[Log] Yuuta & Shuusuke: Family Matters
Who: Yuuta & Shuusuke
What: After the little shock at the picnic, Yuuta confronts Shuusuke about his new boyfriend.
Where: Shuusuke’s bedroom
When: Evening of May 27, 2013. (Sorry El!) F: Oh, does that clash with Mizuki's birthday? How unfortunate :D Y: ANIKI!!!
Warnings: When it comes to death threat vibes, some things run in the family.
After he finished typing his reply to Shuusuke's comment, it took Yuuta a few minutes to find the wrapped gift for Mizuki. Mizuki liked baking, right? Besides, Yuuta figured he couldn't go too wrong with one of Yumiko's gift ideas. After all, Yumiko, who was herself an avid baker, swore by the very set of pie pans he’d gotten for Mizuki’s birthday.
So, pop in at Mizuki's room, deliver the gift, give in-person birthday wishes, hop over to meet Shuusuke, check.
His mental list was met with a snort in the back of his mind. Done avoiding, then?
"Avoid what?" Haku turned an unimpressed look at him, and there was a flash of images, with flowers and trees and yakiniku grille...GAH!
"I wasn't avoiding anything." There was a very pregnant pause. "I was NOT!" Sure, it'd been a while since they were supposed to talk to Shuusuke about...the thing they saw during the picnic. Okay, almost a month now. And maybe he was cringing at the images (with alarming amount of details; damn the wolf and his nigh-photographic memory) a little. A lot. But that didn't mean he was avoiding anything. Definitely no avoidance going on here.
If Mizuki noticed Yuuta's distraction, he was gracious enough not to call him on that. Yuuta might have lingered a little longer than strictly necessary, but one couldn't just run away after delivering a birthday gift, surely? Birthday wishes were said, and a promise made to get together sometime soon to celebrate properly, maybe during the weekend. And then, there were nothing for it.
Done delaying, now?
Yuuta glared at the wolf trotting next to him, but couldn't find a comeback. Shut up.
Smug silence was his only answer. With a sigh, he walked off to meet up with Shuusuke.
Fuji was exploring the pizza menu on his laptop and wondering whether his idea of 'extra wasabi' and the pizzeria's could be persuaded to align. His experience suggested a gross underestimation on behalf of the shop manager, but it was probably still enough to make Yuuta rue the day he dawdled in Mizuki's rooms and left his brother with the food ordering. Cerulean eyes looked up to focus on the bedroom door. There was something Fuji did not like about Mizuki Hajime. Something … oily ... that most definitely should not be near his brother. Perhaps they should talk about it. Or perhaps, Fuji should just bury Mizuki.
There was a tap on the door. Fuji went to answer it, unaware that the conversation with Yuuta would actually take on rather the reverse turn.
Why did doors always open before he was ready? Yuuta hadn't even dropped his hand after his knock when the door opened. While Yuuta was sure Shuusuke couldn't teleport, he wouldn't put it past his brother to develop that ability just to unsettle him.
"...Hi," he said, and inwardly winced at how awkward he sounded. It was just dinner with his brother. He'd done this many times before. Hell, it was a pizza night. Everything was going to be just. Fine.
If Haku shared any of his awkwardness, there was no hint of it while he greeted Shuusuke with single tail-wag and affectionate licks. The wolf mind, Yuuta decided sourly, was an incomprehensible thing.
"Um. Sorry we're late."
“Yuuta~.” The sight of his brother looking completely awkward and embarrassed was extremely amusing but also rather suspicious. He hadn’t been gone long enough for anything too involved to have happened in Mizuki’s rooms (in Fuji’s opinion, even a maiming took at least 25 minutes once you’d gotten through the formalities).
He stepped aside to let Yuuta enter the room and bent to give Haku’s ears a scratch. “Did you think what kind of pizza you’d like? And what will Haku eat?”
“Erm.” Wow, the perfect ordinariness of the question was even more jarring. “Uh -- the one with pineapples and sausages? And chicken.” Haku didn’t object to the chicken part, which Yuuta figured was agreement enough. “Chicken for Haku. I mean drumsticks.”
