"One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two—"

"Alright, alright, enough! Stop!"

Daichi sighed as he stared at the scene before him.

The party that the older Manjoume brothers were hosting was approaching and they needed to be prepared for it. That included all aspects of it such as dining and something they all dreaded: dancing.

Shou knew little of it, but Judai and Daichi were less experienced. It was unlikely that they would be asked to dance by anyone, but there was no harm in knowing how. While Shou helped with what he could it was ultimately up to Manjoume to teach all three of them the main steps. That was why they were all in Daichi's living room with the furniture pushed back. They had to have been there for hours, trying to learn the steps as Manjoume directed them.

Judai was the first to give it the old college try. For the first half hour, Manjoume led the way so that he could demonstrate how the dance was meant to be done. When Judai took over as lead, it was clear that he wasn't getting the hang of it. And he wouldn't any time soon by how many times he tried and failed. His frustrations were growing by the hour and so was Manjoume's. There was only so much their either of them could tolerate.

Manjoume stood before Judai and placed his hands on his hips. His partner sat in a chair with a pout on his face and his arms crossed. "Come on—you're hardly trying!"

"Yes, I am!" Judai snapped. He refused to look at Manjoume. "I'm just tired. Can't someone else go for a bit?"

A sigh of defeat left Manjoume. He hung his head and shook it. "Fine. Come on, Daichi."

That was unexpected. Daichi had assumed that Shou would be his teacher after he learned it from Manjoume. After all, outside of his friend group, only Asuka knew about their relationship. Shou and Judai were left in the dark about it and Manjoume seemed to keep it that way. He never told Daichi anything to tell him otherwise.

Daichi still stepped forward, feeling awkward to touch him romantically in front of Judai and Shou. "Sorry if I step on your toes…"

"Don't worry about it," Manjoume assured. "I'm sure I lost all feeling in my toes thanks to Judai." He took Daichi's hand to place it on his hip. "Think you remember the steps?" At Daichi's nod, he smiled. "Good. Then lead the way."

Daichi took a deep breath to calm himself and then started to move with Manjoume speaking.

"One, two, three. One, two, three. That's right—keep going!"

For most of the dance, Daichi had his eyes trained on his own two feet, making sure he didn't step on Manjoume's toes. As he became more comfortable with his steps, he looked up at Manjoume's face, seeing him smile and laugh. It brightened him to see his boyfriend this way. The feeling was contagious, and Daichi started to smile and laugh, too. They were lost amongst themselves as they danced across the room. While it was completely unnecessary, Daichi finished it off by dipping Manjoume nearly to the ground. They were both out of breath, their chests heaving.

Loud applause broke them from their thoughts and they looked to their audience. Daichi's parents had returned home from their errands and had joined them to watch. All four of them were applauding, smiling at them.

"Well, you two looked like you had fun," Mrs. Misawa said.

"Ah… Wel…" Manjoume muttered. For once, he was embarrassed by praise.

"I guess those in relationships really are great at dancing together," Judai commented.

Immediately, Manjoume and Daichi froze.

"W-what?" Manjoume snapped. He pushed Daichi away and fell to the ground, unfazed by his crash on the floor. He lay there and stared at Judai, his face red which was a nice color on his usually pale complexion.

Judai looked at Shou and then the Misawa's. He looked back at Manjoume, wearing a lopsided grin. "Wait, you guys were seriously trying to hide it? Like, seriously?"

Manjoume looked at Daichi who could only shake his head. He knew that Asuka wouldn't have told anyone, no matter how many fights her and Daichi got into.

"How did you figure it out?" Daichi questioned. His boyfriend was too stunned to say anything.

Judai shrugged. "Just a feeling. You guys just seemed too close." His grin doubled in size. "Of course, it doesn't hurt that you just confirmed it, Daichi ol' buddy."

Damn.

Daichi glanced at Manjoume. He was curled up in a ball, facing away from the others in the room. His facial expressions creamed that his life was over and Daichi's heart panged for him. Judai wasn't the best at keeping secrets, but they would need to try.

"Just… don't tell anyone, okay?" Daichi pleaded. "only Asuka knows, so please don't tell anyone else."

"We won't," Shou assured. "Manjoume and you hid it for a reason and we're sure it's a good one. I'm also sure you didn't keep it a secret just to hurt us."

Judai jumped out of his seat and walked over to Daichi to pat his back. "Yeah! We don't blame you or anything—we're friends and we're happy to see you happy."

