Love Me Gently, Kiss Me Softly

by UnknownLifeForce

(Set two years later) Everything was normal, just as it had been for the last two years between the two. Their relationship had changed some, but mostly remained the same. Neither had said their "I love you's" yet, but it was something neither of them had to say. Then one day it started happening. It all began with a loss of energy...

6. Chapter 5

A/N:

Finally the long awaited fifth chapter is out! Sorry for the delay, but patience is a virtue our young grasshoppers! :D

We really appreciate and love reading all of the comments you guys post, and knowing this fanfic is gaining so much love just makes us so happy. So Yay to you guys!

DISCLAIMBER: I do not own Finder or any of the cannon characters, this is purely just a work of fiction. This is my first fanfiction, so be gentle but comments are appreciated!

Chapter 5

"RYUICHI!~"

Akihito jerked awake with a start at the sudden loud yell and slam of what he could only assume was the front door. He was about to jump from the bed, but remembered his new furry friend sleeping in the crook of his arm. Being a bit more cautious than originally planned, Aki detached himself from the giant Asami bear and got to his feet before he dashed from the room.

Because the blonde hadn't had time to wake up, he ended up bumping into the wall a few times as he rounded the corner of the hallway. He came around the corner just in time to see a small male leap forward to tackle his man into a full legs around the waist hug. Despite the impact, Asami stood perfectly still with a smirk gracing his face. Seeing that Asami wasn't planning on pushing this guy off made a sudden flash of anger rise within the photographer.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Aki yelled, eyes blazing.

"Oh Kitten, you're awa-"

"Don't you dare 'Kitten' me! Who in the hell is this guy, and why is he all over you?!"

"What?~ Are you jealous?~" The mysterious boy piped up, the smirk he gave Akihito scarily identical to Asami's.

"JEALOUS?! Of YOU?! Like hell!"

"I don't know Kitten, it definitely looks like you are…" Asami's wicked smirk grew as he took a step towards Aki, the other boy still attached to him. He was stopped by a low growl that came from the little bunny in Aki's arms. Well at least someone's on my side.

"I'm not fucking jealous! I'm pissed off!"

Kirishima suddenly came into Akihito's line of vision, and it was only then he realized that he and the blonde behemoth were in the room….dressed in normal clothing!? He couldn't help but stare in shock, distracted. Damn…I didn't realize Suoh could actually look…hot!

"Hey! Don't you be looking at him!" Snapped the twinky monkey who was currently climbing all over his boyfriend. Boyfriend? Ah that's not right! Lover? Partner? Mas- No Aki! We aren't even going there!

"How many men do you think you need?! What are you, a dirty slut?!"

Glasses shook his hands out in front of him frantically as he approached the blonde, but then stopped when he heard the low growl emitting from the cute little furball in Aki's arms.

"Please Takaba-Sama, calm down! This is all just a big misunderstanding! If you would just let me explai-"Akihito cut him off by holding a shushing finger up to the man's lips.

"If there is something to fucking explain then it should be explained by the two guilty parties who did it! Not you!" He snapped, his blue eyes moving to look at the boy.

Their eyes met and boy's face twisted into probably the most mischievous, almost sinister expression the photographer had ever seen, and it was there for only a briefest second, before the boy leaned up and pressed a kiss to Asami's cheek, winking back at Akihito as he did so.

In this moment, Akihito saw red, and he was honestly moments way from knocking this guy to the ground and having a bitch fight, and he would have too if the front door hadn't slammed open again. Aki's head shot to the direction of the door, half expecting to see another twinky boy here to attach himself to his lover, but instead he saw a familiar face. Fei Long was leaning against the door gracefully, smirking as his presence filled the room.

The Chinese man raised an eyebrow as he saw the spectacle in front of him: Asami being kissed on the cheek, a freaked out Kirishima, and a red faced Akihito. It didn't really take long for him to figure out what was going on, and once he did he tsked and shook his head, making his way across the room.

"Now Akihito, I don't like liars. You told me the mean Yakuza bastard was treating you well, but clearly that's untrue," He said this was a gesture of the hand towards the now scowling Asami, and the Baishe leader returned the scowl with a wicked smile, "If this is how your lover truly is, then I might just take you away back to Hong Kong with me. I'll definitely treat you a lot better than this, Precious."

Akihito was about to say something, either threatening to take Fei up on his offer or bitch about another person having an embarrassing nickname for him, but in ran another familiar face with Yoh following in behind.

Tao had an angry expression on his face as the ten year old approached Asami, pointing a finger up at him.

"Yeah! We will take Aki back home with us, you stupid meanie head! How dare you let someone else kiss you when you're Aki's! You're just a mean old jerk-face!" Tao yelled, trying his hardest to defend his friend.

"Aw, thanks Tao."

Asami basically ignored the boy, letting the guy in his arms drop to ground so he could approach Fei, his demeanor becoming very intimidating.

"Akihito is not going anywhere with you, he's mine. I thought we established this last time."

