The Uke Flu

Chapter Thirty-five: Arrivals

Forty-five minutes later Hiroki was standing outside Akihiko and Misaki's door. Before leaving the coffee shop where he'd sat and looked through his students' papers, he'd called the Usami flat on his cell to make sure Misaki's "engagement" had ended. While Hiroki was still unnerved by his previous ill-timed intrusion, Akihiko looked incredibly smug when he opened the door.

"Hiroki, good to see you."

Akihiko wore the scent of recent sex like cologne. His tone sounded particularly satisfied and his irritation at the earlier disruption was seemingly forgotten. He took the professor's briefcase while Hiroki eased out of his shoes and took off his jacket. Hiroki was blushing fiercely and his eyes seemed reluctant to leave the floor. While his face remained serene, Akihiko's eyes twinkled at how charmingly uncomfortable his old friend was.

"Sorry about the earlier, intrusion, Akihiko."

"Nothing to apologize for," Akihiko purred. "In fact, Hiroki, I almost feel I should thank you." He ignored Hiroki's confused expression. "Misaki's upstairs, he'll be down in a tic, he's just out of the shower. He needed a few extra minutes to sort himself out."

"Awfully decent of him," Hiroki grumbled, finally meeting Akihiko's dancing eyes. He sniffed. "You could have told me to wait a few more minutes and done the same."

"Forgive me for wanting to linger in the afterglow." Akihiko was not in the least bothered by the comment. The smell delighted him: to his unconscious seme mind it was like a wolf rolling in its recent kill, the mingled odors, marking he and Misaki both.

"Kamijou-san, so glad you could come today."

Hiroki looked up and saw Misaki descending the stairs. Misaki's dark hair was still wet from his shower. In its dampness it almost looked black, highlighting the lovely paleness of his skin. Hiroki glanced over at Akihiko. He'd heard his friend's breath catch in his throat. He could easily see that Akihiko was entranced by this simple vision: Misaki shower-fresh, wearing an over large hooded sweat shirt and knee length cargo shorts, his taut calves and bony feet bare. Despite the fact he no longer held any romantic interest in his oldest friend, Akihiko's desire was so obvious it was almost painful to witness.

Misaki was also carrying Aki, balancing the toddler on his hip. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, the young man had a bit of trouble meeting his guest's eyes. Knowing that his old sensei was aware of what he and Usagi-san had been doing before Kamijou-san's arrival brought a blush to his cheeks.

"Here, let me take Aki." Akihiko moved close to retrieve the child. When he drew near Misaki wrinkled his nose.

"Ugh, Usagi-san… No way, Papa! Not until you take your shower."

Akihiko's brow quirked. "There is nothing wrong with how I smell. It's perfectly natural, an animal essence." Misaki said nothing and just stared at him disapprovingly.

"Fine." Akihiko dropped his hands, moving to the stairs.

"Are you going to shower, Usagi-san?" Misaki called after him.

"No…" The mildness of Akihiko's tone belied his pique. He continued as he climbed: "The animal is retreating to his den.

"I am going to write something and let the pheremonal spell of our scent work its magic on my prose before I am forced to scrub it off. That means you and Hiroki can deal with Aki.

"Besides, from what I have ascertained from the news recently, perhaps your professorial pupil is going to need the practice." Akihiko shot Hiroki a significant look as he called this last bit down from the upstairs landing, before stepping into his study and shutting the door.

Misaki blushed redder at Usagi-san's uncouth behavior and looked at the floor. Aki, sensing his young father's discomfort, placed a small hand on Misaki's cheek.

"Misa?"

"Everything is fine, Aki-chan," Misaki assured, turning to find himself reflected in the green pools of his son's concerned eyes.

"Uh, Misaki-kun, if this is a bad time I can come another day." Hiroki frowned, both at what Akihiko had just said and his bearing witness to the couple's disagreement. Misaki shook his damp brown head and waved a hand in the direction of the stairs.

"Kamijou-san, please don't pay Usagi-san any mind. He just needs to cool… " Misaki glanced up nervously in the direction of the study. He decided to acknowledge the truth of the situation since it was already known.

He laughed uncomfortably. "He's just a bit worked up at the moment. Give him twenty minutes and he'll be in the shower. Thirty and he'll be in the kitchen to collect Aki." Misaki started moving towards the kitchen, Aki in tow. He turned back and offered Hiroki a sweet, sad smile.

"Besides, I haven't been out much since…" A pained look filled Misaki's eyes as he thought about his recent disastrous attempt to take Aki and venture out on his own. "Well… Please, Kamijou-san, I appreciate having company every once in a while."

