It was an awkward, quiet week for Ichirou. He and Masahiro texted very minimally. He couldn’t find it in himself to fully cool off. He spent a surprisingly large portion of that Monday through Friday pacing around his room, muttering to himself. He tried many things to relax and stop being so angry, but nothing seemed to work as well. Well, nothing besides talking to his best friend about it.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Yuuhei said, sounding stunned.

“I’m not,” Ichirou replied.

Ichirou was in the middle of painting his toenails pink on the floor, with his phone set on the ground and on speaker. He had just finished relaying the entire depth of what Masahiro had kept from him for the past five months. It was enough to make Ichirou want to beat the crap out of the huge man.

“You two have gotta be soulbound,” Yuuhei said, with a surprised and almost horrified laugh. “You just gotta.”

“There’s no way that I’m soulbound to him! How the hell is that the first fuckin’ thing you say! Not, why was he deceiving you? Not, he shouldn’t have done that? Not even that he could have been trying to play me this whole time?!” Ichirou cried.

“Ichirou, how is your belief anything but that you’re soulbond? For Christ’s sake, the man lost all form of contact with you, didn’t forget his promise to marry you, and found you again when you were adults! How is that not the plot to a romance novel?” Yuuhei replied.

Ichirou felt his face redden, and he looked down at his toes. “I mean… yo- you’re right, but we’re not like that! I swear! Just because I–” Ichirou cut himself off, realizing what a horrific thing that would be to say.

“Just because you what, Ichirou? What did you do?”

“N- nothing! You don’t need to worry about it!”

“Motherfucker, what did you do!” Yuuhei shrieked on the other end of the line. “You never lie to me, what is this?!”

Ichirou slammed his face into his legs and spoke as quietly as he could. “I jacked off to the thought of him.”

“I did not hear a single word of that, you’re gonna need to speak up.”

Ichirou grabbed the phone and hissed into it. “I jacked off to the thought of him, okay?!”

Yuuhei was silent for a moment before he burst into laughter. Ichirou slammed his face back into his knees, face and ears bright red. This is exactly why he didn’t want Yuuhei to know. Now Yuuhei would think even more that Ichirou was in love with Masahiro.

“How? Howwww?” Yuuhei croaked into the phone between laughs. “How are you still so far in denial? This prince charming guy comes into your life, is super kind and courteous to you all the time, he’s your first love, and you’re horny for him, but somehow you’re not in love with him? What a crock of shit, Ichirou. You just need to make out with him and put a ring on it, my poor, sweet Ichirou.”

“I called you to complain about that bastard, not to have you proclaim that I’m in love with him!” Ichirou cried into the phone, his bottom lip quivering.

“Ichirou, why do you care so much that he didn’t tell you? I’m sure he figured that you forgot about him, and when you did meet him all those years later, you didn’t recognize him, so he didn’t bring it up because he thought he could just bring it up later. I’m pretty much certain that’s what he thought. So, I’ll ask you again; why does it matter so much that you two had a past when you were little, tiny humans?” Yuuhei asked.

Ichirou was silent for a little bit as he put some topcoat on his cute little pink toenails. “I’m mad because he lied to me at all, not because of what he did. I just… I wish he told me. I wish I didn’t find out from my parents and watching those videos.”

“I’ll accept that. Why don’t you talk to him about that when you two meet on Saturday? And then, afterwards, you two can go back to his place and fuck,” Yuuhei said nonchalantly.

“Shut the fuck up!” Ichirou shrieked.

Ichirou was having a lot of feelings towards this discovery. While it was true that he was completely enraged, part of him felt stupidly happy as well. He tried to ignore that, as he knew the reason behind it, but he wasn’t ready to admit that. He was glad that his prince charming from those innocent childhood days had really come back to him. It was true, they were just friends, but some part of him felt strangely complete now that he knew he hadn’t been abandoned.

Despite his anger towards Masahiro, as well, he found that he was still incredibly sexually aroused by the thought of Masahiro fucking him. He tossed and turned at night, not wanting to jerk off to Masahiro while he was pissed at Masahiro, but his erection was too much to just ignore. So, with great frustration and anger, he began to picture Masahiro.