Haku gave him a narrow-eyed, inscrutable look. Calm down and sit, idiot.
That Yuuta sat down without even a token protest was a testament to how off-balance he felt. “So...uh...what’s the occasion? For the dinner invitation, I mean? Not that I mind, but today was Mizuki-san’s birthday and I think Ryou-senpai and Atsushi-senpai had a dinner planned or something.” He was babbling. Yuuta knew that even without the touch of exasperation emanating from Haku. Right. No more talking.
Fuji returned back to his computer and clicked on the appropriate pizza and a large order of drumsticks, adding in a couple of sodas for good measure. Clicking down to the ‘comments’ box, he wrote a request for half the pizza to be covered with jalapenos and hit ‘submit’. He then turned his attention back to his brother, who looked like he was hunting for something to tear into very small pieces. Perhaps he should have left him with Mizuki.
“Is something bothering you, Yuuta?” he asked, avoiding the question as to why he had suggested Mizuki’s birthday as the perfect time for brotherly bonding.
“Bothering me?” Yuuta repeated blankly. Haku helpfully supplied him with images and feelings, chiefly about how idiotic he was acting, and could he please keep to the agenda here? The agenda. Right.
How exactly was he supposed to ask his brother anything like that???
Yuuta sent a vague, pitiful plea for help in Haku’s direction. Haku frowned at him, flicking his tail once in displeasure. Yuuta picked up the rest of what was lurking underneath, and blinked.
So...choice of mates wasn’t exactly a subject for debate unless one wished to challenge the claim, and technically Haku saw Shuusuke (being older) as outranking them, but the hierarchy wasn’t so established for human families, so territorial (read: xenophobic) protectiveness over a packmate (maybe) applied...?
In other words, Yuuta realized with a mixture of horror and smugness, the wolf didn’t know what to do, either.
“Um.” Stall? Deny? Avoid? Direct approach? “What, er, have you been up to? Y’know. Besides classes.”
Stall it was, then.
Stall with a question that Fuji couldn’t ever remember Yuuta asking him before. In fact, what Fuji had been up to was normally the last thing his brother ever wanted to inquire about. The smiling face looked from Yuuta to Haku, both of whom were looking distinctly awkward. Then Fuji did the only response a big brother could provide in the face of such awkwardness:
He started to laugh.
“Haku, perhaps you should tell me what it bothering our favourite human?” he suggested, looking at the wolf. “Is he unwell?”
The wolf avoided Shuusuke’s eyes, which was a pretty good sign he was more upset than he’d first let on, but Yuuta had no time to enjoy Haku’s discomfort. Oh no. At the moment Yuuta was more preoccupied with what he did best around his older siblings: sputtering.
“What do you mean, favorite human?” A flash of image from Haku, and he added, more sullen, “Sure didn’t look like it from where we were standing.”
(It wouldn’t occur to Yuuta until later that Haku never contested the more disturbing suggestion Shuusuke made regarding favorites. Much later.)
There we go. Fuji considered when Yuuta might have recently seen him and what he was up to at the time. Admittedly, this wasn’t easy since Yuuta did have a habit of running if he saw Fuji before Fuji saw him. However, ‘favourite’ was a clue. Presumably, Yuuta wouldn’t think Fuji had a preference for any manhandled or decapitated corpse he happened to dealing with. Or photographing.
At that moment, the buzzer to the senior dorm sounded and Fuji briefly excused himself to run down the stairs to the pizza man. Returning with a large steaming box, a bucket and some utensils to pull the chicken from the bone, he set the collection on his desk.
“Help yourself,” he said. “You must be hungry.”
A wolf’s mind was dictated almost entirely by the sense of smell. One side effect of being linked to Haku was that some of Yuuta’s own thought processes were rather driven by scents. The smell of food temporarily wiped all other thoughts from their minds, and both of them dug in without thinking. Haku quite liked chicken, and the combination of sweet and tangy pineapple with Italian sausage was heavenly. The pleasure redoubled, soothing and warm over their minds.
Only when Yuuta started on his third slice did he remember there was something that they were supposed to be discussing. Actually, that could maybe wait a while. In fact, now that he thought about it, there definitely were more pressing concerns. Like making sure he wasn’t accidentally taking Shuusuke’s slices.
