Author's Notes: Thanks again to all my reviewers so far ^^

As always, please read, review and enjoy ^^

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I looked at the picture- my brain trying to process what my subconscious had done.

"But Hiten is…" I paused; it was happening all over again.

Once again, I was facing a choice that would end up ruining my bond with someone I cared for.

When I'd chosen Jakotsu, I'd lost my mother. And now- it looked as if I was going to lose my best friend too.

I hated them for forcing me into this. Why was it I could only keep one? Why is the fact that for some reason my body decided it was going to prefer guys over girls make so many people hate me? It just didn't make any sense to me. It didn't back when my mom left, and I had a sickening feeling it wouldn't now either.

There are people out there that claim if I went to some counselors they could "fix me" or "get me straightened out." Well I'm fucking sorry, but changing that part of my personality isn't like changing my hair color with some dye I can buy at the store. It's not something I chose to be. I mean honestly- why the hell would you chose a life that would cause half the world to hate you, your mother to leave you, and make each day of your life a living hell just because you were different? It's not a choice to be gay. I've learned that over time. It's no different than being born white or black, or being born with blue eyes or green eyes.

Sure, you can get colored contacts to change your eye color, but deep down, your eyes are still the same. You're just hiding it behind a piece of colored glass. And that layer of glass is thin. Sooner or later it'll break, and people will see the true color underneath it. And whether I liked it or not, I had to stop hiding and tell them the truth before Jakotsu's return shattered the thin reality I was hiding in.

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Chapter 4: Hiding Behind Thin Glass

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"Bankotsu! Hey, Bankotsu!"

The voice continued to prod at him until finally it shook him from his trance.

"Ah, sorry…Kagura, what is it?" The young man asked finally coming to.

"We're starting the experiment and unless you want something to blow up the chemistry lab, you'd better start paying attention."

"I wish something would blow up the chem lab…then I wouldn't have to…" Bankotsu paused as his eyes looked to where Hiten stood with his lab group.

He was smiling and laughing, just like usual.

Bitterness seeped into Bankotsu's mind.

"Do I really want to ruin this? We're both happy, we're best friends…"

Sighing aloud, Kagura just frowned, "Will you snap out of it already? Moping about it isn't going to change anything…"

"My life is about to ruined, I'm gonna be pissed off whether you like it or not!" He snapped back.

Cautiously removing the beaker from his hand before he crushed it in frustration, Kagura tapped Sesshoumaru on the shoulder and motioned that he should try talking to him.

Raising an eyebrow, the white-haired young man's expression remained neutral.

"The weekend," He stated simply.

"What about it?" Bankotsu retorted, his irritation at its peak.

"Explanations can be made in full then."

Thinking it over, the black-haired teen smirked, his expression brightening, "You're right…today's Friday- aside from the baseball game tomorrow afternoon, I have until Monday to deal with this. I can surely explain it all then. Thanks Sesshoumaru, I really owe you…"

The taller boy halted him with a hand, "Don't hug me."

Bankotsu blinked at having his usual form of appreciation denied, his face crestfallen.

"Sesshoumaru, don't you start acting all phobic on him," Kagura snapped under her breath.

Another eyebrow was raised, "I've never let him hug me."

Both Kagura and Bankotsu took that in and began to laugh lightly. The black-haired teen settling for resting a friendly hand on the taller boy's shoulder.

Before he could speak though, an explosion sounded from the other side of the lab room.

"Damnit Naraku!" Kouga's voice rang out as his two friends held him back from pummeling the dark-haired boy.

"What's wrong, you mess up your little experiment?" Naraku said with a smirk.

"Would you two please cut it out?!" Mr. Mukotsu yelled, making his way over towards the commotion.

While the teacher tried to calm down the chaos and get the smoke cleared away, Kagura tapped Bankotsu on the shoulder.

"So you got a picture of him with you?" She asked casually.

He just blinked, "What?"

"Come on, even ice-blocks like Sesshoumaru carry a picture of the person they're…sorta with."

At that Sesshoumaru furrowed his eyebrows in thought, "What sort of picture am I supposedly carrying on my personage?"

The girl sighed, and walked over- casually sticking her hand into his back jeans pocket and fishing out his wallet.

"I left the credit card at home." He stated.

"You're learning," She smirked in return.

Flipping open the wallet, she dug for the picture she spoke of.

"Ah here- see. I told you," Kagura remarked, holding out a picture of her with Sesshoumaru at their Junior Prom.

"And here I thought you weren't the sentimental type, Sesshoumaru," Bankotsu said with a smirk.

"There are phone numbers on the back. It has proved useful."

Kagura flipped it over, and glared, "Sentimental indeed."

Thinking back to her original question, Bankotsu realized that he never had shown more than a few pictures here and there to them that had Jakotsu in it. Their lives had been so rough in those last years at his other school and then Jakotsu had gone off on an exchange program. It didn't leave for many happy times, or photographs to remember it by.

Pulling out his own wallet, he cautiously fingered the small pocket to the left side he'd not touched outside of his apartment for months.

Looking back over his shoulder at the commotion that was currently going on between Naraku's lab group and Kouga's, Bankotsu made sure Hiten was preoccupied before daring to open the small pocket.

Sliding the tattered photo out, the teen had to hold back the wave of emotion that hit him on seeing it. It had been several months since seeing Jakotsu last in person, and the intimate position of the photo only made him miss his companion and best friend even more.

"Bankotsu?" Kagura's voice interrupted his thoughts, and his lost gaze shot up to meet hers.

