Kchan: Okay! Its finally time for the absolute finish for Kanaye and Riki's story! :sniffles: Its sad that I won't write about them any more, but never fear! This will be going out in laughs, hopefully, if I write it the way I've been thinking about writing it. It has no point really except to wrap things up and give Kanaye's parents a few double-take moments. Oh! And Riki's parents finally have names: Aoki and Kasume! Oh, and sorry for making fun of Massachusettes. I've never been there, and apparently, Kanaye hasn't either. XD Enjoy guys!

Chapter 7
Smile for Me

Riki and I walked back towards my house, in a much better mood than either of us had been the day before. Let's not go into all that from yesterday. Its rather depressing, isn't it? We were talking about something or another mindlessly. So what? I'm allowed to blather on about senseless junk, even if I am a genius. Love kinda does that to you I suppose. It's done nothing for my rather inflated ego, so thats a good thing I guess.

Riki's eyes widened and he pointed at a couple walking ahead of us. "Hey! Isn't that my parents?"

I blinked and follwed his gaze. It sure looked like them. If I remember right, Dad did say something about wanting to talk to Riki's parent's about one thing or another. Probably how Riki is 'corrupting' me or whatever. He he...if anyone is doing the corrupting around here it's me, thank you very much. I'm right proud of that. But we have a more important issue here.

I squinted to try and get a better look at the couple ahead of us, as if I squinted enough I might be able to see their faces rather than the back of their heads. They were each carrying something small, which I couldn't get a glimpse of. It certainly looked likehis parents, (the woman was short and seemed to be unusually enthusiastic, while the man was tall and just kinda plodded along) and that's not a good thing. My parents...meeting Riki's... ...this sounds worse than that stupid American movie. ... ...Or this might be very interesting... he he...

They turned towards my house, and Riki and I followed quietly. I wonder what they're up to? The woman turned around to show the unmistakable features of Riki's mother. She beamed at us. "Well, what have you two been up to?"

"Walking home from school" I responded dryly, "What are you doing here?"

She shook her head, "Walking home from school! You kids have better things to do than just go home! Be a man Kanaye and find someplace quiet for you and Riki!". Her blue eyes sparkled with mischieviousness when she said this. "Just be gentle, it'll be his first time"

"H-huh?" was the only half-intelligent response I could come up with. Riki on the otherhand, was blushing a deep red and begging his mother to stop talking. I wondered exactly what she was insinuating there, and pondered over it for a full second before it hit me.

"Whaaaaa?!" I yelped, "I-I-I can't...what...you're not supposed to be that supportive!"

His father placed a weighty pat on my shoulder, "Well, it's not like either of you could become pregnant, so I don't see any harm in it. Besides, you two are going to be married some day"

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?!"

The door swung open to reveal Emiko, her face twisted in fury. "Kanaye! Do you have to be so loud while you and your boy-toy are..." and she trailed off as she saw Riki's parents. Riki himself was looking a little indignant at being referred to as a 'boy-toy', and I was just standing there contemplating killing myself right then and there.

Without warning, Riki's mother rushed foreward and hugged poor Emiko, crying loudly, "Riki! You're going to have a sister-in-law! I always wanted a daughter!". I didn't bother to mention that I had three other sisters who were probably cowering in fear in their rooms because of this woman. I felt sorry for Emiko for a full second, but that wore off pretty quick. She is a brat, after all.

Riki's father pried his wife off my eldest sister and asked calmly, as if nothing had happened, "Are you're parents home?". Emiko nodded, looking rather pale, and ran as fast as she could out of sight. I don't blame her. I want to run as far away from these people as I can, but unfortunately, that doesn't really seem to be an option right now. My parents made their way to the door, looking very formal and uptight compared to the Inamoto's. Then again, anyone would seem formal and uptight compared to these people.

"Glad you could make it, Inamoto-san" my father said stiffly, inclining his head in only a fraction of a bow.

Riki's father grinned. "No need for such formalities, Nakamura-san! You can call me Aoki if you want! And this is my wife, Kasume, and my son, Riki" he said in that calm voice of his.

My father's eye twitched at their lack of formalities, which amused me to no end. He he...twitch...okay! Moving on! "Alright, Aoki-san" he finally managed to say. He didn't ask for Riki's parents to call him and mum by their first names. He'd rather have a hole drilled in his head is my guess. He motioned for us all to go inside, my mum quietly stepping out of the way.

Both of Riki's parents handed her the things they'd been carrying; a blue-coloured bowl of sorts with rocks and water in it. Jutting out from the bowl were little bamboo shoots that were curled and twisted instead of just going straight up. I've always wondered how they do that.

"It's lucky bamboo!" Riki's mother exclaimed, "There's three stalks in each! The florist said its supposed to bring luck, wealth, and longevity!"

