A loud knock on his bedroom door roused Ibushi from his slumber. He sat up carefully, trying not to wake Akoya from his slumber. Easing himself into some pajama pants, he padded over to the door and opened it, squinting at Yamada.

"Apologies, Young Master, but you appear to have a visitor," the butler apologized. "She demands to see you now, and will not accept your rest as an excuse not to."

"Kana?" he groaned, earning a swift and sure nod from Yamada. He threw his head back with an exasperated sigh. "Let me put on a shirt and I'll be right down." Ibushi closed the door and yawned, trying to expel the crankiness he felt from being woken after staying up early into the morning with Akoya.

He trudged back over to his bed, tempted to climb back into it when he saw Akoya sleeping so peacefully. With a soft kiss to his forehead, Ibushi tucked his lover into the blankets before throwing on a shirt and a robe to greet Kana.

.

Kana's dark eyes seemed to pierce into his soul as she scowled at him. "What took you so long?" she snapped, not even waiting for him to sit down. Her hair was done up in an elegant style that looks as if it had taken hours, and probably did. There was no doubt in Ibushi's mind that she had been up for hours.

"Some people enjoy sleeping," he groaned. "Some people are busy with things and can't get to bed until late in the night. Some people don't wake up before dawn to get their hair done." His mahogany eyes narrowed at her. "We can't all be perfect."

"Do not speak to me that way," she hissed at him, a warning glare in her eyes. Kana opened her clutch purse and extended an invitation to him. "You had better make it to our engagement party this afternoon, and for your sake, I suggest losing that attitude." She snapped it shut in a curt manner and rose to her feet. "Don't disappoint me."

Ibushi watched her walk out of his home, the clicking of her heels against the marble flooring digging into his brain like knives. His mind swam with a mix of emotions. Who had made the plan for an engagement party under his nose? Why had no one spoken with him about it? This was moving way too fast! He didn't want to lose Akoya.

Before he could register his own actions, he was back in his bedroom, locking the door. His feet carried him to the bed where Akoya was sitting and reading. Ibushi climbed in beside him and rested his head on his lover's shoulder.

Akoya reached an absent hand up into Ibushi's hair, ruffling it. He smiled when he felt the other lean into his touch, causing a fluttering feeling in his chest. "Where've you been?" he asked, closing his book and leaning his head on his lover's head. "When I woke up, you weren't here. Did something happen?"

Instead of telling his lover what had happened, the older man placed his hand over the paler man's, pressing it softly against his head. Knowing there was a frown on his lips, he bowed his head, hoping Akoya wouldn't notice. How was he supposed to tell him that Kana had come by and invited him to their engagement party? What if Akoya thought he had lied to him about everything just to get him into bed? His heart sank with worry.

The pink-haired man moved away from his lover, placing his hands on the other man's cheeks and directing his face to look at him. "Ibu, what is it?" he softly asked, worried.

"Kana stopped in this morning," Ibushi began, averting his eyes from Akoya. "She wanted to bring me an invitation to our engagement party this afternoon. I-I-I swear I didn't know! No one ever told me that anything was official! I swear I didn't lie to you!"

"I know," he softly replied. "I wouldn't put it past Kana to use such underhanded methods." He pressed his lips to the other man's forehead. "Please don't blame yourself. With all of the time we spent together back in the day, I'm pretty proud of my ability to tell if you're lying to me or not. You don't stand a chance against my honesty intuition."

"So you're not….mad?"

"Should I be?" Akoya simply asked, leveling his blue eyes with Ibushi's rust-colored ones. "Listen, we've been through a lot together. And last night, we were finally able to tell each other how we really feel. Do you expect me to think, for a single moment, that you had agreed to marry my sister before doing all of that?" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, pressing his forehead to his lover's. "If what we truly feel for each other is real, Ibushi, then everything will work out in our favor. All we need is to put in some effort and faith into each other."

Ibushi closed his eyes, internally thanking every deity he could think of that this man was his to love. Never in his life would he take Akoya for granted again. He knew when they became one the night before that he would never love another person the way he loved his best friend.

.

That afternoon, Ibushi found himself lost in the gardens of the Gero mansion. He had just seen Akoya speaking with Io and Ryuu while playing with Sakura, but he seemed to have lost track of them. It wasn't like he was supposed to be socializing with them much anyway, but Kana and her petty friends weren't the type of people he wanted to surround himself with. Besides, all her friends wanted to talk about was his friendship with Kinshiro and whether or not he was single.

