Title: Repentance Against Sin
Chapter 3:Sticks and Stones, Love

Author: Harper Hisoka
Warning: Shonen ai, yaoi, rape, incest (between cousins)

Series: Gravitation
Pairing: Tohma x Suguru

Summary: Suguru's father was arrested for attempted rape, and just when things were settling down, his mother finds another boyfriend. But just who is this new "boyfriend"? Who can Suguru turn to in his time of need? AU because Tohma is 25, Suguru is 19, and the timeline was modified a bit for my story. Also, Tohma doesn't quite have that obsession with Yuki as he did in the manga/anime.

"Suguru, love, everything will turn out all right, you'll see. As long as I'm here, my love, I will protect you, you have to believe that."

Tohma felt the presence of tears beginning to roll softly down his cheek as he watched his lover cry out into his shoulder, crying out emotions that, no doubt, he had been holding back since the night before.

"Suguru, my little one, what happened to you last night? What are you not telling me?"

"If... If I tell you what happened, someone I love will get hurt. Tohma... I can't..."

With that, Suguru broke down into tears again, the thoughts of his mother flooding though his mind.

'If I tell anyone what father has done to me, or will do, mother will get hurt. I can't let that happened again.'

"Toh.. Tohma, you... you may have helped me once, and I... I love you for it." Suguru tried his best to talk to Tohma, but the tears were still choking up his throat. "But... But this time, I'm on... my own."

"This time... It's happening again, isn't it? It's your mother's new boyfriend, or rather, fiancé now, I suppose."

"How did you..."

"Know that he purposed to your mother? I've had experience in matters like these. It helped me to become the person I am, after all."

"But you always seemed so happy with your father whenever I came over. Was he, like my real father?"

"No, Father was always a nice person. I love him very much, but, this conversation is supposed to be about you. Tell me what happened to you last night."

"But Mother –"

"But nothing. You know I can help you. Your real father's in jail because of me. You should know there are few things that I can't do, Suguru. Please, tell me what has happened. Tell me."

Tohma's face turned serious. His expression told Suguru that this time, he wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

Suguru released Tohma's neck, leaning back into Tohma's embrace, his hands now playing with Tohma's right hand. By this time, Suguru had almost calmed down enough to talk to Tohma without his emotions chocking him up.

"I... I did something horrible last night, Tohma. Last night, my step-father threatened Mother, even though she was out of town, he said that that wouldn't stop him from hurting her when she came back. I think that he knows people who can hurt others – a gang leader, maybe? I don't know who he really is, but I do know that Mother's job means everything to her, and if he somehow hurt her, she might lose her job. It's a very high-class job, but it pays really well, and she's very happy. I still remember the last time something like this happened, she got hurt, and her injuries were frowned upon by her peers. If it hadn't been for you, Tohma, she wouldn't be working anywhere with her current profession. I... I didn't know what else to do. If I refused his requests, then Mother would be hurt, and it's like I said, I think he knows people, but still, if I didn't refuse him, then I could be sure that Mother would safe. At least... Tohma, if he finds out I told you this, something bad might eventually happen to Mother and I... I couldn't handle it if she lost her job because of me."

Suguru dropped Tohma's hand. The tears were threatening to fall again, but Suguru was determined to finish his story. The last thing Suguru wanted was to start crying again in front of Tohma, but sometimes, it couldn't be helped. Suguru looked away from Tohma, his eye's scanning the floor of Tohma's office, determined not to make any eye contact at all.

"I feel so ashamed, Tohma. I feel so used... He... He told me, that in assurance for Mothers safety, I would... I would have to... to promise him... my body..."

Suguru shut his eyes at the memory of the answer he gave to his father. Tears were down silently falling down is pale cheeks.

"Suguru..."

