Mizu: Yay! Got another chapter down! And wow, is it long. But I don't think I've ever typed faster. So that means that there are bound to be at least a billion mistakes in this chapter. But oh well! This chapter is really meant just to deepen the link between Shuichi and the Junjou Romantica world through Usagi-san and Hiroki. Disclaimer: I don't own either Gravitation or Junjou Romantica. Even if I did, I have no idea what I would do.
Just Coincidence?
Chapter twelve: Memories of days passed…
"Glad to see that you're alive, Shuichi-kun," Hiroki sighed as he walked into the hospital room with his lover.
"Hiroki?" Shuichi sounded, ears trying to decipher the new voice.
"Yeah," Hiroki sighed again, taking up the seat next to the rock star, "Bet you didn't expect to see me visiting you, right?"
Shuichi chuckled lightly as he shook his head, "Honestly? No. I thought that after you and Aki worked so hard in changing my identity that I'd never see you again. Of course, I can't really see anything but I digress."
Hiroki was silent for a few moments as he stared at the bedridden rock star, "Why did it have to be you?"
"Hm?" Shuichi blinked.
"Why did it have to be you to go through all of that pain?" Hiroki growled, clenching his closed fists, "Why did it have to be you, the one that never would harm a fly? The only family member of Akihiko's that didn't completely piss him off!"
"Hiroki, it's fine," Shuichi said gently.
"How on earth are you still so calm!" Hiroki demanded.
"Hm?" Shuichi sounded before shrugging, "I don't know…Maybe it's cause so long as it happens to me, then it won't be happening to someone else. Since it was me, Taki couldn't hurt Misaki, or Aki, or Hiro, or Yuki…or you, Hiroki."
Hiroki stared at the pinkette for the longest time before standing up in a huff, "Whatever. I'm gonna go find Akihiko. Nowaki, you stay here and keep Shuichi-kun company until I get back."
"Huh?" Nowaki blinked as his lover stomped out of the room, "What's wrong with Hiro-san?"
"Nothing," Shuichi lightly laughed, "He's just a little upset at everything right now."
"How do you know that?" Nowaki asked.
"It's just how he is," Shuichi said, a warm smile on his face as he closed his eyes, "Actually, he seems to have been tamed a bit. He's not as violent with his outbursts anymore."
"How do you know Hiro-san so well?" Nowaki asked.
"Other than Misaiki's older brother, Takahiro, Hiroki was Aki's only friend," Shuichi said, keeping his eyes shut.
"Really?" Nowaki questioned.
Shuichi nodded before opening his eyes, "Why don't you have a seat?"
"Huh?" Nowaki blinked.
"Aren't you standing?" Shuichi asked, "I didn't hear anyone on my other side when you and Hiroki came in. And I'm pretty sure that there's only one chair on that side of the bed."
Nowaki stared in awe at the man on the bed before taking his advice and sitting down, "Wow…"
"Anyway, the reason that I know Hiroki so well is that my father would always leave me at Aki's house for the longest periods of times whenever he had meetings or just didn't want to deal with me," Shuichi said, closing his eyes again, "Whenever I was at Aki's home, he would always be gone or have gone out somewhere in the yard, which I still say was more of an expansive forest than a yard. So I was pretty much all by myself whenever I stayed at his place.
"That is," Shuichi gently laughed, "Until I followed him out one day. I was being super quiet so he wouldn't hear me. I followed him all the way till he met up with a boy his age with brown hair. At first I was confused why he never said anything about going to see a friend, but when I saw him actually drop his mask and act like a normal person I guess I understood. He was afraid that his friend would get caught up in how rich he was and would stop actually being a friend.
"Because of that, I didn't come out of my hiding spot. In all truth, for the next couple of days, I just followed behind them, never making a sound," Shuichi said, "I was still curious but I didn't want to bug Aki so I kept quiet and watched."
"So they never noticed you?" Nowaki asked.
Shuichi shook his head, "I wouldn't say they never noticed. After probably four days of being so secretive, I finally spilled up. I had climbed up a tree to stay out of sight when the branch I was sitting on broke. I landed in between the two of them, flat on my butt.
