Alright, here's the chapter that reveals something very important about this fan-fic. It may be an AU, but...well, you should notice. : D Also, there is much emo-ness and fluff. ^^

What I Like About You

Jinga groaned as he turned over in Reiji's bed, hiding from the sun streaming in through the single window. Suddenly he bolted upright as he smelt something positively delicious coming from downstairs. He hopped out of the bed and searched for his boxers, utterly confuzzled when he couldn't find them. In fact, he didn't see any clothes on the floor. Something is not right... The redhead thought as he pulled out one of Reiji's extra-long shirts from a drawer. The teen walked briskly down the stairs to find his lover cooking bacon in the kitchen. "Reiji?"

The red-head looked up from his cooking and grinned. "Hey Jinga, lemme finish this bacon up and move the clothes into the dryer."

What the fuck...? Jinga hesitantly made his way to the small table opposite the kitchen counter, watching the older teen. "What did you do?"

"Hm?" Reiji turned around. "What? I can't cook breakfast for you without being guilty of something?"

"No." Jinga answered honestly. "In fact, you usually burn everything you touch, and I'm the one who always has to do the laundry when I come over here." He became distracted by the beautifully cooked bacon being slipped onto a plate.

Reiji pulled two eggs out of the carton and started finishing up the breakfast, smirking to himself. "I just thought you'd like to wake up without having to do anything for me for a change. Was I wrong to think you'd like this?" He glanced over his shoulder to find the redhead had moved to sniff greedily at the bacon. "Hungry?"

Jinga looked up and glared. "I'm not trusting you for one minute, but I suppose if it means you feeding me, I'm cool with it." He made to steal the bacon and was promptly slapped with the hot spatula. "Ow! What the fuck?"

"Patience is a virtue~" Reiji sing-songed, flipping the eggs.

"Of which I have none..." Jinga muttered before slinking back to the table and waiting for his breakfast. As soon as the food was in front of him, he dove in, nomming happily on the cooked meat.

The pyro across from him ate quietly, watching the redhead with an amused expression. Once he saw that Jinga had scarfed down everything he could – including a piece of his own bacon – Reiji picked up the dishes and placed them in the sink before coming back to the redhead. He kneeled in front of him and took a small hand into both of his own.

"Oh fuck..." Jinga began measuring in his mind the distance from himself and the front door.

"Jinga, you know I love you." Reiji said sincerely.

"Uh-huh..."

"And no matter what happens, I'll always be there for you."

"Didn't you already propose to me, like, months ago?" The redhead was shifting nervously in his chair.

"You're mother called me today."

Oh fudge-bunnies...

"We're going over to your parents' house this afternoon, and I wanted to calm you down before I told you. Are you calm enough?"

"..."

"Jingie?"

"...you have medical insurance, right?"

Reiji, Jinga, Kyoya, and Gingka sat in the green Mustang as they turned onto London Bridge Road, Dropkick Murphys playing quietly through the speakers. The pyro drummed his fingers lightly on the steering wheel, the redhead in the passenger seat nervously twiddling his thumbs while his brother and the greenette played I Spy in the back.

"I spy something..." Gingka began searching out the window, "brown!"

"It's another horse, isn't it?" Kyoya asked, smirking despite his annoyance, his boyfriend glaring at him.

"For your information, it was a goat this time."

Reiji looked to his own boyfriend once a large two-story brick house came into view. "This the place, Jingie?"

"Yep..." Jinga and his twin had pulled out their matching clothes to make their parents happy today. They both wore light blue jeans and their old Summer Farm Camp shirts from when they were ten. Sad how the shirts still fit almost eight years later... Damian had already been to the old house the day before, so now Jinga was even more worried about Reiji's well-being.

They pulled into the semi-circle gravel driveway, stopping the car directly in front of the house instead of parking in front of the garage. Reiji cut off the engine and stepped out to view the lush lawn and high-tech electric fence panel by the front door. "Alright, got your stuff?" He asked the redhead. Jinga hopped out with his bag, his parents' having apparently told Reiji to bring swim trunks. Both semes present were wearing their trunks with a tank – Reiji's red, Kyoya's green...big effin' shock.

"Yeah..."

Gingka and Kyoya slid out of the vehicle, the greenette taking his boyfriend's bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Been a while since I was here the first time..." Kyoya said, his blue eyes resting for a moment on the two-car garage door before looking up at the second story windows. "I think I was here for a sleepover...right?"

Gingka nodded and led the way to the front steps. "Yep, you got to see the place before Jinga and I moved to stay with Damian." He rang the doorbell and stepped back. Reiji and Jinga walked behind him and the redhead tensed up dramatically.

The door was flung open to reveal Serah in a cute light blue apron, the alluring smell of brownies flowing out of the house. "Gingka, Jinga!" She stepped out and snatched her boys into a hug before calling for her husband to come out. "Snow! They're here!" She looked up at Reiji and the pyro could swear she looked at him pityingly.

