I Hope You Know

"You have no right to be that hot when I'm not single!" my second best friend screamed, whirling around and pointing accusingly at a fairly beautiful and more-than-fairly buxom woman that had walked by. She didn't even throw him a single over-the-shoulder glance.

"You know, Elliot, if you didn't do things like that, you might remain not-single longer," my first best friend said, arching an eyebrow at him as she spoke.

"Mia is right. Screaming things like that out in public certainly might be part of your problem with maintaining girlfriends longer than a week," I giggled to myself.

"The problem isn't me. The problem is all of these damn women, looking so hot but being so cold," Elliot grumped, turning back around and allowing our trio to move on.

"Is your new girl cold?" I asked.

"She's as cold to me as Yuki is hot for you," he grunted in reply.

"Damn. That's got to be, like, ice age cold, then. How are you two even together?" Mia asked with surprise. She didn't mean it in a mean way, but the glare Elliot shot her told us both that the question had upset him. Still glaring, he opened his mouth to respond, but I cut him off since I knew he wasn't about to say anything nice.

"Boy, all this talk of cold sure makes me want ice cream!" I exclaimed out of nowhere. Grabbing both of my best friends by the arm, I dragged them swiftly into an ice cream shop I spotted across the street. We swiftly ordered out ice creams and claimed a table by the plate glass windows lining the front of the shop.

“So, how are you managing without Yuki?” Mia asked, leaning unnecessarily far over the table to watch me up close when I replied.

Though I knew she was trying to gauge my reaction, I didn’t bother to hide my loneliness other than to turn my eyes down to my lap. “Well…let’s just put it that I wish I had accepted when his parents offered to take me along with them on their vacation. Especially since my mother is babying me even more than usual. I think she’s trying to spoil me so much that I’ll think I never need Yuki again or something,” I said, fidgeting with my shopping bag.

Mia sighed, falling back into her seat beside Elliot. “Don’t worry, Aru. This break will end soon enough, and then you two will be back together, as it was meant to be,” she said, offering up a reassuring smile.

“Yeah. Besides, it could be worse. Like, your mom could still be trying outright to break you up, instead of doing subtle things and praying to God that it works,” Elliot said, stuffing his face with crackers that he had gotten from I don’t know where.

“Gee, that’s really helpful, Elliot. Any other words of wisdom and brilliance you’d like to share, or are you ready to choke on your crackers?” Mia asked flatly, shooting him a glare. They immediately began bickering, and I immediately began tuning them out. Normally I might try to interject and stop the fighting. I suddenly didn’t feel like intervening, though. Actually, I suddenly didn’t feel like doing anything other than going home, crawling into bed, and sleeping until I could see Yuki again.

Sighing to myself, I lifted my eyes from my lap and looked out the window. That's when I saw him: tanned skin, nice form, silvery-white hair—I had no doubts that it was him. I jumped up from my seat, dashing out of the ice cream shop and across the street. He had his back to me, but I still threw myself at him anyways, catching him around the waist with a hug. “Yutan! I heard you weren’t going with the rest of your family on vacation, but I didn’t expect to see you here!” I exclaimed, absolutely beaming as he turned around in my arms and returned the embrace.

“My, you’re enthusiastic. You only love me because I look like Yuki, admit it,” he sighed dramatically.

“Not true! I don’t love you at all. I only like you because you look like Yuki. Like. Not love. Like,” I cooed lovingly in reply. He grinned now, ruffling my hair. By this time, Mia and Elliot had come across the street after me. They now stood a few feet away, hands on their hips and arms crossed across their chest, respectively, giving Yutan a look like he was a pedophile offering me candy. “Mia! Elliot! I don’t believe you’ve met Yutan, though I have told you about him!” I exclaimed, removing only one of my arms from around the older boy to turn and look at my friends.

“No, I don’t believe we have,” Mia stated in a most unfriendly manner, still giving Yutan the same look.

“I don’t believe we want to, either,” Elliot said, also still wearing the same look.

While Yutan seemed, for the most part, unfazed by the looks they were giving him, he did look a very small amount disturbed by their rudeness. “Gee, it’s nice to meet you two, too. I have heard about the both of you from both Yuki and Aru. I assume the looks you’re shooting at me are out of defense of Yuki and Aru’s love. You don’t need to worry, though. Unlike my darling little brother Yue, I don’t go around groping and kissing Yuki’s boyfriend,” he said in the smooth, cool way that confirmed he was related to Yuki.

