「CHAPTER 3」
I wonder what he"s been up to these days…?
It was close to sundown, so he was probably working in the editorial department
like usual. Or perhaps he had left to meet up with another author? Yos.h.i.+no was in his and
Yanase’s room. He was enjoying dinner, which had been prepared for Yanase and him
while they had been sight seeing and had only now just returned to the hot springs resort
after quickly switching trains. However, no matter what beautiful sights he had seen or
what delicious foods he had eaten, Yos.h.i.+no could only think of Hatori.
I want to eat Hatori"s hamburgers…
The dinner, made with all local ingredients, was so delicious that one could not
complain, but right now, he really missed Hatori"s cooking.
“This was more delicious than I thought it"d be.”
“Ye- yeah. You"re right.”
Yos.h.i.+no came back to reality about the same time he had finished gulping down
his dinner.
Stop thinking about that stuck-up guy!
He had come here to relax, so it was silly to trouble himself by thinking about
unnecessary things. He didn"t get to do these kinds of things too often, so he should just
enjoy it. As he kept telling himself this, for some reason, a cake was brought to his table.
“This is a j.a.panese style hotel, but they bring cake for dessert?”
Although it was a small cake, it was a whole one. Yos.h.i.+no wondered what was
going on, as he looked down at the cake with a nameplate that read “Happy Birthday”.
“Happy Birthday. I hear that today is your birthday, and on your birthday, this
hotel offers this kind of small gifts,” said the hostess who had brought the cake and set
down fruit champagne as well.
Oh yeah…today is my birthday…
Yos.h.i.+no completely had not kept up with the date, because he had such a
disorganized lifestyle, but it seemed like Yanase had remembered that it was his birthday
today.
“I had this prepared in secret. I bet you"re surprised. Of course, there"s no amount 
of candles for your age, so I just had them put this nameplate instead.”
Before coming to appreciate how Yanase had prepared all this for him, Yos.h.i.+no
remembered the conversation he had with Hatori.
‘So…you do know what day that is. The day you"re going to go?’ Hatori had
said, and he had been probably referring to Yos.h.i.+no"s birthday. Since Hatori had brought
it up, he must have prepared something for Yos.h.i.+no"s birthday as well.
This is my first birthday since we started dating...
Come to think of it, every year, Hatori had given him something for his birthday.
If Yos.h.i.+no mentioned that he was looking for out-of-print comics, Hatori would buy
them for him from a used bookshop, and if he complained of running out of drawing
supplies, Hatori brought him that to stock-up on. Although these presents weren"t
romantic, each one of them always had a lot of thought put into it. Back then, he didn"t
really think too much about it and was happy to just go along with whatever Hatori had
told him, which was usually “I just happened to find it” or “I"m your editor, so I need to
do this”, but now that he thought about it, that had only been Hatori"s arrogance talking.
There was no way that Hatori could simply find the book that Yos.h.i.+no, himself, had such
a hard time finding and gathering the necessary drawing supplies was not easy either!
Even when he asked Hatori to bring him material which he knew was not easy to come
by, Hatori brought it for him with much indifference in most cases, but he never once
said anything about how hard it was to obtain. And despite all this, what had he, Yos.h.i.+no,
done for Hatori?
Sure, where were times when he treated Hatori to fast food back when they were
students, but ever since he had become a manga artist, he was always busy chasing
deadlines, and Hatori"s birthday was not something he kept track of.
What"s there to like in someone as inconsiderate as me…?
He reasoned. His actions were inconsiderate or even somewhat rude. If he
apologized to Hatori, he would only be doing so to save his own conscience. He bit his
lip at that thought.
“You"re bored if Hatori is not around, huh?”
“Eh…?”
Yanase"s sudden question startled him. 
“You"re thinking ‘I wish he were here’, aren"t you, Chiaki?”
“What are you talking about!? Of course not! I"m actually glad that he"s NOT
here. If he were here with us, I bet he would lecture me again. I swear, that guy is always
on my back. It"s so annoying!”
His new relations.h.i.+p with Hatori was still a secret to Yanase, so he quickly
covered it up by disagreeing with Yanase and bad-mouthing Hatori. Hearing this, Yanase
gave Yos.h.i.+no an uncertain smile and said: “Well, that"s his job, I guess.”
“Ye- yeah, that"s why I don"t want to see him on my day off as well!” he laughed,
letting this slip. Yanase probably wasn"t thinking too deeply about it when he had asked
that question, because he didn"t ask Yos.h.i.+no any further.