"Last time we established that Akihito wanted to be with you, not that I couldn't take him," Fei's smirk darkened.

"Hey! I'm right here!" Akihito piped up angrily, crossing his arms over his chest, "And no one is taking me anywhere, and I can go wherever in the hell I want! If I want to go to Hong Kong, then I'll go to Hong Kong. If I want to stay here, then I'll stay here. And if I want to go to fucking Siberia then guess what?! I'll go to flipping Siberia and become an Eskimo!"

"You here that? Akihito would rather become an Eskimo than stay here." Fei chirped.

Aki gave him an incredulous look. "How in the hell did you get that from what I said?!"

"See, my Kitten wants to stay here with me."

"I didn't say that either! Not after you just let some brat rub himself all over you!"

The boy burst out into laughter. "The only brat here I see is you, Kitten."

"Oh now you've done it!" Akihito yelled, bringing his fist up, "NO ONE CALLS ME KITTEN BUT ASAMI!"

"Takaba-Sama! Calm down!" Kirishima yelled for practically the hundredth time in the last few minutes.

"I'm not going to calm down! Not after Asami just shoved this little shit in my face and showed me how he really fee-" It was actually Aki's turn to get cut off this time.

"TAKABA-SAMA! THIS IS TRULY A HORRIBLE MISUNDERSTANDING! ASAMI-SAMA IS VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT YOU!"

Everyone turned to the sudden very loud, very expressive voice coming from the far corner of the room. A man in a black suit seemed to just appear out of nowhere. He was the most average looking guy, 5'11 in height, short black hair, and brown eyes. He was average build and average weight, not extremely attractive but not by any means ugly. Honestly, he looked forgettable. Like someone you would see once at a gathering, shake his hand, and then never think about again.

"Alright, who is this guy?!" Akihito screamed.

"OH RIGHT! I AM SATO RIN, YOUR GUARD! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAKABA-SAMA!" Rin bowed, holding out a wrapped present. "I CAME FOR THE BIRTHDAY PARTY! I AM VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT BEING YOUR GUARD!"

"My…what? Dammit Asami! Another freaking guard?! How many of these guys do I have loose?! And why is this one a freak?!" Akihito snapped.

"He scares me…" Tao said in a small voice, moving behind Fei.

Asami smirked. "I didn't hire this one, Suoh did." Everyone's eyes turned towards the man sitting on the couch, whom which had been doing nothing but watching the entire spectacle.

"Like you said, you were constantly losing the other guards we hired. Rin has been your guard for over six months and you've never seen him." Suoh explained.

"Six months?! Damn, that's actually impressive. How have I never seen you?" Aki asked, his mind temporarily diverted.

Rin blinked, his expression suddenly becoming very serious. "I cannot say." The man's voice suddenly became very quiet, almost a whisper.

Suoh seemed to suddenly jump, holding a hand out as to stop the photographer from saying anything, and then looked defeated when he did.

O_O "What do you mean, 'you cannot say'?"

"I cannot say."

"Okay….well you must have had some pretty impressive training to keep up with me. Were you like part of the government or a criminal?"

"I cannot say."

Akihito turned to look at Suoh, holding his hand up to cover his mouth so Rin couldn't see what he was mouthing. "Where did you find this guy?" He mouthed.

"He found me." Suoh mouthed back with a shrug. "Just stop asking him questions."

"Well why can't you say?" The boy Aki had almost forgotten about piped up, making Suoh face palm.

"I cannot say."

"Well is there anything you can say?"

"I cannot say."

"Can you not give any other reply? Like are you some kind of robot programmed only to say that when asked about anything personal?" Everyone looked like they were hanging on the edge of their seats as they waited for Rin's reply.

"I cannot say." And now they were all kind of scared (Besides for Asami, of course.)

"Mayuri, please just stop." Suoh spoke up, giving the small boy a look.

"Yes, and please explain to Takaba-sama who you are." Kirishima said next, rubbing his temples with his glasses off.

Akihito blinked as the boy, Mayuri, actually approached him, and finally he actually looked him over. Mayuri was a few inches shorter than the blonde, so Aki assumed he was probably about 5'6. He was very pale with a twinky face and body. Mayuri had a K-Pop hairstyle that was dyed a gray blue color. One of his eyes was baby blue, while the other was a golden brown. His fashion was unique, Aki noticed, everything he was wearing the photographer had never seen before on racks.

"Perhaps they're right. The charade has gone on long enough!~" Mayuri said dramatically before grinning, "I'm Suoh Mayuri, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Akihito."

The blonde's eyes widened, and he looked between the two a few times in shock. "W-Wait. S-Suoh? You're his…"

"He's my sexy man, that's what he is." Mayuri cooed as he ran over to Suoh, hopping into his lap as if that were his throne, wrapping his arms around the behemoth's neck. Suoh just smiled, seeming content with his partner in his lap.

