FASH: I hope you all like the ending, and thanks so much to everyone who's shown such a great amount of interest in this story!

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena dashed out of his house, occasionally stumbling in his hurry to get out the door as quickly as possible.

'I should have come to read the letter right after dad told me it was here!' He thought as he exited his house, slamming the door behind him and not bothering to see if it opened back up because of the force, he had no time for that.

The letter hadn't been what he was expecting at all, he was too used to Hiruma's normal updates that somehow he'd begun to think nothing out of the norm would occur. And according to Hiruma's letter, he was dead wrong about that.

Sena, I have gathered up nearly all the evidence to prove my suspicions correct once and for all and am currently tracking down the final piece of the puzzle. I should be able to apprehend him soon due to several mistakes on his part, but even so there is no guarantee that I'll be back before any incidents can occur.

As such I want you to keep your eyes peeled for anyone trying to keep track of Seijuro's habits and routines, stay close to him at all times. Lord Rodchenko is the prime suspect.

The unnerving feeling he tended to get around Lord Rodchenko seemed to make sense now, not that he could feel relieved about that due to the current situation.

'The celebration is probably starting up around now, but Seijuro still doesn't like hanging around with people, so it's the perfect opportunity to get him alone without anyone thinking much of it!' Sena dashed up the main road, the Shin manor on the horizon seemed so much further than usual and it felt as though none of his steps were getting him any closer to the dwelling.

'Don't panic! Don't panic!' He inwardly yelled when he could feel himself starting to hyperventilate, something he really didn't need to go through while he was trying to run.

It was hard not to panic though, considering that this situation could have been easily avoided if he'd just answered Shin back truthfully all those months ago when the older boy had confessed. Then there would be no way for Lord Rodchenko to get close to Shin during his stay, because Shin would never have left his side to be with his relative.

He was never going to keep secrets from Shin again.

He was mere minutes away from the Shin manor now and he thoroughly racked his brain to think of where Shin might be at the moment.

'It would have to be somewhere outside, everyone is indoors for the party, if Rodchenko tried anything while inside then someone would be bound to hear. But where around the grounds could he take Seijuro? Assuming he does take him somewhere and doesn't just follow him around until they reach a good location. He wouldn't be able to take him far because the longer he's away the more noticeable it is that he's gone. And Seijuro would never let himself be dragged somewhere he didn't want to go...'

His eyebrows furrowed and he stared at the ground below him, no longer as focussed on the oncoming structure of the Shin manor now that he was sure what he was searching for would not be inside it.

'Horses! Seijuro loves to be around the horses!' Sena thought triumphantly before realizing that just that information was wholly unhelpful considering the Shin family's line of business.

'What else? Maybe if he's feeling particularly sentimental about today he'll be in the mare's stable, where we first met.'

That was the only place he could think of, so he'd just have to cross his fingers, pray that Shin was there and run like the wind.

Upon reaching the Shin family's property he swerved to the right, heading straight for the stables without bothering to think of what he'd do after finding Shin, or what he'd do if he couldn't find Shin at all.

'He has to be there, because I know how he is. So he will be there!'

He approached the stable and could see Rodchenko's massive form inside and just a little further stood Shin, head titled to the side curiously as he listened to whatever Rodchenko was telling him as the older man reached for something inside his jacket.

"Stop!" He loudly called before ramming straight into the large man, hoping to throw him off balance without much luck. Lord Rodchenko turned and glared down at him.

"What do we have here, a pest?" He sneered, clutching at the thing inside his jacket like a lifeline.

"Sena?" Shin hesitantly began, staring at Sena as if he were unsure what to say.

Rodchenko made use of this sudden, but not unwelcome, distraction to knock Shin to the side. Had Shin been focussed enough to see the blow coming he would have been able to brace himself for the hit. But as it was, with all of his attention focussed on Sena, it was all too easy to catch him off guard.

