Yo. Huge apologies for the super long delay. I just reread the last chapter to know what was going on here. I even forgot what the girl's name was. *facepalm*

I would say I'm extremely glad summer is among us, but I am yet still in the mid of finals week (how the heck am I even here lol?)

Replies to Reviews:

Misakiyu: lol, thanks! Hey, don't worry about—any idea is welcome. It makes me happy you're thinking about the story. Maybe I just could add that as a special chapter (wink). Funny you mention potion, because we'll be seeing some of that –in a different way though lol. Thanks for the review!

Spiritwind87: Somebody had to make the first 'sexual' step. I mean Kotaro's been great and all, but our level of pleasure far exceeds that haha. Dude, sometimes I wish I could draw this crap out, it'd be epic to convey the exact expressions they make (though you guys probably get the idea). Thanks as always for the review!

Disclaimer in first chapter.

Chapter 26:

Before he knew it, he had slapped Nanashi across the face. The elder stared back at him with bewilderment. "You just kissed her—then kissed me?! That's disgusting Nanashi—how could you!" 'Was he only using me?' His eyes were at the brink of tears. "Dammit, I'm so pissed. What, are you thinking of getting together now? She is a woman, you can get married too and build you own family—" The teen's voice was breaking. "I bet it would be better if I just left." Kotaro spouted before turning away.

'No, this is bad.' Nanashi thought. He had a strong feeling the younger would seriously leave him if he let him go right now. The elder caught the other's wrist, holding him back. "Kotaro."

"Don't touch me!" The brunette resisted.

"…I'm sorry." The redhead quietly blurted. Kotaro stopped struggling. 'He apologized too, and so sincerely—he's definitely not himself today.' "I realized I acted too selfishly just now. My bad." Nanashi admitted. "But what about you?"

"Me?" Kotaro swerved his entire body towards him in bafflement.

"Don't ever say you're going to leave. You can't do that."

"Oh yeah and why not? It's not like you even need me anymore." Kotaro barely finished speaking the words, when Nanashi abruptly pushed him against the wall.

"Don't be ridiculous." His face was much more serious now as he shadowed over him, a hand still on his wrist and another forearm on the wall. "You're my life. Haven't I said that before? You're the reason for my peace of mind... I need you more than you think." The elder lowly uttered the last part with hesitation. The younger was his salvation back then and sometimes now too, even if he'd already forgiven himself. Having the younger with him all these years was what gave his soul tranquility. He was sure Kotaro could say the same thing. That being said, he glanced at the brunette, who covered half of his face with a fist, looking away with an unreadable expression.

"H-hey it's not…like I was actually gonna leave idiot…"

Nanashi scoffed, a corner of his lips tugging upward. "Oh yeah? I'm relieved then." He dropped his head a bit, so his eyes were facing the floor. Kotaro scooted closer and embraced his body quietly, catching the other off guard. The redhead removed the arm supporting the wall and laced it around the teen, sandwiching him between the wall and himself.

"Nanashi, quit that place." Kotaro mouthed. Nanashi only dug his chin further in the other's wavy fluff of hair. "She's making you weird—I don't like it." The elder would disagree with the statement that made him sound so susceptible but at the same time, concurred that quitting would indeed make his life a tad easier.

"Yeah…I think I might."

*_*_*_*…*_*_*_*

Anzu sat in the company of an elder woman. One that she had known for quite some time and was well-known in the village.

"What's wrong? You seem...distressed about something." The woman asked. Anzu didn't reply for long before uttering:

"'s nothing."

"Surely it's nothing if it has you thinking so hard."

The younger women sighed. "Oku-sama*, am I lacking beauty?"

"Never would anyone think so." The elder woman was appalled by the odd question.

"Hah, then I just don't seem to understand why he denies me."

"A man worries you?"

"I...want us to be affixed...but he refuses any advances I make."

"—How aggressive."

Anzu hid a blush. "It's not like I want to be, but...I'm afraid he respects me too much that he won't look at me that way. I even confessed to him."

"Younger or older?"

The younger lady averted her eyes. "Slightly younger, but very mature and responsible. One would think he was older. Tell me, oku-sama, what should I do?"

"Hm..." She slowly got up and turned towards the large mud-molded barrels against the wall. "I can only give you this." She reached for a flat plate and scooped an amount of minced powder. She covered it with another thin plate before handing it to her.

"This is…?"

"This will help sedate his brain so that your sweet words will reach him better." She winked wisely. "Just mix it in his tea or something." Anzu was a bit reluctant as she took the small plates in her hand.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Of course."

"Why do you have this?"

"Ah, that's a secret." She smiled, augmenting her wrinkles. "Some women just buy this stuff from me from time to time, so I decided to make the extracts."

"Extracts?"

"Only from a plant that you'll find in the outskirts."

"I see..." Anzu decided to leave it at that.

