The folder was one of those fancy leather binders – legal stuff that I would never want to touch. But Nii-san did not hesitate to snatch it off Usagi-san's hands and skimmed through it while I just stared like some idiot off the streets.

"I went to find you at Marukawa but Aikawa said you left to go home," Usagi-san muttered quietly to me.

"Oh, right. I, um, wanted to see you."

"Hm?"

"To talk… about stuff."

He raised a brow, as if challenging me.

"I mean, I wanted to," my voice dropped lower, "To apologise."

"What for?"

"Acting out on you. That wasn't fair. I was acting like a baby. I didn't realise that things were… different. Perspectives. Ah, I don't know!" I grunted and rustled my own hair out of frustration.

"Usagi, what is this?" Nii-san finally spoke up from beside us.

He had opened up the folder to show us exactly what was causing him confusion. And although I didn't understand legal-lingo all that much, I could read the basic and understand that my name was scrawled on it. Even if I couldn't make out the fine print, I could see the bold lettering at the top: Will and Testament of Usami Akihiko.

"What the fuck?"

I didn't even realise that had slipped out of my mouth. Usually, I was so good with keeping my cussing to a minimum, especially around family.

"What the fuck? Is this your will? Usagi-san, you brought your own will? What the – Why the – How? Why? What? Usagi-san, why is this here?" I blubbered, my brain now going haywire.

All I could do now was listen. My mind wasn't letting me think by itself. Because if Usagi-san had a will, that meant he was thinking about death. And that wasn't a thing I liked to think about.

"Takahiro needed to know I was serious," he answered plainly with that deadpan face, "Planning ahead."

"Usagi, you have Misaki down for… everything," Nii-san's eyes widened, "And I would be the executor."

"Yes. I figured you would be happy to carry it out."

"When did you -?"

"Two years ago."

"Why are you showing this to me now?"

"You wanted me to prove how serious I was," he explained as if pointing out the blatantly obvious, "If Misaki allowed it, I would be flying him to the States now and get married, but that's not how he'd want it; so I thought about it and this was the best way I could show you, with hard evidence, that I am devoted to your brother, and only your brother."

Nii-san looked just as shocked as he did when we told him we were dating. That same blank look crossed over his face and his jaw seemed to slacken just a little. I was pretty sure I looked the exact same, except Nii-san recovered quickly and straightened himself back up.

"Usagi, this isn't really what I meant."

We looked to Nii-san, awaiting his explanation. He seemed stunned that we were staring in anticipation and sighed, almost disappointed.

"I don't need legal proof, Usagi – although this does tell me a lot. (You probably shouldn't leave all that to Misaki, by the way, he'll lose his mind.) I just wanted you to show that you will be able to take my brother out into the world and protect him."

I was about to refute again.

The argument seemed to be going around in circles. Usagi-san had no need to prove himself when he had been doing this for years, loving me unconditionally. He has gone above and beyond for me this whole time. He would no doubt bend to Nii-san's will if asked. I was about to fight for his honour when he spoke up himself.

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

What?

"Usagi?"

"I won't be able to give you that evidence then."

"What do you mean?"

"I love Misaki. There's no doubt about it. And if I could, I would be showing off to the world how happy we are. But Misaki doesn't like public displays of affection, and if I forced him it would only make it worse. It's not worth the evidence."

Wow.

He's… right. As always. But it never failed to surprise me how selfless he was.

"Nii-san, stop interrogating him," I pressed on, "He doesn't have to do anything. The thing that matters the most is that we're together and we're perfectly fine. Usagi-san has done more than enough."

Nii-san stared at me, as if trying to rearrange a puzzle that was tattooed across my face. Finally, he gave up trying.

"Okay. Alright. Fine." He waved his hand in the air in resignation.

"Huh?"

"I'm tired of running around as well. Manami actually told me to come here and apologise," he sighed, "I know you're both adults but you're very important to me. Both of you. So I needed to be sure. I just… I don't know. I guess I lost my mind for a little bit."

I couldn't help but smile.

Thank goodness for Nee-san. She always saves the day.

"You don't have to worry, Takahiro," Usagi-san also let out the tiniest smile, "Misaki has me covered."

"I know. And I know you'll be looking after Misaki too," Nii-san said softly, "Thank you for taking care of him. All this time. And for the future too."

I worried I was becoming bipolar. How can I be so tense one second and the other I can feel my body giving up on me and want to cry?

Looking at the two of them, best friends again, so confident, made me emotional on a level I had never experienced before. But it seemed that was all I was feeling this week: everchanging emotions.

