The Pink Rose's Promise (BL)

6. Yakiniku with the Boys

Ichirou had quite the week. Despite his best attempts, Ichika had given him zero hints as to what she and Masahiro had spoken about. She also gave none in regards to why she felt that Ichirou should date him. It felt like she was holding something above his head, and because he was so much shorter than her, he just couldn't reach it. It was an irritating sort of feeling, but if his sister was keeping it a secret, then there was no way she would tell. She was, unfortunately in this instance, extremely good at keeping secrets.

Next up, Ichirou had managed to get out a reference to Masahiro as his boyfriend, which made his mother weep openly and his father tear up. It seemed as though they really had been worried about whether this "relationship" was going to work out since they had been seeing each other for nearly two months and he hadn't referred to him as his romantic partner. It irritated Ichirou that Ichika was right, but she was smart, so she was often right.

She was not right about the fact that he should date Masahiro, though. Definitely wrong on that.

Ichirou and Yuuhei went shopping together at a large mall on that Thursday evening, which Yuuhei couldn't manage to fill. Ichirou had been thinking of that cute bracelet that Masahiro got for him, and had decided that he was going to find and get something there. Indeed, after a lot of searching, he found something that he determined to be worthy. A simple silver box chain necklace, with a marquise-shaped sapphire pendant. A bit of silver curled around the edges of the pendant, holding it in place with an interesting design. It was just small enough not to be considered "girly," but large enough that you could see some detail if you were standing in front of him.

Yuuhei had joked that maybe he should bring a "birthday present," as well. Although Ichirou insisted it wasn't a birthday gift, it also did make Ichirou wonder when Masahiro's birthday was. If they were still "dating" during that time, he would have to get Masahiro another gift. It wasn't likely that they would still be dating by the time Ichirou's birthday came around, as it was in February.

Some part of him felt weird about that, as he had quickly found himself becoming attached to the daily texts that Masahiro would send, his calming pheromones, and even the gentle smile he sometimes gave to Ichirou. If he was this attached a couple of days before their two-month anniversary, what would it be like to "break up" with Masahiro at the six-month mark? Surely they could still be friends, but without the incentive of maintaining a false relationship, Ichirou worried that things would just fizzle out, and he'd be left with his only friend, Yuuhei, once again.

Ichirou decided not to worry about it for the time being in the end. He could not see the future, no matter how hard he stressed out about it. He would make that decision when he needed to. Instead, he focused on getting ready for the gathering at the yakiniku restaurant. He just needed to focus on the here and now.

Ichirou decided that a casual dress might be nice for today, so he grabbed his sailor dress. It was true that he had tried on a sailor uniform and had been too embarrassed to even walk outside his bedroom, but this one was different. It was a desaturated pink, with the white collar going halfway down his ribs. The ribbon on the bow went below the navel, and gentle, small ruffles brushed against his knees. It looked a lot more antique, a lot more classic than the overly sweet sailor uniform. He also had a matching beret, which meant that he had to take his hair out of his beloved ponytail, but for fashion, he would do it.

Ichirou did his makeup very simply, making his features look soft. Just a dash of brown around the eyes, some blush here, and just a little bit of lip gloss. With that, he put on some ankle-length white socks with lace on the top and grabbed a white bag that was shaped like a cat's head. He did a little twirl in front of the mirror, feeling pleased with how cute he looked. He looked like any cute Japanese girl, which was entirely the goal.