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Yukio couldn’t believe it. Really, he couldn’t believe they’d managed to convince him. They were actually doing it. He sighed, adjusting his glasses. He couldn’t believe they were going on-
“A picnic! We’re going on a picnic, Yukio!” Oh, how he wished Rin would be quiet. The rest of the class seemed only to follow his example, a loud general hum of excited voices, varying in pitch and tone. If he closed his eyes, it almost reminded him of his own normal school days, rowdy children trying to keep their composure and failing horribly. A small smile graced his features before he schooled them back into indifference. They were walking to the woodsy park area, and it wouldn’t do for them all to stand around forever chatting. They did have things to attend to, although he did secretly think that maybe a short break was alright.
“Okay, Rin. Seeing as this was your idea, lead the way.” Said boy ducked his head a bit at the tone of his brother’s voice, but recovered quickly with his usual aggressive bounce, wrapping an arm through Yukio’s and pulling him forward.
“You got it! This way, guys!” Yukio grunted at the rough pull, but gave no other comment about it. It was about a 15 minute walk to where they were going, according to Rin (who had better not get them lost or so help him-), and the chatter was lively up until about halfway there. It was high noon and the sun was bright and hot in the sky, beating down on backs and brows until the little group was sweating and their laughs had turned to mumbles. Bottles of water were passed around and Yukio tugged at his collar a bit. Although he wasn’t in any uniform, he had chosen to wear dark colors and was regretting it now. The next few minutes were spent in relative silence.
“Rin…” There was the beginning of a growl in his voice, but he really couldn’t do much to stop it. He was hot, hungry, and feeling stifled, even in the open air.
“Don’t worry about it Yukio, look we’re already here!” Rin pointed across the street but Yukio wasn’t looking at it, he was observing his brother. Where even his hair usually curled energetically, it lay limp against his forehead and the sides of his face. His face was a bit pale, but his cheeks were flushed red, and he was sweating. Yukio never knew Rin took the heat this badly. With a sigh, all the ire drained out of him. He could never stay mad at his brother for long, especially if he was suffering. He turned his gaze away and focused on the trees as he shoved his half empty water bottle into Rin’s chest, seeing as the boy had already finished his own.
“Here, drink. I’m not thirsty anymore and I don’t want to hold it.” Rin was quiet for a moment, before, “...Thanks, bro.” Yukio allowed himself a small smile in return before turning away again.
They ambled slowly through the entrance, grinning at each other and shoving and pushing as friends are wont to do. Regardless, Yukio had to be glad Rin was the only one touching him at the moment. The group made their way to a small, semi-enclosed clearing, trees bordering the outside and abundant with shade. There was a collective sigh of relief.
Blankets were spread, and his little ragtag class all arranged themselves as they saw fit, Yukio moving a small ways away (where their voices came to only a low murmur, but close enough to see them) to rest his back against a rather large but comfortable tree. He sat down after a while, not really wanting to converse, but content to watch his class interact with each other.
Not that he would readily admit it, but the sun was rather nice, and the breeze felt good on his skin. Maybe he did spend too much time indoors. Yukio relaxed a bit, sighing softly. Now, if only they could manage to maintain the peace and-
“Hey, Yukio,” quiet. He tensed up again. He just wanted some peace and quiet. Why was this happening to him?
“Yes, Rin.” Perhaps short and to the point would get him to go away for a few moments. Those plans were immediately dashed as the demon child launched into some fantastic retelling of a (forbidden) adventure he’d been on and the exciting (not really, or at least Yukio thought so) twists and turns and maybe if Yukio could just…
“Sheimei,” he called out in a deceptively calm voice and almost in the same breath the small girl was there. The younger Okumura twin surreptitiously glanced at his brother’s face and had to hide his smirk behind a hand. There it was. Rin clammed up right away, cheeks staining a light red.
“Rin was just telling me the most amazing story, and I was sure you’d really appreciate hearing it. And I saw you observing some flowers over by the bushes, would you show them to Rin, please? It’s important that he be able to recognize plant life.” It was a half assed excuse and he wasn’t even sorry, only amused by Rin’s indignant squawk of,
“Why?” Sheimei’s shoulders hunched in a bit.
“Well, we don’t have to look at them if you don’t want to…” And there went Rin’s self control. And Dignity. And, well. Yukio was intensely amused just watching him sputter to answer the small girl without offending her or making his (already extremely obvious) crush on her apparent. Yukio was surprised he hadn’t passed out from the sheer force of his blush, but all the same, they left his general area and occupied themselves. After a while, he saw Rin yawn and a few minutes later, the boy was curled up with his head resting on Sheimei’s lap, eyes flickering and slowly closing, as she continued to inspect the flowers close enough for her to reach (with one hand, the other resting gently on his hair, stroking softly now and again).
A small grin touched Yukio’s lips, seeing how comfortable and young he looked, and the happiness seeming to radiate off of Sheimei’s entire person. He closed his own eyes then, resting them against the glare of the sun for just a moment, but then found that he didn’t want to open them again, not really (and truth be told, he could watch over the rest of them with his eyes closed anyway, so long as they didn’t all run off somewhere). He heard food being passed out and didn’t even feel too hungry, just slowly sinking into relaxation in small increments (not paying attention to the passing time, which was a mistake on his part), the humming of voices growing a bit dim in his ears, pushed to the background as he slowly slipped into a light doze…
“Hey, Yukio!”
Oh, God.