A/N: To answer a reviewer, yes, I'm going to pair up Hiroki with Akihiko.

Thanks for reading!

-Lucicelo

Chapter 20

Akihiko lit up a cigarette near an open window after he finished his breakfast. He finished his convenience store breakfast and downed the less than impressive canned coffees to perk himself up. The food still didn't suit Akihiko's taste, but he managed to hide his initial distaste to get something in his stomach. Takahiro found noting wrong with the food, citing it as okay for being store bought, preferring his wife's cooking over anything else.

After his vacation ended, Takahiro returned to work with in a crestfallen mood. In two weeks, they were no close to finding Hiroki than when they started. Regardless, Takahiro had kept up such enthusiasm that even Akihiko kept onto the hope of returning home with Hiroki. During his doubtful moments, he wanted to go back home and hole himself in his apartment. He went through sleepless nights, thinking about Hiroki's well being and his safety. In his extensive research, with so little evidence, he didn't have success in finding him.

Once he finished his cigarette, he turned on his laptop and continued on where he left off the night before. The couple confessed their love and some sappy moments happened afterwards. He tended to write smut during the night to keep Takahiro from reading over his shoulder and ask uncomfortable question as to why he wrote BL. Takahiro only knew of his mainstream content. Although, he suspected Manami read his works, she sneaked an autograph out of him during in his recent visit.

"A new novel!" Takahiro peered at the screen and smiled. "Usagi-chan, you're such a hard worker. I bet Aikawa-san is so happy that you're sending her so many books to choose from. I still don't know how you managed to do all this while attending law school."

Akihiko shrugged his shoulders. "I'd rather not have her call me during our searches and get angrier when I don't answer. Besides, half of the content is to her usual taste. She can spend the time reading them and less time bothering me."

"Can I look?"

Akihiko handed Takahiro his laptop. "Sure, got to warn you though. It's...my other type of work."

"Oh, the BL stuff?"

Akihiko snapped his head toward Takahiro in shock. "You know!?"

Takahiro chuckled. "It's not too hard to figure out." Sitting down, he moved the laptop onto his lap and shifted through different pages. "Manami-chan showed me some of your other work and I recognized the writing style. Not too hard to figure out. You have such a big imagination!"

In between Akihiko's inner panic of what exactly his friend ended up reading, Takahiro moved onto the next page. "It's so sweet that you're putting Hiro-chan's name as one of your characters."

As one who used whatever name suited him, Akihiko didn't register that he wrote in Hiroki during his writing process. Since his mind focused on searching for Hiroki, he wasn't surprised that Hiroki sneaked into his work. There were plenty of stories where he wrote in either one of his friends and just went with it. He always added a disclaimer before they went after him for writing stories about them.

"Usagi-chan, why didn't you tell me that you loved Hiro-chan?" Takahiro babbled. "I would have found a way to see if Hiro-chan loved you and put you two together. Both of you suit each other well! I always worried about the two of you being single, but this solves everything!"

Akihiko snuffed out his cigarette and pursed his lips. "I...I don't understand. Takahiro my novels have nothing to do with-"

Takahiro lifted his brows and pointed to the screen. "But, Tsukino Akihiko confessed to Kanno Hiroki."

Akihiko stalked away from the window and snatched up his laptop from Takahiro's lap. Reading the latest section he wrote during his lack of sleep mode, he forgot a majority of where he left on and continued on the latest paragraph.

Takahiro looked on in amusement. "Am I wrong?"

Akihiko's face went bright red at seeing the words coming from novel Akihiko's dialogue. "I-I..." He slumped onto his bed and felt Takahiro pat his shoulder. "Oh shit."

Takahiro smiled. "Don't worry. I'm in full support. I suspected this whole time you know." Face still red, Akihiko looked up at him in disbelief. "You two always had this special bond. I used to see these fond looks between you two when you thought I wasn't looking."

Akihiko turned away from Takahiro and denied it. "No...this is new. I swear, it's new."

"Are you sure? Because I always saw it. Oh! Manami saw it too!"

Akihiko covered his face with his hand and kept his eyes on the wall. "Really?"

"Yup! It's no wonder that you're still looking for Hiro-chan."

"I would have done the same for you." Akihiko looked back at Takahiro from the corner of his eyes. "You two are important to me."

