Author's note: Rated M+ for scenes of sexuality and some violence.

"In you, I taste God
In you, I feel so hungry
In you, I crash cars
We must never be apart"

- The Smashing Pumpkins

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I almost lost the love of my life.

Yesterday was a whirlwind of total catastrophe: Soujiro almost running away from me and dumping me. The police man coming at our place to tell us that Shishio's been killed. Finding out about his father's limo being at the scene of the crime. Finding out that Soujiro's mom may very well be alive after all. And of course, our homeroom teacher visiting us last night and telling her the truth about Soujiro's life.

It was all too much.

Our bond has been seriously tested ever since I drove out of Soujiro's home with Sano's truck, taking my lover along with me. Our stay at the seedy hotel, the rage room incident, not to mention the awkward drive back to my house.. its a miracle that we haven't broken up at all.

But in spite of all of that.. Soujiro's still remains here.

This morning, Soujiro woke up early and was kissing my face, crying about something. I asked him if he was having a bad dream. He said it was something like that. And then he explained that he just felt so horrible about the way he treated me in the past: the manipulation, the lies, the blackmailing, the goating me to cheat on Kaoru, the way he kept me at a distance instead of letting me in completely. He knew what he did was wrong, and that he's sorry for it.

And to me, that's more than enough.

I let him stay in my bed for the rest of the morning.

I can't stand being away from him anymore.

We awoke a few hours later. Today will be our first day studying from home, and using the school's online system to get our work done. I made us both coffee and whipped up some breakfast. Soujiro seems happy with the simple meal of white rice, miso soup, fish and a couple of eggs. I'm sure he's enjoyed plenty of fancy breakfasts back home, but he reassures me that this is perfect. We took a shower together and brushed our teeth next to each other before he immediately goes into his bedroom to fire up his laptop and work on today's homework assignments.

"You sure you don't wanna watch a movie or play games in my room?" I smirk, leaning coolly against his door frame. Soujiro's sitting at his desk and typing away at his laptop to get into the school's Canvas page.

He scoffs, "Yeah right! And just let my grades slip away?"

I snigger, "You're such a drama queen."

"Am not!"

I stick my tongue out at him playfully, "Nyeh! I'll be in my room if you wanna stop by during your breaks. Don't keep me waiting, princess."

He sighs, "Just go jerk off or something, Kenshin. I won't be at rest until I finish all of my work for school today."

I sigh with a smile, "Alright. I won't bother you."

He perks up at this, "Of course, if you are going to do any chores anytime soon.. let me know so that I can help out."

I smirk, "Deal."

"And Kenshin?"

"Yeah?"

He smiles softly at me, his entire head enveloped with the warm glow of the morning sun peeking through his window that rests right next to his desk, "I love you. So much."

I grunt, blushing, looking towards the side to break eye contact with the beautiful boy who just confessed his feelings towards me so early in the morning, "Um. Okay. Yeah."

He giggles, prompting me to look back at his face again, "Kenshin! What was that? This morning you were so romantic and asking me to marry you, but now you're acting strange!"

...

How could I possibly answer that?

My eyes drift back to look at him once more, taking note of his entire being. That handsome face. Those brilliant blue eyes. His perfect smile. That incredible body that he so carefully and modestly covers with a comfortable hoodie and pajama bottoms. His brown hair that still shines as brightly as the very first day we met. His skin, still without any signs of stress despite all that's happened to us so far. Those soft lips that have caused me untold pleasures. I gulp, my nether regions pulsing with warning to get out there or else.

"I, uh," I straighten up while clearing my throat with my fist resting against my lips, "I'll just, be in my room, then."

I don't wait for his response, him looking at me with confusion, before I take my leave. I don't want to distract him from his job of being the valedictorian student of the entire school. I want him to succeed and have an amazing career fighting for the rights of people like us. I know he's going to do great.

I close my bedroom door behind me quietly, heading on over to my own desk to begin studying. I swear, if Soujiro and I have never met, I'd hate to know what my overall grade point average would be by now. It would be enough to make my dad seriously consider kicking me the fuck out. I know he wouldn't do that without a lot of bitterness or guilt, but there would be no way he'd entertain letting me do nothing at all after high school. I don't think he could handle me having to take summer classes again like I did last year, just to make sure I even stand a chance at getting my diploma. I would have taken courses at some trade school, against my dad's wishes of me getting to do more.

But thanks to Soujiro.. college is starting to look like a realistic option after all.

I am just about to login into Canvas, when my phone starts vibrating next to my laptop. I wonder if its Soujiro. I look and see that, instead, its Aoshi trying to reach me. I blink, reading the contents of the text message:

Are you busy today?

me and soujiro are studying from home and will be like this for the next couple of weeks. why, whats up?

I'll be home early from work and wondered if I could stop by to talk to you two. It's important. It's about Soujiro's father and what our next steps will be regarding all we've gathered from the company.

I feel my body stiffen at that. With the USB stick I've received from Arai Shakku along with Aoshi's scraped data, no doubt we've gotten more than enough evidence that will turn the Seta empire into dust. If Aoshi confesses what he has found so far in the data, it could send Soujiro into another meltdown. He's already been through more than he could handle this past weekend, so I have to wonder if this is even a good idea to do today.

i'll have to get back to you on that. soujiro might need some time to get used to my place before he faces anymore bullshit from his dad.

Understandable. Let me know if he's decided what to do today.

i will. later.

