Author's note: no blood, rape or prostitution in this chapter, only some shounen-ai
This edited version of the chapter doesn't make me feel as disgusted as the un-edited
II. A little bit of Privacy
Next morning met him with a splitting headache and terrible thirst, reminding about how he had spent the previous night in Nikka Whisky's company.
"One too many, I suppose?"
"Huh?" Keisuke would startle under usual circumstances, but his present condition allowed him not more than a stifled interjection and a half-turn of his head.
Standing beside the door was his brother, arms crossed on his chest, face expressionless, as usual. Keisuke had difficulty with articulation, hangover making him dim-witted at times. Frankly speaking, rarely did he suffer from the consequences of too much drinking the night before, this time, however, he had really lost count to the number of glassfuls gulped. Fragments of the past were a rather disgusting picture, and it was hard for him to restore the right order of the events, but there was someone who was there to help with it, and this very someone was waiting patiently at his bed.
"Poor kid, no glee of the past night?"
"Aaaaaah, stop jibing, aniki! Leave this pathos of yours for somebody else," he drawled. "My head gonna burst in thousand pieces and make a hell of this place."
"Thought it was already such," the elder sibling mentioned aware what a slob Keisuke was. "You know I discovered mildew in your room the other day. Do you actually know what mildew is? Mildew is a fungus. It grows most extensively in warm, humid environments. Most growth occurs at temperatures of 75 degrees to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Want some information about dust found in every corner and on each item in here? Dust in homes, offices, and other human environment is mainly generated by humans from their skin cells that slough off. It is estimated that the entire outer layer of skin is shed every day or two at a rate of seven million skin flakes per minute. Tests of indoor environmental dust in homes and offices have shown it to be primarily, around seventy to ninety per cent composed of skin flakes, assuming-
"Enough!" he raised one hand as a sign for Ryousuke to stop this biology lesson. The usual let-me-teach-you-something stuff got on his nerves, especially now that he felt so sick. "Whaffor you came?"
Ryousuke winced at his brother's poor grammar,
"To look at my stinking otouto and warn him lest he should forget about the important meeting planned."
"You don hafta talk to me in such formal tone, Mr. Perfect," he said, taking a look at the clock, 12:32 stared back at him in bright orange, both time and color irritating him.
"So… none of my before-bedtime instructions? A walk, a ? the elder's eyebrow moved upwards as he wondered.
"Not a single one," with a wide yawn the guy got up, wrapping himself up in the white bedsheet coming up to the more sober of them. "Kaa-san, tou-san home?"
A shake of his head in reply.
"Good," Keisuke went past the visitor, wishing to get rid of the aftereffect with the help of a shower as quickly as possible. With a sudden 'Ah!' he stopped by the door centimeters away from Ryousuke, curiosity on his sour face. "Aniki, by the way, what would they say if I told them I'm gay?"
Ryousuke, seldom showing surprise or shock at anything Keisuke said, kept quiet, digesting the information, thinking up a reasonable answer, common sense handy,
"They would understand… some day. I would say it's your choice, I wouldn't blame you."
"Sou ka," Keisuke narrowed his eyelids before finally leaving the room for a good 20-minute shower to wash off all the smelly remains of sweat-and-whisky-and-tobacco aftertaste. He'd better be quick, their parents might soon come back. That was, he thought on his way to the bathroom, why Ryousuke had come to his bedroom - wake him up before the other two returned and saw him in this wretched state.
"Great," Keisuke confessed to himself. "I looked so clownish in front of him and he's asking me to grow up! Um, at least he's not against my sexual preferences, that's something to start with."
The blond put off the sheet and hung it on a hook on the wall, then glanced in the mirror, where a pitiful view met him,
"Bad", snapped the guy dissatisfied with the reflection; he stepped into the shower cabin and under the cool jets of comforting water.
