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Ryu had grown lonely over the days. Not just a simple sense of loneliness, but more of a full on, desperate, puppy-needs-attention kind of lonely.

Picking up his cell, he dialed the number for Naoko and waited for his lover to answer while he shrugged on a jacket to step outside.

"Na-kuuuuuun! I miss you!" he whined cutely into the phone as soon as he heard the pianist answer the phone. Closing the door behind him, he drew breath to begin another sentence, but it stopped in a sharp gasp.

A tall figure, hooded in all black, was looming over him, close enough for him to feel the man's hot breath on his cheeks.

"Where is he?" the cloaked figure asked, almost menacingly.

Ryu froze stiff, then tried to turn and run back into the house, but the hooded figure grabbed him, falling into the house along with the violinist.
The phone clattered to the floor as the akuma struggled beneath the heavy figure, reaching out for the phone the whole time.

"Listen...just tell me....where can I find him!" the strange man roared insanely.

On Naoko's end...the line cut off. The last thing he heard was the sound of a struggle, and Ryu's gasps of "I don't know! I don't know who you are talking about!"

"Hayaku, Na-chan!"
The small boy kept running, batting leaves out of his face only to have them stick in his hair. For a long time the boy ran, his foot prints in the dirt making a tiny trail that would hopefully lead them home.
"Na-chan!"
Suddenly bursting through the foliage, Naoko fell over, nearly face-planting in the grass. He looked up, amber eyes falling on the hand in front of his face. For a moment, the boy did nothing, but then his gaze trailed upward, catching the waiting eyes of his older brother.
"Come on."
Sniffing and holding back tears, Naoko reached out and accepted the offer of help up. But instead of letting go and continuing forward, Sai gripped his little brother's hand tightly and kept running, playfully happy laughter coming from him.
Naoko held that hand tight, a smile lighting on his face. Sure, he was dirty and they'd probably be in trouble for being filthy when they got home... but Naoko didn't care.
Sai was with him.
Sai would protect him.
Sai would save him...

"Niisan..." the whispered words were the first sign that the blond might be finally waking up.
Amber eyes remained closed and for a moment, Oumori Naoko burrowed further into the futon, his mop of bed head hair sticking out at all angles. It was warm... nice and warm and...
He blinked, touching the futon and realizing that it wasn't warm anymore... least not like it should be. The pianist yawned, rolling over onto his back as he realized that both Sai and Ko were gone. Well, that wasn't too odd... maybe Naoko had just slept in a while?
It was Christmas vacation after all...
A holiday...

Blinking again, lithe fingers reached out for his cell phone... a message popping up on the screen that he had voice mail. For a moment, the younger Oumori had completely forgotten about the fact that he'd turned his phone to silent while texting Ryu.
After all... he hadn't wanted to disturb his brother or their young charge.

Naoko yawned, pulling himself up into a sitting position and stretching his arms up over his head. He wondered for a moment if Sai was still Sai... or if some time during the night he had ceased to be his elder brother and been Shou once more. Of course if that had happened... a part of the pianist was a bit apprehensive on what his "boss" would say about them sharing a futon with Ko-kun snuggled in as well.

For the first time in a while he felt... good.
Well rested... safe... a tiny bit unsure as to the current state of his brother, but he really did feel good.
The only thing that would have made this better would have been having Ryuu by his side as well. That... that would have probably chased the very last of his cares away.

Dialing in to his voice mail, the blond put the cell up to his ear and listened as Ryuu's sweet voice said that he missed the pianist. That itself made Naoko smile happily, a light blush on his cheeks.
Because no matter what he did... it seemed that Ryuu would be there.
And that was a comfort that Naoko needed.

However, that smile was wiped from his face when he heard the gasp. At first NAKO thought that perhaps Ryuukaze had simply banged into a table or something... after all, the violinist was rather clumsy. But then a voice... a dark voice that demanded an answer, cut through the happy thoughts in the blond's mind.

As soon as the line was cut, Naoko immediately dialed Ryuu's cell phone. Hoping... praying... that his akuma would answer.

The moment Naoko heard his lover's voice, the blond slumped onto his back on the futon. "Kami-sama...." he whispered, sighing in pure relief.

After a moment though, he was sitting up again and speaking into his cell phone intently. "What the hell was with that message?! You scared the s**t out of me, Ryu-kun!" he admonished, hoping that it was just some stupidity and not an actual situation.

But of course if it had been a situation, wouldn't Ryu not be talking to him now. "You're just lucky I didn't go running to Sai before calling you back..."

Savoring that light kiss, the musician smirked from his chair. "You'll be so bundled up that people will think you're an Eskimo..." he teased before picking up their cups and taking them over to the sink.

The musician began to laugh, blue eyes glancing over his shoulder at his lover. "I.... had a plan." he teased mercilessly. "It was being prepared for a few days, should be ready to be picked up. Shrugging, Narcissus began to wash out the mugs. "We can get each other Christmas gifts after the blizzard. But I'm giving you your birthday present when we get back. Besides..." he turned around, drying his hands with a dish towel. "There's nothing you could buy me that would make me happier than I am now, you know."

Akihiko smiled, tossing the towel at Izzy playfully as he headed out of the now-clean kitchen. "I'll act myself around those I deem worthy... and I suppose since I deem Shou worthy... the kid can be worthy too." he joked, suddenly turning and grabbing his manager around the waist. For a second, Narcissus pivoted into the turn, swinging Izzy in a semi-circle until the man was between himself... and the wall. "Let's go home..." he whispered softly... voice low and seductive... just before claiming his partner's lips with his own.

Plopping down onto the sofa with the cups of hot cocoa, Nakai hadn't really noticed Chiyou's sudden excitement. In fact, the man was completely baffled by the fact that the 'kid' had been able to actually buy him a gift.

Before Kai could say anything though about the cat-like grin on Chiyou's face... the younger man was setting a present in his hands.

"Ch... Chiyou-kun... but it's not Christmas yet." the blond teased, placing a gentle kiss to the 'kid's' temple. "Are you sure you don't want me to wait? I haven't gotten a gift for you yet... well no that's not true... I have it, I just haven't gotten the chance to wrap it." Nakai said with a soft smile, wrapping one arm around Chiyou and pulling the young man closer against him. "You didn't have to get me a present you know..."

kawaita tsumori ame ga tsuzunaku katari kakeru
namida wa seijaku ni...samayou yoru ga akeru





"I know it's not...but I can't wait! I want you to open it now! It was really hard for me to get. I had to get a cab on my own and slip out while you were at the store, then have the person at the shop help me feel and understand everything I was considering so I could pick what I thought was best. Took a lot of work, ya know! But come on! Quit wasting time...," he then giggled, "and open it!"








karada o tsutau ame ni furueru awai omoi
guren no yuuwaku ni...samayou yoru ga akeru

Laughing, Kai nodded. "Okay okay just calm down." he joked, ruffling Chiyou's hair with one hand. "Impatient should be your name... I swear..."

It didn't take any time at all to get the box open, and as Nakai's amber eyes fell on the water, he smiled. "Chi-chan... it... it's gorgeous..." the guitarist spoke softly, carefully taking the watch out of the package and strapping it onto his wrist. "I mean... this seriously had to have cost a fortune, man... You really didn't have to do this but... but I really like it."

A few seconds passed as Nakai just stared at the beautiful watch on his wrist. Then, lithe fingers found Chiyou's chin and tilted it up a little. Amber eyes looked down and, in a voice like a whisper, Kai said one simple thing before claiming the 'kid's' lips with his own.

"Arigatou..."