Ichirou tossed off his sleep shorts and pictured Masahiro running his hands down Ichirou’s inner thigh, down to his rear, and then pressed up against his asshole. He pictured Masahiro softly asking Ichirou if he wanted it there. Ichirou felt a wetness against his fingers, and he nodded to the fantasy of Masahiro, whimpering. He pretended that it was Masahiro’s long, rough fingers going into his asshole instead of his own.

“Do you like it like that?” His fantasy Masahiro asked, smirking down at Ichirou.

Ichirou nodded again, whimpering under his breath. He began slowly pumping his fingers in and out, pressing them upwards in an attempt to reach the part of him that he could only just reach with his fingers.

“Spread your legs more,” Masahiro breathed in Ichirou’s ear. “I want to see you.”

Ichirou did as the make-believe Masahiro said, spreading out his legs and trembling. He pushed it up just a little bit deeper, gasping as blinding white pleasure spread through his body. He had hit his prostate. Fuck, he wanted more. He wanted Masahiro’s actual fingers inside of him, those thick, long fingers. No, no, he wanted more than that, he wanted Masahiro’s cock inside of him.

He pictured Masahiro positioning himself over Ichirou, pulling out his lengthy cock. His fantasy of Masahiro stroked his cock a few times before positioning it up against Ichirou’s asshole. In reality, he had grabbed the dildo and was pressing it up against himself.

“Are you ready?” Masahiro breathed, eyes smoldering through his eyelashes.

“F- fuck me,” Ichirou whimpered.

The false Masahiro pushed it in all at once, eliciting a quiet cry from Ichirou. He covered his own mouth, trembling. He had never used the dildo when he was off his heat. He should have bought and used lube, but it was too late for that now. He could at least be glad that he made slick, unlike betas.

“Ichirou, Ichirou…” the fantasy of Masahiro whispered, putting their foreheads together. “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m here. You’re okay. My sweet, lovely Ichirou…”

The idea that Masahiro would be so gentle and loving had not appeared in his fantasies before this point, but it made complete and utter sense. Masahiro was never rough with him, he always did his best to care for Ichirou. Sure, it was exciting to think of Masahiro being somewhat rough with him, but that tender and passionate side was much more likely to be how he actually was in bed.

“I’m gonna start moving now, okay? Tell me if it hurts. I would never want to hurt you,” Masahiro said, pulling back a little and gently stroking Ichirou’s chest.

Ichirou nodded, shivering as he touched his own nipples, gently pinching and stroking them. Masahiro pulled it back, almost all the way out, then pushed it back in slowly. Ichirou’s breath hitched and he squeezed his eyes shut, but he had no objections. The movement was slow and rhythmic, making Ichirou bounce slightly on his bed.

“You’re doing so good, baby…” Masahiro breathed into his ear as he began to pick up speed. “I’m so proud of you.”

Ichirou tilted his head to the side and covered his eyes with his free arm, panting. It was bad; he was even more horny for this idea of Masahiro. It was almost like he really did want to have sex with Masahiro. But there was no way that was true! It just… it couldn’t be.

After some careful repositioning, the dildo slammed up against his prostate. He gasped, his toes curling onto the bed and eyes opening wide. The fantasy of Masahiro continued fucking him right against his prostate, making Ichirou see stars. He felt his eyes rolling back, and he covered his mouth with his arm to hold in a high pitched moan. His parents were still in this house, after all.

“You love it right here, don’t you, Ichirou?” Masahiro said, eagerly moving faster and faster. “You love when I fuck your little pussy, right? You’re such a good boy, squeezing onto my cock so nicely.”

Ichirou nodded, his eyes pinched shut. Being praised like this in this fantasy was really getting him going. Was this a praise kink? It might be a praise kink. He couldn’t really focus on that right now, however, because the apparition of Masahiro was fucking him hard and fast by now, and it was driving him absolutely wild.

He moaned against his hand, rolling his head back and lifting his hips to meet Masahiro's cock. He wanted it so damn bad, he wanted the cock. He wanted to be fucked more and more. He wanted Masahiro to praise him, to coo at him, to kiss every part of his body… it was enough to make him completely forget his anger.