I"m nervous…
Sometimes he was worried that Yanase could see right through him. He was often
very nervous, especially when he was hiding something. Yanase stared at Yos.h.i.+no, but
then suddenly his expression changed, and he said, “How about we go to the hot springs
after you"re done eating? I hear it gives you a good shoulder ma.s.sage.”
“O- okay.”
“I don"t like sweets, so you can have the whole cake. I"ll have the champagne
instead. You can"t handle wine, anyway, right?”
Yanase said and reached for the cold champagne bottle, which had come as a gift.
* * * *
“Now that"s how a bath should be!”
When they had returned to their room, Yos.h.i.+no gulped down the fruit milk he had
bought after the two of them had been to the public hot springs bath. Many vending
machines were lined up in front of the changing room.
“You sure like that drink. That"s your second one.”
“What"s wrong with that? I couldn"t decide if I wanted coffee milk or something
else.”
“You"re like a kid,” said Yanase, drinking a can of beer.
“Shut up. Wasn"t the hot springs great, though? Let"s go again tomorrow 
morning.”
“If you can wake up early.”
The public hot springs bath was an outdoors one, and the mist rising from the hot
water shone milky white in color. It was very beautiful. The temperature of the water was
perfect, and because he sat at his desk too much he had stiff muscles, but after the bath he
felt like they had considerably loosened up.
If only I had a ma.s.sage today.
He sighed to himself. The ma.s.sage specialist was completely booked today, so he
could only schedule an appointment. Having no other choice, he made do with the
electronic ma.s.sage machine which was in the changing room, but that didn"t satisfy him.
As he told himself that he will go to his personal chiropractor after he got back, Yanase,
who had finished off his beer, suddenly said, “Oh yeah. You said you"d let me draw you
nude. So let me draw you now.”
“What are you saying, you idiot. Besides, I never said that!”
He was definitely not going to get walked over. He thought Yanase had stopped
with that joke already. Yos.h.i.+no argued with him, but didn"t succeed.
“Don"t be so stubborn.”
“You"re drunk, aren"t you?”
It was rare for him to not know whether Yanase was serious or not. He felt like
Yanase was slightly drunk from drinking two cans of beer after the bath and the
champagne before the bath.
“I wouldn"t say I"m drunk.”
“…Besides, you don"t have your drawing supplies.”
Was he so drunk that he couldn"t even tell he was drunk? Yanase smugly searched
through his bag when Yos.h.i.+no pointed this out to him with a sigh. Then he pulled out a
small sketchpad and a pen case.
“I brought it with me. I make sure to bring this when I travel.”
“What!?”
“I draw scenery, cats, and stuff like that. I use this like a camera. Anyway, get
undressed.”
“I"m not getting naked!”
So Yanase was serious.
“I"m not exactly telling you to take off your underwear. You know, it would be
nice if you did things I asked you every once in a while,” Yanase said. It was hard for
Yos.h.i.+no to refuse, seeing that Yanase always did things for him. After hesitating,
Yos.h.i.+no made a proposal.
“Fine……but only my upper body.”
“Okay, that"s fine.”
He reluctantly pulled out his arms from the sleeves of his yukata. When they were
at the hot springs together, he hadn"t been embarra.s.sed, but the moment Yanase said he
was going to draw him, he felt self-conscious.
“Sit over there, then.”
“O- okay.”
Yos.h.i.+no sat cross-legged on the chair, which stood on the wooden veranda, and
looked at Yanase with a mixed expression wondering why he always kept drawing him.
“I don"t exactly look very fun to draw, but you still draw me so much. Isn"t it
boring? You can make an art portfolio out of me, I bet.”
“It"s not boring. I love you, Chiaki.”
“Huh!?” Yos.h.i.+no looked at him in shock when he heard such an absurd thing all
of a sudden. But unlike Yos.h.i.+no, Yanase was not perturbed and continued drawing; his
expression unchanged.
“I love your bone structure.”
Yos.h.i.+no"s fast heartbeat slowed down a little.
Oh I see. He just likes me to be his model.
“Oh, yeah, yeah. Of course, my bones. Hahaha…”
Heart still trembling, he hid his nervousness by laughing it off. But Yanase looked
up from his sketch book, and egged on Yos.h.i.+no"s nervousness even further by saying,
“Yeah, your bones as well.”
“So wait, are you actually saying that you love me?” he asked jokingly, but
Yanase just stared at him silently.