The black-haired girl knew that wide-eyed look on her friend, and she sighed lightly, "He'll be back tomorrow right? No more waiting?"

Smile spreading onto his face, Bankotsu nodded; his eyes shifting back to the photo in his hands.

Looking back up with hesitance, he slowly handed it over, "It's from… from right before he left…"

Reaching out with a reserved reverence, she took the picture from him.

Recognizing the tall black-haired man from a few other pictures she'd seen at Bankotsu's apartment, Kagura smiled as she looked it over.

The two stood together, the Jakotsu holding Bankotsu from behind, his arms wrapped about his waist. The reason behind his anxiety over the photo though, was not just due to that, and Kagura noticed Bankotsu was watching her intently for her reaction to it.

Her face slowly returned to a cool smile, and she raised her red eyes to meet those of her friend, "You look so happy with him. I don't think I've ever seen you like that around here."

Taking it back from her, he carefully slid it back into his wallet. "We've….we've been friends for a long time…." He offered in explanation.

"They say the best lovers start out as friends," A deep voice spoke from behind him, and Bankotsu's eyes shot open.

Turning slowly, and dreading what he was going to see, he found himself looking up at Naraku and a positively devious smirk.

"Hey sis, the teach is sending me to the office again. Get my notes, would ya?" The brown-haired teen remarked towards Kagura.

"And why the hell should I?" She snapped back.

"Because revenge is a bitch, and I can get you in major trouble with dad if you don't."

Kagura sighed, knowing all too well that her brother could come up with blackmail for anything on a second's notice.

"On one condition: you forget what you just saw in that photograph."

"You mean," He dropped his voice an octave and whispered, "That our dear friend here was kissing another guy?"

Bankotsu winced, not really wanting someone like Naraku in possession of that information at the moment.

Placing a hand on the shorter teen's shoulder, Naraku shrugged, "No worries, I won't crucify one of my own kind."

"Mr. Sarudoushi, if you would please!" Mr. Mukotsu's voice broke through the dying noise around the site of the explosion.

"Okay, okay I'm going…" He said raising his hands in innocence.

Once he exited the room, Bankotsu's shoulders slunk forward.

"Shit…"

"Hey…I know my bro's a major asshole, but I don't think you have to worry about it," Kagura said, flipping through her chemistry notes.

"Are you saying we can trust him?"

"No. I'm just saying you never piss him off enough for him to blackmail you," She replied with a nervous laugh.

Frowning, he shoved his wallet back into his pocket, "That's not very reassuring…"

"Now you do realize," She continued handing over another beaker, "That if you put this off to the weekend it's probably going to drive you nuts until you tell him…"

He narrowed his eyes, "I told Suikotsu this morning, and then you two…I think three is enough for one day…."

"Well, I'd just make sure you tell him before he finds out on accident. That would only make things worse."

"Yeah, I know. I'll get together with him after the baseball game on Saturday, sit him down and work it out. I…I might be able to convince him a bit better if I have Jakotsu with me."

"You think so?" Kagura asked; frowning as the school's Bunsen burner flickered weakly.

"I don't know- it's not like I've done this before!" He muttered back, running a hand through his bangs, "Jeez, they're both my best friends… I don't want either of them upset."

"Well tell Jakotsu you need to have some 'friend time' with Hiten since he's been used to having you all to himself all semester. If he's as close to you as it seems, he'll understand."

"I suppose…"

"Burner," Sesshoumaru said quietly.

"What?" Kagura asked.

"The burner."

"Ah shit!" She cursed, seeing the liquid begin to boil over, "I hate these things. One second it's not doing anything, the next it's screwing the whole damn thing up."

"I'll get a towel," Bankotsu said heading towards the supply cabinet.

It wasn't until he looked up that he realized that he should have sent someone else.

Hiten was standing there scrubbing the black smudges off the various beakers and glasses that had been nearby when the explosion had happened. Luckily, it wasn't toxic, but it was still quite the mess.

"I see you got in Naraku or Kouga's group," Bankotsu said slowly, trying to keep the topic on other things.

"Kouga's. Was right next to Naraku's latest prank when it went off," Hiten muttered.

"You think he'd learn after all the times he's been sent to the office," He laughed lightly, beginning to dig in the lower cabinets for a towel.

"The sicko was just showing off."

"Sicko?" Bankotsu winced, hitting his head on the cabinet as he pulled back.

"What do you mean?"

"Showing off is all fine and good if you're doing it for some chick. He just needs to realize that and keep quiet."

Feeling his stomach churning uneasily, Bankotsu clutched up the towel and turned, "I've…I've got to get back to work…"

"Bankotsu?" Hiten questioned, noticing his friend acting stranger than usual.

"Why do we have to keep silent? Is it because…you don't have to acknowledge us then?" He thought bitterly to himself, "Shit… I'm never going to be able to tell him…"

"What's wrong?" Kagura asked on seeing his return and strange expression.

"This isn't going to work."

Flinging down the towel on the counter, he slouched on the stool.

"He's already going off on Naraku and at least Naraku likes girls, so that makes him half acceptable…"

Eyes narrowing, she turned to Sesshoumaru to see if he had any advice.

"You cannot hide forever." He stated; eyes intense.

"I wish I could…" Bankotsu muttered as he looked over towards where Hiten was, "I really wish I could…"

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Preview for Chapter 5:

Things can be hidden, but only for so long. Always hiding though tends to cause the revelation only harder.