A/N Here's chapter twenty three! Thanks for being patient with me!

I would've updated yesterday but I was too busy running in circles at SIX FUCKING TORNADOES ALL ONCE IN MY STATE!

WE NEVER HAVE TORNADOES! WHAT THE HELL!

...

But I'm fine now. So here's an update. XD

It wasn't a long drive. After several intense moments of trying to convince Misaki to get into the car, he reluctantly did so. He couldn't help his curiosity, but also his annoyance at Yumi for neglecting to tell him who exactly he was being delivered to.

He even asked for clues like whether it was a male or a female, what age group they were in, anything to at least get some intimation. But, no luck. He didn't understand why she wouldn't just tell him. It couldn't have been that great. He thought once or twice about jumping out of the car and making a run for it. He might have almost done it if they hadn't arrived at the police station just moments later.

Yumi parked in her reserved spot and shut the car off. She hopped out of the car and opened the door for Misaki.

"We're here," she said, smiling.

The two walked into the station, Yumi walking behind the scared boy, gently gripping his shoulders to calm and guide him. She didn't know how to feel about the fact that he was soaked in blood, and was attempting to commit suicide. She winced at the thought. He must have been through a lot. Her thoughts were interrupted by a small voice.

"A-Am I in trouble. . .?" Misaki asked nervously. He couldn't help but look around the lobby when they entered the building, seeing nobody he recognized. Being one to jump to conclusions, he thought maybe perhaps the woman had just lured him here with good news, just to turn around and arrest him. It would explain why she refused to reveal the identity of this so called "worried person."

He felt his heart lighten up when she let out a hearty laugh. The boy was slightly relieved, but at the same time, all the more confused.

"You're not in trouble."

He let out a small sigh, only to be startled once more when he felt another officer approach him and hand him some folded up clothes. He looked down at them, then back up at the man who simply smiled.

"There's a loo down the hall and to the left. There's showers there. Feel free to use it. You can then change in there. Those clothes look... uncomfortable." His face cringed at the blood.

Feeling embarrassed, Misaki turned to Yumi. She gave him a quick nod, assuring him that it was alright. The teen hesitated before walking to the bathroom and doing as he was asked.

Once he was out of sight, Yumi pulled out her cell phone and dialed the designated number she had been wanting to call for the past half an hour or so. She felt really excited to inform Akihiko that she had successfully retrieved the boy he had been longing for. Not once questioning their relationship, she tapped her foot, waiting for the author to pick up the other end.

Misaki stepped out of the bathroom shyly not too long later. All they had to offer him was one of the cop's uniforms. Even though they had given him the smallest size, it was still too big. Misaki's frame was so small, anything would look oversized on him. Not that he minded, though. He was glad to be out of Takana's clothes. It was also nice to be clean. Takana had not bathed him and he had felt filthy. He looked down at his now unusual attire. He was wearing a collared cop shirt and shorts. But, again, wasn't about to complain.

He in no way walked nimbly through the station. He was still shaken up, still confused, and still felt alone. The cops were nice but it wasn't as if he had the slightest idea what was going on. How does one react to his situation? Maybe he should just run when he gets the chance. But not yet. He walked up behind Yumi and tapped her shoulder gently.

She turned around with the phone pressed to her ear and smiled upon seeing Misaki. "You look cute," she commented quietly to not confuse the person on the other end of the line. Misaki didn't seem to hear her as he merely just looked down at the floor, which she assumed to be a sign that he was lost in thought.

"Yes... yes, I'm certain! It's the right one. He's standing right here next to me. . . yes. . . uh-huh. We'll be here whenever you're ready-" and she was greeted with a low beeping sound.

She was surprised he hadn't asked to speak with the boy. Yumi chuckled at the thought of the man springing out of bed instantly to come here as soon as humanely possible.

He won't be too long, she thought. In the mean time, she would keep doing everything she could to keep Misaki calm.

"Who were you talking to?" Misaki asked nosily, finally looking up at her.

"Someone," she replied simply. Misaki huffed in annoyance, concluding that asking this woman any question regarding people was pointless. She then clapped her hands together before continuing.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty? Can I get you anything? Anything at all?"

Misaki looked around the room once more to see if he could see a familiar face. Still no luck. His eyes couldn't help but glance at what he thought looked like a sunrise out the window. When he focused his full attention in that area, it was confirmed. The sky was black on top, but clouds and rays of yellow, blue, orange, red and pink could be seen coming up from the horizon.

"It's morning?" He asked in disbelief.

"Huh?" Yumi peeked her eyes over to the window. "Oh, yeah. Guess it is."

Yumi always had night shifts and was used to seeing the sunrise without sleeping anytime beforehand. Misaki, however, was in a state of shock. He couldn't believe he had been up the whole night. He yawned sleepily upon dwelling of the thought of him not getting any sleep.

"Sleepy?" The female officer asked.

"Mm," he muttered tiredly. Yumi chuckled. She felt bad for thinking so, but she couldn't help but find Misaki pretty cute. She patted his head before retrieving a blanket and wrapping it around him. "There's a bench in one of the back rooms. It's not very comfortable, but it's probably more comfortable than a leaky, muddy, box fort. Feel free to go take a nap."

Misaki didn't resist. He rubbed the sleep out of his eye with one fist as he made his way towards the back room before entering and doing as Yumi suggested.

The familiar red sports car zipped up hastily into the parking lot. Shutting the car off and leaving it wherever he had stopped, Akihiko hurried into the building. He ignored the fact that he wasn't parked properly. He was certain Yumi would understand.

Said woman was leaning onto the tall front desk, sipping a cup of coffee.

"Yumi," Akihiko called out to get her attention.

Putting her cup down, she looked at the author before a big smile appeared on her face. "You're here!"

"Yes, I am here," Akihiko trailed off. "Where is-"

"Misaki? I'll get him. Stay here."

Akihiko winced in disappointment. He wanted to run to Misaki, scoop him up, shower with him and hugs and kisses and take him home but figured it would be best to just do as he was instructed.

Misaki hadn't felt like he had been sleeping for very long before he felt Yumi gently shaking him awake. Letting out another yawn and stretching in the process, he looked up at her once he was fully out of his nap and had his full attention on her.

"Come on, your surprise is here."

Misaki let out small, unheard gasp. He didn't want to appear desperate and excited, but deep down, well, he knew he was. Then again, he wasn't really sure what he was feeling. While he did feel excited, he also felt very anxious upon not knowing what- or who- this "surprise" was. As far as he was concerned, there was nobody left in the world who would care to acknowledge and/or accommodate him. He took her hand when it was offered to him before being yanked up off the bench onto his feet in one swoop. He kept the blanket draped around his shoulders before following her out the door.

Akihiko waited impatiently where Yumi had left him. Just as he was about to disregard Yumi's orders and step into the room himself, he looked up in that direction to see her walk out of said room, with the young, shaken up teenager following behind her.

The rabbit's heart jumped with joy, and he felt his entire body become warm and he felt the anxiety slither away like a defeated Satan. He realized he was smiling when he felt his cheeks instantly go numb.

Misaki...

Misaki had not yet noticed the author, for Yumi had stopped to turn around and kneel down to talk to him. He couldn't hear what they were saying above the chatter of the other police officers and the distance, but he stood and waited to be seen.

Akihiko then saw Yumi point in his direction, the adrenaline he felt rushing all the more through his body when Misaki then looked in that direction, and their eyes met.

Misaki looked at Akihiko in disbelief. It was as if time had frozen as soon as he saw the man. He felt his heart, his mind, and his breathing still at the unexpected sight. His mouth and eyes were wide open. His breathing was chalky and the shine in his eyes shook back and fourth, not believing what he was seeing.

Akihiko smiled before calmly walking over to the two. Misaki did not jump or flinch, but slowly turned away from Yumi to face him. Once Akihiko was within poking distance, he stopped, the smile never leaving his face. He tried to maintain a composed, adult-like attitude, but was on the edge of spontanous combustion deep down.

"H-Hello, Misaki," he greeted the teenager sweetly.

Misaki said nothing. His state of mind had not changed within the time Akihiko had taken to approach him closer. He should've been thrilled, but... he could not push away the image of Akihiko being shot by Takana and left in a pool of blood on the floor to die.

"U-Usagi-san. . .?" He breathed at last.

Akihiko held back tears of joy as his lips were quivering. He took a deep breath. "Yes... it's me."

Misaki blinked for the first time in several moments before he began to tremble. "But... Usagi is dead... he was shot."

The man had expected this reaction. He knew exactly what Misaki was thinking: that this couldn't be true. It couldn't be reality because, in reality, he had been shot. And Misaki believed him, all this time, to be dead. He wasn't going to accept that he was alive so easily. Even though the man was right there in front of him, he could understand the boy being in a state of confusion between what was and what wasn't. In response, Akihiko lifted up his shirt to reveal the bloody bandages that covered the gunshot wound. Misaki gaped down at his stomach.

"Yes, I was shot. . ." Akihiko calmly explained. "But... I am not dead. I survived it, Misaki, and I've been looking for you ever since. This is real. I am alive, and I am here."

After hearing the pleading tone in Akihiko's voice, Misaki's jade eyes looked back up to meet Akihiko's violet ones. The change of attitude in his look had changed upon seeing the evidence. His features faded from disbelief into awe and relief. Neither one of them able to hold back the tears any longer, they began to pour from Misaki's eyes.

"Usagi-san!" He hoped up and wrapped his arms around the man's neck in an embrace. Akihiko returned the gesture with just as much gusto, wrapping his muscular arms around that slim waist to hold him close and keep him from falling. They both wept in each others tight hold. Misaki buried his face into the rabbit's neck while Akihiko reached a hand up to stroke his hair.

"Misaki... I missed you... oh God, I missed you."

Misaki wept freely and bitterly out of joy. "I missed-" he gasped for air- "you too. . ."

"Misaki. . ." Akihiko kissed the side of his head affectionately, snuggling him even closer- if that was even possible. "I swear... I'm never letting anyone ever take you away from me again. Ever."

A/N I think I'm sweating a little bit.

Trust me I've been waiting for that to happen, too. XD

And don't mind me constantly changing/describing Misaki's attire. It's just something I like to do. I do enjoy when my readers can see what I see, and I like to dress Misaki up like a doll. Because he is one. He is.

ClaryJace777: He was indeed very pitiful. :'c But, not anymore! XD Takana's fate will remain unknown, but only temporarily. Shouldn't be a problem as long as you keep reading. c: And thank you for doing that so far!

TP009: I'm sorry I penetrated your feels. XD But trust me, I know how that... well, feels. I'm a big angst fan and I can feel it squeeze my soul when the story takes a big step like straight into hell. It's a fun feeling. XD

Ino Death: Thank you, I'm glad it's getting good. ^^ And I hadn't actually planned out how Takana found Misaki, I didn't find it important. Guys like him stop at nothing. Maybe he did something similar to what Akihiko did to find Misaki. xD Also, what do you mean 'if I hadn't used the JR characters'? Just curious.

Soulhearts: I know right? I once read a chapter to a story that was like 300 words. What do you get off doing that? XD In my opinion, 1,500 words should be the minimum. But some of my chapters are shorter than that. Meh. But this one is the longest one so far, Chapter 17 being a close second. So I hope it's better. ^^ Thanks for being a faithful and loyal reader! It's people like you who keep the story going!

ili777: Well I hope you liked this chapter then. x3 You got exactly what you wished for~ hehe. Thanks, also, for the suggestions, I will indeed check them out. It's not like I have school or anything now. XD

TechSavvy123014: For now, methinks yes, Misaki is doing going through every curve ball life has to throw at people. But of course, there will be more to come in the future. But I'm going to try to stretch the happy period a little longer than originally intended, because I tend to enjoy tranquility too. Also I don't want to piss off anymore readers. XD I love angst but some stories I've read are just like, ridiculous. It's one thing after another. Constant problems and constant anger, hate, pain, whatever emotions that are inflicted in that kind of story. I'm like, come on. Can they just be happy for like five minutes please?

SuzukiChiyeko: Yeah, even when she's the good guy, I just have to make a woman in a yaoi story dainty and annoying. XD Not that I'm sexist, because well.. I am indeed a girl. But you know, when it comes to yaoi, I hiss at the female race. I'm like, go away! XD You ruin it!

I hope you guys enjoyed! This is not the end! There is more on its way!

-Tiny