disclaimer

I, Kagura Fuujinnomai do not own Bankotsu, Jakotsu, Suzaku, Hiten or any of the other characters associated with the Inuyasha series.

I get nothing from writing my Fanfics.

I am simply a fangirl who wishes to share her passion with the rest of the world.

- sincerely,

Kagura Fuujinnomai

(AN. There seems to be something wrong with the document uploader. I'll try my best to have this new chapter show up looking tidy, but there doesn't seem much that I can do about the format! The document manager has no option for italics or bold font. Totally weird! Anyway, if anyone knows how to fix this problem please do let me know!

As always, please Read, Review, and most importantly, Enjoy. )

Not For All The World

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Midari

"Hey Souten!"

The black-haired girl looked up from playing with the puppy, her face instantly lighting up with joy. "Nii-chan!" She promptly threw herself into her big brother's arms and Hiten stood to spin her around, very nearly matching her giggling voice.

"Missed me?"

"Yep!"

Suzaku timidly climbed out of the limo, amazed at how quickly Hiten had lifted this little girl up and set her on his shoulders. 'Oh no…' He'd never thought it was possible. But maybe, just maybe his precious Hiten… liked kids.

"Ugh…"

"Alright Midari-Sama?" the limo driver wondered, holding the door open patiently, and Suzaku nodded grimly. "I'll live…"

"Lookit Souten!" Hiten announced, happily carrying that cute little kid over to greet Suzaku. "This is Su-Chan. Say hi!"

"Hi Su-Chan!" she echoed, giggling, and Suzaku valiantly played off the churning in his stomach.

"Nice to meet you."

"Suzaku, this is my little sister Souten. And this year she's…"

"Five and a half!" Souten announced proudly.

"She's lying," Hiten laughed, scooping the mischievous little girl up into his arms again. "Liar, liar pants on fire!" he teased, tickling her until she was practically shrieking with laughter. "Okay okay!" she snickered, "I'm six."

"Liar!"

Suzaku raised an eyebrow as Souten escaped his grip and Hiten shot off, chasing after the mischievously cackling little girl. The puppy followed as well, yipping playfully. This scene played out like a living nightmare for Suzaku. 'No, no,' he almost moaned. 'Hiten can't like kids! Ughhhhh…'

"What's wrong Su-Chan?"

Suzaku gave him a dubious look as Hiten paused, in the middle of hoisting his sister up-side-down, over his shoulders. She was still giggling madly, calling out random numbers instead of admitting her true age. "Twenty-three!" Souten announced, only amusing her brother further. "Ah-hah! So you're older than me?" Hiten fake-gasped. "I knew it!"

"Yep!"

"I'm leaving." Suzaku sighed, turning around to climb right back into the limo. "I can't do this."

"Oh, don't be like that!"

'What the?' how had Hiten even moved fast enough to catch him? Suzaku squirmed, but Souten also caught hold of him, smiling just like her brother. 'Oh, this is like a zombie horror film nightmare!'

"Come on," Hiten insisted, "you gotta come meet Mom n Dad!"

"Seriously Hiten." Suzaku gave Hiten a look that plainly said he was not joking. "I can't do this." Hiten considered him for a moment, then turned to his sister, smiling as he put his brotherly tone back on. "Souten will you go tell Mama I'm home?"

"Sure!" She ran off, scooping up her puppy, and the two of them were left alone, save for the limo driver, who was still confused as to whether he'd need to drive Suzaku back to the hotel or not. "Don't worry so much Su-Chan." Hiten took his lover's hands into his own, trying to soothe his worries. "They'll love you," he assured, "Mama's been bugging me for years to get serious and finally bring one of my girlfriends home!"

"News flash!" Suzaku hissed sarcastically, "I am not a girl!"

"So what? Bankotsu wasn't either and he came home with me all the time."

"Alllllrighty thennn…" Suzaku drawled, "Now I'm definitely leaving."

But Hiten caught him easily and pulled him into an affectionate hug. "Awe, come on, my Su-Chan. It'll be okay. I love you…"

"Are you kidding? No amount of love is gonna make this okay!" Suzaku seethed. Was Hiten seriously that naïve? "You really expect me to follow you home while you tell your parents they will never have grandchildren? You think they're gonna be happy to meet me after I dragged you off to a different country? Happy to know you're marrying a man and never coming back home to them in Japan?"