I put my phone away and immediately open a bottom drawer of my desk. There is nothing there, but I simply lift from the sides of the bottom to reveal a secret second bottom of that drawer, where the USB stick is seen lying there. I stare at it, thinking back on how I nearly used this contraption to manipulate Soujiro into staying here. Maybe what I've done was shitty, but I was backed up against the wall and knew I had to do something. Soujiro may very well have have done the same thing to prevent me from leaving him and living someplace else. Especially if that someplace else had a girl in it. Even though I know Soujiro doesn't have any feelings towards his arranged marriage partner, I wouldn't exactly put it past her to try and get him to return back home to his dad. Or worse, do something to hurt him.

In the end, I had to do what I had to do.

I take the USB stick and inspect it closely, turning to look at it as if I have never seen it before. This thing is what will ruin Soujiro's old life and be forced to start anew with me. I exhale at that thought. This is what will make him stop caring for his father. I have to wonder if there's something else here pertaining his mother, though.. What secrets could lie inside these files when it comes to his beautiful mother that was rumored to have perished years ago. Maybe there's something fucked up with his mom that could also make Soujiro not care for her anymore, either.

I feel myself frowning, gulping dryly.

...

Or maybe not.

Maybe his mom is sick somewhere out there. My dad is going to find out where she is so that maybe we can all go see her and see what state she is in. I wonder if maybe she's lost her mind. I wonder if she knows of the secrets that would set fire to the Seta family legacy. Maybe she found out something happened to Soujiro when he was little, and as a way to do damage control, was forcibly sent away by Tsukino. Did he perhaps threatened her? Told her that she would never have a relationship with her son ever again if she did tried something? Scared her enough to make her disappear altogether?

So much of this could very well be true. And it all could be found here in this tiny little thing in my hands now.

Soujiro..

I sigh and put the USB stick away inside its secret hiding place. Maybe I'm doing something wrong with hiding this from Soujiro. But after what he almost did to me.. the things he has put me through since the beginning.. it feels good to have at least something to leverage against him. I'd be stupid to show my hand to him now. If he even asks about the whereabouts of the USB stick, I'd just remind him of the consequences. I don't want to lose him ever again. I don't want him to walk away from me. I don't want him to keep me at arm's length like he used to.

I guess maybe I've developed my own trust issues with him now.

I worked on the laptop for around an hour before I've decided to take a short break. Maybe Soujiro's taking a break, too. I could visit his room now, but I don't want to be annoying. I've opted to instead turn on my television and watch a show from a streaming device, letting my eyes glaze over as the characters are talking to one another. I lie on my bed and try to relax, telling myself that I'll be sure to complete everything by Friday anyway. Canvas is helpful in at least letting me know the deadlines for the homework assignments.

I flinch the second I hear my door knocking, catching me by surprise. My stomach drops. I grunt and get off from my bed carefully, walking on over to my bedroom door to open and see the fresh faced brunet who is now looking at me curiously, "Soujiro?"

He blinks and then smiles, "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

I shake my head no with a smirk, "Just on time, actually. I'm taking a break."

He smiles shyly and places from of his hair behind his ear demurely, "Can I join?"

I lean in to give him a quick peck on his lips and nod, "Of course, dummy."

"By the way," Soujiro steps into my room, "Hiko texted me that the doctors have approved of me to take off your nose cast. We'll need to soak you under warm water to soften the tapes and so that I can gently take it off."

I grimace at him, "Sounds scary. You'd really do that for me?"

He kisses me under my eye, "Of course, honey. I've gotten broken bones before, so its not new grounds for me. I think it will be okay. We'll just take a shower together later on, okay?"

"Fine," I smirk, "I'll need to text Megumi to bring over that skin crap to take care of the scarring."

He perks up, "Oh, no need! She managed to give me the oil not that long ago before you got me out of my house Friday night, so I'll be sure to put that on you every single day."

I sigh and gaze at him softly, "You're so nurturing, Soujiro. I love it."

He snorts, "Please. I'm just worried about you, that's all."

Despite my insistence at staying active, if not a little bit reckless, my nose manages to hold up to my previous shenanigans without failure. The medicine helped me so much that I no longer need it, and I feel as good as normal.

Next thing I know, we are in my bed, hugging and holding one another as we watch some television. I honestly can't wait to have our own apartment to have something like this every single day. No one around to remind us to play just friends, no one to hurt us or shame us for the love we have for one another. It would just be me and Soujiro sharing our love out in the open, in a living space with just the two of us. High school graduation could not come any faster, but seeing as its January, we still have at least until late March until the school year concludes. Plus, we have to take our final examinations to see who will make the cut, and who will be left behind.

I know for certain that Soujiro will ace the final exam.

And a part of me does believe that I'll have a satisfactory score to at least let me move on from high school.

But..

Then there's Sanosuke. And Yahiko. And Misao and Megumi and even Tsubame. I'm mostly worried about the first three, to be honest. I think Megumi would barely scrape by and just go for beauty school just like she planned with Misao, but the latter has always been quite the laissez faire type. I just hope they all make it. I don't expect Sano or Yahiko to be interested in joining college with Soujiro and I, but I want them to at least graduate.

Still.. I think the fact that I waited until the last minute before I turned things around, grade-wise, also puts me in a bad spot. I know Soujiro is going to do great and will be able to get accepted into a great university, but I wonder if it's too late for me to catch up with him. These past few months of studying hard was proven beneficial; all of my teachers are smiling at me and I haven't gotten in any trouble, save for what happened between me and Shishio.

But what if it's not good enough?

What if it is too late?

I couldn't possibly have Soujiro join me in some safety school. He deserves to be where he truly belongs, along with all the other hardworking, intelligent students. He spent his entire life to make sure that he stays on the top of the list for who has the best grades. To have him then give up and go to a second rate school just for the privilege of being next to me would hurt me too much.

I couldn't possibly accept it.

