Title: In Your Brother’s Company
Pairings: Yuuri+Wolfram, Conrad+Yuuri? Shouri+Wolfram?
Rating: R
Warnings: AU, Language, humor, sap/fluff, unbeta’d
Summary: Yuuri and Wolfram have planned a day all to themselves but
things don’t quite go as easily as they had hoped.
It took a lot to get Wolfram von Bielefeld excited over anything – well
anything besides his favorite sport in the world. Sure he showed enough
enthusiasm for most things, but he didn’t go out of his way to make it too
obvious to anyone who cared to pay attention. However, certain things had
changed in his life now. Good things. Exciting things - very exciting
things, which had him smiling or grinning to himself whenever he felt he was
alone. He usually felt foolish whenever he was asked what was so funny or why
was he smiling when there was apparently nothing whatsoever to cause such a
reaction. But he’d be damned if he told anyone that the reason for this giddy
sensation was thanks to another boy who could sometimes be the world’s greatest
moron without even trying.
He hummed softly to himself as he walked down the relatively quiet street,
aware that a small smile was tugging at his lips as he approached the other’s
house. They had made plans to hang out all day today since his parents would be
out of town for the weekend. Wolfram’s cheeks burned with color as he wondered
just how they’d end up spending the day. He had brought several video games as
requested but he doubted they’d play that all day. In fact, Wolfram was sure
that something else was bound to happen and video games would be the last thing
on their minds by then. Boy! He couldn’t wait!
He quickened his footsteps and struggled to contain his excitement. He could
feel the black bag filled with games bouncing gently on his hip as he walked,
his sneakers almost noiseless on the pavement as the house finally came in
view. Hoping he wasn’t sweating too much (he did feel flustered) he took a deep
breath and pressed the doorbell.
I’ll probably pounce on him since the neighbors aren’t around, he
thought with a small smirk. That would definitely surprise him and maybe
I’ll let him kiss me right here and now and we can start off that way and focus
on games later.
He shifted restlessly, feeling the growing heat between his legs. Damn! He
couldn’t believe he was already getting horn…
A rattle of the doorknob and Wolfram, whose heartbeat had quickened at the
sound of it, took a step forward as the door opened to reveal the smiling face
of…
Huh?!
“Oh hello, Wolfram!” came the enthusiastic greeting. “I didn’t know you were
coming today. What a…”
“…damn rip off,” Yuuri muttered as he eyed the fake plastic card in his hand.
“I can’t believe I paid almost 1600 yen for this shit.”
Murata, who wasn’t paying much attention to his friend’s woes over a baseball
card, nodded and flipped another page of the book he was reading. “Uh huh.”
“I mean I could have gone to Sadako-san’s shop and gotten something much
better!”
“Uh huh.”
“I’m going to have to get my money back. I can’t let him rip me off like this!”
“Right.”
Yuuri chewed on his fries with a vengeance, still glaring at the card with the
smiling face of Yasuhiro Nakamura of the Hanshin Tigers on it. It wasn’t a bad
card to get and the value was sure to go up in a few years since Yasuhiro was
showing some promise but the card wasn’t even the genuine article. It didn’t
have the official logo as he had originally thought he saw while in the store.
He grumbled and slurped on his drink, wondering why he hadn’t paid too much
attention to it. He usually wasn’t that absentminded but it was because of…
“Oh shit!” he cried out, glancing at his watch and bounding to his feet at the
same time. “I completely forgot I was supposed to go to Wolfram’s house this
afternoon!”
Murata finally lifted his head to blink at his friend in confusion. “Oh yeah, you
did say that earlier. Well, looks like you’re running late…”
“I know that,” Yuuri replied quickly as he slung his bag over his shoulder. “Be
a friend and pay for me, will you?”
“What?! How come I have to keep paying your tab you damn cheap…!”
“I’ll pay you back!” Yuuri yelled over his shoulder as he ran out of the fast
food restaurant and into the street. Blurting out an occasional ‘excuse me!’ or
‘Sorry! Sorry!’, he darted in and out of the crowd, his breath coming out in
harsh gasps as he ran towards the train station. He had less than twenty
minutes to spare and he knew how much Wolfram hated being kept waiting for
anything. It was one of the few nuances of his boyfriend that Yuuri had picked
up since they became an item. He couldn’t help smiling, as he all but leapt
down the flight of stairs leading to the platform, at what they had planned to
do today. He was sure Wolfram had said that Conrad would be out of town with
Gwendal for some seminar, so they would have the house all to themselves.
