by Haruka

Fish Eye smiled politely at Seiya as he held out his chair for him but inside he was panicking. This was a nice restaurant. Really nice. Seiya looked so pleased to be taking him there. And he wasn't hungry at all.
_Why_ did he have to eat that stupid fat fish? He was in the middle of a first date with a gorgeous, sexy, attentive guy, and he'd risked it all to give in to instinct. Now he'd have to force down an expensive meal he didn't need. Fish Eye no baka ....

"There they are!" Taiki said and was promptly crushed against the restaurant window by the crowding group behind him. "Hey!"
"Fish Eye looks nervous," Jun Jun remarked.
Yaten sniffed. "So would I if I'd just pigged out on fish and _then_ had to have dinner."
"I'm sure he's regretting it now," Cere Cere commented. "This place looks like it probably has a good menu."
"Hey, look at that Boston cream pie!"
"Tigger!"
"Well, Fishie got to eat, but we didn't, and it looks good ...."
"I wish we could hear what they're saying," Yaten grumbled.
"They're probably talking about the menu, since the waiter just gave them to them," Ves Ves reasoned.
"May I help you?"
The group turned to see a man in a suit standing in the doorway of the restaurant with his arms folded, watching them suspiciously.
"Yeah!" Yaten said. "Would you mind if we went in and took a booth not-too-far away from that couple that just sat down? We won't need menus or any "
Taiki clamped his hand over his brother's mouth. "Sorry, sir, he's late for his medication. We'll be on our way now."
The man kept a close eye on them until they were well down the street.
Yaten whirled on Taiki. "My _medication_?!"
"That explains a lot," Tiger Eye remarked. Yaten's furious green-eyed glare turned on him, but he grinned. "You're kinda cute when you're mad."
Yaten's eyes widened and he turned red, clamping his lips shut.
Taiki winked at Hawk Eye. "Your brother accomplished something we've been trying to do for years Yaten's speechless!"
Hawk Eye almost didn't hear what Taiki had said. When the long-haired boy winked at him, he couldn't help noticing what sexy lavender eyes he had. Standing next to him, in fact, he realized with a start that Taiki was downright beautiful. His hair was full of rich red highlights and he had skin that a model would envy ....
"Hawk Eye? Hey, Hawk Eye, wake up!"
"Huh? What?" Hawk Eye snapped out of his dream world as Jun Jun poked him in the side.
"We were just saying that Fish Eye and Seiya will be in there for a while, so we're going to that ice cream place over there where we can see the front of the restaurant through the window." She pointed.
"Oh." They'd said all that and he'd missed it? Where had _his_ brain been? He glanced over to where Taiki playfully mussed Yaten's hair and remembered.

"Are you sure you have enough to eat?" Seiya asked in concern, eyeing Fish Eye's bowl of soup.
"Oh, yes, plenty. And it's delicious." Fish Eye smiled, and it was the truth. In fact, the soup was too much by itself the lobster chowder was rich and thick, but too good to pass up. I'll be sick all night from overeating, but it'll be worth it, Fish Eye thought.
He decided to change the subject. "Tell me about your family we haven't met your parents in the neighbourhood yet."
"You probably will Michiru's mom and mine are friends, so we usually come to the neighbourhood barbecues and stuff."
"You weren't at the one that welcomed us," Fish Eye pointed out.
"No, sorry. My parents had tickets for all of us to go to a rock concert."
"Really?" Fish Eye was surprised. "Your parents do cool stuff like that with you?"
"Well, they met at a concert, and Dad says we were conceived after one, too." Seiya grinned. "Our dad has always been involved in music, so we probably got our interest in it from him."
"Have you always wanted to be a performer?"
"Oh sure!" Seiya said. "I can even remember our first performance in front of a microphone ...."