"Hey," I kiss Soujiro's head as he's cuddling with me in the bed now, "Let's get back to studying, and then later on we can finish some chores around the house. Do you want anything for lunch? We can head out and get something together in town if you like."

He doesn't budge for a moment, having a think of things, before he lifts his up to look at me with concern, "Outside?"

I beam at him, "Yeah! I don't want you to feel all cooped up in here."

He frowns, "But.. Kenshin.."

My face falls into confusion now. What's wrong now?

He carefully sits up on the bed, looking at me, "We can't go outside, can we? What if someone catches us and takes pictures of us? Or that Father will send someone to spy on me?"

I nod, "Yeah, you're right. Maybe that's a little too risky for now."

He deflates, "I would've loved to have lunch with you outside, believe me. We always had such a great time eating out."

My lips thinned and I shrug with a shoulder casually, "Ah well. Maybe next time."

He quietly observes me and we don't say anything for a while. Then he perks up all of a sudden, "Maybe we can order in? I can use my credit card if cost is weighing you down!"

I chuckle, "Nah, it's cool, I got it. By the way.. Aoshi wants to come over later."

"Huh? Why?"

"He needs to talk to us. About your dad."

His eyes waver and his expression fades into an unsure one, looking down at his lap forlornly, "Oh. I see."

I sit up and rub my hand on his upper back now, "Honey? You alright?"

He doesn't say anything at first, but then sighs, "Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just.. nervous."

Silence.

"About what?"

"About the truth. About the horrible.. embarrassing.. life ruining truth."

I smile and kiss his temple as a way to comfort him now, my hand rubbing his neck lovingly, "It's gonna be okay. I'm right here. You're not going to be alone."

"Kenshin.." His breath hitches, eyes clutching shut, "If my dad is like that.. with children.. or that he doesn't mind spending time with child molesters.. will you find me disgusting just by association?"

"Fuck no," I wrap my arms around him now, swaying us both side to side gently, "You're nothing like your dad. At all. You're a victim and you need our help. It's not the same.. nowhere near the same ballpark."

He gulps, nodding, "Okay."

I chuckle, "You know I love you. Right?"

"I know."

".. Do you?"

He turns his face to kiss me chastely on the lips, nodding softly, "Yes. I know. And I love you too. So much."

Soujiro decides to bring his books and laptop over into my room to study on my desk, while I take my own laptop on my bed to finish up the homework. I don't know why we decided to try and study separately at first, but I guess we failed trying to stay apart for long. It's nearly an hour later and I close my laptop to head downstairs, which prompted Soujiro to follow suit. According to my dad's little list he wrote last night, since today is Tuesday, he wants us to clean the dishes and to do the laundry.

"I'll keep all of our clothes separate, I promise." I raise on hand as an oath, with the other resting over my heart. Soujiro rolls his eyes.

"I don't care if your clothes are mixed in with mine, but your dad has to go through it alone," He giggles, "I'm sorry. I just think it'll be weird to have my underwear right next to his work clothes."

"I hear you," I nod, turning on the kitchen sink faucet to begin the dish washing, "I never wash my clothes with his, either. He used to.. y'know.. throw up on himself whenever he got drunk."

His face scrunches up in disgust, "Oh. Yeah. Yikes."

We do the dishes together and he helps me with the laundry. Soujiro seems at least competent with these two chores. I wonder how he'll do with Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday house chores, though. Each day brings a new type of chore to do, and I have to wonder if he's any good at things like vacuuming, taking out the trash, raking leaves outside, and so on. Guess I'm about to find out this week while he's here.

It feels nice, though. Chores with Soujiro. This mundane kind of life together.

I can't wait till we get to be alone for good.

Once we're through with chores, I order us lunch.

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I open the front door, and Aoshi stands there in his trench coat and nice dress pants.

"Himura." Is all he says as he nods in salutation.

"Shinomori." I nod back, opening the door wider and stepping aside so that he can come in. The last time we talked was on Sunday. He texted me that day, asking if we are home yet, but I told him to give us a couple of days since Soujiro's pretty out of it from all the drama. He understood and kept busy. Now he's here and has the intel on his own USB stick that he brought along with him. With his and my sticks together, I'd say we have enough to throw Soujiro's dad in prison for the rest of his life.

It's enough to make me sick with nervousness, to be honest. I've never thrown anyone in jail before. But there's a first time in everything.

"That thing must be ready to drop."

Aoshi simply touches the side of his nose with his finger, indicating my nose cast.

I smile, "Just about. Soujiro's going to help me take it off today."

"I see."

We both walk on towards the living room together.

"Look who's here." I announce.

Soujiro gets up from the living room couch and I watch as he walks on over to us. He smiles up at the taller visitor, "Hey there! We just had lunch, Aoshi, but maybe you want something to drink? I can make us some tea."

The taller male simply looks back at him, contemplating. Aoshi then closes his eyes politely, "Tea is fine. I won't stick around for long."

Soujiro giggles, "Heading back to Misao's?"

Aoshi nods just to confirm. Then he asks, "Are you well here?"

Soujiro looks taken back for a second but bounces back with a beam, "Yes! I'm really happy to be here with Kenshin. Thank you so much for helping out, Aoshi."

Aoshi simply walks on over to take a seat on the couch, and Soujiro takes it upon himself to set up the kettle in the kitchen. I sit on the opposite side of Aoshi, just looking at him. It's crazy to think that this guy was someone I knew for so many years, and yet he's the one who actually knew Soujiro since they were both little boys. I have to wonder what Soujiro was like when he was little. Was he just as bubbly? Just as sweet? Sensitive, maybe? Was he always the star of his school ever since the beginning? Was he always just as anxious to please his own father?