Daichi laughed and looked over at Manjoume who was still frozen on the floor. "Maybe we should stop for now. I don't think Jun is up to dance anymore. I'll let you know when we can practice next time."

They both tried to stay behind to help put the furniture back, but Daichi declined their offer. The boys said goodbye and Daichi was left alone with his boyfriend. He would need to try and bring him back to life, hoping that it wouldn't be too difficult. Since Manjoume was already on the floor, he sat down beside him. Daichi ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of Manjoume's face. But no reaction was pulled from him.

"Jun, they're gone now," Daichi said in a hushed tone.

Manjoume looked at Daichi from the corner of his eye. "Judai has the biggest mouth out of all your friends. Before long, the whole city will know that I'm gay for you." He brought his hands up to his face and groaned. "I can just see it now: the press at the gates of our home; the cameras will flash, and they'll ask about our relationship; your mother's health will plummet from all the stress—"

Daichi stopped him before he could go on. "Jun, you're overreacting. Judai wouldn't endanger you like that. He admires you too much." He scooped Manjoume into his arms. It was easy with how light he was, and it was something that Daichi thought was cute. "Don't fret so much about it—we're going to be fine."

He buried his face in Daichi's neck. "Are you sure? If my brother's find out—"

"They won't." Daichi wasn't sure who he was assuring more: Manjoume or himself. His brothers could always find out without either of them knowing. "Have trust and faith in me."

"I trust you; it's them I don't trust."

Daichi kissed his forehead. "I know, I know."

This dance felt like it would test their relationship. And he had faith that they would survive.

It was finally time.

Judai mentioned that he felt like he was suffocating in his suit. It took too much effort on Daichi and Shou's part to calm him down. The three of them arrived earlier than expected, which surprised the maids and butlers. Manjoume could only see them briefly before running back to his room to get ready.

The three of them waited in the main foyer, watching others file in the closer it came for the party to start. Asuka joined them and Judai was the first to compliment her. The blush on her face didn't go unnoticed by Daichi. As Manjoume had hoped, Judai had used his plus one option for her to come with him. With everyone crowded in the main foyer, they stuck to the walls as they waited for things to change.

Daichi looked at the stairs constantly for any sign of Manjoume. Asuka touched his shoulder, doing her best to calm him down. He couldn't explain why he felt so anxious—with so many people around, there wouldn't be a chance for the older Manjoume boys to hurt their brother. … Right? It was always a fear on his mind, a constant tickling near the back that never yielded and refused to leave.

Finally, all three of the brothers came down from separate staircases.

They stood at the top of the first flight, smiling down at all their guest. An introduction was given to them about the night and what events were set to happen. Once the oldest brother announced for the party to begin, the filed to another room. There were tables lined against the wall, filled with various foods—all thanks to the cook and Daichi made sure to tell his group about her. Classical music filled the room as did conversations.

Manjoume excused himself as he pushed through the crowd, stopping only once to shake someone' hand. He got to the group and braced his hand on the table. His free hand raked through his slicked back hair. Daichi wished he could be the one to do such a thing.

"If I continue to smile at all these fake people, my face is going to crack," Manjoume muttered through gritted teeth.

Asuka touched his shoulder. "Wouldn't be the first time but be careful—none of us want to clean blood off our expensive outfits."

Manjoume let out a mocking laugh. He grabbed a flute of champagne as it passed him by. It was down his throat in seconds. "You guys will be my saviors for the night. I absolutely hate everyone in this room—well, except the three of you."

Judai looked around the room, counting their group on his fingers. "Manjoume… there are four of us here?"

"Yeah, I know," Manjoume said with a grin.

It took Judai a few moments to realize what he had said. He gave Manjoume an injured look and crossed his arms. The indignant look only pulled a laugh out of Manjoume, a genuine laugh instead of a mocking one. It was nice to hear it.

Someone called Manjoume over and he excused himself from the group. Daichi led them through the parts of the first floor, stopping by the kitchen to say hello to the chef. The tour continued through the garden where Daichi happily pointed out all the flowers that Manjoume had mentioned before. It pleased him to learn that his friends enjoyed being in the garden. Out of all the things that changed in the manor, even Manjoume was happy that the garden stayed the same.

