Ryuto

Right after Hikaru left for Ludwig's house, Auntie dropped me off at the park with a bouquet of lilies and a picnic basket full of sandwiches, drinks, and a big blanket. Since Lily invited me the last time for a picnic, I decided it was my turn to invite her on a picnic, which surprisingly I had persuaded Basch to let her go alone so that I could spend some time with her and not have her brother watch over us like a hawk.

Honestly I was so excited for the picnic date—my second picnic date—I had to have everything perfect. Thankfully, the sun was shining warmly and I was just bursting with excitement that I grabbed Lily's hand as soon as I saw her and pulled her to a shaded area where I had everything set up already.

"Hi," I said as I still held her hand.

"H-hi," she said blushing.

As I looked at her, I wanted to kiss her right then and there but I didn't want to break Basch's promise. "Why don't we sit down and eat?" I suggested instead and she nodded.

We sat down and I handed her the bouquet. "It's for you," I said.

She blushed again and said, "Thank you."

I stared at her lips and a sudden desire came up in my heart. I felt my face burn with guilt. Improper, I thought to I wanted to kiss her so badly!

"Um, are you all right?" Lily asked.

I glanced at her. "Yes," I said. "Um, would you like a sandwich?" Why did I just say that? Ugh, I thought, Hikaru and Ludwig are probably being so in love right now at his house, blushing and laughing. I imagined the two holding hands or blushing as they worked on their project. Dammit. Why wasn't I good at this romantic stuff?

"So how are you?" I asked Lily. Another stupid question, Ryuto, I scolded myself.

"I'm good," she answered as a light blush came over her cheeks.

That was so awkward, I thought. We continued to eat our sandwiches in silence. Then when both finished, I pulled out two bowls that had small, beautifully decorated cakes in them and handed one to her.

"Oh, that looks delicious," Lily said.

"I made it," I said sheepishly. Normally I wouldn't tell anyone about my secret hobby for baking—not even any of the guys—but I felt like I could tell her.

"Did you decorate it, too?"

I blushed and she smiled. When I started to get out spoons for us, Lilly gave a sudden yelp and I glanced up in time to see several large dogs running toward us.

"Lily!" I shouted. I got up quickly and pulled her out of the way as the dogs ran over her spot and trampled all over the blanket. "Are you okay?" I asked her. I looked into her eyes as I held myself above her and felt myself blushing.

"Yes, thank you," Lily breathed.

I got up and helped Lily to her feet.

"I'm sorry!" shouted a voice.

I turned around to see the dog's owner run up to us. The boy had long brown and he looked like he was shaking really hard. "They aren't my dogs! I was just taking them for a walk for my neighbors who're paying me and I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," I said. "Just go get your dogs and don't worry about us. We're fine."

The boy nodded and then he ran off, calling after the dogs. I started cleaning up the mess and tossed everything that was ruined, which included the cakes, into the trash can. When I packed the blanket into the basket, I looked at Lily. "Why don't take a walk then since we're done eating?" I suggested.

Lily smiled and I took her hand in mine. Then, we started walking through the park.

Along our walk, we made small talk which was more than enough for me. I learned how she adored her brother and all her likes—which was mostly about her brother, but I still found it adorable—and in exchange, I told her about myself and my hobbies and answered whatever question she had in mind. When she spotted a crepe stand, I bought us two crepes and we shared them with each other. And then, all while we talked and walked, I felt absolutely in love with the blonde-haired, green-eyed sweet Lily.

When the day was about to end and when we were about to be picked up, I took both of her hands and impulsively kissed her on the cheeks. It wasn't like the kisses I knew my sister and Ludwig shared, but it was enough for me. As I smiled and Lily blushed, I heard an angry voice call out her name, "Lily!"

Basch pulled us apart and stood in front of Lily as he glared at me. If there were rules allowing it, I bet he'd have a gun in his hands pointed at me. "I trusted you to take care of my little sister," Basch said.

"I did!" I protested. "I was taking care of her!"

"Big brother, wait!" Lily began.

