-Chapter 1-
1 Year ago:
Ritsuka shut the window quickly behind Soubi against the pounding rain as he climbed in.
"Do you know what time it is? What if mother wakes up? She'll be really mad." Soubi just smiled his annoying smile that made Ritsuka melt.
"Here, you're gonna catch a cold." He tossed Soubi a towel which he quickly wrapped around his shoulders. Ritsuka got a tingle up his spine as he looked at Soubi, drenched in rain, shirt clinging to the well-defined chest. The younger boy wrapped his arms around the older man, hugging him tightly. It had been three days since he heard from Soubi and the boy had been worried out of his mind.
"Where have you been?" He said into the blonde's torso. Soubi smiled and placed his hands around the other boy affectionately.
"I had some things to take care of. But I'm back now, don't cry." Ritsuka buried his face deeper into his torso and replied in a muffled voice, "I'm not crying…"
Ritsuka, blushing, stepped back and sat down at the computer trying hard not to look at the beautiful man seating himself on Ritsuka's bed.
Soubi watched Ritsuka quickly type in some words into the computer before logging off. He turned the swivel chair so that it faced the bed. Soubi had an intense look on his face, as if he were in deep thought.
"What's that look for? Are you thinking something perverted?" Ritsuka accused. Soubi just chuckled lightly.
"What if I was?" He gazed deeply at Ritsuka, making him blush and lean away from Soubi.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Soubi didn't reply, only got up and walked over to the smaller boy. He grabbed Ritsuka's wrist and pulled him up into a sweeping embrace. Ritsuka struggled half heartedly as the man nuzzled his neck. After a moment or two Ritsuka stopped struggling and just wrapped his arms around Soubi's neck, reveling in the warmth that lied in this gorgeous man's arms. Soubi slowly pulled his face away and kissed Ritsuka on the lips gently.
"I love you Ritsuka, more than you'll ever know." He said softly. How wrong he was.
Today -
Ritsuka walks out of the school and sees Soubi standing by the gate.
"What are you doing here? I told you to wait for me at the corner otherwise people are gonna know what's up…" Ritsuka tentatively touched the top of his head where he had his fake ears pinned, making sure they were still snuggly in place.
"You know I've never been very patient. And besides, Yuiko already knows what's going on doesn't she?" Soubi asked pointedly, reminding him of when Yuiko barged into Ritsuka's bathroom while Ritsuka didn't have his fake ears on.
Ritsuka glared at him as the older man laughed lightly. No matter how many times he thinks about it, when the girl realized, she nearly shit bricks. Soubi laughs.
"That's not the point. The point is that it's weird seeing a 13 year old walking around without his ears with an adult who also doesn't have his ears!" Ritsuka bristled. Soubi wrapped an arm around the smaller boys shoulders as Yuiko came running up.
"Hi Aoyagi-kun, Agatsuma-san." She bowed to the older man and waved at Ritsuka.
"How many times do I have to tell you Yuiko-chan, call me Soubi." He smiled.
"And when did you start calling me 'kun' again? You haven't used that title in ages." Ritsuka asked. Yuiko deflated. Ritsuka was always very to the point and didn't like procrastinating when he had something on his mind.
I guess you could say he had foot in mouth syndrome. He didn't always think about things that came into his head before he said them. Which wasn't much of a problem because the boy was borderline genius and hardly anything came out wrong. So a better way to describe him would be, he had foot in mouth syndrome with a side of tact.
"It's fine." Ritsuka mended. Yuiko perked back up.
"So what are we doing today Ritsuka-kun? Do you want to go to my house and play games again?" Yuiko asked cheerfully.
"I just want to sleep today Yuiko. I'm just gonna go home." He stated flatly.
"Oh, well what about you Soubi-san?" She asked hopefully. Soubi shook his head.
"Sorry Yuiko-chan. I have classes tonight. Maybe Sunday, as far as I know, you two still have that day off correct? Nothing's changed in the past week I presume?" Soubi offered. As usual Ritsuka ignored the comment and headed on ahead of the two towards his house.
Scratch that, Soubi's house. He didn't have a home anymore.
"Sure." He yelled over his shoulder.
"See you tomorrow Yuiko-chan!" Soubi said gracefully before quickly catching up with Ritsuka, leaving Yuiko to walk home in the opposite direction.
Right now, Ritsuka just really wanted to get home and crawl into his bed. When he moved into Soubi's house he insisted he have his own bed. That it was creepy to sleep in the same bed, even though they had done it already. However, they usually ended up sleeping in the same bed anyways. Usually Ritsuka's since it was bigger.
Sorry, maybe I should clarify. About six months ago, Ritsuka's mother had killed herself. Leaving nothing to Ritsuka. She left everything to Seimei, who by law, was dead. Unfortunately, Ritsuka knew otherwise, and had proof, but didn't want to find out what would happen if he released that information. So he kept it to himself, letting the state take everything, as was required by law and when asked if he had any family to take care of him, he named Soubi as his last living legal guardian.
It took three months for them to finish the paperwork, but finally, Soubi became Ritsuka's legal guardian. Which was fine by Ritsuka. He didn't mind the man too terribly much.
After Ritsuka moved in, Natsuo and Yoji moved into their own apartment next door after Soubi insisted that they could no longer free-load off him. So they both got jobs working in a Lolita café near the Harajuku bridges, not so much because they like dealing with people, but more because they both love dressing in cute clothes. The two boys made Ritsuka nervous because when they first met, he couldn't figure out if they were extremely effeminate boys, or just very boyish girls.
Ritsuka got to the apartment and found the two boys leaning against the rails by the front door. He paused and looked at the boys who both jumped up like excited kittens and pounced on him. Damn it, weren't they supposed to be at work today?
"Ritsuka-chan! We're glad you're home! We got bored and want someone to play with. Will you play some video games with us?" Natsuo, the red headed one, asked.
"Don't you two normally do that anyway?" Ritsuka asked, matter-of-factly. Yoji, the green-haired one, spoke up this time.
"Yeah, but we always play against each other. We know all each other's moves and it's no fun anymore. We can't read you! You're fun to play with. Please?" He asked giving puppy dog eyes.
"Just buy a new game." Ritsuka pulled his keys out as Soubi reached the top of his stairs.
"After rent, and food, and clothes, we don't have any money left between us." They both whined in unison. The two were more like twins than anything else.
"You two have more clothes than any girl I've ever met." Soubi defended Ritsuka by getting between him and the two boys as Ritsuka unlocked the door.
"Not more than Nagisa-sensei." Natsuo argued.
"And we have our own outfits. So individually, we don't have that many clothes." Yoji countered.
"Yes, but you share a closet don't you? And two dressers?" Soubi offered.
"Keyword, 'share'. Nagisa-sensei has two closets to herself, and three dressers." That was the last thing Ritsuka heard before shutting the door behind him. Those three could argue all afternoon and Ritsuka did not want to deal with that today.
He dropped his book bag by the computer desk and hung his coat up. Flopping down onto Soubi's single twin bed with a huff, he pulled the covers over his head and closed his eyes, falling swiftly into a dream…