Okay, here is the second chapter of my oh-so-exciting story. Note the sarcasm there...but I already said that things would pick up by the fourth chapter, so once again, bear with me here. I don't like rushing through stories, so I tend to drag them out a bit with details, as I feel like it won't be as effective if I just fly through everything. As annoying as it may be, I promise that things will get more exciting down the road. So please read, review, and make me feel like I did a good job. If you really like me, lie to me, dammit!

Losing Control

Chapter 2

The man who had let the group of friends enter his house smiled. "Wow, you guys are lucky you stumbled across this place. It's friggen pouring cats and dogs out there."

He looked to be in his early thirties, with light brown hair, and tired onyx eyes. There were crow's feet lines near his eyes, as if he hadn't slept well in a few days. He was dressed in a blue jeans and a dark blue button-up, a few of his buttons messily done as if he had dressed in a hurry.

"Yeah, and I think I saw a flying cow along the way," Takuya replied with a smirk. "Thanks for letting us in. Once the storm really started to kick in, our van got stuck in a pothole. We wouldn't have been able to push it out, and the windshield was starting to crack, so we had to find a place of shelter."

He and the other five were currently standing in the hallway, each of them sopping wet and dripping water onto the hardwood floor. They were shivering as well, their teeth chattering.

"Well, I'm glad you found your way here. I'm afraid that I can't help you with your van, but you can stay here until the storm lets us. Why don't you guys go wait in my library?" the man suggested. "I'll go fetch you a few towels while you warm up in front of the fire."

He led them down the long corridor, glancing back at them every so often. The cut on J.P.'s forehead was visible now that he was out of the rain, and a bit more blood had begun to seep out.

"Oh, excuse my manners," the man said after a moment, laughing sheepishly. "I'm Ogawa Junichi, the owner of this house."

"I think it's more of a house than a mansion," Takuya replied. "And I'm Takuya. These guys can introduce themselves."

The other five had finished introducing themselves by the time they had reached the library. Each of the walls were covered by large bookcases, all of them filled to capacity. One wall had a fireplace between two bookcases, the fire contained by a glass shield to help insure that there would be no fires. There were two leather sofas in the library as well, two recliners, a coffee table, and a thick rug beneath the table. The room was decorated with dark cherry wood and red silk and velvet, giving it a refined look. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, its lights illuminating the room and giving it a cozy look.

"I'll be right back with those towels," Junichi told them as he quickly opened the tiny glass shield in the fireplace. "Make yourselves comfortable."

Takuya sighed, stripping his black button-up shirt off and discarding it onto the floor just as the man rushed out of the library. He stood near the fire rather than sitting on one of the seats, trying to warm himself up.

"We're so lucky we found this place," he murmured, then quickly dug through his pockets. "Fuck! I hope my cell phone wasn't ruined."

To his relief, it had remained undamaged from the downpour, working perfectly fine. He checked to see if there were any messages, finding there to be a picture message. Upon opening it, he discovered it to be a photo that Miharu had recently sent him. She was lying completely naked on her bed, her legs spread out to expose herself. Takuya swallowed, feeling a throbbing in the front of his jeans. He hurriedly stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

"I hope he gets back with those towels soon, I'm fucking freezing," Kouji complained.

"Be patient, you idiot. Junichi was nice enough to let us in, let alone allow us to use his towels," his brother scolded him.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Eh, by the looks of this place, I have a feeling that he has at least a hundred damn towels. I mean, look at everything! This guy is friggen loaded!"

Zoe had set her purse down onto the coffee table and was warming up in front of the fire as well, her face etched with exhaustion. She felt uncomfortable to be so close to Takuya, but wasn't about to shy away from the warmth. The blond stood there, watching as the flames licked at the inside of the fireplace. Takuya glanced over at her, immediately noticing that her shirt had become rather see-through from the rain. He could see the edges of her bra underneath her halter, as well as her slightly hardened nipples protruding. The brunette cursed to himself, tearing his gaze away from her chest, instead concentrating on the floor instead.