"It was actually pretty funny," Shuichi chuckled, "Their faces were totally priceless. That is until Aki tried to figure out why I was outside where they were in the first place. I had never been so embarrassed. Nor have I ever run so fast from Aki. I sprinted back to the house before either of them could start asking questions.
"Not even an hour later, Aki and his friend came back to the house. I was hiding up in my room when I heard him return," Shuichi continued, "I was curled up in a ball on my bed when I heard him walk up the stairs. He was talking with his friend but I couldn't make out any of the words that they were saying. Then, when they reached my door, I shot underneath my bed and tried to hide from all line of vision."
Flashback
"So he's a cousin of yours?" the brown haired boy asked as they walked into the room.
"Yes, his father dropped him off here for a week while he was away on a meeting," Aki told his friend as he stopped just inside of the room.
"But don't they have maids and butlers just like you?" the boy nearly scoffed.
"They do but his father doesn't trust them enough to guard his son," Aki explained before walking up to the bed.
The boy shrugged before looking around, "So where is the kid, anyway?"
"Hm," Aki sounded before getting down on his hands and knees to look under the bed, "Found him."
"Huh?" the boy blinked before following Aki's example, "He's under the bed?"
"He's extremely shy when it comes to meeting new people," Aki said, pointing to the back corner of the bed, "See him?"
The boy looked towards the direction Aki pointed and took in the sight of a trembling boy about ten years younger than them. But that wasn't what captured his attention at first. No, the first detail his brain processed was the large amethyst eyes staring at him. They were filled with a slight fear and worry but there was still a lot of curious filling them.
"Come on out, Shuichi," Aki stated, reaching out to pull the boy out.
The young Shuichi shook his head furiously before trying to crawl even further into the darkness. Aki just sighed and looked over to his friend.
"I guess he's just really afraid of you, Hiroki," Aki laughed.
"What?" Hiroki gaped, "Why?"
"He doesn't know you, of course~!" Aki chuckled, "You need to introduce yourself before he'll come out."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Hiroki snapped before grabbing the little Shuichi by his shirt and pulling him out, "Come here kid."
The little Shuichi immediately started to scream on the top of his lungs.
"Now you've done it," Aki sighed, pulling the small boy into a hug, "It's alright, Shu. Hiroki's not gonna hurt you. He just wanted to meet you."
Hiroki snorted at that.
"Here, why don't you to introduce yourselves," Aki suggested as soon as the boy had calmed himself.
Shuichi just stared at the brunette before shyly hiding behind Aki's legs.
"I guess that means you go first, Hiroki," Aki said, smile firmly in place.
"Fine," Hiroki growled before thrusting his hand out, "My name's Kamijou Hiroki. What's yours, kid?"
Shuichi looked at his hand for a second before taking it, "I-I'm Usami Shuichi…"
"See, now he's not a stranger, Shuichi~!" Aki said, smirking for some reason.
Hiroki was about to question the smirk when he was suddenly tackled to the floor by the previously shy Shuich. The kid was laughing as he tried to keep the older boy pinned down. When that didn't work, he went straight to latching onto his legs.
"What the hell is wrong with him!" Hiroki shouted, trying to fling the boy off his leg.
"Since you're not a stranger anymore, Shuichi's not afraid of you," Aki laughed at his friend's distress.
"Damn it! Let go, you stupid little brat!" Hiroki snapped, shaking his leg furiously.
"Wheee!" Shuichi laughed, "Higher, Hiro-san!"
"Oi~! Don't you dare call me that!" Hiroki growled at the boy, prying him off by the scruff, "If you're actually gonna call me anything, it's going to be my name, got it?"
"K~!" Shuichi practically sang before latching onto Hiroki's chest.
"Ah! Get off!" Hiroki shouted.
"Good luck, Hiroki! He's a hugger!" Aki laughed at his friend.
"Fuck you, Akihiko!" Hiroki shouted.
Flashback End
"After that day, whenever I was left at Aki's home, he would take me to see Hiroki whenever I wanted. So at least once every time I went, I got to spend time with Aki and Hiroki. But I never really pushed it. After all, he was still Aki's friend first so I never really tried to bug them too much," Shuichi finished.
"Wow…" Nowaki said.
"Hiroki's like a big brother to me," Shuichi said, "Whenever I needed advice or was having any sort of problem; he was always willing to help me out."
