[Log] Yuushi & Gakuto [Closed] / Part 1

[dynamite_red]

Who: Oshitari Yuushi & Mukahi Gakuto
When: April 23
Where: Atobe's mansion where Gaku's been staying, then in a car and a reception hall, then back again. XD
Summary: Gakuto dresses as a woman to accompany Yuushi to a wedding so he doesn't have to go with some girl he doesn't even like....and ends up getting WAY more than he bargained for.
Warning/Rating: PG, to be safe. Gakuto's language, I think. ^^;
Player Comments: FINALLY finished! After like a month. This log really ran away with us....a lot of this wasn't even planned~ Also, because it's so massive, I was a little lax on the proofreading. Forgive any mistakes, kay?

Comments/Crits allowed: Y


Gakuto was completely ready for this. He had a waist-length red-haired wig, color identical to his own natural one, all done up in elegant curls. His dress fit just right, tight in the right places, loose where it needed to be, and filled in where it was required. He'd sewn "breasts" into the chest area of the dress, and it fit snugly enough across the torso that despite the open back, he had full range of motion without any of his secrets being revealed. His shoes were perfectly coordinated, elegant, with low heels so as not to be unbearably uncomfortable. He'd even gone and had a manicure, French tips on his nails, all nicely buffed and polished (he'd take them off later with some of his sister's acetone nail polish remover). He'd gotten tips on makeup from a drag queen that frequented the host club, and so he'd done himself up that way as well with colors that complemented his features while still remaining soft and subtle.

Now all he had to do was set himself mentally into character. No slang, no swearing, no loud, crude comments that would give him away as coming from a lower class. Easy. He'd been around so many posers that he knew well how to do it himself.

As he settled his wig onto his head and pinned it in securely, he talked to his reflection to practice. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Yasuda Rika." Pause, imagining himself being asked how he knows the newly married couple. "I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure to meet them personally. I'm here as a guest of Oshitari Yuushi-kun." More pausing, more imaginary dialogue as he clipped on a pair of earrings. "The ceremony was absolutely lovely, but most importantly, even I could see how happy they are today." A smile, a bat of the eyelashes...

He glanced at the clock. Yuushi should be here any minute.

Outside the door Yuushi adjusted the classy, platinum cufflinks at his wrist. He was dressed in a smartly pressed navy blue suit, jacket closed at only the top button so that a small triangle of his crisp white dress shirt peaked through above his belt. Surely when he met up with his parents his mother would nag at him to wear his suit properly, but until then he would wear it in the way he found most comfortable. Slightly wary of the night ahead, of introducing Gakuto to his parents and their friends at the wedding, Yuushi smiled distractedly at the maid who led him in.

Gakuto had been confident that he could even fool Yuushi into believing he was a girl, and while Gakuto had impressed Yuushi in the past of his ability to dress with more femininity than actual girls Yuushi knew, Yuushi was still doubtful he could be deceived, especially after Gakuto opened his (more-often-than-not rude) mouth. They had known each other too long for that, he thought as he arrived in front of Gakuto's room in Atobe's mansion. As long as Gakuto could play his part before the others, it would be fine.

Yuushi nodded at the maid, indicating that she should return to her original post. Placing two polite knocks on Gakuto's door, he waited for Gakuto answer instead of letting himself in. The act of taking an honorable lady to an elegant, upscale wedding began now.

"Fairest mademoiselle, will you reveal your divinely beauty before my worshipful eyes?" Yuushi said, quoting from the most recent romance novel he had read, with a hint of amusement intertwining with his anticipation at seeing how Gakuto had transformed himself.

Gakuto heard the knocks and took one last, deep breath, letting any nervousness he might have leave his body on the exhale. He could do this. He'd been doing this - on varying levels - for the entirety of his life, after all. The only thing that made him even a little concerned is that he'd said he'd be able to fool even Yuushi... They'd been friends for so long that fooling him would be damn near impossible. But perhaps if he started off treating it like they'd never met, like maybe he'd gone and found a girl that looked like him to actually go with Yuushi instead of cross-dressing himself like he'd said he would, then maybe.........

He crossed the room from the mirror to the door, taking those few steps as if he was in front of the audience already, then pulled the door open. "I apologize for keeping you, Oshitari-kun," Gakuto spoke, his voice a fair imitation of his sister's. Luckily for him, even though puberty had deepened his voice years ago, it'd never gone anywhere near as deep as Yuushi's. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Yasuda Rika, and I will be accompanying you to this lovely event." He couldn't help giving Yuushi a once-over, and bit back one of his usual amused-but-annoyed little sighs. Yuushi looked sexy as hell, all dressed up like that. But of course he would. It was Yuushi, after all; Gakuto should have known.