Shin tripped back and hit his head against the wooden panelling of one of the pens, not hard enough to knock him unconscious but enough to make him a bit dazed for a minute or two.

An easy target.

"Seijuro! Get up! Seijuro!" Sena yelled and Rodchenko pushed him away, slamming the small boy into the side of the building. Sena fell limp against the ground, vainly trying to get up and move.

'I just need to keep him distracted until Seijuro is capable of protecting himself again.'

"Troublesome pest." Rodchenko growled as he turned back to Shin, drawing whatever he had been holding on to from his jacket and raising it into the air, poised to strike.

Sena took a deep breath and forced himself to move quickly, as though he'd been kicked by temper-mental mare on a rampage and needed to escape before the animal could break his ribs. Although this situation was much more dreadful.

Time seem to be going by at a sluggish pace as he ran forward, his eyes locked on the knife that was already beginning to descend in a deadly arc. He wouldn't be able to stop the knife's course of action, and he knew how unaffected Rodchenko was against a physical assault from him.

That left him only one option, and without thinking of the repercussions he leapt into the knife's path.

Rodchenko's eyes widened as he met resistance and Sena allowed himself to feel a small amount of triumph before pain bloomed from his side, quickly overtaking the emotion.

He fell to the ground with a muted cry of pain, dimly aware that Shin was beginning to stir beside him.

'Please get up. Get up and save yourself before he can hurt you too.' He wearily closed his eyes, unable to muster up enough strength to keep them open as he struggled to breath evenly.

"Sena? Sena!"

"Oh, isn't this touching, a-" Rodchenko's voice was abruptly cut off and there was a gruesome sounding snap.

Sena fell unconscious to the sound of screaming.

-x-x-x-

His eyes fluttered open without much effort, seeing nothing but inky blackness for a moment before they started to adjust to the dark and he was able to make out a ceiling above him.

It felt as though a fog had settled over his mind, it was a very unnatural feeling and he couldn't even think of anything to compare it to, except for maybe sheer exhaustion.

He slowly became aware of a dull throb that was emanating from around his mid section, towards the right side, and he could feel the area pulsing uncomfortably with every beat of his heart.

'Is this what woke me up?' He was somehow able to think as he lethargically moved his hand to his side and applied pressure to the area, hoping that by doing so the pain would subside.

He ended up just making it worse.

He lurched onto his uninjured side at the contact, not able to stifle his gasp of pain as he wrenched his hand away. For several minutes all he was aware of was the slowly dulling throb in his side until the door to whatever room he was in opened and the flickering of a candle caught his attention.

"Sei-Seijuro?" He called, instantly disliking how weak his voice sounded.

How long had he been asleep?

"Sorry, but your lover boy was dragged away for his own good hours ago." A darkly amused voice answered back and Sena awkwardly tried to pull himself into a sitting position.

"Hiruma-"

"Don't move around, idiot!" Hiruma stormed into the room and set the candle on Sena's bedside table before pushing the brunette back down. "If you re-open your wound you're going to start bleeding all over the place and no one wants that to happen, again."

"But Hiruma! The letter! Is Seijuro all right? What about Lord-"

"Calm down! Just let me get settled and I'll tell you everything." Hiruma dropped himself down into a chair that had been pulled right up beside Sena's bed and ran a hand through his hair calmly.

"The kid's alright, he's just got a few scrapes and bruises because after you heroically jumped in and got yourself stabbed he pretty much snapped and went berserk on Rodchenko." Hiruma smirked darkly. "It makes me wish I was around to see the bastard's thrashing."

Sena allowed himself to relax after hearing Shin was alright, although he winced a bit at Hiruma's next words.

"Of course, if you had bothered reading my letter when it first arrived, the whole stabbing bit could have been avoided."

"Sorry." Sena mumbled, cheeks heating up in embarrassment since he knew it was true.

"In fact, if you had just been honest about your feelings you probably would have been fine." Hiruma continued, examining his nails in a bored fashion.