Raising an eyebrow, he looked towards Asami for some sort of explanation. "Okay? So then…why was he all over you…and why did he kiss your cheek?"

The boy giggled. "Oh that? Ryu always tells me how easily you prickle up like a cute little porcupine, so I just had to see it for myself. Besides, Ryu and I have been friends since we were kids!~"

Ryu? "Okay, I have a lot of questions."

"And all of those can be answered while we eat." Asami said, stepping towards Akihito, receiving another low growl from the bunny. "Just…put that "thing" up before I shoot it."

Aki looked down at the little bunny in his arms and slowly pet her with his free hand. He was still irritated over the whole situation, but he was calming down considerably. After nodding, Akihito walked over to the cage he had found her in and bent down to put her in. When he turned back around, he noticed that everyone besides Asami had left the living room and were now in the kitchen.

Walking over to his lover, he wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his cheek against the man's strong chest. "….I'm still mad at you. But...I'm sorry I flipped out. It's just…you don't let anyone touch you, and when I saw this cute boy all over you I just…"

"No need to apologize, Kitten. Besides, I was already expecting that kind of reaction from you." Asami said, carding through Akihito's soft blonde hair.

"So um…why are they all here?"

Asami chuckled. "If you would actually look around for once you would have noticed the balloons and cheesy birthday banner Kirishima hung up. It's your birthday party. I invited Kirishima, Suoh, and Mayuri. I figured it was about time you met Suoh's partner, as he's also a good friend of mine. I have no idea as to why your guard is here, and then Fei invited himself. Obviously."

A small giggle left Aki's lips as he nodded. "Seems like he did. And you know you didn't have to do this, right? I mean, you already gave me that amazing camping trip." He murmured in a low voice.

"Just accept it Kitten and behave yourself."

Right as Asami said that, they both heard Tao yelling from the other room. "HEY IM HUNGRY IN HERE! HURRY!"

Rolling their eyes, they both made their way into the kitchen. Everyone was already seated and the table was already set. All of Aki's favorite foods were on the table, making the blonde's mouth water, all irritation forgotten as he took in the delicious smells. He and Asami took their spots at the table beside each other, Asami's other neighbor being Mayuri and Akihito's being Fei.

After the two sat down, dinner began as everyone started filling their plates with the yummy looking food. Aki and Tao filled their plates to the maximum, both eager to dig in. Mayuri chose to sit in Suoh's lap rather than the empty seat beside him, holding food up to the man's lips, which the other accepted graciously. Off to the other end of the table sat the two guards, Yoh sitting quietly while Rin spoke in an unnaturally loud whisper to him. They were off in their own little world, or at least Rin was.

Only after shoveling in a few bites of food did Akihito finally decide to break the (mostly) silent room. "So…I'm still waiting on those stories you promised me." He said, locking eyes with Mayuri.

The other smirked and leaned forward so his elbow was on the table and his chin was resting atop his hand.

"Oh are you now?~ Well what do you want to know first?"

"You said you two have been friends since you were kids…just how exactly did you meet?"

Mayuri giggled a bit and shook his head. "No no, it wasn't just the two of us. Three of us. Ryu, Kei, and myself!~ You see, Kei was the son of one of the Asami maids and they were close in age, so they basically grew up together. Then my family's clan and the Asami clan have had ties with one another for years, so of course we would play together at clan meetings and such." He explained.

"Wait…so how old are you?! There's no way you're older than I am!" Akihito exclaimed, wide eyed as he looked at the youthful appearing male. Mayuri simply chuckled.

"I know, I look so young!~ I've aged well, but I'm only three years younger than Ryuichi and Kei. They're basically the same age, save for a few months."

Akihito could barely believe what the other was saying, but from the look on both Asami and Kirishima faces…it was true. Aki could only hope he would convince this guy to show him the mythical fountain of youth he must have had found. Or the secret to living a stress free life. Either would work. Aki took a couple more bites as he took in this information, trying his best to imagine Asami and Kirishima as cute little kids. It was almost impossible to imagine them as anything other than "Badass Yakuza God", and "Glasses."

"Well that's one question answered. My second question is…how did you and Suoh meet?"

Mayuri's eyes practically lit up like a kid's on Christmas while Suoh stiffened and blushed. If Aki had been drinking, he would have done a spit take at the sight. So much confusion was going in his brain, so much it was beginning to overload.

"Oh that story?~ Well I think Suoh should tell you that one!~ Go ahead Sugarnuts, take it away!~" Mayuri said this while batting his pretty eyes. If Akihito thought it was weird to see Suoh blushing before, now he was bright red. Sugarnuts?! Liquid went flying from Aki's mouth across the table as he burst into hysterical laughter.

"Akihito! That is so nasty! You almost got that all over my clothes!" Fei screeched in disgust.

"Oh yeah, take it away Sugarnuts." Asami mocked teasingly.

Suoh turned purple. "Don't EVER call me that again, Asami." He deadpanned.