"But if that's the case, why did you cut off all ties to him?" Nowaki questioned, "I mean, Hiro-san never even told me about you until you went missing."
"Cause of the biggest favor I ever asked of him and Aki," Shuichi sighed, "My father had just dropped me off at the Usami's main residence after my fiance had committed suicide. As soon as his car drove off, I took off running. I ran until I reached Aki's recently purchased apartment. After ringing the doorbell for a couple of minutes, Aki opened the door, shocked to see me. When he found out why I was there, Aki came rushing to my side of course, and when Hiroki heard of everything that happened, he followed close behind.
"I guess I kind of broke down when I saw both of them. While they were trying to comfort me, I finally decided that I had had enough of being an Usami," Shuichi said, "So I basically begged them to help be disappear and start over. And to do that, once I had taken up a new life, I made them promise not to talk to anyone about me. I guess they both kept their promise."
"Shindou-kun," Nowaki whispered.
"Please, call my Shuichi," Shuichi laughed.
"Why?" Nowaki asked.
"Cause," Shuichi said, slowly opening his eyes as a warm smile appeared on his face, "You're the only one that Hiroki allows to give a nickname. He never even let his parents do that."
"What does that have to do with any-" Nowaki started to ask.
"Hiroki trusts you," Shuichi interrupted, "He trusts and loves you enough to know that you won't ever hurt him. So he allows you to get close to him. He lets you call him a nickname as a sign of that trust. He would never let you if he didn't.
"Hiroki has trust problems," Shuichi continued, "For some reason, he refuses to let anyone get too close to him. He's always afraid of something happening if he does. So he tries to keep everyone else away. For him, that mean acting much tougher than he really is. Hiroki's wrapped himself with armor with so many dents and cracks, but with that armor, he knows he can protect himself. However, he is also very lonely inside of that armor."
"Hiro-san's…lonely?" Nowaki questioned.
"No," Shuichi said, warmth in his smile growing, "He's not lonely. Not anymore at least. Cause he has you. He's let you underneath his armor. He's let you get close enough that he knows that if you wanted to, you could rip out his heart without any warning. And he doesn't care. You know why, Nowaki-san?"
"Why?" Nowaki asked.
"Cause he loves you more than the entire world," Shuichi said, "If the world ended right now, he wouldn't care so long as you were safe. If he died, so long as you lived he would be happy. That's the type of guy he is. He hates it when anyone fusses over him but if you need any help, he'll jump at the chance to help someone out."
Nowaki was silent for a moment before gently chuckling, "You forgot to mention his temper and love of throwing things at people."
Shuichi blinked for a second before busting out in laughter.
"There you are, Akihiko," Hiroki sighed when he finally found his longtime friend sitting in the waiting room with another blonde, "That cousin of yours is really something."
"You know Shuichi?" the blonde man growled.
"Yeah, what of it?" Hiroki growled back.
"Easy," Akihiko sighed, "Hiroki, this is Yuki Eiri, Shuichi's lover."
It took a few moments for the new information to process in the mind of one Kamijou Hiroki.
"Wait…so you're saying that-" Hiroki started to question before his abnormal emotions decided to change, "Since when!"
"Apparently since he met Eiri," Akihiko growled, still not happy with the whole thought of his precious cousin with the jerk.
Hiroki's glare quickly locked onto Yuki before his legs propelled him forward, "You!"
Yuki flinched as the brunette lifted him from his seat before setting his own eyes into his famous glare.
"Why weren't you with him!" Hiroki demanded.
"We had had a fight," Yuki growled, "He was staying with hi stupid rabbit cousin because of it."
"Why weren't you trying to get him back!" Hiroki shouted, shaking the blonde a bit.
"I had to sort things out!" Yuki snapped at him, "How would you feel if you suddenly found out that everything you thought of your lover's past was a bloody lie! I needed time to think everything out!"
"Let it go, Hiroki," Akihiko sighed as he stood up to free the blonde, "It's not Eiri's fault. A lot of things happened and this is just how they turned out."
"It isn't right!" Hiroki snapped, dropping the blonde back into his chair before gesturing towards the direction Shuichi's room was, "He shouldn't be on that bed, blind! Heck, he shouldn't even be in this building!"
"I know, Hiroki, but there isn't anything that we can do about it," Akihiko whispered.
