Only The Ring Finger Knows Fan Fiction ❯ Naked ❯ Affliction ( Chapter 1 )

Naked Sequel to:  “Affliction” Written by:chochowilliams Disclaimer:I do not own Only the Ring Finger Knowsor the characters from it.  I do not make any money from the writing of this story. Summary:  Once again, a growing conspiracy surrounds Wataru and Yuichi’s relationship.  Can they make it through this latest scheme unscathed? Chapter Summary:  Rings gone missing appear in the most unexpected places.  Just what is going on? Warning:M/M, OOC, hentai, implied self-mutilation Inserts:  “Naked” by Celine Dion, One Heart A/N:  Thank you to Imeghanx, alice22, hallas, XxwildflowerxX, Panicchannel, Kasumi Hayashibara, Uchiha Akane, drarythoughts for reviewing and to those who favored me and placed me on alert.  This is basically a reworking of “Affliction”, but with added scenes.  I went back over “Affliction” and realized how choppy it was.  I just was not satisfied with it.  So, I hope you enjoy “Affliction 2.0”!   +---+---+---+   Under this midnight sky With you here by my side There’s nothing that I could hide You know me better than anybody else   All of myself revealed There’s nothing I could conceal My soul is yours to steal Take me wherever you want to baby   -“Naked” by Celine Dion, One Heart   +---+---+   Chapter 1: Affliction   (Japan)   He held his left hand out in front of him.  Dark eyes wandered to the ring finger.  His bare ring finger.  The first thought that went through his head was, “Kazuki is going to kill me.”  There was no question about it.  After the debacle last year when Miho Ookusa stole Wataru’s ring in order to blackmail him into going out with her after she spied it on the floor of the boys’ locker-room, his one-year senior boyfriend Yuichi Kazuki made him promise that he would never ever lie to him again.  “No matter what happens, whether it gets broken or lost (1),” was what Yuichi said to him back then.  So, how was Wataru supposed to explain this?  That it was happening again?  He guessed the saying was true.  History did indeed repeat itself.   I’m sorry, Kazuki, Wataru thought feeling miserable as he felt a terrible ache in his chest.   +---+---+   (United States – Same Time)   The needle-like spray pounded over him.  Steam filled the small bathroom, fogging up the mirror and creating a makeshift sauna.  It was becoming a little too suffocating, but Yuichi made no move to adjust the temperature of the water showering down around him.  Instead, he stared blankly down at his feet.  His olive complexion was a stark contrast against the sterile whiteness of the bathtub.   Why had he allowed Wataru to talk him into flying halfway around the world?  What did he think he was doing here with his ex-girlfriend when he could be back home in Japan holding and kissing and loving Wataru?   No, he knew why.   When Mizuho and he broke up, their relationship had ended on an ambiguous note.  He came here with the explicit purpose of straightening things out between the two of them.  It was unclear to him how she felt about him after all of these years.  But the fact of the matter was, he had moved on and he had to make that clear to her.  It was not fair to either her or Wataru for these questions to remain unanswered for very much longer.  Yes, he still harbored some feelings for her.  He might even love her on some level.  Nothing would ever change that.  She had been his first crush.  His first love.  What they had together would be with him until the day he died.  But he was no longer in love with her.  He had to make that distinction clear to all parties involved.  The last thing he wanted, or needed, was for Mizuho to get the wrong idea.  Leading her on would, in the end, cause more harm than good.   As he thought back over the course of their relationship, Yuichi had to question whether or not what he felt for her back then had actually been love.  At the time, that was exactly what he thought those feelings were.  You loved the person you were dating.  It was as simple as that.  You could not not love them.  Otherwise, what was the point of announcing that the two of you were “going out”?  That was what he had naively believed back then.  And of course, if your parents were against the relationship, that was all the more reason for you to continue to see that person.  Just to spite them.  Because Yuichi had been so tragically young and stupidly naïve, he had believed he had been in love with Mizuho.  That what the two of them had was the kind of undying love that would withstand the test of time.  He had known beyond a shadow of a doubt that they would be together forever and ever and ever.   But really, what did a child know of love?  Or the world for that matter?  Nothing.  When you were that age, you were absolutely convinced that wrongs committed against you completely ruined your life.  Everything meant the end of the world.  You thought you knew better.  Adults did not understand what it meant to be young.  But it was exactly that mindset that caused there to be an age of consent.  Children were too stupid for their own good.  Whether they wanted to admit it or not.  And he had been no different.   It was only when he met Wataru that he came to realize how mistaken he had been.  Yuichi was lost from the moment he first saw Wataru smile.  It was only then that he really began to understand what love really was.   He did not care what people thought.  Not his brother.  Not his parents.  Not Wataru’s parents.  Not Masanobu Asaka.  Not society.  Not anybody.  Yes, he desperately wanted his big brother’s approval.  He wanted Shohei to give Wataru and him his blessing, but when it came down to it, this was his life and he was going to live it the way he wanted.  What was the point of living his life to please others?  Would that make him happy?  Yes, if that person was Wataru, who just happened to be the only person in his life with any real importance.  That was all there was to it.  He was in love with Wataru Fujii and planned to spend the rest of his life with the boy whether the people around them liked it or not.  He felt his heart soar at the thought.   Yuichi knew it was unfair to both Mizuho and Wataru to compare the two of them, but it did make Yuichi realize that hearing Wataru say…   “Kazuki, we’re through!  I never want to see you again!  My ring is gone too, so everything works out!  (2)”   …and knowing that he had hurt the one he loved more than anyone else in the world with those callous words of his back then had been the worst feeling in the world.  