Takahiro puffed out his cheeks. "It's not nice to downplay your feelings."

Akihiko's eye twitched from the comment. This came from a guy who failed to realize someone was in love with him. He liked Takahiro for years, but dealt with his feelings once he met Manami. She didn't deserve harsh vitriol from him because Takahiro didn't notice his own best friend was in love with him. The fact he even got married was a shock to him and Hiroki.

Until, they found out that Manami asked Takahiro out to dinner. She even kissed him after two dates and made sure Takahiro knew of her interest. Had she not made herself obvious, Takahiro might have brushed aside her feelings as kindness.

The beginning of their relationship made more sense.

During their morning searches, Takahiro saw a new force in Akihiko's drive. Throughout their journey through the towns, Akihiko followed every single small lead without excuse. Not that Akihiko questioned people with a glare, but he tended to tire out faster. There was a newly lit fire in his eyes which pushed him forward. Takahiro knew for certain that his words spurned this new behavior.

Later on, Akihiko excused himself to get a quick drink at a local café. When Akihiko asked him for his order, he requested a simple black tea, and any sweet pastry. Akihiko hurried on inside, leaving Takahiro to enjoy the fresh air.

Takahiro sat down on a bench and checked through his work email. He finished his initial work, but he still rechecked his email to see if he missed anything. There were instances where he thought he finished a project, but he didn't send the email and it stayed as a draft. He didn't want a repeat of his beginner's mistake. The scathing words of his superior still echoed in the back of his mind.

At some point, he grew bored, so he thought on checking on his family. He pressed his wife's phone, and waited for her to answer. Once she picked up, he greeted her with a cheerful hello.

"Hello, dear!" Manami answered with a cheer in her tone. "Any good news?"

Takahiro shuffled his shoe onto the dirt. "We have nothing on Hiro-chan's end. Although, Usagi-chan found someone who claimed they saw Hiroki, but we found out it was a similar looking man. We ended up stopping for a late lunch at a local café. But, you were right about Usagi-chan and Hiro-chan!"

"Wait...you mean?!"

"Yes, you were right! Usagi-chan loves Hiro-chan!" Takahiro pumped his fist as he held the phone closer to his ear. "I managed to get it out of Usagi-chan."

"That's great! See, I knew my - well - our intuition was right."

He leaned against the bench and sighed. "We just have to find Hiro-chan and reunite them. I'll try my best for today and I'll be back home tomorrow night. Give Mahiro and Misaki a kiss for me." Takahiro heard Misaki's shriek of despair from the background. "Has Mahiro gotten to Misaki's homework again?"

"I keep telling him to put his papers inside of his dresser drawer. Mahiro is becoming more curious about everything. He can't help but touch anything that catches his attention. Good thing Misaki leaves his final drafts far away from the corner of his desk." Manami giggled.

Takahiro laughed. "You would think Misaki learned from the first time Mahiro bit all over his last paper." He noticed Akihiko made his way out of the café with a carry out tray and a paper bag. "I have to get going. Usagi-chan, just made it out the café."

"Okay, I love you! See you soon!"

"Love you!" Takahiro ended the call with a goofy smile on his face.

Akihiko glanced at Takahiro's phone and commented. "Your wife?"

Takahiro slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Yes, I wanted to check in on them while you were gone." He thanked Akihiko when he handed him his order. "I hate that I have to go back home, but I used all my vacation time."

Akihiko sat down next to Takahiro on the bench and sipped on his basic coffee. "I'm just touched that you accompanied me this far." He took out the bun from the brown bag and ate a huge bite of it before drinking his coffee. "I can continue on after tomorrow." Catching the beginning signs of apologies from Takahiro, Akihiko intervened. "You have a family to take care of. Besides, my job can be done anywhere in the world."

Hiroki placed his hands on the kitchen counter with a shivering sigh. Breathing through his nose, he gathered his bearings and concentrated on not falling onto the ground. Keeping his balance, he tried not to collapse on himself from the distance of the living room to the kitchen. Every single day, he made steps throughout the living room to rehabilitate his stiff body. He fought through the muscle spasms, but stopped when it became too much. As a result, the muscles in his legs strengthened, keeping him upright and pliant. His constant training boosted up his minute feeling of hope.

