Home on the Range
TITLE: Home on the Range
PAIRING: Ryo/Shige
RATING: G
WORD COUNT: 3,195
NOTES: Whore!verse.
It's July 12th, and outside of the apartment, it feels like a sauna. A horrible sauna that you have to wear clothes in.
Ryo's sitting on the couch, cold beer in hand, watching a quiz show when Shige's phone starts to ring next to him on the couch. Ryo eyes it wearily and looks to the bathroom door - still closed, which means Shige's soaking, and probably not getting out for a while yet. He knows that Shige doesn't widely share his phone number - it mostly exists for Ryo to call Shige, and not much else. Ryo leans closer and sees "MOM" flashing across the LCD screen. Ryo debates with himself for a second, before picking up the cell phone, and holding it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Shige, darling! You're coming home for the holidays, right? I'll make all your favorites! Eel, baked lotus root, fried tofu..... Shige? Are you there?"
"Um." Ryo wonders if a woman this energetic is really Shige's mother. "He's in the bath still."
There's a pause on the other line before, "Nishikido-kun! Oh my, you must be Nishikido-kun!"
Ryo winches and pulls the phone slightly away from his ear. "Um, yes. I'm Nishikido. It's nice to-"
"I'm sorry for the all the trouble Shige must be causing you! Today certainly was hot, wasn't it!"
"Yes, it-"
"Do you have any plans for the holiday break, Nishikido-kun? You two really should come over! We haven't even properly met! Shige knows the way, so just pester him about it. He'll try to refuse - he always does; Sometimes I don't understand my own son. But from what I've heard, Nishikido-kun is quite good at dragging my son around. See you on Thursday!"
And the line goes dead.
Ryo looks at the phone, a great feeling of surreal-ness washing over him.
"Was that really Shige's mother?"
"What did you say?"
Ryo turns around, eyeing Shige standing in the doorway of the bathroom, towel over his head.
"Your mother just called."
"Oh." Shige perks up a little. "Um, I gave her my cell phone number. In case of an emergency, and, um-"
"Incoming calls are free. Also." Ryo smirks. "She wants you to come home for the holidays. And to bring me along, of course."
From the doorway, Shige laughs awkwardly. "You're kidding."
"ShigeMama was quite adamant about us coming over."
Shige swallows, and feels like he's already lost.
--- --- ---
Its late afternoon on Thursday - the day before the Mid-Summer holiday, Friday, which even Ryo has off. Traffic is horrendous, since every one is trying to get back to their childhood homes in time, and even though Shige's is only on the other side of the city, they've been in the car for almost two hours and they're barely half-way there.
"We should have taken the train," Shige mutters.
"We're not having this conversation, again. The last time I took the subway, I got accosted by crazy fangirls. Never again, Shige. Never. Again."
"We'd be there already though. This is taking forever."
Ryo grips the steering wheel tightly. "Shut up, Shige."
--- --- ---
An hour and a half later, the two are still in the car, but they're parked on the street, next to Shige's house. Neither of them are moving, but they both kind of know what the other is thinking about.
"Are. Um." Shige fidgets a little bit before continuing. "Were... Were you going to say anything? About. Um. That. Us."
Ryo snorts. "They're your parents."
Shige looks at his lap and sighs.
"We'll play it by ear." And then Ryo gets out of the car.
--- --- ---
Shige can't even completely say, "I'm home," before his mother runs in the hall and pulls him into a hug. She's talking a mile a minute, fussing over Shige and completely ignoring Ryo's presence. Ryo hears a voice he assumes belongs to Shige's father yell something and then Shige's mother switches to fussing over Ryo, commenting on how thin he looks and asks if he's properly eating. They're ushered into the family room, where Shige's father gives them both a curt nod before returning to the newspaper.