Wha- what"s with this atmosphere!?
Having a bad feeling about this, Yos.h.i.+no slowly put his yukata back on. 
“I- I"m thirsty. I"m gonna go buy something to drink. Do you want something to
drink too, Yuu?”
“You just drank milk. Stay still for a bit,” Yuu said as he moved towards Yos.h.i.+no.
That very moment, Yos.h.i.+no felt a chill. He sensed something strange, so he tried to get
up from the chair, but Yanase grabbed the chair armrests and faced him, so he couldn"t
move.
“Wha- what!?”
“Before, you asked me if I liked anyone. Do you still want to know? I"ll tell you,
if you still do,” Yanase asked, dead serious, making Yos.h.i.+no fl.u.s.ter even more.
I have to play it cool no matter what he says!
Intuitively, he knew that it was better not to know. But it would be strange to say
that he didn"t want to know now when he had been so curious about it before. Surely,
Yanase"s suggestive behavior was all an act, and he was only teasing Yos.h.i.+no.
I"m just casually gonna ask, just casually.
He told himself, but just when he was about to open his mouth, his cellphone
rang.
I- I"m saved! Thank G.o.d!
“The phone! I need to see who it is,” Yos.h.i.+no blurted, shoving Yanase out of the
way. When he answered the phone – it was Hatori was on the other end.
“It"s me. Is now a good time?”
It"s Tori of all people! G.o.d hates me……
Yos.h.i.+no was hating G.o.d right now, but replied casually.
“Yeah…it"s fine. Oh wait, my signal is not very good. Hold on, I"m gonna go
somewhere to try to make it better.”
After making up this excuse and making sure Yanase heard him, Yos.h.i.+no covered
up the cellphone mouthpiece, told Yanase “I"m gonna step out for a bit” and left the
veranda to go into the courtyard. He wanted to be away from the akward atmosphere in
that room for a while.
He put on a pair of wooden clogs and clip-clopped across the stone steps. Only
when he arrived at the gazebo, which stood at the far end of the courtyard, did he press
his cellphone back to his ear. 

“Hey, Yos.h.i.+no? Are you really okay?”
“Ye- yeah. I"m okay. Um, is something up?” he asked, sounding forced because
he was nervous.
“I wouldn"t be calling you if nothing was up. I looked over the storyboard
corrections. I don"t think there are any problems with it for the most part. There are only
one or two lines that I want you to fix, but you can continue on with it like it is. I sent you
a fax of the corrections I made.”
“Got it. Oh, is the extra ill.u.s.tration alright?”
“Yeah, it"s good.”
They mostly only talked about work, but he was still relieved that they could talk
like usual. However, now Hatori grew silent. He was still on the line with Yos.h.i.+no, but it
was quiet on the other side of the line.
“Tori?”
Just when he wondered whether the connection broke, Hatori suddenly
apologized without giving a reason first.
“I"m sorry.”
“About?”
Because Yos.h.i.+no wasn"t expecting it, he replied coldly. It"s hard to properly show
emotions over the phone. You can"t let the person know what kind of facial expression
you"re making, and you don"t know the other person"s facial expression either.
Hatori seemed uneasy, probably still thinking that Yos.h.i.+no was mad at him. After
a brief pause, he added, “……….Sorry I behaved so childishly the other day.”
“N- no, it"s okay…”
He was going to add that he wasn"t angry, but held his tongue. He certainly had
been angry when he had left Hatori"s house that day. But that had been because he didn"t
understand Hatori"s feelings. Even now, he wouldn"t say that he understood, but he did
realize that he himself had been in the wrong.
I made Tori apologize before me again……
No matter how you think of it, Yos.h.i.+no was the one at fault. But Hatori did not
mention anything of that sort. The truth was that he helped Yos.h.i.+no even if it killed his
high and mighty pride. 
Why is he so nice to me?
Anyone would tell such an insensitive guy as him to get lost if they didn"t know
him very well.
“Are you still angry?”
“No, that"s not it…”
There were many things he wanted to say and ask but couldn"t put them into
words. Since Yos.h.i.+no was faltering, Hatori misinterpreted this as him being once again
offended and ended the conversation.
“This is all I have to say. I"m sorry I disturbed you.”
“Ah, um…”
“Happy birthday, Yos.h.i.+no,” Hatori congratulated him and then hung up.
“Wai-! Hey! Tori!?” he tried to yell to stop him, but the telephone connection was
already broken.
Maybe the reason he called me was to tell me that…?
