Daisuke paused his video game and cocked his head to listen. A moment later, the sound of knocking again filtered into his room, and he put down his controller to answer the door. If he was surprised to have company at nine in the morning, it wasn't equal to the shock of his company being Ken.
"It -is- before noon," Ken said softly when Daisuke gave him a blank stare and glanced at his watch. "But it's not that early, Daisuke." His face was carefully blank, and Daisuke lamented erasing the smile that had been there when he'd originally opened the door.
"Sorry. Just wasn't expecting you, dude. Come on in!" Daisuke waved his hand extravagantly. "It's a nice surprise, though," he added, throwing in a grin. He was rewarded with a small, upward curving of Ken's lips.
"My mother left early for the store and asked if I wanted to come over early. I figured it would be more interesting than sitting at home or going grocery shopping, so I agreed," Ken said by way of explanation. He stepped into the house and stood in the hall while Daisuke shut the door, then he followed the brunet into Daisuke's bedroom. "I hope it's not an inconvenience," he added.
"Heck, no!" Daisuke was quick to correct the genius. "It's cool. I was playing a game and losing." Daisuke waved at the television, where his game character could be seen in a rather awkward, deadly situation.
"May I?" Ken asked, reaching down to pick up the controller. Daisuke nodded his consent and then sat down to watch as Ken proceeded to rescue his character and beat the level he was on.
"Dude, you suck," Daisuke muttered, watching as his point total nearly doubled. He shook his head when Ken made to hand the controller back. "It's all yours, dude."
Ken shrugged and turned back to the game.
//If you can't figure out how to win on your own, watch the genius kick butt.// Daisuke smiled as he shifted to a reclined position on his bed, his head raised enough by a pillow that he could still see the screen easily.
*****
Daisuke took a deep breath before opening his eyes. When he finally did look up, Ken was leaning over him, a frown on his face. "Are you okay?"
"Been better," Daisuke muttered. He raised his arms and pushed at the large dog sitting on his chest. "Up, Vee!" The animal looked at him sadly, but did as his owner commanded.
Ken reached out and patted the dog on the head. "Good boy, Vee." He received a slimy lick on his hand in gratitude as the mutt's tail started wagging again.
The genius offered the hand to Daisuke to help the brunet up, but Daisuke shook his head. "Other hand, dude." Ken smiled slightly and offered the hand not covered in dog slobber. "That sucked," Daisuke whined, stretching slightly.
"That's what you get for training your dog to help you cheat at soccer."
"It's not cheating! It's just a trick." It had been a neat one, too, until Ken had used it against him.
Daisuke had been training Vee in the art of 'Fetch', and had finally reached the point where Vee understood the command. To show off his dog's newly acquired talent, he had taunted Ken into a game of soccer with their respective dogs as goalies. When Ken had attempted to kick the ball into his make-shift net, Daisuke had yelled "Fetch the ball." Vee had obeyed and had done a sort of belly-flop onto the soccer ball, effectively stopping it from making it into the net.
Two other times, Daisuke had used the trick to keep Ken from scoring, but Ken had caught on quickly, and on the last occassion that Daisuke had used the command and made to run away with the ball, Ken had called out "Fetch Daisuke!"
And Vee had proceeded to do just that.
Now Daisuke's white T-shirt was grass-stained on the back, with matching pawprints on the front. Ken shrugged, smile disappearing behind a stoic expression. "Training. Okay."
Brown eyes gazed at him for a moment, flickered to Vee who was sniffing the house near the ground, and then returned to Ken. Daisuke grinned, kicked the ball, and yelled, "Vee, fetch Ken!" even as he started towards Ken's appointed goal-mark.
Ken took off after Daisuke, intent on getting the ball while hoping simultaneously that Vee wouldn't listen. No such luck. He heard the mutt bark at him. Ken looked over his shoulder and then darted in front of Daisuke, stealing the ball and putting the brunet between him and the animal.
It seemed like a good plan, at least to begin with. Daisuke was right behind Ken, and Vee was right behind Daisuke. Then the dog decided that the quickest way to 'fetch' Ken would be to go through his master.
When Vee jumped, he ended up tackling Daisuke who in turned tackled Ken. The three went down with a bark, a groan, and a curse. The two boys lay in stunned silence for a moment, and then Daisuke broke out into laughter. "Dog-pile," he said between laughs, face buried in the back of Ken's left knee, right hand fisted in Ken's pantleg and the other somewhere above his head, fisted in Ken's shirt.
Ken was a bit slower to find amusement in being tackled by the brunet and the brunet's errant pet, but with Daisuke's body shaking with laughter, and Vee, when Ken lifted his head and tried to look around, standing on his master's back with his tongue lolling out, Ken couldn't help but chuckle. After a few moments, when Daisuke had stopped laughing, Ken realized exactly where Daisuke's hand was, and he sighed as he buried his face in the grass.