The other Takahashi stood still in the same position until his ears caught the sound of running water. He had come here to awaken the younger, speak with him about his unruly conduct, teach him a lesson or two; but Keisuke was in no condition to even form a grammatically correct sentence, so he spared him a long conversation. With a groan he set to tidying up the space: opening the window to air the room (at times Ryousuke called this place den, wondering how his younger could actually live in such a pigsty), collected the clothes scattered over the floor, putting them in a neat pile, picked up crusty chips' packages and other wrappings from the shelves, and wiped away a thick layer of hateful dust from the computer screen. He almost cursed aloud, reproaching Keisuke for his slovenliness.
"Kaa-san's attempts to get him to do his room are vain, tou-san's efforts fail too, so looks like it's my ill-fate," Ryousuke went on cleaning up like a first-rate housekeeper.
When finished, he felt an urge to take a bath for he found himself way stained, and he hurried out of this cave to throw the garbage into the nearest wastebasket which happened to be in the very room where the dear brother was taking a shower at the moment. Ryousuke's idée fixe over cat-clean neatness was a bit over the top, even slightest amount of mud could make him feel so uneasy that the future doctor would go shower himself or wash his hands thoroughly, the habit others found odd.
He headed for the bathroom, hoping to get rid of the trash as soon as possible. The lulling sound of pouring water might have sent Keisuke to sleep, was the dark-haired man's idea as he heard no response after three knocks. The dry wood of the bathroom door resonated it loudly enough for the sound to be caught on the opposite side of the obstruction. Keisuke, nevertheless, gave no answer.
Judging his next action not in the least illegal, Ryousuke made up his mind to turn the handle and get inside, brother was brother, there was nothing to hide from a close one, after all. He hoped the door was not locked, and the blond would not object to seeing him as intruder even if he stood naked in the shower. Without so much as a peek the guy came in, aiming to get to the bin, unload the waste into the container, and leave.
Keisuke was enjoying the water ritual. Discomfort gone when warm gentle streams took away the pain, replacing it with the feeling of sheer pleasure. He could stand like this for another 20 minutes, letting never-ending jets touch his skin, massage his limbs in a needle-like prickling, the process so wonderful he wished it lasted forever. Hands starting to move across the chest on their own, not squeezing, not pinching nor pressing, all looking like unconscious actions, eyes closed, the man deep in the world of fantasies. Fingers brushing against the beautiful belly, putting one palm on the lower part of it while the other continued its clockwise motion as if repeating the movement of a clock hand, long digits barely meeting the two little knobs of pink nipples, before going down to join the left hand and help it tickle the delicate skin of a well-shaped belly. The slow performance seemed to never stop, Keisuke's hands wandering all over his wet body, young and flawless, hot and costly, every curve revealing how much effort it took to bring it to this ideal shape, the chiseled body as an example of refinement and pure perfection.
Yet the guest one felt no embarrassment as he kept scrutinizing his brother's athletic form, his broad shoulders, flat abdomen, slim hips; how well-proportioned he was, surprisingly unlike his built. Curious, Ryousuke compared the differences between Keisuke's and his bodies. After having disposed of the waste, he decided to stay a little longer and watch, the act meaning no perversion or harm. Not that Ryousuke thought he was ugly or disproportionate - the reason was that he felt somewhat shy when it came to undressing in front of others, family members included. His face and body, all photogenic, were the objects of desire and daydream, and still, he never put it up for show, wearing modest clothes, not like these his otouto wore. To the mind of the 23-year-old guy, overly tight denims (that restricted walking) in combination with a leather jacket (with no other clothes underneath it, and which his brother preferred putting on for a night club) seemed far from appropriate and even less than decent. Hopefully, he would soon rid of the biggest part of his wardrobe, using doctor's gowns oftener than his present outfits.
It was not easy to discerned Keisuke's manipulations behind the glass door of the cabin because of steam and drops of water, but he saw Keisuke's body distinctly, experiencing little shame although it's been a while since he last saw him with no clothes on. Water turned off, clean and refreshed, the guy was pleased with the effect a continuous morning shower had on him, and he got ready to leave the cabin. Light chuckling startled him as he turned his head to where the sound came from while Ryousuke thought the blond would fly into a rage upon seeing the spy. He had already invented a smart explanation, none the less.
"Aniki! What are you doing here?" the door ajar, Keisuke peeping through the opening with one eye, no doubt astonished.
