Chapter 7

Akihiko pushed Hiroki's bookcase to the side. He squinted his eyes and looked into the space. The light inside of the apartment made everything clearer than before they started their search. Nothing indicated that the scarf was in the back or stuck in any of the crevices. He frowned. After all the time he spent on his knees, nothing came out from his search. He sighed as he moved the bookcase back in its place. He shuffled his silver hair to the side. He checked every single bookcases Hiroki owned and no results solved the mystery of the disappeared scarf.

He turned around and searched for Hiroki throughout the apartment and found him looking under the sofas. Hiroki reached underneath and grabbed anything he touched. All he would ever pull out from the darkness was old garbage. Even if Hiroki didn't face him, he knew Hiroki's desperation in finding that scarf. A fruitless search after spending hours checking everything. Fuyumi would find out about it and she never got angry.

Possessions got lost all the time. To some people, it wasn't a big deal to replace them but he knew Hiroki wasn't one of those people. Hiroki kept anything broken until he could fix it. When it turned irreparable, he disposed of it properly or shoved it in a drawer. Although, this scarf was made by Hiroki's sick mother which of course had sentimental value. Huge personal value.

Akihiko went toward the kitchen and looked through the cabinets. He moved the dishes and cups around and disappointment filled his body when he found nothing. Afterwards, he checked the fridge and found it almost empty. Void of fresh food. He saw cans of beer and iced tea in the high shelves. He might remind Hiroki to get food later.

Hiroki stood up from his place on the ground and wandered back inside of his bedroom. He trashed the whole apartment looking for that scarf days prior and then he thought cleaning might help him find it. With his friend helping him out. It made the whole process easier. He was surprised Akihiko wanted to help him but he guessed Akihiko felt generous for once. Not that he questioned Akihiko, the man changed his mind when someone started questioning his intentions.

His eyebrows furrowed while he went to his wardrobe and checked the contents again. He rechecked the section where he kept his gloves and his scarves. He saw nothing yet again. Absolutely nothing. He sighed. Once he made sure to look through each inch, he closed the doors.

He muttered. "Maybe I took it along with me when I visited home and left it there by accident…then maybe it's not really lost. Although…mom would have called me to tell me that it was there in the first place."

Hiroki frowned as he checked around his bed and found a book that he needed for class. Throughout tossing his clothes and cleaning his home again, he thought he lost it. He tossed it onto the bed as he moved the headboard aside and looked inside. All he found were dust bunnies and maybe some empty bags of junk food that he ate sometimes when he was studying at night.

He hastily grabbed the trash and threw them in the small trash bin inside of his room. He dumped some papers he didn't read anymore over them. Akihiko might wander in and comment on leaving empty food wrappers lying around. A hypocritical thing to say when the guy left his penthouse in such disarray.

Hiroki went through his drawers which contained his miscellaneous things and thought something went missing. Plenty of broken items which he ultimately forgot to toss out in the trash. He looked through the clutter and tried remembering what exactly he dumped in there. Nothing resurfaced and he sighed.

He shut it closed as he heard Akihiko walking down the hallway. The silver haired man walked past his room in a hurry. His eyes connected with Akihiko. Mentally asking him on any new news. The author shrugged his shoulders to say he had not found nothing. Hiroki nodded his head with a frown while he kept looking through his room.

Akihiko entered the bathroom and saw no red cloth anywhere in sight. He didn't need to really look inside since there was no possible way it resided in the bathroom. The space was smaller than his own apartment.

Akihiko caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Grimacing, he brushed the dust from his shoulder. Not that it helped, the rest of his clothing got dirtied from all of the furniture he moved and the places he looked through. His hair was in such a disarray that he needed to wash it to remove every particle of dirt. He didn't feel like it.

He had done most of the search inside of Hiroki's apartment which was something he wouldn't do for anyone else. Takahiro and Hiroki were the only people he trusted in this world and he helped them whenever they asked him.

