Hurricane Punch, Part Two
I'll be honest, I take an unholy pleasure in making it rain pianos, crashing down into the stage of a story. Good times, man.
2.
Mori was back in their house for nearly twenty minutes on Sunday afternoon, before he registered anything amiss. The trip to Kyushu had been fruitful, but ultimately exhausting, and after dropping his luggage by the closet, he'd climbed on the bed he shared with Naoki, hoping to stretch the kinks out of his back from hours in a cramped train seat.
He stared at the ceiling of their bedroom, the vivid lantana bobbing against the window outside, so glad to be home again, soaking up the peaceful comfort. Before long, Naoki would come home from the grocery, tired from his busy weekend as well, no doubt. They should order dinner for delivery. Have a bath and relax. Enjoy a quiet night--.
When his wandering gaze took in the open closet door, his train of thought braked to a sudden halt. Why did it look so empty in there?
He pushed himself up, and happened to spot the dresser where Naoki left his wristwatch, wallet and spare change, when he got home. Of course those things weren't there, but neither was the spare change basket, or the framed photo of Naoki and his mother.
Alert and unsettled, Mori crossed to the closet for a closer look, saw that it was empty of all Naoki's clothing. His winter boots were still in the shoe rack below, but his canvas duffel was missing. Moving on to the bathroom, Mori saw the towels neatly hung, but Naoki's shaving kit was gone from the vanity, and his toothbrush was absent from the cup by the sink.
"What....," Mori said, to his stunned reflection in the mirror.
He dialed the grocery from the kitchen phone, absently noting that everything seemed intact in there. After a few rings, Naoki's uncle answered, "Arai Grocery, how can I help you?"
"Arai-san, it's Morinozuka. I'm sorry to interrupt, if you're busy."
The man's sigh carried clear down the line. "You're back safe from your trip? Everything go well in Kyushu?"
"Very well, thank you."
"Good, so you'll be wanting to talk to the kid, I guess."
"He's there?" Mori blinked, feeling an unpleasant combination of relief and dread. "Is he all right?"
"I think," said Naoki's uncle, with another sigh, "that it would be best if you talk to him. One second, I'll get him for you."
From Mori's point of view, it was quite a lot longer than a second he was left waiting. More like a month, on anxious tenterhooks, and as tired as he'd been when he got in, he was barely staving off the urge to sprint the few blocks to the grocery, and see Naoki for himself.
And then Naoki spoke into the phone, voice weak and hoarse, "Takashi? You're back okay?" And that urge to hit the door running was nearly overwhelming.
"I'm fine," Mori told him. "I just noticed your things were gone, is something wrong? Your family?"
"No, they're fine. I just. This morning. Thought I should stay at my uncle's, for awhile."
"Then your uncle is unwell? Is there anything I can do?"
"No, no it's nothing like that...." His voice trailed off to a long, distinctly troubled silence, and Mori was so close to hanging up and running, in the very moment before he spoke again. "I'm sorry, Takashi. You don't even know how--." A sharp sigh, and then he sounded alarmingly shaky. "Look, I--I gotta help Uncle restock tonight. We had a really busy weekend. But tomorrow. Could I um. I need to talk to you."
"Tomorrow." Mori did not like the sound of that. He very much did not like the prospect of worrying all night, going alone back to that bed, with the unknown fear of what Naoki might have to say to him.
"I was going to see if you wanted take-out tonight." It was a perfectly inane comment, Mori knew it as soon as the words left his mouth. But he was losing something, he could feel it in Naoki's broken too-quiet voice, and all he could think to do was hang on, to anything.
"Kuki-chan came by and left dinner in the fridge. Sakura-san made something for when you came back. The sheets are clean. The bath heater's on low. So just um, turn that little knob, to heat it up."
"Oh. Okay."
"I'll see you tomorrow, first thing. I promise. Sorry, I gotta get back to work now."
"Tomorrow," Mori repeated. He thought he should say something, anything else, but all his words were lost in a gut-deep hole that was at this moment opening up in him, yawning wide to swallow everything he had known. By the time he found any words, it would be too late.
"Yeah. Take care. I'm--I'm glad you made it back okay." There was a click, and the pulsing tone of the empty phone line.
Eventually, Mori put his own phone back in the cradle. What had just happened? Had he imagined it? Why on earth would Naoki leave their house, when only two days ago he had kissed Mori goodbye, just inside their front door, saying he already couldn't wait for Mori to come back in that door? It was like driving down a familiar street, and suddenly running over the edge of a sinkhole. Without the slightest warning his entire world had collapsed into free-fall, and he was too shocked to even flail in panic.
He was kneeling at the table in the tatami room, staring into nothing, when the doorbell jolted him alert. He prayed it wasn't a neighbor, or one of those sales people dropping by. He was too lost to talk to people right now, too paralyzed to even figure out which way he should turn. Ten minutes ago he'd tried to put on the kettle for tea, but then had to give up because even that was too complicated.
And then he opened the door, and it was Naoki, hands clenched at his thighs, staring down at his shoes, looking ashen. "Uncle said I should come talk to you now. He was right. I shouldn't have made you wait."
"What happened to you? Come here, please," Mori pushed off the door where he'd slumped at the sight of the person his entire universe revolved around, and reached for him, pulling him in, across the threshold.
"No, please don't--." Naoki put his hands between them for space, he was shaking, and rather than embrace him, Mori angled an arm around his back because he couldn't not touch him. He had learned this, they had learned this together the hard way, that contact was so important, and distance was a space where trouble grew between them.
"What is this, you worried me. Why didn't you call, if there was a problem?"
"You're not gonna want to touch me after this, Takashi please, I'm telling you." Naoki was still trying to edge apart from him, albeit weakly, and he had yet to look Mori in the eye. Mori remembered something like this, years ago, he remembered that only the most poisonous deep shame could keep Naoki from meeting his gaze.
"You know I would never harm you," Mori said softly, putting his fingers to Naoki's chin to guide it up, the gentlest possible touch. "You know you never have to hide from me. I'm yours, I'll always be yours, you don't ever have to be afraid."
"I'm sorry, Takashi," Naoki buckled, falling forward, and sobbed into Mori's chest, voice frayed almost to nothing. "I'm so sorry, please believe me, I swear I never, never wanted to--."
"Shh, shh, it's all right." Bringing both arms around to hold him up, Mori steered them into the entry hall, kicking the door shut behind them, and sank down on the step, guiding Naoki to sit too. "Whatever it is, I would never turn you out of our home. Please don't think you have to go away, just tell me, and we'll make it okay."
"I don't de--deserve you. I don't deserve to--to be with you. Nobody would forgive whu-what I did, I hate myself, and I--I'm . God, I'm so ashamed. I can't live with you anymore, and I'm sorry, be-because I know that hurts you, and I didn't ever want to hurt you."
Mori could not conceive any circumstance where Naoki couldn't live with him. At least not any that could suddenly spring up over the space of a weekend. They'd invested too much in each other, they'd been through too much, over years, overcoming their hardships together. Whatever it was that had torn Naoki up like this, Mori refused, outright, to believe it was insurmountable.
"I know you," he said, stroking Naoki's hair. "I know you would never hurt me. If you made a mistake, if there was an accident, I can forgive you. But right now, you're hurting yourself worse than anything, and I can't bear seeing that. Please." Kissing the top of his head. "Please, could you tell me what happened?"
