Arriving at the entrance of his apartment building, Takeru was rubbing his temples for the hundredth time.  What Chiyu said really made his headache worse. ‘What an un-eventful day.’ Takeru thought.  Sighing he stepped inside the lobby and jumped into an open elevator, pressing the 32 button.  ‘At least I’m getting home early and Maa-nii won’t be there to pry.  Lying to him about why I’m out late is tiring.  But there’s no way he would accept my relationship with…whatever I have with Ruki-san so easily.’  The bell of the elevator chimed interrupting his thoughts.  The big golden door slid open and he stepped out towards the left.  Walking down the long hallway to his brother’s apartment always felt eerie, like most hotel hallways.  Letting out another sigh the blonde quickened his strides.  Taking a sharp right around the corner at the end he froze in his steps.  Just a couple yards further stood his so-called boyfriend smoking in front of his door.  Without thinking Takeru ran up to Ruki.

                “Would you put that out?!  There’s no smoking in here!”  Ruki pulled out his portable ashtray, snuffed out the cigarette, and tucked the remainder inside it.  Snapping the lid closed his gaze lazily came to meet Takeru’s.  Instantly the blonde looked down averting eye contact.  “What are you doing here?  How did you know where I live?”  He hadn’t intended to say it like he was annoyed, but he did.

                “This.”  Ruki held out a leather wallet.  Upon seeing it Takeru rummaged through his bag in denial.  However, he quickly realized it was in fact his.  “It was on my couch.  Must have fallen out.  Has your i.d. card with address and all not-a-natural-blonde-san.  Even your key is inside.”  Takeru snatched the wallet back cursing his own stupidity.  “That’s all I came here for.  I’ll take my leave since it seems you don’t want to see me.”  Without another word he walked past Takeru.

                “Wait!”  Ruki stopped but didn’t turn around.  “It’s not that I don’t want to see you, I do.  I’m just…”

                “Just what?”

                “I’m just frustrated about before.  You say one thing but do the opposite.  I just don’t know if what I’m doing and saying is right.”  That was only part of the truth.  Takeru couldn’t tell him that Saga, and his possible lingering feelings for him, was what had him feeling uneasy too.  He felt two hands on his shoulders before hearing the soft sigh.

                “Pup, it’s not about doing something right.  You think too much.  Plus, your expectations are not realistic.”

                “But-“  Ruki put a finger up to his lips to silence the blonde.

                “I’m the second guy you’ve ever dated and I’m an adult.  Don’t expect things to happen a certain way, just let them happen.”  Takeru stared up at him all frustration gone. ‘How can he put me at such ease with just one sentence when Chi-chan couldn’t do it the whole evening?’  He thought to himself.  “Didn’t I tell you this stuff is tiresome?”  The blonde let out a sigh and wrapped his arms around the brunette’s waist, resting his head on the brunette’s chest.

                “You weren’t kidding.”

                “I’m always right pup.”  He was patting the blonde top.  “So I’ll be nice and let you keep my number and contact info.”

                “Excuse me?”  Takeru pushed himself off Ruki’s chest to look at him.

                “Normally I don’t let exes keep my number.  But I will make an exception for you since Koron-chan really likes you.”

                “Since when did I become your ex?!”  Takeru yelled.

                “You just agreed it was tiresome.”  Ruki looked at him confused.

                “That didn’t mean I wanted to break up!”

                “What?  Seriously?”

                “Just cuz something is a hassle doesn’t mean I give up on it.  I’m not letting you get away so easily!”

                “Guess I should have figured.  You’re like a puppy that latches onto someone’s leg and won’t let go even after you .”

                “Hey!”  A blush appeared.  “I only tried to kiss you…twice!  You’re the one gettin all physical with my lower half!”

                “Alright, alright.  Geeze, now both of our neighbors are going to think I’m a ert.”

                “Well you are a per-“  He was cut off by a kiss.  One he was starting to become familiar with.

