Not too pleased with this for far too many reasons, and spent far too long, but it's gotten to the point where everything is just "screw it! It's time to move on" so what else is there to do?

Verisimil . 03

When Kaito closes his eyes, he sees double.

Ever since that day, one year ago, when he used Photon Mode for the first time, first staring back at him as a faintly glowing form in the mirror. Now it's in his mind, that blindingly bright silhouette against pitch black. Himself but not himself; the Hunter, hovering. Smirking. Their noses are barely half a meter away. It wasn't until two days ago, since his duel with Tsukumo Yuuma, that the Hunter closed the distance for the first time.

At first, it had just been a kiss. A simple kiss in the void of nothingness and zero time. On the lips. Clean, simple. No entry required.

Kaito doesn't know what happened. But now, every night, he floats there in the void chilly and cold and caustic against unprotected skin. Every night, roaming rays illuminate an exposed chest, ghostly fingers tug at the seam of his tights and run across where he's sensitive most.

Every night, he's hunted. And every night, he surrenders.

Every night is the same. As he wishes Haruto goodnight and then returns to his room he locks the door behind him. He doesn't change before bed, knowing it is pointless. Sometimes he gingerly brushes his fingers along the rough weave of the coat hanging on his chair before heading to bed.

It is not sleep he finds but the Hunter's grasp. He yields when the glowing form tackles him violently; their kiss is wild, their noses clash as they both try to find the right angle of attack—

The Hunter wins, of course. A tongue snakes in between half-open lips, and Kaito can feel the rush of his blood cycling through his veins as the kiss intensifies and the Hunter takes him. By this point their bodies have been bumping into one another, their dicks not quite erect but approaching their peak. Each heavy gasp and every brush of each other's hips only brings them closer.

A fleeting thought crosses Kaito's mind. He pulls away - and would have succeeded had the Hunter not pinned their waists together.

"What's wrong?" asks the Hunter in a voice odd to his own ears without the internal echo to offset the words.

"You're me," says Kaito. The Hunter only smirks and tightens his grip. Kaito tries to squirm away. "This is a dream. I'm crazy."

"Then," comes the reply, and there is a pause as the Hunter licks Kaito's neck, "let us be crazy together."

I'm enjoying this, he means to say, but he actually can't. He shouldn't be enjoying it. It's… a punishment, perhaps, that he always saw the Hunter whenever he closes his eyes and is subjected to that lustful stare—

What punishment is it then, if he finds it to be everything it's not?

And yet, it continues.

Of course he'd once toyed with the idea of having sex. That point had been eons ago, well before his decision to devote his life to freeing Haruto from his father's cage and even a few times after that.

But never would he have imagined fleeting immature fantasies spiralling into this.

Never would he—

He shouldn't be enjoying it so much.

And yet, every night, it continues.

Are you ready to repent?

He has to be prepared every night, which is strange and doesn't match up to his research - research done whilst his father had taken Haruto out and he'd somehow been able to shoo Orbital-7 away. The second time the Hunter had penetrated, unproperly prepared, Kaito had grit his teeth from the sharp spike of pain. The pain itself had not been enough to shock him from his sleep - rather, it had been the dampness in the back of his briefs - and he'd opened his eyes to find blood between his buttcheeks and himself bleeding at his opening.

That had been mortifying.

But he doesn't complain. He's more concerned about how easily his prostate can be stimulated while the Hunter scissors those fucking fingers. How easily he always loses control; how the sensation of being filled is always that same, new, satisfying fullness every single time.

Perhaps it's because it's a dream.

He's never come before the Hunter. Maybe it's because of the Hunter's skill, learnt somewhere and somehow. Or maybe, perhaps, it's because he doesn't want to feel the apathy that follows release, knowing he would then be only a fuck puppet to help the Hunter shoot disgusting seed within him and fill him and—

Whatever it is… he doesn't receive the punishment he'd earned. It is not the punishment he deserves.

It doesn't stop any of those moans.

One night Haruto places a hand on his arm as he's drawing away, then sincere golden eyes turn up to meet his own.

"Nii-san," he says. "Are you alright?"

Kaito freezes, unsure what he's supposed to do. He blinks inadvertently and, for the briefest instant, the Hunter's gaze replaces Haruto's until the blink is over and Kaito opens his eyes again.

"I'm…" fine.

Haruto only grows more concerned. "You're having nightmares, aren't you?" Kaito's opened his mouth; Haruto frowns and interrupts before he can even speak a word. "Don't lie. I can sense you when you shift in your dreams."

Kaito blinks again, the Hunter wants him to lie, but Kaito can't do that to Haruto of all people. "They're… not nightmares, Haruto."

The hand moves from his arm to his face and Haruto brushes his thumb gently over eyebags dark against pale yellow skin.

"Nii-san," says Haruto, "tonight… can you sleep with me?"

