CaityJoy: Alas, I am not quite so versed in flower language as I would like to be T-T

argenteusvipera: I think that in this fic Hani is like...a little taller, but he hasn't shot through the roof just yet. Words cannot express how happy I am to finally be in official dating territory. Especially now that they don't have to walk on eggshells and can fully embrace the FLIRTATION.

It was no surprise that Fuyumi descended upon Kyoya for answers, charging into the old Ootori mansion as unannounced as always. She had kept composed when Kosuke had told her all she could about Shigeo and his punishment. She'd reserved all her outrage for Kyoya—which, though grueling, he was grateful for. She was like Tamaki, insistent that all of Kosuke's friends and family must band together to save her and the children, and hardly accepting Kyoya's disagreement. By the end of it, she was nodding while frustrated tears lined her eyes.

Kyoya reminded her over and over that this was all to remain secret, but he never truly doubted her. His sister was often misguided, but never untrustworthy. To his knowledge, she has yet to say a syllable about Shigeo to anyone.

However, she could not keep silent about a certain pair of grandparents that had been hidden away.

Through tears and pleas for forgiveness, Fuyumi would swear to Kyoya later that it was an honest mistake—a slip of the tongue made in Jin's presence that she was unable to recover from. Jin was as aghast as her daughter, but unaware of all the other context, had no reason not to do something about it. In fact, she did the biggest something she could do, and found the Suzukis' address to visit their home and beg for a meeting between families.

As soon as he heard—by means of his mother, too, all but breaking through the door to demand how he could hide away his grandparents-in-law—Kyoya briefly panicked. Kosuke had just been convinced to be honest about her troubles, and it seemed that she was about to be punished for doing just that.

Shigeo would be livid, surely. He'd make good on his threats to destroy Kosuke's family and no one would be able to stop him. Kyoya immediately called Kosuke to explain what had happened, then left a message when she did not pick up, and then paced the room restlessly just waiting for her to answer, left to wonder if Shigeo was unleashing his wrath right at that moment.

When Kosuke did answer, it was to say that all seemed fine.

As she explained, Shigeo had discovered her relationship with her grandparents some time ago and had said himself that he couldn't care less if she acquainted them with anyone else. The reason that had kept her from doing so sooner was the same as always—a mixture of shame and anxiety. It would not be easy to explain to anyone, but she and Kyoya both hoped that given the circumstances around her mother's estrangement from her parents, others would be sympathetic.

When Jin later approached Shigeo on the matter, he had managed to sway even the most persuasive of women out of his attendance. He was leaving on a business venture of great import that could not stand to be rescheduled, and in truth, he and his previous in-laws were still quite "distant" (his word) with one another for reasons that Jin did not pry to hear. Hearing his mother report it later, Kyoya wondered if she was more understanding than he'd thought, or if Shigeo was more persuasive.

Kosuke and Kyoya spoke frequently about the party in the days leading up to it. Both were as hopeful that their families would get along as they were afraid of what questions might be asked about the Suzuki family and its history with Shigeo.

Kyoya was powerless to stop his mother from meeting with Airi and Sugimoto, and later with Shigeo. He was just as powerless to stop her from deciding that this party should double as a housewarming for his new apartment.

There were some faults in this idea that Kyoya could hold his mother accountable for. For example, he had yet to move in any of his belongings, let alone any furniture to sit upon. The blank walls and empty rooms hardly made for festivity. What his mother could not have foreseen was how greatly her son had downsized from their previous home.

Which brings them to this evening. Between Kyoya, Kosuke, Hitsuji, Minami, Airi, Sugimoto, Jin, Yoshio, Akito, Nanako, Itsumi, Fuyumi, Tetsu, three cooks, and two servers, it is a bit of a squeeze.

Despite being sandwiched between her son and her daughter, and despite her divorced husband just a few feet away, Jin fights to remain poised as she asks, "So you made all that jewelry yourself? That is outstanding work!"

Airi pulls her hair back so that Jin can see her earrings and necklace better, but it's for naught. Jin's eyes keep going back to the muscles cording Airi's arms. "Yes, I did! Just about singed my eyebrows off, but I managed!"

"Nanako, dear, I must ask," says Sugimoto, with his glass of wine carefully lifted above the head of Minami, who stands so closely in front of him she's practically standing on his toes. "Where did you get that dress? I've never seen a fabric like it."

Nanako answers, "Ah, this is from Spain! It's one of a kind. It's—agh, Akito, stop stepping on my foot!"

"I'm not!"

Hitsuji squeaks from down below, "I'm sorry!"

Every time someone so much as shifts, it creates a ripple through them all. With another, Kosuke bumps into Kyoya, and the two look wearily at one another. This is far from an ideal introduction. Yoshio keeps looking around the humble apartment with thinly-veiled revulsion, while Jin's smile falters every time a server has to shoulder his way through just to fill the glasses. Both refuse to look even slightly in the other's direction. Tetsu has to keep a hand behind Fuyumi's head to keep it from bumping against the wall, Nanako and Akito keep squabbling over elbow room, and even Itsumi seems oddly dour this evening—though that may be because of her husband's absence.