He didn't get an answer right away. Naoki was near to crying himself sick, and it took a while of patience, and soothing, and reassuring words before the storm abated, and the sobbing trailed off to hitched breaths, and then shaky sighs. Mori reached in his pocket for his handkerchief, before remembering he'd dropped it on his nightstand, with his house keys.
"You want to come sit in the dining room with me? I'll bring you some tissues."
Naoki nodded and sniffed, and gingerly sat up, dabbing his red eyes with his shirt sleeve. Aside from having just cried his eyes out, Mori realized he looked terribly ill and exhausted, with deep shadows around his wet eyes.
"You want some ginger tea?" he asked, laying his fingers to Naoki's cheek, surreptitiously checking for fever. "I was going to make some tea, anyway."
"That....sounds really good," Naoki answered, in a congested near-whisper. "Thanks."
So instead they ended up in the kitchen, Naoki huddled in a chair in the breakfast nook, while Mori found him the tissue box, and made his second attempt with the tea kettle. Oddly enough it was easier this time, with Naoki here, safe and intact, at least.
When Mori brought the tea to the table, he noticed something else about Naoki. "You got your hair cut."
Naoki drew his heels up to the seat of the chair, wrapped his arms around his legs. "Yeah. Last night."
He didn't look the least bit pleased about it, so Mori was careful when he said, "It looks good."
Naoki bit his lip, and for a moment it looked like his eyes wanted spill over again, but with a heroic effort, he was holding it in. "I don't. Really remember. Getting my hair cut." He squeezed his eyes shut tight and then opened them and looked square at Mori.
"I went to a party last night. And I got really, incredibly drunk. So I don't remember a lot of stuff."
Mori nodded, trying for a demeanor that was serious, but understanding. So that no matter what he surmised in the privacy of his own thoughts, at least Naoki would keep talking to him. "You told me you've never gotten drunk, before," he mentioned, setting Naoki's teacup in front of him, and taking up his own.
"I never wanted to. My dad....well, you know. I was never gonna be like that."
"So, it was a party in town?"
"At the Hitachiin place. They came over Friday, and gave me an invitation."
Hearing that name was all it took. Even Mori, who pointedly avoided society parties, knew that Kaoru and Hikaru's gatherings were infamous.
"I sincerely hope they didn't let you drive home, last night." Only thanks to years of training and discipline, and growing up in his father's house, was he able to say it calmly.
Naoki shook his head, still looking miserable, but a fraction less as though he were about to shatter into pieces right where he sat. "No. I um. I woke up in their bed." He laid his head on his knees, making a barrier of his forearms, and his small muffled, "I'm sorry," barely made it to Mori's ear.
But it did. Mori heard it, and now he had to figure out how to proceed with a conversation that he never, in his entire life imagined having, while all his insides were freezing over with fear.
"May I ask. Whether you intended to be in their bed?"
Naoki shot him a startled look over the tops of his knees. "Of course not. I didn't intend anything. I mean, I'm glad they didn't let me drive home wasted. But I didn't even intend to drink. I was just drinking iced tea and lemonade and uh, punch? I musta picked up something spiked, I dunno."
"Iced tea?" Mori asked. Somehow that didn't fit in at all with his idea of a Hitachiin party.
"Yeah, Kaoru-san said they got the recipe in America. Tall Island, something like that?"
Dear god. Mori covered his eyes with one hand. "Was that....Long Island, by chance?"
"Oh. Yeah, Long Island, that's right."
"I don't think there's any actual tea in that," said Mori. "I may be wrong, but I think it's almost entirely alcohol."
"But. I didn't taste any." Naoki frowned. "I mean, I've just tasted beer and wine before, from my dad. But. Are you sure?"
"In a well-mixed cocktail, one may not necessarily taste the alcohol," Mori explained. "And I'm sure the Hitachiins would only hire the best bartenders available."
"So....then the lemonade?"
"Was probably spiked."
"And the Hurricane Punch?"
"Consists of rum and fruit." Mori shook his head, trying very hard to contain his exasperation, and a deep, hot, swelling anger. Not at Naoki, no, certainly not. But Naoki was watching him with injured, disbelieving eyes, which made it monumentally harder for Mori to set his outrage aside.
"I am. God, I'm so stupid."
"No. No you aren't, and don't ever think that." Mori dragged his chair closer, so he could lay both hands over Naoki's balled white fists. "You've just never dealt with the Hitachiin brothers before. Had I known you were going, I would've warned you about them. That they are...." He sighed and shook his head, discarding a great many ugly terms, before settling on something acceptable. "Extraordinarily inconsiderate of anyone but themselves. And I am both appalled, and very sorry that you had to find that out."
"I thought it was nice. That they invited me. I mean, there were tons of people there. Some famous people. And all the rooms they decorated, it was crazy, I never saw anything like it, except in movies and stuff. I thought it was cool, and really fun. But then. It turned out so bad. And I'm sorry I ever went at all. I screwed everything up, I did the worst thing in the world, to you, and I'm sick at myself."
"You made a mistake, that's all," Mori said, putting a hand on his cheek. "And you wouldn't have done it, if you'd known better."
"But I. I betrayed you. I was--I was in somebody else's bed. And. They were there too, when I woke up. God, that scared me, I almost threw up. But I snuck out, before they woke up. And I came back here, and I never felt so awful in my whole life."
The tears were brimming again, and Mori's simmering vengeful rage at Hikaru and Kaoru was cut off at the knees by Naoki's pain.
"Are you hurt, anywhere, at all?" he asked.
"I feel like hell. God I don't know why people do that to themselves." Then he shook his head, stiff and careful. "But no, I didn't get hurt. Dunno how."
"Okay, listen," he cupped Naoki's cheeks, leaning forward to place a kiss on his taut knuckles. "I don't believe you betrayed me. You didn't intend to, you were incapacitated, and if anything at all happened, then they took advantage of you. And there is a word for that."
Mori hadn't thought it was possible for Naoki to pale further, but he went paper-white, staring at Mori with eyes huge and shocked.
"No. No, that's serious, Takashi. I couldn't accuse them of that."
"Yes, I agree it's serious. But if either of them laid a hand on you, they did it without your consent. You were unable to give consent, and that still counts. Ask anyone who knows the law, and they will tell you. But all that matters, is that it is not your fault. " He was going to destroy the Hitachiins. He was going to beat them into the dirt and tear them limb from limb, for this "You were not the one who did something reprehensible, you were not the responsible party. It was them. You are innocent, to me, Naoki."
He saw it, in Naoki's eyes, when it broke. The grip of all the pain and guilt and fear he must have suffered all day, it released him, and what moved in was the most fragile, heartbreaking hope. His heels slid off the chair's edge, and he tilted forward into Mori, clutching him around the ribs, forehead pressed to Mori's shoulder, trembling but not weeping. No, it was Mori who wanted to weep this time, for Naoki's extraordinary innocence, bruised by the careless cruelty of another, and the conscience he had suffered with.
But instead, he held Naoki back, held him tight, and said, "I would feel much better, if you could come back here tonight. I've missed you."
"I missed you too, so much. And I want to be with you. Not anybody else, not ever."
"Then come home? Please?"
Naoki squeezed him tighter, fingers digging into Mori's shoulderblades, but his trembling finally passed. "I didn't want to leave. It hurt, Takashi. All day, I couldn't stop thinking and it's....it's just hurt."
"It's all right now," Mori murmured. "Just come back, that's all I ask. We can sort this out, together."
