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There were too many questions to answer and not enough caffeine yet. Eventually, they sat at the bar, with juice to drink. Daichi chose syrup over jam, and ate his fill of pancakes, eggs, sausage and toast. He was mostly quiet as he ate, taking moments to complement Kaoru’s cooking. He was so full after cleaning his plate… he felt like he could pop! He needed to get up and burn off some of his breakfast. He helped Kaoru with dishes, ignoring the male’s protests. They loaded the dishwasher and Daichi showed Kaoru where the dishwasher pods were located. And that promoted Daichi to show Kaoru around his new home. He opened every door to every closet, to show Kaoru where everything was, in case he needed it.

Next Daichi gave Kaoru his set of keys. He tried to give Kaoru his cell and work phone number and realized the male didn’t have a phone. They needed to remedy that first and foremost. They got dressed and Daichi drove them to the nearest Wireless store. Daichi simply added a line to his current plan and let Kaoru loose in the store to pick a phone while he handled the accounting stuff. Of course, he ignored any comments about pay back or ‘earning’ the new phone. It was a necessity. Daichi wanted to be able to reach Kaoru if he needed.

While they were out, Daichi drove Kaoru around and pointed out major landmarks like the library, and the bookstore. He figured Kaoru could walk to these places during the day and pick up a few books to read. Daichi wasn’t going to force Kaoru to get a job. But if Kaoru was inclined to get one, Daichi would have no problem with it. Though he doubted he would accept financial help from his bride. It wasn't like he needed help paying the bills.

The house tour, phone pick up, and city tour had taken most of the day, so Daichi took them home. Unfortunately, he had stuff for work he needed to do. Once upstairs, he excused himself and set himself up on the couch, a glass of scotch on the table, and laptop in hand. He had his headphones in as he typed away. At one point, he was talking to someone over webcam, speaking in French. But the call only last for a few minutes. Then Daichi was back to typing. He only paused when dinner was ready. He reluctantly set his computer down and had dinner with Kaoru. Again he helped with the dishes. He had to go back to work, but he told Kaoru not to wait for him to go to sleep if was tired. He also informed his bride that his schedule for the next week was going to be hectic… really early mornings and very late nights. Kaoru was probably going to be eating alone a lot.

Daichi was up rather late, working. He managed to pull himself from his laptop around midnight and got a few hours of sleep before he had to head into work. His internal clock went off before his phone alarm did. He quickly and quietly showered, changed, and headed to work. It was a long and exhausting day. He skipped breakfast, barely had a lunch, which was normal for him on his long days. Definitely unhealthy, but he ignored that entirely. When he was at work, the only thing that matter was getting his work done… his work ethic was probably going to kill him one day.

That night, when he finally pulled himself away from the office, he realized Kaoru must have stayed up pretty late waiting for him. There was food wrapped and waiting for him in the kitchen. That’s when the guilt started. Kaoru had been trained to be the ‘perfect bride’. But how do you be a perfect bride with your husband was never home? Sure you could clean the house, make sure there was food available for when he got home… but that was pretty much it… what was Kaoru doing all day? Daichi forced himself not to think about that while he ate the dinner Kaoru made for him. He then washed his plate and headed to bedroom. Kaoru was already asleep on his side of the bed. Daichi changed, striping for to just some black slacks, too tired and hot to look for a night shirt. He slipped into the covers and was out in a matter of minutes.

He hadn’t been exaggerating when he told Kaoru his hours were hectic. Daichi was as woke everyday that week by 4 am… and he worked almost non-stop till 11 pm. He always forced himself to return home, instead of giving in to his urge to sleep at his desk. However, each night he returned home and ate the food waiting for him, his guilty increased. Was Kaoru just sitting around all day? Was he lonely? Was Daichi making him feel like he was a burden? These thoughts gave him anxiety… while Diachi never wanted a wife, he didn’t want poor Kaoru to feel neglected… then he would be no better than his parents! Daichi was better than that! But being different than Kaoru’s parents meant Daichi would have to change his life… how long he worked, when he took vacations and days off... not to mention he was no good at social interactions! He could handle topics of business and formality… but to be personal with someone… he felt like ripping his hair out.

