This chapter goes into Misaki's past a little bit, as a few of you inquired. There is also a scene near the end that is rated M, so please watch out for that if you're someone that isn't into that. Thank you all for your lovely reviews, especially BluePixieKimiko and InfinitePanicAttacks33. I really appreciate you guys reviewing with every update and you give great feedback :)

Also, some John Green bashing, so that may be a trigger warning for some people.

"It's not normal, as in it's not a normal relationship. Something is off, Usami. Something is weird."

"It's perfect."

Usami Akihiko sat on his couch, smoking his third cigarette, and exhaled slowly, watching the smoke leave through his nostrils and float out into the already smokey living room. He had disabled the smoke detectors, wanting to simply smoke his stress away. Misaki clanked away in the bathroom, maybe changing into some more comfortable clothes, or planning his getaway. Akihiko didn't know at this point. He sucked more smoke from the stick in his hands, and blew it out again, letting the tendrils drift up into his nose again.

"What the hell, it's so gray in here," Misaki said from behind him. Akihiko turned quickly. The man was walking down the stairs, dressed in gym shorts and a loose tank top. His brown hair was up in a messy bun on his head and through the smoke, he looked like something ethereal, some sort of a god. Misaki waved his hand in front of his face, grimacing. "It smells like an ashtray." He said with disdain. "Your profile didn't say that you were a smoker."

Akihiko quickly put out the cigarette that he was holding and stood. It was an awkward choice, because as soon as he stood, Misaki had slumped down into the chair across from him and given him a strange look. "What are you doing?" He asked, almost laughing. The author sat down as if some hand had shoved him into the couch, and willed himself not to turn red.

"Misaki, I-"

"Your apartment is so huge." Misaki interrupted him, his eyes bright and his smile too big. Akihiko blinked at the sudden words and slowly nodded, going along with it.

"Um, yeah. Yeah it is. I told you that I was more famous than E.L. James." He joked. Misaki giggled, delicately hiding his mouth behind his hand and smiled at him.

"I really thought that you were exaggerating about that." He admitted sheepishly. Akihiko's mouth dropped open and Misaki rushed to explain himself, a huge sloppy grin on his face. "I thought you wanted to sound cool, like maybe you were actually CEO of a company or something. But you wanted to sound young and hip so you were all, 'Oh yeah, I write exotic books for men. No big deal,' but in real life you had so much money that you could afford to lie about it. Like you were a fake new hipster, like one of those guys who sits in the corner of a coffee shop all day, writing the next great British novel."

Misaki stopped, and Akihiko was already laughing. He held his stomach and shook his head, but Misaki continued, "And they drink overpriced coffee and eat 100 calorie jumbo muffins and wear scarves and fake glasses. And they sit around in their fakeness and they love it and they talk about all the 'YA authors' and they're all, 'The Fault in Our Stars' is NOT the voice of a generation, it's misogynist bullshit, read all about it on my blog," Misaki finished, contorting his face to fit that of his proposed archetype.

Misaki laughed along with Akihiko, who caught his breath and retorted, "Well, those guys do have a point. John Green does kind of take advantage of a real disease that claims thousands of people each year, and he wraps it in the cloudy haze of young love and loss. And beautiful language." Akihiko added, after seeing Misaki's mouth hanging wide open.

"Um, John Green is a masterpiece and he's basically one of the ONLY American authors that I read, so haha." He said, crossing his arms and slouching into the chair, crossing his legs as he went. "I think he's really good with words."

Akihiko shrugged. "I bet you also liked Paper Towns, didn't you?" Misaki nodded in turn. "Where the boy falls in love with the magical girl, even though he barely knows her, he just sees her being all lovely and mystical. Like every other book ever? Hello, Stargirl and Bridge to Terabithia? His disappointment is his own fault." Misaki laughed and rose from the chair, tackling him on the couch.

He kissed the older man into the cushions until they both needed air, and Misaki asked, "Isn't that sort of how you see me?"

"Isn't how...How I see you?" Akihiko asked, still dizzy from kissing the other.

Misaki sat back on his haunches, watching him closely. "Like some sort of creature, like I'm a mystery that you'll never figure out." Akihiko stared at him, gaping. He didn't know how to respond, because the kid was spot-on. Misaki cocked his head to the side, resembling a puppy. "Because I'm not. I'm Misaki." He grinned cheekily, and rocked on his heels.

Akihiko ran his hand over his face and nodded. "I do kind of look at you like that. I'm sorry." He replied, slowly sitting up and placing his feet on the floor. Misaki scooted toward him and placed his head softly on his shoulder. "It's just- You sort of saved my life, Misa-kun." Misaki looked up at him, the round face tilted toward his and big green trained on his face, unblinking and unrelenting. Akihiko began to rub his head and Misaki closed his eyes with pleasure.

