Chapter Eleven
Later that night, Misaki cooked dinner – against his will. He desperately wanted to go out to a nice restaurant to eat, but the circumstances forced Usagi and him to stay home. Truth be told, he was extremely sore from their earlier escapade. It was difficult for him to stand, let alone move. Since there was no other option (no way in hell was he going to let Usagi cook), he shut his mouth and cooked a simple chicken and rice dish.
During their meal, they were rudely interrupted by the ringing sound of the doorbell. They knew it couldn't be a reporter because it was the main door. Whoever was there had to have entered in the code on the keypad on the outer door.*
"I'll get it," Usagi said as he stood up.
"Maybe it's Aikawa-san," Misaki said between chewing. He paused. Or maybe it's Nii-chan! Oh no! I'm not ready for that conversation just yet…
He held his breath and listened as Usagi opened the door. He heard him sigh and say, "What do you want now?"
"Akihiko, just let me come in." It was Isaka.
Misaki sighed and went back to eating. He wasn't particularly pleased that Isaka had come, but it least it wasn't his brother. There was still a lot he needed to think about and prepare before he could talk to Takahiro. It wasn't going to be easy, but it had to be done now that their secret had been exposed (in the worst way possible too).
Usagi sat back down in his chair and also resumed eating. Isaka sat in the chair between them, with a smirk on his face. At least he didn't look angry like he was the last time Misaki saw him. He didn't look stressed out either. In fact he looked rather pleased.
He eyed the plates in front of the lovers. "Just chicken and rice?" he commented. "Akihiko is always saying what a great cook you are, but this looks rather plain."
Did he just insult my cooking?
Usagi slammed his fork down on his plate. "Isaka-san, did you come here to talk to us or to insult Misaki?"
"Um, Usagi-san, I really don't care if-" Misaki started.
"I was just commenting!" Isaka interrupted. "Do you want to hear the good news or not?" Usagi sighed but didn't say anything. Misaki nodded for the both of them. "Well it seems this whole episode has done wonders for your image."
Misaki raised an eyebrow at him, unaware if it was sarcasm or if he was being sincere. "What do you mean?"
"Akihiko's books are flying off the shelves throughout the whole country. People think he's a hero! One news station actually twisted the story a bit and made it look like he saved all the hostages at Marukawa!" Isaka looked at Misaki the whole time he talked, even though it was good news for Usagi. "Women are swooning over him now more than ever. It's only been a day and the office has been flooded with fan mail for this guy!"
Isaka paused and turned to Usagi. His look was smug. Usagi shrugged, completely indifferent. Misaki was happy to hear the news that Usagi's reputation wasn't hurt, but he wanted to know about how people were taking the news of his sexuality.
"And everyone wants to hear the story behind your relationship with Chibi-tan here!" Isaka continued. His hands flew about enthusiastically in the air. "People are calling you two adorable. Hardly anybody seems to care that you're both men. I mean, it is the twenty-first century after all. Your relationship is going to be put under the spotlight, just like real celebrities!"
His eyes seem to be sparkling. Usagi's mouth was turned up in disgust. Misaki was beyond confused. How could people think so positively about all this? They were all certain it wasn't going to go well at all, but it seemed to be just fine.
"Misaki and I are not going to put our relationship out in the open," Usagi said. "We prefer to keep things between us private from the eyes and ears of the public. I couldn't care less about my celebrity status."
Isaka began to frown a little bit. "Akihiko! Just think how much more money you could make! You and Chibi-tan could go on talk shows and news broadcasts! You could publish your boys-love novels under your own name instead of using a penname! Your life could get so much better."
Misaki suddenly felt overwhelmed. I just want to be normal. I don't want people to know every detail about my relationship with Usagi-san. I don't want to be famous.
Usagi glared at Isaka. "Never going to happen! We will keep to ourselves."
Isaka sighed and crossed his arms in defeat. "I didn't think I could convince you. At least this is a temporary boost for you and the company. And people won't give you or Misaki a hard time for being together or being homosexuals. They'll probably consider you two the perfect couple for a while."
Misaki's face became flushed. "Hey, I'm not gay!"
Usagi chuckled at his lover and shook his head. Isaka stared at the younger man in disbelief. He then started to laugh as well. Misaki's face became redder with embarrassment and anger.
