Thank you everyone for all the support you've given me and a huge thanks to my dear friend and betareader Sunshine-hime who has definitely helped me so much to make this story awesome and also to my reviewers, who have helped pick out things I can improve on and told me what I can do well. This is a breather chapter and a real treat for Haru x Rei fans although it isn't their first kiss just yet, don't worry – that's at a later moment, either way, enjoy!

Chapter 10: Love, you're not alone

Rei was glad Haru and Ai had managed to wake Yuujin up, although this wasn't a surprise given they had known him since childhood. They managed to create the anti-virus during the whole ordeal and captured it in two different USBs for easy transfer into the body. Now that task was over with, his thoughts began to drift to other things as he watched Haru rest for a bit, Ai soon joining him.

"Rei, don't think about your family so much," Hackmon's voice cut through his thoughts and Rei had to blink for a moment, startled at Hackmon coming in, even though the door was open. Then again, his Buddy did tend to worry about him, especially regarding his family. Not that he blamed the other. His family was a topic worth worrying about after all. They were dangerous people.

"I'm just...I'm just concerned," Rei admitted. "Mio on her own may be a dangerous foe but my relatives...they're manipulative and we won't even be able to see what they're planning coming. Even I won't be able to pick it out despite having dealt with them before unless..."

"Unless what?" Hackmon said although Rei gathered from his expression that the Appmon already knew what he was thinking. It would be dangerous for him but it was a lot better than them being caught off guard. He could handle a little bit of danger, especially if Hackmon was by his side.

"Unless we have a spy on the inside," Rei finished, knowing he didn't even need to say it.

"Hajime will be worried about you," Hackmon said simply. "So will Haru. You don't have to do these things alone anymore, you know that."

"But I can't exactly make anyone else be the spy either, it's too cruel," Rei pointed out. He didn't want to have to be the one to do it. While he wasn't worried about being caught or anything, he was admittedly concerned about the things he may be forced to do. If he was honest with himself, he didn't want to go back to leading that sort of life. It was disgusting...just thinking of it made him shiver.

"We won't let you put yourself in danger either," Haru's voice said suddenly causing Rei to jump - he hadn't thought his boyfriend was even awake, let alone listening.

"Haru," Rei said, staring for a moment. "I thought you were resting."

Haru shrugged. "You and Hackmon looked so serious and you seemed a bit scared. I couldn't keep relaxing after that, so I came over to see what you were talking about. And I agree with Hackmon. You're not alone anymore, Rei." His eyes were filled with his usual passion and warmth as their eyes met.

Rei bit his lower lip, almost wanting to look away from its intensity because he didn't know if he could persuade Haru when he looked at him in that way but he kept his gaze steady with the other anyway. "Haru, you don't know my relatives. Mio despite how she is, we at least know what she's really after but when it comes to my relatives...we don't even know why they helped Mio to break free from jail or what they're gaining from this. All I do know is that they don't do anything unless it interests them. I just want to find out what they're up to and we won't be able to get that kind of intel through a basic search. We need a spy on the inside who can constantly inform us what's going on."

Haru closed the distance between them a little more and took Rei's hand. "Rei-kun...Rei, even if that's true, it's too dangerous for that person to be you. Please don't forget you are not alone anymore. You don't have to face them alone. Your idea is good but have you thought that maybe what they're after are you and Hajime-kun? They've tried to hurt you once, after all. How do we know Mio didn't offer them a way to do the same thing again? Rei..." He leaned over and gently pressed his lips against the other boy's forehead. "I don't want to lose you. I've always felt we had something special even before I realised I liked you. I actually realised it a while back that you were more than just a dear friend to me. I've always been shy when it comes to things such as love and only know as much about it as I've read in books and stuff so I wasn't sure how to approach you about it.

"And well, whenever I spoke to you, you wouldn't hold my gaze for very long or meet my eyes so I wasn't sure what to think about that. I was content with remaining your good friend but when everyone started saying you had feelings for me and Yuujin encouraged me to give it a go, I decided to talk to you about it. I'm glad I did too because we might not be like this if I hadn't. But the thought of you going there as a spy and by some chance, being caught...I couldn't bear the thought of it. I don't think Hajime-kun could either." His cheeks had gone completely red and he was looking to the floor but his words were full of passion and conviction - so much that Rei could not look away from him as he spoke and could not find the words to speak to him.

Rei had no idea how he was supposed to reply to all of that. He had never been good with words - they didn't always convey the meaning of things in the exact way that he wanted them to after all. But he knew he had to say something. He hadn't even imagined that Haru had feelings for him, mainly because he tended to act the same around pretty much everyone to be honest. It was hard to tell what he felt. Unable to think of what to say, he noticed something - ever since their relationship had sort of begun they hadn't technically been on an actual date yet, given everything that had happened since they started dating.

But what he had noticed was Haru had been hesitant to kiss him on the lips, and he knew it could only be for two reasons. One was that a part of Haru did find Rei disgusting because he had been touched by other people even though he hadn't slept with them - Aunt Tsukiko had some humanity in that respect, not to use children in such a horrible manner. Or the second reason, which was what Rei hoped it to be, was that Haru was afraid of bringing up bad memories of his past. Which made sense as he was a very considerate person.