I rolled my eyes, elbowing Yutan in the side with the arm I still had wrapped around him. “You’re horrible. You drag that up every singe time you speak to Yuki, Yue, or me. One of these days, it’s going to get you hurt,” I said, shooting a soft scowl up at him.

“I would die happily if I could see one of you short idiots trying to harm me. Seriously, if that’s a threat, I’ll take you on anytime, anywhere. I’m not afraid of a princess or a future queen,” Yutan said, smirking down at me. Ah, you could feel the love in the air. Honestly, the only reason we hadn’t already killed each other is because we both loved Yuki too much to do that to him.

“Not afraid of a queen, eh? Not even a queen of hearts? What if I start shouting “off with his head”?” I said with a sneer and a jeer.

“Then I’ll tell you to shove a cock in it,” he replied airily. Mia, Elliot, and I all gasped and gapped for a moment, unable to believe he had said that.

“Oh, that was low,” I growled immediately upon recovering form my initial shock, narrowing my eyes at him.

“That was great!” Elliot exclaimed, smiling now even though his mouth still hung agape.

“That was horrible,” Mia hissed, elbowing Elliot and shooting him a glare before sliding her glare Yutan’s way.

“Right. That’s what I meant. Horrible. Absolutely and utterly and completely and astoundingly and endlessly horrible,” Elliot said, not trying too hard to sound convincing as he corrected himself. He, of course, got a second elbowing from Mia.

I rolled my eyes, throwing my other arm back around Yutan now and returning to fully hugging him. “Wow. You must really be suffering from Yuki withdraws to still be hanging on me. Is it that painful being away from him?” the older boy asked with surprise, again returning the embrace to make me feel better.

“It’s more than that painful,” I groaned, pressing my face into his chest.

He laughed, ruffling my hair again. “Well, then, it’s a good thing I decided to come. Though I was planning on just making you suffer loneliness from being away from my brother, you seem to be suffering from that enough, so I guess I’ll have to make you feel better, instead,” he laughed softly.

“And just how do you intend to make Aru feel better!?” Mia snapped, still giving him the same look. It was kind of nice knowing my friends were so protective of my happiness—which was connected directly to my love for Yuki nowadays—but there was no need for them to be so defensive…or offensive.

“This works just fine,” I sighed, keeping myself mashed against the older boy. Mia giving off a little humph and Elliot giving off a little scoff told me that Yutan probably smirked at my words.

“What are you going to do if Yuki ever has to go anywhere far away again?” Yutan asked curiously, now petting my hair rather than messing it up.

“Go with him, of course! I was insane for not going this time! I don’t know what on Earth I was thinking, but I should be shot for it! Seriously!” I exclaimed, pulling back only long enough to shout this before burying my face in his chest again.

Again the older boy laughed and ruffled my hair. “You really are too cute, Aru. If you weren’t my brother’s fiancée, I’d have to steal you away,” he said, grinning widely. Almost immediately Mia and Elliot grabbed me by the arms, unwrapping them from Yutan and dragging me away from him as they shot him more dirty looks. He didn’t seem to mind, only laughing harder at their antics.



“I really am sorry about Mia and Elliot. I think they’ve gotten so tired of seeing me angst over problems with Yuki that they’ve decided to jump all over anyone who comes along and presents even the possibility of a problem to our relationship,” I said weakly to Yutan as we walked alone towards my home.

“It’s alright. It’s nice to see your friends so dedicated to your friendship that they would go to such lengths to protect your relationship. At least it’s proof positive that they care for you that much,” he replied lightly.

I sighed softly and looked away, smiling to myself as I rubbed the back of my neck thoughtfully. “Yeah, I know… It’s more than that, though. They weren’t like that from the beginning, but I know that they were behind me with this from day one. Just so much shit has happened and all, now they’re all jumpy at any signs of more grief,” I said, my smile slowly becoming tinted with sorrow.

All at once Yutan hooked an arm around my neck, dragging me against his side. “But, you’re past all that now! Yessiree, as soon as Yuki comes back from vacation, you two are off to school, and then you’ll graduate, and then you’ll most likely live together!” he exclaimed with enough enthusiasm that I momentarily thought he might be high.

Before I could reply, a rather familiar soccer ball came flying our way. I immediately ducked, but Yutan didn’t think quickly enough. The ball hit him square in the chest, making him drop his luggage and almost causing him to fall on his ass. He just barely managed to stay standing, though, with a little help from me.

“Oi! Who are you and why have you got your filthy mitts all over Aru?!” Noi shouted, dashing over and wrapping me in a protective embrace.