Daichi had one friend. One person he ever did anything besides work with. One person he felt comfortable talking to about his problems. It was an American named Kyle Danvers. By the end of the week, Kyle could tell something else was on Daichi’s mind, besides the normal stress of work. He dragged Daichi out of the office, forcing him to leave early for the day so that they could do to a bar talk and maybe get drunk, if that’s what Daichi needed in order to talk about his problems. Normally Daichi can handle his liquor. But with hardly any food in his stomach, and his buddy Kyle next to him ordering them shots and beers in quick secession, Daichi was drunk very quickly. Now he easily discussed his mental anguish with his friend. He told Kyle that he was forced into a marriage he didn’t want, and talked about how he was worried his bride was feeling neglected. He also blurted out how inadequate he felt about being a husband, with his workaholic personally and unsociable behavior.

By the time he was done pouring his problems out to his friend, Daichi was practically sleeping on the bar. Kyle had actually started drinking water some time ago, so he was fine. Tricky little devil! “I think you need to just take the weekend, spend some time with your bride, and talk to them…” Kyle said. Daichi hadn’t let on that his bride was a male. Drunken Daichi nodded, his head resting on his arms which were resting on the bar. At some point during the night, Daichi had putted out his hair tie. Now his hair fell around his face like a curtain, shielding his eyes from the light. “Come on, let’s get you home.” Kyle said as he slipped out of his seat. He put his friend’s arm around his shoulders and carried/directed Daichi to his car, setting him in the passenger seat as he drove Daichi home. It was a little harder to drag Daichi up to his apartment, and Kyle nearly dropped the keys a few times before he finally got the door open. “There we go.” He said, carrying a nearly passed out Daichi to his couch. Kyle tried to be quiet, in case Daichi’s new roommate was asleep. But that was kind of hard when you are carrying a limp full grown man.

Kyle looked up when he heard a voice. He flashed a smile and dropped Daichi the rest of the way down on the couch. The drunken male draped his arm over his eyes. “He’s fine… just a little drunk…” Alex said, chuckling softly. Was this Daichi’s bride? It was a guy… At first, Kyle thought Daichi was so upset with the arranged marriage because he had been forced to marry a girl… Daichi favored the same sex so the thought of him being forced to live with a girl would have explained his discomfort… no, now looking at Kaoru, Kyle understood why Daichi was so worried… Kaoru was totally Daichi’s type! What were the odds…

“The name’s Kyle Danvers. I work with Daichi. It’s a pleasure to met you.” Kyle said with a stunning smile. He was obviously a very confident person, used to having people swoon over his smile. But he wasn’t cocky about it. He quickly shook his head, using his hands to emphasize his point. “Oh no, this is my fault. I paid the bartender to make his drinks stronger.” He almost took pride in getting Daichi drunk. Daichi was too tense to relax around just anyone. “He was acting all tense and from experience, getting him drunk to talk about his reservations makes up all better… He’s completely honest when he’s drunk… you can get him to talk about anything… though he’ll deny remembering anything in the morning usually” Kyle said, chuckling a bit. “But he’s always more relaxed after these talks…” He then got hit by a couch pillow. He turned to Daichi confused. “Shut up, Kyle… it’s not nice to laugh… a**…” Daichi said before he dropped his head back down to the couch, covering his eyes with his arm again.

Kyle laughed and picked up the pillow, throwing it back at the male. “He’ll be fine by morning…” he said, noticing the worry in Kaoru’s eyes. “I’ll leave him in your care then. He’s not ended this weekend, so if you can, force him to stay home.” He laughed, knowing that would be a task in itself. Kyle started to head for the door, but turned back and smiled at Kaoru… “He might need to talk some more, if you are up to it…” He said, and shrugged a bit. He looked back at the couch and waved as he turned towards the door. “Bye Daichi, don’t be a burden.” He said. “Leave, Klye.” Daichi said with a groan. Kyle was loud, too loud right now. Kyle could be heard laughing as he walked to the elevator.

