A/N: Urgh. This chapter was VERY frustrating. I kept throwing in parts and then taking them out and changing them. I thought I was gonna lose my mind. I'm fairly pleased with how it came out though.
A small note about timing: I've gotten a little too into these flashback scenes, and as such, they're not really written chronologically. The 3rd flashback in this chapter occurs just before the flashback recounted in chapter 6. I plan on explaining the order of all the flashbacks in the next chapter or two.
Soooo I was looking at my profile today, and I almost thought I was on the wrong page when I saw that this story had 160 reviews! You guys are AMAZING! I'm probably a little late, but I also just noticed that the number of favorites and follows are also listed. I wanna give a big super mega thanks to the bunches of people that favorites and the people that are following my story. Thanks so much for supporting me and my story!
ENJOY!
"I really miss him," Kaito admitted softly. His hands paused on the handle of the ice cream scoop, a shy little smile playing around his lips. "I know it's only been a few days, but still…"
Miku nodded in understanding. The blender whirred loudly in the background, so she raised her voice by a few octaves. "Me too. It's nearly been a week, and I don't think Len-kun's any better. I heard Meiko-nee and Luka-nee talking the other day, and I think they want to take Len-kun to the doctor soon. Well, Meiko wants to, anyway. Luka said something that actually has me a little worried, Kaito." A frown creased her normally cheerful face, and Kaito glanced down at her worriedly, completely turning away from the slowly melting tub of ice cream on the counter.
"What's bothering you, Miku-chan?"
"It's just…well…," she stammered, clueless as to where to begin. "I mean…do you think Len-kun needs to be sent away?" she wailed suddenly, a few tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.
The question alarmed the older man, and he quickly moved to soothe the teenage girl. "Wh-what makes you say that?"
"R-rin-chan thinks that something happened to Len-kun, and Luka-nee thinks that he might need some time away from us, but I don't want that to happen!" she blubbered, little tears getting caught in her thick lashes before finally falling onto pale cheeks. "Len-kun's my friend, and I want him to stay here, and Rin-chan will be so sad if he leaves, and so will you and I, Kaito-san!"
Sympathetically, the blue-haired singer patted the young girl's hair. "It's okay to be upset, Miku-chan," he assured her soothingly. "You're right, we would be sad if Len had to leave us for a while, but we shouldn't worry so much about what we think he needs. We should try to get him to tell us what he needs, okay? And who knows? Maybe Gakupo's right, and Len's just a little under the weather. Or maybe Rin-chan's right, and he's going through something, but right now we just have to trust that Len knows what he needs."
"But how can you stand it, Kaito-san?" the teal-haired girl blurted incredulously. "How can you stand not knowing what's wrong?"
"Because I know that when it's time for me to know, Len will tell me." It was the most innocent of things, a single white lie passing between his lips. Miku didn't need to worry any more than she already was. She didn't have to know how much he tossed and turned at night or the way that he sat in his room listening for Len's footsteps. She didn't need to know that he couldn't stop worrying about Len, such to the point that he would forget the ice cream in his hands until it was sticky mess on his fingers or how he'd drift off in thought in the middle of a video game or phone call. So Kaito lied, but it wasn't anything major. Even if his own worries couldn't be diminished, maybe Miku's could.
Miku grinned at him, cheerful as ever. Guilt twinged at Kaito's heart a bit, but he tried to shove it off. He pushed an answering smile onto his own lips, silently praying that Miku wouldn't see that it didn't reach his eyes.
Gakupo didn't understand the pained, disappointed expression on Luka's face. Were his words not enough? Was she still too sucked into Len's deceitful spell to understand? He smiled at her as comfortingly as possible. "I know you don't really understand right now, but I've made the best decision for all of us."
To his great delight, Luka placed her hands on the sides of his face, painstakingly tilted his face towards. Turquoise eyes roamed his face, despairing and searching. "Can you just tell me why?" she questioned. Luka smiled, but it was a forlorn weeping expression. "Can you tell me why you did it?"
The inquiry twisted into his heart, rapid and painful. This was something he never wanted to explain to Luka, a truth that he wanted to keep locked away, something that he'd made the mistake of blurting to Len in a moment of wild annoyance. And yet, he found himself unable to deny her anything but the truth when she stared at him with such broken eyes.
"I-I…" he began with difficulty; his voice was nearly inaudible. "I can't tell you how many times I've fought with myself, Luka." The words were harder to voice than he initially thought, and Gakupo found himself unable to meet Luka's gaze. Instead, he shamefully peered at the ground. "Nearly every night, I laid awake, forcing myself not to turn over and…and hurt you! Sometimes I would have to leave the room to calm down. And one night, I saw Len."