I cringed, weakly squirming in his grasp and trying to push him off of me. “Are you blind, you moron?! He looks almost exactly like Yuki, so obvious he’s Yuki’s brother! I swear to God, you’re such an idiot!” I exclaimed as I attempted to free myself.

“I can see that much! I still don’t know his name, though! And being your boyfriend’s brother is no reason to be all over you! Nobody should be on you like that except me, and maybe your boyfriend!” Noi exclaimed, keeping me unwillingly wrapped in his embrace.

“Only maybe his boyfriend? And who are you to be saying such things and touching him so much?” Yutan asked, arching an eyebrow as he tossed the soccer ball aside and retrieved his bags from the ground.

“I’m Noi Metissian! I’m Aru’s brother, and I’ll kick your pansy ass if you touch him too much, even if you are his boyfriend’s brother!” my brother declared. Having managed to at least turn around in his embrace, I now lovingly kneed him where the sun don’t shine. He let out a squeak and released me, dropping to his knees immediately. Not feeling the least bit bad about endangering possible future nieces and nephews, I then proceeded to chew him out.

“How many times do I have to tell you to use Yuki’s name?! And how many more times do I have to tell you to stop being so touchy-feely with me?! The next time you make me have to tell you either of those things, I’m telling mom on you instead!” I shouted.

Yutan hooked his arm around my neck again, pulling me back against him and resting his head on my shoulder, being most happy to rub salt in the wound, so to speak. “I’m Yutan Hiyo. I’m Yuki’s oldest brother, and I’d just love to see you try to kick my ass,” he said all too happily.

“Oh my God! Mom! Dad! Ella! Aru just kicked Noi in the nuts and now he’s being felt up by Yuki’s brother who is just as hot as Yuki is!” screamed Saya, who had seemingly appeared out of thin air just now, though she also seemed to have been watching the whole time.

“I’m not being felt up! And Noi deserved that kick! He was the one feeling me up!” I screamed, attempting to be louder than my currently spazzing out sister.

“Who is feeling my baby up?!?” my mother screamed from within the depths of the house. She stormed out swiftly, my dad and my oldest sister hot on her heels—the former of the two with a camera already aimed and ready to shoot.

“I was not! It was a hug! It’s brotherly love!” Noi shouted, now pushing to his feet.

“And this is also a hug and brotherly love,” Yutan said, smirking as he hugged me more tightly.

“You aren’t brothers! I’m his only brother!” Noi screamed furiously, glaring death at Yutan.

“Maybe for now, but when Yuki and Aru get married soon enough, Aru will have three brother-in-laws then, including myself,” Yutan replied smugly. Absolute horror came to the faces of my brother and my mother, while my sisters and my father looked overjoyed.

“MOM! I’m not going to be Aru’s only brother anymore!?!” Noi half screamed and half wailed, looking to the only person that he knew would be on his side.

“Oh…my…God….” my mother breathed, her body trembling as much as her voice did.

“I absolutely must do the photography for the wedding and reception!” my father declared.

“This is so awesome! That means you’ll be our brother-in-laws too, right!?” Saya exclaimed excitedly.

“We sure will be,” Yutan said quite happily. Saya let out a shriek of delight, sharing a hug with my father at this joyous news.

“Wow! This is wonderful news! Aru, why didn’t you tell us?! When did Yuki propose?” Ella asked.

I could feel Yutan stiffen as he realized what a grave mistake he had made. “…They didn’t know?” he all but whispered.

“….They didn’t know,” I confirmed. My eyes were locked on my mother. She looked like she might explode at any given moment. I had worked so hard to keep this information from my family, especially when the school newspaper had dedicated a full issue to Yuki and I and our relationship. Now I was probably going to be killed by my mother before Yuki even got back from vacation.

“…Dinner is almost ready,”  my mother said out of the blue, suddenly spinning on her heel and starting back towards the house.

“What?! Mom! What about Aru getting mar—” Noi started to shout after her, but he was cut off.

“I said, dinner is almost ready!” my mother shrieked, her voice louder and more shrill than I had ever heard it before. Everyone stared after her, not daring to say anything. Even after she was inside, we all just stared in silence for several minutes. When it became evident that she wasn’t going to come running back out in a rage with a steak knife and kill me, though, all attention was returned to the issue at hand and all eyes turned back to me.

“…So, what about you getting married?” my dad asked.

“There’s nothing to discuss. It’s bad enough that you know at all. You don’t need details. Just be assured that you will get invitations to the wedding,” I stated flatly. I instinctively hugged the arms wrapped around me now, pretending to myself that it was Yuki holding me and not his brother, so that I would feel better.

