Chapter 14

Ritsu and Misaki's Affair (Part I)

Misaki grunted, sitting up in a familiar bed that was surrounded by toys. A silver-haired man was still sleeping peacefully next to him, clinging to Misaki's waist. Misaki grinned slightly before peeling the older man's arms off of him, and slipped quietly out of the bed.

The boy made his way downstairs to begin preparing breakfast for him and his lover. Just as he was about to begin, he heard Usagi-san's bedroom door slam open, and the telltale sound of feet stomping their way to the stairs. Ah, so he's awake now, Misaki thought, smiling to himself. Usagi-san was always such a mess in the morning—

Oh right. Misaki stiffened when he remembered last night when he had returned from Ijuuin-sensei's place.

"Misaki." Usagi-san's eyes were emotionless, deep pools of violet. They unnerved Misaki; the smaller boy knew exactly what was coming next. "Why the hell were you out with that mangaka tonight?" He held up his cell phone, which displayed Misaki's text from earlier on the screen.

"Um—well, there's a reason for that, of course…haha…" Misaki began tentatively, not wanting to make his older lover's already terrible mood become worse. When Usagi-san raised an eyebrow, Misaki continued. "He said I could read the newest chapter of The Kan at his place, so I went! And that—that's exactly what we did." Misaki desperately fought the blush that threatened to shade his cheeks red.

But Usagi-san could read Misaki's fruitless attempts like a book. "What did he do to you?" Usagi-san asked, grabbing Misaki by the shoulder. Misaki cringed, inadvertently exposing the otherwise unnoticeable hickey on his neck. Misaki watched in dismay as Usagi-san's eyes widened. "Did he do this to you…?" It was a rhetorical question, Misaki realized, and he didn't respond. Usagi-san knew now, but he was probably thinking those strange thoughts of his—that he had let Ijuuin-sensei do this to him.

"That's not what it's like!" Misaki exclaimed after a few moments of silence. "Ijuuin-sensei just pushed me down…and he did that…" He gulped. Usagi-san's face was rapidly losing its look of rage, being replaced by a look of deep sadness. "Usagi-san! Listen to me!" Misaki tried again, trying to get his lover's attention. His eyes were distant. "I told Ijuuin-sensei that I could never love someone like I love you!"

That, of course, caught the silver-haired man's attention. "You…what?"

"I definitely made it clear to him this time that I only have room for you in my heart…" And Nii-chan, but I can't ruin the mood by saying that, Misaki thought.

Misaki stared up into Usagi-san's eyes, silently pleading with the older man to forgive him. If Usagi-san really hated Ijuuin-sensei this much, and he wished for it, Misaki would never go to see Ijuuin-sensei personally again—if he could help it.

"Misaki…" Usagi-san suddenly descended upon the smaller boy and pulled him into a tight, loving embrace. Misaki blinked, and his blush finally broke out full-force all over his face—and even tinged his ears an adorable shade of pinkish red. He felt Usagi-san begin to lick the hickey Ijuuin-sensei had made earlier that evening, and he mumbled, "I will erase his touch from your body, Misaki." And with that, Usagi-san had picked him up and hauled him to his room—proceeding to make love to Misaki well into the night.

"Ah…good morning, Usagi-san…" He still felt uncomfortable addressing Usagi-san. After their last round of intercourse the night before, Misaki had taken a last look at Usagi-san—and that look of sadness had returned to darken his award-worthy visage.

Usagi-san simply made his way to Misaki and gave the boy a quick kiss on the cheek. Just as Usagi-san was sitting down, Misaki snapped his fingers, remembering his sighting of Onoder-san the night before. "Oh, and Usagi-san! You'll never believe who I saw on my way home yesterday!" Disregarding Usagi-san's dark look, Misaki continued. "It was Onodera-san!"

Misaki giggled at the look of surprise on Usagi-san's face. "Onodera? Was he with Takano?"

Misaki froze. Ah, no, he wasn't. "N-no…I don't think so…" Misaki mumbled, looking down at his hands, ready to cook, but he didn't reach for the cooking utensils that sat at his fingertips. "He was with someone…someone else, that I didn't recognize."

Usagi-san furrowed his brow. "Huh…" he breathed out.

