Junai Romantica Book 1

Pre-prologue (??)

“See? You can make cute sounds like this.”

“Ahh……?!”

Misaki widened his eyes in shock, seeing Akihiko licking the red swell on his chest, he uncontrollably breathed in sharply, and when Akihiko sucked on the now lubricated part of his, his hips thrust violently in reaction.

Prologue

“This part’s done!”

I’ll vacuum the floor next……

Takahashi Misaki(18), freshman economic major at M university.

Since spring, I have been living at Usagi-san’s house because my brother transferred to another city due to his job.

This house is so huge; it’s so much work to clean –

As for rent, I am paying it by doing housework.

That person called “Usagi-san” is the owner of this house, and also the recipient of the Naomori Award.

He was actually best friends with my brother in high school, it is a small world.

The funniest thing is –

*

Usagi-san’s background: 2nd son of the president of the Usami Group Born in America, returned to Japan when he was 10 Graduated Teito University Law School at the head of his class Lives in a maisonette on the top floor of an upscale condo in one of the best areas

of Tokyo Owns a red sports car Has a long-haired pointer at the main house

Has bad relations with both parents and his brother; seems cool on the surface, but really longs for warmth.

You must be joking!

That is what people would normally think, but the point that makes him the way he is, is the fact that all that were listed above, are facts.

It would be best if his life continues to exaggerate itself, all the way till the world’s end…

*

Other than this, this super popular novelist has yet another big secret.

Usagi-san’s secretly(?) writing BL novels.

“Uwa! Why’s there another publication of BL novels? This is the how many-eth time this year? <Newest creation – Please, give me … …!> What’s with this draft!”

“Is this a new series? I’ve never heard of the title before……”

“Ugh! Why do I know so much about his publication situation!!! [Seems like I notice it subconsciously]”

*

……Whatever. If that’s his hobby, I’m not in a position to comment either.

(Vacuum cleaner’s sound)(Footsteps)-Flips open-

- In picture: Please read Akihiko, Misaki’s first XXX part -

“That idiot Usagi, he included ‘me’ in the novel again… …”

Wahh, I’m most afraid of reading this sort of novels!

But since it’s about me, I still want to know……damn it! Damn it! Why do I want to……

—— and that was how it happened… …

The First Meeting

Chapter 1

“This place can’t be... that condo……”

His mouth agape, Suzuki Misaki looked up at the upscale condominium that loomed over him.

Without posh, intricate decorations, going with the style typical of the city, with simple, clean lines, the place stood out instead, showing great taste and ambience, inducing awe.

In front of this condominium, or rather, big hotel, the only thing Misaki could do was to blink furiously while attempting to pick his lower jaw off of the ground.

“Misaki, what’s wrong with you?” seeing Misaki staring wide-eyed and rooted to the ground, his brother Hirotaka worriedly asked.

“Be… Because, this is the first time I’ve seen such a grand place……”

“Ahaha! True. When I was first invited to his house, I couldn’t even figure out where to go in from! Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

“Will I …?”

No… Misaki believed that he will never be able to get used to this atmosphere of the upscale society.

As to why this commoner who gets freaked just looking at a building was brought here —this will have to start from the releasing of the mock exam results a few days ago.

The chances of getting into his first choice university: “D”Already in term 2 of the sophomore year, approaching were the university exams, and thus, Misaki’s hope of getting into his first choice university was equivalent to zero.

Yet, this result already was the effort of studying every day for the entire of the summer holidays; it was hard to be optimistic about improving after that.

Even if the effects of tuition weren’t the best, if I sink into studying by myself, it would just result in a wider gap from the other students who are receiving professional help.

After worrying himself half to death, Misaki finally approached Hirotaka for help. After some unknown discussion and planning, in the end, the person Hirotaka asked to be the tutor turned out to be Hirotaka’s best friend in high school, Toudou Akihiko.

Then, this place is where he lives.

“Oh, there are even more surprising things!”

“Huh?”

“Don’t just stand there, let’s go! It’s not nice to let someone wait too long.”

“Eh? Oh, okay, un!”