"I didn't really think I mattered, and I'm just sitting here in shock because you're here too right now, and you're- I'm sorry, but you're beautiful and little and also adorable and when I'm around you, I feel like I'm the moon borrowing your light, but it's okay when it's with you." He babbled, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. Misaki didn't move, just sat in the same spot, enjoying his petting. Akihiko took a deep breath and plunged.

"I'm still sorry about before, Misaki." Misaki moved with a little 'mmph' sound and leaned away from him, frowning. His forehead was scrunched up into a cute little 'v' as he scowled. Akihiko pushed on. "I wasn't going to do anything, really. I just- I just like you. And I assumed you would like me, but you might not, so that's a bit... um. Disheartening." Akihiko said. Misaki was still silent, his mouth pressing into a thin line.

"Did something happen when you were young, like, some sort of abuse, or..."

"Why did I need to have been abused for you to understand that no means no?" Misaki asked bluntly, and snorted, more out of sarcasm than amusement. Akihiko's face reddened and he looked at his socks. "I was, but that has nothing to do with it. You shouldn't think that me saying no counts as foreplay, unless I told you that ahead of time. It's just common courtesy not to try to molest someone."

The silver haired man whipped his head toward the beauty, who was examining his cuticles. "You were? What, really? By who?"

Misaki sighed and locked eyes with the other. Finally he stood and stretched, raising his hands over his head and arching his back. His shirt rose a bit and he rubbed his stomach as he said, "Let's go outside. It's so smokey in here that I can hardly breathe." Akihiko followed him, and wrapped them in two blankets as they sat on the terrace, close to each other but not touching.

Misaki looked out at the city and blinked at the lights. "It's a nice view," Akihiko offered, and the boy nodded. He turned toward him and exhaled.

"It was most of my childhood. Until I came out, actually, when I was 13." He said, staring right into Akihiko's eyes.

"Who?" Misaki sighed, like he was telling a story that had an ending that only he knew, but didn't want to share.

"It was my brother." He said. Akihiko's eyes widened. Misaki shook his head and sniffled. "I just- he started touching me when we were young, and he said he was just curious so I let him kiss me even though it felt so wrong, but then my parents died and I- I was the reason." Akihiko couldn't do anything but listen, clutching his blanket closer to him and wondering how to react. Misaki continued, looking past him, over his shoulder.

"He raped me when I was 12. I guess technically, molested me, because he didn't use his, you know, but he touched me too much anyway." Misaki shook his head again. "That sounds so bad. I mean, it was worse than before. He wanted to sleep with me and was basically trying to see if I could handle it. He kept doing it and I finally told him that I was gay." Misaki laughed to himself.

"It's ironic, as soon as I say that, he stops." Misaki looked at his hands, sniffling quite a bit now, and Akihiko didn't know how to stop him, so he did nothing, watching the young man shrink into his blanket and cry. "I would have decided a lot sooner if I had known that he would start hating me afterward." He whispered.

Misaki wiped his eyes onto his blanket and began to sob. "I'm sorry," He said softly. "I know this isn't what you probably expected. I don't mean to be such a burden."

Akihiko had had it at those words. He grabbed the young man into his arms and kissed him softly, holding onto his chin as he did. Misaki stopped crying and kissed him back, mostly out of surprise. After they parted, Misaki stared at him and hiccuped. Akihiko felt his lips twitch.

"You stopped crying." He whispered, and Misaki snuggled against him, burying his head into the man's chest.

It was another half an hour before he heard soft snores and realized that Misaki was drooling on him, and he must have dozed off as well. Akihiko grabbed up Misaki into his arms and carried him up the stairs. For all the food he ate, the boy was surprisingly light. Akihiko deposited him easily onto his bed, and wrapped the blankets around them. Wrapping his arms around Misaki's body and pressing his nose into the man's soft neck, he allowed himself to drift slowly off into slumber.

The next morning, Akihiko woke up to an empty bed. For a moment, he was disappointed, and all of their conversations from the night before ran through his mind. It wasn't until the smell of bacon and eggs wafted into the bedroom that he realized that he hadn't been left alone. Throwing the blankets off of him and slipping on his house shoes, the 30-year old rushed downstairs to meet Misaki, who was dancing to a song that played from a small speaker. He was spinning with his eyes closed and his arms out at his sides, his lips parted just the slightest bit. Akihiko leaned on the counter, content to watch the man turn and turn as the soft song continued to play. Misaki opened his mouth as though he were going to sing along, and saw Akihiko sitting there.

"Oh." He gasped. He stopped suddenly, his hands behind his back and his ears turning red. "I didn't see you there." His eyes darted away from Akihiko's, but he dragged them slowly back. "Do you listen to the Hearsays?" He asked.

