Title: Misunderstandings 5
Author: ice
Genre: Romance, Family
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: AtoJi
Note: Sequel to The Aftermath.
Summary: A misunderstanding by Atobe's mother causes chaos for Atobe and Jirou.
Disclaimer: I can only wish I owned PoT...Atobe and Jirou would be official...and PoT would be about Hyoutei instead of Seigaku...
Plates and utensils clinked and clanked as the diners ate their dinners. A wide spread of dishes were laid out for the enjoyment of all, ranging from delicacies to normal spinach and onions. French cream puffs were to be served for dessert.
"I still say we should have waited until they came down." Jirou's mother frowned as she paused.
"They said they'd be down soon and told us to go ahead without them." Miyoko complained.
"I'm sure it's fine." Haru said.
She continued to frown until a cough from the corner of the door interrupted their dinner. They all looked up. "Atobe-san!"
Atobe reached off to the side of the doorframe and pulled a short-haired girl in an ivory dress into view. The dress was amazingly simple, resembling a short kimono with sleeves that flowed much more. A small, scarlet red phoenix embroidered with gold thread lined the left side area of the skirt.
Her hair was wavy, with an ornament of a small bird at the end with several strands of twinkling beads leading down placed above her right ear. Her makeup was only lightly done, with dark eyeliner to make her lashes look fuller and longer and a touch of gloss to her lips. It was difficult to tell whether her lovely blush was due to cosmetics or her embarrassment when they realized that they were staring at Jirou.
"JIROU?!"
"...hi?" he squeaked out embarrassingly.
They gaped at him. He wasn't the most feminine nor prettiest girl around, but he could pass off decently as one. His short stature and delicate frame compared to Atobe's certainly helped the effect. His hair still hung unevenly around his face, but it looked slightly longer and framed his face more appropriately. He was also lucky that his voice hadn't terribly deepened with puberty; it stayed amongst the middle range where female altos could reach.
Atobe led him to an empty seat and let him sit down properly before sitting down himself. "Convinced yet?" He rhetorically asked with a hint of smug arrogance in his tone.
The elder Akutagawas could only nod and stare speechlessly at their second-born son. Kaji shook his head as if saying, I should've known, and continued eating. However, Miyoko on the other hand...
"OMG, Jirou! How did you do your makeup! Or did Atobe do it for you? And your hair! This is so cool, you'd make a great sister!" She bounced around happily. Atobe inwardly thought that she acted like Jirou when Jirou was excited.
"Yes, he does indeed make a cute female." Haru commented.
Atobe glanced over at his grandfather before shaking his head. He didn't want to know what that old man had running through his head. "Let's just continue with dinner." He announced, his statement managing to calm Miyoko down enough to go back to her seat and startle Jirou's parents out of their shock. Dinner proceeded quietly, surprisingly, and at the end, Jirou decided to leave with Atobe and his grandfather after making sure that his family knew what to do if anyone asked about their 'older daughter.'
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While they had skipped school that Monday, they decided to attend classes and then prepare Jirou with etiquette lessons afterwards. By the end of the week, Jirou was exhausted and did not want to hear another word on what he had to do and what he could not do as a female.
"Kei-chan...." Jirou's whine was muffled by his face being buried in one of Atobe's plush pillows. "I'm tired."
Atobe sighed as he looked at his exhausted boyfriend. He reached out and lightly twirled a copper strand of hair around his fingers. "Tomorrow's the day."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but good. I don't wanna deal with those nagging ladies anymore."
Atobe watched him, amused. Jirou was squirming around on the bed, trying to find a comfortable spot to sleep in, eventually giving up and just sprawling over his boyfriend, his favorite sleeping spot.
Atobe wrapped his arms around the blond's waist and held him as they drifted off in slumber.
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Atobe surreptitiously glanced at his watch as he spoke confidently to one of his father's business partners. The other man was impressed with his accomplishments, both in school and in aiding his father, and had said so a few times already. He wasn't quite paying attention, however, more worried about Jirou instead. He hoped his mother and father hadn't caught Jirou before Jirou had made it down to him. Then he heard a few murmurs from behind him.
"Mmm...that's a pretty one. Who is she?" The man Atobe was speaking to interrupted his own sentence.
Atobe, startled at the question--not that he showed it--, turned around to see Jirou almost at the bottom of the staircase, walking both gracefully and confidently down the steps. "Excuse me." He said to the man as he turned back to walk to Jirou.
When he reached the bottom of the staircase, he saw that a few of the young men at the party had already surrounded Jirou and were asking for dances, while Jirou smiled prettily at them and softly refused each one until he reached him.
Atobe held out a hand as he bowed. "May I have this dance, my lady?" He smirked. Jirou let out an almost imperceptible smug grin as he agreed.
"Of course." Groans of disappointment and 'I should've known she'd go for Atobe' rang out from the group surrounding them as Atobe led Jirou away towards the dance floor.
Atobe pulled Jirou close as they the music began again. "Glad to see that you made it safely down." He whispered.
"I almost got caught by your dad."
"What happened?"
"He caught a glimpse of this dress. Apparently the sleeves lag behind when I move." Jirou was wearing the same outfit he wore to show his family.
"I see."
"They're pretty though. And it's a good thing I know my way around this place."
"Mmm."
As the dance ended and Atobe led Jirou off to the refreshment table, they were met by the business associate Atobe had been speaking to earlier. "I see the Atobe gets the pick of the group." He commented as he winked at Jirou. Jirou averted his eyes and clung tighter onto Atobe's sleeve.