"Daisuke, please remove your hand from my butt," he said loudly enough to be heard, despite the muffled quality the ground gave his voice.
The hand was removed quickly, and then the weight on his legs disappeared as Daisuke rolled onto his back and off Ken. He was laughing again. "Sorry. Nothing like a friendly grope between friends."
//Oh, gods, don't let that sound as bad to him as it just did to me. Open mouth, insert foot, Dai.//
Ken laughed softly and moved his arms so that his face was resting in the hole created by them. He wasn't even going to try to comment on Daisuke's last remark, nor was he going to show his blushing face to the world anytime soon.
"I'm going to go get something to drink," Daisuke announced. He stood up, embarrassment pushed aside and replaced by thirst. "Want something, Ken?"
"Whatever you're having," Ken answered, brain to muddled to try to remember what 'drink' meant, and what items went with it. A moment later, he heard the back door open and shut. He waited a few moments more before deciding that the blush on his face wasn't going away. "When is this week going to -end-?" he whispered plaintively to the ground. It didn't respond.
It was bad enough being stuck for a week with a guy who could at worst be described as mildy attractive, at least to a person of Ken's orientation. Added on that was the rather frightnening thought that beneath the looks was a personality just as attractive as the exterior, and Ken was falling, head, heels, and heart. So far, he'd managed to keep his clumsily growing emotions in check. His brain had been in fine form until he had realized that Daisuke was touching his posterior, and then the brunet's comment had finished pushing his mind into territory better left unexplored.
Ken thought that friendship was a good enough goal at the moment. But... his thoughts turned to Daisuke's words... "...friendly grope.." Maybe it was possible that the attraction was returned? The idea had some merit.
With a sigh, Ken rolled onto his back and waited for Daisuke to come back outside. Only time would tell, after all, and he wouldn't see anything if he was staring into an ant hill.
*****
"And, even with one hand behind his back, Motomiya Daisuke is the reigning champion of the world!" Ken rooled his eyes and shook his head. Daisuke didn't have one hand behind his back: they were both in the air as he trotted around his backyard, high-stepping victoriously. Their game was over and the brunet had reached a score of ten first, making him the winner.
With another eye roll, this one ignored as well, Ken chastised himself for letting the other boy win. If he had known how Daisuke would react, he would have put more effort into his blocking. As it was, he simply smiled tolerantly when Daisuke finally calmed down enough to pay attention to him again.
"You may be good, Ken, and you may be 'the Rocket', but -I- am the -King- of soccer," he said conceitedly, grinning widely. "And you, well. You'll have to suffer with being a measly squire."
"Measly?" repeated Ken. The smile disappeared from his face and was replaced with a cold expression. "We continue the game to fifteen points, current score kept," he challenged. He narrowed his eyes. "I will wipe the dirt from my shoe with your pride, Motomiya."
"Ooh, Ken, you're so big and bad," Daisuke said mockingly. His grin got bigger, if that was possible. "Bring it on, Rocket."
The game began again. Technically, Ken started off two points behind, but it only took him five minutes to even the score and get ahead by one. That was also just enough time for Daisuke's bravado to disappear in the face of determination and potential loser-hood.
As both boys were playing hard, it was no surprise that a solid kick went overboard. Instead of going into the appointed goal, as Ken had intended, the soccer ball sailed around the side of the house and disappeared around the corner. Daisuke laughed and told Ken to fetch it himself. While the genius went to retrieve it, Daisuke waited in the backyard, his mind already plotting the moves he would have to pull to score his remaining goals before Ken.
He almost missed the quiet 'Oh, no,' that floated back in his direction, but hear it he did, and he recognized it as Ken's voice. Out of curiosity, he started towards the front yard, only to stop out of sight around a corner when a chorus of girls voices said happily, "Hi, Ken!"
The saccharine sweetness in their tones was enough to turn Daisuke's stomach, but the sight that greeted him when he peeked around the corner almost made him gag. Ken was surrounded by a group of eight girls, all of whom were wearing pink shirts with the genius' picture imprinted on the front. The Ken Ichijouji Fan Club had struck.
Daisuke ducked back quickly, unable to hide his grimace. It would figure that the gaggle of girls would show up. //Just when we're having fun, too! If they had showed up on Sunday, it wouldn't have been any big deal, but no. They just had to wait until we're getting along and things are going really well. Stupid girls, anyway.//
"Hello, Ken," a slightly less feminine voice said. It was female, yes, but it lacked the simpering quality of the rest of the girls.
"Hello, Miyako," Ken replied stiffly.