For the few seconds after the door swung open, Yuushi just stared. Even though he had been preparing to see Gakuto dressed as a woman, it took half a beat for him to realize that the gir--bo--person standing before him was indeed Gakuto, wearing a dress that was anything but modest, with a long slit that ran down from mid-thigh and made Yuushi's eyes linger much longer than propriety allowed. Despite that Yuushi had taken out countless narrow-waisted, slim-legged, frontally endowed women, Gakuto was making his way fast as one of the hottest dates Yuushi had ever had.

The evening is definitely kicking off to an auspicious start, Yuushi thought just as he realized that he had done nothing but ogle for the past half-minute. Taken by surprise at how uncharacteristic it was that he found himself wordless, Yuushi nevertheless spread one of his classic smirks across his lips and re-gathered his thoughts.

"Rika-san, you must excuse my rude silence, for the sight of you had momentarily dispossessed me of all speech," Yuushi said, finding his voice naturally dipping impossibly deeper than usual. Taking one of Gakuto's hands with its...manicured nails, Yuushi pressed a feigned kiss to it like he had been taught at the Society & Manner classes in Hyoutei. "It is my utmost pleasure to escort you tonight."

After he managed to fight away the little bit of flush that crept to his cheeks from being looked at like that, Gakuto's initial instinct was to yell something along the lines of 'ha! I had you fooled there for a minute, didn't I?' Instead he bit his tongue and simply smiled, lingering in the self-satisfaction that he'd kept Yuushi speechless for that long.

"There is nothing to excuse, Oshitari-kun, as I happen to be the kind of woman that enjoys knowing she's taken a man's breath away, even if only for a moment." He curtsied smoothly, and when he rose, he took Yuushi's arm so they looked to all the world like a gentleman escorting a lady, and gently initiated the walk back out of the house. "There are, you know, a few details we must set straight before we arrive at the wedding. How did we meet? How long have we been acquainted? Are we in a relationship, or am I simply the young lady you chose to decorate your side for the night?" It felt almost like he was at work, conspiring with his client as to what they'd tell the family and friends, only it was much more fun. Yuushi was his friend and partner, which meant they knew each other well enough that they wouldn't stumble over details if it was something that had had to be made up on the spur of the moment. There wouldn't be any awkward, surprised pauses over inconsistencies from the original plan. Just like in tennis, the plan was fluid and easily adapted.

"Well," Yuushi said, slowing them down at the stairs to make sure Gakuto didn't topple them down to their deaths in his heels, though they looked safe enough for walking, "when my mother last asked me about my date, I had assured her the girl is one of my former classmates from Hyoutei--always a safe card--and that I had taken interest in her at the Foreign Exchange Club ever since I came to Tokyo. We've never gone out until now because we had always been preoccupied with other people--not hard to believe if she looks like that." Yuushi looked Gakuto up and down pointedly as they reached the foyer. "We should probably figure out what corporation you have family ties with, too, since you will no doubt be asked. Other than that, I think we can play things by ear."

Gakuto listened and nodded. A classmate from Hyoutei was a safe way to go. It created an instance for them to have met, to have even gotten to know each other, to have potentially even built a friendship before being asked to the wedding. Many of the things Gakuto knew about Yuushi from their friendship could be used in discussions, so he wouldn't need to think too hard or be too creative. The events themselves wouldn't be fake, just his relation to said events. "Well, I am being picked up from one of the Atobe family houses. That alone could establish a connection to Atobe's family and business." If needed, Gakuto could ask Atobe to vouch for the connection if anyone decided to research his alter-ego, but he hated the idea. He'd rather stab himself in the eye.

He kept thinking as they made their way to the sleek black car that waited outside. "Or Akutagawa Jirou-kun." Jirou would definitely back him up if any of the crowd decided to check up on his background, and Gakuto didn't shudder at the thought of asking him for a favor. "His family is rather well connected, also, and is not quite so...ostentatious." Gakuto couldn't help chuckling a little. Ostentatious was not the kind of word he'd normally use, outside of making fun of someone. It was actually the kind of word people seemed to expect him not to even know, much less use properly. Ah, how some people underestimated him.
He let the driver hold the car door as he slid into the seat, being careful not to flash too much leg, and he had to admit to himself that it was pretty fun to go to this extreme sometimes.

As the driver walked around to the other side of the car, Yuushi raised an amused brow at Gakuto. "You should be careful in that dress. Your escort gets jealous when his date shows off to other men," Yuushi deadpanned, sliding in next to Gakuto. "But right, I think we should ask Jirou to back us up later if anything comes up. It's not as easy to find information on his family, besides, since it isn't as...ostentatious, as you pointed out." Bumping shoulders with Gakuto, Yuushi chuckled lightly. "I forget sometimes how talented you are at pretending to be rich and snobby, but then I remember that you used to be a Hyoutei kid and it all makes sense."