With a decisive slam against Ichirou’s prostate, the pink haired man came, letting out a moan against his hand. Streaks of white liquid painted his stomach, and his chest rose and fell quickly as he slumped into the mattress. He released his mouth and breathed deeply for a few moments, eyes half lidded and knees weak.

He eventually got up and cleaned up his stomach, as well as his rear. He got back into bed, rolled on his tummy, and screamed into his pillow. He felt so frustrated that he might cry. It wasn’t just that that he was sexually frustrated, he was also just frustrated in general. He was mad at Masahiro, but he wanted Masahiro. He couldn’t understand his own feelings, and it made him upset.

On the Saturday that Ichirou and Masahiro were meeting up, it was raining. Ichirou spent the majority of the day before their dinner plans uncertain about what he was going to do. He paced, went through outfits, played on his phone, and just completely wasted the majority of the day in general. He decided to simply wear a fitted pink t-shirt with a cute character on it, and some distressed jeans. He wore a pink, clear raincoat on top of that, what with it pouring out. He decided not to even put makeup on. He was not going to dress to impress when he was so irritated.

Ichirou was, in fact, so annoyed, that he requested that they meet up at the restaurant instead of having Masahiro pick him up. They agreed on a restaurant that was close to Masahiro’s house, one that he was very familiar with. So, about forty minutes before meeting time, Ichirou got into the back of his chauffeur’s car, and huffily folded his arms.

Ichirou was dropped off a little ways away from the restaurant. He gave his gratitude to the chauffeur, took a deep breath in, and began walking down the street. He was less than a block away, and from this short of a distance, he could see Masahiro. The man was holding a black umbrella, and was wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans. The sight of him made Ichirou fists tighten up. 

“Hello, Masahiro-san,” Ichirou said stiffly as he walked up to the other man.

Masahiro looked up to him, a bit of relief in his eyes. Was he worried that Ichirou wouldn’t show up for the date? He looked a bit like a lost puppy when he was sad. Ichirou pushed aside his desire to make things all better by smiling or being sweet to the other man. He was not going to give in just because Masahiro had his tail between his legs! 

“Hi, Ichirou-san. Do you… do you want to head in?” Masahiro asked hesitantly.

“Yes,” Ichirou said flatly.

The two men went inside, the pressure between them palpable. The restaurant was a Japanese Taiwanese fusion place, and it had lanterns on the ceiling and calligraphy on the walls. It wasn’t particularly large, but most places in Tokyo weren’t. After they were seated together, they took a look at the menu. Masahiro ordered a beer, and Ichirou ordered an orange soda. He was doing this shit sober.

“So, um… what are you thinking of getting? This place is family style, so…” Masahiro asked lamely.

“I don’t care. Just order whatever,” Ichirou said, his arms folded.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to get something you won’t eat,” Masahiro said, his eyebrows drawing together in concern.

Ichirou wanted to scream at Masahiro not to worry about him when Ichirou was so mad. Instead he simply said, “I like food. Get whatever.”

The server came back with a draft beer for Masahiro, and a soda for Ichirou. Masahiro ordered for them, and while Ichirou was feeling a bit bratty, he did think that Masahiro made some good choices in food. When Masahiro turned back to Ichirou, he met Ichirou’s steely gaze with an ashamed one of his own. 

“So,” Masahiro began. “Uhm. Where should I begin?”

“Did you know who I was on the first night we met again?” Ichirou asked. Ichirou squeezed his fists, squinting at Masahiro.

Slowly, anxiously, Masahiro nodded. “I did.”

“Did you know before then, too?”

Another nod.

“Then why the fuck didn’t you tell me?!” Ichirou hissed, leaning forward. His eyes were like daggers, plunging into Masahiro’s heart.

Masahiro couldn’t bring himself to meet Ichirou’s gaze again. “I… thought you forgot about me.”

Ichirou was about to pull his hair out. “Then why didn’t you fucking ask me if I remembered you?!”

“B- because I thought if you didn’t remember, it would sound like I was trying to make up a bullshit story to get into your pants,” Masahiro protested.

Well. That was fair. Ichirou honestly only somewhat remembered their childhood days together. If he didn’t remember at all and some guy tried to pull that on him, he probably would have just completely ignored that guy. 

Ichirou took in a deep breath, trying to regain some of the facade of calmness he had before. “Then, what? Were you just going to pretend forever that you and I had no sort of past?”

