Misaki didn't even bother to dress; he just snatched up the room service menu off the desk and flopped down on the bed in his towel as he perused it eagerly. Usagi, chuckling as he tied his robe around his waist, followed him and laid over him, looking over his shoulder. "Oof...Usagi-san, you're heavy," Misaki complained, his body being pressed into the bed.
"Sorry," Usagi laughingly apologized, and rolled off of him, stretching out to get his cigarettes from the nightstand. He lit one, and Misaki absentmindedly waved the smoke out of his eyes as he read the menu.
"Um, let's see...I want a hamburger, and french fries, and..."
"Hold on, you've got the chance to order room service from a fancy place; and you're going to order something you could have from any fast food joint?" Usagi admonished him. "Come on now, Misaki, pick something better than that."
"But I don't know what else to get," Misaki whined. "I've never eaten any of this weird stuff." He thumped the menu for emphasis.
Usagi rolled his eyes. "Let me see that." He snatched the menu out of Misaki's hands and looked over it. "Ah. Why don't you have the filet mignon?"
Misaki's eyes got wide. "But...didn't you see the price on that one?" He crawled up behind Usagi and put his chin on his shoulder to read the menu. "It's..."
"Please, Misaki, don't worry about the price. It doesn't matter," Usagi assured him. "So, I think we'll get the filet...how do you like your steak done?"
Misaki shrugged. "Medium rare, I guess."
"Right, then...that comes with poached asparagus...don't make that face. Asparagus is good for you. And dessert? What do you want for dessert?"
"Something chocolate," Misaki said. "Ooh, that!" he exclaimed, pointing to the bottom of the list. "Chocolate Mousse Tier Cake. That sounds good." Usagi smiled at his young lover indulgently, and picked up the phone to call in the order. Just twenty minutes later, the food arrived, and Misaki was happily eating. He had removed his towel and was sitting on the bed in only his pajama bottoms.
"You were really hungry, weren't you?" Usagi chuckled, smoking another cigarette.
"Mmm hmm..." Misaki said, his mouth full. "All that drama gave me an appetite."
"Not to mention the hot bathtub sex," Usagi reminded him.
Misaki blushed as he swallowed. "Yeah, that too," he murmured.
Usagi's eyes twinkled. "You're so adorable when you get embarrassed."
"I am not," Misaki mumbled, stuffing his mouth his more food. Usagi just smiled and inhaled deeply. Misaki eventually finished his meal. "What should I do with the plates?" he asked.
"Just set the whole tray outside the door," Usagi instructed him, and Misaki hopped up, heading to the door with the tray in one hand. He pulled the door open to set it outside - and squeaked in surprise as he encountered Usagi-chichi, poised to knock on the suddenly opened door.
"Um...hi..." Misaki murmured. Usagi-chichi just stared back at him coldly, casting a disapproving glance down at the boy's half-dressed state. Misaki's hand that was holding the tray began to shake, making the dishes rattle against each other. "Um, just let me...uh..." Misaki mumbled, setting the tray on the floor to the right of the man's feet and then sliding it aside. He then stood up awkwardly, as he had been holding the door open with his left hand the whole time, and turned back towards the interior of the room. "Um...Usagi-san...you have a visitor..." he called out, then stared at the ground as he waited for Usagi to appear.
Usagi came around the corner a moment later, tying the sash on his robe tighter. His face went from annoyed to angry when he spotted his father there. "What the hell did you come here for?" he spat out.
"Akihiko...we have a lot of things to discuss," his father said, and cast another disapproving glance at Misaki, who was inadvertently blocking his entrance by holding the door. Misaki got the hint and stepped back, murmuring in a confused, embarrassed fashion as he hurried away from the two men, back towards the bedroom.
But Usagi grabbed him suddenly by the wrist, pulling him close. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't give my boyfriend the evil eye. That was very rude," Usagi said coolly.
"Oh? Boyfriend, is it? I figured he was just...some sort of..._rental _for the night." Usagi-chichi gave a disgusted laugh deep in the back of this throat.
"Get out!" Usagi snapped. "I'm not a child any longer; and I refuse to let you speak to me like this!"
"Ah, excuse me," Usagi-chichi said, shaking his head. "I'm starting off on the wrong foot. Please, let's just talk. I truly do wish to understand you and your ...life choices better."
Usagi hesitated, then stepped back begrudgingly. He gestured in an irritated fashion to the sitting area, and then turned to Misaki, placing his hands gently on his shoulders. "Just go back in the bedroom and shut the door. Watch some TV or something. This won't take long." Misaki nodded, and hurried to give the two Usamis their privacy.
