So... It's been a long time since I updated, this is getting to be a habit. Sorry. But I am currently working on the next What If chapter, so hopefully that'll be up soon :)

Keeping It In The Family

He could still remember the day, that day that had started out so ordinary but become a turning point in his life, the magical, emotional day when he met Miyagi Yoh!

The man had been a little younger then, fewer lines around the eyes (not that he minded those, it was just evidence of his maturity, his passion and dedication to his work), luscious, thick, black hair that begged to be touched, to be grabbed… Miyagi had strode into the room, tall, with a charming smile and smooth chuckle, a fount not only of knowledge but of wit, relaxed, firmly but effortlessly able to persuade anyone to his point of view. Of course he had been bowled away, how could he not be, with those eager, bright eyes upon his face? The choice was easy, there was never really a choice in the first place, Miyagi had to be the one.

But it was impossible, he knew it was. The age gap for one thing. More than a decade separated them, significantly so, and he knew that there was no possible way Miyagi could ever look at him and see him in the same way, in that romantic way. More than romance really – it wasn't only Miyagi's fine body that entranced him, but everything about the man captivated him.

There was only one chance to keep Miyagi. Somehow he had to get him in the family, keep him close by even if that meant torturing himself by having the man tantalisingly close without being able to touch him himself. And it worked perfectly – for a time, anyway. Miyagi and Risako met, liked each other, wed. A done deal, or so he thought, Miyagi would always be around. But even marriage contracts can be broken, and he despaired. Risako had ruined everything, thrown Miyagi away like a used tissue and set him free to be snapped up by someone else, to leave Tokyo at a moment's notice, to leave him, forever!

He spent many terrible nights tossing and turning, anxious that Miyagi would go away in a pique of distress. But Miyagi didn't; he didn't leave, he didn't even leave the University, he didn't seem affected in the slightest by the fact that his wife had left him for another. And he began to hope, hope that maybe he had a chance, that Miyagi didn't care for Risako (for girls at all, even? Oh, please, how much more of a chance would he have if Miyagi could be persuaded to the other side and learn to care for one of his own gender!).

And it turned out that Miyagi could be so persuaded. He knew this first hand, from the evidence before his eyes. Well, at least he could keep Miyagi close after all, that was a partial relief. They couldn't marry, but Miyagi was in essence back in the family again. It was completely unexpected and not quite as he had hoped as he had turned up bashfully outside Miyagi's apartment, a bunch of red roses in hand, running his prepared speech through his head.

He left the roses outside the open door, turned and quickly disappeared down the hall and into the stairwell. Just in time, he thought, as he heard the familiar voice of his eighteen year old son ask Miyagi who the flowers were from.

A pain wrenched in his heart, but he turned his footsteps towards home and the wife who had kept it warm for him for nearly forty years now, and left his beloved Miyagi behind with his son, Miyagi's own beloved Shinobu.

A.N. So... A little different. I suddenly had the thought, what if the Dean also cared for Miyagi more than he should? I almost titled the story Man-Magnet, as Miyagi clearly is ;) I tried to make it seem like I was talking about Shinobu until it was revealed to be the Dean at the end, did that work? And the first day I referred to at the start was supposed to be the day Miyagi went for his job interview at the university, hope that wasn't confusing.

Hope you enjoyed, anyway! Let me know! :D