Chapter 3: Recognition Day— “The Birds and the Bees”

“Yuki! Haven’t you found your bunny-ears yet? We’re leaving in five minutes, did you hear me? Five minutes! Not fifteen—so quit applying more make-up than a six year old should be having!” Shuichi was trying his best to keep his temper locked up while he buttoned down his son’s mini white polo.

Shinji looked so adorable in his tiny black pants and blazer. He was a tiny replica of Eiri Uesugi.

Shuichi cuddled his son for the last time until he squealed in surrender

“Shinji!” Mother and son looked at the direction where the father’s voice was coming from,

“Go on, your papa’s calling you.”

Shuichi watched his son hop from his lap and scamper away, clapping his small hands and singing a new nursery rhyme he learned form school.

Shuichi sighed the moment Shinji was out of sight and slumped down on the cozy sofa, recollecting his thoughts and wondering how he was able to cope up with all these stress.

Yesterday, their band finally met up with Nittle Grasper during an exhausting recording session. The two bands discussed the details of their upcoming collaboration and even mentioned the possibility to a partnership in an album.

As expected, Ryuichi Sakuma was all over Shindou Shuichi. Even with the resounding fact that the leading vocalist of Bad Luck was already married to a famous novelist, Ryuichi acted as if Shuichi was detached and available.

He kept on inviting Shuichi in dates through hints, which Shuichi suspects that everyone around them was aware of. As if words weren’t enough to persuade Shuichi, Ryuichi tried to flirt with him through slight touches here and there.

While the others tried their best to engage in a normal happy conversation, Shuichi was trying with all his might and cleverness to avoid his own pop-idol from seducing him.

Though he was already married with the man he’s so truly and dedicatedly in love with, Shuichi couldn’t suppress the dreamy thoughts of ‘what if’s’ that inevitably comes to a committed person’s life. While listening to Ryuichi-sempai’s discreet proposals, Shuichi couldn’t help but think; what if he didn’t really end up with Yuki? Let alone ending up with Seige Mushimoto, who’s now engaged to one of his older sisters, Tokia Tokigawa. What if he considered or opened up to one of Ryuichi-sempai’s advances long before? What could’ve been the results? Would he have been happier? Would have things turned out to be less complicated that way?

If situations were reversed, would he still choose the previous Yuki Eiri or go for the man he was so deeply infatuated with since teen-hood?

“…Ne Shuichi-kun, what about Friday night with me and Noriko? We’ve been invited to a friend’s beach party. It could be really fun y’know. Lots of fantastic boos and beautiful people—I’ll introduce you to some of my foreign friends! I can promise you it’s going to be wild and fun.”

Shuichi recalled one of Ryuichi’s invites and cowered in embarrassment with the answer he told,

“Uh…sorry, Ryuichi-kun…but, I have to attend my son’s recognition day at the nursery school—and my daughter’s going to have a play right after, which she’ll be starring in as well…so, there’s no chance for me to catch up either,” he added, as if he knew what Ryuichi was going to stay if he stopped at his son’s ceremony, “after all that, the kids might ask me and my husband to dine out as a celebration…I’m really sorry, Ryuichi-kun…”

The last part was obvious that he invented it all up, but it could be predictable since he already has a family. Shuichi could only feel sorry for his pop-idol. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be with him, but both of them knew that Ryuichi wanted to be more than just friends, which of course Shuichi wouldn’t allow. He was a faithful spouse after all, and he wouldn’t want to betray Eiri now or later.

Ryuichi-sempai knew that, Shuichi realized. If he didn’t, he would’ve persisted way further. It was a good thing that Noriko was eavesdropping in their conversation (like everyone isn’t), and so she saved Ryuichi-sempai from the moment Shuichi apologized from his last invitation.

That meeting ended up rather embarrassingly. Besides the fact that Ryuichi’s efforts were quite futile, he still finished off their encounter with a seductive and flirtatious move by gripping Shuichi’s buttock lightly and stealing a swift soft kiss.

The only people who saw those notorious moves were Hiro and Fujisaki since almost everybody was outside the studio.

When Ryuichi was finished with his evil deed, he left Shuichi a devious smile by biting his lower lip and winking at him at the same time.

Shuichi was left flabbergasted with an extremely red look.

When K and the others finally went back to the studio, he stopped and pointed at Shuichi,

“What happened with you?”

He asked, looking at a stunt red-faced boy.

Suichi decided to turn around like a robot, approached his band mates and said firmly to them in a faint whisper,

“If anyone asks, I was just thinking of a naked Eiri in bed, alright?”