//Ah. The president then, and the most evil of evils herself.// The fan club was bad enough: annoying, clinging, whining, pining, etc. But the president was a witch. At least, she said she was, and there were enough people afraid of her that when she threatened to hex someone, people ran. //This is so not cool. How do I get rid of all those stupid girls and Miyako?//
"We were terribly disappointed last week when we were unable to outbid the idiot at the auction. Since then, we have been discussing possible strategies to utilize our loss, and we have finally managed to come up with a well-thought out plan," the girl stated, sounding quite technical and cold. Around Ken, the rest of the fan girls twittered.
//Oi. How do I get rid of a witch and her stupid followers?//
"Daisuke paid his money, and it wouldn't be right for you to do anything to make him forfeit the prize he's paid for," Ken returned, sounding mechanical. All of the warmth and humor he'd been expressing in the last few days disappeared, and Daisuke could hear the same stilted tone that had greeted him on Sunday.
"Under normal circumstances, we would not think to force the idiot to forfeit anything, but in this case, he has pushed our hands to the point where we feel it is our duty to interfere. You should have been ours this week, Ken dear, and we feel cheated that we have already lost three and a half precious days of our time with you."
Daisuke nearly growled as he stalked into the backyard. Vee, seeming to sense his anger even from across the yard, trotted over and whined at him. The brunet ignored his pet as he stalked to the other side of the house. //Idiot, huh? Cheated because I outbid you? Your duty to interfere, huh? That witch is -so- going down.//
Vee followed him around the other side of the house, and Daisuke whispered to his pet to heel as he appeared in his front yard in the direction opposite Ken had gone. The fan club was so focused on the genius that they didn't notice Daisuke until he was within a few yards of them.
"Twitterbrains, back off. Ken's mine for the week, and while I know it must be killing you that you can't drool over him all week, you can't have him. Call me selfish, but I'm just not willing to share him with you dweebs."
The purple-haired witch turned to him and he gulped down his initial burst of fear. //So what if she's a good three inches taller than me? Who cares if she can curse me for the rest of my life. I paid seven hundred dollars to have Ken for a week, and he's mine, darn it! And okay, so the money wasn't mine and I didn't really care on Friday who I bought...// he cut off his train of thought as eight angry fan girls turned accusing gazes on him.
For some odd reason, he almost felt like a man on trial, as if he'd truly stolen something precious from these girls. Then his brain started working again, and he reminded himself that the only thing obsessed groupies held sacred were locks of hair and pictures obtained during stalking forays.
"You guys need to leave," he told them. He even managed to dredge up enough courage to stare Miyako down. "This is private property and you are -not- welcome."
She raised an eyebrow at him and managed to make it look threatening. "Daisuke Motomiya, we of the Ken Ichijouji Fan Club would like to inform you-"
"Three-"
"-that you have infringed upon our time with the focus-"
"Two-"
"-of our fan club, and we are here not only to show-"
"One-"
"-our displeasure, but also to tell you that we-"
Whatever else she said was drowned out in the sudden screams and squeals of the rest of the fan club as Daisuke turned the hose he'd been hiding behind his back on them. Ken, luckily, saw it coming and had the good sense to get out of the way and onto the porch before Daisuke began the dousing.
The fan girls screamed as the ran from the yard, arms crossed protectively over the Ken pictures on their shirts. Only Miyako, standing a few feet back from the group to signify her leadership over the group, remained as dry as Daisuke and Ken.
"That was most unwise, idiot," she yelled. She curled her hands into fists and stalked towards Daisuke. Daisuke turned the hose off and then pointed it straight at her.
"One more step and you'll be a melted puddle of goo, witch," he warned, hands ready on the hose to turn it on if she didn't obey. "You can leave quietly, or you can leave like your nitwits did, but trust me, you're leaving. And if you have any ideas about coming back tomorrow or the day after, I'll let you know now that I keep water guns in the front closet and they're always loaded."
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, there was a measure of control back in her gaze. "There will be repercussions, idiot. Be prepared."
"Three-" Daisuke, all arrogance now that he had the upper hand again, started his countdown over.
Miyako turned and strode calmly out of the yard and down the sidewalk. Daisuke didn't lower the nozzle of the hose until she was out of sight around a corner.
He turned at the sound of clapping. Ken was smiling. "Bravo. Behold, my hero, Daisuke of the Hose. He who is armed, whether with water pistol or trained canine companion. What great feats has this brave lad managed with his awesome artillery?"
"Shut up," Daisuke said, fighting the laughter that threatened at Ken's dramatic silliness.
"No, no! I can not say enough about the incredible deed that has been done here today! Daisuke, only recently my friend, has managed to save me, Ken the genius, from the evil clutches of Miyako, the president of the Fan Club from Hell. Without his heroic efforts, my liberation-- hey!" Ken's litany of praise ended abruptly as he was sprayed with water.