Gakuto grinned at the compliments. If he were a more timid person, he'd probably blush. "Emphasis on the 'used to be', of course." He shifted the long hair over one shoulder, making himself a little more comfortable. It was kind of weird, feeling hair against his back like that, but probably only because he simply wasn't used to it.

"But as for me being careful..." He leaned in, resting a hand on Yuushi's thigh and pretending he needed it there to be able to speak into his ear better. "It's going to be an interesting night, then," he purred a little, letting just a hint of his natural voice show through, "because I happen to like being the center of attention when I'm performing."

Deciding that two could play at a game--though not an entirely safe game, unlike the ones Yuushi played with actual girls he'd taken out--Yuushi threaded his fingers through Gakuto's on his thigh and brought their hands into Gakuto's lap over a flash of bare skin. "Love, you're always at the center of my attentions," he murmured, heavily-accented, in his lowest, richest voice, the one that never failed to melt girls into a pile of putty in his hands. His lips skimmed Gakuto's cheek for a moment, light as a wind over water, as he spoke. "Is that alone unable to satisfy you?"

Gakuto had to force himself not to react to Yuushi using that damn voice trick. He had the feeling that if the tensai knew Gakuto had a weakness for that voice and accent of his, he'd use it to his advantage all the damn time. "If I believed such pretty words, perhaps, it might be enough," he replied, pretending to be thoughtful. "But since I am more convinced you say such things to all the ladies that catch your fancy... No, it most definitely is not."

... Well shit. Maybe he wasn't all that over his crush on Yuushi after all. Not if there was part of him wondering if they'd be having the same conversation if he was wearing a tux instead of a dress.

"If you're unconvinced by words, for words are cheap, then should I convince you in actions?" Yuushi said before he thought much of it. He slipped his fingers into the long, silky threads of hair on the other side of Gakuto's face and held Gakuto's gaze with an intensity that poured forth with no conscious effort from him--and it was this realization that made him drop his hands back down by his own side. He knew that if Gakuto called him out on this bluff he would lose, not this game but one of his closest friends because to Yuushi this was different from carrying out a dare or a turn of Spin the Bottle. It actually meant something. And he would lose because he was sure it didn't to Gakuto.

Yuushi smirked with smugness that did not reach his eyes as he slid back into his own seat. "But ah, the night has yet to set upon us," he said, adjusting his glasses which glinted in the sunlight. "We wouldn't want to spoil everything in the previews, would we?"

Shit. Shit shit shit shiiiiiiiiiit. That look in Yuushi's eyes just then....that.... That had not seemed like part of the show, part of the game, and Gakuto had not anticipated it. It set his heart pounding in his chest, and even if he'd wanted to say something, he wouldn't have been able to.

He was a little relieved when Yuushi pulled away. A little relieved....and a little disappointed. He couldn't count the number of times when, in junior high, he'd imagined some sort of moment like that, just an intense silence as they looked at each other and slowly, it dawned on them that there wasn't a need to look anywhere else. Some of those imaginary scenarios had led to simple confessions or sudden, passionate kisses......and others had not been nearly so tame.

Yuushi's quick recovery gave Gakuto a moment to recompose himself, and he sat neatly in the seat, legs primly together, hands clasped in his own lap. "I never did like previews," he commented softly, more his own voice than the false feminine one he'd need later. "They're just teases."

"They come part and parcel with dating Oshitari Yuushi. Its part of the fun," Yuushi said smoothly, evenly, having suppressed most of the red-hot coils of fire that had surged up into his chest just a moment ago. "Though you should know that I rarely show just previews. But then again, I've never taken out someone like you," he continued, carefully detached and vague. To be perfectly honest, if Gakuto pressed him about the details of his last sentence he might have told him the truth then because his own evasion tired him sometimes. But in the next breath Yuushi found their car at the entrance of the reception hall, all elegant Greek columns and buttresses, and the driver was already opening the door on Gakuto's side. Yuushi tried not to wonder if this was fortunate or very, very frustrating.

"Ready?" he asked, catching Gakuto's eyes as he opened his own door.

Gakuto wasn't sure he wanted to know exactly what Yuushi was referring to with that last line of his. Curious, yes, but sometimes ignorance was bliss.

Either way, he didn't have the time to ask. They were there, and Gakuto took a long, deep breath, settling back into character. "Ready? Oshitari Yuushi, I was born ready." His voice was feminine again, and he flashed Yuushi his most brilliant smile. "The question is, are they?" He gestured to the other arriving cars that carried with them other guests to the wedding. Then, he took the driver's offered hand and stepped out of the car. There was no turning back, now. "Let the
show begin~!"