When he thought about it, it seemed to him that the storyboard conversation could
have waited until tomorrow. Besides, he faxed the corrections to his house anyway, so
there was no need to call him and tell him about it. He made this phone call seem like it
was about work, but also threw in a happy birthday wish before the day ended.
“d.a.m.n it! I have to keep everything to myself!” Yos.h.i.+no fret, all the while really
wanting to see Hatori. Unable to stand it any longer, he returned to his room and began
changing his clothes. Seeing Yos.h.i.+no do this, Yanase shot him a questioning look.
“Yos.h.i.+no? Did something happen?”
“Sorry, um, something came up. I have to go to my parent"s house,” Yos.h.i.+no gave
a vague reason as he quickly packed his things into his bag. Even he knew that what he
was doing was selfish, but he couldn"t hold down this urge to go.
“Right now? Can"t you go tomorrow morning?”
“No. I have to go now. Sorry I"m being so selfish. I"ll make it up to you!”
With that, Yos.h.i.+no dashed out of the hotel, leaving Yanase alone.
* * * *
He took a taxi from the hotel to the train station and somehow made it back to his
hometown before the day was done. Yos.h.i.+no"s feet moved quickly on their own accord
and before he knew it he was running. When he reached Hatori"s place, he pressed the
intercom b.u.t.ton with force. Finally, he heard Hatori"s voice, sounding suspicious, over
the speaker.
“Yes? Who is this…?”
“Ah, um…it"s me.”
“Yos.h.i.+no!?” Hatori sounded surprised and then he heard a harsh rattling sound. It
seemed like Hatori dropped the intercom receiver. After some more bustling noise from
inside the room, the front door opened and Hatori appeared, wearing sweats and a t-s.h.i.+rt;
probably already preparing for bed.
“What are you doing here? Aren"t you supposed to be at the hot springs?” Hatori
was looking at Yos.h.i.+no like he couldn’t believing what he was seeing and threw question
after question at him.
“Yeah, well that"s true, but I came back.”
“Did something happen!?”
It was true that something had happened, but if he told him about that incident
with Yanase, he felt like things would get complicated, so he decided to keep quiet about
it.
“N- no, that"s not it. I just wanted to see your face.”
“…Huh?”
“Ah! I mean, I just wanted to get started on work! I mistook your place for my
place!” he insisted in order to cover up that embarra.s.sing thing he had accidentally
blurted out. Unable to hide his flushed cheeks, Yos.h.i.+no turned on his heel and was about
to leave but Hatori immediately grabbed his hand and stopped him.
“Say again what you"ve said just now.”
“Whi- which part?”
There was no way he could say that again. As Yos.h.i.+no pretended to play
innocent, Hatori revised his question.
“Did you really want to see me?”
“Oh, did I say that!?”
Yos.h.i.+no pretended he had forgotten what he had just said. If Hatori had continued
questioning him further, he was going to go home no matter what it took, but Hatori did
nothing of that sort.
“I understand. It"s already late, so stay over the night. Work can wait until
tomorrow, right?” Hatori gently insisted, and Yos.h.i.+no obediently went inside, following
him.
“…Okay.”
However, for some reason he felt very nervous, and the atmosphere felt tense,
even though Hatori"s place was something he could always call his second home
considering how much time he spent there. He watched Hatori"s back as he slowly took
off his coat.
This is really awkward…
This realization lay heavy on his shoulders. Perhaps to break this atmosphere,
Hatori called out to him sounding like his usual self.
“You were at the hot springs, right? Did you eat?”
“Ye- yeah. I ate and then went to the hot springs bath.”
“Just a beer then? I think I had some snacks somewhere.”
Muttering to himself, Hatori peered into the refrigerator as Yos.h.i.+no gathered up
his courage and said, “…Um!”
“Yeah?”
Hatori looked behind him, holding two cans of beer and cheese. He flinched when
Hatori looked his way, but grit his teeth anyway.
“I forgot that today is my birthday…”
Hearing this, Hatori"s eyes widened in surprise, but then he gave a small smile.
“Idiot, that"s why you came back?”
“Do- don"t call me an idiot! I know this is my fault… I"m sorry if you were
planning for us to do something.”
“You don"t need to apologize. Just you being here is enough.”
“……!” Yos.h.i.+no"s heart skipped a beat when Hatori looked at him so lovingly.
Okay, why is my heart pounding now at someone I"ve known for over twenty
years…!?