For a moment they clung to each each other in silence, Mori staving off a torrent of questions and random instinctive urges toward a fight, an immediate confrontation with those responsible for frightening him to his very core and putting his home in peril. He would find an outlet for those urges, to be sure, but first and foremost, he wanted Naoki back, secure in the knowledge that whatever had upended his life, it was past, and he needn't suffer any more.
After a bit, Naoki sighed. "I'll bring my stuff back from the store." Then he drew back, with a tiny rueful smile. "I do need to finish up at work, though. We really did get cleaned out this weekend. But I'll come back, as soon as we're done. Around seven or eight, probably." He reached up, to touch Mori's cheek, and in his eyes was the sort of tired quiet peace that always seemed to follow the worst of storms. "You are. So incredible. Thank you, Takashi."
After Naoki headed off for the grocery again, Mori made himself another cup of tea, stronger this time, turned up the bath heater for later, and then returned to the kitchen phone, to call Mitsukuni. They discussed Mori's conference, and Mitsukuni's training seminar, and once all the catching up was out of the way, Mori decided he was probably steady enough to introduce the main reason for his call.
"I'm hoping I could ask you for a favor," he said. "If you could please talk me out of killing Hitachiin Kaoru and Hikaru, I'm sure we would all appreciate it very much."
"Okay, that sounds bad" said Mitsukuni, switching in an instant from friendly to grave. "Do you need me to come over?"
"Not tonight. Though if I could impose on your time tomorrow? The problem is....I do not trust myself to talk to them directly. But I need to know exactly what they thought they were doing with Naoki, last night."
"Naoki-kun? What happened? Is he okay?"
"He is now that we've talked. But since the Hitachiin party last night, he has been very much not okay."
"Wait, they had a --oh. Oh dear. I had a message that Naoki-kun had called yesterday. But by the time I could call back, he must have gone out already."
"You didn't receive an invitation," Mori guessed.
"I didn't even know about it. What kind of party was it?"
"The typical Hitachiin kind, from what he could tell me. But they gave him so much alcohol, he doesn't recall much apparently."
"But....Naoki-kun...."
"Doesn't drink," Mori provided. "He didn't recognize the drinks they gave him. And he apparently didn't realize he was incapacitated until it was too late."
"Oh. Takashi. I am truly very sorry. If I had known anything about it, I would at least have gone to look out for him. Please tell me nothing terrible happened. He isn't hurt?"
"He doesn't understand how he woke up in their bed this morning. When I got home, I found he had moved his belongings out of our house, and back to his uncle's. Because he was so ashamed, over something he can't remember, that he didn't feel he deserved to be with me anymore." Mori caught his voice rising in a growl, and barely stopped himself before pounding the breakfast table with his fist.
"I beg your pardon," he breathed. "I thought I could be rational, at least talking to you. But I hope you see, that what they have done is unconscionable."
"Yes, I understand exactly," said Mitsukuni, his gravity dropping into a familiar deadly calm which used to concern Mori, only now he found it comforting, a perfect counterpoint to his own mood. "I will certainly speak to them tomorrow. Would you like to come with me?"
"I think tomorrow will be too soon for that. I will expect to hear their apologies in person, though. And I expect an apology and amends made to Naoki as well."
"Of course. I'll call you after I'm done with them. And don't worry, Takashi, I will make sure they understand what they've done, and that they will make it right."
"Thank you," Mori sighed, partly in relief and partly to relieve the pressure of his simmering anger. Rationally, he knew better than to act on it, but that didn't make it any better, or easier. "I apologize for troubling you with this, but I appreciate your help, more than I can say."
"I'm always happy to help you Takashi, with anything. You and Naoki are both important to me, you know that."
"Yes. And you're important to us, too. Thank you again."
**
Hikaru and Kaoru knew something was wrong, when Hunny-senpai showed up unsmiling, and only ate one piece of the cake they'd brought out for him. He looked somber, too much like his terrifying father, with a glint of that threatening demeanor he'd worn in the week before Valentine's, back in high school, when Mori-senpai forbade him any sweets due to that cavity.
Needless to say they were on their best behavior, and gave him their full attention.
"I want you both to understand that I'm here, because you have done something very, very serious," he told them. They were all kneeling on the rug in the library, which reminded Kaoru and Hikaru of how they'd knelt for punishments in the Headmaster's Office. And as Hunny-senpai looked down at his hands on his knees, weighing his next words, they cast each other uncomfortable, nervous looks.
"I understand you invited Naoki-kun to your party on Saturday night. And you gave him alcoholic drinks, is this correct?"
"Yeees....," said Kaoru carefully. Hm. They hadn't accounted for Hunny-senpai being mad because he wasn't invited. But maybe this was something else.
"What's wrong, did he get sick, or something?" asked Hikaru.
"We tried to check on him, but he wasn't taking our calls on Sunday," put in Kaoru.
"Yeah, he just like, ran off," Hikaru added.
Hunny-senpai sighed and shook his head, looking bizarrely reminiscent of the Ouran Vice-Headmaster, in one of his Oh god, what have you done now, moods.
"You two. You know it amazes me, that you've managed to go all over the world, and still haven't left your own world. Don't you have the slightest idea, of why Naoki-kun might have run away?"
"Well." Hikaru bit his lip, uncharacteristically hesitant. With Hunny-senpai in this mood, he knew he had to tread carefully. "He was probably really hungover."
"He did drink a lot," said Kaoru. "We were concerned for him. That's why we looked out for him, when he passed out."
"In your bed?" asked Hunny-senpai. "Was that really necessary?"
"No, it was a guest room bed," frowned Hikaru. "What did he tell you, anyway?"
"We will get to that. But first of all, I need you know something. The reason I am here, is because Takashi wants to call you both out for a duel of honor, with swords. But we all know there are laws against that sort of thing now, and it would not be good for him, or Naoki, or the Morinozuka family, if Takashi had to face a murder conviction."
Hikaru opened his mouth to say something which Kaoru was sure would not help the situation, so he elbowed him sharply, and intervened. "So you're saying Mori-senpai is really angry at us. Is it because Arai went to our party?"
"You don't know Naoki-kun very well, do you," said Hunny-senpai.
"He seems okay," shrugged Kaoru. "Everyone at the party loved him, they kept asking us for his number."
"He doesn't hold his drink too well, though," said Hikaru. "I mean, he didn't make a scene or anything, but man. He really got trashed."
"Naoki-kun does not drink," Hunny-senpai said, with a level glare that managed to singe them both in it's heat.
"Uh, sorry to contradict, Senpai. But yeah, he definitely does drink," said Kaoru. "He drank everything we gave him."
"No, you don't understand. He doesn't drink alcohol, he has never been drunk before your party. He didn't realize the drinks you gave him were alcoholic, because he has no experience at all with cocktails."
"Well that explains a lot," muttered Hikaru, which was oh so very much the wrong thing to say, because suddenly Senpai was kneeling a lot closer to them, bristling and quiet and deadly.
"He chooses not to drink for a reason. And if this information ever, ever goes beyond the walls of this room, I will know, and I swear on my family name I will end the both of you, are we clear?"
"Y--yes, Senpai," they stammered together, in a single whisper. Hikaru felt a primal, instinctive need to flee for the nearest exit, but he couldn't leave Kaoru and he didn't dare take his eyes off Hunny-senpai in that moment.
"This is not gossip. I do not care to divulge Naoki-kun's private secrets, which he has not told anyone, ever, except for Takashi and me. But the reason he chooses not to drink, is because his father drank too much, and he was violent and unreasonable, and for years Naoki and his mother were hurt by it. There was nothing they could do, they were too ashamed because of Naoki's father. And Naoki does not ever want to be like that, or be reminded of it. He has too many terrible memories, and his father's drinking was to blame for all of them."