He turned around a corner to find a young man with fluffy, blond hair, his eyes lighting up. "Yumoto!" he gasped out in surprise. "I thought you were out traveling on business!" His lungs ached from the lack of air as the younger man wrapped him in a strong hug.

"Do you think I would ever miss something so important, Arima-senpai?" he laughed, grinning up at him as he let go. "Aki-chan and Haru-chan made an exception! I just have to head back later this evening! You're my friend and I wanted to support you!"

"That's thoughtful of you, Yumoto," Ibushi replied, feeling his lips tugging into a fond smile. "I appreciate you being here. It really does mean a lot." Looking down at the cheerful smile of the blond, he couldn't bring himself to tell Yumoto the truth. "I'm glad you're here."

Without warning, Ryuu snuck up behind Yumoto and put him in a headlock, grinning from ear to ear. "What a naughty kohai!" he cheerfully shouted. "You came all the way here and didn't even plan on telling us? For shame, Yumoto!"

Struggling to free himself, the blond argued back. "I was going to tell you! I was even going to find you all after I spoke with Arima-senpai!"

Ibushi took that moment to sneak away and found himself toe-to-toe with Kinshiro while rounding a corner. "Kinshiro!" he gasped, trying to calm his rapidly-beating heart. "You can't just pop up like that! A little warning would've been fine!"

"You're the one who popped up in front of me," Kinshiro stated, rolling his eyes. He jabbed a finger into his friend's chest. "How dare you leave me with those obnoxious women!" he hissed. "Do you know how many marriage proposals I received?! What am I supposed to say to them?! No one knows about my home life!"

"Maybe come clean?"

"Ha!" the other spitefully laughed. "I'll come clean once you do! See about that!" With a scoff, Kinshiro headed off to find another hiding place.

An arm slipped around Ibushi's and he looked over to find Kana latched to him. His heart hammered in his chest as if he had been caught red-handed at a murder scene. He found it difficult to breathe as she smiled up at him, her pearly-white teeth resembling a shark's due to his imaginative mind.

"There you are!" she giggled, pressing herself into him. "What are you doing all the way out here? We should go greet more of our guests!" Kana then glanced over at Io, Akoya, and Sakura. "Let's go!" she laughed, leading him toward them.

"Go away," Akoya simply stated to Kana as she approached with Ibushi in tow.

"Is that any way to speak to the host of this event?" she asked, trying to keep her voice pleasant. She then turned to Io and smiled. "I don't believe we've met before! I'm Kana Gero, Akoya's sister and fiance of Ibushi Arima!"

Io scooped up Sakura as she ran to touch Kana's dress. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Io Zaou, and this is my daughter, Sakura."

"What a lovely little girl!" Kana's eyes lit up. "I suppose she gets her beauty from her mother!"

"She doesn't look a thing like her mother, actually," he replied. "She's a near carbon copy of-"

"Sakura, are you making new friends?" Ryuu asked, taking his daughter into his arms. The father and daughter matched their smiles to each other as he turned to Kana. "Oh, hey! You're Arima's fiance! You and your brother look nothing alike!"

Io elbowed his husband in the side, hissing, "Be more civilized." He turned back to Kana. "This is my husband, Ryuu Zaou. I apologize for his lack of manners. We're still working on that."

Kana's face paled. "Your...husband?" she asked, not even bothering to mask her disgust. Her brown eyes darted to her brother, piercing into him. "Of course my brother would be friends with homosexuals." She let go of Ibushi's arm and proceeded to walk away. "I'll be off with our more civilized guests."

"The fuck is her deal?" Ryuu grumbled, slipping his arm around Io's waist as his husband leaned into him in dismay. He looked up at Arima, as if sizing him up. "You sure picked yourself a good one," he sarcastically stated before looking to Akoya. "I'm so sorry about your family, bro."

"I wish I was adopted," Akoya sighed before looking up at Ibushi. His brow wrinkled with worry as he saw the blank expression on his friend's face. "Excuse me, everyone," he apologized to their friends, "I'm going to borrow Ibu for a moment. He doesn't look good."