"So I asked him, "If I promise to give my body to you, will you leave mother alone?" He said he would, so, I had no other choice. I... I answered him, "I will be yours, anytime, anywhere". My body belongs to him now, at least, until his power over my mother and I is broken. I... what he did last night... the things I let him do to me... he... he took so much pleasure in my body, so relentless, unforgiving, repeatedly... hours went by, but he still wouldn't let me go. During the time I was with him, he never prepared me for anything. He said to me, "I like it when you scream. But if you black out on me, think of what I could do then!" I never did black out; I wouldn't give him the pleasure of that. Three minutes with me, and already I was undressed and tied to the bed. It wasn't just the bedroom, either. It was the kitchen, the living room, the study, any and every possible position. By the time he was worn out, everything was a mess. He told me to clean it up before going to bed. Even the blood. My blood. I hurt where it shouldn't, Tohma, I bleed where I shouldn't... So much blood... I often felt dizzy, lightheaded..."

Tohma placed his hand gently upon Suguru's pale, wet cheek, lifting up Suguru's face until he was looking directly into two, crying, auburn brown eyes.

"My little one, what he did to you is unforgivable. I will everything in my power to help you, to free you from his control. I promise you. He will be begging for mercy when I'm done with him."

Suguru took Tohma's hand in his, pressing it further against his face. Suguru closed his eyes and rubbed his face against Tohma's soft, gentle hand.

"You know I love you, right, Tohma?"

Suguru looked into Tohma's soft, crystal blue eyes. They seemed to give off a certain glow when Tohma cried. Suguru smiled at Tohma, his eyes examining Tohma's lips. They were so soft and pink, so touchable, kissable...

"Tohma..."

Tohma stared at Suguru for a moment longer, before sensing Suguru's need for his own touch, his kiss... He couldn't stand it, Suguru was silently begging for his touch, Suguru's face gently leaning in closer to his own.

"Suguru..."

In a moment's time, Tohma's mouth was locked gently onto Suguru's, their lips fulfilling the need, the wanting for each others touch. Suguru desperately kissed Tohma harder, his tongue pressing for entrance into Tohma's mouth. Tohma gracefully responded by opening his mouth further for Suguru, letting his lovers tongue explore every inch of his mouth.

Eventually Suguru pulled away from Tohma's mouth, kissing until they were far enough apart that it would no longer be a convenience.

"I can't go any further, Tohma. My body doesn't belong to you anymore. He used my body like it was a toy, like how a child plays with their doll or army soldier. He plays with me one minute, then when he get tired, just leaves me on the floor, alone, used, and broken... I can remember it clearly. I was on the floor of the study, laying under the table, naked, my bare arms tied firmly to two separate legs of the table. Not once did I resist him or fight back, not when I promised him I wouldn't. Lying under the table, he slowly crawled up to me until he had positioned himself between my legs. He looked at me, smiling, before he took his hands and firmly positioned them on my thighs. Blood was running down my legs, and onto the carpet, but he didn't care. I think he even enjoyed it. He gave me one last smile, his eyes telling me that this was going to hurt me more then it did him. With all his strength, his pushed my legs apart, as far apart as they would go. I felt myself breaking, physically and mentally. The next thing I knew, he pushed in as far as he could go, not even pausing to stretch me. Over and over, he was relentless. So much pain, I screamed from the pain, moaned, cried, but all he ever did was smile at me. He soon realized that I hadn't release in a while, so, slowly backing out of me, he crawled around to untie my arms. In no time at all he had me on all fours, then, lying on top of me, he took me in his hands, and rubbed. I hated it every time he did that, and he even knew that I hated releasing for him. It showed on my face. It didn't take me long to harden, then in all the pain and ecstasy, I released. Blood and seed sprayed everywhere. I feel to the ground, exhausted. It seemed, he was tired as well. Slowly he crawled out from under the table and walked towards the door, asking me to clean everything up as he left. He just left me their, Tohma, lying naked, on the floor, sticky and bleeding. I almost passed out from the pain, then, but I forced my self to get up. I wanted to sleep in my own bed that night. As I walked, I could feel the blood streaming down from between my legs. It wasn't much, but still, no is supposed to bleed there, at least, not a male, anyways. After I cleaned up the dozen or so places that we had been to that night, he asked me to sleep with him. It wasn't a demand, but a request. He was teasing me. I didn't bother to put on any clothes at all that night. They would just get bloody or sticky, anyways. It turns out he ended up sleeping on the couch. As I walked by to my bedroom, he asked me, "I can see you're bleeding. Does it feel good?" As I stared at him, glaring, I answered him, "I would rather have been taken by Tohma then you." He just laughed as I walked off to my bedroom. I was almost out of the room when I heard him, "You should tell me when it stops bleeding, because then I can make you go though this all over again." The nerve he had, making me agree to give my body in exchange for Mother's safety. The jerk. That's not everything that happened last night, but I don't think I need to explain everything else in detail."

