A/N: Rated M+ for sexual content!
"I can see you, I can feel you
Slipping through my hands
Oh, I can taste you, oh I can taste you
Slipping through my hands"
- Nothing but Thieves
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"I.."
My voice loses itself and I stagger backwards in shock, prompting the officer and Kenshin to both look at me in concern.
What is this police officer doing here? I thought my father took care of him already! How did he even know that I am staying with Kenshin? Or maybe he was hoping to talk to Kenshin alone, and is just as surprised to find me here as I am seeing him right now? At that, Officer Shozo's eyes tighten at me, and it feels just like that meeting we had with Mr Saito, Mrs Kita, and Officer Tani.
"Uh, hi?" Kenshin whips back around at this officer, "Who the hell are you?"
"Kenshin!" I nearly hiss at him, causing him to turn back around to look at me in confusion, "Please, don't be so rude! He's from the police.."
"I apologize," Shozo coughs into his fist awkwardly, "I did not mean to intrude. I was hoping to look for the owner of this residence."
"So early in the day?" Kenshin grips the door, as if threatening to slam the door in this guy's face if need be, "And besides, my dad's not here. He's at work. Sorry."
"That's fine. I can come back later," Shozo straightens his uniform cap, "Unless you don't mind talking to me about Makoto Shishio. I would think you'd like to know what just happened recently, on account of our case regarding you and your friend, Seta Soujiro."
"Shishio?" I blink, taking a few steps forward towards Shozo in curiosity now, "Are you guys still looking into him on our behalf? What's going on? Didn't you already talked to my father?"
Officer Shozo grunts, looking into my eyes for a moment before letting them drop down towards the floor.
"May I come in, please? I'll only be for a second."
Kenshin looks back at me, and I look back at him with a frown also. Should we? I don't trust this guy, and Kenshin's no fan of the police on account of his prior altercations with them before. But I doubt anything bad will happen if we do let him in. I nod, prompting Kenshin to open the door wider and let the officer in.
"Thank you." Officer Shozo nods at Kenshin and steps inside.
"I'll make us something to drink," I look over my shoulder as we all walk through the hallway leading back into the living room, "Would you like coffee or tea, sir?"
Officer Shozo takes a moment to ponder, before sighing, "I'll have a quick cup of black tea, if that's alright."
"Sure," I nod, "Kenshin?"
"The same."
Kenshin and Officer Shozo take their seats on the couches while I head into the kitchen, and I could still hear them talking while I prepare the kettle. There is a strange tension in the air as I hear them carry on the conversation nearby.
"What are you two doing here at home?" Officer Shozo inquires, "Shouldn't you be at school at this time of the day?"
"Well," Kenshin sounds unsure of himself, but answers him never the less, "Soujiro wasn't feeling too well, and he slept here over the weekend. When we woke up to go school, and realized how sick he was, I felt bad and wanted to stay behind to look after him."
Shozo laughs.
"You two seem awfully close."
I am not sure if that's sarcasm, contempt, or genuine jester, because my grip on a glass mug tightens in nervousness. Hopefully, Kenshin doesn't cause a scene, or try to fight this guy. The last thing we both need is for him to get arrested, as well as hauling my ass back to Father if we can help it.
"We're close friends, yeah."
Silence.
"I suppose you're both wondering what is going to happen with your case against Shishio," Officer Shozo coughs and quickly gathers himself before speaking, "The truth is, Soujiro's father threatened to close down our police department unless we dropped all of the charges."
I walk in on time of his explanation, astonished by what I'm hearing, "Really? My dad threatened you?"
Officer Shozo snorts, "Yeah. We couldn't afford to take that kind of hit right now, so we complied with his lawyer. Your dad knows how to talk a good game, but that can't be too surprising. The Seta family does has a lot of power here in Japan."
"Did you.." I grunt, feeling shy and strange all of a sudden as I carefully sit down on the couch right next to Kenshin, "Talked to my father recently?"
I know. I know more than anyone that I shouldn't be too concerned about that son of a bitch. But I do have to wonder how he's holding up without me. Can you really blame me? I am always going to be his son, no matter what happens. I can feel the shift in the way Kenshin is sitting next to me, as if slightly put off by my question, but not wanting to start anything with me at the same time.
He should know by now that he and I are basically orphans, and we need each other.
Officer Shozo nods, "Yes. Mr Seta seemed preoccupied over something, but we did at least had a good chat so that I wouldn't find my team and I sued by his lawyers. He was quite stunned by the news about the young man that you two were in conflict with, of course."
"By the news?" Kenshin sits up promptly as did I.
"What happened?" I ask, wanting so much to take Kenshin's hand in mine, but I prevented myself from doing so, for obvious reasons.
Officer Shozo looks at us both head on for a while, preparing himself. The room is quiet and tense, the only sound is the sound of the water slowly coming to a boil in the kettle. Finally, what felt like a long minute, Shozo takes a deep breath, readying his nerves, and confesses the following:
"Eighteen year old Shishio Makoto, student of the local Kyoto High School.. was found dead on Sunday morning."
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Dead?
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Shishio is.. dead?
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Kenshin and I stay stuck in the couch, gaping at Officer Shozo and stupefied by this news, as the kettle finally belts out in a high note to signal it's readiness for our tea.
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Officer Shozo left shortly after, and I'm back in Kenshin's room, crying into my hands as he wraps his arm around my back to comfort me. I know what you're thinking. Why should I be crying right now? Shouldn't I be happy that a homophobic, violent rapist is dead? Well, of course I'm glad that someone like him is no longer alive. All of his crimes at this point are as unforgivable as my father's are right now.
That's not what I'm worried about.
What I'm worried about, is thinking that somehow, someway.. my father is involved behind his death.
Officer Shozo wouldn't divulge too much details about what his and his team found on Sunday morning. Just that the body was left out in a ditch somewhere close to the next town over, and that they believe it to be foul play. I know that obviously my father would know who this Shishio person is, on account of his lawyers probably asking the police to either name the details over the young man, or else.
