Takano had gone on a business trip with some superiors.
How dare he.
He was probably out with some very, very important superiors right now, doing something productive. Being all... high up and showing off his expertise. Not what Onodera was doing, not being a housewife. He was printing out useless articles, just to kill time. The printer wheezed. Please load more paper. Without bitching to himself, he went to the desk, where Rei was doing homework. He smiled as the kid's head was turned.
"How is your homework?" Onodera asked, leaning over Rei to the top shelf.
"I finished it," he replied from under Onodera's arm. "Can I draw a picture with some of that paper?"
Rei spoke English. Apparently.Onodera left Rei to draw, fiddling with the printer, which chugged every time he tried to print another article. Every couple of minutes he glanced across the room at Rei, who was tapping his pencil against the desk, rubbing the eraser furiously into his piece of paper.
Rei put his pencil down, worrying it with his long fingers. His dark, oily hair stuck to his cheeks, and strands of it were poking and bothering his eyes. Dismissively, he shook his head. Rei was tapping his pencil on the desk, loudly. Onodera opened the package and straightened out the stack on top of the printer. If he could just fall asleep but, if he were to tell the truth, Takano was so far away and he was worried. He blushed. Takano, the Capable Chief Editor of Marukawa Shoten, didn't need Onodera's worry. Let him get drunk and spout his complaints to his superiors. Fine.
"Mr. Onodera?"
"Huh?"
"So, this is a little weird, but..." Rei frowned, closed his mouth, but forced himself to look up again. "But why don't you ever tell Mr. Takano that you love him whenever he says that he loves you?"
Onodera, surprised, dropped his papers. Quickly, he hide his face and knelt to the floor. He did not need this right now. He did not love anyone.
"So?" Rei folded his arms. He hadn't just found the courage to ask what had been on his mind for the past few months, just to have Mr. Onodera blow him off.
"Hmmm." Onodera turned around, walking quickly to the printer. Rei followed.
"He always says that he loves you."
"Hm."
"You love him too, right?"
"Hm."
Onodera looked down, narrowing his eyes. Rei was relentless and stubborn. He threw up his hands, exasperated. "My boss might have adopted you, but that doesn't mean I'm also... I'm not... This is ridiculous!"
Rei hesitated, so Onodera fled to the kitchen, giving up on the printer. He should eat something. He was staying at Takano's, apartment-sitting as well as baby-sitting, which meant there would be actual food to eat instead of energy drinks and orange juice. He opened the refrigerator, but then he heard little footsteps coming up quickly behind him. Rei rushed under his arms and stubbornly stood in his way. Onodera gave Rei his best stop that right now young manlook. It might've worked well if he wasn't just Mr. Onodera.
If he wasn't just the neighbor.
"I-i just thought you were..." Rei stuttered. "Like Mr. Takano is... My..."
"You thought I was what?"
"You know... My..."
Onodera blinked. "Oh! Oh, no, I'm not... I'm just the neighbor."
Rei frowned, the refrigerator light cutting shadows into his face, his eyes strained and expression torn. "But you're always kissing and hugging and he always tells you that he loves you. And, and you guys share me. I thought that I'd finally have... two... parents. I thought I'd have two parents, Mr. Onodera, but I'm sorry if I..."
Onodera stood up suddenly. God, he couldn't just sit here after He looked over his shoulder, around the apartment, and then he knelt back down and put his hands on Rei's shoulders. "It's a hard thing to say, Rei," he muttered. "But, I do..."
Rei held his breath.
"You see..." mumbled Onodera. "Takano does... I, um... I love-"
"I'm back."
Onodera almost screamed. Onodera shot to his had been so, so close, so dangerously close, and he would never let that happen again. He'd almost made a terrible mistake. Taking off his coat, Masamune Takano scrutinized Onodera through the irritated, dark bags under his eyes. When Rei came out from the refrigerator, he frowned but crouched down to pick the kid up.
"Hey, what the hell are you two doing like that? Why is Rei still up?"
"I was drawing a picture," explained Rei.
"Little boys should be in bed by eight o'clock," recited Takano flatly. He said it like he'd read it out of a manual, which he probably had. Onodera rolled his eyes. "Hey, Onodera, I had asked you to watch my apartment. I didn't ask you to have a party and keep Rei up all night. Right, Rei?"
"Right, Mr. Takano."
Takano frowned. "You know, you can call me dad."
"That's okay, Mr. Takano..."
"It's not my fault,He's an insomniac. You should take him to doctor. Oh, that reminds me, we need to get him new shoes..." Onodera stopped as Takano inched closer, freeing one hand as he shifted Rei's weight. "Hey, Takano."
Quicklky, Takano kissed Onodera, short and sweet. Onodera yanked away, grumbling, slamming the refrigerator door shut and walking away. Rei's smile dropped. Takano let him down and followed Onodera to the living room, where he was trying to find his coat and shoes.
"I'm sorry for intruding, anyway," Onodera said, seeing Takano standing there. "I thought your meeting was overnight."
"It was," Takano drawled. "I bailed out."
Onodera glared. "You what? Takano!That's so irresponsible!"
"Yeah, yeah. Come on, put your coat down. You can still sleep over at my place, since I made you come over here anyway."
"As if I would do that! Takano, you can't just go doing whatever you want!"
"Oh my God, Onodera. It's not like it's a whole big deal. Stop going on about it." Then, Takano smiled. It was so sudden that it caught Onodera off guard, and Takano took the opportunity to kiss him quickly.
"Wh-"
"If you're going to act like my wife, then we should just get married, right? And then you can adopt Rei, too."
"Oh, please."
"Oh, I didn't know you'd be so excited for it."
"That's not what I meant!"
Angrily, Onodera yanked his arms through his rumpled coat sleeves and slipped on his shoes. Takano frowned, but stepped back. Then, appearing behind them, Tanaka ran over and tugged on Onodera's coat sash. He was holding his picture.
"Mr. Onodera, you can't leave yet! You need to see what I drew."
"Oh, okay."
Before Onodera could look at it, however, Takano reached over and stole it. Onodera blew his bangs out of his eyes and buttoned his coat up, preparing to just leave. He didn't want to deal with Takano's shit, even if he wanted to see Rei's picture. He popped the collar of his coat, but Takano tugged him back and, slinging his arm around his shoulder, held him close to his side.
"Oh, this is my favorite of your pictures," he praised. "It's very well done. Onodera, look."
Tanaka's picture was of Onodera, Takano, and herself, arranged to be holding hands. Like a family. Rei blushed as Onodera stared at it, his face heating up steadily. He and Takano were wearing wedding rings. It was just a doodle, a crayon drawing, but it was a doodled crayon drawing of a dream.
"Do you like it, Mr. Onodera?" asked Rei hesitantly.
He took the paper and studied it, that odd little frown on his face.
"It's... oh, please." Onodera returned the paper to Takano. After two hastily said goodnights, Onodera rushed out of Takano's door. Takano made a disgruntled sound, squeezing Rei tighter to him.
"He'll come around," he promised.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. We're a family, after all."