FASH: School's starting up again really soon, so I'll probably have the next chapter up by next Sunday.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Day were once again passing by in a blur, none of them being very distinguishable. The Lord and Lady came home, were slightly miffed at missing Hiruma, were informed of the break in, tightened security and Shin's lessons went on.

Every once in a while Hiruma would send him a letter for no particular reason. He never said anything about who he thought the suspect was or how his quest for proof were going, he only warned Sena to keep his eyes open for suspicious characters. After a while Sena got used to them and even they didn't stand out much in his mind to identify the passage of time.

And every night Shin would always ask Sena if he liked him, followed by admitting he liked Sena, before going to bed.

It had sort of become their night time ritual, quickly replacing 'goodnight' as the thing they said to each other before they parted ways. Sena had become so used to it, he didn't even bother questioning what Shin meant by 'like'.

By the time early summer had come around Sakuraba had coerced Takami into holding a lot of the lessons outside where Shin could get some fresh air. The days were peaceful and uneventful, Sena almost convinced himself that those times would last forever. Almost.

Sena supposed it was inevitable that once Shin had a basic understanding of language Takami would start teaching him words he hadn't bothered with before, the names of plants, places and animals.

In what Sena thought of as a cruel twist of fate, one of the first words Takami had attempted to teach him on a particularly sunny day in early June, was 'bear'.

Shin tensed and Sena was immediately taking one hand in his, rubbing at Shin's back in a soothing manner with the other.

Sakuraba nervously stopped scribbling away in his notebook at the sight. "What's going on? Does he not know what bears are?"

Sena threw him a look over his shoulder. "Please don't repeat that word Sakuraba, Seijuro doesn't like it!"

Sakuraba looked extremely baffled for a moment, as did Takami.

"But... Why doesn't he?"

"I don't know." Sena admitted before pulling Shin closer to him. "Don't worry Seijuro, everything is going to be okay." He bit his lip in contemplation before carefully wording his question. "Would you like to talk about... Your feelings?" He finished awkwardly and Shin burrowed deeper into his embrace.

"No."

"Oh, alright then." Sena threw another look over his shoulder at Sakuraba and Takami, both of whom seemed unsure how to handle the situation.

"Well, you know..." Sakuraba began tentatively. "All work and no play makes Seijuro a dull boy. Maybe we should have a day of rest?"

Takami adjusted his glasses with a small frown, clearly not very enticed by the idea of taking a day off from lessons, but he nodded. "Very well. Come along Sakuraba, I'm going to need your help with something."

Sakuraba looked rather confused for a moment before a strange realization sparked in his eyes and he hurriedly gathered up his notes.

Sena wondered if he even wanted to know. Probably not.

"Seijuro, you might feel better if you talk to me. You trust me, right?"

Shin nodded, but he tensed a little more and Sena decided not to pry any further for now.

"Did you want to stay outside for a while? It's a nice day today." Sena commented as he began to pull away, only to have Shin lean in closer to him.

"Stay." Shin entreated, hands moving to grab onto Sena's shoulders. "Stay."

"Okay Seijuro, we can stay like this until you feel better."

It's was only Shin's child-like innocence and honest discomfort that assured Sena that the older boy wasn't smug about this situation.

They stayed as they were for quite some time before Shin began getting restless and started dragging Sena on a walk around the grounds. Sena followed after him with a small smile, Shin had developed an interest in the horses his family owned and he always liked getting a close look at them.

Shin slowed to a stop when he saw a coal black mare particularly close to the fence she was enclosed by.

Sena, slightly amused by Shin's reaction, stepped towards the fence and motioned the mare to come closer, speaking to her softly under his breath, his hand moving in a calming motion to bid her over to him.

The mare, after several long moments of indecision, moved toward him and Sena ran his fingers through her mane gently with one hand, motioning Shin closer with the other.

Shin crept forward and shakily held out a hand to copy Sena's movement.

"Easy now, do it gently. There you go, be careful not to tangle up her mane." Sena whispered out of habit, never having liked to speak at a normal volume when he was around the mares he'd take care of in the stables.

The mare soon tired of their attention and turned away to begin grazing, but the few minutes spent petting her had given Shin a huge smile.

'He looks so sweet when he smiles, it's hard to believe-' Sena cut his thoughts off and blushed, not sure it was safe for him to think any further along those lines.