Kaoru chanced a glimpse of his brother from the corner of his eye, and saw that Hikaru had gone seriously white. And he knew he looked the same, he could feel all the blood draining from his head.
"We didn't. We had no idea," murmured Hikaru.
"Was Arai. Was he....did his dad hurt him?" asked Kaoru.
Senpai bent his head, looking just as stunned and saddened as Hikaru and Kaoru felt. "He was hit, I think. He won't tell anyone about the details. He did say his father broke things. Broke furniture. And Naoki tried to protect his mother, when things got very bad. But mostly, it hurt his heart. He is happier, and stronger since he's known Takashi. But a hurt like that, it doesn't ever go away."
"Oh my god," whispered Kaoru.
"We." Hikaru looked up to the ceiling and sighed. "We have seriously screwed up."
"Yes. You have, and I'm not finished telling you why. I know the two of you can be thoughtless, and I know how you cause trouble. But I never would have imagined you would be cruel to your friends. Naoki-kun has never done anything to either of you. How could you put him in such a position?"
"Position?" Kaoru tilted his head, and Hikaru did likewise. "What position? He didn't even do anything."
"He doesn't remember what he did at your party. All he knows, is that he woke up in a bed with you, and do you know what he did, when he left? He went straight home, to the home he's shared for three years with Takashi, because they care for each other that much, and he packed all his things and moved back to his uncle's apartment. And do you understand why he did that?"
Kaoru and Hikaru felt they were safest, just shaking their heads 'No', for now.
"Because he was afraid he had betrayed Takashi. He was afraid he'd been unfaithful, and that he didn't deserve Takashi anymore. It never occurred to him that he might have been victimized, when he was drunk. It never occurred to him that anyone else might have been at fault, except for him. And he didn't want Takashi touched by his shame."
"Wait," said Hikaru. "You mean they broke up?"
"No. Very fortunately for you, Takashi convinced him to come back home. Because he knows Naoki would never willingly betray him. And then he asked me to speak with the two of you, and find out exactly what went on at that party. He is concerned, as am I, about the issue of consent, regarding what might have happened to Naoki. And I warn you, that if something happened while Naoki was unable to consent, the consequences will be more grave than you can imagine."
"Nothing happened," Kaoru said. "Everybody at that party wanted to hook up with him, seriously, a bunch of people were crazy about him. But he was just like...."
"Oblivious," put in Hikaru. "We were watching the whole time, he didn't even notice the attention he was getting."
"Honestly Senpai, we've been getting phone calls about him for two days. Casting directors, photographers, men, women. Even in that drab outfit and cheap haircut, he knocked them dead. But he didn't so much as flirt with a single person. We never saw anything like it."
Hunny-senpai measured them closely, without an ounce of mercy in his eyes. "And with the two of you. Did anything happen, there?"
"Of course not," said Hikaru. "You can ask anyone who was there."
"He blacked out before we even got him in the guest room," said Kaoru. "C'mon, Senpai, I'm not saying we're saints, or monks, but we wouldn't stoop to, y'know--."
"--Seducing a guy who's passed out drunk," Hikaru finished. "That's just....really low."
Hunny-senpai raised a mildly ironic eyebrow, but made no comment.
"We were afraid he might get sick while he was passed out," said Kaoru. "It's dangerous, when people drink that much."
"Yeah, so we stayed up and kept an eye on him. I mean, he's not a bad guy. And we knew Mori-senpai would kill us if anything bad happened to him, like that."
"So nothing happened. I have your word on that."
"Senpai, believe us. Nothing will ever happen with that guy. He is really too good to be true," said Hikaru.
"Yeah. It's kinda sweet," put in Kaoru, before frowning a little. "And kinda weird."
Hunny-senpai looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but was resisting it. "Naoki-kun is a rare, very special person. Takashi gave up his inheritance, to live here and be with him, because he loves him so much. I consider him part of my family, because I love him as much as I love Takashi. And Takashi's mother wants to adopt him into the Morinozuka family. So he and Takashi can be together, officially."
Hikaru and Kaoru blinked in unison. "Y-you mean like, married?"
"Oh shit, we really screwed up," Hikaru muttered under his breath, while Kaoru tipped over and tugged his sleeve, murmuring, "A wedding, think about it, Hikaru." Then after a look of mutual understanding, they both looked back to Hunny-senpai.
"We need to make up for this," said Kaoru.
"Oh, you most certainly do," said Senpai. "Takashi expects a formal, sincere apology from you both. And one to Naoki-kun as well. I know you can be sincere and respectful, when you want to be."
"We'll do that," promised Hikaru. "But we want to give them a wedding, too."
"We'll take care of everything. Decor, catering, clothing, reception. Guest accommodations. They won't pay for a thing," said Kaoru.
"We can bring Paulo to be the stylist, he adores Arai. And the photographers. I bet we could get Emile-Pierre, and Xao Shin-tse," said Hikaru.
"Ooh, and Lawrence Brighton, that spread he did for French Vogue--"
"Ahem." Senpai shook his head sternly at them, effectively halting their brainstorming. "Don't get ahead of yourselves. Naoki has been waiting on his mother's blessing, for some time. I don't believe she objects to Takashi, but she has endured a lot difficulty from Naoki's father over the years, and Naoki's father refuses to hear anything about him. As far as he is concerned, Naoki may as well not exist, and his mother is afraid to mention anything about him, or speak to him where his father may find out."
Kaoru put a hand to his mouth. "Oh. That's so sad."
"But why should his dad get any say?" scowled Hikaru. "After what he did to them. Why would she even associate with him?"
"I don't know," sighed Hunny-senpai. "Naoki and his uncle have tried talking to her. Takashi has tried to put her at ease. Maybe she's afraid to go out on her own. Maybe she still feels she has a duty toward her husband. Looking at Naoki's devotion to Takashi, it wouldn't surprise me."
"But then. What are they going to do? Arai and Mori-senpai?" asked Kaoru.
"All they can do is wait. Out of respect for Naoki's mother. Maybe someday she will be ready to give her blessing. And I know that is very important to Naoki, he would never do anything to hurt her feelings. Not after all that she's suffered, already."
"So. All we can do is say we're sorry?" said Hikaru.
"We can't fix anything for them. To make up for what we did," Kaoru sighed, downcast.
"If you apologize, and tell Takashi and Naoki the truth about that party," said Hunny-senpai, "I think that will help mend things. And I'd advise that you ask Takashi about anything else you can do. Naoki-kun won't ask anything for himself, he never does. But if there's any way you can fix the hurt you caused him, I imagine Takashi would know."
"We will, we'll do whatever he says," nodded Hikaru.
"Yes. And we're sorry to you too. That we upset you, and that you had to get involved," added Kaoru, with a respectful bow.
"We'll go over there right now," Hikaru said, and was a bit surprised when Hunny-senpai raised a hand to halt him.
"No, don't go over now. Takashi is still very upset. You need to call ahead, and make an appointment to talk with him."
"Right. Of course," agreed Kaoru.
"We'll call him today. And meet when he wants to. We promise."
"And you'll promise something else. Not a word of this incident will leave your lips. Not to your friends, your parents, not to Kyouya-kun, or Tama-chan, or Haru-chan. Unless Takashi or Naoki brings it up, you will be silent. Yes?"
"Yes," said Hikaru.