"Okay, kids," Kou Apricot said to her six-year-old triplets as they bounced around her excitedly, "your dad will be in the music store for a while, and I need to get a few things here in the department store, but after that we can look at the toys."
"Okay, Mama!" little Seiya said cheerfully.
"May I get a new storybook, Mama?" Taiki asked hopefully.
"I think we can arrange that." Apricot smiled, then looked around. "Yaten? Yaten?!"
"There he is!" Seiya pointed.
Apricot looked over to where Yaten had left the department store entirely and was back out in the mall looking in the pet store window.
"Yaten!" she called. "Get back here now!"
The little blonde boy reluctantly headed back to his mother, who leaned down to look directly into his big green eyes. "Yaten, how many times have I told you not to go off by yourself?"
Yaten shrugged. "I dunno."
"Yes, you do, and it was _many_ times. You are _not_ to wander away by yourself, do you understand?"
"Can I go see the pets?" Yaten asked.
"It's 'may I', and no, you may not," Apricot told him. "After we're finished here, we'll go to the pet store."
An intercom clicked on overhead and a voice resonated throughout the store. "Attention, SaveMart shoppers! For the next fifteen minutes, all merchandise marked twenty percent off will be rung in as fifty percent off at the nearest available checkout counter ...."
"That person must be _really_ big!" Seiya said, searching wide-eyed for the gigantic owner of the voice.
Apricot smiled. "No, sweetie, it's just a normal person speaking into a microphone. See that little window up there?" She pointed to a window near the top of one store wall. "That's the office, and they make announcements to the whole store from there."
"Into a microphone?" Seiya asked. "Like the one Papa lets us use in his music room?"
"That's right." Apricot nodded. "Now let's start our shopping."
For twenty minutes, Apricot stocked up on clothing necessities for her children and husband, then chose some toiletries from the pharmacy department.
"Okay, boys," she announced, "we can go look at the toys now."
The lack of immediate enthusiasm made her heart skip a beat. She looked left and right and realized her fears were all too justified. The boys had disappeared.
"Don't panic," she told herself in a trembling voice. "They're nearby." She abandoned her cart and began searching all the closest aisles but found no trace of her children.
"Seiya!" she called. "Taiki! Yaten!"
Several people looked her way, but no answering small voices came. Dear God, I've lost them, she thought, tears stinging her eyes. What am I going to do?! What will I tell their father?! What if they've been kidnapped?!
"May I help you, Ma'am?"
Apricot hadn't realized that she'd started crying openly until she saw the security guard watching her with concern. "My children ... my three little boys ... they're missing! I don't know where "
The intercom clicked overhead and a very young voice filled the store. "Hi! My brothers and me are gonna sing now." There was a moment's pause and then a trio of youthful singers began a chorus of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'.
The security guard looked amused. "Yours?" he asked Apricot.
"Yes," she answered, wondering if her first reaction upon reaching her little singing group would be to hug them or spank them.

Fish Eye laughed. "So which did she do?"
"Both," Seiya said ruefully. "Yaten tried to reason that he hadn't wandered off alone that time he was with _us_ but Mama wasn't in the mood to be reasonable. When Papa found out, he laughed."
"Your father sounds really easy-going," Fish Eye said in admiration. "I wish mine were like that. I love him like crazy, but he's too strict sometimes."
"Oh, don't worry, I've got my mom for that. They're always having arguments that go, 'You're far too lenient with them' 'Oh, lighten up, boys will be boys ....'"
"My parents never have disagreements like that they're always in full agreement over how bad we are." Fish Eye grinned.
"Oh?" Seiya raised a mischievous eyebrow. "And how bad are you?"
Fish Eye blushed at the way Seiya was looking at him. "Not _that_ bad ...."
"You didn't tell them you were coming out with me tonight, did you?"
"Um ... no," Fish Eye admitted. "But it's to protect you, too. You don't want to go through the third degree with my father."
"You shouldn't worry so much," Seiya told him. "I can make a very good impression on parents."
Fish Eye felt uncomfortable. "It's not you, Seiya. It's just that my brothers and cousins will get into the act, and "
"Hey, you don't have to tell me about nosy brothers, I've got two of my own." Seiya grinned. "And if we decide to see each other again, we won't be able to keep it a secret for long."
"I know." Fish Eye nodded and looked at him. "If we _do_ decide to date again, I promise to tell them."
"Good." Seiya nodded back and winked. "Because if you do me honour of a second date, I want everything out in the open. I want to show you off."
Fish Eye smiled. He could think of worse things than showing Seiya off as his date, too.

