Riou bribes Junta. With cupcakes.

[jundere]

Who: Nakazawa Riou & Takase Junta
What: Cupcakes and social networking.
Where & When: Lunchtime at Tousei, the day Junta signed up for Koushien Dream (but before he'd been convinced to.)
Warnings: Riou begging Junta for his love and affection company online, the consumption of Too Many Cupcakes.



Junta yawned. It was finally time for lunch, and class had been seriously dragging. It wasn’t that Junta didn’t like history, or that he wasn’t good at it - he thought it was fine and important enough, but today’s lesson was on taxation and that was so endlessly dull that Junta didn’t even know what to do with himself. He’d been staring aimlessly out the window, fantasizing about sweets when the bell for lunch finally chimed.

Like it was some sort of automatic response, before the bell was even completely done echoing through the hall, Junta was on his feet and headed for the classroom door, jangling his change in his pocket and thinking about what kind of drink he should get to go with the sweets that Riou had undoubtedly brought him. They were going to meet in the cafeteria either way, so that’s where Junta headed, ignoring the furtive glances of girls as he went. Sometimes they gave him these looks like they wanted to ask him to eat with them, but they clearly had no sweets. Junta went where Riou was, because Riou would always have the best baked goods.

When he spotted Riou’s hair above the crowd, Junta half-skipped and half-ran over, clapping his hand on Riou’s back, right between his shoulder-blades. “Hey! Got any good sweets for me today, buddy? I hope so, I was like, dying in class just now. I gotta get some sugar.”

Riou, who should really be accustomed to Junta’s random comings and goings after so many years in his company, jumped and spun around. Junta grinned easily. Riou always overreacted at the least little thing. “Jun-san!” He indicated the sizable box he was carrying. “I brought cupcakes today. Lots of them.”

Junta peered through the gap between the cover and the body of the box. The cupcakes were amazing. They looked beautiful - some of them were a little messier than others, but they were obviously hand-made with care and attention, and an extra helping of frosting. Riou hadn’t gone all for one flavor, either - the variety alone inside the box was stunning. Junta gave a sigh of appreciation, looking from Riou to the cupcakes and back again. “You!” He said, ruffling Riou’s hair. A little absently, he noticed that it was getting harder to reach all the way up there. Riou was growing almost visibly by the day, the jerk. “Let’s find a table, I wanna dig in.”

They found Yamanoi and Motoyama, with some of their classmates, about to leave their table. “Yama-san!” called Riou. “Can we have the table?”

“Sure.” He glanced at the two of them, focusing on Junta after a moment. “Your husband still with his mistress?”

Junta huffed, rolling his eyes and doing his level best to look irritated. “Kazu doesn’t have cram school during lunch, Yamacchi.”

“He’ll realize what a gem you are, eventually,” replied their sempai, with his most exaggerated soppy expression. Their classmates snickered. “And come back with his tail between his legs.”

“Hey, Riou is the puppy,” .Junta argued, plonked himself and the box of cupcakes down as he tried to edge Yamanoi out of his seat. “You, on the other hand, are just late for class.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll leave you two to whatever sweets you have today.” Yamanoi said, grinning as he got to his feet to leave.

Riou sat next to the pitcher, grumbling, “I’m not a puppy.”

“‘Course you’re not,” replied Junta absently, opening his box of treasure. Opening the lid released a wave of delicious in smell form, sugary and a little salty, dense with the scent of flower and chocolate and vanilla. There was even a little scent of coffee coming from a corner cupcake with what looked like butterscotch frosting. Junta decided he was going to save that one for last. He wanted that flavor to stick with him through the next class period.

Junta was trying to decide between devouring an icing-encrusted cupcake or a chocolate-oozing one when he realized that Riou was squirming in his seat. While this was, in itself, not an uncommon occurrence, it was usually Junta who made him squirm, and this time he was fairly sure he hadn’t done anything that might result in squirming. “Riou~,” he sang in a low, dry tone, “you’re squirming. Something you wanna talk about?”

“Uhm.” Riou chewed on his lower lip. “I, uh, was thinking.”

“Really?! Riou was thinking?” Junta drawled in mock-astonishment.

The copper-haired boy pouted. “Jun-san!”

Junta sighed. “Alright, alright! Tell me about it.”

“Um. There’s this... social network... thing. For baseballers,” Riou added hurriedly. “I - that is, I -”

“You joined it?” Junta gave Riou a serious look, brow furrowed just barely in almost parental concern. “You’re barely keeping up with your schoolwork! Do you really have the kind of time -”

“It doesn’t take up much! Time, that is. Like, just in between things - while waiting for dinner, and stuff,” defended Riou. “And I met all these incredible people! Nishiura people, and Haruna is there too with his catcher, and another few guys from, um.... Mihoshi! Some of them post really insane things, like Haruna on pitching and ninjas -”

“On what?!” Junta was pretty sure he must’ve heard that wrong. It was a baseball site, so surely, there wasn’t actually any talk about ninjas.