And of course, knowing my father and the kinds of people he spends time and a dime on, the police department had no choice but to comply, lest they found themselves all without a job anymore.
"Soujiro?" Kenshin whispers softly, hugging me harder, "What's wrong? Are you okay..?"
"I.." I exhale, wiping the tears from the back of my hands messily, "I just.. I can't believe.. What that guy told us just now.."
"Yeah," Kenshin grunts uncomfortably so, "This is fucking crazy. I wonder if they made the announcement at school today over his death."
"Kenshin," I inhale and blink at him with more tears rushing down my face, "Do you suppose.. my father did this?"
"What?" He frowns, "Why do you think that?"
"Because!" I wipe my cheek again, "My dad has connections! He knows anybody and everybody! He could have paid someone to do whatever he wants! What if he killed Shishio because Shishio might know something he shouldn't have? Like me being gay or me being with you?"
"It's.. possible," Kenshin's eyes float towards the space ahead of us in contemplation, "I mean, dude's got more money than God, so I wouldn't be surprised."
"Kenshin.. what if he pays someone to come after you, too?"
He snorts, "I'd like to see him try."
"You think this is funny?" I scoff before sitting up from his bed that we were both sitting on, "You think this is a joke?"
"You're getting agitated over possibilities that probably won't even happen," He sighs, "Relax. We're safe here."
"Yes. For now!"
"Soujiro," His eyes glare on at me now, "Let's calm down and talk this through."
"How am I supposed to relax?!" I am near yelling now, making Kenshin sit back in an uncharacteristically frightened manner, "Right, I forgot, I'm dating the fucking ruffian that could dodge all of my father's bullets like some goddamn super villain. Thanks, I sure feel a lot better now!"
"And what's your proposition?" He challenges me, standing up from the bed now to point a finger in my face, "If you think you can shame me from wanting to bring your ass here instead of letting you stay with that monster, you've got another thing coming!"
"Oh yeah?" I hiss, smacking his finger out of my face in retaliation, "Maybe I don't want you to fucking die because of me!"
"That does it!" Kenshin grabs me by the arm and pulls me up close to him, "Calm down or else!"
"Or else.." I stop myself, recognizing this dance. I sigh bitterly, looking in another direction to avoid his eyes, "Fine."
He looks at me quietly, his grasp on my arm softening now, "Soujiro.. Don't worry. It's gonna be fine. I won't let myself get killed. I promise."
Yeah, right.
Never the less, I sigh, dropping my head onto the area between his neck and shoulder in defeat, "Okay.."
I hear him smirk and wraps his arms around my waist now, kissing the top of my head, "You're such a worrywart. Come on. Let's shower and try to calm down."
"A shower sounds nice.." I trail off, closing my eyes with a sigh.
Kenshin..
I just don't want anything to happen to you.
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We barely fit inside the shower to begin with, but we manage to squeeze together in. Kenshin and I help each other wash up by lathering shampoo and soap all over each other, and we would giggle at the bubbles that seem to foam everywhere on us. The water is thankfully nice and hot to calm my senses down after this particularly emotional day, and not to mention, our heated fight from last night.
I don't know how, but after a lot of time spent rubbing to try to clean me, I soon myself panting and groaning against the wall as Kenshin is fingering my ass and stroking my cock at the same time.
"God, please..!" I moan with a whine, "Couldn't you wait till we got out of the shower?"
"No." Is all he responded with before going faster with his fingering, reveling in me crying out loud in pleasure.
"Ugh, wait!" I groan feebly, trying to find a way to grab onto the wall somehow to keep myself steady. Kenshin, thankfully, supports my weight by being right behind me to make sure I don't fall over. Of course, this means he has total control over my body now, leaning in so that I have no way of moving around or even leave if I so wanted to without facing the challenge of heaving off his taller and heavier stature.
"Shut up, you love this," He mutters into my ear before nibbling on my earlobe, "If you want.. we can finish this in your bedroom this time. You have a bigger bed."
"F-Fine," I pant, shivering in bliss as his hand expertly rubs my cock in a way that drives me insane, "My room.. yes.."
He snickers, kissing my shoulder blade. I don't exactly know why Kenshin thinks it's a good idea to fuck me again after facing the news that our former enemy is dead, but maybe he just wants to take my mind off of things for now. Which I can understand from his point of view; I do love to feel pleasure whenever I am stressed out, whether that's from enjoying a good meal, or getting fucked senseless.
He just knows me so well.
"Ahh, yeah..!" I moan as I am lying on my side over my bed back in the guest room, my leg lifted up towards the ceiling by Kenshin's hand as he is also lying on his side from behind me, plummeting into my hole, "Fuck.."
"And here you were wanting to run away from me," Kenshin sniggers, "Like you could ever get away from something this good.."
I lean my head back so that he can rub his face against my damp hair before kissing my temple, groaning, "Fuck you.."
"I think I'm the one fucking you, idiot."
I chuckle, "You're such an asshole, I swear. I hate you.."
"You could never hate me. I thought I am the one you wanted most." I could hear Kenshin smirking as he thrusts into me harder and harder.
"I do want you the most. I do. That's why I hate you."
"Well.. I fucking hate you too. Because now I'm obsessed with you and never want to let you go. It's all your fault."
"You never should have made that social media account," I laugh again airily, my eyes flickering backwards in pleasure from all the fucking meanwhile, "Can you imagine if you never made that? I never would have found you. I could have easily spent the rest of my miserable life without you. Thank God you complied to your friends when they forced you to make it.."
"Get a load of this loser, falling in love over online pictures."
"It wasn't just your pictures I fell in love with," I pant, gripping my thigh to keep my leg up in the air as he keeps thrusting, "It was all those things you wrote on there. How you joke around with your friends.. the music you listen to and would post online.. you drove me absolutely insane before I even step foot inside your school.."
"You're so cute," Kenshin kisses my shoulder, "Psychotic and demented, but cute."
I groan, "Stop making fun of me!"
