My intentions were to post this chptr a month ago, but this chptr and I fought every step of the way. I almost didn't make it. :D I low-key love you guys, and I just want to thank you for all the support and comments.  Enjoy and I'll see y'all in chapter 11.

A series of heavy knocks jostled Takumi awake. The loud abrupt noise would have woken the dead, but Takumi wasn’t dead. In fact, he wasn’t even asleep. He was going through the motions hoping if he closed his eyes, sleep would find him and whisk him off to some unknown magical land. Magical Lands. Those kinds of things only took place in fairytales, and if he was being honest with himself, his life was the farthest from being a fairytale.  He huffed a sigh placing an arm over his eyes. Maybe that would aid him in his venture to find sleep since it obviously didn’t wish to find him. Sleep never liked him to begin with, but maybe tricking his brain into thinking it was darker than it actually was would help him in his endeavor. A few minutes later, his brain, which refused to take its own advice and take a day off was interrupted by more thunderous knocking. His mind, though he was beginning to coax it into letting go of awareness, started up again with gusto.

His brain had a tendency to overreact, thinking of worse case scenarios and all, but this time was a bit different. Normally if someone mistakenly came to his door, they would knock and then continue on their way.  If it were a drug addict that accidentally knocked on his door, the knocks would be rapid and almost never-ending followed by bouts of shouting.  The raps at his door were much more controlled, deliberate, and that definitely set off warning bells in his now panicked mind.

The next few bangs against his door sent him flying into sitting position, his eyes trained carefully on the door. Nothing eventful ever happened in his dingy apartment complex. Scratch that. Nothing eventful happened on his floor, yet that knowledge didn’t stop him from wrapping his fingers around the leather-clad knife Gii had given him from underneath his pillow. Slowly,  he crept from the couch, his knees bent and shoulders hunched. The door hadn’t been kicked in, so that was good. He checked that off on his mental list, but everything else was unaccounted for. He couldn’t make out any voices on the other side of the flimsy door, not good. If he really wanted to hear, he would need to get closer and place his ear on the splintery wood. He wasn’t too keen on that idea.

He mapped each step he took, fear tearing at every fiber of his being. It may have seemed uncalled for the first time he moved into the apartment, but he figured out which floorboards creaked too much and which were quiet. When he first decided to map out the floorboards he told himself he was insane. There would be no need for him to know which boards creaked the most and which he could safely step on. The walls of his apartment were paper thin, and it wasn’t uncommon to be able to even hear the footstep of the person on the inside. He would just need to be extra careful.  He grazed each wooden panel with a delicate flick of the ball of his foot. 

Each step he took,  his stomach twisted with pain. If they were going to drag him back to that hell-hole, they were going to have to do it violently.  He wasn’t going to be easy prey this time. His time of being stupid and naive was over. Takumi readjusted his grip on the knife. It felt as if it were going to slip out of his hand from all the sweat that had gathered in his palms but he couldn’t afford that.

Inch by inch he stepped closer to the door as the knocking persisted and got louder. Each bang caused him to inhale a sharp breath to calm his jumpy nerves. Were they bigger than him? Did they have guns?

Quit it brain. It’s probably nothing. He mentally supplied, and yet his mind retorted with another thought. That’s what you said last time and look where that landed us.

He shuddered at the mere thought but shoved it to the back of his mind. He couldn’t think about such disgusting memories or he wouldn’t be able to focus, and that’s exactly what this situation called for. Focus.

The world crawled to stop around him, and in its stillness, the silence lay like a quilt in the air. It was scary how much the quiet emphasized the thunderous sounds of the knocking. His eyes fluttered shut while he took in a deep breath. Now or never, he thought. For the second time, he fixed his grip on the knife handle before reaching for the doorknob. It was the first time he could see the distinct shaking of his hands. Open the damn door and get this over with. He nodded, the movement providing the reassurance he needed.

“Now or-”

"My cupcake, please open up.”  Takumi paused, letting out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. Why did the person on the other side of his door sound like Gii? The man never showed up to his apartment without calling first, so what was so different about this time? He was rigid his shot nerves fraying even more than they already were. He hated people. His knees wobbled as the anxiety and stress ebbed away and was replaced with relief. Holding the doorknob was the only thing keeping him from turning into a puddle of skin on the hardwood floor. In all honesty, he wished he did become a puddle.  At least then, he would be able to sink into the cracks and not have to relive the embarrassment he felt at the moment.

The knocks started up again and he visibly  flinched, “My sweet, sweet cupcake please open the door.”

The sickeningly, sweet statement warranted an eye roll. He didn’t care for the name but somewhere among all the conversation they had, the nickname stuck. Keeping the door chains in place, he cracked the door open a sliver. His deep brown eyes met Gii’s deep-set ones. Gii smiled that lopsided smile forcing the rest of the nerves that plagued him to disburse, at least until he looked past the fortress of a man. The man standing behind Gii was tall, slender, and seemed pale. He looked harmless but there was no telling what motive people had. As if reading his mind, Gii looked back at the other man.

Nam Soon, this is Takumi. You’ll be staying with him for a few days.”  An unimpressed gaze left Gii sputtering, “Can we come in?”

Gii continued to smile through the unimpressed frown painting Takumi’s face. If he was going to meet his maker, he would rather do it while doing what he loved. Which happened to be making people uncomfortable with his inappropriately timed expressions and gestures.

All Nam Soon could do, was take in the snippet of the room he could see through the crack and complement the stark contrast between it’s neat and probably well-organized space to the trash-ridden and smelly hallway.

Finally, Takumi rubbed at his face, the stress which had returned upon seeing the young Omega standing behind Gii drained from his taut nerves.

   “A forewarning would have been nice.” He started before shutting the door to undo the chains. He had a total of six locks on his door, whether it was legal or not wasn't his problem. And it didn’t matter if they actually worked - even though it kind of did- what mattered was that they gave him the impression he was safe. Too many nights he found himself rocking back and forth in the enclosed space of his closet. Since getting the locks though, he was able to coax himself into sleeping in his bed, even on his couch.

   The door swung open allowing his two guests to enter, but for a brief moment, he blocked the entryway giving his two guests an eyeful of the dark gray, steel knife. While Nam Soon stopped, eyes wide with something akin to fear and caution, Gii’s smile broadened and his eyes were aglow with delight.

“Takumiiiii! You do use it. I’m so happy.” He stepped in for a hug only to get a face full of the knife. Obviously, this was not the time for shenanigans and Gii's mind probably needed to work double time to understand that, yet despite his goofy inclinations, he went just as still as Nam Soon a second later. 

Takumi took a moment, sizing both men up until he deemed them not a threat and harmless enough to let into his small apartment.

He moved from the doorway toward the tight confines he called his kitchen, where he dropped the knife onto the table with a clatter. He could feel the nervous energy seeping from the stranger. Takumi chuckled to himself, he wasn’t going to kill him if that’s what was plaguing the - smelled like an Omega- man. Gii strode off behind him, catching him at the waist. Just the feel of the other man’s hands on him brought about a new wave of calm. The thought that Gii could do such a thing sent a shiver down his spine. He’d only known the man for a few weeks and already he was allowing the man to roam about his house and touch him. Just as quickly as Gii had pulled him into his embrace, he swatted the strong hands away, and like a ing gentleman, the Alpha obeyed. He took a whole two steps back and brought his hands up as a sign of surrender or peace.

Takumi glanced at the tall, stylish, and slender man Gii labeled Nam Soon. He looked familiar, and he seemed too occupied with the appearance of his new meager living arrangements. Takumi continued to eye the young man until he slammed his fist on the counter catching the attention of both guests. He juts his chin out, the only action that signaled his interest in Nam Soon.

“You’re that Omega from TV. The one who denounced that drug, yeah?”

He silently watched as the man introduced as Nam Soon went rigid. The conference had been a big point in debates for weeks and Takumi had gotten a front row seat to those debates from his pig-headed co-workers, and he had been thankful the talk died down. The man coughed, a poor attempt to disguise his discomfort and anxiety.

“Yea, uh yes. That would be me. The reckless, loud mouth on T.V.”

Takumi’s gaze was unwavering. His dark brown eyes pinned the man in place like they had the power to force those who saw them to spill their guts. He had been told about the power his eyes had on people, but he would rather not think about it since… nevermind.

“Well,” Takumi’s stare hardened into a glare as he switched to looking at Gii. “Would excuse us...Nam Soon?”

Nam Soon looked between the two men and nodded. “Of course, don’t let me stop you.”

He waved his hand about excusing them. The movement brought on uncomfortable stares from Gii and Takumi. “Oh, oh, you w-want me to...Okay, yeah excuse me.”

The two silently watched as he stepped out into the hallway leaving them to - whatever this was about to be.

Takumi quickly stormed up to Gii.

   “You know how much I hate strangers in my space, what the hell?”

Gii flinched from the harsh statement, his eyes cutting from the seething man in front of him to the knife lying menacingly on the counter. He needed to fix this.

“Listen, cupcake…”

“Quit it with the Cupcake bull! I don’t have time for your jokes!”  He swallowed down the lump in his throat. Gii slowly approached Takumi like he was some skittish animal and to a certain extent, he was.

“Takumi.” He crooned.

“Don’t touch me! ...You and that guy need to leave.”

“Wait, Takumi. Please.” 

Takumi sneered at the Alpha his head wagging faster than a dogs tail.

“NO! We just met, and you already strut around my apartment like you own the damn place!  You brought a stranger to my house!" He bellowed, not caring if Nam Soon heard him, "You can't do that. You can’t just bring random people to my house without checking with me first! That’s not too much to ask. In fact, that's called common courtesy!”

   Gii huffed a sigh of resignation before gently encasing Takumi’s forearms with his own large hands.

   “...You’re right, I shouldn’t have done this, but I really need a safe place for him to stay and you’re the first person I thought of. Please, Takumi?” Takumi cast his eyes to the floor, uncertainty running rampant in his heart. “Look, if he does anything you don’t approve of, anything you hate, I’ll kill him.”

   “You can’t kill someone you’re supposedly protecting.” He countered his head raising in increments until he caught the full view of Gii’s lopsided smile. Gii seeing the mood shifting, hastily brought his hands from Takumi’s shoulders to his face, caressing the soft skin. He stuck his lip out and began to make keening noises.

   “Please Cuppycake? Please, I’ll do anything for you to say yes.”

   Takumi rolled his eyes, “Okay, but he has to pull his weight around here. I’m already offended that he has the nerve to judge my place of residence.”

   The Alpha chuckled, “I promise, you’ll hardly know he’s here.”