What was Soujiro like when he was a preteen? Was he just as romantic? Just as hardworking? Just as sassy like he is now?

Aoshi has his eyes closed, as a way to relax and as a way to ready himself for this otherwise hard conversation. I can't believe he knew what Soujiro was up to all this time when he first saw my pictures online over a year ago. I can't believe Aoshi went along with Soujiro's plans to get me under his grasp, and also kept quiet while I was dating Kaoru, knowing of the weight of Soujiro's feelings towards me. This is the man that knew it all along, yet kept everything under wraps.

And now he's going to help us spill everything to the entire world of just how evil Soujiro's father is.

I can't believe it.

"So," I start as Aoshi's eyes open to look at me stoically, "I guess you guys found.. a lot of shit in that company's computer system."

He nods slowly, "Indeed."

I don't say anything, looking at him dead on. He finally continues, "And you found more than you've bargained for from his father's laptop."

".. Yeah.." I let my eyes flutter down, thinking about that USB stick's hiding place.

Aoshi looks at me in silence as Soujiro comes back with a cheerful disposition, "Tea should be ready soon. Do you guys have a favorite?"

"Green is fine." I answer, refusing to look into Aoshi's eyes for some reason.

"The same as well." Aoshi responds in his usual even leveled tone.

Soujiro nods and goes back into the kitchen to fetch the appropriate tea bags to drop them into their respective cups. He immediately comes back and takes a seat right next to me. He smells so good, I swear I could just die.

"Well, shall we?" Soujiro's smile is tense and I am feeling just as much on the inside, looking at the side of his face carefully.

Are we ready for this? Are we prepared to find out what exactly Aoshi and Shakku have found after all this time? Aoshi takes a gander around the living room, letting thoughts swim inside his head for a couple of beats before he responds coolly, "We have found incriminating emails between your father and some work colleagues. Business partners from previous firms that your father has consulted for more than a decade now. The emails talk about having access to a remote island town. We found illegal photos, as well as what your father's friends call.. 'delicious videos' of something regarding.. Well, how should I say.. nubile models."

My throat constricts and I grunt, hearing Soujiro take in a faltering gasp.

"Nubile.." Soujiro shakes his head carefully, eyes wavering, "You mean, like.. young..?"

Aoshi looks at him with just the slightest hint of worry in his eyes, concerned that Soujiro might not be able to take the next news well. But he nods, "Yes. Minors."

Soujiro takes in a failing breath, "I knew it. Sano and I found more or less the same thing on his laptop. Bastard!"

We are quietly watching him in concern, me especially with the way I am rubbing his upper back. Poor Soujiro.

"And that's how they wrote it as?" I brave myself to ask Aoshi after a while, "Nubile models?"

"They seem to alternate with other strange phrases," Aoshi crosses his arms casually across his chest, "Foods and even toy models like trucks and trains. It seemed strange considering the context of the emails. If this is their funny way of trying to cover up their lust for children, I have to say, I'm a little disappointed that they would be stupid enough to stick out like a sore thumb like that."

"I'm guessing you won't want to work at my father's company for long," Soujiro exhales sharply, trying to blink away something in his eyes, "Now that you've seen all of that."

"Indeed. But I can't make any moves until I am confident I can secure another job," Aoshi sighs, "It shouldn't take me long with my background, but I don't want to appear suspicious if I suddenly up and leave right now. Especially with you living here with Kenshin."

"Father never said or mentioned anything to you?" Soujiro welcomes my hand as I reach over to take a hold of his gently, trying to show my support despite this terrible news.

Aoshi shakes his head negatively, "Not at all. He knows you and I are close friends and it would be foolish to try to rock the boat with me."

"Makes sense," I add in, "I can't believe this. I mean, we all had our suspicions, but to have all of this evidence proving this.."

"Yeah.." Soujiro looks at my lap sadly, "I guess its all true, then."

"I can't keep the files of what Shakku and I have found, since he has also accidentally came across some more disgusting pictures and videos hidden in there, and its illegal for us to hold it for long," Aoshi leans back in the couch, eyeing the television set nearby, "So, I'm here to discuss what our next move will be."

Soujiro grunts, ".. Well.. I was going to actually confront my father in person, but.."

Aoshi's eyebrow cocks up slowly, ".. But?"

Soujiro's eyes flash towards me before they fly back at Aoshi's face. It happened quickly but I manage to catch it. My cheeks start to burn out of shyness all of a sudden. Aoshi scoffs, "Himura. What is this nonsense?"

I grit my teeth with a grunt, "I just. I can't have Soujiro see his father right now. We had to do so much just to get him out of there to begin with. And besides.. his father has proven himself to be physically abusive towards him, so I can't trust that anything good will happen to Soujiro once he's in a room alone with him."

Aoshi nods once, "Understandable. But if we were to go ahead and report his father with all the evidence we have, there's no telling what he'll do next. He could come after you. Worse, he could commit homicide against Soujiro here. This requires a delicate planning ahead to prevent any of that from happening."

"Not only that.." Soujiro whispers, "But.. he has.. he has videos of me doing horrible things with a man when I was little. And of when an ex of mine raped me. I could kiss a future goodbye if he lets it loose."

Fuck. He really went through all of that. I'm going to kill all of those people who hurt him. I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to stay calm.

"That definitely does complicates things," Aoshi rests his chin on his finger and thumb thoughtfully, "This is something we all have to think deep about and make sure we have a decision that will somehow alleviate all of Soujiro's worries about his safety. And for the rest of us, of course."

