"THAT BRAT IS STAYING HERE?!" bellowed Koujaku, slamming down his bowl of rice and spilling a few grains on the table.

"Koujaku!" exclaimed Aoba.

Suddenly remembering his manners, he felt ashamed and apologised for his rude behaviour. "I'm sorry. Please excuse me, Tae-san," he bowed his head to the elder woman who coughed and huffed in response. Indeed, the elder woman had nearly choked on her own food at his outburst.

"I didn't know that you wanted me to die sooner from a heart attack!" she said.

"I'm sorry, Tae-san."

"Eat some more, men are calmer when their stomachs are full."

"Yes, ma'am." Leaning a bit forward towards Aoba who was sitting across of him, he said, "Just why is he staying here?" His pouted mouth jerked in the direction of the amused blond who was chewing on his food silently.

"Why not?" asked Aoba.

"I mean, it's not good. Having a suspicious brat staying here with you and where is he sleeping here anyway?" Koujaku did not mean any offense in his words because it was indeed true that the house in which the old Tae-san and Aoba lived is rather small

"In my room, obviously," replied Aoba, not at all grasping what his childhood friend was getting into.

"Of course, on the floor!" exclaimed Koujaku, sounding a bit way too relief.

Aoba frowned. "No. He's sleeping with me. Together. On the bed."

"WHAT THE HELL?!" protested Koujaku.

"But why not?!" Aoba raised his voice as he just quite did not understand what the wrong his childhood friend had found was. "And Noiz does not have any complaints in being with me."

"Of course he doesn't!"

"Yes, I don't have any complaints in being with Aoba," Noiz repeated what the blue haired said, smirking. And his words only added fuel to the burning jealousy and anger of the tattooed man.

Koujaku pressed his lips together in frustration.

"And besides, I can't let a person who has just been discharged from the hospital back to that- um-pig sty."

"Pff. Pig sty? He lives in a pig sty?"

"Not actually in a pig sty! You should have seen his apartment! Oh my god! I can't believe that a person can actually live there!"

Aoba shuddered on recalling the day when he saw Noiz's apartment. He still remembered the reluctant face of his to let him accompany him home. And Aoba totally understood what Noiz meant by his house was dirty but that was beyond called dirty.

#flashback#

"Open the door, Noiz."

The blond just stood there childishly, suddenly finding great interest in the wall.

"Come on. Don't be shy. I won't say anything even if I come across your dirty underwear on the way in."

Noiz stiffened and his eyes grew large and pensive as he tried to remember if ever there was any lying on the floor.

"It's dirty in there," Noiz tried to convince him.

"I've brought ingredients. I'll look after you and make sure that you eat some real food apart from delivery pizza."

The food cooked by Aoba was maybe the reason why his body moved without his own accord. Trudging his way until he was in front of the door, he searched for the keys in his pockets and clicked the door open but paused in turning the handle to open it.

"Come on. My arms gonna fall off with all these bags."

Noiz sighed and opened the door.

And it hit Aoba like a blow.

His eyes had widened and the bags fell to the floor as his hands flew over his face in horror. He turned away, gagging on the disgusting, rotting smell emanating from that apartment.

The inside was dark, but he could still make out the piles of trash- mountains of delivery pizza carton boxes to be exact- filled inside up to the door. Aoba glanced at Noiz who had a haunted look on his usual stoic face.

"Now you understand," he said while shutting his apartment door. "It's better if you leave."

Aoba's hands fell back to his sides. Bending a little, he picked up the grocery bags and walked past Noiz. The latter felt strangely dejected and horrified to have let Aoba see his den.

"What are you doing?"

Noiz blinked and turned around to see Aoba standing in front of him.

"What are you standing there for? Come on, follow me. You are going to stay at my place from now on," said Aoba with a determined expression. There was just no way in hell, he was going to let the one year younger boy live in such an apartment. Aoba was going to look after him and also properly educate him in how to actually live a healthier lifestyle.

God knows how Noiz had lived up until now, thought Aoba. I think I should probably call the professional cleaners to clean that-that- awful den of his. Aoba shivered and his hairs stood on end on recalling the gooey thing he saw on the pizza boxes. Probably rotting pizza or something like that.

#End of flashback#

After finishing his tale, he looked at Noiz, eyes filled with concern for the boy. How life had been hard for him.

"Eat your carrots, Noiz!" Aoba's switch flipped.

"Eww."

"Eat them and have some more."

"You are not my mom." Noiz mumbled. But the glare which Aoba sent him made him obediently stuff the disgustingly orange vegetable in his mouth.

Even though that Koujaku now understood the situation, a frown was still firmly set on his forehead as he watched the pair in front of him.

At that moment, Tae decided to intervene.

"Just calm down, boy. Why are you acting like the jealous boyfriend of my grandson?" asked Tae-san, with a hint of anger in her voice as she did not like being disturbed while eating.

"Bo-bo-boyfriend?!" stammered Aoba as he blushed. The same crimson colour flushed the face of Koujaku.

With that said, the four resumed eating their food: one with a satisfied face, the other two with blushing faces, and a glaring teenager who fumed silently.