Knowing that he had lost Wataru just after he had finally been able to hold him in his arms and kiss those lips that had formed that smile that had caused him to fall in love with him in the first place…   To never be able to fall asleep at night with Wataru in his arms, or wake up in the morning and see Wataru sleeping peacefully besides him and knowing that he was his…   To never again be able to wrap Wataru in his arms and hold him close…   To never again hear Wataru moan in pleasure and writhe upon the bed in ecstasy beneath him…   To never again see those marques of ownership he had “accidentally” placed upon Wataru’s body in the most conspicuous places…   To never again touch Wataru or see that beautiful smile of his…   Just to know that Wataru might hate him or might never want to see him again, was enough to send him into a panic.  That was something he never wanted to go through.  Never again.    It was funny.  After the break up with Mizuho, truthfully, he had cried, but the tears had not lasted for very long and he had been able to continue on with his life without her as if she had never been apart of it.  It sounded cold to put it like that, but it was the truth.  But with Wataru…   One did not need to be a decomposing corpse buried in the ground or ashes in an urn to be dead.  Yuichi did not like the idea of hurting Mizuho, but he hated the idea of hurting Wataru even more.   An image of Wataru flashed through his mind.  He missed Wataru terribly and it had only been a week since he flew out of Narita.  God, was he pathetic or what?  No, he corrected himself.  He was just in love.   He lifted his left hand up and gazed lovingly at the bare spot where his ring usually sat.  Wataru’s ring was just a cheap piece of costume jewelry that turned his finger green, especially when it got wet.  So, Yuichi had gotten into the habit of taking it off when he was either washing his hands or taking a shower.  Much like Wataru had before they exchanged rings.  Essentially the ring was nothing more than a cheap piece of crap, but it was a symbol from his beloved and that made all the difference.  He could not wait to get back home to Wataru.   A creaking that sounded like a gunshot in the still silence of the bathroom jerked Yuichi out of his thoughts.  He whipped his head around.  Pushing aside the shower curtain, he gazed through the steam-filled room and gazed around.  Nothing.  He scolded himself for jumping at shadows.  But just in case, he called out.  “Hello?  Who’s there?  Mizuho?”  Nothing.  Just like he thought.  Mizuho’s house had been built some time in the early part of the eighteenth century.  Old houses like these were prone to more problems then they were worth.  He retreated back to the warmth of his shower.   Quickly finishing his shower, Yuichi stepped out onto the towel he had laid on the floor before his shower and reached for the towel Mizuho had provided for him that was resting on the shelving unit.  He dried himself off and rubbed the terry cloth over his head.  He gave his head a quick shake.  Securing the towel around his waist, he went to the sink and reached for his bag of toiletries, but his hand paused in mid-air as his gaze swept over the glass shelf that was beneath the mirror above the sink.  He frowned.  He could have sworn…   Yuichi gave the bathroom a quick once over, but it was a futile maneuver.  It was nowhere in sight.  His ring was gone.   +---+---+   He was in such a panic that he was not concerned in the least the state of his dress (or undress as the case may be).  He tore the guest room apart in his blind haste.  In the end, the room appeared as if a tornado had blown through it and he had still not found his ring.  He tore at his hair and felt like crying.    This could not be happening!   At his wits end, Yuichi slumped onto the foot of the bed and dropped his face in his hands.  He knew it was pointless to be so worked up over something as trivial as a ring.  Something like that should not dictate his and Wataru’s relationship.  He knew that.  He himself had said as much to Wataru once before.  But he could not help it.  The ring was more than just a cheap piece of metal that turned his finger colors.  It was his promise.  A pledge they made to one another back in Naha.  With the ring suddenly and inexplicably missing, Yuichi felt an ache tighten his chest.  It was as if a part of him had vanished along with it.  It was a feeling he did not much care for.   Startled, Yuichi lifted his head when a soft knock sounded on the bedroom door.   “Yuichi?” called a gentle sounding female voice from the other side.  “Is everything okay in there?”   Mizuho.   +---+---+   The door creaked open and Yuichi appeared before her clad only in a navy blue bathrobe that hit him just below the knees.  It had been a Christmas present from Wataru.   Mizuho blushed hotly at the sight of her ex-boyfriend standing practically naked before her.  She thought he looked amazing in that color.   “Shouldn’t you be resting?” Yuichi inquired of her, not noticing her reaction to his present state.  He had been able to compose himself before answering the door.  The last thing he wanted to do was compound her problems with his own.   Her surgery was not for a few more days, but she was supposed to check into the hospital later tonight.  In the meantime, she was supposed to be taking it easy.  She was not supposed to over exert herself.  “Supposed to be”, being the keywords.  But Mizuho being Mizuho, she had always been an active person.  Until she became sick, that was.  So sitting around doing nothing was just not in her repertoire.  She was one of the most impatient people Yuichi had ever met.   Mizuho’s blush deepened.  “Oh, I’m fine,” she exclaimed happily, brushing aside his concerns.  “No worries.”   Yuichi nodded slowly.  He did not believe her as far as he could throw her, but he said nothing.  Not only was she impatient, but she was also stubborn.  “That’s good.  We wouldn’t want you collapsing or anything.”   It felt like her face was on fire!  “Would you catch me if I did?” she teased lightly.   “Of course,” Yuichi said seriously.  It being the middle of winter, the last thing Mizuho needed was to catch a cold from lying on the cold floor.  Or she could break something in the fall.  Mizuho certainly did not need any more complications.  He caught sight of the alarm clock by the bed in Mizuho’s room that was kiddy corner to his own.  Her parents were flying in this afternoon and he had agreed to go and pick them up from the airport.  “I better go get dressed if I’m going to go pick up your parents.”   “What?  Oh!  Yeah.  Right.”  Her face fell.   Yuichi started to turn away, but halted as he thought about his ring and called over his shoulder, “By the way.”   