Seventh chapter and I'm afraid it's not going to be long until it hits the end. I hate finishing stories, it's like a little part of dies.
"I'll make the best strawberry cake you've ever eaten." He said and then kissed him soundly on the cheek. "Thank you aniki! I swear you won't regret it!" He beamed and Eiri could feel himself smile a bit.
"What's for dinner?"
"Takoyaki!" Tatsuha exclaimed as he showed him the recipe, or more likely, shoved the book in his face.
"Alright."
Tatsuha left the studio bouncing and then went straight to the kitchen as he text Tamaro telling her to go to a bookstore nearby so he could pick her up.
Two hours later, when dinner was done he knocked on the studio. "Aniki! Dinner is ready and hurry up or it's going to get cold!"
"Hai, hai." He saved what he had done and went to the kitchen, flopping down on a chair after placing the drinks on the table.
"Can I drink beer too, aniki?" Tatsuha asked, eyeing the can in his brother's hand.
"No."
"What? Why not?"
"You are still underage." Yuki said.
"You had let me drink before!" He protested and the blond merely shrugged.
"I wasn't your tutor." Eiri pointed out.
"But…"
"I already gave in once today, Tatsuha, not going to happen twice." Eiri said. "Now shush and eat your food."
The youngest pouted, but obeyed.
Next day Yuki shut himself into the office before even Tatsuha was up. He was about to start writing when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey, kohai." The writer groaned at the name.
"Akihiko-sempai, what do you want now?" He asked as he opened started to type.
"Well, it's been a long time since we talk so I was thinking that maybe we could meet this afternoon." The elder writer said.
"Sure, but where? Because my brother is bringing a friend of his and…"
"Wait. You have a brother?"
"Yeah. He's seventeen." He said. "Anyway, what about your house?"
"My koi is having a little get together with some of his childhood friends… Listen, I come over and we can just stay in your office. Besides, do you really trust your seventeen years old brother to stay alone in the house?"
Actually, he didn't. At all. "Good point. Come over around four or so." He said.
"Ok. Later." Yuki only grunted in response before the door opened and sleepy Tatsuha came in.
"Aniki, with who were you talking so early? It's not even six in the morning." The teenager asked as he came in rubbing his eyes. Bare feet padded on the wooden floor and Eiri couldn't help but stare at him.
Tatsuha looked so sexy and so cute with his pyjama (well, actually, Eiri was sure that the sweatpants and the T-shirt were his), which was too big for him and made bags everywhere.
The dark haired man, oblivious to said stare due his sleepy state, moved to him and pushed the chair away from the table and then straddled his brother, resting his cheek in his shoulder.
"Tat-chan?"
"Hm?"
"What are you doing?" Yuki asked, but didn't pushed him away because even if he said that Tatsuha would get over him he craved for contact of this kind, he didn't want Tatsuha to get over him. Even if it was for the best.
"I miss you." The youngest mumbled as he nuzzled his collarbone sleepily.
"I've been here every day." The blond said as he kept typing, his chin on top of his head.
"But not like before. We don't watch TV together anymore. I loved to watch TV with you." He mumbled sleepily.
"How come? You always complained I didn't let you pick the channel."
"But I could be close to you. Now you are always in here as if…" He trailed off.
"As if…?"
"As if you didn't care about me once more." He whispered so softly that the writer was sure that if it wasn't because the boy was on his lap he wouldn't have been able to hear him.
"Once more?" He asked in disbelief. "Did you really think… I never cared for you?"
"You never asked how I was or how I was doing." He mumbled and Eiri pushed him away to look at him in eye, moving the dark bangs.
"Tat… Tatsuha, just because I didn't ask you how you were doing it doesn't mean I didn't care. I had all your marks, all your grades, if there was any problem concerning you, the school told me." He explained, feeling his cheeks burn a bit, and the youngest was staring at him with wide, open eyes.
"You… cared?"
"I always did, Tat-chan. You were my baby brother."
"Am I not now?"
"You are. But I would you prefer you were not…" What? He felt a painful wave over him, fearing the worst. "That way I could be with you."
Oh. That was highly unexpected, but it have him advantage.
"No one is stopping to love me but you, aniki." He said as he went back to his old spot.
"Tatsuha… I'm not wo…"
"What? You are not worthy of me? Of my love?" The student cut him and let out a harsh laugh. "I think I'm the one who should decide that. And anyway, you are late; I already chose whom I want to be with, and that's you. So either you send me back to Kyoto with that, or you let me stay here and try to make you show me that you really love me." His eyes were defiant and Eiri could see that he was really going to have to fight it not to jump him if Tatsuha was going to start acting sensual.
"I'm not sending you back to Kyoto." He said and then tapped his thigh. "Now, let's go have breakfast."
Tatsuha beamed and stood up before yanking his brother to his feet and pulling him to the kitchen.
"Hey, Eiri."
"Hm?"
"Can we do something together tomorrow?"
"Such as?"
"I don't know. Let's go somewhere. Just the two of us." He suggested.