Yuushi had to smile as he rounded to Gakuto's side because though the voice was several pitches higher than Gakuto's, the words were still so strikingly colored with Gakuto's brand of confidence. Taking Gakuto's right hand in his own right and floating his left at the small of Gakuto's back, Yuushi walked them to the steps leading up to the door where he spotted his parents and sister making small talk with a family friend as they waited for him.

"Our first checkpoint," Yuushi whispered, moving his lips minimally, as the crowd took notice of the two of them. A polite but charming smile spread across Yuushi's face as he bowed shallowly at his family, apologizing for the wait, and bowed more deeply at the other family.

"Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to see you again, Yamada-san. You and your lovely wife and daughter are looking radiant, as always." Seeing Yamada's eyes drift toward Gakuto after giving his own greetings, Yuushi said, in no rush, "And if I may introduce the lady accompanying me this evening, this is Yasuda Rika-san."

Gakuto could feel all eyes on him, waiting expectantly. The Yamadas seemed simply curious, but the other Oshitaris... They were hard to read, and he had to think it ran in the family. The one feeling he did get clearly was that he'd better play his part perfectly, or there'd be hell to pay.

He smiled brilliantly as he did a move that was as much a traditional bow as it was a curtsy. "It's an honor to meet you all."

Casually scanning the faces of the people whose eyes were trained on Gakuto, nodding back to his greeting and not letting on to sensing anything strange, Yuushi met his sister's subtly questioning gaze. To ensure secrecy of Gakuto's identity it would be best not to linger too long in front of any group that might get too close a look at Gakuto, no matter how convincing his act was. Quickly, Yuushi threw a look at the entrance and as he expected his sister, his long-time partner in crime, caught on to the message and suggested that they check into the reception now that everyone had arrived.

As the adults moved forward toward the check-in table, Yuushi put a hand on Gakuto wrist to stop him from following. When the others were a good few meters ahead, he explained softly, "My sister will keep the conversation flowing in a different direction. Beforehand my mother agreed not to launch questions at you right away, but she'll be back to talk to you later in the night. By then, hopefully she'll have had a few flutes of champagne. In my mother and sister's lucid states their powers of observation are much too frightening for us to risk."

Gakuto's eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me your faith in me is so little, Oshitari-kun." His words and pitch were all 'Rika's', but the tone was Gakuto's, both disappointed and irritated. "What do you think they'll see that would be so disappointing?" It was tempting to just walk away from Yuushi's side, march straight up to Yuushi's mom, and initiate the conversation himself..... But Yuushi did know his own family, and Gakuto had to trust him when he said they'd be the most difficult to convince. Even if he didn't like the implication that they'd have to be tipsy to buy it.

"This has less to do with my faith in you than my hope that we will be able to go home with our heads attached to our necks," Yuushi said. He didn't want to hurt Gakuto's pride, but while Gakuto was only here for tonight, that woman was Yuushi's mother for life. Though she had perhaps only met Gakuto enough times to count on one hand, Yuushi suspected that she would be able to see through Gakuto's act faster than he would were he in her position. Her eyes, after all, had no reason to wander away from a somehow familiar face. Yuushi sighed inwardly.

"Just be careful my mother, all right?" he said, offering his arm like an olive branch. "You're invincible around everyone else, talking like a prissy princess and looking the part. Well." Yuushi frowned at one of the guards whose leery gaze was low on Gakuto back, at whom Yuushi glared hard until the man caught on and looked away ashamedly. "Or maybe you're just dangerous in a different sense."

Gakuto noticed Yuushi's frown and its direction and turned, just in time to see the guard look away. He couldn't help a little chuckle at that. If only the guard knew what lay beneath the dress... Gakuto had a feeling that this wouldn't be the only time someone got caught staring; looks were part of why he'd chosen the dress he had, after all. "I am invincible around everyone I choose to be, your mother included." She was counted in the list of people that Gakuto couldn't care less about, and whose opinions did not matter. "But I don't have to live with her." He took Yuushi's arm and leaned against his side a little. "I'll be careful, for your sake. You look far more attractive with your head on," he grinned. "Now come on. We can't keep the party waiting, after all~"

Stroking a red curl that had fallen into his hand, Yuushi nodded and begin to walk them toward the check-in table. "I thank you for your understanding, fairest Rika-san. And I will accept that as a compliment to my face instead of dwelling on the possibility of it being a dismissal of my body," he said as he slipped into an act of polite teasing with his "Hyoutei princess" of a date. "I've been playing tennis most my life, did you know? The practices are grueling, especially since Atobe's in charge--and you know how he is--but they sculpt art out of our bodies." Yuushi raised his eyebrows suggestively before turning to state his name (with guest), and the two of them were let into a long, candle-lit corridor that led down to the reception hall.

Yuushi tilted his head at the candles and smiled fondly. "Well, isn't this romantic in a time of electricity conservation."

