The following day...
As he came down into the genkan of the house, Yūsei Nishoji was surprised not to find Naoyasu Hanabusa waiting for him there to wish him a good day at school like he would usually do every day.
Where is he? the blond teenager wondered to himself. They had taken breakfast together only a short while ago, after which, the blond male had left for his room to get dressed for school. But Naoyasu was nowhere to be seen anymore.
Is he in his bedroom? Yūsei asked to himself. He had been about to put his shoes on and was thinking about leaving without greeting the older male, but then, he told himself that it would not be appropriate. What if the red-haired male has suddenly taken ill after breakfast or something?
Crossing the corridor, he made his way towards the red-haired male's bedroom, which was situated on the ground floor itself. As he approached the room, he found that the door was standing ajar.
'Naoyasu?' he called, softly, and hesitantly.
But he heard no reply. Though, he could hear voices in the room, including that of the red-haired male.
'Stop it!' Naoyasu was saying. 'Somebody could come in!'
'I see that you haven't changed a bit! I always have to force you a little!'
Sōken? Is that his voice?!
'Naoyasu?' the teenager called, softly, once again, and reaching the door, he slid it further open, only to freeze into place at the scene playing itself in front of his eyes.
Naoyasu Hanabusa was lying on his back on the bed, amongst the disheveled bedsheets, and Sōken was holding himself on top of him; the buttons of their shirts completely undone. Sōken had pinned the red-haired male's hand above his head by his wrists, and he had one of his knees in-between the latter's legs. And he was kissing the blond male over his mouth, while his other hand was traveling over his bare chest.
At the apparition of Yūsei, Sōken broke the kiss instantaneously, and both males stared at the teenager in shock, going very still.
Flushing bright red, Yūsei started to back away, stammering in a mixture of panic and embarrassment, 'I'm sorry. I should have knocked first. But I didn't see anything. Please, continue!'
And on these words, he ran for the genkan to put his shoes on rapidly and rush out of the house.
***
Naoyasu Hanabusa and Sōken Nishoji stared at the empty doorway for a minute, before they looked at each other's face in shock. Jumping to their feet very quickly, they ran after the teenaged young man, tying the buttons of their shirt up on the way. But it was too late when they reached the genkan. The blond teenager was already quite far away, calling at them again that he was really, very sorry.
Taking a deep breath, the two men looked at each other's face again.
Yūsei knows about them now.
'Well, he had to discover it someday or another!' Sōken declared.
Naoyasu's eyes narrowed at him.
'You really can't control yourself, can you? You big pervert!'
Closing his eyes and scratching his cheek, the blond male giggled sheepishly.
***
When Natsui Mizoroge came down onto the street, she felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of the blond-haired male, who was waiting for her there to walk her to school.
Averting her eyes shyly, she told him, as she approached him, 'It's a very big detour from your house!'
'Oh, it's okay!' he told her, averting his eyes too, and scratching the back of his head slightly.
She gave him a smile, and the two started to walk together.
The ginger-haired girl couldn't help but notice that the blond-haired young man's face was all flushed though and that he seemed quite distracted today.
'Did something happen?' she asked him, in a pleasant tone.
At this question, he jumped a little, before he smiled awkwardly and began telling about what he had witnessed just a while ago concerning his brother and the red-haired male.
'Eh?!' Natsui exclaimed, having a nose-bleed.
'Sorry,' the young man apologized, in embarrassment, 'I should have probably spared you the... details.'
'No, it's okay,' she said, turning her face the other way, desperately trying to hide the flush of color on her face. Her heart was beating so fast. When she managed to recover her composure, she asked him, 'And what do you think of all of this?'
Cupping his chin, Yūsei looked upward to ponder over it at that moment.
'Well, it's true that I'm a bit surprised to find out that my brother and Naoyasu are gay, but I realize that it doesn't bother me. As to their being in a relationship together, it doesn't bother me either.' Looking at her then, he put his forefinger up and closed his eyes, to assert, 'Finally, none of it bother me at all! I'm not displeased!'
The ginger-haired girl gazed at him, chuckling happily.