Snow came bounding through the house and onto the driveway, tackling his sons as he went down.

"Oofh!" Gingka and Jinga both had the wind knocked out of them as they were crushed under their father's weight.

"Ha-ha! You finally decided to pay your old man a visit huh?" He and Gingka started wrestling on the gravel as Jinga escaped back to his mother.

"Mom, you really need to put a leash on him."

"Jingie, I only use that in private."

Jinga gave his mother a horrified look and shuddered. This is when Snow took notice of his sons' lovers.

The tall blond got up and held his hand out to Kyoya. "Good to see you again, kid." He winked. He liked Kyoya – the boy was smart, responsible, and took good care of his youngest son – Heck, he's carrying Gingka's bag even though it had barely anything in it. Now he turned his eyes to the red-head that had taken an awkward stance by his other son. "You must be Reiji." He released Kyoya's hand and held it out to the stranger.

"Yep, Reiji Mizuchi, glad to finally meet you, sir." The red-head placed his hand in the other man's and winced as he was met with a death-grip.

"Tell me, Reiji, how fast can you run?"

"Pretty fast – I was on the Track Team for a while until they kicked me off for smoking behind the bleachers."

Jinga gasped. "Nonono-stop!" He ran between his father and his lover, backing the pyro away from the grinning blond.

Snow slowly strode towards the garage, clicking it open with a button in his pocket. "You got any interest in bikes kid?" The electric door rolled up to reveal a gorgeous blue and white bike resembling Damian's. Now Reiji knew it was a family thing – and reminded himself in the back of his mind to learn to ride one. If the bike gene was passed to Jinga, the pyro was not going to be riding Bitch-Seat.

"I took apart a few bikes in my time." Reiji eyed the shining vehicle from a safe distance.

"So you have an idea of how fast this one could go?" Snow straddled the bike and slid the key into the ignition, casually leaning forward to smirk at the red-head. It was the smirk that said, 'You have absolutely no idea what I'm about to do to you...'.

Reiji stepped forward, examining the bike at a closer viewpoint. "I'd say...about a hundred-twenty."

"Good eye..." The redhead turned the key and the engine roared to life, a light grey cloud of exhaust pouring out of the open garage. "This bike can go from zero to ninety in three seconds. Can you?"

Serah put her hands on her hips and glared at her husband from the front steps. "Snow Villiers! You get off that bike right now and come pay attention to your sons!"

Snow groaned like a teenager being told to stop playing a video game. "But I wasn't gonna hit him on purpose!"

Serah crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot. "Now mister, or you're sleeping on the couch."

"I was only gonna chase him for a block or two!"

The pinkette held her ground, narrowing her eyes at her husband.

"Fiiiiine...killjoy."

Within the ten-foot brick fence, Jinga and his family occupied the backyard, a twenty-foot long Slip 'n' Slide laid out for them. Reiji was standing as far away from his lover's father as he could, his hands itching to pull a cigarette from his pocket to calm his nerves, but remaining at his side in fear of randomly being shot by the man. Gingka and Kyoya sat on the glider just outside the kitchen window, rocking back and forth gently as they talked with Serah. The pinkette was sitting beside them in a fold-out beach chair, glancing at her husband every few seconds to make sure he was behaving. Lightning was criticizing her brother-in-law's barbequing from beside him.

Jinga tapped Reiji on the shoulder and the pyro just about jumped out of his skin. "Dude, chill, he did the same thing to Kyoya years ago." The redhead took a sip of the pink lemonade in his hand. "And look, Kyoya's still alive. You're fine."

"Tell that to my heart – I might have to sue him for nearly giving me a heart-attack." He sighed and pulled his pack of cigarettes from his swim trunks.

"Don't let my dad see those..." Jinga warned.

"Im not smokin' 'em, I just don't wanna get 'em wet and have to buy more." Reiji caught Snow watching him out of the corner of his eye. He rolled his snake orbs and set his Marlboro Lights down in the grass before walking leisurely towards the Slip 'n' Slide.

Jinga sighed and trudged over to his dad and Lightning, sniffing the hot dogs interestedly. "So, who laid out the mat this time?" The redhead asked, eyeing the cooking wieners.

Snow smirked as he turned over a plump hot dog. "I did." His son stared up at him in horror, his plastic glass full of lemonade falling to the ground.

Jinga quickly turned to see Reiji about to jump onto the mat. "Reiji-wait!" Too late. The red-head flew onto the mat and a second later screamed in pain, blood trailing behind him as he slid to the end of the yellow vinyl. The pyro staggered to his feet, hissing at the pain in his ass. There was a huge tear in the bottom of his swim trunks, blood trickling down his legs. "Damnit dad!" Jinga glared at his father and rushed over to help his lover into the house. He picked up a towel from beside the sliding glass door and lightly touched it to Reiji's ass, the red-head grunting as they made their way to the first-floor bathroom.

"Fucking...Slip 'n' Bleed from the Anus...huh Jingie?" Reiji joked, resting on his hands and knees with his swim trunks in a pile next to him. Jinga was gently wiping up the blood from his legs before it could reach the sky blue rug.

"I'm so sorry Reiji...I never should've-"

"It's fine, Jinga." Reiji looked at the redhead from over his shoulder. "This is just how fathers react. Your his son and I'm the guy that came into your life and fucked it up royally." He gave a half-hearted smirk, turning his gaze to the white tiles beneath him.

"Don't say that – you're the one who-"

"Allowed you to be taken into Ryuga's club, taught you to do things a kid should never have to even think of doing, stalked you and took your virginity after the first day I met you..."

Jinga moved the bloodied towel carefully over Reiji's torn hole. "...you're the one who helped me find a place in my life, helped me make new friends, and..." He crawled next to the red-head and hugged him around his ale chest. "you're the person I fell in love with."

Reiji snorted. "I still don't have a fucking clue how that happened...we didn't know each other a full day and yet..."

There was a knock at the door before Serah's voice called to them gently. "Jinga, Reiji, are you two okay?"

Jinga sighed. "We're fine mom, thanks."

Reiji was unable to sit down the rest of the afternoon. After Serah had checked on him and Jinga, she had apparently gone out and had a talk with Snow – now the redhead wasn't anywhere in sight. Lightning had finished the cooking, and she had dragged a four-foot bar table out from the garage for Reiji to lean on while he ate. Jinga was picking at his food, his eyes locked on Reiji's ass safely concealed beneath cotton sweat pants. It had taken a while, but he had eventually gotten enough ointment on his injured hole so he only twitched in pain whenever he shifted or walked.

"Dude, Reiji, how ya feeling?" Kyoya asked, empathy evident in his voice.

"Better." The pyro took a bite of his hot dog and sighed. "Jingie's mom said we could stay over, since I can't drive tonight."

Jinga chose this time to nudge his barely touched food to his lover. "I'll be in my old room. Reiji; it's on the second floor, go to the right, only door on the left." He moved from the table and disappeared into the house.

Almost everyone had gone to bed, save for Reiji and Snow. The pyro was standing alone in the back yard, staring down at his pack of cigarettes, contemplating how he could pick them up without screaming in agony. He sighed and looked up at Jinga's bedroom window. He could see the translucent white curtains fluttering in the light breeze, a flickering light coming from somewhere in the room.

"Need a hand?"

Reiji turned to find Snow standing by the sliding glass door. He glanced back down at his cigs and sighed. "Yeah, if you wouldn't mind..."

The tall blond swaggered over and scooped up the carton, handing it to the teen. "I heard you and my son talking in the bathroom."

Reiji crushed the cigarettes in his hand.

"You really love him."

"...he makes me feel...like I have a Heart. But...Jinga deserves better than me."

"You're right."

Reiji looked up into the brown eyes that reminded him of Jinga, but the orbs held memories of hardships so much greater than his own. "I have a feeling that...you know what he's gotten dragged into because of me."

"I've known for a while what he's been doing."

The pyro shook his head and looked back up at the open window, the wavering light gone now. "I've taken so much away from him..."

Snow sighed and clapped a hand on the kid's shoulder. "True, but you've also given him enough that it more than makes up for what you've taken." He stood in front of Reiji, staring him in the eyes with a look of finality. "I've never seen him happier." The blond pulled the teen into a manly embrace. "Take good care of him."

After holding in screams from walking up the stairs, Reiji opened the door to Jinga's room to find the redhead sleeping soundly under the covers. He smiled and shut the door behind him as he limped towards the bed.

"Thank you..."

The red-head looked at the smaller redhead and saw that he was really in the place that's between awake and asleep. "For what, Jingie?"

"For making my life worth living." The redhead kept still, his eyes closed as Reiji slid into the bed next to him.

"Sure thing."

After a good night's rest, and a Potion that was kept for emergencies, Reiji was ready to drive his lover along with Gingka and Kyoya back to their homes. Everyone said their goodbyes and the teens piled into Reiji's car.

Disney music blasted through the speakers, the teens all singing along to I'll Make a Man Out of You. They took a right turn and drove along Great Neck Road, Jinga staring out the window as he sang.

"Be as swift as the coursing river~ With all the force of a great typhoon~ With all the strength-" Jinga did a double-take. He had been looking at the houses they passed with little interest when he saw a familiar couple. "Was that...Tsubasa and Yu?"

Seme: It's like...two something in the morning, and you ended this with a cliff-hanger...I hate you.

So? You already know everything's that's gonna happen.

Seme: Yeah, but it doesn't make me feel any better. Are you writing all that? You are! That's why you're snickering, you little slut! Stop gigglesnorting! Why do you do these things when you write everything I say? You find it amusing, don't you? Ah whatever...

Ah, I love our conversations. :D