"Yes, we promise," Kaoru added, with an emphatic nod.
**
Next Part
2.
Mori was back in their house for nearly twenty minutes on Sunday afternoon, before he registered anything amiss. The trip to Kyushu had been fruitful, but ultimately exhausting, and after dropping his luggage by the closet, he'd climbed on the bed he shared with Naoki, hoping to stretch the kinks out of his back from hours in a cramped train seat.
He stared at the ceiling of their bedroom, the vivid lantana bobbing against the window outside, so glad to be home again, soaking up the peaceful comfort. Before long, Naoki would come home from the grocery, tired from his busy weekend as well, no doubt. They should order dinner for delivery. Have a bath and relax. Enjoy a quiet night--.
When his wandering gaze took in the open closet door, his train of thought braked to a sudden halt. Why did it look so empty in there?
He pushed himself up, and happened to spot the dresser where Naoki left his wristwatch, wallet and spare change, when he got home. Of course those things weren't there, but neither was the spare change basket, or the framed photo of Naoki and his mother.
Alert and unsettled, Mori crossed to the closet for a closer look, saw that it was empty of all Naoki's clothing. His winter boots were still in the shoe rack below, but his canvas duffel was missing. Moving on to the bathroom, Mori saw the towels neatly hung, but Naoki's shaving kit was gone from the vanity, and his toothbrush was absent from the cup by the sink.
"What....," Mori said, to his stunned reflection in the mirror.
He dialed the grocery from the kitchen phone, absently noting that everything seemed intact in there. After a few rings, Naoki's uncle answered, "Arai Grocery, how can I help you?"
"Arai-san, it's Morinozuka. I'm sorry to interrupt, if you're busy."
The man's sigh carried clear down the line. "You're back safe from your trip? Everything go well in Kyushu?"
"Very well, thank you."
"Good, so you'll be wanting to talk to the kid, I guess."
"He's there?" Mori blinked, feeling an unpleasant combination of relief and dread. "Is he all right?"
"I think," said Naoki's uncle, with another sigh, "that it would be best if you talk to him. One second, I'll get him for you."
From Mori's point of view, it was quite a lot longer than a second he was left waiting. More like a month, on anxious tenterhooks, and as tired as he'd been when he got in, he was barely staving off the urge to sprint the few blocks to the grocery, and see Naoki for himself.
And then Naoki spoke into the phone, voice weak and hoarse, "Takashi? You're back okay?" And that urge to hit the door running was nearly overwhelming.
"I'm fine," Mori told him. "I just noticed your things were gone, is something wrong? Your family?"
"No, they're fine. I just. This morning. Thought I should stay at my uncle's, for awhile."
"Then your uncle is unwell? Is there anything I can do?"
"No, no it's nothing like that...." His voice trailed off to a long, distinctly troubled silence, and Mori was so close to hanging up and running, in the very moment before he spoke again. "I'm sorry, Takashi. You don't even know how--." A sharp sigh, and then he sounded alarmingly shaky. "Look, I--I gotta help Uncle restock tonight. We had a really busy weekend. But tomorrow. Could I um. I need to talk to you."
"Tomorrow." Mori did not like the sound of that. He very much did not like the prospect of worrying all night, going alone back to that bed, with the unknown fear of what Naoki might have to say to him.
"I was going to see if you wanted take-out tonight." It was a perfectly inane comment, Mori knew it as soon as the words left his mouth. But he was losing something, he could feel it in Naoki's broken too-quiet voice, and all he could think to do was hang on, to anything.
"Kuki-chan came by and left dinner in the fridge. Sakura-san made something for when you came back. The sheets are clean. The bath heater's on low. So just um, turn that little knob, to heat it up."
"Oh. Okay."
"I'll see you tomorrow, first thing. I promise. Sorry, I gotta get back to work now."
"Tomorrow," Mori repeated. He thought he should say something, anything else, but all his words were lost in a gut-deep hole that was at this moment opening up in him, yawning wide to swallow everything he had known. By the time he found any words, it would be too late.
"Yeah. Take care. I'm--I'm glad you made it back okay." There was a click, and the pulsing tone of the empty phone line.
Eventually, Mori put his own phone back in the cradle. What had just happened? Had he imagined it? Why on earth would Naoki leave their house, when only two days ago he had kissed Mori goodbye, just inside their front door, saying he already couldn't wait for Mori to come back in that door? It was like driving down a familiar street, and suddenly running over the edge of a sinkhole. Without the slightest warning his entire world had collapsed into free-fall, and he was too shocked to even flail in panic.
He was kneeling at the table in the tatami room, staring into nothing, when the doorbell jolted him alert. He prayed it wasn't a neighbor, or one of those sales people dropping by. He was too lost to talk to people right now, too paralyzed to even figure out which way he should turn. Ten minutes ago he'd tried to put on the kettle for tea, but then had to give up because even that was too complicated.
And then he opened the door, and it was Naoki, hands clenched at his thighs, staring down at his shoes, looking ashen. "Uncle said I should come talk to you now. He was right. I shouldn't have made you wait."
"What happened to you? Come here, please," Mori pushed off the door where he'd slumped at the sight of the person his entire universe revolved around, and reached for him, pulling him in, across the threshold.
"No, please don't--." Naoki put his hands between them for space, he was shaking, and rather than embrace him, Mori angled an arm around his back because he couldn't not touch him. He had learned this, they had learned this together the hard way, that contact was so important, and distance was a space where trouble grew between them.
"What is this, you worried me. Why didn't you call, if there was a problem?"
"You're not gonna want to touch me after this, Takashi please, I'm telling you." Naoki was still trying to edge apart from him, albeit weakly, and he had yet to look Mori in the eye. Mori remembered something like this, years ago, he remembered that only the most poisonous deep shame could keep Naoki from meeting his gaze.
"You know I would never harm you," Mori said softly, putting his fingers to Naoki's chin to guide it up, the gentlest possible touch. "You know you never have to hide from me. I'm yours, I'll always be yours, you don't ever have to be afraid."
"I'm sorry, Takashi," Naoki buckled, falling forward, and sobbed into Mori's chest, voice frayed almost to nothing. "I'm so sorry, please believe me, I swear I never, never wanted to--."
"Shh, shh, it's all right." Bringing both arms around to hold him up, Mori steered them into the entry hall, kicking the door shut behind them, and sank down on the step, guiding Naoki to sit too. "Whatever it is, I would never turn you out of our home. Please don't think you have to go away, just tell me, and we'll make it okay."
"I don't de--deserve you. I don't deserve to--to be with you. Nobody would forgive whu-what I did, I hate myself, and I--I'm . God, I'm so ashamed. I can't live with you anymore, and I'm sorry, be-because I know that hurts you, and I didn't ever want to hurt you."
Mori could not conceive any circumstance where Naoki couldn't live with him. At least not any that could suddenly spring up over the space of a weekend. They'd invested too much in each other, they'd been through too much, over years, overcoming their hardships together. Whatever it was that had torn Naoki up like this, Mori refused, outright, to believe it was insurmountable.
"I know you," he said, stroking Naoki's hair. "I know you would never hurt me. If you made a mistake, if there was an accident, I can forgive you. But right now, you're hurting yourself worse than anything, and I can't bear seeing that. Please." Kissing the top of his head. "Please, could you tell me what happened?"
He didn't get an answer right away. Naoki was near to crying himself sick, and it took a while of patience, and soothing, and reassuring words before the storm abated, and the sobbing trailed off to hitched breaths, and then shaky sighs. Mori reached in his pocket for his handkerchief, before remembering he'd dropped it on his nightstand, with his house keys.