"I told you to shut up!" Daisuke told him, laughing. The laughter became a worried yell as Ken charged him. He dropped the hose and made for the backyard, his legs carrying him swiftly. Unfortunately, Ken was quick, both physically and mentally. The genius had the hose in hand at the same moment he gave Vee the fetch command.
Daisuke's rescue of Ken quickly became an all-out water fight, and by the time they were done and Jun came home that evening, they were soaking wet, sniffling from the cold, and the backyard was a giant mud puddle.
*****
"I swear, you two. I leave you alone for an hour, and you two are destroying either my kitchen or the backyard," Jun chastised.
Ken and Daisuke, clumped miserably together at the kitchen table, didn't comment. They were both dressed in Daisuke's clothes and wrapped in blankets. Despite the fact that Daisuke considered it perfect weather for wearing shorts, it was too cold for water fights and mud wrestling, as both boys were now illustrating.
Jun sighed as she opened the fridge. It was a good thing they had cooked such a large dinner the day before, or all three of them would have been out of luck for dinner. Jun didn't feel like cooking and her plan had been to get them to fix the meal, a task which neither her brother nor Ken were up for in their current states.
"And really, Daisuke, do I even want to know what you guys were doing with the hose? If you wanted to swim in a lake, you could have gone a few blocks over to play in that stupid pond. Did you really have to make a swamp in the backyard?"
She stopped scolding them as she realized that her brother was too busy staring at the bowl of left-over soup in her hands to pay attention to her. With another sigh, this one louder and more for show than not, she set about microwaving the food in the hopes that once fed, her brother would be more attentive. It was probably a futile hope, as he tended to pay attention only when he wanted to. Yet it was still worth an attempt, and besides, she was hungry, too.
Daisuke seemed to bounce back once food was placed in front of him, but Ken didn't fare as well. He ate slowly, and when Jun asked him questions, his responses were sluggish.
After Daisuke was done eating, he stayed at the table until Jun shooed him away so that Ken could eat. He was gone only five minutes before he came back and sat down, purposely quiet. That lasted until Jun's back was turned to wash dishes, and then Daisuke decided to offer Ken encouragement in the form of making faces and miming insults at his sister, all of which Jun ignored, since Ken seemed to be amused by her brother's playfulness.
Ken finished just before Jun had drained the water from the sink, and so the boys left the kitchen while she washed his bowl and silverware.
In the five minutes that Daisuke had been in his room, he'd made a bed on the floor and had prepped the television and VCR so that both were ready when both boys entered the room. Ken assumed that it was his turn to take the floor, and so settled onto the pallet of blankets and sheets, the blanket he'd been carrying around with him still wrapped snugly around his shoulders.
The brunet didn't realize his friend's position at first, too busy was he with putting a movie into the player. When he turned to sit down on his spot on the floor, however, he found Ken already in his place.
"Dude, get in bed," Daisuke ordered, nudging the sitting boy with his foot.
Ken flapped the blanket around his shoulders at Daisuke's foot. "You take the bed. I was here first and it's my turn on the floor."
Daisuke sat down next to Ken and crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. "I'm not making my guest sleep on the floor, dude. Either take the bed or we're both sleeping on the floor." //Again.//
It could have been a natural stubbornness the two shared, but neither was willing to commit the other to a miserable night on the floor. They both ended up using the floor as a bed that night. Ken had enough light, what with the glow from the television and the fact that Daisuke had failed to turn the overhead light off, and so he didn't particularly need the security of knowing another person was near by. That didn't stop him, however, from shifting closer as soon as Daisuke appeared to be asleep.
He curled around the brunet, careful not to actually touch the other boy as he rested his head on his arm and settled down for sleep. He wasn't prepared for an arm to wrap around him from the front, or for Daisuke to whisper a quiet, "Night."
Ken stilled, frozen in mortified shock for over a minute. Daisuke seemed almost asleep, but there was an almost unnatural stillness about him, as if the brunet was trying to neither move nor breathe too loudly.
The smart thing, Ken thought, would be to get my rear in gear, get up, and go to the bed. It was a safe distance away. The romantic thing to do would be to melt into the brunet and hope that he was reading the other boy right.
Ken, genius and closet romantic though he was, chose neither of the first two options. Instead, he took a deep breath, relaxed slightly, and whispered, "Good night," in return.
It wasn't a step forwards for Ken, but neither was it a step back. Daisuke was striding quickly enough for the both of them.