Mizuho looked back hopefully.   “You haven’t seen my ring, by chance, have you?” Yuichi inquired.  He stared down at his bare ring finger and missed the look that flittered briefly across her face   “Your ring?”   “Yeah.  I’m sure I left it on the shelf in the bathroom while I was showering, but now it’s gone,” he explained.  Yuichi could not completely erase the pain and rising depression he felt at its absence from his voice.   “Well, I’m sure it’ll show up around here somewhere,” she laughed uneasily as she played with the hem of her shirt.  Unable to look him in the eye, Mizuho’s gaze wondered off somewhere to the left.  “It just did not sprout legs and walk off, right?”   Yuichi nodded solemnly.   +---+---+   Yuichi shut the door quietly behind him.  With one hand on his hip, he sighed and raked his fingers through his damp locks as his gaze scanned the room.  If Mizuho had not seen his ring, then what happened to it?   +---+---+   (Japan –A Week Later)   With his hands laced together behind his head and his ankles crossed, Wataru stared up at the ceiling from his horizontal position on his bed.  He fought to keep his mind blank as he waged war against the turmoil of emotions and thoughts that were threatening to overwhelm him.  Yuichi was still in America.  He was supposed to have been gone for only a week.  But here it was week two and he was still MIA.  Flipping onto his side, Wataru curled into a fetal position as the first tear slid down his face.  It vanished within the folds of his pillow.  He knew, once again, the reason for his depression was his own fault.  It was he who told Yuichi to go and be with his sick ex-girlfriend while she underwent surgery.  But now…   Wataru shook those thoughts aside before they fully formed.    No, Yuichi would be back.  He had obligations not only with the Renovation Research Society that he has been working with for the past year under the leadership of Masanobu Asaka, but also at the café where he worked part time.  Not to mention classes were starting back up pretty soon.   Not to mention, this past summer while they vacationed in Naha, Yuichi had asked Wataru to move in with him this spring so that they could have more time together.  That was something Wataru had been looking forward to ever since.  To tell the truth, he was extremely nervous.  It was a huge step.  Up until now, he has spent not only practically every weekend, but also almost every free moment he had at Yuichi’s apartment.  It had become his home away from home.  Until couples like them were given more rights, living together was probably the closest Wataru could come to actually being married to Yuichi.  Wataru felt his face flush hotly at that thought.  Ultimately, instead of promising eternity to each other at the start, Wataru would rather arrive at eternity in the end with Yuichi (3).  What would it be like to grow old with Yuichi?  To have a family?  To have what his parents have together?   Maybe there were some unforeseen complications.  It happened.   Then his thoughts turned darker.   Could it be that Yuichi discovered that he still had feelings for his ex?  To fall in love is quick.  But to get over that love took what seemed like a lifetime.  It just was not fair (4).  He knew that from experience.  Last year Shohei “let it slip” that Wataru resembled Yuichi’s ex-girlfriend quite a bit.  Was that why Yuichi fell in love with him in the first place?  Because the smile that he loved so much reminded him of her?  He had to admit that when he suggested that Yuichi go and be with his ex-girlfriend during this difficult time, he had actually been hoping that Yuichi would…kindly…reject her.  But instead…   What did it mean when your boyfriend would rather spend his winter break with his ex then with you?  Wataru could tell himself over and over and over again that, it did not mean anything.  She was sick after all.  He tried to tell himself that Yuichi loved him and not her.  The proof to that was that it was his ring Yuichi wore.  It was with him that Yuichi wanted to build a future.  It was to him that Yuichi had pledged and promised himself.  But, if that were the truth, then what was this heavy feeling?   “Wataru!”   Startled out of his thoughts, Wataru turned the upper half of his body towards the door.   The door creaked open and Karin’s head popped into view.   Wataru hurriedly scrubbed at his face, but not before Karin noticed the tears.  She said nothing as she pushed open the door and hopped into her brother’s room.   “Uhm, you, uh, got a letter, Wataru,” she said softly.  From behind her back, she produced a white business envelope.  “It’s from Kazuki.”   “From…Kazuki?”   Karin nodded.   Wataru scrambled off the bed and snatched the letter from her.  There printed clearly on the front of the envelope was his name and address.  It looked like Yuichi’s handwriting.  He flipped over the envelope.  Printed at the bottom was Yuichi’s name.  His heart started pounding in anticipation.  Licking lips gone dry, Wataru wiggled his finger under the flap.  Ripping the top of the envelope open, Wataru reached inside with a trembling hand.  His mind swirled with confusion when his fingers hit something small, round and hard.  Pulling out his hand, he slowly uncurled his fingers.   “Oh!  Wataru,” Karin cried.  “Is that…?”   It was.  Lying in his palm was a silver ring with a thin gold band.  It was Yuichi’s ring.  The one that had at one time belonged to Wataru.  The twin to the one Masanobu had stolen from him weeks before.   Fear and confusion stole Wataru’s breath and stilled his heart.  His vision blurred and then doubled behind a veil of tears.   Kazuki…Why?   The ring that held so many promises tumbled out of Wataru’s hand and clattered to the floor where it rolled across the floor and vanished among the mountain of clothes that Wataru had yet to put away.   +---+---+   (United States – A Week Later)   Yuichi sighed as he trooped wearily up the front steps to the door to the townhouse Mizuho rented.  The keys jangled in his hands musically.   It was supposed to have been just another routine surgery.  He should have been back home with Wataru by now.  But unfortunately, there had been some sort of complication.  He would have said “unforeseen”, but apparently, Mizuho’s parents and the doctors had indeed anticipated this.  They had known that it might happen.  And it was something they seemed to have conveniently forgotten to mention to him.  So now, his departure had been delayed.  He did not want to leave until he was able to speak with Mizuho properly and straighten things out with her, but she was just not strong enough yet.  