"Do you know what he said to me while I was in his room?" Hiroki growled, body shaking from anger.
"What?" Akihiko sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"He said he was happy that it happened to him!" Hiroki shouted, "He said that he was glad cause it meant that it wasn't happening to anyone else!"
"Hiroki…" Akihiko whispered, noticing a few of the strange looks they were receiving.
"It's not fair!" Hiroki continued his rant, "After all he's been through! After everything we did trying to save him, it wasn't enough! We couldn't protect him. We couldn't help him…"
"I knew it," Akihiko sighed, sitting his friend down, "I knew that that's why you were upset. You always did have a soft spot for the kid."
"So what if I did?" Hiroki exclaimed, "I mean, after all, his father basically ignored him. All his father wanted him for was to learn how to take over the business. He didn't let the kid do anything that he wanted. The kid was basically under house arrest his entire childhood with the exception of Kiyomi.
"I can still remember how whenever you'd bring him with you when he was staying at your home," Hiroki said as a smile appeared on his face, "His eyes would always get so wide. Then he'd tackle me to the ground, screaming la li ho or something that. He was always so happy whenever he got to be with us, even though we never really did a lot of kid stuff. Just hanging around us made him happy."
"I see," Yuki said, nodding his head a bit, "That actually answers a question of mine."
"Oi, don't eavesdrop on other people's conversations," Hiroki growled at the novelist.
"You're talking rather loud so it's quite hard to ignore you," Yuki scoffed.
"Shouldn't you be in with your lover instead of out here?" Hiroki said, glare deepening at the blonde.
"I came out here to talk with Usami," Yuki stated, "I wanted to know about when Shuichi changed his identity."
"Why that?" Usagi-san asked while Hiroki's jaw hit the floor.
"I figure that if I find out what he had to go through to become a new person, I might understand why he never told me," Yuki shrugged, "And I know all I need to know about that bitch he was engaged to."
"Don't talk like that about Kiyomi!" Hiroki snapped.
"It's fine, Hiroki," Akihiko sighed, "What he says is true. Kiyomi was a bitch."
"Akihiko," Hiroki whimpered.
"Let's see, where to begin," Akihiko said, as he looked up at the ceiling.
Flashback
"Hiroki!" Akihiko shouted as he pounded on the door of his childhood friend, "Open the damn door Hiroki!"
"Will you shut up!" Hiroki shouted as he flung open the door, "What the hell are you doing here, Akihiko!"
"You need to come with me, right now!" Akihiko snapped, grabbing the brunette's wrist.
"Why should I!" Hiroki yelled, pulling his hand free, "You can't just waltz up here and try to drag me away with you! I've got other things to do! I'm waiting for someone to come over so you can't just force me to go-"
"It's Shuichi," Akihiko said, not looking at Hiroki.
"…wha?" Hiroki gaped.
"Kiyomi…she committed suicide," Akihiko whispered.
"W-when?" Hiroki stuttered.
"About a month or so ago," Akihiko said, "We tried to get a hold of you but none of our messages or calls made it to you it seems."
"Th-that's fine," Hiroki said.
"Shuichi's father isn't helping him in the least," Akihiko explained, "He's making it worse."
"How could he possibly make it worse?" Hiroki chuckled darkly.
"…He's going to make Shuichi pick a new bride within the next week," Akihiko stated.
"Wha?" Hiroki gaped.
"Shuichi's heart can't take it anymore, Hiroki," Akihiko went on, "He needs us, now more than ever."
"Th-This can't be true," Hiroki said, shaking his head, "Shuichi-kun's always been the strong one. He's always been stronger than both of us. H-He's gone through so many horrid things; he wouldn't let something like this…"
"Hiroki…Please," Akihiko pleaded, "For Shuichi."
"…Right," Hiroki nodded slowly.
"Shuichi!" Akihiko shouted as he and Hiroki ran into his apartment.
"Shuichi-kun!" Hiroki echoed.
The two men froze when they spotted the boy sitting on the couch. He had his legs brought up to his chest and was strangling one of Akihiko's many teddy bears. No sound escaped him but his body shook every couple of seconds. Tears streamed out of his eyes while they remained locked on something in front of them. Quietly, the two older men walked up to the hurt boy. They each took up a spot beside the crying youth. Slowly, they each placed a hand on his shoulders. That seemed to finally snap him out of whatever trance he had been in.
