Alright so my times and dates and ages are all screwed up right now, I am working on editing them and changing them in earlier chapters. It is currently December and Ichirou's birthday is in early March.

Chapter Thirteen :: The 25th of December

One Week Later

Ichirou looked out the window as he saw his dad's car pull up in the driveway, this meant that his grandparents had just arrived as they always did to celebrate Kyoko's birthday with her. Years ago, back when Ichirou was a little kid, the thank you parties had been cancelled and although Maria and Kyoko usually saw each other around these dates they did their separate things. Walking over to Ryuu who was reading a simple book, he ran his hand through his little brother's hair. "Grandma and Grandpa are here Ryuu," he said as Ryuu looked up at him with a smile.

"Yeah..." he said not masking the excitement on his face since Kuu and Julie always gave the best presents out of how much they loved their grandchildren. He put the book to the side and walked to the door with Ryuu before watching it open. Dipping into a formal bow Ichirou greeted his grandparents but Ryuu simply ran forth and hugged his grandfather's leg.

"Grandpa!" he yelled with a grin on his face, "Are you here to celebrate mommy's birthday?" he asked as Kuu looked to Ichirou and smiled at him feebly.

"Grandpa..." Ichirou nodded knowing that that was the smile that everyone was giving him. Kuu took Ryuu into his arms as Julie wrapped her arms around the older child tears in her eyes.

"Ichirou...I'm so sorry for your loss," she said pained as Ichirou shivered dropping the calm mask and let the tears gather in his eyes.

"Thanks grandma, Ryan was really special to me..." he looked away, "But I've found a new man."

"Already?" Kuu asked confused as Ichirou nodded.

"Master Akira," he replied having this far-away look in his face as Julie and Kuu exchanged a look and then both slowly nodded trying to understand this.

"Well we're happy for you," Julie said nervously pulling away from the sixteen year old, "As long as you're coping alright. We're proud to have a grandson who can just announce to the world that he's gay."

"The world?" Ichirou said weakly rubbing the back of his neck, "Isn't that just...isn't that a bit big."

"You don't know..." Julie said weakly as Kuon came in, Kyoko was having lunch with Kanae but was having dinner with her family, "Ryan was really popular in both Europe and America. No one blames you though, they all blame the driver."

"Again," Kuu spoke gently, "We're sorry for your loss."

Kuon put the bags down on the stairs and then heard a noise from behind them as Nana came in to sniff the bags that were put down. Kuu laughed as he reached out with one hand to pet the dog's head, holding Ryuu with the other. "Hey there girl," he said as Nana licked his fingers.

"Ichirou..." Kuon said taking a look at his watch, "Don't you have work soon, I thought you were..."

"My shift was Christmas Eve," Ichirou replied as Kuon smiled at him.

"I see..." he said slowly, "So you got today off?"

"Mom's birthday right," Ichirou laughed, "Always." Ryuu looked at Kuu before gesturing to get down so Kuu placed him on the floor and watched him grab Ichirou's hand. "Hey little bro," he said with a smile.

"Nii-san!" Ryuu whispered as he looked at him, "I had a dream that you died..." he whispered, "and then the fairies told me they were taking you away to their kingdom in a couple of months."

Ichirou blinked, "I'm not going anywhere," he told Ryuu crouching down to look him in the eyes. "We won't get separated." Ryuu smiled in relief at that point before hugging Ichirou tightly, Ichirou sighed as he hugged Ryuu back.

Kuon watched his two sons happiness showing on his face which his parents caught at once. Kuon was happiest when he was with his own family, they knew that much. It was more than the joy of acting, seeing two healthy boys you had raised He was an idiotic father due to just how much love he had.

As Ichirou held his brother his phone started to vibrate and he looked at it uncomfortably, he didn't want to miss his mother's birthday, the beginning of the last time of the year he would see his grandparents. Digging it out he saw it was Akira and then pushed his brother away slightly. "I need to get this," he announced before making his way to his room.

Digging out the remainder of the drugs he had he also made sure to take out his wigs and contacts as he answered the phone. "Akira-sama?" he asked politely.

"Puppy I'm bored," Akira said dragging out his sentence a little near the end, "Come and entertain me."

"Akira-sama," Ichirou said returning to being Kei for a moment, "Today was my bre-"

"Answering back eh?" Akira asked coldly, "Does puppy not want any treats?"

