Something that I should have done a long time ago ,that I didn't, was actually go through the trouble of mentioning what Shinobu's father has. I actually fully intended to keep him in the dark about it and have his parents just leave him with the idea that "He's sick" since they wouldn't want to worry their poor little boy like that. D:

"Love is something eternal; the aspect may change, but not the essence."

The sun was now setting, the sky surrounding the big ball of light started to go from that calm blue to a vibrant pink and a sullen purple as it sunk further down. Shinobu's father stared out of the window, looking over at the way the sun set as he leaned against the headboard of the bed. The sight of the sun setting always made him feel better, since it always reminded him of when he would do such a thing with his son when he was younger. Even so, he still believed that Shinobu had become such a fine young man, even after the way he had gone from such a happy boy to the sour person he was today.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his wife calling softly to him. Turning to face her, he saw her gesture down to her lap to find his said son's head lying down on her lap, his arms supporting his head like a pillow. He stifled a chuckle at the sight.

"He must be tired." He said, getting a nod back from his wife.

"Well, he's been here for a few hours now. Poor Miyagi must be busy, what with being a college professor and all." She said, glancing down at her watch. Shinobu had gotten to the hospital around noon, the time now being 6:00.

As though on cue, they heard the sounds of faint footsteps becoming louder and louder as a dark figure approached the door. As the door flung open, they saw an out of breath Miyagi looking back at them with a wrapped box underneath his arm. It was clear he had run here, considering how tired he was. Trying to calm himself down, he spoke through breaths.

"Sorry I'm late," He started. "A meeting ran late, and I couldn't get out of it no matter how hard I tried. Then I had to run to get you an anniversary present. Er, happy anniversary, by the way. Shinobu wanted to make something for you guys, but-"His rambling was cut short as the teen woke slowly, looking back to see who had been making so much noise.

"Who is it?" He said, his voice slurred due to having just woke from his nap. He could only make out bits and pieces of the person, the neutral colors all running together in his vision.

"Ah, Shinobu. Sorry that I'm late, I really didn't intend to make you wait so long. As an apology, I'll let you have whatever you want for dinner tonight." Miyagi replied, setting down the box along with the other flowers and gifts the couple had.

Shinobu's mom merely motioned her hand as though she was swatting something away. "No need to worry so much, Yoh. By all means, it's fine if you had work to do. It wasn't like anyone was going to get angry." She said, getting a reassuring nod from her father.

"Thank you for taking care of him, Yoh. I do hope that he isn't too much of a handful, since most teenage boys are." His father added.

Miyagi shook his head, not making any comment back. He looked back over at Shinobu, who was rubbing his eyes in order to wake himself back up. He then saw as Shinobu began searching for something he appeared to have lost.

"Is something wrong?" Miyagi asked.

His question was answered as Shinobu picked up a red rose, giving a sigh of relief to have the flower back in his possession.

"Well, we wouldn't want to lose that." His mother joked, giving a small giggle as her son blushed in response.

Shinobu didn't want to be in the room much longer, deciding to stand and go towards the door, pushing Miyagi out of the way as he exited.

"So, have you heard any news about Shinobu's college choices yet, Yoh?" Shinobu's father asked as Miyagi sat down in a chair, grabbing out a cigarette from his pocket only to remember his surroundings and return it to its box.

"I haven't, I only know that he's wanted help in his art so that he could go to an art university. He never mentioned anything about actually going anywhere, though." Miyagi said, tapping his fingers against the chair to distract himself from his urge to smoke.

"Really? He told me just earlier that he had already gotten an acceptance letter from a college abroad in Australia this morning in the mail, one that he was planning on going to. I assumed that you had known." His father said, genuinely surprised that Miyagi didn't know and that Shinobu didn't tell him, considering the two of them lived under the same roof day after day.

Miyagi's heart nearly stopped at this news. The only thought that ran through his mind was that he couldn't understand why. Why hadn't Shinobu told him this first? Too surprised for words, he merely stood and bowed, giving his goodbyes to Shinobu's parents as he decided to confirm this with the person in question.

