Chapter 8 - Taking a Step Back

Akihiko was working in his office, concentrating on the novel he was supposed to hand in three days ago, but had once again neglected even after Aikawa had scolded him for being so uncaring. He couldn't focus after his 'friendly conversation' with Jeff. The pity he felt for Misaki was understandable, to a certain point, but he still had no idea why he was so obsessed with his housekeeper.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who's so worried about him," he muttered to himself. His eyes looked away from the screen when Misaki knocked on his door for the third time that day.

"Master, I need to go to the grocery store to get some ingredients for dinner," the brunet said.

"Let me go with you," Akihiko insisted, taking off his glasses.

"Eh? Why?"

"I can't let you go by yourself after that argument I had with Jeff today. He could still be nearby and I don't want you running into him by yourself. Who knows what he'll do to you if he gets you alone?"

Misaki was disgusted by the memory, trying to keep his emotions under control. Having another mental breakdown was not an option. Looking into his master's eyes, Misaki blushed and pointed at the dress he was wearing. "Do I have to—"

"No, go change," Akihiko replied before Misaki could even finish his question, "No one should see you in that outfit. Besides, you wouldn't want to embarrass yourself, nor do you want people to start thinking that you're a cross-dresser, am I right?"

The housekeeper shook his head furiously. "That's why I wanted to ask if it's okay if I put on my normal clothes. I'll be right back."

While Misaki changed, Akihiko shut off his laptop and went downstairs. The teen seemed to appreciate his offer to accompany him, even though Misaki didn't trust him entirely. Akihiko assumed that he was just too scared of running into Jeff again that he didn't want to leave the penthouse by himself, which wasn't hard to understand.

Once the younger male was ready, the two left and drove to the grocery store in Akihiko's car. Misaki was sitting nervously next to him, constantly looking around him as if someone was following them. Of course that wasn't the face, but that didn't get through his paranoid mind.

"I called Emi today," Akihiko said, drawing the boy's attention to himself.

"I-is that so?"

"Why are you so scared? Is it because we are going to the shopping district? I can assure you that I'll keep an eye on you, so no one will get the chance to do anything to you. The chance of running into Jeff there is small too."

"You can never be careful enough," Misaki mumbled, more to himself than for his master to hear.

"That's very true," the other agreed, "So that's why we're going together."

Misaki didn't respond to that, but he appreciated Akihiko's care. "What did you and Emi-san talk about?"

"We talked about you for most of the conversation. I wanted to know if Emi was aware of what Jeff had done to you. She told me that she has called the police and informed them, so they might come over soon to talk to you. When I told her you are now working for me, she said that I needed to be careful around you. She's just as worried about you as I am."

"I-I don't mean to worry anyone," the teen stuttered, getting flustered as he shifted in his seat.

"It would be strange if neither of us were concerned about you. I promised Emi that I'd take good care of you while you're working for me."

"Did she…tell you anything else?"

Akihiko cocked an eyebrow, but didn't look directly at Misaki as he had to concentrate on the road. "What are you referring to? She told me that she and Lillian are in the middle of moving out and that she's staying at someone else's place for the time being. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was wondering if anything bad happened to them," Misaki admitted, "They already knew everything and Emi-san said she'd leave, so I was scared that he would hurt her as well."

Noticing that Misaki didn't even try to pronounce Jeff's name, Akihiko stopped responding and tried to let the topic drift away. He felt as though he could step on a landmine if he continued. For the remainder of the ride, he said no more. Even when they arrived and got out of the car, Akihiko was quiet. His promise to be careful around Misaki was real and he would try to live up to it.

The silence made the housekeeper wonder if he had upset his master and he cast his eyes down to the ground. Although he was happy that Akihiko was being so thoughtful, he got the feeling that he was being a burden. The time wasted on going to the store with him could have been used to work on novels or do research. Besides that, Misaki still found it strange that Akihiko was caring so much about his well-being.

Misaki didn't want to waste any more time and hurried into the grocery store, grabbing a shopping basket as he entered. As he rushed through the shop to get all the ingredients, Akihiko simply wobbled after him. Making sure not to fall behind, he kept his eyes on the other constantly. The carelessness of Misaki's unexpected actions troubled him; the teen could get into trouble if he kept running around like that.

