Disclaimer: I do not own Junjou Romantica.
Akihiko calmly took up his chopsticks.
An assortment of different dishes lay in front of him. They were all crafted to his liking. Akihiko had always grown up to be a rather picky eater. It wasn't necessarily because he was spoiled…okay; maybe it was due to the fact that Tanaka had given in to whatever outrageous food demands he had when he was younger. In any case, the author had grown used to eating fine cuisine ever since he was a child.
He glanced across the table at another pair of chopsticks – this pair was quivering in a slender hand, poised indecisively over a few dishes.
"Wah! These dishes look so good!"
Akihiko smiled. "Then eat up."
After a moment's decision, the boy decided to choose a piece of raw fish. With quiet determination, the boy plopped the almost transparent white flesh in his mouth. Green eyes immediately widened, and chopsticks gestured wildly at the plate it had hovered over a second earlier.
Akihiko watched, amused. "That's sashimi. Do you like it?"
The boy nodded eagerly. Akihiko reached forward, picked up a piece of sweet-and-sour pork, and dropped it in the boy's rice bowl, before leaning back to watch the boy hungrily devour the meat.
After a few moments, everything on the table had been tried. Every single taste, every flavor seemed new for the boy, whose eyes flashed with awe and wonder. The way the boy savored each piece of food was so childlike that the author couldn't help but stare, enchanted by the scene that unfolded in front of him.
After both had finished eating, Akihiko cleared his throat. He gestured to the pink box near the center of the table. "This is for you. Once you're finished eating, you are free to explore this apartment. Is there anything you need?"
The boy shook his head.
Akihiko stood up. "Call me when it's almost six, we'll eat dinner then."
Although the silver-haired author felt a small amount of guilt for leaving the boy so suddenly, he honestly felt quite exhausted after staying up late to meet his deadlines. Thus, when he entered his bedroom, he hadn't bothered to take off his clothes. He simply sank into his sheets, and within moments, felt sleep wash over him.
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Soft, soft blankets. They were so warm, so comforting. He didn't want to leave this paradise, he wished he could lie within the sheets forever. Yet, as he grew more and more awake, he couldn't help but recall the events that occurred in the morning.
The delivery. The boy.
Slowly, gradually, a lavender eye opened, still clouded with a sleepy fog. A few seconds later, the second eye opened. Both eyes, after growing accustomed to the darkness, tried to make sense of the clock across the room, whose numbers appeared vertically from where he lay.
Sighing, Akihiko realized he overslept. Why hadn't the boy woken him? But while he was mildly perplexed, in truth the author was somewhat glad the boy hadn't. Akihiko couldn't remember the last time he slumbered so peacefully.
Quietly, Akihiko stretched, feeling a low rumble go through his lips as he did so. He opened his bedroom door and walked downstairs. Upon reaching the base of the steps, he let out a quiet intake of breath.
There were a multitude of things that could have surprised the author. The first could have been the fact that the scattered cardboard material in the living room had mysteriously disappeared. In its place remained a spotless span of bare hardwood floor.
Or it could have been the fact that the lunch leftovers on the dining room table were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were a few pieces of chinaware lying simply on the table. From where he was, Akihiko could also tell that the stack of dirty dishes that had accumulated over this week was also gone.
But neither observation held as much significance as the picture right in front of his eyes.
On the sofa lay a softly snoring, blanketed bundle. A few locks of dark brown hair peeked from underneath the covers, forming a dark halo around the boy's head. Suzuki-san sat next to the sleeping bundle, on guard.
A teddy bear guarding a little boy.
Akihiko chuckled a little at the absurdity, before quietly sitting down on the adjacent couch. He stared at the sleeping boy, his eyes softening. He sighed, relaxing against soft leather. The quiet sound of the boy's breathing was like a lullaby to his ears, and he found himself staring off into the distance, in his own thoughts.
He remembered something Aikawa told him earlier that morning.
Akihiko turned his lavender eyes towards the sleeping boy. "Misaki," he whispered aloud, to himself. Yes, that was his name. Misaki.
