"So...Row," Kento began one morning, sitting with Rowen out in the backyard. The pair had been sitting under a particularly large tree, watching Ryo play around with Whiteblaze. He was trying rather unsuccessfully to persuade the enormous tiger to let him have his soccer ball back. Eh, it was a fun way to pass the time, if not productive.Rowen turned his head to face Kento, raising an eyebrow. Kento glanced at Rowen's swelling belly for a second, before his gaze switched back to Ryo.
"How you doing? You're pretty close to the nine month line, right?" Rowen smiled, tracing tiny circles on his stomach.
"I'm somewhere in between my sixth and seventh month, a little more than halfway." He sighed happily. Kento frowned, turning his eyes down.
"Rowen...aren't you scared? I mean, you have a living person inside of you. You have a real, human baby that you're actually carrying." Kento said, blinking. Rowen grinned.
"You still dazed, huh? Actually, to be honest, I was scared. Couple months ago, hell yeah, I was freaking. But," He tenderly wrapped his arms around his large midsection. "You get over it. Out of nowhere, my life took a sharp left turn, but I managed not to flip everything upside down. I'm getting married, I'm having a baby, and I'm happy. No, I'm not scared anymore; it's more like being thrilled. The kinda thrill you feel when you know something couldn't go any other way than you planned it and it all works." Kento furrowed his brows, smiling.
"It sounds incredible, Rowen. Really, I'm very happy for you." He said, turning to look at Rowen. Rowen smiled, but his smile slowly melted at Kento's expression.
"Kento, what's wrong?" He asked, blinking. Kento shook his head.
"It's not important." Rowen scowled.
"Damn it, Kento, tell me what's wrong. Don't lie to me, you wouldn't like me angry right now." He smirked. Kento snorted and looked away again.
"Funny." He muttered. Rowen didn't take his eyes off Kento, and Kento could feel it.
"Dude..." Rowen started, his tone warning. Kento shrugged.
"Fine, whatever. I...have a couple questions..." He muttered. Rowen blinked, raising an eyebrow.
"Questions? About...oh. I see." Rowen smiled. He shifted his position, so he could sit more comfortably. "All right, shoot. What do you want to know about being pregnant?" Kento winced. Rowen laughed.
"I just...okay, um," He mumbled, scratching his head. "About those fainting spells you had a while back...um, how many times did you have 'em, and how often?" Rowen pursed his lips.
"Let's see...I didn't have too many at first. Maybe one or two a week, but after a while, they became more frequent. Of course, after the third month, they stopped completely." Kento nodded tersely, as if he was making mental notes. Rowen slyly smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you wanna know 'bout that? That's one of the earlier symptoms..." Kento stuck his tongue out.
"I know what you're thinking, and I suggest you wipe that image from your mind. I'm in perfect health, thank you very much." He said, smirking. Rowen chuckled.
"Don't get all sensitive, I just wanna know why you're so interested." Kento bit his lip.
"Promise not to tell anybody? It wouldn't be a good idea right now..." Rowen sat up straight, his ears perked. He nodded once, looking around nervously. Kento inhaled deeply.
"It's probably nothing, but Cye...passed out last night. We weren't drinking, and it was only seven in the evening. He says he hasn't been feeling well, either, but he's keeping a lot to himself. He's been losing weight, too..." Rowen scowled.
"You think Cye may be...?" Kento's eyes widened, and he shook his head vehemently.
"No! I mean, no. No." He swallowed, grimacing. It was obvious he wasn't sure, and even more so that he really didn't want to be. Rowen bit his lip.
"Kento...I promise not to tell anyone what you just told me, but I will keep my eye on Cye. You do realize that if he is, and he tries keeping it a secret, I won't hesitate a second in telling Mia?" Kento sighed, nodding slightly.
"I understand. But, I still think it's nothing. It's just a little weird, but he's fine. He's fine."
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That night in bed, Kento was hugging Cye tightly to him. He himself was sleeping fitfully. His breathing was shallow and his chest was moving up and down at an erratic pace, waking Cye slowly. His breath caught in his throat and his eyes flew open. He tried sitting up, but Cye's arms kept him pinned. Cye had an expression of worry on his face."Kento? Love, what's wrong? Nightmare?" Kento blinked, dazed.
"N...no. It wasn't what I'd call a nightmare..." He breathed. Cye squeezed Kento, laying his head on Kento's shoulder.
"You dream, then?" Kento nodded once. "You remember it?" He nodded again. Cye raised an eyebrow. "Well, do you wanna tell me about it? I'm pretty good at reading dreams." Kento grimaced.
"It was weird...I didn't know I was dreaming. It felt so real, but it couldn't have been, I mean...I was underwater." Cye blinked.
"Go on..." Kento gently pushed Cye's arms to his side and he sat up.
"I never had a dream like that before. It was just water, everywhere, but I could see fish out of the corner of my eye. I'd turn to look, but they wouldn't be there anymore. There weren't any sharks, or whales or anything else. Just fish..." Cye sat up, his eyes going wide.
"Color, what color were they?" Kento raised an eyebrow. Cye's look was intense, so Kento felt it was best to humor him.
"Um...red, I think. I remember red. Everything else was blue." Cye nodded slowly, his heart pounding.
"Do you remember what kind they were? The fish?" Kento snorted. "Seriously. I mean, you can tell the difference between say, a carp and a salmon, right?" Kento sighed.
"Yes, Cye, I know the difference. What's it matter?" Cye laughed nervously, shrugging.
"Um, nothing, I guess. You were probably just thinking about Rowen, or something." Kento laughed.
"Okay, explain that. I dream of fish, therefore I'm thinking about Rowen?" Cye turned his eyes away.
"Well...let me see. A dream of water; blue, clear water, represents feelings of comfort or security. Red is a color of passionate familiarity, and fish...represents conception, a new life. Of course, different types of fish mean different things, so I could be totally wrong about this." Cye blushed deeply. Kento blinked.
"Cye...I think you need to knock it off with the black cats and candle stuff. It's just creepy now." Cye playfully punched Kento.
"It's just dream interpretation, and it was just a dream. I'm sure it doesn't really mean anything." He yawned. Kento frowned.
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Part 4
Part 6