Aki's laughter was silenced when Suoh cleared his throat. "Um…we met over…cars. I was in the car business back then. I was checking out his ride and from there…Urm… its history."

"That is not how it happened! You are not telling this story right at all!" Mayuri stated with a roll of the eyes, "I suppose if you want something done right, then you just have to do it yourself. Here's how the story really went: Ryuichi, Kei, and I were all in college at the time. It was right after Shinji passed away, so the three of us were throwing a huge party to celebrate his life."

He paused for a moment to take a sip of his drink, and in that time Aki glanced out of the corner of his eye at Asami, just wanting to make sure he was okay. Asami looked almost emotionless at the moment, which was enough for Akihito to know that he was thinking of his brother and didn't want any of them to know the sadness he just assumed Asami was feeling. So the blonde just pretended not to have noticed as Mayuri continued.

"I was late leaving because I went to change out of my boring school wear and into one of my fabulous designs and when I got to my car there was some cutie trying to break into it. That would be my Kazumi!~ Such a bad boy back then, weren't you?" He nudged Suoh playfully, "So I walked up and confronted him, and the moment he heard my lovely voice he pulled a knife on me."

Suoh coughed awkwardly, unwilling to meet anyone's eyes.

"You really were a bad boy, weren't you?" Fei spoke up, teasing the male with a curious gleam in his eye. Akihito could tell the Chinese man had something going through his head.

"Shut up…" Suoh muttered under his breath.

"Hey hey, no interrupting my story! Now as I was saying, he pointed a knife right at me, and it was love at first sight. So of course I had no choice but to kick the knife out of his hand, restrain his arms behind his back, and then shoved him in the backseat to be my date for the party. No one as fabulous as "I" should ever enter a room without a major piece of arm candy, and he was just that."

"Wait, so Suoh tried to steal your car…and potentially threatened to kill you…so you kidnapped him and made him escort you to a party?!" Aki asked, looking at them both like they were crazy.

"That is indeed how it happened." Kirishima spoke up, fixing his glasses.

"I can't believe this! How can you say it was love at first sight when he was pointing a knife at you!?"

Mayuri chuckled and shook his head. "I'm in no way scared of a knife, actually I'm not scared of anything. He posed no threat to me."

"He's literally a giant! He's probably a foot and a half taller than you are, and he is literally all muscle! You are…small and….not very threatening."

Kirishima choked on his food while Asami and Suoh chuckled and shook their heads. Akihito raised his eyebrow towards them, expecting one of them to speak up as to what was so funny.

"Well yes, but looks can be very deceiving, sweetie." Just the way Mayuri said that made Akihito think he was talking about more than he was leading on, "Now I do believe it's my turn to ask a question I'm curious about. Fei, what you doing here? Not that I haven't missed your beautiful cheongsams and exquisite choice of sassy comebacks to anything Ryuichi says, but I know he would never invite you. So do tell the class as to how you found out about this little…event."

Fei smirked, his eyes moving across the table to look at Kirishima. "A little bird told me. Or well…was forced into telling me."

Asami's eyebrow raised as he glanced over at Kirishima. "That's right, you were telling me Fei had some blackmail over you and that's why we now have a rodent living in my penthouse. So now I'm interested in knowing what exactly that blackmail is."

"Ooooh you're in trouble Kei!~" Mayuri cooed condescendingly.

"It's nothing that will be an inconvenience further, Asami-Sama." Kirishima said quickly, trying to get himself out of the hole he was clearly digging.

"Oh If you won't tell them then I'm clearly obliged to. I have photos of Kei meeting with certain women that he would just hate to be let out to the public."

Asami rubbed his temples for a moment, glancing over at Kirishima and then back at Fei. "Why would his promiscuousness be any use to you?"

"It's who he's been promiscuous with. The daughter of an ambassador, multiple actually."

Aki whistled, shaking his head. "You just don't know how to keep it in your pants, do you Glasses? I never would have taken you to be such a man whore, but then again they say it's always the quiet ones."

"Kei, this is definitely a matter we will discuss later," Kirishima bowed his head as Asami said this, meanwhile the Yakuza turned to Fei, "As for you…once you get back to Hong Kong where you belong, you best burn those photos. That is unless you want me unhappy."

"I'm not sure that I will! This blackmail is priceless and could very possibly become useful again in the future."

"I want you to know that you are incredibly lucky that today we are celebrating Akihito's birthday, because otherwise I would have pulled my gun on you way before this point. So I advise again that you take heed to my warning. I don't think you've forgotten that I can find very unique ways to punish those who go against me."

Fei rolled his eyes and leaned down to whisper in Aki's ear. "Someone is definitely salty today."

Aki giggled and opened his mouth to speak, but the sudden boom of laughter from the end of the table made everyone turn to the direction of the two guards at the end of the table. Rin's laughter was so strange, obnoxiously loud and almost ridiculous sounding. Yoh was silent and emotionless as he always was, just eating his food. Everyone staring just kind of leaned in the opposite direction, thoroughly freaked out

"Okay, seriously who invited that guy? There is no way he's having a conversation with anyone but himself. "Silent and brooding" over there isn't exactly the conversation type!" Akihito whispered in a raised tone.