"A-Aki…" Shuichi whimpered, looking up at his cousin's face.
"We're right here for you, Shu," Akihiko said gently.
The second those words were spoken, Shuichi propelled himself into his cousin's chest. The room was suddenly filled with the sounds of a broken heart as Shuichi's cries left his body. Hiorki had never seen the boy in such distress. He had always been strong. He had rarely needed any help, and when he did, he never let it affect him. Not like this. Feeling his anger start to race through his veins, Hiroki placed his hand onto the boy's back, rubbing soothing circles in an attempt to calm him down.
After about an hour of trying to comfort the boy, Shuichi's sobs finally quieted down. He still clung to Akihiko's chest but the older men would take whatever they could at the moment. It really wasn't fair. He was still just a child. Why did he have to lose the one he loved? Why did all of this have to happen to him? Why couldn't it have happened to someone else? Anyone, just not him. Hell, right then, Akihiko couldn't help but wish that it had happened to him. If it had only been him losing Takahiro, then Shuichi wouldn't have had to gone through all of this. Akihiko knew that he'd be able to keep going without the one he loved. It would hurt but he knew he could keep going. Shuichi…they weren't sure that he could.
"Aki…" Shuichi whimpered, slowly sitting up, "I'm so tired of all of this…"
"huh?" Akihiko blinked.
"I'm tired of all of this crap," Shuichi said, wiping his eyes, "I'm tired of everything I see reminding me of Kiyomi. I'm tired of being forced to do things I don't want to do."
"Shuichi-kun," Hiroki whispered.
"I'm tired of seeing everyone around me forces themselves to have to help me," Shuichi continued, "I'm just tired of it all. I just want to leave this all behind and start over."
"Shuichi?" Akihiko questioned.
"Aki," Shuichi said, looking up at both of the older men, "I'm tired of being a Usami. I don't want to be one anymore. Help me break away from the family…please."
"Wh-what?" Akihiko and Hiroki stuttered.
"I don't want to be a Usami anymore," Shuichi repeated, "I'm going to break away from the family."
"B-But, Shuichi-" Akihiko tried to reason.
"If you don't want to help me, that's fine," Shuichi sighed, slowly standing up, "Thank you for everything, Aki."
"Wait! Where will you go!" Akihiko demanded.
Shuichi shrugged, "Don't know. Away from here, that's for sure."
"You know that your father will stop at nothing to track you down!" Hiroki exclaimed, trying to reason with the boy.
"I don't care," Shuichi said, "I will never go back to that family."
"You can't run from the family, Shuichi!" Akihiko shouted, "They will track you down and force the family name upon no matter where you run to!"
"Then what do you suggest I do, Aki!" Shuichi snapped, "I can't go on living this life! I can't stand being a Usami! If I try to keep going with this life, I know that I will die before I even get out of high school!"
"Shu…" Akihiko whimpered.
"I can't do this anymore!" Shuichi shouted as tears reappeared in his eyes, "I just can't!"
"…What if we hid you somewhere nearby?" Hiroki questioned.
"Huh? That would just allow my father to find me faster-" Shuichi started to say.
"Not necessarily," Hiroki continued, "Not if we hid you in plain sight."
"In plain sight?" Shuichi repeated.
Hiroki nodded, "You're father will think that you would have run away from this town, maybe even jumped on a flight and left for some random country. So staying in this town, and dropping EVERY link to the Usami family might actually be a better idea."
"When you say every link," Shuichi started to ask.
"I mean like credit cards, name, appearances, everything except Akihiko and myself," Hiroki explained.
"I see," Akihiko nodded, "We'll help you change your identity and stay in contact with you in case you need anything."
"Right," Hiroki smirked, "So how about that?"
"…If my father ever finds out that you two help me out, he'll have your heads on a silver platter," Shuichi whimpered.
"If it means helping you, it'll be worth it, Shuichi," Akihiko smiled, pulling his cousin into a hug.
"…okay," Shuichi said, smiling as tears slowly leaked out of his eyes, "Thank you."
"Are you sure that this is the right address?" Akihiko asked for the nth time.