Hiro and Fujisaki, who’s eyes were so narrowed up to dots, nodded in compliance and blinked silently and uneasily.

Shuichi patted their shoulders and proceeded inside the recording room and pretended he was fixing a few cables here and there.

While he was inside, Sakano and K looked back at the remaining band mates and gave a questioning look,

Fujisaki decided to give the answer, “He was just fantasizing about his naked husband in bed.” And like Shuichi, Fujisaki and Hiro followed him like robots inside the recording room.

K and Sakano’s brows were knitted out of curiosity and turned to look at each other,

“It’s not like it’s anything new.” K said, scratching his blonde mane,

“I agree.”

Shuichi toyed with his hair while he temporarily laid himself on the warm beige sofa. His calves were hanging at the other end and he was gently swinging his right leg up and down. He was starting to hum a tune from one of their recently composed songs when he heard his husband speak with his son from the master’s bedroom.

Shuichi slowly crept behind the wall and took a peek at his father and son.

Eiri was teaching little Shinji how to tie a tie.

A smile made its way on the corners of Suichi’s lips. He watched quietly in delight while Eiri taught his son step by step,

“No, no, turn it right over—that’s it—oh no wait, why don’t you watch papa first?”

The two were standing in front of a wide full-length mirror; Eiri was fully clothed in a black suite with a lavender tie that Shuichi gave him last Christmas.

Their son on the other hand was clad in a similar black suite but with a red tie which had tiny imprints of a baby bear’s head.

“There. Did you see that? You do it this time.”

Shuichi knew he should be carrying the video-cam with him right now.

But there was something stopping him from getting it.

There was that inner voice telling him that there are some moments meant to be filmed by the eyes only and stored in the heart.

This was one of those moments.

“Mama, could you help me fix my hair and put my bunny-ears on?”

Shuichi was startled by her daughter’s presence and was caught by her husband and son,

“Ah! Oh, uh, okay…”

Twenty minutes later, they were already inside the school, meeting up with other parents and socializing with others like any normal person.

Unfortunately for Shuichi and Eiri, the possibility of maintaining a low profile was impossible.

Eiri was constantly hounded by mothers—housewives in particular with ready pocketbooks to be autographed at hand.

Obviously, from what Shuichi gathered, these mothers knew in advance that the famous Eiri Uesugi was coming.

‘Well at least no one’s isolating us…’ Shuichi thought, sitting comfortably on a long couch in one corner with Shinji on his lap and Yuki right beside him.

The worst of what Shuichi was expecting happened when he saw a crowd of parents huddled up, whispering in their low voices about the Uesugi couple from afar.

It was clear from the way they looked at Shuichi and Eiri that they disagree on their partnership as a same-sex married couple.

Nothing could be more belittling and discriminating at that time for Shuichi.

And in front of his children?

Shuichi could only thank the heavens that they were still toddlers and they couldn’t understand these things yet.

“Yuki, honey, why don’t you go and play with your friends first, okay?” Shuichi asked, smiling as best as he could and concealing his hurt and twitching face from his daughter,

“Shinji, do the same thing, but don’t go around too much as to your back can get wet.”

Shuichi waited for his children’s response before he could start to form his cool façade from the tormenting gazes of those irritating bunch of parents.

‘What are they? Members of the parents’ committee?’ PTA? Some example they’re showing…assholes…this aint no Catholic country…and we’re in the modern civilization people! Where’s your open-mindedness? Talk about living in the prehistoric times…’

Shuichi continued to sit quietly with his chin up and legs crossed, deliberately ignoring the horrid gazes when another group of people approached him.

He was finally welcomed by friendly smiles and kind looks. There were about five couples, exempting the four women with them.

Two of the wives sat beside Shuichi and started,

“It’s so nice to be gathered like this, don’t you think?”

The brunette lady said, smiling widely at Shuichi and straightening the creases of her red A-line skirt,

“So I saw your kids a while ago; they’re Shinji and Yuki, right? My kids play with them often. They tell me they’re very good company.”

Shuichi eyes shone in appreciation, “Thank you…” he shyly replied, not believing this moment.

“Oh, by the way, I’m Mrs. Shinita Okubara and this is Mrs. Chin Joubei,” she explained, pointing at the red-head at Shuichi’s other side.

“Hi, you can call me Chin.” she extended an arm, shaking hands with Shuichi.

The two ladies were brimming with glee at the presence of a famous rock star. Of course, their other companions wouldn’t want to loose this opportunity as well,

“Hello,” one of the men started, “I’m Shinita’s husband, Yukito.”