He could not even remember what it was they said the problem was.  It had been obscured behind medical terminology.  Even after it had been explained in laymen’s terms, he still had been at a loss as to what was wrong.  Or maybe it was just that he did not care.  He knew how that sounded and truthfully, he was just too tired to worry about such things.  Ever since he arrived two weeks ago, it had been one thing after another.   And to top it all off, he still had not found his ring.  If he did not know any better, he would swear that Fate was working against him.   Unlocking the front door, he entered the house and shut the door behind him.  He made sure to lock it behind him.  Mizuho was being kept at the hospital for an unspecified amount of time for observation and her parents were staying at a hotel near the hospital to be close to their daughter, which left him alone in the house.  For that, he was grateful.  He needed some breathing room.  If it was not Mizuho’s parents acting as if he was already their son-in-law, it was the nurses who seemed to forget that Mizuho was the patient and not him.  Maybe Wataru and he could move to Antarctica, or something.  Some place where it could be just the two of them.   He removed his gloves, hat and scarf and stuffed them into his coat, which he hung up in the hall closet and then he took off his boots and set them neatly by the front door.  It was only then that he noticed the pile of mail scattered across the foyer floor.   As he picked up the mail, he noticed a white business sized envelope that had his name scrawled across it in bold, neat Romanji script mixed in with the others.  Flipping the envelope over, he noticed the name at the bottom.  Yuichi’s eyes widened in surprise.   “Wataru.”   Not even stopping to wonder where Wataru had gotten Mizuho’s address from or that the handwriting looked remarkably nothing like Wataru’s, Yuichi tore the envelope open, too eager to hear some word from his lover.  As he reached inside and pulled out a white sheet of paper, something slipped out from the pocket the folded sheet of paper created.  It fell to the floor with a metallic sounding plunk.  Bending, he picked it up and held it to the light.   His mind went blank with shock as he realized what it was that he was looking at.  “What?  What in the…?”  It was his ring.  The one he had Touko create for him.  The one he had given to Wataru.   He felt numb.  When a wave of dizziness swept over him, he sagged against the front door.  What was going on?   +---+---+   He was not sure how long he stayed like that; crumbled on the floor like a whipped dog fearing another beating from its master and with a draft seeping in from under the door at his back.  It wrapped its arms around him, sucking what little warmth there was out of him.  It could have been seconds, minutes or possibly even hours as he sat there in his stupor when something caught his eye.  Still reeling from the shock of finding the ring he had given to Wataru practically on his doorstep, it took Yuichi several long minutes until his mind was able process what his eyes were seeing.  Finally, almost lethargically, he unfurled himself and reached out for the object with barely a thought and even less interest, but when he came to the realization that it was the sheet of paper that had encapsulated the ring, his ring, Wataru’s ring, it was as if he were awakening from a long dream.  His heart was suddenly beating an unsteady, frantic rhythm within his chest.  A fine trembling shook his hands.  Unable to catch his breath, Yuichi unfolded the sheet of paper slowly and carefully and then brought it up, dreading and at the same time wishing for some sort of explanation to this sudden turn of events.   The first time he read the letter, he could not seem to make any sense of the characters scrolled across the page.  He felt like a Westerner looking at Asian characters for the very first time.   The entire page was full of illegible squiggles that any four year old could imitate and claim was a proclamation of their feelings for you.   The second time, he was able to recognize that the characters were forming words and sentences.   The third time, he realized that it was a letter addressed to him from Wataru.   The forth time…it hit him hard and fast…it was a letter informing Yuichi in an unusual un-Wataru-like, business-like fashion that, essentially, his services were no longer needed.  Yuichi had to force himself to read the letter a fifth time to clearly understand that Wataru had broken up with him.   The piece of paper shook in his white knuckled grip.   A deep scowl crossed his face.  If this was supposed to be a joke, it was not funny.   +---+---+   (Fujii Residence)   He felt as if he were dreaming.  It had to be a dream or some sort of hallucination.  An illusion?  Maybe brought on by a drug of some sort being slipped into his food or his drink.  That iced coffee he had the other week had tasted kind of strange.  After all, what other explanation could there be?  That piece of mail he received from Yuichi, who Karin jokingly referred to as her big brother’s “husband”, could not have contained the ring.  His ring.  Yuichi’s ring.  It was impossible.   Lounging in the window seat that overlooked the backyard amidst a bed of brightly colored throw pillows, a stray tear trickled down Wataru’s cheek unnoticed.  Subconsciously, the middle and index fingers of his right hand massaged what had once been white gauze that was wrapped tightly around his left wrist.   A thought flittered through his mind briefly.  Kazuki is going to kill me when he finds out.  But Wataru shook that thought aside before it was fully formed with a laugh that sounded anything but happy.  What would Yuichi care what happened to him now?  That ex-girlfriend of his was obviously more precious to him than he ever was or ever could be.  His grip tightened around his wrist as a sharp ache gripped his heart.   If Kawamura saw him like this, his best friend would be the first to scold him and tell him he was being ridiculous, making such a big deal out of something like being dumped.  It happened all the time.  Nothing lasted forever, but for someone like Kawamura, who had always been on the outside looking in and who did not know the first thing about the relationship between Yuichi and Wataru, Wataru knew he had only himself and Yuichi to blame for his best friend’s lack of sympathy, especially considering that his friend had been through the ups and downs right alongside them from the very beginning.  But despite that, it was not as if Yuichi and he had been entirely open to those around them about their relationship, not even to those few people who did know about their love affair.  