"He invited himself, apparently." Suoh muttered, shaking his head, "Just don't ask him anything personal and you will rarely notice him."

Everyone just kind of fell silent after this to eat a bit more, occasionally giving glances towards the end of the table whenever Rin would burst into laughter, all of them trying to catch Yoh speaking to him. Yet no matter how quickly they turned their heads, no one could actually get even a glimpse of Yoh's lips moving besides for his silent chewing. Akihito had just come up with the conclusion that this guy was nuts.

"Can I go play with the bunny, Aki?" Tao pipped up after a few minutes.

"Hm? Of course Tao! Do you need help with her?"

"Oh no! I can do it, you just eat!" And with that the child ran out of the room.

Akihito smiled a bit as he watched the young boy leave. He had a fondness for that boy even if he was kind of a brat when they had first met, but honestly looking back he couldn't blame Tao. He was just a kid and he basically idolized Fei Long, so of course he would only see Aki as being one of the bad guys.

Letting his eyes wander, they settled on the Suoh and Mayuri. They were such a weird couple and their dynamic confused him. At first glance he could have sworn Suoh would be on top, given the size difference and the fact Mayuri just seemed a lot more flamboyant. But the more he thought about it, the more confused he became. Mayuri was quick to call Suoh his and was quick to tease him just like Asami did to Aki.

Leaning closer to Fei, he gesturing under the table towards the odd couple. "Fei, who do you think is top?" He asked in a whisper.

"Well who do you think is?"

"I mean…it has to be Suoh, doesn't it?"

"I disagree. It's clearly Mayuri."

"What do you mean? He's tiny and literally flaming."

"Looks can be very deceiving, did he not just say that?" Aki pondered that for a moment before shaking his head.

"Nope, you're wrong. Clearly he just wants to mess with our heads. Didn't you see what he did earlier?" Shrugging with a cocky smirk, Fei sat back in his seat and took another bite of his food.

A few minutes later and everyone started leaving the table because they were done with their meal, and it was then that Aki looked down at his own plate and realized he had eaten not even half and he felt stuffed. He frowned and glanced down at his stomach for a moment, not noticing the two sets of eyes on him. Did I eat too much for lunch? Must have…

Standing with his plate in hand, he set it on the counter next to all the others. He would clean that up after the party he supposed. There was still a lot of food left on the table, so while everyone else got comfortable in the living room he took a few minutes to put everything into containers and put it into the fridge. He would definitely make some tonkatsu sandwiches the following day for his own and Asami's lunch. No reason to let good meat go to waste.

As Akihito walked back, Asami stood by the entryway from the kitchen. The golden eyed man smirked as the Aki approached him. "So what were you and Fei talking about?"

"We were trying to decide who's on top. Fei somehow thinks its twinky boy over there, but that's just ridiculous. It's clearly Suoh."

"Oh is it now? Why don't you go and ask them yourself?" Aki was about to tell him no when Mayuri spoke up.

"Ask us what?~"

Akihito gulped as he took a seat in the floor next to Fei and Tao, a little nervous to ask. He averted his eyes from the two, trying to decide how to ask without offending one of them, but Mayuri seemed to have caught on fairly quickly.

"Oh I know! You're wondering who is on top, aren't you?~"

"A-Actually yes. It's Suoh, right? Fei says it's you, I think it's Suoh."

Mayuri tsked and shook a finger in Fei's direction. "Now that's just not fair of you, pretending not to already know. Shame on you."

"Wait! So you are…?"

"Of course I am! I really don't understand how so many people get it wrong! Suoh is such a sexy man but he's such a submissive little puppy, believe me." Suoh looked very embarrassed, but he didn't say anything against it.

Akihito honestly didn't know how to respond to that. He was so overwhelmed with all the confusion and weirdness he had been forced to take in the last hour, so this was really just the icing on the cake. However he did have enough sense to shoot Fei a dirty look.

"Any other questions you have?~ Preferably a question in which I get to tell another story?~" Mayuri asked, batting his eyes adorably. How in the fuck did this guy dominate blonde Behemoth?

"Well I would definitely be interested in some stories of little Asami, the more embarrassing the better." Akihito stated, smirking when he received a look from Asami. Oh yeah, he was definitely going to pay for that later. Worth it.

"Oh then I know just the story!" Mayuri stated, turning to give Asami a particularly evil look. Asami didn't let this bother him, staying cool and collected as always.

"That story?" Kei asked, softly chuckling as he pushed his glass up again. The boy nodded and grinned.

"Definitely that one."

"Stop building the anticipation and just tell it already!" Akihito snapped impatiently.