"Well no…" Hiten admitted, "but it's not like I could just tell them over the phone or something. Gotta do it face to face right?"

"Um, no, we don't." Suzaku scoffed, "We don't have to do this at all. And I am not doing it. I'm leaving."

"Oh, you're just being stubborn," Hiten sighed, snuggling up to him, "everyone's shy meeting their future inlaws. Just follow me like a good little wife and everything will be fine."

"I am not your wife."

"You will be."

"No, I will be your husband."

At this Hiten nearly laughed. "Um, yeah right."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well you know… Just that you fit the role of 'wife' a lot better than I do."

"Are you calling me a bitch?"

"No, you're not a bitch. You're just like…. A bottom, catcher, uke, submissive, underdog type of guy…"

Suzaku couldn't even speak for a very long moment. He gave Hiten a strangled, suffering look. No show of exasperation could have sufficed. "You know what?"

"What my darling wife, Suzaku?"

"I'm not doing this." Suzaku said simply, "you can go fuck yourself with a knife and then-"

"But Su-Chan-"

"Don't interrupt me Hiten! I'm not done!" he cleared his throat, prodding Hiten painfully in the chest, "As I was saying; you can go fuck yourself with a knife and then you can go get married to your giant, over-inflated ego! Because I am so through with your bullshit!"

"Wow…"

"And you shut up!" Suzaku snapped, addressing their nosy limo driver. "Go wait in the car!"

"Yes sir!" the poor guy scrambled off, flustered, but Hiten wasn't moved at all. "You know," he swooned, snuggling up to Suzaku, "I love it when you yell like that…"

The redhead tugged on his own hair, hopelessly exasperated. Why in the world had he ever expected his horndog 'fiance' to ever take him seriously?

"Oh, I love you…" Hiten cooed, taking one of those sweet little hands into his own as he pulled Suzaku toward the front door of his home. "And my family will too. Come on and stop worrying my Su-Chan…" He led the way with total confidence, but Suzaku lagged behind; almost sick with dread. This was such a nightmare. Hopefully Hiten's parents didn't also notice how good he was with kids. And even so, hopefully they wouldn't mind that Suzaku would never even be able to provide him a child of his own… He pressed a hand miserably to his own stomach, wishing for the millionth time that he could feel a uterus beneath his fingers but at the moment his stomach felt like nothing more than a large mass of twisting nerves. Maybe he'd seriously puke…

The doorbell tolled menacingly and Suzaku dropped Hiten's hand, backing away from his smiling future husband as he prayed this horror movie would just hurry up and end. The door flew open and the woman within literally threw herself into Hiten's waiting arms. "Hi-Chan!" "Mama!"

Suzaku stood back, watching his powerful partner catch and spin her around, just as easily as he'd lifted his little sister. Once this ridiculous display of affection ended, Hiten set his mother down, grinning as she launched into what Suzaku thought was a very cliché motherly rant.

"My goodness, I thought you'd died since you never call! And what's this anyway? Do you just never cut your hair anymore? Is that why you ran off to America? So you could do crazy things like get new tattoos and grow out your hair?"

"No," Hiten chuckled, "I was off following my heart like you always told me to."

"Oh, is that so?" she fake-wondered and Hiten played along, gesturing so that his mother would finally turn around and notice Suzaku. "Mama, I want you to meet Mid-"

"Midari-Sama?"

Even Hiten was taken aback by her sudden gasp. His mother deadpanned and every ounce of color drained from her face as she stared, disbelieving, at Suzaku. Just like she'd seen a ghost.

Suzaku blinked back at her, not recognizing her at all. In his opinion she didn't even look much like Hiten himself. She was very short and sickly-looking, and seemed aged beyond her years. Her thin, silver glasses magnified large, frozen brown eyes. But somehow Suzaku's only thought was that she looked so much more alive than his own, much younger mother…

Hiten stepped in to break the awkward silence. "Mama… You know him already?"

"Can't be…" She finally shook her head, denying even though she'd just said his name.

Suzaku resisted the urge to back off, wanting very badly to snap 'Don't touch me!'
But her hands were warm on his face and those big, disbelieving brown eyes still held kindness.

"You're dead." she whispered.