"Don't say it as though we'll never see you again," Usagi-san said, probably sensing I couldn't say anything, "We'll come over for dinner soon. You still owe Misaki a graduation celebration."

"Yes, of course," Nii-san finally smiled.

Once Nii-san left, we clung onto one another for dear life. Although it hadn't been long, it felt like eternity. The emotional journey was much too long and I was spent.

"I thought you were angry," he murmured into my ear, brushing my hair aside, "Manami said you would be for a while."

"How can anyone be angry after all that?"

He hummed in agreement and I could feel the vibrations through both our bodies. I just wanted to melt into him, be with him.

I meshed our lips together, hungrily asking for me. And Usagi-san complied. We were desperate for contact, clawing at each other until we were lying on the sofa.

"Ow!" I yelped, feeling a sting on my back. I quickly shuffled so that I could remove it, not wanting to lose a moment, but once I saw the piece of paper I couldn't help but stop.

"Usagi-san, your will."

"Chuck it out," Usagi-san grunted, dropping his body onto of mine.

"Hey, get off!"

I wormed my way out of the crushing weight and looked at the crumpled paper in my hand. I really wanted to read it – although it was rude and maybe against the law? I'm not sure. I'm not a child. Of course I understand that wills are necessary no matter what age you are or how healthy you are. Knowing and acknowledging are entirely different though. I didn't want to see this tempting piece of paper if I could only see it again when…

"Misaki."

I turned to face him; and my expression must have been pathetic because he looked sad.

"What's bothering you?"

"Why didn't you tell me you wrote me into your will?"

His brows furrowed. "I thought you would have assumed. There's nobody else close enough to me that I would worry about after I pass."

I choked up on that.

Passing.

How could he say it so naturally, with no hesitation? Did nothing scare him? Or was I just a scaredy-cat?

"What about your family? Usagi-nii?"

He scoffed, "You know they'll be fine. Plus, it only occurred to me to update my will when my grandfather passed. None of the Usamis seemed bothered."

"Your cousins? You friends? Aikawa-san?"

He smirked, "If she isn't the one that kills me."

I did not find that funny. Death isn't funny. It's always there, always haunting me, past and present.

"Misaki, you are the one and only person in my life."

"That's not –"

"You are the only one I would worry about if anything happened to me."

"Stop it," I choked out, "Stop it. Nothing's happening to either of us."

"I know. I know you don't want to talk about it, but in case –"

As immature as it was, I couldn't help but cover my ears to block out his voice. I wasn't sure why people ever did this, because even through that, I could hear him calling me.

"Misaki."

"You can't do this to me. You can't leave me."

"I'm not saying I am."

"Yes, you are."

"I would never."

Usagi-san reached for my hands gently, holding them in his own. I looked down at our pairs of hands and realised I was trembling and I couldn't fix it.

"Misaki. I'm here right now."

But I couldn't help feeling otherwise. I couldn't help that I was still shaking.

"Misaki."

He was begging me.

"Misaki."

I need to pull myself together.

"We're supposed to be okay now," he mumbled, whether to himself or me I wasn't sure. But he drew me closer to him, cradling my head now.

I took in his scent, trying to calm down.

I'm supposed to be a lot of things. I shouldn't be so stupid. Usagi-san is right. He's here now. And when my parents were here, I didn't treasure our time. This time, I can do it right.

"We are okay," I whispered back, "There's always going to be something in the way."

"Hm."

"Whether it's your family, or mine, or people in general, even the world. Or… death."

He stayed silent this time but his hold on me tightened.

"But we'll be okay. Because we'll get through it together."

"Who knew you were so sappy?"

I let out a dry laugh.

Who knew I could be anything? Yet here I am, holding onto my lover like there was no tomorrow.

Life moved on slowly after that.

Sure, a huge weight has been lifted off my chest but beyond the psychological effects of that, I was living the most basic of lives. I woke up, dressed, cooked, went to work, and came home to Usagi-san pretending to work.

There was no significant difference, yet at the same time everything was changed. So I continued on my daily routine, until we were sitting quietly in the living room and my mind wandered to Nii-san. He was clearly busy getting things better at home, but I wanted to see him again – just to confirm that all this was real. That I had actually accomplished one of the best things of my life.

"We should get dinner or something," I suggested, switching off the TV so that Usagi-san could hear me clearly, "All of us. Like a real family now."

His eyes didn't lift from the paper, but his glasses did droop slightly from how long he had lounged on the sofa unmoved.

"We did. Barely a week ago at your graduation."

I frowned at him. "You know that doesn't count. It's not what I meant. I mean we should have a proper dinner – an official celebratory one."

