Summary: If Misaki's parents never died, but still ended up falling in love with Akihiko and vice versa. And throw in some new and old friends along the way and you have an alternate pathway. HaruhikoxOC, Romantica, some Terrorist and Egoist

First of all, let's start with how it came to be when the Takahashi parents managed to survive their car accident.

I don't own Junjou Romantica.

Let's all start at the beginning:

Takahiro waited patiently on the living room couch, his brows furrowed in worry as he put his hands in fists.

His parents were coming home from the hospital, suffering minor injuries from a car accident just a few hours ago. He sighed for about the ninth time this hour in relief...

But what if they... did die? He shuddered; would he be even able to handle it? And what about Misaki? He glanced up at the room his sick little brother was currently sleeping in.

What would happen to him? Takahiro frowned; would child services take him away?

Upon hearing the phone ringing as he pondered this, he went to go pick it up. "Hello? Takahashi residence."

"Takahiro?"

"Oh," Takahiro smiled, "What is it, Usagi-san?"

Usagi was Usami Akihiko, his best friend. Usagi, even if he was a bit eccentric and quiet, always made sure to call him if they weren't at school.

"Are you okay? Your parents?"

"Oh yes, they're coming home soon, thank goodness! I didn't know what I would do if they... you know.."

"I know... What about that younger brother of yours?"

Takahiro leaned against the wall to get more comfortable. "He's asleep; I didn't want to wake him up. His fever came down a bit though."

"That's goi...tch."

"What's wrong?"

"My father is calling for me."

"Oh, okay then. Bye." Takahiro gave a sympathetic smile; Usagi wasn't exactly attached to his father like he was.

"Bye." After Akihiko hung up, Takahiro went to go check on Misaki.

As he entered Misaki's room and adjusted the blanket for better assurance, Misaki began to stir. "Nii-chan?"

"Ah, don't mind me. Just go back to sleep."

"...It's my fault, isn't it?"

Takahiro stiffened as Misaki continued, taking it as a confirmation. "It...it won't happen again, right?" Misaki lightly touched Takahiro's hand, "Are they going to come home?"

Takahiro ruffled Misaki's head. "Yeah, they're coming home."

After a pause, Misaki looked at him with determination. "Then I'll wait with you!"

"Oh...no..." Takahiro's words went unheard as Misaki stumbled off the bed and ran into the living room. "Misaki, please go back to sleep! You're fever hasn't gone down!"

He walked into the living room to see Misaki sitting on the couch, waiting patiently with droopy eyes, slightly swaying. Walking over to him, Takahiro put a hand on Misaki's shoulder. "Come on, let's go to sleep."

"But..."

"You don't want Mom and Dad to get upset, do you?"

Misaki stopped swaying for a moment as he heard this, and rubbed his eyes. Takahiro heard some sniffling, and began to feel guilty. "D-don't cry! They won't be that upset..."

"It's all my fault!"

Takahiro's eyes widened, before frowning and ruffled Misaki's head. "It's not-"

Misaki slapped his hand away, and got off the couch and back to his room, shutting the door. "Mi-Misaki...?" Following him into the room, he found Misaki back under the covers in fetal position. "Misaki?"

He paused as he heard Misaki talking to himself. "I'll... I'll be a good boy..."

Takahiro's brow furrowed. "M-Misaki...?"

Misaki stiffened a bit in bed before trying to reassure Takahiro. "Ah-Uh... I'm going to sleep Nii-chan, don't worry!"

"I.. I don't think they'll mind if you wait up, so it's okay to stay up..."

"No, it's alright. They'll be able to sleep faster and get better when they get home if I'm not up and being loud-"

"Misaki, it's not your fault-"

"IT IS!" Takahiro's eyes widened comically at the outburst. "I.. I'm going to sleep Nii-chan! Good night!"

Takahiro eyed a strangely quiet Misaki as they ate breakfast, glancing away occasionally to see his parents watching Misaki as well, worry plastered on their faces.

He told them about how Misaki acted last night before Misaki woke up for breakfast; the boy obviously felt guilty about the car accident.

"Ah Misaki, do you want to see your presents?" asked their mother, trying to get her youngest to cheer up.

Thinking he was going to get back to normal, they ended up cringing when Misaki abruptly excused himself and ran into his room, slamming the door shut.

Misaki POV:

If I didn't yell at them to get me presents, they wouldn't have gotten hurt.

All my fault...

I... I'm happy they still got me them though, but that's bad isn't it?! They got hurt for that and I feel happy for the presents... Should I say I don't want the presents anymore? Should I say 'no'...?

But... but if I say no to them, I'll seem like I'm ungrateful, but I'm not!