*****
Notes available at the site: The truth behind Vee and Worm (a repeat of the back story for those who don't remember, as well as some information, such as why a Doberman has a tail to wag, and other such fun stuff. ^_^)
http://www.baseofoperation.org/raegan_everyday_notes.html
"It -is- before noon," Ken said softly when Daisuke gave him a blank stare and glanced at his watch. "But it's not that early, Daisuke." His face was carefully blank, and Daisuke lamented erasing the smile that had been there when he'd originally opened the door.
"Sorry. Just wasn't expecting you, dude. Come on in!" Daisuke waved his hand extravagantly. "It's a nice surprise, though," he added, throwing in a grin. He was rewarded with a small, upward curving of Ken's lips.
"My mother left early for the store and asked if I wanted to come over early. I figured it would be more interesting than sitting at home or going grocery shopping, so I agreed," Ken said by way of explanation. He stepped into the house and stood in the hall while Daisuke shut the door, then he followed the brunet into Daisuke's bedroom. "I hope it's not an inconvenience," he added.
"Heck, no!" Daisuke was quick to correct the genius. "It's cool. I was playing a game and losing." Daisuke waved at the television, where his game character could be seen in a rather awkward, deadly situation.
"May I?" Ken asked, reaching down to pick up the controller. Daisuke nodded his consent and then sat down to watch as Ken proceeded to rescue his character and beat the level he was on.
"Dude, you suck," Daisuke muttered, watching as his point total nearly doubled. He shook his head when Ken made to hand the controller back. "It's all yours, dude."
Ken shrugged and turned back to the game.
//If you can't figure out how to win on your own, watch the genius kick butt.// Daisuke smiled as he shifted to a reclined position on his bed, his head raised enough by a pillow that he could still see the screen easily.
*****
Daisuke took a deep breath before opening his eyes. When he finally did look up, Ken was leaning over him, a frown on his face. "Are you okay?"
"Been better," Daisuke muttered. He raised his arms and pushed at the large dog sitting on his chest. "Up, Vee!" The animal looked at him sadly, but did as his owner commanded.
Ken reached out and patted the dog on the head. "Good boy, Vee." He received a slimy lick on his hand in gratitude as the mutt's tail started wagging again.
The genius offered the hand to Daisuke to help the brunet up, but Daisuke shook his head. "Other hand, dude." Ken smiled slightly and offered the hand not covered in dog slobber. "That sucked," Daisuke whined, stretching slightly.
"That's what you get for training your dog to help you cheat at soccer."
"It's not cheating! It's just a trick." It had been a neat one, too, until Ken had used it against him.
Daisuke had been training Vee in the art of 'Fetch', and had finally reached the point where Vee understood the command. To show off his dog's newly acquired talent, he had taunted Ken into a game of soccer with their respective dogs as goalies. When Ken had attempted to kick the ball into his make-shift net, Daisuke had yelled "Fetch the ball." Vee had obeyed and had done a sort of belly-flop onto the soccer ball, effectively stopping it from making it into the net.
Two other times, Daisuke had used the trick to keep Ken from scoring, but Ken had caught on quickly, and on the last occassion that Daisuke had used the command and made to run away with the ball, Ken had called out "Fetch Daisuke!"
And Vee had proceeded to do just that.
Now Daisuke's white T-shirt was grass-stained on the back, with matching pawprints on the front. Ken shrugged, smile disappearing behind a stoic expression. "Training. Okay."
Brown eyes gazed at him for a moment, flickered to Vee who was sniffing the house near the ground, and then returned to Ken. Daisuke grinned, kicked the ball, and yelled, "Vee, fetch Ken!" even as he started towards Ken's appointed goal-mark.
Ken took off after Daisuke, intent on getting the ball while hoping simultaneously that Vee wouldn't listen. No such luck. He heard the mutt bark at him. Ken looked over his shoulder and then darted in front of Daisuke, stealing the ball and putting the brunet between him and the animal.
It seemed like a good plan, at least to begin with. Daisuke was right behind Ken, and Vee was right behind Daisuke. Then the dog decided that the quickest way to 'fetch' Ken would be to go through his master.
When Vee jumped, he ended up tackling Daisuke who in turned tackled Ken. The three went down with a bark, a groan, and a curse. The two boys lay in stunned silence for a moment, and then Daisuke broke out into laughter. "Dog-pile," he said between laughs, face buried in the back of Ken's left knee, right hand fisted in Ken's pantleg and the other somewhere above his head, fisted in Ken's shirt.
Ken was a bit slower to find amusement in being tackled by the brunet and the brunet's errant pet, but with Daisuke's body shaking with laughter, and Vee, when Ken lifted his head and tried to look around, standing on his master's back with his tongue lolling out, Ken couldn't help but chuckle. After a few moments, when Daisuke had stopped laughing, Ken realized exactly where Daisuke's hand was, and he sighed as he buried his face in the grass.