Returning to the party, Judai commented about it being a killjoy. He seemed ready to do something else and everyone else agreed. Daichi figured it was time to look for Manjoume and let him know what was going on. He looked over the crowd of people, unable to see his boyfriend anywhere.

"I'm going to go find Jun… Maybe he'll take us back to his room and we can watch something," Daichi said.

"Please!" Judai pleaded. "I'm dying of boredom here."

Daichi nodded.

He darted through the crowd, dodging their elbows and hands holding champagne flutes. He never thought a group of adults would manage to get drunk so fast on champagne. It was strange to see it, but he supposed that was life when you got older enough to drink. Daichi couldn't say that he would never drink when he got older, but he promised not to get as wasted as they had become. He shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts. They weren't his priority and he had to look for Manjoume.

And he found him in the center of the room, dancing with a red-headed girl.

Something twisted in Daichi and he felt his chest tighten. Watching them was painful and he couldn't fathom why. He went into the relationship know that he wouldn't be able to do such things with Manjoume in public. Keeping their relationship secret was to protect him and not hurt Daichi. Yet he still found himself hoping for any kind of explanation as to why Manjoume would dance with someone and look at her like she was everything.

He hoped he was drunk.

He hoped that Manjoume had too many drinks and his moral compass and spun out of control.

Daichi needed to tell himself that to hold on to his sanity.

As patiently as he could, Daichi waited what felt like a lifetime for their dance to be over. Manjoume kissed the back of the red head's hand and stepped away from her. She disappeared into the crowd with cheeks as red as her hair. Daichi wished he could push the jealous pang in his heart away. He stepped closer and placed a hand on Manjoume's shoulder. When he was this close, Manjoume didn't look drunk which made Daichi feel worse.

"Your specially invited guests are starting to feel bored," Daichi said. He forced a smile, realizing that Manjoume was right about faking one.

"Judai sure took his sweet time…" Manjoume muttered. "Take them to my room—I have to talk to someone quickly then ask my brothers for permission to go. If I don't show up in an hour, start a movie or something without me."

He didn't want to leave Manjoume alone at all. The image of the red-headed woman popped into his head, ready to dance with his boyfriend again. It was followed by a thought of Manjoume's brothers doing something terrible to him. It was hard to take his word after Daichi had seen the scars on his body. What could he do, though? His hands were tied on the situation.

Daichi squeezed Manjoume's shoulder and left him. Finding the others, he helped them stock food on platters then lead them to the entertainment room. Once there, Judai took to the movie collection while Shou and Asuka admired the aquarium.

With their attention on something else, Daichi sat on the couch and tried to will his heart to stop beating so quickly. He couldn't stop himself from thinking about Manjoume in a completely different world than his. If his friends said anything to him, Daichi wasn't listening.

He continued to think about Manjoume's well-being and safety.

He thought about how well the woman looked dancing with his boyfriend, something that Daichi would never be able to experience.

The thoughts were suffocating, and they choked him as his jealousy grew.

It was hard to admit that he was jealous, but Daichi knew there was no other way around it. Who could blame him? Daichi would never be able to touch or dance with him in public. These were things that Manjoume could do with a girl simply because she would be a different gender than Daichi and him. It was unfair, but he knew better than to feel any resentment towards it. However, it didn't stop him from feeling it.

There was absolutely nothing either of them could do about it. Daichi didn't want to imagine what Manjoume's brothers might do to them. Once he started, though, he couldn't stop. His thoughts were like a train chugging to the edge of a cliff with no way of stopping. And when he tipped over the edge, the thoughts and possibilities choked Daichi, burying him under a chaotic mess of—

"Daichi!"

He opened his eyes. Manjoume was hovering over him now with worry evident on his face. The others were behind him wearing similar looks. Daichi wondered how long he had been in his own thoughts?

"Y-yes…?"

Manjoume stroked his hair, pushing back damp strands. "Are you okay? You looked like you were having a tough time for a moment there…"

Daichi couldn't tell him—he couldn't say that there was a raging jealously inside him that forced burning vile into the back of his throat. Not when he looked so happy to be around people who cared about him instead of the party. "Ah, just some thoughts of a video game I was playing a few days ago…"

Manjoume didn't look too convinced but he didn't push the matter. Instead, he leaned forward and kissed him. Daichi could still taste champagne that lingered on his lips. "It must have been some crazy game if it's messing up your sleep," Manjoume said.

