I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN A WHILE! I had a lot of family stuff going on and I was going through the anime trying to figure out which parts I should include in the fic. On the one hand I want to include every single episode. On the other hand there are some episodes I think I shouldn't include or just barely summarize. This episode was actually one I thought I should just briefly mention and then go on to the next. However, I'm including the whole thing. The next chapter will be their date and when Isaka-san interrupts! Any thoughts on if I should include everything or not would be greatly appreciated!

Oh and I promise the next chapter will have a nice lemon to make up for me not updating for so long!

Chapter 13

Hearing Misaki tell me that he loved me made all the blood, sweat, and tears of my past, present, and future worth it… almost. If only he hadn't added that 'I think' part at the end. Did he seriously doubt his feelings for me? He was jealous of his brother when I still loved him. He was so torn when he thought he was just a substitute for Takahiro. He was jealous and angry at Aikawa-san when he thought her and I were together. Everything he said last night indirectly screamed that he loved me. Didn't he see that?

I told him the truth about Aikawa-san and why she has a key to my penthouse. I have no idea how he got it in his head that her having a key meant we were lovers. He seemed pretty upset by the fact that he jumped to conclusions like that. It didn't bother me at all. In fact, I was pretty happy that he was jealous. I thought it was just me that lost control, but in fact, he lost his cool over me.

And he somewhat admitted that he loved me.

I kept trying to get him to say it again after that. I'd ask him, "Tell me again what you told me that night." He'd madly blush and lie, saying that he didn't know what I was talking about. Or I'd just randomly tell him that I love him, hoping that he'd say it back in return. Instead, he'd blush some more and make a nasty remark to me, such as "Idiot!" or "Shut up!"

Such a stubborn kid… but that was one of the many reasons why I loved him.

I was a little worried to have Aikawa-san come back to the house while Misaki was there. On the one hand, I loved it when he became jealous over her. On the other hand, I hated seeing him so upset and hearing him cry. In the end, Aikawa-san decided for me when she still ended up coming over one morning before Misaki left for school to look at my manuscript.

To my relief, Misaki welcomed Aikawa-san into our home with open arms. Of course, that could have just been because she had a box of chocolates with her. As long as he didn't get jealous over him anymore then I wouldn't have to worry about anything.

My sweet Misaki, being the gentleman that he was, cooked breakfast for Aikawa-san and me. While Aikawa-san was deathly scrutinizing my writing, I watched Misaki toss some sausage links and vegetables around in a pan on the stove. It was so incredibly boring at that moment.

I got up and walked up to Misaki. "Make the sausages octopus-shaped."

"Huh? I thought you were having a meeting."

I sighed and leaned on the countertop. "I'm bored…"

"Don't get bored!" Misaki scolded.

"I saw on TV that sausages are octopus-shaped in normal households."

He glared at me. "I think that's for households with kids in grade school or younger."

I looked up at him, trying to give him the saddest puppy-dog eyes I could. "So the only octopus I'll ever eat will come from the ocean…"

My pleading look worked and he began to cut the uncooked sausages and throw them in the pan. "All right already! Here you go! Sheesh… Aikawa-san's here. She's going to laugh at you for being such a kid."

I turned around to hear Aikawa-san giggling. Her eyes were wide and her face was lit up. She squirmed around in her seat. I could almost hear the inner monologue she had going on in her head. I had known Aikawa-san for quite a few years now. She took me up on my offer to write boys love novels because she is so passionate about it. She had to be thinking that Misaki and I were so cute together.

Her cheeks turned red and she squealed. "You two are so playful with each other! It's practically like you're lovers!"

I had to hold back my laughter in my throat. She certainly had an eye for homosexual male love. Her jaw was nearly dropping off her face as she stared at us in awe. I turned back to Misaki, who looked irritated.

"Aikawa-san," he pleaded, "would you please stop looking at me with those fangirl, slash fic-loving eyes?"

She shook her head. "So sorry, Misaki-kun! I got a little carried away there. It's all Usami-sensei's fault." She glared at me as she crossed her arms. "Now get back here so we can talk about the uke and seme for your new boys love novel! I think they need just a little bit of work done before they can become the perfect couple."

Misaki slammed the pan on the stove, blushing furiously. I ignored it and went back to my meeting with Aikawa-san. He brought over our plates ate with us before he quickly left for school. He didn't even say goodbye to me. We were discussing the second novel in the series in which I use a character based off of and named after Misaki, but there's no way he could have known that.