We are quiet, looking at the floor and ruminating ideas inside our heads. This is so fucked. If Soujiro and I release the proof of the Seta Enterprise's darkest secret, his father will simply hire a hit man and kill us all. Its pretty obvious by now that that's what became of Shishio's ultimate fate. But if Soujiro goes back to his dad, he would make certain that Soujiro will never see me or talk to me again. And since his dad has his own teams of computer whizzes, no doubt they've created a thousand copies of Soujiro's trauma on screen, in the event that Soujiro tells his father that he refuses to come back. Releasing that will hurt Soujiro's chances of going to school, of becoming a lawyer, and making a difference in society.

Our hands are tied, no matter what.

Fuck.

There is nothing we can do.

...

"Unless.."

I look at Soujiro in time as he mumbles, rousing Aoshi to also look at him in quiet surprise.

Soujiro sits up straighter to look ahead at our friend, "I can get a hold of my mother. Apparently.. she might be alive after all, Aoshi."

Aoshi blinks once, caught off guard, "Alive?"

Soujiro turns to me.

"Kenshin's dad is a detective, remember?" He looks back at Aoshi, "And apparently, he had done his own work in finding out more about my father's second personal laptop. And it looks like he lied about my mother's well being all of this time."

"Is this true?" Aoshi turns to me.

I nod, "It is. We haven't tracked her down yet. But if we do manage to find her.."

"Then we'll have yet another ammo against his father," Aoshi finishes with a muted smile, "The world cannot stand the sight of a distraught mother who knows the truth about what happened to her own child. She'd the only one capable of taking him down for sure."

"I just hope she's of sound mind when we do manage to meet her," My lips thinned and frown at the space in front of me, "She's been through so much, and to throw this on her lap after not seeing Soujiro for years.."

"Yeah.." Soujiro nods and sighs, "I have to have her warm up to me first before I can get her to do what she needs to do. That will take time."

The kettle whistles in the kitchen, and Soujiro gets up from the couch to head into the kitchen and prepare our teas.

"Well," Aoshi looks after Soujiro as he busies himself in the kitchen, "In any case, the best thing to do is to find this woman and lay low ourselves, meanwhile. You do still have your USB stick, right Kenshin?"

He turns to me and I gape at him, feeling my eyes widen at him. He's not.. thinking of taking that away from me, is he?

...

Of course he does.

But I can't give it to him just yet..

Because I need it.

I need it to hold something over Soujiro's head.

Something to keep him here.

With me.

I gulp and shake my head, "I think I misplaced it. I tried looking for it today, but I couldn't find it. I'll be sure to give it to you once it turns up, though."

"Huh?" Soujiro walks back into the living room and gazes at me, "The USB stick is gone?"

"I think its somewhere in my room," I shrug with a shoulder nonchalantly, trying to play it cool, "Don't worry about it. I'll find it."

"Well, please find it soon," Soujiro brings his hands on his hips with a frown, "Aoshi here needs it."

My eyes flashes towards Aoshi, and see that he's now openly glaring at me. Oh shit. One side of my face twitches and I look away from him. There's no way he could tell that I'm lying, right? He's known me for many years, but.. maybe he can tell that I've made up that lie right on the spot. Soujiro, meanwhile, is none the wiser.

The perks of being a trusting boyfriend, I guess.

"I-I will, Soujiro," I smile at him weakly, hoping he doesn't catch on while our guest is sitting right across from me, "I promise."

Soujiro turns to Aoshi, "We do want to thank you for visiting us, though. Honestly, I'm thankful for everything you've done for me so far, Aoshi. Really."

Aoshi softens his glare to look up at Soujiro from where he's sitting, his fingertips touching each other over his lap, "Anytime."

I exhale quietly, staring at Aoshi as Soujiro walks away to grab our tea cups. He stares back at me with a steely glare. We drink our teas and catch up on some small talk, mainly concerning things like how Misao is holding up, if Sanosuke and Megumi would make a good couple (Ugh seriously, Soujiro, enough!), and what is Aoshi planning to do about Valentine's Day.

Aoshi sets his tea cup aside now that he's done drinking it, "Valentine's Day?"

Soujiro nods with a happy hum, "I bet you'll do something special for Misao, right?"

Aoshi grimaces at the brunet and shakes his head, "I cannot say."

I chuckle at Soujiro, "Come on, Sou, he's not gonna tell you what they're gonna do. That's embarrassing."

"Huh?" Soujiro turns to me questionably, "What's so embarrassing about Valentine's Day?"

I groan, "You really.. don't know how the straight dating dynamics work much, do you?"

Soujiro shrugs with a giggle, "I've pretty much only dated guys my entire life, so it's kind of hard to tell what's embarrassing or not."

"I'm assuming you two will be celebrating this year together, then?" Aoshi rolls his eyes at me, prompting me to blush a little.

"It's not your business!" I sneer, but then I back down and look at Soujiro with a nervous glance seeing as how he seems to be looking at me with a deadpan expression, "Although.. yes, I am definitely planning something for Soujiro. That's a given."

Soujiro smiles demurely, "Oh, Kenshin."

"Alright," Aoshi gingerly gets up from the couch, "I've heard enough. I have to go."

"Oh," Soujiro blinks and hurriedly gets up from the couch, "Let me walk you to the door and send you off, Aoshi! Thank you so much for visiting us!"

"Not so fast," Aoshi's eyes frown and then turns his face towards me now, "I need to speak with Himura outside. Alone."

.. Fuck.

I guess he did saw right through me.

"Oh. Well, alright, then," Soujiro nods with a frown, "I'll be in your room when you're done talking, Kenshin. See you in a bit?"

I watch helplessly as Soujiro climbs up the staircase and disappears into my bedroom. I turn to Aoshi and he's already walking towards the front door to wait for me, and with a disgruntled sigh, I come along as well.

