The Pink Rose's Promise (BL)

8. Sweet Dresses and Sweet Treats

Ichirou was glad to hear that Masahiro had gotten the high score in his class for the paper, getting full credit plus five extra credit points. After how hard he had worked on it, he deserved that much at least. From what Ichirou understood, Masahiro hadn't lost more than ten points in almost all of his classes. He was shooting for valedictorian in his Master of Business Management degree, which Ichirou was pretty sure Masahiro could do. He was incredibly good at studying, and even more incredibly passionate.

Yuuhei had continued to text him throughout the week, seeming to still be incredibly torn about Takeru. When Ichirou asked if he wanted to hang out with Masahiro and Takeru on the Saturday after next, Yuuhei took a while to answer before saying that he did. This kind of confirmed what Ichirou was thinking; Yuuhei would not block or avoid Takeru because he liked the attention. Who knows, Yuuhei might even end up falling for Takeru.

Ichirou and Masahiro celebrated their two-month anniversary away from each other, as Masahiro couldn't break away from his schooling. Not that Ichirou was expecting a date or anything! No, not a date, a hangout! He wasn't expecting a hangout! It just happened to be that he wouldn't have minded hanging out with Masahiro on that Thursday. Yeah, that's right, that's all it was.

This left Ichirou with a single worry: his next date. No, not date, his next hangout with Masahiro. They would be going to a shop that he had avoided for many many years. He could stand wearing pink every day, but he got so easily embarrassed that he couldn't wear cosplay or school uniforms whatsoever. This shop had outfits that, although weren't cosplay, were even cuter. It was something he had dreamed of wearing for years, and now the perfect outfit had come out, something he would die to own. He had to take the chance, and Masahiro was the perfect one. From everything he had seen, Masahiro would not judge him.

Because he was going to Harajuku, Ichirou had to wear something especially cute. So, he went with a red, pink, and white-themed outfit. He wore a cute, pink and white gingham shirt with an anime girl's face drawn in red and white on the front of it, red shorts, white thigh-high socks, pink mary-janes, and a white bow. He also grabbed his strawberry-shaped bag, and put on some cutesy makeup, with red rimming his eyes and his lips pink. He had considered wearing a skirt, but he was feeling too anxious. If he wore a skirt, he was certain he would trip and fall on his face, letting everyone see his safety shorts... which wasn't that bad, but it would still be embarrassing.

With his final mirror check, he walked downstairs and down the hallway to the front entrance. Waiting for him in the foyer were his parents and his sister. He paused at this, blinking at them. Why were they here?

"Ichirou..." his mother, Iwa, said softly. "We wanted to ask you about something."

Ichirou, somewhat panicked suddenly, looked at his younger, yet taller, sister. She gave him a flat look with the slightest shake of her head. He relaxed a bit. They hadn't found out that he wasn't actually dating Masahiro. As long as it wasn't that, he was fine.

Isami, his father, spoke next. "We were wondering when you planned on bringing Yamashita-san home to meet us."

Ichirou felt his jaw drop at that, his cheeks reddening. "I- it's only been two months!"

"It's just, darling... you've been so much happier since you met Yamashita-san. We want to get to know him since you obviously care for him so much," Iwa said.

Ichirou bit back any protests but did feel acutely aware of that first sentence. He was happier? Since meeting Masahiro? Was that true? He hadn't noticed, but he did feel a bit better. Maybe it was because he was getting out with somebody other than his family or Yuuhei. It was nice for an extrovert to get out and make friends, after all.