"Like I said, graduation."

I rolled my eyes and contemplated giving up. He clearly wasn't on board with the idea so there was no point forcing a celebratory dinner. Even in my imaginative mind it was already a disaster.

"We don't have much going on anyway – you're barely working."

"Hm."

"What's the harm in going over for dinner or dining out once in a while?"

"Because we have plans," he said, still disinterested.

"Plans?"

"Mm-hm."

"What plans? We have no plan," I reiterated, as if saying the word 'plan' more would make a difference. (It did, actually. It made me annoyed.)

"A trip."

"Usagi-san, you may have forgotten that we have just come back from Greece," I reprimanded him in the superior voice I always did, "And you forget that we are not made of money."

"So we shouldn't dine out."

I groaned. Of course he would use that as a comeback.

"If you're just making excuses to skip work…"

"I'm not."

"Then why do you not want to go have dinner with Nii-san? We should all be tightening our bonds and all that, right? He can see how happy we are, and we can get used to being open about it."

"I'm not against it."

"Then why?"

"Like I said, I want to go on a trip with you."

"And like I said, we just did."

"That's a holiday."

"What's the difference?"

"There's a purpose to a trip."

"And what purpose do you have?"

"Marriage."

Whoa. What?

"Did you just say…?"

"Marriage."

Okay, so I didn't mishear that.

I shouldn't really be surprised. We had talked about this. In fact, it was mentioned not so long ago.

"W-why do you…? What did…? Wait. I don't… You didn't even…"

My helpless bumbling surprisingly had Usagi-san put down his paper to look at me. But now I was so confused that I couldn't look him in the eye.

"I thought that was what you wanted. You said so."

Oh fuck. I forgot about that.

"I didn't. I mean, I did. I do want that. Just, not…"

"Not now?" Usagi-san raised a brow. "I thought we were living in the present."

God damn this man. He knew exactly where to hurt me.

"B-but we're talking about marriage," I spluttered out the word, "That's a… That's a huge commitment. That's a lifelong thing. That's… insane."

"As insane as everything else that's been going on," he said in that sarcastic dull tone of his.

"W-we're not going."

"It doesn't have to be America – other countries allow you to marry now," he supplied helpfully, "Would you prefer Canada? Britain? Netherlands?"

"I prefer nothing!" I yelped, "This is way too soon."

"Misaki, you basically proposed; you even took a ring from me."

I flushed uncontrollably, mainly because I couldn't think of a response to the truth.

"Do you not want to marry me?"

I scowled. He knows that's not what I mean. He knows exactly what's happening, as always. And he knows that in the end, I will cave to anything he wants. And if he wants to get married now then…

He left out a heavy sigh, as if the weight of the world was on it. I couldn't help but think he was disappointed, if we had gone back to the top of the spiral once again to fall back down. We had come so far but it seems we're always in danger.

"Misaki, look at me."

He didn't give me a choice. His cold hands were on either of my burning cheeks and I was staring at stormy grey eyes.

"I wouldn't push you to do anything you don't want to do."

"I do want this," I whispered, "I do."

"Leave that for later."

I couldn't even laugh at him poorly timed jokes.

"And if this isn't the right time, then we won't do anything."

"I don't want to make you wait, like I did with Nii-san. I don't want to owe you that way."

"You owe me nothing, Misaki. You gave yourself to me, and that's more than anything I've ever wanted. We don't even need to get married. We practically are."

"Then why are you pushing for this?"

He shrugged.

He physically shrugged.

He caused me this much trauma and he shrugged at me.

"What?"

"I thought it would make you happy. Plus, I have a deadline coming up next month. It'd be a good time to have a honeymoon."

Oh my god.

I whacked his hands away from me and stood up.

"We are not getting married until I decide and we are going to have dinner with Nii-san next week. Got that?" I exclaimed, glowering at him.

He smiled at me.

And while having the person you love smile at you is one of the best things in the world, it was eerie. I couldn't tell what he wanted. What he expected.

"W-what is it?"

"Nothing. Just good to see you're back to yourself."

Oh damn, I am so going to marry this man.

End.

I actually planned for another scene, but I may save that for an epilogue if I get the chance. I really hope you guys don't mind this quick wrap-up but I also didn't want to stall this any further. It would mean a lot to me if you enjoyed this final chapter that I managed to write because I owe my precious readers so much. You have been absolute stars for coming this far and putting up with my messed-up schedule. It has been a pleasure to write this fic for you to read and I hope I'll hear from you soon :) Thank you once more!

Much love, CRB