"Oh!" Finally realization hit him and Hiten immediately separated the two of them, before Suzaku caught on and started to get upset. "No, no Mama, you're mistaking him for someone else."

"Must be," she agreed vaguely, but at that moment the silence was completely shattered as someone else bounded out from the house and successfully tackled Hiten. "You've gotten soft!" This older, grinning version of Hiten cheered as he tumbled onto the grass and pinned his son. "Folks at 46 I am still the ultimate football star!"

"You cheated!" Hiten growled, struggling as what must have been his father chuckled heartily. "Nope, you just need more practice!" he assured, "gotta expect the unexpected!"

The two of them finally stood, still grinning and chattering on about football-related terms that Suzaku did not understand at all. And every now and then those big brown eyes darted back and forth as Hiten's mother gaped at the ghost in her front yard. 'You're dead,' she kept mouthing. Suzaku was very skilled with reading lips…

"Wow!" Suzaku turned as Hiten's father addressed him, "So you're the one that up and kidnapped my son, eh?"

"I suppose," was the redhead's timid reply.

"Knew it!" he bragged, "Prettiest little thing I ever did see. 'Cept my Hanna of course."

"Hanna?" Suzaku echoed, breathing a sigh of relief as Hiten came to his rescue, affectionately reattaching himself to his lover's side. "That's Mom's name." Hiten explained, finally taking the initiative to introduce each of them. "Mr and Mrs. Raiyuki; Hiten Sr, who I'm named after and Hanna… Please be kind enough to welcome my future husband; Midari Suzaku."

Wow. This moment had just come too fast. Hiten said that like it was the most normal thing ever and Suzaku grimaced as his future in-laws nearly tripped over each other in shock.

"Midari?" Hanna echoed, once she'd pulled herself back together.

"H- Husband?" was all Hiten Sr. could choke out.

"Whoa!" Apparently Souten had wandered back outside. "Hiten you're getting a boy wife?"

"No Neesan," Hiten politely clarified, "Su-Chan said he doesn't appreciate being called a wife. So he'll be my Husband okay?"

"Cool! A real live boy wife!"

"Oh crap…" Hiten Sr muttered, thinking aloud, "that gay stuff is legal in America isn't it?"

"Dad," Hiten fake-chuckled, flipping his father off behind Suzaku's back, "I love you, but I will still kick your ass…"

"Oh my gosh, I do know you!" Hanna finally realized, "you're Midari Kujaku's son!"

"Wait who?" Hiten questioned, shocked by the way his redheaded angel suddenly froze up.

"My boss," she explained, "He had a son I think."

"Wait, wait wait!" Hiten's father suddenly interjected, "You mean the Midari Kujaku, like from the commercials? The guy from Midari inc, as in the huge, multi-billion dollar corporation?"

"Can't be…" Hiten turned to his now even more tense companion. "Su-Chan, that's not you right?"

"Um…"

"Has to be!' Hanna insisted, "I've worked for Midari for the past twenty years, right up until he died. He had that same long red hair and those big green eyes too." She leaned a bit closer, amazed by Suzaku.

"You look just like him…"

"I do not." Suzaku huffed, finally speaking up, "Oto-san was much taller. And I've got Mama's face, not his."

"Wait so Mom does know you?" Hiten wondered, stunned.

"She knows my Father and his stupid namesake," Suzaku muttered.

"Well who doesn't!" Suddenly Hiten's father caught hold of his son and happily led the way back to the house. "Come in, come in! What are we doing freezing outside?"

"Ooh! I'll make the tea!" Hanna offered, running off ahead of them.

"Yay! Tea with Hiten's wife!" Souten cheered, bringing up the rear. "Mama can we have cookies too?"

"I don't see why not!"

"Yay!"

Suzaku followed along obediently, even though he would much rather have turned and left.
He was both pleased and further troubled by this new development. In America he was lucky enough to duck the social stigma of being the son of such a wealthy, well-known icon, but now the cat was out of the bag. Not only would Hiten's family be getting a son-in-law and zero new grandchildren, but Hiten himself would soon realize that his innocent little naïve 'wife' was in fact a highly capable young man with zero need for a husband's financial support.