Now grinning with pleasure, while squeezing his way into the already filled
train, he gave a sigh of relief and closed his eyes, pressing his forehead
against the cool window pane to catch his breath. In all honesty, Wolfram was
still an enigma to Yuuri. Although, they had both confessed their feelings for
each other, there were times when Yuuri felt sure that Wolfram was either
losing interest or just toying with him. So yes, they’ve been together for less
than a month, but it still didn’t stop those nagging feelings of insecurity.
The smile faltered a bit as he swallowed tightly. Being late was just going to
be another thing to get Wolfram angry, something Yuuri did his best to avoid as
much as possible.
As the train came to a stop, Yuuri had to push his way out of the throng again
before bolting up the stairs and out to the street at breakneck speed. Every
now and then, he’d glance at his watch, wincing as he realized he had less than
five minutes to get to Wolfram’s house. Damn it! If only he hadn’t gone to that
shop. If only he hadn’t been so obsessed with the need to get the card before
it sold out, he wouldn’t be in this mess right now.
Please don’t be too mad at me, please don’t be too mad at me, please don’t
be too mad at me, he thought over and over again as he finally skidded to a
stop in front of the familiar home. Out of breath and sweating like a stuck-pig
under the sun’s punishing rays, Yuuri pressed the doorbell and got ready to
concoct a lie that would seem feasible to a skeptic like Wolfram.
I got lost. The train got stuck on the way here. I overslept. Murata made me
go with him to this place and then I…
However, all thoughts of lying disappeared from Yuuri’s mind as he blinked at
the sight of the person standing before him. He lifted a hand to rub his eyes
just to be sure.
“Yuuri!” came the enthusiastic greeting. “What in the world are you doing here?
You look out of breath. Why don’t you come in and…”
“…have something to drink?”
“Yes, please. Thank you,” Wolfram replied slowly, now perched on the edge of
the couch as stiff as a statue, while listening to the other man moving about
in the kitchen. What the fuck is he doing here?! I thought Yuuri said he had
gone back to college! And besides…where the hell is Yuuri?!
“Here you go,” Shouri said with a warm smile as he held out the cold bottle of
soda which Wolfram accepted with a weak smile of his own. He took a sip of the
drink and winced inwardly as Shouri made himself comfortable on the overstuffed
sofa across him to turn on the TV.
Wait…wait a minute…this isn’t right. This isn’t…I’m supposed to be here with
Yuuri!
“So how’s training coming along?” Shouri asked as he flipped through channels,
seemingly oblivious to his companion’s discomfort.
Wolfram’s jaw worked for a second. “Training…training’s fine. Uuum…I was
actually wondering if you knew where Yuu…?”
“You’ll be playing on Opening Day, won’t you? You must be excited about that.”
“Ye…yes, I am. But I was wondering if you knew where…”
“You know, I would have pursued a career in baseball,” Shouri continued. The
channels on the screen moving faster and faster as he continued to seek for
something to watch. It was beginning to grate on Wolfram’s nerves. “But it just
wasn’t my thing after all.”
Like I give a fuck, Wolfram thought angrily, now sure that Shouri was
doing this on purpose. Yuuri had warned him about his older brother’s sadistic
nature. But he wasn’t just angry at Shouri, there was still no sign of Yuuri
and Wolfram was this close to being…
….utterly and completely confused as he walked after Conrad into the house.
“Sorry about the mess,” Conrad was saying as he pointed towards the living room
which was strewn with papers which looked like important documents. There was a
game on the large screen TV and putting two and two together, Yuuri figured
that Conrad was reviewing past Royals games for the seminar….which he was
supposed to be attending this very minute…right?
“Uum…” he began, clearing his throat as he watched the ex-player rummaging
through the fridge for something cool to drink. “I thought you were supposed to
be at a seminar?” He clutched the strap of his bag tightly, eyeing the door to
Wolfram’s bedroom as if hoping the boy would pop out in a second.
“Oh that,” Conrad replied, holding up two bottles of cold mineral waters for
Yuuri. He smiled and shrugged lightly. “I’m leaving tomorrow not today.
Unfortunately, I still have a lot of work to catch up with.”
Yuuri felt his heart sink. “So you mean….you’re going to be here all day?”
Conrad, who had been ready to place the bottle against his lips, eyed the boy
warily, although slightly amused at the disappointment Yuuri was trying so hard
to mask. “Shouldn’t I be?”
“No, no!” Yuuri replied quickly, flushing at the insinuation. “No, I just meant
that…well…it’s not important.”
Conrad hid a small smile as he drank and then pointed towards the documents.
“Why don’t you help me with my work then? We can wait for Wolfram while you do
that, since I’m sure that’s why you came here to begin with.”
“But…”
“He’s not home at the moment. He ran out of here before I could ask him where
he was going to.”
Yuuri shook his head, now terribly confused and slightly angry. “But we had
agreed to meet here today. Isn’t today Thursday?”
