Revised February 24, 2012

Author: MangaFreak15

Summary: What if Takahiro had run after Akihiko and Misaki when they left after hearing his marriage announcement? When the truth comes to the light and his best friend kisses his younger brother to make him stop crying, how will he react? UsamiMisaki one-shot

Series: Junjou Romantica

Finding Out the Hard Way

Wham!

The loud thud of a fist striking the wall startled everyone in the room. They turned to the source of the sound and were surprised to behold the sight of a seething dark-haired boy with his balled fist against the wall. His bangs shadowed his eyes from view, but it was clear that he did not take the news of Takahiro's engagement well. As for the reason why, only Akihiko had an inkling why the boy reacted so harshly. Takahiro was puzzled; wasn't his little brother happy that he would be getting married? Why did he look like he was ready to kill someone?

"Misaki?" he ventured tentatively.

His brother's fist tightened. He mumbled something unintelligible to the other adults in the room, "…some more…"

"I'm sorry?"

"The champagne's gone, I'll go buy some more!" said Misaki hurriedly, his eyes flashing with an indistinguishable emotion.

"They won't sell to a minor," said Takahiro, wondering why his younger brother was acting so strangely.

"Then Usagi-san can come with me," said Misaki, grabbing the older man's arm and pulling him through the doorway. He couldn't stand to look at his brother any longer without resorting to something very drastic that he would probably regret later.

"Misaki!" shouted Takahiro as the door slammed shut behind the fleeing duo. He sighed and brought a hand to his face, feeling the sign of an oncoming headache approaching. "I'm sorry, Manami. I don't know what's gotten into him. Misaki usually doesn't act like this," he murmured to his worried girlfriend, who laid a comforting hand on his arm.

"It's alright," she said. "Our announcement of our intention to get married was rather sudden, I think. It may have just shocked him."

"But I don't understand - I thought Misaki would be happy that I'm getting married," said Takahiro. "I pictured him to be smiling and laughing as he congratulated me, not getting upset and hitting his fist against the wall."

"There must be something that he knows, which he has kept from you," replied Manami thoughtfully. "You should go after them, Takahiro. Something tells me that they aren't going to buy champagne."

Takahiro looked perplexed. "But Misaki said -"

"Trust me, there's something going on here that we are oblivious about," insisted Manami. She smiled and tapped the side of her head with her left index finger. "Women's intuition. Now go on."

"If you say so," said Takahiro, turning back to the closed door. "I'll be right back, so stay here and make yourself comfortable until then, okay?" He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before opening the door and rushing down the hallway to catch up to the other two.

He ran out into the empty streets, shivering a little as the chilly air of the night caught him. His head twisted left and right, trying to determine where they had gone. To his right, in the far distance underneath the warm yellow glow of a streetlamp, were Akihiko and Misaki. Misaki was slightly bent over, moving his hands to wipe at his face. As Takahiro quietly approached them, he heard an occasional sob. He frowned. Was Misaki crying? Over what? He hid behind a nearby wall to listen.

"You've been in love with him this whole time! You always cared for him, and yet…he wanted you to be the first to meet her?" cried Misaki.

Takahiro froze. What? His fingers touched the cold stone of the wall but he did not feel it. Akihiko, his best friend for so long, was in love with him. In love with him. He slid down slowly as his knees buckled under the shock of the revelation. Akihiko was in love with him. With him. How had he not foreseen this? The man was always draping himself over him and buying him expensive gadgets, but he had always thought the man was just fulfilling his role as a childish best friend. But to have actual feelings for him… Takahiro felt sick with horror and guilt as the memory of the marriage announcement replayed through his head. Akihiko must have been torn apart by it, but he still tried to smile for him, tried to be happy for him even though he was breaking inside. Oh god; what had he done?

"He was so insensitive," continued Misaki, still crying as his voice became thick with tears. "This is the first time I've ever wanted to punch him!"

Misaki…Takahiro closed his eyes as his heart clenched with remorse. His little brother had every right to do so. He, Takahiro, had been utterly oblivious to Akihiko's feelings, but his brother, who had been tutored by Usami for barely a couple months, had caught on to the feelings in such a small amount of time. He felt like a moron, and really debated on whether it would be a good idea to smack his head into the wall a few times for his idiocy. He decided to continue listening to the duo until they were finished, and then he would come out and apologize to his best friend for being so insensitive to him. He wouldn't be able to return Akihiko's love, but he could try to make up for it.

Akihiko's voice was barely heard over Misaki's loud sobbing, "What a dirty way of crying."

"I'm crying because of you!" yelled Misaki. "Once I start crying, I can't stop even if I want to."

Takahiro peered around the wall, watching for the right time to come out. He saw Akihiko lean forward to pat Misaki on the head (now that he thought about it, Misaki was rather short), and he said quietly, "I see."

Takahiro thought that was the end of their conversation, but before he could reveal himself he was subjected to yet another shock. His heart skipped a beat as he watched his best friend take Misaki's wrist in his larger hand and lean forward so Misaki was backed up against the street pole. They shared a long, wet kiss against the pole. Misaki's free hand twitched briefly, but settled down upon the older man's hip. He didn't even bother to struggle.

Gawk. Blink. Gawk some more. Blink.