Hopefully that giant ego of his wouldn't be completely reduced to cinders…

Suzaku tried not to let out a sigh as he wandered into the house behind his possible future in-laws. 'Well they seem like nice people though…' The house itself was quite spacious and in his opinion, delightfully quaint. It was not nearly as eerily looming and spotlessly cleaned as his own family home. Souten's crayon drawings were pinned up all over the walls. Rollerblades and scooters littered the dining room, and the puppy's toys were scattered throughout.

Suzaku took the seat offered him, noting that the sofa was not much to look at, but very comfortable. A merrily crackling, decorative fire sparkled from the nearby hearth and the television chattered animatedly, calling out sports plays for a minute before Hiten politely shut it off. Suzaku also noticed his lover's short trip into the kitchen to unplug the telephone.

"Not those," Hiten interrupted, right before his mother put the chocolate-chip cookies into the oven. "Can we have sugar instead?"

"Thought you loved Chocolate," she mused, easily swapping them out.

"Well… not anymore," He promtly lied, and then he wandered off to the back with his father, motioning for Suzaku to stay put.

"Tah dah!"

"Why thank you," Suzaku knelt down, accepting the gift Souten had offered; another crayon drawing. "It's you!" she announced proudly. "What're the chances?" he wondered, showing her the one he was working on, "I'm drawing you too…"

"Whoa!" The little girl promptly snatched it up and ran over to show her mom. "Lookit Mama!"

Hanna shook her head, just barely looking up from the dinner she was preparing. "Souten please don't mess with daddy's painting collection…"

"I didn't." she informed, "Hiten's wife drew me."

"No way…" Hanna stared in disbelief at the picture; floored. Sure enough, it was just a very realistic drawing. "You're an artist?" she wondered, addressing the redhead at the table.

"I dabble here and there…" he replied, timidly returning to work on his newest picture. Hanna and Souten joined presently, both in awe of the puppy they could already recognize.

"It's Koryuu!"

"I graduated a four-year art school." Hanna whispered, "but I never made anything this beautiful…"

"Well thank you," Suzaku tittered, blushing, "but I'm better with paints."

"Me too!"

"And oil pastels…"

"Oh I love those!"

"Really? What is-"

"Suzaku Natsu Midari…" Hiten had finally returned from his very long father-son talk and was apparently very displeased. "Why did you not tell me you're inheriting one of the largest corporations in the whole fu-"

"No cussing Hi-Chan!" Hanna scolded, "And don't interrupt so rudely! Let Midari-Kun show us his drawing!"

"Mama will you butt out? I am trying to talk to myfiance!"

"Stingy!" the girls chorused. "You're no fun!" Souten whined, until Suzaku spoke up, readily addressing Hiten's complaint. "I didn't tell you because I really don't care."

"You don't care." Hiten echoed, scoffing "Suzaku, are you crazy?"

"No, I just don't care." Suzaku repeated, "And I don't appreciate you calling me crazy."

'Whoa, wait, what the fuck?' Had Suzaku just talked back to him? Like seriously talked back to Hiten Raiyuki who could break him in half like a twig? Surely not. Surely Suzaku didn't even understand the serious nature of this situation…

"Suzaku, do you have any idea how much money-"

"I have money already."

"How much?"

"…"

"Suzaku I asked you a question."

"Enough."

"Enough for what?"

"Enough for us to go without working a single day for the rest of our lives…"

"And you just decided not to tell me?"

"You never asked."

And that was it. Hiten just stared, offering his now butchered masculinity a moment of reverent silence. "Um… We need to talk."

"No we don't."

"Suzaku do not make me come over there."

"Hiten, do not talk to me like I'm a child."

'What in the seven hells has gotten into my wife?' Hiten didn't know if he should feel insulted or humbled. He'd talked down to Suzaku many times before and never gotten a reaction like this. Wasn't his Su-Chan the timid, naïve type that just went along with everything he said? 'It's like I'm talking to a whole different person…'

Suzaku merely glared at his lover in silence, trying to ignore the relatives they were supposed to be visiting. But now Hiten really did look more like his mother. His eyes were wide and searching, as if he were looking right through Suzaku, at a ghost instead. Those chocolate eyes finally saw Kujaku in the dark green ones before him.