They rarely asked for his help to begin with anyway.

Akihiko decided to take a break as he went to Hiroki's kitchen and took out one of the last beers. Any complaints from Hiroki and he'd just buy him a pack to qualm his anger. Well, his annoyance

Hiroki gave up the search after ten minutes. Disillusioned, he went back into the living room with Akihiko, he told him with dismay lacing his voice. "Thanks for trying to help me Akihiko. Even with your help, we couldn't find it anywhere in this small place. Sorry for wasting your morning on this fruitless search."

Akihiko reached out his hand and ruffled Hiroki's hair in an attempt to comfort him. "At least we tried an extensive search Hiroki. Just tell Mama Fuyumi what happened to the scarf and she will understand. You know she won't get angry that it's somehow missing from your place."

Hiroki nodded his head as he smiled light. "Yeah…she knows I wouldn't lose it on purpose. I had a good six year run with that scarf so I guess that's a new record on my end. The last scarf I bought ended up lost after a week."

Akihiko smoothed down his wrinkly shirt, commenting with a smirk. "Your last one was an ugly looking thing. Be glad it went missing. I know I'm glad I never have to look at it again." Hiroki glared at Akihiko who gave up in fixing up his dirty shirt. "Before I forget, you should stock up on food. Your fridge is void of any edible food."

Hiroki sighed. "I might end up going to corner market once my tutoring session with Nowaki is over. Knowing him, he might keep on asking me questions until way past dark."

Speaking of Hiroki's student, Akihiko forgot about researching the kid. He might attempt it later on after some free time opened up. "How long does he stay here anyway? I'm not liking the fact he stays here longer than the usual standard time."

Hiroki calculated the usual amount of time, he answered. "Well…he stays around three hours…four if he is reading the material. Afterwards, I have to explain everything in detail for his notes."

"That is way too long for a tutoring session. It's usually an hour, maybe even two if the student doesn't get shit."

Hiroki shrugged his shoulders. "Nowaki wants me to really get into detail since he wants to pass his tests. The kid is driven to actually succeed so it would be wrong of me not to help him properly. Besides, he doesn't waste my time with stupid questions."

Akihiko told him. "I find it odd that someone would want to spend that much time studying. I don't even go past two hours. For someone who has to work for a living, I can't believe he has this much time to spare. Are you sure you are not wasting your time on him?"

"Nah. I'm done tutoring the kid once his exams come around, then he won't need me anymore. He will remember my study methods since I drilled him the whole time he was here."

Akihiko sighed. "If he's going to be busy with his own studies afterwards, then he shouldn't be bothering you again." He checked the time on his watch as he frowned. "I better get going. I'm expected at Marukawa for another meeting. They want to talk to me about a possible sequel to the novel I gave them. Maybe even discussing the next type of novel I should be writing."

"Wait…you just finished a novel already and they want you to do another one? Let me guess, it's going to be a BL novel and Takahiro is going to be having trouble with your novel self?" He stared at Akihiko in amusement, he knew Aikawa always suggested new BL reading material for quicker releases in stores.

Akihiko poked Hiroki on the forehead, he said with a smirk. "You guessed my plot without even having to think about it. That's a pity, I wanted to surprise you this time."

Hiroki smirked right back at him. "Start writing about another couple and I might say something nice for once."

Akihiko bit the inside of his cheek when he remembered all of the compliments Hiroki told him while in his drunk stupor. He didn't know if Hiroki purposely forgot about those compliments or his mind blanked out everything while he slept.

Either way, he had no complaints. His friend was so much fun when he was drunk.

Hiroki noticed Akihiko suddenly went quiet and thought maybe Akihiko felt bad that he didn't say nice things more often. Takahiro complimented Akihiko every single time they saw each other so he didn't see the need to saw things which were obviously true.