Tohma dropped his hand from Suguru's face. Startled, Suguru looked into Tohma's crystal blue eyes. Tohma was looking out though the distant, floor length windows of his office. Anger was starting to cloud his normally clear eyes. Whatever Tohma was thinking at that moment, it clearly showed that it wasn't something good. Suguru understood his anger, he felt it too, but the difference was: Tohma could do something about it.

"Tohma, promise me that you will always protect me."

Gently, Suguru placed his head on Tohma's shoulder, leaning back once more against his older cousin.

"Promise me that he won't make me bleed like that again. Even now, I can feel the pain. I think I'm bleeding again, as well. Tohma, I'm scared to go home today. What if he feels in the mood for another "pleasure trip" again? I don't want to be his anymore. I want to be yours."

"Suguru..." Tohma's voice sounded distant and cold, almost, far away. "I promise you, I will make him pay for what he's done. If he lays another hand on you again –"

"Tohma, I know you will try your best, but, I have a feeling that even if he is sent to jail, that that won't be the end of it. I think he's eventually going to come back for me, but I don't think he will be alone."

This seemed to snap Tohma out of his trace. Looking into Suguru's eyes, he let everything he just heard sink in. Slowly, his eyes drifted down Suguru's body and towards his pants zipper.

"Did you say you were bleeding again? Is it something I can take care of with a first aid kit?"

"I don't think it is, but I could use some pain killers. Maybe, Aspirin or Tylenol if you have some?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I do have some Tylenol. Let me get it for you... Um... would you like to lie down on my couch? I have some small hand towels in the first aid kit if you would like to clean up the blood."

"That has to be a big first aid kit to include small hand towels. Yeah, towels, Tylenol and water."

Before Suguru could even make a move towards the couch, Suguru had felt himself being lifted up and carried across the office room.

"Tohma..."

"I don't want you to move too much, Suguru, not when you're in so much pain that it's causing you to bleed again."

Now standing in front of the couch, Tohma carefully set Suguru down, making sure that he didn't hurt him any further in the process.

"I'll be back."

Suguru nodded, watching as Tohma headed over to his desk, and kneeled down in front of it, out of sight. Slight rummaging could be heard as Tohma searched though the drawers for the first aid kit and towels.

"Oh... Tohma, do you think you could get me a fresh change of clothes as well? I wouldn't want to be seen walking around with any blood on my clothes, you know. People might get suspicious... particularly Hiro-kun... I really didn't want him to know about what's happening to me, I... I would hate it if he started worrying about me. I really don't want him trying to help, even if his intentions are good, I think he would make my situation worse. Plus, I know he likes me, so I just didn't want to see him look at me with those eyes..."

"You only want me to look at you like that, right?" Tohma said from somewhere behind his desk.

"I'm not... being selfish, am I?"

"Regarding Hiro-san? No. I don't think so. Just because he wants to love you, doesn't mean that you have to let him. He is your friend, however, and will always care for you, though. Aha! Found it."

Getting up, Tohma headed over towards Suguru, who was still lying on the couch. Setting down the towels and first aid kit on the small coffee table, Tohma turned towards Suguru.

"I'm going to get you some water and a fresh pair of clothes, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can, so don't go anywhere."