“No, I… I kept meaning to tell you, but I couldn’t figure out a good way to say it or how to even bring it up. I didn’t want you to hate me when you found out the truth.”

“Well, you should have brought it up sooner, because finding out that fucking way sucked ass,” Ichirou growled, steam practically pouring out of his ears.

“I know.” Masahiro’s shoulders dropped. 

“And you know what else? It has made me wonder about your intentions with me, too. Who comes back after fifteen years just to be friends with someone?” Ichirou asked accusatorially. 

Masahiro’s head pulled up at that and he looked at Ichirou with genuine pain in his eyes. “No, Ichirou-san, I promise–”

“How can I trust what you promise after all of this lying you’ve been doing?!” Ichirou shouted that last line, and everyone, including the workers, looked at Ichirou. For once in his life, he didn’t care that people were staring at him in a negative light. He was really upset.

He was so upset, in fact so much so that a frustrated tear dripped down his face. Masahiro looked incredibly distraught as Ichirou desperately wiped the tears away. He had been holding in these tears for what felt like ages, even though it had been less than a week. He desperately wanted to believe in Masahiro, but Masahiro was making it hard.

The server brought over their food, silently looking between the two of them with concern in his eyes. However, he didn’t say anything and just walked back into the back of the house. Ichirou looked at their food; pork gyoza, gyoza sausage, green pepper shumai dumplings, mapo tofu, and yu lin chi. All of the food smelled delicious, and Ichirou sank the scoop into the tofu, tearing off a bite and swallowing the melt-in-your-mouth style food.

“The food’s good,” Ichirou grumbled, tears still pouring from his eyes.

Masahiro nodded, swallowing one of the pork gyoza. It took him a moment, but he began to speak. “Those videos we watched were the happiest times of my life, Ichirou-san. I got to play with my best friend almost every day, my parents were there for me, and I was just constantly surrounded by love. It was amazing.”

He went silent for a moment, cutting off a piece of one of the sausages. “Then, my parents died. Everything changed. I had to live with the knowledge that when they died in that car accident, I lived. They had died, protecting me with their bodies. And I had to sit there for two whole hours while they dug me out of the wreckage. I was covered by my parent’s corpses, and I just had to fucking wait for them to get pulled off me. I was covered in their blood and even some of their organs. It was the most fucking horrific thing I had ever and will ever experience. 

“After I went through that, I found out that my uncle wanted to focus on saving the family business. I was going to be shipped off to Fukuoka to live with my aunt, and I would never see you or my parents again. All within the span of two weeks, my life had completely changed. And my aunt…” 

His voice shook, and he took a long swig of his beer. He let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes. “My aunt has always hated me. Even when I was a little kid. She beat the shit out of me at least once a week, but I don’t think there was a day that went by without some sort of slap. She made sure to hit me where it wouldn’t show under my clothes. She didn’t let me eat for days on end at times, while she let her sons eat like kings in front of me. She would take things from me and gaslight me, telling me that I never had something like that, only to put them back the next day and act like nothing happened. The psychological manipulation was the worst. I couldn’t understand why she was acting like this. I was just a fucking kid.

“She had me studying every single day, doing schoolwork from the time I got home until almost midnight. If it wasn’t schoolwork, it was studying. She didn’t let me go to cram school, because she wanted to be the one to watch me. It was like she never had anything better to do than torture me. I had to be the perfect student, because if I wasn’t, she would surely know. The only times I had any peace was when I read books, or at night, when I was finally alone and allowed to daydream. It was like I had walked out of heaven and fell directly into hell.”

Ichirou felt his throat closing up a bit at that. He knew that Masahiro hated his aunt, but he didn’t realize the level of abuse that he had been put through. Ichirou still felt hurt, though, so he refused to comfort Masahiro. At least, for the moment.

“I would stay up at night and try to remember my parent’s faces, and your face. I remembered what we did together, and I pretended that I still had that future. I daydreamed about you and I growing up together, and my parents still being alive. I made up a whole world in my head, where none of the things that had hurt me so much ever happened. It was the only thing I could cling to. Sometimes I would daydream about being grown up and meeting with you again. It was all that I had.” Masahiro grabbed a spoon, and ate a shumai dumpling with the broth. He chewed on it for a moment, trying to gather himself.