Yukito looked like he was still in his early thirties. From the looks of it, Shuichi thought that the Okubara couple was a handsome match.

“And I’m this pretty lady’s man, Aramashi.” The bald one spoke, standing beside his wife, Chin.

There were three more lovely couples who introduced themselves to Shuichi and engaged short opening pleasantries with him. The last four ladies however were pricking Shuichi’s curiosity.

It seems to him that they were only waiting for their turn to introduce themselves,

“Hey there, what’s up?” The tall blonde woman started, shaking hands with Shuichi, “I’m Michiru Shinatake, and this is my wife, Tunako.” She pointed, putting a hand behind a beautiful sandy-haired woman’s back.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Shuichi Shindou—er, or is it Shuichi Uesugi?”

Shuichi was still left coping up with the sudden realization that he was facing a lesbian couple. His jaw was left open for a while but he managed to recover himself with Tunako’s question, “Uh, y-yes, that’s correct—it’s a pleasure to have met you as well, ma’am.”

“Oh you silly,” Sandra fanned at him, “you can call me Tunako.”

Shuichi smiled uneasily, “O-Okay…T-Tunako.”

The last couple, which Shuichi presumed to be lesbians as well came up to him and introduced themselves as Rei and Taiki Sawamura.

Their nice conversation as a group went on smoothly and quite naturally. Shuichi wasn’t really expecting that someone, let alone a good number of people, would approach him or Eiri and have a pleasant normal discussion.

By the time they were laughing and enjoying each other’s company, each one of them noticed from the corner of their eyes that the PTA gang passed right beside them, leaving the huge room, probably in silent defeat or embarrassment.

But to Shuichi’s utter dismay, one parent, a tall sophisticated and proud-looking mother mumbled,

“They’re bringing a bad reputation to this school. Nobody should know that some of the children’s parents are freaks…”

To add up to Shuichi and his company’s mortification, the other mother replied in agreement,

“They can bring confusion to our children’s perspective towards sexuality…how can the school allow homos to enroll their children? Well by God, I don’t even want to know how they got their kids…”

Shuichi felt crushed right after hearing those words.

He could tell by a single look that his new lesbian friends were very much affected as well. Tunako was already pulling Michiru’s sleeves to prevent her from approaching the other set of parents. Rei was doing the same thing with Taiki. The other couples on the other hand had disagreeable expression painted all over their faces.

“I never heard of a rule from a Montessori school such as Jigatsu that all parents should be heterosexuals just to have their kids registered.”

Shuichi thought his jaw fell down from his head when he saw his husband standing right in front of the PTA bullies, his hands comfortably tucked inside his pockets and looking positively aloof,

“Further more, this is a new generation. Our society isn’t as traditional as you think,” Shuichi stood up from the sofa, holding Chin’s hand for support. He could see the way Eiri’s eyes blazed in vehemence, “and by the way I see it, our sons and daughters will be growing up in a world filled with possibilities and new ideas. My only worry is that there will still be educators, such as you, who would no doubt lead those poor unfortunate children’s knowledge into an outdated narrow perception.”

Shuichi’s newly found friends were astounded by Eiri’s bold and frank demeanor. The rest of the parents inside the room could only keep quiet and whisper in low voices. Most of them, from what Shuichi saw, were smiling and nodding in approval and accord

Maybe it’s also because almost all of the mothers are fans of Yuki…

But still, Shuichi was glad that most of the parents were open to embrace new kinds of relationships. He was also incredibly thankful for that move his husband made when he and his friends were openly humiliated.

The PTA gang left with embarrassed loks, scurrying as fast as they could, most likely to leave and fetch their kids.

Eiri turned to face the direction where those discourteous parents went when Shuichi came beside him. He placed an arm around his wife’s waist and pulled him protectively towards his body.

Shuichi smiled in silence and leaned on Eiri’s chest.

The day at school ended quite well and Shuichi was happy that he got to spend this whole experience with his family. He was also delighted that he got to meet such wonderful and lovely people who actually share the same postion. After having that horrible encounter with those insolent bunch of asses, he was now aware more than ever that there might be future occurrences that would involve the same kind of subject.

Shuichi pulled the covers of their bed as he prepared himself for deep slumber. A sigh escaped from his mouth bringing an air of depression.

As if Eiri noticed and understood what his partner was thinking about, he came closer and embraced him from behind.