Usagi then sat down on a couch across from the chair his father had sat in, and lit a cigarette as he crossed his long legs. "So? What could you possibly have to say to me?"
"Akihiko...I'm worried about you. You've cut yourself off from the family...you've pursued a career that allows you to cut yourself off from reality...and now you say you're in a relationship with that...boy. How old is he, even?"
"He's 18, almost 19, and he's in college," Usagi said after exhaling a thick jet of smoke. "He's legal. You needn't worry that I'm a child molester."
"Heavens, Akihiko, I never even suggested such a thing! But that's always been your way, jumping to the most ridiculous assumptions and conclusions. It's probably why you're so good at writing fiction."
"Maybe." Usagi puffed his cigarette in a disinterested fashion. He stared at the wall.
"Anyway...son...are you really happy with your life?" Usagi-chichi looked genuinely concerned.
Usagi turned his impassive violet eyes on his father. "Of course I'm happy. If you knew me at all, then you'd know that I do what I want when I want. If I was in a situation that made me unhappy, then I wouldn't rest until I changed it."
"Ah, I suppose that is true. Well..."
"Look, is your whole issue with this because I'm gay? Really, that shouldn't matter to you. I know I can't participate in some pathetic arranged marriage you might have had planned for me; but even if I was straight, I never would have done anything like that."
Usagi-chichi chuckled faintly. "No, I suppose you're right. You're far too stubborn to ever agree to anything like that. Still...I have to admit that I'm regretful that you've turned away from the family. I always dreamed that I would one day have my two sons at my side, helping me run the corporation, and that unfulfilled dream haunts me."
"Forget it," Usagi said, waving his hand. "Wishing for the impossible won't make it possible. And besides; you've got Haruhiko - he works hard enough for two people, so I'm not needed."
"But you are needed!" Usagi-chichi surprised his son by pounding his fist on the table suddenly. "I can't stand that my own son won't talk to me! Look, I know I made a lot of mistakes..." He looked uncomfortable. "I never should have had an affair, and then to bring the fruit of that illicit union into our home...as much as I love Haruhiko, I know that doing that was one of the things that made me lose you forever. Once he came into our lives, you began to distance yourself from reality. But I had no choice...his mother died, and there were no other relations to take him in - I had to finally confess to my sins and acknowledge him as my child. I thought it was the best thing I could do...but maybe I was wrong..."
Usagi spoke up. "No, I don't begrudge you for doing that...I mean, I don't approve that you cheated on Mother, but then again; I saw with my own eyes that she did the same to you." He shuddered as the memory of walking in on his mother with one of her many lovers flitted through his mind. "But anyway, you did finally atone for what you had done in the only way you could. My...distancing myself from reality was the result of a combination of things. Yes, it was a slap in the face to suddenly have an older brother when I had been an only child for years. But Mother's affairs didn't help; moving back to Japan and never really fitting in didn't help; realizing that I was different somehow didn't help - and on top of that, I just have a naturally wandering mind." He stubbed out his cigarette and stared calmly at his father. "It's not all your fault."
Usagi-chichi breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Ah...Akihiko. You don't know how many years I've been waiting to hear those words." He smiled slightly. "You've just eased an old man's heart."
"Glad to oblige," Usagi said carelessly, running his fingers through the front of his hair. "So, what else do we need to clear up?"
"This Misaki boy..."
"Argh, what about him?" Usagi's features suddenly set in a defensive scowl.
Usagi-chichi waved his hands in peace. "I just to know more about him. You know...to know if he is worthy of my son's love." He smiled, but Usagi continued to scowl. "His parents...?"
"Dead," Usagi grunted, lighting another cigarette.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's been ten years. He was raised by his older brother, who was a schoolmate of mine. "But they're not any high born family. So sorry if that's not good enough for you."
"Really, Akihiko, you're jumping to conclusions again. I'm just curious about the boy."
"Well, why don't you talk to him yourself?" Usagi stood up abruptly and crossed the room, opening the door to the bedroom swiftly. Misaki tumbled out gracelessly, having been leaning on the door listening. "My father wants to get to know you," he said calmly, looking down at the furiously blushing boy picking himself up off the carpet.
"Oh, okay...um, and I wasn't eavesdropping...I was just...um...well, eavesdropping," he finally mumbled. He went over to the couch and sat down with Usagi, clenching his fists in his lap and staring down nervously. He at least had thought to put a shirt on while in the bedroom, so he wasn't half naked like he had been before.
"Relax, Misaki," Usagi whispered soothingly. That only made Misaki blush more, as it sounded just like the kind of thing Usagi would say to him in bed. "He just wants to talk to you." He resumed smoking his cigarette, as he leaned back into the couch.
Usagi-chichi smiled, his eyes crinkling around the edges even more so than normal. "I'm sorry that we got off to such a rocky start," he apologized. "Let's start over. I'm Fuyuhiko Usami. Nice to meet you."
"Misaki Takahashi. Nice to meet you," Misaki said, his voice cracking. He had never been in a romantic relationship before, so this whole "meet the parents" thing was absolutely paralyzing him.
"What college are you attending?"
"Mitsuhashi," Misaki whispered, his eyes dropping back into his lap.
"And your major?"
"Economics." He visibly shivered.
"Ah, are you interested in the finance business? We have several branches of the Usami corporation that - "
"Father, no," Usagi said sharply. "Don't rope him into the family business already."
Usagi-chichi laughed lightly. "Jumping to conclusions once again, Akihiko." He turned his focus back on the boy. "Hobbies?"
"I...I like reading manga," Misaki began, and then winced as he realized that wasn't the most impressive or mature hobby to admit to. "Um, um, but I really like historical fiction," he said quickly, scrambling to appear a little more intellectual.
"Ah, like Touzandou Tentsui Ibun? I've just finished reading that one."
"Yes!" Misaki shouted, then covered his mouth as he realized he was a little too loud. "Um, yes. I'm very interested in the Tokugawa Shogunate!" He and Usagi-chichi proceeded to talk quite animatedly about historical fiction manga, as Usagi watched in pleasurable surprise.
"I didn't know you read manga, father."
"Well, you have to have something to unwind with after the stress of a long day running a multi-billion dollar corporation," Usagi-chichi laughed. He turned back to Misaki, giving him a smile. "You're a decent boy. I'm sorry that I had the wrong impression of you." He frowned slightly. "It's just that Haruhiko said some rather misleading things..."
"That damn Haruhiko!" Usagi growled.
Usagi-chichi waved his hands. "No, no, let's not ruin this good mood. I know that he's always been deeply jealous of you, and I have to remember to take the things he says with a grain of salt. Forget about him for the time being. Now, Misaki, tell me...are you interested in..." He proceeded to start up another conversation about historical fiction, and Usagi had to interrupt him.
"It's past midnight. We ought to cut this party short," he said.
"Forgive me," Usagi-chichi said. "I've rambled on and on. Well..." he stood up, and shook Misaki's hand. "Until we meet again," he said warmly, and turned to go, letting himself out.
Misaki turned to Usagi. "Wow, that was a big big big surprise. I never would have thought your dad would turn out to be so nice."
"Yeah, me neither," Usagi said with a half grin. "Now, it's past your bedtime, you naughty boy," he said in a mock stern manner as he scooped Misaki up. "I'm taking you straight to bed and I'm going to paddle your bottom when we get there."
"No! No! Usagi-san, I'm still sore from the bathtub!" Misaki protested, and they went off to bed.
The next day, they returned back to their apartment, where Misaki found two packages awaiting him. "They're addressed to me," he mused. He read the label on the first one. "From Fuyuhiko Usami...that's your dad," he said rather unnecessarily, and then slit the packaging tape open with his keys and looked inside. "Aw, awesome! It's the whole Touzandou series!" He pulled out book after book. "That was really nice of him," he said, and then moved the box aside.
"Now, who's this from?" he said, then made a grimace when he read the name on the return label.
"Who is it?" Usagi asked, narrowing his eyes at Misaki's unfavorable reaction.
Misaki looked up with woeful eyes. "Usagi...ani." He looked back down at the box. "Well, let's see what it is," he began.
"Just throw it out without opening it," Usagi grunted.
"What? But I want to see what it is."
"It doesn't matter!"
"But it might be something useful!"
"_I'll_ buy you whatever you need! Throw it away!"
"How can you buy it for me if I don't even know what it is yet?"
"Good point," Usagi mumbled, defeated. He watched in irritation as Misaki opened the package. Inside the cardboard was a very fancy looking flat black box. Misaki wriggled the lid open, peered inside, and picked up one of the items in wonder.
"What are these supposed to be? ... uh oh." He dropped the piece of fabric like it was a hot potato.
Usagi seethed. "Sexy underwear? How DARE he! I'll kill him!"
"No, no, it's okay, I'm throwing them away," Misaki assured him, dumping the whole box in the trashcan. He felt rather wasteful doing such a thing, but he was afraid Usagi was going to go on a killing spree if he didn't.
Usagi managed to calm down, and then approached his young lover. "Come on, put your jacket back on."
"What? Why?"
"Because I'm taking you shopping for sexy underwear," Usagi smirked.
"Oh boy..." Misaki groaned.