Chapter 22

I looked down slightly to see Misaki step forward and my jaw dropped. I was shocked that he was speaking up to such a bully as my brother. Not only that, but he sounded so angry. But why?

For me?

"What's with you?" he started. It sounded like he was talking through clenched teeth. "On the train earlier, you said you hadn't read any of Usagi's books!" He inched forward to my brother as he yelled. Haruhiko looked absolutely stunned. "If you haven't even read them, quit talking shit about them! I bet you don't even know how hard Usagi works to write them!"

Is he complimenting me? My work? But he hardly read anything…

"He can go a week without sleeping sometimes, you know! I bet you've never even seen how scary he looks when he's like that!"

I hadn't realized it, but he must have pushed the button for the elevator since it chimed and the doors opened. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the elevator car. I was too surprised to stand my ground and nearly fell in there. He stood in front of me and held the door open as he still screamed at my brother.

"Don't talk like you know anything, based on unfounded assumptions! If you want to complain, at least go read one of his books first!" He let go of the doors and screamed one last thing before they closed completely. "MORON!"

The looks on Isaka-san's and my brother's faces were surprising. They looked like they had no idea how to act. I didn't know how to feel either. The normally quiet young boy had stood up to a total stranger, for me nonetheless. It was… adorable.

As soon as the elevator opened up on our floor, Misaki ran out and rushed to our suite. He was still trembling with anger as he unlocked the door. I followed close behind him as he immediately flopped on the couch. I could hear him growling under his breath. He suddenly began violently punching the decorative pillows on the couch. I sighed. He had to get the anger out somehow, I guess.

"He seriously pisses me off!" he yelled as he threw punches. I walked over to the window to have a much needed smoke. He began flailing about with the pillow. "What's with him?! Is that guy really your brother?! There are things you can and can't say, even when you're brothers! Besides, who says that kind of stuff in a situation like that?!"

I loosened my tie as I listened to him rant, eventually taking the whole thing off. "Calm down, young man," I said when he stopped.

"Like hell I'll calm down!" He gripped the pillow close to his chest. "And don't pay any attention to him, Usagi-san! Your novel was great! Seriously, I'm not just saying that to be nice. I don't usually read books, but I was able to read this one all the way through."

I smirked as I puffed on my cigarette. "I'm fine," I said with a chuckle. I was so happy that he was saying such wonderful things about me. He must really love me after all. "Things have always been like that between him and me. We're the complete opposite of what you and your brother are like, aren't we?"

He was quiet for a minute. "Uh, um, Usagi-san? Um, I don't know how to say this…" He suddenly looked sad rather than angry. "I mean, I think I've talked about my brother quite a bit in the past, but if that made you feel bad because of your situation, then, I'm sorry!" He hid his face behind the pillow a little when he apologized. "Er, I mean, if it bothers you for me to think this way, then I'm even more sorry!" I chuckled a little at how much he always cared about others. He was too kind. "I didn't know much about your brother so…"

I walked over to him and ruffled his hair, as I usually did. "You really are always trying to be solicitous of others, aren't you?"

"What are you smiling for?"

"I'm thinking that you're angry."

"Wh-What? Is there something funny about that?" I smiled even wider as I held back a laugh. "Don't smile! I'm serious here!" He suddenly jumped up. "I said don't smile!"

He turned around and walked away, saying something about taking a look around the room. Did he seriously not understand why I was so happy? He had stood up for me and was angry on my behalf. Of course that made me very, very happy. I followed him around the suite, just trying to get close to him. While he was preoccupied, I leaned onto him, not saying a word. I genuinely just wanted to be close to him. Words didn't matter at that point.

"What's with you?!" he asked, still sounding a little angry.

"It makes me happy that you were genuinely angry on my behalf."

"Why? That's nothing really… You're not making any sense."

"Brat," I said playfully.

He pushed my arm away violently. "What?! OH! Wait, that's right! Before I forget…"

He suddenly ran off back into the foyer. How did me calling him a brat remind him of something? Such a strange kid… but I can't help but love him with all of my heart and soul. I honestly don't know what I'd do without him around. Not just because he cooks and cleans for me, but because he truly makes me happy. When I'm with him, he makes me forget about all the bad in the world and about my troubling past.