When she'd arrived, she told them all that Yuuichi would be unable to attend, sadly but without any explanation. The crestfallen expression on her face kept even the most shocked of them from asking questions. They were all left to wonder, Kyoya most of all.

He shouldn't be upset that Yuuichi isn't here. He doesn't, actually. It's just strange, even bad-mannered of him, but that just convinces Kyoya that only the most urgent business would keep Yuuichi away.

From the tiny kitchen comes another server, with another tray of hors d'oeuvres. Fuyumi gasps but only has room to flutter her hand at Kosuke for attention. "Here, here, Kosuke. Try this carpaccio. It's my favorite!"

The server does not see little Hitsuji in his path. Tragedy strikes.

He stumbles, there's a shout and a cry, then the platter is moving towards the floor, so Nanako dives to catch it, but only has it for a second before she's toppling forward, so Airi dives to catch her, and Sugimoto reaches over Airi to catch the platter, a knot of three people on the floor and a platter of carpaccio sailing through the air, until Kosuke catches it with both hands, not one bit spilled.

This all happens in the span of about three seconds.

Spouses are pulled back to their feet. The server is on his knees to grovel an apology. Kosuke is shocked into silence at the superhuman feat she just pulled off.

With a kind but rattled smile, she hands the platter back to the server, then very kindly turns to everyone else and asks, "Can we please just…sit down, maybe?"

"Oh, don't mind if I do!" Airi plops right back down to the floor. "Leg's still giving me grief, I shouldn't be doing gymnastics like that…"

The children and Kosuke sit, and as awkward as it is, Kyoya must show support by joining them. The Ootoris come down one-by-one, each looking more perturbed than the last. It's far from comfortable still, but there are no more knocking elbows.

Yoshio, with his back still pin-straight as he kneels on the floor, turns to Airi and Sugimoto and says, "I regret that we could not have met sooner—though I am sure that we will have many occasions to do so."

In a better setting, he means to say. Sugimoto and Airi bow despite being more than a decade Yoshio's seniors. Sugimoto says, "Just being here now is a pleasure enough. Thank you all so much for welcoming us into your family."

Kosuke sips her water, and Kyoya sees how her grip relaxes. The Ootoris will refrain from inquiring into the Suzuki family history for now. Though, no one could miss the curious glint in Jin's eyes as she looks between the two generations.

Hitsuji leans around his grandparents' backs and waves at Kosuke. She smiles back. "Hitsuji had something that he wanted to give you all."

Hitsuji reaches into his little backpack and pulls out eight sheets of crumpled and crayoned paper. He hands them out one-by-one and definitely enjoys standing taller than everyone else for once.

"Thank you!" Nanako exclaims. "You are such an artist!"

Jin looks ready to weep. "You are a darling! Ooooh, I'm going to have this framed! It'll be right in the foyer!"

Even Yoshio gives a bow of thanks—though it looks like his stick figure drawing is where Hitsuji had run out of steam. All nine Ootoris are scribbled in circles and sticks, with their names above each in uneven but painstaking strokes.

Hitsuji gives Itsumi two sheets. "I made one for Yuuchi, too. Could you give it to him, please?"

Itsumi's face lights up for the first time in the whole evening. "Of course I will! Thank you so much, Hitsuji. That's very sweet of you."

Kosuke takes Kyoya's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. His face must have betrayed him.

The next morning, focusing on work is like trying to see through fog. Kyoya is prepared for Kosuke to call at any second with news of Shigeo's vengeance. He also finds himself wondering, strangely enough, after his family's impressions of Airi and Sugimoto. In time, everyone will hear that Shigeo Amida's estranged daughter has reintroduced the parents of her late mother into high society, albeit at a far distance from Shigeo himself. The transition would be smoother if the Ootoris could have some kind words to say about them.

Also, a new home all to himself is affecting him more than he'd thought it would (which is to say, it is affecting him). He hears sounds that he isn't used to at night, yet the quiet makes his blood rush in his ears. The blankness of every room makes him feel like an intruder. It is not his home yet. Kyoya slept even less than usual the night before in the alien space that would become his bedroom.

He's in the middle of punching in the numbers on the fax machine when someone knocks on his office door and enters without an answer. Akito shuts the door behind him—and locks it.

The fax machine is forgotten, of course. Akito comes and stands on the other side of Kyoya's desk, hands in his pockets, mouth pressed into a hard line. The telltale sign of a difficult conversation.

"What's happened?" Kyoya asks at once.

"It's Yuuichi."

Dread spreads through Kyoya like dye in water. He had just seen Yuuichi this morning. What could have happened between now and then? "What's happened to him?"

Then Akito has the audacity to wave him off, annoyed, as if Kyoya is silly to be afraid. "Nothing's happened to him. It's just something that I wanted to bring to your attention. I suppose."

Wishing for him to just spit it out already, Kyoya nods.

"Yuuichi and Itsumi had a fi—they had an argument. Kyoya, stop looking at me like that. They're not dead."

"Then would you just say what's happened already?"

Akito runs his tongue over his teeth. Looking like he regrets coming. "I don't know exactly what it was about, but it was serious, and it's still going on."

"How long ago was this?"

"A few nights ago."

Is that why Yuuichi had not come to the party? Yet Itsumi did. Kyoya is too confused to be alarmed, really.

"I see." Kyoya folds his arms. "What is it, then?"

"What do you mean, 'what is it'?"

"Why are you telling me this? Is there a task of his that we need to pick up? Did he take the rest of the day off?"

His brother's eyes flutter, then turn blankly to the wall. Kyoya refuses to feel embarrassed. What? What is it, already?

"No, Kyoya," sighs Akito. "There isn't extra work we need to do. I'm telling you because he's our brother."

It's not that Kyoya doesn't understand. He does. "And?"

"What do you m—?"

"You know what I mean, 'and'."

That clicks Akito's mouth shut. He has the grace to look sheepish, if only just.

"I'm worried about him." Kyoya waits. "He hasn't been returning my calls or messages, and he seems…distracted."

At least he admits it. Regardless, Kyoya is at a loss for what to say. Their talk at Mr. Ito's party proved that comfort is foreign territory to them. "I understand, but as this is the first time I'm hearing about this, I'm not sure what to say."

"I know." Footsteps come and go on the other side of the door, and Akito glances warily at it. He's probably had nightmares of being caught discussing personal matters on work time. "I was thinking that you could talk to him about it."

Kyoya sits in his chair, pulls it up to his desk, and folds his fingers atop one another.

"Why." Akito starts to snap something back, so Kyoya cuts him off. "I understand why you're not asking Fuyumi. What I don't understand is why you're asking this of me, rather than doing it yourself. I would think Yuuichi would sooner listen to you."

"You and Kosuke just came out of an argument. I don't know how you two made amends, but maybe you could give Yuuichi some advice?"

Kyoya can concede that—but he can't recall ever giving his eldest brother advice about anything. Yuuichi wouldn't come to Kyoya to ask which tie would match his shirt. Which Akito clearly knows, but here he is. And there he was on the balcony, doing for Kyoya what he's asking Kyoya to do for Yuuichi.

"I can't make any promises as to how well it will go, but I will try to speak with him."

With just a nod, Akito leaves.

No promises broken, it does not go well.

It's Kyoya's turn to go to his brother's office very quickly after Akito leaves because it's one of the few times of the day that Yuuichi is sure to be there. Every part of it makes Kyoya's office look like a shoebox. Just one step below the CEO's office in quality, but just as lifeless.

Yuuichi beckons Kyoya inside, but doesn't look up from his computer and whatever he's clicking into it. There's a name plate on his desk of his name in gold characters, as if anyone walking into this room might need to be reminded who he is. "What is it."

"I need to speak with you."

"Is this a private matter?"

"Yes."

Without hesitating, Yuuichi flips open the planner on his desk, which is just as chaotically organized as Kyoya's. He taps his finger on the page, turns back to the computer, and says, "I get off of work at six this evening."

Fair. They're on work time, after all. Kyoya leaves, and the rest of the workday passes as usual, bar the concern of how this conversation will go.

At 5:45, Kyoya sits in a chair outside of Yuuichi's office. At six o'clock exactly, Yuuichi emerges with his suitcase in hand and beckons Kyoya to follow him with a jerk of his head. They enter the elevator, and with every stop and every employee that steps in and out, Kyoya grows more anxious. Where is Yuuichi taking him?

They step off one elevator, cross a building, and enter another. After an eternity, they arrive at the parking garage with plenty of cars but none of their drivers. Only as he's pulling his car keys from his pocket does Yuuichi finally speak. "What's going on?"

His indifference irks Kyoya, but to be fair, Yuuichi has no reason to believe it to be urgent…or personal.

"Akito came to me earlier today and asked me to speak with you."

"About what?"

With a click of his fob, the car door of Yuuichi's car slides open. While he tucks his suitcase into the backseat, Kyoya replies, "About you and Itsumi."

Yuuichi shuts the door. "What did he say?"

"He said that the two of you are arguing." Met with silence, he adds, "Is that true?"

"Yes. If Akito asks again, please tell him that I am more than capable of separating my work from my personal life, and I have done nothing to make him or anyone else think that I have or will fall behind in my responsibilities."

"He's worried about you. Not your work."

Yuuichi's frown finally turns confused. "Why?"

See, Akito? "Because he cares about you and wants to make sure that you're well."

At this, Yuuichi's eyes tighten into a look of such…derision. He looks exactly like their father did when they were only children and being too loud or asking too many questions and Yoshio was just too repulsed to even scold them. He'd just sneer down his nose at them. Nuisances.

"Go home, Kyoya."

Yuuchi climbs into his car and peels out of the parking garage. Kyoya is too unsurprised to be embarrassed. He wonders, though, where Yuuichi was imagining when he told him to go home.

With all the hassle of moving into the apartment, Kyoya has been too busy to find a car to match his new license. That's why he is in the back of a chaperoned limousine, as usual, when his phone buzzes with a single message from Fuyumi:

Kyoya, I am begging you, come over here NOW.

The driver takes the next turn, and after a stretch (during which Kyoya ponders if this will be an emergency or Fuyumi's idea of one) they pull up in front of the Shido mansion. The limousine is still moving when Fuyumi tears down the front steps.

The very instant that Kyoya's shoes touch the asphalt, Fuyumi demands, "Do you have any idea what happened between Yuuichi and Itsumi?"

"No."

"You're about to. Come inside."

A call for sibling reinforcements, then? Akito should've known that Fuyumi was going to ferret this out sooner or later. If it's an intervention for Yuuichi that Fuyumi wants, though, she might as well ask the sky to stop being blue.

Kyoya follows her back inside. "I was none the wiser until Akito told me. What about you?"

"I had no idea until Itsumi showed up at the door an hour ago."

"She's here?"

"Inside." An attendee shuts the front door behind them, but they've only just come into the foyer when Fuyumi stops him again. "It's, uh…It's not pretty, Kyoya. Be warned."

Kyoya has never been particularly close to his sister-in-law, but he does know her. She is soft-spoken, kind but shy. At the end of any big gathering, one can see her social battery losing power behind her polite smiles. Even if you just saw her and her husband standing together, you would see how she looks softer.

Kyoya is fully expecting to enter the lounge and see Itsumi with a flushed and watery face, perhaps blowing her nose into a tissue.

When he walks in, a pillow goes flying past his head.

Then another hits the far wall, then another hits the floor and slides. Itsumi brings the next one down from above her head and THWOMPS it on the ground. Her face is flushed, yes. But not a tear in sight. Just bared teeth and seething rage.

That said, she still has the vocabulary of a schoolteacher.

"Stuck-up jerky-werky pompous-wompous snob! Condescending know-it-all nerdy-wordy-gurdy! Patronizing-watronizing-bing-bang-matronizing elitist-wetist!"

Safely hiding in the corner, Tetsu claps a hand of his mouth, as if a sailor couldn't speak more vulgarly.

The last pillow does a somersault through the air, hits an impressionist painting on the wall, and lands sideways. Itsumi's fingers are shaking. "It's not working! It's too—soft!"

Her wild eyes look at the small clay sculpture on the side table. Tetsu goes white.

"Here, Itsumi—I found them." Fuyumi steps away for just long enough to procure a cardboard box filled with cheap vases, glasses, and all things breakable. "Take these to the patio. They're all yours."

No one answers Testu when he asks, "Why did you have those already?" Itsumi takes the box and storms through the back door. Not a moment later comes a symphony of shattering glass.

Fuyumi clicks her tongue and turns to Kyoya. "I don't suppose you've heard anything from Yuuichi."

"A few syllables." Kyoya picks up the pillow nearest to him and tosses it back to the loveseat. "What have I missed?"

"Um…I honestly didn't catch it…I-know-more-than-you, bee-bop-boo, muck-up stuck-up?"

"Oh, I caught it." As he explains, Tetsu straightens the painting that had been knocked askew. "Apparently Itsumi and Yuuichi were having dinner with a friend and his wife, and they started talking about where they've been recently. Itsumi mentioned a village they had visited in Tuscany, but Yuuichi interrupted that it was in Sicily. Then she mentioned a vineyard they'd visited in Campania, and Yuuichi corrected her pronunciation. Apparently he did it in a very condescending way, but when she brought it up to him later, he just brushed her off as being angry at being wrong. Then she tried to say it wasn't about her being wrong, it was about the way he'd corrected her, and then they started fighting. Now…we're here."

In punctuation, something outside smashes against the ground.

"Ah." Fuyumi is grimacing. "And Yuuichi didn't mention anything at all, Kyoya?"

"Are you doubting Itsumi? It sounds believable to me."

"Well, surely Yuuichi would have apologized by now. Right?" Fuyumi looks between her brother and husband. "Right?"

Kyoya refuses to answer. Tetsu becomes very invested in getting the pillows back on the loveseat just right. Three things shatter in quick succession.

Fuyumi sighs. She falls into the nearest seat, curling her legs under her. "Well, what are we supposed to do?"

"Why are we supposed to do something?" Kyoya quickly adds, "Before you say something about us being family, their marriage is their business, not ours."

"I'm not saying we need to fix anything, but we can at least be here for them, can't we?" Pow. Fuyumi jumps.

"I tried. Akito told me this morning. Believe me, Yuuichi is not interested in any of us 'being there' for him."

"Oh, come on! He's not made of stone. We need to make sure he's doing okay!"

Before Kyoya can retort, Tetsu beats him to it, sitting down beside Fuyumi and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Fuyumi, dear, I know you're coming from a place of love, but we don't want to push it. That might make things worse, not better."

Fuyumi chews on her lip, looking defeated and Kyoya would even say annoyed. For how much Fuyumi frets and fusses and fawns over her brothers, perhaps all that care sours sometimes. Why can't they help her help them?

The patio door slides open. Itsumi enters panting like a wild animal. She's lost one of her shoes and seems not to have noticed.

"Okay." She runs a hand through her hair and pulls her blouse straight. "I apologize for being crass."

Tetsu glances in the patio's direction and tuts, "I'll deal with that in the morning."

"I think I have another box somewhere," Fuyumi offers. "I think it's mostly flowerpots."

"No. I'm tired." Itsumi flops down on the sofa and kicks her remaining shoe off. It's covered in brown clay dust. "I just want to watch a stupid movie."

Tetsu jumps to his feet. "I'll get us some popcorn!"

"Come on, Itsumi, let's go to our theater." Fuyumi must pull Itsumi to her feet with both hands. She groans in protest. "It'll be your pick. Come on, Kyoya."

Kyoya follows them, for sister and sister-in-law both. When they make it to the plush seats and wall-consuming screen, a facsimile of the one he and Kosuke had just visited, he's suddenly struck with an overwhelming feeling of—guilt?

Itsumi had been driven far past her breaking point, and it is hard (and frightening) to watch. Yet here she is being given anything she needs by Fuyumi and Tetsu both. She'd come to them knowing she'd find nothing but support, and they are not even of her blood. While Yuuichi is alone tonight.

Tetsu is right. Forced comfort is not comfort. Who is Kyoya, of all people, to judge someone for keeping to themselves, even from their very own family? Besides that, Kyoya and his oldest brother are strangers now. Yuuichi is no longer the boy who would let Kyoya piggyback on him if he whined enough. Maybe they would truly be brothers if they had all tried harder not to let their family be defied by who stood above who.

Itsumi seemed demure and gentle until today. How odd it is, too, that she was strong enough to make it through the families' dinner but broke later, when Yuuichi had done the inverse. Perhaps his aloofness is a front for loneliness. Maybe he wants a listening ear but was startled when he received just that.

Or maybe Kyoya is just overthinking, and Yuuichi really couldn't care less if his siblings want to smash bottles and watch stupid movies with him.

He's already made himself a fool to his brother once today—once more couldn't hurt.

Kyoya stays in the doorway and pulls his phone out.

Are you home now?

He walks between the aisles and sits beside Fuyumi and Itsumi, but not a second later his phone buzzes.

Yes. Why?

Kyoya replies, Could we talk?

Tetsu returns with four heaping bags of popcorn for all of them. Fuyumi drapes them all in plush blankets and lets Itsumi flip through what seems like every film in history before she settles on a kitschy horror about an invasion by bobble-headed aliens.

A half-hour into the spectacle of half-hearted screams, jam-gooey blood, and cartoony effects, Kyoya's phone buzzes again.

Fine.

Kyoya leans over to Fuyumi's ear and only whispers, "I'm going to go talk to Yuuichi." Fuyumi merely nods—not spoiling Itsumi's night.

Yuuichi's mansion is as corporate as he is—sharp corners and walls of concrete. If it were not for the well-loved trees framing its exterior, it would look outright soulless. Kyoya cannot even recall the last time he visited. Years, at least.

This late, there is no one to answer the door but Yuuichi himself, opening and closing it behind Kyoya without once glancing at him. Bar his jacket, he's still in his slacks and dress shirt, looking like he's getting ready for work and not several hours returned from it.

"Follow me."

The interior is a bit more colorful, mostly thanks to the modern art pieces on the wall and the rich velvets on the furniture. A single framed photo of Yuuichi and Itsumi on their wedding day sits on a sideboard. Yuuichi leads Kyoya past the foyer and the lounge, the kitchen and the dining room. Halfway down the hall, Kyoya finally notices that his brother's fingers are splotched and spotted.

They enter Yuuichi's home office, which is uncannily identical to the one he has at Ootori Medical, down to the layout of the furniture. There are no decorations except for a marbled painting on the wall. The shelves home only binders, all the same size and color, only differing in their typed labels.

It all makes the desk stick out like a neon sign. It is littered with paper, paints, thin wires, bits of putty. Among them are objects that are…deliberate, but unidentifiable. A strange, miniature construction site.

"What is this?" asks Kyoya.

His brother answers by sliding over a large bound book, carefully kept from the mess. Kyoya flips it open. Inside is a collection of playgrounds, all drawn by hand, some colored, others shaded. Some are made in careful blueprints, others in loving still pieces. A whole page is dedicated just to different jungle gym shapes.

"A pastime of Itsumi's," explains Yuuichi. He sits heavily into his desk chair. "Related to her project, I suppose, but I know she enjoys it—and this."

Kyoya looks at the strange little structures on the desk. A slide, a merry-go-round, and a swing set. In the middle of it all is a castle of stairs, bridges, and towers.

"Are you finishing it for her?"

"No, this is all mine. I thought she might like to see it when she comes home."

So for Kyoya, it's unending flower deliveries and romcom movie dates. For Yuuichi, it's glue and paint.

"We don't have to talk right now. I can wait for you to finish."

"No." Yuuichi pushes the castle towards him, then a set of paints and brushes. "I want you to paint that to match the image."

It is not that his brother is asking for help with a craft project—Kyoya has done much more for his family—but that he is asking for help that makes Kyoya pause. "Why?"

Thankfully, Yuuichi is not like their other brother, and understands the question the first time. "Because I was under the impression that you have a talent for painting."

Kyoya sits down in time with his brow furrowing. "I can't imagine why."

"You've done this before," sighs Yuuichi, voice finally laced in annoyance. "You've made models for your environmental studies."

"If by 'models for environmental studies,' you mean 'painting a diagram of the water cycle for my science class when I was nine'."

"Are you going to, or not?"

Kyoya shrugs off his jacket, pulls his sleeves up to his elbows, and gets to work. He starts on the tops of the towers first with the closest red that matches the picture. The clippers snap, and Yuuichi starts bending another wire.

Two tower roofs are painted before Kyoya ventures, "So you didn't invite me here to talk at all."

The wire was cut too short. With a click of his tongue, Yuuichi starts to measure another. "You wanted to talk about an argument between my wife and I. As you can see, it is being resolved. I'm not sure what else there is to talk about."

Does he even know where Itsumi is right now? Does he think Kyoya doesn't? "It was out of worry, not to pry. But no, we do not need to discuss it, especially if you've already made amends."

Even if he did try to hide the very pointed ending to that sentence, Yuuichi wouldn't have missed it. Behind his glasses, Yuuichi's eyes flash dangerously at him. Yet Kyoya is not thrown a calm, offhand warning to back off.

Yuuichi returns to his wire-bending. "I said it is being resolved, not that it has been."

"If you're doing this to make her happy, does that mean that she's upset with you, and not the other way around?"

"I would not say that I'm not upset with her, but yes, this started because of something I apparently did."

"'Apparently'."

"Yes, Kyoya, apparently."

Kyoya dips his brush in the cup of water.

"It seems you have an opinion."

"I didn't say anything."

"Your silence is very loud."

"I'll try to keep my quietness quieter next time."

Yuuichi sets the pliers down with a loud click of metal on wood. Even without looking up from the paints, Kyoya can feel the glare on him like a gavel.

"So you don't believe that anything happened."

"I'm not accusing Itsumi of lying, but she is misconstruing my actions."

"What were those actions?"

"I simply corrected her when she was misremembering things. She says that I embarrassed her."

"Well, yes, I suppose you did."

Yuuichi's hands are still around the bits of wire. "No, I did not. She was misremembering, so I reminded her. It's not as though I called her an idiot in front of an audience."

"That was not your intent, I suppose, but that was the consequence, wasn't it? Itsumi felt embarrassed."

"Because I told her that she was wrong. Quite an overreaction."

Now Kyoya can't even make himself paint. He cannot tell if what he is feeling is confusion, annoyance, or pity. Yuuichi is one of the smartest people Kyoya has ever known—and now, perhaps, one of the dumbest. It is not that Itsumi's temper is wild, Kyoya realizes, but rather it has been simmering for a long time now. Each snide comment and cold dismissal from her husband gave fuel to the fire, until it all finally boiled over.

He does not doubt that Itsumi and Yuuichi love one another, but his parents once loved one another as well. Whatever ended that, it was not one petty squabble.

"Have you considered that maybe you've done several things to upset her, and this was the last straw?"

"I have, and I fail to see how it changes anything."

Oh, Kyoya is so far from qualified to deal with this.

"Alright. Have you tried to see it from her point of view?"

"Yes, Kyoya. You seem very insistent on talking, but not listening."

Kyoya puts his paintbrush down. He's going to need his full capacity to power through this.

"From the sound of it, Itsumi is upset that you're not listening. You don't understand why she's angry, because you're not seeing past her getting some facts wrong. It was probably your tone. Perhaps the way that you interrupted her. Multiple times. I'm speaking from experience—you don't have to literally insult her for her to be insulted."

Yuuich gives no response throughout part from a brief eyebrow twitch. "So I should apologize for something I never intended to do in the first place."

"No one expects you to blindly agree with Itsumi through everything—and I'm not saying that Itsumi is never wrong, because that's not true for anybody. But you should maybe consider how you voice your disagreement, and how much an apology would really cost you."

Not a moment later, Yuuichi responds, "Why I'm taking marriage advice from my youngest brother who isn't even married yet is beyond me."

"If you don't want my advice, don't take it. But I've offered several times to leave."

Yuuichi switches off the desk lamp, takes off his glasses, and rubs his eyes. He opens a drawer, and a bottle of ibuprofen comes rolling at him. Also inside the drawer, among pens and envelopes, is a CD box.

He takes it out and looks it over with a frown. With a huff, he stands and walks over to the television set hung up on the wall. He feeds the CD in, and just when Kyoya thinks he cannot get any more curious, the pitter patter of rainfall fills the room.

Yuuichi snorts as he puts the empty box down. "Fuyumi would swear her life on these things."

"A gift."

"I hope she realizes that we are leaders in the healthcare industry. If I had a problem relaxing, I would talk to a doctor, not turn on…" He looks at the CD box again. "Soothing Autumn Windchimes."

Kyoya realizes his brother might be joking, in his own sour way. "I'm surprised you didn't get the package deal with the candles."

To which Yuuichi nods to a shelf topped with them—some melted, Kyoya notes.

"This is far from the only time Itsumi and I have had a disagreement, you know." Yuuichi clicks the skip button on the player. A thunderstorm, chirping birds, gentle wind. "So why, this time, does it seem like we did it on a grand stage for everyone to see it?"

If he were more like his sister, Kyoya would respond with something comforting: it's all care and no judgment, they all should have paid more attention to each other, etcetera, etcetera. He thinks he knows this stranger who happens to be his brother well enough to see that Yuuichi would prefer blunt honesty over soft platitudes.

"Because our parents just divorced and we all have yet to know why."

The skipping stops and rests on a babbling brook. Yuuichi tucks a hand into his pocket.

"So which is it," he says. "Are we all more obvious now, or more perceptive?"

Kyoya had kept up his brushing absentmindedly. Now all the castle spires are finished, and he dips his brush in the milky green water again, answering, "I'd say both. Seems we're not as gifted in masking as we all thought."

Yuuichi turns to face him with his brow furrowed, but not angrily. He is perplexed. Genuinely seeking an answer. "What have I done that was so obvious?"

"Well, not showing up where you're expected to be is a fairly obvious tell."

"What?"

"Technically, I heard it from Akito, who heard it from Fuyumi, who heard it from Itsumi. But I figured something dire had to have happened to keep you from the party—especially because Itsumi still came without you."

"Ah. That."

Kyoya's hand stills before he can dip into a new paint. Before he can ask, Yuuichi continues, "What did Itsumi tell Fuyumi?"

"You…do know what I'm talking about?"

"No, that's why I'm asking."

"No, not about Itsumi, about the party. You do know the one I'm referring to."

"Yes, I know. Why?"

"Because the way you spoke just now, it sounds like you'd forgotten about it."

"What? No, I didn't forget about it. What does it have to do with any of this? I'm asking about Itsumi."

"I thought that the reason you weren't at the party was because of Itsumi."

Yuuichi's frown turns into a sneer. "I'm not that easily bruised, Kyoya. I wouldn't miss an event because of a spat in my personal life."

"Then why?"

"Why what?"

"Why weren't you there?"

"What does it matter?"

"Why can't you just answer the question?"

There it is again—that look as though Kyoya is too stupid to comprehend. "Because I had work to do."

"What kind of work? A project? Something that was due the next day? Something you had fallen behind on?"

"No," Yuuichi snaps, because how dare Kyoya accuse him of falling behind on work. "I was at work and I asked Father if I may forgo the party in favor of continuing, and he agreed. Doesn't that make more sense than me throwing a temper tantrum?"

It does indeed.

So it shouldn't hurt the way it does.

"You asked Father to be excused from attending. He didn't tell you to. You asked."

"Have you hit your head on something, Kyoya? Are you not getting enough sleep again? You sound like an idiot. What's wrong with you?"

Confusion had seized Kyoya so thoroughly, he hadn't even realized he was still holding the brush. A drop of water falling from the bristles startles him, and he sets it down, turning in his seat to his brother—who must surely see the expression on his face, yet stands as unfazed as if Kyoya were an inanimate object.

"What I was trying to ask," Yuuichi goes on, "Is what Itsumi said to Fuyumi, which got to Akito, which got to you. Grapevines tend to get things tangled—"

"This was the first meeting with the grandparents of my fiancée, who are going to be part of our family once we're married, and you decided to just…skip it and work. Not on anything important, at that, just the same work that you do every day. Is that right?"

Finally Yuuichi seems to get it, and yet he is as cool as ever. "There will be many opportunities to meet them, Kyoya. This wasn't my only chance."

"You met Nanako's family at the first opportunity. Tetsu's. Why not mine?"

"What does it matter?"

All the words that Kyoya could say wither away, because there is nowhere for them to go. Yuuichi is not apathetic, he is oblivious.

He simply cannot comprehend that he could ever do anything to earn Kyoya's anger. Because Kyoya does not matter to him, or because the Suzukis are new-money outsiders that lost high standing, or because he still dislikes the same fiancée he had brazenly defended against Mr. Ito. Or maybe he just simply does not care.

What does it matter? It matters to Kyoya.

"Now, can we please go back to what we were talking about? I'm trying to make amends with my wife, as you seem so insistent on me doing."

Kyoya stands and pulls his blazer off the back of his chair. He walks out of the office without a word.

Surprisingly, Yuuichi follows him. His voice, calling to Kyoya's back, is filled with indignation. "Kyoya! Where are you going?"

"Home."

"What's gotten into you?" Kyoya starts to descend the stairs, and Yuuichi stays at the top, hands on the banister. Looking down on him, running away. "All this grief about butting into my marriage, and now you're—?"

"Leaving, yes. Wonderful deduction."

"Kyoya!"

The roar in it—the scolding—drives into Kyoya like a hot knife. He has always been all too aware of his place as the third born son. And it seems Yuuichi has always been all too aware of his place as the firstborn.

So Kyoya looks up at Yuuichi, who looks down on Kyoya, their natural places, and Kyoya answers, "If you can't bother to care about my family, I won't bother to care about yours. Fix this yourself."

The last expression Kyoya catches is one of pure bewilderment. Yuuichi did not understand a single word.

He tells Kosuke about it that night, and even despite their promises to one another, he fights to get the words out. It's like pushing against something heavy. For a moment, he's terribly guilty. She had been worried sick over insulting his brothers before, and now here he is, watering those worries. But she brushes it aside quickly, like it had never even crossed her mind. All focus is on him.

"I'm sorry, Kyoya. That's so frustrating."

Kyoya is lying on his futon in his new bedroom. The blank walls are lit blue with the moonlight, and the boxes cast shadows across the floor. Had it not been for Kosuke's voice over the phone, he'd be able to hear the place breathing in a way his old home never did.

"It seems pointless, being upset," he confesses. "Why be angry at someone who can't even comprehend it?"

"You should be angry, but you're right. Don't waste it on him, if he can't even be bothered to care about you." She pauses. "That was mean. I'm sorry."

"You're fine." Kyoya folds his hands together over his chest, watching the trees outside his window cast kaleidoscope shadows on the ceiling.

"Do you want to keep talking about it?"

"Not particularly."

"Okay. Tell me about the apartment."

"You've been here."

"Yeah, but now you're living there. Do you like it? Comfy?"

"When I have furniture besides cardboard boxes, I'll let you know."

The shadows make every bump and blemish on the ceiling stand out like craters. Mistakes in craftsmanship, or remnants of glow-in-the-dark stars or old band posters. It isn't his first sleep in this room, but it's sinking in now that this is his home. All his, but it does not feel like a victory.

"Did you ever share a room with your siblings?"

"No, but they slept in my room a lot. I don't know if you know this, but fighting your five-year-old sibling for mattress space is an uphill battle."

"Tell me more."

"About what?"

"Anything."

"Okay." Kosuke seems to shift, perhaps settling into her bed. Her voice is quiet as though scared to stir him when he's still awake. "So…there was this blanket that I used to have. Really cheap, kind of felty. It had all these big-eyed princesses and unicorns on it, just very stereotypically little-girl, you know? I had it when I was little, then I gave it to Minami, who gave it to Hitsuji. Eventually all the color went away, and there were tears and stains from…I don't know, chocolate syrup and juice and whatever. So Mom got rid of it, and you'd think the world was ending, Hitsuji cried so hard. So Mom and Dad tried to hunt down another one to replace it."

Kyoya listens, dipping into sleep and coming back up just to listen a little more. He hopes the children will like this place, too. He hopes Yuuichi never has to see it. Or does he?

The morning is gold and dusty. His home is empty.

Chapter Summary:

After catching wind of Kosuke having reunited with her grandparents, Jin insists on a meeting between the Ootoris and the Suzukis in Kyoya's new apartment. Yuuichi is not in attendance, much to everyone's confusion. Akito approaches Kyoya later and explains that Yuuichi and Itsumi have gotten into a fight, and he'd like Kyoya to check in on Yuuichi. Kyoya tries, but Yuuichi brushes him off instantly. Later, Fuyumi calls Kyoya over to help with Itsumi, who is in an uncharacteristic rage at the Shido mansion. She explains that she and Yuuichi fought when he rudely corrected her in front of company, and he doubled down instead of apologizing. Seeing Itsumi being comforted makes Kyoya feel guilty, so he reaches out to Yuuichi again. Surprisingly, Yuuichi invites him over, and the two set to work on a gift for Itsumi. It's far from perfect, but Yuuichi and Kyoya talk about how to make amends. It is going surprisingly well until Yuuichi admits that he had missed the families' parties not for something urgent, but simply to do more work. Kyoya, upset that his brother seems to care so little about him or his new family, leaves Yuuichi to fix his fight with Itsumi himself. That evening, he tells Kosuke what happened.