"Horses like Sena?" Shin asked curiously once the mare was out of his reach.

"Well, I suppose they might like me, or they at least tolerate me since I don't frighten them." Sena rubbed at the back of his neck, wondering if he should take advantage of Shin's good mood to ask him the question that had been on his mind a while now.

"Seijuro, you trust me, right?"

"Seijuro trusts Sena!"

"And... And you know you can tell me anything, right?"

Shin raised his eyebrows curiously. "Sena wants to know something?"

"Well, yes, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable..." Sena nervously looked away, feeling rather bad for wanting Shin to discuss something that would obviously make him uncomfortable. "Never mind, I don't need to know."

"But Seijuro will answer Sena!" Shin claimed valiantly. "What does Sena want?"

"It's alright, I don't need to know."

"But Seijuro will answer Sena!" Shin repeated stubbornly and Sena sighed.

"Fine. I... I want to know why you dislike that word."

"That word?" Shin looked puzzled for a moment, then his eyes widened with recognition.

"But you don't have to tell me!" Sena was quick to say, holding his hands up as if that would bring Shin to a halt if he started anything he didn't want to.

"... Seijuro will answer Sena." Shin mumbled shyly and Sena found himself reaching out to rest a soothing hand on he older boy's shoulder.

"Are you sure? I really wont make you talk about it if you don't want to."

Shin nodded before awkwardly fumbling around to find the right words. "Men. Hunters. Seijuro was with his mother, they came. Yelled a lot, same word all the time."

"And that word was 'bear'?" Sena asked slowly and Shin nodded. "What do you think that word means?"

"Bad things." Shin replied with a shudder and Sena reassuringly lightly grabbed a hold of Shin's hands.

" But Seijuro, it doesn't mean bad things. A bear is the name of the animal that took care of you. Remember way back when I first said that word? I said mother-bear."

Shin looked at him in mild shock. "Really?"

"Yes. But, something's bothering me, do you mind if I ask you another question?" Shin shifted uncomfortably and Sena quickly rose his hands into the air in a pacifying gesture. "I won't if it makes you feel awkward!"

"Sena can ask, if Sena wants to."

"Did the hunters see you? Did they know that you were there too? If so, did you recognize any of them from when Hiruma-san caught you?"

"Not the same hunters. Saw me, chased me, I got away." Shin replied monotonously, eyes dull. "Lots of banging, strange sound with strange smell."

"A strange smell?" Sena questioned, eyes widening a little. "Was it gunpowder?"

"Gunpowder?" Shin cocked his head to the side, clearly having no idea what Sena was talking about.

"Never mind, I'll figure out what it was later." Sena assured him, although the thought of a group of hunters trying to shoot Shin down bothered him.

'What kind of person would shoot at a boy? Even if his hair was a mess and he was dirty, it would still be easy to see that he was a human. Unless they wanted Seijuro to be eliminated...'

A lot of stuff did seem to happen around Shin, what if the person who had broken in entered through his bedroom window on purpose?

'I hope Hiruma solves this soon, otherwise I'm going to make myself paranoid with conspiracy theories.'

"Sena." Shin spoke up, breaking Sena out of his train of thought. "Can you answer question?"

"Of course! What is it you need to know?"

"What is a 'bride'?"

Sena almost chocked, but he quickly pulled himself together before Shin could ask him what was wrong. "A bride?" He repeated, just to make sure he'd heard correctly, mentally crossing his fingers that Shin had asked what a braid was instead.

Shin nodded his head, dashing Sena's hopes that he wouldn't have to explain what a bride was.

"Seijuro heard mother saying Seijuro should have one. What is it Seijuro needs?"

"Uh, well..." Sena trailed off, not sure where to begin.

Shin didn't know about the concept of marriage, so it would be hard to explain to him what a bride was without going into details about a bunch of other things so that he would understand. He wished Takami were around, he'd probably be able to explain this ten times better than Sena could ever hope to.

Shin stared at him patiently, Sena felt his palms begin to get clammy.

"Well, a bride is, um, someone who spends all their life with their counterpart, the groom. Your mother was a bride when she... Decided to be with your father forever. A bride and groom love each other a lot and, uh, that's about it."

"Mother was a bride?" Shin questioned and Sena nodded vigourously.

"Then Sakuraba is Takami's bride?"