He was sure Akihiko knew he loved anything he wrote since he was the one who edited them all the time. He read every single word to look for mistakes but he took extra time to really get a feel for the story. The fact that he even agreed to edit Akihiko's work should be a clear sign that he thinks highly of his friend.

Hiroki didn't feel the need to voice anything when his actions showed plenty enough.

Hiroki frowned as he poked Akihiko on the chest when he said. "Aren't you supposed to be heading off to Marukawa by now Akihiko?"

Akihiko chuckled. "Eager to get rid of me are you? How mean."

Hiroki arched a brow as he started pushing him to the door. "Whatever, don't call me and start complaining about Aikawa yelling at you again. I get enough of you calling me for sex positions to use in your novels."

Akihiko told him with a smirk. "I called for valid research purposes and I know you watch pornos when I am not here."

Hiroki hit Akihiko on the shoulder really hard and got satisfaction when he saw Akihiko flinching from the pain. "That's what you get! And you are the perv between the both of us Akihiko! You write those the damn perverted books to begin with!"

"Ah so you admit you are a pervert, that's good of you to admit it Hiroki. How very grown up of you." Akihiko walked away without a care in the world.

"I AM NOT A PERVERT!"

He put on his shoes as he looked back at Hiroki with an amused expression. "You are denying it so fiercely. It seems like you are admitting to my speculations." Akihiko loved pushing Hiroki's buttons, it was just too much fun.

Hiroki opened his mouth and then closed it as he gave Akihiko his deadliest glare. Yelling at Akihiko got him nowhere. The author managed to toss back any retorts with ease. He hated to admit that he wasn't as intimidating as his father. After so many years, he brought the fear in Akihiko.

Akihiko got back up on his feet as he ruffled Hiroki's hair. Hiroki growled as Akihiko smiled down at him. "Now don't get into any trouble while I am gone okay Hiroki?" He teased. "I want you to answer me whenever I call. The same goes for Takahiro."

Hiroki slapped his hand away. "I am NOT a child."

"Yeah yeah.." Akihiko said as he walked to the door and heard Hiroki muttering he was an ass.

He curled his hand around the doorknob as he turned to Hiroki. He told him with a grin. "Remember to go shopping, I don't want to find out you starved to death while I wasn't around."

Hiroki glared at him from his spot as he waved at Akihiko. "I know. Stop worrying so much, it's getting weird that you are caring enough to remind me of simple tasks."

Akihiko winked at him in jest and ran with his new nickname for his best friend. "Well you are my brother, I need to look after you."

"Shut up weirdo." Hiroki motioned toward the door. "Get going before I kick your ass out."

Akihiko opened the door and almost bumped into someone. The young man in front of him had his fist up in the air. Almost as if he prepared himself to knock on the door. The tall stature and bright blue eyes stood out to Akihiko. He guessed a mix of another ethnicity, considering no full bloodied Japanese man was born with blue eyes. After thinking about it some more, it clicked on his mind, this was Hiroki's student.

Hiroki walked toward Akihiko when he stopped moving. He saw him standing at the door, frozen in place. Shuffling his dirty shirt, he patted down his messed up hair. He patted Akihiko's back and said. "What's wrong Akihiko? Did you suddenly forget something?" He peeked beyond Akihiko and saw Nowaki in front of them. "You're here too early Nowaki."

Akihiko turned to Hiroki, commenting with slight amusement in his tone. "You didn't tell me the guy was this huge Hiroki. He towers over you."

Hiroki said to Akihiko. "I don't need to give you descriptions of all the people I come into contact with Akihiko. Now hurry along before Aikawa comes here to fetch you. She knows where I live after she tracked you down from your last disaster."

Akihiko pointed out. "She wouldn't have known where you lived if you didn't answer the phone." He ruffled Hiroki's hair again as he walked out of Hiroki's apartment and Nowaki moved out of the way. "Don't silence my calls little sibling."

Hiroki exclaimed. "I'll do what I want! Nowaki get inside, we have work to do."