"I hope the rain lets up soon." Tommy had peeled off his soaked gray jacket, draping it over his shoulder. "I would feel bad about overstaying our welcome."

"Don't feel bad about anything," Junichi stated cheerfully as he entered the library with his arms full. "And sorry it took so long, I was looking for some bathrobes for you guys."

Not only had he returned with six fluffy towels, but there were a half dozen cloth bathrobes as well. Five of them were identical and dark blue, clearly belonging to a man. The sixth was smaller and cream-colored, obviously in a woman's size.

"You got bathrobes for us?" Kouichi asked, surprised. "You didn't have to do that-"

"Eh, don't worry about it." Junichi set everything down onto one of the couches. "This mansion used to belong to my uncle, and he kept around a ton of bathrobes and stuff for whenever my family visited. There's a bathroom right across the hallway so you guys can go change, and I'll throw your clothes into the dryer for you. Well, if that's okay with you."

Takuya grinned. "Hey, that's fine by me. I'd rather not catch pneumonia, so thank you."

"Don't mention it," Junichi replied absently. "I have two other guests here, so once everyone has dried off and put their robes on, I'll introduce you them. Like you six, they had some car troubles. But they were fortunate to come across the mansion before the storm hit."

Ten minutes later, everyone had discarded their regular clothes and had put on the bathrobes, keeping on only their underwear. Zoe had stripped off her bra, as it had been soaked as well, so she made sure to double knot her belt to keep it from opening. She was in no mood for flashing her friends, especially Takuya.

Junichi allowed them to put their sopping clothes into a laundry basket, then began to lead them out of the library. "My other guests are waiting in the living room, and I'm sure they would be happy to meet you."

In contrast to the library, the rest of the mansion seemed rather plain, lacking of any eloquent designs. However, Junichi hadn't been responsible for the scenery, as he had mentioned that the mansion originally belonged to his uncle. They made their way to the living room a moment later, finding a young couple seated on one of the couches. The living room was decorted similarly to the library, with dark cherry wood furniture and red fabrics. A large television set was on the wall, where a weather forecast was warning that it would be at least another few hours before the storm would let up.

"Hey," Junichi said to the couple a moment later. "Sorry for just leaving you two hanging, I had a few more unexpected guests."

The young man on the couch grinned, looking at at the group. "Did you guys have car troubles, too?"

"Yeah, unfortunately," J.P. said with a sigh.

"I'm Hatagami Satoshi and this is my fiancee, Kuronaga Asame," he told them. "Nice to meet you."

Satoshi looked to be around their age, with dirty blond hair, dark blue eyes, and fair skin. He was wearing tan pants, and a light blue polo shirt. Asame had wavy honey blond hair and light blue eyes with pink eyeshadow on her eyelids. She had on a light pink tank top, a white sweater, tan capri pants, and white flats.

"Hi," she said in a cheerful tone as she flashed them a smile. "Looks like we all kind of fell into the same situation. Good thing we found Junichi's mansion."

After exchanging introductions for a second time, the six new guest each took a seat, while Junichi left the room momentarily to throw their clothes into the dryer.

"Be right back," he said on his way out. "Try not to kill each other."

"Well, if Kouji annoys them, I'll allow them to kill him," Takuya joked.

Kouji snorted in contempt, throwing a pillow at his friend's face. "Dude, you're an asshole. I am not annoying. At least, I'm nowhere near as annoying as you."

"What are you talking about? I'm perfect," the brunette quipped.

"Yeah, a perfect asshole," Kouji shot back.

Kouichi groaned. "And it begins again...the endless feud between Idiot Number One and Idiot Number Two."

Satoshi chuckled. "Is this a regular thing? Those two fighting?"

"All day, every day," Tommy responded, sitting back against the couch he was on. "It never ends..."

"Or if it does, it only lasts about thirty seconds before they start up again," J.P. added dryly.

Asame rested her head on Satoshi's shoulder. "Still, it must be pretty entertaining to watch them bicker all the time."