"For the last bloody time, yes!" Hiroki growled at his friend, "I triple checked everything. This is the residence of Shindou Atsuko, Shuichi's mother and her second husband."
"K," Akihiko sighed, "Alright, Shu. I'm going to go ring the doorbell and get her to come out and listen to your story. Then she gets to decide what to do."
"Okay," Shuichi said, hiding under a dark blanket.
"Right, let's go, Hiroki," Akihiko exhaled.
"What? Why do I have to go with you!" Hiroki growled.
"Cause she divorced a Usami. That means that she probably doesn't like Usami men. And I really don't want to be hit with a bloody frying pan," Akihiko growled as they got out of the car.
"Why do you assume it to be a frying pan?" Hiroki scoffed.
"It was the first thing that came to mind," Akihiko sighed as he rang the doorbell, "Now, remember plan."
"Fine," Hiroki sighed.
It was only a few moments before a middle age woman opened the door. The second she looked up to see their faces, the woman's eyebrows furrowed together. She stood as tall as she could as she glared at the two men.
"Usami Akihiko," the woman growled.
"Hello, Atsuko-san," Akihiko greeted weakly.
"I presume you're here because Ryota sent you trying to find out where Shuichi disappeared to, correct?" Atsuko growled.
"Oji-san called you?" Akihiko blinked.
"Don't play dumb with me, Akihiko!" Atsuko snapped, "He told me that Shuichi ran away and if I had been keeping some sort of secret contact with him."
"Wh-What did you tell him?" Akihiko asked, exchanging looks with Hiroki.
"Ha, I told him that I hadn't seen my own son since I left his sorry ass when Shuichi was two," Atsuko chuckled darkly, "And that I still blamed that all on him. It's his fault that I never got to hold my baby boy again! So I straight out told him that I was happy that Shuichi ran away cause it means that he finally realized what kind of man his father was. Shuichi's much better off away from his father."
"Thank goodness," Hiroki sighed, relieved, "For a second, I thought that our plan was about to go up in smoke."
"What are you talking about?" Atsuko questioned.
"How would you like to be able to hold your son again?" Akihiko asked, a warm smile on his face.
"Huh?" Atsuko blinked.
"We're trying to help Shuichi break away from the Usami family," Akihiko explained, "We figured the best way to do that would be to hide him in plain sight. That's why we're here."
"Wh-What are you saying?" Atsuko stuttered.
"How would you like to be reunited with you son?" Hiroki smiled, leading the woman to the car.
"H-He's here?" Atsuko whimpered as Akihiko opened the door.
Slowly, Shuichi slowly crawled out of the car with the blanket over his head.
"Sh-Shuichi?" Atsuko whispered, pulling the blanket off of the teen.
As the blanket fell from his head, a head of bright, neon, bubblegum pink hair came into the woman's line of view. As the blanket fell to the ground, she noticed the small frame of the teenager. He looked completely different than she expected him to.
"Shuichi?" Atsuko repeated.
Swallowing hard, Shuichi slowly opened his beautiful amethyst eyes, "Hi…mom."
"Oh, Shuichi!" the woman cried, flinging her arms around the boy, "It's really you! It's really my baby!"
"Sweetie, who was at the door?" a man asked from the doorway.
"My baby boy," Atsuko continued to cry.
"M-Mom," Shuichi whimpered, burying his face into her shoulder, "I-I'm home."
"I know, son," Atsuko said, tears running down her cheeks, "Welcome home, Shu-chan."
"Sweetie, who are these men?" the man asked as he walked up to his wife.
"My name is Usami Akihiko," Akihiko introduced.
"I'm Kamijou Hiroki," Hiroki added.
"And this," Atsuko said, drying her tears before slowly wiping away Shuichi's, "This is my precious baby boy, Shuichi."
"Shuichi? You mean the boy your first husband called looking for?" the man asked.
"Yes," Atsuko said, "But I won't let him find you, Shu."
"Atsuko-" the man started to say.
"Nobu, don't you see?" Atsuko interrupted, holding Shuichi close to her, "This is a sign. He's supposed to be with me and as a mother, I will do everything I can to protect him from the world. That includes his father."
"But Atsuko-" Nobu tried to say again.