“Ninjas,” repeated the younger boy. “See, I told you it’s insane. You’ll be so amused! And Mihashi from Nishiura is there too, and he agreed to give me pictures of his funny faces to persuade you to join!”

Junta perked up immediately, his expression turning devilish. “Seriously?”

Riou nodded emphatically. “Yeah! I’m supposed to meet Tajima this weekend, and he’ll pass me those photos. I had to buy yaki-manju for Mihashi as payment though.”

The memory of Mihashi’s truly hilarious faces was just amusing enough to override Junta’s displeasure at the mention of the cleanup who had hit his sinker. He curled his hand around his half-eaten cupcake (the oozy one), unsuccessfully fighting back a snicker. “So... you’ve been talking to them? On this network thing?”

“Mihashi? Yeah. But I can’t get in contact with Tajima. He won’t reply my text messages. So even though I arranged it all with Mihashi already, I have no idea when I can get them. Hopefully the yaki-manju won’t spoil too quickly,” fretted the catcher. “I don’t dare eat it in case he suddenly turns up, but I don’t like to throw away perfectly good food -”

Junta couldn’t help it. He let out a long laugh that shook his shoulders, watching Riou wind himself up into what could only be described as a tizzy. “You’ll go grey if you keep this up! Then you’ll look like an ossan, just like Kazuki!”

“Or worse,” Junta said, his face and his voice getting suddenly very serious as he leaned in close to Riou, “Your hair could just fall right out!” Junta, still looking as devastatingly serious as he possibly could, took another big bite out of his cupcake and made a little mmmph of appreciation, trying to catch a falling crumb with his tongue. He did not catch the crumb, sadly. He did, however, succeed in making a look of sheer panic cross Riou’s face, what with that comment about losing all his hair.

It made Junta laugh again. He couldn’t help it, Riou’s distraught face was too cute, and the fact that he believed just about anything out of Junta’s mouth was just so easy to exploit. Junta set down the baking wrapper from the cupcake he’d finished, and reached over to ruffle up Riou’s hair with both his hands. “Don’t worry, Ri-o-u~,” he said, practically purring as he drew Riou’s name out into all three syllables, “I’ll buy you that cream to put on your head when your hair starts falling out! I’ll still think you’re adorable then, too, poor little hairless puppy.”

Junta ruffled Riou’s hair as thoroughly as he could, making sure it was a tangled, ridiculous mess by the time he pulled back to survey his work. With a nod and a proud little smirk, Junta reached for the frosting-covered cupcake he’d been eyeballing earlier, unwrapping it carefully and trying to decide how he could get his mouth around it without getting frosting on his face. It turned out he couldn’t get his mouth around it without getting frosting on his face, so after the first bite he had a big dollop of white frosting on the tip of his nose.

“If I’m bald you won’t be able to mess my hair anymore,” muttered Riou rebelliously as he shook his head in an extremely doglike way, trying to do something about the mess he couldn’t see. It only made things worse. “Why am I the puppy when you’re the one with stuff all over your nose?”

Gosh, Riou was too cute. He might complain about being called a puppy, but that hair-wag was just unreasonably adorable. Junta might’ve hated Riou a little if he hadn’t been completely wrapped around his little puppy finger. “I have stuff on my nose?” Junta asked, straighting up where he sat and wiping the back of his hand across his face. The then proceeded to lick the glob of frosting off the back of his hand, looking disturbingly like a cat that had been caught in the middle of grooming itself. Tousei really was just a bunch of domesticated animals, after all.

“So that I can keep messing your hair is the reason I’ll get you the hair-cream! Though I’d rumple you up even if you were just wrinkly skin. Like those, those -- what are they called -- sharpei dogs!” Junta laughed at the mental image of Riou with wrinkles that hid his eyes, and shook his head. “No, no way, it’s too much!” He clutched at one side, bending over the table and refusing to look at Riou until he’d collected himself again.

When he could breathe, he sighed, “These cupcakes are really good, though.”

Riou decided not to argue with his friend’s strange imagination. It only got him teased even more. But God, a Shar Pei?! “Yeah. I baked them special for you. So join the network! Please? It’ll be awesome fun!”

Junta stopped mid-bite, in danger of getting frosting on his face again. “... Riou,” he said, careful to not drop any precious cupcake crumbs this time, “Are these cupcakes... a bribe?”

“Eh...” Riou struggled with indecision. Angry Jun-san was such a bad idea, but there was no way to deny it, not when he’d been asked outright. “Erm! Not really? I mean, kinda? I mean, agh, I... okay, these aren’t the bribe. The bribe is Mihashi’s pictures. Uh. Yeah.” He flailed wildly and turned pleading eyes on Junta. “I mean, it’s not a bribe! It’s... an incentive! Yeah, that!”

