Chapter 26

I was still worried that Misaki had broken something, so I laid him down in the backseat and told him not to move. He complained that his ankle hurt a bit, but he didn't seem to be in too much pain. I still took him to a guy near our condo and let him check it out. Neither of us wanted to move him again, so the doctor examined his ankle from inside the car.

After a few minutes, the doctor finally spoke. "Luckily, his ankle is only sprained. It's quite a miracle really considering how high he fell from." He pulled out a roll of bandages from the first aid kit he had with him. "I'll just wrap it up a little to make sure it heals a bit faster. It's best that he doesn't put too much pressure on it for a few days."

I nodded and waited patiently while he put the bandages on, realizing that Misaki's ankle was slightly red and swollen. I felt bad that he was injured because of my brother's jealousy. Luckily, I was able to save him before anything happened. He didn't act like much had happened, so I assumed that my secrets were still safe, thank god. I was definitely going to find out later what all happened and what all he knew.

When the doctor was done, I helped Misaki into the front passenger's seat and headed back to our condo. He seemed rather calm considering he had just been kidnapped essentially… Or was he hiding something? Did he find out?

Confused and a little frustrated, I pulled out a cigarette. "I can't believe he took you like that," I growled.

"It's not like he kidnapped me or something," he said quietly.

"Don't defend him, Misaki," I snapped.

The boy became very quiet. Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed that he was staring at his feet. "I willingly got in the car."

I almost slammed on the brakes in surprise. "You what?!" I couldn't control the anger in my voice.

"Well, you're the one who told me to get him to stop with the strawberries!" he snapped back at me.

"So you just follow him wherever he wants you to go?! He could have taken you somewhere and seriously hurt you or killed you!"

He finally looked up and raised his voice. "Usagi-san, that's your brother! You can't possibly think he's that dangerous."

"I can and I do. What if he would have locked you away in there?" I felt like I was a mother scolding her child.

He groaned. "He did lock me in that house! In that utility room where you would write your novels."

My eyes widened. I had never told him that I used to write novels when I was younger, let alone that I used to lock myself in the utility room to write. If he knew that, what else did he know?

"Is that why you decided to jump out the window?" I asked.

"I didn't jump. I was climbing down the rope!"

"Well, it didn't work, did it?!"

I heard him inhale, as if he was getting ready to speak, but nothing came out. I stopped yelling at him as well and tried to get my anger under control. It was just such a shock to me that this was Misaki's fault just as much as it was Haruhiko's. We reached the apartment complex shortly after, but neither of us made a move to get out the car after I had parked it.

I finally broke the heavy silence between us. "How'd you know about my novels?"

"Tanaka-san told me that you wrote them in that storage room." He avoided eye contact with me. "So when your brother locked me in there, I found some of your notebooks in a drawer."

It was rather touching that the only butler that I liked remembered that about me. I couldn't believe that he didn't get rid of my notebooks either. Did he ever read them? Did Misaki read them? Someone else reading my writing would have bothered me when I was younger, but now it was something that happened on a daily basis.

"Did Tanaka-san tell you any other unnecessary things?"

He sighed. "He told me about you and your brother… how you have different mothers. I somewhat understand now why you two fight so much. He also said he was glad that you were opening up to me."

All the nervousness in my stomach was beginning to fade away. It seemed like my secrets were safe. He only talked to Tanaka-san. He probably talked to Haruhiko as well, but probably not as much and not about anything too important.

"And what did my brother say to you?"

"Umm… Well, he tried to get me to move in there. He even made up a room for me. He said that he looked up information about me. Somehow, he found out about Nii-chan living in Osaka and that I attend Mitsuhashi. H-He… confessed to m-me. He said that… problems would arise if I stayed with you and that life would be better there."

My hands that were still on the wheel, even though the car was no longer running, tightened with every word he said. My knuckles had turned white and the muscles in my hands were aching.

Before I could say anything, Misaki continued talking.

"I don't understand… When I told Tanaka-san about living with you, he looked so surprised or shocked or something, even after I explained the circumstances. He said that you weren't the type to do such things. Isaka-san had asked me before if I was tired of living with you. Even Nii-chan said something along those lines when I was with him and Nee-san for a week. I don't understand. Why is everyone so surprised that we live together? Why do people assume that I shouldn't live with you? Is it… me?" He finally looked up and met my gaze. "Am I too normal? Am I just a bother to you? If I am, just tell me and I'll leave! I don't want to impose on you, Usagi-san!"