Haku’s mental snort was easy to ignore. Just took practice, really.
Fuji selected on of his own pepper-heavy slices and ate it while watching Yuuta. Reassured that his brother had finally relaxed, he wiped his hands on a napkin and said, “When did you see Keigo and me?”
Yuuta choked. So much for stalling, Yuuta thought while he coughed and valiantly tried to keep the pieces of pizza from swimming upstream.
Might as well get this over this, he sent to Haku, but the uncertain tone made it a question, not suggestion. Haku didn’t respond with a negative, which Yuuta figured was as close as he’d get to an agreement. Frankly, it wasn’t worth the bother to be anything but straightforward when it came to his brother. When Shuusuke wanted answers, one way or another, he got them.
“Picnic,” Yuuta said succinctly, a touch more defensively than he’d have liked.
Fuji thought back to his and Atobe’s joint grilling by the lake side. That had been rather good, even if Atobe had prevented him from adding in the level of mustard he would have liked. “And...?” he prompted his brother, selecting a second pizza slice.
Yuuta glowered at the half-eaten slice. Shuusuke had a disturbingly good memory and couldn’t possibly fail to recall the incident in question. This time the flash of image was from joint recollection, not from Haku deliberately sending him something. At least, Yuuta mused darkly, Haku seemed as reluctant to talk about this as he was.
“And you two looked real cozy together. What, you need me to draw you a picture?” The last came out almost hostile, and Yuuta blinked. He was disturbed, certainly. And any romantic...ugh. Any relationship his brother might have wasn’t really his business and -- too much information, to be frank. So why the instinctive hostility, the resentment?
-- NOT one of ours, not to be trusted --
Well shit, he’d forgotten about the wolf. Haku was distinctly unhappy about it, but for once he allowed Yuuta in, no barriers. Haku’s thoughts were chaotic, human reasoning tangled with wolf instincts, but the gist Yuuta gleaned was that Shuusuke was Ours and Atobe was Not-Ours, not part of their pack, and dangerous because Shuusuke was clearly drawn to him.
Correction. Haku was even more unhappy about the development than Yuuta was.
Fuji scooped up a couple of extra peppers that had fallen into the box and added them to his slice before taking a bite. He watched Yuuta expectantly for a moment before saying, “Is that a problem?”
Yes. “No.” Haku did not even deign with a response, and Yuuta grimaced. “...Maybe.”
‘No’ with an grudgingly admitted ‘maybe’ and a silent side order of ‘yes’? “Are you in love with Keigo?” Fuji inquired, sounding genuinely curious. OK, so perhaps he considered this an unlikely cause for the troubles within his sibling’s mind but he deserved the question for such an indecisive answer. Plus, the reaction might be amusing.
Yuuta choked.
“WHA--NO!!!” Haku was also bristling, but that was small comfort while Yuuta underwent the most epic sputtering meltdown of the year. “Why would you -- how did that even -- what the hell goes on inside your head, Aniki?!?!”
Fuji smiled benignly at both Yuuta and Haku. Wolves inflated when shocked; that was very interesting. Picking up one of the bottles of soda, he uncapped the top and poured Yuuta out a cup. “He’s very cute,” he remarked, his voice intentionally taking on a slightly dreamy edge.
“Ugh,” Yuuta said with feeling. “Don’t call a guy ‘cute,’ that’s just disturbing.” Haku growled in agreement, although his sentiment was based less on the gender part and more on the person in question. Granted, Yuuta’s impression of Atobe Keigo was vague at best, but apparently for Haku preying on a pack member was enough to plant him firmly on the side of dislike.
Did this mean his baby bro didn’t like boys or just didn’t like ones that could be described as ‘cute’? Did either put him out of reach of Mizuki? Fuji was doubtful; the twisted haired tramp would still have to be watched. “Saa... you prefer handsome? Or to say his arms are strong or that he is a wonderful cook whose produce just melts in your mouth?” Cerulean briefly gleamed as Fuji looked to see if Yuuta had taken in the double entendre. “Or maybe his musical prowess, his imaginative death threats, his cool, smooth skin, silky hair and slate eyes...” If a bucket was needed, perhaps Fuji could offer out a wastepaper bin to either the teen or the wolf.