The room became quiet and Daichi lowered his arm from his eyes. He blinked up at the ceiling, just listening to Kaoru moving around the apartment. Blue eyes closed when he felt the cool rag on his forehead. He reached up and grabbed Kaoru’s wrist, holding the male’s hand to his forehead, with the washcloth between them. Slowly he slid his hand down Kaoru’s hand and laced his fingers with Kaoru’s. “I want to go to bed with you.” He said without a moment to think. In his state, he couldn’t formulate lies or half-truths. And he was very honest about what he really wanted. Daichi opened his eyes and looked up at Kaoru, studying him for a moment. “I really like your eyes…” his voice was soft, a deeper than usually… almost sensual.

Daichi smiled softly when Kaoru spoke. “So you like my eyes huh?” he asked, being sure to watch Kaoru’s face for a reaction. The drunken male couldn’t help but smile at Kaoru. Kaoru was cute when he was shy. Daichi held his hands up like a child asking to be held when Kaoru offered to help him to bed. Pulling himself up with Kaoru’s help, Daichi stood, but immediately fell gently into Kaoru, wrapping his arms around the male’s smaller waist as he buried his face into Kaoru neck. He had ‘fallen’ on purpose, just looking for an excuse to hold the smaller male. But they didn’t stand there for very long. Soon, Kaoru was walking him towards the bedroom.

Daichi sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at his clothes. He must have left his jacket in Kyle’s car. He started to unbutton his vest, tossing the fabric to the floor before he started to unbutton his shirt, tossing it in the same manner. He slipped off his socks and with a bit of acrobatics, managed to get his pants off, tossing them to the floor as well. Now he was just in his boxer briefs, sitting on the edge of the bed. He put his hand to his head and paused, waiting for the spinning to subside before he moved again. “The beds cold…” he complained, turning his blue eyes up at Kaoru. He wasn’t embarrassed to be mostly naked, and at the moment couldn’t think about how his appearance might make Kaoru uncomfortable. Daichi reached out and grabbed Kaoru by the wrist, pulling him closer. He ignored any resistance the male might have given and simply wrapped his arms around Kaoru’s thighs, just above his knees, and rested his spinning head on the male’s hip. “You’re warm…” He said softly, closing is eyes with a soft sigh.

Daichi hummed softly, eyes closed, when he felt Kaoru’s hands in his hair, messaging his scalp. “That feels good…” he said softly, nuzzling his face against the side of Kaoru’s stomach. Even though Kaoru was thin, he was still comfortable. The drunken male simply nodded when Kaoru asked if he wanted to the male to come to bed with him. That would definitely make the bed warm up. But he didn’t move when Kaoru gestured for him to lay down. “But this is comfy…” he mumbled, hoping to keep the male there just a little longer. Moving would mean Kaoru would stop playing with his hair. And Daichi was quite enjoying himself. Kaoru started to push, and Daichi didn’t budge, which caused them both to lose their ground and tumble into the bed, Kaoru on top, in between Daichi’s legs. A bit confused, Daichi laid back, still holding Kaoru as the male blushed and tried to get off, which only made matters worse. Daichi heard what sounded like a moan and his blue eyes turned to studied Kaoru’s face. What he found there made him smile.

Quickly, and easily, Daichi flipped the two of them, rolling so that Kaoru was on his back on the bed, and Daich was hovering over him. His knees sat on either side of Kaoru’s hips, and his hands rested on either side of Kaoru’s head. Blue eyes studied for a moment before he leaned his weight onto one hand and lifted the other to brush a finger across Kaoru’s cheek. The male was still flushed. Daichi smiled softly as his fingers traveled Kaoru’s face, tow his ear, then down his chin, and finally tracing a soft line down Kaoru’s neck to his collar bone. “Cute…” Daichi whispered. It was the first thought that had come to his mind when he first saw Kaoru, and at the time he hadn’t been willing to say it out loud. Daichi was attracted to Kaoru, even if he tried to tell himself he wasn’t. And right now, it was taking considerable amount of strength not to lean in a kiss him. His fingers trailed back up and brushed against Kaoru’s lips, tracing them with a soft touch. "Can I kiss you?"

~Time skip?~

Daichi was still as he slept. But his mind was plagued with nightmares, unable to fall into a deep sleep due to the alcohol. The only indication he was dreaming was the slight tightening of his arms around Kaoru and the small furrow of his brows.

