Everyone, the last chapter counted as a chapter; it was not a April Fools on purpose kind of thing, just to be sure. I mostly just wanted an excuse to say 'Happy April Fools' to you guys.


To tarepandabear:

You'll see more of that with the mother soon.

I also believe that there could be too much angst. I also believe that I don't know what the heck I'm saying because I can't really tell how much angst I put into the story. I just want happy times to happen and I haven't really seen 'happy fics' lately... or fics in the sense of romantic comedy.

Also guys, keep in mind it's around towards the end of November in here. From August-September Ritsu has been working hard with Misaki and he can walk and jog. He can't really run that much yet let alone jog for a whole mile. He's almost there though!

He can eat soups now like rice porridge and other soft things. For his strength I'd gather that maybe he can't carry mid-heavy pots and pans with a single hand but with both his hands it's alright. He basically can't lift anything past about 17 pounds. He really is almost there. Maybe.


Ritsu ran his hands over the numbers outside their apartment. 'Home...'

"Will you do the honors?" He turned back to Masamune, who handed the keys to him.

"O-okay," he stutters slightly, excited. His fingers shook, the keys jingling as it struggled to go into the key hole. Chuckling, Masamune used a hand to calm Ritsu's hand; together they opened the door.

Giving a quick gasp as he took his first steps in, Ritsu headed in straight-on, forgetting to take off his shoes-

And forgetting that they were still in the genkan. With a thud and a yelp he fell, and Masamune rushed forward to help him up. "Are you alright?!"

"Yeah..." Ritsu groans a little, trying to ease his slight pain as he sits up. "I forgot there was a..." He sighs. Hearing a laugh he curiously looked to Masamune, taking in the laughter and finding it pleasant to hear. However, he huffed a little and blushed, humiliated. "It's not that funny!"

He felt Masamune kiss his head. "Sorry," Masamune says, smiling as he helped him up. After Ritsu manages to take off his shoes he walked carefully, gazing around the living space. "Wow! So Takafumi kept it clean all this time?"

"Yeah. He also..." he trails off, remembering the blood-stained sheets. He glances over at Ritsu, the latter looking through the two bookshelves next to each other.

"He even dusted in between the books," Ritsu says in awe, before he turned to Masamune. "Oh yeah, how's Sorata? I forgot to ask Takafumi."

"Oh, he's good," Masamune says absentmindedly, hoping Ritsu wouldn't go into the bedroom yet. "Spoiled as hell though, from what I heard. Yokozawa's trying to put him on a diet and he's not liking it."

"It's hard to believe he's older now," Ritsu says, saddened for a moment; the black and white cat probably had forgotten him by now. He goes to sit on the couch and bounces a little.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, why?" Ritsu asks, glancing about. "Now that I think about in, I've stayed in the hospital more than I lived here. Weird huh?"

Masamune mumbled in agreement, but in his head, he found it unsettling. What if Ritsu ended up not wanting to live with him and go back to his parents? He didn't want to be without Ritsu.

"Masamune..." he jolted out of his thoughts to see Ritsu laying on the couch in thought.

"What is it?"

"I know you said you were going to make dinner, but is there anyway I can help?"

"You don't have to help," he replies, sitting down at the other end of the couch with Ritsu's feet. "Finishing all your food would be nice though."

Ritsu gave a little laugh before quieting down. "I want to help. I don't like feeling useless..."

"You're not."

"..." Ritsu simply said nothing, and Masamune turned away for awhile, sure that the brunet didn't believe that. He went over to kiss his forehead before getting up.

"Just rest here while I start dinner so we can get a head start on getting a good night's sleep."

Hearing a hum in response, he looked to see Ritsu with his eyes closed, trying to nap. Sighing, he reluctantly walked off to the kitchen, re-stocked earlier by Takafumi and Misaki.


"I'll help." Masamune turned slightly from his dish-washing, worried as he watched Ritsu drying off a plate.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to get-"

"I'll be okay, really!" Ritsu stubbornly remained, proudly lifting his hand high to open a cupboard and placing the clean dish inside. "See?"

"You're slightly shaking."

"It's fine!"

Sighing, Masamune didn't argue back, choosing instead to glance over once in a while, smiling affectionately at the determination on his husband's face.

...

Wiping his hands of excess water, Masamune glanced around to see that Ritsu went off somewhere. Quickly he went to their bedroom, pausing when he saw Ritsu staring down at the bed, the blanket having been lifted and to the side to reveal the clean and new bed sheets. "Ritsu..."

"Did... did-"

"We threw them away."

"Why?!" He was surprised at the amount of anguish on his face that was for the sheets. "They were still good!" Lips quivering, Ritsu put the blanket back over and turned away, not wanting to look at it. "I should have looked up who made those sheets..."

"Ritsu, why didn't you tell me that I hurt you?"