"No," Akihiko replied, "But I don't listen to much music."

"This is 'A Little Bird Told Me'. I think it's their best song, but that's just my opinion, I guess." Misaki said, adding the last part a bit sheepishly.

Akihiko raised an eyebrow and smiled at the man. "I concur."

Misaki turned toward the fridge and pulled out two plates with fruit salad on them, and two glasses of orange juice. "You have so much food," He gushed, pulling out more items and transporting them to the dining table. "I mean, so much food. I almost made waffles, but decided to make tarts instead. I'm better at those." He set the plates down and admired his handiwork. He then looked to Akihiko for approval. "What do you think?" Came the shy question.

Akihiko felt special, as though very few were chosen for that inquiry, and looked at the presentation. On one plate was a bowl of fruit salad, some jelly, and toast. On another plate was a tart, some eggs, and some little green leaves. He looked at the entire spread, and then up to Misaki's face. "I can't cook." Was his response.

Misaki's brow furrowed in disappointment, but he brightened a moment later. "I can cook pretty good." Akihiko kissed him on the forehead, and it was silently agreed that in their relationship, no matter how long, Misaki would do the cooking for the both of them. The two ate breakfast together, discussing Misaki's love for indie music and soft rock ("I love the Hearsays, but there aren't a lot of Japanese indie bands, at least not that I can find. They're sort of underground. But I hate J-Pop and J-Rock." Misaki stressed, while chewing on a leaf.)

After breakfast, Misaki had suggested that they go to the zoo, and they did. Looking ridiculous in their t-shirts and shorts out in public, Misaki and Akihiko held hands and took pictures, laughing the entire way. "I love this," Akihiko had said at one point, to which Misaki responded, "I love this too." It was another silent agreement, a promise that they would make on another day, but not their 3rd date. Lunch was sandwiches in the park and Misaki danced to a street musician and bought the older man some artwork. Akihiko took more photos that day than he had for the entire time he'd had his phone.

That night, after Misaki caught a taxi home, he called Hiroki.

"It's officially official. I'm whipped. I love him." He laughed into the phone, feeling light-headed.

"You barely met him and he's 10 years younger than you. Of course you think you love him." Hiroki responded in a flat voice.

"Congratulations, Usami-san!" Came Nowaki's happy exclamation from the background. Nowaki and Hiroki were putting away dishes when Akihiko had called, so he talked to them both over speaker phone.

"Thank, Nowaki-san. But he's so cute and he's impossible to get mad at."

Hiroki made a 'harrumph' sound. "That's bad. Run away. Those types will get you roped in." Nowaki laughed at the joke, which he knew was made at his expense.

"I'm going to be careful, I promise." Akihiko said, scanning his email for new alerts. "I'm not going to get hurt this time."

After his talk with Hiroki, Akihiko had deleted the dating profile and saw that Misaki's was still running. It said that he was still active, but the boy had been busy this week, being a student and working as well. He put the question out of his mind and went to sleep with a light heart.

The next two months went by in a happy and bizarre blur. Hiroki had demanded to meet the young man who had stolen his best friend's heart, and Misaki had obliged. Their meeting was hilarious, Akihiko thought, as both accused the other of being fake and both had been offended by their assessment. Finally, Misaki had put up his trademark grin and shook Hiroki's hand in a truce and Hiroki had grumbled something about him being 'not so bad for a millennial brat.'

The meeting with Aikawa went much smoother. The woman simply grabbed his cheeks and squeezed as hard as she could, which left Misaki red and adorable. He pouted all the way back to the penthouse and Akihiko kissed him anyway. It was never discussed when Akihiko would meet Misaki's friends. The boy said that he didn't have many, and seeing how much time Misaki spent with him, Akihiko believed that fact.

After a month of sending Misaki home each night in a taxi, Akihiko shyly broached the subject of Misaki moving into the penthouse with him. After a tense moment while the man deliberately, he was met with a resounding 'YES', and they began to pack Misaki's things the very next day, following Misaki's classes.

They had travelled to Misaki's apartment together, and pulled out box after box of clothes, books, and shoes. Misaki's place was small and dirty, like any college kid's apartment. He didn't have many items to pack, so it was only 5 boxes that came to the Usami apartment.

Misaki kissed him on the nose that night and told him that he loved everything about them, that their relationship was the best that he'd ever had. Akihiko kissed him back so hard that the boy gasped under him and moaned into his shirt.

Sex was a topic that no one wanted to talk about yet. It was always too soon, too fresh to ask and then too late in the night for either of them. Akihiko still felt guilty and ashamed for what he had done that first night, and Misaki never seemed to want anything. "Maybe he's asexual; he only needs your love." Hiroki suggested more than once.