Sena paused and began to sputter, trying to think of a way he could deny it. "No! Why would you think that?!"

"Sakuraba loves Takami, Seijuro heard so."

"Oh, well then... I suppose maybe they sort of are like a married couple..."

"Then..." Shin had a slight blush on his face and Sena suddenly discovered that his heart was beating a mile a minute for no particular reason. "Seijuro is Sena's bride?"

"Uh, no." Sena said, slightly grateful that Shin hadn't said that the other way around, it would have made him feel even more awkward.

"No?" Shin furrowed his eyebrows and looked mildly distraught.

"We're friends Seijuro. We like each other, we don't love each other."

"Oh."

Sena tried to ignore how disappointed Shin looked at his answer.

'Still, it's strange that Lady Shin would be discussing brides for Seijuro, I mean, he hasn't even been home for a full year yet, and he hardly talks to anyone other that Takami, Sakuraba, Suzuna and I.'

He discovered the reason soon enough though, because apparently this idea wasn't as secret as the 'get rid of Sena' plan. In just a month it would be Shin's seventeenth birthday, and apparently she wanted to invite a bunch of 'proper' girls to introduce him too. If any of the girls caught Shin's attention, then some courting would take place, after Takami taught Shin what exactly courting was, and then they'd be married next year.

Sena, although he wouldn't admit it out loud, thought it was a pretty stupid idea.

Seijuro sort of knew what a bride was, but he didn't know what love, in a romantic sense, was and Sena was fairly certain Seijuro wouldn't bother wooing anyone if he didn't love them. He was also pretty sure none of the prim and proper girls Lady Shin invited would catch Shin's eye.

Maybe he was too confident in their relationship to think this, but he was fairly certain that if he was around, Shin wouldn't pay attention to any of the girls.

Lady Shin must have also realized this, because she subtly 'suggested' that Sena take the day off to spend with his parents.

He agreed to her order without fuss, not wanting her to become more cross with him than usual.

'Besides,' He reasoned to himself contentedly, 'I haven't seen mom in a dog's age, and even when I do see dad around, he's busy with work and I can't really talk to him.'

Shin was far less content with the decision.

A couple days before his birthday he approached Sena, practically pouting compared to his normal, stoic look.

"Takami told Seiju- me that Sena will not be there for Sei- my birthday." He said uncomfortably, Takami had been trying to stop him from talking in third person for a couple weeks now.

"Takami says that birthdays are special. Need to be celebrated with people dear to you. Why is Sena not coming?"

"I'm sorry, but I made plans to see my parents before I knew that it would be your birthday, and I already asked for the time off." Sena explained calmly.

"Sena will be gone all day?"

"Yes, probably, it'll be like it was at Christmas. Nothing to worry too much about."

"Christmas?! Then mother is going to make Sena go further away?!" Shin asked, worry evident on his features. "Seijuro does not want Sena to go!"

"Oh, I didn't mean it that way." Sena soothingly rubbed Shin's back. "I just meant that you'd have so much fun stuff to do, you'll never notice that I'm not there. You can forget about me for a while."

Seijuro gave him a rather incredulous look. "Seijuro would never forget Sena!"

The brunette found himself blushing at the admission and he fought to keep himself from stuttering when he answered. "That's very sweet of you, but I've already made plans to spend the whole day with my parents. I'm sure you'll have fun without me."

Shin crossed his arms stubbornly. "Not fun without Sena."

"Don't be so pessimistic Seijuro, promise me you'll at least try to have fun without me."

Shin frowned, but nodded. "Seijuro will promise for Sena."

July the ninth arrived swiftly and Sena, as he had promised Lady Shin, was up and out of the house before Shin could wake up and fret over is leaving. His mother was overjoyed to spend the entire day with him, and although his father only wore a small smile, Sena could tell that he was just as happy to spend time with him.

It made Sena feel like a bad son, constantly spending time with someone he wasn't related to while hardly talking to his own parents.

'But soon we'll go back to the way we were before, Seijuro's becoming more accustomed to his new way of life, and if Lady Shin thinks he's practically ready to get married, well... It's not like Seijuro can take me along on his honeymoon.'

The thought made Sena flush, although the very idea was preposterous.

It was just after the sun began to set when he started making his way to the manor, slightly curious if Shin's birthday party would still be going on. But much to his surprise, when he opened the door to the Shin household all that greeted his ears was silence.