Nowaki glared at the back of the author. He hid his face from Hiroki's gaze as he walked through the door.

Nowaki settled on his usual spot. Putting on a cheerful smile, he ignored the scenarios running through his head. At first, the disheveled appearance of both Hiroki and Akihiko bothered him. He pushed aside the thought of them sleeping together. It brought on his sudden anger and he didn't want to confront Hiroki over speculations. Not when Akihiko called Hiroki his brother with a teasing tone. The former anxiety washed off of him and his mood skyrocketed. He wanted nothing more than to study alongside his beloved.

Shifting through his papers, he kept an eye on Hiroki's every move. His movements through placing his own school work on the table and putting the tutoring material on the other end of the table. Without any exchange of words, they settled in their usual tutoring routine. Hiroki asked him questions while Nowaki answered them. His heart fluttered at Hiroki's praise and he held back the urge to reach over the table to hold Hiroki in his arms.

He handed Hiroki another completed sheet of paper and he went onto the next one. Nerves built up inside of him. The interest in his current major dissipated. Social workers did enough to help people but he wanted to go beyond those limitations. The money didn't matter to him, not when he went with little in his pocket for most of his life.

He found that a doctor poured their soul into helping people. His last visit to the hospital got him to see a doctor calming down his patient. A nervous girl who relaxed due to the amazing tricks of the doctor. He imagined himself in that exact spot.

He feared Hiroki's reaction of his change of major.

"Looks like you're all set for your exams. You know everything in these packets and you made no more mistakes. I'm impressed." Hiroki shut down his laptop and inspected Nowaki's work. "You don't really need me to show you what do anymore."

Nowaki shook his head and insisted. "I will always need you. This motivation I have came out of fruition because of you. You encouraged me to go through my exams and not to procrastinate from my studies. All this work happened through your help."

Hiroki shrugged his shoulders. "You're the one who retained the information and passed these mock tests. I just showed you how to harness your potential. You have a bright mind Nowaki and you can accomplish so much."

Nowaki gulped. "I need to apologize before I have to say this to you."

Hiroki chugged down his water. "It must be serious...out with it."

"I don't want to be in social work."

"What?"

"I want to be a doctor."

Hiroki almost knocked his water from the table but he caught it on time. "You have got to be kidding me." He crumpled a piece of paper in his hands. "You're switching majors?"

Nowaki nodded his head. "I- I thought about this throughout the weekend and I want to go into medicine. I see myself as a doctor. Social work isn't my passion anymore."

Hiroki slammed his hand onto the table, Nowaki tried not to flinch. "How dare you switch on me now?! Do you have any idea how many hours I spent going through those archives to get you the material for social work? Why didn't you tell me months ago? We would have focused on sciences and the subjects needed for medicine. You're this close to your exams!"

Nowaki insisted. "I'll complete my usual material and then transfer into medical school."

"Medical school is hard. Way harder than any profession out there. Are you even sure you can even complete the program?" Hiroki asked.

"I will complete the programs."

"Yeah right." Hiroki snorted. "I'm not saying you are not capable. Far from it, your memory is impeccable but you're working to the bone to even make it into community college next semester."

"You're mad at me."

Hiroki sighed. "I can't be mad. At least you figured this out before you went through the classes for social work. All I can do is wish you the best of luck. Law school is hard but medical school is brutal."

Nowaki walked around the table and crouched in front of Hiroki. "Are you sure? You're not annoyed that I wasted your time."

"I'm not irritated." Hiroki arched a brow.

Leaning closer, Nowaki connected their lips. Plunging his tongue in between Hiroki's gaping mouth, he almost slobbered through the kiss. His lack of practice showed but this didn't slow down his enthusiasm. He relished locking lips with Hiroki while conscious. He dreamed of his moment throughout the weeks of tutoring. Wanting nothing more than to hold Hiroki in his arms and show off the love he held for him.