"You might have to give it a few times so that it'll gradually work—you know, it also depends on the person." She explained. "Start with this one first, it'll hypnotize him into anything you say." The younger nodded, wondering on the side, how well all of this would go.

*.*.*.*…*.*.*.*

"Nanashi-kun, would you like some tea?"

"I'm alright, thank you." The redhead rejected.

"Please I insist. You can imagine that I'm always alone here anyway. It's nice to have someone to drink with now and then."

"I don't want to trouble you."

"Please? I'm sorry our last conversation didn't end so well. I promise nothing will happen this time." Sooner or later Nanashi surrendered and agreed. The samurai waited patiently for his drink and then took a sip of the offered tea. Anzu sat herself in front of him and secretly watched him drink the mixed beverage.

Frankly enough, the next day they did the exact same, making small talk once in a while too. With the ease she presented herself with, Nanashi would be convinced that maybe she let go of the confession already.

*-*-*-*…*-*-*-*

"Nanashi-kun~?" She cooed his name. "You won't quit, will you? Aren't I treating you well?" She skidded closer to him as he sat next to her on the floor.

"Hm ...yes... sure…I won't."

At Home:

In all honesty, the red head felt absent minded all of a sudden. For instance, he didn't even notice when he reached home—he couldn't even recall the journey back. 'Maybe I spaced out? But who would space out the entire way home?' And lately he realized it was getting worse. He did admit his conscious was coming and going, like a drunk person or something, but what troubled him was that he hardly ever came close to a sake cup these last few days. So these symptoms must have been from something else.

"Yo!" Kotaro's voice from behind pulled him out of his worm hole; who happened to enter the house as well. "Did you just get back too? So? Tell me, did you quit?" The teen questioned as he skipped past him to fetch some water. "Wow the weather's so much warmer." He casually added in as he sequestered his thirst.

"What...no, no I didn't..." The speaker himself was amazed at those words. 'What was he thinking? Why was he still working there? Wasn't he going to talk about that today? But ...' He tried to recollect the memories from earlier to understand why didn't bring the topic of resigning. That's when he remembered himself telling her that he wouldn't quit.

He said that with his own mouth. 'So… did he really not want to quit then? Well, she was behaving herself and as usual the pay was always worth it...'

"What? Why not!?" However, Kotaro deemed otherwise.

"Kotaro, don't shout." The elder said tiresomely. "It's fine. She seems to have understood her position, so it's fine if I work there a bit longer."

"I don't know—I don't trust her."

That made Nanashi hold back a crackle, messing up his hair with a hand while he was at it. "That's you with everybody."

"Yeah, yeah." The teen crossed his arms, not hating the gesture.

…

The sky was abysmal and dark, but it was never the wrong time to soak in a bath. Sure, the water was getting cooler by the instant but the empty woods, and otherwise silent atmosphere was always calming near the pond. Kotaro decided to skip the bath and just hang around Tobimaru back at home. Hence, the elder took this time to fully stretch his muscles. He threw his head back a bit and took slow breaths in and out. Somehow, he felt so laid back. If he closed his eyes, he could probably imagine himself floating in a gravity-free space, his flesh diffusing into the water…

Nanashi snapped his eyes open. 'What was going on these days? Was he subconsciously stressed that relaxing felt so peaceful, as it did right now?' Though he doubted that. This feeling…his mind felt so sedated.

*.*.*.*…*.*.*.*

"Eh? What are these?" The red head mused.

"Oh? Do they look nice? I cooked them myself. Care to join us?"

"Er, no thanks. I'm not hungry."

"Don't be like that Nanashi-kun~" She softly nudged her shoulder against his. "We've sat down and drank so many times—why do you still act to formal with me?" She genuinely smiled. "I'll tell you what, I'm going to give some to the maids and I'll be right back with yours and mine, alright?"

"Uh,"

"Don't look so troubled. Can you do me a favor and wait for me in the room all the way to the left of the hall?" Anzu politely requested as she flashed one last smile before dashing away.

'Which room…?' Nanashi looked down the hall. He had to wonder why he was going along with this. The red head continued to trot through the paper doors until he found a single door mapped on the left wall. 'Is this it?' He slid the paper doors apart and peered in. It was quite dark but enough still held illumination to navigate around. In it, lay a wide futon—enough for two people or more—curtains, paintings, fancy kitchen utensils (that probably held small items in them) and a bunch of glasses were turned upside on a shelf in a neat line. There were also golden candle stands at every corner of the room and a closed closet that hung a few embroidered kimonos on the outside. 'Is this her room?'

"I'm back." Her excited voice spoke from behind, startling him for a moment. "Why are you standing? Like I said, no need to feel like an outsider—come sit." She sat on the mat and placed the tray in front of her. Nanashi followed in her foot steps and sat down in front of her. "Have some, these are all for you and me." She pointed to the tray full of small round breads. "Allow me to light some candles in the meantime."