Then Suzuna popped out of nowhere to scare the living daylights out of him.

"Yaa! I'm surprised you came back here, why didn't you stay with you parents some more?" She questioned the perplexed boy.

"I, uh, where is everyone?"

Suzuna cocked her head to the side. "Didn't Lady Shin tell you? After celebrating the young master's birthday and showing him off to a bunch of respectable ladies the family and Takami went off to visit Lord Rodchenko."

"What? I didn't hear anything about that... Wait a minute, what about Sakuraba?"

"He's up in his room moping. The way he's acting it seems like he won't see Takami for seven years, not seven days." Suzuna clasped her hands together and sighed. "It's kind of adorable actually, he's like a little puppy. In any case, I can't believe you didn't know about Lady Shin's plans."

Sena could believe it, he believed it so much it was scary.

"The young master threw a bit of a fit when he found out he'd be leaving you behind though, it took Takami and Lord Shin ages to calm him down because Lady Shin just seemed to keep making things worse." Suzuna frowned a little. "She doesn't like you at all, does she?"

"It took you that long to figure that out?" Sena asked, slightly amused.

"Well no, but when Lady Shin says things like 'in a couple months he won't be around anyways' it's kind of hard to miss. Ah, which reminds me, she wanted me to tell you something when you came back."

"Oh? What is it??" 'Another speech about how I shouldn't take advantage of her son?'

"She said that the young master knows his name now, so you don't have to trouble yourself by remembering it, or something like that."

Sena frowned, for a moment not understanding, then realization hit.

'She wants me to start addressing Seijuro by their family name now.'

Well, she had told him before that as soon as Shin recognized his given name that she wanted him to stop addressing him so informally, Sena had completely forgotten about it until now though.

'And this trip, it's probably to test out how well he can behave without me. If he's good the entire time, when he comes back Lady Shin will know he doesn't need me anymore.'

It was an unsettling thought, for Shin not to need him, over the past several months he'd become used to Shin wanting to be around him. Become used to wanting to be around Shin, himself.

"Sena? Sena, what are you spacing out for?" Suzuna asked, effectively snapping Sena back into reality.

"Oh, nothing really. I'll just head home now, mom's gonna be really happy that I can stay for even longer."

"Alright, feel free to drop by. Sakuraba might brighten up a bit once the week of separation is almost over." Suzuna said with a dazzling smile, waving good-bye as Sena walked back out the door.

As he had expected, his parents were delighted to know that he would be able to stay home for longer than expected and he spent a fair amount of time getting himself used to living like he had before.

He'd probably be coming back to live here soon, after all, Shin had grown up a lot, he surely didn't need Sena around anymore.

He occasionally went by the manor to visit with Suzuna and Sakuraba, both of the younger teens trying to cheer the blonde up in Takami's absence.

"Ah, you two are too nice to me, putting up with me when I'm all sulky like this." Sakuraba commented dryly on the fifth day of separation before he threw a curious look over at Sena. "Although I must admit, I'm kind of surprised you don't seem down in the dumps."

"Why's that?" Sena asked slowly and Sakuraba shrugged.

"No particular reason, you and Seijuro just seem to be attached at the hip most of the time, it's kind of strange to see one without the other, you know?" He commented.

And then, of course, Suzuna had to put her two cents in. "Yeah, you guys are practically married."

Sena tried to think of a retort, but found that no matter how much he moved his mouth no sound was coming out. Sakuraba wasn't helping much either, in fact, if Sena's eyes weren't deceiving him, the blonde had even nodded at Suzuna's comment.

"Don't do that, you'll catch flies." Suzuna reprimanded him lightly and Sena shut his mouth and decided that, instead of trying to defend himself, he'd let the topic drop.

He had the feeling that Sakuraba and Suzuna wouldn't believe anything he said anyways.

When the week was over Sena said good-bye to his parents once again just after noon before leaving for the manor. Sakuraba had received a letter from Takami a couple days pryer informing him that they'd probably be back in time for lunch.

Sena appeared to be right on time, because he'd only just reached the front door when he saw a carriage in the distance.

He had quickly opened up the door to yell: "They're back!" and immediately Suzuna and Sakuraba had scrambled outside to stand with him.

The carriage stopped and Sena held his breath, waiting for the door to swing open.

This was the moment of truth.