Gakuto bit back a comment about people staring in locker rooms and smiled instead. They weren't alone in the corridor, so he kept the conversation going for appearances. "I think I may have seen you on the courts a time or two. I've tried to play myself, a little, but it turns out I'm not very good at it. As for what those practices do to your bodies... I must say I've not seen enough to determine if I'd call it art," he teased, giving Yuushi a little wink.

"They do cast quite a warm glow, don't they? And it's very kind of them to be conscious of the nation's needs. I regret to admit I know a few families who are not bothering to use less electricity than they are accustomed to." That much was true, at least. A couple houses in the Hyoutei-kid neighborhoods had all their lights on a few nights ago. Every window lit, all the outdoor lighting on and shining brightly as if they were above the disasters that had created such havoc only a short while ago.

"How forward of you to admit what you've seen. I like it," Yuushi said, chuckling. When he spoke the way he did to most girls, they would blush and he would tell them it was cute and they would smile--it was all so predictable. But Gakuto was different, more exciting than that. Of course. "And I think I would also like it very much if you could join me on the courts one day. We could play doubles. Or if you're concerned about not being able to play well, I could offer you very thorough, personal lessons on strokes." The last sentence Yuushi whispered into Gakuto's hair, strokes rolling off his tongue in a low, filthy hush out of place with the modest, classy atmosphere of the venue. Speaking of which...

"And I wouldn't decide on the thoughtfulness of the bride and groom just yet," Yuushi said, eying the white light that slipped through the cracks of the double brass doors before them. "The middle-upper-class's middle name is 'selfish,' did you know. Besides, this day only comes once for them. "

Gakuto tried very, very hard to pretend that Yuushi's voice hadn't just sounded like that, that he hadn't made such a sexual innuendo. And Yuushi said that Gakuto was the dangerous one... If anything Yuushi said or did made his body react like any teenage boy's could, the whole game would be over. There was room enough to hide in the dress under normal circumstances, but it wasn't that much room. "I'd definitely need lessons before even considering doubles... Besides. Don't you have a partner for that already? I've heard that doubles partnerships are sacred things..."

Okay, so maybe the candles weren't all that thoughtful, and perhaps were there only for the romance of it, but still. "Well, I do know some that would've had this entire corridor alight with electricity, in addition to the main areas. Whether even this much conservation was intentional can be debated, but in times like these, every bit helps, regardless of intent."

"Well, aren't you wonderfully considerate--how pleasantly refreshing for someone of your family background," Yuushi said, stopping and waiting for the door to be opened and for someone to hand them their name plates with a table number. Taking the little plate and stepping into a room that, as he expected, was lit up in chandeliers, Yuushi searched around for Table 12. When he spotted it in the deepest left corner of the room, he frowned as he realized that the table was reserved for the under-20 guests present and that several of them were unpleasantly familiar faces from school.

He raised his eyebrows in question at Gakuto. "I'll leave it up to you: we can stay here and eat with the people we thought we just rid ourselves of for good, or we can grab some food and elope out by the fountain and return when the dancing starts. I'm leaning towards the latter since, you know, with just our luck, my troublesome little doubles partner might arrive at our table and ruin our dinner. Party-crasher, that one." Yuushi grinned, nudging at Gakuto in the shoulder playfully.

Gakuto eyed the table, and the Hyoutei trash currently seated around it. Fortunately, it seemed like none of them were any he'd had conflicts or even extended interactions with. Most, in fact, probably didn't even know he - his real self, of course - existed. There was the chance that he'd be recognized...but at the same time, the chance to toy with them a little was a bit too tempting to pass up. "Oh, let’s stay. For one, as far as anybody here knows, I have no reason not to. And for two...." He gave Yuushi a mischievous grin. "I feel like giving them a taste of their own medicine, after all these years." Oh, the plans he was forming...

"If you're fine with them, I have no reason to take advantage of this myself," Yuushi said, adjusting his glasses like an evil mastermind. Though there was the chance of one of them calling Gakuto--or Yasuda Rika, rather--out on not being a student at Hyoutei, he/she could be easily fended off as being ignorant, or Gakuto and Yuushi could stage an act of taking utmost offense at him/her not knowing even Yasuda Rika and being the sheep that Hyoutei students were, the rest of them would likely join in on their side despite that they themselves didn't know the name either. Yuushi rolled his eyes inwardly but smirked to himself. Their stupidity made the game too easy, but it was worthwhile entertainment sometimes. He gestured to the path before them, offering his hand. "Shall we?"

Gakuto was glad to see Yuushi was up for it too and took his arm. "They've already done their worst to me,” he smiled, happy to note some of the looks he was getting as they passed by other tables on the way to their own. "They can't do any worse than that now. Besides. Now it's my turn to make them feel invisible." His first plan involved not even acknowledging their presence at the table and focusing solely on Yuushi until either Yuushi introduced him to them, or one of them bothered to make an attempt at conversation. It was going to be so much fun.

Yuushi only smirked in reply, ready to play along with whatever Gakuto had in mind, already forming an idea for what Gakuto was thinking. They had not been doubles partners all these years for nothing, after all. When they arrived at their table, he nodded politely, casually, once for everyone at the table, as if they were not deemed important enough for individual greetings.

All of them were gathered on one side of the table, having been previously involved in conversation, no doubt some gossip involving who hooked up with whom after one of the many graduation parties. Pulling out a chair for Gakuto on the other side of the table, directly facing the rest of the crowd, Yuushi directed his lazily charming smile at his date as he waited for her to sit. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a girl whom Yuushi remembered to be rudely nosy from first-year homeroom staring at them with wide eyes. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Yuushi didn't rush forth with introductions. He wasn't Hyoutei's Emperor of Ice, but he was no stranger to giving the cold shoulder to people who weren't worth his time.

Gakuto didn't even bother to nod at the other members of the table as he took his seat, positioning himself with the table at his side as if the table was empty. "I always worry about these kinds of events," he sighed, crossing his legs (and flashing a fair amount of skin) as he leaned against the back of the chair. "I do hope we aren't going to be surrounded with inadequate company." He paused, surveying the surroundings with a critical eye. "I might have to complain."

"Now, now, don't be cross, love," Yuushi said, patting Gakuto's hand. "You know few can be deserving of your company, especially not the usual crowd from our school." ...Who accept every social invitation that comes their way like fawning, obsequious followers of some classless society code went unsaid as Yuushi took into consideration the kind of grudge these rich kids could hold against him and his family if he pushed too far. He would just toe the line, then back off--nothing different from usual, really. "Wouldn't it be awfully unpleasant if they were present today?"

Pretending just to have noticed the girl opening and closing her mouth like a fish, Yuushi turned his head and threw a smile her way that was the epitome of fake, condescending politesse. "It's very rude to stare, miss. Is there something you need?" He watched with a look of pity as she floundered incoherently, waiting for her to come out of her state of prideful disbelief that she had been so cleanly forgotten. At last, after Yuushi had taken on to looking bored, she said, sulk weighing heavily in her every word, "I'm Nakayama Erika, Oshitari-kun. We were in the same homeroom once."

"Oh, yes...of course," Yuushi said, then turned to Gakuto and made a face like, Do you remember her?

"Unpleasant would be an understatement," Gakuto remarked with a roll of his eyes as he flipped a lock of hair behind his shoulder. His gaze had still only fallen on Yuushi, and it only changed after that look that Yuushi gave him when the girl had introduced herself. In truth, he didn't need to think to recall her - he'd had classes with her when he was in junior high and she was a class-A bitch, as well as someone who liked to gossip, though her tales were simply those, unlike his own gossip network which could dig up facts. But he did pretend to think, to search the depths of his memory, and only as he was thinking did he give her a sideways glance. "Oh, I think I remember. Isn't she the one that talks too much, and puts her nose into places where it finds itself unwelcome?" he asked, talking about her as if she wasn't there in person.

"Memorable, isn't she," Yuushi said, watching with amusement as the Erika looked to her friends for help and they only looked away guiltily. Some even shrugged, as if suggesting that she come to terms with her bad habits. Some friends. Appearing to be on the verge of tears, Erika excused herself from the table and ran for the restroom. Yuushi would have felt bad for making a girl cry had he not seen her on numerous accounts doing the same thing to defenseless, nameless girls in the cafeteria.

"So Oshitari-kun," the girl sitting to the right of the chair Erika had vacated said, as if nothing had happened. "Are you going to introduce us to your date? She's very pretty. Where did she graduate from?"

"I don't believe she needs me as her spokesperson." Yuushi turned to Gakuto, raising his eyebrows, finding that he honestly had no memories of this girl and did not know whether she deserved to be played with or not. He wasn't fond of hurting the innocent. "Rika-san?"

Gakuto wasn't usually the type to make girls cry...as a guy, it only made him look like a bully, even in a school like Hyoutei where the girls were vicious. But he was a girl, now...at least as far as everyone was concerned. That just made the playing field even.

He didn't recognize this girl, though, so he had no reason to be as mean to her as he'd been to Erika. Indifferent, perhaps, but not mean. "Yasuda Rika. Hyoutei class of 2011," he stated, examining the manicure on his nails as if it was the most fascinating thing for a moment before glancing up at her. "And you are...?"

