Confessions

Asami dabbed a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol, purposely ignoring Akihito's pained hiss, as he afterwards touched the cotton to the youngster's forehead wound.

"Ouch, that hurts!"

"It's rubbing alcohol. It's supposed to hurt. It means it's doing its job. Now stop fidgeting." The older man replied, pressing another cotton ball against the wound.

"Ouch!... Can you at least try to be gentler? It's hurting like hell." The photographer stated, glancing up towards Asami in an accusatory fashion, which the latter dismissed entirely.

"You should have thought about how much it could hurt before you tried to runaway through the window." The yakuza said sarcastically.

"I wasn't trying to run away!"

"Oh, really?" Asami asked, stopping momentarily to stare down intently at Akihito's face; a frown clearly visible on his forehead. "What was it that you were trying to do then?"

"I…I…I thought I'd seen a shadow crossing the balcony outside the window. I was just going to go outside to investigate it. It…It could have been a burglar, you know?"

Asami had to make a conscious effort not to roll his eyes at such a pathetic excuse.

"So you were going to go investigate a shadow on the balcony with a duffel bag full of clothes over your shoulder. Do you think I was born yesterday, Akihito?" He said, very close to losing his patience with the younger man. "…You know, I'm not actually keeping you here as a prisoner. You are free to use the doors whenever you like."

"But I wasn't runnin-"

One stern look from Asami put an end to the start of another crappy explanation. "…Nevermind." Akihito soon added under his breath, watching as Asami resumed his nursing duties.

An uncomfortable silence fell between them then, in which Akihito kept recalling what his friend Kou had related over the phone he'd heard him say the previous night.

The photographer knew that he somehow needed to approach the subject with Asami, but how on earth was he expected to start such a conversation?

He felt a wave of panic run through him as the older man finally placed a bandage over the small cut on his forehead. "There. Done." The yakuza announced, the same no nonsense tone in his voice as he turned his back on Akihito and started packing the utensils he'd used back in the first aid kit.

"Hey…Asami…"

"What?" The older man asked without turning around to face the photographer, who nevertheless tried (quite unsuccessfully) to adopt a jovial tone.

"So…last night…" He started.

"What about last night?"

"So I spoke with my friend Kou this morning about it…"

"Did you?" Asami asked, seemingly uninterested about the piece of information, which made Akihito laugh nervously in return.

"So it seems I might have done…or said…some odd things yesterday night…"

"Odd things?"

More nervous laughter from the younger man ensued.

"You know…stuff that might have come off as out of character…stuff I didn't actually mean to do…or say…"

The look on Asami's face as he finally turned around to face the youngster made Akihito gulp hard.

"Stuff like what, for example?" The yakuza asked, arching an eyebrow at the other man.

It was clear to Akihito that the older man was enjoying making him suffer. "Like…Like..." He stammered.

"…Like admitting you are in love with me in front of everyone at downtown Shibuya and then proceeding to vomit all over my shoes?"

All color was drained from Akihito's face in a matter of seconds. "W-Wha-What? ?" He mumbled quietly, hardly believing his ears. "I-I-I didn't…I mean, I-I-I couldn't possibly…"

"Oh, but you could, you see, and you did actually. Loud and clear and in front of every passerby that was in hearing and seeing range of you."

Akihito never once wished as fervently as he did at that moment for a hole to open on the ground in front of him so he could throw himself in it and hide from the rest of the world.

He stared at Asami, who was leaning against the desk where he'd injured his forehead with his arms crossed over his chest, unable to say a word.

"I…I…Huh…"

"You are going to pay for the shoes cleaning bill, that's what you'll do. I'm done with you throwing up all over me whenever you are drunk."

Wait a second…The shoes?

Was that what was bothering Asami about the whole thing? ! Suffice to say, the yakuza's remark further befuddled Akihito's already befuddled mind.

"What?" Was the only coherent word the photographer managed to mutter in response.

Not that Asami seemed to take his confused state into account. "Eat some breakfast now." The yakuza said, pointing towards the food tray he'd brought earlier into Akihito's bedroom. "You need to put some food into your stomach. I brought you all the foods you like."

"What?" Akihito muttered again, looking from Asami to the food tray and back at Asami, who was already making his way out of the bedroom.

"I'll be in the office room if you need me." The older man said, just as Akihito jumped up from the chair he had been sitting on.

"W-Wait just a moment!" He said, a tinge of alarm clearly noticeable in his voice as he grabbed Asami's arm, only to release it again a second afterwards.