It was fortunate that it was quite crowded, so no one could try to do anything to Misaki without others noticing. This relieved Akihiko just a bit. The contented expression on Misaki's face was a satisfying sight as well; it seemed like the boy was no longer afraid of running into his old master.

Even so, his current master was still contemplated what to do next. Calling the police wasn't necessary anymore, since Emi had already done that. Akihiko felt somewhat useless; all he could do was watch over Misaki and keep him away from Jeff. How hard could that really be? His ex-friend could already have moved to another city for all he knew.

"I've got everything I need!" Misaki said as he ran back to Akihiko, "We can leave now, or do you need anything else?"

"Why would I?" Akihiko asked, frowning at the other. He felt his expression soften when Misaki blushed. "Let's go home," he said, holding back a chuckle, "I'm hungry already, so you better start cooking as soon as we get home."

"Yes, master," Misaki whispered, the color on his face turning even brighter as he prayed that no one else heard him.

They walked towards the checkout, where they had to wait in line for a couple of minutes. In the meantime, Akihiko stared disinterestedly out of the nearest window. Misaki stood beside him, holding the basket with both hands as he refused to let his master carry it for him.

"Say, you haven't told Takahiro yet, have you?"

Misaki glanced at the man next to him, who looked back at him. He shook his head slowly. "No, I haven't," he replied softly, "I can't get myself to tell him about this."

"Don't you think he should know, as your older brother?"

"It wouldn't change a thing if I told him; it's all in the past. There's nothing he can do except for worrying."

Akihiko did understand where Misaki was coming from, but he didn't completely agree with him. Although he was sure the boy was hiding it from his brother out of shame, he wanted him to tell Takahiro the real reason why he quit his job at the Honda Estate. Forcing Misaki into doing that was impossible, but perhaps he could convince him later on.

About three minutes later, they were finally able to leave the store. Akihiko had paid for the groceries and was walking back to his car with his younger housekeeper following him. Glancing over his shoulder every so often, he made sure that Misaki wasn't being kidnapped by someone. The teen kept looking around him nervously and Akihiko sighed. It would take a while for Misaki to get back to his old self, if he was ever going to be the same again.

All Akihiko could do was offer his help and hope that Misaki would accept it.

The ride back to the condo had been silent, but not entirely uncomfortable. Misaki still found it difficult to speak to Akihiko. He didn't know all that much about the man yet and wasn't too fond of the idea that he was in love with his older brother. Alas, it seemed as though Takahiro really trusted his friend. It was practically impossible for Misaki to get in the way of their friendship, unless Akihiko assaulted or abused him.

His habit of jumping to conclusions about his new master and comparing him to a certain rapist wasn't fair. That didn't make it easy to get rid of it; Misaki knew it would take time and effort on Akihiko's behalf to make his housekeeper trust him. The best he could do was to pay close attention to his master's actions. He realized he was perhaps a bit jumpy, but he could work on that. As long as Akihiko didn't do anything stupid, it would be fine.

Those thoughts clouded Misaki's mind until they were back. He followed his master to the elevator, carrying the plastic bag with groceries in his right hand. After some persuasion, he had managed to convince Akihiko that a housekeeper should carry groceries instead of the master. The disinterested look the author had shown him indicated that he didn't care for such rules in the slightest, but was in no mood to argue.

Akihiko appeared to pay absolutely no attention to his or Misaki's social status. They were standing next to each other, almost as equals, and the man refused to actually order his housekeeper around. Naturally, he would let him do all the housework, but only because he wasn't capable of doing so himself. It wasn't as though he'd care about giving Misaki money without a proper reason. Money had never been of any interest to him. Moreover, his young housekeeper's past was troubling him to a certain extent.

Lavender eyes stare at the shorter male, whose gaze met the other's as Misaki noticed that he was being looked at. His expression was questioning, his head tilting sideways in curiosity.

"Is everything all right?" Misaki asked.

"Yes," was the simple reply of his master.

