"Yogi?" Nai asked, reaching across the dinner table for the salt. "Where did you get that mark on your neck?"
Yogi blushed and pulled his shirt collar up to hide the little bruise.
"It's nothing," he said, cutting into his food and resolutely not looking at Gareki, who was smirking down at his empty plate. "I fell in the hall."
At this, Gareki laughed disbelievingly, raising his eyebrows slightly.
"You've finished, you can leave," Yogi said coldly, feeling the teen's eyes searching him for somewhere new to bite.
That night, Yogi lay beneath his blankets, feeling distinctly uneasy. The doorknob rattled and Gareki entered, sliding himself through the gap in the doorway before enveloping the room in darkness again.
Yogi sat up in bed, clutching the duvet around him as he tried to locate Gareki in the solidly dark room. The teen was stalking him like a wolf stalks its prey.
"Please, Gareki," Yogi whimpered, feeling a lot less brave now that it was only the two of them in the room. "Please, not tonight."
Gareki leapt stealthily onto the bed and quickly overpowered Yogi, straddling him and ripping his shirt open. Yogi cried out, trying desperately to escape. But it was no good. Gareki reached down a hand and caressed his chest, putting a hand over the older man's mouth to muffle his protest.
"You should know by now," Gareki whispered, staring into Yogi's face. "That when you struggle, it only makes me want to do it more."
"Stop it! Enough already!" Yogi exclaimed, shaking off the teen's hand. "You've made your mark on me enough for now, just leave me be! Why do you do this to me?"
Gareki ignored him, either choosing not to answer or being unable to. Instead, he lowered his head to Yogi's throat, placing his lips on a spot just above his collarbone.
"Not there, please!" Yogi gasped, feeling a stab of pain as Gareki started to suck and bite at his skin. "Ah! Gareki, no!"
Gareki moved his hand back up to Yogi's face, and covered his mouth again, leaving him powerless. So, as usual, he lay there helplessly, letting the teen leave another sore mark upon his body, and wondering why it was necessary, and why it had to be him...
The next morning, Yogi woke up with a groan, pressing on his chest until he found the new bruise he now wore. His shirt had been ruined, almost all of the buttons had broken off as Gareki had ripped it. So today, he would have to go into town and buy a new pair of pyjamas. Tsukumo was already getting suspicious of why he was always breaking them.
Yogi got out of bed and dressed himself, pulling a pale pink turtle-neck sweater over his head so as to best hide his chest and neck from everyone. Gareki would notice, and laugh at him, but at least the jumper hid any exposed skin which Gareki might attack that day.
He decided to skip breakfast - as Gareki would surely be there - and instead he exited the ship, travelling to a nearby clothes store and heading inside. He found himself a nice pair of sky blue, cotton pyjamas and then left, carrying a paper bag over one arm. It was bright and sunny outside, almost blindingly so. In fact, the sunshine was so severe that Yogi didn't even notice that he about to walk into Gareki, until he had done just that.
As Yogi was regaining his balance, Gareki took the opportunity and grabbed his wrist, pulling him down a deserted alleyway and pinning him against the wall. His shopping bag left behind him, Yogi cried out, but was soon silenced by Gareki's fist in his mouth, almost knocking out his teeth.
Gareki grasped the side of Yogi's face with his free hand, and tilted his head to the side, exposing a tiny area of his neck, just below his ear. The skin was stretched and sensitive, and Yogi braced himself for the pain he knew he was about to endure. Gareki's mouth circled his neck, biting and sucking on it until he had left another dark red-blue bruise there, one that was going to be very difficult to cover up.
When he was satisfied with his mark, Gareki pulled back, leaving Yogi to slide down the wall and sit on the stone street floor, breathing heavily as he watched Gareki disappear into the shadows, camouflaging like a wolf in the woods.
"Why?" Yogi asked himself, picking up his shopping bag and starting to walk back towards the ship. "Why me?"
Back on board, Nai was asking Yogi about his bruise again, and the excuses had become rather over-exaggerated by now, much to Gareki's amusement.
"That one looks sore, how did you get it?" Nai asked, gazing into Yogi's face.
The older man grinned awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck distractedly with a hand.
"I ran into a wolf when I was shopping in town," he said finally, trying not to look at Nai and give himself away. "I beat it and escaped, but it bit me a little in the process."
"You always seem to be hurt at the moment Yogi," Nai mused.
"Well, err, I have been rather clumsy lately..." Yogi continued, becoming very flustered.
Gareki was sniggering in his chair as he listened to Yogi's lies, wondering where he could bite him next...
But, when nightfall came, Yogi had a plan. Nobody did anything just for the sake of it, and even if they did, that was their reason. People always had a reason for doing things, and tonight, he was going to find out Gareki's reason for coming to him whenever possible, and making his mark.
As the sun dropped below the horizon, Yogi changed into his new pyjamas and climbed into bed, wrapping the quilt around himself as tightly as possible. Sure enough, Gareki slunk into the room and surprised him, planning his attack just like a wolf would. However this time, the prey had outsmarted the predator.
As Gareki leapt onto the bed, Yogi leapt away from it, landing on top of Gareki and pinning him to the mattress by his wrists.
"Oi! Get off!" Gareki cried, squirming beneath him and looking furious. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You're not going to mark me!"
"No, I'm not," Yogi said simply, holding Gareki down and looking calmly into his eyes. "I'm going to ask you the question that I always ask you, every time you come in here. Why do you do this to me? There has to be a reason."
Upon hearing these words, Gareki stopped his struggling and gazed up at Yogi, slightly taken-aback.
"Please tell me," Yogi continued, trying to figure out the teen.
He was such a complicated boy, and you never quite knew quite what he was thinking. However, Yogi found him to be quite predictable at times, and right now, he could tell that Gareki was not about to answer his question.
"Please, Gareki," he asked, gripping onto his wrists a little harder. "Please tell me, you can trust me."
"It's not to do with trust!" Gareki blurted out, looking slightly desperate. "Trust has nothing to do with it!"
"Then what's wrong? What's your reason?" Yogi asked, becoming slightly impatient.
"Nothing's wrong, don't you see?!" Gareki cried, raising his voice and gazing imploringly at Yogi. "It's just that, things can never go right! I love you, Yogi!"
The older man's eyes widened and he released his grip on Gareki, however neither of them moved a muscle. The impact of these words upon Yogi had been huge, whatever Gareki's reason may have turned out to be, he had not expected that.
"You... you what?" Yogi stammered.
"I love you," Gareki said again, his voice cracking slightly. "I have done, for a while now. I just didn't know how to handle it, that's all. I'm sorry. I've handled this really badl..."
But his next words were cut short, due to the fact that Yogi had kissed him. The kiss was quick and fleeting, but it was full of acceptance and forgiveness. When they broke apart, both had a slight colour to their cheeks and both looked slightly shocked.
"Is that a yes?" Gareki exclaimed, barely able to believe it.
"Of course it's a yes," Yogi agreed tenderly, brushing the teen's fringe out of his face. "Now this time, make your mark on me with pride."
The next morning, Gareki and Yogi emerged from the bedroom at the same time, having fallen asleep next to each other in Yogi's bed. Both were sporting several glorious bruises along their necks, but ironically, nobody seemed to notice Gareki's. However, Yogi was quizzed frantically all through breakfast.
"Where did that one come from?" Nai asked interestedly, pointing to a large, dark mark on the underside of Yogi's chin.
Yogi smiled and gripped Gareki's hand under the table.
"Just another wolf bite," he said. "It's no big deal."