Physical strength and ability to procure food, it turned out, were desirable qualities in a mate as far as wolves were concerned. (Well, ability to produce superior offspring topped the list, but Haku was enculturated enough to recognize reproduction wasn't always top priority for a human relationship.)
And Yuuta had to admit -- being a good cook was a strong argument for Atobe. Hell, he loved hanging out with Mizuki because Mizuki always fed him the most delicious baked goods.
Yuuta made a face for the rest, but paused on one. "Wait, imaginative whats??"
In all the best relationships there were some traits that were only beautiful to certain people. Fuji decided to let Yuuta consider that one on his own and turned to the more serious question underneath this exchange. “Being with Kei doesn’t stop me being your brother, Yuuta. I would never let anything prevent me being there for you if you needed me.” And a fair number of times when Yuuta didn’t, but that probably went without saying. Fuji looked down at the wolf on the floor. “And Haku too, of course.” Reaching out a hand, he scratched the gray ears.
His mind was still caught up on ‘Death threats turn Aniki on? What?’ but at least Haku seemed to be regaining equilibrium.
If that one tries anything, we’ll kill him and hide the body. Haku still avoided Shuusuke’s eyes, but did take the moment to send a smirk in Yuuta’s direction. In fact, we could do that right now, if you’d like. Nii-san never needs to know.
Despite himself, Yuuta snorted in amusement. I think Aniki’d notice his boyfriend suddenly going missing. Besides, if Atobe ever tries to hurt Aniki, Aniki will probably kill him first.
Sardonic flick of an ear was his only answer. Still, his exchange with Haku had given him the moment he needed to calm his nerves and digest what Shuusuke said. Even if Yuuta might not always appreciate the fact, Shuusuke was always there for him. Would be there for him. That was one constant he counted on in life, even if he didn’t like admitting to it. And Shuusuke had looked happy with Atobe, hadn’t he? “Whatever makes you happy, I guess,” Yuuta said slowly. “Besides, if I said didn’t want you to, would you care?” The last was supposed to be light-hearted, but instead it came out half petulant and half genuinely curious.
Fuji considered this for a moment, his fingers still gently scratching the wolf’s ears. “Yes,” he said, with his usual smile. “But I’d like to know why.” The smile broadened. “Maybe a long talk about it. Or we could go away for the weekend, maybe head home and chat there? Just us.” Experience told him that Yuuta would probably prefer 27 different kinds of death to that kind of one-on-one time with his brother which meant if he really went for it …. Fuji would probably take his concerns seriously.
Yuuta sighed. “Wasn’t saying I didn’t. Yet. I mean...” Haku sent a vague feeling of support? encouragement? in his direction, and Yuuta continued. “...I don’t know how I feel about it yet. It’s a hell of a lot to take in, y’know? Didn’t think you’d go for a guy, for starters.” Why was it so hard to meet Shuusuke’s eyes? Stupid nerves.
“Anyway what I want to say is...hell, I don’t know what I want to say. But you’re my brother, and...” Yuuta swallowed, stole a look in Haku’s direction, and raised his eyes to meet Shuusuke’s. His attempt at smile was too shaky to be successful, but it was the thought that counted. Probably. “I guess I...we...got your back?” And ready to hide some bodies, too, but Shuusuke didn’t need to know that.
Fuji’s smile changed from one that implied he was winding his brother up, to that of being genuinely touched. He straightened and put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I never doubted it,” he told him. If it came to it, there could be a family event for mass corpse burying. Atobe and likely Mizuki together. It was all very touching.
Argh. This was so embarrassing. They were never having this kind of conversation again. Ever. Yuuta looked away to glower at a particularly offensive spot on the floor and firmly ignored the heat rising in his neck. Because that wasn’t a blush. At all. “Okay. Good.”
Fuji bit back a chuckle. Over the years, it had become harder to make Yuuta blush quite as effectively as this. Deciding to put his sibling out of his misery his eyes scanned the room for a better topic: Tezuka fansite photos? Cacti babies? Spyfish cam? Deathnote book?