Hiroki noted the apprehensive hope in Misaki's eyes and the tension in the younger man's shoulders. He nodded at Misaki's request and all that had not been said as well. Once they were in the kitchen, Hiroki watched Misaki's body language suddenly become much more relaxed.

This was the one place Misaki felt completely at ease. He set Aki in a playpen that had been set up in the space already. The location gave the small boy visibility to almost anywhere his young father might be in the kitchen. Aki stood in the playpen peering silently over its edge. To Hiroki he looked like some small captive. The boy's huge green eyes watched everything with intense interest, but his face remained stoic. Hiroki had no doubt watching the toddler that Aki was Akihiko's child. Misaki handed him an apron. As he did, he looked at his former professor shyly.

"So is it true, Kamijou-san? What Usagi-san said earlier? We saw you and Nowaki-san coming out of a clinic on the news." He paused to pick his next word carefully, unsure of his professor's feelings on the matter and decided to error on the side of optimism.

"Are congratulations in order?"

Hiroki felt a new heat fill his cheeks. Given that it was Misaki who asked, he fought to keep his hackles down at such a personal question.

"Ah, yes Misaki-kun, Nowaki and I are having a baby. Two actually… twins…" He offered this cautiously, not meeting Misaki's gaze as he donned the apron and rolled up his sleeves. Misaki's eyes grew huge.

"Wah… Kamijou-san, how are you managing so well? I was so sick for the first four months I could hardly bear it."

"Really?" Hiroki looked at Misaki, suddenly curious. Even being rather involved in Misaki's pregnancy, he realized he hadn't really ever talked with the man about his experience or anyone, for that matter, who'd actually carried a "Flu" baby.

"Yes." Now it was Misaki's turn to look away. "And the emotional stuff was just crazy too," he added this softly As he pulled some mixing bowls out of the cupboard. "Of course, I wasn't really in the best shape then to begin with."

Knowing to a certain extent what Misaki had been through Hiroki thought this might be the greatest understatement he'd ever heard.

After the initial exchange confirming Hiroki's "condition," outside of Hiroki's occasional cooking question or Misaki's explanation, the two men fell awkwardly silent. Then about twenty minutes into their lesson, Hiroki found himself holding Aki for the second time.

He had been doing more observing than participating, Akihiko had not shown up in the kitchen yet, and Aki began to softly protest his confinement. Misaki, meanwhile, was up to his elbows in dough. Hiroki looked over at Aki and felt badly for monopolizing the boy's father. Aki seemed to intuit this, or so Hiroki thought, since the huge green eyes staring at him seemed to suddenly grow even larger and Aki's previously sober face adopted a countenance that was completely forlorn.

"Oki?" Aki stretched out his arms. "Up?"

"It seems as though you and I have had this conversation before." Hiroki peered at the toddler suspiciously. Aki was unmoved by the man's disconcertion and merely repeated himself.

"Oki, up?" Hiroki's brow furrowed, but he reached into the playpen and drew Aki out.

"What's with this 'Oki,?" Hiroki's scowl deepened.

"I think Aki-chan is trying to say 'Hiroki,' Kamijou-san. He, uh… tends to abbreviate," Misaki offered looking uncomfortable. "I am sorry, Kamijou-san. He must have heard Usagi-san call you that."

Hiroki looked at Aki. "Can you say Kamijou-san, Aki-chan?" The boy regarded him seriously a moment.

"No… Oki." Aki stated firmly.

"Leave it to Akihiko's kid to be improperly informal." Hiroki growled, though not too fiercely, as he did not wish to terrify the small person in his arms. Looking at Aki, however, the boy did not seem in the least bit apprehensive.

Yes, definitely Akihiko's brat, Hiroki thought for the second time that afternoon. Given this, he was surprised when after a few more minutes of intense scrutiny; Aki heaved a weary sigh and laid a pale head against his chest. Hiroki was shocked to discover that, while on the surface he was uncomfortable about this turn of events, underneath this, holding Aki, was oddly soothing.

"Aki-chan seems to like you, Kamijou-san," Misaki smiled watching the pair as his hands worked the dough with practiced ease. Hiroki snorted at such a ridiculous notion.

"Hrummmph."

However, after another few minutes standing there holding Aki, he could feel the tiny boy's body relax completely; it was clear that Aki had fallen asleep in his arms. Hiroki imagined that he could quite easily lay the toddler back down in the playpen, but he didn't. Instead he just continued to hold Aki as he stood watching Misaki work his culinary magic.