 

     “Keru-chan!”  Takeru immediately broke away from Ruki knowing who the voice belonged to. ‘.’

     “Ma-nii…”  Ruki turned to find an even taller blonde giving him a death glare.

     “Man, if looks could kill.”  He reached into his jacket to grab a cigarette, but remembered he wasn’t allowed to smoke.

     “I don’t know who you are,”

     “Ma-nii wait!”

     “But don’t think you can touch my brother!  Let alone kiss him!”  The tall blonde came at Ruki with a raised fist.  Ruki didn’t flinch as the fist came flying towards his face.  But it didn’t connect.  Takeru had dashed forward wrapping his arms around Maya, pushing him back.

     “I was just returning a lost item, so I’ll take my leave now.”  Ruki slipped past the restrained older brother and disappeared from the hallway.  Takeru breathed a sigh of relief that he managed to stop Maya.  Once he was sure Maya wouldn’t go running after him, Takeru released his hold on his brother.  Within the blink of an eye he was being pulled to the front door by his collar.  As soon as the door was unlocked Takeru was tossed inside.

     “Itai!”  He landed on his .  The door slammed shut leaving an angry Maya towering over Takeru. 

     “You wanna explain who the hell that was?”

     “Not really…”  Takeru looked at anything but his brother.  ‘It’s been a long time since Ma-nii was this angry.’

     “Let me rephrase that.  You better explain who that was if you want to leave this apartment ever again.”

     “Okay!  I was holding off on telling you because I knew you’d overreact.”  Takeru stood up brushing non-existent dust off his clothes.

     “Tell me what?!”

     “That was Ruki-san…my boyfriend.”  There was total silence.  Takeru didn’t dare chance a look at his brother’s face.  He knew Maya would be outraged as usual when it came to him.  Maya had a huge brother complex that made him way too over protective over Takeru.  ‘I think he would still be this mad even if I said I had a girlfriend.  Seriously…when will he let me go?’  There was just the sound of both of them breathing.  When Takeru thought he couldn’t stand still a moment longer, Maya spoke.

     “No.”

     “No what?”

     “Just…no.  I don’t want you seeing that guy.  Call him and end it.”  Any fear Takeru had toward his brother instantly vanished as he exploded in anger.

     “Why are you, the closest person to me, trying to end my relationship?!  I thought you would be just a little happy for me!”

     “Keru…I am happy for you.  I’m thrilled that you’re showing interest in someone that way again.  But you can’t be with that guy.  You won’t be happy with a guy like that.”

     “How do you know I won’t be happy?!  You don’t know anything about Ruki-san!”

     “I don’t have to know him!  And until you break up with him, you’re grounded.  You can only go to school, and then you will return home and go nowhere else.”

     “What?  You can’t ground me!  I’m 19 now!”

     “As long as you live under my care, then you are under my rules!  What I say goes!”

     “Then screw this!”  Takeru grabbed his bag from the floor where he had fallen and stormed toward the front door.  Unfortunately, he was stopped by a firm grip taking hold of his arm.  “Let go!”

     “You’re not leaving.  Go to your room.”

     “Hell no!  I don’t want to keep being treated like a child anymore!  And if leaving your ‘care’ is how I can do it, then I can’t leave here fast enough!”

     “Calm down.  You’re just over reacting.”

     “Would you STOP telling me how I feel!  I know when mom and dad died you stepped up to take care of me.  But you’re not our parents!”  Maya’s grip loosened on his brother’s arm.  “If you want to be a parent so badly, just go get married and have kids of your own!”  Takeru saw the shocked expression on Maya’s face and took that opportunity to escape.  He quickly pulled away from Maya and ran full speed out the door.

     “Keru!”  Maya yelled after Takeru, but he was already gone from the hallway.