"Sorry." The brunette meekly repeated.

"But all things considered, you did pretty good. You're now the poster boy for the power of love."

Sena almost preened at the praise, until Hiruma cut in.

"Just don't do anything stupid like jumping in front of a knife again. Suzuna's been crying non-stop because of you, and Shin junior was hovering around you without getting sleep for so long that he started to look like the living dead. I had to order him off to bed before he collapsed onto of you from exhaustion and made your wound worse."

Sena flushed a little at the thought of Shin loitering around him worriedly, so concerned with Sena's health that he didn't bother worrying about his own. As soon as Shin woke up he'd have to assure the older boy that he was alright and apologize for all the stupid things he'd done.

'And speaking of all the stupid things I've done, Hiruma looks like he's going to start talking about them again.'

In an attempt to change the flow of the conversation, since Sena wasn't sure he could take any more guilt, he asked if Hiruma's evidence had proven his suspicions to everyone.

Hiruma's satisfied grin spoke volumes, but he decided to give a verbal response as well.

"Of course. Although at first the Lord and Lady of the house didn't want to believe me at all, it was only at the kid's insistence that they didn't brush off the latest incident as a freak accident and got to hear the whole story."

Sena perked up, his mind was clearing now that he had been awake for a while, and the mention of the 'whole story' grabbed his attention.

"What exactly did you tell them?" He asked curiously and Hiruma scoffed.

"I'm not going to go through the entire thing again, so you'll just get the key points." He drawled lazily.

"That's fine."

"Well, Rodchenko was Lord Shin's only living relative, so if anything were to happen to Lord and Lady Shin their estate would pass on to Lord Rodchenko, his next of kin. Of course when the kid was born that idea was put on hold."

"B-but then, you mean, he wanted to kill the Lord and Lady, even before Seijuro was born?"

"I don't know for sure, it's just an educated guess. A very educated guess. Rodchenko is a greedy bastard, I think it's highly likely that he'd plan something like that."

"I-I see." Sena wrung his hands nervously. "And then when Seijuro was born, that was just another obstacle?"

"Right. But Lord Shin is a family man, and he'd never suspect Rodchenko of anything, which is exactly why he was so easy to exploit. So Rodchenko came over one day to visit and brought one man along with him, and he excused himself from dinner early to discuss things with him. Really what he was doing was sneaking into the kitchen to put a minor sedative into the current stable boy's food, just enough to keep him asleep while his man snuck out of a window and nabbed a horse for his own use."

"And then in the morning, when Seijuro was gone, the stable boy hadn't seen anyone come or go, neither had any of the servants, and Lord Rodchenko could claim that his associate had been talking with him all night."

"Exactly. And since it would be strange if the entire family started to disappear or die at the same time it would make people suspicious, he backed off for a while, sending a couple of his own men to work for the family to keep an eye on them. Everything was going well for several years, until he his men started telling him about the rumours of a wild child."

"So he sent out his own group of hunters." Sena sadly added. "But they didn't manager to kill Seijuro, only his mother bear."

"Then a couple years later I show up and manage to capture the boy alive and bring him back home, but he manages to escape right after I leave, only to come back again. Someone decides to tell Rodchenko all about that and he starts planning his next move." Hiruma paused and grinned unnervingly.

"He was going to get rid of the kid and act like he must have run away again, but when he put his plan into motion, he discovered something he hadn't expected. Can you guess what it was?"

Sena's cheeks heated up. "Seijuro and I were in the same bed. It would be hard to try something without one of us waking up."

"Exactly, and by now he's getting a little irritated, so the next morning he calls Lady Shin aside and tells her about what he saw, and she's too angry at you to question him about why he snuck into the kid's room in the first place. He knows you'll be separated now, so he wont have to worry about you the next time he tries anything."

Sena furrowed his eyebrows as he contemplated what he'd be told. "But when he invited everyone to his home, how would he have known that Seijuro wouldn't be coming in advance?"

