My Brother's Ragdoll(Junjóu Romantica)

Chapter 3

Normal POV

Misaki had finally stopped crying. He wiped his eyes and sniffled a bit. "Crying isn't going to help anything. Haruhiko was a little rough, but he wasn't wrong. I have been burdensome. Cry-ing is just going to make it worse." To cheer himself up, he decided to read the latest volume of the Kan that he had managed to get for himself.

He stood up to quickly and whimpered a bit. He held his back, and felt the soreness he knew he had gotten more bruises from being thrown down to hard. Not to mention how sore his ass felt from being pounded into. He took a few deep breaths and rushed to get the latest volume off the bookshelf. It was only off the other end of the room, but it hurt. Luckily, he was able to hide the pain while Haruhiko was in the room. He lay back down on the bed and was already starting feel better. The pain didn't last that long, especially since in the last few weeks Misaki had gotten used to that the pain. Still, it did hurt.

He started reading and ran his slender finger across each picture examining it closely. He sighed in relief as he continued reading. He had stopped sniffling, but he could feel that his eyes were still puffy, but the pain had subsided for the most part and he was feeling a lot happier.

Downstairs, Tanaka had prepared plates of the food Misaki had spent the last few hours slaving over and he served the Usami men their dinners. Haruhiko smiled as he took a bite and looked at his father. "Do you enjoy the meal? Misaki prepared it all by himself."

Fuyuhiko took a bite and nodded in approval. "Yes, it is quite tasty. Then again, he's always been good in the kitchen. I really enjoyed the confectioneries and rice cakes he made me for New Years. My secretary enjoyed them as well." He turned to Akihiko and smiled. "So do you enjoy Takahashi-kun cooking?" He smiled and continued eat his food.

Fuyuhiko had a particular fondness of the boy after he had helped him ride the train. While on the train he noticed the wood carving the boy had of a bear with three fish. Then Misaki just let him have the bear. He liked the boy's kind and gentle nature. He also liked how much kinder Haruhiko had become since they had started spending time together. True, he didn't know the full nature of their relationship. And to most people, Haruhiko seemed exactly the same as he was a rather stoic individual, but he knew his son as well as he could.

Akihiko looked at the food and smiled, thinking about how much preparation had gone into the meal. He remembered watching Misaki's hands move with such precision and focus as he prepared the meal. And his efforts paid off as it tasted delicious, almost as his skin would taste. His eyes widened in surprise. Where did that come from?! The boy was barely 18 or 19 right? Then there was also the crucial fact that he was Takahiro's. He had gotten lost in thought again. He remembered that his father had asked him a question. "Oh yes Father. It's tasty."

Haruhiko scoffed as he took a sip of his scotch. "You'd think the novelist would have thought of more to say than that."

Akihiko glared at him. "And you'd think after all these years of petty jabs you'd have something cleverer to say by now."

Haruhiko continued eating and looked at him again. "It's funny though, you would have thought that you would've been able to help Misaki. After you claim to be Takahiro's best friend, yet you didn't even know about he and his new wife moved to Osaka."

Akihiko gritted his teeth and glared at his brother. He felt his fist tighten under the table. In this moment, there was no one he hated more. He hated him even more considering that he was right after all. Akihiko had neglected his duties as a best friend, and why? It was all just because he was bitter about his feelings being totally unnoticed and unrequited. Even so, Akihiko loved Takahiro. To love someone means to have their best interests at heart. It means to ensure their happiness, but because Akihiko felt hurt he ignored that.