Misaki whipped out his cell from his pocket, forcing out a couple of laughs. "This is what cell phones are for! We can ask him what's up, right?"

Usagi-san sighed. "You have Onodera's mail address?"

"Ah—no."

"Here, I'll give it to you, then. This was his address when he was my editor."

Usagi-san handed Misaki his phone, and Misaki copied Onodera-san's mail address into his own phone and typed in a message. It read:

"Hello, Onodera-san! It's Takahashi Misaki, from a couple of Saturdays ago! I saw you last night at that bar! I was just wondering, what's up? And could we have another get-together soon?" Misaki blushed at the last part. There was no harm in asking just one more time, right? Quickly, before his adrenaline faded and he deleted the last line, he hit "Send" and gave Usagi-san back his phone.

"What did you say?" Usagi-san asked, causing Misaki's blush to deepen.

"Just…um…asked what was up," Misaki replied, not looking Usagi-san in the eye. Usagi-san chuckled the slightest bit at Misaki's reaction to his question and pulled the boy to his chest.

"And now we wait for a reply."

Onodera tested the sheets that bound his hands to the bedpost. Nothing budged, and the little hope he had left withered away. Haitani was insane—he had to be. Why else would you tie a person up to your bed and leave the room without another word like it was nothing?

A faint buzzing noise snapped him out of his daze of self-pity. He glanced around for his phone and found it lying on the floor; it had probably fallen off when Haitani had been preparing this for Onodera.

He tried to somehow reach the phone in any possible way he could, but to no avail. There was no way he was going to reach that phone. He threw his head back on the mattress, defeated.

Why was this happening, anyway? Did Haitani-san hate Takano-san that much? To the point where he involved completely innocent people in his brilliant plans to piss Takano-san off? Really, what is this guy's deal with Takano-san? Onodera wondered as he closed his eyes. Suddenly, he heard the door click open.

"Here here, Onodera-kun. I bought some food for you," Haitani-san's voice was too cheery for the current predicament. Maybe this guy really was insane. Still, Onodera was hungry, and the only way he would be able to eat would be if Haitani-san untied his hands from the sheets and gave him the cheap cup ramen. If he shut up for a moment, maybe Haitani-san would think he had calmed down.

"Alright, now open up."

Onodera stared stupidly at the man, who was stirring the cup ramen around with a pair of chopsticks. Open up? Did he mean…

"You are not feeding me, you perverted bastard! Just let me go, for crying out loud!" Onodera screeched when he realized what Haitani-san meant. This guy had either completely lost it or was just extremely weird. He thought he would feed another grown man?

"Onodera, just cooperate. If you don't, you already know what will happen." Haitani-san didn't look worried about Onodera's outburst at all. He simply shrugged and nudged at Onodera's mouth with the chopsticks.

Onodera was seething. This was beyond humiliating. "You crazy bastard. Takano-san might just call the police on you, you know?" he tried, but Haitani-san didn't react the way he thought he would—instead, he smirked.

"He would never leave his precious Onodera-kun alone with the person he hates most, don't you think?" he asked, his tone sarcastically sappy. "I mean, he doesn't know that I'm not really touching you at the moment. Of course, that could change…" he trailed off as he trailed his fingers down Onodera's throat, causing the smaller man to involuntary shiver under him. Haitani-san's smirk had made a permanent return. "Ah, Onodera-kun, your reactions are so pure and sweet." His fingers trailed lower, down his chest, and began to travel even lower when—

The phone began to buzz again. Onodera let out the breath he had been holding, and Haitani-san glanced around. He found the phone on the floor and picked it up, flipping it open as he did so. Apparently, someone was trying to call Onodera. He answered the call and held it to his ear.

"Ah, Onodera-san?" a small, boyish voice asked. "It's Takahashi from a couple of weeks ago, remember? Well, you didn't answer my mail from earlier and I just wanted to call to see what was up…and…" There was a slight pause, but the boy continued. "I wanted to ask if you and Takano-san wanted to go out on another get-together with me and Usagi-san!" The boy gasped slightly. "I mean Usami-san!"

Haitani-san blinked a few times. Onodera could hear Takahashi-kun from where he was, and he blushed. What would Takahashi-kun do when he heard another guy on Onodera's phone?

Please don't say anything weird… Onodera silently pleaded. Of course, Haitani-san sent a triumphant glance his way and replied.