"No, Lily," Basch interrupted her. "Ryuto is unfit to take care of you now let's go home."

"Was this because I kissed her?" I demanded but Basch had Lily by the arm and was pulling her to his car. Soon they left the park and I was in a hurry to get home. And when Auntie picked me up and drove me home, the first thing I did when the vehicle pulled into the driveway of the house, I bolted down the street, turned a couple corners, and end up at the Zwingli residence.

I rang the doorbell as I panted from running. Fortunately, Lily opened the door and her eyes widened when she saw me.

"I need to speak to your brother," I gasped.

"D-did you run all the way h-here?" Lily whispered.

"Lily, who's that?" Basch asked, appearing around the corner of the door. When he saw me, he glared at me and tried to close the door. "Go away, Ryuto," he growled.

I pushed the door open. "Come on, Basch," I said. "Let me talk to you as an older brother to an older brother."

"No," Basch said and he pushed harder to close the door.

"I know how it feels like to want to protect your younger sister," I said, trying to appease to him as I resisted getting shut out. "Look at Hikaru and Ludwig. I didn't want them to date in the first place but once I saw how much Ludwig cared for my sister and how much Hikaru liked Ludwig, I decided to give them a chance. And I promised myself that if Ludwig somehow hurt Hikaru, I'd step in. Just please do the same to me Basch. I wouldn't hurt Lily. I wouldn't even make her cry. I like Lily too much to do that to her. Please, Basch."

In our struggle with the door, Basch let go and he blinked at me. Then he glanced at his blushing sister and back at me. "I'll give you a chance," he said stiffly. "But if you do anything…" He didn't finish his sentence. He just closed the door on me.

I stared at the door for a while as I took everything in. then, I turned around and sighed. Basch had agreed to let me go out with Lily and I felt like I was the happiest guy on Earth just because I got to hold Lily's hand and hug her and buy her presents whenever I felt like it. And, oh, I was going out with sweet Lily Zwingli.

I sighed again and probably would have stayed like the forever if it wasn't for Basch who yelled, "If you keep standing there for a minute longer, I will personally shoot you with my gun."

"Whatever,' I said, laughing as I walked out to the sidewalk. I raised my arms in the air and laughed joyously as I headed home. It was such a wonderful, happy night for me.

A Note from your Author:

So I know I did a really long chapter for Hikaru and I promised myself and a friend that I'd write a long chapter for Ryuto but somehow I couldn't bring myself to do that. My hand was aching so much it wasn't funny *laughs* Besides, I'm busy with projects piled on by my teachers currently and I'm trying to keep up with my schedule *laughs* Anyway, so in this chapter, Ryuto finally gets to go on a date with Lily/Liechtenstein…a date without Basch/Switzerland, that is. I was so excited when I was writing this but then I had a small case of writer's block so I couldn't finish it sooner. And then by the time I actually got to writing it, I had completely forgotten my ideas but thankfully my friend was there to save me *laughs* Thank you, Zero-chan. You see, instead of having Basch/Switzerland step in, I was going to have Natalia/Belarus step in but I just went with Basch/Switzerland. Now that I think of it, it would have been hilarious if Natalia/Belarus interrupted the two *laughs* Or not… Oh, by the way, the boy that's chasing the dogs was Lithuania. I didn't want some random person come up to them so I made a cameo for Lithuania. I wonder if it's just me or does Lithuania remind you of Ritsu from Fruits Basket? They're always so…so…trembling? *laughs* Thank you and enjoy!

P.S.

In the next few chapters, I'm going to fast forward everything into the autumn season or maybe in winter because I feel that everything's just going too slow for me. I'm already planning ahead, you see, and I have this ultra-special thing I want to occur in the upcoming chapters of Gakuen Academy! *laughs*

P.S.S.

I feel really proud of this chapter. I don't know why. I just do. I can finally say (even after asking several of my friends) that I did NOT write a crappy chapter for Ryuto!

P.S.S.S.

Okay, now I can say 'thank you' because I'm just blabbering… So thank you and enjoy!