Hirotaka gave Misaki a push on the back, hurrying him to move. Maybe because he was told the password beforehand; Hirotaka successfully opened the lock, and quickly stepped into the building.

Misaki trailed nervously behind his brother, feeling uneasy about the situation, with his status being entirely out of the league when compared to this.

“There’s no need to be so nervous! Didn’t you always use to see Akihiko when you’re younger? Don’t you remember? You were really close with him, calling him Akihiko and all!” Hirotaka then laughed at the steadily stiffening strides Misaki was taking.

“Of course I remember! It’s just that… we haven’t met for so many years……”

“Oh, that’s right, he’s never been to our house ever since I started working, it’s been a long time, huh?”

“Yeah… I was still in middle school the last time I saw him!”

Still, Misaki had not forgotten Akihiko in that period of time, and in reality, even though he had never mentioned it, Misaki was always secretly wishing and waiting for Akihiko to come visit again.

It was just too bad that both Hirotaka’s and Akihiko’s workloads got heavier as they grew older, and Misaki’s wish never had the chance to realize. Time passed quickly, and it was now a whole five years later.

Currently, Akihiko’s earning a living by writing.

The range of genres he wrote included detective mysteries, pure literary works, etc., but his forte still remained in love novels.

When he was merely a high schooler, he won a major literary award with a heartrending love tragedy. After that, his talent, being beyond his age, was highly debated. On one hand, it was put into focus by many who anticipated his publications, yet on the other hand, critiques were worried that he was too ambitious in his youth, thus making it easier for him to hit a dead end in his career. Akihiko won this debate by the literary world, and ended up being the most popular novelist of today.

Of course, Misaki was also one of those loyal to Akihiko’s novels, his shelves stacked full with the entire series of Akihiko’s publications. Even the columns that Akihiko wrote for magazines and newspapers were seized into Misaki’s possession.

However, the more Misaki read of Akihiko’s creations or interviews about Akihiko, the more rooted Akihiko’s place was in his heart, Akihiko’s existence unreachable to him in his idolatry.

–– Nearly strangers by now, and yet he wants to be my tutor.

To meet up with Akihiko again after such a long time, there was definitely excitement, but the feelings circling in Misaki’s mind these few days were more queasy than not.

Hirotaka and Akihiko knew each other since high school; their relationship is none other than close. Misaki’s place in it all was nothing other than “Akihiko’s friend’s brother” though; would Akihiko even still have an impression of this nobody?

“……Akihiko-san… shouldn’t remember what I look like anymore, right?”

“Hahaha! How’s that possible? When we were 10-year olds, a year seems to stretch forever, but to a 20+-year old, 5 years are just a blink of the eye! And even after so many years of not seeing each other, judging by how much he cared for you then, how could he be able to forget your face?”

“Is it really like this... …?”

“Just believe what I say!”

“But, why will Akihiko-san agree to be my tutor?” It is hard to imagine why a busy man like him would have the time to care about the results of another person.

Misaki had been wondering about this issue ever since he got word of this.

“I just happened to talk to him about it; he was the one that gave the suggestion of him becoming your tutor. He said that he tutored before when he was studying, and felt that he could do it properly.”

“Isn’t Akihiko-san busy? Tutoring me, wouldn’t that be a bit……”

Misaki did not want to be a bother to Akihiko. If this was troublesome for Akihiko, he would rather refuse this offer.

That was only a portion of his thoughts though––– the reason why Misaki still unabashedly followed Hirotaka to Akihiko’s house, was because he could not put down the idea of seeing Akihiko again.

“Oh, don’t make a fuss out of it, it’s not like we’re asking him to baby-sit you! Besides, doesn’t a novelist just stay at home all day anyways? He can’t possibly be writing 24 hours a day, he’ll definitely take breaks in between right? ‘I want to talk to someone from a different age group from mine, I’ll get different ideas from him!’ was what he said too.”

“Really…? An… anyways, I'm just really worried that it’ll cause trouble for Akihiko-san.”

“Didn’t I tell you that you won’t already? He’s actually really shy and capricious even though he doesn’t look like it, so if he really isn’t willing, he wouldn’t have agreed to this in the first place.”

“Eh? Akihiko-san is shy and capricious?”

