Chapter 2

"Have you made a prior appointment?" A hard faced woman stood out the front of a large mansion. It had been two weeks since Takaba and Asami had split, two weeks of running away and close scrapes. But Akihito had had an idea late the previous night; all that needed to happen right now for Takaba to be safe was to grab the attention of the man inside.

"No, but I don't need one. He knows me."

"An appointment is needed."

"But I know him!"

"An appointment is needed."

"Let me in!"

"An appointment is needed."

With the same four words spewing monotonously from the woman, Takaba cracked it and yelled: "Feilong! Get your stinky ass out here as quick as possible before I come up there and kick it!"

Without warning the maid attempted to slap him, he dodged, then grinned and ducked inside. Her angry pig like squeals echoing behind him.

Still laughing and watching the stumbling maid chasing him, Takaba rushed down the hall of Feilong's house, crashing into a brick wall, which fell to the floor with him. Taking a second look, Akihito realised that what he hit was not a brick wall at all, but the very man the boy had been searching for.

For a moment Feilong just laid on the ground, staring up at the brunette on top of him. Then as he realised his position he felt a slight blush creep across his cheeks. The boy's wide, doe-like eyes stared down at him from where he straddled the Chinese man's hips. Quicker than he'd moved in a while, Feilong jumped up, pulling Takaba with him.

"Takaba! What are you doing here?" His surprise was evident.

The derisive snort that exploded from Takaba made Fei blink, "With the racket that prick's been making around Japan I'm seriously surprised you haven't heard." Wide eyes became even wider as he realised that this boy had come for refuge from Asami. "You're the only person that I could think of that would help me hide from him."

"Ah, well. Come into the main room and we can speak there. You need to explain it all to me before I agree to help." Though Fei had said this he had already made the decision to help the boy. How he had reacted to Feilong's pain, the insightful words shared between the two, it had left a mark on the gang leader's soul. Maybe not as dark or as strong as the one Asami had branded him with there, but it was definite, and also bruising if thought about.

On their way into the large living room, the raven haired man glanced back over his shoulder towards the still raving maid. "You should really have not treated Helga so horribly." He mutters, his voice rubbed against Takaba's skin like the smoothest silk imaginable, though the actual sentence just made the photographer laugh.

"I didn't do anything, the old hag started it."

"Old hag my ass, she used to be my lover." A mischievous grin, rarely seen on the man's face spreads across his already gorgeous features, making them even more beautiful.

"You're kidding right?" He looks back at the Helga's wrinkled face. "I'm sorry, but I seriously can't see it."

"But it did happen."

"Wow, you look so young for such an old fart."

"She was a cougar, what can I say?"

"Major cougar." Takaba then realises the conversation he'd been having and with whom. "Since when have you been this ...: 'let's have a nice chat and all be friends forever' rather than, 'Suck me now or I'll sell you to an old pervert that'll get you hooked drugs'?"

Feilong cocks his head, then shrugs. "I'm not sure, not very long I think."

Before Takaba could add a snide comment they arrived at the main room. Like the rest of the house, it was basically all white, with golden inlay around the edges. Fashioned in English style it had high sloping ceilings, with a large chandelier in the middle of the room. Up to date couches surrounded a rather large ebony coffee table that was centred in the middle of the room.

Takaba gaped, his eyes as wide as dinner plates as he observed the scene around him. "Wow. Just... wow."

Feilong allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction and pride. This house was one of his favourites, and the only one in Japan that he felt almost safe in. He suppressed the urge to shake his head clear before striding over to one of the couches and folding himself into it.

"Sit." The command was obvious, and impossible to not obey, so Takaba nodded politely before heading to the other side of the table but halting when Feilong tapped the couch beside him.

Momentarily given pause, Takaba stares at first not understanding. Then something clicks in his mind and he moves to sit beside Feilong. An awkwardness suddenly pervades the air, unlike their previous banter, now they were actually close to each other; so close that Takaba could feel the heat from the other man's body. Flashes of memory burst in both of their minds. For Akihito it was the sensual yet terrifying feeling of not being able to see anything while feeling the liquid silk skin of the man's cock enter his mouth. For Fei it was the splash of cold, wet tears dripping onto him as the boy cried. The tension was suddenly so thick that the air crackled between them.

Takaba gulps, "I confessed." The two words weren't the ones Akihito had hoped to start the conversation with. If anything they were the ones that he had least wanted, but for some reason it felt right to tell this man.

The pair of brown eyes widen as they flick to Takaba's, a million questions flickering in their depths but none of which spoken.

To Akihito's embarrassment tears begin to swim up to the surface again. "I actually conned myself into thinking he might have grown to love me." The scoff that escaped Takaba's throat was bitter and self hating. "I'm a fucking idiot. After Asami said what he properly thought I left. That was..."

"Two weeks ago. I heard that that man had been making a ruckus over something, but I was never able to find out what. That why I came to Japan." His eyes seem to bore into Takaba's skull. "Let me guess, you came here for help? To hide from that man?"

Akihito nods, not meeting Feilong's eyes. "P... please?"

Feilong reaches over to Akihito's chin, forcing light brown eyes to meet dark ones. On the surface the tears spilling down Takaba's cheeks were a shock to the raven-haired man, but deep, deep inside he knew and understood the emotions that would have been coursing through Takaba. He himself had felt them at Asami's betrayal.

"Yes. You can stay."