Eiri was about to refuse, because he knew Tatsuha was going to try to seduce him and yet, he couldn't find it in him to say the N-word.
"Alright. Where do you want to go?"
"Amusement park?" Tatsuha asked as he poured his brother a cup of black coffee.
"Hell no. I know how you get when you go to one those." Eiri denied with vehemence.
"Please?"
"No, Tatsuha. Somewhere else." He said before sipping his coffee. It surprised him it had the exact same amount of sugar he liked.
"Nantai?"
"The Mount?" Tatsuha nodded as he bit a toast. "That's like six hours from here and you still have lessons on Monday. We can go another week the whole weekend if you want." The blond was not only surprising only Tatsuha but also himself: if he wanted to put a barrier between them, to distance his brother from him, why the hell was he agreeing to everything?
"Can we go to Yebisu Garden Place, then?" The dark haired one said.
That can do. Eiri thought and then nodded.
"Really?"
"Yes, Tatsuha, really." He said and Tatsuha kissed his cheek.
"Awesome. You are the best big brother ever." The oldest Uesugi didn't miss the clear intend on the two words.
"On one condition." Yuki added and the younger frowned. "If you and your friend so much as annoy me or Akihiko-sempai we are not going anywhere."
"He's coming over?" He asked and frowned: he didn't want his brother to be alone with another man.
"Yeah, his boyfriend is meeting some friends in his house and he decided that we should talk, so he's coming over." He explained and then ruffled his hair. "And you should clean this place if you want to impress your friend."
"Shouldn't you help me to impress your sempai?" It was obvious, by the singsong tone of the end of the phrase that Tatsuha was jealous, but Eiri only smirked.
"He knows me well enough. No need to impress him. Besides, there's no one I need to impress." He said. "I'll be in the offive."
"Ok."
"Tamaro!" He waved at the girl who then trotted to him.
"Wow, Tatsuha-kun. You are so lucky to live here! Everything looks super expensive!" And that was coming from a girl whose father was the head of an important cosmetic brand in the country.
"Well, I live here because aniki does. Back in Kyoto I used to live in a temple."
"A… temple?"
"Yeah. My dad's a monk. I was a monk-in-training." He explained as they went back to the apartment. "So, my brother has someone coming over too and he said that if we disturbed him he was going to kick us out."
"Eiri-sama said that? I don't believe you!"
"Hey, you don't know him like I do, believe me." He mumbled and then entered the code to get in and then directed her to the apartment.
"Hey, isn't that Usagi-sama?" She said as she pointed to the door.
"You mean Akihiko-san? I don't know. He's here to talk with my brother." He replied as he opened the door. "Oh. Hey aniki."
"Wow, kohai, he looks exactly like you do." Tatsuha frowned at the stranger but then stepped to the side to let his friend come inside too, hoping that she wasn't going to start squealing, just like she had promised.
Why does he call aniki like that? Why does he sound like he knows aniki better than anyone? He has no right to do so! Aniki is mine and only mine. Tatsuha was glaring daggers at him.
"Tat-chan, this is Usami Akihiko. Sempai, this is my younger brother Tatsuha." He presented them, quickly glancing to the girl and nodding to her.
"Nice to meet you." Tatsuha gritted through his teeth, as he bowed slightly, not because of the jealousy he was feeling he was going to forget his manners.
"Well, you surely are more well mannered than your aniki here. The first thing this punk did to me was to step on my feet." The grey haired man said and Tatsuha blinked, trying to picture his brother doing so and then went back at glaring at him when Akihiko hugged the blond by the shoulders.
Leave him, don't touch him, he's mine and only mine.
"Oh. Aniki, this is Tamaro Haru. Tamaro, you already know him so…"
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Eiri-sama!" She said as she bowed in a very exaggerated manner and before she could say or do anything else Tatsuha had taken her to his room. "Wow. Your room is gigantic!"
"And you haven't seen the master bedroom." He said as he pulled out a chair for her to sit.
"By the way…" She said, suddenly, smirking.
"Y-yeah?" And Tatsuha felt a really bad vibe wash over him.
"I know who is it that you like…"
Oh shit. It can't be. I'm in so much trouble. If aniki finds out that she knows he's going to send me back to Kyoto.
"W-what?"
"Don't worry, Tatsuha-kun. I won't say a word." She smiled. "What I don't understand is why you didn't tell me that you like Eiri-sama!"
"He's my brother… remember?" He said, knowing there was no point in denying it.
"So?"
"What do you mean 'so'? It's not normal." He mumbled, looking down.
"It is in my house. Reiko-nee-san and Tomoki-nii-san are together." She explained.
"They are… together? What did you parents say?" he asked, sitting on the bed and hugging his pillow.
"They didn't like it at first, but then they saw they were really happy together so they accept it now. They are happy for them." She explained.
I wonder if Dad would be happy…? No. He already dislikes that Eiri is openly gay. No way he would accept us.
"Tatsuha-kun?" She waved a hand in front of him.