Yos.h.i.+no"s heart pounded. Meanwhile, Hatori placed the snacks and beer on the
kitchen counter and took out a cardboard box from somewhere. Yos.h.i.+no couldn"t help but
look at this random object.
“What"s that?”
“A present. I didn"t know what to get you, but I think something practical would
be the best. I"m glad I can give this to you today,” Hatori said, holding out the cardboard
box in front of him in both his hands. Yos.h.i.+no didn"t think he would prepare him a
present, so he was touched. He took the box excitedly and found that it was very heavy.
“Thank you…it"s a little heavy…”
Naturally, his curiosity grew at what inside could be so heavy?
I wonder what Tori is giving me?
Yos.h.i.+no sat down on the sofa, pealed the packaging tape, opened the box lid, and
looked inside. He looked questioningly at the contents.
“…What"s this?”
“It"s ma.n.u.script paper as you can see. With all these supplies you won"t ever run
out. Now you can draw as much as you want.”
“Hey! You thought I"d be happy with this? You"re supposed to give a more
romantic present on birthdays!”
Although he was happy that he received something practical, wasn"t it kind of a
cold present? Forgetting his manners, Yos.h.i.+no complained, but Hatori asked him a
question instead.
“What then?”
“I- I don"t know, but definitely not this…”
He hadn"t been thinking of what sort of thing would be considered romantic, when
he had blurted that out.
Girls in my manga usually get some sort of accessory on their birthdays, but I"m
not a girl.
This present set a practical mood. He couldn"t come up with anything since
nothing came to his mind. As Yos.h.i.+no racked his brain, Hatori took Yos.h.i.+no"s hand and
brought it to his mouth.
“T- Tori?”
All of a sudden, Hatori kissed the palm of his hand as he said something
embarra.s.sing: “Then I"ll give you myself.”
“…Wha- what you are saying!? You"re embarra.s.sing yourself by saying
something like that!” Fl.u.s.tered, Yos.h.i.+no"s face turned red since this dialogue and
situation were just like from a shoujo manga.
I seriously can"t believe this. How can he say that with a straight face…?
He was fed up with himself for instantly becoming fl.u.s.tered when Hatori said
something embarra.s.sing so seriously, but Hatori let go off his hand.
“If you don"t want me, that"s fine too.”
“Wh- who said anything about not wanting?” He coldly retorted to hide his
embarra.s.sment and grabbed Hatori"s hand before he could pull it away.
Uwa, I just did something really embarra.s.sing, didn"t I?
He did not let go of Hatori"s hand, his eyes s.h.i.+fting from side to side. He could not
look Hatori in the eyes because of embarra.s.sment.
“…Yos.h.i.+no,” Hatori lightly hit him on the forehead. From this distance, he felt
Hatori"s breath, and his heartbeat increased. Hatori gently freed his hand and grabbed the
palm of Yos.h.i.+no"s hand. All Yos.h.i.+no could feel was how sweaty his own hand was from
being so nervous, but Hatori lifted Yos.h.i.+no"s chin with his other hand. The moment their
eyes met, Hatori kissed him on the lips.
“…Mm…,” Yos.h.i.+no gasped when Hatori lightly bit his lower lip. As Yos.h.i.+no"s
lips slightly parted, Hatori"s tongue slipped in. He wasn"t being rough in the least, and
Yos.h.i.+no began to relax. As they stood in this unnatural position, he wondered if he
should wrap his hands around Hatori"s back, but then Hatori broke the kiss apart and
Yos.h.i.+no felt like Hatori would think it funny if he did that.
“I can"t resist today.”
“Is- is that something to complain about!?”
“Well, no? Are you saying you also want to do it?”
“…Yea- yeah, so shut up already!”
“Ow...”
Yos.h.i.+no hit Hatori on the head and then grabbed his head to make him stop
blabbing. Hatori laughed for a while, but then suddenly stopped.

“To…ri…?”
Just when Yos.h.i.+no was about to ask what was wrong, Hatori muttered,
dissatisfied, “…You smell different.”
“Hm? That"s because I used the hotel"s shampoo.”
He had used the special shampoo and body soap when he was at the public bath,
but he didn"t think that it was such a big deal.
“Did you take a bath with him?”
“Eh? Well…it"s a public bath so…Wha-!”
The moment he said that, Hatori grabbed the back of his neck and pushed him
down on the sofa.
“What are you doing?”
“From now one, don"t ever let any guy see you naked.” Hatori had an extremely
scary face while looking down at him. Somehow, it didn"t look like he was joking.