As he walked through the hallways, he felt as though he could see Shinobu standing before him with a suitcase handle in one hand and a plane ticket in the other. Although he tried not to let it bother him, his body started to move faster on its own as he found himself chasing after the figment of his imagination, the imaginary Shinobu that was walking farther out of his reach.

Shinobu stood next to the elevator, waiting for his ride home to appear in front of him so that they could go home together. He played with the rose in his hands, remembering his mother's words.

'Just tell him how I feel. I can do that.' He thought, remembering all of the things the two of them had gone through since they first met. From the meeting in the park to watching the sunrise, even though the pain in his eyes was more than unbearable that day due to the sunlight, he didn't care. He just enjoyed the heat that fell down onto him. Remembering such warm thoughts made him smile softly, though he was dragged out of his reminiscing as he heard the ding from the elevator.

'Hurry up, Miyagi.' He thought angrily, still staring at the rose. At that moment, he felt a hand grab his wrist and drag him into the elevator.

"Hey!" Shinobu yelled, tugging his wrist back to meet with the mysterious stranger who had grabbed him. "I was waiting for someone, you know." He growled.

"I know you were, and I'm here now." Miyagi replied, leaning against the wall of the elevator as he tried to catch his breath. As he stood there, he put a hand onto his face and tried to settle his nerves. He had already gotten over the initial shock of figuring out such news that Shinobu hadn't told him, and now it had turned into anger.

The elevator was silent; the ding from the elevator passing through each floor was heard as well as the shuffling of the two bodies.

Once the elevator doors opened up, Miyagi grabbed onto Shinobu once more and ran right out of the hospital. Shinobu was surprised at this, trying to keep up with the taller and apparently much faster man as he bolted towards the car.

"Oi, Miyagi! Slow down! Hey!" Shinobu called, his words apparently not getting through to the man who continued to keep running like there was something chasing them. As they approached the car, Miyagi pressed the button on his keys to unlock it from afar, opening the door and throwing the teen into the passenger's seat.

Shinobu was still confused by all of this, his feet hurt from running in shoes he wasn't comfortable with running in since he wasn't much of a tennis shoes person. Groaning softly from the pain, he rubbed the outside of his dress shoes as he glanced back over at the man who sat down harshly in the driver's seat.

"What gives, Miyagi?" He asked, angry now that Miyagi had single handedly caused his feet to be sore as well as almost ruining his shoes. At this point, he felt as though he deserved an answer.

Miyagi merely gripped the steering wheel as he kept his head down as well as his voice low, afraid he would fly off the handle at this point if he didn't try to maintain some self control.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He said, his voice a bit shaky as he continued to grip the steering wheel.

Shinobu clearly hadn't a clue what to say to Miyagi's vague question, now curious as to why Miyagi was so agitated and what he had neglected to tell him.

"Tell you what?" Shinobu replied, still a bit vexed.

"What do you mean 'Tell you what'? The fact that you got a letter today from a college in Australia you planned on going to! You never even bothered to tell me! I figured I'd be the first person to know!" Miyagi was now beyond angry; thinking about how Shinobu didn't tell him on purpose only infuriated him more. Although, his attitude seemed more hurt than angry.

Shinobu looked over at the silhouette of the older man that kept his head against the steering wheel. He was saddened by the sight, his whole attitude softened as he reached a hand out, and gripped Miyagi's coat.

"M-M-Miyagi," He stammered. "I forgot, I really did. I wasn't trying to make you upset, I just, it slipped my mind." Shinobu's expression seemed so innocent, a change from his usual face that was always filled with apathy and irritation.

Miyagi calmed down upon hearing this, deciding to accept the apology and not to show anymore of his bad side to the boy sitting next to him. Deciding to not mention anything else, he merely changed th e subject as he started the car.

"So, what do you want for dinner?"


As they walked into the home, kicking off their shoes and putting on a pair of slippers as they entered. Miyagi took off his large black coat, setting it down on the coat rack and taking the bags of ingredients to the table so that he could start making dinner. Looking over at the boy who sat down on the couch, he saw him yawning softly and fiddling with the rose in his hand.