"I won't give him up again," Atsuko claimed, starting to smother the boy, "I still have custody over him. His father never allowed any of our custody cases get to court so I still have custody over him."
"Atsuko!" Nobu shouted, "If that's the case, we probably should go inside so nobody notices him."
"Oh, right," Atsuko giggled before leading the now pink-haired teen and the two older men into the house.
"Mom, who're these people?" a girl with brunette hair asked from halfway down the stairs.
"Maiko, this is your older brother, Shuichi," their mother introduced.
"Really?" Maiko questioned.
"I have a sister?" Shuichi asked, eyes lighting up.
"Mm-hm," Atsuko nodded.
"Sweet!" Shuichi cheered before racing up the stairs to hug his long lost sister, "Happy to finally meet ya sis!"
"L-Let me go," Maiko struggled to say.
"Never~!" Shuichi laughed, hoisting the girl up and putting her on his back, "This is so great!"
Atsuko just laughed as she watched Maiko freak out when Shuichi jumped down the stairs and ran around the house with her on his back, "Ah, he seems so happy!"
"What are we going to do, though?" Nobu asked as they led the other two to their living room, "Shuichi still has, what? At least a year left of school, right? He can't enter any school without putting down his last name."
"Yeah…didn't think out that far," Hiroki admitted.
"So now what?" Akihiko sighed.
They were silent for a moment before Atsuko jumped up in excitement, "Nobu~! You could adopt him!"
"…huh?" the three men blinked.
"If you adopt him as your son, then he can take the Shindou name and enter school without raising any suspicion," Atsuko elaborated.
"But we'd still have to put down his real name to adopt him," Nobu pointed out, "So if there is a missing person report out on him, then it'll be tipped off, won't it?"
"You don't have to worry about that," Akihiko chuckled, "He may want Shuichi back, but Shuichi's father wouldn't ever dream of filing anything with any sort of police."
"You're kidding, right?" Nobu groaned.
"Nope, Ryota hates the police and will have nothing to do with them," Atsuko squealed, "Which means we can do this and he'll never known!"
"Alright," Nobu chuckled, "There's our plan."
"Aki!" Shuichi shouted before flinging himself around his cousin, "I need to call someone!"
"Huh? Who?" Hiroki gaped.
"Hiro," Shuichi stated.
"I'm right here, brat," Hiroki growled.
"Not you, Hiroki. My friend Hiroshi," Shuichi chuckled, "He'll be so worried about me. I just want to tell him that I'm fine."
Akihiko chuckled as he pulled out his phone, "Since it is Hiro-kun. Here you go, Shuichi.
"Yay~!" Shuichi cheered before running upstairs with the phone.
"Is he normally that hyper?" Maiko asked as she walked in.
"Only when he's happy," Akihiko laughed.
"Which is most of the time," Hiroki added.
"Wonderful," Maiko groaned, "Does that mean he'll try to carry me around like a rag doll every day?"
"Nah," Hiroki smirked, "He just gets really excited when he meets people."
The squealing of tires caught everyone's attention. Even more so when Shuichi ran down the stairs and flung open the door.
"How on earth did you get here so damn fast!" they heard Shuichi shout at whoever was at the door, "How many speeding laws did you break? Better yet, what physics laws did you break?"
"Shut up, Shuichi!" a new male voice shouted at the now pinkette, "And what on earth did you do to your hair!"
"Don't you like it, Hiro!" Shuichi laughed before running into the living room, "And I told you not to come!"
"Since when have I ever listened to your advice?" a boy with long reddish brown hair named Hiro came in, "So this must be where you're mom lives, right?"
"Yep," Shuichi chuckled before catching Akihiko's glared, "Shit…I'm in trouble now."
"I thought you said that you were going to cut all ties," Akihiko growled.
"B-But Hiro's my best friend, Aki!" Shuichi whined, "He deserves to at least know where I disappeared to."
"Trust me," Hiro growled, "I will never tell that bastard Usami Ryota where Shuichi is. Not after all the pain he's caused him.
"Thanks Hiro~!" Shuichi beamed as he hugged his best friend.
"…You're not wearing your emotional mask," Hiro pointed out.
"Nope~!" Shuichi said, sticking out his tongue, "This is the new Shuichi. The real me. A me that my father will never ever think to look for."
