Unlike Sanai and Chie who sat still, their faces glued either forward or at the food they wish they could be eating-that part would be dedicated to Sanai who drooled like a starving dog over a meat bone-I looked at the wall clock periodically so I would be aware of how long we'd been waiting for him. Nearly twenty minutes had passed, and I began to think it was hopeless when I heard the front door open. "I'm home!" I heard the familiar male's voice call from the front doorway. Not long after, I saw a brunette man with a slender, handsome face peek in the dining room at us. He didn't have a surprised look at first, but he gained one almost instantly upon locking eyes with me. "Well, I didn't know we were going to have company. How have you been, Hiroki?" He came over to me, extending a hand downwards.

I reached out and took his hand-I thought we were going to shake hands-and he pulled me up, hugging me like he always would when I was smaller. "I'm fine. Been a while, huh?" I spoke with scrunched windpipes; he always did, despite having rather slim arms, have a lot of upper-arm strength.

He chuckled and let go of me, leaving my body to slump back down on the floor in a heap; I looked more like a blob than a human being when I hit my seat, a cushion upon the floor. "Sure has! You've grown quite a bit in three years, sport." He looked at Sanai, who didn't seem to care too much about him being there, before looking back at me. "I see you have met Sanai-kun," he said with little excitement.

I looked between the two of them before settling my eyes on Yuuta's stubble-covered face. "I didn't know you had a kid besides Yuki-chan. How is she, by the way?"

"She's fine." He sat down, silent for a little while as he sipped on his cup of sake. For as long as I'd known him, he loved to have sake with his meals and on his days off, not to mention the festivals around the year, but that was him I guess. "Chie and I don't have another child. You remember how she was married and divorced when she and I got together?"

I nodded. "Yeah, why?"

He took another drink, this one lasting a little longer than the previous one. "He belongs to them, not me." He sat the cup down, eying us both seriously. His expression softened, giving him that familiar kind look. "I've just been taking care of him like my own since he arrived three months ago. You see, his father had been keeping him after their divorce since she...er...that's not important. Anyway, he died three months ago and, having no other place to go, we took the initiative, saving him from being homeless or adopted!" Tears seemed to well up in his eyes with his own dramatic statement and, possibly, visualization of the entire situation.

Sanai reached over-he was sitting directly at his side-and slapped him on the back of the head, making Yuuta's head tilt. "Do you have to be so dramatic about everything?" He snatched a piece of salmon from his plate, shoving it in his step-father's mouth to shut him up. "Has he always been that dramatic and full of himself?"

I felt my lips twitch. "Yeah, he's always been that way. My mom is like that, too," I informed him, though he seemed to be staring at me more than listening to me; he made me feel uncomfortable once again, ruining my false sense of security in the house.

Throughout dinner, the air seemed to be rather awkward, but perhaps it had to do with the lingering discomfort and paranoia that circulated back and forth between us. I ate silently as Chie and Yuuta chatted about things that I didn't care about, nor could I really hear as my mind kept coming and going from reality, taking me into various worlds that were at least a little more comfortable such as my life at home and my days at practice. Some worlds, however, were completely fictitious, but those aren't important in concern to detail.

I finished my meal and, out of habit at home, took it to the kitchen and turned on the sink, ready to wash it up. Chie, however, halted me. "Now now, you're a guest here, so let me take care of it." She shoved me aside, though with less than a forceful shove. "Why don't you and Sanai go play somewhere? You said you two were good friends, so he should have something that the two of you could do together."

I gritted my teeth. Why me? I took a step back and hesitantly tilted my head downwards, slowly raising it back up in a very lagging nod. What the hell we could we do? He'd probably try to screw me or something if we got together...Especially alone. "Of course," I spoke in a voice like a hiss. "I'll go and see him about that. He's still in the dining room, right?" I cursed myself mentally with each word I spoke from my tongue.

She shook her head. "No, he went into the living room. He may be watching T.V. with Yuuta. Go and see, won't you?" She lowered her eyes to the sink and began working, leaving me to my own affairs.

I made my way sluggishly into the living room where I found him on the sofa beside Yuuta, who was reading some sort of book; being so far from him and the lighting being pretty dim, I couldn't read the side of the cover to know exactly what book he had. I noticed some sort of comedy show playing, at which Sanai laughed pretty hard, that is, unless he had something on his mind to make him laugh so loudly. I had to admit, I didn't like hearing him laugh that loud; he was giving me a headache. I tapped his shoulder, though I would have preferred to jump of a building of a cliff than to hang out with him all alone. "Hey, y-you wanna go do something?" I asked, my words shaken up and difficult to speak.