Kenshin laughs and at that moment, someone's phone starts to vibrate and light up, prompting us both to halt immediately. Who could be calling us now? It could be school. Did I forget to call in for my absence today? Oh shit. Oh fuck. I'm gonna be in so much trouble! At that thought, I carefully take Kenshin's cock out of my hole and sit up to look through the bed sheets for our phones.
Aha, it's my phone that's going off. I look at the screen, frowning, "Oh. It's someone from my project group."
"Project group?" Kenshin blinks as he sits up now, "For which class?"
"For our English class, remember? I formed a little group because we were fending for extra credit with our teacher," I smile sheepishly, accepting the call and placing my phone over my ear, "Hello?"
A male voice comes into my ear, "Hey, Soujiro? Where are you, man? Are you sick or something? Well, regardless, me and the others were wondering if you could at least send us that PDF file so that we can submit it all together for our extra credit."
"Oh no, Yutarō!" I laugh awkwardly, "I'm sorry! Yes, I am feeling a little sick, so I was absent this morning. I'll send you the PDF file in like five minutes from now if that's okay with you."
"Yeah, sure, no problem. And also, do you mind emailing me that study guide? I am so nervous about Friday's exam, I swear I'm going to fail if I don't get my ass into gear!"
"Oh, yeah!" I lie on my back again to stare up at the ceiling above me, "Sure, I can send that over to you, too."
"Thanks, Soujiro, you're amazing. Do you know if we can maybe study together this week with the others? I do have maybe a couple of questions right now if you don't mind me asking."
"Go ahead, I'm listening," I grunt as I feel Kenshin trying to sit in between my legs now, "I can help.."
Goddammit, Kenshin, what now? He looks on at me with a smirk as he rubs his hands over my inner thighs in a teasing manner, cocking an eyebrow at me. I sneer at him, silently telling him to get the hell away from me since I'm on the phone, yet that doesn't deter the redhead from reaching his hand over my cock anyway. At that, I held in my breath and feel my eyes widening at him, his hand slowly stroking my hardening cock and rubbing his thumb over the slit of my dick. I bite my fist as my study group buddy asks me the questions over the phone about our English class, my stomach dropping in intervals as pleasure builds up inside of me.
"Well," Yutarō sighs, "I don't understand the proper pronouns that goes with the correct English words. Do you have any resources or something that could help me with that?"
"Um," I grab Kenshin's forearm that's connected to his hand that is on my cock to stop him from stroking me too hard or too fast, "Y-yeah, I can send you a link that can help you with that. I honestly hate doing the proper pronouns, too, believe me."
"Really? Thanks, man," He chuckles over the phone, "Oh, another thing, too! I know you're absent today and all, but do you mind sending me your book report from the last week or so ago? I'm not going to copy it, I just wanted to skim the parts you showed me about your favorite books, and I could have sworn I saw a few titles that I think I would like to read over the summer."
Kenshin is now on his elbows, licking my cock slowly and ever so softly. I am nearly in tears as I clam down on my finger to silence myself, lest I expose both of our sexual relationship to the clueless Yutarō.
"Soujiro? Are you there?"
"Ah!" I gasp, "Sorry! I got distracted! I.. Yeah. I'll send that over to you as well. How are you, by the way? And the other guys? Did you guys.. hear anything strange at all today?"
"Well," Yutarō grunts, "We had this fucked up morning announcement on the intercom from Principal Saito, that a student was found dead over the weekend. Shishio Makoto or whatever, I think his name was.."
My chest leaps and I gulp, nodding, "Y-yeah? What the fuck, that's crazy."
"Word. I don't know him that well, but I hear he's a fucking creep. And he did something really bad with some girl a while ago. So.. it sounds fucked up, but I'm kind of glad that someone like him is dead. I don't like having bullies that like that around here, you know?"
"I hear you.." I whisper, feeling myself salivate as Kenshin swallows me whole, ".. It sounds messed up, too, but I'm also glad he's gone. I hear he raped someone or something."
"Shit, really? Well, in that case, I'm glad he's dead!"
I chuckle, "Gosh, you're really passionate about this."
"Like hell I am. I don't like rapists. I don't like molesters or anyone who does things like that. I think people like that, even if they know about it from someone who's their friend or whatever, should all just drop dead. People like that are vermin."
Then.. You would definitely hate my father, huh?
You would most certainly hate me, knowing what my father has done, and yet done nothing to report him or try to stop it all from happening.
Of course.
"I agree, Yutarō," I grunt slightly from Kenshin now slobbering over the head of my cock, "Listen, I gotta go—"
"—Wait, hold on!" He laughs into my ear now, "I should tell you something that happened today! Me and Heishin walked into your friends Yahiko and Sanosuke, and they totally tried to talk us into buying weed from them! I mean, I was sorta interested, but Heishin acted like such a prick about it. Called Yahiko a retard and everything. It was so funny!"
"Uh," I gulp, biting my lower lip and feeling my eyes flutter close in pleasure as Kenshin sucks on the head of my cock nice and hard this time, ".. I.. Those guys are such dolts, I swear. I-I'm sorry if they made Heishin mad, I-I'll talk to them when I get the chance.. hah!"
"Oh, okay," He snickers awkwardly, "You alright there? You sound kind of weird."
"Um. Yeah, I really, really need to go, Yutarō," I grab Kenshin's hair to warn him to slow it down at the very least, "I just feel very sick right now, but.. I'll send all those things through email in a few moments, okay? I feel like passing out."
"Oh, damn," He chuckles, "Yeah, I'll let you go. Thanks for being our leader and all, we really appreciate you."
I nod quickly, "Uh huh! Totally! See ya!"
"Ha ha, bye."
He hangs up and I toss my phone by the side to look at Kenshin still slobbering all over my cock, "Are you out of your fucking mind?"
Kenshin comes up from sucking my dick to grin at me, "Sorr-eee! I couldn't help myself. Your cock was begging to be sucked on."
"Kenshin.." I inhale lustily as he goes back to stroking me, "You can't just.. do that while I'm on the phone with people.."
