The Fake Lover

The Fake Lover

Chapter Four

Ohjiro frowned as he tried to come up with an excuse. “I… uh…”

“You were out all night too,” said Sazuki. “What’s gotten into you, big brother?”

“L-listen, we can keep this a secret between us, right?” The older teen felt panicky. He really didn’t want anyone to know, especially not his brothers.

Sazuki just stared at him. Ohjiro walked closer and put his hands on Sazuki's shoulders. "Please," he said, his voice wrought with pleading, "please, I'll do anything if you just stay quiet about this."

The younger boy thought about it for awhile. After about ten minutes, he smiled, suggesting, “Maybe the three of us can go out for ice cream tomorrow? It’s the weekend, so Dad should be okay with it. And Orzone’s been wanting to try out that new flavor they have.”

“Uh… okay, sure. Ice cream…”

“And maybe tell us who you have a crush on!”

"I bet it's the guy outside," exclaimed Orzone as he jumped out from behind Sazuki, "I just saw him out the window!"

Ohjiro frowned a little. “W-well… why are both of you awake?”

“Because you weren’t in your room,” explained Orzone.

“… You didn’t wake Dad up, did you?” Ohjiro asked them, feeling panicky again.

"No, we didn't," said Sazuki, "we were about to though."

"I guess we don't get to go outside, huh?" asked Orzone.

"Well," said Ohjiro, wiping his forehead, relieved they didn't wake their father, "how about we all go to bed and we work this out over ice cream in the morning?" He stepped around them and, with an embarrassed grin, tried to skirt around them and get towards his bedroom.

"Alright," said Sazuki, "in the morning then."

***

Ohjiro didn't sleep too well that night. He tossed and turned, unable to calm his mind after the shock of getting caught. Eventually though, he did fall asleep and he dreamed of his family, all of them mocking him and being furious for his double life. "Whore!" they called him, "freak, weirdo!" He didn't sleep well, that's for sure, but he woke up early the next morning to the sound of someone rummaging through his closet.

He sat up slowly and looked over. His younger brothers were there, digging through his closet.

"Look at this!" Orzone cried, taking out one of Ohjiro's wigs and dancing with it on his head.

"Ohhh, I like this one," Sazuki said, pulling out one of Ohjiro's naughty magazines and sitting down to flick through it.

"Hey, no!" cried Ohjiro, snatching the magazine from him, "you're too young for that!"

“Are you old enough?” Sazuki questioned him, making the oldest brother blush a deep red.

“Y-yes…” He put the magazine on the top shelf of the closet, and took the wig off of Orzone. “What are you guys doing in here?”

“Ice cream!” exclaimed Orzone. “You promised!”

“I don’t think it’s even open yet…” Ohjiro tried telling them.

"Either way, we wanted to see what other dresses and stuff you had," said Sazuki, getting up to look through his closet some more.

"Someone has dresses?" asked Di, his head appearing in the doorway.

"Yeah, Oh--" Orzone started, but was stopped quickly when Sazuki grabbed him and covered his mouth.

"'Jiro was just showing us some pictures, Dad," he said, faking a grin.

"What kind of pictures?" Asked their father slowly, turning to look at Ohjiro.

"Uh, um..." he stammered, trying to come up with an excuse.

"Just one he wants to get for the girl he likes, right 'Jiro?"

"Yeah, that's right," said the teen, glad his younger brother was better at thinking on his toes.

“A girl?” Di seemed to think about this longer than they thought he would. “I thought you liked the guys, son. Are they being too rude to you?”

“U-uh, huh???”

“Well, it was implied that you like guys back when you, me and my new lover were talking in the car a few days ago. And there were those magazines I found…”

"Um, they were given to me by, uh..."

"Stop," said Di, "I can tell when you're trying to hide something. I won't ask."

Ohjiro looked down a little. “Okay… thanks.”

“Just… don’t be doing anything illegal, alright?”

“I’m not,” the boy told his father. “I promise.”

“Good…”

***

A weekend full of ice cream treats and threats later, Ohjiro was back in school again. He was barely paying any attention in his classes though, and even skipped lunch, deciding to go outside behind the school instead. It felt peaceful out there, and he even felt a small smile spread across his lips. He was alone here. He was free. He could finally be himself.

It had been so long since he felt so relieved. He actually began singing. The song was a rather memorable one, from a Disney movie he had seen as a kid. He was singing both parts to it, but he didn’t mind. He didn’t need an Aladdin to his Jasmin, or vice versa. In fact, he preferred it this way as he sang with his heart, the song “A Whole New World”.

It was just minute after he started that he heard someone clapping for him, and he froze. “Aw, don’t stop! You have a wonderful voice!” Ohjiro looked over at the person that had caught him singing. It looked like a rather cute girl, her long blonde hair done up in stylish pigtails; her dress looked a bit punkish though. There was a certain difference about her though. She wasn’t a woman… Ohjiro could tell by the lack of breasts and the fact that the voice was almost… definitely male. “You know, maybe I should tell Ikkaku about you.”

“I-Ikkaku?” Ohjiro stammered. That was Gerrard’s father, right?

“Yeah!” exclaimed the excited drag queen. “He’s a super-great… friend… of mine.”

“Uh…” The boy gave him a confused look and the man sighed.

“Okay, honestly I’m still so totally in love with him, but he’s with a woman. I mean, really, why does he need a woman? He said I was great back in high school!!” The man circled around Ohjiro, getting himself even more hyped up but, seeing Ohjiro just look more confused he grinned at him. "Speaking of Ikkaku," he said, "doesn't his son go to this school?"

"Yeah, he does," Ohjiro said, "his name's Gerrard; I have a few classes with him."

“Well then, maybe I can stick around with you and I’ll..” Looking up, the guy saw Gerrard walk out of the building with a friend just as he spoke. “Well, well… Gerrard!! Over here!!” He waved at the two teen boys, and as they walked over, Ohjiro started feeling nervous.

"Hello, Mister Gemini," Gerrard said with a polite smile, motioning to Alistor, "you remember Alistor?"

"That I do," Gemini said, shaking both of their hands.

"So what brings you here?" asked Gerrard, giving Ohjiro a light smile.

"Well," he began, "I was just walking past your school when I heard a wonderful voice coming from this little cutie here." The man threw an arm around Ohjiro's shoulders, who immediately started blushing.

"Really?" asked Gerrard, looking at Ohjiro, "I had no idea, you're always so quiet in music class."

“His voice is wonderful,” said Gemini. “I think he could easily make it to the top, maybe even sell more records than Ikkaku himself.”

“U-uh…” Ohjiro only blushed more, shaking his head. “N-no, that won’t happen…”

"Well you'll have to have a go in class sometime," the other teen said, getting a nudge in the ribs by Alistor, "I'd love to hear it now, but we've got lunch plans with my sister, so" after saying their farewells, Ohjiro sighed and wiped his forehead. I have a knack of getting myself in trouble, he thought as he looked over at the grinning man wearing the dress.