The rest of the evening is a blur to Ryo, while Shige seems completely fine with the frantic pace at which his mother runs the household. Ryo's not completely surprised to find that Shige is far more like his father - they're both the thinking, I'll-just-sit-here-and-observe kind of people. When Shige's mother is in too much of a flurry to realize a bowl is teetering on the edge of the counter, Shige's father very casually reaches over and pushes it back on the counter - all while not breaking eye contact in his conversation with Shige. And when Shige's mother's fluttering about puts a small wrinkle in the rug, it's Shige who reaches over with his foot and straightens it out so no one will trip.
The whole thing gives Ryo a little bit of a headache. Even though Shige hasn't lived at home for a while, the three of them are so perfectly in sync with each other's movements. Ryo sits back and tries to remember if his own family functioned in such a way, or if they just let the bowls fall off the counter and people trip on rugs.
After dinner, Ryo, as the guest, is offered the bath first. He happily accepts, but in the middle of undressing, realizes that once he's out, he'll have to make awkward conversation with Shige's parents until Shige's done.
Ryo frowns, and pokes his head out of the bathroom. "Hey, Shige."
There's a pause, and then Shige's coming around the corner of the hall, munching on a rice cracker. Ryo waves him closer and keeps talking in a quieter voice.
"We should bathe at the same time."
Shige eyes Ryo a little. "My parents are right over there."
Ryo doesn't say anything, and Shige sighs. He goes back to the other room, and Ryo can hear him say something and then Shige's mother nearly screams, "That's so adorable!" And then Shige is back, pushing Ryo in the bathroom and pulling towels out of the cabinet.
--- --- ---
Shige's lying on top of the covers on his bed, flipping through a magazine, while Ryo sits at the foot of the bed, playing with his phone.
"I think my parents really like you."
"It's because they think I'm shy and good-natured."
"When you're not actually at all."
Ryo swats Shige's foot.
"I've never really brought friends home before, even in middle and high school. When I moved out to be closer to school, I think they were kind of worried I wouldn't make any friends. So they're probably relieved."
Ryo looks up. "Friends?"
Shige blushes. "They... You know. Don't."
"I know." Ryo looks back at his phone. "But you've talked to your mother about me."
Shige sits up a little. "What?"
"When I talked to her on the phone the other day, I didn't have to introduce myself, she knew who I was. You talked with your mother about me."
"Um, a little."
"What kind of guy talks with his mother about this other guy-friends? I certainly don't. It's kind of strange."
Shige frowns. "You're strange."
"I'm an idol. There's a difference."
Shige's about to retort, when there's a knock on the door and a chipper, "Good night, boys!" Ryo shuts his phone, walks to door to turn off the lights and then carefully makes his way back to the bed. He lies down next to Shige, hogging the pillow, ignoring the futon Shige's mother laid out for him on the floor next to the bed.
--- --- ---
The next day, Shige wakes up early, but finds Ryo attached to him via Death Grip, in order not to fall off the bed. Shige's forced to lie in bed for a few hours before Ryo wakes up.
He yawns and mutters something like, "You could have gotten me up."
"And then have to listen to you bitch about having been woken up early all day? No thanks." Shige pushes at Ryo a little bit, and then crawls over him and leaves the room.
In the afternoon, Ryo is given a half-hearted tour of the town by Shige, who only really knows sights like, "The Bookstore I Visited Most Days on the Way Home from School" and "The Pool Where I Took Swimming Lessons in Elementary School". Needless to say, it's not very interesting, but at the same time, Ryo's happy to get a little view of Shige's life before they met. And when he's sitting at the table after dinner, half-listening to Shige's father critique the TV news anchor, he feels like he's learned something new about Shige, that he's been given a chance to see Shige in such an intimate setting that few probably have.
When the show is over, and transitions into a quiz show, Shige father stands up and stretches. "Shige, c'mon."
He looks up from a sudoku puzzle in the newspaper. "Huh?"
"It'll be like old times."
Shige laughs, puts down the pen and walks out into the hall with his father. Ryo hears the bathroom door open and click shut. Ryo swears in his head, and hopes that they're not in the bath for too long, since he really hates making awkward conversation with others.
"Nishikido-kun."
Ryo turns his head from the TV, towards Shige's mother in the kitchen.
"How exactly did you meet Shige?"
Ryo swears especially loudly in his head, because he and Shige have never really agreed on what to tell others about this.
He says the first thing that comes to mind and sounds reasonable: "Aoyama."
And once it's out of his mouth, he realizes it's not reasonable at all.
Shige's mother cocks her head. "You go to Aoyama? I could have sworn Shige said you weren't in college..."
"I'm not." Ryo's mind is racing and he's pretty sure he's going to dig a hole he can't get out of. "I was there for a photo shoot."
"Ah, I see." She nods. "For the agency you work for? What's it called again?"
"Johnny's Entertainment." Ryo smiles. "I don't think I've ever met any one as calm you about this."
Shige's mother smiles, "In middle school, Shige was considering auditioning, but he decided his studies were more important to him. Besides, people are people, Nishikido-kun."
Ryo rubs the back of his head. "I can't help but think our friendship is a little strange. Me and Shige are really different."
"I suppose you just called out to each other then. Please keep looking out for my son, Nishikido-kun.
"Sure, of course-" And when Ryo really looks at Shige's mother, the look on her face says everything. He swallows and his hands start sweating a little bit, but he doesn't know why. But the look on her face says everything. I know, it says, I know, and as long as my son is happy, then I'm happy too.
"Um. I. Shige. Er."
She wipes her hands on a towel before saying, "A mother knows everything, Nishikido-kun."
Shige and his father choose that moment to re-enter the room, towels draped over their heads. They're laughing together, mimicking politicians. Ryo's next in the bath, and he spends quite a long time in the tub.
--- --- ---
It's dark in the bedroom, and silent, except for when Shige shifts every so often, trying to get comfortable on the twin bed with Ryo. The drapes are closed, but there's still a little bit of light pouring in from the street light outside, and the line of light across the bed is all that Ryo can focus on. His mind is racing, unable to forget the look on Shige's mother's face.
"Your mom knows," he blurts out.
Shige turns his head into Ryo's chest and mutters something.
Ryo suddenly feels panicky, sits up and shakes Shige awake. "She knows."
Shige blinks. "Knows what?"
"About this!" Ryo whispers harshly, hands moving down to hold Shige hips.
Shige's eyes grow wide and he makes a worried noise. "Wha- How? Am I going to be disowned?"
Ryo relaxes some, lying back down and running a hand over Shige's stomach. "She said, 'a mother knows everything' and didn't seem all that upset about it."
Shige takes a deep breath. "She didn't seem upset."
"No."
Shige doesn't reply, but Ryo can feel him taking short breaths and knows he's tense, stressing out about this situation. Ryo pulls Shige close, and holds him tight until morning.
--- --- ---
In the morning, Shige lies in bed for a long time, even after waking up, and is lethargic in all his movements. Ryo pokes at him, stomach rumbling, trying to make his hurry up so they can both go down to breakfast together.
As expected, Shige’s mother happily greets them from the kitchen, and his father grumbles a “g’mornin’”, far more focused on his coffee than his son and Ryo. Shige’s not making eye contact with any one, and is barely responding to questions and stories from his mother. It’s Ryo who grabs the mugs of coffee for the two of them from her, and its Ryo again who accepts the plate of sliced fruit for them to munch on. Shige’s father’s cell phone rings, and he goes out into the hall with it, talking in a low, grumbly voice.
“Were you boys going to head back today?”
Shige barely pauses from smashing an orange into the plate with a small fork. “Probably.”
She smiles. “The city is probably far more interesting than this little town. For kids your age, home must be so boring! I understand though. I was the same way when I was young. But of course, back in those days, unwed girls didn’t go off and live by themselves in the city! Oh my, no!”
Shige’s mother keeps talking, not seemingly to mind that neither of them are replying to her rant about living in the city alone. Shige sighs, putting down his fork and sipping from his mug of coffee instead.
Ryo leans over and whispers, “Are you still thinking about that? You’re really out of it.”
“Of course I am,” Shige quietly snaps back. “You would be too if it were your parents. I’m an only child. What about the ‘Katou’ name?”