“Another slice of pizza?” he offered.
What: After the little shock at the picnic, Yuuta confronts Shuusuke about his new boyfriend.
Where: Shuusuke’s bedroom
When: Evening of May 27, 2013. (Sorry El!) F: Oh, does that clash with Mizuki's birthday? How unfortunate :D Y: ANIKI!!!
Warnings: When it comes to death threat vibes, some things run in the family.
After he finished typing his reply to Shuusuke's comment, it took Yuuta a few minutes to find the wrapped gift for Mizuki. Mizuki liked baking, right? Besides, Yuuta figured he couldn't go too wrong with one of Yumiko's gift ideas. After all, Yumiko, who was herself an avid baker, swore by the very set of pie pans he’d gotten for Mizuki’s birthday.
So, pop in at Mizuki's room, deliver the gift, give in-person birthday wishes, hop over to meet Shuusuke, check.
His mental list was met with a snort in the back of his mind. Done avoiding, then?
"Avoid what?" Haku turned an unimpressed look at him, and there was a flash of images, with flowers and trees and yakiniku grille...GAH!
"I wasn't avoiding anything." There was a very pregnant pause. "I was NOT!" Sure, it'd been a while since they were supposed to talk to Shuusuke about...the thing they saw during the picnic. Okay, almost a month now. And maybe he was cringing at the images (with alarming amount of details; damn the wolf and his nigh-photographic memory) a little. A lot. But that didn't mean he was avoiding anything. Definitely no avoidance going on here.
If Mizuki noticed Yuuta's distraction, he was gracious enough not to call him on that. Yuuta might have lingered a little longer than strictly necessary, but one couldn't just run away after delivering a birthday gift, surely? Birthday wishes were said, and a promise made to get together sometime soon to celebrate properly, maybe during the weekend. And then, there were nothing for it.
Done delaying, now?
Yuuta glared at the wolf trotting next to him, but couldn't find a comeback. Shut up.
Smug silence was his only answer. With a sigh, he walked off to meet up with Shuusuke.
Fuji was exploring the pizza menu on his laptop and wondering whether his idea of 'extra wasabi' and the pizzeria's could be persuaded to align. His experience suggested a gross underestimation on behalf of the shop manager, but it was probably still enough to make Yuuta rue the day he dawdled in Mizuki's rooms and left his brother with the food ordering. Cerulean eyes looked up to focus on the bedroom door. There was something Fuji did not like about Mizuki Hajime. Something … oily ... that most definitely should not be near his brother. Perhaps they should talk about it. Or perhaps, Fuji should just bury Mizuki.
There was a tap on the door. Fuji went to answer it, unaware that the conversation with Yuuta would actually take on rather the reverse turn.
Why did doors always open before he was ready? Yuuta hadn't even dropped his hand after his knock when the door opened. While Yuuta was sure Shuusuke couldn't teleport, he wouldn't put it past his brother to develop that ability just to unsettle him.
"...Hi," he said, and inwardly winced at how awkward he sounded. It was just dinner with his brother. He'd done this many times before. Hell, it was a pizza night. Everything was going to be just. Fine.
If Haku shared any of his awkwardness, there was no hint of it while he greeted Shuusuke with single tail-wag and affectionate licks. The wolf mind, Yuuta decided sourly, was an incomprehensible thing.
"Um. Sorry we're late."
“Yuuta~.” The sight of his brother looking completely awkward and embarrassed was extremely amusing but also rather suspicious. He hadn’t been gone long enough for anything too involved to have happened in Mizuki’s rooms (in Fuji’s opinion, even a maiming took at least 25 minutes once you’d gotten through the formalities).
He stepped aside to let Yuuta enter the room and bent to give Haku’s ears a scratch. “Did you think what kind of pizza you’d like? And what will Haku eat?”
“Erm.” Wow, the perfect ordinariness of the question was even more jarring. “Uh -- the one with pineapples and sausages? And chicken.” Haku didn’t object to the chicken part, which Yuuta figured was agreement enough. “Chicken for Haku. I mean drumsticks.”
Haku gave him a narrow-eyed, inscrutable look. Calm down and sit, idiot.