Atobe nodded at the man. "Tanosuke-san."
"Keigo!" Atobe looked over to see his mother and father approaching him.
"Excuse us, we need to speak with our son." His father told the man as he pulled Atobe and Jirou off to the side. "You didn't say she was this pretty." His father addressed his mother.
"I didn't think she was at the time." His mother sniffed. "You clean up well." She told Jirou.
"Thank you." Jirou bowed.
"I didn't see her going up earlier. What was she doing coming down the stairs?" Atobe's mother stared at Atobe sternly. "Don't tell me she was in your room again."
"So what if she was. She's already been in there before." Atobe glared back defiantly.
"Hmph. Well, in any case, her background check yielded decent enough results. We'll be wanting a conversation with her now. You, may keep Ashikawa-san entertained, meanwhile. Should we find Akutagawa-san to be lacking, she shall become your fiancee." His mother sniffed.
Atobe glared at his mother. He had to deal with the other girl now? Ugh. "Ah, there she is. Ashikawa-san!" His mother called. A petite blonde-haired girl in a pale blue night gown looked over at their group before heading over. "Ashikawa-san, this is my son. Why don't you two talk to each other for a while? Get to know each other better." His mother smiled sweetly before pulling Jirou away from Atobe and leading him towards a more secluded area.
Jirou glanced back at Atobe as he followed Atobe's mother and father down the hall. Atobe looked faintly annoyed as he watched his boyfriend being pulled away from him. Jirou offered him a small smile before facing forward again. Atobe sighed.
"I'm guessing that that was your girlfriend?"
Atobe turned to the girl he was left with. She was quite pretty, he supposed. Long blonde hair, slim body, big, bright-blue eyes...he still preferred Jirou's auburn-red eyes though. "Yes." He replied to her question.
"Getting pulled away for questioning?" She tilted her head slightly as she gave a small smile.
He blinked. She resembled Jirou for a second there. "Yes..." He affirmed slowly. Ashikawa...ashikawa...ashikawa...something was a little strange about that name.
"Don't worry, I won't try to steal you away from her." She giggled. "You two look quite cute together, anyways."
"Thank you, Ashikawa-san."
"Mmm....she does remind me of someone though." She pondered. "Ah, she reminds me of my little cousin!"
Atobe raised an eyebrow.
"I had a little cousin about our age who was really adorable. Slept anywhere, anytime, whenever he could. It was quite cute. I wonder if he does that anymore."
Atobe blinked slowly. That sounded like Jirou. "Ashikawa-san, how long ago was this?"
"Hmm...I think the last time I saw him was when I was about six. I believe he was only four, almost five back then. Adorable little thing, really."
Ashikawa...wait. Wasn't another way to read the kanji for Akutagawa, 'Ashikawa'? "Your cousin's name wouldn't happen to be Akutagawa Jirou, would it?"
"Yes, it was actually. How did you know?" She asked him questioningly.
Atobe mentally groaned. His parents were trying to set him up with Jirou's COUSIN? This was extremely messed up. He wondered if they realized that. "Do Ore-sama's parents realize you're related to the Akutagawa family?"
She raised an eyebrow at his method of self-address. "Mmm...don't know. They never really asked about my relatives. They kinda just ignored that part when they heard that my family didn't really talk to our relatives much."
"This is not a proposal, but would you really marry Ore-sama if you had a choice?"
"I suppose. It's not like I have anyone I particularly like, and your wealth is certainly a bonus."
Great, of course, it was about the money. But at least she was honest about it. "Perhaps Ore-sama will let you in on a little secret later on if Ore-sama's...fiancee agrees to."
She gave him a confused look. "Okay?"
Atobe looked at his watch. It had already been about half a hour. When were they going to come back?
"I think they're coming back." He looked up to see that Ashikawa was right. He searched Jirou's expression carefully, hoping that his parents hadn't scared Jirou too much. He had hoped to be there when they interrogated Jirou, but apparently, it wasn't meant to be.
"Ji-Jun?" He cleared he voice as he almost let slip Jirou's actual name. Jirou looked up and smiled at him brightly in relief. He gave an inward sigh of relief. Jirou had passed whatever test his parents had put him through.
"I'm sorry, Ashikawa-san. We couldn't find anything wrong with her." Atobe overheard his mother telling the blonde. Atobe scowled.
"Oh, it's perfectly alright. I'd rather he be happy with his girlfriend than marry me. He'd probably be grumpy about it." She laughed.
Atobe sniffed as he pulled Jirou closer to him in a hug. He leaned down and whispered into Jirou's ear. "That's your cousin over there that my parents were trying to set me up with."
Jirou jerked his head up, surprised. "Really?"
"She remembers that she had a cousin who looked like you who slept a lot. Does the name Ashikawa ring a bell?"
"Ashikawa...Ashikawa..." Jirou muttered under his breath. "Ohhh..." He breathed. "I remember her. She used to play with me during summer when her family still came to visit. Then they moved when I was five and never came back."
"We can tell her later if you'd like."
"Can we?" Jirou beamed at him.
"Of course."
"Yay! Kei-chan's the best!" Jirou snuggled deeply against Atobe.
"Aww....they're so cute." A voice giggled. They looked up to see Ashikawa watching them in glee. Jirou blushed, realizing that they were still at the party. He glanced around to see that about a quarter of the people there were watching them and smiling.
"Oops." Jirou muttered.
"It's fine." Atobe reassured. "Want to dance again?"
"Ohh...can we?" Jirou started bouncing slightly.
"Stop bouncing. Your skirt will flip again."
"Oops."
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