“As I got older, my dream… no, my hope changed. It shifted into something more realistic. I couldn’t cling onto a future where my parents were still alive anymore. But I could cling onto the idea of meeting you and being friends with you again. And at the end of my third year in middle school, my hell finally ended as my uncle found out what she’d been doing to me. He had me live with him, and although it was a lot quieter, I was so much happier.

“In high school, I asked my uncle about meeting up with you again. However, he didn’t have the same connection that my mother did with your mother. We were really wealthy, but it was nothing in comparison to the Kimura Conglomerate. I realized that we had moved into different social spheres, and that there was no way for me to reach you. So… I gave up.”

Ichirou blinked at that. He didn’t expect this story at all, especially the idea of being Masahiro’s hope for a long time, but really? After all those years, he gave up on finding Ichirou? Then, wait a minute…

“So how did we end up meeting then?” Ichirou asked, eyebrows knit together.

Masahiro let out a hoarse chuckle. “We’re getting there. I gave up on the idea of meeting you in high school. Or, at least, I tried to. I tried to make friends, I tried to be the best student because I wanted to be, I tried playing the drums, I tried smoking, I tried reading manga, I tried so many things… but in the end, the only things that gave me purpose was being able to honor my parents. When I found out that the Yamashita business was on the decline, it was like a fire lit in me. So, I decided to do everything I could in order to fix it. I became the top student, because if nothing else, I knew how to study. But still, something was missing…”

Masahiro breathed in deeply and sighed. “Love. Love was missing. I had a few friends and my uncle in my life, but I didn’t feel love towards them and didn’t feel love in return. I was lonely and isolated. So, when I hit college, I found myself holding onto that hope once again, the hope of meeting you again. Because I hadn’t felt loved since the last time I saw you. I didn’t need you to marry me or anything that wild. I just wanted your sincere friendship.”

Ichirou slowly nodded, but if he was being honest, he wasn’t quite sure what exactly it was that Masahiro felt towards him. It seemed like a bigger emotion than what Ichirou could really understand at this point. It almost seemed like idolatry, but Ichirou kind of understood where it came from. He couldn’t imagine the torture that Masahiro had been put through.

“I wasn’t very successful in trying to get into contact with you, and because I’ve never used social media, it didn’t even occur to me that you might be on there. Of course I mentioned you to Takeru, and how I wanted to meet you, but he didn’t know anyone in your circle either. So, for the first almost four years, nothing came of it. Until, one day, Takeru got an invitation in the mail.

“He knew your name reasonably well enough by now, so he told me that he was going to try to get the invitation transferred over to me so I could meet you. And, amazingly, he did. I showed up at your house and, after eating dinner, I decided to wander around the yard. I remembered it all really well, and I felt so comforted. I remembered that secret little grove that you and I made our promise in, and I went to go see if it was there, and… there you were.”

Masahiro closed his eyes and took another long drink of his beer, finishing it off. He opened his eyes, murmured that he was going to be right back, and then refilled his beer. Ichirou watched him with wide eyes, feeling extremely self conscious. He had no idea he was so important to the other man.

Masahiro walked back and sat down in front of him, taking another long swig before continuing his story. “You didn’t remember me at all. I could see it in the way you looked at me. Your eyes were full of trepidation, like you couldn’t trust me at all. So I did the only thing I could think to do: I tried to be as non threatening and helpful as possible. It’s true that my family was getting worried about me spending all of my time indoors with books, but more than anything, I just wanted to be friends with you again, Ichirou. I said what I felt would make me stand out and be a good candidate for a friend. The truth is, I needed you way more than I think you needed me.”

Masahiro bowed in his seat, face just barely above the bowls of food. “I’m sorry if that hurt you, Ichirou. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about our past friendship. I’m sorry if this story is weird or makes you uncomfortable. I’m sorry if you feel like you can’t trust me anymore. And more than anything, I’m sorry that I made you cry.”

Ichirou looked at the blue haired man, breathing in and out slowly. The anger that had been raging within him for all of the past six days finally had been quelled. If he was being honest, he just needed that apology, not the story as well, but he definitely appreciated it. He felt like he understood Masahiro a little bit better.