"You want to come sit in the dining room with me? I'll bring you some tissues."
Naoki nodded and sniffed, and gingerly sat up, dabbing his red eyes with his shirt sleeve. Aside from having just cried his eyes out, Mori realized he looked terribly ill and exhausted, with deep shadows around his wet eyes.
"You want some ginger tea?" he asked, laying his fingers to Naoki's cheek, surreptitiously checking for fever. "I was going to make some tea, anyway."
"That....sounds really good," Naoki answered, in a congested near-whisper. "Thanks."
So instead they ended up in the kitchen, Naoki huddled in a chair in the breakfast nook, while Mori found him the tissue box, and made his second attempt with the tea kettle. Oddly enough it was easier this time, with Naoki here, safe and intact, at least.
When Mori brought the tea to the table, he noticed something else about Naoki. "You got your hair cut."
Naoki drew his heels up to the seat of the chair, wrapped his arms around his legs. "Yeah. Last night."
He didn't look the least bit pleased about it, so Mori was careful when he said, "It looks good."
Naoki bit his lip, and for a moment it looked like his eyes wanted spill over again, but with a heroic effort, he was holding it in. "I don't. Really remember. Getting my hair cut." He squeezed his eyes shut tight and then opened them and looked square at Mori.
"I went to a party last night. And I got really, incredibly drunk. So I don't remember a lot of stuff."
Mori nodded, trying for a demeanor that was serious, but understanding. So that no matter what he surmised in the privacy of his own thoughts, at least Naoki would keep talking to him. "You told me you've never gotten drunk, before," he mentioned, setting Naoki's teacup in front of him, and taking up his own.
"I never wanted to. My dad....well, you know. I was never gonna be like that."
"So, it was a party in town?"
"At the Hitachiin place. They came over Friday, and gave me an invitation."
Hearing that name was all it took. Even Mori, who pointedly avoided society parties, knew that Kaoru and Hikaru's gatherings were infamous.
"I sincerely hope they didn't let you drive home, last night." Only thanks to years of training and discipline, and growing up in his father's house, was he able to say it calmly.
Naoki shook his head, still looking miserable, but a fraction less as though he were about to shatter into pieces right where he sat. "No. I um. I woke up in their bed." He laid his head on his knees, making a barrier of his forearms, and his small muffled, "I'm sorry," barely made it to Mori's ear.
But it did. Mori heard it, and now he had to figure out how to proceed with a conversation that he never, in his entire life imagined having, while all his insides were freezing over with fear.
"May I ask. Whether you intended to be in their bed?"
Naoki shot him a startled look over the tops of his knees. "Of course not. I didn't intend anything. I mean, I'm glad they didn't let me drive home wasted. But I didn't even intend to drink. I was just drinking iced tea and lemonade and uh, punch? I musta picked up something spiked, I dunno."
"Iced tea?" Mori asked. Somehow that didn't fit in at all with his idea of a Hitachiin party.
"Yeah, Kaoru-san said they got the recipe in America. Tall Island, something like that?"
Dear god. Mori covered his eyes with one hand. "Was that....Long Island, by chance?"
"Oh. Yeah, Long Island, that's right."
"I don't think there's any actual tea in that," said Mori. "I may be wrong, but I think it's almost entirely alcohol."
"But. I didn't taste any." Naoki frowned. "I mean, I've just tasted beer and wine before, from my dad. But. Are you sure?"
"In a well-mixed cocktail, one may not necessarily taste the alcohol," Mori explained. "And I'm sure the Hitachiins would only hire the best bartenders available."
"So....then the lemonade?"
"Was probably spiked."
"And the Hurricane Punch?"
"Consists of rum and fruit." Mori shook his head, trying very hard to contain his exasperation, and a deep, hot, swelling anger. Not at Naoki, no, certainly not. But Naoki was watching him with injured, disbelieving eyes, which made it monumentally harder for Mori to set his outrage aside.
"I am. God, I'm so stupid."
"No. No you aren't, and don't ever think that." Mori dragged his chair closer, so he could lay both hands over Naoki's balled white fists. "You've just never dealt with the Hitachiin brothers before. Had I known you were going, I would've warned you about them. That they are...." He sighed and shook his head, discarding a great many ugly terms, before settling on something acceptable. "Extraordinarily inconsiderate of anyone but themselves. And I am both appalled, and very sorry that you had to find that out."
"I thought it was nice. That they invited me. I mean, there were tons of people there. Some famous people. And all the rooms they decorated, it was crazy, I never saw anything like it, except in movies and stuff. I thought it was cool, and really fun. But then. It turned out so bad. And I'm sorry I ever went at all. I screwed everything up, I did the worst thing in the world, to you, and I'm sick at myself."
"You made a mistake, that's all," Mori said, putting a hand on his cheek. "And you wouldn't have done it, if you'd known better."
"But I. I betrayed you. I was--I was in somebody else's bed. And. They were there too, when I woke up. God, that scared me, I almost threw up. But I snuck out, before they woke up. And I came back here, and I never felt so awful in my whole life."
The tears were brimming again, and Mori's simmering vengeful rage at Hikaru and Kaoru was cut off at the knees by Naoki's pain.
"Are you hurt, anywhere, at all?" he asked.
"I feel like hell. God I don't know why people do that to themselves." Then he shook his head, stiff and careful. "But no, I didn't get hurt. Dunno how."
"Okay, listen," he cupped Naoki's cheeks, leaning forward to place a kiss on his taut knuckles. "I don't believe you betrayed me. You didn't intend to, you were incapacitated, and if anything at all happened, then they took advantage of you. And there is a word for that."
Mori hadn't thought it was possible for Naoki to pale further, but he went paper-white, staring at Mori with eyes huge and shocked.
"No. No, that's serious, Takashi. I couldn't accuse them of that."
"Yes, I agree it's serious. But if either of them laid a hand on you, they did it without your consent. You were unable to give consent, and that still counts. Ask anyone who knows the law, and they will tell you. But all that matters, is that it is not your fault. " He was going to destroy the Hitachiins. He was going to beat them into the dirt and tear them limb from limb, for this "You were not the one who did something reprehensible, you were not the responsible party. It was them. You are innocent, to me, Naoki."
He saw it, in Naoki's eyes, when it broke. The grip of all the pain and guilt and fear he must have suffered all day, it released him, and what moved in was the most fragile, heartbreaking hope. His heels slid off the chair's edge, and he tilted forward into Mori, clutching him around the ribs, forehead pressed to Mori's shoulder, trembling but not weeping. No, it was Mori who wanted to weep this time, for Naoki's extraordinary innocence, bruised by the careless cruelty of another, and the conscience he had suffered with.
But instead, he held Naoki back, held him tight, and said, "I would feel much better, if you could come back here tonight. I've missed you."
"I missed you too, so much. And I want to be with you. Not anybody else, not ever."
"Then come home? Please?"
Naoki squeezed him tighter, fingers digging into Mori's shoulderblades, but his trembling finally passed. "I didn't want to leave. It hurt, Takashi. All day, I couldn't stop thinking and it's....it's just hurt."
"It's all right now," Mori murmured. "Just come back, that's all I ask. We can sort this out, together."
For a moment they clung to each each other in silence, Mori staving off a torrent of questions and random instinctive urges toward a fight, an immediate confrontation with those responsible for frightening him to his very core and putting his home in peril. He would find an outlet for those urges, to be sure, but first and foremost, he wanted Naoki back, secure in the knowledge that whatever had upended his life, it was past, and he needn't suffer any more.
