All I can say is, sorry for the super-duper long time it took to put this chapter up.
Thank you to all the reviewers! You've made me all very happy. : )
This story is something I do in my spare spare spare time, so it's not going to be
updated often. So don't go all weird on me and send me scary e-mails because
I haven't updated this story in forever (it's happened before...). So yes!

R&R, and I'll see you next time!

Chapter 3

Tohma's P.O.V.

"But why, Tohma?"

I tried to control myself, fighting my urges to push away the pink rabbit plush that Ryuichi was stuffing into my face, wiggling it around as if trying to make it seem like it was talking.

"Not now, Ryu…" I said, exasperated. I was on my last nerve with him, try as I might not to. Ryuichi pulled Kumagoro away and clung to him, pouting. Apparently he didn't like the way I spoke to him.

"But I want to know why!" he whined. "Shu-chan didn't do anything, so why do this to him, huh?"

My eyes narrowed at the mention of that name. I masked it quickly with a smile, something I've been doing to hide my real emotions for a while now.

These past few days have been trying ones. Even Mika has been telling me how tired and overworked I looked now. I shouldn't be like this, they're telling me. Get more sleep. Go out and get a drink at the local bar. Forget everything.

But could I really forget?

I probably was one of the last ones to find out. I had just happened to leave the television on one night and I saw with my own eyes. Eiri, dead. Suicide. That's what they said. Suicide. No one would tell me. I had to find out on my own, by accident. No one wanted to be the one to tell me my brother-in-law was now dead.

No one was taking it well. More than once I've caught Mika locked in our bedroom, crying. The sound of it makes my heart crumble, but I know there's nothing I can do. Nothing can replace a lost brother.

Suicide does not just happen out of the blue. A level-headed person would never wake up one day and decide to end it all. Not Eiri. Unless…

Unless there have been problems. Little things, hidden things. Things no one else could see, demons that lurked only to the victim's own eyes. I knew the source of Eiri's suffering. And that source had a name.

Shuichi Shindou.

And I was ready to do whatever it took to bring him down.

I gently folded my hands onto the desk, giving Ryuichi another smile. "Don't worry about anything, Ryu. I've got everything in control. I am sure Shindou is the reason for everything."

"But…but…" Ryuichi watched me with teary eyes, holding onto his Kumagoro for dear life. He looked heart-broken. But really, why should he worry about this? After all, it's not him I'm talking about.

"Bad Luck is finished, for good."

Shuichi's P.O.V.

"I have something to tell you."

I blinked at Yuki as he pulled apart from me, sending me rolling over onto my back. He brought himself on top of me, holding me with his gaze.

"Yu--," I started to moan, but he quietly silenced me. He lowered himself onto me again and trailed kisses down my neck. I wrapped my arms around his body, pulling him closer to me.

"Shuichi."

That must have been one of the only times I've heard him say my name aloud. I stopped, looking at him. He lay atop me, eyes closed like a sleeping doll. He smiled a little.

"I love you."

My eyes slowly opened, greeted by a staggering pain in my head. Damn it. I went overboard last night, didn't I? Worst. Hangover. Ever.

I tried to get up, but found I couldn't. I looked beside me and saw Hiro, completely naked, one arm draped over my chest. My bare chest. I sighed, trying to remember the past night's events. What…why was Hiro here?

Oh.

I blushed immediately when I remembered, a night full of passionate you-know-what. I had asked Hiro to do it, and he agreed. I groaned aloud, tossing the covers over my head, wishing I could disappear. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was all wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Damn it! Damn it damn it damn it…How could I be so completely stupid?

"Shu."

I stopped. I think I forgot to breathe at that moment. Hiro quietly sat up in bed. I knew was looking at me. I wouldn't remove the covers. I couldn't. I felt awful for what I had done to him. He's going to get the wrong idea or something…

"Shu," he repeated, waiting for a response. I wouldn't answer. I was going to pretend I was asleep. Yes, that's right, I'm asleep. Asleeep…asleeeepppp…. I squeezed my eyes shut. I heard him sigh.