“Thank you, Masahiro-san. I… I feel better after hearing all of that. I’m not mad anymore,” Ichirou murmured, taking a bite of sausage as well.

Masahiro’s head popped up in surprise. “Really? Truly?”

“Yes, I believe you, okay?” Ichirou muttered around his mouth full of food. 

Pure relief and happiness washed over Masahiro’s face. He had completely perked up, and was grabbing some of the chicken, a dumb smile on his face. Ichirou couldn’t help but feel like Masahiro really was like a dog. He wore his expressions so openly, even despite everything he had gone through.

The tension that had been plaguing the two of them finally dissipated. Although it was silent for a while, it was a comfortable silence. Ichirou had figured that he would forgive Masahiro by the end of this meal, but he needed to lash out at the other man before he could. Now that both pieces had been said, Ichirou felt like the fire that had been burning within got covered in a downpour. He felt more relaxed than he had in days.

“Masahiro-san?” Ichirou asked hesitantly. The other man looked up, so Ichirou continued, a bit nervously. “Just… the way you talk about me, like I’m hope itself… I can’t help but worry that I’ve let you down. I’m just a boy who likes fashion, makeup, and daytime dramas, after all.”

Masahiro blinked in surprise at that. “You haven’t let me down at all.”

Ichirou squinted at him. “Are you sure?”

“I didn’t expect you to be perfect or something,” Masahiro said with a laugh. “I just thought that if you were the same as when we were kids, you would be a great friend.”

Ichirou nodded just a little. “Besides that, though… um, could you not lie to me anymore? I’d really appreciate it.”

“No more lies,” Masahiro agreed.

“You’re a really good liar, by the way.”

Masahiro shrugged at that. “I had to learn how to lie as a kid when I stole food to eat sometimes, or when an adult would ask how I got a bruise. It’s not a skill that I’m proud of, but it’s one I gained anyway.”

“You really aren’t going to lie to me anymore, right?” Ichirou asked, looking up at Masahiro with concern in his eyes.

“I’m not,” Masahiro said firmly.

The truth was, Masahiro was planning on lying a bit more. However, these were lies that would keep him bound to Ichirou. If he told Ichirou how he truly felt about him, their relationship might crumble. Masahiro didn’t need to be anything more than friends, after all. He felt joy just from being close to Ichirou. He didn’t need anything else.

“Oh, and I was thinking… the first time you met Ichika, did you kind of tell her the same story?” Ichirou asked, scooting forward.

“Oh, you mean back in Akihabara? Yeah, I told her a vague version of the same story. I think she, um… What’s that fandom term…” Masahiro said, humming.

“The what?” Ichirou asked, tilting his head slightly in confusion.

“Shipping! That’s it, shipping. I think she ships us,” Masahiro said, clapping his hands together as he remembered the word.

“What the hell is shipping?” Ichirou asked.

“It’s when you want two characters or people to be together romantically,” Masahiro said.

Ichirou choked on his orange soda, turning bright red. So, she had told him as well that she wanted them to get together. That was mildly horrifying.

“Y- yeah, she’s, um… said that she wants me to date you for real,” Ichirou murmured.

Come to think of it, Yuuhei probably shipped them, too. He was constantly encouraging Ichirou to actually date Masahiro, so it definitely seemed that way. Hopefully Takeru didn’t as well. He needed one person in his life to be okay with him being just friends with Masahiro.

Masahiro nodded. “But we’re not like that, so there’s no need for us to get hung up on something like that.”

A weird twinge made its way into Ichirou’s heart at that. What the hell? That was weird. Ichirou should be glad to hear that from Masahiro’s mouth. After all, they were friends, and Ichirou didn’t want anything more.

“So, um… there was something I wanted to ask you to do with me, if that’s okay,” Masahiro asked, looking down at a piece of gyoza that he held between his chopsticks.

Ichirou raised his eyebrows, looking playfully annoyed. “Oh, you think you can ask me to do stuff after all of this?”

“Well, I’m hoping,” Masahiro said, before putting the gyoza in his mouth whole.

Ichirou let out a dramatic sigh, slumping down a bit. “Fine, I suppose I can grant a wish for you. What’s up?”