That Yuuta sat down without even a token protest was a testament to how off-balance he felt. “So...uh...what’s the occasion? For the dinner invitation, I mean? Not that I mind, but today was Mizuki-san’s birthday and I think Ryou-senpai and Atsushi-senpai had a dinner planned or something.” He was babbling. Yuuta knew that even without the touch of exasperation emanating from Haku. Right. No more talking.
Fuji returned back to his computer and clicked on the appropriate pizza and a large order of drumsticks, adding in a couple of sodas for good measure. Clicking down to the ‘comments’ box, he wrote a request for half the pizza to be covered with jalapenos and hit ‘submit’. He then turned his attention back to his brother, who looked like he was hunting for something to tear into very small pieces. Perhaps he should have left him with Mizuki.
“Is something bothering you, Yuuta?” he asked, avoiding the question as to why he had suggested Mizuki’s birthday as the perfect time for brotherly bonding.
“Bothering me?” Yuuta repeated blankly. Haku helpfully supplied him with images and feelings, chiefly about how idiotic he was acting, and could he please keep to the agenda here? The agenda. Right.
How exactly was he supposed to ask his brother anything like that???
Yuuta sent a vague, pitiful plea for help in Haku’s direction. Haku frowned at him, flicking his tail once in displeasure. Yuuta picked up the rest of what was lurking underneath, and blinked.
So...choice of mates wasn’t exactly a subject for debate unless one wished to challenge the claim, and technically Haku saw Shuusuke (being older) as outranking them, but the hierarchy wasn’t so established for human families, so territorial (read: xenophobic) protectiveness over a packmate (maybe) applied...?
In other words, Yuuta realized with a mixture of horror and smugness, the wolf didn’t know what to do, either.
“Um.” Stall? Deny? Avoid? Direct approach? “What, er, have you been up to? Y’know. Besides classes.”
Stall it was, then.
Stall with a question that Fuji couldn’t ever remember Yuuta asking him before. In fact, what Fuji had been up to was normally the last thing his brother ever wanted to inquire about. The smiling face looked from Yuuta to Haku, both of whom were looking distinctly awkward. Then Fuji did the only response a big brother could provide in the face of such awkwardness:
He started to laugh.
“Haku, perhaps you should tell me what it bothering our favourite human?” he suggested, looking at the wolf. “Is he unwell?”
The wolf avoided Shuusuke’s eyes, which was a pretty good sign he was more upset than he’d first let on, but Yuuta had no time to enjoy Haku’s discomfort. Oh no. At the moment Yuuta was more preoccupied with what he did best around his older siblings: sputtering.
“What do you mean, favorite human?” A flash of image from Haku, and he added, more sullen, “Sure didn’t look like it from where we were standing.”
(It wouldn’t occur to Yuuta until later that Haku never contested the more disturbing suggestion Shuusuke made regarding favorites. Much later.)
There we go. Fuji considered when Yuuta might have recently seen him and what he was up to at the time. Admittedly, this wasn’t easy since Yuuta did have a habit of running if he saw Fuji before Fuji saw him. However, ‘favourite’ was a clue. Presumably, Yuuta wouldn’t think Fuji had a preference for any manhandled or decapitated corpse he happened to dealing with. Or photographing.
At that moment, the buzzer to the senior dorm sounded and Fuji briefly excused himself to run down the stairs to the pizza man. Returning with a large steaming box, a bucket and some utensils to pull the chicken from the bone, he set the collection on his desk.
“Help yourself,” he said. “You must be hungry.”
A wolf’s mind was dictated almost entirely by the sense of smell. One side effect of being linked to Haku was that some of Yuuta’s own thought processes were rather driven by scents. The smell of food temporarily wiped all other thoughts from their minds, and both of them dug in without thinking. Haku quite liked chicken, and the combination of sweet and tangy pineapple with Italian sausage was heavenly. The pleasure redoubled, soothing and warm over their minds.
Only when Yuuta started on his third slice did he remember there was something that they were supposed to be discussing. Actually, that could maybe wait a while. In fact, now that he thought about it, there definitely were more pressing concerns. Like making sure he wasn’t accidentally taking Shuusuke’s slices.