***
That morning, school resumed itself as it normally should have had after the end of the Golden Week. However, the events of the last two days would remain for a long time engraved in everyone's memories.
'Hime!' I heard Natsui call out to me from afar, as the boys and I were heading towards the genkan of the school. Pausing down, we turned around to look at the ginger-haired girl; she was entering the gate of the school, with Yūsei Nishoji by her side.
They both ran to catch up with us, greeting us a very good morning.
My heart felt lighter at the gay expression on the girl's face. She seemed fulfilled. I was glad that she had found her joy of life again.
We all headed to class together. I noticed that the other students continued to fixate the ginger-haired girl, but not in the same way as they had done yesterday or the day before. There was a change in their behavior. And when we walked into our classroom together, we were a bit surprised to find her desk decorated with flowers, small stuffed animals and apology cards.
'Well, well,' Shunsui declared, with a smile, as he lifted his arm to rest in against the doorway, leaning against it, 'It doesn't erase their fault, but that's still it!'
I couldn't help but gaze at him and Gōjun, smilingly.
Everything promised to change from now on.
Several groups of girls, together with several boys, from both our own class, as well as from other classes, approached Natsui to apologize to her for their behavior. The ginger-haired girl assured them that what had happened was already in the past for her, blushing in embarrassment at the attention they were showing to her.
This brought another smile to my lips. She's really such a strong person!
At noon, the boys and I approached the ginger-haired girl to invite her, as well as Yūsei Nishoji, to take lunch with us for the day.
'I have made macaroons,' I announced, very shyly, keeping my eyes down and squirming a little.
'Macaroons?!' Shunsui asked, water seeming to come to his mouth. Gōjun was in the same state as him.
'Yes,' I replied, even more shyly. 'I heard the two of you talking about it the other day. I checked the recipe on the internet. I wanted to make something special for the two of you today to thank you, but also, to celebrate the restoration of Natsui's honor!'
'Ah, you're so adorable!' Shunsui exclaimed at me, cheerily, and sending his arms around my neck, he began to rub his cheek against mine.
'Wah! You're undoing my hair!' I cried, as I tried to pat it back into place, but in vain, as he continued to rub his face against mine.
Natsui and Yūsei laughed to themselves at this, while Gōjun told me that he could understand better now why I had bought all those ingredients at the supermarket yesterday.
'Well, well, I have also brought something special!' Natsui announced to us, cheerfully, after Shunsui had released me, and picking the decorated box under her desk, she opened it to show us what it contained, exclaiming, 'Tada!'
I clasped my hands in front of myself, water filling my mouth, my eyes filled with stars. The boys were salivating too.
'Puit D'amour!' all three of us exclaimed together.
'Yes,' she chuckled. 'But I didn't make them myself. They come from a shop!'
'It doesn't matter!' we cried, nearly pouncing on the box. Without waiting for another minute, we all ran downstairs to sit by the side of the gymnasium to eat our lunch together, and enjoy the Puit D'amour and macaroons.
'That was really delicious!' I said, blissfully, holding my belly with my hand and closing my eyes. We had eaten everything. There was not a single piece of food or desert left.
'Well, I think it's the right occasion,' Natsui declared, at that moment, and I opened my eyes to look at her, blushing at little when I saw that she was holding the blond-haired male's hand now, and the two were gazing at each other with a smile on their faces.
Shunsui, Gōjun and I watched them in expectation.
Looking at us again and taking a deep breath, the girl declared, cheerfully, 'Yūsei and I are now a couple! We're going out together!'
'Natsui!' I gasped, my heart stirring with joy. 'I'm so happy for you!'
'Thank you!' she giggled.
'That's great news!' Shunsui exclaimed, with delight, and throwing himself at Gōjun and I from behind, he sent his arms around our neck, leaning against us, to tell us, with a suggestive smile, 'How about the two of you, eh? When are you two getting together?'
At this, Gōjun and I cringed away, our face reddening.
'Wha- What are you talking about?!' I stuttered, while Gōjun uttered a big 'Oi!'
And the reddish-brown-haired young man laughed to himself.
***
After school was over, Shunsui Shigeizumi informed Gōjun Shoran and Hime Kirigakure that he has a rendezvous with a few girls at the karaoke, and he parted with them in front of the gate of the school.
