"Welcome!" Misaki gleefully exclaimed as he pulled the front door open and greeted the slightly exhausted but gentle faces of his brother and his wife, "Come on in! Everything is already set-up. I just have one last dish to put on the table."

Minami smiled and nodded, "Thank you for inviting us over. I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

Shaking his head, Misaki answered, "No no, Nee-san. I'm sorry for having called you guys over this late, especially since you still have to look Mahiro."

As they caught up with cheerful chatter, the trio slowly made their way through the doorway and into the grand living room of Usagi-san's estate, shuffling off pairs of worn shoes and placing jackets on the clothes hanger. Catching a whiff of Misaki's food, Takahiro looked towards the source of the mouthwatering smell.

"My goodness Misaki. The food smells amazing! What did you whip up for us tonight?"

"Ha ha, nothing special." Misaki said, "I hope you like it. We are having a full course so you guys better be hungry."

Minami chuckled and held her stomach.

"We spent most of the afternoon taking Mahiro to a nearby park and then most of dinnertime getting him to eat his vegetables. I'm pretty starved myself."

With that, Misaki held his head high as he led them to the dining table. Just as he was about to introduce his elegant plates, he noticed that there was a slight burning odor that mixed into the smell of the meal.

What is that smell? Did I burn something? No...I don't remember doing so. Then why does it smell so strong...AH!

Misaki quickly turned around only to see Usagi-san casually push the vegetables that Misaki had prepared into a sizzling pan.

"Usagi-san! What you are doing?!" he exclaimed, quickly rushing over to the man's side and taking the burning pan away from his hands. "I was planning on washing the sauce out and THEN cooking the rest. Listen! If you keep cooking the sauce, it will burn, okay? Agh. Move over. I'll finish it."

"But won't the sauce enhance the flavor?"

"Not while its burnt! Besides, the vegetables are supposed to be light so not everything is that sal-"

"Takahiro!" Usagi-san casually said, interrupting Misaki and hurrying over to his brother's side.

Tch. I'll properly lecture him later. Misaki grumbled a bit to himself and started to rinse out the pan.

On the outside, all seemed to be well, while inside Misaki's mind…

What do I do? They're really here! I REALLY I hope I seemed natural enough. It was hard enough to answer the door. My knees were shaking the entire time I thought I was going to collapse...but I guess that means we've successfully invited them into our house. But…IS THAT A GOOD OR BAD THING?! This is bad. THIS IS DEFINITELY BAD...tch...I can't to get myself to think straight right now. As I thought, I really can't do this. Besides, Usagi-san said that it didn't have to be today. Why not tomorrow? Or next week? Or next month? Or when it is necessary? Or…I mean…we can always wait from Nii-san or Nee-san to ask. Won't that be better? Instead of inviting him over for dinner, we should just wait for him to start the conversation! But…Nii-san…knowing him…he would never ask about anything like this. GAH! I'm so scared right now!

Misaki's hands started to shaking uncontrollably as sweat collected on his face and in his palms and he struggled to keep his grip. As cold water kept slashing down onto his unsteady hands, he kept rethinking it over and over again, trying to find different ways to solve the problem, to find a better solution, and to escape the panic that was controlling his entire body. All these thoughts whirled around and around in his mind when he suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Isaka-san.

…You haven't told your brother about these connections, right?

…What will you do?

…Until now the one who has been avoiding is me. This time, I'll have a face to face conversation

…For that purpose, I will…!

Misaki stopped and saw the error in his thinking.

But in the end, doesn't that just mean that...I'm running away from the problem? That won't do! Like Usagi-chichi said, I have to show that I'm dedicated in this too.

He sighed and put down the pan.

I promised Usagi-san that I...no...we would go through this, whether it works or not.
I just...can't always be relying on Usagi-san. We have to do this together...as embarrassing as it is. I trust him and I do want to stay with him…after all…it is better now than never.

Satisfied with the conclusion of his mental debate, Misaki slapped his face a few times and bent down to open the compartment which held the leftover groceries in search for some carrots. There were none left. Defeated, he was about to close the cabinet, until he saw it. The pile of neatly cut green peppers that he was supposed to add into the dish. And the culprit that hid them in here...was not at all hard to identify.

"Usagi-san! Why did you put the peppers in here?!"

The man calmly turned around and said, "I don't know. Maybe they didn't want to be cooked and eaten."

"LIAR!"

"Don't put them in. They taste bad."

"They are full of great nutrients, perfect for the brain of a top-of-the-notch-award-winning-yet-weird-and-crazy writer like you! Eat them."

Takahiro saw the building energy of the conversation and attempted to intervene. "Well...come on guys...it's just food. Misaki, I think that Akihiko would be fine with eating a meal without them. So, just let him off the hook today...okay..."

But Misaki was already too far in the argument to care and his pent up stress seeked release.

"Eat them!"

"...can't you use anything else?"

"You burned the rest."

The man was silent, unable to make a comeback. Sensing his victory, Misaki smirked and held up a bag full of the grass colored shapes.

"Since I just so happen to not have anything else to use, I guess I will have to go with the "Misaki's Ultimate Green Pepper Supreme Deluxe" recipe."

Usagi-san hung his head low and groaned.


Realized that the first part was pretty dry in terms of emotional expression so I made this one a bit more internal. :\ Which do you prefer? I think that if this style goes well, I'll just stick with it so it doesn't go all over the place. But yay! The reviews I got for part 1 made me so happy and excited! Thank you for all of your beautiful comments. It really means a lot!

I hope this is going well so far. Let me know what you think!