Haku’s mental snort was easy to ignore. Just took practice, really.
Fuji selected on of his own pepper-heavy slices and ate it while watching Yuuta. Reassured that his brother had finally relaxed, he wiped his hands on a napkin and said, “When did you see Keigo and me?”
Yuuta choked. So much for stalling, Yuuta thought while he coughed and valiantly tried to keep the pieces of pizza from swimming upstream.
Might as well get this over this, he sent to Haku, but the uncertain tone made it a question, not suggestion. Haku didn’t respond with a negative, which Yuuta figured was as close as he’d get to an agreement. Frankly, it wasn’t worth the bother to be anything but straightforward when it came to his brother. When Shuusuke wanted answers, one way or another, he got them.
“Picnic,” Yuuta said succinctly, a touch more defensively than he’d have liked.
Fuji thought back to his and Atobe’s joint grilling by the lake side. That had been rather good, even if Atobe had prevented him from adding in the level of mustard he would have liked. “And...?” he prompted his brother, selecting a second pizza slice.
Yuuta glowered at the half-eaten slice. Shuusuke had a disturbingly good memory and couldn’t possibly fail to recall the incident in question. This time the flash of image was from joint recollection, not from Haku deliberately sending him something. At least, Yuuta mused darkly, Haku seemed as reluctant to talk about this as he was.
“And you two looked real cozy together. What, you need me to draw you a picture?” The last came out almost hostile, and Yuuta blinked. He was disturbed, certainly. And any romantic...ugh. Any relationship his brother might have wasn’t really his business and -- too much information, to be frank. So why the instinctive hostility, the resentment?
-- NOT one of ours, not to be trusted --
Well shit, he’d forgotten about the wolf. Haku was distinctly unhappy about it, but for once he allowed Yuuta in, no barriers. Haku’s thoughts were chaotic, human reasoning tangled with wolf instincts, but the gist Yuuta gleaned was that Shuusuke was Ours and Atobe was Not-Ours, not part of their pack, and dangerous because Shuusuke was clearly drawn to him.
Correction. Haku was even more unhappy about the development than Yuuta was.
Fuji scooped up a couple of extra peppers that had fallen into the box and added them to his slice before taking a bite. He watched Yuuta expectantly for a moment before saying, “Is that a problem?”
Yes. “No.” Haku did not even deign with a response, and Yuuta grimaced. “...Maybe.”
‘No’ with an grudgingly admitted ‘maybe’ and a silent side order of ‘yes’? “Are you in love with Keigo?” Fuji inquired, sounding genuinely curious. OK, so perhaps he considered this an unlikely cause for the troubles within his sibling’s mind but he deserved the question for such an indecisive answer. Plus, the reaction might be amusing.
Yuuta choked.
“WHA--NO!!!” Haku was also bristling, but that was small comfort while Yuuta underwent the most epic sputtering meltdown of the year. “Why would you -- how did that even -- what the hell goes on inside your head, Aniki?!?!”
Fuji smiled benignly at both Yuuta and Haku. Wolves inflated when shocked; that was very interesting. Picking up one of the bottles of soda, he uncapped the top and poured Yuuta out a cup. “He’s very cute,” he remarked, his voice intentionally taking on a slightly dreamy edge.
“Ugh,” Yuuta said with feeling. “Don’t call a guy ‘cute,’ that’s just disturbing.” Haku growled in agreement, although his sentiment was based less on the gender part and more on the person in question. Granted, Yuuta’s impression of Atobe Keigo was vague at best, but apparently for Haku preying on a pack member was enough to plant him firmly on the side of dislike.
Did this mean his baby bro didn’t like boys or just didn’t like ones that could be described as ‘cute’? Did either put him out of reach of Mizuki? Fuji was doubtful; the twisted haired tramp would still have to be watched. “Saa... you prefer handsome? Or to say his arms are strong or that he is a wonderful cook whose produce just melts in your mouth?” Cerulean briefly gleamed as Fuji looked to see if Yuuta had taken in the double entendre. “Or maybe his musical prowess, his imaginative death threats, his cool, smooth skin, silky hair and slate eyes...” If a bucket was needed, perhaps Fuji could offer out a wastepaper bin to either the teen or the wolf.