"I—"

"Please. Maybe that way… you can sleep well again."

Kaito can't refuse, so it is with a sense of dread that he climbs under the blankets. Haruto shuffles over but the mattress is still small and not designed for two. He's making sure he's facing away, but it is when Haruto climbs closer to embrace his back that Kaito's heart sinks and he wants to crawl far, far away. Haruto is right; Kaito hasn't been sleeping well, so staying up all night is an impossibility especially when the bed's so cozy and warm and—

Kaito knows the Hunter will still take him, even if he asks otherwise. Kaito only hopes, that night, the Hunter denies him the release he needs and that Haruto doesn't notice the erection beneath the folds.

Kaito only hopes, that night, he doesn't scream.

"Kaito," says his father, a few nights after Haruto let him return to his room again. "Can I have a word?"

Mutely, Kaito nods. He'd been caught after he'd finished washing their breakfast plates, and, with the doorway from the kitchen as narrow as it is, there's no escape.

"I've noticed… and I didn't want to mention it, but there's a lot more laundry than usual." Dr. Faker pauses, glances away. "Your sheets, in particular."

…Ah.

"Kaito," continues his father, "whatever it is, I understand. I was young too once, young and foolish—"

"…Dad," says Kaito.

"But were it not for my foolishness you and Haruto would have never been born—"

"Dad."

"Ah! It's that girl Mr. Heartland picked up isn't it? D… Droite, I think. Perhaps I ought to call her a woman now too—"

"Dad!"

"I wouldn't blame you, she is fairly beautiful - filled out, grown into her looks I should say—"

"Dad!" Kaito's not sure how red his face is right now, though he could feel the heat in his face and could see the faint twinge of pink across his father's cheeks, but knows this is not a topic he wants to share. "No, it's not that—"

"I know this is awkward for you, Kaito—" More than awkward, actually - here he was, eighteen and a half, being told about sex as if he were fourteen again, "—but we should probably talk about this a little…"

"No, dad!" Kaito splutters. "No—ah, er, I mean, I've heard it already."

And now his father is curious. "You have?"

"Yeah. Um." Think fast; there is no fucking way he's going to re-live the awkward everything that was Gauche's explanation, from a night years ago when he'd woken to find himself wet for the first time. "Chris gave me a book before he left and forgot to take it with him."

Which is the truth. Except it's a psychology book Kaito'd never touched since putting it on his bookshelf, not that his father would ever know.

"Really?" says Dr. Faker. "Does it explain everything?"

"Yes."

"Then - excellent. That's saved a lot of trouble. But Kaito, whatever it is, if it's dealing such a burden onto your life… please let me know."

Kaito nods, but only because he is expected to. "Yes—okay, dad. I understand."

The void is always strange to Kaito's senses, dark and hollow and empty. It uses a strange sense of gravity - sometimes up is down, and down is up, which leads to many games as different as they were strange. Sometimes Kaito's fucked while standing because the Hunter can walk while lying down. Sometimes Kaito'd think of victory only to find it's truly the Hunter who topped in the situation. The laws of physics themselves would change - but the world's only a dream and everything's an illusion, right?

That night, the two of them are falling. Their clothes are gone, left in places that didn't really matter, foreplay done, and the Hunter tips Kaito back as he aligns himself at the entrance. But Kaito pauses when he feels blankets under his skin - for there shouldn't be anything in the nothingness - and glances around to see he's inside his room in a replica of his old home.

There's no more time for thought when the Hunter's cock enters. Kaito forgets everything when it brushes past the sensitive skin behind his prostate and arcs his hips to optimise the angle. A hand drifts toward his dick but the Hunter swats it away. Then the Hunter stops, still inside, instead pinning both of Kaito's wrists to the bed and leaning down.

Kaito groans. No.

The Hunter growls, sending warm waves of breath across Kaito's face, and the pleased smirk told Kaito he'd spoken out loud. Kaito doesn't think twice; he launches up to catch the lips of the face identical to his own, wanting more, then it's their mouths warring for dominance until the Hunter begins thrusting again. Kaito moans into the Hunter's mouth, and then moans again when the Hunter pulls away and licks his cheek instead, and then—

Kaito's not sure if it's his imagination when he hears a faint creak. But it's something promptly forgotten as the Hunter thrusts faster and faster and any discomfort thrusting too far is offset by the speed at which pleasure builds up and—

fuck

Kaito thinks he'd moaned and bucked when he hit release, but he's not too sure. All he knows is that it's over for the night, the Hunter is satisfied (—his feelings didn't matter it's punishment after all—) and he can finally sleep in the fading bubble of euphoria.

Until tomorrow.

Tomorrow, it seems, will not come without repercussions. This time, Kaito finds himself called to the living room - or what could be called a living room, whereas in reality they'd portioned off Haruto's room with walls and now they're in the part with the three-person sofa in the corner. Kaito takes one look at his father, who sits on one side of the sofa and is glancing away, Haruto, who's on the other side and leaning forward determinedly with hangs clutched into fists, then at the empty seat between them.