"Oh alright, alright. When we were kids, Ryuichi was absolutely obsessed with Masters of the Universe. He wanted to be just like He Man, had the belt and everything. Every meet up he would force us to either watch the show or play the game with him. And whatever Asami wanted, he got. I remember it very clearly. He would of course play as He-man, Kirishima was Skeletor, I got to play as the lovely Teela, and whatever unlucky guard was on duty had to play Battlecat. And of course Asami would have to ride his "Battlecat" into battle against the great evil Skeletor."

Aki snickered before bursting out into laughter, "R-Really Asami?! He-Man?! Y-You know they made a movie, right? Did you guys watch that too?" He asked as he calmed himself down. The look he received from Asami was absolutely murderous.

"Oh for god's sake, do not get him going on that!" Kirishima groaned.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Aki asked, blinking in surprise.

"That movie does not exist." Asami stated coldly while Mayuri giggled.

"He hated it more than I hate a man with bad fashion. After watching it he swore if he ever met the makers that he would punish them all with hours of ruthless torture followed be eternal slavery."

"...Asami, that's pretty fucked up."

"Oh no it's not, I'm actually being nice with that sentence. Their punishment should be ruthless torture followed by a painful death, but I was feeling nice that day." Note to self: Yakuza kids are significantly scarier than regular kids.

"OKaaay, well I think it's time to change the subject." Akihito said quickly, looking around to see if anyone had some better ideas as to what they could talk about.

"I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO GIVE TAKABA-SAMA HIS GIFT NOW!"

Asami glanced over at the guard with an annoyed look, but nodded. "Yes, I suppose it is time for that."

Mayuri stood up from Suoh's lap and grinned, clapping his hands together. "Oh goodie!~ I'll go grab what I brought!" He chirped before skipping towards the door.

Fei smirked and rolled his eyes, raising his hand and snapping his fingers. A moment later Yoh was bending down in front of Akihito, holding out a beautifully wrapped gift.

"Oh wow….Fei you really didn't have to get me anything. I mean, you already got me Richi…"

"Nonsense, the rabbit was an impulse gift. This one however was the gift I've had in the makings for you for quite some time."

This peeked the boy's curiosity as he quickly ripped into the present. As he pulled out the garments, his eyes widened as he examined the beautiful cheongsam. It was dark blue with a golden Chinese dragon on the back. Where Akihito was in awe marveling its beauty, Asami on the other hand was gleaming with unspoken rage. Oh well, he would get over it.

"It's beautiful Fei! Wow…it's looks so fancy. Just like yours."

"Well yes, I figured you would wear it whenever you come over to visit Tao and I. Which will hopefully be soon. There are many places in China I wish to show you, beautiful places."

Akihito smiled and nodded, though he felt a little uncomfortable thinking about going back there. It was a place of bad memories and nightmares. Even if he had forgiven Fei, that didn't mean he was able to forget. Just thinking about it made his anxiety level rise. Luckily he didn't have to think about it long as Mayuri returned rolling in a large rack of clothing.

"Taaaadaaaa!~ Clothing from the line I'm currently working on, delivered straight to you before it hits the racks in high fashion clothing stores all around the world. Oh, and there's a few originals in there just for you."

The photographer's eyes were the size of saucers as he saw the clothes, running over to look at the tags because he definitely knew that style was familiar. He slowly turned from the clothes to Mayuri, eyes wide.

"You're Chiba Yuri?! I've done photoshoots with models for your clothing! Your name blew up for your amazing big and tall fashion line a few years ago, right? That explains why Suoh's outfit is so…fashionable."

"That's me!~ Of course that's a fake name, but I'm the creative brain behind the operation." Mayuri chirped, clearly pleased to have been recognized.

"Thank you for all of this, it's really amazing. I've never had such expensive clothes before. I'm definitely going to have a lot of new clothes to wear…" he said with a small grin, watching as Yoh took up the job to roll the rack out of the room and towards one of the back rooms.

"DOES THIS MEAN IT IS MY TURN TO PRESENT MY GIFT TO TAKABA-SAMA?!"

"Yes Rin, you can give Takaba-Sama his gift. You don't have to ask." Suoh muttered.

Akihito smiled kindly at the very passionate guard as he was handed what seemed to be a photo album. The photo on the cover was a picture of he and Asami on the porch of the cabin they had stayed at over the weekend, which immediately sent up red flags.

"Um….Rin…where did you get these photos?" He asked as he flipped to the first page, seeing nothing but photos of the two of them on their trip.

"BECAUSE I TOOK THEM, TAKABA-SAMA! I CAPTURED ONLY THE MOST PASSIONATE MOMENTS BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU FOR THIS ALBUM! YOU AND ASAMI-SAMA SEEM TO HAVE MANY, MANY PASSIONATE MOMENTS!"

"Oh this is definitely something I want to see!~" As Fei said this he reached up to take the album from Akihito's hands, but was stopped when Rin held a flash drive up high above his head.

"I ANTICIPATED THIS! ALL OF THE PHOTOS ARE ON THIS FLASHDRIVE!" He exclaimed before hurrying towards the Smart TV he and Asami had, plugging the flash drive in.

