Chapter 23: Lights from the TV
There's an eerie silence between Hiroto and Aki, the clocking ticking in the background as the two of them sat at the corners of the sofa. The TV screen was flashing bright lights in the dimly lit living room and Haruki's snores from his bedroom could be heard. Hiroto hadn't spoken much since he had come over and Aki didn't feel as talkative as he normally did. The silence wasn't comfortable, however.
Recently, Aki got ticked off by the smallest remarks. When Levi refused to let him eat anything unhealthy, Aki ended up crying and causing a scene at the bar. Then later Haruki offered to drive him home and Aki got annoyed thinking that Haruki didn't trust his driving skills. Nothing had happened yet with Hiroto and Aki was praying it stayed that way. It would be best if Hiroto didn't see this ugly side of him.
"What's on your mind?" Hiroto whispers, slowly edging closer to him. Aki spares him a glance before turning back to the screen. There wasn't much he was thinking about, except perhaps trying to remember what his stalker could look like. He didn't get a chance to catch sight of him, but the way of speaking seemed so familiar.
"Nothing," Aki replies, sighing when Hiroto reaches for his hand. "I'm just tired."
"Want to sleep?"
"Not right now," Aki says when in reality he wants to say 'not when we finally got some time alone together'. Aki had yet to tell Haruki about the whole situation, however, his brother had picked up on his bad mood and unusually nervous behaviour. So he then decided that Aki wasn't allowed to meet Hiroto outside the house. As much as Aki was happy with that, knowing he could meet Hiroto in the comfort of his own place, Haruki kept invading their privacy and forced them to sit in the living room with him.
"Have you spoken to Kanae yet?" Aki shudders at the name. It wasn't as though he was afraid of Kanae, not when Hiroto and Haruki were within arm's reach, but Aki suspected his stalker had something to do with Kanae. "He's been hanging around with that guy we met in the library."
"Shota?" Aki suggests, causing Hiroto to nod enthusiastically.
"It seems he's made a new friend, so maybe it's time for you to move on too. Find more people in your course and expand your friendships." Hiroto kisses Aki's cheek and smiles, but he doesn't realise that his words and the tone of his voice only pushed Aki off the edge.
"Are you saying I need friends?" Aki asks, sitting up, a frown on his face. The smile Hiroto has falls and he quickly tries to say something, but Aki cuts him off. "The fact that I had only one friend was pathetic."
"I never said that," Hiroto quickly stammers, shaking his head. "All I'm saying is that maybe Kanae leaving you was a good thing for the both of you."
Aki looks at Hiroto with a stern expression before faltering, leaning forwards and placing his head on his chest. A sigh escapes his lips as he wonders why he felt so angry just a moment ago and why he thought Hiroto was trying to insult him. "Sorry," he whispers, feeling the guilt get to him, his eyes tearing up at the thought of maybe hurting Hiroto. "I didn't mean to get angry at you, I'm sorry."
Hirotos hand comes to rest on Aki's head and he gently brushes his hair back. "It's okay, it's not your fault. Don't worry."
The hand pauses at his neck and Aki feels his shirt slowly slipping off his shoulder. He stays silent as Hiroto continues with his antics, exposing Aki's scent gland before kissing it gently.
"What are you doing?" Aki questions in a low voice, his eyes stuck to the ceiling as Hiroto pushes him down to lie on the sofa.
"Marking you. There's this weird scent I've been smelling on you for a while now. Just getting rid of it," Hiroto answers, licking up the bite mark that was slowly fading away on Aki's collarbone. "I also need to bond with you again."
"It's been that long?" Aki says to himself, surprised that he had already gotten through so many weeks without realising. He raises his hands and tangles his fingers in Hirotos head. "I feel like I've known you for ages."
Hiroto chuckles against Aki's neck, sucking a mark into it before kissing his lips softly. "Same. I still laugh whenever I remember how we met."
"About that," Aki puts a hand on Hirotos chest to stop him for a moment. "I wanted to ask why you looked so angry that day, or well, rather you looked like you were keeping an eye out for someone."
Hiroto stares at him with a blank expression before glancing away for a moment, only causing the feeling of anxiety in Aki's stomach to spike up. Why did he look away? Was there something he was hiding? Even if he was, Aki questioned why he was getting so worked up over it. "Do you really want to know?"
"When you say it like that I get more curious." Which was true. Now that Aki knew there was something behind this, something that had caused Hiroto to reach out for Aki during whatever he was going through, he needed to find out the whole story.
Hiroto sighs and pushes himself away from Aki maintaing the distance between them but grabbing his legs and pulling him close.
"After weeks of convincing, Kiyoshi was given permission to leave the house and go somewhere, as long as I was to go with him," Hiroto starts and Aki already knows it's not going to end well. "We left the house and I suggested to go to some restaurant where we could eat food together, but he said he knew of a place much better, which was the bar. At first I was a bit wary, but once we reached there I wanted to leave immediately."
"Levi's bar isn't that bad," Aki mumbles under his breath, earning a chuckle from Hiroto.
"It isn't bad, but a lot of people trying picking others up and Kiyoshi ended up being the main target of that day." Hirotos face looks pained and Aki regrets asking. What was the point about knowing this? Aki opens his mouth to tell Hiroto to stop when he continues. "Some random guy came up to Kiyoshi and started feeling him up, so obviously I got pissed off and told the guy to piss off, but then he asked who I was to Kiyoshi. Knowing he'll laugh if I said younger brother, I lied and said I was his boyfriend."
There a sudden pang in Aki's chest and he jolts in surprise confused as to what that was. Hiroto pauses as Aki freezes in his arms. What was that? Did he feel hurt over Hiroto sprouting a white lie to protect his brother?
"You okay?" Hiroto asks, lowering his face to meet Aki's eyes.
"Mhm," Aki hums, forcing a smile to his face. "Sorry, continue. Just got cold."
Hiroto wraps his arms around Aki and snuggles in closer. "When I said that, Kiyoshi got annoyed at me and told me to leave him alone before disappearing into the crowd. I felt so hurt that we had gotten into an argument because of someone else so I didn't follow him. That's when I met you whilst I was trying to keep an eye on him from afar."
The silence from before returns and Aki squirm underneath it, feeling awkward and anxious. "Why," Aki clears his throat as his voice wavers. "Why did you say you were his boyfriend?"
"I didn't want him to sleep with some stranger," Hiroto answers and Aki's stomach drops.
"But didn't you do the same thing? You slept with me on the same day," Aki counters, feeling sick. Had he been a replacement for Kiyoshi that day?
Hiroto seems to realise what Aki means and pulls away for a moment. "I didn't...realise," Hiroto says, surprised. "I guess I did. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten so angry and stopped him."
"Hiroto," Aki says softly, his hand reaching out to caress his face, gently patting his cheek. Hiroto looks down at him with large eyes, confused. "Do you love Kiyoshi?"
Hiroto remains silent for a moment before smiling. "Of course, I love him. He's my brother."
Aki smiles back, trying to ignore how he paused before mentioning Kiyoshi was his brother. Just what had Aki gotten himself into.
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