Junjou Vampire

Secrets

Misaki woke that morning, wrapped warmly in an over-sized t-shirt and the smell of fresh coffee filling his nose. After his panic attack he hadn’t wanted to go back to bed so he’d fallen asleep on the sofa with the light on and was thankful that Akihiko hadn’t made fun of him for it, as he was sure the man would do. He rubbed his eyes and sat up slowly, a blanket sliding down his torso. The brunette looked down in surprise and then up at the approaching silver-haired man. “Takahiro is still asleep.” Misaki nodded and sat up properly to allow the man room to sit next to him.

“Ano…Usami-san…” Misaki felt his face heat up and he clasped his hands in his lap, staring down at them instead of at the man he’d started to think was attractive. “Thank you.”

Akihiko raised an eyebrow and stared down at the teen, taking a sip of his coffee before getting up off the sofa. He didn’t know why, but he reached out and patted the fluffy, brown hair. “Just make sure you train hard.”

Misaki looked up with his sparkling green eyes and nodded enthusiastically. “When do we start?”

Akihiko found himself smiling down at the kid and quickly collected himself, putting on his usual stoic expression. “As soon as Takahiro gets his ass out of bed.”

Takahiro woke an hour later and was surprised to see Misaki sat on the sofa reading. He slowly made his way down the stairs in a t-shirt and a pair of boxers and leaned over the sofa to see what had captured Misaki’s attention. “What are you reading?” His younger brother gave such a start that the book tumbled to the floor and he lost his page. “Nii-chan don’t do that!” Misaki picked up the book and showed Takahiro the front cover. “Usami-san gave it to me. He said it would help with training.” Takahiro remembered that book very well, his parents had given him one just like it when he started training.

“Misaki…” Takahiro trailed off with a pained voice and the brunette looked up at his brother with worry in his eyes. “Misaki I don’t want you involved in this.”

Misaki indignantly got to his feet and thrust the book in his brother’s face. “I want to help. I’m part of this now. Those vampires killed our parents, nii-chan. I can’t just sit and do nothing. Besides, Usami-san said he’d help me with the basics and-“

“That’s not the point!” Takahiro’s raised voice surprised both of them and the older man slumped down onto the sofa and continued in a quiet tone. “That’s not the point. I can’t let my precious little brother go out and fight those…those monsters!”

Misaki sat next to his brother and put his head on Takahiro’s shoulder. “But I want to. I want to help in any way I can and now I know about it you can’t stop me.”

Takahiro glanced down at the top of his brother’s head and heaved a sigh, knowing he wouldn’t be able to convince Misaki once he’d made up his mind. “Just be careful. I couldn’t stand to lose you too.”

Misaki threw his arms around his brother and they held each other in a few moments of peace.

Akihiko watched the whole exchange from the stairs and lit a cigarette, he inhaled deeply and let it all out in a long sigh. He didn’t want to get the kid involved any more than Takahiro did but they had no choice. They couldn’t leave Misaki defenseless because that would be even more dangerous for him. Akihiko took another drag on his cigarette before turning and going back to his room, giving Misaki and his brother their private moment together, Akihiko knew there wouldn’t be many of those from now. Not if Misaki was serious about training.

The next few hours consisted of fitness training for the scrawny brunette. He’d never pushed himself so hard in his life but the need to protect his brother and the life he lived before burned inside him, giving him the drive he needed to withstand Akihiko’s harsh regime.