"Good one, Chibi-tan!" Isaka replied. "Seriously though, everything should be okay. If you guys go out, people may stare at you or tell you how much they love you, but nothing bad will come out of this whole ordeal." He then turned to Misaki. "So, I'm sorry for flying off the handle at you yesterday. I overreacted." He held out his hand as a peace offering. Misaki shook it, completely stunned. "Thanks for taking care of Akihiko here, too."
Usagi stared at the two shaking hands in complete shock. Isaka being so kind? It must be a sign of the apocalypse! And he's being nice to Misaki to boot! He's never had a problem with the boy himself, but he didn't approve of his star author being with him. Now that he was certain he'd make a ton of money exploiting their relationship, he suddenly approved. Typical Isaka.
Misaki, on the other hand, was completely unaware of the other man's intentions. He thought Isaka was being truly genuine. His eyes sparkled with happiness from being approved of and he smiled wide.
Isaka-san likes me now! He thought. And he apologized to me! He was so understanding about everything! I bet Nii-chan will be like that too!
Usagi cleared his throat and the two men dropped their hands. "Thank you for the apology, Isaka-san. And thank you for taking care of things for us. We'll be back to work soon then."
Isaka nodded. "I'll be on my way then. But first…"
He picked up a piece of chicken from Misaki's plate with his bare hand and popped it in his mouth. Misaki gasped at the rudeness, but didn't say anything. Isaka made a pleasing sound and swallowed.
"That's actually very good!" he remarked. "I should come over for dinner more often." He stood up and waved. "See you lovebirds later."
He let himself out while Misaki and Usagi just stared at each other. After a short time, they both shrugged and went back to eating. They had just finished the meal when the doorbell rang again.
"It better not be that rat again," Usagi snarled as he got up again to answer the door.
Misaki still felt happy about winning Isaka's approval. He got up as well and gathered the dishes. He hummed to himself as he walked to the kitchen and placed the dirty plates in the sink. Things were going great so far!
"Misaki," Usagi called for him. "Takahiro is here."
His heart suddenly sank and started racing. He had just got done thinking that his brother might be understanding, like Isaka was, but he still wasn't ready to talk to him about the whole thing. He started thinking that his brother would be very disappointed in him.
What am I supposed to say? 'Hey Nii-chan, I've actually been in this secret relationship with your best friend for the past four years. Oh and it's very sexual! Hope you don't mind!' And what if he asks how it all began?! His eyes widened at the thought. 'Well Nii-chan, it all started when you broke Usagi-san's heart by getting married and not seeing how deeply in love with you he was! He was truly devoted to you for a whole ten years! But you were too dense to notice his love for you. I saw right through him and he then fell in love with me.' Argh! I'm so screwed!
"Misaki?" Usagi called again as he stepped into the foyer with Takahiro.
Misaki stood still with his eyes glued to the floor, hardly looking up at his brother and his lover. Takahiro smiled when he saw his brother and ran into the kitchen to hug him. Misaki gasped at the embrace, but hugged him back.
"Misaki, I'm so glad both you and Usagi are safe!" Takahiro cried. "I wanted to see you both sooner but I knew I had to wait until the excitement died down a little." He pulled away and looked at his younger brother's flushed face. "You're okay, right?" Misaki nodded. "Good! Now let's go sit down and talk. I wanna know everything that happened. Every news station seems to have a different story."
All three of them walked into the living room and sat on the couch. Misaki sat in the middle of the two older men. Usagi pulled out a much needed cigarette and lit it. Takahiro just smiled at both of them lovingly. He still seemed incredibly thick-headed.
"Um, what do you want to know?" Misaki asked. He thought for sure his brother would ask about him dating Usagi.
"I want to know why those authors held people hostage, of course!"
He wasn't sure how to answer that. "Um, well, I'm not sure why exactly. I guess they just went a little crazy!" No way in hell was going to say that Ijuuin wanted to kill Usagi so the mangaka could have Misaki to himself! Then he would have to admit to his brother that he was in a relationship with Usagi. "Too much stress, probably. You know how that happens sometimes!"
Takahiro nodded and looked at Usagi. "That was amazing how quickly you reacted when he dropped his gun, Usagi!"
Oh no! If he saw that, then he definitely heard my confession.
Misaki laughed nervously. "R-right?! He's incredibly brave all right! And he saved himself and now everything is okay!"
Takahiro ignored him and continued talking to Usagi. "I heard you were injured. Was it a bullet?"
Usagi nodded and put out his cigarette butt in the ashtray in front of him. "A bullet grazed my shoulder as we fought for the gun. Nothing serious. I got the gun back and shot him though."
"Thank god you're not being charged."