My lover reappeared in the hallway holding a beautifully wrapped bouquet of peach colored roses. They were so elegant and fresh looking. I should have known that the hotel would go to great lengths to accommodate their guests. My, were those flowers gorgeous! But how did Misaki know about them?

"I'm sorry I took so long to do this," he began, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks.

Wait… Did he get these for me?

"I know it's kind of late for this," he continued, "but I thought I should do it properly." His voice was not faltering at all and he was looking me right in the eyes. Was this really Misaki? "I thought your book was great. Allow me to formally say… congratulations."

He was just so… cute. A huge smile broke out on my face. I couldn't believe that the shy little brat went through all this trouble, just to tell me congratulations for some stupid award. I know I've been worried about if he truly loved me or not in the past, but this had to amount to something, right?

Still smiling, I grabbed his arm and pulled him into the bedroom of our suite, not far from where we were standing. I leaned onto him until he fell backwards onto one of the bed and I fell on top of him. He kept a tight hold on the bouquet but petals still flew everywhere. Some landed in his hair and some landed on the sheets around him. They made him look even more gorgeous than he already was.

My actions surprised him. "What're you doing all of a sudden?!" he shouted as he flailed beneath me. "Get off me, stupid Usagi!"

He softly gasped when I leaned down and lightly pressed my forehead to his chest. His body heat radiated onto me and I couldn't imagine any other place I'd rather be than right here beside him.

"I desperately try to convey myself through all sorts of words," I explained to him, "but you're a man of few words."

"Leave me alone," he interrupted. "So what if I've never gotten better than a D in Japanese?"

"That's not it," I said as I sat up and reached for a petal that was in his hair. "Some things are better expressed with fewer words." I held the petal up as an example of how buying me flowers was a lovely way of telling me that he loves me.

"I don't get it."

"That's because you're a brat." I couldn't help but chuckle.

"What was that?!" He lifted himself up angrily. "Don't mock me!"

I leaned forward and kissing him on the lips lightly. Even in the slightly dim room I could see a blush appear on his face. "If anything, that was a compliment."

His lips turned up into a scowl and his eyes narrowed in anger. As I moved closer to his face, his mouth relaxed and so did his eyes. I pressed my lips to his again, enjoying how soft they were against mine. As I deepened the kiss, we fell back onto the bed. I licked his bottom lip, begging for entrance. His mouth hesitantly opened and I let my tongue explore. Our tongues collided and I gently massaged his with mine. He let out a soft whimper and his arms wrapped around my back.

As I continued to kiss him and explore his mouth, my hands slid underneath his shirt. As soon as I began touching his warm skin, his hands clasped my shirt and he let out a loud moan. My hands traveled up his torso to his chest. My cold fingers instantly made his nipples harden up.

However, that wasn't the only thing I felt harden up. Beneath my own pelvic area, I felt his erection poke against me. We both slightly gasped at the sensation. I pulled my mouth off of his and smirked. He slowly opened his eyes, looking slightly embarrassed.

I sat up just a little. "You really are a kid. As soon as I touch you, you get hard."

His eyebrows lowered again and he scowled. "Shut up!"

He really did hate it when I called him a kid or a brat. He really didn't understand that it was a compliment. "You're so cute," I tried to explain to him.

"Shut up! Shut up!" He reached up and grabbed my shirt with both of his hands and my eyes widened. He was seriously angry about this. "Don't treat me like a brat! Just you watch! I've got a plan, you know! Someday, I will definitely, seriously, attack you, Usagi-san!"

It suddenly clicked. He was embarrassed about the fact that I was always taking the lead. It made him feel like a child when he really was an adult. He must have felt terrible when he couldn't quite take me on last time. He wanted to prove to me, and possibly himself, that he was mature enough to handle all of this.

It was just too… adorable.

I leaned down and lightly kissed him again. "You really are so cute."

Before he could argue with me, I pressed my lips to his again and began kissing him with a heated passion. I could feel myself growing hard as well. Since we were rudely interrupted that morning, I was ready to have my way with him. After a few fits of protest, which I knew weren't real, I finally did.