'I'm not him!' he suddenly wanted to yell, even as the voices hissed their disagreement, inspired by the tense, stressful atmosphere. 'Damnit.' Why did this have to happen now? Right when they were finally engaged? 'I'm nothing like him.' Suzaku kept telling himself, but inside he knew it wasn't true. He'd long since realized he was just as quick-witted and capable as his father had been. Those sharp green eyes passed down with the high IQ and intuition. And soon that company would also be rightfully his... 'But I don't want them. I want Hiten!' Maybe it wasn't too late to fix this. Maybe he should apologize and back down; be the submissive, naïve little redhead Hiten was already used to… Maybe, if Suzaku was lucky, he could convince Hiten to forget this whole thing. Even if it meant donating all of that filthy money to charity he would do it to avoid a fight. Suzaku Midari wanted so badly to just be rid of his last name. To be rid of this red hair and green eyes; to shake off Kujaku's shadow forever…

'With this wedding it can really happen.' Finally, finally he would be reborn like the phoenix was meant to. 'A real family. A new name.' Suzaku Raiyuki; young and free like giggling Souten yet wise and talented like artistic Hanna…

But he'd have to put things right with his prospective husband first. Yet how could that be done? Lately Hiten had been insisting that Suzaku be honest with him, but that honesty was only rocking the boat. Their perfect prewedding family reunion had somehow turned into 'we need to talk,' and those were the four most dreaded words one could ever hear in a relationship! Oh, Suzaku just wanted to delete this entire morning and start over! Why had he ever agreed to this?

Fighting off the urge to start pulling his hair out, Suzaku put on a fake, forcibly-calmed air and made to fulfill Hiten's wish. All the while his mind buzzed with possibilities. What should be done? Say what Hiten wanted to hear and be submissive again, or tell him the not so pretty truth? That company could burn to the ground for all Suzaku cared…

"If you'll excuse me," Suzaku bowed to Mrs. Raiyuki and Souten before obediently following his lover back outside. Hiten closed the door behind them, looking like he was having a very difficult time smothering his annoyance. "I can not believe you kept this from me."

Suzaku wasn't moved. "That stupid company can run itself until it collapses for all I care," he responded, offering only calm, blunt honesty, "I will not come back to Japan. Ever."

There, he'd said it, and meant it with all of his heart. But at the moment that very same heart was constricting with pain. He didn't even want to look at Hiten. Suzaku hated this. He didn't want to be assertive and level headed. He wanted to be bubble-headed and naïve like pretty little Ja-Chan. But if they were getting married then that company would be in Hiten's family name, fifty percent Hiten's company, and so Suzaku would have to make his intentions for it clear. Accepting a huge responsibility like running that company would mean moving back to Japan and thereby forfeiting the American legality of same-sex marriage.

So there was a clearcut choice: more money than he could possibly imagine, or Hiten? And for Suzaku that decision was already made.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner," he offered, "but I have absolutely no desire to claim Midari inc or any of the money associated with it."

Simple and clean. Suzaku refused. Hiten was silent for a very long moment. Maybe he was speechless. And when Suzaku turned around to regard him, he was almost amused by the shock on his face. 'Who are you?' those big brown eyes wondered, 'and what have you done with my Su-Chan?'

It was a bit painful to see him like that. 'This is what I get for lying to him so much…'

"I'm…" Apparently Hiten had finally found his voice, or at least half of it, "just really surprised by all this um… stuff. You acting like this…"

"Well you wanted me to be honest," Suzaku sighed. Unfortunately he just couldn't help the fact that he was who he was. Maybe the real him was no longer ideal for Hiten's tastes. This new Suzaku that insisted he was not a possession or a woman and would not live in Japan… The assertive, less-than-innocent Suzaku that really would like to watch Bankotsu bleed and burn his father's company to the ground… He turned away to gaze absently out at the unfamiliar yet lovely front yard of the Raiyuki family home... "You probably thought I was stupid, huh Hiten…" he murmured, "stupid and crazy and hopeless without you, right?"