"Palla Palla likes ice cream!"
"Too bad Palla Palla doesn't like paying for it," Tiger Eye muttered, looking at the bill sourly.
"Hey, we have money, we just didn't bring it out the door with us," Ves Ves said, licking her spoon.
"Don't worry, Tiger Eye, we'll have plenty of money soon from our jobs," Hawk Eye assured him.
"That's about all our job is good for," Yaten commented and spooned up some more of his sundae.
"Well, theoretically, it's supposed to build character and a sense of responsibility," Taiki said.
"Papa already says I'm a character," Yaten retorted. "And be honest, Taiki, what has it done for you besides the money?"
"I've learned new and exciting ways to burn myself," Taiki began listing seriously, "and that the general public not only consumes too much grease, but they're basically dumber than rocks."
"I knew you could sum it up effectively." Yaten nodded.
"Fish Eye is going to hate it there," Tiger Eye said.
"Oh, I don't know about that," Jun Jun remarked, looking over into the restaurant window across the street. Fish Eye and Seiya could be seen laughing and chatting amiably. "I think he'll find _something_ to make it worth his while."
"You mean Seiya's charming company?" Hawk Eye snorted.
Yaten whirled on him. "What's wrong with Seiya?!" Hawk Eye looked at him, then glanced toward Taiki, who seemed preoccupied with swirling his ice cream around in his dish.
"Uh ... I just meant that I don't think that Seiya is enough to keep Fish Eye happy with a job that he would normally run away from."
"Maybe not," Taiki said quietly, "but then maybe Seiya can make his free time more interesting."
"Yeah, well, maybe," Hawk Eye replied uneasily.
Tiger Eye stared at him. "What are you saying, Hawk Eye? Did you forget why we're here?"
"To eat ice cream?" Palla Palla suggested, slurping down a mouthful.
"No!" Tiger Eye stated. "To protect Fish Eye from that philanderer!"
"Watch it, Tiger Boy," Yaten warned. "You haven't seen Seiya do _anything_ to Fish Eye yet, and you won't. He's a gentleman."
"He's a Casanova!"
"Well, _you're_ an idiot!"
"And _you're_ naive!"
"You're _both_ getting too loud," Ves Ves pointed out. "The manager is glaring at you and I don't want to get kicked out before I finish my ice cream."
"HEY!" Jun Jun jumped up suddenly, staring out the window. "They're gone!"

"Uh, Fish Eye?" Seiya said as he bent over awkwardly in his chair to look under the table. "What's going on?"
"Don't lean down like that! You'll draw attention to me!"
"I think the way you dove under there might do that, anyway," Seiya remarked. "What's the problem?"
"Haruka and her parents just sat down at that corner table!" Fish Eye hissed.
Seiya looked in that direction and sure enough, Zoisite, Kunzite, Haruka, and Yui were looking through their menus. "So what?"
"Her parents know my parents! If they say something to them about my being here with you, they'll know I lied about going out with Michiru!"
"Oh, okay," Seiya said, finally understanding, then yelped out, "Whoa!" as he was hauled under the table. "Well, this is cozy." He smiled at Fish Eye.
"Her parents know _you_, too, right?! They may come over here if they see you!"
"Well, what do you want to do? We can't stay here all evening."
Fish Eye was beside himself with panic and despair. This was _not_ how he envisioned his date! If Haruka's parents _did_ see him with Seiya, it would be all over for him at home, but Seiya was right. They were trapped.
An approaching rattle drew Fish Eye's attention to a waiter pushing a dessert cart toward them. He was going to pass right by their table with it. "Follow me!" Fish Eye said.
Seiya glanced toward the cart and knew what Fish Eye was thinking. He quickly pulled out some money and slipped it up onto the table to pay for their dinner, then followed his date in crawling alongside the passing cart right past Haruka's table, hidden from view.
"We did it!" Fish Eye said in relief as he stood up, glancing back across the restaurant.
"I feel like a spy." Seiya grinned. "I knew dating you wouldn't be boring."
"I'm sorry," Fish Eye told him sheepishly. "I didn't mean to cut our dinner short."
"Better than having your _life_ cut short," Seiya laughed. "Don't worry, I understand about strict parents, remember? _And_ nosy neighbours, too. It seems like whenever something happens, everyone in the neighbourhood knows about it five minutes later."
"Let's hope they never find out about this then," Fish Eye said. "Come on, let's go."