That was really hard to believe. Akihiko was always all smiles when he came to visit at Misaki’s house, and would always patiently listen and reply to every childish request that Misaki would make.

Misaki found it hard to imagine that such a gentle, considerate big brother was actually introverted and whimsical. Or was it that Akihiko was more tolerable of Misaki because he was a child then?

“He won’t tolerate anyone he hates. He won’t even smile when he’s in front of other people. I don’t even know why he gets into such good moods when he’s at our house ––– we’re here, it’s this unit.”

Conversing as they took the elevator, it did not seem to take long before they reached the top floor. Though Misaki cared a lot about the part Akihiko’s description Hirotaka had not been able to finish, he did not have the time to pursue the topic anymore.

To prepare himself mentally, Misaki had to pay fullest attention to himself, breathing in deeply again and again.

“… Un? That’s weird… why’s there only one door?”

Walking out of the elevator, the first thing Misaki saw was a long corridor leading to a door at the end. However, there wasn’t another door to both sides of the corridor.

“That’s right; this entire floor is Akihiko’s home!”

“EH?!”

“Didn’t I tell you just now? That there’re still more surprises as we go?”

That means this entire floor belongs to Akihiko.

Sure enough, a super popular novelist’s life is really out of the ordinary. Even though he knew of the fact that Akihiko was born into a family of a capitalist, Misaki still could not help becoming speechless at the sight of this.

–––The only thing he could be sure of now, is that Akihiko-san was definitely behind that door……

The truth of that finally hitting him, he could not calm down at all, his heart pounded hard in his chest. Misaki started panicking, and was just on the verge of taking another deep breath when the door in front of him slammed open suddenly.

“Misaki!”

“… … ?!”

Not yet prepared to face Akihiko, his heart was nearly stopped by the cruel act.

While Misaki remained in his comatose state, Hirotaka, beside him, sighed and started to nag at Akihiko after he revived from the shock.

“Can you not scare people like this? Akihiko! We were just going to press the doorbell!”

“Sorry, sorry. I saw the two of you on the screen, couldn’t control myself and just rushed to open the door.”

Smiling, Akihiko slowly turned his attention to the stiff Misaki.

“Welcome Misaki.”

“Ah… he… hello!”

At the unexpected mention of his name, Misaki uncontrollably replied in a voice a full octave higher than normal.

Realizing that his nervousness was reaching a state of hilarity, Misaki hurriedly tried to calm down and adjust himself while Akihiko chuckled softly at the sight.

“What’s wrong with you? You’re treating me as if I’m a stranger.”

“Be… because…”

Seeing Akihiko for the first time in a long while, Misaki realize that Akihiko did not seem to deviate from Misaki’s impression of him 5 years ago. No, Akihiko even seemed to be more handsome than he used to be. Or was it just Misaki’s imagination?

Misaki, however, having grown much taller than before, and thus, he was able to observe Akihiko’s face from an even closer distance, clearly noticing the carefree expression in his eyes and the gentle smile on his lips.

“He’s only nervous because he hasn’t seen you for so long!”

“Nii-chan……!”

Why must he say this sort of embarrassing things in front of Akihiko-san!

Misaki shot a glare in the teasing Hirotaka’s direction, and then following Akihiko’s light laughter, felt a certain warmth envelope him.

“We really haven’t met in a long time huh. You’ve grown so much!”

“I’m already 18…”

Misaki’s heartbeats sped up once again as he felt Akihiko’s hand fiddling with his hair, and with nostalgia flanking the attack, Misaki’s heart slowly clenched up in bliss.

“You’re really 18? The first time I met you, you seemed to look this age too.”

“Yeah, Misaki was still in middle school then! He was closer to you than he was to me, always asking me ‘when is Akihiko-san coming to play’.”

“… … Nii-chan, you’re so irritating! Why do you always bring up stuffs that are millions of years old?”

His childhood history being exposed, and with the victim still having a vivid impression of it, his face flushed in embarrassment.

Akihiko came over countless times, wearing a neat, prim suit every time. The memory, of his violently thumping heart when he saw Akihiko’s seemingly cold expression shatter in an instance by a radiant smile, was till now, still fresh in Misaki’s mind.