Takahiro whipped himself back behind the wall, eyes wide with shock. What had he just seen? This was obviously a private conversation that he was shamelessly eavesdropping on, but even so he didn't expect them to… to… to kiss. Kiss. Lips. Kiss. Tears. Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. What the hell?

He dared to peek around the wall again, heart thudding furiously in his chest. Akihiko had stopped kissing Misaki, whose face was flushed bright red in embarrassment.

"There, you stopped," he said. His hand, which had been gripping Misaki's chin, fell back to his side. Misaki was left dazed. Akihiko's arms came up to encircle the smaller male's body, his voice muffled by Misaki's shoulder, "Sorry, just for a little while…"

Misaki slowly raised his hands to grasp the back of Akihiko's coat, still stunned by the kiss Akihiko had bestowed upon him. "Um, Usagi-san…"

The snow began to fall.

"You can cry, if you want to…"

"Idiot," said Akihiko, amused by Misaki's attempt to comfort him. "Little brats like you shouldn't be patronizing their elders."

Takahiro couldn't look away. He felt so immensely guilty that he continued to treat Akihiko like a friend even though the other man was in love with him. But, a childish voice in his head sniped, he never told you. It's his fault that he didn't act upon it sooner. Takahiro squished the voice in his head with little thought. He couldn't deny that what the voice said was true, but in a roundabout way he thought it was more his fault than Akihiko's. The man had never told him, but Takahiro had never noticed either. He really needed to apologize. He felt ashamed of himself.

"I'll tell you something," said Akihiko. "I've never cried in front of anyone since I was born… except you. As if I'd let anyone but you see me like this."

Misaki gently patted the back of the older man's head, small trails of tears streaming out from the corners of his eyes. They stood together in a comfortable silence, Misaki watching the snow fall down from heaven. Takahiro decided that their conversation was finished, and so it was time to reveal himself. He carefully slipped out from behind the wall, schooling his face into a neutral expression. He approached them with measured steps, making sure they noticed him coming.

"Nii-chan…" whispered Misaki, when he reached them. Akihiko released him and stood at his full height, watching Takahiro warily. The only signs that he had been crying were the slightly-red rims around his eyes.

"Misaki, Akihiko," he said, catching their attention. "Tell me… is it true?"

Akihiko stiffened. Misaki looked panicked.

"Akihiko, do you love me?" asked Takahiro.

He looked troubled that Takahiro had found out his biggest secret, but gave a quick nod and a reply, "Yes. I do."

Akihiko seemed to expect words of disgust to spout out from Takahiro's mouth, but Takahiro's reaction surprised him, as well as Misaki, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Akihiko. I should have noticed sooner. I should have known. I should have treated you better, but I thought you were just playing around. I even paraded my girlfriend in front of you! I was so insensitive, dense, and oblivious to your feelings that I never even considered that you could have feelings for me. I'm sorry, Akihiko. I'm really sorry. I feel so guilty about it." The words poured out of his mouth before he could stop them, the apology he was trying so desperately trying to convey. He hoped Akihiko would forgive him for his stupidity.

There was a moment of silence. Then Akihiko let out a low chuckle. "Apology accepted, Takahiro. It's alright; I have been holding on to this unrequited love for too long. I think it's time to let go, don't you think?" he murmured.

"Could you really let go of your feelings for me just like that?" said Takahiro.

"No," admitted Akihiko. "You will always be the person I first loved. But that doesn't mean I can't move on." He pulled Misaki to his side, who let out an indignant squeak of surprise.

"M-Misaki?" stammered Takahiro. "But… he's only 18!"

"Is that a problem?" asked Akihiko.

"He's not ready! Especially if he's going to be in a r-r-relationship with you," sputtered Takahiro, eyes darting over to the slender form of his younger brother.

"Nii-chan, you're too protective of me," said Misaki, seemingly annoyed. "I am 18 years old, as you pointed out. I'm a legal adult. I can take care of myself."

"But -"

"No 'but's, Nii-chan," said Misaki firmly. "I never showed much interest in girls in the first place, anyway."

Takahiro's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Alright, Misaki, but make sure you come to me if you're uncertain or hurting in any way," he said. He gave Akihiko a sharp look. "I will entrust Misaki to you, so you better take care of him or I will hunt you down." Akihiko sweatdropped at the presence of Takahiro's mother hen mode, but promised that Misaki would not come to harm with him.

"Good," declared Takahiro. "Now let's head back. Manami must be worried about us."

They began to walk back to the apartment. Akihiko and Misaki lingered behind briefly to share a quick kiss to confirm that they were now in a relationship. Misaki smiled up at the older man, his eyes dancing. Akihiko took Misaki's hand in his, and together they walked after Takahiro, holding hands.

Why am I re-writing this when I should be working on new chapters? Uh, I dunno. 'Cause I felt like it? Durrr. Anyways… I just realized how stupid I am. In the original version, I wrote at the end 'If you don't know what Junjou Romantica is, it's a boys' romance series consisting of 12 episodes so far. It's REALLY funny. If you like yaoi, watch it! They're airing the second season in fall.' Um. I slap myself silly for my idiocy. You wouldn't be reading this if you didn't know what Junjou Romantica is! Duh, idiot. Anyways, I have watched both seasons, and I occasionally read the manga chapters (which has sex in every chapter… LOL). Yay for shounen-ai and yaoi and all the mushy hard-core goodness that comes with them.

Please review. Thanks.

MangaFreak15