I'm grateful... thankful... I really am.

I.. I am not smart like Nii-chan, and I look kind of girly... but I'll try my best-

I'll be a good kid from now on.

I won't complain, or be selfish anymore.

Just as long as they don't get hurt, because of me.

Akihiko waited at the front of the school for Takahiro; when said person showed up, he smiled brightly and went over.

"Good morning, Takahiro."

Seeming to be distracted by some thoughts, Takahiro shook his head some and smiled at him. "Ah, good morning."

"What's wrong? Are your parents well?"

"Ah yeah! But now it's Misaki..."

"Did he get even more sick?"

"No, he... feels guilty," Takahiro looked off to the side, "He thinks the accident is all his fault, and now he only answers when he's asked, and he doesn't ask for anything- it's so...", he paused, "It just so wrong. Misaki's normally smiling, and trying to be funny..." he sighed, "I just want him to go back to normal."

Akihiko's heart ached at the saddened expression on his friends face. But then, for a moment, Takahiro got an idea.

Takahiro turned to him and smiled. "Do you want to meet him?"

Akihiko looked at him in surprise. "Who?"

"Misaki of course! Maybe, if he gets a different perspective from someone outside our family on the accident, he'll stop feeling guilty. You know it's not his fault, so maybe it can work. And you don't have a little brother and you yourself are a little brother, right? This is a perfect opportunity for you to get to know him!"

"But Takahiro-"

"Please, Usagi-san!"

Akihiko sighed, giving in. "Okay-"

"Yes! Thank you! After school, okay?" Akihiko nodded in confirmation. After Takahiro said his thanks and ran off to first period, Akihiko gave a small smile and muttered softly, "The things I do for the one I love."

"Did you get the okay?" asked Takahiro as Akihiko waved off Tanaka and the car to follow him.

"Yeah."

As they walked to the Takahashi residence, Akihiko couldn't help but feel nervous; this is the first time he's going to Takahiro's house. Deciding since he was going to meet Misaki, Akihiko began to ask some questions.

"How old is he?"

"Oh, he's eight."

"Really?" He couldn't help but be slightly surprised at the ten year difference.

"Yes. He also likes that mecha anime that's been going on now."

"I see. How about with your parents?"

"Well, I guess I could say I'm closer to my father while Misaki is closer to mother," he gave a small smile, "This is kind of out of the blue, but how many guys do you know are named Misaki?"

"Isn't that generally a girl's name?"

"Yeah... They kind of expected a girl..."

"But they still named him Misaki, is that okay?"

"Well, it kind of stuck; when he was still in the womb, everyone called him Misaki thinking he was going to be a girl..."

"...Does he get bullied?"

"What?! Of course not! Just to tell you, he's quite popular among the girls in his class."

"I can only imagine," Akihiko said, laughing at the end.

"We're home!" Takahiro called out as they came in, taking off their shoes before entering.

"Welcome back!" said who Akihiko immediately assumed was Misaki. "Mom and Dad are still at work."

"I see," said Takahiro, "Were you okay here by yourself?"

"Of course! No need to get worried." Misaki rounded his eyes to Akihiko. "Is this your friend?"

"This," Takahiro patted Akihiko on the shoulder, "Is Usagi-san!"

"...Usagi?" said Misaki, cocking his head to the side.

Akihiko looked down at him. "Usami Akihiko. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Oh," Misaki understood now, "Nice to meet you, Usag.. Usami-san! Um, you're Nii-chan's best friend, right?"

"Yes."

"Ring!" Takahiro excused himself to get the phone.

Looking down at the eight year old, Akihiko examined Misaki. "You're not like what I expected."

"Oh yeah..." Misaki said, looking down sort of dejectedly, "Mom and Dad wanted a girl."

Akihiko stiffened. "No, I didn't mean it like that-"

Misaki gave him a shake of the head. "No, it's okay. I get it a lot. I'm not really smart either..."

Suddenly Takahiro came in, looking excited. "That was the place I interviewed for. I got the job! They want me to come see them right away." Seeing as he was going to graduate, Takahiro had gone ahead to prepare himself for after graduation and getting into the university he's always wanted to go to.

"That's great," said Akihiko, smiling.

"Yeah! But..." Misaki faltered a bit, "That means you have to go now, right?"

Takahiro paused a bit, "Oh, yeah..."

"Ah, don't worry Nii-chan! I can stay here by myself!"

"No... that won't do..."

"I can watch him," Akihiko found himself saying.

Okay, chapter one done!

How did I do? Considering they're younger...

Typing this at 3 in the morning, there are bound to be mistakes lurking.

Please review!