He perked a brow a looked at me oddly, making me instantly regret having said anything. He stood up, wrapping an arm around my neck and draping his fist over my shoulder, which dangled down over my chest; his arm felt pretty heavy. "Okay, sure. Let's go upstairs."

I swallowed hard. I didn't like the idea of going up there with him. Don't do it! I smacked my brain with an imaginary hand. No, let's give him a shot. Not like he's a rapist or anything, right? If he was going to he would have by now, right? I felt beads of sweat form on the back of my neck and run down my spine, bathing my skin in its salty wetness in each place it touched. I looked at his face, but it didn't show the same smugness that it normally had, but more of a casual, friendly look that eased my weariness just a bit.

He reached down and took my hand once we were far enough past Yuuta that he couldn't see us. I followed him up the stairs, though we both stopped when we heard new sounds coming from the T.V. below us. It sounded like he'd changed it to some sort of romantic movie as we heard sexual noises coming from its speakers, which gave me a chilling feeling that I knew what he would be doing later in the night. I cringed at the thought of him and my aunt, but that wasn't necessarily my business, nor would I want it to be. So, to get rid of the horribly disturbing images, I followed behind my perverted senpai, one that I decided to try trusting a bit more until he gave me reason not to such as trying to kiss or rape me.

His room was neater than I thought with a crisp sheet and pale green blanket. His walls were a similar color with the same hardwood floors running through that did in the rest of the house. Both of his dressers, one smaller than the other, were black, which I thought didn't match too well, but my opinion didn't matter, nor could it have changed the room as it wasn't mine, but his. Neither of them had more than a lamp or couple of papers on top of them, making the entire space eye-pleasing in the sector of cleanliness, but maybe not so much in the color-coordination or choice.

I looked around as I sat on the beanbag chair in the floor, which was oddly a dark purple. I felt my body sink into it upon contact, but I didn't mind. I remembered having one as a kid and I loved it, though it got torn so we had to throw it out when I was ten. I looked over at him who had sat himself upon the bed, one leg beneath him while the other hung down, his foot flat against the floor. Seeing nothing interesting or threatening about him, I continued searching his walls and surfaces for anything amusing. But, much to my disappointment, I only found a poster of some boy band that I wasn't familiar with, so I dismissed it and looked back at his blank face. "Er...so what do you wanna do?" I asked out of having no sort of prepared conversation.

He jerked a bit, seemingly caught of guard by the sudden sound of my voice. "Oh... Sorry, I didn't think of anything beforehand. Maybe we could..." He stood up and made his way to me, a smile on his face. I could see the light hitting his lips, reflecting off the moisture covering them. I could almost taste the saltiness of his breath striking me in the face as he leaned forward, allowing a very slim distance between the two of us.

I felt my breath halt as he neared me, closer and closer his body became and that included every portion of him. I watched his tongue flick out, running along his lips in a seductive manner. I noticed a bead of sweat forming upon his brow, his face showing the same nervousness that I was feeling inside. At that moment, I began to believe that he hadn't been so far, either. I reached out, stroking one of his cheeks with a slow, tender motion. He purred and leaned down, nearly pressing his lips down on mine. But, I shoved him back with enough force to get him out of my face, but not enough to make him stumble and hurt himself, getting me in trouble. He, being defeated, sat down on the bed again. "I'll get you back," he cautioned, eying me evilly, yet with determined eyes.

I scoffed. "Yeah, sure you will. I'd like to see that." I turned my nose up and looked away, my eyes focusing once more upon the poster that I knew nothing about.

"Oh, really?" I heard a whisper say from behind me. I sighed, knowing already who it was since we were alone in the room. I looked up only to have a pair of moist lips slammed down on mine, taking my breath away and widening my eyes. I shoved him back. "What's wrong? You know you like it," he purred in my ear.

I pushed him away and stood up, storming out of his room. I halted outside the door and called in, "keep off me!" I slammed the door and went to my room, slamming the door behind me. I lie down on the bed, pulling the covers over my head. My mind felt fuzzy, my stomach churned, and my heart raced. Maybe where I'd been running? I buried my face in the pillow, forcing myself to try and forget about what he'd done, or, at least, quell my anger at his action towards me, one that I didn't believe he'd commit against me.