After a bit, Naoki sighed. "I'll bring my stuff back from the store." Then he drew back, with a tiny rueful smile. "I do need to finish up at work, though. We really did get cleaned out this weekend. But I'll come back, as soon as we're done. Around seven or eight, probably." He reached up, to touch Mori's cheek, and in his eyes was the sort of tired quiet peace that always seemed to follow the worst of storms. "You are. So incredible. Thank you, Takashi."
After Naoki headed off for the grocery again, Mori made himself another cup of tea, stronger this time, turned up the bath heater for later, and then returned to the kitchen phone, to call Mitsukuni. They discussed Mori's conference, and Mitsukuni's training seminar, and once all the catching up was out of the way, Mori decided he was probably steady enough to introduce the main reason for his call.
"I'm hoping I could ask you for a favor," he said. "If you could please talk me out of killing Hitachiin Kaoru and Hikaru, I'm sure we would all appreciate it very much."
"Okay, that sounds bad" said Mitsukuni, switching in an instant from friendly to grave. "Do you need me to come over?"
"Not tonight. Though if I could impose on your time tomorrow? The problem is....I do not trust myself to talk to them directly. But I need to know exactly what they thought they were doing with Naoki, last night."
"Naoki-kun? What happened? Is he okay?"
"He is now that we've talked. But since the Hitachiin party last night, he has been very much not okay."
"Wait, they had a --oh. Oh dear. I had a message that Naoki-kun had called yesterday. But by the time I could call back, he must have gone out already."
"You didn't receive an invitation," Mori guessed.
"I didn't even know about it. What kind of party was it?"
"The typical Hitachiin kind, from what he could tell me. But they gave him so much alcohol, he doesn't recall much apparently."
"But....Naoki-kun...."
"Doesn't drink," Mori provided. "He didn't recognize the drinks they gave him. And he apparently didn't realize he was incapacitated until it was too late."
"Oh. Takashi. I am truly very sorry. If I had known anything about it, I would at least have gone to look out for him. Please tell me nothing terrible happened. He isn't hurt?"
"He doesn't understand how he woke up in their bed this morning. When I got home, I found he had moved his belongings out of our house, and back to his uncle's. Because he was so ashamed, over something he can't remember, that he didn't feel he deserved to be with me anymore." Mori caught his voice rising in a growl, and barely stopped himself before pounding the breakfast table with his fist.
"I beg your pardon," he breathed. "I thought I could be rational, at least talking to you. But I hope you see, that what they have done is unconscionable."
"Yes, I understand exactly," said Mitsukuni, his gravity dropping into a familiar deadly calm which used to concern Mori, only now he found it comforting, a perfect counterpoint to his own mood. "I will certainly speak to them tomorrow. Would you like to come with me?"
"I think tomorrow will be too soon for that. I will expect to hear their apologies in person, though. And I expect an apology and amends made to Naoki as well."
"Of course. I'll call you after I'm done with them. And don't worry, Takashi, I will make sure they understand what they've done, and that they will make it right."
"Thank you," Mori sighed, partly in relief and partly to relieve the pressure of his simmering anger. Rationally, he knew better than to act on it, but that didn't make it any better, or easier. "I apologize for troubling you with this, but I appreciate your help, more than I can say."
"I'm always happy to help you Takashi, with anything. You and Naoki are both important to me, you know that."
"Yes. And you're important to us, too. Thank you again."
**
Hikaru and Kaoru knew something was wrong, when Hunny-senpai showed up unsmiling, and only ate one piece of the cake they'd brought out for him. He looked somber, too much like his terrifying father, with a glint of that threatening demeanor he'd worn in the week before Valentine's, back in high school, when Mori-senpai forbade him any sweets due to that cavity.
Needless to say they were on their best behavior, and gave him their full attention.
"I want you both to understand that I'm here, because you have done something very, very serious," he told them. They were all kneeling on the rug in the library, which reminded Kaoru and Hikaru of how they'd knelt for punishments in the Headmaster's Office. And as Hunny-senpai looked down at his hands on his knees, weighing his next words, they cast each other uncomfortable, nervous looks.
"I understand you invited Naoki-kun to your party on Saturday night. And you gave him alcoholic drinks, is this correct?"
"Yeees....," said Kaoru carefully. Hm. They hadn't accounted for Hunny-senpai being mad because he wasn't invited. But maybe this was something else.
"What's wrong, did he get sick, or something?" asked Hikaru.
"We tried to check on him, but he wasn't taking our calls on Sunday," put in Kaoru.
"Yeah, he just like, ran off," Hikaru added.
Hunny-senpai sighed and shook his head, looking bizarrely reminiscent of the Ouran Vice-Headmaster, in one of his Oh god, what have you done now, moods.
"You two. You know it amazes me, that you've managed to go all over the world, and still haven't left your own world. Don't you have the slightest idea, of why Naoki-kun might have run away?"
"Well." Hikaru bit his lip, uncharacteristically hesitant. With Hunny-senpai in this mood, he knew he had to tread carefully. "He was probably really hungover."
"He did drink a lot," said Kaoru. "We were concerned for him. That's why we looked out for him, when he passed out."
"In your bed?" asked Hunny-senpai. "Was that really necessary?"
"No, it was a guest room bed," frowned Hikaru. "What did he tell you, anyway?"
"We will get to that. But first of all, I need you know something. The reason I am here, is because Takashi wants to call you both out for a duel of honor, with swords. But we all know there are laws against that sort of thing now, and it would not be good for him, or Naoki, or the Morinozuka family, if Takashi had to face a murder conviction."
Hikaru opened his mouth to say something which Kaoru was sure would not help the situation, so he elbowed him sharply, and intervened. "So you're saying Mori-senpai is really angry at us. Is it because Arai went to our party?"
"You don't know Naoki-kun very well, do you," said Hunny-senpai.
"He seems okay," shrugged Kaoru. "Everyone at the party loved him, they kept asking us for his number."
"He doesn't hold his drink too well, though," said Hikaru. "I mean, he didn't make a scene or anything, but man. He really got trashed."
"Naoki-kun does not drink," Hunny-senpai said, with a level glare that managed to singe them both in it's heat.
"Uh, sorry to contradict, Senpai. But yeah, he definitely does drink," said Kaoru. "He drank everything we gave him."
"No, you don't understand. He doesn't drink alcohol, he has never been drunk before your party. He didn't realize the drinks you gave him were alcoholic, because he has no experience at all with cocktails."
"Well that explains a lot," muttered Hikaru, which was oh so very much the wrong thing to say, because suddenly Senpai was kneeling a lot closer to them, bristling and quiet and deadly.
"He chooses not to drink for a reason. And if this information ever, ever goes beyond the walls of this room, I will know, and I swear on my family name I will end the both of you, are we clear?"
"Y--yes, Senpai," they stammered together, in a single whisper. Hikaru felt a primal, instinctive need to flee for the nearest exit, but he couldn't leave Kaoru and he didn't dare take his eyes off Hunny-senpai in that moment.
"This is not gossip. I do not care to divulge Naoki-kun's private secrets, which he has not told anyone, ever, except for Takashi and me. But the reason he chooses not to drink, is because his father drank too much, and he was violent and unreasonable, and for years Naoki and his mother were hurt by it. There was nothing they could do, they were too ashamed because of Naoki's father. And Naoki does not ever want to be like that, or be reminded of it. He has too many terrible memories, and his father's drinking was to blame for all of them."