“Misaki, you want to go to the amusement park on your birthday right?”

“This is for you! Didn’t you say you wanted a new ball?”

Akihiko remembered everything Misaki carelessly mentioned, and fulfilled every wish of his.

In the eyes of little Misaki, he was just like a magician.

When was it that this admiration developed into a form of infatuation?

Even though he had some considerations at the beginning about the fact that they were both male, it was not enough to stop this feeling, and Misaki yielded to it in the end. Once he accepted the fact that he likes Akihiko, Misaki’s infatuation started to become more pronounced than ever.

Misaki once thought that this feeling would only be temporary, that it would fade in the time when they did not see each other.

However, seeing Akihiko again, Misaki ascertained his feelings for Akihiko. Deep inside, there was definitely the existence of the feeling of “like” of Akihiko.

“Misaki said that before? This is the first time that I’ve heard of it.”

“How can I be able to say something so shameful? I worked so hard, brought him up to be so dependent on his brother, and yet you snatched him away so easily, I can’t stand it!”

“Stop throwing tantrums Hirotaka.”

Even though they would not stop arguing, amusement sounded clearly in their tones of voices. Rather than ‘arguing’, it was more like they were using Misaki as a lead to reminisce their past.

Being made into a topic of conversation for others, Misaki was nervous to boot.

“Misaki, what exactly do you like about Akihiko?”

“I’m very curious about that too.”

“Nii-chan, you’re so irritating! Enough already, stop talking about me…”

Misaki directed a pleading look towards Hirotaka, wishing they would digress from this topic, only to hear Akihiko’s soft chuckle once again.

“Let’s not stand chatting at the doorway, come in!”

–––Misaki had been laughed at.

In the eyes of Akihiko, Misaki was probably still a child that had not yet grown up. How could he let Akihiko know, that even if it was only slightly, that he had already matured since then?

“Un, ojamashimasu. Did you hear that Misaki? Don’t just stand there!”(sorry to be a bother)*

“O… ojamashimasu… uwa! Wait! Nii-chan!”

The edginess born from seeing the extensive entry hall made Misaki take a lot more time than necessary removing his shoes, leaving him behind as Hirotaka walked in. Hurriedly chasing after the other two who had already entered the house, he was faced with yet another huge surprise; the house décor.

The condominium’s exterior was already astonishing, but it was nothing compared to the astounding décor of the inside of the house.

“So nervous…”

Why is it so huge…?

The living room the Suzuki siblings were led into was bigger than Misaki’s entire apartment added together, and under Akihiko’s invitation for them to sit down, all of them took a seat on the sofa set in the center of the room.

“Is black tea okay? I’ve already gotten it ready, please wait for a while.”

“Akihiko, you don’t need to take such meticulous care of us!”

“I usually drink coffee, so I’ll only prepare black tea when I have guests! I have cakes that someone gave to me too. Misaki, you like sweet stuff don’t you?”

“Ye… yeah! I like them!”

Misaki could not stop himself from feeling inexplicably happy; Akihiko still remembered what he liked.

Always ambushed on his way home from school when he was a student, Akihiko could never refuse the presents of cakes and chocolates, and all of those went to the benefit of Misaki.

Misaki definitely had a sweet tooth, furthermore, he was just at the age when his appetite was simply insatiable. Nevertheless, there was another reason to why he ate whatever Akihiko gave him, and that was because deep inside, he did not want Akihiko to eat anything those girls made for him, thus stubbornly insisting to settle this problem of Akihiko’s.

Though he never really thought about it, this was probably the cause of a sense of possessiveness by Misaki. He had already fallen uncontrollably in love with Akihiko, to such an extent that he wished to possess Akihiko as his own.

“Ah, this is for you. Guessing by your living habits, I bet you eat just one meal a day right?”

Hirotaka passed the bag that he brought to Akihiko. The Tupperware inside contained various dishes, all made by Hirotaka.

“I’m sorry to make you go through so much trouble. But I don’t eat just one meal a day! I do take at least two meals a day.”