"I'll be right here when you get back, Tohma."

Suguru smiled and Tohma, then watched as his cousin turned towards the door of the office and left, letting the door close with a soft "click".

Suguru leaned his head back against the soft arm rest of the couch, closing his eyes. It wasn't long before Suguru had fallen into a light sleep, despite the pain and the bleeding.

About an hour later, Suguru had woken up to the soft "click" of the door. Refusing to open his eyes, he call out to the person who had entered the room, "Tohma, is that you? I could really use that Tylenol right about now. Plus I really think my clothes could –"

"It's not Tohma."

"What?" Suguru quickly opened his eyes and turned his head towards the door. "Hiro-kun..."

"I was worried about you, I felt that something bad might have happened to you last night, but when I didn't see you in the studios, I got worried. I knew you arrive here early, and it's already about 1:30 in the afternoon. Usually when I get here, you're already working. I had a hunch that I might find you here."

"Hiro-kun, I –"

Something did happen you last night, didn't it? I know you like to hang out with Tohma each morning, but something in the way Tohma acted as I passed him in the hallway told me something was wrong. I think I was right."

Hiro walked over to Suguru, kneeling down beside him.

"Hiro-kun, really, I'm not in the mood to talk. Please leave."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing is wrong, Hiro-kun, I just have a headache is all, and Tohma left to get me some water because he was worried about me. Isn't family, no matter how distant, supposed to care for each other?"

"Don't try to change the subject, Suguru. Something isn't right, I can feel it. Tell me what happened to you, and don't try and tell me that "nothing happened" either. I know that's not true."

Suguru started Hiro in the eyes, now slightly glaring at Hiro. Suguru never usually got mad at Hiro, but sometimes he can be to caring about other people. Especially people he considered a close friend.

"Hiro, I'm all right, really. I will be in the recording studio later today to rehearse for the concert. Now, please leave, Hiro-kun."

Reluctantly, Hiro got up, but as he turned to leave, he noticed something odd about Suguru...

"Suguru, is that... blood?"

"What?! Hiro-kun –" Suguru stopped in his attempts to sit up – something in his body told him that sitting up was not a good idea. "Hiro-kun, would you please leave?"

Suguru lay back down, but his expression showed Hiro that he still wasn't pleased to have him in the room at the moment.

"Suguru, you're hurt, I can't just let this slide by me, something happened to you last night that you're not telling me, and now you're hurt because of it! How can I just leave you alone?"

"Because he's not alone, Hiro-san. I'm here. Now would you please respect his wishes, and leave in peace?"

Hiro turned towards Tohma, "Tohma, how can I leave a friend I care about when he is in pain? I want to help him!"

"He doesn't need your help, Hiro-san, he needs mine!"

"Tohma is right, Hiro-kun. I don't need your help."

"But Suguru..."

Tohma walked over to Suguru, kneeling down to hold his cousins hand. Slowly he turned towards Hiro, his eyes filled with a mixture of anger and annoyance.

"Suguru needs me right now, Hiro. He doesn't want or need your help right now."

"How can you be so sure, Tohma? You know what's going on, don't you? I want to help Suguru as well! I... I love him!"

"Hiro-kun, please," Suguru said. "Tohma is right, I need him, but that is because I also love him. I like you, Hiro-kun, but only as a friend, and friends are not what I need right now. It true, something bad did happen to me last night, but it is not something that I want to talk to my friends about right now. Maybe later, but now right now. Hiro-kun, I'm begging you, if you truly love me, then you will leave me and Tohma alone and will stay off of this topic until I am ready to tell you, Shuichi, K-san, everyone else about it. I don't know, maybe I won't ever tell you guys what happened to me, but that is also my choice. I would like it if you were to support me, like how friends support each other, but please, I don't need my friends right now. I need to be with Tohma, and I need to be alone with him."

Hiro just stood in place, slightly stunned. He stared at Suguru, then at Tohma. Slowly he came to realize just how close Suguru and Tohma really were.