My mother looked down at the bamboo, wondering what she was supposed to do with it. She placed them on a nearby table and said rather hesitantly, "They are...very interesting. Thank you very much, Inamoto-san"

Riki's mother laughed loudly at this, "My husband said its alright to use our first names!"

"... ...Alright...Kasume-san" my mother said awkwardly, trying out the name.

"Much better!" she praised, "I think its only fitting that you call us by our first names! We'll be relatives someday soon!"

"...Pardon me? Relatives?" mum asked, wide-eyed with confusion. I can see her composure slipping away slowly. Oh so slowly!

Kasume-san blinked at this, staring my mother down. "Well, of course we will. Don't you know? Why, that's the whole reason we agreed to come see you all!" she watched my mother, who was still totally confused. She explained, "Our boys are going to get married when they get out of school! We need to start planning right away, and now is the time!"

"M-married?" mum asked weakly, looking over at me for confermation. I decided to play along, the little evil thing that I am. I smiled brightly at her, nodded, and wrapped and arm around Riki's waist. I think mum was about ready to faint again right about then. Go me!

My father cleared his throat, "This is insane. They're both boys"

Aoki-san nodded in agreement, "yes, I suppose that does pose a problem for us. I think they should both wear tuxes at the wedding, but my wife keeps on insisting that Riki would look adorable in a dress." he fixed his relaxed gaze on my father, "What a predicament! What do you think, Nakamura-san? I'm pretty sure you'd want Kanaye in a tux either way. He just doesn't have the build for a delicate wedding dress like my on does."

W-wedding dress? Riki? ... ... What? Did I miss out on something here?

"That's not what I mean, and you know it" my father growled. Aoki-san gave him a look that said he really didn't know it. Poor sod. My father continued, "The point is they're both male. They can't get married!"

"Oh! Don't be like that!" Kasume laughed, slapping him on the back, "This is the modern world, things like same-sex marriage shouldn't be so shocking to you! Of course they can get married! All we'd have to do is send them off to somewhere like Holland or Canada"

"But I can't speak Dutch or French" Riki protested, looking thouroughly embarrassed, "C'mon mum, let's leave them alone for today and go home. Please?"

His parents, however, were completely ignoring him now. His mother continued brightly, "Or Spain! They just recently allowed gay marriages! And you two could adopt a kid there if you ever wanted to! Or Massachusettes in the United States! Doesn't that sound fun, Riki? You always wanted to see America!"

"Not to get married!" Riki yelped, to no avail. No one was paying any attention to us kids anymore. I spotted Emiko walk past us. As soon as she caught sight of our strange little group however, she immeadiately turned tail and ran upstairs. Presumably to hide along with the rest of my sister. Smart one. I wish I could go hide in my room too. But that would mean abandoning Riki. Oh what the hell...its his parents that started this whole bloody mess. He can deal with it.

I started to walk away, but Riki grabbed ahold of one of my arms tightly and glared up at me. Whoa...I didn't know he could look that... ...Kanaye-like. Shit, I guess that means he's taking after me, huh? I'm such a bad influence.

As our parents talked, or argued more like, I started to stare off into space. I wonder, what would America be like? Massachusettes, huh? Man, that name is hard to pronounce. I wonder where in the States it is. Is that one of those 'hick states' where all the people have shot guns, and have a funny accent, and sit around in their garages and drink beer all day. I shudder at the thought of living in such a place. Or what about Canada? Nah. Can't speak French. You don't pronounce half of the letters in the words for that language. Or Spain! Wait...can't speak Spanish either. Plus, isn't that the country where they think its fun to be chased by a bull? No thank you. And then there's Holland.

Interestingly enough, I've nothing to say on the matter of Holland. You really don't hear much about them I guess. They speak Dutch, right? Or do they have their own language? Like...Hollandese? Okay, Now I'm just thinking like an imbecile here. Hollandese my ass. What am I thinking?! I need a break from these people. They're infecting me with Stupid.

And then suddenly, a picture flashed before my eyes, brought on by Aoki-san's thoughts on whether or not Riki should wear a dress or not. An image of Riki in a ridiculously frilly and lacey wedding dress filled my brain. I don't think I can quite desbribe it with words; it was just that outrageous. I couldn't help it, I started laughing out loud, which finally caught the attention of our parents. My parent's were looking at me like I'd gone insane, while Aoki-san and Kasume-san mistook my laughing for some kind of enthusiams about matrimony.

I'm surrounded by weirdos, and I can't get rid of them.

I felt my face grow hot and I muttered something about going outside for a little bit, while dragging Riki along with me. I'm sure we both needed a break from all that. Its pure insanity in there. I slammed the door behind me as I walked outside and sat down on the steps that led up to our house. Riki remained standing, rocking on his heels and humming something. I glared up at him in a non-verbal attempt to get him to sit down and shut up, which of course didn't work.