"No I-"

"Yes you did. And now you're upset because you realize I could get along just fine on my own... You're upset because it's finally sinking in that you really are getting a husband instead of a wife…"

"But you never acted like this before!" was Hiten's exasperated and very predictable response. "You were always sweet and sick and… And especially with this whole Schizophrenia thing, I thought you needed someone to take care of you…"

"Well I don't." Even as he said this the voices whispered in his head, but with Lilly to stifle them Suzaku hardly noticed. Even the visual hallucinations continued but would affect him only as much as he allowed. He was finally brave enough to come out of hiding. Even knowing that Hiten was watching him, Suzaku absently held out one of those thin, pale arms and let the two redbirds flutter down to land. 'They are both hallucinations,' he told himself, watching those vibrant feathers bristle as those beady eyes shone bright blue in the sun. He could feel the delicate bite of claws on his arm and the gently rustling wind from their flapping wings. But Hiten, he knew, could neither see nor feel any of that…

"Paranoid Schizophrenics are what they call 'high functioning,'" he absently quoted, "meaning most of the time you can't even tell we have Schizophrenia..."

As he said this, at least two dozen more imaginary birds sprang into existence right in front of him, fluttering about in a flurry of vibrant colors. Suzaku's sharp green eyes could count every feather, but Hiten didn't notice even one of them…

"I know what's what. Real and not," The redhead sighed, absently listening as his birds twittered and sang. "And even though I'm pretty and small… I really am a man, just like you."

'I guess that's true…' Hiten was just barely able to digest all of this. He watched Suzaku almost without recognizing him and now wondered what he never had before. Why did Suzaku keep his hair long like a girl's? His fingernails polished? And why didn't he ever work out? Why keep his body thin and feminine and weak?

'Because he wanted me to think… that he needed me.'

This realization was so sudden for Hiten; whiplash from a carwreck he himself had caused. 'I asked him to be honest and this is what I get.' But was this okay or not? Was it right for them to remain together, even with this new development? Did he truly want a husband instead of a wife? 'Marriage…' What did that word mean anyway? Two halves that become one; a dominant half to lead and a submissive to follow along? Or two separate and equally whole partners working and living together?

What did Hiten want Suzaku to be? A submissive pet or an assertive partner?..

And it wasn't just his body that mislead. Suzaku's mannerisms were all submissive, sickly and above all… he'd seemed so lonely.

"So Su-Chan… This is the real you right? You have your own company and everything. There's people here that recognize you when you've never met them. Commercials and shit. Like you're a celebrity. So why the hell have you been hiding in America all this time?"

"Because I knew it would turn you off if you found out about my family…"

"But if your dad's dead then everything he left is yours right?"

"Not just yet," the redhead clarified, "but once I turn twenty-five I'll inherit that dirty company, just like he wanted, so I'll have to come back and formally renounce my inheritance."

"But why?"

"Because I don't want anything to do with it. I picked you instead." Suzaku said that like it was so simple. Hiten could see those lovely green eyes following objects that didn't exist and silently cursed himself for wondering again if Suzaku was thinking clearly or not…

No wonder it was so difficult to buy Suzaku gifts. He honestly wanted nothing but Hiten. Everything he'd done for so many years had centered around getting and keeping Hiten by his side… 'Now that is insane.'

"Su-Chan…" Hiten paused, not wanting to offend by sharing his thoughts, but Suzaku gave him a nod, urging him to continue. "Well… You asked me just this morning if I was even happy. Now you're saying you'll throw all of this away just because you want to marry me?" How much did this marriage mean to Suzaku anyway? It was obviously much more than just some ceremony or a signed legal document… he had nothing to gain and everything to lose by agreeing to it. Suzaku dodged, apparently catching on, but Hiten insisted he listen.

"Let's be realistic here, Suzaku you're only what? Twenty?"

"Nineteen."

"That's even worse! This is your entire future we're talking about. Keep your inheritance and you'll be set for life. Money is a pretty sure bet. But weddings and shit? That sounds pretty and all but none of that's very reliable you know…"

"Seems like you forgot who you're talking to," Suzaku scoffed, "don't you remember that I'm that guy that wanted you dead just so we could be together? I'd rather live five minutes as your husband than fifty years as Bill Gates."

"Whose that?"

Suzaku rolled his eyes, recalling the many days Hiten had spent flirting with Bankotsu instead of actually paying attention in class. "The owner of the Microsoft corporation…"

Hiten just shrugged that off. "Well I don't care about him, I care about you. And I think you're being ridiculous. Why would you choose someone unpredictable, like me, over something guaranteed? That company won't just get pissed at you one day and wander out the door…"

"Neither would a real husband."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Til' death do us part right? That's what you said, and I believed you."