'I guess I really don't have a chance with Suguru, after all. First Shuichi, now Suguru.'

"When you need a friend, don't hesitate to ask for me. You know where to find me."

Hiro bowed to Suguru, and than left the room without saying anything more. After hearing the soft "click" of the door closing, Tohma turned back towards Suguru, still holding his hand.

"How's it going, my little one? I brought some water for you; do you still want the Tylenol?"

Suguru nodded. After taking two Tylenol and some water, he handed the water glass back to Tohma, who set it on the glass coffee table just out of Suguru's reach.

"Suguru," Tohma said, looking at Suguru. "Is it alright if I check you for injuries? I know your knee is probably still hurting you and we have to get the blood cleaned up. Plus, I suspect that some of your ribs might have been bruised, or even broken from your activities last night."

"You're probably right. I will undress for you, but you have to cover the windows, first."

"I'll be right back. Don't do anything until I get back – I want to help you take your clothes off. The last thing I want is for you to accidentally injure yourself any further, Suguru."

Suguru nodded. "Hurry back, then."

Suguru watched as Tohma got up and walked over to the huge windows, where he pulled a huge, cream colored curtain across the giant windows. Walking back, Tohma set himself down beside Suguru and proceeded to help him with his clothes.

Suguru took off his vest and shirt with no problem but Tohma was watching him carefully, examining Suguru's smaller, pale body for any sign of further injuries. As Suguru lifted his shirt off, he heard Tohma startle in surprise. Looking down himself, he saw purple and blue bruising, including many dark colored handprints all over his torso and arms.

"I guess I just didn't notice them before. It doesn't hurt that much, but..."

Suguru watch carefully as Tohma felt around his chest and arms for anything broken or internally bruised. Suguru threw his shirt and vest on the floor, and then winced as Tohma's hands brushed across his nipples. They were only sensitive now if someone touched them, but they had previously hurt him enough as to make him stay off his stomach the entire night.

"I will be more careful." Tohma said, as he continued his way around Suguru's body, and chest, but was careful enough as to not upset the bruising or soreness any further. Finally, Tohma stopped his exploration and took a moment to just stare at Suguru's bare chest.

"Suguru, I'm pretty sure that you have some bruised ribs, but except for the external bruising, I don't think that anything is broken or internally bleeding."

Looking away from Tohma, Suguru crossed his arms across his chest, wincing at the thought that his mother's boyfriend, or rather, fiancé, actually touched his chest in ways that he was never supposed to. Suguru let the tears escape him as he continued in his thoughts, momentarily forgetting that Tohma was still in the room.

"Suguru, its okay, I'm here now." Tohma soothed as he placed a gentle kiss upon Suguru's face.

"But I feel so... Tohma, only you should be able to have touched me like that. What he did to me, the things he made me do to him. The things he did to me..."

"I know, Suguru. This should never have happened, not to you. Suguru, I want you to always remember what I'm about to say. "Remember, that no matter what happens, or what anyone else has said, you will never belong to anyone you don't love. While I'm with you, you will never belong to anyone but me.""

"Tohma, if I had to belong to anyone, I'm glad that it's you, but I promise Father that –"

"Your Father will never get a chance to hurt your Mother that I promise you. Suguru, are you going home today?"

"I have to, Tohma. If I don't, he will suspect that something is wrong. He can't know that something is wrong until you're ready to protect me. Until you're able to protect me."

"Suguru..."

"I know he won't try anything else today, so I will be fine. Don't worry; I can handle myself just fine."

"I'm just worried that he will try something today. Suguru, don't hesitate to call me if something goes wrong between you and your Father. I want to help you, but you have to let me know when I can."

Suguru looked at Tohma. "Even if I don't call you, Tohma, you will know when I need your help. I know you love me, and it's that love that will connect us. It's true, Hiro-kun did sense my danger, but you did too, didn't you?"

"I could feel someone calling out to me last night, but I didn't know who it was or how I could help. If I could have only realized sooner..."