"So you really are going for the complete change of identity," Hiro said, "Nice."
"Anyway, Hiro," Shuichi said, rushing up to his mother, "This is my mom, Shindou Atsuko."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hiro-kun," Atsuko giggled.
"Next is my sister, Shindou Maiko," Shuichi said, hugging his sister tightly.
"Great to meet you!" Maiko greeted, finally giving in and hugging her older brother back.
"And finally," Shuichi said, suddenly becoming quite solemn.
"I'm his now adopted father, Shindou Nobu," Nobu smiled, chuckling when Shuichi squealed and tackled him in a hug.
"It's great to meet you all," Hiro chuckled, "Now that since Shuichi's gone ahead and done all of this without telling me, I suppose there's only one thing for me to do."
Hiro walked up to Shuichi before ruffling his hair, "You need to tell me where you're going to go to school at this year so that I can transfer there."
Shuichi just laughed, "K~!"
"I suppose," Akihiko said, standing up, "That it's time for us to go, Hiroki."
"You don't have to leave just yet," Nobu said.
"That's right. You're more than welcome to stay for a while longer," Atsuko added.
"While that's a very tempting thought," Akihiko smiled, "we can't stay any longer without risking someone noticing us here."
"That's your fault for driving such a noticeable car," Hiroki huffed, before ruffling Shuichi's hair, "But Akihiko's right. See ya around, kid."
"Wait!" Shuichi yelled, hugging his cousin tightly, "Thank you so much, Aki. Hiroki."
"No problem, Shu," Akihiko smiled, hugging the boy back.
"C-Can you guys promise me something?" Shuichi asked, as he pulled away.
"Anything," Akihiko said.
"Don't talk about me to anyone," Shuichi said bluntly.
"…wha?" the two men blinked.
"If you talk about me, my father might hear about it. Then he'll know that you know where I am," Shuici explained, "I'll stay in contact though."
"How?" Hiroki nearly scoffed.
"Um…how about email?" Shuichi suggested, "I could send one of you an email from a new email address then you could send it to the other."
The two exchanged a look.
"Look, how about this?" Akihiko sighed before smiling at the boy, "Why don't you call us once a year on a public phone?"
"Why?" Shuichi questioned.
"Emails can be traced, kid," Hiroki said, "but phone calls on public phones can't as easily."
"After all," Akihiko smirked, "After everything we've gone through to get you here, we can't have your father finding you and snatching you back up, now can we?"
Shuichi was quiet for a while before grinning, "K~!"
Flashback end
"And he did keep that promise," Akihiko sighed, "He called me every couple of months actually."
"Same here, at least until I changed my phone number," Hiroki sighed.
"Yeah, he was really upset about that," Akihiko laughed, "He was afraid that something had happened to you."
"Shut up," Hiroki growled.
"So you managed to do all of that in a day?" Yuki questioned.
"Yeah," Akihiko nodded, "We had to or risk getting caught by his father."
"To think that I thought I knew everything I needed to know about that brat," Yuki sighed before standing up, "I better go see him otherwise he'll try to do something stupid."
As they watched the blonde disappear down the hallway, Hiroki couldn't help but feel a bit helpless, "Why him, huh Akihiko?"
"Hm?" Akihiko sounded.
"Why did Shuichi-kun have to fall in love with that jerk?" Hiroki asked as Nowaki walked up to them.
"Don't know," Akihiko sighed as he spotted his young lover, "All I know is that love sometimes can overlook things that the mind cannot."
"And that," Akihiko continued before hugging his lover, "that is probably the most wonderful thing about love."
Mizu: Whoot! The connection is deepened!
Hiro: Why did you add me in? And appearing to go the speed of the sound, no less.
Mizu: Just something for a nice laugh.
Misaki: My name doesn't even appear in this chapter. You couldn't even say my name instead of "his young lover"?
Mizu: Who's the writer here?
Nowaki: By technicality, Usami-san and Yuki-san are writers in the story.
Mizu: But I'm the author of this story! So that means you do what I say.
Hiroki: *appears behind Mizu with a large pile of books to throw* Oh really now.
Mizu: Crud… *starts dodging flying books* Remember, everyone! I enjoy all reviews and suggestions! Ciao for now!
Crowd of characters: Go Hiroki!