"This is my friend, Aki," Hiroto says, moving to the side to allow Aki to stand beside him. Aki awkwardly bows slightly, not knowing how else to greet the family that's been going for his family's throats since the beginning of history. If his dad was here, they probably would've held their fists up and settled with a fight. "He's going to be staying over tonight, if that's alright."
"If he's your friend then he's obviously welcome," Hiroto's mum says, her tone of voice was peaceful but the words she spoke sounded as though they were indirectly taking a poke at something else. Hiroto's dad looks up from where he was in the middle of sorting out some paperwork and eyes Aki. His eyes linger at the earrings Aki had before dropping back down to his work.
"Do what you please," is all he says. Aki doesn't know whether or not that's a yes or a no, but Hiroto doesn't seem very happy with the reply and so he chooses to remain silent. Hiroto guides Aki out the room by placing a hand on his back.
The floorboards creak beneath their feet as they make their way down the hallways. It's a bit warm and the sound of animals is louder than the tapping of the water against the pipe by the window. Aki notices how empty the house was from the inside. There were little to no pictures hanging on the walls or any sign that people had been living in the house for so many years. It almost looked as if they had just moved in.
"How comes there's no decoration?" Aki asks as Hiroto stops to help one of the maids by taking his pile of clothes from her.
"My dad doesn't like decorations put up around the house," Hiroto explains, continuing to lead Aki. "He always thought it was useless and that by presenting pictures or trophies tried to show how desperate we were to remember the past."
"That," Aki pauses and wonders if he should say what he wants to say before giving in. "That doesn't make any sense."
"I know," Hiroto chuckles. "None of us agree with him, but we can't go against him."
Aki wants to continue questioning Hiroto but the look on his face puts Aki off. It reminds him of the look Haruki has whenever he goes on call with their dad. He didn't know if Hiroto was comfortable answering his questions.
"This is the bathroom, you can take a bath here, I'll get you some clothes to wear." Hiroto opens the door and Aki walks in, his lips parting in awe as he enters the open-air bathing area. "It should be ready for you, so just go straight in."
Hiroto nods at him before leaving and shutting the door behind him. Aki lets out a whine as pain jolts through his body, but it's different than before. It was a lot less dominant. Perhaps since Aki now knew the reason for it happening.
After what had happened at the entrance when Aki realised they were supposed to be rivals and ended up revealing that to Hiroto (which didn't make much sense but he couldn't bring himself to hide such a secret), Aki was sure Hiroto wouldn't have let him in. But Hiroto didn't seem any different. He didn't seem very bothered. Hiroto was taking it better than he expected. If this was Haruki, he would've flipped out and made sure not to get close to him. Aki makes a mental note to never hide Hiroto's family name from Haruki.
Aki tip toes over to the bath and giggles happily. It has been a long time since Aki has seen an open-air bath. The last time he had dipped in one was probably when he visited his parents a year ago. Peeling off his shirt and jeans, Aki puts the tip of his foot into the water before sliding in as he feels the heat engulf him. With the hot water running across his stomach, it feels as though the pain was decreasing. He cups some water into his hands and wipes it over his face. It was always refreshing to take a bath. In Aki and Haruki's apartment, they only have a shower so the feeling of using a bath was only fulfilled whenever Aki went to a hotel. But at times like that he never really got to enjoy the pleasures of a bath.
"So you're Hiroto's friend." Aki jumps on his spot and turns his head to the direction he heard the voice. It came from a guy standing by the door, his hair bleached and long, almost reaching his shoulders, reminding Aki of how Levi styles his hair, and his eyes squinting at Aki. He looks an awful lot like Hiroto. "You look fairly plain."
Aki raises an eyebrow at that. Was this guy trying to pick a fight with him? "And who are you to say that when your hair looks like it hasn't been washed in days."
The stranger frowns at Aki before taking large steps towards him. He crouches beside Aki and reaches out to grab his face. "You smell like Hiroto, clearly the two of you are more than friends."
"And what's that to you?" Aki asks, slapping away his hand.
"What's that to me?" The guy laughs as he throws his head back. He turns to Aki with a smile on his face. "What you and Hiroto have is nothing compared to what I have with him. Even if you were to stay by his side for months on end, you would never be able to wrap him around your finger the way I do. Takes years to do that."
