A/N: Sorry for the late update! I've been catching up on soooo much sleep. LOL. I just had to upload this chapter from my flash drive. Enjoy readers! :)
Ijuuin pulled up to the train station in less than ten minutes. Misaki was still sitting in the bench, his shoulders hunched over. From the few feet away in which he was standing, he could already see Misaki's small shoulders were shaking, as was the rest of him. Not even bothering to park, Ijuuin quickly got out of his car and walked over to where Misaki was sitting. In less than a minute he was standing over Misaki, and looking down at him, examining him. He laid a comforting hand on his shoulder and looked down at him, his eyes earnestly searching for an answer.
"Misaki! What happened? Are you alright?", Ijuuin asked him. But the smaller boy did not even look up
"Please... Didn't you hear me? Please...say something", Ijuuin said, as he gently gripped Misaki's shoulder tighter.
Misaki still did not answer.
"Hey...", Ijuuin called softly. He then placed his hands on either sides of Misaki's cheeks and gently raised his face to look up at his. Misaki did not even struggle against the gesture. Ijuuin's warm hands on Misaki's face made him feel safe and more relaxed. Ijuuin's eyes slightly in shock when he saw Misaki's tear streaked face looking up at him.
"Tell me what's wrong", he said, taking off his jacket and draping his jacket over Misaki's shoulders.
The brunette silently shook his head, tears once again stinging in his eyes. Ijuuin sat down on the bench beside Misaki and took his small hand in his own.
"Are you OK, Misaki?", Ijuuin asked, worriedly.
Misaki sniffed loudly and tried to wipe some of his tears away. As he did so, more streamed down his cheeks.
"I-I'm fine", Misaki said looking down again. He didn't want Ijuuin to see him like this.
"You don't look fine", Ijuuin said.
"What happened?", Ijuuin asked.
"N-nothing", Misaki said sadly.
"If it was nothing then you wouldn't have called me", Ijuuin said, squeezing Misaki's hand tighter.
"I-I just...h-had a fight with Usami-sensei", Misaki said, feeling the throbbing pain he was feeling grow stronger at just thinking about the author.
Ijuuin's eyes widened.
"A fight...", Ijuuin said, uncertainly.
Misaki looked away.
"Misaki...?", Ijuuin asked.
He put his hands on Misaki's shoulder and pulled his face to look at Misaki
"Did he hurt you?...", Ijuuin asked, his brows beginning to furrow in anger. He grabbed Misaki's face and gently turned it from side to side, looking for any signs of bruises or physical abuse.
Ijuuin exhaled.
"You don't look hurt", Ijuuin said, relieved.
"Ah...n-no...Usami-sensei didn't hit me or anything...w-we just had a fight...I-I don't know", Misaki said quietly.
"I see", Ijuuin said, understanding that Misaki was not quite ready to talk to him about it.
He looked at Misaki again.
"What happened? I mean...did he just throw you out?". Ijuuin asked.
"I-I just left", Misaki said.
"It must have been serious then. What did you fight with Usami-san about?", Ijuuin asked. The mangaka knew that he was prying too much but he didn't care. The only thing that he could see was Misaki's tearful eyes.
Misaki's heart twisted. He wanted to say something but no words would come out of his mouth. His lips began to quiver in sadness. He looked down at the ground and said nothing.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to", Ijuuin said.
Misaki bit his quivering lip.
"Misaki...hey come on", Ijuuin said squeezing his shoulder slightly.
Misaki turned his head up to look at Ijuuin. Tears were streaming down his face as he tried desperately to wipe them away. But Ijuuin had already seen them. He could see that the small brunette's eyes were red and puffy from crying, and they were now beginning to fall once again. His entire face was now coated in his hot tears. Ijuuin looked worried again.
"I-I'm sorry, Kyou. I didn't mean to gross you out. Sorry", Misaki, still crying but now with a forced smile on his face. He let the tears continue to fall, knowing that it was no use to try to wipe them away anymore. His tears could be endless.
"You don't want to talk about it?", Ijuuin asked.
Still crying, Misaki shook his head. His face turned back to its woeful state. He looked down at the ground again, not saying anything.
"Alright", Ijuuin said with a nod.
Ijuuin stood and looked down at Misaki once more, still worried. He squeezed Misaki's shoulders one more time before he held out his hand to the brunette. Misaki just looked up, a sad expression still on his face.
"Come on", Ijuuin said, his hand still reached out.