He doesn't answer me and leans over to take me by the waist to haul me up and have me sit on my knees, kissing me on the lips. I sigh into his mouth and feel my spine tingle as his tongue swipes against mines, enjoying the delicious wet heat of his mouth that was on my cock just moments ago. He can suck a mean cock, that's for sure. I'm jealous. I thought I was a great performer in that area, but it looks like I've met my match.
Soon I am on all fours on my bed as he fucks my ass feverishly, his hand on my hair gripping tightly to hold my head up all while I am staring dazedly at the space in front of me. My lower lip hangs down and all I could hear, aside from the thrusting of course, is my quickening breath and throaty groans. Kenshin is keeping all of his sounds to himself, all so he could her me moan instead.
"Hey, did you hear?" He pants while stroking my ass cheek with his other hand, "There's this guy at our school who's like, almost the class president or whatever, and he totally takes it up the ass! I wonder how many times a day he likes getting fucked like that."
I groan, catching on who he's talking about in jest, "He sounds.. like such a hot guy, actually.. ugh..!"
"Well, he's basically a nymphomaniac, so probably," Kenshin groans and tightens his grip on my hair, "I wonder who's fucking him nowadays? I hear it's a really cool guy."
"You mean that other guy who looks and acts like a criminal?" I laugh, sighing in pleasure as Kenshin grabs my ass cheek to drill himself into me deeper, "Sounds scandalous, don't you think?"
God, this feels amazing.
"It is. Why would the valedictorian get together with that bad ass motherfucker?"
"Probably doing community service."
Kenshin lifts my head back by my hair harshly, making me wince slightly in pain, "Yeah right."
"Agh, Kenshin!" I sigh, gripping the bed sheets underneath me, "Yeah..!"
After several moments of him cumming in me and me cumming all over the sheets, he helped me clean up everything and each other before debating whether we should actually go to school after all. Although it's nearly lunch time at our school, it's better than just wasting our time here doing nothing. Well, if you count having sex as nothing, that is. I embrace Kenshin and told him that I'm feeling a lot better and I swear I don't feel like running away anymore, which made him laugh.
I'm glad we're okay again.
But.. there's still so much that has to be asked right now.
Like what we'll do with the rape victims of Shishio now that he's dead?
We knew that more heads are better than two right now who can't make any decisions without the others.
I send my study buddy what he asked from me over the phone before getting ready for school.
Kenshin and I rode the nearby metro bus and arrived near our school, where we arrive right on time for lunch. We had to talk with the front desk receptionist on what happened ("We were vomiting!"), and the receptionist made us sign a paper to get us back on schedule. She seemed so stressed out about something else that she decided not to chew us out for not calling ahead in the morning over our absences. Thank God for that. The last thing we need is someone screaming at us.
We just want to see our friends, more than anything right now.
"Oh my God," Misao is the first to rush up to us as soon as we enter the school cafeteria to hug us both, "I was so worried about you two! You must've heard the news by now..?"
"Yeah," Kenshin sighs with deflating shoulders as I look at him, "It's fucked up, but.. what can you do?"
"We were both kind of sick this morning, so we were only able to get in just now to see how you guys are holding up." I nod at Misao, who looks on at me with concern in her dark blue eyes.
"I'm doing okay," She frowns with a hum, "It's just so strange. One minute that guy was alive and you guys were in trouble with the police concerning him, and now he's just.. dead?"
"Do you know anything about his death so far?" I rub my hand on her shoulder to comfort her, which she seems to appreciate with the way she smiles at me sadly.
"Nothing, really. He did lived close by to me and Megumi, so if you guys want, maybe we can all check out his place?"
"Won't the police still be there, you think?" Kenshin grunts, "I really can't afford to look suspicious just snooping around my enemy's house like that."
"Point taken," Misao nods in agreement, "Still, it would be nice to hang out with you guys today if you want. I feel so scared. What if it's a serial killer?"
"The police haven't told us much, so it's hard to say," I grimace slightly, "I just want all of my friends to stay safe right now. It's all I ask."
"Come on, let's just go eat with the others," Misao beams at us both, "Maybe we can all hang out today and discuss this! I feel like I won't be able to fall asleep tonight after this morning's announcement."
"Yeah, alright," Kenshin smiles mutely, "We'll be there."
"Yay!" Misao gushes, and we all walk to the lunch table where the rest of the gang—Sanosuke, Yahiko, Megumi, and gracing her rare appearance for us today, Tsubame—cheerfully look up at us as we approach them, "Hi, guys!"
"Hey, you guys came to school after all!" Sanosuke chuckles, "Where the hell were you?"
"We got kind of sick, but we're better now." I smile and giggle at them awkwardly, rubbing a finger against my chin.
"Well that's good," Megumi sighs, "We were worried that something happened to you two, especially after what we heard about that asshole, Shishio."
Kenshin, Misao, and I sit down all together before I question Megumi, "You live nearby him?"
"Like, about ten minutes walking distance from him. He knew better than to mess with me, so I hardly ever saw him in the neighborhood," Megumi scoffs, "I might be a girl, but I can throw a beat down if I have to."
"We were wondering if we could all hang out today after school to scope things out," Misao nods, "But Kenshin here is a bit worried about the cops being there, still."
"Well," Sanosuke crosses his arms over his chest, "We could still chill together and maybe one of us can record the place with their phone, and then just come back. Who are we staying with?"
"Let's stay at my place!" Misao beams, "My mom got us so much grocery and I've got so much food to share!"
"That's fine," Kenshin nods, "Sanosuke, have you managed to get in contact with that other girl? Soujiro and I already talked to Shura over the weekend, but I'm guessing maybe the other girl heard about the news today."
"You're talking about Raikōji Chizuru, right? She's not here today," Sanosuke shakes his head with a frown, "Which would be something that she would love to hear, to be honest. Maybe we can try to find her social media and reach her there?"
"Y'all better let me handle that," Megumi grunts, sharing her plate with me and Kenshin since she's apparently not that hungry right now, "I'd hate to be a rape victim and have some guy reach out to me randomly like that, even if he does have good intentions. It's just something only us girls can share with one another without censoring ourselves, you know?"