"Hello there, Takahashi-kun. This is Haitani, Onodera-kun's friend." The man smirked as he spoke the word and sent a sidelong glance at Onodera. "Onodera-kun isn't really able to get to his phone right now. A get-together, you say? How about at my place? Onodera-kun is here as well, and Takano will be getting here soon." Onodera's eyes widened as Haitani-san continued to tell Takahashi-kun his address. Have Takahashi-kun and Usami-sensei come here? That was insane! "All right, Takahashi-kun, we'll see you then!" With that, he slapped the phone shut and tossed it back on the floor carelessly.

"Be careful with other peoples' things!" Onodera cried, hoping his phone hadn't broken.

Haitani-san just shrugged and placed the cup ramen on his nightstand. "I guess I'd better freshen up for our guests, right, Onodera-kun?" he asked, leaving the room without a second glance at Onodera. He was too busy thrashing around, trying to free himself of his constraints to care anyway.

I am never going out for drinks with anyone anymore!

Misaki flinched as the man on the other end abruptly ended the call. Was that the guy Onodera-san had gone drinking with? He shuddered. The guy had sounded kind of…off. A little strange. But in any case, he was inviting Usagi-san and himself over to meet with Onodera-san and Takano-san, so it was okay. He whirled around to tell Usagi-san the news.

"Usagi-san, Onodera's friend invited us to go to his house, and we can meet with Onodera-san and Takano-san there," Misaki chirped, his enthusiasm shining in his emerald eyes.

Usagi-san blinked. "What friend?" he asked, picturing the small man they had met at the bookstore during their last outing together. But he had been a colleague, hadn't he? Had Onodera said that the man was his friend?

Misaki shrugged. "He said his name was Haitani. I don't really know him, but I think he might have been the guy Onodera-san was out drinking with the other day. I think…maybe Onodera-san spent the night there." Misaki squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. He didn't want to believe that Onodera-san could have possibly cheated on Takano-san…but Takano-san had known that Onodera-san was out drinking with this Haitani guy, right? Didn't he say he was going over to Onodera-san's apartment the other day?

You have to see for yourself.

Misaki's eyes snapped open at the thought. Instead of childish enthusiasm lighting his eyes, a determination to find out what Onodera-san was doing replaced it. Usagi-san sent a questioning glance his way, but didn't say anything.

"We're going, right?" Misaki asked, his gaze returning to the phone still held in his hands.

"Yes, of course. Takano is going as well, right? Why wouldn't we?"

Misaki breathed out a sigh of relief. It was going to be okay, and maybe he could figure out this whole mess for Takano-san and Onodera-san both.

"Well, Misaki, we might as well get ready," Usagi-san said, and at that, dragged the boy up to his room to clothe him in something appropriate for the occasion—he couldn't have some stranger seeing Misaki's exposed skin that the boy's V-neck shirt made visible. He helped Misaki into his favorite pair of jeans, and a long-sleeve shirt. As for Usami, he fixed himself into a suit and persuaded Misaki to fix his tie for him—with a little help from Usami, of course.

Something still nagged at Misaki, though. He couldn't shake the feeling that Haitani-san wasn't exactly a person to be trusted. And there was an even more distant feeling of premonition—he felt like something, for better or for worse, was going to happen that afternoon.

AN: Ok, so the chapter had gotten really long, and I decided to split it into parts. Hope you don't mind~

Haitani likes bondage because he's kinda-sorta a sadist, remember? Sorry. I like bondage too. Merr.

I'll be posting the other parts throughout the week, and it's mostly finished. If you have any suggestions for my last few chapters to this story, let me know now! I'll hopefully find a way to incorporate it into the fic. I can easily edit things around, and since I've recently discovered the leisure of having a beta reader for one of my other stories, it's becoming hard for me to go back and actually re-edit my works…but nonetheless, I'll try my best to give you guys the great ending I promised.

I must say I'm seriously embarrassed and ashamed that I haven't come back to this story, nor Egoistic Terrorism over the course of these couple of months. I'm really an asshole, aren't I ;-; anyway. Please forgive me for making you all wait so goddamn long for these chapters, and I sincerely hope they'll turn out to be worth the wait!

Thank you all for putting up with my crap (: