The next day, Misaki was driven to school by Usagi in his flashy little red sports car. Looking out through the tinted windows, Misaki could see that everyone was staring at the car, and he sighed heavily. Everyone knew whose car it was, and they also knew who was in the passenger seat.

Misaki slunk out, mumbling a goodbye to Usagi, and then skulked towards class, ignoring the crowds of people staring at him. He was surprised to hear Usagi-san's voice behind him suddenly. "Wait, Misaki, you forgot something."

"Huh? What?" Misaki wheeled around, clueless as to what he could have left behind, and squawked as Usagi took him into a deep kiss.

"That," Usagi said simply as he came out of the kiss.

Misaki's entire face was red and he tried to stutter a complaint at Usagi, but the man had turned around and stalked back to his car, driving off before he could get anything out. He slowly turned to see a sea of faces observing him silently. "Great...now I'm _really _ruined," he muttered to himself, then stomped through the crowd to get to literature class.

Inside the lecture hall, Misaki sat and moped throughout the lesson. If he hadn't already been unpopular enough because the less fortunate students resented him for being so privileged to live with a famous and rich author; now they really hated him, for he had apparently slept his way into that situation. The students who were having to live six people to a two bedroom apartment, and eat nothing but ramen noodles - they didn't think it was fair that he got it so easy. "But it's not my fault," he grumbled to himself. "_He _seduced _me_. What was I supposed -"

His further ruminations were cut off by the pain of blunt force trauma to his head. "Takahashi-kun!" he heard the professor's voice growl through his haze of pain. "It is extremely rude to ignore my lecture!"

"I'm sorry, Kamijo-sensei," Misaki apologized, rubbing his sore forehead.

"Just what could be more important than learning about 18th century literature?" Kamijo Hiroki fumed at him.

Misaki didn't answer, but an anonymous voice from the back row did. "He's daydreaming about his rich boyfriend!" A cacophony of laughter erupted in the room, causing Kamijo to only get madder.

"That's enough! That's enough!" he screamed. "All of you have an extra assignment tonight - I want a 5000 word essay about why literature is more important than all other subjects. It's for a test grade! Now get out of my classroom!" He fumed as he watched the students file out of the room, some listless, some dejected over their excessive homework. He glared down at Misaki, who was seemingly frozen in his chair. "You too! Get out!"

Misaki reluctantly stood up, shuffling out. A few other students clapped him on the back, offering breezy consolatory remarks as a guise for sticking signs on him. Kamijo's eyebrow went up not at the first two, which read "I kissed a boy, and I liked it!" and "cocksucker", but the third, which said, "Usami's Boy Toy." He stepped forward, ripping the signs off and calling after the offenders. "Wait! You three!" He had too many students to know all their names, so he shouted out distinguishing marks. "Pimple face! Kappa cut! Lard ass! _7000 _word essay!" The boys groaned and shuffled out.

Kamijo looked at the crumpled paper in his hand. So Akihiko had taken up with this boy...he had thought it was just a rumor, but it seemed true after all. He balled the paper up further. Even though he was happily in a relationship with Nowaki (thought the term happily could be debated by some) he still resented Akihiko for breaking his heart all those years ago. Back then, no one had been good enough to replace his precious Takahashi-kun, not even Hiroki himself.

Takahashi-kun...it couldn't be...he hurried over to his roster for the last class, scanning it quickly. Sure enough...Takahashi Misaki. This couldn't be the same guy he had pined after back then...that was six years ago. This kid would have still been in elementary school. So it must be his little brother. "Oh sure! That little brat is good enough for you, but not me, huh! Goddamn, he even looks like me! What's so bad about _me, anyway?" he shouted up at the ceiling.

"Who are you yelling at?" Miyagi, his colleague and office mate, asked as he strolled into the room.

"No one," Hiroki muttered, and then stormed out without another word.

Miyagi just clucked his tongue after him. "What a drama queen."

That afternoon, after an absolutely miserable day, Misaki trudged out of the building towards the street. Sure enough, Usagi was waiting for him, leaning up against his car while smoking a cigarette. A crowd had gathered nearby, apparently waiting for something else to gossip about. "There you are," Usagi said, the affection in his voice evident. Misaki said nothing, just shuffled closer. "What's wrong?" Usagi asked sharply, sensing that something wasn't right.

"_What's wrong_?" Misaki repeated quietly. "Everybody's shunning me, that's what's wrong."

Usagi looked puzzled. "Why are they shunning you?" He stepped in closer as he spoke, moving to put his arms around Misaki, but the boy deftly evaded his embrace.

"That's why!" he said, exasperated. He tried to keep from tearing up, but failed, and looked up at a stunned Usagi with tears in his eyes. "They're all calling me a faggy gold digger and a cock sucking rich boy and..." he broke off in a sob.

"Get in the car," Usagi ordered him, stepping back swiftly and opening the passenger side. Misaki complied, slumping down into the seat with no protest whatsoever. Usagi shut the door behind him, and then turned to the assembled crowd.

"Hello, all you insolent little brats. There's a word for what you're doing...it's called harassment. Also known as persecution and discrimination...and it's a legal offense." He narrowed his eyes at all of them. "Don't think that I won't figure out who you are, and that I won't drag your ass into court and sue you for defamation of character. I may or may not win...but I can afford a lawsuit or two...can you?" Several of the perpetrators' eyes got wide, and Usagi nodded sagely. "That's right, get scared. But we can avoid all that ugliness if you'll stop this nonsense. Immediately."

The crowd scattered as he waved his hand dismissively at them, and Usagi triumphantly got into the driver's seat. "Why did you do that?" Misaki bemoaned. "They'll just tease me worse now."

"Oh, no they won't," Usagi assured him. "Because those weren't idle threats. I have friends in administration here, and you can bet that I can get to the bottom of who's stirring up shit, and I'll sue every last one of them if I have to."

Misaki held his head and groaned. "I should just drop out..."

"No!" Usagi's voice cut through the air sharply, and Misaki looked up in surprise. "Not after how hard we both worked to get you accepted here. You're going to keep going, and you're going to graduate at the top of your damn class, even if I have to kill every other student. You got that?" Misaki nodded dumbly, and Usagi smiled. "There, there...don't cry anymore. Let's get something to eat. Anything you want."

Misaki perked up a little. "Um...can we go get Korean barbecue?"

"Sure thing." Usagi revved up the engine, and sped away from the college. While they were eating, Usagi leaned in towards Misaki. "I don't want you to ever feel embarrassed that we're together," he said, his face serious.

Misaki squirmed a bit. "Well, that's kind of hard when everyone's giving me grief about it. It's not really that I would feel embarrassed otherwise...just...I wish everyone didn't know."

Usagi leaned back, taking a long sip of his drink. "No. If we're going to do this, we're going to be totally open about it. No hiding and no secrets."

Misaki swallowed hard. "Nii-chan, too?" Usagi nodded solemnly, and Misaki began to wail. "I can't tell my brother about this!"

Usagi pointed a finger in his face. "Do you want to be with me or not?"

Misaki blushed and looked away. "I do."

"Then we have to tell Takahiro. Listen, he's a pretty easy going guy; he'll probably be thrilled." Misaki mumbled something inaudible, then smiled and waved his hands frantically as Usagi looked at him sternly. "We'll call him tonight."

"What? Tonight?" Misaki squawked.

"Yes, tonight," Usagi said firmly. They finished their meal and paid, and then got back in the car, stopping at a bookstore on the way home. "I need to pick up a few things," Usagi explained briefly. "You want to stay in the car or come in?"

"I'll come in," Misaki said, unbuckling his seat belt. As they stepped on the sidewalk, Usagi took Misaki's hand in his, causing Misaki to jerk away reflexively.

"No hiding," Usagi said, giving him a lazy smile.

"Argh, fine," Misaki mumbled, stiffly offering his hand. Usagi took it in his larger one, intertwining their fingers. Misaki immediately felt his face beginning to flush, and he kept his eyes low as they entered the store.

"Ah! Usami-sama!" an older man behind the counter exclaimed. "What an honor. Could you please autograph a few books while you are here? Our humble store would be so honored."

"Of course," Usagi said, letting go of Misaki's hand and stepping over to the counter to oblige the man. Misaki hung around awkwardly, then moved away to look at magazines. When Usagi finished, he glanced around for Misaki; but before he could find him, a jangling bell on the door accompanied the entrance of his old friend Hiroki. "What a surprise," Usagi said, smiling warmly at his childhood playmate.

Hiroki forced a smile. They had seen each other plenty of times since the disastrous blindfolded sex session six years prior, where Hiroki had urged him to pretend he was Takahiro...it hadn't ended happily. But after about a year of awkwardness, the two began talking again, drawn back together by their love of books. However, Hiroki was feeling acutely annoyed with Akihiko in light of the new information that he was shacking up with Takahiro's younger brother, who just happened to be practically a clone of Hiroki.

Usagi gave a gasp as Hiroki drew him by the elbow into a narrow aisle of bookshelves. "So, I hear you're...involved with Takahashi Misaki," he hissed.

"Yeah, what of it?" Usagi grunted, pulling his elbow away with a wince.

"I can't believe you!" Hiroki exclaimed. He began unloading his feelings on his shocked friend. "You always said that you would never settle for anyone other than that damned Takahiro! You...made a complete fool of me back then! Sleeping with me and then apologizing that it had all been a mistake, that no one could ever fill in for Takahiro! And now you're fucking his little brother? How dare you? You jerk! You creep! I have a right mind to..."

"Lower your voice, for God's sake," Usagi snapped, cutting off his rant. Hiroki blushed and scratched the back of his neck.

"Uh...oops...what I meant to say was...oh, so you've got a boyfriend now. Congratulations. I'm happy for you." He looked rather sheepish.

Usagi sighed heavily. "Hiroki...I had no idea you felt that way."

Hiroki pouted and looked down at his feet. "Well, now you know. Not...not that I want to do anything about it. I'm in a relationship myself...a long term one," he boasted, looking rather proud of himself. A pleased smile lingered on his lips as he thought of his Nowaki...he loved the feeling of falling asleep tangled up in his long limbs. But he shook those thoughts away and looked up at Akihiko. "It just aggravated me and I had to get that out."

"Well, I'm sorry that I hurt you," Usagi said.

"It's in the past," Hiroki mumbled.

Usagi smirked. "Feel better now?" he asked.

"A little," Hiroki admitted. He jerked suddenly to the side as he saw a large pair of green eyes watching them through a slat in the bookshelf. He glared at the eyes, which blinked several times.

"Um..." a small voice began.

"Oh, Misaki..." Usagi groaned, realizing he must have heard everything.

"Seriously? You two?" Misaki asked, sounding amazed.

"Yes, it happened. It was a long time ago, and it's over," Usagi said.

"Well, um...Kamijo-sensei, is that why you gave those guys extra homework for picking on me?"

Hiroki blushed as Usagi looked pleased and amused. "No, it was certainly not! Don't expect any favors from me! And don't you even begin to think that I won't be expecting that essay from you! You'd better get home and work on it!" he chided, trying to sound professional, but failing abysmally. "Excuse me!" he barked, and then barreled past Usagi, heading out of the store.

Misaki came around the shelf and joined Usagi. "Wow," he said simply, watching his teacher stumble awkwardly out the door.

Usagi just laughed. "He's always been rather strange."

"Now that's the pot calling the kettle black," Misaki snorted.

"What?"

"Come on," Misaki said, rolling his eyes and putting a hand on his hip. "You're the king of strange."

"Pardon me, but I strive for normalcy. The average, normal life is what I aim for."

Misaki stifled a laugh. "Yeah right. You live in a crazy huge deluxe apartment with the little brother of your unrequited love, surrounded by creepy toys and stuffed animals. You wear a full three piece suit at the breakfast table. You're fascinated by eggs. You write boys' love novels, which is usually a woman's specialty. You are far, far, far from normal. Like I said, the king of strange."

"Come on, we're leaving," Usagi grunted, tugging him towards the exit.

"Wait, there was something I wanted to buy!"

"It can wait." Usagi threw Misaki into his car, and soon was zooming off towards home.

"Whoa, are you mad at me?" Misaki asked, actually looking a little frightened.

To his surprise, Usagi turned a lazy grin on him. "No, I'm turned on. I love it when you're sassy to me."

"Sassy?! Only girls are sassy! I was being a smart ass! And what do you mean, turned on? What kind of freakishness are you plotting to do to me?"

"Oh, you'll see..." Usagi smiled wickedly as he hit the accelerator.

At home, Usagi pulled Misaki inside, and then began to kiss him urgently. "Wait, I thought we were going to call nii-chan," Misaki gasped between kisses.

"Oh? So now you're eager to tell him?"

"Um, well...not really," Misaki admitted, and Usagi bit his neck rather hard. "Ow! Okay, okay, let's call!" he shouted. Usagi smirked, let go of him, and took up the phone, dialing the extension to Osaka.

"Hello, Takahiro?" Usagi said. "How are you? ...We're fine, we're fine. Actually, we were calling to tell you something. Here, I'll let your brother tell you." He thrust the phone at Misaki.

"Jerk," Misaki mumbled, then turned his attention to the phone. "No, not you, nii-chan! I was just joking. ...What did I want to tell you? Um...I hope you're having fun in Osaka!" He winced as Usagi looked at him sternly. "No, I wanted to tell you...um...me and Usagi-san...we're...oh God, I can't say it!" He threw the phone at Usagi and ran off, tearing at his hair.

"We've been sleeping together," Usagi said smoothly into the phone. "Yes, we're both very happy. He's just having a little trouble vocalizing his happiness." He smirked at the boy, who was wallowing on the couch in agony. "Yes, I promise to treat him well. Oh, and in light of that, I'll take over his tuition payments. No, no, I insist. It's the least I can do. Okay, you too. Take care."

Usagi hung up the phone and approached the couch, looking down on Misaki with amused eyes. "You jerk! I can't believe you just blurted it out to him like that!" Misaki cried, pounding on a pillow with his fists.

"Relax," Usagi said. "He was absolutely fine with it."

"Really?" Misaki asked, sounding doubtful.

"Really," Usagi assured him.

"Oh...okay, then." Misaki felt a huge weight off his shoulders, as the main thing he had been torn about was what his brother would think about the relationship. "Okay, then," he repeated, shyly holding his arms out to Usagi.

"Oh, you're adorable," Usagi breathed, lowering himself to the boy. Heated, breathless kisses were planted all over his neck, while Misaki shut his eyes tightly and hummed softly to himself. Usagi brought his lips to meet Misaki's, kissing him deeply. He groaned happily into the boy's mouth as he felt a tentative hand smoothing over the front of his pants. "Yes...I want you to touch me," he whispered, then resumed kissing him.

Misaki unbuttoned the older man's pants with shaking hands, and then parted the fabric to the sides, slipping his hand inside. He felt at Usagi's manhood through his boxers, marveling at how big and hard it was. "You're so big," he panted, as Usagi kissed and licked at his neck.

"Mmm...Misaki...I love hearing you say things like that...oh, yes..." He thrust his hips in a slow rhythm as Misaki reached into his boxers, stroking him unsurely. He rolled his thumb over the wetness at the tip, making Usagi grit his teeth and hiss with pleasure.

Usagi suddenly pulled away, sitting back on the couch and shoving his pants down. "Suck me, Misaki," he whispered, tilting his hips upwards. Misaki blushed, but got up and positioned himself over Usagi, grasped him again and then placed his lips on the head, letting his tongue creep out and trace a slow circle. "Oh, God, yes...you drive me mad," Usagi groaned, and Misaki took more into his mouth, sucking lightly.

Usagi let his hand fall to the back of Misaki's head, both tangling his fingers in the soft chestnut colored locks, and pushing gently down, urging him to take more. Misaki hummed as he took Usagi about halfway into his mouth, and he rolled his tongue clumsily around the firm flesh. Usagi guided him in the speed he wanted, and then thrust his hips up as Misaki pleasured him perfectly. "That's it...just like that...oh God, Misaki...I'm going to come," he gasped, and then matched word to deed as he erupted into Misaki's hot little mouth.

Misaki swallowed his release, then came up with a flushed face. Usagi smirked and took his chin in his hand, pulling him in for a deep, lingering kiss. His hands slid steadily down Misaki's stomach to his waistband, where he unfastened the boy's pants and pushed them down. He urged Misaki backwards, and before Misaki knew what was happening, Usagi was pleasuring him.

"Ohhh...Usagi-san...it's...ohhhh..." Misaki rambled incoherently. Usagi just smirked with his mouth full, sucking Misaki insistently. He was pleased when Misaki began thrusting his hips into Usagi's mouth. "Mmm..." Misaki moaned, his lips pressed together. He reached down and took Usagi's head in his hands, running his fingers through the man's surprisingly soft silver hair. After just a couple minutes, Misaki was crying out loudly, climaxing into Usagi's mouth. Usagi swallowed it contentedly, and then pulled himself over the boy, kissing at his neck as Misaki sighed with satisfaction.

Somewhere across town, Hiroki was grumbling to his boyfriend. "He's such a frigging jerk..."

"I'm sorry, Hiro-san," Nowaki responded in his smooth, calm voice. "More rice?"

Hiroki nodded absentmindedly, and then waved his hands frantically as he resumed ranting, nearly upsetting his glass of water. Nowaki grabbed at it just in time, but Hiroki was totally oblivious. "And then, he has the nerve to..."

Nowaki sighed quietly, knowing that only one thing would stop a ranting Hiroki...so he took the man's face in his hands, kissing him deeply. "What the hell?" Hiroki spluttered. "You brat! I was saying something - " He was cut off in a muffled squeak as Nowaki kissed him insistently again, his hand sliding dangerously lower as he did so. Hiroki's eyes got wide, then half lidded, then they fluttered closed as Nowaki successfully silenced him.

For right then, anyway.