Masahiro swallowed the gyoza. “Um… the thirtieth… do you have plans?” Ichirou shook his head no. “Then… will you come with me to visit them?”

Ichirou blinked in confusion. “Visit who?”

“My parents. It’s the anniversary of their death,” Masahiro said softly.

Ichirou stopped reaching towards the chicken, looking up to his fake boyfriend with wide eyes. He slowly dropped his hand down, feeling a wave of uncertainty overcome him. Would it really be okay for Masahiro to bring Ichirou?

“Um… a- are you sure that you want me there?” Ichirou asked hesitantly.

Masahiro nodded. “Yes. I want to show my parents that we were able to make our way back to each other, despite everything that’s happened.”

Ichirou looked down, playing with his own fingers. His stomach knotted up and released. He honestly didn’t feel like he should be there, like he was breaking some sort of taboo. However, wasn’t it Masahiro who was offering? If anyone was going to be upset, it would have been him.

“My uncle will be there, too. If you don’t want to meet him, especially in those circumstances, I totally get it. I can just tell them about it,” Masahiro said, hastily backing off.

Ichirou realized very suddenly that Masahiro really wanted him to go, but was scared of putting pressure on Ichirou. He very rarely asked for things, while it seemed like Ichirou was always wanting something. It was definitely a big difference in how they reacted to the world around them. However, because of the rarity of the request, Ichirou was inclined to say yes.

“He, ah, won’t be unhappy if I come?” Ichirou asked, choosing his words carefully.

Masahiro looked surprised. “No, of course he wouldn’t be unhappy if you came. I mean, you’re my boyfriend supposedly, right? It wouldn’t be super weird to bring your boyfriend to something like this, would it? I mean, maybe…”

Ichirou had almost forgotten that they were fake dating. He would have to be on beyond his best behavior. He wasn’t sure exactly how to act in a cemetery, so he’d have to be careful about that.

“If this is too much pressure, don’t even worry about it. In fact, I think it is, so I’ll just–” Masahiro said, looking uncomfortable.

“Don’t I get to decide if it’s too much for me?” Ichirou asked, giving Masahiro a look. “I’m coming.”

Masahiro stared with wide eyes at Ichirou. “A- are you sure?”

“Of course. You don’t ask for anything unless you really want it, Masahiro-san. I’m always deciding where we go, what we eat, what we do. I don’t mind it at all, I like it in fact. But you deserve to have a voice, too. I want you to always be able to tell me if you want something,” Ichirou said.

Masahiro looked incredibly relieved. “Th- thank you… I appreciate you so much, Ichirou-san.”

“Don’t be so grateful for the bare minimum,” Ichirou grumbled, grabbing another sip of his soda.

“Ah… then, can I ask for something else? Something I’ve been wanting for a while?” Masahiro asked, looking a bit shy.

“Of course! What can I do for you?”

“Let’s drop the san. Can we do that?” Masahiro asked.

Ichirou jumped a little at that, not having expected it at all. He felt his face flush and he squirmed in his seat. That was asking a lot of Ichirou. It had taken him a year to be able to say Yuuhei’s name without the san. However, Ichirou had gotten a lot closer to Masahiro a lot quicker than he did with Yuuhei. And, as it turned out, Ichirou had actually known Masahiro for twenty years now.

Hesitantly, ever so hesitantly, Ichirou spoke. “M… Masahiro… ?”

A thrilled look overcame Masahiro, and he sat up a little bit. “Ichirou.”

Ichirou’s hands slapped onto his cheeks and he trembled a bit, face practically glowing red. He had only heard Masahiro say his name without the honorific in his sexual fantasies. Now he heard it from the real, absolutely sexy man, and it was enough to make his heart pound. He shyly looked away from Masahiro, completely embarrassed. 

“Ichirou. Your face is bright red,” Masahiro teased.

“Sh- shut up! Stop saying it,” Ichirou cried, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Do you hate it when I say Ichirou?” Masahiro asked.

“It- it’s embarrassing! Just… do it when you need to, not like this,” Ichirou whined, wriggling about. 

“Sorry, your reaction was just really cute,” Masahiro said with a soft laugh. 

