A/N: CHAPTER 5! and i think this one really IS my longest one yet... it was also 7 pages... *sighs* anyway, ON WITH THE SHOW!

Chapter 5

Yao whistled an old tune from China as he cooked. He flipped the contents of his wok a few times before letting it sit and went to another item on the 6 burner stove. He happily started to stir some kind of soup when he heard the wok starting to sizzle. He quickly jumped over to it and dumped the contents into another platter with a smile. He turned to put the platter on the island and saw the door open. Kiku walked in, having disappeared that afternoon and it was now dark out.

"I told you not to leave the house, aru" Yao said with a sigh.

"You didn't even know I was gone," Kiku said, walking over to Yao and standing on the other side of the island.

"Kiku," Yao groaned, taking off his oven mitts as Kiku grabbed a small piece of chicken off the platter and popped it in his mouth.

"Chill, Yao, we have a guest," Kiku said with a smirk, moving away so that Yao could see a very confused Arthur standing in the doorway.

There was an awkward silence as Arthur walked in a littler father, staring down Kiku for all he was worth. Yao held in a sigh and kept his hands behind his back so that he didn't strangle his brother. Kiku just stood there with a smug smirk on his face while he nibbled on another piece of chicken.

"I'm sorry. He told me that you invited me," Arthur said, looking at Yao for the first time. He could clearly see that Yao was just as confused as he was. "I don't want to—" Arthur cut himself off and started to turn towards the door. "I'll just—"

Arthur started to leave, pulling his red shall closer to him. Kiku turned back to his brother with wide eyes, making soft 'no' sounds and trying to be subtle. Yao sighed and gave his brother a look that said 'shut it or I'll strangle you'.

"No. Please stay, aru" Yao said, stopping Arthur just as he got to the door. "I'm—I'm glad you're here, aru."

The soft Chinese music continued in the background, making the seconds of silence more awkward. Arthur simply closed the door and took a few steps towards Yao, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Um, can I get a beer, wine, tea…?" Yao asked, trying to make the best out of a bad situation.

"Water, please," Arthur said, a soft smile on his face.

"His name's Arthur, Yao," Kiku said, looking between the two of them before walking off with a smirk.

"Arthur? Arthur what, aru?" Yao asked, going back to his stove to make sure nothing burned.

"Arthur Kirkland," Arthur said, taking a long wiff of the food already done.

"Like the tragedy, aru?" Yao asked with a small chuckle as he continued to cook. "Your parents must have had a sense of humor, aru."

"Not really," Arthur said with a shrug and a soft chuckle.

The smile that was on Yao's face faded and he went back to his wok, stirring intently.

"Do you need help?" Arthur asked, looking at the recipe book. "It looks complicated."

"Not really, it's a simple dish, aru…" Yao said, looking at the book and then laughing. "No wonder you think it's complicated, it's all in Japanese, aru."

"I can read Japanese," Arthur said, picking up the book and reading it over a few times. "Actually I think I've tried this before…"

"Oh? You like Asian foods, aru?" Yao asked, putting yet another thing on a platter.

"My fiancé likes to take me to out to eat at a lot of different places," Arthur said, his eyes not straying from the book. "And my apartment is near China Town, so it's usually easiest to go there…"

"You're engaged?" Yao asked, a look of shock on his face. And was that… disappointment that Arthur heard…? He then chuckled, causing Kiku to look at him in shock from the other room. "Alright, I won't pry, aru."

"Thanks," Arthur said, giving Yao a small smile. He then shook his head slightly and sighed. "You never answered my question."

"Which one was that, aru?" Yao asked, looking a little confused.

"Do you need help?" Arthur asked again.

"I think I answered that, aru," Yao said, a small smirk on his face as he pointed his spatula at Arthur.

"No, I don't think you did," Arthur said with a mirroring smirk, leaning on the counter.

"Are you trying to confuse me, aru?" Yao asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Is it working?" Arthur asked with a small chuckle.

Kiku smirked and turned to sit normally on the couch and picked up his manga again.

"So when he saw all the cute girls that liked me—just as friends, Yao—he accidentally spilled poster paint ALL over my model of the Taj Mahal," Kiku said as he retold the story while the three ate dinner. They had all taken a seat on a different side of the table, Arthur and Yao sat at the two heads and Kiku sat between them on the sides. "So I put glue in his shoes. I got suspended for that and then expelled for fighting. But that was way back in the day in—um… Hong Kong…"

"So, I was a little surprised to see you take the Wheelwright place, aru," Yao said to Arthur, taking a sip of his tea. "Not many renters this time of year, aru."

"Oh, I'm only here for the month for work," Arthur said, taking another bite of God only knows what but it tasted good.

"What do you do anyway?" Kiku asked, tiling his head to the side.

"Oh, layoffs, payroll reduction," Arthur said with a shrug, making it sound like nothing. "That sort of thing."

"Hmm," Kiku said, nodding slightly. "Sounds boring."