Akihiko happily received the bag, not forgetting to shrug his shoulders in rebuff to Hirotaka’s accusation.

“Really? You frequently forget to eat when you’re writing. I can’t stand you… you still don’t know how to take care of yourself! It’s so rare to find someone with such culinary skill as yours, why won’t you cook something some time?”

“Where’s the fun in cooking for myself? That’s why it’s pushed to the back of my priority list!”

Akihiko walked to the kitchen that could be seen from the living room–– though it was still quite a distance away, heating up the water in the pot.

“That’s the root of the problem! With Misaki here, he can oversee what you do.”

“Oversee?”

Misaki did not understand what was going on, so Hirotaka had to explain to him:

“Whenever this bloke starts writing, he’ll throw everything else to the back of his mind. Let alone eating properly, he doesn’t even sleep!”

“That’s bad for health!”

Upon Hirotaka’s words, Misaki raised his voice in surprise.

Misaki had definitely heard of workaholics with similar situations, but he did not expect that the many publications that Akihiko had were all created in these situations! It did not seem to matter to the person in question, but it was absolutely unthinkable to the people around him, clearly confused as to why one would wreck one’s body in such a way.

“You think so too? That’s why you should help take care of his living situation when you come over.”

“……Hirotaka, your problem’s back, you’re treating me like a child again……”

Replying as he carried a tray with a kettle on top back to the living room, his face showed an expression of helplessness.

“You don’t listen no matter how many times I say it; is there really a difference between you and a child? Isn’t it convenient like this? Nobody takes care of you here anyways.”

–––Nobody take cares of him……?

Hirotaka’s words cast a shadow of doubt in Misaki’s mind.

Akihiko was still single? Akihiko’s turning 28 soon, and with qualities like he possessed, it was not at all difficult to picture him to have one or two girlfriends.

“…… Akihiko-san, do you stay here by yourself?”

“I do, why?”

“That is, I was just thinking, for one person to stay in such a huge house, there should be a lot of extra space.”

Making full use of the time when the black tea was boiling, Akihiko placed plates of cake in front of everyone.

Even though it was Misaki’s absolute favorite strawberry mousse, he could not help feeling a bit embarrassed when the piece in front of him seemed to be larger than everyone else’s.

Does this prove that in Akihiko’s eyes, he was still the little boy that he was years ago?

“I really don’t mind small houses, but if there were other residents on the same floor, there would be a lot of things to take note of wouldn’t there? That’s why I chose a maisonette like this.”

“But, isn’t it lonely to stay in a house by yourself?”

If it was Misaki, he definitely would not even survive a month.

Misaki’s parents were transferred to Osaka to work, thus not living together with the siblings. However, they do come back to Tokyo when it was the holidays, and Hirotaka took the place of their parents most of the time, accompanying Misaki all the while. Even so, Misaki could not help feeling just a bit lonely from time to time.

There was definitely more freedom living on your own, but sitting alone in a house so huge, would one not wish for the accompaniment of others?

“It certainly is. But Misaki’s coming to accompany me now, I don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“Eh?”

With Akihiko’s smiling face directed at him, Misaki blushed furiously.

Blushing at this point of time would unquestionably lead to suspicion. Misaki frantically rushed to conceal this, but was left mute, unable to fathom anything to say.

On the other hand, Akihiko just idly started pouring the black tea into everyone’s cup.

“Akihiko, you should find a partner soon! You make me seem like your girlfriend, bringing homemade cooking for you like this.”

“What nonsense you are spouting……”

“Isn’t it true? Who else cares about you as much as I do?”

At this, Misaki’s heart burned with a searing pain.

He had a memory of this feeling. It felt just like the times when he looked on as Akihiko carried a mountain of chocolates received on Valentine’s Day.

Of course, he was aware that Hirotaka and Akihiko are best friends, but acting as close as they were in front of him, the feeling was still hard to bear.

“Yes, yes, it’s my fault. My work’s too demanding, I don’t really have time to care about my love life.”

“Oh please, just by standing there you attract more people than honey does bees!”

“Nothing of the sort, my love life isn’t active at all now.”

