Authoress here.
Today's disclaimer is a special one! I actually don't own Tairu Montosuwa. He belongs to PenPusherM...under a different but incredibly close last name, I think.
So...yeah. Read away!
START CHAPTER
"I want my sister, you son of a bitch."
Standing in the doorway was a tall and handsome brunette. His emerald green eyes were narrowed, and his hands clenched into fists.
"Tairu!"
Heads turned to Alira as she rushed forward and hugged the teen around the middle. He smiled down at her, being a few inches taller, before turning accusing eyes to the men gathered in the doorway.
"Who the hell are you?" Yuki asked after a brief moment of silence.
"Tairu Montosuwa, Alira's older brother."
Alira poked him playfully in the side. "Older by about three hours. He's my twin."
Tairu looked at Shuichi and Yuki a moment, totally ignoring Hiroshi. "Why the hell are you living with two gay men, out of all the other people in this city?"
Alira dodged his question as only a sister could. "How'd you find me?"
"Simple."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I figured when I saw those two kissing on the cover of a magazine that you'd be staying with them. You were always telling me how hot you thought gay guys were."
Shuichi and Yuki exchanged looks with raised eyebrows.
Alira flushed and elbowed him. "What brings you to this humble abode?"
"Stop talking like you haven't skipped any school," he snapped. "I'm here to tell you that I moved out, so now we can live away from Dad. I also wanted to say that I was sorry I couldn't protect you from him."
Hiroshi stepped forward. "Maybe we should go inside instead of talking on the doormat."
Tairu appraised him for a moment before nodding, and, holding Alira's arm protectively, followed Yuki to his living room. When they reached Yuki's couch, Tairu had her sit next to him.
Hiroshi claimed the empty seat beside her. Tairu watched him carefully.
"You moved out?"
Tairu nodded. "Yeah. Dad was pissed, but I'm old enough now to manage on my own. Hey...since when did you dye your hair back?"
She raised a hand to her hair and smiled. "A few days ago. It turned purple at first."
Hiroshi smiled. "I drove her to get it fixed. She was almost too embarrassed to go outside."
Alira and Hiroshi laughed together, exchanging smiles.
"And who the hell are you?" Tairu asked sharply. Hiroshi and Alira both fell silent.
"I'm Hiroshi Nakano. I'm the bass player for Bad Luck," Hiroshi said finally, smiling and reaching out a hand.
Tairu shook his hand, but his eyes remained suspicious. "So Alira...do you have a job?"
She shifted uncomfortably. "Well, not exactly..."
"You've been mooching off these two?"
"No," Yuki interjected. "Just me. This is my house, after all."
Tairu crossed his arms across his chest. "Then I'll pay you back all the costs of food and such for Alira's staying with you."
Alira's faced him hurriedly. "No!"
Tairu looked temporarily startled. "What?"
She lost her sudden jolt of self-confidence and stared at her hands, folded in her lap. "I'll pay them back," she said quietly. "And I can give Hiro the gas money for taking me to the store." She picked at her fingernails instead of looking at anyone.
Did she just call him...by a nickname? Tairu wondered.
Aware that Tairu's eyes had turned towards him, Hiroshi boldly reached forward and placed his hand over Alira's, stilling her nervous habit. She was startled at first, but gradually slipped her hand into his.
Tairu's eyebrows shot up, but his voice remained steady. "The police are still after you, so we'll have to clear that up."
She nodded. Her brother's presence seemed to have caused her to face reality: it couldn't always be like this. Sooner or later, she would have to leave the men behind that she had grown fond of. Shuichi and Yuki were in the middle of a blossoming relationship. When she showed up, the blossom started to wilt. They were spending more time making sure she was okay than they were on helping the relationship grow.
Alira forced her mouth into a smile. "Thanks for everything, guys, but I guess it's time for me to move out. I'm not going to lie to you, though. I'm really going to miss seeing you every day."
Shuichi's eyes started to tear up, as they did at every emotional moment. Yuki frowned a little, but otherwise showed no signs of distress. Alira didn't mind. She had come to realize that Yuki was not very outright with his emotions.
"We're gonna miss you too, Alira," Shuichi said quietly, blinking back tears.
Tairu stood up, his hand on her arm pulling her up with him. "Get your stuff, Alira. It's time to finally go home."
Alira's hand was still clasped in Hiroshi's when she started to walk forward. She hesitated a moment, then let go and left the room. Tairu sat down again, feeling rather awkward.
"So...um..." he stammered, completely devoid of any possible conversation topics. He laughed nervously. "I don't really know what to say."
"Then shut up," Yuki replied coolly. "You should feel uncomfortable, since you barged into my house so rudely to begin with."
Tairu wasn't used to people making him feel so uncomfortable. "Well...I...sorry?"