“So you’re not just eloping?” my father asked.

“Dad,” I said, my stare now as flat as my words.

“Is there a set date?” he asked.

“Dad,” I said, narrowing my eyes just slightly.

“Do you have an engagement ring?” he asked.

“Dad,” I said, giving him a look that both begged and demanded that he butt out.

“Alright, alright. I give. On everything but the photography. Whatever you do with the wedding in the end, you must allow me to do the photography,” my father said, finally putting his hands up in defeat.

“Hey, how can you do the photos if you’re the father of the bride? You can’t take photos of yourself giving Aru away or doing the required father-daughter dance at the reception,” Saya interjected.

“Saya!” I snapped, shooting her a glare.

She cringed, also putting her hands up in surrender. “I mean, dinner’s almost ready,” she said weakly, backing up towards the house. Ella swiftly snatched one of her held up hands up, dragging her swiftly off to the house. My father turned to go after them, but I broke free from Yutan’s embrace and stopped him before he could go.

“Dad?” I asked. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at me, smiling in a way that could only be called fatherly.

“Yes, my child?” he asked. God, he just had to add that child part to make me feel guilty for telling him to butt out.

“…Can Yutan stay with us? The hotels in town all suck, and his plans for vacation feel through,” I asked.

“But of course. He’s going to soon be part of this family as much as Yuki is,” my dad replied, still smiling in the fatherly way even as he glanced over at Yutan. I couldn’t keep the startle off my face. My father’s eyes moved back to me, catching the look of surprise I wore.

He turned to me now, putting a hand on my shoulder as he suddenly got a deadly serious look on his face. “Aru, I hope you know that I love you no matter what. And your mother, your sisters, and your brother do, too. We may not always approve of what you do or who you are with, but we will always approve of you and love you. There is nothing in this whole, wide world that will stop anyone in your family from loving you, ever. Even if our love for you doesn’t always show, it is always there. I just want you to understand and hope you know that,” he said.

I stared at him, my shock slowly turning into awe. And then, all at once, I was hugging my dad like I hadn’t in years, hiding tears I couldn’t fight off by hiding my face in his chest. I was too choked up to speak, and he seemed to know that as he hugged me back and spoke again. “So, where exactly did you plan on Yutan sleeping, since you know we don’t have a guest room and that our couch is about as comfortable as a rock?” my dad asked, sounding like his usual gay self again.



“One of you, move the fuck over. I am hot as Hell,” I grunted, shoving at Noi and Yutan.

“You heard Aru. Move over, you gigantian,” Noi grunted, shoving at Yutan.

“Why should I move over? You move over,” Yutan grunted, shoving at Noi.

“For God’s sake, Noi, go sleep in your own bed!” I exclaimed, shoving at Noi.

“And leave you with this pervert?! Not likely!” Noi exclaimed, shoving at Yutan and me.

“I am not a pervert! You are!” Yutan exclaimed, shoving at Noi more.

“I’m not a pervert, you pervert!” Noi shouted, shoving at Yutan more.

“Who of us spilled gravy all over Aru, knowing all of his clothes were in the wash?!” Yutan shouted, shoving at Noi still.

“You’re the one who made our mother go into some sort of mad cleaning frenzy upon learning her son is marrying your brother!” Noi shouted, shoving at Yutan still.

“And I made up for it by lending him some of my clothes to sleep in!” Yutan shouted, shoving at Noi harder.

“You only lent him a shirt! Because you’re a pervert!” Noi shouted, shoving at Yutan harder.

“I only brought one pair of pajamas! Maybe you should have lent him something!” Yutan screamed,  shoving at Noi harder still.

“I can’t because my mom is washing all the clothes except the ones I’m wearing, thanks to you!” Noi screamed, shoving at Yutan harder still.

“Goddamnit! Both of you stop bickering like babies! I’m trying to sleep here!” I screamed, attempting to shove them both out of my bed. Things swiftly went from a shoving match to outright fighting as Yutan and Noi attempted to kill each other and I attempted to kill them both.

“If I have to get out of bed, I will beat you boys black and blue! I don’t care if one of you isn’t actually related to me as of yet! You three we see your funerals before you see any weddings if I have to come and break you up!” roared my father. We three froze in the middle of our attempted homicides, giving each other fearful looks. Ah, yes, the one thing that could kill my father’s gleeful, gay ways: being woken up.