Akihiko froze. The boy that lay next to him had begun to stir. Eyelashes fluttered. The boy's breathing hitched, and after a few seconds, emerald orbs drowsily opened. After a moment of silence, Akihiko spoke. "I see why you didn't wake me up."
Green eyes widened and the boy sat up. A look of guilt passed across the boy's face. "Ah, I'm sorry! I actually was going to wake you up, but you looked so…" the boy lingered, pausing to find the exact words, "…so different."
"Different?"
The boy furrowed his eyebrows. "Yes. You had a completely different expression than from before, when you were talking to a strange instrument."
"Strange instrument," Akihiko repeated. He stiffened, as realization dawned on him.
The boy continued solemnly. "On it you seemed like you were smiling, but in actuality, you looked like you wanted to cry. But when you were asleep, although you weren't smiling, it seemed as though you were having good dreams. So, I didn't want to disturb you." The boy looked towards the ground as he said this, a little embarrassed.
Akihiko's eyes had widened upon hearing the boy's statement. He was at a loss of what to say. The boy was simply too honest for his own good. By gazing into those deep green eyes, Akihiko felt as though he was being stripped bare. He suddenly felt so vulnerable, so exposed, so weak.
Meanwhile, the boy had slipped from the blankets and padded softly to the kitchen. Within a few minutes he had returned, holding a plate of cookies. Carefully, the boy offered one to the silver-haired man. "Do you want one? It will make you feel better."
Akihiko stared at the kindness reflected in those green eyes. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around the boy and drew him close.
The plate of cookies clattered to the floor, as the boy froze, startled.
"For just a few minutes," the author murmured into the boy's neck. "Let me stay." The author suddenly felt so exhausted, so tired. He closed his eyes against the onslaught of emotions that threatened to consume him.
Misaki, after sitting perfectly still, hesitantly reached forth and placed his arms across the man's back. He closed his eyes, listening to the man's deep and broken breathing, and felt himself slowly overwhelmed by an unknown feeling. It he were to equate the feeling with a color, he would have thought of the color blue - a faded, worn and weary blue, one that had been washed out too many times by the rain.
He struggled to control himself. Akihiko knew that if he didn't stop this now, he'd go overboard - he would lose all control. And yet, he couldn't stop. When he pulled back from the boy's arms, Akihiko leaned in and kissed him.
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I don't know why but this chapter took especially long to write, because it appeared so easily in my head. I literally had to rewrite several parts of this chapter multiple times, because I kept thinking a sentence sounded wrong, or that a character didn't really behave a certain way.
I think the culprit could be the fact that I initially wanted to write everything from Akihiko's perspective, however, it is very difficult to describe Misaki's emotions from another character's eye. Also, this chapter was so varied in its emotions, from fluff to angst, and I think I was having trouble connecting everything. The last part of this chapter was hard, because I often paused while I was writing and thought "Oh god, is this too corny?"
And then, there's the whole name thing. Okay, so while I was writing I kept using "the boy" in place of "Misaki", but after reading through my rough draft, I realize it sort of sounds ridiculous after awhile. But really, what other nouns could I use (besides "he", that is). Maybe I should have changed to "Misaki" sooner, but it really got me thinking...how does is the English language have only word for a word that means young man? I guess you could say "student" or "doctor" or something like that to be specific, but I mean, there's not many general words, right?
AMSwafford92 - Hee. I'm glad you enjoyed. :)
Don't Preach - Ah, why do you give such marvelous reviews? I always enjoy them, and everything you have to say. The scene with the cookie crumbs was decidedly naughty, wasn't it? To directly quote you, "I got a bit of a bad priest vibe giving his innocent altar boy communion". Buahahahahahahahaha! You have no idea how that made me laugh.
darkhuntressxir - Thank you. Yes, the relationship is pretty complicated and will probably grow more complicated in the future.
Thank you for all who commented! Others, feel free to leave me your thoughts.