He’s just as popular with women as ever……

Misaki was depressed, feeling that he was slow to catch on things. Akihiko had always had outstanding features, and even now, his charisma had only grown. Together with the fact that he was a popular novelist from a well-to-do family, which female would forgo a man with such qualities?

Just as Misaki started deflating like a punctured ball, a sudden call of his name startled him:

“—Misaki, is the original taste of the black tea okay?”

“Ah, it’s fine!”

“If you’re scared of scalding yourself, I can go and get some milk for you……” Before he finished his sentence, the ringing of the phone interrupted him, echoing around the large house.

“The phone’s ringing, aren’t you going to pick it up?”

“No worries, it’ll switch to the voice recorder soon.”

Just as Akihiko said, the tone of the recorder sounded, and after an explanation by a mechanical voice, a man’s uncertain voice relayed his message:

“……I’m Kawada from Maruyama Publishing. I wish to be able to discuss with you about your next creation, I wonder if sensei is currently resting?”

“It’s a call to discuss work right? You don’t need to take heed of us, you’d better pick up the phone……”

Hirotaka’s concern was wasted as Kawada put down the phone after a “I’ll contact you another time”.

“It’s okay. With such important guests, who’ll care to pick up the phone?”

“You’re exaggerating it; we can see each other any time!”

“It’s not the least bit exaggerated to me, I’m……”

Even though Hirotaka showed a disapproving smile, Akihiko was being absolutely serious.

Observing the exchange between them, it was easy to tell how much they respected each other. Even if they were the best of friends, they did not treat each other carelessly, and yet not too distant either–– this perfect distance in their friendship was one which Misaki had been envious of since long ago.

“I think it’s time for me to go.”

“What?” On hearing that sudden revelation, Misaki questioned loudly.

“It really is a pity, but I have to meet a client later.”

“No rest on a Saturday? Your company is a slave driver.”

“Can’t blame the company, I suggested this myself. I’ll be going then, Misaki, behave yourself!”

“You don’t need to remind me, I’m not a child anymore! … … wait, you’re really going back now?!”

If Hirotaka leaves, then it would just be Misaki and Akihiko alone in the house.

Misaki obviously knew that once the tutoring starts, it would always be just the two of them alone; but he wished that Hirotaka would be able to accompany him since this was the first time after all…

“It’s not that I’m going home you know, I’m going to work!”

“That I know, but……”

Since it was for work, there was no good reason Misaki could give to make him stay.

Misaki gave his brother a perplexed look, and seeing this, Hirotaka mouthed to him “don’t worry” to comfort him.

“Misaki, I’ll be going home late today, you eat by yourself first okay? Sorry.”

“… … Un, I got it.”

With his brother going home late, it meant that Misaki will be home alone again. Not yet used to being alone, Misaki felt lonely just thinking of eating by himself at home. Just then Akihiko interrupted their conversation:

“If it’s like that, do you want to eat with me Misaki?”

“Oh? That’s not a bad idea. Then I’ll leave Misaki in your hands Akihiko.”

“No problem.”

“Eh? Eh? What are you guys talking about?”

Misaki, being totally lost, did not know what to do, and indeed, before he could do anything, the problem was already settled between Akihiko and Hirotaka.

Eating dinner with Akihiko? What a joke! We just met again after such a long time, I haven’t even calmed down from the meeting!

“Nii… Nii-chan!”

“I’ll make a move now.”

“Oh, do you need me to accompany you down?”

Neglecting the fretting Misaki, Akihiko followed Hirotaka towards the entry hall.

“You don’t need to accompany me, go back and talk to Misaki, you should have a lot to talk about the past right? Akihiko, I’ll trust Misaki to you from now on.”

Their conversing voices steadily get softer.

What to do? What should I say to him?

As Misaki started getting more and more bothered, he started to return to the uptight state he was in.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting Misaki.”

“N… no! It’s okay!” Misaki replied nervously as Akihiko walked back into the living room.

“You don’t need to behave in such an uptight manner, didn’t we use to talk to each other naturally?”

“It… it’s just as you said… it’s… w… weird?”

The more Misaki tried to correct himself, the stiffer his tone got. Akihiko chuckled again at Misaki’s behavior.

