here we go people! Chapter 2 away! Before I continue, there is a poll on my page relevant for the story. You have plenty of time to vote, but I'll be closing it in TWO weeks! But, no pressure at all! Second, I'd like to thank you for your reviews, especially comicfan209! Thank you so much for your critique! :) Third, I did upload a second chapter, but I had some misgivings and comicfan209 caught some mistakes, so I took it down and redid this. To let you know, this chapter is a bit short, but I assure you, I'm working as fast as I can to get chapter 3 done. In fact, I'm working on it as if now. Read on, people! Oh, and Chapter 1 has been revamped too do please be sure to reread the redone chapter!

The night rolled on as the party was stil active, but around one in the morning, the Tsukumo's had returned home. Yuma and Ryoga were still awake, including Rio. Whenever Rio came over to her brothers' house and she was too tired to drive home, they'd let her stay the night.

Yuma, Ryoga, and Shark sat on the sofa in the living room watching a movie playing on TV. It wasn't that interesting, but okay just for the laughs. They weren't really paying much attention to the TV anyway.

Now that it was just the three of them and no one else around to interfere, Rio suddenly grabbed the remote and turned the TV off in one click.

"Hey! I was watching that!" complained Yuma.

"What was that?" Rio flashed her famous death glare, her eyes shining red ((the one from episode 91)). Seeing the young woman's eyes turn red was more than enough to shut Yuma up because he remembered what happened the last time someone pissed off his sister-in-law. Not wanting to suffer the consequences, hebacked up in retreat. "Never mind."

Ryoga could tell by his sister's expression that she was hiding something, so he asked, "Is something on your mind? You were never that good at hiding it."

Rio looked to the side, twiddling her thumbs. "Yes. We all need to talk," she said in a serious tone.

Yuma regained his composure from Rio's glare and sat back on the couch, focusing his attention on Rio. "What is there to talk about?" he said innocently.

"You guys don't need to hide it from me," said Rio. She crossed her arms. "Haru told me everything, every single detail. I know about the women who refused to be your surrogate mothers."

Yuma's expression quickly became downcast. His body language proved it. Rio observed his shoulders lowering along with his expression turning from curious to upset. "It... Umm... I really don't know how to say it..." he stuttered.

To Ryoga, he didn't like it when people mentioned his and Yuma's situation like this, especially when they talked about the surrogates. They had been under a lot of stress because of that. He stood up from the sofa, glaring at his sister. His teeth and hands were clenched with frustration.

"What are you getting at Rio?! This is my and Yuma's business! You didn't need to pry information from Haru about our situation! It's called minding your own business!"

"She told me because she was worried sick about you! What do you expect me to do? Just sit by and watch every woman you ask reject you?!" Rio retaliated.

"Guys, stop it!" cried Yuma.

"Stay out of this Yuma!" growled Ryoga. "This is between Rio and I!" He turned back to his sister.

"No, Shark! You don't need to fight with your sister about this!" Yuma clenched his partner's arms tighty, attempting to restrain him.

"Let me go Yuma!"

"You can't leave out your own sister! Like it or not, Rio's a part of our family too! Families don't keep secrets from each other! I don't like hiding from my family because all it proves is that I'm avoiding the problem! You shouldn't be shunning Rio! She doesn't have to talk. She could, I don't know, listen!"

Rio put on an concerned look to show she wasn't joking around. "Please, Ryoga. I need you to hear me out. I'm being serious," she pleaded.

"And just how could you understand what Yuma and I are going through?! Every single person we've spoken to rejected us because to them, we're just 'desperate homos'! You wouldn't know because you're straight! How do you explain that?! What the hell am I supposed to do?!" Ryoga snarled angrily.

"Yes, I admit I don't understand your problem, but that doesn't mean I can't be here for you! Seriously, could you stop being stubborn with me and tell me what's going on? Please! I want to know because I want to understand your feelings!"

Understand my feelings?! Rio wants to do that? Since when would she care so much about an unusual couple like us, besides the fact we're family?Ryoga looked at Yuma as if he wanted him to defend him. Instead, he saw Yuma's face that have a signal somewhat saying 'Tell her.' Even Yuma's on Rio's side! I don't understand why she wants to know so much about us. She won't stop bugging us until she hears everything. I don't have much of a choice. If she wants to know, then I'll tell everything. I tell, then she'll stop pestering me...

Ryoga took a deep breath, clenching his fist in an attempt to calm down. On the other hand, Rio prepared for an angry remark from her brother. Knowing him, prying secrets wasn't an easy thing to do and often set him off because he was a bit secretive. She closed her eyes, her body shaked in nervousness because she believed Ryoga would hit her. However, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Rio opened her eyes wide open to see her brother with his usual stoic look, sitting beside her. He didn't have any looks of anger or intent to harm and was calm.

To the side, Yuma was quite relieved. He remembered that Ryoga could get a little brash defending him and himself because not too many people were fine with their sexual preferences. For once, he felt happy that his partner didn't resort to violence towards his sister.

Ryoga closed his eyes for a brief second. He took one deep breath, then grasped Rio's hands, and maintained eye contact with her. "Rio," he began, "do you really want to know about what is really going on with us?"

"Yes, brother. Please, I want to be here for you, but I can't help if I can't understand what you're going through. All I wish for is to see you achieve your dream, not lose it." Rio squeezed her brother's hands tightly in response.

"Fine. I'll tell you everything. I'm done hiding secrets." Ryoga quickly looked at Yuma. The red-eyed man flashed a small smile as if it said, 'You're doing the right thing.'

Ryoga continued. "A few weeks ago, Yuma and I were at the surrogacy center and our consultant had set up some interviews with possible candidates..."

Like I said, it's a bit short, but I'm finishing Chapter 3 ASAP because I don't really like to leave cliffhangers. I'm making an exception for this story. So then, please review!