“…G’night, Noi,” I said, swiftly laying back down.

“G’night, Aru,” Noi said, also laying back down.

“G’night, Aru,” Yutan said, being the last to lay down.

“G’night, Yutan,” I said, just to be polite.

“G’night, jerkwad,” Noi said, just to be an ass.

“G’night, pervert,” Yutan said, just to get revenge.

There was pure silence now, save for the sounds of the heavy breathing and the shifting of we three, both of which were caused by the heat of three warm bodies sharing a bed when it was nearly summer time. I laid in that silence, staring up at the ceiling. It was too hot sleep now. I might have been able to return to sleep before despite the heat, but our little shoving match had turned my temperature up even more. There was no way I would be able to sleep again now.

Sighing to myself, I shifted through a great number of positions before giving up entirely. Upon giving up, I crawled carefully out of bed, trying not to disturb my two bedmates, both of which had been able to reclaim their sleep. I don’t know why I was being so thoughtful of the two bastards. I had every right to wake them up just to get them back for doing this to me. But, I wouldn’t do that, because I was just too damn nice for my own good sometimes. Honestly, I’d swear I loved them too much, if I didn’t know from experience with loving Yuki that you could never love anyone too much.

My eyes were dragged away from my brother and future brother-in-law as my cell phone began to ring. I swiftly moved over and grabbed it up, answering before the ringtone could wake either of the idiots in my bed up. “Yo?” I answered coolly, not thinking much of receiving a call in the middle of the night. Mia was well-known for calling pretty much any person that popped into her head in the wee hours of the night. She had told me once of how she’d called a boy she’d known from elementary school at three ’o’ clock in the morning, simply because she suddenly recalled a time they’d played on the teeter-totter together.

“I’m under a boardwalk in damn near the middle of the night, on a cell phone borrowed from a complete stranger that is making out with his girlfriend right next me. At least make it worth my while by saying more than just “yo” to me,” Yuki said. I about dropped my cell phone, and I did drop my jaw.

“Yuki?! Oh my God, what are you doing?!” I exclaimed a little bit loudly in my shock.

“I just told you what I’m doing,” he replied flatly.

“No! I mean, why are you calling me?! I thought your mother was really strict about family vacations being family only! No contact with persons you know outside of the family!” I said, still talking a bit loudly.

“She is. Why do you think I had to go to such great lengths to call you? By the way, I might add that I do consider you as my family. We’re engaged to be engaged to be married,” he said.

“Oh, Yuki…” I mumbled like the lovesick fool I was, blushing as I looked at the ground.

“…Hey, sounds like you’re blushing. Tell me what you’re wearing so I can picture it better,” he purred. I blushed even harder, just imagining what the complete stranger he’d borrowed the cell from and the stranger’s girlfriend had to be thinking when they heard him saying such things in that tone of voice.

“I’m wearing a shirt…” I mumbled, fidgeting with the end of said shirt.

“…And?” he asked.

“…And that’s it. Just a shirt,” I admitted, chewing on my bottom lip bashfully.

“…Damn, Aru, did I interrupt something? You imagining me in as little clothes as you have on, perchance?” he asked, a smirk sounding in his voice.

“No! I was just sleeping!” I exclaimed, my blush growing yet again, “Or, I was trying to sleep, at any rate.”

“Oh. Well, since you’re practically naked and you were having trouble sleeping anyways, want to have phone sex?” he asked. I didn’t respond immediately, taking a few moments to pick up my again dropped jaw and gather my now scattered thoughts.

“Yuki! No!” I exclaimed when I recovered from my stupor.

“Why not? Greg and Cindy—the guy I’m on the cell of and his girlfriend—don’t mind having sex right next to me, so why can’t we have phone sex right next to them?” he said, trying to sound innocent now. Again I didn’t respond immediately, though this time it was only because I needed to gather my thoughts.

“….Yuki Hiyo, you had better not be looking at that woman or that other man,” I finally replied darkly.

“Why do I need to look at either of them? I’ve got my eyes closed and a mental image of you wearing only a shirt in my mind. The only thing that I could possibly want to see more is a mental image of you naked in my mind, or you in person and in any damn clothes in the world,” he replied. He was as smooth and charming as ever. Again I found myself blushing and fidgeting with the end of the shirt.

“Hmph. Well, anyways, I can’t have phone sex,” I said.

“How come? Forgot to charge your battery again, and it’s almost dead now? You know I can move quick if it’s really necessary,” he replied.

“YUKI!” I exclaimed, my blushing flaring up to full force all too quickly.