We had somehow fallen asleep shortly after making love and we both completely forgot about the flowers. When I woke up with Misaki in my arms, I noticed that the bouquet was still on the bed beside him. I reached over and grabbed them, which woke him up. He whined from being disturbed from his sleep and rolled over. I sat up and looked at the lovely flowers he had gotten me. They really were pretty and reminded me of him.

"Sorry the flowers are so cheap," I suddenly heard from behind me.

I turned to see him peeking out from underneath the blanket. "Why?" There was nothing wrong with these flowers. They were wonderful.

"Well, I was just thinking that they could've been a bit more extravagant."

I smiled. "Anything you give me will make me happy. After all, you hesitated over whether or not to buy flowers, right?"

"Huh? Well, yes."

"And you agonized about if roses were the way to go, didn't you?"

"Hmm. Yeah."

"That's what makes me happy," I explained as I caressed one of the soft flowers. I was just so happy that he thought about my happiness so much.

"What do you mean?"

I smirked. "Well, I guess that might also be difficult for a brat to understand."

He suddenly jumped up and let the blanket fall down. I realized that he was still nude from our night of fun. He looked angry, just like he did last night. "There you go again, treating me like a brat!"

I chuckled as I stood up. "If you don't like it, then hurry and grow up. And try making the first move on me someday!"

As I walked to the door I heard him yell, "You're not making any sense!"

I laughed again. It was so much fun to egg him on. Deep down I sincerely hoped that one day he would be able to make the first move on me. That would be the most adorable thing I could imagine. However, I also thought that it would never happen. That's just how he is, his personality. I was okay with that. I didn't mind the shy little brat that I had fallen in love with.

"Misaki, I'll be going out for a little bit now," I told him. "When I get back, we'll get ready for this party."

I wanted to properly thank him for the flowers, so I decided to go buy him something elegant. The first thing that came to mind was a nice suit and tie. He would need to be dressed properly for the party tonight. He only had the one suit I had bought him a while ago. However, I thought that any man should have lots of nice clothes to choose from for each event he went to.

When I returned to our suite, I had bought at least 30 different suits, 45 different ties, and 20 pairs of fancy dress shoes. I started to lay everything out in the den of the suite. All of the suits looked lovely and I wasn't sure which one would be better for Misaki for tonight's party. I figured I should let him choose. After all, they were all his clothes now.

He stepped out into the den from the bathroom with a towel around his neck. "Sensei, what is this mountain of suits for?"

"I bought them for you," I explained.

It seemed as if his head exploded. "You bought them?! All of them?! For me?!"

"Wear whichever one you like to today's party."

"But, I brought the one you bought for me the other day!"

"Well, a new one would be better, right?"

He scowled and ran up to me. "Return them right now!" he cried as he pointed his finger at me in blame. "No, the receipts! Give me the receipts!"

"I don't have them." I wasn't lying. I never kept those pointless things.

This only made steam come out of his ears. "At least keep a log of what you spend, you budget-ignoring novelist! I'll teach you the value of money!" he screeched as he quickly began rummaging through all of the boxes of suits.

The doorbell suddenly rang and he went to go answer it. Did he call for room service and order brunch for us? No, that didn't sound like Misaki. He would try to cook for us, even though he wasn't used to this environment. I followed behind him to see who it was. A woman holding a bouquet of fancy flowers stood at the door. Oh great, another congratulatory gift from someone I probably didn't even like.

"Room service," she greeted with a smile.

"Oh, thank you very much," Misaki replied.

"We were asked to deliver these flowers to Takahashi Misaki-sama."

That's odd. Who would be delivering flowers to Misaki? Takahiro possibly? But why?

"Eh, don't you mean Usami Akihiko?" he questioned as he took the flowers.

"No, we were definitely asked to deliver them to Takahashi Misaki-sama!" She held up a piece of paper and read from it. "Let's see, the sender is… a Usami Haruhiko-sama."

I felt my blood start to boil again. I didn't know what my creep of a brother was planning, but it couldn't be good. Was he trying to take Misaki away from me? Probably. He's just that scummy of a person. Was he going to tell Misaki about what I've done before? Most likely. I couldn't let either of those happen!

"Why?" Misaki asked.

"I have no idea."

There was no way I was going to let this boy out of my sight now.