'Jeez, he must really like that flower.' Miyagi thought, pulling out some fish from the bag. "So, how was the hospital visit?" He asked.

"It was nice. My parents liked the flowers we gave them; we talked about some past things like family members and what we would do when father is discharged," He said while he didn't look up from the flower. "I also asked my mom about that love thing."

"Did you now?" Miyagi replied, assuming his explanation had been enough.

"Yeah, I asked her about what love is like. She asked me if I was in love with someone, but I wasn't sure until I told her how I felt about that person. So, apparently it's love, and my mom said I should give this rose to the person I'm in love with when I tell them." He said, standing from the couch and making his way towards the kitchen were Miyagi stood.

"Ah," Miyagi uttered. He had expected that a teenager like him would be in love with someone, yet having his own expectations proven right. The fact that he was getting upset over it made him feel like an idiot. 'She's probably cute too. Much younger than me, that's for sure, since our age difference goes into the double digits. Augh, calm down Miyagi, you're becoming pessimistic. Just, look on the bright side; he's finally come to terms with his own feelings.'

"Well, who's the lucky girl?" Miyagi asked. "Or guy." He added the last bit as a joke, laughing sheepishly as he finished cutting one vegetable and started on another. "By all means, if you two want to make a date somewhere, I'll help." As he started to chop green peppers, he saw something out of the corner of his eye start to creep near his face until it was fully in sight. Setting down the knife, he stared at the red rose that was blocking his vision of anything and everything else.

"Er, I see it, Shinobu," Miyagi said, not understanding why Shinobu had shoved the flower into his face other than the fact that he wanted to brag about his first love, which only caused him irritation. "Listen, I love the fact that you've found yourself a girlfriend, but lets not shove our happiness onto the bachelor, alright?" He pushed the flower away; only to have it shoved right back to his face.

"We aren't even together, not yet at least. I planned on telling y-…her tonight. But, I need her to take the rose first." Shinobu said, holding the flower to Miyagi's face.

"Then, go give it to her!"

Shinobu was growing tired of trying to hint something to the old man, assuming a blunt confession would only scare the man.

"I'm trying to tell you that I love you, you bastard!" He yelled.

Miyagi's eyes widened on this statement, turning to face Shinobu who was staring angrily back at him. His lips moved as though he was saying something, yet he made no noise.

"Excuse me?" Miyagi asked, trying to make sure he hadn't heard the boy wrong nor had the boy lost his mind for a split second.

"I said I love you."

"That's what I thought I'd heard…" Miyagi said, sighing as he put a hand on the counter, the other hand sitting on his face as he sighed. "Do you even understand what you're saying right now, Shinobu?"

"Of course. I asked my parents about how I felt about you, and they said it's love. What's not to understand?" He said arrogantly, staring down at the other man as though he were some kind of idiot.

Miyagi looked down at the rose that sat on the counter in front of him. He tried to keep his composure, his otherwise calm demeanor was slowly breaking apart as Shinobu stood there watching. Overwhelmed with the desire he had been suppressing since the day he had come to terms with his own feelings, he turned to his side and cupped the back of Shinobu's head. Before Shinobu could react, the older man's lips were planted on top of his own, kissing him so sweetly he wasn't sure what to do other than to kiss back, closing his eyes as he accepted all of it.

Miyagi noticed such an acceptance, which only caused him to want to kiss the boy further. Feeling himself unable to stop, he broke the kiss and kept Shinobu in his arms, putting his hands onto Shinobu's shoulders as he heaved a sigh.

"You're just too damn cute, you know that?" Miyagi asked, slipping his hand into Shinobu's as he exited the kitchen, dragging the boy along with him.

"What are you doing?" Shinobu asked, confused as to why they were suddenly switching locations like this.

"You gave me a red rose, without the slightest idea of what it truly means. And now I fully intend to show you."

Don't kill me for the cliffhanger, please. D: Well, there you have it folks! It's called red only because I don't think it's very light anymore, especially towards the end. XD I do hope it wasn't going too fast. By all means, let me know if it was. Anyways, I don't have anything else to say other than the last chapter before the Epilogue is next. NOOOOO. Haha. Dx