Ichirou looked down, attempting to hide his blush. This almost felt like Masahiro was flirting with him! But that couldn’t be the case, Masahiro said it himself: they were just friends. Ichirou was just making up thoughts and ideas because he was sexually attracted to Masahiro, that’s all.

“So, then, um, is there anything else you want? Something less embarrassing, hopefully?” Ichirou asked.

“Nope. This is enough to make me happy.” Masahiro smiled as he spoke, his eyes crinkling up. He really looked truly happy.

“Then tell me about your uncle. I want to know what I can do to impress him,” Ichirou said, sitting up and doing his best to will the blush away.

“You don’t need to impress him,” Masahiro said with a laugh. “He’s the second oldest of the three siblings. He’s really quiet and earnest. He’s actually in a relationship with another male alpha.”

Ichirou blinked in surprise at that. “With another male alpha? Really? How does everyone else feel about this?”

“Well, my aunt hates it because she thinks it’s not natural. I don’t really care. I guess the only weird thing is that my uncle is fifty-five and his boyfriend is thirty-seven. They started dating… six years ago? But, I mean, they’re both adults, so I don’t really care. My uncle was always alone before that. I think he had some sort of weird complex about being alpha,” Masashiro said, shrugging.

“A complex? About being an alpha?” Ichirou asked, eyebrows drawn together.

“Yeah, I get the feeling that he always would have rathered that he was born a beta or an omega. He’s never liked the pressure of being an elite, and while he’s honoring his commitment to the family by being in charge of the company in my father’s absence, he’s not exactly overjoyed about it,” Masahiro said, sipping on his beer.

Ichirou was sure there were others like him, but he had never heard of something like that. An alpha that didn’t want to be an alpha? Who wouldn’t want to be given an advantage in society? For Ichirou, who had wished he was born an alpha his whole life, it was wild to hear this sort of story.

“Then what’s he like? I assume he’s nice like you, right?” Ichirou asked, leaning forward.

Masahiro nodded. “He’s very kind and soft spoken. He’s never even raised his voice at me, and I can’t imagine him yelling at anyone. He likes math a lot, too. He was the president of accounting before he became the CEO. I think he’s actually hoping to return to that position when I take over.”

“He doesn’t really sound like a CEO,” Ichirou said, a little bit of doubt seeping into his tone.

“Yeah, he’s not the best at it.” Masahiro gave a flicker of a smile.

“Oh, next week is your last week of summer vacation, isn’t it? Do you want to do something?” Ichirou asked, suddenly realizing.

“Mm, we can go on another date. Is there anywhere you want to go?” Masahiro asked.

Ichirou thought for a second, before a slightly perverse idea made its way into his mind. “Um… your building has a pool, right?”

“Yeah. Do you wanna go swimming?” Masahiro asked, a little smile on his face.

“It- it’s just so hot and muggy outside! I’m wilting,” Ichirou complained, definitely not thinking about getting a better view of Masahiro’s abs.

“It’s fine, you don’t need to worry about it,” Masahiro said with a laugh. “We can definitely go swimming.

Ichirou let out a happy noise, trying to quell his damnable horny thoughts. It wasn’t his fault that Masahiro had Ichirou’s ideal body type in a partner. Oh, and he had a really great personality, too. Masahiro’s personality was really sweet, really wonderful as well. Not that Ichirou liked him or anything! It was just! Important to note all of Masahiro’s good points!

“We didn’t really do much barbeque, even though that’s your favorite kind of food. We should go to another yakiniku place soon,” Ichirou said.

“There’s always next summer,” Masahiro said with a warm smile.

Ichirou slowly nodded, a smile spreading across his face. “Yeah, you’re right. Now that we’re together again, there’s no reason for us to split up. It seems like you’re stuck with me.”

Masahiro laughed, leaning back in his seat. “Oh, no, what a terrible fate.”

“You better start enjoying it, Masahiro, because if you’re gonna cling to me that much, you’d best be prepared for when I cling back,” Ichirou said snarkily.

Masahiro laughed and closed his eyes, looking a bit sleepy. “I think I’ll be okay with that. Let’s see how clingy you can get.”

Ichirou flushed a bit at that, but he grinned and kept talking with Masahiro. They ordered another round of drinks and kept up their conversation, while the rain that had been pouring all day slowly began to let up.