“Drink some black tea; that should be able to soothe your nerves.” Akihiko reached for the sugar as he spoke.

“How many cubes do you want?”

“Th… th… tha… that… I’ll do it by myself –– –– ah!”

Not comfortable with Akihiko doing things for him, Misaki hurried to snatch the sugar jar –– ––but by doing this, he accidentally brushed Akihiko’s hand.

Just a light touch was enough for Misaki’s heart to leap into his mouth.

“S… Sorry… it’s hot?!”

Misaki, who overreacted, hit the tea cup as his hand retracted. The tea cup had wobbled on its saucer, spilling the hot contents onto Misaki’s forefinger and thumb.

“Misaki?!”

“Sorry, un, I was just a little jittery…”

Misaki reflected deeply on his nervousness, and was just relieved that he did not splash the tea onto Akihiko.

However, an unexpectedly stern expression appeared on Akihiko’s face. He jumped up, and leaned his upper body close to Misaki.

“The tea split onto your hand didn’t it? Let me see.”

“N…no, it’s okay! It wasn’t that hot anyways…”

Akihiko snatched at the hand Misaki was attempting to hide and checked it carefully.

“Fortunately it doesn’t look like it got scalded.”

“I told you it really was okay!”

Misaki could not care less about whether he had been scalded or not, he just hoped Akihiko would let go as soon as possible; compared to being hurt, this sort of embarrassment made him feel way more horrible.

“You’re a person who’s going to sit for his university entrance exam soon you know, it’d be terrible if you injure your fingers now. Luckily you’re alright.” While speaking, Akihiko moved to place his lips on Misaki’s finger.

“A-A-A-A-Akihiko-san?”

The soft touch made Misaki’s heart thump wildly, and as blood started rushing to the extremities of his skin, his entire body flushed to the same color as his scalded finger, he even started having trouble breathing properly.

“Ah… don’t interpret this situation in the wrong way, this is just a magic touch to pray that your finger won’t get hurt.”

“M… magic…?”

Misaki felt his curiosity welling up, wanting to clear all his doubts about the mysterious statement Akihiko had just said, but he could only open and close his mouth like a fish out of water, unable to utter a single word.

If Akihiko says it was magic, then it must be true! However, even though Misaki talked himself into believing this, he could not stop his vision from traveling to the lips that had just planted a gentle kiss on his fingers.

Would getting so extremely nervous over such a trivial matter betray his feelings towards Akihiko? If Akihiko found out that he had always liked him, it would definitely spoil the brotherly relationship they had held now.

It was only because he was Akihiko’s best friend’s brother that he was treated so nicely. In order not to lose the good position he was at now, it was better not to hope for much more.

“You don’t need to worry that much, I’m really okay.”

“How can you say that? You are the doting brother that Hirotaka handed over for me to take care of, of course I can’t let you get injured in any way.”

“…”

––––Odd…?

A dull sting erupted inside Misaki.

Even if the pain came and went in a flash, that short amount of time it flickered by, my heart still did contract agonizingly at that point in time.

“Just a moment, I’ll make you another cup of tea.”

“Wah!”

Standing up, Akihiko rubbed Misaki’s head affectionately.

“I’ll make iced tea this time, this way you won’t get scalded again.”

Seeing Akihiko’s tender smile, Misaki felt heat rush up to his cheeks again.

The kiss printed on his fingers might not mean anything to Akihiko, but Misaki’s reaction had been so extreme, enough to make him baffled over his own reaction.

The most important thing to do now—taking advantage of the time Akihiko took to make a new cup of tea—was to calm himself down to the composure he was supposed to be holding.

Just as Misaki concentrated on doing that, Akihiko was already bringing back a tray with a slender glass containing iced tea back into the living room. Placing a cup holder in front of Misaki, he asked again:

“Does your finger hurt?”

“I’m… I’m fine!”

Akihiko’s caring question about him made Misaki remember the previous touch, and even his ears burned a scorching red.

As Misaki tried furiously to soothe his nerves again, Akihiko sat down in front of his and spoke:

“We should go back to our initial topic now, then?”

“Y… yes! Sorry to cause trouble for you!”