"There is no way you could have known what kind of help I needed from you. It doesn't matter now anyways. You're here now, and that's all I can think of right now."

"I will do everything in my power to protect you, Suguru. It might take some time, so just hold out a little longer, okay?"

"I can do that. Especially if it's for you." Suguru smiled.

'I know you will do everything you can to help it. I just fear that your help may come too late.'

"Um, I think you should check on my knee, and the bleeding. I'm having trouble sitting up, and with my bruises... I'd hate to ask, but, do you think that maybe you could help me clean up and apply some bandages?"

"Is it okay for me to do so? If you don't want me to see you unclothed, then we could always see a doctor –"

"No! I want you to help me. I was just worried that you wouldn't help me. I... I wanted you to be the first person to touch me, to see me, to hold me. But now, I feel so... used, so... worn, raped. I don't know how anyone could love someone who has been taken by another. Since I feel ashamed, I just thought that you would feel that way as well. Maybe I should see a doctor."

"Suguru, I'm not ashamed of you. You're still mine, and nothing in the world can change that. You see, I want to be able to touch you like that, but I would never hurt you like this."

"Well... if you promise not to hurt me, then I'll let you touch me. No, I was wrong. You would never hurt me. I'm just nervous, and scared, that's all."

"You don't have to be either of those things with me."

"I will try to remember that."

Tohma took one last look into Suguru's amber eyes before moving over towards Suguru's pants.

"I want you to relax the best you can. I don't know how badly you knee is hurt, so I'll try not to move it around to much."

Suguru nodded, motioning for Tohma to continue. After unzipping Suguru's pants, he very carefully, and gently, pulled them off. Suguru winced once or twice at having to move his injured left knee, but relaxed a bit when the pants were finally off and thrown on the floor, somewhere next to his shirt and vest. Tohma said nothing further, but gently started pulling down Suguru's slightly blood-stained boxers. Some of the blood looked old, but most seemed relatively new. Gently placing Suguru's boxers down on top of the ever growing clothes pile, he turned back to Suguru, placing a towel under him to prevent any blood from staining the couch. When Tohma didn't say anything further to Suguru, Suguru began to get worried. While Tohma was accessing the damages, Suguru slowly wrapped himself with his arms, his face turning a blushing red color. Suguru didn't know what Tohma was thinking at the moment, so he just asked Tohma the one question that he couldn't stop thinking about himself.

"Do you like what you see? I know that I'm not perfect, and if you don't mind the fact that I've been raped, or beaten, then maybe I'm not so bad. I... If you..." Closing his eyes, Suguru turned away from Tohma, trying to hide both himself and his tears from Tohma.

"If you don't want to see me again..."

"You don't understand yet, do you Suguru? You will always be mine."

Tohma stood up and walked over to Suguru, gently wrapping his arms around Suguru's chest, and, sitting on the couch, cradled Suguru in his arms.

"I love you for who you are. Your body, it's perfect the way it is."

"But I've been –"

"It doesn't matter to me. All that I care about is taking care of you."

Tohma wrapped his arms tighter around Suguru, one hand cradling Suguru's head, the other wrapped tight around the smaller, pale body.

"I love you. I will always love you."

For a moment, Suguru just laid there, cradled in Tohma's arms, but after a moment Suguru swung his arms around Tohma's neck, his head pressed tightly against Tohma's chest. Quietly, Suguru felt himself start to cry again, softly, into Tohma's purple feathered shirt.

"You... You must work out, Tohma, you chest is so hard."

"Shhh, Suguru, just let your self cry."

Gently Tohma started rocking his body back in forth, in an attempt to simulate a soothing motion that would hopefully calm Suguru down.

"Just relax, little one. You're safe with me." Tohma could still feel Suguru crying, but as Suguru tried to snuggle closer to Tohma, Tohma suddenly realized something.