"Where could they have gone?!"
"How could they just slip by us?!"
"It was all _your_ fault! You were supposed to be watching!"
"Me?! We _all_ were supposed to be watching!"
Taiki shook his head and looked up and down the street. The group had run out onto the sidewalk when Jun Jun noticed Fish Eye and Seiya's disappearance, but now they seemed to have lost them completely.
"Maybe we should split up," he said. "They can't have gone far."
"You're not kidding!" Tiger Eye cried. "They're coming out the front door of the restaurant right now!"
The eight of them tried to rush back inside the ice cream parlour and managed only to jam in the doorway, tripping over each other until they lay in a collective heap. From his prone position, Taiki glanced fearfully toward Seiya and Fish Eye, only to see them disappearing into the van.
"They're about to leave!" he exclaimed, and jumped to his feet. With his long legs, he covered the ground to the red car in no time and leaped into the driver's seat. "Everybody come in here!" he yelled out the window. "We'll come back for the other car later!"
With no time to debate the issue, everyone followed his instructions and squished into the car. As soon as the last door shut, Taiki gunned the engine and tore off down the street.
"Yipes!" Cere Cere cried as she fell into the seat. "Be careful up there!"
"We'll lose them if I don't catch up!" Taiki called over his shoulder.
"I think we should have waited a couple more minutes before leaving," Ves Ves said.
"Why?!" Hawk Eye demanded. "Do you want them to get away?"
"No," she said patiently, "but I think the ice cream people would have liked to be paid."
Everyone looked each other with wide eyes.
Taiki groaned. "Great, now we're criminals on top of being spies."
"Yeah!" Jun Jun crowed. "Isn't it cool?"

"Are you okay?" Seiya asked Fish Eye. He was a little concerned, as the half-fish had his forehead resting on the car's dashboard.
"Not really," Fish Eye replied. "I just realized that Haruka was supposed to be out with Michiru tonight. Michiru was my alibi. If Haruka had to go out with her parents instead, that may mean Michi is at home and if _that's_ the case, my story could fall apart if our parents talk and ...."
"That's the problem with lying," Seiya said gently. "It comes back to you eventually."
"Do you ever lie?" Fish Eye looked at him.
"_Everybody_ does, especially where parents are concerned," Seiya replied. "I'd spend half my life grounded if I told my mom the truth about everything. I'm not condemning you for lying to your parents, Fish Eye, really. I'm just sorry you're going through this torment when you didn't have to."
"Yeah, I brought it on myself, I know." Fish Eye sighed and sat back. He shrugged and tried to look cheerful. "Hey, nothing may come up, after all, and I won't end up in a convent, right?"
"Right!" Seiya grinned. "And if you do, I'll come see you on visiting day."
"Do convents have visiting days?"
Seiya laughed. "Let's hope so!"
"Where are we going now?" Fish Eye looked out the window.
"It's a surprise," Seiya said.
Fish Eye giggled. "I shouldn't even have asked. You like surprises, don't you?"
"Sometimes, when appropriate," Seiya agreed. "Some things shouldn't be surprises because if they are, they can turn into nasty shocks instead."
"You speak from experience?"
Seiya paused. He glanced at Fish Eye, then faced the road again. "Yeah, I do."
"I guess I understand," Fish Eye said quietly. "For instance, there are people around who aren't very tolerant of Changechildren. The idea of a half-human, half-fish is a turn-off for them. Strangely enough, those same people don't seem to mind Tiger Eye's animal form. I guess tigers are romantic and fish aren't."
Seiya smiled at him warmly. "I wouldn't say that."
Fish Eye blushed, but smiled back.

"Where are we going?!" Hawk Eye demanded. "Where's he taking him now?"
"I think we're heading for the lake," Taiki said slowly. Yaten sat bolt upright and stared at him.
"The lake?!" He looked out the window. "Hey, you're right!"
"What's the big deal about the lake?" Jun Jun asked.
Taiki hesitated. "It's ... um ...."
"It's _what_?" Hawk Eye asked, looking at the redhead closely.
"It has a reputation as a make-out place," Yaten blurted out, then added defensively, "But that doesn't mean anything! Seiya may just be showing it to him!"
"AUUUUGH!" Hawk Eye cried, covering his face with his hands. "I _knew_ it!"
"You don't know anything, so shut up!" Yaten snapped. "People come to the lake for other reasons, too!"
"In the daytime, anyway," Taiki murmured.
"Palla Palla wants to watch them make out," said the blue-haired girl.
"Ew, I don't," Cere Cere remarked.
"Why would anyone want to make out with Fish Eye?" Jun Jun remarked. "I don't see the appeal."
"He's our cousin, we're not supposed to," Ves Ves said.
"Will you all just shut up?!" Hawk Eye yelled. "No one is going to be making out because I'll rip Seiya's lips off if he even thinks about it!"
"What makes you think Fish Eye wouldn't think about it himself?" Taiki said coolly.
"Maybe he's a cold fish," Yaten quipped mischievously.
Tiger Eye flipped his hair back. "Fish Eye was raised to be a good boy, that's what."
"Oh, that explains why he hides on the floor of our van when we give him rides home and why he didn't introduced Seiya to your parents or even tell them about this date, right?" Taiki said in amusement. "Come on, you guys. Seiya isn't a saint, but I'd bet a year's salary that Fish Eye isn't, either. Can anyone here honestly make that claim?"
"I kind of thought _you_ could," Yaten remarked frankly. "Mr. I-Don't-Get-Into- Trouble-Unless-One-Of-My-Rotten-Siblings-Drags-Me-Into-It."
"Maybe it's just that you and Seiya are so bad that you make me look good by comparison."
Yaten stuck his tongue out at his brother and resumed looking out the window. Hawk Eye glanced toward Taiki and couldn't help but notice the faint blush to his cheeks. Had Yaten embarrassed him somehow? In any case, he looked really sexy with that tell-tale redness in his face.
Oh man, Hawk Eye, get a grip, he told himself. You sound like you're ... interested ... in Taiki. The brother of the enemy. Stop thinking about stuff like that and concentrate on protecting Fish Eye.
Of course, that was easier said than done when Taiki's lavender eyes turned in his direction and the blush deepened.
"He's pulling over!" Yaten cried. "Taiki, stop!"
Taiki turned to face front abruptly and slammed on the brakes.