The initial purpose, was to come here for Akihiko to tutor him, and even if his love interest was sitting in front of him, to forget his purpose was unjustifiable.

Misaki tensed, and his hands on his knees curled into fists.

“Where should we start? … Erm, if I want to tutor you, I should ask you which subjects you’re weaker at. Or which subjects do you feel you need a huge emphasis on when being taught?

“The subjects… I’m weaker at…” because Misaki had too many subjects like this, he could not give a reply as quickly as he wanted to.

Even though he liked Modern Japanese, his Classical Japanese and writing was absolutely horrible, and English Grammar to him was as good as gibberish. What was worse was that his Math was just as lousy, so it was not as simple as Misaki being bad at humanities. He could not remember any dates in either World History or even Japanese History, and with Political Studies, it seemed to bother him more than the rest.

If he were to teach a student just like himself, Misaki believed he would give up at a very early stage.

By his standards now, can he really enter the Literature Department in M University…?

Hopefully, the day would come when he could enter Akihiko’s field and have a career similar to Akihiko’s. Even if he did not have the talent to be a novelist, he hoped that he could at least be an editor, that way he could always be around Akihiko. His desire to enter the Literature department was due to this motive as well, and if he could not even get into the university, all his plans would be ground to dust.

“What subjects are you good at?”

“Modern Japanese… and… Physical Ed. and Home Economics.”

“The two you mentioned behind doesn’t seem to affect entering university, do they?”

He made a fool of himself again.

However, Akihiko still comforted him by embedding the meaning ‘having something you’re good at is always a thing’ into his statement.

“Ye…yeah, this is the results to my mock exam… please… please don’t laugh when you see it!

Misaki decided that rather than explaining, it would be better if he actually showed proof of his abilities, and thus dug his report card out of his bag to show Akihiko.

Misaki tried hard to contain his embarrassment while handing the report card to Akihiko, who, though he did not move an inch, had a worried smile spreading across his face.

He was not to blame though, Hirotaka, had a rare exhibit of exactly the same expression when he saw the report card.

“This… is really, exciting…”

“Un… it’d be hard for me to enter a university with results like this wouldn’t it….”

Wanting to get into a university with these results was just a dream right from the start.

Even tuition classes did not work to improve his results, why not he just give up and save Akihiko the trouble?

“Of course not.”

“Akihiko-san…?”

“Don’t worry, with me teaching you, I guarantee that you’ll definitely get into the school of your dreams.” Akihiko declared confidently. Misaki could tell that he meant every word he said, and was not saying it just to make Misaki feel better.

“You used to be able to conquer everything you put your mind to, didn’t you? You used to be afraid of swimming, but didn’t we conquer that fear together? When you were learning math last time, I just had to teach you the catch in the question, and you were able to catch the focus of the question every single time after that?”

“Ah…”

–––Well, these were true…

Having nearly drowned once in the sea when he was younger, Misaki had a mental block born from that experience and did not even dare put his face into the water. Because Akihiko had patiently persisted in teaching him, Misaki could finally swim.

Other times when Misaki could not finish his summer holiday homework which had piled up like a mountain, or when his messy book reports needed editing, Akihiko had always been there to help.

Of course, his brother had helped him innumerous times as well, but somehow, only Akihiko’s actions had left a deep impression in his mind.

“I believe that you just weren’t able to grasp the concept. I believe you will improve after a while of tutoring.”

“Really…?”

With his results like this, could he really be saved?

Seeing shadows of doubts crossing Misaki’s face, Akihiko suddenly straightened up, and stated in a strong voice:

“–– ––Believe me.”

“O… Okay…!”

Even though Misaki had trouble believing in himself, his faith in whatever Akihiko said had never wavered.

Furthermore, to repay the trust Akihiko had in him, someone who had been given up by his teachers in school and at the tuition centre, he had to work hard to hit Akihiko’s expectations of him.

“Let’s do this together!”

Akihiko rubbed Misaki’s head again.

A sensation of warmth slowly flooded Misaki’s eyes at Akihiko’s deep, warm voice.

It was only at a time like this, that Misaki was glad that he was a dense student who was bad at studying.