"I know you're freaking out," he said softly, "but you don't have to. I know that you don't feel anything for me in that way. And no matter how hard you say you want to try, I know you'll never forget Mr. Yuki. You don't need to forget him. He may be dead, but that doesn't mean that you have to stop loving him." He sighed, and I could only guess he was running his hand through his long hair. "This doesn't change anything. It may not have meant something to you, but it did for me." I felt him leave the bed, pick up some clothes off the floor and change quickly. Within a moment I heard the door open. I felt my eyes brim over with tears. Hiro…

"We all miss you at work, Shu. It would be good for you to come back and work with us again. Staying cooped up in this house won't do you any good."

The door shut, and he was gone.

K's P.O.V.

Goddamn kids. I hate them.

Except, of course, for Michael. That's something else entirely.

I pushed my sunglasses further up the bridge of my nose, watching over the playground like a guard. I could see Michael over on the swings with a few other children. My eardrums felt like they were going to burst. Damn kids. Don't they know how to be quiet?

"Daddy! Watch me!" I heard Micheal scream, and I looked over to where he was. He was swinging on the swing, squealing with laughter. I smiled. I turned my head and out of the corner of my eye I saw a familiar head. Hiro. He looked completely out of it.

"Hey!" I called out to him. He lifted his head and looked over at me, confused. I beckoned for him to come over.

"Hi, K-san," Hiro mumbled, running his hands through his hair, a bit nervously if I wasn't mistaken. He looked around at the playground and winced at the screaming kids.

"What's wrong, huh?" Hiro blinked stupidly at me. I sighed, slipping my sunglasses off to meet his eyes. "Don't fuck with me. I know something's up. What is it?"

"It's nothing," he said, sitting down on a nearby bench.

"Daddy! Daddy!" I heard Michael cry again, eager to get my attention.

"Give me a minute, all right?" I said to Hiro. He nodded slowly, and I walked over to Michael, who grinned at me.

"Daddy, look, I found a worm!" He said proudly, pointing to the ground where a fat worm was squirming around, trying to escape from the twig he held in his hands. I smiled at him, picking him up in my arms.

"Michael, daddy has to talk to one of the people he works with. Play with your friends for a bit, okay? I'll be right over there on the bench if you need me." I set Michael down on the ground again. I stood up, putting my sunglasses back on. "And please, no worm-torturing today, all right?"

"All right," Michael replied glumly. He looked over at some kids, who were waving to him. He clapped excitedly and ran off to join them.

"What's with kids and bugs, anyways?" I said once I was back with Hiro again. He shrugged, and I sighed. "Okay, tell me. Name your problem."

"Shuichi."

I stopped. I must have done something, for Hiro then looked up at me and looked away, shaking his head. "Never mind, I'll just…"

"Wait." I stated, grabbing his shoulder. I drew away quickly. Was it just my imagination, or was there…a spark? I shook my hand a little, ignoring it. "Don't go. Just tell me what's going on. What's this about Shuichi?"

"Well…last night--,"

"Oh ho ho ho!" I cried, slapping him on the back. "Don't tell me you and him got…you know…" I wiggled my eyebrows at him, and he flushed. "…intimate?"

"Something like that."

"Okay, I wasn't expecting that to be true," I said, furrowing my brows. He was watching me with a strange expression on his face, and I lifted my hands in the air, waving them around. "All right, all right, I'm shutting up."

"Thank you," Hiro said, and told his story.

When he finished, all I could do was just stare at him. "So…you're saying Shuichi got hammered last night, and you were there, so he asked you to do it…and you agreed?"

"That's basically it," he answered, shrugging.

I lifted a finger in the air. "And now you're worried that Shuichi is going to act all weird around you now, especially since you have feelings for him, and he's still in love with Yuki."

"Um…I guess so…" Hiro said, stifling a yawn. For some reason, it saddened me that Hiro was being worried over another man like this.

"Look." I said, and he looked at me. "What you need is something to get your mind off of things. Go to a bar orsomething. Hang out with Ayaka. Or me."

He blinked. "You?"

"Yes, me. Got a problem with that?" I raised one eyebrow, and he shook his head.

"No, not really," he said, and smiled.