Gōjun left for his dōjō, while the dark-haired girl decided to take advantage of her free time to pay her mother a second visit at the hospital. She was quite impatient to make part to my mother the big news that Natsui Mizoroge had announced to them during lunchtime.
When Gōjun returned home, the sun was about to set and he was a bit surprised that little Yamcha didn't jump at him the moment he entered through the doorway of the house, as it would usually do.
'That's strange,' he said to himself.
The small animal was nowhere to be seen today.
Closing the door behind him, he made into the living room, wondering if it was playing there. But the living room was desert, and he didn't find the small creature in the kitchen either. He wondered if it was sleeping upstairs in his bedroom. Crossing his way back to the entrance hall, he climbed up the stairs two at a time to make for his room, but only to find that the small animal was not sleeping on his bed unlike he had expected. He bent down to look under the bed and the other furnitures in the room, but there was no trace of the ball of fur anywhere. He even searched into the bathroom, but found nothing.
His heart accelerating in his chest, he started to search for the animal in every room on the upper-floor of the house, but still, he didn't find it. Running back downstairs, he started to search the ground floor, but in vain.
Feeling completely alarmed now, he ran out of the house to search for it in the front yard, then in the side yards, and finally in the garden behind of the house, but the small creature has completely vanished. He made round the property twice, calling out to it, but he obtained no reply.
As he rounded the side corner of the house, with the intention to get back inside to continue his search indoors once again, Gōjun bumped into Kenren abruptly, the latter returning home just at that moment.
'Kenren, I can't find Yamcha anywhere!' he exclaimed, with panic.
The older male's heart skipped a beat. Never before had he seen Gōjun this alarmed before.
'Gōjun, calm down! We're going to find it!' he told him, urgently. 'I'll search outside, while you search inside of the house, okay?!'
The teenager nodded once and disappeared through the front door.
But all their efforts were fruitless.
'I can't find it anywhere!' Gōjun exclaimed at Kenren as he came to join the older male outside in the side yard again, but only to stagger to a stop when his eyes suddenly fell onto the well, which was situated there on the side of the house.
The small animal had been playing outside this morning when he left it to go to school...
'Do you think that it could have fallen into it?' he gasped, his stomach twisting.
Instantly, Kenren followed his eyes in direction of the well, a shrill running down his spine.
'No, it's not possible!' Gōjun uttered, dashing for it to peer at the bottom of it. The well was quite deep and dark. He couldn't see anything. But he knew that there was water in the well; not a lot, but waist-deep; more than enough for the small animal to drown in it!
'Gōjun, please, calm down!' Kenren told him, trying his best to keep his calm too. 'I'm going to fetch a rope!'
He left immediately to bring that, and Gōjun decided that it was for him to get down into the well.
'Gōjun, no! You wait for me here! You could hurt yourself!'
'No, Kenren! You're the doctor! If anything happens, you'll be the one more apt to do something!'
And on this, Gōjun tied the rope carefully around his own waist and descended into the cold and dark tunnel, his mind filled with images of the small ball of fur and its antics, which he had always found so annoying.
He almost sighed with relief when he didn't find any corpses floating in the water. But the small creature was still missing.
'Maybe, one of the domestics left the gate open in inattention for a minute and it has gone onto the street,' Kenren said to the younger male, after he had pulled him out of the well. 'But it must still be in the area. Go change your clothes! We'll go search for it together. Don't worry, we're going to find it, Gōjun!'
The latter's trouser was completely soaked. Nodding once, he rushed back indoors to into his bedroom to get changed as quickly as possible. Just as he had finished putting on some fresh clothes, unexpectedly, he heard some movement above his cupboard.
Instantaneously, Gōjun lifted his head up and backed away by a few steps to have a look above the furniture. His mouth hung open as he finally caught sight of the small ball of fur, which had been quietly sleeping above his cupboard all this while, and was now straightening its legs and yawning, having just awakened.
The moment the small animal caught sight of him, it mewed at him in a happy way and jumped from the tall furniture to onto the floor to rub its body affectionately against his legs.
