FASH: Sorry for the slight delay, I had school stuff to do. I think this is almost done though, maybe two more chapters after this until it's fully completed. Anyways, I'm sure everyone knew that the beginning was going to be like this, but oh well.

""-speech

''-thoughts

"SENA!"

'Well, apparently I had nothing to worry about.' Sena thought, feeling rather giddy even as Shin rushed towards him and tackled him to the ground.

"So I guess you missed me then?" He asked lightly, squirming a bit when Shin refused to remove himself.

"Of course." Shin replied, sounding as if he had been shocked at the question.

Well, it looks like Lady Shin would have to put up with him for a bit longer than she had expected. And speaking of Lady Shin, she was glaring at him like no tomorrow after she stepped out of the carriage, probably thinking he was somehow taking advantage of her son again. They position they were in probably wasn't helping the situation very much either, come to think of it.

"I missed you too, but I think it's time for you to get up, it's a bit hard to breathe underneath you like this."

Shin reluctantly lifted himself up and Sena quickly rose up to his feet, dusting off his clothes half-heartedly.

-x-x-x-

"Ah, young friendship." Lord Shin clasped his hands together as he observed the two boys in front of him. "It's hard to imagine either of them spending much time without the other and not becoming slightly unhinged."

Lady Shin sniffed indignantly at that. "On the contrary. Seijuro was fine the entire trip until he saw his companion again." She glared a little harder as Sena lead her son into the house, Shin following behind him like a lost puppy. "He didn't cause any trouble at Lord Rodchenko's home, he's showing a great amount of improvement."

"My dear, he didn't cause any trouble because he was moping the entire time. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he was heartbroken at the thought of leaving young Sena behind." Lord Shin smiled brightly. "It's wonderful that our son has a friend that he's so attached to, isn't it?"

Lady Shin grit her teeth and smiled. "Yes, so wonderful."

So wonderful that she could almost cry.

Lord Shin took his wife's arm and lead her inside the manor and towards his study.

"It was very nice of Rodchenko to invite us over for Seijuro's birthday, he seems to be more sociable than usual this year." He said conversationally. "Coming to our Christmas party, inviting us over to his home twice, it's a nice change of pace."

"Change is good." His wife replied steadily. "Just a couple years ago it wouldn't be strange if we never saw him for an incredible stretch of time."

"Indeed." Lord Shin opened the door to his study and ushered his wife in, softly closing the door behind him. "But sometimes, some things don't need to be changed, don't you think?"

"That depends entirely on what you are talking about, darling."

He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "Is it really necessary for Seijuro to find himself a wife? This process seems to be quite rushed."

"Seijuro is old enough to marry."

"Physically yes, but what about mentally and emotionally? Seijuro doesn't even know what a bride is and you're already introducing him to eligible women, why are you making such haste?" He leaned in curiously. "This isn't like you."

She sighed into her hands. "You know I only want the best for Seijuro, right? I want to make sure his life goes by smoothly."

"Of course, that's how mothers are supposed to feel about their children." He tenderly cupped her face in his hands. "But this still seems to be fairly drastic, don't you think?"

"There is someone who I want separated from our son, and the gap they will leave in Seijuro's heart will need to be filled by a more appropriated person."

"... A wife? Who did you wish to be rid of? Certainly not Suzuna, as sweet as she is Seijuro hardly ever casts a look her way unless Sena's there with the both of them..."

He paused and blinked slowly.

"Sena? You wish to be rid of Sena? Why?"

"Darling, he's taking advantage of our son!"

He gave her a disbelieving look. "I realize that as I am not around very often I often do not notice some of the things you do, my dear, but I would hardly say that Sena is taking advantage of our son. If anything he spoils him by dedicating so much time and affection to him."

"But they were sleeping in the same bed!"

"They slept beside each other in the barn the first night, and Hiruma told us to keep them together so Seijuro would stay calm."

"But Seijuro had still been around for months at that point!"

Lord Shin's lips twitched slightly. "Dear, jealousy does not suit you."

"I am not jealous!" She responded aghast.

"Dear..."

"Okay, perhaps I am, but don't I have a right to be?! You know more than anyone how distraught I was when he first disappeared and how sanguine I was when I heard that there was a chance he was alive." She wrung her hands together, shoulders drooping slightly. "And then we sent out search teams, hiring anyone who might be able to find him, and each time they came back empty handed I swore I could feel my soul begin to perish."

Lord Shin rested his hands on her shoulders comfortingly.

"By the time Hiruma came around I had practically given up all hope, but then Seijuro was brought back, and I could finally be a mother again! But Seijuro didn't need me. It wasn't me who he came to for comfort, it wasn't me who could calm him down, it wasn't me who he came to care about the most." Her eyes began to tear up and she swiped the back of her hand over them in a futile attempt to control herself.