Kaoru chanced a glimpse of his brother from the corner of his eye, and saw that Hikaru had gone seriously white. And he knew he looked the same, he could feel all the blood draining from his head.
"We didn't. We had no idea," murmured Hikaru.
"Was Arai. Was he....did his dad hurt him?" asked Kaoru.
Senpai bent his head, looking just as stunned and saddened as Hikaru and Kaoru felt. "He was hit, I think. He won't tell anyone about the details. He did say his father broke things. Broke furniture. And Naoki tried to protect his mother, when things got very bad. But mostly, it hurt his heart. He is happier, and stronger since he's known Takashi. But a hurt like that, it doesn't ever go away."
"Oh my god," whispered Kaoru.
"We." Hikaru looked up to the ceiling and sighed. "We have seriously screwed up."
"Yes. You have, and I'm not finished telling you why. I know the two of you can be thoughtless, and I know how you cause trouble. But I never would have imagined you would be cruel to your friends. Naoki-kun has never done anything to either of you. How could you put him in such a position?"
"Position?" Kaoru tilted his head, and Hikaru did likewise. "What position? He didn't even do anything."
"He doesn't remember what he did at your party. All he knows, is that he woke up in a bed with you, and do you know what he did, when he left? He went straight home, to the home he's shared for three years with Takashi, because they care for each other that much, and he packed all his things and moved back to his uncle's apartment. And do you understand why he did that?"
Kaoru and Hikaru felt they were safest, just shaking their heads 'No', for now.
"Because he was afraid he had betrayed Takashi. He was afraid he'd been unfaithful, and that he didn't deserve Takashi anymore. It never occurred to him that he might have been victimized, when he was drunk. It never occurred to him that anyone else might have been at fault, except for him. And he didn't want Takashi touched by his shame."
"Wait," said Hikaru. "You mean they broke up?"
"No. Very fortunately for you, Takashi convinced him to come back home. Because he knows Naoki would never willingly betray him. And then he asked me to speak with the two of you, and find out exactly what went on at that party. He is concerned, as am I, about the issue of consent, regarding what might have happened to Naoki. And I warn you, that if something happened while Naoki was unable to consent, the consequences will be more grave than you can imagine."
"Nothing happened," Kaoru said. "Everybody at that party wanted to hook up with him, seriously, a bunch of people were crazy about him. But he was just like...."
"Oblivious," put in Hikaru. "We were watching the whole time, he didn't even notice the attention he was getting."
"Honestly Senpai, we've been getting phone calls about him for two days. Casting directors, photographers, men, women. Even in that drab outfit and cheap haircut, he knocked them dead. But he didn't so much as flirt with a single person. We never saw anything like it."
Hunny-senpai measured them closely, without an ounce of mercy in his eyes. "And with the two of you. Did anything happen, there?"
"Of course not," said Hikaru. "You can ask anyone who was there."
"He blacked out before we even got him in the guest room," said Kaoru. "C'mon, Senpai, I'm not saying we're saints, or monks, but we wouldn't stoop to, y'know--."
"--Seducing a guy who's passed out drunk," Hikaru finished. "That's just....really low."
Hunny-senpai raised a mildly ironic eyebrow, but made no comment.
"We were afraid he might get sick while he was passed out," said Kaoru. "It's dangerous, when people drink that much."
"Yeah, so we stayed up and kept an eye on him. I mean, he's not a bad guy. And we knew Mori-senpai would kill us if anything bad happened to him, like that."
"So nothing happened. I have your word on that."
"Senpai, believe us. Nothing will ever happen with that guy. He is really too good to be true," said Hikaru.
"Yeah. It's kinda sweet," put in Kaoru, before frowning a little. "And kinda weird."
Hunny-senpai looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but was resisting it. "Naoki-kun is a rare, very special person. Takashi gave up his inheritance, to live here and be with him, because he loves him so much. I consider him part of my family, because I love him as much as I love Takashi. And Takashi's mother wants to adopt him into the Morinozuka family. So he and Takashi can be together, officially."
Hikaru and Kaoru blinked in unison. "Y-you mean like, married?"
"Oh shit, we really screwed up," Hikaru muttered under his breath, while Kaoru tipped over and tugged his sleeve, murmuring, "A wedding, think about it, Hikaru." Then after a look of mutual understanding, they both looked back to Hunny-senpai.
"We need to make up for this," said Kaoru.
"Oh, you most certainly do," said Senpai. "Takashi expects a formal, sincere apology from you both. And one to Naoki-kun as well. I know you can be sincere and respectful, when you want to be."
"We'll do that," promised Hikaru. "But we want to give them a wedding, too."
"We'll take care of everything. Decor, catering, clothing, reception. Guest accommodations. They won't pay for a thing," said Kaoru.
"We can bring Paulo to be the stylist, he adores Arai. And the photographers. I bet we could get Emile-Pierre, and Xao Shin-tse," said Hikaru.
"Ooh, and Lawrence Brighton, that spread he did for French Vogue--"
"Ahem." Senpai shook his head sternly at them, effectively halting their brainstorming. "Don't get ahead of yourselves. Naoki has been waiting on his mother's blessing, for some time. I don't believe she objects to Takashi, but she has endured a lot difficulty from Naoki's father over the years, and Naoki's father refuses to hear anything about him. As far as he is concerned, Naoki may as well not exist, and his mother is afraid to mention anything about him, or speak to him where his father may find out."
Kaoru put a hand to his mouth. "Oh. That's so sad."
"But why should his dad get any say?" scowled Hikaru. "After what he did to them. Why would she even associate with him?"
"I don't know," sighed Hunny-senpai. "Naoki and his uncle have tried talking to her. Takashi has tried to put her at ease. Maybe she's afraid to go out on her own. Maybe she still feels she has a duty toward her husband. Looking at Naoki's devotion to Takashi, it wouldn't surprise me."
"But then. What are they going to do? Arai and Mori-senpai?" asked Kaoru.
"All they can do is wait. Out of respect for Naoki's mother. Maybe someday she will be ready to give her blessing. And I know that is very important to Naoki, he would never do anything to hurt her feelings. Not after all that she's suffered, already."
"So. All we can do is say we're sorry?" said Hikaru.
"We can't fix anything for them. To make up for what we did," Kaoru sighed, downcast.
"If you apologize, and tell Takashi and Naoki the truth about that party," said Hunny-senpai, "I think that will help mend things. And I'd advise that you ask Takashi about anything else you can do. Naoki-kun won't ask anything for himself, he never does. But if there's any way you can fix the hurt you caused him, I imagine Takashi would know."
"We will, we'll do whatever he says," nodded Hikaru.
"Yes. And we're sorry to you too. That we upset you, and that you had to get involved," added Kaoru, with a respectful bow.
"We'll go over there right now," Hikaru said, and was a bit surprised when Hunny-senpai raised a hand to halt him.
"No, don't go over now. Takashi is still very upset. You need to call ahead, and make an appointment to talk with him."
"Right. Of course," agreed Kaoru.
"We'll call him today. And meet when he wants to. We promise."
"And you'll promise something else. Not a word of this incident will leave your lips. Not to your friends, your parents, not to Kyouya-kun, or Tama-chan, or Haru-chan. Unless Takashi or Naoki brings it up, you will be silent. Yes?"
"Yes," said Hikaru.
"Yes, we promise," Kaoru added, with an emphatic nod.
**
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