If Only

Seventeen

Jai and Riku wake up around 8 that morning. Riku's father is sitting at the bar near the kitchen sipping on some coffee while reading his paper. "Morning dad." Riku says in a voice saying 'I dont care.'

Jai speaks, "Good morning Mr Takari." Riku's father nods at them both. Riku shrugs and grabs his keys. "Come on Jai. Lets go to IHOP. We're gonna need a big breakfast."

"Why not eat here?" Jai asks eyeing Riku. Riku looks at him as if saying I'll explain later. The boys go into the back yard and grab some tools to assist them for later today. After they gather their supplies, they head to IHOP in Riku's car.

They sit and order their meals and chat.

"Dude. Whats the issue between you and your dad?" Jai asks.

Riku sighs deeply, "He's not really my dad."

"Whats that suppose to mean?" Jai asks with a raised eyebrow.

Riku sighs deeply, "Look. No one really knows this...but my real dad is dead. Shouyu's my biological brother. My mother IS my mother though but my dad isn't really mine." He says the last part kinda sad like.

Jai looks at him in shock. "Wow really? But you and Mr Takari look so much alike."

Riku sips on his orange juice. "Dad's the best father I could have asked for. We may not be blood but neither of us care. He's my dad regardless to our DNA. Even though sometimes he is VERY annoying." Jai smiles and nods, "Thats right. Blood does not always make you family." The two fist bump and their food comes to the table.

They devour their meal Naruto-style. After paying, they make their way over to Ezra's house.

Riku pulls up at exactly 8:58 am. Jai goes to the door while Riku gathers the tools from his trunk. Ezra opens the door and grins at him. He raises an eyebrow until she points at her neck gesturing that she knows about Keiri's hickey.

Jai blushes and begins to panic. He whispers, "Has your dad or anyone else noticed yet?"

She shakes her head, "No. We managed to rid her of it late last night. You both owe me one."

He gives her a thumbs up. "Will do. We need to set up our tools. Is the back gate open?" Ezra nods. "Sure. I'll show you guys the way."

Jai goes back to the trunk and grabs his share of gardening tools. Riku closes his trunk and and picks up his tools following Jai. Ezra kisses his cheek and he smiles back at her. "Good morning to you too beautiful." Riku says to her making her blush slightly.

"Get a room you two." a teasing voice says behind them. Everyone turns around to see Keiri there smirking. "No PDA." she says while laughing.

Ezra scoffs, "Says the girl that I had to spend two hours with last night getting rid of a hickey." Keiri stops laughing and turns red. Jai laughs nervously. "Uh...hehe...can we not mention that while we are over here?" They all nod in agreement before bursting out into a laugh.

Escobar hears multiple voices outside in his backyard and opens the door to his upstairs balcony. He looks down and sees Ezra and Keiri laughing with a lavender haired guy and a brown haired guy. "Hmmm....no wonder they disappeared." He walks downstairs and before he can get to the door and chime goes off inside his head*bing* 'dad mode activate'. He goes outside with a very stern look on his face. Ezra turns around and sees the look on his face and mentally panics.

"Uh...oh...hey...daddy...these are...uh...some friends of ours." she stumbles in between her words. Keiri, luckily, manages to save her.

"They came by to help with the landscaping. And to get to know you." she says as boldly as she can.

Escobar nods. "Very well. Why dont you girls go fetch us guys some juice. Boys! Lets get to work."

After about two hours, the entire backyard is completely redone and has been redecorated in ways far beyond Escobars imagination. "If Isadora were here she'd fan girl seeing this." he thinks to himself about his wife. He looks over at Jai and Riku who are gathering the tools in a wheelbarrow. "Good job boys. We got done three hours ahead of schedule." he says giving them a nod.

The two teens nod back at him.

"Come on in for a while. Im sure you boys are a bit worn out." he says motioning for them to follow him into the house. The two teens walk in behind him and Riku slides the door closed. They sit in the kitchen at the bar counter near Escobar. Kiba is still a bit nervous, but Riku is unfazed by his presence.

All Riku can think about is doing whatever it takes to earn Mr Takoiya's blessing. They talked for a while outside. Mr Takoiya revealed that he had indeed noticed the hickey on Keiri's neck causing Jai to break out into a nervous sweat and immediately explain himself.

Riku told about himself and told him his background. His heart softened a bit towards the young man. Here he was thinking that no young man would ever be good enough for his daughter and yet here is a young man who has had been lied to throughout his childhood and grew up to be a humble and wholesome man. Riku knows what he wants in his life. He has set so many goals and have so far accomplished them all. Riku did, however, tell him that there is one thing standing in the way of him completing his other goals, but he never said exactly what it was.

"Mr Takari." he says in a low voice. Riku looks over to him along with Jai.

"You said that there was one obstacle you couldnt cross that is keeping you from accomplishing your other goals. Mind telling me what that is?" Escobar asks with a raised eyebrow.

Riku sits up straight and looks Escobar directly in his eyes. "That one obstacle that I've yet to cross...is you."