A few moments of messing with the remote and they could see a slideshow of photo's begin to play on the television. The photos began back to when they first arrived at the cabin, Asami carrying Akihito into the house Princess-style while the smaller slept. Aki would almost admit it was a good picture that was until he noticed the jacket he had been wearing. He wanted to die.

"Aw, aren't you just cute?" Fei asked teasingly, smirking.

"S-Shut up Fei!"

"I was wondering if Ryuichi was actually able to get you in that jacket!~ He had me design that for you!~ It's just too perfect for a feisty thing like you!~"

Akihito felt himself blushing as he pouted, refusing to look at anyone in the room as he just looked back at the photos. The more photos that flashed on the screen, the more freaked out he became. When he saw a photo of he and Asami making the crepes together he was thoroughly creeped out. It looked like the guy took the photo from inside the freaking cabin!

"Woah, Woah, Woah! How did you get that shot?! Did you break into the cabin?!" Akihito turned to the guard, eyes wide. Asami was giving Rin a dangerous look as well.

"NO OF COURSE NOT! I NEVER STEPPED FOOT INSIDE THE CABIN! I WOULD NEVER INVADE ASAMI-SAMA'S OR TAKABA-SAMA'S PRIVACY LIKE THAT!" Rin said, almost looking horrified at the thought.

Akihito honestly didn't have an inkling as to how to get his mind wrapped around this guy. Taking personal photos of people while they aren't looking is fine, but breaking in to take them is a privacy breech? This guy was an odd one.

There were so many photos that honestly Aki thought it would never end. But finally they reached the forest, which he hoped would mark the end of the photos soon. As he watched photos pass, his eyes widened as he yelled at them to pause it on a specific one. A photo of himself taking a photo of a bird.

"Oh my god! It was you! I freaking told you I saw something Asami!" Aki yelled in an "I told you so "manor. "Man…you get some incredible shots though. I should take you to work with me one day."

"I WOULD VERY MUCH LOVE TO ACCOMPANY YOU AT WORK, TAKABA-SAMA! I WISH TOO SEE THE PASSION YOU HAVE FOR YOUR WORK!"

"Right…Hey, where did you even learn to take shots like that anyhow? You're definitely not a novice."

Rin's animated expression fell into one of dead seriousness. "I cannot say."

Right, don't ask this guy any personal questions. "Okay…that's fine…" He muttered and rolled his eyes, hitting play. And of course the next photo had to be of the dead body. Fei was quick to act, covering Tao's eyes as he shot Rin an annoyed look.

"Ew…that had to of been there a while." Mayuri said with a disgusted face, waving his hand at it dismissively.

"Oh yeah, it had to of been! Look how juicy and moist it is!" Aki exclaimed with a grin, causing both Mayuri and Asami to gag. It was just too amusing to see Asami actually lose his cool over something as simple as a word.

Asami regained his composure enough to give his Kitten a dirty look. "I told you not to describe it like that."

Akihito's eyes lit up, eager to continue getting Asami's goat (A/N: Definition of "Getting Ones Goat": Messing around/playing with someone). "True, but I do what I want!~"

Golden eyes met his quickly, a dangerous smirk coming to Asami's face and Aki knew he had just said something he would be "punished" for. "Is that so, Kitten?"

"Y-Yes it is! Of course!"

"I guess we'll just see if you're saying that later."

Aki's face lit up bright red as he quickly averted his gaze back to the screen…right in time to see Asami giving him a piggyback. Mayuri was giggling away as he sat on Suoh's lap, while Fei was smirking beside the photographer, giving him teasing looks and nudges. Where in the past there were only a couple of photos, there had to of been over twenty photos of him on Asami's back from all angles, and with each photo he could see how red his was getting in the photos. And just like photo Aki, regular Aki was becoming the color of a tomato the longer it went on. As he saw the truck coming into view, his eyes widened because he knew what was coming.

He turned to look at Rin, mentally praying that the guard had stopped once the clothes started coming off. That was soon proved to be false as he looked back and saw them ripping at one another clothes. Aki jumped up to his feet and ran to grab the remote from the guard, his back turned from the screen. Just as he grabbed the remote and his finger hit the OFF button, he heard from the gasps behind him that he had been too late.

"Wait…so was Aki giving you a piggyback ride?" Tao asked. Akihito died.

An hour later things had calmed down from the embarrassing photo episode and now everyone was doing their own thing. Kirishima had forgotten about the gift he had gotten Aki and had at some point given it to him. It ended up being two video games that he actually didn't have, so at the moment he and Tao were sitting in front of the television playing the game. Asami and Mayuri were standing by the open front door smoking, enjoying the cool air coming in while Kirishima and Fei sat on the couch watching the youngest two play the video game. Off in a dark corner were the guards, Rin chatting away to the silent Yoh as if the other was replying.

As they finished a level in the multiplayer platforming game they were playing, Tao sat the controller down and looked over at Akihito.

