We'll be taking a break from Otoya's story after this chapter. Next chapter will be featuring Jinguuji Ren.
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The Story of Ittoki Otoya III

"This is our room, nya!" Hayato proudly announced, holding his arms out in a 'welcome' gesture. Otoya followed him inside, red eyes wide as he surveyed the small room. A bed large enough for two children was pushed into the corner. Two desks were placed next to the window, separated by a small dresser. In the corner opposite of the bed, two tall shelves stood upright. One shelf was filled with several different kinds of books; some titles included kanji that Otoya didn't recognized. The other shelf had a CD player and held tons of CDs.

"You guys have a nice room," Otoya whispered in awe.

"No, not really," Tokiya and Hayato said at the same time.

Otoya peered at the collection of music on the shelf. "You have a lot of music here. Do you collect?"

"Yeah," the twins said together again. Hayato continued to talk while Tokiya took their bags and placed on the floor by the door. "Every year on our birthday and on Christmas, Mom buys us two CDs. Tokiya and I would each pick one CD that we both like, nya."

"Really? When's your birthday? Mine is April eleventh."

"We were born on August ninth. I'm older by a few minutes, nya." Hayato grinned, pointing to himself.

"You act like you're several years younger though," Tokiya muttered.

"Ehhhh? So mean, Tokiya!" Hayato pouted, eyes welling up with fake tears as he stared sadly at his younger brother.

Tokiya grumbled something about his point being proven and grabbed a book off the shelf. He sat down on the bed and was immediately tackled by Hayato. The book fell to the floor as the older twin poked at Tokiya's waist.

"What are you...stop it, Nii-san!" Tokiya squirmed and tried to move away, but Hayato pulled him back and continued to mercilessly tickle him.

"Not until you apologize, nya!" Hayato shouted gleefully. Otoya couldn't help but laugh as he watched the twins tussle.

The door to the room opened and the twins' mother came in, holding a tray that had three glasses of juice and a plate of cookies balanced on it. Ichinose Sayako shot her sons a look as she placed the tray on one of the desks near the window. Hayato quickly got off Tokiya and the two of them straightened their clothes and sat there innocently. Otoya covered his mouth with one hand to hide his laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Tokiya mumbled, still a little out of breath from trying to fight off his brother. Hayato made an odd choking noise as he tried to force back a snicker. Soon, he and Otoya were doubled over in laughter while Sayako and Tokiya watched in amusement.

"Ittoki-kun, I've called your parents, and they said it's fine for you to stay. I'll be downstairs if you boys need anything," Sayako said. She turned to Otoya and patted his hair. "Don't be afraid to ask, Ittoki-kun."

"Thank you for letting me stay over," Otoya chirped as she left the boys alone.

Hayato pushed the plate of cookies towards Otoya. "Have you ever had homemade cookies, Otoya?"

Otoya shook his head as he reached for a cookie. "No, my mom is usually too tired to bake. Even if she does, she makes little cakes." He took a small bite out of the cookie and chewed slowly.

The twins watched as Otoya swallowed. "How is it, nya?" Both of them blinked when the redhead shoved the rest of the cookie into his mouth whole, cheeks bulging like a chipmunk's.

"It's so good!" Otoya mumbled around the mouthful of cookie. There was a look of complete bliss on his face as he savored the semi-sweet snack.

"Eat as much as you like," Hayato encouraged, "I'm sure Mom wouldn't mind making some for you to take home, nya."

The doorbell suddenly rang. The three boys heard Sayako's footsteps as she went to answer the door. She spoke with someone and then called for the three of them. "Tokiya, your friend is here to see you!"

The three of them headed downstairs to see an orange-haired boy standing in the doorway with a CD held in his hands. "Yo, Icchi, Haya-tan." Ren nodded casually. "Oh, Ikki's here too?"

"He's here until his parents come pick him up, nya," Hayato explained as Otoya greeted Ren.

"Ah, I see. Well, I'm here to return the CD you let me borrow earlier this week. Here you go, Haya-tan." Ren held out the case to Tokiya.

"I'm Tokiya," the navy-haired boy replied bluntly as he accepted the disk. "That's Hayato." He pointed to his brother.

"My bad, my bad." Ren waved a hand in apology. "You two look identical. It can be hard to tell sometimes." He said goodbye and headed down the street.

Tokiya shut the door and they headed back upstairs. Once they were back in the twins' bedroom, Otoya asked, "Does Ren like music as much as you guys?"

"Well, he borrows our CDs a lot, nya," Hayato said thoughtfully, "I would say that he does."

"Music class is the only class he takes seriously," Tokiya added as he placed the CD back on the shelf, "He told me that it's the only class he would never skip out on."

"He skips classes?" Otoya repeated, slightly alarmed. "Won't his parents get mad?"

Tokiya and Hayato shrugged. "Don't know," they answered in unison. Hayato continued, "We've never bothered asking since it's not really our business, nya." He looked like he wanted to add something, but the front door opened as someone entered the house.

"I'm home," a deep male voice called.

The twins froze: Tokiya in the middle of turning a page in his book and Hayato with his mouth half-open. They exchanged unreadable looks as Otoya stood there with a baffled look on his face.

"I didn't know Father was coming home today," Tokiya whispered lowly.

"Me neither, nya!" Hayato sounded nervous.

"Um, is something wrong?" Otoya hesitantly asked.

Both twins swiveled their heads to look at him. Hayato grabbed him by the shoulders. "Listen, Otoya," he said urgently, "The person you're about to meet is really strict, and he can say mean things sometimes. Just...don't take him too seriously, okay?"

"Okay...?"

They heard Sayako calling for them to come downstairs. "Don't say anything out of line either, alright, nya? And try to talk as little as possible," Hayato quickly added as they walked down the stairs. Otoya nodded in confused agreement. They turned into the living room and the red-haired guest paused.

A man who looked to be in his late-twenties was sitting at the table. He had messy black hair that curled up slightly at the ends and cold gray eyes that narrowed as they landed on Otoya.

"Who is this?" His voice betrayed no emotion except disapproval, as though Otoya's presence in the house had offended him somehow.

"I'm Ittoki Otoya. N-Nice to meet you." The redhead bowed nervously as he silently freaked out. Did I mess up on introducing myself? Did I do something to offend him? Maybe I had cookie crumbs on my face and he didn't like that...no, I'm sure my face is clean. Then why is he glaring at me like my next-door neighbor did when I accidentally broke her window with a soccer ball?

"Ichinose Shirou. Pleasure." The twins' father sounded as though the meeting was anything but a pleasure.

Otoya paled slightly at the cold indifference that Ichinose Shirou exuded. Where did I go wrong?