Your Protector

Chapter 17

In the basement of his house, Budo was doing five sets of chin-ups. He found that doing physical exercise while listening to music was the only way to keep his mind off of Taro.

After his fourth set, he took a water break. That was when he heard his mother open the door and walk down the stairs. "Budo, someone's at the door for you," she announced.

Budo furrowed his brows with confusion. not sure who would be visiting him at six thirty in the evening. "Oh? Okay... I'll be right up," he told her.

She nodded and walked back up the stairs. Budo grabbed a nearby sweat rag to wipe off the sweat on his temple and in his pits and fixed up his hair in the mirror on the wall. He slipped on his singlet that he had taken off and quickly walked up the stairs. He opened the front door and nearly lost his footing when he saw the stunning face that was standing on his porch.

"T-t-taro...?" he stuttered.

The smaller boy gently brushed a strand of hair behind his ear. "Hi Budo, can we talk?" he requested.

The martial artist's cheeks immediately started turning pink. "Y-yeah!" he said unintentionally excitedly. He quickly cleared his throat and spoke with a calmer voice. "Of course we can."

He then felt like eyes were on them. He looked behind him to see his mother peeking around the corner. He gave her the stink eye before turning his face toward Taro again. "On the porch," he quietly said.

Taro went ahead and sat down. Budo closed the door behind him and sat down next to Taro. "So..." he started, rather awkwardly, "I wasn't expecting this, but... I'm always happy to see you, eheheh."

While Budo mentally cursed himself, Taro ignored the awkward chuckle. "I didn't want to wait for tomorrow to talk to you," he spoke.

Budo was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't expected this, but he welcomed it all the same. However, he needed to get something off his chest. "Before you say anything, I want to formally apologize for my behavior on Friday. You were right, I wasn't acting like myself. I acted out, and you have every right to be angry with me."

Taro looked at him with slight suspicion, not entirely sure if he should believe his apology. He sounded genuine, but who knows if he simply has a skill of hiding his disingenuous self. "Why did you act out so much—on Aishi-San?" he asked.

Budo held back a grimace from being reminded of Ayato. He preferred to keep that guy in the back, if not out, of his mind. "I won't lie... it's because I was jealous." It was only going to make things worse if he lied; he had to be 100% honest. "I love you, Taro, and I just... I got instinctively protective when I saw another man coming in between us."

"He was just defending me from someone he thought was harassing me–"

"I know, I know, and I don't blame him," Budo refrained from slapping himself on the forehead; that would just look pathetic. "It was just a spur of the moment, and I deeply regret it after giving myself time to process what happened."

Taro looked at him. He looked into his dark gray eyes and saw sincerity within them.

What was he thinking? Budo wasn't disingenuous. That display on Friday was done out of emotional anger from essentially being lied to for three years. He sighed deeply. "As long as you realize that and will work to do better, I forgive you."

Budo's eyes lit up, and his lips turned into a happy grin. That was one step in the right direction, but he kept his celebration to himself.

"And I want to apologize again for keeping being trans hidden from you for so long."

His celebratory grin disappeared immediately. "No Taro, you don't need to apologize. I overreacted; I completely understand why you didn't tell me. I know your parents don't really like you because you transitioned."