Ibushi allowed himself to be led into the guest bathroom by Akoya before taking a much-needed deep breath and sitting himself down on the closed toilet. "I can't do this," he muttered, repeating the sentence over and over. "I can't marry her, Akoya. It doesn't sit well with me. I don't love her. I can't stand her. I shouldn't have to marry her." His dark eyes looked up at his lover. "I can't marry her."

Frowning, the other man placed a hand on his best friend's cheek, locking the bathroom door in one simple, fluid movement. He then placed himself upon his lover's lap, cradling Ibushi's head into his chest as he gently ran his fingers through his hair. "Everything is going to be okay, Ibu," he softly whispered. "We'll think of something. There has to be something. I won't allow you to marry anyone other than me."

"I don't want to marry anyone other than you." Ibushi wrapped his arms around Akoya, taking in a deep, calming breath. Just the scent of the other man was enough to calm his breathing. "I can't marry Kana. I won't be able to take such a relationship. I don't want to marry anyone but you, Akoya. No one else will do!"

The younger of the two cupped his lover's cheeks in his hands before leaning in to kiss him. His heart pounded in his ears at the prospect of getting caught, but he could no longer hold back. Seeing his sister parading his love around all day had been absolute torture, and since they were alone, there was no way he would hold back. He bit back a moan as Ibushi nibbled on his lower lip. Akoya was hungry for more, but he couldn't allow himself too much, considering this was his sister and lover's engagement party.

"Stay with me tonight," Ibushi breathed, voice low and husky. "Come to my house after this party is over and just be with me. I want you so bad, Akoya, but I can't have you right now." He left breathless kisses on Akoya's cheeks, neck, and lips. "Be with me tonight."

Akoya blushed deeply, feeling the other man's erection against his leg. "Of course, I will," he replied, kissing Ibushi's forehead. "But for right now, we need to calm down so we can go back out there, okay? People will grow suspicious if we are away from the party for too long. Especially my father. And I'm not ready for that again."

Kissing his lover's lips one last time, Ibushi smiled. "Be ready for tonight."

"I'll count down the seconds."

.

Ibushi sat with his father and step mother in their family car on the way home from the party. He stared out the window, praying that they wouldn't bring up anything to do with him marrying Kana. Yet given the event they had just attended, he knew it wouldn't be possible to avoid such a subject. He felt his stomach sink when his father turned to address him.

"You have such a beautiful fiancee, Ibushi," Hideaki stated. "I must say that my son is one lucky man." He smiled with confidence. "Not to mention how important this marriage will be for our family. You always know how to make me proud."

His stomach suddenly felt as if it were made of lead. How could he daer weasel his way out of this marriage after hearing how proud it made his father? Everything felt to wrong. Why was it that he had to be stuck in such a situation?

"I wouldn't be so sure, Hide," Kimiko Arima chimed in, causing her stepson to quickly look in her direction. "There is something I dislike about that Kana girl. Something tells me that she may cause us some trouble."

"What makes you say that?" Hideaki asked his wife, voice frustrated but bearing no malice.

"Does our son look happy to you?" she asked, gesturing to Ibushi. "To me, he looks miserable. What if Kana is pushing our Ibushi too hard? What should we do then? The girl has quite exquisite tastes, and I've heard in the gossip mill that she is known for her temper as well. Something just tells me that these two are not a good match."

"Our company needs this marriage. The Gero family needs to partner with us, or there is a chance we could lose everything."

"Can't we find another powerful family? I don't want to see our son suffer."

Ibushi turned back to the window to tune out their argument. Though he knew of a way to make things work with the Gero family, there was no way his parents would go for it. They would much rather prefer his suffering over a scandal of being married to a man.

.

That night, Ibushi waited in the front garden for Akoya to arrive, and the moment he saw the other man, he ran to him and swept him up in his arms, embracing him tightly. His grip strengthened when he could feel his lover squeezing him back. He felt his body tremble with emotion as hot tears dripped down his cheeks and onto Akoya's shoulder.

Akoya instantly moved Ibushi to arm's length so that he could get a good look at his face. His brow wrinkled with worry to see the flow of tears and the choked sobbing. He cupped Ibushi's face in his hand and felt warmth in his heart when his lover leaned into it. "What's wrong?"

"I can't take it anymore," Ibushi sobbed, catching strangled breaths between his sobs. "I can't go through with this marriage, but I can't disappoint my father. I don't know what to do. I only want you, Akoya. Let's run away together!"