It was two months later that the two were sitting in the living room, Misaki eating a small carton of yoghurt and Akihiko sitting on the couch with his glasses, going over his manuscript, that Misaki cleared his throat to get Akihiko's attention, in a very obvious manner. The author looked at the boy over his glasses, and Misaki was sitting sideways in the chair, watching him with his huge, round eyes.

"I love you." Misaki said simply, and shoved a spoonful of yoghurt into his mouth, his face immediately turning a deep shade of red. Akihiko turned red as well, and swallowed nervously.

"I love you too." He replied, setting down his papers. Misaki set down his cup as well and came to the couch, sitting cross legged across from the older man. His eyelashes seemed impossibly long as he gazed at the older man from underneath them.

"I'm in love with everything about you, but I'm never going to tell you." Misaki breathed, ghosting his hand over Akihiko's face and smiling dreamily. "I want you to do so many things to me." His eyes drifted closed and he sighed softly. "So many things."

Akihiko's breath hitched. "I'd do anything with you, Misaki." He said softly.

Misaki's eyes opened and he regarded Akihiko seriously. "Basically what I'm saying is that I want you to fuck me." He said bluntly.

Akihiko had no idea how to respond. "That's crude," was all that he could muster out, swallowing again under Misaki's gaze. Misaki kissed his ear, and his breath touched Akihiko's cheek.

He could feel Misaki's tongue on his outer ear as he whispered, "Maybe. But that's what I really want right now." He pulled away and pouted. "Please?" He leaned forward until they were less than a centimeter apart. "I'll beg on my knees if you want. I want this." He kissed the older man chastely. "I want you." Akihiko had it at that line.

Misaki was on the couch in a second, their lip mashing together and their tongues rolling around together. He kissed the boy into a stupor, and Misaki's arms encircled the older man. Their bodies rubbed against one another, and Misaki's moans were almost too much to bear. As the men made their way upstairs, clothing was removed and skin was revealed. Akihiko felt as though he'd never be able to lay with another man again, once he saw Misaki naked and trembling on the bed. He softly kissed the boy from ankle to knee, rubbing him and letting out little breaths against him. Misaki moaned and pulled Akihiko in, doing amazing things with his tongue and his fingers.

"Why didn't we do this before?" He sighed, as he rubbed his hands all over the other's body. Akihiko's voice was strained and he kissed Misaki instead of replying, because before didn't matter, none of it mattered. Misaki was here, and he was real, and fuck yes! He was amazing. Akihiko felt more pleasure than any other before with this man. They finished three times that night, each time ending with Misaki's shrieks and Akihiko's grunts.

Misaki lay on the bed, alternating between breathing hard and humming to himself, while Akihiko stroked the boy's sticky chest with his fingers. "You're so... fast." Misaki sighed. Akihiko stopped his ministrations, offended, until Misaki groaned and shook his head. "No, I mean, you're ready again fast. I love it. You're like a rabbit. You did so much to me, I was..." Misaki raised a hand above his face, fingers splayed as though reaching out toward something in the future, something just within reach, yet just out of it as well. "I was flying. It was amazing." He smiled lazily, reaching a hand down to his crotch area. "And I'm covered in you." He smirked.

Akihiko kissed the boy on the forehead and threaded their hands together, pulling Misaki into a lazy war of touch. They laid together like that until the sun went down and the rumbles of their stomachs called them down to eat. Misaki had hopped around and called him 'Usagi-san'. "Because you're horny as a rabbit," The boy giggled when Akihiko ruffled his hair.

"You're such a kid," Akihiko had responded, his heart full of longing and wonder.

The next morning, when Misaki brought breakfast to him in bed, he watched the boy butter a muffin and pass it to him, babbling about something mundane that his friend had told him in school. Akihiko watched him, and thought of how content he would be, how happy he would be, if everyday could be like this. He would spend every day with Misaki, watching him cook or laugh, or clean, or just be.

It was then that Akihiko thought, for the first time, that this man could be the one.

Misaki, unaware of his inner monologue, kissed him on the lips, a buttery, chocolatey kiss, and tilted his head back in laughter.

So yeah. Thanks for your reviews, and I know that I'm late but I've been writing this since before I left for work and for 3 hours afterward. Editing takes time, damn. I want to point out my use of figurative language when describing Misaki. Someone PMed me about it and I just want to explain that I'm not attempting to paint him as some flower child who stepped out of some indie movie, or is magical and ambiguous, like the characters that Akihiko criticized at the beginning of the chapter. I'm trying to show Misaki as Akihiko sees him. Akihiko does look at his boyfriend and see him as an enigma, or some mystical creature.

Akihiko's opinion of Misaki, as well as my language when portraying him, will change in the upcoming chapters when we learn more about Misaki and his hobbies... and his jobs.

Keep reviewing, and let me know what you think. Thanks for all your support