"Daisuke, please remove your hand from my butt," he said loudly enough to be heard, despite the muffled quality the ground gave his voice.
The hand was removed quickly, and then the weight on his legs disappeared as Daisuke rolled onto his back and off Ken. He was laughing again. "Sorry. Nothing like a friendly grope between friends."
//Oh, gods, don't let that sound as bad to him as it just did to me. Open mouth, insert foot, Dai.//
Ken laughed softly and moved his arms so that his face was resting in the hole created by them. He wasn't even going to try to comment on Daisuke's last remark, nor was he going to show his blushing face to the world anytime soon.
"I'm going to go get something to drink," Daisuke announced. He stood up, embarrassment pushed aside and replaced by thirst. "Want something, Ken?"
"Whatever you're having," Ken answered, brain to muddled to try to remember what 'drink' meant, and what items went with it. A moment later, he heard the back door open and shut. He waited a few moments more before deciding that the blush on his face wasn't going away. "When is this week going to -end-?" he whispered plaintively to the ground. It didn't respond.
It was bad enough being stuck for a week with a guy who could at worst be described as mildy attractive, at least to a person of Ken's orientation. Added on that was the rather frightnening thought that beneath the looks was a personality just as attractive as the exterior, and Ken was falling, head, heels, and heart. So far, he'd managed to keep his clumsily growing emotions in check. His brain had been in fine form until he had realized that Daisuke was touching his posterior, and then the brunet's comment had finished pushing his mind into territory better left unexplored.
Ken thought that friendship was a good enough goal at the moment. But... his thoughts turned to Daisuke's words... "...friendly grope.." Maybe it was possible that the attraction was returned? The idea had some merit.
With a sigh, Ken rolled onto his back and waited for Daisuke to come back outside. Only time would tell, after all, and he wouldn't see anything if he was staring into an ant hill.
*****
"And, even with one hand behind his back, Motomiya Daisuke is the reigning champion of the world!" Ken rooled his eyes and shook his head. Daisuke didn't have one hand behind his back: they were both in the air as he trotted around his backyard, high-stepping victoriously. Their game was over and the brunet had reached a score of ten first, making him the winner.
With another eye roll, this one ignored as well, Ken chastised himself for letting the other boy win. If he had known how Daisuke would react, he would have put more effort into his blocking. As it was, he simply smiled tolerantly when Daisuke finally calmed down enough to pay attention to him again.
"You may be good, Ken, and you may be 'the Rocket', but -I- am the -King- of soccer," he said conceitedly, grinning widely. "And you, well. You'll have to suffer with being a measly squire."
"Measly?" repeated Ken. The smile disappeared from his face and was replaced with a cold expression. "We continue the game to fifteen points, current score kept," he challenged. He narrowed his eyes. "I will wipe the dirt from my shoe with your pride, Motomiya."
"Ooh, Ken, you're so big and bad," Daisuke said mockingly. His grin got bigger, if that was possible. "Bring it on, Rocket."
The game began again. Technically, Ken started off two points behind, but it only took him five minutes to even the score and get ahead by one. That was also just enough time for Daisuke's bravado to disappear in the face of determination and potential loser-hood.
As both boys were playing hard, it was no surprise that a solid kick went overboard. Instead of going into the appointed goal, as Ken had intended, the soccer ball sailed around the side of the house and disappeared around the corner. Daisuke laughed and told Ken to fetch it himself. While the genius went to retrieve it, Daisuke waited in the backyard, his mind already plotting the moves he would have to pull to score his remaining goals before Ken.
He almost missed the quiet 'Oh, no,' that floated back in his direction, but hear it he did, and he recognized it as Ken's voice. Out of curiosity, he started towards the front yard, only to stop out of sight around a corner when a chorus of girls voices said happily, "Hi, Ken!"
The saccharine sweetness in their tones was enough to turn Daisuke's stomach, but the sight that greeted him when he peeked around the corner almost made him gag. Ken was surrounded by a group of eight girls, all of whom were wearing pink shirts with the genius' picture imprinted on the front. The Ken Ichijouji Fan Club had struck.
Daisuke ducked back quickly, unable to hide his grimace. It would figure that the gaggle of girls would show up. //Just when we're having fun, too! If they had showed up on Sunday, it wouldn't have been any big deal, but no. They just had to wait until we're getting along and things are going really well. Stupid girls, anyway.//
"Hello, Ken," a slightly less feminine voice said. It was female, yes, but it lacked the simpering quality of the rest of the girls.
"Hello, Miyako," Ken replied stiffly.