 

*                             *                             *

 

                After running for what felt like an hour, Takeru stopped on a crowded sidewalk out of breath.  He was down town somewhere.  All he could see was bright neon signs for businesses.  The sun had already set making it dark and not any easier to determine where he was.  Seeing a bench for a bus stop, he sat down to take a rest.  Pulling out his phone he saw 5 missed calls.  All from Maya.  Still quite angry at him he turned his phone off.  There was no way he was letting his brother win this fight.  But he honestly had no idea where he was going to stay.  That’s when he felt a hand land on his shoulder.  He quickly turned to see who it belonged to.

                “Takeru-san!”  Relieved to see Kai, Takeru let out a small sigh.  “What are you doing out here so late?”

                “Well, it’s kind of awkward to say but I ran away from home.”  He laughed bitterly.  “I was just trying to figure out where I should stay for the night.”

                “Oh?  Why not just go stay with Ruki-kun?”

                “There’s no way he would let a runaway ‘kid’ stay at his place.”  They both laughed at the truth of it.  As much as he hated saying it, he knew that’s what Ruki would say.

                “Well, if you’re no opposed to it, would you come with me?  I wouldn’t feel right leaving you out here with no place to go.”

                “Oh…I don’t know…”  Takeru didn’t want to outright refuse since he was being kind.  But the last time he went with Kai, he was abandoned in a bar.

                “It’s ok!  It’s a safe place.  And there are some people I want you to meet.”  Kai had already grabbed his arm practically dragging Takeru.

                “Well…ok.”  And with that he got into Kai’s again unaware of the destination.

 

                Once the car stopped Takeru instantly had a bad feeling.  The questionable bike shop they stopped in front of was the complete opposite of the bright busy area they were just in.  The two of them seemed so out-of-place.  But Kai excitedly jumped out of the car and came around to open Takeru’s door.

                “C’mon!  We’re here.”

                “Where are we going?”  He asked slowly getting out of the car.

                “Here”  Kai nodded toward the bike shop.

                “But, it says it’s closed.”

                “That’s because it is Takeru-san.”  ‘Ok…’  Takeru thought hoping Kai wasn’t secretly a burglar by night.  “My friend is the owner.  He, Ruki-kun, Uruha-san, and I all usually hang out here.  I want you to meet Ruki-kun’s friends, and they want to meet you too!”  Now Takeru’s interest was piqued.  He hadn’t really thought about Ruki’s friends.  He kind of assumed Kai was his only friend.  Kai wrapped an arm around Takeru’s shoulders as he led him inside the shop.  Once inside he was in awe.  It was a lot nicer looking than the outside.  All the bikes on display shined and gave off an air of perfection.  Takeru really didn’t know anything about cars or bikes, but looking at the ones in front of him reminded him of art.  It was obvious whoever owned these bikes really took care of them and put a lot of effort into their upkeep.

                “Wow…”  Takeru said unable to tear his eyes away.

                “Reita-kun I’m here!”  Kai yelled up some stairs.  “And I have a guest with me.  Is that ok?”  He waited for a moment for a reply.

                “Yeah, c’mon up.  Uru-san is already here.”  The new voice pulled Takeru’s attention away from the bikes.  Kai motioned for Takeru to follow him up the stairs.  ‘Why am I so nervous now?’  Takeru pondered as he kept his eyes on Kai’s back.  At the top, he glanced over to see two guys at a card table playing poker.  One was wearing a grease covered jumper and had a bleach blonde mohawk.  He was obviously a mechanic.  The other guy wore just a simple white t-shirt and jeans.  Both guys stopped playing and stared at Takeru. 

     “Hey guys…no Ruki-kun?”

     “Nope, said he was gonna be busy today.”  The mohawk guy replied.

     “Actually, that has probably changed.”

     “Why do you say that?  He call you?”

     “Nope.  I have something very precious of his.  He’ll cancel any plans to retrieve it.”

     “Kai-kun…”  T-shirt guy cut in with annoyance in his tone.  “Do you really want Ru-tan mad at you for taking his things?”

     “I didn’t take anything!  I found it!”  He retorted back slightly offended.  Takeru felt a little awkward standing there as the three had a conversation.