I still couldn't understand why he hated it when I used his name in my novels. I had already told him that it wasn't a big deal. I am merely combining business, pleasure, and my fantasies and giving them shape. I kept assuring him that no one would find out that I wrote those novels and that it was supposed to him in the novel, but he didn't seem to believe me.

After Aikawa-san left, I went back over the parts she had marked and tried to fix them to what she saw fit. When I was done editing, I faxed everything over to her. She sent a fax back an hour later saying everything was good to go and that she would get it to the printers the next day. My second Junai Romantica novel starring Misaki was complete. These books practically wrote themselves! Of course, I had the perfect inspiration for them.

When it was about time for Misaki to come home, I laid on the couch with Suzuki-san. Sleepiness quickly overtook me and I closed my eyes for a second. Suddenly, I heard the door snap open and Misaki calling out that he was home. Rather than jumping up to greet him, I stayed still, wondering just what he would do.

I listened to his footsteps walked over to the closet and then over to the couch where I was. I felt a warm blanket being laid over me, starting from my feet up to my upper back. He was covering me up. It was the sweetest gesture I had seen from the kid and it made my heart swell up with love. The only thing I could think to do was reach up and pull him down to cuddle with me. He shrieked as I pulled him onto the couch on his stomach with his head in Suzuki-san's lap. I held his waist and gently lay on top of him.

"You piss me off!" he cried out. "So you were faking it? How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm not Suzuki-san!"

"Nope. Nutritional supplementation."

"Well don't draw it from me!" He flinched as I caressed his chest and leaned in closer to his neck. He was silent for a few seconds before he said in quiet voice, "Usagi-san, you really reek of cigarettes. Cut back. You're going to die young for sure."

"Yeah… I'll quit when I die."

He suddenly turned his head towards me, glaring with angry eyes. "What's with that?! Here I was…"

He stopped and blushed, realizing what he was doing. I smirked widely. This kid was too cute for his own good.

I leaned onto his shoulder. "What? Are you worried about me?"

"N-No, it's nothing like that…"

I couldn't hold back anymore. I had to touch him. Hearing him worry about me like that was too adorable. It was nice to hear that I was needed and loved from the person I cared about the most. I stared to caress his chest again, but he squirmed beneath me and somehow managed to roll over onto his back. I leaned down to kiss him as he hit my back several times.

"H-Hold on a second, Usagi-san!"

Our lips connected for a brief second and I let my guard down. Misaki took advantage of my moment of weakness and pushed me away. He grabbed Suzuki-san from underneath him and shoved him between us. We both sat up, with the bear in the space between us. He rubbed his lips on the sleeve of his shirt furiously, as if he hated it when my lips touched any part of him.

I stood up, obviously irritated. This guy was supposed to be my lover, but I could never touch him. It wasn't like we were in a crowd of people. We were in our house, completely alone. Why wasn't it okay for me to kiss him and touch him?

I knew if I dwelled on it any longer I would say something I regretted. I went to the kitchen to grab a snack. As I ate, I noticed that Misaki still sat on the couch, not doing or saying anything. He seemed to be deep in thought. The boys love author inside of me imagined that he was thinking of how to apologize to me. Then, he would wrap his arms around my shoulders and beg me to kiss him.

The realistic me knew that would never fucking happen…

I made a pot of coffee and poured myself a cup. Suddenly, Misaki shrieked and began to roll around on the couch. He punched and threw Suzuki-san around. It was so sudden that I was too worried about him to care that he was being rough with my bear.

"Are you all right?" I asked, stepping back into the living room.

"Um…" he stuttered. "May I ask you a little question?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"So… that is to say… Wh-What do you think it means to be lovers?"

"Huh?" I swear sometimes I have no idea what in the world goes through his mind… Or was this because of what Aikawa-san said earlier this morning?

"I mean, a friend of mine found a girlfriend and they're really lovey-dovey! So seeing them, I thought it must be nice to be in a relationship."

"But we're in a relationship too, right?"

His eyes widened. "We are?!" he cried out.

"Why are you so shocked by that?" Did he really not think we were together after everything that had happened? "We live together, eat and sleep together. I mess you up in those places. We do things like that. Thrust in this and that. And finally…"

He jumped up in front of me. "Don't say it out loud!"