Yuki rolled his eyes. "Nice. You call yourself and older brother and you can't even form a coherent sentence?"
Tairu's eyes narrowed. "I didn't come here to be insulted by a queer."
"What did you expect, then?" Yuki asked, his piercing eyes meeting Tairu's. "You haven't been kind to her since you showed up. Give me your address," he said after a pause. "I'll drive her over there once she's packed."
Feeling guilty, Tairu agreed. He left the three men sitting in the living room with a small, hastily scribbled map and some directions to Tairu's house. It was on the other side of town.
Hiroshi stood up suddenly. "I'm going to go talk to Alira."
Without waiting for anyone to try and respond, he headed up the stairs to her bedroom, shutting the door softly behind him. She was bent over a dresser drawer with her back to him. Her head was down on a pile of shirts and she had her arms crossed underneath her head. Her shoulders shook with muffled sobs.
As happy as she was to go live with her brother, she feared that she would never get to see Shuichi, Yuki, or Hiroshi again. She would go back to school, and life would be normal. But what was normal? She was too used to seeing them every day. Leaving them forever hurt too much to think about, but she had made that mistake.
Hiroshi walked silently across the room and knelt beside her, placing his hand lightly on the small of her back. She looked up at him, startled, tears that had not yet fallen making her eyes sparkle. She hadn't meant for anyone to see her like this.
"H-Hiro..." she stammered, raising a hand to wipe a tear from her cheek.
Hiroshi reached forward without replying and pulled her towards him in a tender embrace. She rested her head on his shoulder, glad she wasn't wearing any eyeliner. Hiroshi used one hand to stroke her hair as she leaned into him.
"If you need to cry, then cry," he whispered into her ear.
She shook her head. "I…I'm done."
He loosened his grip around her in case she wanted to stand up, being very careful not to frighten her. She had told him that she had been attacked the day he drove her back to Yuki's house, so he knew something bad had happened. The only thing he could think of to define 'attacked' was not pleasant: a man had tried to rape her, but she had somehow managed to escape. Her bruised wrists, neck, and knuckles were proof of that.
"Please don't tell Yuki or Shuichi about this. I don't want them to feel bad," she murmured, her breath tickling his neck and interrupting his thoughts.
She pulled away when he didn't answer. "Please, Hiroshi. Don't tell them."
He hesitated before nodding. "Okay. I promise."
She shut her eyes for a moment. "I have to keep packing."
"Right."
Alira started to stand up, but Hiroshi caught onto her shoulders. "Wait. There's one condition to that promise."
"And what would that be?"
Hiroshi's eyes met hers, and without a trace of embarrassment, he replied, "I want you to kiss me. Just once is enough. I need to know something."
Alira knew that he had left it open to her to choose: lips or cheek, tongue or no tongue, tender or forced.
Hiroshi waited. Finally, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. When the first kiss ended, she paused a few seconds before administering another. Hiroshi kissed her back, gently at first, then hungrily.
When they broke apart, Alira seemed embarrassed by her own need for comfort.
Hiroshi smiled. "I guess I know the answer, then." He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her.
When she looked at it, she saw it was a phone number. His phone number.
"Give me a call if you need someone to talk to, okay?"
She nodded as he headed out of the room, clutching the paper to her heart.
Five minutes later, she was sitting in Yuki's car on the way to her brother's house. Shuichi had given her a hug goodbye, not bothering to hide his tears, and couldn't bring himself to come with.
Yuki didn't say anything until they were in Tairu's driveway. It was when she was opening the door that he grabbed her upper arm. He pulled her towards him, so her back was pressed against his chest, his chin resting on her shoulder.
"I'm not used to this kind of thing...but I'm going to miss having two idiots in my house instead of just one."
Alira smiled. "I'm going to miss you too, Yuki." She turned around to face him, feeling emboldened, and pressed her lips to his. "Give that to Shuichi when you get home, would ya?"
He smiled, seeming totally unperturbed. "I will."
Grabbing her bags, Alira headed towards the front door where Tairu already stood waiting.
She greeted him with a hug, but somehow, it just wasn't the same. She was pleased to be with her brother again, but the feelings of happiness were blocked out by the pain.
Her world had crashed down around her once before, and it took two gay men and a sweet guitarist to show pull her back on her feet. Now who was there for her to rely on to grab her hand and tug her back onto the right path?
The pain built up inside Alira until she could no longer take it, and that very night, she was once again called in to the police station as a missing person.
END CHAPTER
(singing)
Every time I try
to make you smile
You're always feeling sorry for yourself
Every
time I try to make you laugh
You can't
You're too tough
You
think you're loveless
It was too much that I'd asked you for...
Sorry, AMV's are just really awesome. And that one ended with a really adorable smile from Yuki! (giggles) So cute! Ahh...I'm insane.
Authoress out.