Nanashi lifted the soft bun, the tender aroma of it filling his nose. 'Looked harmless.' He concluded as he took a large bite. 'And tasted harmless too.'

"How is it? Do you like it?" Anzu probed as she took a spot next to him.

"Mh, sure." As he moved on to the second, he felt that sensation again. All the muscles of his body were beginning to slack, he was losing consciousness but not fully. There was also something snuggling closer to the side of his body, then it tugged his arm, forcing him to turn towards it. Ultimately, he felt soft flesh press against his lips and to his bewilderment, as all this was occurring, not once could his brain refuse it or question it.

*_*_*_*…*_*_*_*

"Welcome back." Kotaro grudgingly greeted. "Don't you come back awfully late these days."

"Hn? Do I? Yeah, I guess I do…" Nanashi scratched the back of his neck in thought before he whipped past the other leaving a trail of a flowery scent. The brunette's nose twitched.

'That…that fragrance doesn't belong to Nanashi.' "Hey, what were you doing…?"

"What do you mean?" The elder asked puzzled.

"Why do you smell so strong?"

The red head sniffed his clothes. "Oh, it must have rubbed off or something."

'She was probably clinging on to him again…' "I see you're enjoying yourself." The teen mumbled.

"Speak louder, will you?"

Kotaro kicked the floor in haste before shouting: "It's nothing!" and moved on.

That night Nanashi noticed the younger decided to sleep in the other corner of the room, nuzzling next to Tobimaru instead of him. He automatically sighed. 'Yup, he's definitely upset about something—it's so obvious.' Albeit, at the same time, his brain wasn't willing to expend too much energy to fish-hunt what it was. 'Does he hate the notion of me with her that much?' That last speculation made him snort while he lay passively on the futon alone. Truthfully, that was rather flattering. When was the last time –or any time—someone obsessed over him so much?

…

The elder rolled over in the middle of the night, to have his arm hit the hard floor beneath the futon. That unpleasant feeling provoked him to crack his eyes open. 'Where's the kid?' He yawned and ended up sitting straight. Spotting the teen right across the room, he sluggishly stood up and gathered him in his arms, waking up Tobimaru. The dog mildly gazed at him.

"Sorry but I'll be taking him back." Nanashi winked at the dog, as he hoisted the teen and walked back to the futon. The younger didn't notice a thing as he soundly slept and turned over on his side as soon as the redhead lay him down on futon, pulling the covers over him as well. He, himself, then shifted underneath the blanket and scooted closer to the teen until Kotaro's warmth was sheathing him.

'…It helps to curl up with something you love and think good thoughts. That's what I always do, and it really works.' The childish words from long ago replayed in his mind as he peacefully closed his eyes.

…

The teen woke up first, lazily sitting up and stretching his arms right before his eyes would be bombarded with intense sunlight. It was impossible to sleep in during this time of the year since the sun would be more than in their face in the mornings—especially with the uncovered windows. Instinctively, he glanced to his side to find Nanashi.

'What?! Again? Did I really crawl back here over night? No—that doesn't make sense.' The brunette beat himself up for it, until something more significant struck him. 'Wait—Nanashi was over-sleeping? And on a work day? How was that even possible?'

"Oi, Nanashi." Kotaro shook his shoulder. "Don't you have to go work? You're gonna be late." None of his words were reaching him and the teen knew that because Nanashi didn't even make a sound. "He looks dead asleep." 'Again, very unusual. As an ex-samurai, he's not used to sleeping too absently.' "Nanashi, wake up. Hey, are you feeling okay?" The brunette continued to nudge him until he earned a response.

The elder groaned, squeezing his eyes shut and experiencing a difficult time wiping his slumber away. "What's up…?"

"Don't what's up me. How are you still sleeping? Don't you have to go to that lady's house for work?" No response. 'Did he just fall back asleep?!' The teen's mind screamed. Before he could answer that, a muscular arm wrapped over his waist pulling him closer. 'Aw man, now's not the time for this…' He cursed the timing, otherwise he would have savored it. "Nanashi~" The younger sang, attempting to get his attention again and pulled the other's long locks to uncover his face.

*Oku-sama: very formally, ma'am.

To Be Continued…

OMG, those drugs are f'ing Nanashi up. (I'm laughing here—so enjoying this). And I don't mean f'ing his brain in a terrible way but more like throwing him off in a sense and bringing about this feeling of laxness/sedation/absent-mindedness. And another clarification: they're not exactly drugs, just whatever you could find from a 'special' plant (wink). Third clarification: Anzu and Nanashi didn't go any further than kissing.

Okay, gotta go back to studying now, this took slightly longer than I expected—but that's my fault, because in the middle of this –I don't know what I was smoking—but I literally went and re-watched the movie (for the umpteenth time now). Just for the hell of it.

See you guys soon. Thanks for holding up.