Junta watched Riou with a long, hard stare. “You must really want me to join this stupid website,” he finally said, sitting back in his chair. He considered it. Spend a few minutes a day online and make Riou unreasonably happy, or spend no time online and make Riou a sad, whimpering lump of a person. Junta decided to be the better man about it, and nodded. “Okay. I’ll join later tonight. But if it’s stupid, Riou, I’m going to quit posting and you’re going to be sad and lonely and alone.”

It was an empty threat, but Junta was pretty sure it would work. Riou was too cute to just abandon... so watching him flail would always be interesting enough to get Junta online every so often. And having a blog wouldn’t be so bad. He could post about personal things there. If it had a private feature, anyway. He did not want Kazu and Riou stumbling over that anytime soon.

“Stop making that face! I said I’d join!” Junta proceeded to pout, finishing his second cupcake in one giant bite, and reaching for the coffee-scented one that he’d spotted at the beginning of lunch.

Riou’s face brightened up like a light bulb that had just been switched on. “You will? Really? Great! Thanks, Jun-san!” He glomped the older boy, but let go when the coffee-butterscotch cupcake came within an inch of his nose. “It’s totally not stupid! You’ll have so much fun! Oh, by the way, there’s a guy there who’s very much like you and - wait!” Interrupting himself in mid-ramble, he pouted. ‘Jun-san, if you quit posting I’ll stop giving you cupcakes! I don’t wanna be sad and lonely and alone!”

Junta reeled back in his chair, set off-balance by Riou’s weight and the force of his hug. Riou was getting so big, it just wasn’t fair. It was cute, it was endearing, but the boy just didn’t realize how big he was yet. It didn’t help that he still gave off an air of little brother, even if Junta didn’t exactly think of him that way.

“Well,” he said, taking a bite of the coffee cupcake -- and then getting totally distracted by the flavor. Damn, but that was a good cupcake. “Oh, Riou,” he said, looking from the cupcake to the redhead and then back again. “This is awesome. If you make me a batch of these, I will post until my fingers fall off.”

On second thought, Junta shook his head. “Okay, not until my fingers fall off. But I’ll keep posting!”
“I’ll make more for tomorrow, then! And link you the network’s homepage!” Riou beamed. He loved how sweets greased Junta’s otherwise creaky and cranky joints. Glowing happily in his success, he took a cupcake studded with colorful M&Ms and began eating.

Junta was a hoarder of sweets, but he supposed he’d let Riou take a cupcake that he himself made, even if it did look delicious. The coffee cupcake was still demanding his attention, either way. “Okay, send me the page and I’ll register. You’re devious, you know. You could have a little mercy on me and not tempt me with sweets all the time,” Junta teased, even though really he knew that if Riou really asked him for anything, he’d have a hard time turning him down. Junta was the type who liked to spoil his favorites, even if he didn’t always let them know that’s what he was doing.

Riou stuck out a multicolored tongue. “I don’t need to be merciful to you. You’re such a meanie sometimes,” retorted the younger boy. “Like how you insist on calling me a puppy. In front of our teammates.”

Riou really was immensely gratified that he’d been able to persuade Junta to join the network. Without those pictures of Mihashi, at that! He mentally gave himself a pat on the back for deciding on cupcakes for today. That had been a good idea. Now Junta would be part of those hilarious online discussions among the baseball players in their region, and Riou might get new insights on how his odd (but still utterly awesome!) friend’s mind worked from his blogposts.

The cupcakes were gone long before the end-of-break bell rang.

Arching his back, Junta stretched his arms up high and sat back from the empty cupcake box. His sigh was one of contentment and satisfaction. “I’m not that mean,” Junta said, shooting for a protest and sounding all-in-all too contented now that he was full of cupcakes. “And the team thinks you’re a puppy even without my calling you one. You’re like our mascot, Riou! We like you, so we tease you a little, it’s not so bad. You always have the best reactions!”

Junta couldn’t help but laugh under his breath, leaning forward on the table and resting his head on his arms. Hopefully the sugar would kick in before the comfort of a full belly made Junta fall asleep in class -- not that he wouldn’t pass all the tests if he did, but it wasn’t a good example for his adorable kouhai.

Riou pouted at his sempai before he realized what he was doing and tried to change it to a glare. It ended up as a childish sulk. “Meanie,” he muttered again. Then he remembered something important. “Oh! Kazu-san joined the network last night. I completely forgot!”

Junta perked up immediately, distracted - for now - from Riou’s pouty, adorably whiny little self. “Kazuki did? That -- he hardly even returns my text messages and he’s online now? I’m gonna -- oh, I am joining.” Junta folded his arms over his chest, shifting his weight back where he sat. Kazu was being avoidant and blaming cram school, but if he was online Junta owed him a serious guilt trip... and Riou was asking and it did seem like it could be funny. “I’ll let you know when I’m on.”

“Okay!” Riou beamed, forgetting that he was supposed to be angry with Junta.

It was decided, then.