'I will trust in you.' That's right. Suzaku had promised only last night. He had to continually remind himself of that just to force out the honest answers. Maybe Hiten didn't actually believe this was happening. Paranoia couldn't just be willed away afterall, but that didn't mean an old dog couldn't learn a new trick. Living with a man that wouldn't take advantage and abuse him? Now that was a very new concept for Suzaku… But if Hiten was even asking these questions… 'Then he must really care about me. Logically, Hiten should just hurry and marry me so he would also be set for life…' He was obviously showing concern for Suzaku's well-being, rather than being blinded by riches…

Maybe Hiten had read his mind. He leaned closer then and Suzaku forced himself not to startle as those hands slid up his sides. Hiten's fingers traced gently as he brought them up to entwine with Suzaku's. Did he notice the harassed doves scattering, disturbed from their perch? He pulled Hiten closer, instinctively but startled when his embrace tightened across his very flat, male chest.

"Well… what about your future Hiten?" Suzaku wondered, "You don't mind never having a real wife? No family of your own?"

'Oh yeah,' Hiten mused, 'Suzaku did mention something about grandchildren earlier.' Hiten hadn't really paid it much thought, but now he realized that was probably his parent's first concern as well. With his brother Manten dead and his sister being female, the family name would end with Hiten Jr. 'Yeah, but that was inevitable anyway.' Ever since he'd met Bankotsu in freshman year. How many women had Hiten dated since? At least fifty, yet he couldn't remember any of their names…

If only children didn't require female partners… "Hmm, I guess I'd like kids if they were yours."

'Sarcasm at a time like this…' Suzaku chuckled wryly at that response, absently leaning back as Hiten embraced him from behind. "Miniature redhead psychos?"

"But I think I've got my hands full with one of those already…"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah…"

Silence fell between them then, broken only by the twittering of birds and the whispers in Suzaku's ears. But for some reason the redhead felt he'd never been more at peace…

Hiten was first to speak again, contemplating aloud. "But it seems like such a waste to just throw Midari Inc away."

"Then marry me already," the redhead shrugged, hopping down to stand in the grass. "If you're my husband it's your company too. Give it to your dad or whatever."

"Well… okay I guess." Why hadn't Hiten thought of that already? Raiyuki Inc? That had a nicer ring to it…

Absently Hiten found himself smiling as he watched Suzaku wander off into the grass and begin to dance with his invisible birds. Just like that day he'd caught him twirling in the rain; carefree and radiant. It was times like this that reminded just how young his lover really was. 'And he'd be lonely without me right?' How embarrassing that Suzaku had read right into the reason for his annoyance… 'Well I guess it's a silly thing to worry about.' Suzaku still needed him, wealthy or not. Just like how Hiten's own bank balance paled in comparison with Suzaku's affection.

'Well whatever.' So much for the irresponsible, childish 'wife' he thought he'd be marrying. This redhead never ceased to amaze, and likewise Hiten could never stop being enthralled with his majestic radiance…

He took Suzaku's hand almost without thinking and joined in on his impromptu waltz.

Life itself was such an adventure with him; a rollercoaster of ups and downs… What other secrets lie in these lovely green eyes? Hiten shrugged off his worries, dancing along in more ways than one. Life was more satisfying afterall, without some blueprint to follow…

"Never knew Hi-Chan could dance," Hanna whispered, ducking infront of the window to watch the two lovebirds twirling together in her front yard.

"How romantic…" Souten swooned.

"We're gonna be filthy rich," Hiten Sr. bragged. He too felt like dancing, but only wound up slipping in a large puddle of puppy urine. Souten and Hanna only giggled, cheerfully refusing to help him up. "Ugh," he groaned, "I hate you girls..."

Outside the two danced on, completely oblivious to their audience.

"I love you so…" Hiten sighed, capturing those sweet pink lips in his own. Suzaku felt his heart start to flutter just like those birds. Ill or not? Rich o not? Husband or wife; leader or follower, it suddenly mattered so little. They were together and that was enough. And maybe this day was not such a nightmare. Perhaps it would turn out to be a dream come true instead. The cooing doves took flight, scattering snow-white feathers like swirling, frozen rain.

"Shall we go pick our rings now?" his Hiten then mused, absently stealing a kiss. And Suzaku obliged, almost wanting to cry.

"I thought you'd never ask…"