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The door of my house closes and I look towards my front lawn absentmindedly as Aoshi stands in front of me, "What's up?"

"Look at me, Shinta."

I turn my face to look at him. Immediately I feel the back of my head banging against the door behind me and my breathing constricting as Aoshi's hand takes a strong grasp of my throat, "Urk.. I..!"

Aoshi's face seethes with a silent rage as he glares down at me, tightening his hold over my neck. He is so much stronger than I remember. It was him and Sanosuke both that taught me how to fight. And although you might not realize it, but Aoshi's taken up weight lifting and defense fighting ever since he was fifteen. He's had years of training to be able to threaten me like this without any fear.

I hack and try to breathe as he softens his hold of my neck so that I can at least talk, but all I can do is cough while grabbing his forearm with my hands in a feeble attempt to him off of me. Aoshi leans in close to my face and mutters the following, "You better treat Soujiro well. You've done more than enough damage towards Kaoru, and I'll be damned if I let you hurt another one of my good friends again."

"Am I not your friend all of a s..!" I start to sputter as he tightens his grip around my neck again, "Erk..!"

He glares at me, ".. You'll find that USB stick and you will give it to me at your earliest convenience. Whatever it is you're planning to do with that thing against Soujiro with it.."

He cuts off my oxygen completely, and I can no longer hear my own breath.

".. Let me remind you of the dire consequences."

I am nearly clawing at his forearms when he shoves me against the door violently, letting me go finally. I nearly fall to my kneecaps, coughing and gasping for air. He merely walks off as if nothing just happened, and I watch from behind my bangs in a state of rage. But then I soften into self-conscious guilt, and let my forehead drop completely to watch the back of my hands as I try to catch my breath. My heart is still racing from that confrontation.

I guess now I know how horrible it feels to be shoved so hard like that. I shut my eyes painfully at the memories of me pushing Soujiro hard against the wall or a locker in the past, and I take a sharp inhale to steady myself.

...

Well, guess its time to go back inside and pretend that everything is okay.

God fucking dammit.

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"You're back!" Soujiro smiles as soon as I walk back into my bedroom, "Everything.. alright?"

I glance at him, and he looks weird all of a sudden . Like he's smiling but the eyes are not matching it. He didn't tell Aoshi to threaten me, did he? Or maybe I'm just being paranoid like I usually am. Maybe Soujiro just told Aoshi that we've gotten into a fight regarding Kaoru and he was getting ready to leave me, which would explain Aoshi trying to murder me minutes ago. But maybe not.

Ugh. Whatever. I just want to lie down.

"I'm fine," I sigh, plopping myself on my bed, "I'm going to finish one more homework assignment and call it a day."

"That's fine," Soujiro giggles, which makes me wonder if maybe I am just seeing things a second ago and maybe Soujiro never told Aoshi anything behind my back, "I still want to catch up some extra work, but I should be done in a couple of hours if you want to.. I don't know, do something later on?"

"Like what?" I prop myself on my elbows to look at him quizzically, "You're too scared to go into the city, aren't you?"

"I am. But.." He smiles sadly, "Maybe you can show me around the countryside, at the very least. This house is nowhere near mines, so I'm sure we'll be alright."

I nod, "Alright. Anything you say."

He beams in acknowledgement before he turns back around in the chair to face my desk again, working on the laptop. Soujiro Seta. He's earned his title as the perfect student, that's for sure. I smile secretly behind him, in awe of his hard work ethics. Time to emulate the great master and get down to work. We both do our own thing for the next hour, reading and studying in perfect silence. I bet college would look a lot like this for us every single day. Us working together in the bedroom or in the school's library, or maybe in a cafe somewhere in the city. I bet we'll have so much fun doing weekly grocery shopping, experimenting with different dishes together like excited roommates who are living away from their parents for the very first time.

With all that being said and done, though..

I have to wonder.. where exactly would Soujiro want to study after high school is over?

He's not gonna study in the city of Tokyo, is he? Especially when that's where he was born and raised in, and where the headquarters of the Seta Enterprise is.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask..

"Hey, hon?"

Soujiro turns to me, waiting for me.

"I was just wondering, but.." I lay the laptop that was on my lap aside, "Did you decided on which universities you wanted to study in?"

He blinks a couple of times before smiling at me gently, "Why?"

"What do you mean, why?" I sneer, "Are you gonna find something around here, or..?"

He teases me with a grin, getting up from his chair to walk on over to me towards the bed. God, are we gonna bang or something? I don't mind it, but I would rather get a straight answer from him about this first before we do.

"Come on, Soujiro, be serious," I groan with annoyance as Soujiro climbs onto my bed and starts to cuddle with me, "I need to know so that I can apply to the same schools if I'm lucky enough to be able to."

"I want to go where you're going."

My eyes snap open and look down to see Soujiro smiling up at me happily, "Where I'm going?"

He nods, "Yup. Once you pick your selections, I'll apply to the same."

I wrap my arms around his upper back and shoulders and shake my head, "Soujiro. No. If there's anyone here who should settle, it's definitely going to be me. Not you."

He rubs his face lovingly against my own, "But I don't want to go to a school where you can't go."

"No. You're not serious, are you?"

Silence.

He leans away to now glare at me, "I am serious. I'm not going to let us go to separate schools! Its either I go where you'll go, or you go to my choice of university. There is no third option."

My eyes waver as I peer into those determined blue ones, ".. But.. I just.. you know.. I never took my grades seriously before.. How can I possibly— "

"— We'll study hard, that's how," He maneuvers his body so that now he's sitting over my lap completely, staring down at me with a frustrated expression now, "I'm not going to school without you by my side. Period."