Aki takes a step away from the guy after hearing that creepy line. It sounded as though it was out of some drama. "I don't care?" Aki chuckles, using his hands to float even further away. "If Hiroto's wrapped around the finger of a lowlife such as yourself, I can't help but feel bad for him."
"Who are you calling a—"
Before the guy can finish his sentence, the door to the bathroom opens and Hiroto enters, a towel and pile of clothes in his hands. "I figured since you're smaller than me it would be fine to give you any of my clothes, so I just picked up the first thing I could find in my closet."
Hiroto speaks as he takes his shoes off but pauses the second he sees Aki and the stranger.
"What are you doing here, Kiyoshi?" Hiroto looks panicked and quickly places the clothes aside. Kiyoshi stands up and wraps his arms around Hiroto.
"I was just introducing myself to your friend, why do you look so worried?" Kiyoshi asks, tilting his head to the side and leaning closer to Hiroto, who places his hands on Kiyoshi's back, his cheeks reddening at their intimacy. Aki's eye twitch as he watches Kiyoshi cling onto Hiroto. Why was he so close?
"I wasn't worried," Hiroto answers, his eyes darting from Aki to Kiyoshi. "I was simply wondering why you were here."
"I had heard the bath had been prepared for you, so just came to join you," Kiyoshi turns to smile at Aki. "We normally always bathe together anyways, so is it fine if I join you today?"
Aki looks at Hiroto, who seems as though he was waiting for a reply from him. As much as he wants to question who Kiyoshi was and why it was so normal for him to take a bath with Hiroto, Aki simply shrugs his shoulders. "It's Hiroto's place, I'm just a guest. You guys can decide that amongst yourselves."
With that, Aki bends his knees and slides down the bath even more so that the water level was almost at his nose. He watches as Kiyoshi helps Hiroto undress and does the same to himself. They both slip into the water along with Aki and Kiyoshi doesn't leave Hiroto's side. He looks like a pet who doesn't want to leave his owner. Aki snickers at the thought.
"So," Kiyoshi speaks up, sadly Aki's snickering had caught his attention. "How did the two of you meet?"
Aki raises his head from the water and shows off a toothy smile. "Met at my friend's bar. I was looking for a good fuck and saw Hiroto. It was a pretty pleasant meeting if I'm being honest. Hiroto did not disappoint."
Kiyoshi seems taken aback by Aki's bluntness, but recovers from it quickly. "I see. I agree with you," he turns to Hiroto, who was uncomfortably looking between the two, and runs his hand through his hair. "Hiroto really does not disappoint."
Alright, Kiyoshi was getting on Aki's nerves. Just who the hell was he and why was he acting so frank around Hiroto. Additionally, why was Hiroto looking so calm with Kiyoshi wrapping himself around him? Was this common between the two? Aki wonders if Kiyoshi was like Kanae.
"Hiroto," Aki shuts one of his eyes and holds a hand to his head. "I'm feeling sort of sick, can you help me out?"
Upon hearing that Aki wasn't feeling well, Hiroto perks up and rushes over to him, slowly removing Kiyoshi's hands. "What's wrong, is it the same pain as before?"
"Yeah, I think we should finally talk about it now." It's an excuse to get away from Kiyoshi, but Hiroto doesn't seem to catch onto it and hurries to help Aki out of the bath and wipes him down. Aki doesn't understand why he feels satisfaction passing through him when he sees Kiyoshi watching their every move, but just to let himself feel even better, Aki slides his arm around Hiroto's neck and sighs.
"I can't feel my legs, sorry. But could you pick me up?"
Hiroto shows no hesitation as he swipes Aki's legs up and holds him bridal style. "Let me take you to my room. Kiyoshi, make sure to tell them once you're finished with your bath so they can clean up."
He doesn't wait for a reply and leaves the bathroom, both of their hair dripping with water but the thought of getting to the bedroom was most important. "So are we going to talk about the bond?" Hiroto asks quietly as he takes large steps down the hallway. Aki looks up from where he was hiding his face in Hiroto's chest and hums.
"Yeah, I think it's about time."