Judai had returned to the selection of movies and called Manjoume over for a question. He sighed, gave Daichi one last kiss, then moved over to see what was needed of him.

Asuka and Shou took the chance to sit beside Daichi. "Are you sure you're okay?" Asuka asked, rubbing her hand up and down his arm.

"I'm fine, Asuka," Daichi assured as he touched her hand.

"You really scared us there." Shou messed up his own hair, forcing the teal strands out of its slicked-back hairstyle. "You weren't listening or responding to anything we said. We were about to search for Manjoume, but he arrived just in the nick of time."

Daichi remembered hearing their voices but not much else such as what they were saying. They would understand what he was going through, but it seemed silly to tell them. These were emotions that he knew would happen when he got into a relationship with Manjoume. Daichi was told from the very beginning that the wouldn't be able to publicize their relationship and he had come to terms with that.

It didn't help the hurtful sting any less.

"I'm sorry I worried you all…"

"Just don't do it again," Asuka said, hugging him. "We'll talk about it later—just you and me, okay?" She had whispered it so that only Daichi could hear and he gave her a small nod as an answer.

"Alright, everyone! Judai picked a movie so let's all shut up and watch it." Manjoume moved over to Daichi and squeezed himself into his lap. "It's weird being open about our relationship with these guys. I kind of liked the thrill of keeping it a secret from them."

"As did I," Daichi lied. He kissed the top of Manjoume's head. "I like that we can be open with them now."

"To each his own."

"Pipe down, guys. It's about to start," Asuka said.

When Daichi pried his eyes open, the sunlight blinded him momentarily. He kept his eyes closed for another few minutes before opening them again. Manjoume was still sleeping against his chest while the others were spread out on the couch. There were blankets that covered them now, something that Yukiko must have done sometime during the night.

Raising his hand, Daichi ran it through Manjoume's hair, stirring him awake. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's fine," Manjoume muttered. He rubbed at his eyes and whimpered. "I didn't think it was possible to get hung over from champagne…"

"Neither did I until you mentioned it."

Manjoume yawned. He looked across the couch and frowned at the bodies there. "Well, it'll be difficult to sneak you guys out… Unless my brothers were busy last night." As if on cue, Yukiko entered the room, a tray of drinks in her hands. "Yukiko, what time did my brothers go to bed?"

She placed the tray down on the table. "The party ran late until a little after one. Your brothers then retired to their rooms with their… escapades…"

"Ah, we have time."

"It's past ten already, Master Manjoume. Shall I bring breakfast up for everyone?"

"Yes, please and thank you."

She curtsied then left the room.

Manjoume looked down at his leg where Asuka had used him for a pillow. He shook it a few times, waking her up. "Hey, wake your boys up. Breakfast will be coming soon."

Asuka groaned. She put her head back on Manjoume's leg then reached over and shook Shou until he woke up. "Shou, tell Judai breakfast is ready."

Shou clearly wasn't a morning person, either. Still, he sat up and shook Judai's shoulder. "Big bro, breakfast—"

Judai shot up, spooking both Shou and Manjoume. "You had me at breakfast."

"It's not here yet, but it will be soon," Manjoume corrected. He turned to Daichi and gave him a quick kiss. "I'm taking a shower." He got off the couch, disrupting Asuka's "pillow", and covered Daichi with his blanket. "Go ahead and eat without me."

"Alright."

Asuka moved closer to Daichi as the door to Manjoume's room clicked shut. Daichi stroked her hair as she put her head on his leg. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"I feel alright," Daichi muttered. It was only a slight relief, but last night's feeling was something that he would need to discuss with Manjoume. "I don't know how we ended up falling asleep here."

"Our parents are probably worried." Even though Asuka pointed it out, she didn't rush to make a call to her family.

"Yours might be." Daichi's parents would know exactly where he was.

Yukiko returned with a cart full of steaming food. Judai scooted to the edge of the couch to help himself. She served five plates, leaving Manjoume's on the cart, then disappeared into the other room. It was a half hour before Manjoume appeared, dressed and cleaned for the day. He took his plate and sat on the arm of the couch to eat.

Daichi reached up and squeezed his knee and Manjoume squeezed his hand in return.

This was nice.

All of them sitting together like this without worry. They would soon need to be rushed out of the house, but they could enjoy their time together for now. Daichi wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.

"Man, we should do this more often," Judai pointed out.

"Yeah…" Manjoume muttered. "Maybe one day soon we can do so…"