“I thought,” Eiri started, nuzzling Shuichi’s neck at the back, “you were the hottest-looking mommy back there at school…”

Shuichi bent his head sideways to give his husband more access on his skin, “And I thought you were the hottest-looking daddy…”

Shuichi turned around and faced Eiri. The golden eyes he once thought that would never show a hint of happiness not so long ago were now looking at him in the warmest heartfelt way possible.

Shuichi bit his lips and shook his head. When he brought his face up, Eiri went down to kiss him.

Clad in their respective pajamas, all of that was lost in a matter of minutes.

Shuichi held Eiri’s head with one hand and the other pulling his husband’s white shirt upwards. While his hands were busy doing what should be done, Eiri was also doing his part quite diligently. After taking off Shuichi’s sleeveless red shirt, he had him on top of the bed in no time. He started showering his wife with wet hot kisses, pinning the vocalist’s hands above his head when he used his knee to part Shuichi’s thighs.

“Wait,” Shuichi pushed Eiri away from him, his face completely flustered and his lips already swollen, “did you lock the door?”

“Yep.”

“Good.”

Shuichi pulled Eiri back to his face and let his hands slip downwards. After successfully peeling away Shuichi’s pajamas, Eiri was finally left with a blue silky thong.

“You wear this at nights?” Eiri asked, wide-eyed.

“I feel sexy when I do…” Shuichi mumbled, wrapping his legs around Eiri’s waist, “and why the hell are you still wearing your pants?”

A devious smile crept of Eiri’s lips, “Wanna take it off?”

After the admission of wanting to do just as that, Shuichi took over and made his husband senseless.

Their night of passion suddenly turned into horror when suddenly, a small crying voice was heard coming from the doorway.

“Papa, why are you hurting mommy like that?”

Eiri and Shuichi didn’t know exactly what to do with the situation displayed before them.

Shuichi’s head snapped towards Eiri’s direction,

“I thought you said you locked the door!” he hissed,

“I did! A-At least I thought I did!” Eiri looked at their daughter and tried to explain, “Yuki, baby, I’m not hurting mommy at all.”

“But why is mommy crying?”

Both parents opened their mouths to say something but nothing came out.

Yuki cried even louder.

“Yuki, these tears,” Shuichi began, pointing at his face while he was still pinned down by his husband, “are called tears of joy, okay? Mommy’s not sad, and daddy’s not doing anything wrong to mommy, do you understand?”

In little Yuki’s perspective, all she could see was her naked mommy and daddy, and her father was making her mother feel pretty bad.

If he weren’t, then why was mommy crying so loudly? She had never heard anyone cry so much before.

Heck, she never even heard herself cry like that.

Even her little brother, Shinji, never cried like that even when he was hungry.

So why was mommy crying so noisily? It was as if mommy was suffering with a hurtful expression all over her face.

Oh boy.

Shuichi looked back at his crying little daughter and immediately wriggled away from Eiri.

Little Yuki walked towards her parents and pounded on her father’s back,

“Papa, get off mommy right now! Get off, papa, get off!”

Eiri was too stunned at the moment to move his body. He looked at Shuichi who was having the same troubled state.

“Just do as she say!” Shuichi ordered, “Yuki, honey, could you turn around for a while?”

Yuki shook her head with a surprising ‘no’.

“Yuki! Turn around right now!”

The crying little girl obliged and slowly turned around.

As soon as she did what her mommy told, Eiri lifted himself up and Shuichi slapped Eiri’s chest before he got on his clothes.

When Shuichi left to discuss the birds and the bees with their daughter, Eiri was laughing heartily back in the master’s bedroom.

Author’s Notes:

My dear, dear reviewers and readers. If you want to see the real deal, as of because what you just read isn’t, open another page called gurabiteshiyon(dot)net. I’m sure you’ve all heard of it. I’m using the same penname and the title of my work is still ‘For Better or Worse’. Turn to chapter 3 and you’ll see the same thing—only plus the naughty details.

One thing though; when you read it, make sure you are of legal age to do so. Enjoy!

PS.

Try to read and review my other works) It's all really nice and fun, I promise. 'Shuichi's Past' is all romance, drama and spicey happenings(",), you won't be disappointed and it's already complete so there's absoutely no cliff-hangers (bdw, as I have said on my first Author's Notes, 'For Better or Worse' is the sequel to this story).

'Typical Love' is a short story and the pairing is still Shu and Yuki; and introducing, probably the last fic that I would be doing under Gravi is 'Heaven Sent'. The story's more serious and definitely more dramatic. It's still all sexy and fantastic, so check it out. Enjoy!

One last thing…

If you’re not of legal age or interested (or both) in visiting gurabiteshiyon(dot)net, you guys can give me your reviews here and now;)