"Anyone who'd met the kid up to that point would be able to tell he wouldn't be able to behave himself long enough to take a trip anywhere. When his new plan didn't work he waited until he knew the kid would have become a bit more docile before inviting everyone back again and then he attempted to get friendly with his young relative."

"Because then it would be less suspicious if he was around a lot, or something happened." Sena finished what had been left unsaid. "And he knew Lady Shin would celebrate the day of Seijuro's return, and with so many strangers in the house it would be easy to have Seijuro slip away with him somewhere, and no one would notice their absence for a while since there were so many people around."

"Exactly. You're pretty bright kid, I had to explain it to the lady of the house a couple times. Oh, and she grudgingly accepts you now by the way, seeing as you got yourself stabbed to protect her precious son and everything." Hiruma cracked a grin. "You'd better invite me to the wedding."

"We-wedding?" Sena sputtered as all the blood left in his body rushed to his face, making it a startlingly bright shade of red.

Hiruma chuckled at his reaction as he rose from the chair. "If you'll excuse me, I promised the kid I'd wake him up if you awoke. I told him before to be careful not to jostle you, but you'd better prepare yourself to be barrelled into anyways, I don't think he'll be able to hold back now that he'll know you're awake." Hiruma sent a rather rouge wink in his direction.

"O-okay." Sena responded unsteadily, still a little shocked by the marriage comment.

'I'm still too young to get married, we'd need to wait for a couple of years until that.'

Sena waited in a tense silence for almost a full minute before the sound of quickly advancing footsteps reached his ears and Shin burst into the room and ran to Sena's side, dropping to his knees beside the bed.

"Sena." He whispered, holding out a shaky hand and running it over the brunette's cheek. "I was so worried, don't ever leave me like this again. I don't ever want to have to worry like this again." He griped both of Sena's hands in his own, holding them loosely, as if he was afraid Sena would feel pain from anything more than that. Hiruma had apparently been wrong about something for the first time in his life.

"Seijuro, I'm so sorry for everything. I-"

"No, I'm sorry I misunderstood." Shin cut in, his grip becoming fractionally tighter as he fell silent, searching for words to express himself.

"Seijuro, would you lay down with me?" Sena asked slowly and Shin looked at him in shock for a moment before nodding with a blush and moving onto the bed.

Sena couldn't make out much with just the light of the candle left behind by Hiruma, but he was certain that there were dark shadows under Shin's eyes, a testament to his sleepless nights spent worrying over him.

"Seijuro, nothing is your fault." He stated softly, bringing a finger up to Shin's lips when he made a move to protest.

"If I had answered you truthfully several months ago, then this would never have happened. Seijuro, the truth is that I love you."

Shin raised a hand to pull Sena's finger away from his lips. "Really?"

Sena flushed. "Yes. And I know it was horrible of me to keep it to myself! And I know that I was being selfish and a jerk and I put you through so much pain, but, but-"

"Sena, I forgive you, you were just doing what you thought would hurt me less. Suzuna explained everything to me when you ran out."

Sena sighed in relief, he'd have to thank Suzuna for explaining everything for him later.

"Say it again, please." Shin requested and Sena smiled lightly.

"I love you Seijuro."

"I love you too Sena." Shin gently wrapped an arm around him in a cautious hug, careful not to go anywhere near Sena's wound.

"I should probably get back to my own bed. If we fall asleep like this mother-"

"You can stay! That is, if you want to stay. I mean, it's not like anyone will come in here who doesn't already know what's going on or anything." Sena explained and Shin settled down beside him with a content smile, falling asleep almost immediately.

Sena bashfully pressed a kiss against Shin's forehead. "Sweet dreams, Seijuro." He whispered before settling into Shin's embrace, the familiar, comfortable heat of Shin's body lulling him back to sleep, just as it would for years to come.

And in the next room over from where she was crouched with her ear pressed against the wall Suzuna smiled.

"It's about damn time."