His breath left his lungs in great, shuddering gasps. He could feel his entire body tremble as his strong hands clenched in his thick violet locks. The follicles pulled at his scalp, but the meager shocks of pain did nothing to pull him out of his aroused, sadistic stupor.
"Gaku-nii?" the dulcet voice sounded from the open doorway. "Are you okay?"
From his kneeling position in the darkened bathroom, Gakupo managed to make out the sight of a familiar boyish silhouette. Len stood in the doorway, clad in sleep shorts and a thin tanktop. Dark violet eyes absorbed the sight of several inches of pale delicious skin. It aroused him further, only adding to the frenzy of his nearly uncontrollable lust. The older male simply stared at the boy.
Anxiously, Len further stepped into the bathroom, stopping only once he was close enough to touch the purple-haired man. His hand rested on Gakupo's shoulder, gently nudging it as he murmured, "Gaku-nii?" Gakupo shuddered at the sensation, another pang of arousal rocking his body. So much beautiful pale flesh before his eyes, just begging to be teased and bruised. Unconciously, the violet-eyed man licked his lips. Rising to his full height, he clasped his hands around Len's wrists, thumbs rubbing in small circles at incredibly soft skin. The concerned whimper that his actions pulled out of Len didn't deter him.
No. What gave him pause were Len's eyes. In the darkness of the bathroom, they were no longer that charming aquamarine hue. Instead, to Gakupo's lustful eyes, they were the most fascinating shade of turquoise. A blue-green that reminded him far too much of Luka.
Blanching, he retracted his hands. They shook a bit as they came to rest at his sides, but only Len noticed this. Worried and curious, he whispered, "Gakupo-san?"
Anger, slow and smoldering, ignited within Gakupo. He watched Len's traitorous eyes, furious that they were so unlike their usual color and so similar to hue that he loved. Deceitful, pathetic eyes. And suddenly, Gakupo hated them.
He lashed out. "Get out," he snarled lowly. Len blinked at him, rather stupidly in Gakupo's opinion. "Get out!" he repeated, a few octaves louder. Those eyes suddenly flashed, betraying alarm and fear. It was until Len slipped out of the bathroom and the door was again firmly shut against its frame that Gakupo realized he like that frightened look in Len's eyes. The expression left his heart thrumming wildly, eagerly, within his body. Such beautiful plastic eyes that were meant to be shedding tears.
Gakupo wanted to be the cause of those tears.
"Like a deer in headlights," the violet murmured, long masculine fingers capturing thin wrists. He leaned forward, smashing his lips against tightly closed lips. His tongue parted those lips forcefully, delighted by the teeth that attempted to cinch around his intrusive tongue. He pulled away once more, dark purple eyes roaming the small teenagers. "Go ahead. Scream, Len. They're all downstairs; they'll come running. But you don't want them to see you like this, do you? Shamefully weak."
A few cries, mere unintelligible pleas, reached Gakupo's ears, but they failed to break through the lustful haze of his mind. "Tonight," the older man hissed quietly, lips brushing the shell of Len's ear. "We'll have so much fun tonight, Len-kun." A pause arose, in which Miku's ecstatic voice and Kaito's footsteps sounded. "Are you afraid yet?"
Rin released her brother from her arms as Kaito and Meiko reentered the living room. No one moved, as they all simply settled for staring at each other uncomfortably. It was a strange moment, in which no one seemed to know what to say. The tumultuous quiet wasn't broken until the front door creaked open. The sound seemed to resonate throughout the house sharply. Luka stepped over the threshold alone.
Her face was ashen as she took in the sight of her family. She drank in this image: Miku nervously toying with her hair; Rin's guilty frown; Len staring firmly at his shoes; Meiko's anxiously twitching hands; Kaito's exhausted, wan expression. And there, beneath their feet, glittering against the fully illuminated sun, were those glass remnants. This was the image that was firmly locked in Luka's head as she spoke.
"Gakupo and I are leaving."
A/N: WHAAAAT? So, Luka-sama has just dropped a MAJOR bombshell! I wonder what's going on! (I'm joking, I know everything. I am the great and all-knowing Oz)
So, was I the only one saying, "Where the hell was Kaito in this chapter?" Seriously, after his little takeover in chapters 6-8, these small doses of Kaito are not enough for me. (Kaito is perhaps a bit of an attention whore)
SEE YA NEXT TIME!