"Throwing away loads of garbage from your room, didn't you hear knocking?"
"Usotsuki! Dame da yo!"
"What's wrong?" Ryousuke's smile lingered on his face as he fixed his gaze on Keisuke's surprised eye. "No joking, I did your room and came here for the wastebasket."
His features softened, and he dropped his eyes down at the wriggling toes; if they could blush they would now. He seemed hesitant what he should say to conceal confusion.
"Anou… aniki…"
"Relax, Keisuke," the attentive brother gave him the towel, holding the soft white cloth in his outstretched hand. "And don't you fill yourself up with so much booze at home. If it's OK with me, it's not necessarily so with the others."
"A… arigatou," the guy snatched the towel one-handedly, squeezing it through the small chink, and hurriedly dried himself up while the second continued watching, almost too happy Keisuke didn't get angry (well, maybe just a bit). For a moment he thought about hundreds of squeaking girls storming in droves towards their house to get a chance to see their star in the bathroom, should they be allowed. Ryousuke's smirk chased away this piece of stupidity - he would never let anyone openly contemplate his brother anyway; besides, Keisuke too, might not like crowds of exultant underage females since he had long ago figured he liked men better, or so Ryousuke was led to believe.
"Hmm,"Keisuke, can I ask you something?"
"Carry on," he left the shower cabin, towel around his hips, a bit too low perhaps to cause a gasp from mother and scalding criticism from father; Ryousuke, none the less, confined himself to a noisy swallow.
"Nani ga suki?" a short pause followed. "That is, what are you into? Are you still into boys or-"
"What I had said about me being gay holds true, aniki," Ryousuke didn't have time to finish the question for Keisuke did it for him.
The elder swallowed louder this time, face reddening as blush appeared on his cheeks, suddenly uncomfortable and sweaty upon discussing a topic like this. With nothing to add, he felt awkward.
The native eyes looked into his kindly, as though reassuring, the hands he had been watching were on the toweled hips, tiny drops falling down from Keisuke's golden hair on his nose, rolling downwards along such soft lips and creamy chin, and then, Ryousuke didn't see it but could vividly imagine, dripped on the smooth skin of the muscular chest until getting on the stomach and disappearing under the white fluffy tissue which concealed their farther travel downKeisuke's body, long transparent paths left from the droplets covering his brother's skin, making it so shiny and appetizing, and just to think that somebody else was eager to touch it and has already done it was beyond him, since it looked like he was robbed of his own property. How disgustingly dirty he felt, how easily deceived!
The younger, becalmed, stood in front of the elder, preparing for a regular admonition, while the latter did nothing except staring unblinkingly. Had it something to do with Keisuke's nudity? Things have come to a pretty pass, the former judged, noticing no reaction from the other, who just froze like a one-hundred-and-some-eighty-centimeters ice cube; he waited for any sign of life in this motionless structure named Takahashi Ryousuke. Hands still on his hips, holding the towel in case it made up its artificial mind to unwrap and slip down on the floor, Keisuke could feel streams of water on his moist skin, feel his and Ryousuke's heartbeat, noting uneven rise-fall of their chests, feel the rush along the spine, hear the back of his mind telling him to stay where he was or else things might get worse (which he didn't want at all), feel the warmth of the bodies, so close, and that frightened him, scared more than any nightmare or a horror movie, he was afraid of it since it was reality where there would be no way back once he made a wrong step. His breathing, however hard the guy tried to calm down, might have given him away a long time ago, nervousness caused by Ryousuke's silence only poured oil in the fire, but the blond had to cope with it somehow. Quite a catch-22: he couldn't read aniki's mind to change anything, and at the same time without changing anything he won't be able to understand Ryousuke's thoughts. They've got stuck.
Keisuke pulled himself together to try untangle it,
"Erm… but it's not all I hafta tell you."
"Save it. Don't want to hear."
The bathroom door shut with a violent bang as the elder of the kyoudai left all of a sudden.
They were in a worse mess than Keisuke had assumed, and though he had no idea what it was about, something has definitely got out of control.