"It's beautiful!" Fish Eye said as he stood on the dock, looking out over the lake. The reflected moonlight on the calm water was a breathtaking image worthy of an artist's brush.
"It's pretty in the daytime, too," Seiya said, untying a rowboat from its mooring. He stepped into it and extended a hand to Fish Eye. "Come on."
The blue-haired boy hesitated. "Is this your boat, Seiya?"
"Well, not exactly." Seiya grinned. "This one and that one on the other side belong to the people in that house back there." He nodded toward a house half-hidden behind trees, set far back from the water. "They know others use them, though, and they've never complained as long as they're brought right back to this spot and tied up."
"Well, okay then." Fish Eye accepted Seiya's hand and stepped into the boat. Seiya sat down and took the oars, rowing them away from the dock.

"Now what do we do?" Tiger Eye asked as the group from the red car watched the rowboat glide away.
"Well ...." Taiki looked at the other boat.
"Yeah!" Jun Jun cried and ran for it, her sisters close behind her. "Last one in is a rotten egg!"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Taiki called after them. "I wasn't saying we should use it, I was only thinking we might "
"They're not listening, come on," Hawk Eye ran after the girls with the other boys following. By the time they reached them, the girls were already in the rowboat and Ves Ves was untying it.
"You can't take that boat, it's not yours!" Tiger Eye told them.
"People are allowed to use them," Yaten said. "But I don't think it's a good idea in this case."
"Yeah, for one thing we won't all fit," Hawk Eye pointed out. "And for another, Fish Eye and Seiya would see us for sure."
"Hawk Eye's right," Taiki said, reaching down to grasp the rope Ves Ves held. She frowned and held fast to it.
"So we won't get close, we'll just stay around the edge of the lake," she said.
"Yeah, we want to ride!" Jun Jun agreed.
"You heard them, get out!" Yaten told the girls. "You're going to get us caught!"
"Leave us alone," Cere Cere told him.
"Palla Palla wants to row, row, row the boat!"
Tiger Eye knelt on the dock and reached out to grab the edge of the rowboat while Hawk Eye tried to help Taiki in his struggle with Ves Ves over the rope. Jun Jun had grabbed hold of the end Ves Ves held so that the four of them were involved in a wobbly tug of war as the rowboat tipped and bounced.
"Let go!" Ves Ves yelled at the boys.
"YOU let go!" Hawk Eye yelled back.
"I've got the boat, you guys!" Tiger Eye looked up at them, still holding onto the boat's edge.
"Tiger Eye," Cere Cere remarked slyly. "Did you know you've got your hand on bird poop?"
"WHAT?!" Tiger Eye shoved the offending boat away from him, tipping it abruptly and losing his balance. With a cry, he fell off the dock into the water while the girls tumbled in screaming behind him. Taiki and Hawk Eye were both pulled in by the rope the girls held and Yaten was soaked by the splash of seven bodies hitting the water simultaneously.

Fish Eye and Seiya looked toward the loud splash. All they could make out was a shadowy figure on the dock. It was jumping up and down, waving its arms around, and yelling incoherently.
"They only come out at night," Seiya remarked solemnly, and Fish Eye nodded agreement.

End of Chapter 7

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