"Ooh, you should invite me into the group chat when you find her, Megumi." Misao nods in agreement.
"Me too." Tsubame shyly contributes to the conversation, blushing to herself, "I can't come over, but I'll be online after school."
"I will. Poor kid." Megumi sighs.
"Then we've definitely got some work to do today," Yahiko leans his cheek against his hand lazily, "How are you guys coming along with living together?"
I can feel my cheeks blushing. I guess it's better that they don't know that we've been fighting like crazy and very nearly broke up over it, so I chuckle awkwardly and replied, "Oh! It's been awesome! It's a lot to get used to, not gonna lie, but I actually love it a lot! Way better than living with my dad, that's for sure!"
"He never contacted you?" Yahiko shakes his head slowly, as if in disbelief.
"My dad? Nah. I really threatened him hardcore with all the evidence we got against him. I highly doubt I'm going to hear from him for a while."
"That's good," Megumi smiles genuinely, "I have to say, though.. I do still feel guilty for the way we all avoided you and Kenshin just because you're both dating each other. It's a matter of conflict of interest more so than being homophobic, but.. I could see how we might've acted homophobic. Totally not the best behavior of the year. We're sorry."
"Megumi!" I laugh, catching her off guard, "Don't worry about it! If anything, to this day, I still think about Kaoru a lot and wonder if she's doing okay. I hate what I've done to her, but I did what I did and I'm going to have to live with that regret forever. Losing her friendship wasn't worth any of it and I should have been honest from the start."
Yahiko grunts, his eyes flickering over at Kenshin, who immediately looked back at him and told the dark haired teenager with a non-nonchalant: "I already heard you on the phone with her the other day. I know she's dating again."
Yahiko cringes and we all see his face fading red, but he never the less blurts out and bowing over the table, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I should have told you!"
Kenshin smirks, "It's fine. Really. I just hope whoever she's dating is a nice guy. That's all I really care about at this point."
Kenshin. From underneath the table, I place my hand on top of his gently before giving it a squeeze to let him know that I'm here for him. And that I'm proud of him for taking this so maturely. I sure have a lot to learn from this guy, honestly.
"So, um.." Yahiko blushes deeper as his eyes flicker over to the rest of the gang, "Do you.. know who it is?"
"No?" Kenshin blinks.
"It's your.. ex-girlfriend's brother. You know, Tomoe's older brother? Him."
Kenshin gapes at him in shock for a moment before blurting out, "Enishi?!"
Yahiko couldn't help but chuckle, "Yeah, man. He's sweet on Miss Kaoru now."
Kenshin twitches and chuckles awkwardly, "Well.. Good for him. Seriously. Fucker."
I squeeze his hand a bit harder now, telling him silently to reel it back, and he complies, backing down with a sigh. He then asks Sanosuke something in order to change the topic, "You realize that the police decided to drop all the charges against me, right?"
"No shit?" Sanosuke's eyebrows jump up with surprise, "You're real lucky as hell, then. Looks like all we need to do is just take care of these girls and hope that they can pull through. Then we can put this ugly episode behind us."
"Yeah," I grunt, "Then we can focus on my father."
The group is silent, taking in what I just said. They're all aware now of his evil nature, and the crimes he has committed. It's a lot for a group of high school aged teenagers to think about, and not to mention, we're all just a little afraid of going up against such a powerful man like my dad. But regardless of all of that, Megumi finally mutters with a surprising force, "Know what? Fuck that man. We're on your side, Soujiro."
"Here, here!" Yahiko pumps his fist in the air enthusiastically, and Misao nods happily along.
"That old man doesn't know what's coming for him," Sanosuke sneers, "And I want to see his ass in prison for a very, very long time, if not forever. He's finished."
"Soujiro," Even the shy Tsubame speaks up with more determination than her usual character allows, "You deserve a loving home. He will pay for what he's done."
I don't deserve friends like these. I don't even deserve to have Kenshin as my boyfriend. I've done so many mistakes in my life, and have hurt a very innocent girl, all because I was so ashamed of who I am. But with the way these people are now looking at me, with expressions on their faces as clear as day, I now realize that I really am not alone in my despair anymore.
I have friends, Father.
You might not accept them.
You definitely won't like them since they will take you down.
But that's okay.
I can survive.
Without you.
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Later on that same day after school, Kenshin and I went on the school bus to take us to Misao's route and head to her place. I must say, it feels like it's been a while since I've properly been back to Misao's place; the last time was when we were preparing for that winter formal dance and it was just us guys having snacks and shooting the shit before Sanosuke was trying to beat the traffic jam. I could still remember how hurt I was when I learned from Megumi that Kenshin was going to take Kaoru to the dance, though I knew I had no reason to be like that; I was taking my other friend to the dance to help her feel better about her own break up instead of the one boy that I am madly in love with.
Sometimes I still ask myself: What could my life have looked like if I had been authentic since day one? Would I have still had a friendship with Okita Souji if I proudly told other people that I am gay? Maybe he wouldn't. He would have probably stayed away from me and never had raped me, if I had been more confident in myself. Would Father have kicked me out if I knew I was gay and told him so? Maybe he would have. And maybe my life would have been harder at first, but I would have met kind-hearted souls who would take me in as their own and learn to love myself even more than I do now.
What about my mother? Or Mrs Oguni? Would they have shown me care and love if they knew the truth beforehand? Would mother feel the courage to leave my father and take me along with her? Would Mrs Oguni quit and can come along with us, instead? What about that teacher who molested me when I was just entering my adolescence? If he knew that I was gay, would he have been afraid to touch me instead of trying anything?
Or Kenshin, for that matter? If I had told him that, yes, I am gay, right from the very beginning.. would he rejected me, or embrace me with open arms? Judging by how open minded he seems to be in the end, I would think the latter. There's only so many so much that could've and would've happened, if I had been honest from the start.
All I can do now, from this day on, is learn from the mistakes I've done and move forward.
It's all I could really do, anymore.