“Yes, it is,” Conrad agreed. He rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and
sat on the couch, a warm smile on his visage as he patted the space beside him.
“Come sit and keep me company then until your boyfriend arrives, hmm?”
“I guess,” he mumbled as he shuffled towards the older man. He eyed the clock
against the wall and sighed inwardly. Geez. To think he had run all this way
only to find out that Wolfram wasn’t even home! Where the hell could he have
gone and how long was he expected to wait?
Damn it, Wolfram! Just when I thought we would have the entire day to
ourselves, you just have to…
…breathe, Wolfram. Just breathe. It will be over soon.
He glanced at Shouri who was now laughing at some ridiculous comedy show on the
television and for a moment, he was struck at how handsome the older boy looked
when he did that.
Eh? Handsome?!
Wolfram blinked hard and stared at the bottle in his hands. He squirmed in his
seat and taking another deep breath, he decided to try this one more time.
“I was wondering if you could tell me where…”
“Have you watched this show before?” Shouri asked. There was no doubt about it
now. Wolfram was definitely sure he had seen a mischievous glint in Shouri’s
eyes. The bastard WAS doing this on purpose!
“I want to know where Yuuri is!” he finally blurted out, surprised to find
himself slightly breathless. His fingers were so tightly clenched around the
bottle in his hand that he was sure it would snap it two.
“Ah, my little brother,” came the amused reply. “Isn’t it obvious that he isn’t
home?”
Wolfram counted inwardly to ten before taking another sip of his drink.
Anything to stop himself from going into a tirade. “Do you know when he’ll be
back?” he finally asked tightly.
“No, not really. I do know he left with Murata though.”
“Fuck.”
“Did you say something?”
“No.”
“Ah, okay.” Shouri finished his soda with a small but satisfied belch and rose
to his feet. “Do you want to wait for him? He doesn’t have a cell phone yet or
I would have called him for you.”
“It’s…okay.” No, it wasn’t! If he got his hands on Yuuri, he was going to kill
that two-timing loser! They had made plans for today and yet he had found the
time to be with that eye-glass wearing freak…
“Oh! Is that Eternal Kingdom?”
Wolfram blinked at the sudden change in topic. “Wha…?”
“That,” Shouri said, pointing at the game that was sticking out of Wolfram’s
bag. “That’s the latest one, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is…”
“I’d love to play it if you don’t mind,” Shouri said almost shyly, scratching
the back of his head a bit self-consciously. “I do have a penchant for video
games, so…”
Wolfram glanced at the clock and sighed inwardly. How long was he supposed to
wait for Yuuri and with the look of longing in Shouri’s eyes, there was no
doubt he’d have to play the game with him for now. At least it would kill the
time if nothing else.
“All right,” he finally muttered as he fell to his knees before the video
console and swung his bag off his shoulders. “Let’s play but I get to…”
“…see who’s not been performing well and either get them to put up a hundred
percent performance or we trade them next year.”
Yuuri listened in fascination, gaze fixed on the older man’s handsome visage as
he talked about the in and outs of baseball. He couldn’t think of a better way
to spend the afternoon while waiting for Wolfram to show up. He was learning a
whole lot more than he had thought possible and as he asked questions, Conrad
was willing to share as much as he could without giving too many secrets away.
They watched several taped games and Yuuri felt giddy with pleasure every time
Conrad asked his opinion on a play or what could have been done better. They
were so into their conversation that neither noticed the hours flying right by…
…as fingers flew over buttons, tongues stuck out of mouths, light sheens of
sweat dotted their brows as they focused and concentrated on the moving images
before them.
“Goddamn it!” Shouri cursed as Wolfram sent yet another ball of fire towards
his fighter, successfully obliterating him. The younger boy was killing him!
No, make that three deaths since they had begun playing this game.
Wolfram thumbed his nose and grinned. “Admit it. I’m too just too much.”
“Best five out of seven,” Shouri mumbled.
“This isn’t the world series,” Wolfram said with a smirk. “But fine, if you want
to get your ass kicked that badly, let’s do it again. I’ll be…”
“…right back,” Yuuri said as he rose to his feet and stretched aching muscles.
“I have to call my brother to tell him I’m all right.” He eyed the clock again,
now aware of just how long he had been here and yet Wolfram hadn’t shown up. He
was beginning to get worried now. The pleasure he had felt while watching the
games and listening to Conrad was beginning to wane. It was almost six in the
evening! The day was almost through!
“You do that,” Conrad replied with a small nod. He too was worried that Wolfram
hadn’t called yet. “I’ll begin packing these papers up.”
Yuuri nodded slowly and picked up the phone. He listened to the ringing tone
for a while, wondering if Shouri had left the house or not. He didn’t think his
brother had gone out because…
“…I think your phone is ringing.”