//Ah. The president then, and the most evil of evils herself.// The fan club was bad enough: annoying, clinging, whining, pining, etc. But the president was a witch. At least, she said she was, and there were enough people afraid of her that when she threatened to hex someone, people ran. //This is so not cool. How do I get rid of all those stupid girls and Miyako?//
"We were terribly disappointed last week when we were unable to outbid the idiot at the auction. Since then, we have been discussing possible strategies to utilize our loss, and we have finally managed to come up with a well-thought out plan," the girl stated, sounding quite technical and cold. Around Ken, the rest of the fan girls twittered.
//Oi. How do I get rid of a witch and her stupid followers?//
"Daisuke paid his money, and it wouldn't be right for you to do anything to make him forfeit the prize he's paid for," Ken returned, sounding mechanical. All of the warmth and humor he'd been expressing in the last few days disappeared, and Daisuke could hear the same stilted tone that had greeted him on Sunday.
"Under normal circumstances, we would not think to force the idiot to forfeit anything, but in this case, he has pushed our hands to the point where we feel it is our duty to interfere. You should have been ours this week, Ken dear, and we feel cheated that we have already lost three and a half precious days of our time with you."
Daisuke nearly growled as he stalked into the backyard. Vee, seeming to sense his anger even from across the yard, trotted over and whined at him. The brunet ignored his pet as he stalked to the other side of the house. //Idiot, huh? Cheated because I outbid you? Your duty to interfere, huh? That witch is -so- going down.//
Vee followed him around the other side of the house, and Daisuke whispered to his pet to heel as he appeared in his front yard in the direction opposite Ken had gone. The fan club was so focused on the genius that they didn't notice Daisuke until he was within a few yards of them.
"Twitterbrains, back off. Ken's mine for the week, and while I know it must be killing you that you can't drool over him all week, you can't have him. Call me selfish, but I'm just not willing to share him with you dweebs."
The purple-haired witch turned to him and he gulped down his initial burst of fear. //So what if she's a good three inches taller than me? Who cares if she can curse me for the rest of my life. I paid seven hundred dollars to have Ken for a week, and he's mine, darn it! And okay, so the money wasn't mine and I didn't really care on Friday who I bought...// he cut off his train of thought as eight angry fan girls turned accusing gazes on him.
For some odd reason, he almost felt like a man on trial, as if he'd truly stolen something precious from these girls. Then his brain started working again, and he reminded himself that the only thing obsessed groupies held sacred were locks of hair and pictures obtained during stalking forays.
"You guys need to leave," he told them. He even managed to dredge up enough courage to stare Miyako down. "This is private property and you are -not- welcome."
She raised an eyebrow at him and managed to make it look threatening. "Daisuke Motomiya, we of the Ken Ichijouji Fan Club would like to inform you-"
"Three-"
"-that you have infringed upon our time with the focus-"
"Two-"
"-of our fan club, and we are here not only to show-"
"One-"
"-our displeasure, but also to tell you that we-"
Whatever else she said was drowned out in the sudden screams and squeals of the rest of the fan club as Daisuke turned the hose he'd been hiding behind his back on them. Ken, luckily, saw it coming and had the good sense to get out of the way and onto the porch before Daisuke began the dousing.
The fan girls screamed as the ran from the yard, arms crossed protectively over the Ken pictures on their shirts. Only Miyako, standing a few feet back from the group to signify her leadership over the group, remained as dry as Daisuke and Ken.
"That was most unwise, idiot," she yelled. She curled her hands into fists and stalked towards Daisuke. Daisuke turned the hose off and then pointed it straight at her.
"One more step and you'll be a melted puddle of goo, witch," he warned, hands ready on the hose to turn it on if she didn't obey. "You can leave quietly, or you can leave like your nitwits did, but trust me, you're leaving. And if you have any ideas about coming back tomorrow or the day after, I'll let you know now that I keep water guns in the front closet and they're always loaded."
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, there was a measure of control back in her gaze. "There will be repercussions, idiot. Be prepared."
"Three-" Daisuke, all arrogance now that he had the upper hand again, started his countdown over.
Miyako turned and strode calmly out of the yard and down the sidewalk. Daisuke didn't lower the nozzle of the hose until she was out of sight around a corner.
He turned at the sound of clapping. Ken was smiling. "Bravo. Behold, my hero, Daisuke of the Hose. He who is armed, whether with water pistol or trained canine companion. What great feats has this brave lad managed with his awesome artillery?"
"Shut up," Daisuke said, fighting the laughter that threatened at Ken's dramatic silliness.
"No, no! I can not say enough about the incredible deed that has been done here today! Daisuke, only recently my friend, has managed to save me, Ken the genius, from the evil clutches of Miyako, the president of the Fan Club from Hell. Without his heroic efforts, my liberation-- hey!" Ken's litany of praise ended abruptly as he was sprayed with water.