It also did not help that Kawamura had never been in a serious relationship in his life so of course he would not understand what it was like to break up with someone who you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was your soul mate.  It was the worst feeling in the world.   There was a piercing pain that jolted down the length of his arm that emanated from his wrist, but Wataru did not so much as twitch.  When he felt something tickling down the underside of his arm, Wataru shifted his gaze downward.  Maybe it would have been better had he never realized his feelings ran as deeply as they did for his Sempei, he thought, feeling strangely detached from the trail of blood that was slowly making its way down his arm.   +---+---+   (United States)   Anger like never felt before exploded within him.   Oh, no.  No way in bloody hell was he going to allow things to end like this.  He was not going to go quietly into that silent good night.  This ended.  Right here.  Right now.  One way or another.  He was going to get an explanation about this from Wataru, whether he had to pull one out of the boy by force.  If his koi wanted to end things between them then Wataru sure as hell better have the guts to do it in a face-to-face meeting.  How cowardly to break up in a letter (or by text message) with no reasoning, no explanation, no nothing and all without giving Yuichi a chance at a rebuttal.  Didn’t all Defendants have the right to face their accusers?  No matter what Wataru may be thinking, or not thinking, he belonged to him.  Completely.  Totally.  Now and forever.  Wataru was crazy if he believed that this would be the end.   As Yuichi fisted his hands into balls of fury, the paper he had forgotten he was still holding crumbled within his grip.   With an air of rage about him, Yuichi marched across the foyer, passing the sitting rooms located on either side of the entrance and the gleaming spiral mahogany staircase.  Down the wood paneled hallway, passing a half-bath, the study and a another room that had at one time been known as the “smoking room” until he reached the formal dining room.  He skirted the long table that he guessed by its appearance had not been used more than a handful of times in its entire existence.  Pushing through the swinging door, he stepped into the kitchen and veered straight for the telephone.  Picking up the receiver, his fingers danced over the buttons.  Then he waited as it rang and rang and rang.  He drilled his fingers against the granite countertop impatiently.   +---+---+   (Fujii Residence)   Wataru was not sure what surprised him more; that his cellphone was still working– seeing as he has not charged it in the last two weeks, that he answered it or that the person shouting at him over the line, was the one person he had never expected to hear from.  “Ka…zu…ki,” he stuttered as a droplet of blood dripped from his elbow and onto the carpet.   +---+---+   (Half an Hour Later)   Thirty minutes later found Wataru on his hands and knees frantically tearing his room apart as tears coursed down his face.  Where is it?  Where is it?  Where is it?   “You’d better start explaining yourself Wataru Fujii,”Yuichi had demanded.   At first, Wataru had been too shocked at the sound of his now ex-beloved’s voice over the static-y line to reply or to even completely understand what it was that Yuichi was saying, but he his stunned stupor had quickly changed into anger.  How dare Yuichi accuse him like this?  As if he was the one at fault?  He will be the first to admit that there had been a time or two where Yuichi’s anger towards him had been warranted, but not this time.  This time, he was the victim.  “Me?  What about you?  I think it’s you who has some explaining he has to do Yuichi Kazuki.”   His sudden anger seemed to throw Yuichi off balance momentarily, but he soon regained his momentum.   “I’m gone for a couple of weeks and get something like this in the mail,” there was a sound a rustling paper over the line, “and I am the one who has to start explaining himself?”   Wataru’s anger had diminished slightly then.  “Something like what?  Kazuki, what’s going on?”   He knew it must have been a misunderstanding.  He knew it.  He knew it!  There was no way that Yuichi would make all those promises and then break them just because of some chick.  Yuichi was better than that, even if he acted like an immature child at times and tended to let his jealousy get the better of him.   Crawling out from under his bed covered in dust, Wataru clawed at his hair in growing frustration.  Dammit!  He knew it was around here somewhere.  It had to be.  On the verge of hysteria, his dark hazel eyes scanned his bedroom.  It appeared as if a typhoon had hit it.  His mattress and bedding were askew.  His school bag that was sitting in the corner had been left open and his school supplies were leaking out of it.  Various other books and papers littered the floor.  Clothes had been tossed haphazardly in every which direction as if his dresser had exploded…   That was when it hit him.   His eyes wide in realization, Wataru skittered across the room on his hands and knees towards his desk that was hidden somewhere beneath the mountain of junk littering it.  He dug ferociously into the pile of clothes that he had as of yet to put away, tossing each piece of clothing over his shoulder without a second thought and that was where he found it.  Buried at the bottom of the clothes pile underneath a pair of jeans was his ring.   Wataru breathed a sigh of relief.  Clutching the ring to his chest, he bowed his head and said a silent prayer as a smile graced his face, chasing away the dark shadows that lingered there for the past two weeks.   +---+---+   (United States )   Yuichi glanced around one last time to make sure he had not forgotten anything.  After he was positive he had everything, he shut his suitcase and zippered it closed.  Grabbing the handle, he hefted the heavy black monstrosity off the bed and wheeled it behind him as he made his way to the bedroom door.   As he stepped out into the hallway and shut the door behind him, Yuichi glanced over his shoulder into the guest room one last time.   He did not want to believe that Mizuho had something to do with his missing ring that had somehow ended up showing up in Japan.  She was much too smart to do something so stupid.  No, he smelled a rat and its name was Shohei Kazuki.  If his brother was indeed behind this and had gotten not only Masanobu, but also Mizuho involved in this latest scheme of his, Yuichi knew that there was no going back.  