“That would mean I can never go to the hot springs!”
“Who cares about that? I was going to be gentle with you today, but now I won"t.”
“Huh!?”
“This will be your punishment,” Hatori said and held both of Yos.h.i.+no"s hands
together in one grasp above Yos.h.i.+no"s head.
“Wh- what do you mean when you say punishment…!?” Yos.h.i.+no glared at Hatori
for saying something like that so nonchalantly. He had no idea what Hatori was thinking,
but he wanted him to release him because it hurt.
“If I tell you, that would take the fun out of it, right?”
“There"s nothing fun about it! Mmph! Mmmph…!”
Hatori couldn"t control himself so much that he kissed Yos.h.i.+no like trying to eat
him. He devoured poor Yos.h.i.+no"s lips, and when they pulled apart to breathe, he inserted
his tongue inside Yos.h.i.+no"s mouth and licked all over. Having their tongues intertwined
sent a sweet chill spreading all over Yos.h.i.+no"s body.
“Mmph…mm……mmm……!”
Lips still locked in a kiss, Hatori"s hands traced the outline of Yos.h.i.+no"s body,
from his waist down to his thighs and finally stopping at his warm groin.
“Mm! Mm…angh……!”
He softly ma.s.saged the top of Yos.h.i.+no"s jeans, and Yos.h.i.+no"s lower abdomen
began to feel hot. From this touch, the stiff jean material began to rise, and it started
feeling cramped inside. But his mouth was being ravaged, so he couldn"t protest. When
he impatiently stirred, Hatori quickly undid the waistband. It was such a relief when
Hatori lowered the zipper, but then his hand immediately went inside Yos.h.i.+no"s
underwear. Hatori grabbed Yos.h.i.+no"s hot, throbbing genitals which began to harden as he
moved his hand up and down.
“Nn……ngh…mm……!”
This stimulated Yos.h.i.+no, and his hips slightly flinched. The wet feeling he felt
was probably pre-c.u.m. The feeling of Hatori"s hand becoming wet with his pre-c.u.m
enticed Yos.h.i.+no even more. Sometimes his lower half twitched, and he was aware of the
heat growing inside him. It seemed as though his twitching and throbbing would keep
growing.
“……Haa…aa…aahh……”
Hatori"s lips left Yos.h.i.+no"s but he continued to fondle Yos.h.i.+no"s member; in fact,
Hatori began fondling it more ferociously. Now that Yos.h.i.+no"s mouth was free, he let out
a loud cry from deep within his throat.
He desperately tried to put up with it, but his body, numb with ecstasy, wouldn"t
listen. When he bent his neck back, Hatori planted a kiss on his neck, which stimulated
Yos.h.i.+no even more.
“Aah……ah! Aahh…no more……!”
Just when he was about to come, Hatori blocked it, forcibly stopping the urge.
“No…why……!?”
“I told you this was punishment, right? I"ll let you come when you realize what
you"ve done.”
“Huh!? Don"t screw with……Hya!”
Hatori grabbed the hand cream tube, which was siting on the table, and skillfully
opened the lid with one hand while his other hand held down Yos.h.i.+no"s palms. Then he
rolled up Yos.h.i.+no"s s.h.i.+rt and squeezed out the cream onto Yos.h.i.+no"s abdomen.
While Yos.h.i.+no swallowed back his breath that rose at the cool feeling of the
cream, Hatori pulled down Yos.h.i.+no"s underwear and kicked it down. With that, he spread 
open both of Yos.h.i.+no"s bare legs and smeared cream in-between them.
“Ngh…!”
“I actually want to say that you can"t let anyone see you, but I will tolerate you
going to the hot springs. But you can"t let Yanase see you naked. Promise that you"ll
never go out with him anymore, where it"s just the two of you alone…”
“……Why…? ……Aah…!”
“Cause I"m jealous, okay? You draw romance, you should know this.”
“I should know this? Aah……ah…aahh!”
He was going to glare at him, but Hatori shoved a cream smeared finger inside
Yos.h.i.+no causing him to bend his back, so this didn"t happen. His lip quivered at the
foreign sensation, which he still was not used to, but Hatori paid him no mind and pushed
his finger further inside.
Why do I have to go through this……?
He tried to remove Hatori"s hands, but he had no power in his fingers.
“Let go……Aah……ngh……!”
