They sat and snuggled on the couch for a while and lost track of time, and Rien let them because they had time, and it would settle them both and he’d prefer they were feeling settled and connected and stable before everyone started getting here. It wasn’t until the knock on the door announcing the [...]

Rien woke up early on his wedding day, and lay still in the soft dawn, listening to Kippei and Shinji’s quiet breathing, thinking about the tangled, twisted path that had led them here. He didn’t regret any of it, not if it led here. He smiled to himself and lifted his hand to look at [...]

Rien eased out of bed early the next morning, shaking his head at Kippei as he woke up enough to give Rien a sleepy, questioning look. “Mum’s coming,” he murmured, nearly soundless. “You let him sleep. I gotta clean up,” or Kimi would do it herself and that would just be embarrassing.

Shinji woke early. So early he startled even himself. Worse, he woke in a cold sweat, already stumbling out of bed and hopping out the door in a blind panic, rushing to the front door and checking it was locked, then checking the back door, the side, the windows…he locked everything tight before stumbling backward, [...]

Rien woke up feeling hungry – not for food, but wanting, craving. He was warm, snuggled up against Kippei, and Shinji was close enough to touch, right on Kippei’s other side, and yet neither of them was close enough. He groaned softly and pressed closer, burying his face in Kippei’s side and wishing it was [...]

The time without Kippei was starting to drive Shinji half mad. He worried, sat for long periods doing absolutely nothing, staring off into space, wondering what he was doing and if he missed him and wanted so damn badly to see him but terrified of it at the same time. The worst was going to [...]

Kippei hurt everywhere, not least because he’d hurt Shinji and now Shinji wouldn’t even talk to him. He didn’t sleep anymore that night, at least, not real sleep. He kept dozing off and waking again, reaching for Shinji, but Shinji wasn’t there. Nobody was there. He looked at his phone where he’d dropped it, and [...]

Kippei wouldn’t stop playing tennis. Shinji screamed and screamed at him but the ball kept flying through the air and Shinji’s hands kept coming up and hitting the ball back and both their bodies were falling apart. Kippei’s legs fell off, first one and then the other and the blood sprayed across the courts and [...]

Kippei was not out of surgery yet, so Rien went to make one more phone call, this one to Shinji’s dad. Better let him know what was going on, and Rien needed to talk to him about some things, too. “Hi,” he said when Ibu-san picked up. “This is Rien. Can you come to the [...]

As soon as Shinji heard the door he raced out of the study and down the hall, hugging Rien hard before pulling him into the lounge and pushing him down onto the couch, holding up a hand to tell him to wait before rushing off to find Kippei, pushing him down beside Kippei and then [...]