Despite the fact Hiroki splayed on the floor in exhaustion on some days, the improvement in his muscle definition perked him up on dark days. Nowaki unknowingly supplied him with the medicine and supplements to help him along. Nowaki's good will became Hiroki's advantage.

Nowaki's hours extended far beyond twelve hours on some days which gave him unsupervised time to himself. The backlash came through finding ways to entertain himself. After so many hours of exercise, he grew restless in the desire to go outside. Not even the unlimited amounts of literature kept his attention away from looking at the windows with anxiousness.

Being trapped in four walls made his isolation unbearable.

He craved outside human interaction.

It didn't help that Nowaki left him in in the living room. The tv was left on, books propped on the table, and a tray of lackluster food and room temperature water. Tidbits of food that he ate in small nibbles. His stomach still didn't handle large intakes of food, but he contained large amounts of water. Before taking him off the drugs, the medicine made him not crave any food. With Nowaki's newfound urge to cure him, Nowaki left an IV full of saline into his aching arm and mixed drugs into his food.

His old appetite returned with a vengeance.

Hiroki heard his stomach growling at him, urging him to get more food. It didn't help that a majority of the commercials on TV showed food advertisements. He finished his food, but he grew tired of the same snacks. Shuffling closer to one of the drawers, Hiroki inspected the ones in front of him. He wanted to take some dry food to nibble on. Anything easy for him to open with his weak hands.

Reaching up his arm, Hiroki glared at his twitching arm in annoyance. Even though he exercised his muscles and ate the more nutrient rich food, his body still rebelled against him. Grasping onto the handle, he managed to pry it open.

His arm went slack on his side as he stared at the contents.

The cabinet was overflowing with different varieties of pills and medical equipment.

Wobbling over to Nowaki, Hiroki encased the man in a light embrace. Burrowing his face into his chest, he hid his horror of what he discovered in the kitchen. From the various unlabeled prescriptions, Hiroki didn't want to go back into a pill cocktail. The less Nowaki knew of his discoveries, the better his odds were in staying in one piece. In a manner of speaking, his semi loving act already wrapped Nowaki around his finger. Nowaki didn't always listen to him, but his leverage came with returning the favor.

Nowaki embraced him without suspicion. There was even a tender kiss on his temple. Hiroki knew Nowaki's foolish happiness came from the idea of greeting him at the door. A housewife ideal. Hiroki remembered his parents doing this, but it changed to his mother boiling water for tea. They met at the table and spoke about their day.

Nowaki loved it when they behaved like a happy couple.

Nowaki cooed. "Oh, Hiro-san, I missed you too. And you're walking!"

Hiroki shut his eyes. "Barely."

"Good thing that you're recovering." Nowaki burrowed his face into Hiroki's hair. "You're that much closer to recovering for us to make love again!"

Hiroki gulped away the bile threatening to come forth through his mouth. He remained silent. His breathing went ragged at the mere thought of Nowaki abusing him again. The nightmares dimmed after a month, but from hearing Nowaki's excitement about sex made his inner panic skyrocket. His body trembled, prompting Nowaki to hold him even tighter.

His breathing grew shallow.

He didn't want Nowaki touching him.

Nowaki lifted Hiroki a few feet from the floor to keep Hiroki upright. Burrowing his nose into Hiroki's hair, he let out a sigh of bliss. Everything he ever wanted resided in his arms. All the loneliness disappeared in Hiroki's presence. He never wanted to leave his side, but he had to provide an income for them to survive. His stipend provided more than enough for their minimal lifestyle.

Once he finished residency, he would achieve the salary of his dreams. His high income would keep Hiroki from getting an urge to work. Hiroki wouldn't have to work another day in his life and focus his attention onto him.

He couldn't wait.

Hiroki dug his fingers into his palms to stifle his cries of desperation. His hands trembled from the energy placed into digging his nails into his skin.

He wanted freedom.

He craved-

"Oh my beloved," Nowaki murmured into his ear. "How I love you."

Hiroki bit into his tongue to stifle out his insulting words. He wanted nothing more than to shatter Kusama Nowaki's delusions. To wipe away that smile from his face and hammer it into his head that he despised him. Every single time Nowaki touched him, he wanted to scrub his skin raw.

Hiroki thought about his family and his best friends. The images of his most important people flashed through his mind. They were the main purpose of his escape. He went through this torture and survived so far.

He was so close.

They were waiting for him.

TBC