"No, I do. You know I'd do anything for you Master Akira," he said as Akira groaned

"Master Akira...Akira-sama, pick one of them to call your god..." Akira sighed before there came the noise of the kitchen staff, "I don't want to be here...come and take my place."

Kei looked down knowing that his parents would worry but he had to follow any order that Akira gave him. "Of course Master Akira," he answered before using the back exit and slipping on a spare pair of shoes there, carrying with him his uniform.

Hearing the click of the door Kuon sighed as Kuu turned around. "He'll be back, probably just needed to take a walk or something..." he said trying to explain Ichirou's odd actions although he was truly worried about his son these days.

Later at the Cafe

Akira groaned as he saw Kei come in through the back entrance, completely dressed in uniform. "Finally you get here puppy," he said annoyed. "Now sit," he said as Kei immediately sat without saying anything, "Beg," he ordered as Kei did so. At that point Leon entered the area and stared at the two of them.

"What are you doing?" he asked them, looking between Kei and Akira hoping for an answer.

Akira chuckled, "Just treating Kei in a way he deserves," he said before clicking his fingers, "You can get up now."

Once he had said that Kei stood up and smiled at Leon who had become a friend to him over the months he had worked here. "Yamazaki-san," he bowed politely as Leon gave him a nod, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Akira but Kei didn't see this.

"Kei," Leon said with a weak smile, "Didn't you have today off? Didn't you tell me that you like to celebrate today with your parents?"

"What's so special about Christmas?" Akira replied with a roll of his eyes, "It's not like puppy is half American."

"No..it's not," Kei replied knowing that his dad liked his whole family to have a good time this day. Afterall his father was raised in America and probably had Christmas memories of his own, at the same time though Kuon often treated him like a little kid. Wasn't it time to rebel?

"Look I have to leave," Akira said before leaving the restaurant without another word as Kei watched him go, pain in his eyes.

Leon sighed before looking at the clock on the wall, "Kei.." he said gently to the younger boy, "Didn't you tell Aki that you had family plans?" he asked as Kei looked down feeling guilty about leaving his mother on the day that she had come to love most because of the closeness with her family. Leon looked at him knowing that Ichirou's grandparents were here, it was on the news of course and especially the channel they showed at the restaurant. It was also Christmas and his mother's birthday, if the sixteen year old stayed here wouldn't he feel like he was missing out?

"It doesn't matter," Kei replied weakly not knowing why he had agreed to Akira, "I mean..." he forced a smile onto his face, "If Master Akira wants me to work instead of him."

"You worked all of yesterday though," Leon replied before bowing his head and took a deep breath in, "Work here for half an hour or so and then I'll take over for you," he told him although he had been working since the restaurant opened and this probably meant working until it closed as well.

"You can't do that!" Kei argued, "You've been working already!"

"So..." Leon shrugged, "Sometimes you have to make sacrifices,"

"Yes, sometimes you do," Kei nodded, "And Akira needs the money for the apartment," he said as Leon looked at him in shock having thought Akira was paying for that place himself. "I need to get him the rent money."

Leon looked down, "You weren't supposed to work today Kei," he reminded him gently, "So allow me to take over for you." He gave him a weak smile, "If Akira gives you problems about the money tell him to talk to me about it." He looked at Kei as if he was hiding something, "Afterall," he began again, "Now you'll owe me instead of Akira."

"Owe you?" Kei asked surprised before staring at him frightened, "What do you want?"

"I want to hang out with you outside of the cafe...as friends of course," he said noticing the sadness in the younger teen's eyes. "I want to go to the shrine on New Years but all of my other friends are going with their girlfriends or boyfriends, I hate being a third wheel."

"Do you mind if Arielle comes too? We usually go together," he said weakly as Leon nodded.

"Yeah...as long as you're not going to be romantic around me then that's good, it's just the boy I love doesn't really love me. It's hard to take sometimes," he admitted as Kei blinked at him.

"You're gay?" he asked and Leon grinned.

"Damn proud of it as well, I just don't let the girls think that," he said confidently as Kei nodded.

"I'll keep your secret," he promised before starting to work for the half hour that Leon wasn't covering for him. Today he'd really be able to celebrate with his family, all because of Leon and his simple request.

Yeah strange...having a Kyoko-birthday chapter with no Kyoko in it, but hope you enjoy it. Also I'm going to take a short perhaps two week break after the next three or so chapters. Hope nobody is disappointed by this.