In the nightmare, Daichi was hugging someone. He was smiling. “I love you. He said, looking down at the faceless individual. “Do you love me?” The individual nodded its head. “Of course, I do.” Daichi smiled and leaned in to kiss the individual, who took a masculine form. The nightmare shifts. Daichi is pushing a door open, inside is a bed and two individuals under the covers, their actions obvious by the sounds they were making. “What’s going on here?” Daichi asked. He was feeling both fear and anger. Both individuals looked up, one female and the male from before. “I thought you loved me! How could you do this?” Daichi yelled. The male jumped out of bed. “How could I love someone like you!?! You never even took my feelings into consideration! I like women, unlike a weirdo like you! I was just forced into this relationship! I had no choice! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!” the individual morphed into Kaoru as those three words kept echoing in his head.

Daichi woke, slightly startled. He groaned and rolled onto his stomach, hiding his face into his pillow. The sun was pouring in through the window, so he was late to get up. His chest felt heavy, like his heart was broken. Stupid dream! Daichi did not love Kaoru… He wouldn’t fall in love with him… so the dream was pointless… maybe it was meant to be just a warning… He groaned again, now feeling the aftereffects of the alcohol, a headache. Stupid sunlight hurt… but some pain medication would make it go away… he just had to get up and get it. He sighed and rose up a bit, looking towards the bathroom. As he slipped the covers off him, he realized he was naked. He froze. ‘Why am I naked?’ His heart started to pound, his mind started to race… Last night… He had gone drinking with Kyle. He couldn’t remember coming home… he must have gotten drunk. “Gods… what did I do?” He said softly, frozen in his spot… he couldn’t get himself to turn around, just in case Kaoru was still in bed, naked as well…


(OOC:Short, sorry))

Daichi gathered enough courage to turn around and he was relieved to see the bed empty. But that relief was temporary. Did he take up the whole bed alone? In his drunken state did he force Kaoru to sleep on the couch or something? Or worse, maybe he forced Kaoru to sleep in the same bed as him, even though he was naked. Gods… he had to apologize to Kaoru, and confirm nothing else happened. Daichi was panicking again. What if more happen? What if he forced himself onto Kaoru? Poor Kaoru had been trained to ‘accept’ his husband… it wouldn’t surprise Daichi if he would just say yes to him, even if he really didn’t want it or like it… Had he raped Kaoru?

His heart sunk and he felt sick. His head ache wasn’t helping. He walked quickly to the bathroom and shut the door. He looked at himself in the mirror. He frowned and moved to the shower. He turned the water on, cold, and jumped in. he stood in the cold water for a few moments, letting the water run over his head and back. He didn’t move until he was shivering. His mind was still racing. Did I rape Kaoru? Did I force myself on him? Where was he? Living room? He couldn’t hear the piano… but that didn’t mean he wasn’t sitting in the living room somewhere. Daichi cursed under his breath. Maybe nothing happened. Maybe he just came home, stripped and passed out… But a gut feeling told Daichi that wasn’t the case. Kaoru wasn’t in bed with him when he woke because he was trying to distance himself… because Daichi had crossed the line last night… He needed to go apologize. Gods, his head hurt.

Daichi turned off the water and quickly dried off. He glared at himself in the mirror. He hated himself right now… thinking he forced himself on Kaoru. He didn’t even bother fully drying his hair. He slipped out of the bathroom and threw on a t-shirt and a pair of black sweat pants. He stepped out of the bedroom and looked around. The living room was quiet. He frowned and headed to the kitchen. He smelled food and found the plate Kaoru had made him. So Kaoru was here… where was he? Daichi left the kitchen and walked back into the living room. The piano was left untouched. That’s when something out on the balcony caught his attention. He frowned again, walking closer to get a better view through the blinds. Kaoru was kneeling, hands behind him, head down and his shoulder were shaking like he was crying. Why was he out there? Did-did Daichi lock him out on the balcony? He felt sick again.