     “So what exactly did you ‘find’ that he is so willing to come get?”

     “His puppy.”  Kai beamed brightly as he placed a hand on Takeru’s shoulder.

     “Wha-!?”  Takeru  quickly looked at Kai offended.

     “You have Koron-chan?”  Mohawk guy asked.

     “No!  This is Takeru-san.  The puppy boy.”  Both guys refocused their attention back on Takeru.

     “Kai-san, please don’t call me that!  It’s bad enough Ruki-san does.”

     “Sorry.”

     “No way…this is Ruki-kun’s boyfriend?!”  Mohawk guy stared in amazement.  “There is no way that guy hasn’t laid a hand on you!”

     “Rei-kun, that’s rude.”  T-shirt guy scolded.  ‘Well he’s not wrong…not like I can really say that out loud.’  Takeru thought as he blushed slightly.

     “Sorry Takeru-san.  This guy here,”  Kai went and stood next to mohawk guy.  “is Reita-san.  He owns this shop and fixes up motorcycles.  He kind of just says the first thing that comes to mind, but he is a nice guy.”  The man who was Reita put his hand up and gave a small, quick wave.  Kai moved over to t-shirt guy.  “And this is Uruha-san.  He’s a novelist, average popularity.  He may seem cold but he’s really not.”  Uruha glared at Kai before giving a small nod in Takeru’s direction.

     “Now to set the bait.”  Reita got up from his seat walking over to Takeru.  Without warning he grabbed Takeru’s hand and led him to a couch.  He sat down pulling Takeru down next to him.  “Kai-kun, you have the camera right?”

     “Yup I’ve got one ready!”

     “I want no part in whatever you two are planning.”  Uruha said still seated at the card table playing with his cell phone.

     “What exactly are you going to do?”  Takeru just couldn’t keep up with these guys.  He waited for a reply, but neither of them answered.  In the blink of an eye his hands were suddenly being bound together by duct tape.  “Hey, wha-!”  He was cut off as duct tape was put over his mouth.  As he tried mumbling his protests Reita continued binding his ankles, knees, and arms with the duct tape as if they were kidnapping him.  Desperately he looked to Kai who had his same smile on his face.  ‘I’ve really got to stop trusting this guy.  That is if I make it out of this alive!’  His heart was pounding a mile a minute.

     “Kai-kun, you do know Ru-tan will probably burn your house down with you inside it right?”

     “Ha-ha Uruha-san, he would have to know where my house is.”

     “Alright Kai-kun, ready the camera!”  Kai faces Takeru with his phone held out.  After hearing a ‘click’ sound, he realized Kai was using his phone’s camera. 

 

     Once a solo shot was taken, Reita still on the couch threw an arm around his shoulders.  ‘click’ Then his other arm wrapped around making a hug.  ‘click’ Next his leg came up to rest in Takeru’s lap practically straddling him.  ‘click’ His heart raced fast as all sorts of images and scenarios ran through his head.  Strangely, at a time like this, Ruki was all that he wanted.  How much he wished Ruki was there.  He quickly snapped out of his thoughts as he felt lips pressed on his cheek.  ‘click’ That alone was too far for Takeru and he began thrashing and wriggling to free himself.

     “Woah!  Calm down Takeru-san!”  Kai’s smile faltered slightly.

     “God you two, he’s completely freaked out.”  Uruha had walked over now.  “Get off him you drunken idiot.”  He said while prying Reita off.  He then carefully pulled the tape off of Takeru’s mouth.  “Sorry.  Those two can get a bit carried away with their antics when drunk.  They don’t really mean you any harm though.”

     “I noticed.  Is Kai-san really drunk?  I haven’t seen him drink since I ran into him down town.”

     “He was probably out drinking with clients before running into you.”  At that point Takeru really wanted to be free.

     “And…sent!  Ruki-kun should be receiving these momentarily!”

     “Hold on Takeru-san, I need to find scissors or something to cut this off you.”  Uruha disappeared from sight.  ‘At least he seems normal and reliable’  Just then Reita appeared next to him with a beer in hand.

     “Sorry bout all that.  But he won’t come if we don’t have proof that you’re here.”  He hiccupped at the end of his sentence.  Takeru let out a frustrated sigh.  “Now lighten up kid!  Don’t be mad, we were just having some fun.  Here, I’ll share!”  Reita put the beer up to Takeru’s lips and started pouring the liquid in his mouth.  About a third of the beer spilled down the front of Takeru.  He tried to drink as much as he could to avoid that happening.  ‘What a gross taste!  Why does anyone like this stuff?’  He was just happy in the end that he didn’t choke at all.  “Gone already?  I’ll grab you another one.”  Just as he got up a phone rang.

     “Three minute response, that is impressive.”  Kai was speaking into his cell phone.  ‘Why am I getting so hot suddenly? The fall evenings have been cooler, so I shouldn’t be hot?’  “Aww you’re no fun.  Can’t we have a little fun with your boyfriend?  He is cute!  I’m saying that’s why I can’t leave him alone.  I found him!  Finders keepers!”  Kai hung up his phone as he went stomping down the stairs.  Takeru only heard Kai’s end of the phone call and wondered who he was speaking to.  The more he spoke, the more obvious it was that Kai was indeed drunk.  Reita then plopped down next to Takeru holding two beers.

     “See, I brought you more Ta-kun.”  He opened a can and again poured beer into the blonde’s mouth.  Again Takeru tried to drink as much as he could to avoid spilling more all over his clothes.  Unfortunately without much chance to take a breath, he did choke towards the end of it.

     “Rei-kun!  Stop!  You’re going to kill him!”  Uruha finally returned with a knife in hand to cut the tape off.  Once free, Takeru quickly jumped up to get away from Reita.  However, dizziness caught him off guard and he lost his footing.  He would have face planted the floor if Uruha hadn’t caught him.  “Woah…why don’t you sit over here for a minute.”  Uruha sat him down in a recliner opposite from the couch.  He sank down into it keeping his eyes closed.  “You ok?”

     “Everything won’t stop moving.”  Uruha grabbed his chin forcing his face up to look directly into his.

     “Slowly open your eyes.”  As instructed, Takeru opened his eyes and focused on Uruha waiting for there to be only one of him.

     “You’re ok…for the most part.  Just tipsy from the beer.  You’re a bit of a light weight.”

     “I’ve never had alcohol before.”  Uruha stood up with a sigh.

     “Hang on, stay here.  I’m going to get you some water.  Rei-kun, DO.  NOT.  TOUCH.  HIM.”  He looked very sternly at Reita before walking away.

     “What?”  Reita laughed.  After Uruha was out of sight he refocused on Takeru.  “Here, drink up.  I got it for you anyway.”  He tossed the second beer to Takeru.  To his surprise, Takeru managed to catch it.  “It’ll make you feel better.”  Takeru looked at the cold can and opened it.  His mind was fuzzy and couldn’t focus on any thoughts.  So since he heard it would make him feel better, he did it.  He took a big gulp.  ‘Hey, this doesn’t so gross anymore.  Maybe the first one was a bad one?  It tastes like…’

     “This tastes like burning!”  Takeru exclaimed loudly.  Reita burst out laughing.  Takeru took another big gulp.  He really liked how it made a warmness fill every limb of his body.  Didn’t really help the dizziness at all, but he had stopped caring.

     “Oh for the love of god!”  Uruha had returned right as Takeru was tilting his head back to finish off the beer.  “Rei-kun!”

     “You just said not to touch him!  I think he likes it anyway.”  Reita protested with both arms raised up defensively.  Just then, there was a loud ‘bang’ downstairs.  After a minute or two there was footsteps stomping up the stairs.  “Ruki-kun you made it!”  Takeru lazily shifted his gaze towards the stairs.  Ruki stood there and one look at his face made Takeru shrink down into the chair.  Ruki took one look at Takeru and strode over quickly snatching the empty beer can away.

     “Whose bright idea was this?”  He asked obviously trying to keep his anger in check.  Uruha nodded in Reita’s direction.  Ruki glared at him silently before throwing the empty can at him as hard as he could.

     “Hey!  Kai took the pictures!”

     “Yes, and he’s enjoying vomiting downstairs after I punched him in the stomach.  But he was not the one clinging to the pup and giving alcohol to a minor!”

     “He’s a minor!?  Wow, you really did go young with this one.”  Ruki pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.  This was getting him nowhere.

     “Ru-tan, why don’t you take Takeru-san home for now and I will deal with the two idiots.”

     “I can’t take him home like this.  His older brother will murder me.  Almost did earlier this evening.”

     “I meant your home.  He is your boyfriend, so there should be no problem with him staying with you.”  He wanted to protest but knew it was his best option at the moment.  He glanced at the blonde puppy to see him nodding off.

     “Fine.  I’m takin Kai-kun’s car.  When he’s sober again tell him it’s punishment for kidnapping.”  Ruki grabbed Takeru by the arm hoisting him to his feet.  “Can you at least walk?”

     “Hmm?”  Takeru swayed as he stood fighting to keep his eyes open.

     “I’ll take that as a ‘barely.’”  Still keeping a hold on his arm, Ruki pulled his puppy towards the stairs and eventually to Kai’s car.

 

*                             *                             *

 

     Throwing his door wide open, Ruki walked into his apartment with his unconscious puppy on his back.  He tossed the blonde’s bag somewhere inside and removed both of their shoes.  Koron came running up as he closed the door.  “Move Koron-chan.”  Ruki continued forward as the dog moved aside silently watching him.  He went directly to his bedroom and deposited the boy on his bed.  The blonde was out cold.  “Geeze.  How are you so heavy?”  He looked down at his puppy for a moment just watching him sleep.  “I suppose I can’t let you sleep in those clothes.”  Ruki started tugging off the blonde’s clothes until he was only wearing boxers.  He took the booze reeking clothes and threw them in his washing machine starting a small load cycle.  He then went to his closet and rummaged around for some pajama pants and an old t-shirt.  Without much emotion he mechanically put the pants and shirt on his puppy.  Standing back he let out a small laugh.  “That shirt is so loose on you.  Looks like a kid wearing his parent’s clothes.”  He stared again.  Just watching his serene sleeping expression relaxed Ruki in an odd way.  He tore his eyes away after a while to change into his own pajamas.  Coming back to the bed he rolled the boy over so he wasn’t in the middle of the bed and carefully climbed in next to him.  “God I hope you don’t decide to vomit at any point.”  He sighed laying his head back into the pillows.

     Almost as soon as his eyes were closed he felt arms snake around his waist and legs intertwine with his own.  Opening his eyes, he saw a blonde mess rested on his chest.  “Now I really hope you don’t vomit.”  He said as he lightly patted the soft blonde hair.  Doing so made the boy tighten his hold and snuggle deeper into his chest.  Not wanting to make his situation any more unbearable, Ruki just left his hand resting on top of his puppy’s head.  He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath before letting sleep finally claim him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys!  So I got this chapter out rather quickly.  Seems like the "Fic-Fairy"  hit me with inspiration and I literally wrote 90% of this within 2 days.  Used some real life events to write this.  Yes...I have 2 friends that were duct taped to rolling chairs and used as battering rams in a jousting tournament in a basement.............no alcohol involved.  Needless to say this chapter made me laugh a little.

As always I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!!!  And please look forward to the future chapters.  I also will be working on some other fics, so if you like this one keep an eye out for another one I will be posting that has visual kei people for characters.  Otherwise my other projects are kpop characters.  But those will be a while since I haven't even begun to make an outline for those stories.