I decided to try something a little different with this one-shot, thus it's short length (as compared to other things I have written, I guess). This story is in the first-person, Yukina's perspective. I hope it meets with everyone's approval.

Also, the song was originally sung by Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons in the 50's, but I am using the lyrics sung by Divine because they are a little different. If you don't know who Divine is, then you should because he was pretty awesome.

I don't own anything, except the Junjou Romantica game, which I bought from yesasia dot com.

/GG/

Walk Like a Man

You know that feeling you get when you wake up alone, but expect to wake up next to someone? It's a horrible feeling, especially with all the accidents that occur. Did something happen to them on the way home? Are they okay? Did I do something wrong? All of those questions probably ring a bell and all of them immediately run through my head when I first wake up and notice I am alone. Then reason takes over and I say to myself, he stayed overnight at the office again.

That's when I feel my heart start to crumble into a million tiny little pieces. One of my favorite parts of the morning is waking up next to Kisa-san on the days I stay at his house. When I don't get that feeling of his lithe body flush next to mine, completely devoid of clothes, and I can't feel his heartbeat thumping in time with mine then my whole day is thrown off.

Poor Kisa-san; he works so hard and seems to get very little in return. At least he doesn't see what he gets. So many people love his works and he doesn't even know or get credit because he's the editor. No one would show up for an editor signing, but millions of people would show up for an author signing. To me it seems almost unfair since the editor is so important to a published piece of work.

I woke up that morning with all of those feelings because I was expecting Kisa-san, but he wasn't there. I stared at his empty side of the bed and leaned in to smell his pillow. It smelled of strawberry shampoo and of Kisa-san, two of my favorite smells. If I couldn't have him then at least I could have his aroma in my mind.

I couldn't very well have spent the day in bed with Kisa-san's scent to keep me company, so I ended up hopping out of bed, donning some clothes, and walked into the front room. That was when I stopped short because I saw Kisa-san sitting on the sofa, clutching a pillow to his chest, and eyes glazed over like he hadn't slept in a month.

"Kisa-san!" I shouted as I made my way to where the other man sat. He kind of looked at me, but then blushed and turned away. Normally his blush was cuter than those of the characters in the manga he edits, but in that moment it worried me.

"What's the matter, Kisa-san?" I asked quietly.

"…" He just shook his head no.

I felt completely dejected when he did that; like I wasn't good enough to confide in. I understood that maybe there were things I wouldn't understand, that's a given when your lover is older than you, but that doesn't mean I am less of a person.

"Please talk to me Kisa-san," I said softly, almost pleaded.

Still nothing.

I put my arm around him and pulled him closer, so his head rested on my shoulder. "I am here, Shouta." That was all it took to break Kisa-san's shell and get the man talking.

"Someone from the past started working at Marukawa and when he saw me…"

Kisa-san has a list a mile long of all the people he's been with, I haven't seen a physical list, but I knew it was extensive because that was how Kisa-san was before I came along. It really wasn't much of a surprise to hear that someone from his past had snuck up on him. On the other hand, that person must have done something uncalled for if Kisa-san was this far gone.

"What did he do?" I whispered.

"He confronted me in front of Takano and Hatori and said, 'Soon you'll be crying on account of all your lying…your world is coming to an end', and then he walked off. I couldn't even explain to Takano what that was about because I was mortified." Kisa-san sunk deeper into the sofa cushions and buried his head in his pillow. "This is my past, coming to bite me in the ass."

I wanted to giggle at how cute Kisa-san was starting to look, but I knew from prior experiences that his self-esteem was not really the best. How could it be when he so willingly allowed himself to be fucked, both metaphorically and physically, by so many people? This was not the time to giggle and jest, but the time to shout at my stubborn boyfriend again for not realizing his worth.

"Kisa-san," I spit as he turned away from me with the cutest blush on his face. "No one is worth crawling on the earth for, so don't let someone from your past make you feel any less of a man. Besides, what that guy said was totally uncalled for, especially in the workplace."

I had been working on getting through Kisa-san's thick shell, the one he had spent decades building up as a defense mechanism. He never wanted to talk about it, but his self-esteem was so low it made me sad. The only thing I could do for him was help to build him up when he was down.

"I'll be fine, Yukina. He just tried to cut me down to size and it wasn't expected. I guess I deserved it for lying to him and telling him I was just eighteen." Kisa put the pillow to the side and looked at me, giving me a forced smile. I knew that he was pulling my strings and getting me to think of something else, other than his feelings.

"Let's go out, Kisa-san," I stated firmly; I wanted to teach Kisa-san how to walk like a man, with his head held high.

"…uh…okay?"

I did laugh at his little blush this time, he is just too cute!

/GG/

Our walk started out nice and we strolled in amiable silence. After a while I did whatever I could to get Kisa-san to stop looking at the ground and look forward. This included pointing out every little thing that I thought was significant, but I am sure he thought was insignificant. His exasperation with me must have been high.

It wasn't until I saw Kisa-san tense up that I realized there was a kink in my plan. I looked where Kisa had his eyes trained and I saw a man who looked about forty, walking toward us with a slight sneer on his face. I blinked and shook my head slightly; what were the odds of running into the same man who had cut Kisa like a knife?

My answer came quick when he spoke. "Well, Mr. Editor, glad to see you out and about." Each word was laced with sarcasm; he was another of those guys who Kisa had managed to make think there was something more to a one-night stand than just sex. "This your new toy?" He indicated me.

What happened next surprised me as well as made my heart dance.

"Look," Kisa-san started. "I am sorry I lied to you and possibly led you on, but don't refer to a human being in such a derogatory tone."

My Kisa-san wasn't even looking at the man when he spoke, but his words rang loud and clear for all to hear. He was sticking up for me, which made me fall in love with him all over again.

The past looked at him and me before bowing his head. "Sorry I said anything untoward." Without saying another word he walked off in the opposite direction and disappeared into the crowd.

Words cannot be used to describe the feelings and emotions that were running through my body as I looked at Kisa-san. He was still gazing at the ground with a look of displeasure on his face. All I could think in that moment was; look who's laughing now.

Slowly, so as not to frighten my Kisa-san, I wrapped him in a hug. I didn't care that we were in the middle of a crowded street, nor did I care that people were watching. Fuck them all if they were going to get in the way of my telling Kisa-san what I thought about him in that very moment.

"I lied, Kisa-san," I stated simply.

He pushed back from me slowly and looked at me with confusion on his face. "What do you mean," he asked shyly.

"There is someone worth crawling on the earth for," I whispered so only he could hear. "That man is you, Kisa-san."

The look of shock on his face was priceless and it took a lot of effort not to kiss him, or take him to the nearest bench and have my way with him. Instead I took his hand in mine and placed my lips softly on his knuckles. The taste of his flesh made my heart skip a beat and I knew that there was no way either of us were getting any sleep that night.