Gōjun stared at it, utterly speechless. He couldn't believe it! The small animal had been sleeping there in his bedroom all along, without responding to any one of his calls, while he had been searching for it everywhere like crazy, even going as far as to get down into the wall on the side of the house, taken with affright that it had fell into it and drowned! All kind of scenarios had been playing in his head!
'Gōjun, are you ready?' Kenren called, entering through the door.
The older male went still when his eyes fell onto the small animal which was holding itself at the teenager's feet; his expression turning awkward.
'Where was it?'
'It was sleeping on top of my cupboard!' Gōjun answered, grimacing at it, more than flabbergasted.
'I- I see,' Kenren replied, not really knowing what to say.
'I think I need a beer!'
'You mean a cup of tea, don't you?!' the man corrected, his eyes narrowing at him a little.
The teenager cringed.
'Yes- Yes. A cup of tea.'
'Come! I think I need one too. I'm going to prepare us some,' he stated, and Gōjun followed him downstairs to into the kitchen. They would then move outside, to sit under the porch of the house to drink it, with the small animal tagging along with them to run about in the front yard, frolicking.
What a little monster! Gōjun thought to himself.
He was very much stunned by his reaction of earlier, and felt a bit ridiculous at the way he had panicked. He guessed that he had really grown attached to the small animal after all.
Looking at the older male then, he asked, 'Are you dining outside tonight as well?'
'Yes,' the latter replied, taking a sip at his tea, his eyes set in the front. 'I'm dining with that same friend of mine.'
'Is she really just a friend?' Gōjun inquired, having no doubt that it was a "she".
Kenren looked at him at that moment, his eyes widening a little.
'I've noticed that you've been returning home earlier every day to go dine outside. And you don't do night-work at the hospital anymore.'
The man was literally staring at him now, his expression filled with surprise.
Kenren was, in effect, very much surprised that Gōjun was asking him such a personal question. It was the first time that they were having this type of conversation. Like father and son.
'What I'm trying to say is that… I wouldn't mind if you had someone in your life,' Gōjun asserted, lowering his eyes and scratching the back of his head a little.
Kenren's eyes grew even wider at him.
'But say,' Gōjun asked him, then, looking at his face again, 'Does she know about… me?'
The dark-haired male blinked once.
'Why are you asking me this question?'
Lowering his eyes again, Gōjun told him, 'Well, I know that you were seeing someone before and that when you decided to adopt me, she broke up with you!'
Kenren's heart skipped a beat, as he understood what the teenager was trying to get at.
'And, therefore, I feel a bit… I don't want to be a hurdle. If I need to leave-'
'Gōjun, stop!' the man stated, severely. 'With Chaelin Kimura, it was nothing serious. We had seen each other only two times. It was an arranged rendezvous. We had not yet developed any bond or feelings for each other.'
'And how about the person whom you're seeing today?'
Turning his face back to the front and lowering his eyes, the dark-haired male intertwined his fingers in his lap to reply, thoughtfully, 'Well, you have to know that we had almost gotten married after high school. And even if she rejected me, she has had an important role to play in the direction that my life would take, in the sense that it is because of her that I decided to become a doctor.'
Gōjun was surprised.
'Even if I come from a lineage of doctors, I had never been interested in medicine. I wanted to choose a different career. But one day, she became involved in a terrible accident. I was completely paralyzed. I didn't know what to do; I didn't even know first-aid. Never before had I felt so helpless in my life. And that's when I decided to embrace the medical profession.'
'I see,' Gōjun murmured, becoming thoughtful too. 'It has started out very strongly between the two of you.'
'Yes,' Kenren replied, with a smile.
Remembering then that he had a few things to do before dinner, the older male got to his feet to part with the teenager.
'Ah, Gōjun,' he said, with another smile, pausing down in the doorway of the house, 'I'll ask someone to come over tomorrow morning to cover the well.'
Gōjun nodded once, filled with appreciation.
***
Sometimes later, on the other side...
Yūsei Nishoji couldn't help but flush bright red, when he came across his brother and Naoyasu Hanabusa again, after this morning.