"But— "

He quickly leans in to kiss me, just to shut me up before I continue on. I kiss him back with reluctance, and he takes this as an opportunity to start french kissing me, groaning as a shiver runs up and down my spine as he does so. He breaks the kiss away and whispers against my lips hotly, "That's the end of it. Alright?"

...

Goddammit, Soujiro.

You know I can't say no to you!

We stare at each other, and he's not backing down. It's either his way or the highway. After a few moments of awkward silence, I finally sigh in defeat, ".. Fine."

He brightens up again and gives me a chaste peck on the lips now, "Perfect! We'll study hard and we'll prepare for the final exams. You'll do whatever it takes to make me happy, won't you? As a matter of fact.."

"Hnn!" I exhale with a flinch as I feel his hand reaching down to touch the front of my jeans, "Ah..!"

He tilts himself forward to whisper into my ear now, "Why don't you make me extremely happy right now?"

Well, its better I do this rather than have him think about our future plans, or what Aoshi might've said or done to me when he couldn't witness it. Or the fact that I'm purposefully hiding the USB stick from him just to have something to hold over his head. The next half an hour was spent us messing around and fucking each other senseless, and I gotta say, having Soujiro in my room as my live-in boyfriend is honestly the best thing that's ever happened to me.

We had a rocky start, truth be told. But it was worth it. Because now, Soujiro's having the time of his life.

"God..!" Soujiro sighs happily as I slide myself out of his hole after cumming inside of him, "That was.. so good!"

I pant, wiping my wet forehead with a nod, "Yeah.."

"Let's.. take that shower, then?" He is trying to catch his breath before sitting up on his elbows, "I get to finally take that thing off your nose. And then you can take me on a little countryside tour."

Soujiro..

How could you ever forgive me if you were to find out right now what I'm doing to you? Lying to you about the whereabouts of the USB stick? By this point, I think you would absolutely dump me and go back to living with your father, and I'll be damned if I ever let that happen. I have to make something up so that you can come across it, or pretend that I found it someplace stupid so that you can rest easy afterward.

I can't have you leave me.

You're my ultimate dream come true.

I'm just..

I look at him as he stands up from the bed to kiss me deeply in the mouth, his arms wrapping around my neck as I let my own wrap around his waist.

I'm just so unbelievably in love with you.

So can you blame me for acting so immature and weird all of a sudden?

"Let's take that shower now." Soujiro rubs his forehead against mines affectionately.

"Okay." I whisper.

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Soujiro.

It's you I adore.

You'll always be my whore.

"God..!" Soujiro groans helplessly, "I told you to wash me down there, not.. lick me..!"

I lean back to smile at his upper back since he's standing with his back facing towards me and legs spread, and I am on my knees in the shower now. I did wash his private areas, but you know how it goes: one things leads to another and suddenly I'm eating out his ass. What's so wrong about that?

Soujiro succeeded in taking the nose cast off of my face at long last. It came out nice and cleanly, though Soujiro looked so sad upon witnessing the couple of stitches still intact right on my nose bridge. They are so tiny in his eyes according to him, though, so I'm sure they will naturally fall off by the end of this week. The scarring is also not too bad, and I relaxed on the inside once he told me that.

So, what better way to thank him than to eat his ass out?

"Relax," I smack his ass cheek playfully, prompting him to flinch in surprise, "I washed you before I went in to lick your ass hole, didn't I?"

He peers over his shoulder down at me, his expression both lewd yet uncertain, "Was the sex in your room not enough?"

"It's never enough. I'll always want to bang you. You know that."

He stays quiet for a moment, but then he smiles softly, "Oh, Kenshin.."

"Do you think you could cum if I keep eating you out like this?" I breathe lustily before leaning back in to eat his ass out some more, the water from the shower head deliciously hot against our skin.

Soujiro shivers and moans happily, "Yeah.."

I begin tongue fucking him and he keeps writhing and groaning against the wall meanwhile. I keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't try to touch himself while I'm doing the hard work here, since I want to know if he's able to cum just by licking his ass hole alone.

Besides.. We have the rest of this week and next week to do all sorts of sexual experimentation.

This is going to be so much fun.

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We step outside together after that amazing shower experience. And yes, Soujiro did managed to actually cum from me just eating his ass out. Got to be one of my top five favorite discoveries with him. He almost started crying after that, and I had to hold him and try not to laugh at him being so adorably vulnerable. I guess it was almost too intense for him, so I promised not to push him for more sex for the rest of today. He at least appreciates the sentiment.

Where I live, its endless plains of fields and crop work, with different houses built from long ago dotting the areas. My dad and I barely even have neighbors that we know of by name; the nearest one is an older couple in their seventies or eighties, living a peaceful, quiet life in a house built in the nineteenth century. Soujiro looks at that house as we pass by it from a distance with wide eyes, really taken back by the beauty of its ancient design.

"Do you not see a lot of old houses where you're from?" I tilt my head at him with a smile, charmed by his naivety.

He turns to me as we continue to walk on together on the gravestone path, "Not really. Tokyo has its own countryside, I'm sure, but.. we.. I mean.. my father never took me to go see them, and I never met anyone from remote areas like that. Until I met you."

I grin, "Ah, I see. Rich city boy."

He smile sheepishly, "Come on."

"I'm kidding," I wrap my arm around his shoulders, "But which do you prefer better? The city or the country?"

He hums, pressing his finger against his chin, "You know, its hard to say. Cities are a lot of fun, but seeing the countryside like this.. I actually kinda like it."

I nod, "Yeah."

"There's not a lot of people that would point and.. stare at us," He winces slightly, "You know?"