“Huh?”
“I said I think your phone is ringing!”
“Pause!” Shouri demanded as he rose to his feet. He picked up the device, an
eye still trained on the game. “Shibuya residence.”
“Hey, Shouri. It’s me, Yuuri.”
“Yuuri?” For a second the name didn’t quite click, his mind still full of
possible moves to use against Wolfram’s character, but it sank in as Wolfram
whipped his head around sharply at the sound of the name. “Yuuri. Where are
you?”
“I’m in Wolfram’s house,” Yuuri began, glancing at Conrad who was on his hands
and knees arranging papers. “I just called to tell you that…”
“What the hell are you doing in…?” Shouri started but before he could finish,
Wolfram had snatched the phone from him and was barking into it.
“YUURI?! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!”
“Wolfram?!” came the shocked reply. “What…? Where….?! What are you doing in my
house?!”
“Waiting for you! What does it look like I’m doing?!”
“In my house?! But I thought you told me to come over to YOUR house?!”
“Why the hell would I say that?! Who’s that speaking behind you?!”
“Conrad…”
”You were with Conrad?!”
“Yes…”
“What were you doing…?”
“Wait a second! You’re with Shouri! What the hell were you two doing?!”
“Playing!”
Yuuri’s eyes widened. He felt as if he had been sucker-punched and it was
suddenly too hard to breathe. Images of Shouri and Wolfram ‘playing’ filled his
poor frazzled mind. “Play…playing…?”
“…video games and you made me wait all this time when you can’t even remember a
stupid date!”
He gave an inward sigh of relief. Just video games. “Hey! Don’t yell at me! You
said we were going to meet at your house because Conrad was going to some
seminar and we’d have the house all to ourselves!”
“No, you dumbass! You said, it would be better if we met at your house because
Shouri would be in college and we could have the house all to ourselves,
remember?!”
As if cued, the two older brothers eyed their companions and small smirks came
to their visages. Of course, both boys on the phone were oblivious to this
sight. They were too busy accusing each other of cheating.
“Okay!” Yuuri finally said, slamming a hand upon the table. “We obviously had a
miscommunication but standing here and arguing about it isn’t going to help, is
it? Why don’t we just meet at the Arcade in say half an hour, okay?”
“Fine. And by the Arcade you mean the one by the large electronics building
downtown?”
Yuuri rolled his eyes at the obvious sarcasm. “Yes, Wolfram, that one.”
Wolfram smirked. “Just checking. In case someone decides to go to another
location and then changes his mind and says he never said…”
“I’ll see you at the arcade in half an hour!”
“Asshole,” Wolfram muttered into the ‘dead’ phone, although he was doing his
best not to smile in delight and relief. Finally, they’d have some time to
themselves although it wouldn’t be as intimate as he had thought it would be.
“Leaving?” Shouri asked as he watched Wolfram pack up his video games. “Aww,
too bad. I was hoping we could play all night.”
Wolfram shuddered at the thought but managed a smile towards the older boy,
after all Shouri had kept him entertained for a while. “Perhaps next time,” he
said with a shrug, silently hoping it would never happen. He didn’t hate Shouri
or anything but there was something about Yuuri’s brother that worried him.
Maybe it was because he was finally beginning to notice just how good-looking
the older boy really was or how well-built he was or how cute he looked when he
smiled.
Holy…! I’ve really got to leave now!
“So eh…I’ll see you around I guess,” Wolfram mumbled as he rose to his feet
hastily, shouldering his bag and hoping he could make his way to the front door
without tripping over his own feet.
“You forgot something,” Shouri said just as Wolfram placed his hand on the
doorknob.
“Hmm? What did I forget…oh!”
His entire being flushed with heat as Shouri suddenly leaned close to him. His
heart must have stopped as he found himself staring into amused dark eyes and
down to the parted lips before him. For a second, Wolfram was sure the older
boy was going to kiss him but he felt something being shoved into his bag and
his breath caught.
“Your game,” Shouri whispered into his ear before pulling away with small smile
on his visage. “Have fun with my little brother. It was a pleasure seeing you
today, Wolfram.”
He couldn’t trust himself to speak even if he tried and settling for a small
nod, Wolfram fled the house as quickly as he could. He called himself a fool
for allowing Shouri to get the best of him and as he eventually approached the
Arcade he had somehow managed to convince himself that he had only reacted that
way because Shouri reminded him of Yuuri and nothing more.
He grinned as he noticed the unmistakable silhouette of Yuuri standing in front
of the building. And completely forgetting about Shouri’s ‘odd’ behavior,
Wolfram sneaked up to Yuuri from behind to cover his eyes, leaning close to ask
in a husky whisper.
“Guess who?”