"It was self-defense. Besides, he would have gone to jail for a long time anyway."
There was a pause. Misaki felt relieved that his brother hadn't said anything about the relationship. Maybe he didn't care at all. Or maybe he was still in the dark. That would be so great if he was!
"So," Takahiro continued as he rubbed his hands together in his lap awkwardly. "Is that all of the story?" He looked right at Misaki as he said that.
The young Takahashi nodded quickly. "Yep, that's it!"
The older sibling raised an eyebrow. "Really? So the news is just making up stuff about you two being lovers?"
Misaki felt his heart collapse and his blood go cold. He did know about it! Oh great! The disappointment was about to be unleashed. He turned to Usagi for help but Usagi didn't show any emotion on his face. No one said anything for a minute.
Then Takahiro laughed. "Good! You know how the media twists things! I'm glad. For a minute I was worried you guys had kept a secret hidden from me."
Usagi made a sound close to a snarl. "Takahiro, Misaki, forgive me, both of you." He looked straight into Takahiro's eyes. "It's true. All of it. Misaki and I are in a relationship."
Misaki blushed harder than ever and turned back to Usagi. "Usagi-san!" He turned back to his brother, sweating. "Nii-chan! N-no! It's not true! I'm not gay!"
Takahiro raised his hand, signaling Misaki to stop talking. His smiling face had been replaced with a more serious one. Misaki choked on his own words and became deathly afraid. He could feel his heart beating furiously.
"Misaki, I don't like it when you lie to me. How long has this relationship been going on?"
Misaki opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"Four years," Usagi answered for him.
Takahiro nodded. "I see. And neither of you bothered to tell me?" They both shook their heads. "Are you happy? Misaki, Usagi, both of you. Are you happy?" They both nodded in unison. "Then why didn't you tell me?"
"I-I knew you would be disappointed in me," Misaki stuttered. "You raised me right and I still turned out screwed up."
Takahiro frowned and put his hand on Misaki's head. It felt nothing like Usagi's big, cold hand. "Screwed up? There is nothing screwed up about love. Loving a person of the same sex is not screwed up."
Misaki's heart was still pounding, but now he wasn't scared. His brother was approving of him and his relationship with Usagi. It was perfect! His brother didn't hate him after all! Life was grand.
"What's screwed up is you two not telling me and how I never noticed until now! I understand now why you don't want to move back with me or out on your own. And Usagi, your writing has greatly improved and became more positive over the past few years. It's because of Misaki, isn't it?"
Usagi nodded and smiled at his friend. "Takahiro, your brother means everything to me." He put his hand on Misaki's shoulder. The boy turned back and looked up at his lover's face. "It wasn't my place to tell you about us being together. I kept telling him he needed to let you know, but he was so afraid. He thought you would hate him for being in a relationship with another man or the fact that it was your best friend."
Takahiro smiled gently at both of them. "Well, everything is alright now." Misaki looked at him in awe. "I could never hate you, Misaki. Nor could I hate you, Usagi. You two deserve all the happiness in the world. I'm really glad that you guys found that happiness in each other."
Misaki's eyes filled up with tears of happiness. He hugged his brother tightly. Usagi hugged both of them as well, making a sandwich with Misaki in the middle. They all chuckled.
Takahiro pulled away and stood up. "I'll leave you two alone now. You both probably still need a lot of rest. Just no more keeping secrets from me from now on!"
Misaki and Usagi both promised and Takahiro left, with promises to call them tomorrow to check up. Misaki was on cloud nine. Things were perfect then. He didn't know what could possibly make things better. Usagi put his arm around him.
Or maybe he did know how to make things even better…
"Are you tired, Misaki?" Usagi asked.
Misaki shook his head. "No, but let's go to bed anyway."
The older man's eyes widened. He had no idea just what was about to happen to him, but he knew it was going to be amazing.
*I have no idea how Usami's penthouse (or any penthouse for that matter) works, but this is how I interpret it.
And a very special shout out to infinitycloud who gave me a shout out in the fanfic Taken Away?! Check it out! It's so amazing so far! This fic is inspiration for that one! I can't tell you how happy that makes me! :D
And thanks to all my loyal fans of this fic - Ino Death, Talvi, SuzukiChiyeko, PandoraYaoiLove, sekhoya990, Vegeta42, Firediva0, and countless others! Sorry I really can't list them all! Seriously though - over 100 reviews and over 100 followers! I never would have imagined this!
As a special thanks, I'm sure you all know what's coming next! XDXDXD