"Having done all that, how can you say that we're not in a relationship?"

"B-Because something doesn't seem right when it's with you!"

Because it's me? Is it because I'm a man? It's probably true that Misaki has never once thought of being with another male. Knowing Takahiro, he probably never opened up to Misaki about gays or that it's okay to be gay. Misaki probably has no idea what's going on in his own head right now. How could I have not thought of that before? More importantly, what can I do now to show him that it's perfectly normal for two men to be in a relationship?

"Then, what's your definition of lovers?"

"Well… That's… Uh… So like…"

I sighed. He had no idea what being with anyone was like, did he? So innocent and naïve…

"I've got it. Let's go on a date."

"Huh?"

"You don't have any classes or work tomorrow afternoon, right?"

"I don't, but…"

"Then I'll come pick you up after school. There's nothing you can't eat, right? All right, it's settled."

I started to head up the stairs to go plan the perfect first real date with Misaki, but he kept talking, wondering what the hell was going on.

"What?! Why are you deciding everything on your own? Usagi-san!"

"Now then, time for work," I said as I locked myself in my room.

I pulled out all the touristy restaurant guides I had in my desk. I flipped through each book for hours, putting tabs on the pages that advertised restaurants that looked perfect. When I was done, I went back through the pages I had marked. I realized that they were all high-end, classy places. There's no way Misaki has even been to a five-star restaurant before. Well, he deserves to be pampered.

I found several restaurants that had private seating areas. That was perfect. He wouldn't be too embarrassed and could just be himself there. I picked the best looking one and called them to make my reservation for tomorrow night.

I had the perfect, normal date planned. First, we'd go see that movie he'd been dying to go see, the one he'd been talking about for weeks. Then we'd go have a nice, private dinner with some wine. Then I'd take him to ride the ferris wheel that overlooks the Tokyo Tower, the most romantic place to take a date they say. Finally, we'd go back to our penthouse and I'd mess him up all over. It's was a perfectly normal commoner's date, except for the fact that it was a five-star restaurant, but I wanted to pamper him a little bit. He deserved it.

After all, he was putting up with me.

I dug through my entire closet looking for my best suit the next day. It was the one I saved for only the most important occasions. Aikawa-san always told me that it looked great on me, saying it really brought out my eyes or something like that. If there was one thing that woman knew it was fashion… and boys love, of course.

After showering, I tried several different hairstyles out. Nothing seemed to look very attractive on me, not even if I tried using hair gel. In the end, I just left it how I normally have it – messy. I figured Misaki would feel more normal and relaxed if I looked the way I usually do.

I made sure to leave in plenty of time to get to Mitsuhashi University right when Misaki got out of class. I didn't like to be late picking him up, and I especially didn't want to be late today.

I spotted him as soon as I pulled up to the gates. He looked a little nervous. He was wearing a nice button-up salmon colored shirt. I smirked as I imagined his panicky inner monologue this morning as he tried to pick out something nice to wear for our date. But, he didn't need to worry about what to wear on a date with me. Anything was fine as long as he was with me.

With a big smile on my face, I got out of the car and looked at my date. "Welcome back," I said.

His face became flushed as he walked towards the car. I went around to his side and opened the door for him. He gasped and his face became even more red. I could hear all the students watching us whisper. It wasn't unusual for a crowd to gather whenever I showed up there. I was used to it wherever I went, but Misaki was very embarrassed about it. He quickly got in the car and I shut the door behind him.

"What the hell was that for?!" he cried when I got in and shut my door as well.

I smirked at him and began to drive out of the school parking lot. "We're on a date, remember? As your lover, aren't I supposed to do stuff like that for you?"

He groaned. "Idiot, Usagi."

I laughed. "There's still time until the movie you wanted to see, so shall we go to the beach?"

He gasped. "What?! The beach?!"

I hadn't told him anything about the date. He didn't know I was taking him to the movie or to dinner or to the ferris wheel. Would he want to go to all those places after all?

"Is there somewhere else you wanted to go?" I asked.

"It's fine. It's fine!" He sounded excited. "Let's go to the beach! The beach! Let's go sploosh!" I chuckled at his enthusiasm. "Uh, but you know," he said while looking at me, "aren't you overdressed? You're just going on a date with me."

I smirked again and pulled out a cigarette to hide the excitement that was bubbling up inside of me. "On the contrary. It's because I'm on a date with you."