"We do not bicker all the time," Takuya and Kouji replied unanimously before glaring at each other. "And don't say what I'm saying. Hey, knock it off!"

"Yeah, real convincing," Zoe chimed in, trying to mask her depressed mood. "They're like a couple of five year-olds."

Takuya huffed. "He started it."

"You start it sometimes too," she pointed out.

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"I do not!"

Asame laughed softly. "Are you two together? You have that whole married couple vibe."

Takuya and Zoe both turned a shade of red, tearing their gazes away from each other. While the brunette was simply embarrassed, Zoe felt a pang in her heart as she was reminded of Miharu.

"No...we're not," she said after a moment.

Asame winced, noticing Zoe's hurt expression. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause any bad feelings. I just got the impression that you two were a couple."

However, Zoe quickly brightened her expression once again. "Nah, we're just friends. Takuya has a girlfriend, but I'm not her."

"Speaking of which, I should probably call her," Takuya mumbled, getting his phone out of the pocket of his robe.

Kouji groaned. "You don't have to call her every hour on the hour, you know. She's a big girl and can handle it if you wait a full two hours before calling her."

"Fuck you, man. I don't call her that much," the brunette shot back.

"I beg to differ," Kouichi said with a chuckle. "You do call her constantly. Why don't you just wait a little while longer before calling her again? Besides, if you use your phone right after it gets damp, it could short-circuit."

Takuya sighed, reluctantly putting his phone back. "Eh, fine..."

"Okay, laundry's in the dryer," Junichi announced as he stepped into the living room. "They should be ready within an hour."

Tommy gazed out of the window, where rain and hail were still pouring from the sky. "I wonder how much longer it'll be like that outside..."

Junichi plopped down onto an easy chair. "If worst comes to worst, I'd be more than happy to have all of you spend the night. It's not like I don't have enough room or anything. And it's nice to get company once in awhile."

"Does your family ever come to visit you?" J.P. inquired. "You mentioned that your uncle used to own this mansion and that your family visited frequently. Do they not come around anymore?"

"Well, three years ago, my family was involved in an accident," he replied in a lowered voice as his expression darkened. "It was my grandparents' fiftieth wedding anniversary. Everyone in my family except me went to a hall in an upscale hotel to celebrate it. I had been home sick with the flu and didn't want to get anyone sick. Even though I was thirty at the time, I was living with my parents due to some rent issues in my own apartment. But anyway, that night an officer came to the door to inform me that a massive fire had been started at the hotel."

"Shit," Takuya muttered.

Junichi nodded sadly. "Yeah, over a hundred hotel guests were killed in the blaze because it spread quickly through the building. My entire family was killed because there had been an explosion. The ones who weren't ripped into pieces by the intial explosion all died soon after as the hall was surrounded by flames. My uncle was attending the party as well, so he too, died that night. Since I was the only living relative, everything that had belonged to my family was passed down to me and I decided to move into the mansion. But it's not as great as everyone might think it is. Sure, I get to live in a mansion and will never have to work another day in my life again, but now that my family is gone...nothing else seems to matter. The cause of the fire had never been discovered."

"I'm sorry," Satoshi said quietly.

The others nodded in agreement to what he had said, many of them murmuring their own condolences.

"Thanks." Junichi flashed them a smile. "It's been three years, but every day the accident still haunts me. I haven't slept well ever since and I'm not exactly on the best diet nowadays. So it's nice whenever I get a rare visitor, as I have lost contact with most of my friends. The only ones who I have been able to contact only care about my fortune, so obviously those friendships didn't work out."

"You could always try a little bit of therapy for your depression," Kouichi suggested. "After a tragedy like that, I can't imagine anyone being able to cope with it on their own."

"I've been going to a therapist for about a year now," Junichi told them. "I didn't go sooner because I was too stubborn and thought that I could deal with their deaths on my own. But I finally realized that I couldn't and got myself some help. It'll still be awhile before I'll be able to get over it mostly, but the therapy has helped a bit."

