S C A N D A L

Chapter Thirty-Three

As Kurou was preparing to leave the office, he suddenly received a call from the main house. His parents summoned him and his brothers for a reason still unknown, though he was assured by his father's secretary that it wasn't an emergency. He immediately advised Masaru to send a message to his husband Shiro and even sent him flowers. Kurou wanted to invite him to the main house but knowing that Naoki and Atsuko were the guests at their house, he knew that Shiro would be occupied and didn't want to be a bother.

"Yo, my brother with a pretty husband!" Tetsuya, as usual, was the first to tease him. "You didn't bring Shiro?"

"No," Kurou eyed his brother suspiciously and handed him a cheque. "Shiro told me that you asked for assistance to organize your finances and you forced him to accept your payment."

"Hey, he deserved it!" Tetsuya ran after his youngest brother immediately.

"Yes, I know. But my husband didn't want you to pay. What are you doing treating him like a secretary?"

Tetsuya scratched the back of his head. "Sorry...you're so lucky with Shiro. He is so smart and cool. He has a cousin, right?"

As Shiro's cousin was mentioned, Raiden suddenly appeared behind them. "That one is MINE."

This made Kurou smirked and Tetsuya frowned. "Well, does Shiro have a friend?"

As they emerged inside the drawing room, maidservants prepared them drinks and food to nibble. Tetsuya gobbled up the baked cookies while sitting beside the youngest. "Any idea what is this about?"

Both Kurou and Raiden turned to him. "We thought you'd be the first to know," Raiden said.

"What?! Why me? I rarely visit home and even if I'm here, I'll be staying in another mansion away from our folks. Where's Masahiko?"

As soon as he uttered his name, Masahiko strode into the room and met Kurou's eyes. They held each other's gaze for a long while before he took a seat on the couch beside Raiden.

"I've been staying here for a week," Masahiko confided to his brothers and they looked at him questioningly.

"Did you break up with Hikari?" Tetsuya wondered.

Masahiko was annoyed. "Don't be ridiculous! I stayed here for a different reason."

It was then that Kurou's gaze flickered to his side. "What did you do?" he demanded, the tone of his voice bordering between aghast and disappointment.

"I did what I think is right."

Kurou's eyes widened. "Are you out of your mind?!"

Raiden already had a notion of what was going on since Kurou once told him that the scandals attached to his name were nothing but pure lies and speculations. Though he may not know the whole story, he always felt that Kurou was protecting their family and would rather keep the focus of the outlandish rumors to himself. While Tetsuya was still confused. He had been so busy with his personal life and going back and forth to visit and check on their grandparents' health that he didn't have the time to inquire about his siblings. He always believed Kurou could handle his affairs well and always defended his brother's past encounters, calling it a mischief and that Kurou was single then and could do whatever he wanted.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Kurou was furious. "You have no right to tell them!"

Raiden held to his brother's arm. "Calm down, Kurou..."

"Tell us what?" Tetsuya was demanding an answer too.

"And when are you going to tell them, huh?" Masahiko was equally upset. "I've spent years feeling guilty, torn between telling the truth and staying away!"