"Yeah?"
"Are you alright?"
"Oh, yeah. I was just thinking." He smiled and stood up. "Do you want something to drink? Or eat?"
"Do you have orange juice?"
"Maybe. I don't really know. If it was for aniki we would only have beer and water." He grumbled as she stood up too and followed him to the kitchen.
He stopped dead on his tracks when he heard his brother laugh.
He had never heard him laugh like that since before he went to USA.
He never laughed like that with him.
Never.
And yet, with that Usami…
He clenched his fists and stomped to the kitchen, Haru behind him.
"Tatsuha-kun?"
"What?" He didn't mean to be rude but he was feeling really distressed by those laughs.
"You do know Usagi-sama has a boyfriend, right?" She asked, giggling. Oh. Right. Eiri did mention something about Usami having a boyfriend. "God, you are so cute, Tatsuha-kun. No wonder Eiri-sama loves you that much."
"How did you know…?"
"You told me, remember?" She said, smiling. "You told me that this person you were in love with rejected you. And since you admitted it was Eiri-sama the one you love…"
"It's just… I never heard him laugh like that with me since we were kids."
"Well, he might be worried about something, you know?" She smiled.
Worried? About something? About what? Could it be about… Kitazawa? He thinks he's going to do the same to me that what that bastard did to him? He didn't know the exact details of what happened since no one ever told him, but he knew this was the cause of his brother's change of personality and all the problems he had since then. How could he think that? He didn't even realise it that he was opening the door to the office, walking to a very surprised Eiri and a dumbfounded Akihiko while being followed by Haru. He then pulled Eiri to his feet and hugged him tightly.
"Tat-chan?" Yuki said, debating if he should be angry or not. "What's the matter?" He asked as he returned the embrace when he felt that Tatsuha was trembling.
"You are not him. Don't you dare to think that!" He mumbled, his face hidden in his brother's neck.
"I… think I better get going. Misaki must be freaking out already." Akihiko said. "I hope we'll meet soon again, kohai. It's been a pleasure to meet you, Tatsuha-kun." He said and then disappeared.
"I need to be going too or my family will scold me for being late. It's past eight already. Bye Eiri-sama! It's been an honour to meet you! Bye Tatsuha-kun, I'll see you on Monday!" She said and they heard her running away.
The brothers stood there, embraced and with Tatsuha repeating like a mantra 'You are not him.'
And that moved Eiri deeply. And he wanted to be angry with Tatsuha for interrupting him, for acting that way in front of people, but he couldn't when he had him in his arms, trembling, mumbling and on the verge of tears.
"Hey, hey, what are you talking about?" He said, trying to calm him down.
"You don't want to be with me because you think you'll be doing the same that Kitazawa did to you." He said, looking at him with shiny eyes.
How the hell did he know that? He was thinking an excuse or something to say but he couldn't say anything besides a soft 'hum' that it wasn't a denial but not an affirmation either. Because it was true, that was one of the main reasons: he didn't want his brother to turn like him because someone close to him and whom he trusted betrayed him.
"But you are not like him. I know you would never hurt me! Even less like that." He shook his head in his chest, gripping the fabric of the shirt tightly. "Besides, I want it. With you. I don't want anyone else. Just you. Just aniki." He mumbled and aniki froze.
"Tatsuha…"
"NO! Listen to me for once! And I mean really listen to me." Tatsuha yelled. "I want to be with you aniki! I love you! I'm in love with you! And I know that you are with me so I don't understand why you won't let us be together, like we belong! We used to do a lot of things together before I kissed you, you were always there for me and now you just avoid me and keep agreeing to everything I say! What for? You think I'll like you less if you agree to everything I want? Because if it's that, you can stop the act right now. It's not going to work. I love you, aniki. I don't care how you treat me, I'll love you either way." He was looking at him with such decision and ferocity that Eiri actually trembled. "So tell me Eiri, and be sincere for once in your life with me: Do you want to be with me? Be careful of what you say, because if you lie to me, I'll leave you behind. For good."
The writer moved them until he sat down on the sofa, Tatsuha kneeling in front of him, between his legs.
He did want to be with Tatsuha, of course he wanted. And he definitely didn't want to be left behind. He bended over slightly and hugged him so tight he knocked the breath out of him.
"Yes. Yes." He said and Tatsuha let out a clear laugh before hugging his brother back.
"Aishiteru." The teen whispered before sitting next to his brother on the sofa to hug him. "Kiss?"
Yuki only rolled his eyes but kissed him nonetheless, his hands cupping his brother's face. "Baka. You don't have to ask for those." He whispered when they split.
"Does that mean I get to kiss you whenever I want?" He asked, but Eiri didn't reply, he only looked at him seriously.
So that's it. Actuall it wasn't like this that it was supposed to go, but I'm completely unable to follow my own planning so that came out of the blue and I like quite a lot, so I decided to go with it :D
One more think, form now on updates will be every 2-3 days instead of everyday because I don't think I'll be able to keep this pace.
Please review!