"That, too," I look up at the skies above, knowing that evening will befall on us any minute now since we're in the middle of winter, "I guess we can just stay open to what our dream house will look like someday."

I hope it snows soon.

"Kenshin!" He giggles, "First marriage and now you're thinking about nesting with me? What's next, children?"

I look at the side of his face now, "Are you into that?"

"Huh?" He frowns at me. Oh.

"Oh, yuck, I don't mean," I shake my head to get that image out of my head, "Not like that. I mean, do you, like.. want to be a parent someday?"

He studies my face carefully, before he starts in slowly, ".. I.. I do want kids. Just.. How will I have that if I'm gay?"

"Oh," I frown, as if surprised by the fact that we are a same sex couple all of a sudden, "Yeah, that's.. definitely a boulder to climb over."

He stops walking and I stop also, "Kenshin. We can't even adopt children in Japan. Did you know that?"

I look over at him, wondering if he's trying to instigate something. I know him being gay is still a sore spot for him, but I want him to love that side of him, too. I love him not in spite of his homosexuality, but love him all the more for it. It's what makes him who he is, deep down. I wouldn't want him to be like any other way.

I used to be confused. I used to minimize what I thought about other guys my whole life. I thought it was normal if I thought a guy looked hot, or that there was a strange sexual pull that I would feel towards them. I thought it was just a side effect of being a horny teenager. I thought maybe I looked at porn too much when I was younger. I at least felt somewhat normal like other guys in that I actually enjoyed having sex with girls and we could always talk about it in the privacy of our bedrooms, even if its just to have a laugh over how sexy the girls sounded like in bed.

I even thought, wait, am I gay? But I realize what I am now. I just like both. And that's okay. Just like Soujiro being gay is okay.

"Soujiro," I rub my thumb over his hand softly, now that we've been hand holding while taking this walk together, "I love being in this relationship. Even if people hate me for it. I love you."

He blinks rapidly at me, completely caught off guard by that sweet confession. I just look at him in all seriousness.

"I won't leave you no matter how hard things get," I squeeze his hand in mine, taking a step to close the gap between us, "And I don't care if the law is against us. Nothing is going to make me turn you away. I know things can only get better in time in this country. I promise."

His eyes seem to take on a new shine as he gapes at me, floored by what he's hearing. He takes a step closer to slowly lean in and let our lips unite in harmony, a gentle gust of wind brushing past through our hair. I shiver, realizing that the temperature seem to have dropped all of a sudden. Maybe we should go home before it gets too dark or cold out. The last thing I need is to expose Soujiro to harsh weather. He's probably not used to that at all.

He breaks away from the kiss and kisses my cheek, whimpering, "I love you."

I exhale quietly, so in love, "I love you too."

He smiles at me and we turn back around to go back home. By the time we reached the house, it is now around three in the afternoon. Only a couple of hours until my dad comes home, so Soujiro decided to complete his final hour of working on his Canvas assignments in his own room, while I play video games in my room. Our friends has been texting in the group chat about how much they miss us and how school is just not the same without us in it. But I reassure them that they can come over anytime they want. They seem happy to hear that, at the very least.

They've seem to caught the study bug, so the guys messaged me separately and asked if maybe we can do something together this weekend. Maybe have a sleepover either at my place, or one of theirs. To be blunt, out of the three of us, Yahiko has the larger living space. As in, more room to just chill and sleep comfortably in. I told Sano maybe Soujiro and I can share the guest room while the two of them can sleep in Yahiko's bedroom, and the two of them agreed. Megumi and Misao in the other group chat, meanwhile, said that they have something planned this weekend unfortunately, but maybe some other time.

Yahiko: wonder what those girls are up to

Sanosuke: probably scissoring each other

Yahiko: bruh

Kenshin: tch no way. all they did was kiss

Sanosuke: ye but you know girls. one thing leads to another..

Kenshin: misao has aoshi already dude so shut up

Yahiko: lol

Sanosuke: well whatever, whatever they're up to is of no concern of mine

Yahiko: you so have a crush on megumi tho bffr

Sanosuke: stfu

Kenshin: oh btw... soujiro told me he was gonna help you two get together ;)

Sanosuke: OH THAT LITTLE BITCH

Yahiko: LMAOOOO

Kenshin: its fine! i think i can help out too if you want

Sanosuke: srsly bro butt out i can handle this

Kenshin: if you say so

Yahiko: not me tho im going to intervene so stay safe

Sanosuke: tf you just said

Kenshin: alright i g2g

Sanosuke: bye

Yahiko: bye senpai xx

I groan in annoyance at Yahiko's stupid goodbye but switched off my phone screen anyway. I head into Soujiro's bedroom and find him just finishing up his study with the way he's closing his laptop gently, "Hey, Soujiro. The guys wanted to know if you wanted to sleepover at Yahiko's place this weekend. You and I can have our own bed there, so its no worry."

He turns around in his desk chair with a spin and looks a little guilty, "Oh. Right. This weekend. About that.. I'm already invited by Sayo to go to her place for a tea party."

"A tea party?" I snigger, "You really aren't beating the gay stereotypes at this point, huh?"

He huffs, "Oh, stop that! I think it's going to be fun and I promised I will be there."

I sigh, "Alright, fine. Just remember to keep me in the loop while you're over there."

He beams at me, "Of course!"

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A tea party, huh.

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I'm not worried.

I look at the USB stick again in my hand. It's eleven at night and everyone has gone to bed. Soujiro has to be in the guest room just like we all promised, and Hiko is definitely out like a light in his own room. I'm lying in bed and clutching the piece of technology in my hand, grunting.

I trust you, Soujiro.

Really, I do.

I just..

Need this.

For now.

(To be continued)