Physical strength and ability to procure food, it turned out, were desirable qualities in a mate as far as wolves were concerned. (Well, ability to produce superior offspring topped the list, but Haku was enculturated enough to recognize reproduction wasn't always top priority for a human relationship.)
And Yuuta had to admit -- being a good cook was a strong argument for Atobe. Hell, he loved hanging out with Mizuki because Mizuki always fed him the most delicious baked goods.
Yuuta made a face for the rest, but paused on one. "Wait, imaginative whats??"
In all the best relationships there were some traits that were only beautiful to certain people. Fuji decided to let Yuuta consider that one on his own and turned to the more serious question underneath this exchange. “Being with Kei doesn’t stop me being your brother, Yuuta. I would never let anything prevent me being there for you if you needed me.” And a fair number of times when Yuuta didn’t, but that probably went without saying. Fuji looked down at the wolf on the floor. “And Haku too, of course.” Reaching out a hand, he scratched the gray ears.
His mind was still caught up on ‘Death threats turn Aniki on? What?’ but at least Haku seemed to be regaining equilibrium.
If that one tries anything, we’ll kill him and hide the body. Haku still avoided Shuusuke’s eyes, but did take the moment to send a smirk in Yuuta’s direction. In fact, we could do that right now, if you’d like. Nii-san never needs to know.
Despite himself, Yuuta snorted in amusement. I think Aniki’d notice his boyfriend suddenly going missing. Besides, if Atobe ever tries to hurt Aniki, Aniki will probably kill him first.
Sardonic flick of an ear was his only answer. Still, his exchange with Haku had given him the moment he needed to calm his nerves and digest what Shuusuke said. Even if Yuuta might not always appreciate the fact, Shuusuke was always there for him. Would be there for him. That was one constant he counted on in life, even if he didn’t like admitting to it. And Shuusuke had looked happy with Atobe, hadn’t he? “Whatever makes you happy, I guess,” Yuuta said slowly. “Besides, if I said didn’t want you to, would you care?” The last was supposed to be light-hearted, but instead it came out half petulant and half genuinely curious.
Fuji considered this for a moment, his fingers still gently scratching the wolf’s ears. “Yes,” he said, with his usual smile. “But I’d like to know why.” The smile broadened. “Maybe a long talk about it. Or we could go away for the weekend, maybe head home and chat there? Just us.” Experience told him that Yuuta would probably prefer 27 different kinds of death to that kind of one-on-one time with his brother which meant if he really went for it …. Fuji would probably take his concerns seriously.
Yuuta sighed. “Wasn’t saying I didn’t. Yet. I mean...” Haku sent a vague feeling of support? encouragement? in his direction, and Yuuta continued. “...I don’t know how I feel about it yet. It’s a hell of a lot to take in, y’know? Didn’t think you’d go for a guy, for starters.” Why was it so hard to meet Shuusuke’s eyes? Stupid nerves.
“Anyway what I want to say is...hell, I don’t know what I want to say. But you’re my brother, and...” Yuuta swallowed, stole a look in Haku’s direction, and raised his eyes to meet Shuusuke’s. His attempt at smile was too shaky to be successful, but it was the thought that counted. Probably. “I guess I...we...got your back?” And ready to hide some bodies, too, but Shuusuke didn’t need to know that.
Fuji’s smile changed from one that implied he was winding his brother up, to that of being genuinely touched. He straightened and put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I never doubted it,” he told him. If it came to it, there could be a family event for mass corpse burying. Atobe and likely Mizuki together. It was all very touching.
Argh. This was so embarrassing. They were never having this kind of conversation again. Ever. Yuuta looked away to glower at a particularly offensive spot on the floor and firmly ignored the heat rising in his neck. Because that wasn’t a blush. At all. “Okay. Good.”
Fuji bit back a chuckle. Over the years, it had become harder to make Yuuta blush quite as effectively as this. Deciding to put his sibling out of his misery his eyes scanned the room for a better topic: Tezuka fansite photos? Cacti babies? Spyfish cam? Deathnote book?
“Another slice of pizza?” he offered.