This time, Shohei had gone too far.   +---+---+   (Later That Evening – Fujii Residence)   With an armload of groceries and her house keys clenched between her teeth, Karin fumbled with her shoes as the shrill ringing of the phone sounded through the silence of the house.   Their parents were working late again tonight just as they did almost every night.  So once again, it was up to her to make dinner.   Finally managing to struggle off her shoes, Karin raced through the house to the phone extension located in the kitchen.  She dumped the grocery bags on the counter, plucked her keys out of her mouth and grabbed the phone in mid-ring.  “Hello,” she said breathlessly.   “Karin?”   Karin sighed heavily in relief at the familiar voice.  “Touko.”  The owner of Parfait, the jewelry shop that specialized in custom-made jewelry where she worked part-time as an apprentice, had been at a convention for the last week.   “Hey!  How were things while I was gone?  I miss anything?”   “You mean other than Kazuki and Wataru breaking up?”   “What?!” came the explosive response.   +---+---+   “Mm.  That doesn’t sound like Yuichi at all,” Touko commented after Karin ran through a summary of what has been going on since she left.   “Yeah, I know!  That’s what I said, but he won’t listen…I’m really starting to worry about him, Touko,” Karin whispered softly over the phone.  She pushed open the swinging door and gazed down the short hallway where she could just made out the staircase.   “…Are you sure it was his ring?”   “Unfortunately,” Karin sighed.  She let the door go and watched as it swung back and forth, each swing slower than the last.  “I recognized it immediately.”   “Hm.”   Something occurred to Karin then.  “…You don’t think…?”  Her heart started pounding in her chest.   “…”   “Touko?”   “Huh?  Oh.  Uh, no.  No, of course not!  I don’t know anyone who would do something so selfish or callous.”   Karin did.  She remembered all too well what Mai Tachibana and her two cronies did to her at this past October’s Ryokuyo Fest at her brother’s school when they thought that she was Yuichi’s girlfriend.  Mai was so in love with Yuichi that she had been willing to do anything to get her out of the way.  But such a selfish act did not constitute love.  Love is what Yuichi and Wataru shared.  What all those girls felt was nothing more than a simple crush.  Or in Mai’s case, an unhealthy obsession.  But after being confronted yet again by Yuichi, Mai finally took the hint and backed off.   So, if she was not behind this plot, then what was going on?  None of this made any sense!  Wataru had confessed to her this past summer that Yuichi had asked him to move in with him come spring.  If that did not mean that Yuichi Kazuki was one-step closer to officially becoming her brother-in-law, then she was a monkey’s uncle.  Why would he do that if he were going to pull something like this?   Aah!  She was so confused.   “…What am I supposed to say to him?”  Karin was not sure there was anything she could say and that hurt more than anything else did.  “And what about our parents?”  She sighed.  “I mean, I told them that he had been seeing someone recently, but that they broke up.”  They seemed satisfied with that answer at first, but then as Wataru continued to remain listless and withdrawn, they were beginning to become increasingly concerned.  Not that she blamed them one bit, but what was she supposed to tell them when they asked her?  “I hate lying to them…”   “…but it is not your place to tell your parents your brother’s secret.”   “Right,” Karin sighed.  She had never felt so helpless or conflicted before.  It felt like she was caught between the devil and the great blue sea.   “I think the only thing you can do is be there for him.  Lend him an ear and a shoulder…but there may come a time when you have to break his confidence and tell your parents everything.”   That was what she was afraid of.   “I’m sure Wataru will understand.”   A series of sharp raps on the front door resounded through the still house.   “Oh!  Touko, I gotta go.  There’s someone at the door.”   “Okay.  Call me if you need anything, alright?”   “I will.  And thanks.”   “You’re welcome.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”   “Yeah.  Bye.”  Karin hung up the phone and sprinted through the house.  She unlocked the door and flung it open.  She was stunned to a standstill.  Her smile wilted.  “K-Ka…zuki?”   +---+---+   (Parfait)   She stared blankly down at the twin rings lying upon the blue velvet cloth.  They twinkled in the light shinning down from above.  The tinkling of bells shook Touko from her thoughts.  “Good evening,” she greeted the trio of giggling females.   The teenagers bowed in greeting.   “If you need anything, feel free to ask.”   Huddled together, the girls veered straight towards the selection of rings that were on a display shelf on the far wall.   Touko’s forehead creased in thought.  If what Wataru received a week ago was really his ring that he exchanged with Yuichi and not a forgery, then there were two explanations.  One, Yuichi had indeed decided to break up with the boy, which was as ridiculous as believing that the Titanic was unsinkable.  Two…It was something she refused to believe, something she did not want to believe, but it really was the only explanation.   A surge of anger rushed through her.  Her hand clenched into a fisted hand.   She had stayed silent for far too long, hoping against hope that her dear cousin would grow up and act like the mature adult he pretended to be and not the closed-minded bigot that he was portraying.  It was about time she paid Shohei Kazuki a long overdue visit.   +---+---+   (Fujii Residence)   She scolded herself as soon as his name flowed passed her lips.  What was she thinking?  This guy was not Yuichi.  Though he certainly resembled Yuichi quite a bit in passing, she could tell immediately on closer inspection that their mannerisms, the way they held themselves and even their auras were completely different.   The man grinned at her in amusement.  “It seems I have the right house.”   Karin studied the man warily.   “I’m a friend of Wataru’s,” Masanobu explained into the silence.   “Oh,” Karin exclaimed.  Now she remembered.  This was the guy from the auction.  The one who auctioned off his jacket or something after Yuichi never showed.  What was his name again?   “And you must be…Karin?” Masanobu guessed.  It was easy to tell.  Wataru and his sister really did look alike.  It was uncanny.  He had seen her at the auction with Touko, but had not gotten a chance to speak with her.   Karin looked surprised.   “Wataru talks about you all the time.”   “Oh!”   “Is he in?”   “Yes, of course.  Come in.”  She stepped aside to allow the man to enter.  Then shut the door behind him.  Folding her legs beneath her, she knelt on the floor before him and set a pair of house slippers before him.   Masanobu exchanged his sneakers for the slippers.   “May I ask a favor of you?” Karin asked the man.   “Of course.”   Karin placed his sneakers neatly besides the others lining the wall.  “Do you think you could talk to my brother?”   “Certainly.  About anything specific?”   Clasping her hands between her knees, she stared at the floor dejectedly.  “He recently broke up with his lover and he’s taking it pretty hard.”  To say the least.  She was not sure their parents realized to the extent that this break up was affecting Wataru.  For that matter, she was not sure she did either.   It broke her heart to see her brother nowadays.  Karin was not sure when or even if he slept for every time she saw him, he was sitting at the bay window in his room that overlooked the backyard staring out the window with a pained expression on his face.  There were dark circles under his eyes indicating a lack thereof or a troubled sleep.  His face was dangerously pale.  Wataru had always been a little on the lean side, but he was slowly becoming almost emaciated for he refused to eat.  Though she never witnessed it first hand, it was evident that Wataru spent most of the day and night crying.  He has also not said a single word since he received Kazuki’s ring in the mail.   If it were anyone else, Karin would say that he was blowing this whole break up thing way out of proportion.  She would tell him that it was not the end of the world.  There were other fish in the sea.  High school romances usually did not last anyway.  Blah.  Blah.  Blah.  But it was not anyone else.  It was Wataru and Yuichi.  Something like this just did not happen all of a sudden.  It may be in hindsight, but there were always indicators or signs, but there had been none.  No, she refused to believe it.  Yuichi loved her brother and her brother loved Yuichi.  There were no ifs, ands or buts about it.  Something was off about this whole situation.   Masanobu smiled softly in understanding, as he remembered all too clearly the months, no years, after his relationship broke apart.  He had only started to get over not only the break up, but also her death that faithful day he met Wataru.  For that, he would forever be thankful to him.   “Ya know, he broke up with his lover once before?” Karin’s soft voice broke into his thoughts.   “Really?”  That surprised him.  He did not remember hearing anything like that and he was sure he would have.   “Actually, it was before they started going out,” she clarified.  “They had a huge argument…”   Masanobu had been witness to a few of Yuichi and Wataru’s fights.  It had been a surprise at first.  To think that someone like Wataru who seemed to be too much in love with his boyfriend that he would submissively do whatever he was told by said boyfriend would have enough backbone to yell at him for having a “nasty personality”.  But no matter how many mean, spiteful or demeaning words were exchanged between the two, no matter how brash Yuichi was towards Wataru, Wataru remained faithfully by Yuichi’s side.  And to think that Yuichi would go over a line that Masanobu had not realized even existed was something he found hard to believe.   They had the kind of relationship that he envied.   “I’m not sure what they were fighting about, but my brother, Wataru, really…he looked like Death itself.”  Karin was not sure how else to explain it.   That did not surprise Masanobu.  For someone like Wataru who was so attached, so apparently dependent on his partner, having their relationship come to an end would probably be kin to his life coming to an end.  You do not have to literally be a decomposing corpse in the ground or a pile of ashes in an urn for a breakup to kill you.   And that was why he had warned Wataru against loving Yuichi too much.  He thought his worries had been unwarranted when he had witnessed the usually docile Wataru stand up to Yuichi.  But now, hearing this, he was not so sure anymore.   If Wataru had “looked like Death itself” over an argument with Yuichi before they were even officially together, then just how bad was he taking this break up now that Yuichi and he had confessed their feelings for each other?   “But after they made up and starting going out…I have never seen my brother so happy.”   Masanobu studied Karin’s face.  It was alive with color.  His heart pained him when he looked at her happy face.  “I’ll do what I can,” he told Karin.   Karin smiled gratefully up at him.  “Thank you.”   +---+---+   Karin watched as her brother’s friend lumbered slowly up the staircase to her brother’s room before making her way to the kitchen.  He appeared to be deeply troubled about something.   +---+---+   Masanobu was indeed lost in thought as he climbed the staircase.  What Karin said kept repeating itself over and over in his head.  He could not stop himself from wondering if maybe they had gone a little too far this time.  He did indeed want to snatch Wataru from Yuichi.  He wanted the boy for himself, but at what cost?  Would he really do whatever it took?   That was the question.  Would he still feel pleased that he had been able to best his enemy five years from now, ten, when even though it was him making love to Wataru, it was “him” that Wataru was thinking of?  Because Masanobu had no doubt that that was how things would turn out if he won this battle of wills.  Would he be able to live with winning Wataru only physically?   At the head of the stairs, Masanobu turned to the door on his immediate right.  He paused and listened briefly.  Nothing, but that was to be expected after what he learned from Wataru’s sister.  Masanobu knocked lightly on Wataru’s bedroom door.  No answer.  Again, he had expected as much.  He knocked again and this time called Wataru’s name softly.  Again nothing.  He tried the doorknob.  To his surprise, the door was unlocked.  He twisted the brass knob and pushed open the door gently.  “Wataru,” he called softly as he stuck his head into the room.  He frowned.  Throwing the door open wider, he stepped inside the bedroom and gave it a quick once over.  “Wataru?”  But Wataru was gone.   +---+---+   As she unpacked the green cloth grocery bags, something out of the corner of her eye caught Karin’s attention.  She wondered why she had not noticed it earlier.   +---+---+   Still deeply troubled, Masanobu glanced around with his hand on the spiraled newel as he reached the bottom of the staircase and spotted Wataru’s sister standing in what appeared to be the kitchen with her back to him at the end of a short hallway.  He slowly approached her.   She must have heard him, for she turned towards him.  “Are you…Asaka?” she asked him before he could say anything.   Frowning, Masanobu nodded.  “Yes, I am.”  That was strange.  He did not remember telling her his name.   Karin held out her hand to him.   That was when he noticed that she was holding a white business sized envelope in her hand.   “It has your name on it,” she informed him.   “For…me?”  Masanobu gently took the envelope from her.  He flipped it over.  Karin was right.  Right there in slanted scrawl was his name.   “It’s my brother’s handwriting.”   Masanobu’s head snapped up.  “From Wataru?”  With his heart pounding heavily against his ribcage, he gulped and took a deep breath to calm himself.  Flipping the envelope over, he lifted the flap and pulled out a piece of lined notebook paper.  He forced himself to unfold the piece of paper slowly.  At first, he did not understand what it was he was supposed to be reading.  There were characters forming words, which formed sentences in order to express thoughts and emotions.  But his brain refused to make sense out of any of it.  It was only after the third or forth read through that he began to understand.   Watching his face slowly go white, Karin grew quickly concerned.  “Are you alright?”   Feeling lightheaded and slightly nauseous, Masanobu muttered something and rushed out of the house.   Karin blinked after him.   +---+---+   (Executive Offices of Shohei Kazuki – Half an Hour Later)   “Masa,” Shohei greeted as the young man rushed into his office.  “What can I do for you?  We did not have anything scheduled did we?”   Without saying a word, Masanobu tossed him the letter.   Shohei glanced at it where it lay on his desk and then back at Masanobu.  “And this is…?”   “I think you should read it.”   With a cocked eyebrow, Shohei picked it up.  He skimmed over it quickly.  A smirk pulled the corner of his lips.  “Well.  Well.  Well,” he said as he leaned back in his seat.  “So, they figured it out, did they?”  Shohei chucked the letter aside.   “Shohei-”   “I just had the most enlightening conversation with Touko.”   “Your cousin?”   “Did you know that she was the one who made the ring that that dark eyed boy wears?”   “You mean Wataru?”   “And from a request by Yuichi, no less?”   Masanobu was at a loss for words.   Shohei’s expression grew dark.  Once again, his plans had been fouled.  This was unacceptable.  What was it about that boy that caused Yuichi to defy him time and again?  Even Masanobu had fallen under that boy’s spell.  He knew that neither Yuichi nor Masanobu had had any inclination towards the male sex before this.  And they would have none after Wataru was subtracted from the picture.  Was it because Wataru was so effeminate?  Was it the likeness to their ex-girlfriends he seemed to possess?  Or something else all together?  No, he refused to believe that this was anything more than a passing phase.  Once Yuichi got this out of his system, he could go find himself a nice humble, demure Japanese woman.  Someone who he could parade around with in public on his arm with pride.  Someone who could give him an heir.  Someone who would greet him after a long, hard day’s work with a nice, hot dinner.  None of this Yuichi would be able to find in someone like Wataru.  Continuing on with this façade with Wataru would only end up costing Yuichi in the end.  Yuichi was dear to him.  He had said as much before.  All he wanted to do was protect his foolish brother from his foolish mistakes.  No good could come out of being in a same sex relationship.  Shohei was not sure where it happened, but somewhere along the path, Yuichi had gotten himself lost and it was up to him to lead the search team to find him.   “If you continue with this nonsense, Shohei,”Touko’s voice echoed angrily in his head, “you are going to regret it.”   Shohei scoffed.  He regretted nothing.  Once Yuichi came to his senses, he would come running to him, begging him for his forgiveness.  Shohei was certain of it.   +---+---+   (Early the Next Day – Tokyo, Japan)   Yuichi stared out the cab window, watching as the city sped by in a blur of color.   Turning his hand over as he lifted it out of his lap, he unfurled his fingers.  The rising sun shone through the window to glisten upon a silver ring with a thin gold band encircling it.   Yuichi knew it was foolish to try to gain his brother’s blessing.  It was not so much as trying to save Wataru and himself from a lifetime of hellish misery so much as getting his brother to accept him as he was.  Whether Shohei wanted to accept it or not, Wataru was a part of Yuichi life’s.  Now and forever.   Yuichi clenched his hand around the ring.   “We’re here, Sir,” the cabdriver announced as the cab slowed to a halt.   Yuichi glanced out the window at Touko’s jewelry shop.  “Wait here,” he told the man as he slid out of the cab.  He hoped his order was ready.   +---+---+   (Asaka Residence – Same Time)   Lounging on his bed with one arm folded behind his head, Masanobu read and reread the letter Wataru had left for him.  One part in particular.   “…I know I should have waited to tell you this in person rather than in a letter…but I will tell you the same thing Kazuki told Mai, ‘My lover is…someone people would find difficult to accept.  But, that person is the only one in my eyes.  Even if no one understands, as long as that person is there I can go on living.  That’s how strong my love is.  To me, it’s someone dear, important, and irreplaceable…I’ll say it forever.  No matter how much you feel for me, I can’t return it (5).’  But I would like for us to remain friends if you will have me.  If not, that I guess that this is goodbye…”   Friends?   Masanobu dropped his arm.  The grip loosened.  The letter fluttered from his hand and sailed across the room to land besides the trash can underneath his desk.   “Then I guess this is goodbye,” he whispered.   +---+---+   A silver ring with a thin gold band glistened under the bathroom lights as it lay on the tiled shelf above the faucet.   Turning around, Wataru tilted his head back and let the warm spray rain down around him as a smile graced his lips.   ---TBC---       (1)                 Quote from vol. 1 of “OTRFK: The Lonely Ring Finger” novel. (2)                 Quote from “OTRFK” manga. (3)                 Quote from vol. 2  “OTRFK” novel (4)                 Quote from vol. 1 “OTRFK” novel (5)                 Quote from vol. 3 “OTRFK” novel   A/N:  So, what did you think?