He pushed him onto the ground and rubbed their hips together. Bringing him to sigh and whimper into the kiss. Hiroki moved underneath him, he misinterpreted it as Hiroki enjoying this as well. His hands touched any inch of Hiroki's body. He paid close attention to any revealed naked skin when Hiroki's shirt rose up his chest. He broke the kiss to focus on Hiroki's smooth neck.

Hiroki broke from his stupor. He smacked Nowaki's cheek and pushed him off of him with his feet. Sitting up, he shuffled away from Nowaki until his back hit the wall. "What the fuck was that?!" He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, his eyes widened in shock.

Nowaki ignored the stinging of his cheek. No use hiding his emotions anymore. "Hiro-san, I love you." Nowaki touched his lips as he confessed in longing. "I-I love you." Gulping, he got on his knees and gripped the front of his shirt. "I don't want to stop seeing you. This can't be the end."

Hiroki swore inside of his head as he scrubbed his mouth. He missed any vital signs of Nowaki's growing affection. How could he have known? The guy presented a nice and positive vibe where he connected with anyone. He caught him talking with plenty of people at his job at the flower shop. Admirers stopped around and flirted with him. A number of pickings for a date or a partner. He never suspected Nowaki of thinking of him in such a way.

Nowaki continued on kneeling across from him. His head hung low and his hands gripping the material of his jeans. Hiroki thought Nowaki's feelings were nothing more than a crush. A small form of adoration after spending continual time with him. The both of them together in an apartment while getting to know one another. Nowaki used his free time just for the tutoring sessions. Nothing else.

Biting his bottom lip, Hiroki stood up on his feet. "I hold no such feelings for you." Hiroki stated. "I'm sorry but I cannot return your feelings. This is just a student and teacher relationship."

Nowaki lifted his head when he inquired, a bite to his tone. "You're in love with your friend aren't you?"

Hiroki furrowed his brows. "No. I'm not in love with anyone. School is eating up my focus and I can't focus on anyone else's needs."

"I saw the way you looked at him. You want him."

Hiroki's eyes widened at Nowaki's harshness. He chose to ignore it considering he rejected the poor guy. "I reiterate, I'm not in love with anyone. Besides, I have other issues to worry about than love. Now, this session is over. You can come back tomorrow and we will resume at the same hour."

Nowaki stood up and said. "Please, don't end it right now. I didn't mean to make this uncomfortable but-"

Hiroki pointed at the clock. "You will be late for work if you don't go right now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"But...sure. I'll come back tomorrow." Nowaki tried not to cry at Hiroki dismissing his feelings, he held it together on the outside. He thought for sure that Hiroki wanted their relationship to go up to another level.

"Good. I'm sure you can let yourself out now." Hiroki said as he made his way toward the bathroom. "Lock the door on your way out."

Nowaki remained still. He stared at the direction Hiroki walked toward and he replayed the last few minutes inside of his mind. His heart turned heavy. Time stopped. The illusions of a relationship with Hiroki shattered before his eyes. He saw him as nothing more than a student. Hiroki would never accept his feelings.

His happiness diminished.

Withering away into nothing.

Hiroki turned on the shower, breaking the silence of the apartment.

A thought came in Nowaki's mind as he passed the bathroom. Careful in making his footsteps as light as possible. Hiroki's bedroom door remained wide open. The light from the outside streetlights illuminated the room. More than enough for him to make out the furniture in the vicinity.

Nowaki yanked the wardrobe door open and searched for the photo album. When he saw it, he picked it up and shook it around. A napkin containing the locket fell onto the ground. He snatched it up from the ground before shoving the album back in its place. Hurrying through the apartment, he checked for any sign of Hiroki. He heard the falling water from the bathroom. The shower blocked any noises outside of the bathroom.

He put on his shoes before he walked out the door and shut it behind him. The hallway was void of anyone. His lips lifted into a small smirk as he touched the locket inside of his pocket.

The butterfly is mine. For now.

TBC