"Then what are you staring at me for? Is there something in my hair?" Lifting his free hand, Misaki started plucking at his hair to see if he could find any leaves or small twigs. He halted his ministrations when Akihiko chuckled. "What's so funny?"

Akihiko shook his head, trying to compose himself. "You just seem to be more comfortable around me than before. That makes me happy."

Misaki said nothing and looked away. He hadn't even realized that he was behaving differently, but he couldn't say Akihiko was wrong. Ever since the man discovered what Jeff had done to him, Misaki was feeling a little bit safer around his new master. Wondering if it had something to do with the other's sympathy towards him, Misaki tightened his grip on the plastic bag.

Before Akihiko could ask what was troubling him, the doors of the elevator opened. The brunet waited for him to get out and followed him. He didn't have a spare key or the password to his master's penthouse, so all he could do was wait for Akihiko to let him in. It wasn't as though he needed a key to begin with; it was quite obvious that Akihiko refused to let him go out by himself.

When the door was open, Akihiko stepped inside and turned around to face his housekeeper.

"I still have got some work to do, so I will be in my office," he explained while he took off his shoes.

"Should I bring you dinner once I've finished cooking?"

"No, I'll eat downstairs. We agreed on eating together, right?" Akihiko then froze, taking a moment to think about his words. "Would you rather eat alone?" he asked suddenly, waiting for Misaki's reaction.

"E-eating together is fine," Misaki replied. He was taken aback by his master's considerate question. Like he promised, Akihiko was extremely careful with his words and actions, constantly thinking of the boy's feelings. Misaki could hardly believe that the cold man he had met at the Honda Estate could be such a kind soul.

While Misaki was still in awe, Akihiko retreated to his office to work on his manuscript. It was probably for the best if he stayed out of his housekeeper's way and gave him some space. The latter was somewhat tense around him. Although it wasn't as bad as the first day, it was clear that Misaki wouldn't let his guard down around Akihiko. Not that Akihiko wanted him to, but it would be nice to get closer to him.

There wasn't much Akihiko could do yet, no matter how much he wanted to help. First, he needed to make sure that Misaki started to like him more. Under normal circumstances, he didn't care whether people liked him or not, except for Takahiro and Hiroki. Yet there was this strong desire to gain the trust of the teen and Akihiko couldn't possibly ignore it.

Meanwhile, said person was in the kitchen to make dinner. He was chopping vegetables at a quick pace, not quite paying any mind to what he was doing. Occupied with his thoughts, he failed to notice how close the knife was to his fingers until he accidentally cut himself. With a yelp, he dropped the knife and stared at his finger. Blood was spilling out of the wound rapidly.

"Shit!" Misaki cursed, "This is why I shouldn't space out while cooking." Sticking the finger into his mouth, he tried to make it stop bleeding for a while. In the meantime, looking for a bandage was his only option.

With his free hand, the brunet quickly threw the vegetables into the pan. Once he was certain that it was safe to leave the kitchen, he made his way to the bathroom to look for a first-aid kit. At first, it seemed as though there was no such thing to be found, but eventually he found a small white box in one of the cabinets.

"What are you looking for in here?"

Misaki jolted and glanced over his shoulder, noticing Akihiko in the doorway.

"You startled me, master," he said timidly, "I was looking for a bandage, because I cut myself. It's nothing serious, but it's bleeding a little."

"A little?" Akihiko questioned, staring at the finger, "That doesn't look like it is bleeding 'a little' to me. Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Misaki flashed a reassuring smile and wrapped the bandage around his finger, covering the wound. "See, it's good now! I'll go back to the kitchen now before anything starts burning." Closing the cabinet, Misaki walked past his master and returned to the kitchen.

Dinner was ready after about half an hour. Everything was brought to the table before Misaki walked to Akihiko's office to call the man. He knocked on the door and waited for a response. When Akihiko told him it was okay to come in, he entered.

"Master, I've come to tell you that dinner is served," Misaki spoke politely.

"What's with the formalities?" Akihiko asked skeptically, "Never mind that. I'll be right there."