He rushed to the door, but found it unlocked. What the hell was going on? He slide the door open. “Kaoru, what in the world are you doing out here?” he asked, praying he had nothing to do with Kaoru’s strange actions. He forced himself to look at Kaoru, though he was fearful that his worse imaginations were true. He knelt in front on Kaoru and reached up to brush his hand against the male’s cheek. But he stopped himself. Kaoru probably didn’t want him touching him. He dropped his hand back down to his leg. “Are you alright? Why are you crying? I didn't...Did I...” he asked, hoping, praying he hadn’t hurt Kaoru.

Daichi could breathe again when Kaoru answered him. So, he didn’t force himself on Kaoru… but why was Kaoru crying? Why was he out here on the balcony… leaning oddly against the railing? An answer to one question made two more arise. And a Kaoru’s breathing hitched and his head fell again, more questions than answers arose. Kaoru said it was him? So, they did…? Kaoru took advantage of Daichi? Couldn’t say no? Daichi knelt there, just blinking at the male as he continued and cried harder. He was in a bit of shock, too confused. He was trying to wrap his mind around what Kaoru was saying. So, he came home drunk, and Kaoru took advantage of his suggestible state, and they… what did they do exactly? Based off what Kaoru was saying and the fact he woke up naked, they did something sexual… but what exactly wasn’t clear.

But Daichi didn’t feel used… Daichi wouldn’t have done anything if he really didn’t want to… so subconsciously, he wanted to do those things with Kaoru… but he wasn’t going to admit that out loud. Daichi shook his head softly. “Kaoru… it’s okay… you’re not a monster… I… I’m sorry, but I don’t remember what happened last night… I- I don’t know how to forgive you… or apologize… for something I don’t remember…” he said, trying to calm the male, trying to explain that he wasn’t upset… he was upset with himself, sure... he couldn’t believe he was so weak!

However, Daichi’s words seemed to pass right over Kaoru. Kaoru started to plead, a similar plea he had heard before when he gave Kaoru the piano. Daichi felt his blood run cold. He had a feeling Kaoru was abused, but now it was apparent. Kaoru said don’t let HER hurt me. The only ‘Her’ he could think of was Kaoru’s mother. He frowned, clearly upset. How could a mother abuse her only son to this extent! Kaoru looked up at him and his eyes were all red from crying. He suddenly wanted to punch something. His chest constricted at the sight of those honey brown eyes so sad, so scared. But Daichi knew if he didn’t act, Kaoru would take his frown and his upset attitude wrong, thinking it was directed at him instead of for him.

He reached out and grabbed the back of Kaoru’s head. His other hand reached for Kaoru’s side and he pulled the male into him, away from the railing, halfway into his lap. He buried the male’s face into his upper chest gently. “Kaoru, stop… breath… I’m not going to hurt you. Like I said before, no one is going to punish you ever again.” He held the male firm, preventing any escape. “I’m not going to send you back… this is your home now…” He tried to soothe the male with his words. Hopefully this time they would reach Kaoru. “It’s okay, Kaoru… Just breath…”

Daichi wasn’t sure how long he held Kaoru like that. He gently messaged the base of Kaoru’s skull and just waited for the male to calm down, waited for his tears to subside. His wet hair made the outside air feel colder than it really was. And his head ache was relentless. But he ignored both of those complaints while he comforted Kaoru. After want seemed like forever, Daichi loosened his hold on the male. “Are you okay now?” he asked tentatively, afraid he would send the male into another crying fit. “Let’s go inside, have breakfast together…” he offered. He rose first after Kaoru slipped out of his lap. He held his hand out to help Kaoru up. He gestured for the male to step inside first and closed the balcony doors behind him.

It was warmer inside. Daichi stepped through the living room towards the kitchen but paused. “Sorry, Let me grab some Ibuprofens, I have a headache.” He said, changing his course to the bedroom. He walked into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. He grabbed two pills and popped them in his mouth, then used a handful of sink water to wash them down. He looked at himself in the mirror for a moment. Then sighed. What was he going to do? If they already… had sex… and if Kaoru wasn’t lying about coming on to him… then maybe they were combatable? Kaoru didn’t seem to hate the idea of being with a man… He sighed again and headed back to the living room. He needed food… then he needed to talk with Kaoru. Food first.