Desire and Love [AkiraxYusuke P5]

Chapter Nine

   Sunlight from a dim summer morning slipped into the window over the bed.

   Yusuke rubbed his eyes and yawned. Akira was still sleeping in the bed beside him, wearing one of Yusuke's shirts as pajamas.
The artist brushed hair from his lovers' face and smiled before kissing his forehead.

   "Beautiful..."

   Akira winced and rubbed his eyes, letting out a small yawn.

   "Good morning, love~" Yusuke said softly.

  "Morning..." Akira made a small smile, to which Yusuke returned it.

   "You look happy~"

   "I had a good dream for once... you and I went on a hike and watched the sunrise together..." Akira said.

   Yusuke smiled and kissed the younger boys' lips.

   "That sounds beautiful..."

   Akira sat up and brushed hair from his eyes.

   "Are you doing anything today?" He asked.

   "I need to look for an apartment... since I graduated, I've been trying to find a new place but there aren't any good ones..."

   Akira wrapped his arms around Yusuke's shoulders.

   "Wanna stay with me~?"

   Yusuke blushed at his lovers' words.

   "Oh, I couldn't!"

   "It's ok! Come on!" Akira said playfully. "My room is big enough for the two of us! I can cook for you, we can sleep together. And I'd love to see more of your beautiful work on my walls!"

   "What about your mother and siblings?"

   "I'll keep Anesa out of the way. And Erin isn't my mom, she's just taking care of us because..." Akira trailed off.

   He was silent for a minute as if thoughts were going all through his head. Then he made a grin.

   "Actually, nevermind. Erin cared for a lot of kids before us. She'd be happy to take you in!"

   Akira got up from the bed and stretched his arms; due to being shorter, Yusuke's shirt was big on him, perfectly concealing what was underneath.

   "Want some breakfast? I can cook for you~"

   Yusuke nodded slightly with a smile.

   "Yes... I missed your cooking,"

   Akira laughed before going to the kitchen. Yusuke had a look of confusion once he left.

   'Why did he pause earlier...?'

   It was just then he heard his phone go off. Yusuke looked and saw a single text from Makoto:

   'Come to Shujin and meet me on the roof. Don't tell Akira. This is important'

————

   "Fuuuck it's early..."

   Ryuji leaned on a wall with a yawn. Ann, Makoto, and Futaba were at the small table, Morgana sat on top, and Haru was nearby tending to some flowers.

   "Why are we here again? Can't you just tell us?"

   "Not yet. We gotta wait for Yusuke," Morgana said. "I overheard Erin say Akira was with him, so he needs to distract him with something,"

   "Oh, I get it! This is about his 18th birthday, right! Are we doing a surprise party for him?"

   Futaba rolled her eyes and looked up from her laptop to glare at Ryuji.

   "This isn't about his birthday. This is something seriously important..." She said.

   Ryuji groaned and put his head back.

   "For fucks sake, Yusuke, hurry up already!" He cried.

   "I'm here," The artist had just exited the roof doors and was walking toward them. "Sorry I'm late. I had to tell Akira I was busy, so he went to help out at the airsoft place," He said.

   "Oh, we're all here now!" Haru got up and dusted herself off. "Can we hear what you have to say now, Futaba?"

   The youngest thief took a deep breath and spoke; her voice was a little shaky.

   "Before I say what it is, I invited Akira's sister to come and she's not coming for an hour. So it's enough time for me to tell you what she did to him..."

   "What she did? What do you mean, Futaba?" Ann asked.

   The redhead slowly typed around on her laptop. Her fingers seemed to tremble as she did, as if it was something forbidden she was about to show.

   "When Anesa and I were talking last night, she said a few interesting things... so I looked somethings up online... and..." She slowly turned her laptop around for everyone to see.

   "I found this..."

   What they saw was a Twitter page. And every post was a horrible picture of Akira. Each photo was of him with a bruise or cut on his arms, hands, knees, or cheeks, and tears were pouring down his face. The rest were of him naked with his hands tied and horrible cuts and bruises all over his body and he held a pained face as he cried. Every post said things among the lines of Loser, Whore, Crybaby, and Slut.

   "What... what the hell is this...?" Ryuji said slowly.

   Makoto put a hand over her mouth. Haru had a horrified face and was clinging to Ann.

  "This is horrible..." Makoto said.

   "And you said his sister posted all of these?! How could she do something like this to her own brother?!" Ann cried.

   Yusuke stared with wide eyes, feeling like his heart was about to break at the sight of his lover bruised and crying.

   'How could he not tell me about this...?'

   "Mona-Chan, have you ever seen Akira get hurt during your time with him...?" Haru asked slowly.

   "No. Erin is really tame with him and his siblings. She's never gotten mad at him enough to hit him... but..." Morgana spoke in a more serious tone. "From what I heard, something bad happened involving his family when they were young. And it may have resulted in him getting abused..."

   "Wh-What...?!" Ann cried.

   Yusuke leaned on the table a bit, trying to keep himself calm.

   "What had happened in his family...?"

   What Morgana said next made everyone's blood run cold.

  "His mother mysteriously died,"