"Kiku," Yao snapped lightly, making Kiku look at his brother in shock.

"No, it is boring," Arthur said before an all out war could begin. Arthur looked back at Kiku and smiled. "I like your bracelet, by the way. So you know that those are? Here," Arthur motioned for Kiku to hold up his arm so that the Brit could see the beads better. "They're warrior beads. They're from Indonesia. Centuries ago, you needed to be the best fighter in your village to earn them."

"Cool," Kiku said, retracting his arm. "I bought them off eBay."

There was another small silence and Arthur wondered briefly why that kept happening lately. He figured a change of topic would be a good idea.

"Is there a school here on the island?" Arthur asked, taking another bit of something that was green and leafy.

"We're trying home schooling for a while, aru," Yao said, taking another sip of tea.

"I read at college level and I'm doing algebra one on my own," Kiku said in a mater-of-fact tone.

"He's a good student, aru," Yao said with a sigh as his shoulder's sagged a little. "It's the behavioral stuff that's been a problem."

Kiku leaned over to Arthur, as if telling him some big secret and said quietly, "I have authority issues and I don't handle bullshit well."

Both adults snapped at Kiku for his language. Kiku shrunk back in his chair, trying to disappear. Arthur had spoken calmly to him and Yao just yelled. He was REALLY starting to like the Brit better, even if he didn't like British people…

The silence pressed down on them in the room after the outburst. Even the music had stopped playing for a while. It was uncomfortable and it made all three men want to squirm.

"It's okay," Arthur said, making Kiku smile slightly.

Arthur stood out on the front porch, leaning on the wooden railing. He pulled his red shawl closer and sighed. He pressed some of the fabric to his nose and took a deep breath. Even after all this time, the shall still smelled like Francis. It called the blonde's frazzled nerves. He couldn't even imagine what the Frenchie was doing at the moment.

Arthur felt like he was in another world. He couldn't think straight at the moment. He had a bad feeling about these two brothers. He just wished that he could be home in Manhattan, relaxing with his fiancé. He didn't want to do this for a while. Like he told Francis, he needed a breather…

Arthur turned the corner of the house and saw a light from one of the windows. Through the curtains, he could see Kiku in his night clothes, all ready for bed. He saw as he gave his brother a hug and then crawled under his blankets. Yao gave him a small kiss on the forehead and turned off the lights and then left the room.

Arthur walked back to the front of the house, shuddering slightly as bad memories from his past come back. He shook his head and dispelled the images. He looked back over the railing and out towards the water and sighed.

"Hey, aru."

Arthur turned around and saw Yao come out to the porch with two, half full wine glasses in hand. Yao walked over to him with and chuckled slightly.

"Suddenly I got a teenager on my hands," Yao said, making both of them chuckle.

"He's hard on himself," Arthur said, his smile fading.

"You can tell, huh?" Yao asked sadly. "Most people think he's a slacker." Yao handed Arthur one of the glasses with a small smile.

"No, I shouldn't…" Arthur said, not really liking the look of the red wine. It reminded him too much of…

"Merry Christmas?" Yao asked, holding up the glass hopefully. At that moment, Yao remained Arthur a lot of Kiku.

Arthur took the glass, but didn't drink any. Yao took a small sip and leaned against the railing, looking out onto the lake. It was silent again for a minute before Arthur asked a question that was nagging at the back of his mind.

"Where are his parents?" Arthur asked, not really meaning to be rude. But he could tell that they two weren't related by blood. Yao just sighed.

"We have no idea," Yao said calmly. "My parents adopted him from Japan when he was a baby."

"And your parents?" Arthur asked, knowing that Yao looked far too young to be on his own with a teenager.

"They died about two years ago," Yao said, looking down at the ground.

"Back in Hong Kong?" Arthur asked with a knowing hint in his voice.

"Yeah," Yao said with another sigh. "There was a drunk driver…" Yao took another sip of his wine, looking at Arthur with a thoughtful expression.

"My parents died when I was young," Arthur said, looking down at the ground. He looked back up at Yao, realizing that he said too much. "I should go. I have work."

"Come on, it's early," Yao said, looking at a clock. It was nearing 11.

"Thanks for dinner," Arthur said, putting his glass down on the railing.

Yao looked back as saw that Arthur was gone. Yao looked around, hoping to see a flash of red. But he saw nothing and sighed. He grabbed the other glass and walked back inside the cabin, muttering something about a ghost.

YAY! chapter 5!

i almost put chapter 6 instead of five...

FAIL!

i started to post this on . if anyone wants the link, i'll give it to them!

ARTHUR AND FRANCIS ARE ENGAGED!

i NEEDED to add that, cause it was a VERY nice twist, and it will come in handy later!

anyway, all, ENJOY!

btw, this was ALSO 7 pages!

so what do you think? love it? hate it? want to chase it with pitchforks? R&R's are a lovely thing!