"I wanted to be a mother again, instead I am little more than a stranger to him with the title of 'mother'."

"And you think that would change if Sena was gone?"

She looked up at him, lips trembling slightly. "Yes." She chocked hopelessly, even she didn't seem to have faith in the one word answer and a tear slipped down her cheek before she could reach up and brush it away.

Lord Shin wiped it away with the pad of his thumb and he slowly, gently pressed a kiss to his wife's forehead.

"I cannot completely rid Seijuro of his first and best friend, but if it makes you feel any better, maybe once Seijuro has been here a full year we can give Sena his old job back. He will still be around, but he will have work to do during the day and he will go home to his family at night." He sighed forlornly. "They will still have time to be together, but not nearly as much as they are used to. Is that alright?"

His wife shakily took his face in her hands and pressed light kisses all over his visage, whispering 'thank you' each time she pulled away.

Lord Shin had done something good for his wife, but would it be good for his son?

-x-x-x-

Sena had lead Shin into the drawing room, a dark blush staining his cheeks.

Sakuraba had been elated to see Takami again, so elated in fact, that once he had pulled the older man into the house he had paused in the foyer, spun Takami around and pressed a rather fervent kiss on his lips.

Sena had averted his eyes and tugged on Shin's hand to draw the other boy along, but Shin had stopped to watch, cocking his head to the side inquisitively.

Then he turned around, eyes still sparking with curiosity.

'Oh dear.'

"Sena," He began, taking a step closer towards the nerve-wracked brunette. "I want to-"

Sena promptly turned around and tried running full speed, thankfully able to tug Shin along because the older boy hadn't expected to be forced to move while he was busy trying to say something.

Of course, it didn't take too long for Shin to recover his train of thought, thankfully he was at least silent until Sena had shut them into the drawing room.

"Sena, I want to do that with you." Shin stated boldly, not a trace of hesitation visible on his face.

"Uh... Uh..." Was Sena's immaculate reply and Shin seemed to take that as an 'alright', because he brought his hands up to Sena's shoulders and started leaning in.

Sena ducked down and took a couple side-steps, nervously fiddling with the hem of his shirt and taking several more steps back when Shin began to stride forward purposefully.

"Seij-Shin, now really isn't the time for such things." He stuttered out, finding it oddly hard to say Shin's family name, much like how he'd felt when he started calling Shin by his given name.

Shin paused, eyebrows furrowing. "Shin?" He repeated, as if the name were foreign to him, then he patted a hand against his chest. "Seijuro." He said slowly, moving his hand to point at Sena. "Sena." He moved his hand back to his chest. "Seijuro."

"Your mother wants me to call you by your family name Sei-Shin." Sena replied unsteadily, mentally cursing when he slipped up again.

Shin frowned darkly. "No."

"No? No what?"

"No." Shin repeated stubbornly, quickly moving forward and grasping Sena's face in his hands. "Sena will call me Seijuro."

"But I'm not allow-" Sena was abruptly cut off when Shin ardently pressed their lips together, one of his hands moving to grasp the back of Sena's head while the other remained in place, resting on his cheek.

Sena's eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat, Shin had never kissed him this passionately before.

It was nice. Mind-Numbingly so and Sena found that he could do little more than go limp in Shin's grasp when faced by such lasciviousness.

Shin pulled away, breathing heavily. "Call me Seijuro."

"Se-Seijuro." Sena responded weakly, trying to wrap his mind around the situation.

Shin smiled and moved closer, clearly intent on gifting Sena with a couple more kisses of gratitude, but stopped when he heard footsteps coming closer.

Really he would have preferred not to stop, but Shin had noticed Sena was always so jumpy and shy, especially when other people were around, even more so when that person was his mother.

So Shin reluctantly pulled away and not a moment too soon, because his mother soon came into the room, her eyes cooly surveying the situation.

Shin may have been several steps away from Sena, but the brunette's blushing, laboured breathing and swelling lips testified to what was going on prior to her entry.

One elegant eyebrow twitched and Sena flinched as if he had just been yelled at.

"Seijuro, please give me and Sena a few moments alone." She asked kindly and Shin worriedly sent Sena a look, feeling an unfamiliar twinge running through him at the sight of the dishevelled boy, adding more heat to the normal warmth he felt when around Sena.

He walked out of the room obediently, his mind already abuzz as it tried to sort out the new feeling. After not being able to find a name for it on his own he decided it would be best to consult Takami.