"I can't believe the whole gang is at my house!" Misao grins childishly as we all take our seats in her living room, "Well, who wants to head out to Shishio's place now?"
"I better head down there myself," Sanosuke announces while cracking his fingers, "I'll make sure to take a good video."
"I'll come along with," Yahiko pipes up while nodding, "I'll take pictures of everything, or at least, as much as I can if the police aren't there."
"Just don't touch anything," Kenshin sighs, "The last thing we need is for someone's finger prints to arrive at the police department and have one of us going to prison for life."
"Yeah," I concur unsteadily, "Just try not to leave anything behind, you guys. For our sake."
"Hey, don't sweat it!" Sanosuke grins, "We'll be careful, I promise."
"And if anything bad does happen, we will definitely bolt out of there and run back here." Yahiko takes out his phone to check his text messages meanwhile.
"I better come along, then," Megumi sighs, "Just so you two can have a female perspective to heed when tension is high over there."
"And what do you suppose you'll do when danger comes up?" Sanosuke challenges her, making the dark haired beauty scoff at his general direction.
"I don't need you to play my knight in shining armor! I can take care of myself!"
"Yeah, right."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, it's just," Sanosuke sighs impatiently, "I just don't want anything to happen to you."
That's right! I was supposed to get these two together. Maybe today I can plant a couple of seeds to get something started between them. I watch them intently as they bark at each other.
"You don't think I can take care of myself?" Megumi sneers, "Honestly, the nerve of you! My mother raised me to take care of myself!"
"With those weak arms, I doubt it."
"What?!"
"Guys," I stand up with my hands waving in front of me, "Calm down, there's no need to fight! All three of you can go. Megumi, why don't I have a word with you in private? Just so that I can tell you what you should look for for when you get to Shishio's place."
"Um.." Megumi blinks at me, "Sure? Where do you wanna talk?"
"You can use my room," Misao shrugs, "I'm going to preheat the oven and make us all a snack meanwhile. Don't be gone for too long!"
"We won't," I stand up from the couch where I was sitting right next to my boyfriend and nod towards Megumi, "Let's go."
She smiles and nods, following close behind me as I walk through the hallway to find Misao's room.
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"What's up?" Megumi closes the door behind her and locks it, "You seem apprehensive about something."
"First," I hesitate, feeling my cheeks going red for some reason, "I just want to ask.. How do you see Sanosuke?"
"Huh?!" She balks, and immediately her entire faces fades to red, "W-where did that come from? Don't tell me you got the hots for him! You're going out with Kenshin, for God's sake!"
"N-no!" I place my hands up and shake my head quickly, "It's not like that! I just.. thought I felt some kind of connection between you and him today. You looked almost a little too happy when you agreed to tag along with Sanosuke, and I knew I had to ask because he is a good friend of mines now."
"This is kind of ridiculous," She scoffs, trying to play this off casually and crosses her arms in front of her chest defensively, "There is nothing between me and him. He's a bit of a goof, if you haven't noticed that by now."
"Well," I hide my mouth behind my fist shyly, "He is.. I mean, he has been studying hard these days because he wants to go to the same university as me and Kenshin."
She blinks at me incredulously, "Huh.. I never actually heard about that."
I smile sheepishly, "I guess he wanted to surprise you. Sanosuke realized that he wants to become someone after high school after all. Someone smart in your eyes, anyway."
She gapes at me for a while, studying me. Her eyes flicker towards the floor and she sighs deeply, "You know. I never thought he was an idiot. He just acts like one, that's all."
"I think I get it. He does like being the class clown and all."
"I just," She sighs, "I mean, I know he has plans now, but as much as it makes me sound mean, I'm a realistic girl. He's decided this way too late, and there's no way he would be able to catch up to you and Kenshin's level in time before our graduation date. I mean, Jesus, we're only four months away until all of our lives change forever."
I walk on over to Misao's bed to have a seat on it, still watching her, "I guess I better come out and say it: He and I made a proposition that if you agreed to be his girlfriend, he would back off about this whole college thing and try something else that's more within his reach. But if you don't go out with him.."
She watches me, perplexed.
".. I have to basically give up my own dreams of going to the same school as Kenshin, and then he'll have to be with Sanosuke to whatever other schools would take them both," I laugh awkwardly, scratching the back of my head, "I mean, don't get me wrong! I love Sano! I love spending time with him! But I don't want to spend the next four plus years without Kenshin right by my side. It was hard making friends growing up because I'm gay, I can only imagine how much harder it might get once I enter college and grad school."
"Grad school?" Megumi's eyebrows shoots up, impressed, "Are you not going to be a CEO like your father?"
"Nope. I promised Kenshin to go after my own dreams instead. I want to become a veterinarian."
She softens and smiles at me brightly, "That's so sweet. Not to mention the perfect match to someone as kind as you. I think you'll do great."
"So then," I bite my lower lip in anticipation, "Are you.. and Sano..?"
She sighs, "I'm an old fashioned girl. I don't ask guys out first. If he wants me, he'll have to nut up and ask me out first."
"I hear you," I nod, "I think I can talk to him about it. Does this mean you like him?"
She grunts, her cheeks glowing even redder than before, "I! Don't really feel like confessing right now, if you don't mind!"
I giggle, "Oh, I'm sorry! I'll back off for now. But I'll definitely talk to him."
"Don't mention that we had this conversation, though!" She turns around, probably hiding her deeper blushing face from me, "That would be too on the nose, don't you think?! Just.. guide the fucking idiot so that he can ask me out properly, okay?"
"You mean it?"
".. Yes."
"Megumi," I stand up from the bed to walk on over to her and place my hand on her shoulder, "Thank you. I won't let you down."
She looks back at me with a reserved gait, ".. Thanks."
"Hey, Megumi?" I tilt my head slightly to the side questionably, "You haven't happened to talk to Kaoru at all, have you?"
"Well. We talk," She turns back around towards me completely, "She's doing quite well for herself. She might seem like the fragile type, but her brain's way too big to ever hold on to old grudges or let life knock her down. She's going on to university and everything; she received confirmation in the mail just last week that she'll be heading off to a great school, and I'm so proud of her."