Misaki bowed, spun around and made his way to the dining room. There, he obediently waited for his master to join him for dinner. Akihiko came down after a few more minutes and they ate together without exchanging too many words. Misaki was reluctant to talk to Akihiko, while the latter didn't want to say anything that would make Misaki uncomfortable. His carefulness was mistaken for disinterest, but the young housekeeper didn't mind. He was not expecting Akihiko to be all that fascinated by him in the first place. The fact that the author had been so interested in his problem with Jeff was already surprising.

Nevertheless, Misaki wasn't going to ask what the reason was behind Akihiko's curiosity towards him. Since he was Takahiro's younger brother, the man that Akihiko quite evidently had a crush on, he assumed that his master was merely trying to get along so he could leave a good impression on the person he loved. He had been thinking that ever since he saw the way Akihiko looked at Takahiro and his point of view had not changed since then. What did change was that he no longer cared whether Akihiko was using him for that purpose or not. As long as he and his brother weren't harmed in any way, it didn't matter.

After witnessing Akihiko's kinder side, Misaki was starting to understand how the man had befriended Takahiro. Aside from being a successful author, Akihiko wasn't looking too bad either. In fact, upon further inspection, Misaki considered him a rather handsome person. He was masculine and had a perfectly proportioned body, and both his hair and eye color were unique to say the least.

Akihiko soon caught Misaki staring at him. Noticing that the younger's face was growing red gradually, he smirked.

"Are you having fun admiring my beauty?" he teased.

"I was doing no such thing!" Misaki protested, his face flushing instantly.

"Calm down, I was only teasing you." Akihiko was about to took another bite, but paused when the chopsticks were right in front of his mouth. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, you know. There are many people, men and women alike, who have complimented me on my good looks. You wouldn't be the first to be mesmerized by my attractiveness."

Misaki scoffed, but his discomfort was easy to notice. "I-I hope you aren't flirting with me," he said softly, stuttering a bit.

Realizing that he had made a mistake, Akihiko sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, that was thoughtless of me," he admitted, "Frankly, I just felt like teasing you a little, so it wasn't anything serious. Still, I know I should be way more careful around you."

The author's words were astonishing, even to himself. Never, not even once in his life, had he apologized to someone so sincerely. Regardless of the situation, he often refrained from blaming himself for anything. In Misaki's case, he felt partially responsible for how the boy was feeling, even though it wasn't really any of his business. Every time he looked into those large, bright eyes, the desire to gain the teen's trust returned. It was just so strange.

"Master, are you okay?"

Akihiko snapped out of his thoughts and gazed at his housekeeper, then forced a smile on his face. "I'm fine," he replied, "Just thinking about ways to finish my novel. My editor will come over to retrieve it tomorrow."

"What's your editor like?"

"She's a demon in disguise," Akihiko replied without hesitation, "Although she may seem like a friendly woman, it is dangerous to get on her bad side. In fact, her aggressiveness towards me is the reason why I've given her a spare key to my apartment, in hopes that it will save me from an early death."

"Should I be afraid of her?" the other asked softly.

"Probably not. I assume she'll like you." Finishing his rice, Akihiko put his chopsticks down and swallowed. "If you don't mind, I'll get back to work now. There are still a couple of pages left and my editor has the tendency to come over early in the morning."

"That's no problem at all! I have to do the dishes anyway."

Misaki rose from his seat and grabbed the dirty dishes, carrying them to the counter. He failed to notice that Akihiko kept watching him before he finally walked to the stairs. His master found his diligence when it came to housework impressive, but chose not to comment on that aspect while the other was busy. Instead, Akihiko moved to the upper level of the penthouse and returned to his office.

Sitting down at his desk, Akihiko continued to write the last part of his manuscript. If he managed to finish it in time, he could focus on finding information regarding traumatic experiences. For the time being, looking for a way to reduce the mental damage was all he could do to help Misaki. Chances that the brunet would get over his trauma entirely were small, but it was possible to help Misaki cope with it. Any sign of improvement would be enough to encourage Akihiko…and hopefully Misaki as well.

They just had to take it easy, one step at a time.