Akihito stood in front of his bedroom mirror. It wasn't much. Standing only a few feet tall on a wooden platform. A large crack stretched from the top right corner to the bottom left corner; leaving his image looking as shattered as he felt inside. He blinked, watching as his reflection did the same. He hadn't done this in years. Not since the last time, when Ryuichi had caught him. He had been so angry with Akihito that the younger, smaller blond had actually feared that his best friend would actually strike out at him physically. He hadn't though. Instead he had yelled until his lungs burned. Then he lit a cigarette, glaring at Akihito all the while. Then he spoke. "I don't want you to ever do this again." He hadn't yelled, his voice was soft; which had scared Akihito far more than the earlier shouting. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with you Takaba Akihito." He had then quietly left Akihito's bedroom, leaving the scent of his Dunhill in his wake.

Remembering that day sent a shudder of remembered fear down Akihito's spine. Worried, Akihito looked over his shoulder. No one was there. Still, he would not take the chance. He crossed the room, quickly locking the door. Sighing in relief, he stood once again before his mirror. He wore his new high school uniform. It felt big on him. It was big on him. Slowly, he slid the shirt down off his body. His eyes taking the far too pale flesh and the many scars littering his torso. Self-inflicted. All of them. He had spent many years of his childhood hatting himself. His body a constant reminder of his terrible time in elementary school and the following days after the incident.

Akihito's hands moved farther down his body, coming to the waist of his school bottoms. He quickly undid his belt and buttons. His pants fell to the floor. His underwear not so quick to follow but following all the same. He shut his eyes; not wanting to see what he knew he would find beneath his lower clothing. But he could not hide. The memories of that day flashed through his mind. Butterflies fluttered in his chest, a pain that was not sharp or dull nor throbbed gripped the very center of his chest. Sweat began to film onto his skin as his body began to shake. Akihito opened his eyes, gulping in lungsful of air. He did not meet his reflection's image, hating too to know what he would find there.

Turning away from his mirror, Akihito did his best to walk at a normal pace into the bathroom. Turning the shower on full blast, he stepped into the warm water. He stayed there, enjoying the feel of the water falling onto his body. Seeing Sudou Shuu this morning in his homeroom and been a blast right to his solar plexus. He had not seen the other boy in years – a given, since he had not attended any type of public schooling since that incident. A full two weeks of school had passed, and he had found himself enjoying attending the place of education. Not that he was all that impressed with his teachers, however. They often taught things he had already learned – at the age of six. Some of the teachers were kind while others were hard edged from a life of being over worked and receiving little to no respect. – The life of a teacher was not for the faint of heart. There were a pair of teachers that were complete and utter assholes. Those two stayed clear of Akihito after they were caught harassing the young blond by Kazumi. Akihito doesn't know what happened in that locked janitor's closet and he doesn't want to know – it was better that way; in case the police ever came calling. Since that day, and pretty much since the very first day of school, Akihito's academic life had been all smooth sailing. He had even met two boys by the name of Kou and Takato – brothers. They were a silly pair and included Akihito into pretty much everything since they had met him. Last week, the three of them had gone out to the movies and then done some underaged drinking by way of stolen alcohol from their homes and bought by Takato with his fake ID. It had been great. Akihito had always been so straight edged and a goody two shoes, that if anyone else knew what he had been up to, they would be shocked. A part of Akihito wanted to tell his father all about it, he had a feeling that his father would not be as angry as a father would normally be in such a situation. No, Takaba Richard would be happy to know that his son not only had friends, but that his little Akihito was going out and living his life. Making trouble and making memories. He would then of course ground Akihito, or perhaps just a simple reprimand? Akihito wanted to know what his father would do and say. He even longed to experience being in trouble with his father, and yet; he had not confessed. Keeping all that naughty stuff to himself made him feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

All that warm and fuzziness disappeared though when Sudou Shuu stepped through that door and introduced himself to the class. Akihito was thankful that the other boy had not recognized him. Shutting the water off, Akihito stepped free of the shower. Opening the door, he stepped through and right into a solid wall of muscle. Bouncing back, he was saved from crashing to the floor by a pair of strong hands catching him midfall. Akihito looked up and saw Ryuichi smiling down at him.

"You should watch where you're going, Akihito."

Akihito raised on blond brow. "Oh? And yet, here I thought this was my house; Mr. Sneaky-sneak." Akihito stood upright and adjusted his towel around his waist. "What the hell you doing here anyways? I thought that you guys were having another party tonight. By the way, how the hell did you even get into my house? Dad's out and I made sure all the outside doors and the windows were locked."

Ryuichi smirked that trademark Asami family smirk. "Just like I taught you. Good boy."

Akihito huffed out a breath, annoyed. It was true that Ryuichi had personally made sure that Akihito became trained in locking the house up while alone – and even when he was not. But that did not mean that the big oaf could go around calling him a 'good boy'. He stomped passed Ryuichi and his loyal gang of monkeys – Kei, Kazumi, Feilong, Mikhail, Shinji oddly enough, Yoh and Tao. Well, Tao wasn't really one of Ryuichi's monkeys. "You didn't answer my question Ryuichi." He really wasn't in the mood for this, not with Sudou Shuu still haunting him.

Ryuichi leaned against the doorframe leading into Akihito's bedroom. "We are all going out tonight. Wanted to know if you would like to join us."

Akihito dropped the boxers he was holding – black, green and brown camouflage with a soldier cat on one hip – and spun around. His sea colored eyes wide. "Really?!"

Ryuichi chuckled. "Yes, really. Sheesh you are a silly little brat sometimes Akihito. Come on and finish getting ready, time is a-wastin'."

*THE BAD BOY & THE INNOCENT*

Takaba Richard stood in the doorway of his boss' home office. Not a stich of clothing upon his body. His boss, Asami Ryu leaned back in his desk chair. His signature Dunhill burning between his lips. A fire was burning in the man's golden eyes.

"Come here Richard." Ryu held out one hand.

Richard moved slowly across the room, his hips swaying from side to side. Ryu's golden gaze zero in on those sexy, swaying hips. Richard smiled – he knew how to please his man.