"I won't," Rei murmured so only the other could hear him, although he knew Hackmon was watching because he was worried about him. "I'm just concerned about everyone else...I don't want anyone caught off guard." He gently pressed his fingers under Haru's chin, lifting it so he could make the other look into his eyes. "But Haru? Can I ask you a question?"

Haru nodded. "Of course you can. What's wrong?"

Rei shifted a bit, unsure of how to phrase this, to be honest. Words were…too hard. "I...why won't you kiss me on the lips?" His face flushed now unable to believe how that came out. "I know other people have touched me due to me being a doll for my relatives...I guess that makes me a bit disgusting and..." He was cut off by Haru leaning forward and suddenly brushing his lips against his own, causing his heart to skip a beat.

"Please don't think that, Rei," Haru said softly. "I told you - my feelings for you are pure. Things like disgust don't exist when it comes to love, Rei. Love doesn't abide by conditions. I just...I wanted to kiss you before but I was worried I might trigger you into remembering something painful from back then. I sort of...I wanted to let you initiate it when you were comfortable." He kissed the other boy again gently and smiled. "You're not disgusting at all. I would never think that."

Rei sagged a little in relief and was glad the second reason he had been thinking was the right one. He didn't know what he would have done if Haru admitted that him being disgusting and impure bothered him. His past was something he could not change even if he wanted to. "I...I'm so glad. I can't change what happened back then but I just wanted to earn money so I could support myself and Hajime. I was a kid. I didn't know it was wrong and Aunt Tsukiko promised me back then that if I did the job they asked, all our wishes would come true and I could give Hajime the best life."

Haru smiled softly, resting his head against Rei's chest. "I don't have any siblings but if I could support someone I loved and a relative of mine told me that, I might have done the same thing. You did what you did out of love, after all. I can never fault a person for that. I won't ever let you go back there, not even as a spy." His voice sounded very firm as he said that which made Rei a little nervous because he didn't understand what they were planning and they needed to find out.

"About that," Rei began, trying to find the right argument to persuade Haru even if he was uneasy about it himself.

"No," Haru said firmly. "Gathering information is not more important than your safety and happiness. We'll think of another way to do this, I promise. But I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Can't I just search for what they're planning?" Gatchmon interrupted, causing both boys to jump and flush, neither noticing that Haru's Buddy Appmon had both moved closer to them.

Haru became very flustered, cheeks steadily growing redder. "Y-yeah of course! Gatchmon can pretty much search for anything!"

Gatchmon beamed at Haru, clearly not realising he might have interrupted something private or he did it on purpose, it was hard to tell. "Thanks, Haru! I'm sure I can find out."

"This is not something that is freely available on the Internet," Hackmon said to Gatchmon, looking half-annoyed and half-amused at the whole situation. Well, at least his Buddy Appmon had some sense and decency to look ashamed at interrupting their time together.

"Why not?" Gatchmon asked still clueless.

"Because people are manipulative," Rei said simply. "Everything on the Internet or Deep Web that you would find about my relatives is all positive things. The world views them as an amazing family who helps poorer families out of poverty because it's how they advertise themselves." His embarrassment had died down completely as he remembered back then what his Aunt had told him about that when she had approached him and his brother after Mom and Dad's death and all.

"I'm probably going to regret asking this," Haru admitted, curiosity getting the best of him. "But how exactly do they help poor families get out of poverty?"

"By selling their children and turning them into dolls," Rei replied. "The advertising line is that the children can help their parents out of a hard time and well...what family really wants to live in poverty? Anyone would fall for it and once you sign the contract, it's really hard to get out of it."

Gatchmon was searching what a child doll was and his eyes went wide. "That's...that's horrible. I didn't know these kinds of bad things happened in the human world. I always thought this place was perfect but..." He had no idea that things like these even happened.

"No world is perfect," Haru said sighing. "I know bad things happen in this world but there are so many good things as well. It's why I never believed that Artificial Intelligence itself is evil. Sure, there was someone evil like Leviathan and Mio tried to make Yuujin be that way, but our Buddies are Artificial Intelligence. Minerva is as well. There are good and bad in humans just like there are in Artificial Intelligence. But I feel bad for those families...do they ever find out the trauma their children have been put through?"

Rei shrugged. "If they're observant enough but like any employee, we're not allowed to talk about what happens at work with anyone outside. So the child never tells the parent - or anyone really - because it's been conditioned into their mind. This kind of thing is normal for my family to fake helping others. But Mio isn't going to be their doll or earn money for them...so what reasons would they have for helping her? I don't understand and given how manipulative they are, we could be in trouble if we don't know."

"But being in trouble is better than putting you in danger," Hackmon pointed out. "You said so yourself, Rei, they are dangerous people. We can't risk your life."

Haru was thinking about this and spoke before Rei could even find a way to protest Hackmon's statement. "Why don't we discuss this with Astra-kun and Eri-san? Maybe they'll have some ideas that don't require putting you or Hajime-kun in any sort of danger." He grasped Rei's hand. "Please. Give it a chance?"

Rei sighed. He knew Haru would be really concerned if he did act as a spy. While he didn't feel like he had a choice otherwise, he nodded anyway. "All right. We'll try it." A small smile then graced his features. "By the way, I noticed that you dropped the honorific."

Haru blushed at this. "I felt it was the right time."

Rei smiled a bit. "I'm glad."