I swore I saw his eyes glistening with tears. He was obviously distraught over nonsense that others thought. Not surprisingly, he assumed that it was his fault. I should have told him that it wasn't him at all. It was all me that people were shocked about. But… I just couldn't bring myself to tell him that. He would want to know more… want to know why… and I just couldn't explain that yet.

I let go of the wheel and brought my hands up to his face, caressing his cheeks. "Don't worry about what others say, Misaki. You are most certainly not a bother to me. I love having you around."

I leaned in close to capture his soft lips and he melted into me. We kissed softly at first but I quickly tried to deepen it. My tongue lightly traced his upper lip, begging for access. He put his hands up to my chest and pushed me away. My hands fell from his face to his shoulders as he pressed against my arms to keep me away.

"S-Stop it, Usagi-san! This is the parking lot! What are you gonna do if someone from the condo sees us?!"

I smirked. "Then we'll give them a show."

He didn't find that very amusing. "What are you, a moron?! I'm not into that sort of thing!"

He had quickly gone from worried about being troublesome to being angry that I was trying to comfort him. That was completely normal for him, but it was always still a surprise to me. Ignoring his protests, I moved my hands to his sides and rubbed up and down.

"Stop it! I'm injured, you know!"

I truly didn't understand why he was constantly shying away from me. If he truly loved me, he should want to be physical with me. That's the number one thing about being lovers. But then again… he couldn't tell me that he loved me. All my worries that were bottled up released into anger… again.

"Consider it a miracle that you got away with just a sprain. You brought half of this on yourself! You're too thoughtless sometimes!"

He finally loosened his grip and I leaned in closer to him. A faint blush appeared on his face. He turned his head as if to run away from me trying to kiss him. It was only a kiss: the most common way lovers show each other how they truly feel. Why did that bother him so much?

"Wh-What?" he asked shakily. "Why are you acting so weird about this? Are you saying that, basically, you'd miss me if I disappeared? Is that it?"

How could he not understand how much I loved and cared about him? I showed him and told him every single day that I love him. Does he need more? Or maybe… he didn't understand that he was mine forever. I had told him several times before, but he was pretty dense sometimes. He is mine for life and I will love him for life. Does he really think that I'm going to give him up? No way. There's no one else for me.

I have to prove all that to him. Maybe then he'll open up to me.

I felt around by the side of his seat until I found the lever. With one flick, the whole seat fell back so that Misaki was in a laying position. He jumped in surprise and tried to hold himself up.

"You idiot! What are you doing?!"

As he flailed, I could see his hurt foot and I felt guilty for it. If it wasn't for my brother, things might just be a little bit easier for him… for us. I carefully held onto his leg and brought my face close to his ankle. He gasped as I left small kisses along the bandaged parts of him. Finally, I looked up at him. His face had become even more red but he looked stunned rather than angry.

"Yes. I would miss you greatly," I nearly whispered. "I'd be very lonely."

"Wh-What the heck?!"

I released his leg and carefully pulled myself up on top of him. "How would you feel if you lost me?"

"I-I wouldn't know!"

I started to lean in closer to him. "I won't let you go until you tell me."

"I told you, I don't know!"

With a big smirk on my face, I leaned in closer and pressed my lips to his. I felt his hands on my shoulders, trying to push me away again. When I pulled away slightly for air, he was begging me to stop. I could hear the sexual tension in his voice. He definitely didn't want me to stop now. As I kept kissing him, he stopped trying to resist me all together.

So I kept going, right there in the car… proving to him that I am absolutely in love with him.

"It has to be you for me," I whispered in his ear as we made love. "I'd be nothing without you, Misaki."

"W-Well, I wouldn't be – " he tried to squeak out.

I interrupted him with a chuckle. "You should be more honest with yourself and open up to the truth."

I had realized sooner that it would be hard for him to open up to me, but I didn't ever imagine that he would be in denial for this long. All I wanted was for him to admit that he shared the same feelings that I had. He had tried, I'll give him that, but it still just wasn't enough for me…

When I had had my fill of him, I carried him up to our penthouse on my back. He refused it at first, but there was no way that I was going to let him walk on his sprained foot. If it were up to me, I wouldn't let him go anywhere for the next few days so his ankle could heal. However, this was Misaki and he was going to be very, very stubborn.

There's an old saying: "If it's not one thing, it's another." I never realized just how true that statement is… until recently.

The strawberry assault on my lover had stopped, but a new attack began: cherries. Haruhiko continuously sent boxes of cherries every day. There was no way I was going to let Misaki go return them, so instead he had to eat them. He also kept taking them to school and giving them away. My jealous side came out once again and I bought tons of cherry products every day to compete with my brother.