“Well, it is one of the most common names in Japan. I don’t think you have to worry about continuing the name.”
Shige glares and shoves Ryo a little bit, going back to his coffee.
Shige’s mother rant slows down, gets quieter, and eventually stops, recognizing the suddenly awkward tension in the air. She looks between the two of them, and is about to say something when Shige’s father re-enters the room, dressed in a suit and holding a briefcase.
“Eh? What’s this?” He drops the briefcase in his chair and drinks what’s left of his coffee.
“Are-” Shige’s mother clears her throat. “Are you going into work today, dear?”
“Yes.” He sets down the mug and picks the briefcase back up. “The meeting with the clients got changed to today and I need to be there, so I’m off. Shige, it was nice having you home for the holidays. And Nishikido-kun, it was nice to meet you. The door is always open, boys.”
“Yeah. Thanks, Dad.”
He regards the pair for another second before saying, “I’ll be home in the afternoon,” and leaving the room.
--- --- ---
The air downstairs is heavy, so Shige makes some excuse about packing and goes upstairs, giving Ryo a very specific looks that means, Don’t follow me.
Shige’s mother sighs and says, “That’s not school stress.”
Ryo looks up. “Huh?”
“When its school stress, he eats a lot. When some one’s been picking on him, he studies. But this. This lethargy and shortness….”
Ryo rubs the back of his head. “I think it might be my fault.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I’ve been… a little insensitive towards him. I think he’s worried about the future and I’m not being very supportive. I distract him a lot. And-”
“…And?”
Ryo looks down at the table. “And… he’s worried about disappointing you and his father. In any way.”
“That’s the curse of The Only Child.” She regards Ryo for a minute, before smiling. “And in my opinion, you support him just fine. Shige’s a hard worker, he’ll stress about his future, but everything will turn out alright for him. I think meeting you has been very good for Shige. You’ve become a cornerstone of his life, it’s obvious.”
Ryo isn’t sure what to say in response to that. What do you say in response? Thanks. I kind of shoved myself into his life, and then I became too important for him to be able to kick me out of it.
“Yeah, Shige’s kind of a cornerstone for me too.”
Shige’s mother smiles, goes back to her work in the kitchen and the two end the conversation with a comfortable silence.
--- --- ---
After Shige’s mother left to go grocery shopping, Ryo decided that while it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, he would check up on Shige. The bedroom door was closed (as expected), and Ryo took a moment to compose himself before knocking and slowly opening the door.
“Shige?”
There’s an affirmative noise from the direction of the closet, and Shige sticks his head out.
“Um, how are you feeling?”
Shige steps out, and brushes his hands on his pants. “… Alright, I guess.”
“Your mother went grocery shopping.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Ryo steps into the room and closes the door behind him. “… I know you might now want to talk about this but… What do you want to do? She knows. She knows, and that it’s not easy to say. Whatever you want to do, I’ll be there.”
Shige sits down on his bed, head in his hands and doesn’t say anything.
Ryo waits a moment before moving towards Shige, kneeling on the floor in front of him, Shige’s knees in his hands, “Shige. Let’s go home.”
Shige’s still, and then he nods, before moving a hand, placing it over one of Ryo’s.
--- --- ---
Ryo throws their bags into the backseat while Shige’s mother hands over a pair of packed lunches for the two of them to eat on the ride back. She fusses over Shige’s hair a little bit and smooths out a wrinkle in his shirt and tells Ryo to drive safely. As they pull away in to the street, she waves them goodbye with a bright smile.
“I’ll tell them,” Shige says after a moment. “Someday when I’m more comfortable, I’ll tell them.”
“Okay,” Ryo replies, and then smirks. “You know, we’re going to have to make a trip down to Osaka one of these weekends so you can meet my parents.”
Shige coughs on nothing. “What?!”
Ryo’s smirk smooths out into something gentler, more loving, and he moves a hand to rest on Shige’s thigh. “Isn’t that the mark of an established relationship?”
Shige blushes before answering, quietly, “…Yes. I suppose it is.”