"E-eh?", Misaki said quietly.
"I'm not going to just leave you out here in the middle of the night. You can stay over at my place for as long as you need to", Ijuuin said.
He gave an encouraging smile.
"R-really? I-I don't know...", Misaki said, suddenly feeling very untrusting of anyone, even one of his closest friends.
Ijuuin nodded.
"Of course. It's no trouble, Misaki", Ijuuin said.
He gave a slight smile.
"It's fine, Misaki. Really. I want you to come home with me", Ijuuin said.
He reached out his hand further to Misaki.
"Come on.", he said encouragingly.
Misaki gave a small smile and reached his hand out to Ijuuin's and took it. He pulled Misaki up from the bench he was sitting and wrapped an arm around the brunette's small shoulders. He looked down and let a small laugh escape his lips.
"W-what?", Misaki asked.
"Misaki, you're wearing bunny slippers", Ijuuin said giggling.
Misaki looked down himself and then realized that he was still wearing his pink bunny slippers. He blushed.
"Hey! I was in a hurry alright?". Misaki said defensively.
Ijuuin laughed again.
"Cute bunnies", he said, chuckling.
Misaki blushed then grinned slightly. He knew that Ijuuin had pointed such a thing out so that he could distract him, and he was happy about it. Ijuuin was very special to him and he was happy to know that he was there with him. His thoughts wandered to Usagi and he could feel tears in his eyes again, wanting to come out. Misaki quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeves. Ijuuin squeezed Misaki's shoulders tighter, wanting to let him know that he was there for him.
"Will you be OK?", Ijuuin asked.
"I-I will be", Misaki said, as another stream of tears began running down his cheeks. Ijuuin reached into pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. He handed it to Misaki, who took it gratefully. Misaki dabbed his eyes with the soft fabric and then sniffed loudly, sucking the sobs that he could feel coming from his throat. Ijuuin squeezed the small of Misaki's back reassuringly and led both of them to the car that was waiting for them. He opened the car door and let Misaki inside and then made his way to around the car to the driver's side.
"I'm sure things will work out for the best", Ijuuin said, not meeting his eyes with Misaki's. Somewhere in his heart, no deep down his knew that he didn't want Misaki and Usagi to work things out.
Misaki tried to smile but it backfired on him. He couldn't stop the sounds of the sobs that were starting to rise. Ijuuin cast another worried glanced in Misaki's direction and then started the engine. He pulled out of the station and into the street. Misaki leaned his head against the headrest and closed his eyes. Suddenly he was feeling very tired. He could feel himself dozing off. Ijuuin looked at him again, a worried frown in his face. Misaki gave the slightest smile.
"I-I'm OK. Really. Just tired", Misaki said.
Ijuuin reluctantly focused his attention back onto the road and began the drive to his house. Instead of going to sleep on the car ride, Misaki stared out the window into the dark sky, his mind once again on Usagi. Just thinking about the older man made his eyes fill with tears, and his heart ache in its sadness and anguish. He just felt so...deceived. He never would even think that Usagi would ever do something like that. He had always told Misaki that he loved him and how he wanted them to be together always. And in his heart Misaki knew it was true and that his feelings were also the same. He wanted to be by Usagi's side for as long as he could, and forever. But seeing what had happened tonight made him feel sick with sadness. Now he didn't know what to think. Misaki looked rolled the passenger side window down and allowed the cool night air to rush against his skin. He closed his eyes and hoped that he really would be OK, even though he already knew that he wouldn't.
A/N: Well at least Misaki can count on Ijuuin. ;)
Anyway thanks for all the comments! Haha, I get such a kick out of all of them! LOL. Most of you have really grasped the plot of the story pretty well. I mean I'm going through some of these comments and I'm thinking 'did you already read my story or are you really just guessing? When did I give ant sneak previews?' o_O''. Because s lot of you are right on the mar with your comments!
Also some of you are practically begging me to not let Misaki have sex with Ijuuin. And I didn't. I mean come on! You guys all know that I have Misaki's character own to a tee! Of course he wouldn't do something like that! I mean gosh...is that how you all think of me? I'm deeply hurt. LOL. I did not have that idea when I finished the story and now that you some people brought that up, I'm thinking 'huh...now that could be interesting...' LOL. I mean of course it wouldn't be right away. Hmmm...well now I'm brainstorming in my author's notes...uhhh...sorry. O_O''
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