"Sugiura Keiko," the girl said, having learned from Erika not to be bothered that Yuushi and his date didn't know her name. "And oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know you went to Hyoutei, too. I've never seen you around before, and I thought I'd definitely remember your face if we've met." She smiled with all her teeth at Gakuto as waiter came around with a small plate of delicately wrapped mystery food hors d'oeuvres and informed them that the speeches would begin soon, and then dinner would be served. "Yasuda-san, Yasuda-san, you should try one of these. They're very good."

Yuushi bit back a laugh at the way Keiko was acting as if Gakuto was her best friend despite admitting not to have known that he even attended Hyoutei before. "Would you care for one, Rika-san?" Yuushi asked, curling his fingers loosely around one of Gakuto's delicate wrists, then trailing them down to entwine with Gakuto's fingers, and knowing that the rest of the table's eyes were intent on them as if they were watching some trendy summer drama on television. This might be even more fun--if not, certainly less dangerous--than the game they played in the car.

Gakuto felt all too amused that Sugiura thought she'd recognize 'Rika'. If only she knew... "Well, we must not have met, then." He left off the or you're too stupid to remember that he'd reserve for those he had grudges against. "It is a large school, after all." He ignored her insistence about the hors d'oeuvres and turned one of his most charming smiles to Yuushi, going along with the caresses and returning them with a few of his own. "Mm...But I don't want to get my hands dirty. Perhaps if you're willing to feed one to me..."

Glasses catching the bright white light of the chandeliers, Yuushi mused, partly to Gakuto, partly to himself, "Can we have that here, can we now...." He hummed, long and thoughtful, as he picked up one of the hors d'oeuvres and leaned in close to Gakuto, holding it in the tight distance between their mouths. Right as he brought it before Gakuto's lips, he popped it in his own mouth, capturing it between his teeth like a trophy--or a challenge. "These aren't half bad," he said, holding the tiny fried cheese dumpling still whole in his cheek and keeping the same distance between his and Gakuto's face. They were so close Yuushi could feel Gakuto's breath against his lips. "You should really try one of these yourself."

Oh, so Yuushi was going to play it like that, huh? Silly tensai. He should know Gakuto would go for something like that...

" I think I will," Gakuto giggled, as if this was some silly little thing Yuushi did all the time, and put his index finger on the underside of Yuushi's chin. He leaned in, lips parting to take a bite, and the tips of their noses brushed as he bit into the dumpling. Any closer and their lips would have touched. He leaned back slowly, then, chewing thoughtfully. "Mmmm....Not bad at all," he remarked with a rather satisfied smirk, watching for Yuushi's reaction.

And this, this was what he'd been so afraid of in the car when he pulled away, that Gakuto would take him up on his bluff because he didn't just didn't...didn't know. Swallowing his heart back down where it belongs from where it had leaped into his throat, Yuushi clamped his mouth shut tight and bit his lip hard in the process, wincing in a tiny twitch of muscle that Gakuto might have been able to catch but their adoring crowd of viewers, who were now ooohing in hushed tones, would not be able to see. For a moment Yuushi panicked, felt his heartbeat speed up faster than it would at the climax of the most thrilling match as he searched desperately for words, any words at all, before anyone found out that something had gone amiss. He hated that he was out of control.

It turned out he didn't have to bother with his rush, however, as the room fell dark then, and the spotlights fell upon the newlywed couple. He still owned Gakuto some form of reply, though, he thought as he more leisurely calmed his mind while the bridesmaid gathered her note cards. "Aren't you lucky you ate before this began. You'll need the energy for the touching sobfests coming up," he whispered, his voice sounding normal enough, but the heaviness of his heart not matching the lightness of his tone.

Gakuto's own heart was pounding, because really, he knew he shouldn't have done that. No friend gets that close to kissing another friend without their being something more than that underneath it all. It was probably all on his end, Yuushi had probably assumed he wouldn't do it....or at least, not planned on him doing it.... But he could see the reaction in Yuushi's eyes, even if the rest of his face betrayed very little, and something in them gave Gakuto pause and made him wonder if there wasn't more than just simple surprise there.

He was glad for the dimming of the lights, because he could feel his cheeks heating up, and the last thing he wanted was for Yuushi to see him blushing. "...Nah," he whispered, guard dropped enough to answer like Gakuto would, and not like Rika. "I don't know these people. If anything, I'll end up sleeping through the speeches."

"Yes. Yes, I suppose that's true," Yuushi said. He chanced a look at Gakuto out of the corner of his eyes but directed his attention back to the front of the room before he could take a proper look at his face because he didn't know whether he wanted to see a reaction there or not. Though Gakuto had reverted back to using his own voice, it was still hard to tell based on just that. After a few moments passed of respectfully listening to happy-happy friendship memories, Yuushi cleared his throat softly, murmuring below the gentle, constant buzz of the microphone, "Are you...okay?" Upon realizing the strangeness of the question given what just happened, he patched up quickly: "I mean, are you cold at all? You can have my jacket if you're cold. It's kind of...cold in here." Yuushi did not feel cold anywhere on his body.