Then he changes his mind about sitting and has Orbital-7 pull up a chair.

But as he sits down, their gazes turn towards him and he's filled with the sudden feeling of being subject to interrogation.

It's after an entire minute of silent staring that Dr. Faker starts.

"Haruto told me…" Pause. "There was a man in the house with you last night."

Kaito frowns. "What?"

"He was in your room."

Kaito blinks then… and one sight of the Hunter has his heart sink in realisation. "No…"

"Don't lie, nii-san!" says Haruto, suddenly. "I saw him! He was leaning over you and both of you were naked and he was torturing you!"

…Fuck.

Kaito isn't religious, but seriously contemplates becoming so in the slim chance God existed and can get him out of the situation. But of course, whether it be because of Kaito's atheist views or something other, there is no answer. If Kaito had once thought it awkward getting Gauche to explain why exactly the man was trying to avoid the topic of teenage pregnancy, it had nothing on facing his father and especially his younger brother at that time.

Dr. Faker notices the grimace on Kaito's face even before he does himself. "Who was that?"

How the fuck his father expects him to explain that every night he dreamt he fucked himself and he—

Not happening.

Fortunately, his father identifies the problem immediately.

"Haruto," says Dr. Faker. "Do you want to take Orbital-7 with you and go outside for a bit?"

"No," says Haruto.

"Haruto. Please."

"No," says Haruto again. "Nii-san is my nii-san. I have to help him too!"

"Thank you, Haruto," says Dr. Faker, and he moves over to awkwardly ruffle Haruto's hair. "You found out, so you already helped lots. But this is something I have to talk to Kaito about privately, okay?"

Haruto pouts. Then, without complaint, he hops off the sofa and heads away, causing Orbital-7 to squawk and hurriedly wheel after. Then Dr. Faker turns to Kaito expectantly, still waiting on an answer, and for a brief instant Kaito wishes his father were still self-absorbed and devoted to his work so that there wouldn't even have been time for such a discussion.

But as soon as the thought comes, he regrets it. Back then, Haruto—

They're still family.

"No-one," says Kaito.

"No-one," echoes his father.

Maybe it would have been better.

"Yeah."

"You know I don't believe that, Kaito."

"…yeah."

The two sit in silence for a few minutes more.

"I don't have a problem with you having sexual intercourse since you're a grown man and can make your own decisions, Kaito," says Dr. Faker. There is a lengthy pause. "Was it consensual?"

Kaito isn't sure what to say, but he finds himself nodding anyway.

"Do you love him?"

Kaito pauses. Of course, his father notices the hesitation.

"Do you love him?" he asks again.

Is it love, then? Wasn't the daily routine just his punishment - could he love himself? Love the Numbers Hunter?

Finally, Kaito nods—

—and then he stiffens when he truly realises what he's done; more than accepting the Hunter's crimes and actions, punishment's turned into love and fuck he did actually love him, that crazy other part of himself, and as his realisation unfolds…

…

And then there's nothing.

Kaito comes to sometime later, to find himself hovering in the void again. He's in the Hunter's arms - except now, rather than confidence and arrogancy there's a faint kindness(?) about the Hunter's mismatched eyes.

"You're awake," murmurs the Hunter, softly. "You meant it."

"What?" says Kaito. "What happened?"

"Your mind felt the need to re-write the past few years of your life, apparently," comes the reply. "I assume it's shock. Do you love me?"

"Yes," says Kaito. Then he blinks at how easily the word leaves him. "Yes, I… do?"

The Hunter kisses Kaito on the cheek. "Good. By the way, I took the liberty of taking control to explain the situation and its circumstances."

"You… what?"

"Dad knows we're together."

"No," says Kaito, "what do you mean by circumstances?"

"Xyz Double Back, of course. You didn't think you could have your soul on the field twice, did you? Oh, and Haruto knows."

"What?"

"He was listening in on the conversation. He knows everything now." When Kaito blinks, the Hunter explains. "Orbital-7 explained everything he didn't understand."

…Right, that conversation.

…

Fuck.

"Now he knows what, exactly, sexual intercourse is," continues the Hunter, impossibly blasé. "He's also determined to make sure we've always got a condom, you know." Then the Hunter grins and reaches for Kaito's zipper. "Not that we need one."

Kaito knows a cue when he sees it, forces himself to ignore any references to Haruto and reaches across to the Hunter's own. "I've never been that snarky. I don't know why you—"

Without warning, something cold and hard touched his butt from beneath his coat. Kaito leans back and freezes when he sees ghostly wings protruding from the back of the Hunter's white coat. He looks down past their crotches to see a tail equally as familiar wrapped around his legs.

"You—" he says, "you're—"

The Hunter nuzzles him and purrs.