"I told you to shut up!" Daisuke told him, laughing. The laughter became a worried yell as Ken charged him. He dropped the hose and made for the backyard, his legs carrying him swiftly. Unfortunately, Ken was quick, both physically and mentally. The genius had the hose in hand at the same moment he gave Vee the fetch command.
Daisuke's rescue of Ken quickly became an all-out water fight, and by the time they were done and Jun came home that evening, they were soaking wet, sniffling from the cold, and the backyard was a giant mud puddle.
*****
"I swear, you two. I leave you alone for an hour, and you two are destroying either my kitchen or the backyard," Jun chastised.
Ken and Daisuke, clumped miserably together at the kitchen table, didn't comment. They were both dressed in Daisuke's clothes and wrapped in blankets. Despite the fact that Daisuke considered it perfect weather for wearing shorts, it was too cold for water fights and mud wrestling, as both boys were now illustrating.
Jun sighed as she opened the fridge. It was a good thing they had cooked such a large dinner the day before, or all three of them would have been out of luck for dinner. Jun didn't feel like cooking and her plan had been to get them to fix the meal, a task which neither her brother nor Ken were up for in their current states.
"And really, Daisuke, do I even want to know what you guys were doing with the hose? If you wanted to swim in a lake, you could have gone a few blocks over to play in that stupid pond. Did you really have to make a swamp in the backyard?"
She stopped scolding them as she realized that her brother was too busy staring at the bowl of left-over soup in her hands to pay attention to her. With another sigh, this one louder and more for show than not, she set about microwaving the food in the hopes that once fed, her brother would be more attentive. It was probably a futile hope, as he tended to pay attention only when he wanted to. Yet it was still worth an attempt, and besides, she was hungry, too.
Daisuke seemed to bounce back once food was placed in front of him, but Ken didn't fare as well. He ate slowly, and when Jun asked him questions, his responses were sluggish.
After Daisuke was done eating, he stayed at the table until Jun shooed him away so that Ken could eat. He was gone only five minutes before he came back and sat down, purposely quiet. That lasted until Jun's back was turned to wash dishes, and then Daisuke decided to offer Ken encouragement in the form of making faces and miming insults at his sister, all of which Jun ignored, since Ken seemed to be amused by her brother's playfulness.
Ken finished just before Jun had drained the water from the sink, and so the boys left the kitchen while she washed his bowl and silverware.
In the five minutes that Daisuke had been in his room, he'd made a bed on the floor and had prepped the television and VCR so that both were ready when both boys entered the room. Ken assumed that it was his turn to take the floor, and so settled onto the pallet of blankets and sheets, the blanket he'd been carrying around with him still wrapped snugly around his shoulders.
The brunet didn't realize his friend's position at first, too busy was he with putting a movie into the player. When he turned to sit down on his spot on the floor, however, he found Ken already in his place.
"Dude, get in bed," Daisuke ordered, nudging the sitting boy with his foot.
Ken flapped the blanket around his shoulders at Daisuke's foot. "You take the bed. I was here first and it's my turn on the floor."
Daisuke sat down next to Ken and crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. "I'm not making my guest sleep on the floor, dude. Either take the bed or we're both sleeping on the floor." //Again.//
It could have been a natural stubbornness the two shared, but neither was willing to commit the other to a miserable night on the floor. They both ended up using the floor as a bed that night. Ken had enough light, what with the glow from the television and the fact that Daisuke had failed to turn the overhead light off, and so he didn't particularly need the security of knowing another person was near by. That didn't stop him, however, from shifting closer as soon as Daisuke appeared to be asleep.
He curled around the brunet, careful not to actually touch the other boy as he rested his head on his arm and settled down for sleep. He wasn't prepared for an arm to wrap around him from the front, or for Daisuke to whisper a quiet, "Night."
Ken stilled, frozen in mortified shock for over a minute. Daisuke seemed almost asleep, but there was an almost unnatural stillness about him, as if the brunet was trying to neither move nor breathe too loudly.
The smart thing, Ken thought, would be to get my rear in gear, get up, and go to the bed. It was a safe distance away. The romantic thing to do would be to melt into the brunet and hope that he was reading the other boy right.
Ken, genius and closet romantic though he was, chose neither of the first two options. Instead, he took a deep breath, relaxed slightly, and whispered, "Good night," in return.
It wasn't a step forwards for Ken, but neither was it a step back. Daisuke was striding quickly enough for the both of them.
*****
Notes available at the site: The truth behind Vee and Worm (a repeat of the back story for those who don't remember, as well as some information, such as why a Doberman has a tail to wag, and other such fun stuff. ^_^)
http://www.baseofoperation.org/raegan_everyday_notes.html