"I'm fine," Gakuto replied, realizing it was hard to make a whisper sound like a girl. If he didn't try, though, he'd end up making himself nuts, thinking about that look in Yuushi's eyes that he couldn't place and what it might mean...or worse, he might make a mistake when the lights came back up that would reveal the truth to the entire reception, and that was simply not an option. "I'm actually....a little warm, believe it or not." Fortunately, not dangerously warm...but it wouldn't take much to change that. "They talk too much," he muttered, still trying to keep Rika's voice. "Don't they know people have short attention spans and almost nobody is listening anymore?"

"It's sweet, though, isn't it. They're happy," Yuushi said, feeling a swell of something sappy well in his chest as the microphone went to the groom's side after a long applause. Still a little shaken up, Yuushi got the feeling that though he too barely knew the couple personally he would not last until the end of the speeches and, by the looks of a projector's presence, a picture slideshow with dry eyes. Not that Gakuto had never seen him cry before, usually over one fictional romance or another, but just--too much had happened already tonight. Eying the darkened hallway behind them that led to the restrooms, Yuushi hoped that there were emergency exits back there. If not, he could always just splash some water over his face. He had been too impulsive, totally not himself, for the past few hours. He needed to stop. He and Gakuto had too much friendship between them to consider anything more.

"Excuse me. My stomach isn't feeling very good," Yuushi said, sliding out of his seat into the back hallway.

Gakuto blinked, surprised by Yuushi's excusing himself. Somehow, he'd almost expected this to be Yuushi's favorite part, with the touching stories of how perfect a couple the two were, how happy they'd be together, the romantic things they'd done for each other... And as for his stomach not feeling well...well, he'd know if it was food related if his own stomach started bothering him, but somehow he kind of doubted it. In fact, he had the urge to chase after him and find out what was really wrong, but he'd feel pretty stupid if it turned out to be Yuushi's stomach after all.

He'd give him a few minutes, Gakuto decided. If the groom's side finished their speeches and Yuushi wasn't back yet, then he'd go after him. For now, he'd just take the time to settle himself back into Rika's persona so he'd be ready to act when the lights went up.

As Yuushi had hoped, the hall ended in an emergency exit between the two restrooms. Seeing nothing that warned of an alarm going off if the door was opened, he pushed out into the early evening air that chilled the wind rolling in wave-like currents through the courtyard, sweeping flower petals in Yuushi's hair. He tried to brush them out with his fingers but frowned when the winds gained strength and his hair flew in every-which direction. Not exactly the distraction he'd imagined, but it was something.

Slumping against the door, Yuushi put his face in his hands and let his mind wash blank for a moment. It was better not to think because he'd thought about this for too long, thought about the maybes and what-ifs and all the possibilities that weren't. They were fine the way they were. Better than fine; they were great. Great, great friends. And great, great friends did not imagine what his best friend and tennis partner might look like beneath him, above him, fingers everywhere, panting his name, smelling like spice in summer--touch and burn.

Applause sounded from within. The groom had probably finished his speech, and Gakuto might come check to make sure Yuushi didn't die in the toilet if he didn't make his way back in soon. He was a master of losing his heart, he reminded himself as he slipped slowly back into the dark hallway. He knew what he was doing.

Gakuto got up when the applause started. Yuushi wasn't back, and his own stomach felt fine; the two combined made him worry something was up. He made his way out towards where Yuushi had gone, and felt relieved to find him in the hall.

"Hey. You okay, Yuushi?" he asked, dropping the act for a moment as he looked Yuushi over. His hair was a mess, and if the sound of the wind was any indication, he'd been outside. Gakuto reached up and ran his fingers through Yuushi's hair, combing it out a bit and removing a stray petal or two that he found.
Yuushi smiled, soft and easy, when he saw Gakuto coming his way, having expected it. "The wind feels great. Thanks," he said as he let Gakuto pick things out of his hair. "They should do the wedding pictures outside, cut down on wind machine costs." Putting an arm around Gakuto's shoulders, Yuushi felt all the awkwardness from before drain away as the gesture felt less like he was wrapping himself around his date and more like a friendly show of partnership after a match. "Sorry for leaving you by yourself for a moment there. Let's hurry back in; I want to see the picture slideshow they have lined up."

But just as they had taken a step back toward the reception hall, Yuushi saw his mother standing at the end of the hallway. Her eyes went from Yuushi's still half-tousled hair to the close press of his and Gakuto's bodies to the restrooms behind them. He could hear her drawing conclusions but didn't feel panicked by them--he'd had years of experience handling his mother in the most potentially sticky of situations.