"Wha-" Ritsu swallowed, trying to compose himself. "It wasn't your fault! I didn't want to bother you either so I just washed it the best I could. Since it was under the blanket anyway I thought it wouldn't matter. I was really surprised too when I saw it! I guess I was so tired that I didn't feel myself bleeding."

"Ritsu..."

"Really, don't worry about it. I'm okay." Ritsu tried to assure him. "I'm just upset about the sheets and-" He found himself being hugged tightly.

"Next time, tell me these things, okay?"

"But-" He was squeezed tighter, and he could hear Masamune sigh against his shoulder. "O-okay..." After a while, Masamune didn't budge. "Masamune?" Spacing himself away while holding on to the older male, he found the male dozing off, tired. Carefully, he set him down on the bed, after some struggle, and proceeded to get a towel and head into their room bathroom next to the closet in front of their bed.

He was sure enough that he could take a shower on his own after he reacquainted himself with the bathroom.


"Mm?" Blinking, Masamune woke up to the sound of water being turned on. 'Ritsu?'

Still laying in place, he could hear Ritsu walking about, mumbling to himself about something. Sitting up, he can see that Ritsu had let the door open, and steam was slowly floating out gradually.

What got to him however, was the sound of clothes being discarded to the ground. Ranging from light thuds to hearing a zipper being undone on a pair of jeans, Masamune found himself concentrating with his ears.

Every sound brought to him sensations he had been trying to keep away from to stay in control. Upon hearing a small, but lovely gasp, he swallowed, feeling the familiar heat rising up within him. Slowly, he inched towards the other side of the bed to see what was happening.

...

Ritsu gasped as he saw himself in the mirror more closely now that he was alone. He...

He wasn't showing his ribs no longer. It was almost noticeable when he turned but it was still good. He didn't look like skeleton and he could see that he was getting some color back.

Seeing his hair, he touched the ends closest to his ears. 'I should cut this a little...'

His bangs didn't seem to want to go back to like it was in high school; he liked the change though, it made him look more mature in a way and it shielded him sometimes from particularly bright light.

He should still be gaining some weight though, he found some seconds later. Turning his body, he examined his hips and his upper thighs. Misaki told him earlier when they started the leg exercises that his muscles would ache for a while. Actually, they were still aching, but only a little to where it didn't bother him.

Taking off his underwear, he was surprised at the light, temporary indentions the rim of it made on his skin. It couldn't be that tight on him... He turned around to see on the mirror that the indentions went around to his back above his butt.

Eventually, he shrugs, knowing that it'll disappear later. Deciding that the shower was probably warm enough, and seeing that the hamper was close by, he bent down to pick up the rest of his clothes and put them in. Feeling a cold breeze he remembered that he left the door open and decided to go close it.

As he did so, however, he was startled to see Masamune sitting up on the bed, staring at him openly and gaping slightly. "..."

Ritsu didn't miss the hand that was in his pants.

"...u-uh," Flushing his way to red upon realizing what was happening, Ritsu shut his eyes while he closed the door hard. Embarrassed, he retreated to the shower.


A hesitant Ritsu peeked out the door, glancing left to right before walking out and to the closet. A towel around his waist, he grabbed his underwear and swiftly put it on before putting on his pajamas. Successful at his endeavor, he jumped onto the bed with towel in hand. Sitting up, he began drying his hair.

"You done?" He hears Masamune ask him from outside the room. It didn't take long for Ritsu to blush.

"Y-yes..."

While he looked at Masamune, the other didn't look back at him, heading to the closet to get ready for a shower. As such, Ritsu tried to not seem bothered as well, going back to drying his hair. However, after glancing a couple of times, Ritsu paused to notice a faint pink color on Masamune's cheeks before he went into the bathroom. "..." 'He's...'

'He's blushing...'

...

It was about six minutes long that Masamune took his shower; seeing him walk out fully clothed with a towel on his head. "I-I'll dry it," Ritsu says, wanting to, heart thudding as Masamune climbed onto the bed to get to his lap. Ritsu was already situated, sitting up with the blanket over his waist.

When dry enough, he ran his hands through the dark locks. 'It's soft...'

"Don't stop," Masamune murmurs repeatedly every time Ritsu paused in movement. Minutes later he joined Ritsu under the covers after he turned off the light.

"Excited for tomorrow?" he asks Ritsu, hugging the male close to him.

"Yeah..." Ritsu answers quietly. He yawns, prompting a light chuckle from his love.

"Good night."

"Good night," Ritsu whispers, faintly feeling a feathery touch to his cheek before falling asleep.


Imagine, having such soft sheets that make you melt in bed...

and then someone throws them away... *shakes head* Some things are just unforgettable.

Oh, and I was never in that type of situation with bed sheets. Imagine though, very soft sheets that make you melt in bed and sleep soundly. You just couldn't let go of such sheets, especially if you won them at a store and didn't pay an expensive price for them.