After about another thirty minutes or so of talking, Junichi slowly rose from his seat. He cracked his back, then quickly turned a bit red from embarrassment.

"Heh, sorry about that. I feel like an old man nowadays," he said sheepishly. "Pardon my manners."

"You call that bad manners? You should hang out with Takuya," Kouji quipped. "Then you'll know what it's like to realize what bad manners are."

Takuya angrily looked at his friend. "Hey!"

Junichi chuckled. "Well, I'm going to begin preparing dinner, and since all of you will most likely be stuck here for the next few hours, I will gladly make enough for everyone."

"Are you sure?" J.P. asked with uncertainty.

"Of course I'm sure," he replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Though I must warn you, I'm not the greatest cook so I'm gonna stick to the basics."

Kouichi grinned. "You should have Zoe help you make dinner. She's the best cook that I know."

Zoe laughed nervously, embarrassed by being put on the spot. "I'm not that great..."

"Yeah, you are," he teased. "You've fixed meals that Takuya has ruined. That takes a hell of a lot of skill to pull off."

"Why is everyone picking on me?" Takuya sulked. "Just because Zoe is graduating from culinary school, it doesn't mean that she's a better cook than me. Right, Kouji?"

Kouji cocked an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?"

"Eh, who needs you?" The brunette looked at Junichi questioningly. "Hey, would you mind if I used your bathroom?"

"Go ahead," Junichi told him. "You know where to find it. And I'll be more than capable of preparing dinner by myself, as I don't put guests to work. But if the kitchen catches on fire, I'll be sure to call you guys for assistance. Takuya, when you're done in the bathroom, just go back towards the library, as it's closer to the kitchen and I find it more relaxing. You'll be able to find us there."

"Are you sure you don't want to give Takuya written directions or a map?" Kouji teased.

Takuya flipped his friend off and headed out of the living room, making his way down the corridor. He glanced at a few framed pictures that were hanging on the wall, assuming the people in the photos to be Junichi's family. With a yawn, he walked the rest of the way down the hallway, coming up to the bathroom. He closed the door and locked it behind him, not wanting anyone to walk in on him.

Once he had finished relieving himself and washed his hands, he pulled two items out of the pockets of his robe. One was his cell phone, where a text message from Miharu had popped up. He opened the message as he set his second item down onto the counter, which was his wallet.

'I love you.'

Takuya smiled and replied with 'I love you, too'. However, his smile quickly faded as he remembered Miharu's threat from earlier.

"I told you that if you want to continue on seeing me, you have to break off your friendship with Zoe."

"Dammit," he cursed, rubbing his eyes as her words echoed in his head. "Why do things have to be so complicated?"

With a sigh, the brunette opened up his wallet, where he extracted two photographs. One had a picture of himself and a girl with long golden brown hair with highlights. She also had suntanned skin and aqua colored eyes. Takuya stared at Miharu's image, her body clinging to his in a tight hug. The photograph had been taken about a month ago, right where things had really began to grow awkward with Zoe. The second picture featured Zoe herself, and she was seated playfully on Takuya's lap. The tan cap that he used to wear was on her head, along with his trademark goggles that he had since stopped wearing. Both of them were flipping off Kouichi, who had been the one that had snapped the photo. That particular picture had been taken about a year ago.

"What should I do?" Takuya quietly muttered to himself as he gazed back and forth from one photo to the other.

"Remember what I said; it's either her or me. Think about it."

And he had been thinking about Miharu's threats, as they were hard to forget. The brunette was torn between the two girls, not wanting to have to choose one over the other.

"Why does it have to be this way?" he groaned, banging his head into the wall. "Fuck..."

After several seconds, Takuya finally took one last glance at both photographs before picking one of them up. He then ripped it in half and threw it into the wastebasket.

"Zoe's my friend," he said to himself as he slowly left the bathroom. "But Miharu's my girlfriend..."

Okay, that wraps up my second chapter. I'm sure that by the way Takuya was talking, everyone knows which picture he ripped and threw away... Anyway, please review and I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.