You people must be magical or something to get me to update three days in a row. I got eight reviews overnight, so this morning I'm gonna update so that nobody complains at me. Read on!
Disclaimer: I don't own Junjou Romantica
Chapter Ten
Akihiko's POV
I didn't understand what Misaki meant. How could it have been his fault that Ritsu died? I sat on the floor of Misaki's room for about five minutes before I heard Misaki yell, "Who gave you the right to nose around my private business without even telling me!?" from the direction of Takahiro's room.
That snapped me out of my thoughts, and I got up and walked up to Takahiro's room, listening through the door (AKA eavesdropping). I had gotten there in time to hear Takahiro say, "I-I'm sorry Misaki. I didn't r-realize it w-would be that bad." I heard a loud smacking sound, what I guessed was a slap that sounded immensely painful.
"I can't believe you would invade my privacy like that, Nii-chan," Misaki whispered in a voice so low I barely caught the words. I heard footsteps, Misaki's I guessed, coming towards the door. I quickly backed away and went into the bathroom right across from Takahiro's room and closed the door.
Once Misaki's footsteps in the hallway faded, I walked out of the bathroom and went into Takahiro's room. "What happened?" I asked the depressed looking Takahiro. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, face in his hands.
"I don't . . . even know," Takahiro said, his voice sounding broken and depressed.
I walked over and sat next to him, asking softly, "What exactly did you two talk about to get Misaki so upset?"
Takahiro took his face out of his hands and looked at me. There was a red spot on the right side of his face that looked rather painful, but not enough to bruise. I guessed that was where Misaki slapped him. "I was talking to h-him about what that man Haitani told me about him, and he got really mad. I just . . . don't know what to do," Takahiro said quietly, looking as if he were about to breakdown.
He continued, "I-I've never heard Misaki yell at me before. Not once. He's never been violent toward me like that."
"I'll go talk to him. I'm sure he'll listen to me," I suggested. Takahiro smiled gratefully at me and said, "Thank you. I appreciate it." I smiled and walked out of Takahiro's room. I knocked on Misaki's door, and when no one answered, I tried the door knob. The door was unlocked, which alarmed me, because Misaki always had his door locked.
I opened the door and walked in. The lights were off in his room, but his bathroom door was ajar and light was leaking through. I walked over silently to the door and looked in. Misaki's back was to me, so I couldn't tell what was wrong, until I heard Misaki hiss in pain, and the pitter-patter of liquid dripping on the floor. I looked down, and saw blood dripping down onto the bleach-white tiles, into a small pool of blood.
I rushed over to his side, successfully startling him. I turned him around to see fresh cuts covering his left forearm (?), blood dripping down the sides onto the floor. I wrenched the knife from his hand and said, "What the hell do you think you're doing?! Stop cutting yourself!" Instead of yelling or fighting back, Misaki just stared at the floor, face blank.
I could see the behind that mask, though, where he kept his pain and sadness, and hurt, bottled up so now one would know it was there. I sighed, all of my anger disappearing . . . for now. "Come on," I said, gently pulling Misaki's uninjured arm, "Let's go get you cleaned up." I looked around the bathroom. "And the bathroom too," I added as an afterthought.
The brunette nodded, and I made him sit down on the closed toilet seat. Ritsu had managed to teach me basic first aid, somehow. I noticed that the wounds on Misaki's arm were shallow, so I put alcohol on them, then wrapped them up in gauze. Through the whole process, even with the alcohol, Misaki didn't show any signs of discomfort, which worried me.
I noticed he was starting to fall asleep, so I picked him up, walked into his room, and gently placed him in his bed. As Misaki slept, I cleaned the bathroom up, and disposed of all the blood-stained materials.
Just as I was about to leave the room and talk to Takahiro again, I heard Misaki shifting around in the bed. I turned around and was shocked when I saw tears running down his face, along with a broken looking expression. It took me a second to realize he was still asleep, only having a nightmare. I made my way to the bed quickly, and pulled the mumbling, crying Misaki into my arms, and started whispering sweet nothings to him.
