Chapter 6: Regret

The next week…

"Ne, you heard the rumors?"

"What?"

"Miyuki-kun's dating a first year!"

"Really? I wonder how Kuramochi-kun feels."

"I know, right? Maybe he's jealous~"

Kuramochi sucked his teeth, leaning his head on his palm. 'Jealous? Me? It's not like I fell in love with him anyway… right? I have other things to worry about. Like… I don't know, but stuff.'

"Rio, you're free to go now."

Ryosuke yawned, donning his school uniform. "Thank you very much. Are there any more videos scheduled this month?"

His manager, Kenji, scanned his agenda. "Nope," he said. "Now you'll be able to go to school properly for a while. Sorry for troubling you this week, Rio."

"It's nothing. This is what I have to do, so I don't mind. See ya."

Kenji bowed, smiling. "Don't exhaust yourself in baseball."

'Doing porn multiple times a day is exhausting enough; why would I make it more troubling? After all… I'm being forced to do this. For Haruichi's sake.'

Later that afternoon, Kataoka nodded in approval as Ryosuke showed up for practice. "I see you're doing well, Kominato."

"Hai. Why wouldn't I be? I can take care of myself."

"Make sure you don't push yourself."

"Got it." 'I can't keep that a promise.'

Kuramochi clenched his bedsheets to his chest, holding back his tears. 'I was too late. What was I thinking? Why did I deny my feelings? I could've been happy. But I had to hide them. Sex wasn't what I wanted… I wanted Kazuya. I loved him, but I wasn't able to tell him. Now he's gone. I guess he wasn't remotely interested in me from the beginning, huh? Crap, what am I going to do?'

Knock! Knock!

The shortstop rose a brow, wiping his nose. Walking to the door, he opened it. "Ryo-san?"

Ryosuke shoved his hands in his pockets. "Follow me."

Arriving at the baseball field, they sat on the mound. "Why are we here so late at night?" Kuramochi asked. 'I hope my eyes are not red.'

The third year sighed. "There's something I need to tell you. You're probably still wondering why I'm doing porn, aren't you?"

"Of course! I never thought you had a secret like that since you seemed so normal!"

"This secret was bestowed upon me by force. I had to."

"Eh?"

Flashback - 5 years ago

"Aniki!" Haruichi Kominato screamed, wriggling free from his brother's arms. "Aniki! Aniki!"

Ryosuke gritted his teeth. "No! Don't go! They're going to kill you too!"

"I can't… they're killing Mom and Dad! I can't stay here!" He ran out of their bedroom, running downstairs.

Reluctantly, the older Kominato chased after him. 'No,' he thought. 'Why is this happening? Why is this happening to us?' Reaching the living room, he gasped, his eyes filled with terror.

The bodies of their parents were strewn across the floor, blood seeping into the carpet. "Mom … Dad!"

"ANIKI!"

Ryosuke turned his head, dashing to the kitchen to find Haruichi in the hands of two murderers. "Let my brother go! He did nothing wrong and neither did our parents!"

"Oh," one of the murderers said, grabbing him by the throat. "What do we have here? An overprotective older brother. You could be useful."

The pinkette struggled to breathe, talking in choppy sentences. "What… do you want? I'll do anything… j-just let Haruichi go."

"Anything?"

"Y-Yes…"

"Alrighty then." The murderer dropped him to the ground. "A ransom of four million dollars or else we'll kill your little brother."

Ryosuke coughed harshly, gasping. "Four million? How am I going to-" 'I'm still a child; there's nothing I can do!'

Haruichi cried as they carried him away into a van, his lips trembling. "Aniki! Aniki! Aniki! Please… someday… save me!"

"Haruichi! I will! I swear I will!"

Kuramochi took a deep breath. "So that's how you got into porn? Wow. I'm sorry. It must've been tough telling me this."

Ryosuke shook his head. "No, I'm fine. That moment still haunts me though. I never saw Haruichi after that rainy day. He could be dead by now; I don't know what to think."

"Why didn't you call the police?"

"I couldn't. There was no point in doing so. Those guys were serious."

The second year stood, folding his arms. "Don't give up, Ryo-san. You promised to save your brother, right? Don't you dare give him false hope and let him down."

The third year smiled. "Thank you, Kuramochi. I have a million more to go. Then I'll be able to see Haruichi again."

"Mhm."

Mei groaned in annoyance as he sank into his bubble bath. "Just who does he think he is, saying sorry over and over again? You betray me, and then you apologize a decade later? You're so lucky I can't do anything! Damn it!"

Reiji shivered in fear. "I really shouldn't be standing near the door; he might break it. Well, I should go fix his bed."

Mei banged his fist against the marble wall, seething with rage. "You life-destroyer! Kazuya… I regret that you're my brother…"