PAIRING: Ryo/Shige
RATING: G
WORD COUNT: 3,195
NOTES: Whore!verse.
It's July 12th, and outside of the apartment, it feels like a sauna. A horrible sauna that you have to wear clothes in.
Ryo's sitting on the couch, cold beer in hand, watching a quiz show when Shige's phone starts to ring next to him on the couch. Ryo eyes it wearily and looks to the bathroom door - still closed, which means Shige's soaking, and probably not getting out for a while yet. He knows that Shige doesn't widely share his phone number - it mostly exists for Ryo to call Shige, and not much else. Ryo leans closer and sees "MOM" flashing across the LCD screen. Ryo debates with himself for a second, before picking up the cell phone, and holding it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Shige, darling! You're coming home for the holidays, right? I'll make all your favorites! Eel, baked lotus root, fried tofu..... Shige? Are you there?"
"Um." Ryo wonders if a woman this energetic is really Shige's mother. "He's in the bath still."
There's a pause on the other line before, "Nishikido-kun! Oh my, you must be Nishikido-kun!"
Ryo winches and pulls the phone slightly away from his ear. "Um, yes. I'm Nishikido. It's nice to-"
"I'm sorry for the all the trouble Shige must be causing you! Today certainly was hot, wasn't it!"
"Yes, it-"
"Do you have any plans for the holiday break, Nishikido-kun? You two really should come over! We haven't even properly met! Shige knows the way, so just pester him about it. He'll try to refuse - he always does; Sometimes I don't understand my own son. But from what I've heard, Nishikido-kun is quite good at dragging my son around. See you on Thursday!"
And the line goes dead.
Ryo looks at the phone, a great feeling of surreal-ness washing over him.
"Was that really Shige's mother?"
"What did you say?"
Ryo turns around, eyeing Shige standing in the doorway of the bathroom, towel over his head.
"Your mother just called."
"Oh." Shige perks up a little. "Um, I gave her my cell phone number. In case of an emergency, and, um-"
"Incoming calls are free. Also." Ryo smirks. "She wants you to come home for the holidays. And to bring me along, of course."
From the doorway, Shige laughs awkwardly. "You're kidding."
"ShigeMama was quite adamant about us coming over."
Shige swallows, and feels like he's already lost.
--- --- ---
Its late afternoon on Thursday - the day before the Mid-Summer holiday, Friday, which even Ryo has off. Traffic is horrendous, since every one is trying to get back to their childhood homes in time, and even though Shige's is only on the other side of the city, they've been in the car for almost two hours and they're barely half-way there.
"We should have taken the train," Shige mutters.
"We're not having this conversation, again. The last time I took the subway, I got accosted by crazy fangirls. Never again, Shige. Never. Again."
"We'd be there already though. This is taking forever."
Ryo grips the steering wheel tightly. "Shut up, Shige."
--- --- ---
An hour and a half later, the two are still in the car, but they're parked on the street, next to Shige's house. Neither of them are moving, but they both kind of know what the other is thinking about.
"Are. Um." Shige fidgets a little bit before continuing. "Were... Were you going to say anything? About. Um. That. Us."
Ryo snorts. "They're your parents."
Shige looks at his lap and sighs.
"We'll play it by ear." And then Ryo gets out of the car.
--- --- ---
Shige can't even completely say, "I'm home," before his mother runs in the hall and pulls him into a hug. She's talking a mile a minute, fussing over Shige and completely ignoring Ryo's presence. Ryo hears a voice he assumes belongs to Shige's father yell something and then Shige's mother switches to fussing over Ryo, commenting on how thin he looks and asks if he's properly eating. They're ushered into the family room, where Shige's father gives them both a curt nod before returning to the newspaper.
The rest of the evening is a blur to Ryo, while Shige seems completely fine with the frantic pace at which his mother runs the household. Ryo's not completely surprised to find that Shige is far more like his father - they're both the thinking, I'll-just-sit-here-and-observe kind of people. When Shige's mother is in too much of a flurry to realize a bowl is teetering on the edge of the counter, Shige's father very casually reaches over and pushes it back on the counter - all while not breaking eye contact in his conversation with Shige. And when Shige's mother's fluttering about puts a small wrinkle in the rug, it's Shige who reaches over with his foot and straightens it out so no one will trip.