Soon I could make out some of what he was saying, but all I caught was 'Haitani', 'stop', and 'Usagi'. The last one stunned me, but I quickly recovered. After a few minutes, he began to relax in my arms, and started cuddling into me. I allowed myself to smirk knowingly, before climbing into the bed myself, drawing Misaki into my arms.
Soon I fell into the most complete sleep I'd had in the past seven years.
- (This was supposed to be the end of the chapter, but I'm adding another chapter on because this one's too short) -
Misaki's POV
I woke up from my somewhat peaceful slumber surrounded by comfortable warmth. I snuggled closer to it and was about to fall back asleep, when I heard a chuckle. On reflex, I shoved the person off of me, forcing them off my bed in the process.
I heard a grunt of pain, and watched as Akihiko looked up at me with an irritated look on his face. "What the hell were you doing in my bed?" I asked the man, annoyance obvious. I got out of the bed, but when I stood up, a dizzy feeling overtook me, making me stumble.
Akihiko caught me, and I pushed him away again. "You fell asleep, and was having a nightmare, so I comforted you," Akihiko said honestly.
"You didn't have to do that. It's not like I haven't had nightmares befo-" I slapped a hand over my mouth, realizing the information I had just let slip. Akihiko looked stunned by the information I had just let slip. I sighed, and walked over to my dresser, pulling out a fresh pair of jeans and a long sleeved black t-shirt.
The whitette took the hint and started leaving my room as I was taking my shirt off. He looked at me and paused, shocked at all the scars he saw on my abdomen. I had gotten them in jail from beatings and . . . other things. Akihiko recovered quickly and left the room, not needing to ask where the scars came from.
I sighed again and continued changing. I finished dressing myself and walked downstairs, anger staring to boil underneath my mask of indifference. I still couldn't believe my brother would dig into my personal business like that. I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table just a breakfast was being set out.
I greeted Minami tiredly. She smiled and greeted me back. I sat down and muttered, "Itadakimasu," and dug in, while Minami went to tell Takahiro and Akihiko breakfast was ready. I finished quickly and went upstairs, thanking Minami for breakfast. As I made my up the stairs, I passed Takahiro. I barely managed to hold in my anger as he said, "Can I talk to you? Please?" He sounded so broken that I couldn't say no.
I nodded and went back down the stairs, sitting on the living room couch while my brother and Akihiko ate. Once they were done, I went upstairs to Takahiro's room just as I had the last time, and listened to what he had to say.
"I-I'm sorry, Misaki," he began. "I know I shouldn't have dug into your personal business, but my selfishness got in the way. I thought that if I knew what happened I could get closer to you and understand you better. I know it was wrong, but-" I stopped his rant-like speech by placing a hand over his mouth.
He looked at me, and I smiled a gentle, real smile, no matter how small it may have been. As Takahiro had talked, I felt my anger evaporate, being replaced by compassion, an emotion I hadn't felt in six years. I knew that if it had been the old me, I would have done the same thing.
I hugged my brother, showing the first signs of love or care towards him I had in seven years. "It's okay, I understand. I would've done the same if it had been the old me." With the last word, I pulled away and put my indifferent mask back on, saying, "I forgive you," and leaving the room, this time leaving my brother stunned by joy and happiness.
I stared at the obviously eavesdropping Akihiko and glared darkly at him, daring him to tell anyone about that conversation. The doorbell rang and Akihiko flinched as I walked past him to see who was at the door, curiosity getting the best of me.
I stood frozen in the living room as I stared at the man standing before me. I couldn't believe this man was here. "What the hell do you want, Rae?" I asked my tone icy.
Okay, so this last half of the chapter was only a part from the next one. Anyways, I was really shocked in the reviews because there was a person who guessed exactly what happened in this chapter. Rae came back. And to everybody who though Misaki overreacted, imagine what that was like. Your brother finding something out you never wanted anybody to know, and being offered to be told, then accepting. Just think on that. So I want 8+ reviews this time because last time I got eight overnight, when I asked for six, so. Review, PM, favorite, follow, please!
Dragneellover out!