Hatori"s finger curled inside his body. It pressed on his soft insides. Inadvertently,
Yos.h.i.+no let out an even louder cry than before. Hatori pulled his finger in and out;
meanwhile, rubbing Yos.h.i.+no"s member and blocking his desire. Every time he thought he
was going to climax, Hatori tightly blocked the tip, which only made Yos.h.i.+no more
impatient.
“It"s simple. Just promise me this.”
“Noo……! Please……!”
“Hate it all you want. We can stay like this forever,” Hatori said, moving his
finger faster in and out as his grip on Yos.h.i.+no"s genitals tightened. Before he knew it,
Hatori put in another finger inside Yos.h.i.+no, and the cream, which was melting from the
body heat, caused an obscene noise.
“Aahh……no…it hurts……! Stop…!”
He felt like he was losing his mind from being unable to release his desire and the
continuous ecstasy being stimulated on him. At the very least, he wanted to escape this
pain right now.
“Then swear right now.”
“I swear…! I…promise…so……!” He nodded, unable to think about anything.
There were tears collecting in the corners of his eyes. A single tear escaped and slid
down.
“Really?”
“Really…so…p-please…I want to come…!”
“Okay. I"ll let you come as much as you want.”
No sooner did the hand release his genitals, were his legs suddenly pushed up
high to his chest and something hot pressed on this stretched out opening. The moment
his eyes widened with the realization of what that something was, Hatori deeply
penetrated him.
“Ah……aahh……!”
As Hatori roughly inserted it in, Yos.h.i.+no splashed milky-white substance on his
abdomen. His pent up desire now burst out. His mind went blank and the shock of being
penetrated and climaxing all at once made him see lights. However, Hatori mercilessly
shook Yos.h.i.+no"s hips, which trembled sweetly with the effects of the climax.
“Noo……! Aah…! Aahh……!”
He could feel the overwhelming presence of Hatori"s desire inside him as it
stretched Yos.h.i.+no"s tight opening to it"s limit. His soft insides convulsed when Hatori
moved inside him causing the tightness to be even more terrible. The pain engraved into
him, but pleasure exceeded that pain, and when Hatori moved their hips together,
Yos.h.i.+no let out lovely sighs. Although he had already climaxed just now, Hatori
continued to move and Yos.h.i.+no"s desire again welled up in his inner core. He bent
backwards and a drop of clear fluid dripped out. Hatori violently shook Yos.h.i.+no, still
deeply penetrating him, but did not touch the most sensitive spot as if on purpose.
Yos.h.i.+no thought to himself that he did not want it there, but it was hard for him to say
what he wanted, so instead, he moved his hips on his own and tried to get the stimulus he
was after.
“Ngh…uugu…ah! Aah…aahh…!”
“What"s gotten into you? You"re very forward today. You"re moving your hips all
on your own.”
“Aah…! Ca- cause…you"re…!”
“I"m what? I"ll do anything if you just tell me how you want it.”
“……!”
There was no way he could say that. He was feeling extremely scatterbrained, but
he still had some reason left in him. It"s not like it wasn"t embarra.s.sing to move on his
own free will and try to get pleasure in his own way, but it was much better than having
to say what he wanted.
“There"s no need to be embarra.s.sed by now, right? Your body is much more
honest than you.”
“Aahh...! Aahhh…!”
Chucking, Hatori let his hips go wild. Hatori bore right into the sensitive spot he
had been purposefully avoiding before, and Yos.h.i.+no couldn"t resist anymore. His soft
insides were considerably looser than when they had started, because of the continuous in
and out motion, but even then, he tightened around Hatori. As Hatori roughly rummaged
inside him, it seemed as if Yos.h.i.+no"s brain was turning into mush.
“Hya…! Aah…I"m…gonna come…again…!”
“It"s fine. I told you I"ll let you come as much as you want.”
“Ngh……! Tori…together……!”
s.e.x is meant for two people so there is no use in it if only one person feels good.
“Yeah, I"m almost at my limit, too.”
Hatori greatly increased his speed as soon as he said that. It was violent but
somehow sweet. Why did he think that?
“Aahhh……! Aahh…aah…ngh! Nngh…”
Yos.h.i.+no tightly grabbed Hatori by the neck, feeling as though he was going to be
thrown off because the motion was so vigorous. Yos.h.i.+no breathed heavily, and Hatori
planted a kiss on his lips. The pa.s.sionate kiss and thrusts caused violent heat to rise
within his body whether he wanted it to happen or not.
