S C A N D A L

Chapter Thirty-Two

For a long, silent moment, they didn't speak. Kurou respected his wish and did not open the topic again. Shiro was surprisingly docile as he sat on the side of his bed with his legs folded against his chest. They both stared at the wall and not at each other.

"I'll have someone bring you food," Kurou was the first to break the ice not knowing that this only made Shiro feel more guilty. The first words in his mouth were in consideration of his health.

Shiro looked at him. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"Why do you care so much about me?"

Kurou met his gaze for a long while and drew a deep breath. "When I first saw you emerging from that pool, I thought that you're probably the most childish and amusing person I have ever met. I felt a connection even then but I disregarded it, thinking that we would not meet again. When I found out that you're my fiancé, I couldn't waste the opportunity. I never thought that you would end up as someone special to me. I tried to get you out of my head, but each time I attempted to find myself a lover, I couldn't help comparing them with you. All of them finished poor second to your sweetly passionate, infuriating attitude. No man or woman I'd seen was as beautiful, as exciting, or as companionable as you are. I couldn't force you out of my mind and before I knew it, you had become an obsession."

This was true. Even Masaru and Shichiro could attest that when Kurou wasn't thoroughly occupied, he thought of Shiro. He even dreamed of him at night, waking himself up in a hot sweat of desire. Shiro had bewitched him. He had gotten to a point where he asked himself if he was never to be himself again. Losing Kei, Kurou had lost hope and thought that he could never learn how to love another as deeply or as ardently as he had loved Kei. But he was wrong and Shiro surpassed them all.

"Now, I have to ask this," Kurou said as he edged closer to his side. "Are you sorry that you married me?"

Tears sprang from the corner of Shiro's eyes. "How can you even ask that when you are well aware of your effect on me?"

"Don't answer frivolously."

"I didn't mean to sound so," Shiro slipped his arms around his waist. "I am happy that you are my husband, and I love you most dearly. When I married you, even when I said you were going to leave me with nothing but a headache. I knew I would fall in love with you. I knew it even when I was aware that I would share your affections with others.

Kurou pressed Shiro's head against his chest and laid his cheek against his hair. "There's no one else since I married you. Only you."

"I like loving you," Shiro answered, relaxing against him. "I believe we are friends too, aren't we? We like the same things even if we are opposites. You are my best friend."

"Yes, darling, we are best friends."

Shiro stared at him. "I tell you everything---"

Kurou interrupted him with a long, deep kiss. "Before you tell me everything, whatever decision we make, we do it together. You and I."

Shiro nodded. "Yes, together. I do love you so."

"I hope you always will," Kurou lifted his chin and looked deeply into his eyes. "For I intend to love you very much, for a very, very long time."

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For several days after their vacation at their grandparents' estate in Osaka, Shiro sent an email to his father and his stepmother, addressing the issues they were facing at Ehime. At the request of Kurou, he sent Masaru and Shichiro to fetch and bring them to Tokyo.