Still, the boy did not just throw away all the cherries that my brother had given him. Every time I asked him about it he would come up with some excuse. First it was that he really liked the cherries and wanted to eat them himself. Then he didn't want to waste perfectly good food when there were starving kids in other parts of the world. Then he said he was going to share them with all of his "friends" at school. There was no real good reason that he couldn't just throw them out.

On top of all that, I was taking care of him and his sprained ankle, which he absolutely hated. He refused to take a few days off to sit around and relax, so I had to compromise. I drove him back and forth to school and his various part time jobs; I would pick him up and carry him around the house; I made sure he got plenty of sleep and made him sleep in my bed with me; and I sometimes even fed him.

Misaki likes to think of himself as a very independent person. He hates relying on others because he thinks he's only a burden to them. No matter what they tell him and how many times they repeat it, he doesn't listen. Takahiro told me before that it was their parent's death that made his brother think and act this way, but I couldn't help but wonder if it was also his fault. I may never know the truth, but I just hoped I could break that line of thinking someday.

After a week of taking care of Misaki, I returned home from taking him to school, expecting the day to go as my days usually went. As I sat down to look over my newest manuscript, I didn't realize how badly things were going to get. The phone began to ring. I got up in a huff to answer it.

"Yes?" I answered.

"…Akihiko."

It took a moment for that voice to register in my mind, but when it did, my stomach flipped. I haven't heard his voice in 11 years. Whenever had something to say to me, he always used my brother as a medium. My heart was racing. Just what the hell did he want? Why now? After everything that's happened with Haruhiko…

"What do you want?" I spat into the phone.

"Easy now, Akihiko. Is that any way to speak to your father?"

"Some father you were."

He sighed loudly. "I'll get right the point. Haruhiko told me about this peculiar person who's supposedly living with you. Is this true?"

I hesitated, debating on whether or not I should just hang up. "Yes, it's true."

"A young male, huh? By the name of Takahashi Misaki?"

The way Misaki's name rolled off of his tongue was revolting. "Yes, what of it?"

"Haruhiko tells me that you've been living with this boy for some time now."

I didn't say anything back. Deep down, I knew the questions he was going to ask. Rather than being nervous or afraid of what he was going to say, I just felt pissed off. How dare this man pass judgment on someone he didn't know or a relationship he wasn't involved with!

When I didn't answer, my father continued speaking. "Does he know?"

He didn't need to specify; I knew exactly what he was getting at. It made my heart stop and I gripped the phone even tighter.

"No," I answered in a shaky voice. "Not yet. I plan on telling him when the timing is right."

He made a rude noise that sounded like a scoff. "Haruhiko said it looked pretty serious between you two. What exactly are you waiting for? Do you want things to end the same way?"

"No!" I yelled. "That's never going to happen!"

"Are you sure? Aren't you just controlling and forcing this one as well?" My blood ran cold at his words and my body felt heavy. "Haruhiko said that's exactly what it looked like, and I'd have to agree with him."

I so badly wanted to punch something – anything. "What the hell do you two know?! You don't know me or Misaki! Stay out of our life!"

"Our life, huh? So the boy doesn't have his own? Akihiko, this isn't good. I knew something like this might happen if we were around to watch over you. I'm not worried about this Takahashi as much as I'm worried about you. If this ends badly – if this ends the same way, you will never be the same."

There was a certain truth to what he was saying. If things turned out the same, I wouldn't be able to handle it. However, he and my brother wouldn't have been able to protect me. They would have held me back from living my own life, especially my love life.

"Th-This isn't the same! This is serious."

"Then, you'd better fess up to him. You can't base a relationship on lies. Or is that you're afraid of what he'll think?"

I couldn't stand the words coming out of his mouth. He was right that I needed to tell Misaki about my past. However, his accusations about me controlling and forcing him were complete bullshit. I had changed since then, hadn't I?

Angrily, I slammed the phone back down on its cradle. My whole body shook as I walked back to the couch. I picked up the manuscript and tried to go back to work, but I was too pissed off. Instead, I ended up sitting on the couch and smoking an entire pack of cigarettes in one sitting.

"Aren't you just controlling and forcing this one as well?" His voice rang through my head to my pounding heart.

Was it true? I mean… Misaki didn't always act like things were consensual between us. He always pushes me away and tells me no, but I never listen. He never tells me his true feelings for me. It really is just like…

No… No way in hell.

This was different.

I was different.

Misaki is not like Ryuto.

THINGS ARE GETTING REALLY GOOD NOW! What do you guys think? ;)