to get his free chocolate? Well, that was aside from the point, but still, it's an important part of Gakuto's life you know, free chocolate.

Gakuto's mind was reeling, trying to think of more plans to speed up the process. Shishido and Otori were taking way too long. He stared at the earth in front of him, not paying attention to his surroundings.

You know those signs on the elementary school busses that always said, "Watch your step", and you never really paid attention to them? They should put those on every tree in the forests, because someone might just be sleeping against one of them.

"Ah!" Gakuto tripped over some dead body lying on the path, and if it weren't for his "amazing acrobatic skills", he might've fallen down face flat.

…Okay, so the body wasn't really dead.

"Augh…Jiroh, watch where you sleep…! …Jiroh?"

The sleeping boy on the ground twitched a little, and then yawned and sat up as Shishido started to catch up with the other four.

Otori, on the other hand, was standing stock-still, staring at the figure before him.

"Jiroh-sempai?"

"Oh wow, it's Otori! I really didn't expect to see you here! And Gakuto! And Oshitari! And who's that, your boyfriend?"

"Eh…? N-no! This is Shishido-san! I just met him…he's been really helpful!"

"Huh…love at first sight, then? Good for you. Atobe's been saying that you need a boyfriend, anyways. You two would be really cute together, too!"

"Hah…" It wasn't like Otori didn't trust Jiroh's judgment, and he really did like Shishido, but…well, it didn't seem right…

Meanwhile, Shishido finally caught up. Jiroh looked at him through one eye for a minute, and then stood up and pulled Otori's hand.

"Otori, Otori, I wanna show you something! Come with me! Ple-ase?"

"Sure…"

"Alright! Everyone, please wait for the two of us!"

And with that, they took off into the woods, leaving behind Gakuto, Oshitari, and a very confused Shishido.

---

"So…? He seems pretty good for you."

"Eh…Jiroh-sempai, I'm not sure I know exactly what you're talking about…" Truth was, Otori did know what he was talking about. He really wasn't that shallow. But it would take him some convincing to accept the facts.

"Maa…you shouldn't pretend like you don't know what I'm saying. You said yourself that he's helpful…and you have to admit, his hair is pretty cool."

Otori felt heat rising to his face, and quickly tried to cover it.

"Well…um…yeah, but still…"

"Aw Otori, no more 'but's! Life's no fun when you play it safe! Promise me you'll try it out, okay?"

Otori fidgeted a little. Conversations like these always made him feel awkward. Jiroh was really a great friend though, and he could be trusted fully…so…he might as well…

"Okay. I promise."

"Yay! Yay! Let's go back! I know Oshitari always carries chocolate with him to calm Gakuto down!"

They locked pinkies (2), and started to hurry back to the other three that were waiting for him.

-xxxx-

(1): Reference to Chapter 3 – "When they entered the house, Shishido told Otori to look around since he needed to talk to Oshitari and Gakuto.
"If you could make it snow it would be good," were the first words out of Gakuto's mouth when Otori was out of the room.
"Or if you did construction on every room except one," Oshitari added.
Shishido groaned."

(2): There was some confusion about this, and it's basically done when you promise something, to "lock" the promise.

---

A/N: Ahh…I haven't updated in more than a month now! Gomen, gomen…! I hope to start writing faster soon, so look forward to it, 'kay? And, as always, thank you for all the comments!

…Writers block really does suck. I've actually been planning to start adding more fluff, so that'll be coming up pretty soon, I hope. Gambattemus!