"Aki, do you have any milk or juice?"

The blonde smiled and nodded, standing up. "Yeah, c'mon. We have some juice boxes in the fridge."

The young boy followed Akihito into the kitchen and to the fridge where Aki grabbed out a Gudetama juice box for the boy, handing it over to him. He smiled as he watched the boy happily open the wrapping, only for the boy to squeal.

Tao jumped up and down as he waved something in the air. "Aki! Aki look! I got a prize!" He squealed excitedly before holding the little Gudetama phone charm right into Akihito's face.

Grinning, Aki ruffled the boy's hair, despite being a little disappointed that he wasn't the one to have found the prize. Still, he couldn't really be upset. Tao was such a cute kid, especially when he got excited over something.

"Good job Tao! You must be super lucky!" The boy looked thoughtful for a moment as he looked at the charm before he slowly put it into Akihito's hand.

"It's for you, Aki! I got you a birthday present, so you better not lose it!" This kid really cracked him up.

"Aw, thanks Tao. I promise I won't lose it. It's going right on my phone, see?" Aki took out his phone and attached it via the headphone jack.

"Good! C'mon, let's show Feilong-Sama! I want him to see what I got you!"

Aki restrained himself from rolling his eyes, nodding to the boy as he followed after him. As he walked, that light headed feeling that had come over the day before returned. He slowed his steps down as he raised his hand to his head.

"Akihito, are you okay?" He heard someone speaking, but his vision was blurring so quickly that he couldn't see who it was, and his brain couldn't register the voice well. All he knew was that it was only a moment later and he was collapsing, his vision black.

Fei-Long raced forward to catch Akihito before he hit the ground, eyes wide as he looked the boy over. Asami was quickly at his side, too concerned over his boy to actually notice that he was in the Chinese man's arms.

Akihito was out for only a couple of seconds, but to everyone around who was holding their breath it felt like minutes. Blinking his eyes open slowly, he was met with two sets of eyes looking down at him worriedly, and he could feel the stare of the others. He realized he was inside a strong set of arms that were not Asami's and got himself together so he could stand on his own.

Forcing a smile, he gave everyone an apologetic look. "Sorry…I think I'm just tired." No one looked convinced of this. Tao was crying as he ran up to Aki, wrapping his arms around the man's waist.

"Aki! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! Did I do something to make you feel so tired that you passed out?!" The boy asked in tears.

Shaking his head, Aki gently ruffled the boy's hair as he had done minutes before. "I'm okay Tao! You didn't do anything, I'm just a stupid adult who works too much. I'm sorry I worried you" He apologized, receiving a teary nod in reply as the small boy detached himself with a little pull from Fei.

"Akihito…if you're that tired why don't you go take a nap? The party will still be here in an hour or two when you wake up. And tomorrow you're going to the doctor." Asami said, the tone of his voice making it clear there was no room for negotiating this.

Knowing better than to fight back, he nodded a bit. "Yeah…I think I'll do that. Sorry everyone….if you guys need to leave before I wake up then don't worry about it. I understand. Thank you all so much for coming…I really enjoyed it."

"Oh but of course we'll wait for you to wake up!~ There is no way I'm leaving here without a goodbye hug from the birthday boy!~" Mayuri said cheerfully. Aki smiled back and nodded tiredly before he left to the bedroom, leaving everyone else in the living room while he napped.

It was two months after Akihito's birthday, and honestly after that day he had felt a lot better. He was still tired and not as hungry, but his stomach aches had become less frequent and he hadn't gone through one of his passing out episodes since then. Life had just kind of returned to normal. Today Asami and Aki decided they would meet up and go out to eat for dinner rather than have it at home. A new ramen shop had opened up not too far from Sion that Aki had been dying to try, and of course Asami would do anything for his precious Akihito.

Aki arrived a little earlier than he had anticipated, so he knew he would be waiting a while because Asami was in a meeting. That was fine, especially since he saw Suoh standing outside the building. Ever since the party he and Suoh had started talking a bit more. Not a whole lot because the blonde behemoth was still not a talkative one, but usually if you turned the conversation over to him and Mayuri then he was more than happy to talk. It was weird seeing him acting like an actual human being.

Parking Chuck at his usual spot, Aki hopped off of his Vespa and started making his way towards the front of the building. Suoh turned and noticed him, beckoning him over. As he sped up his step, Akihito felt a burning sensation in his stomach, and then he felt like something was rising up in the back of his throat. He stopped dead in his track as he started coughing.

He heard Suoh making his way over as the photographer fell into a coughing fit, trying to get whatever it was in the back of his throat unlodged. All he managed to do was make himself feel extremely light headed and irritate his throat more. At a sudden sharp pain, Akihito leaned over and began throwing up as his hands clutched his lower abdomen. He heard running footsteps, but he wasn't able to lift his head to see the horrified look on the guard's face as Akihito Takaba collapsed head first onto the concrete, Suoh being just a couple seconds too late to catch him.