Chapter 1

Because it was the start of the cycle, Kisa could get away with more things than he usually could. He was, for instance, lurking in a corner of Marimo Books near the shojo manga section where a bunch of plush chairs and a low table were set up. Most people used it to take a rest from shopping or read a few pages of a book before deciding to buy it.

Kisa, however, had what little work he had that early spread before him. And, more importantly, he had his eye constantly on the register, where his boyfriend stood. As usual, Yukina was charming a group of girls until they bought one of the manga Kisa edited. A graphic novel had just come out of one his series, and Yukina was already on it. Kisa had looked at the preorder sales earlier and was floored.

"I'm impressed, Kisa-san," Ritsu had said, looking over his shoulder. The entire office looked significantly better after that month's issue of Emerald went to the printers, but Ritsu was looking especially glowing.

"Your skin looks good today, Ritchan," Kisa had replied in a teasing voice, his chin cupped in his hands as he looked up at his coworker. Ritsu's face went red, as it was prone to do, and Kisa grinned. "Takano-san, I'm taking my work home!"

Takano just waved him off, barely hearing. He was in a better mood too, but he always was when a cycle ended. But, Kisa mused now as he looked at some story notes that were meant to appease him in case the storyboards were late (and they always were), he'd gotten away with more in the several months since Onodera Ritsu had been put in that pink, floral chair beside him.

Takano was distracted. And if there was one thing Kisa knew about, it was how a man acted when he was distracted by an attractive face. Kisa, for instance, was distracted for the thousandth time by Yukina, smiling and surrounded by shojo sparkles as he was. He didn't even try to tone down the charm when he knew Kisa was watching. In fact, it seemed to have increased since those days when Kisa hid behind bookshelves and watched from a distance.

Kisa muttered darkly to himself and went back to his laptop. Yukina's shift was over for the day in ten minutes, and then they could leave. They might get dinner, but ultimately, they'd end up at Yukina's apartment. He would never say, but it was obvious he was more comfortable when he had all his art supplies around.

A tinny clip of music sounded, and Yukina gracefully excused himself from the girls before pulling his cell phone out of the pocket of his apron. The ringtone sounded again, and Kisa recognized it. Kisa hadn't edited many manga that had been turned into anime, and that was the chorus for the theme song of one of those rare instances. He should've known.

"Hello, Yukina here," he said. A smile broke over his face, and Kisa's face warped into a scowl. He didn't enjoy the fact that other people could make his Yukina smile like that. "Onii-chan!"

Kisa was mildly surprised. He knew Yukina had an older brother; it was one of the things he'd confessed in that long speech that ranged from his height to his favorite person (Kisa Shouta, of course). He'd never seen the two interact, though. Kisa had assumed that the elder Yukina didn't live near enough for regular visits.

Kisa was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even eavesdrop on the conversation like Yukina's fan club did. IT was lucky for him that they were distracted, because as Kisa thought more and more about someone else making Yukina happy, even if it was family, his aura flared. The poor girls wouldn't have stood a chance. If he had been sitting in the shonen manga department, an over nine-thousand joke might've been appropriate.

It was the top of the hour, though, and Kisa nearly jumped out of his skin when the staff recommendation display sounded off. He was embarrassed that it was still there, but Yukina's boss had liked it.

"Kisa-san!" Yukina always called out his name with abandon, as if it were the secret password to riches. "I'll be right over, I just have to clock-out."

Yukina's fan club looked at Kisa suspiciously, as if they thought they needed to protect him from this baby-faced, bipolar man he often left with. It was much too late for that, though. Much, much too late.

"So uh, what was that call about?" Kisa asked as they left the store, doing his best to sound casual.

"It was my older brother, Ken." Yukina smiled as he tugged his hat lower on his head.

"Kou and Ken?"

"My parents like simple names."

Kisa had been so distracted that he didn't even notice Yukina lead him to his apartment building instead of their usual café. It wasn't that strange, since Yukina's friend had been teaching him new recipes. Kisa had kind of been looking forward to that coffee, though.

"Onii-chan is visiting Tokyo," Yukina went on as they climbed the stairs. The only elevator in the place had broken down long before Kisa and Yukina started dating.

"Oh. That's… nice. I guess he was calling so you two could go out to lunch or something?" He was through the door to Yukina's floor first, and was only vaguely suspicious of the man hanging out there in the hall that wasn't usually there. It wasn't like Yukina's apartment building was shady or anything, but Kisa had kind of gotten used to men hanging around for apparently no reason. Mostly around him.

"Onii-chan!" Yukina said with the same gusto from earlier. He approached the man who, now that Kisa thought about it, was standing right outside Yukina's door. "Kisa-san, this is my older brother, Yukina Ken."

Kisa just gawked. This was not how he expected his day to turn out.

This fanfic was born when the Sekaiichi Hatsukoi community on LiveJournal pointed out that Yukina has an older brother, as mentioned in a chapter that isn't scanlated right now. A few people came up with the plot and I had to write it :P Hope you're enjoying it so far!