Love Stage: Hidden Love

Song bird

The first stop was to the mall. Rei thought he could find something special to buy for Shougo, how wrong he was about that! Shougo spent hundreds on the small boy with them. Even when Rei reprimanded him, reminding him this was a day for him.

"Spoiling my baby brother makes me happy!" Shougo insisted.

Rei let it go. Izumi wanted to go to the arcade so they spent the later part of the morning there. Rei found a song booth. He encouraged Shougo to sing for them. He wasn't going to, but Izumi took Rei's side. There wasn't a force in all of known creation that would make Shougo refuse a direct request from that face.

Shougo stepped into the booth. Rei sat down with Izumi facing him. The song he chose was a soft sweet melody about star crossed lovers. Rei found it hard to sit still with those eyes watching him like that. Izumi clapped the loudest as Rei rushed to the bathroom.

They had lunch at a nice upscale place Shougo picked out. Rei was sure it was due to the fountain lava cake they had for dessert. Izumi was beside himself with happiness at seeing it. He was also covered in chocolate by the time he was done. Shougo had to go buy him new clothing while Rei did his best to clean him up in the bathroom.

"Now what?" Izumi asked as they walked down the sidewalk.

"How about a walk in the park?" Shougo offered.

Izumi slumped. His shoulders curved in as he tried to protect himself. "Um, I don't think so." He muttered.

"Why not?" Rei demanded.

It took Shougo's unique way of convincing his brother to get Izumi to talk. Apparently the young boy had been bullied in his last year of school. Those bullies were "in charge" of the park. They had threatened Izumi with bodily harm if he came to the park.

Shougo stood up. "Let's go for a walk in the park." He demanded dragging the other two with him.

"You're not beating up elementary children!" Rei cried.

"I wasn't ruling it out." Shougo growled.

Rei shook his head. They walked with Izumi between them. A group of about six first year middle schoolers blocked their path within a few steps. Rei huffed out a breath. They were all over weight, pimple faced and looked dumber than the ground they were standing on. Rei had the mind to not mention this, but when Shougo found out these were his brothers bullies...

Well he said that and worse. He didn't touch them, but Shougo had a way with words. He stripped the proud over confident looks off their faces with just a few lines. Rei had never been prouder of the teen as he watched the boys scurrying away. Izumi laughed as they ran off.

"That was epic." Rei smiled as he pushed his glasses up. He turned his gaze to the tall teen next to him.

"You truly have a way with words." He offered.

"Thank you." Shougo beamed under the praise.

They spent some time playing with Izumi at the park. Then they strolled along some outdoor shops. Rei found something glistening on one of the tables. He picked it up. It was aa key chain of a song bird. The colors of its feather reminded him of Shougo's eyes. He bought it without another thought. He wondered if he should give it to Shougo? Something made him hold it back.

Then came the theif. He snatched a purse from an old woman as he ran down the sidewalk. Shougo tackled him, but the teen was far from a fighter. The two wrestled a bit until Shougo got hit in the face. Rei had protected Izumi, pressing him into a doorway. He went out to help Shougo.

Rei kicked the guy back away from the teen. The man got to his feet. Seeing that he was out numbered he turned to run again. He didn't get far. Rei whipped his glasses off smacking the guy in the back of the head with them. It was as if he punched him there. The guy dropped, unconscious, to the ground. He let the purse go.

Before the police showed up, Rei found the man had stolen several wallets, one being Shougo's which he assumed he did while wrestling with the teen. This was the only one he returned before the police arrived. They gave their statements and were told they could go.

It was an hour later as they sat down at a Café that Izumi looked over to his brother. He frowned. Reaching out he plucked something from Shougo's shoulder. It was a broken chain. Shougo gaped at it. He took it away, hands flailing he tried to find the rest of his necklace.

"NO! What happened to it?" he wailed.

"Maybe when you fought the mugger?" Rei offered.

Shougo was inconsolable after that. Rei frowned. The teen went on about it being his favorite. Rei left the brothers to enjoy another dessert as he walked back to a shop. He looked over some selections. With a twinkle in his eye, he bought a leather studded choker that looked like a collar. He had them gift wrap it. Something told him, this would be his gift exchange for Shougo for sometime. He would buy him a necklace every time he lost or broke the one before.

Shougo had been thrilled with the new gift. He wore it everyday since Rei gave it to him. Rei had even bought matching sunglasses and fingerless gloves to go with it. Shougo stated they were great accessories for a singer in a band. That had been five weeks ago.

Rei fumed as he watched the plan drift away into the light blue cloudless sky. He sighed. This was Shougo's final year of school. Surely they could figure something out. Rei headed off. One more year...

With a sigh he sank down in the new soft office chair he found online. He picked up his coffee taking a sip as the computer sprang to life. Shougo, just what was he going to do about him? He pondered. One thing came to mind.

The notification sprang up as soon as the computer was on. Rei was looking for a home of his own. One that was close enough for him to visit the Senya's every day, yet far enough that he had some privacy. Said privacy may just mean time alone with the oldest son of his employers.

He looked through the listing that came to him everyday. Something wasn't right with them. One had only a single bedroom, another didn't have a big enough lawn, that knew was too far from Izumi's school, too expensive ... On and on. Well, he had a year to look, save and find the prefect home.

He went on to do his work for the day. Seiya and Nagisa were out of town. He booked a special surprise for Izumi, dinner at his favorite restaurant. He would make sure to take many pictures to blast Shougo with later. The smile was darkly evil on his face. He loved how he could torment the teen with him being around that baby brother of his everyday!

One more year... Rei closed the office at the end of the day to go pick Izumi up from school. He locked it, taking in his new song bird keychain, he was forming a plan for his future. Something he hadn't thought about in a long, long time...