“Well, if it’s not the battery, then what’s the problem?” he asked.

“The brother is the problem. Namely, my brother, Noi, and your brother, Yutan,” I said, sliding my eyes over to my bed, where the two problems in question slumbered.

There was an extended silence now. I thought for a moment that the call had been dropped or Yuki had hung up, but he spoke before I could ask if he was still there. “…Both my brother and your brother are in the room, and you’re not wearing anything but a shirt?” he asked. Oh shit. It hadn’t occurred to me how bad this whole thing seemed until he had said it that way.

“They’re both asleep. We were sleeping together,” I said quickly. Goddamnit. That didn’t help any. Yuki didn’t say anything, so I jumped on the chance to explain myself better.

“Okay, here’s what happened: Yutan’s plans for vacation fell through, so he came to torment me while I was missing you, but I was missing you so badly that he decided to make me feel better. So I took Yutan home with me because the hotels here suck, but he was being extremely and physically friendly to make up for you not being here. Noi saw how close he was being, and he got all pissed off, so he and Yutan started kind of fighting over me,” I explained, rushing as swiftly through the explanation as humanly possible.

“The fight drew my family outside, Noi said only he as my brother and you as my boyfriend could touch me, Yutan said he was going to be my brother-in-law so he could touch me all he wanted, and basically my whole family wigged out upon learning we‘re engaged. Noi got even more upset, mom went insane in the way that her only reaction was to go into some super cleaning mode, and my dad and sisters were all really happy for us,” I rushed on.

“Part of mom’s super cleaning mode was to take all of everyone’s clothes to wash all at once. But during dinner, Noi started picking another fight and it ended with me getting covered in gravy. So I couldn’t wear my clothes anymore, but nobody in my family had any clothes for me to wear, so Yutan said he’d lend me some clothes. It was bedtime by the time I was clean and out of the shower, but Yutan only brought one pair of pajamas, so he gave me the top and he’s wearing the bottoms,” I continued my explanation, beginning to run very short of breath by now.

“Yutan has to sleep in my bed because we have no guest bed and our couch sucks, but Noi is still feeling possessive so he crawled into my bed, too. It got really hot and we started fighting, but then we stopped and by that time it was even hotter, so I couldn’t sleep but they could. And now they’re asleep and I’m on the phone with you and that’s the whole explanation so as you can see it’s perfectly alright for me to not be wearing pants while sleeping with both our brothers,” I finally finished, absolutely gasping for air now that I was through explaining.

There was the longest pause, and this time I could do nothing but wait until it ended. “…Aw, shit, I’ve been found by my mom. I’ve got to go. I’ll call you again if I can. If not, I’ll see you in a couple days anyways,” Yuki said after over a minute of silence.

“Wait! Yuki, I—” I started to say, but the click of him hanging up cut me short, “…am sorry…..and I love you.” I stood there for several minutes more, listening to the silence. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I heaved a sighed, pulled the cell phone from my ear, flipped it closed, and placed it back on my dresser where it belonged. Another few minutes that felt like forever passed as I just stood there and stared at the cell phone, willing it to ring again with another call from Yuki. When it didn’t ring within ten minutes of staring, though, I heaved another sighed and turned around, heading back to bed.

I was settled into bed and almost back to sleep when I heard my cell phone give off another noise. This time I was not careful to keep from waking either of my bedmates as I jumped up, flung myself off the bed, and dashed for the dresser. I snatched up my phone and flipped it open, holding it to my ear. “Hello?!” I asked breathlessly. No response. “…Yuki?” I asked curiously. Still no response.

I pulled the phone away from my ear, looking at the display now. My heart momentarily sank as I saw that it said I had a voice message, not a phone call. Grumbling about people being idiots for calling in the middle of the night to leave voice messages rather than just calling first thing in the morning, I hit the button to listen to the message and put the phone back to my ear.

“I hope you know that I love you no matter what, Aru,” said the voice of Yuki softly. My eyes went wide and I went to my knees, choking back a sob as I put my hand to my mouth. I couldn’t keep back my tears, though. They fell quite freely as I began to tremble, holding the phone with both hands so that I wouldn’t accidentally drop it as I played the voice message over and over. I was well aware that both Noi and Yutan had woken up and were watching me, but I really didn’t care.

I whimpered softly, closing my eyes and hugging myself softly now as I pretended for a moment that Yuki was there with me, whispering in my ear with his own mouth rather than with a voice message. “…Yuki…I hope you know that I love you no matter what, too,” I whispered.