Takami knew everything, at least in Shin's mind he did, so that was the obvious course of action. Now he'd just have to find the suddenly elusive man.

Meanwhile inside the room Lady Shin had taken several calming breaths, trying to ignore Sena's ruffled appearance.

'Only a little bit longer, just a little bit longer and he'll hardly ever be around the house again.'

"I have come to inform you that your time is almost up." She said, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"My time, ma'am?"

"Yes, I have spoken with my husband on the matter and we have come to the conclusion that once Seijuro has been here a full year, you will go back to your previous occupation."

Sena tensed a bit. "A year?"

"Yes, do you remember when Hiruma first brought my boy back?"

Sena shook his head. He had no idea, but he knew that a year had nearly passed by now.

'Seijuro came in the autumn and it's summer now, I have a couple months left.'

"I remember the day like it was yesterday, it was October third."

October third, today was July sixteenth, he had about three months.

"Seijuro has shown a great amount of growth in all accounts and I suspect that by this time he'll be able to handle not seeing you for days at a time, he was able to handle himself at Lord Rodchenko's home, after all."

"Of course, ma'am." Sena responded.

"But I am not a fool, you and Seijuro are very close, which is why I want to 'wean him off of your presence', as it were."

Sena blinked in confusion at the wording. "Wean, ma'am?"

"Yes, from today onwards I want you spending less time with Seijuro, but not so much that it's noticeable at first. This way, when the time comes, Seijuro will not be as shocked by your absence." Her eyes softened a bit and Sena instantly felt more nervous than usual.

"We both want what's best for Seijuro, don't we?" She asked and Sena slowly nodded. "Good, I expect you to carry on with the plan then."

She made her way out of the room and Sena ran a hand through his hair worriedly.

Even if he wanted to start spending less time around Shin, which he most certainly didn't even when he went back to his old job, it was going to be awfully difficult to not be around him. Shin had nearly broken down a door to get to him before, this entire scheme seemed like it would be quite unsuccessful.

But Lady Shin was somewhat right, he didn't want Shin to be distraught when he went back to his old job, he hadn't even expected to get his old job back at any rate, so that was an added bonus too. The point was, if he had to try and cut down on his time with Shin so that the older boy would be less hurt in the end, then he supposed he'd have to do it.

He told himself that he was completely fine with the plan, but he already knew that he was lying, and badly at that.

Sena fiddled with the hem of his shirt for a moment before realizing that Shin had yet to come back into the room and he peeked out into the hallway.

It was a Shin-free zone at the moment, strange.

'Seijuro doesn't tend to wander off without me.' He pursed his lips. 'And I doubt Lady Shin would be able to physically drag him away. Maybe Lord Shin wanted to speak with him?'

Even then, Sena couldn't really imagine Shin ambling off with his father to speak, especially not after giving Sena a kiss like the one he had given.

God, Sena started blushing just thinking about it.

He could have just waited for Shin to finish whatever it was he may have been doing, but he'd been waiting a week to see the boy again and he didn't want to be left alone on the day he came back.

He searched the first floor for a good ten minutes before moving up the stairs, turning towards the room he and Shin had once shared.

He hadn't walked even three steps down the hall before he heard Shin's voice calling him from the opposite direction.

"Seijuro, what were you doing down there?" He asked only to have his question ignored as Shin passed by and grabbed onto his hand, leading Sena to their old room with an odd sense of urgency.

"What's going on?" He asked once Shin had secured the both of them inside their old room. Then he noticed something strange.

Shin appeared to be blushing. There weren't many things that could make blood rush to the stoic teen's cheeks.

"Went to ask Takami about something, was not in his room, I checked Sakuraba's after. They were doing strange things."

"What strange things..." Sena's mind supplied the answer before he actually finished the question, causing him to drawl out the 's' of the final word longer than necessary.

"I tried to figure out why they were-"

"Wait a minute! Were you watching them?"

"Yes." Shin replied simply, as if he hadn't intruded on a very private moment.

"Did they realize you saw?"

"No."

Thank goodness, at least Takami and Sakuraba wouldn't be dying of embarrassment any time soon.

"Why do you ask?" Shin continued curiously and Sena took a deep breath.

"That was a very private moment you just witnessed."

"But they were doing something very similar to it before, in front of us, remember?" Shin questioned and Sena buried his head into his hands.

"Yes, I remember." He groaned. "But what you saw was a couple steps beyond what we saw together, it's the type of thing you only do behind closed doors."

Frankly he was surprised neither of the young men had locked the door, they could have saved Sena a lot of embarrassment.

"Steps beyond? Closed doors?" Shin repeated softly, tapping at his chin in a thoughtful manner.

Then he pounced.