"What is it?" Asami asked, stopping to look back at Akihito.

"…Is that it?"

The older man frowned. "Is what it?"

Akihito could feel the skin on his cheeks burning from mortification. Was Asami really going to make him say it out loud again?

"What's the matter, Akihito?"

"I…I…"

"What?"

"What do you mean, what? I said I was in love with you, damn it! In front of all those people!"

His aggravated tone surprised the yakuza, whose eyes widened ever so slightly upon hearing the youngster's words. He was quick to recompose himself though.

"Oh, about that." Asami said casually. "If that's what's bothering you, I don't think you need to worry. Most people that were out on the street were drunk themselves. I hardly think any of them will recall a thing about last night."

"Huh?"

"You don't need to worry yourself about going back to that place."

It suddenly clicked inside the youngster's mind what it was that Asami was referring to.

"I'm not talking about that, you baka. I don't care about what other people might think."

Asami stared at him, clearly confused now. "Then…what?" He asked.

The photographer had a feeling his entire face resembled a ripe tomato by now.

"I'm talking about the fact I confessed I'm in love with you!" Akihito said in one go.

The brief moment of silence that ensued felt like a millennium to the youngster.

Oddly enough, Asami was the one to break it…and with a most unexpected remark at that.

"But I already knew that." The yakuza said calmly, the ghost of an amused smile appearing on his face all of a sudden.

"What? ! T-That's impossible. I-I-I never told you before yesterday."

Asami arched an eyebrow at him. "Yes you did."

"No I didn't."

"I can assure you, you did. A few times already."

"When? ! H-How come you know such a thing? It's not possible."

Asami stared at Akihito intently, the same amused smile showing itself more prominently now.

"I know because you talk in your sleep, Akihito." The yakuza finally confessed, watching the other man suddenly turn paler than a ghost.

He saw Akihito's mouth opening and closing as if the youngster was attempting to say something, but he was apparently too shocked with what he'd just learn to be able to make a sound.

"Akihito, I-"

"O-Out." The photographer managed to say, lifting his arm so he could point towards the door of his bedroom. "O-Out of the room. Now!" He said more loudly, watching as Asami arched an eyebrow at him again.

"Are you trying to kick me out of a room I actually own?"

"Fine! I'll leave then." Akihito stated, walking past the older man in a hurry.

He didn't manage to go far though, for he soon felt Asami's arms circling his torso, bringing their bodies close together; the older man's breath tickling his ear as the former spoke against it.

"And why do you think I'd let you leave?" Asami whispered huskily, before turning Akihito around and planting a heated kiss straight on the younger man's lips.

Akihito tried to fight against Asami's advances. He really did this time! But a couple of minutes into the kissing extravaganza he felt his knees going weak and his mind starting to get foggy and by the time he felt his own hands willingly search for the buttons on Asami's shirt, he knew he no longer had any command over his body.

(later that morning)

A cloud of white cigarette smoke escaped Asami's lips as he tried to adjust his body as comfortably as possible on the small mattress space available to him.

"Go sleep on your own bed, Asami. This bed is far too narrow for the two of us." A muffled voice reached him from the side.

The yakuza removed the pillow Akihito's face was hiding under, and looked down at his lover's sleepy eyes.

"It's fine like this. You can go to sleep if you want to. I'll wake you up before lunchtime."

An irritated expression crossed the photographer's features, just before he turned on his side in bed, away from Asami's gaze.

"As if I'll ever fall asleep again with you near me!" The young man muttered, grabbing the pillow from Asami's hand and hiding his face under it again.

Asami couldn't help but smile at Akihito's embarrassment. He bent down slowly, lightly tracing his lips against the back of the latter's neck and feeling how the younger man's skin still felt warm from their latest lovemaking session.

"You know, Asami…"

"What?" The older man asked, tracing his lips against Akihito's bare shoulders now.

"It's kind of customary for a person who gets confessed to, to say something in return. I mean…anything really."

Asami stopped midway on Akihito's left shoulder. He supposed the younger man had a point there. He didn't recall ever answering the love confession.

Propping himself up on one arm, he used his other one to gently coach Akihito's body to lie down on its back, removing the pillow once again from the latter's face.

The photographer's cheeks were every shade of red again, as he nervously looked up at his lover's face.

"Well…" Asami started, in mocking seriousness.

"W-Well?..."

"You do know me, Akihito." Asami said with a grin, bending down towards the younger man. "My actions tend to speak louder than any words."

And with that, the yakuza sealed his reply with a passionate kiss.

The End