The Pink Rose's Promise (BL)

12. The First Sleepover

Ichirou was surprised at how much he ended up missing his and Masahiro's Saturdays together. It's true that they texted all the time still, but something about not having Masahiro beside him for just one day out of the week made him feel very lonely. He began to wonder if maybe he considered Masahiro more than just a friend... perhaps he thought of him as a good friend!

Ichirou's first weekend was a drag without looking forward to going out with Masahiro, and by halfway through the next week, he decided that he desperately needed to go somewhere to get his mind off his friend. He tried inviting Yuuhei out, but Yuuhei's free time was now being taken up by Takeru. It almost felt like when your friend got a partner, and then they stopped talking to you because they were so obsessed with him. Ichirou really didn't like it.

He tried asking Ichika to hang out, but it seemed as though she needed to be studying for her finals as well. With that, all he had left was Yuri, who would certainly talk about Ichika the whole time, or his mother, who would ask him about Masahiro the whole time. He weighed the two options carefully, before giving in and choosing the lesser of two evils.

That second weekend that Ichirou didn't have his "boyfriend" around, he and his mom got on a plane to Sapporo. His mom was absolutely in a tizzy over having her son ask to go on a mini vacation with him. She chatted his head off on the flight about some sort of drama she was having with another friend, and then, as they were driving out to a little city called Furano on a bus, she began telling him some gossip about a couple of other friends of hers.

They made their way to a nice hotel that Ichirou had gotten reservations for a couple of days prior, grateful they had one with a private onsen. As much as he liked to enjoy a good onsen, they were rife with guys who thought they owned the bodies of omegas. He was lucky to be rich enough to be able to get a private onsen almost whenever he wanted.

He and his mom decided to go out to get dinner and settled on a ramen place. The local way to eat ramen included cheese on top, and although Ichirou was a bit apprehensive, it was surprisingly good. As they ate, his mom began to talk, although not about her friendship dramas now.

"So, Ichirou, my sweet boy, how are things going with Yamashita-san? Is he being good to you?" Iwa asked, her eyebrows drawn together.

Ichirou nodded, swallowing a bite of pork. "Y- yeah, Mom, he's been really good to me. He's a great boyfriend."

"You know your father and I are anxious to meet him. We're very protective of you, after all," Iwa said, her voice dripping with concern.

"I know, Mom, I know, but we've only been dating for, like, three months. Can't you give me a little bit of space?" Ichirou asked, his cheeks heating up.

"We want to, trust me, we do, but you are so very important to us. I'm not asking you to bring him over all the time, or even more than just once. I just want to know who is dating my precious, fragile, darling boy." She reached out and cupped his cheek in her hand.

"I'm not fragile," he grumbled, looking down at his ramen.

"I know, I know, my gentle son. But please try to understand my and your father's perspective; we are attempting to let go of our baby, our crown jewel. Because of your status as an omega, we've always had to protect you from the world. We couldn't let any alphas get anywhere near you because they've always been so scary toward you. Now, however, you're an adult. We want you to prosper with an alpha who you can trust, love, and get married to. But we also want to ensure your safety. We want to make sure our wonderful omega child is truly happy and safe. And how can we do that without meeting him?" Iwa asked, her eyebrows drawn together.