Misaki had turned his gaze back to his dough. As he lined the pans his face was serious, but the expression was not caused by the project before him. Finally Misaki looked at Hiroki and his look shifted from serious to shy: it had taken him this long to work up the courage to return to their original topic of conversation.

"I imagine Kusama-san is pleased you have the Flu… With how much he loves children." Misaki tensed slightly expecting to be rebuked for this assumption.

"Ah, yes," Hiroki answered after a moment. He knew how close Misaki and his partner had become while Nowaki had been handling Misaki's case. Given this he decided to be more open than he normally would have. "He always wanted a family of his own."

Misaki was both pleased and startled by this response. He knew that Kamijou-san was like Usagi-san in his desire for certain kinds of privacy. He was also very aware of the man's pride.

"Please, Kamijou-san, forgive me if I am uh… being too forward…" His voice was filled with genuine concern. "How are you doing really, Sensei? It must be quite an experience for you." Tears filled Misaki's eyes as well. Hiroki looked at the youth and was shocked by what he saw. He felt badly, considering how little he'd thought of Misaki when Akihiko had first disclosed the truth about their relationship to him.

"Well… it's certainly… an adjustment, you could say, Misaki-kun." Hiroki looked down at Aki in his arms, grateful for the peace of the boy's sleeping face.

"I guess now they have support groups and things to help ukes process." Misaki moved to the sink and washed his hands. Thinking back on his own experience, he let out a long exhale.

"Being the first I didn't have those kinds of options." Then suddenly fearing that Kamijou-san would think he was complaining, he quickly added, "but then I had Usagi-san by my side. I could hardly have asked for better support than that."

Hiroki watched Misaki now nervously arranging ingredients on the counter. He was aware that Akihiko had initially been adamantly opposed to his lover carrying Aki and had wanted the pregnancy terminated. Though Misaki said nothing more, the pain of his memories from that time was obvious despite how hard he tried to conceal it.

"Kamijou-san," Misaki started and then stopped. He didn't look at Hiroki and a blush quickly rekindled in his pale cheeks. "Ah… If you ever needed someone to talk to…" Misaki stammered and then let his words trail off.

"It's poor comfort, but it's the least I can offer." Misaki leaned over and several wet spots appeared in the flour that dusted the surface of the counter below his bowed head.

I am so sorry to have caused so many people such trouble. I brought such turmoil to my country with my homecoming. Once again, as he had countless times since finding out the truth of Korovin's effect on him and the others who'd been held captive, Misaki was overwhelmed by the course of the virus.

It might have been better for the world if we had not been saved.

While Hiroki couldn't imagine the terrible responsibility the young man before him felt, his heart still pulled for Misaki. Studying Aki blissfully dreaming, Hiroki wondered about the isolation his former student had endured and was continuing to experience as a result of his tragic circumstances. He knew Misaki and Akihiko had gone to South America in the first place because Akihiko had been trying to both keep and protect Misaki after Takahiro's negative reaction to finding out their truth.

He had often wondered how the couple had ever endured beyond this: each knowing that as a result of their flight, Misaki had ended up losing so much and held accountable for so much more. He also realized in this moment that he couldn't lie about his situation. With all the young man had been through Misaki deserved the truth.

"Uh, Misaki-kun…"

Just then the door buzzer for the flat rang. Misaki didn't raise his head at the sound. His voice was low and choked.

"Kamijou-san, I hate to ask, but would you please…?" Misaki had swept a hand over the marks of his tears, so they were now covered with flour again.

"I think that Usagi-san might still be pouting and he mentioned something earlier about Aikawa sending a courier over this afternoon to pick up his new manuscript."

"Sure." Hiroki was glad for the chance to end their conversation and for a chance to allow Misaki to compose himself. He headed out to the front room, Aki still in his arms. While he felt foolish answering the door in an apron, holding a baby he didn't want to disturb Aki's slumber.

Fortunately whoever it is will likely never see me again.

Entering the main room, it took Hiroki a moment to realize that, true to Misaki's prediction, Akihiko, showered and on his way to the kitchen to retrieve his son, had intercepted the door already and had invited an unexpected guest in.

Hiroki's eyes widened and he felt himself suddenly blush furiously. He was glad that in his shock he had not dropped Aki, since there in the entry way, staring at him with an open mouthed expression of wonder, was Nowaki.

Sorry once again for no AN's. I had fourteen days of work in a row. Your comments and notes, however bolstered me immensely during this time. Thank you so much.

I will endeavor to become a responsible AN posting author again soon. I thought you might like some updates more, however.