“Mmhh…mmh…ngh…! Ah! Ah! Aahh…aahhhh……!”
In one instance, Hatori penetrated deep into Yos.h.i.+no"s inner most part, making
Yos.h.i.+no well up with heat from the shock. He tightened around the force, urging it to
climax, and immediately after, he felt something hot inside his body. He breathed out
deeply, his body thrown into violent spasms. 

“……Chiaki,” Hatori held him and repeatedly pecked him with soothing kisses,
and to this, Yos.h.i.+no slowly closed his eyes.
* * * *
“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow…,” Yos.h.i.+no hardly exercised, so his whole body was
screaming because it wasn"t used to such intense work-out. It especially hurt in his hips.
For quite some time now, Hatori was giving him a ma.s.sage, but he felt like it was
just a drop in the bucket.
“…Geez, you could"ve been more gentle, you know.”
When they were having s.e.x, his mind was filled with ecstasy so it had felt good,
but now that he had calmed down, the pain had hit.
“What are you talking about? I tried to stop, but you were the one who kept
saying you wanted more.”
“Who said something like that!? Ow, ow, ow……”
“You didn"t say it in words, but I could tell you were saying that just by how
tightly you were squeezing me. I won"t let you say that you had no part in this even
though you were crying and whining.”
“……!” He had no counter-argument for that. Although his body strength gave
out easily, he had been l.u.s.ting for ecstasy, and whenever Hatori had tried to take it out,
Yos.h.i.+no had tightened around him and prevented him from leaving. At that time, he
hadn"t been thinking straight and had acted purely on instinct.
“I still kind of feel like it"s my fault for putting you through this though, so that"s
why I"m giving you a ma.s.sage. So quit complaining and quietly go to sleep.”
“……….”
He was very thankful for the ma.s.sage. Hatori was putting just the right pressure
into Yos.h.i.+no"s stiff muscles, and it felt very good.
Hatori only did this every once in a while, but the next day his muscles were no
longer stiff and he felt like he was born again. As Hatori ma.s.saged near Yos.h.i.+no"s
shoulder blades, he reminded Yos.h.i.+no about the promise he made when they were doing
it. 
“…You didn"t forget our promise, right?”
“…You"re so stubborn. I always keep my word!”
“And yet, you always miss deadlines.”
“That"s different!”
It wasn"t like he completed the ma.n.u.script late on purpose, so that was an out of
his hands kind of thing.
I should probably not be alone with Yuu for now just to stick to Hatori"s
promise…
He became somewhat uneasy when he remembered the incident at the hotel.
Yanase had probably been a little bit drunk, but at that time, his eyes had been scary.
What was that all about…?
He had probably been only making fun of the scared Yos.h.i.+no, but that was a bit
of poor taste. If Hatori hadn"t called, he probably would have stopped and jokingly said
something like “What are you looking all serious for?”, but at that time, Yos.h.i.+no had
been very shaken.
….I think I now understand why Tori is so uneasy with him.
Even if Yanase didn"t have any ulterior motives, his face had been very serious
when he was drawing. Until now, he had never paid such close attention to Yanase, but if
Yos.h.i.+no"s own lover had another man look at him like that, he also would feel worried.
“…Tori.”
“Hm?”
“Let"s go on a trip together next time.”
“……….”
At Yos.h.i.+no"s statement, Hatori stopped for a moment. Yos.h.i.+no pouted, not
expecting this reaction.
“What? You don"t want to?”
“No, that"s not it. I"m just a little surprised. You want to go with me?”
“Yeah, I want to go with you. It"s okay even if it"s a trip to collect information.
Sometimes you need to take a break. You"re the one who should be going to the hot
springs.”
Day after day, Hatori worked late into the night without taking any breaks and 
hardly had any time to himself. Yos.h.i.+no understood that being an editor was a busy job,
but sometimes such vacations were good.
“You"re right. I hope we can go someday.”
“Not just ‘someday’! We’ll definitely go! It"s a promise, okay?”
“Alright, alright. It"s a promise.”
Yos.h.i.+no felt relieved at getting out the answer he wanted to hear. Then he
suddenly felt sleepy. Because his whole body was exhausted, it was hard to stay awake.
“Don"t…for…get…”
“You"re slurring your words. Are you sleepy? It"s fine, go to sleep.”
“I"m…alright…,” he said as he felt his eyelids getting heavy. His eyes flickered
until finally it became hard to keep his eyes open.
“Good night.”
Hatori"s words were his last memory for the night.