"And is she.. happy? With that new guy?"
"Apparently. He's a really nice guy."
I gulp, smiling never the less, "That's good."
She watches me carefully, all of a sudden suspicious of these questions, "Why? What's it to you?"
I grunt, blushing, ".. I can't lie to you, Megumi, but.. Kenshin and I.. almost broke up recently because of her."
Her eyes widen, not knowing what to say at first. But then she comes back with a scoff, shaking her head, "I mean. You two were the ones who hurt her first. I'll be blunt with you, but this is why cheating is wrong. In the end, everyone, and I mean everyone, gets hurt and have to pay their dues. One way or another."
I shrink back, taking my hand away from her in embarrassment, "I realize that now. I just wish I could apologize to her."
"Well," She looks to the side gawkily, "I don't think she wants to talk to you or Kenshin for just a while longer. It still stings her. I'm.. I'm sorry, Soujiro."
I nod, pursing my lips, "I get it. I totally get it."
Silence.
"But you know," She smiles and brushes her hair behind her ear, still looking at the floor shyly, "I have to say, I'm really happy that you at least have the cojones to ask me about her. As much as I would never agree with the way you went about things with Kenshin at first.. I do understand how much love hurts."
"Megumi?" I blink at her now.
She looks back at me, "Oh, you know what I mean, Soujiro. That feeling of like, being afraid of being truthful about your feelings towards someone. I understand all of that. I mean, I obviously don't know what it's like to be gay or bi, but I get the feeling like needing to stuff your feelings down."
"Wait a minute," My eyes and smile widens at her, "Are you.. talking about yourself? Regarding Sanosuke?"
She nods, her cheeks reddening again, "Mm hmm."
"But why? I mean, it's pretty obvious that he's taken a liking towards you for God knows how long now."
"It's," She sighs, her shoulders drooping and deflating from that, "It's complicated. He and I have been old friends for a long time now. I almost see him as my older brother of sorts, even if it's just an eight-month difference. I think I started developing real feelings towards me like last year, but in a way, it scares me."
"Scare you? Why would you say that?"
"I'm scared that if I go out with him.. and it doesn't work out.. will we still be friends? Will me going out on a limb be worth the potential loss somewhere along the way? You know something? It's crazy. When Kaoru started showing signs of liking Kenshin, even I felt petrified for the very same reasons. I was scared that she would end up losing a childhood friend. I even warned her against it. I told her to at least wait until Kenshin is all grown up and matured out of his whole bad-boy bullshit. But she didn't listened to me. She didn't wanted to wait. And now look at them."
I gulp, my guilt driving its nails deeper inside my chest now.
"Gosh, I.." I shrink into myself, wrapping my arms around myself and grasping my upper arms now, "I didn't think.. I mean, I knew they were friends for a long time, but.. when you put it that way.. Now my heart really hurts for her."
She nods, sniffling, "Yeah. I don't think she deserved all of that pain. She waited for so long just to get with Kenshin.. and all of that waiting was served for naught. Clearly he's in love with you and no one could ever measure up to you."
I grunt, ".. Megumi.. I'm.. I'm so sorry. For hurting your best friend like this.."
She laughs sadly, "Well, hey! Don't apologize to me! Apologize to girl who got her heart broken!"
I gulp again, nodding, "I will. If.. If she ever unblocks me.. I can't really talk to her, you see."
She hums, thinking, "Well.. I could maybe see if I can talk to her for you. And maybe ask if you and Kenshin could go see her sometime and have yourselves a talk. If you can do that, and promise me you never go around hurting people like this again.. then.."
I look at her, a softness coming over the both of us as we look into each other's eyes.
"..I'll go out with Sanosuke," She inhales deeply, as if she's about to jump into the cold, dark ocean and learn to swim against its harsh waters, "And.. yeah."
I gape at her, in awe of this girl in front of me. I suppose life has knocked her down hard once or twice for her to stay mature, even when she's faced the person who very nearly destroyed her entire friend group. Just like how I have a lot to learn from Kenshin, I too, have so much to learn from the friends he loves so much.
It's no wonder he was so protective of them back then.
It wasn't out of selfishness. It wasn't because he wanted to be bigoted towards me. It wasn't because he thought I was weird or dangerous.
It's because he loves them.
And here I was, acting so self-absorbed since the very beginning.
I nod finally, my eyes stinging with tears, "Megumi. Thank you. For being so amazing. I promise, I'll do.. whatever it takes.. to take care of all of you from now on. I want us to stay friends for life. If you.. If you allow me to, of course."
She smirks, "I'll take it. We are going to stay friends for life. I won't accept anything less."
I giggle. She smiles at me.
"Come on," She sighs, "Let's go back to those knuckleheads before they start clawing at the door."
I laugh, "Right behind you!"
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When Megumi and I return back to the family room, Sanosuke and Yahiko were both missing in action, leaving behind Kenshin and Misao chatting with each other. After that conversation with Megumi, I have to admit that realizing the empty space that Kaoru used to occupy makes this vision in front of me all the more painful. She would have sat next to Misao while they both giggle over something together, or perhaps have a conversation with Kenshin about something school related. The gang would have never known pain, had I not barged in and tried to make Kenshin mine, or made him cheat on Kaoru with me.
It's amazing how royally fucked up I truly am.
"Oh, hey, you're back!" Misao pipes up as soon as she sees us coming in, "The snacks are done! Help yourselves! Kenshin and I wanted to know if you guys are in the mood to have dinner together tonight. We could order in if you feel unsafe being out there tonight, Soujiro."
"Where did that idiot go?" Megumi balks, looking around and ignoring her question.
"Who? Sanosuke?" Misao blinks, "Oh, yeah, he and Yahiko went without you."
"What?! Ugh!" Megumi seethes and slumps over a couch dramatically, "I told them I would come along!"
"Aww!" Misao giggles behind her hand, "Sano probably didn't wanted to see you getting hurt!"