After a moment's silence, Riki finally asked, 'So, what do you think of America?"

I shrugged, "Never been there, so I can't really say anything about it" I answered vaguely. I knew that wasn't the answer he was looking for, but I didn't bother saying anything else.

"What about Spain?" he pressed on, finally sitting down and leaning his head on my shoulder. He looked at me expectantly with his big, blue eyes.

I snorted at this. "Riki, I don't think you can speak fluent Spanish. Hell, I don't think you can even speak fluent Japanese some days" I muttered and looked down at him, "Don't tell me you're seriously considering it? The whole... ...you know...". I couldn't bring myself to say 'wedding' or 'marriage' for some reason. Just seemed to weird.

He smiled, wrapped his arms around my shoulders, and nuzzled at my neck. "I don't know. Maybe. Do you think we'll even still be together when we are old enough for that kinda thing?" he asked. Apparently, he couldn't say the 'M-word' either.

"Well, if we're not I guess that's just the way it goes" I answered. I felt him slump a little, obviously dissapointed by my answer. I kissed him and added, "But if we are, I guess that's the way it goes as well"

"You're not much of a romantic kinda guy, are you?" Riki asked. I caught the hint of a pout in his voice.

I smiled at that. Proabably one of the few times I actually, truely smiled at him. Without any sarcasm or hate behind it of course. I've probably given him countless fake-smiles like that. Most of the time I just act like a right, moody bastard towards him. Poor kid. I guess he does deserve better, huh? And me? I think I've changed so much since I met him. I can't really imagine what I'd be like if he never transferred into my school. I would probably still be living the lie I had been; flirting with girls who's names I didn't know; only ever really talking to Ken; acting as a perfect model student, but...

...I wonder, was I ever really happy with that life?

Now that I think about it, I had nothing. And so what if I was smart and popular? I didn't do me a damned ounce of good, really. I would get good grades, and be happy for a little bit. I would get letters from girls, asking me to go out with them and I'd feel a little happier. But it never lasted. Was that even real happiness to begin with, or was it fake, like my smiles? Fake and never lasting long.

But Riki, he changed that. We've both gone through Hell and then some, but in the end, I think I can really say I was truely happy through it all.

Riki clung onto my shirt and looked up at me tearfully, but grinning stupidly as always. "Do you really mean all that, Kanaye?"

I blinked. "All what?" I thought on this for a moment and then yelped, "Don't tell me I said all that out loud! How long was I talking?!"

He brushed away the tears that were threatening to spill out of his eyes. "Since the whole 'I never really smile' thing up until just now" he laughed, "So I make you happy? I think that's better than hearing you say that you love me, and that's saying something!"

Right about then, I saw him as if for the first time. A scrawny guy, messy brown hair that kept getting in the way of his blue eyes. A thin frame, but he seemed to glow with energy and health. I must be all that football he plays. And that grin, a little lop-sided, but adorable. It accentuated the joyful gleam in his eyes. His lips, you can tell their soft just by looking. And the way he get's a kind of pouty look on his face when he thinks too hard. And looks aside, just how he radiates energy. You can't help but feel a little enthusiastic sometimes right along with him.

He suddenly stood up and pointed at the darkening sky, throwing down orange and pink hues onto everything. He looked back at me, the orange and pink sunset shining faintly in his eyes. The epitome of happiness. "Will you at least promise me to smile for me?"

I stared at him for a time, then at the ground, as if in thought. When I looked back up at him, I was smiling like I hadn't a care in the world.

And I guess I really didn't. Why would I? I'd finally learned happiness, and that's something no teacher or textbook could ever teach you.

---

Kchan: :Cry: Whaaa! That's it guys!

-Kasume: Oh no its not! My little Riki still has to get married!

-Riki: Mum! Please! Knock it off! :Blush:

-Kanaye: :Is still smiling like an idiot:

-Kanaye's parent's: What a shameful display. Tsk tsk.

-Ken: I didn't get much of a role in this...

-Emiko: :is still hiding with her sisters upstairs:

Kchan: Right...just had to add that little bit at the end for the Hell of it. Why not, its the finale of Kanaye and Riki's tale! I'm kinda sad that its all over, but I had so much fun writing it all! Sorry that there's no formal Thank You to everyone who reviewed. But thank you to everyone! I know reviews aren't everything, but it was still much appreciated! I don't know what I'd do without your encouragement and cute comments! I probably would have never even thought of writing a sequal, which is a sad thought in itself. Thank you so much guys! And remember to always smile! :giggle:

Well, I'm off! Until next time, love!

.:Kyande:.