"You're cold, aren't you? Here..." Tohma reached around the back of the couch to find a long knitted blanket. In one swift motion, Tohma managed to land the blanket on top of Suguru, covering him completely. Eventually Suguru warmed up, and slowly released Tohma's neck, opting for curling up next to Tohma's feathered shirt instead.

As Suguru quietly lay against Tohma, both his breathing and crying became subdued. Suguru had fallen asleep.

A/N: Thanks so much for all your support! Also, remember that I almost always work on reviews alone. So, if you want one of my stories to continue, you have review and let me know it! I tend not to post my stores if no one shows interest (that doesn't mean that I won't write the rest of it, I just might not post it!) Plus, I'm a sucker for reviews. Yep! So, let me know what you think. By the way, it takes time for me to post new chapters, so just be patient!

To My Reviewers:

To ragdollsally13 – Is the cookie a raisin oatmeal kind? I'm easily bribed with those kinds of cookies. I know, not a very popular cookie kind, but it's one of my favorites. Oh well. Oh, and please don't cry on me, I updated, see? I think I also portrayed the characters somewhat well. Of course, when something like this happens to someone, you try to stay true to the character, all the while trying to remember what situation they are in. I hope you like this chapter, though. The re-upload of this chapter should be coming within a couple of days, so be sure to look for it, okay?

Hiro: Two chapters, and I'm still don't have a partner. I think the readers might be getting a bit curious about me.

Me: Don't worry so much, Hiro. I'll give you a nice part in the chapter after this next one. Maybe the next chapter. Does that sound good to you?

Hiro: As long as I'm in the next chapter...

Shuichi: What are you complaining about, huh? I'm the lead singer of Bad Luck, and the only time I get mentioned is briefly in the first chapter. You should quit complaining.

Hiro: At least you and Yuki have been busy...

Suguru: Anyways, whose the next reviewer, Sakura-chan

Me: Huh? Oh, sorry, guess I spaced out while Hiro and Shuichi were fighting. I didn't miss anything, did I?

Hiro/Shuichi: No.

To Artemis L. E – AHHHHH! Eeee... It's K-san! Eeeee... Forced to work... eh, write... I take it you like my story so far. Yay! K-san is cool. I wonder if he's ever going to show up? Wait, I wonder if he's in chapter one...

Suguru: Are you telling me that you don't remember if you wrote K-san into chapter one or not?

Me: Um... Is that a bad thing?

Suguru: Not really. It's just funny how a writer can forget what she writes.

Me: I'll re-read chapter one no problem. Oh, and up-coming guest stars in future chapters: Ryuichi, K-san, Yuki and Shuichi! (And possibly Mika and Yuki's younger brother, Tatsuha).

To koneko Bombay – Of course, everything will be revealed in good time. Of course, just to tease you readers a bit, here's something to look forward to (eventually): the return of Suguru's real father. What will happen? Only time will tell. That, and I have a sweet Tohma-Suguru bedroom scene planned. What will happen? Will anything really cool (aka Yaoi) happen between them? I'm not going to say, you'll just have to find out!

To Nittle Grasper Wonder – Wow, I love your writings. My favorite are your Gundam Wing fics. Those are fun to read. My favorite are your "Happy birthday Koibito" fics. Quatre no Kawaii desu yo Quatre to Duo ga dai suki desu... That's only one of my favorite pairings. I like many from that series. Anyways, here's my update. I hope you like this chapter as much as you did chapter two.

To Sasheenka – I'm glad you like this story. I'll be glad to continue knowing that people like reading my work.

To Kloudy Reignfall – This update wasn't as quick, but I still updated. Oh, Suguru's emotions in this chapter are just simulating a roller coaster now. I couldn't believe how many emotions he was going though. Everyone handles these types of situations differently, and I handled Suguru the best I could. Suguru is an interesting character to handle, but I believe that his "normal" personality shows best after he cleaned up the house (before his father fell asleep) and near the end, when Tohma was closing the curtain. It's as I said, people's personality's changes when dramatic events happen, but I did lean back "into character" when necessary.

Owari!