"I wasn't planning on getting hurt!" Megumi gripes, rubbing her hands over her face.
"Where were you two?" Kenshin blinks at me now.
I shrug, "We had to have a private chat about.. stuff."
"What kind of 'stuff'?" Kenshin leers at me playfully, "Were you talking about me?"
"Yeah, right," I scoff before sitting down next to him, "It's nothing, okay? It was just girl talk."
"You're a guy, though." Kenshin teases me, poking my side with his finger.
"Stop it!" I protest to his face, making the redhead chuckle at my outburst.
"So, dinner?" Misao reminds us all gently.
"Soujiro, do you want to eat here tonight or back home?" Kenshin shrugs casually.
"We can eat here," I nod, "What're we in the mood for?"
"We can do Korean barbecue if you want," Misao licks her upper lip, "Or maybe ramen?"
"Ramen sounds amazing," I sigh contently, "The one we had at Yahiko's had me dreaming about it ever since!"
At that moment before Kenshin could say something, the front door opens and in comes the neighborhood brute Sanosuke, and the pothead Yahiko. They both hurry in and close the door behind them, looking at us with frazzled expressions. Megumi sits up and scoffs from where she sits as soon as she sees Sanosuke's face.
"Where have you two been?!" Megumi shouts, "I was going to catch up with you two!"
"You might want to see this video first." Yahiko grunts, looking incredibly uncomfortable. We all look at him, completely lost.
"Here," Sanosuke retrieves his phone and searches for something on it before holding it up for all of us to see a video on it, "Listen to this."
The video on his phone starts playing. It looks like Sanosuke was just holding the phone in his hand at the time and place where he was shooting the video, and it was showing a tilted shot of Shishio's residency. There were cop cars near the area, among police officers also scouting the area. In the video, we can hear Sanosuke and Yahiko trying to reason with a police officer that's barely on the screen.
"What are you two kids doing here?" We hear an unidentified male talking, and we quickly connect it that it came from the officer.
"We were just curious, officer," Yahiko's voice is now heard on video, "That guy used to go to our school."
"It's not your business. Unless you're family, please, step aside." The police officer takes a step forward while Sano takes a step back.
"Whoa, man, come on!" Sanosuke's gruff voice is now heard, "We just wanted to see what happened!"
We hear the officer's two-way radio going off, and we can see him reaching towards his pocket to retrieve it and hear what's being said. It's so scratchy that we could barely make out what exactly is being said, but the officer hums and just responds into it: "Copy that."
"At least tell us if anything's changed since you all found the body the other day!" Sanosuke grunts, and we hear Yahiko whisper something to him in a hushed tone.
"If you don't get out of here, we're going to have a situation." The cop places his own hand over his handcuffs that hangs on his belt hoop, and that was all that was needed to make Sano and Yahiko back off immediately.
"Fine," Sanosuke glowers, "Come on, Yahiko."
We see the camera jumping and vibrating around, just showing other people's residents and the rest of the street, as well as the sounds of footsteps. It goes on for a few seconds before the camera finally stops vibrating so much, and Sanosuke going, "Yeah?"
We all blink, huddling closer as a group to watch with anticipation.
"You.. You're all here for Shishio?" This new male voice sounds awfully shy, and Sanosuke in the video lifts his phone up to show the guy's face, and we all seem taken back by what we're seeing: It's Shishio's friend, Sawagejō Chō.
"What's it to you?" Sanosuke challenges the tall blond.
"It's just," Chō grunts, "You're all here to figure out what happened to him, right? He was my friend."
"Yeah?" Yahiko implores curiously, "Why, do you know something we don't?"
"Well," The blond gulps, taking his time before he mumbles, ".. His father went missing like a week before Shishio got killed."
The trio in the video were quiet, and so were the rest of us. I guess Shishio used to only live with his father and had no mother around, or had any siblings to speak of. But then, where is his father?
"You think his dad killed him?" Yahiko in the video asks, "But that seems so fucking random."
"I don't think his father killed him," Chō shakes his head, "He and his dad might've not gotten along much, on account of his father beating the shit out Shishio back then. But he would never up and disappear like this. Something bad must've happened to him. We still can't seem to reach his dad or nothin'."
"Did you saw or heard anything weird before Shishio got murdered, though?" Sanosuke in the video asks him.
"Well.. come to think of it.. Shishio did told me online that he thinks someone was following him."
"Following him?" Kenshin asks quietly to himself, and I suddenly feel ill with dread.
"Who do you think it was?" Yahiko in the video asks and the blond shakes his head quickly.
"I don't know! All I know is, Shishio mentioned that it was like a limo or some fancy shit following him around. On Sunday night, he texted me constantly, but I was out drinking and passed out. By the time I woke up for school.. well.. these messages clearly looked like he was screaming for help."
"Did you.. I mean," Yahiko in the video sounds chocked up in shock, "Did you show the police this?!"
"Fuck the police!" Chō growls, "I don't trust those motherfuckers! All I have is one picture he texted me before he got fucking killed. You tell me if you know anything, but I can show it to you now."
"Yeah, show it to the camera at least," Sanosuke keeps his phone steady in the video, and the blond grabs his own phone to look for said picture, "We're trying to investigate this shit."
The blond finally finds what he was looking for, and holds the phone up to the camera. The video quality wasn't too good, but never the less, the picture clearly shows what appears to be the limo in question.
"Why don't you send me that picture? I'll give you my number." Sanosuke sounds uneasy, but still trying to show a brave face on video.
The video is cut off from there, and Sanosuke then swipes his thumb over to show the picture that was sent over by this Chō fellow. Right there, as clear as day now, I can make out the details of the limo, including the back license plate. Immediately, I recognize those numbers, and stagger backwards with a muffled cry, rousing everyone to turn towards me in shock.
"What?!" Kenshin comes up to take me by the forearm to steady me.
"I.." I could feel myself unable to breathe, but despite that, and despite the way everyone has their eyes square onto me, I manage to blurt out, "That's.. my dad's limo!"
(To be continued.)