The whole thing gives Ryo a little bit of a headache. Even though Shige hasn't lived at home for a while, the three of them are so perfectly in sync with each other's movements. Ryo sits back and tries to remember if his own family functioned in such a way, or if they just let the bowls fall off the counter and people trip on rugs.
After dinner, Ryo, as the guest, is offered the bath first. He happily accepts, but in the middle of undressing, realizes that once he's out, he'll have to make awkward conversation with Shige's parents until Shige's done.
Ryo frowns, and pokes his head out of the bathroom. "Hey, Shige."
There's a pause, and then Shige's coming around the corner of the hall, munching on a rice cracker. Ryo waves him closer and keeps talking in a quieter voice.
"We should bathe at the same time."
Shige eyes Ryo a little. "My parents are right over there."
Ryo doesn't say anything, and Shige sighs. He goes back to the other room, and Ryo can hear him say something and then Shige's mother nearly screams, "That's so adorable!" And then Shige is back, pushing Ryo in the bathroom and pulling towels out of the cabinet.
--- --- ---
Shige's lying on top of the covers on his bed, flipping through a magazine, while Ryo sits at the foot of the bed, playing with his phone.
"I think my parents really like you."
"It's because they think I'm shy and good-natured."
"When you're not actually at all."
Ryo swats Shige's foot.
"I've never really brought friends home before, even in middle and high school. When I moved out to be closer to school, I think they were kind of worried I wouldn't make any friends. So they're probably relieved."
Ryo looks up. "Friends?"
Shige blushes. "They... You know. Don't."
"I know." Ryo looks back at his phone. "But you've talked to your mother about me."
Shige sits up a little. "What?"
"When I talked to her on the phone the other day, I didn't have to introduce myself, she knew who I was. You talked with your mother about me."
"Um, a little."
"What kind of guy talks with his mother about this other guy-friends? I certainly don't. It's kind of strange."
Shige frowns. "You're strange."
"I'm an idol. There's a difference."
Shige's about to retort, when there's a knock on the door and a chipper, "Good night, boys!" Ryo shuts his phone, walks to door to turn off the lights and then carefully makes his way back to the bed. He lies down next to Shige, hogging the pillow, ignoring the futon Shige's mother laid out for him on the floor next to the bed.
--- --- ---
The next day, Shige wakes up early, but finds Ryo attached to him via Death Grip, in order not to fall off the bed. Shige's forced to lie in bed for a few hours before Ryo wakes up.
He yawns and mutters something like, "You could have gotten me up."
"And then have to listen to you bitch about having been woken up early all day? No thanks." Shige pushes at Ryo a little bit, and then crawls over him and leaves the room.
In the afternoon, Ryo is given a half-hearted tour of the town by Shige, who only really knows sights like, "The Bookstore I Visited Most Days on the Way Home from School" and "The Pool Where I Took Swimming Lessons in Elementary School". Needless to say, it's not very interesting, but at the same time, Ryo's happy to get a little view of Shige's life before they met. And when he's sitting at the table after dinner, half-listening to Shige's father critique the TV news anchor, he feels like he's learned something new about Shige, that he's been given a chance to see Shige in such an intimate setting that few probably have.
When the show is over, and transitions into a quiz show, Shige father stands up and stretches. "Shige, c'mon."
He looks up from a sudoku puzzle in the newspaper. "Huh?"
"It'll be like old times."
Shige laughs, puts down the pen and walks out into the hall with his father. Ryo hears the bathroom door open and click shut. Ryo swears in his head, and hopes that they're not in the bath for too long, since he really hates making awkward conversation with others.
"Nishikido-kun."
Ryo turns his head from the TV, towards Shige's mother in the kitchen.
"How exactly did you meet Shige?"
Ryo swears especially loudly in his head, because he and Shige have never really agreed on what to tell others about this.
He says the first thing that comes to mind and sounds reasonable: "Aoyama."
And once it's out of his mouth, he realizes it's not reasonable at all.
Shige's mother cocks her head. "You go to Aoyama? I could have sworn Shige said you weren't in college..."
"I'm not." Ryo's mind is racing and he's pretty sure he's going to dig a hole he can't get out of. "I was there for a photo shoot."
"Ah, I see." She nods. "For the agency you work for? What's it called again?"
"Johnny's Entertainment." Ryo smiles. "I don't think I've ever met any one as calm you about this."
Shige's mother smiles, "In middle school, Shige was considering auditioning, but he decided his studies were more important to him. Besides, people are people, Nishikido-kun."
Ryo rubs the back of his head. "I can't help but think our friendship is a little strange. Me and Shige are really different."
"I suppose you just called out to each other then. Please keep looking out for my son, Nishikido-kun.
"Sure, of course-" And when Ryo really looks at Shige's mother, the look on her face says everything. He swallows and his hands start sweating a little bit, but he doesn't know why. But the look on her face says everything. I know, it says, I know, and as long as my son is happy, then I'm happy too.
"Um. I. Shige. Er."
She wipes her hands on a towel before saying, "A mother knows everything, Nishikido-kun."
Shige and his father choose that moment to re-enter the room, towels draped over their heads. They're laughing together, mimicking politicians. Ryo's next in the bath, and he spends quite a long time in the tub.
--- --- ---
It's dark in the bedroom, and silent, except for when Shige shifts every so often, trying to get comfortable on the twin bed with Ryo. The drapes are closed, but there's still a little bit of light pouring in from the street light outside, and the line of light across the bed is all that Ryo can focus on. His mind is racing, unable to forget the look on Shige's mother's face.
"Your mom knows," he blurts out.
Shige turns his head into Ryo's chest and mutters something.
Ryo suddenly feels panicky, sits up and shakes Shige awake. "She knows."
Shige blinks. "Knows what?"
"About this!" Ryo whispers harshly, hands moving down to hold Shige hips.
Shige's eyes grow wide and he makes a worried noise. "Wha- How? Am I going to be disowned?"
Ryo relaxes some, lying back down and running a hand over Shige's stomach. "She said, 'a mother knows everything' and didn't seem all that upset about it."
Shige takes a deep breath. "She didn't seem upset."
"No."
Shige doesn't reply, but Ryo can feel him taking short breaths and knows he's tense, stressing out about this situation. Ryo pulls Shige close, and holds him tight until morning.
--- --- ---
In the morning, Shige lies in bed for a long time, even after waking up, and is lethargic in all his movements. Ryo pokes at him, stomach rumbling, trying to make his hurry up so they can both go down to breakfast together.
As expected, Shige’s mother happily greets them from the kitchen, and his father grumbles a “g’mornin’”, far more focused on his coffee than his son and Ryo. Shige’s not making eye contact with any one, and is barely responding to questions and stories from his mother. It’s Ryo who grabs the mugs of coffee for the two of them from her, and its Ryo again who accepts the plate of sliced fruit for them to munch on. Shige’s father’s cell phone rings, and he goes out into the hall with it, talking in a low, grumbly voice.
“Were you boys going to head back today?”
Shige barely pauses from smashing an orange into the plate with a small fork. “Probably.”
She smiles. “The city is probably far more interesting than this little town. For kids your age, home must be so boring! I understand though. I was the same way when I was young. But of course, back in those days, unwed girls didn’t go off and live by themselves in the city! Oh my, no!”
Shige’s mother keeps talking, not seemingly to mind that neither of them are replying to her rant about living in the city alone. Shige sighs, putting down his fork and sipping from his mug of coffee instead.
Ryo leans over and whispers, “Are you still thinking about that? You’re really out of it.”
“Of course I am,” Shige quietly snaps back. “You would be too if it were your parents. I’m an only child. What about the ‘Katou’ name?”
“Well, it is one of the most common names in Japan. I don’t think you have to worry about continuing the name.”
Shige glares and shoves Ryo a little bit, going back to his coffee.
Shige’s mother rant slows down, gets quieter, and eventually stops, recognizing the suddenly awkward tension in the air. She looks between the two of them, and is about to say something when Shige’s father re-enters the room, dressed in a suit and holding a briefcase.
“Eh? What’s this?” He drops the briefcase in his chair and drinks what’s left of his coffee.
“Are-” Shige’s mother clears her throat. “Are you going into work today, dear?”
“Yes.” He sets down the mug and picks the briefcase back up. “The meeting with the clients got changed to today and I need to be there, so I’m off. Shige, it was nice having you home for the holidays. And Nishikido-kun, it was nice to meet you. The door is always open, boys.”
“Yeah. Thanks, Dad.”
He regards the pair for another second before saying, “I’ll be home in the afternoon,” and leaving the room.
--- --- ---
The air downstairs is heavy, so Shige makes some excuse about packing and goes upstairs, giving Ryo a very specific looks that means, Don’t follow me.
Shige’s mother sighs and says, “That’s not school stress.”
Ryo looks up. “Huh?”
“When its school stress, he eats a lot. When some one’s been picking on him, he studies. But this. This lethargy and shortness….”
Ryo rubs the back of his head. “I think it might be my fault.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I’ve been… a little insensitive towards him. I think he’s worried about the future and I’m not being very supportive. I distract him a lot. And-”
“…And?”
Ryo looks down at the table. “And… he’s worried about disappointing you and his father. In any way.”
“That’s the curse of The Only Child.” She regards Ryo for a minute, before smiling. “And in my opinion, you support him just fine. Shige’s a hard worker, he’ll stress about his future, but everything will turn out alright for him. I think meeting you has been very good for Shige. You’ve become a cornerstone of his life, it’s obvious.”
Ryo isn’t sure what to say in response to that. What do you say in response? Thanks. I kind of shoved myself into his life, and then I became too important for him to be able to kick me out of it.
“Yeah, Shige’s kind of a cornerstone for me too.”
Shige’s mother smiles, goes back to her work in the kitchen and the two end the conversation with a comfortable silence.
--- --- ---
After Shige’s mother left to go grocery shopping, Ryo decided that while it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, he would check up on Shige. The bedroom door was closed (as expected), and Ryo took a moment to compose himself before knocking and slowly opening the door.
“Shige?”
There’s an affirmative noise from the direction of the closet, and Shige sticks his head out.
“Um, how are you feeling?”
Shige steps out, and brushes his hands on his pants. “… Alright, I guess.”
“Your mother went grocery shopping.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Ryo steps into the room and closes the door behind him. “… I know you might now want to talk about this but… What do you want to do? She knows. She knows, and that it’s not easy to say. Whatever you want to do, I’ll be there.”
Shige sits down on his bed, head in his hands and doesn’t say anything.
Ryo waits a moment before moving towards Shige, kneeling on the floor in front of him, Shige’s knees in his hands, “Shige. Let’s go home.”
Shige’s still, and then he nods, before moving a hand, placing it over one of Ryo’s.
--- --- ---
Ryo throws their bags into the backseat while Shige’s mother hands over a pair of packed lunches for the two of them to eat on the ride back. She fusses over Shige’s hair a little bit and smooths out a wrinkle in his shirt and tells Ryo to drive safely. As they pull away in to the street, she waves them goodbye with a bright smile.
“I’ll tell them,” Shige says after a moment. “Someday when I’m more comfortable, I’ll tell them.”
“Okay,” Ryo replies, and then smirks. “You know, we’re going to have to make a trip down to Osaka one of these weekends so you can meet my parents.”
Shige coughs on nothing. “What?!”
Ryo’s smirk smooths out into something gentler, more loving, and he moves a hand to rest on Shige’s thigh. “Isn’t that the mark of an established relationship?”
Shige blushes before answering, quietly, “…Yes. I suppose it is.”