The moment the two males had heard him arrive, they had rushed to the Genkan to meet up with him. They had been waiting for the teenager's return, wishing to talk to him to know how he feels about all of this- about their homosexuality, and relationship with each other.
'Wh- What is there for dinner?' Yūsei asked them, before they could bring up the subject.
Sōken and Naoyasu looked at each other's face for a second. The teenaged young man was deeply embarrassed, and so were they.
'W- Well, I have made a Sukiyaki,' Naoyasu informed him, awkwardly. 'You like Sukiyaki, don't you?!'
'Yes, a lot!' the teenager replied and he started to make for the dining room rapidly to show how much he was eager, though his edginess was still somewhat visible. 'I'm famished!'
As they took seat at the table together to eat their dinner, the teenager noticed that there was someone missing at the table.
'Where- Where is Yahiko?' he inquired, and the red-haired male informed him that the boy was gone to attend a birthday party.
'I- I see,' Yūsei murmured, and they all began to eat in silence.
Now and then, Sōken and Naoyasu would take an anxious glance at each other, while the teenaged young man wouldn't lift his eyes even once from his bowl. After they were through with dinner, the two men took another glance at each other, deciding that it was about time to attack the subject with the teenager.
It was Sōken who began.
'Yūsei, about this morning...' he started, hesitantly, only for Naoyasu to complete, 'What do you think about us after this morning? Do you have a grudge against us? Do you… despise us?'
'What?!' Yūsei's head snapped up in shock. 'No!' Averting his eyes and flushing up again, he told them, 'It's true that I was greatly surprised, but... I don't mind.'
'Really?!' Sōken and Naoyasu gasped, before a small smile came to their lips and they sighed in relief.
'Yokatta!' the red-haired male said, holding his heart with his hand.
'Say,' Yūsei decided to ask them, out of curiosity, after a minute, 'how long has it been now since you've been going out together?'
'Well, we've started dating when we were still at university!' Naoyasu answered, cheerily, grabbing hold of Sōken's hand under the table.
'I see.'
A smile came to the teenager's lips too, the latter unable to keep himself from thinking about his own relationship with Natsui Mizoroge, as he envisaged themselves still together many years later- like the two older males- and that for ever after.
'Eh? What's that look on your face?' Naoyasu asked him, with a teasing smile. 'Wouldn't you be thinking about a certain ginger-haired girl by chance?!'
Yūsei made a small jump, his face heating up.
'Tha-That is-'
'Are you two going out together? I heard you speaking on the phone till late last night!'
Scratching his cheek in embarrassment, the blond teenager replied, 'Well, yes!'
'Yahoo!' Naoyasu cried, excitedly, and bending over the table, he gave him a single-arm hug. 'I want you to tell me everything! How did you propose to her? But first… There's something that we would want to ask you.'
He had exchanged another look with Sōken, the two older males' expression becoming anxious once again. Taking a deep breath, the red-haired male went for it.
'Yūsei, would you mind if Sōken shifts in with us? He was thinking about renting out the house he has bought and moving in...'
The teenager's eyes went wide at them, more particularly, at his brother.
Immediately, the latter told him, 'Yūsei, I know that you've only just accepted to give me a chance. If you think that it's going to fast...'
He left his words hanging.
The two men held their breaths in anticipation as they waited for the younger male's reply.
Yūsei didn't hesitate much to give them his answer. Naoyasu has done so much for him that it would be a sin to try to prevent him from being with the one that he loves. Not to mention that this same love that the blond male has for his brother, heightens the picture that he has of the latter.
'Alright.'
'Alright?' Naoyasu repeated, stunned. 'Do you mean that you're okay with it?'
Yūsei nodded, and the two men were more than elated.
'Oh my god! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!' the red-haired male exclaimed, and turning to face each other, the two males pressed their lips together in a deep, passionate kiss.
'Wah! What are you doing?!' Yūsei cried, covering his eyes with his hand and backing away until he had his back pressed against the side wall, his face tomato red. 'I accept that you live together, but at the condition that you do your dirty things within the closed walls of your bedroom!'
Breaking their kiss, the two men looked at the teenager, laughing to themselves.
Thank you for reading!