Chapter Five
"I'm pregnant."
Ren stared at the man beside him with a dumbfounded look on his face. His hands stopped stirring the coffee in front of him and his entire body shuddered. Beside him, Kichirou had a large blissful smile spread across his face, his cheeks flushed with merriment. His hands were caressing his belly as if already cradling and protecting the small life there.
Jun stood behind Kichirou his hand reaching out to softly touch his flaming cheeks. Kichirou leaned into the touch contentedly, seeking more of that small touch. Ren was at their place to pick Misaki up, it had been almost a month since he had been released from the chains Koutarou had woven around him, and now that he thought about it, it had been weird that Kichirou had been able to take Misaki to preschool that entire time except for a couple days. It made sense now.
"How far along are you?" Ren asked, picking up his coffee and taking a sip, not even noticing when he scalded his tongue. Jun kissed Kichirou on his cheek before turning away and picking up MIsaki off the floor. Misaki giggled and clutched his dad tightly into his tiny arms. He then gave Jun a sloppy kiss on his cheek, mimicking the earlier action. Jun laughed aloud and took Misaki back to his room to change him out of his pajamas.
"Almost two months," Kichirou answered, patting his stomach lovingly with a bright smile. He looked up at Ren and seemed to smiled shyly, his eyes sparkling behind his glasses. "I'm due late August."
Not knowing how to respond, Ren just said an automatic, "Congrats."
Kichirou watched Ren's reaction and noticing he did nothing other than sip his coffee silently as they both listened to Misaki giggle as Jun changed his clothes. Kichirou decided this might be the best time to start the conversation he had been avoiding, hoping that Ren would bring it up himself. "I've been meaning to ask, Ren."
"Hmm?" Ren muttered, looking up from where he was staring at the floor. Kichirou twisted the wedding band on his finger several times before he found the courage to look Ren in his eyes once again.
"Have you met anyone recently?' He tried to ask it as innocently as possible, but he felt his eyes wander to Ren's own hands, which gripped the coffee cup tighter before slightly relaxing.
"No." Ren's voice came out harsh. He cleared his throat, trying to calm the many emotions raging inside him. "Why do you ask?"
Kichirou sighed and reached over slowly and tapped Ren's pinky on his right hand. Ren thought he felt a tug there, but he didn't see anything. "Your face string has become clearer everyday."
Not even wary of this talk due to working with Hayato and Rei for do long, Ren knew the reason why and as he thought about those teal eyes, his heart contracted sharply in his chest. He hadn't seen that slim figure for a month, but every time he thought of Shouta his heart hurt.
Kichirou saw the change in Ren's expression but decided to not say anything for now. He knew he would be able to find out the truth eventually. All he had to do was wait for Ren to be able to open up his heart again.
~~~
"Shouta come here." Osamu was sitting in the living room, his face stiff and a cell phone sitting on the table in front of him. He had his hands beneath his chin and looked to be deep in thought, but the instant Shouta walked through the door frame and into the living room, Osamu's green eyes shot to him, piercing him with a glare as sharp as a thousand needles.
Noticing the look in his father's eyes, Shouta walked over and sat down gingerly opposite of his father. He waited a few minutes, but his father just stared at the phone on the table with an unfathomable look in his eyes. Not liking the silence, Shouta piped up, "What's with the serious expression Dad?"
The sentence that came next shook Shouta to the core.
"The doctor called earlier while you were still sleeping."
Shouta heart thundered in his chest. Shit, he forgot to tell his doctor to call him on his cell not the house phone. Frozen to his seat, Shouta didn't know what to do. He had only gone to the doctor yesterday, he didn't realize that the call would have come so quickly, however it probably did since he was the young master of the group.
"How long?" Osamu growled, his eyes sparking, igniting fires in his iris.
Shouta cursed in his heart, his mother had warned him a month ago to tell his father. Why hadn't he?
"I don't know what you're talking about." Came the most nonchalant lie Shouta could come up with on the spot.
Osama bolted forward so quickly and yanked him over to him by his collar, Shouta had no time to dodge. He had forgotten how quickly his father could be when he was serious. Osamu shoved the turtleneck collar Shota was wearing out of the way to look at the back of his neck. His breath came out in a hiss when he saw the light marking there. Trembling fingers touched the scarring there lightly before Osamu sat back down, releasing Shouta but his glare never leaving his son's face.
The words seethed through his teeth, nothing more than a hiss, "How long, Shouta?"
Not able to meet his father's gaze, Shouta looked down at his hands and whispered, "Around five weeks."
Without even looking up, Shouta heard his father's fingers tapping rhythmically on the arm of the couch. He hated that noise, usually his father only used it when coming face to face with a hard decision. When his father's voice rumbled out, Shouta flinched. "Where is this man?"
Shouta stayed silent, still not looking up.
"If you don't know," his father began, anger seeping into every word, his fingers still drumming out a rhythm, "I will go find him and drag his ass back here. If he will not come quietly," Osamu paused and breathed in before releasing the breath in what sounded almost like a sigh, "I will kill him.
"Dad!" Shouta's eyes shot up to finally look at his father, his eyes were wide with terror at the thought of something happening to Ren because of him. "No, don't. I'll talk to him properly."
Tap, tap, tap went his father's fingers along the couch fabric. With each drum, Shouta flinched, his nerves shot. "You have twenty-four hours." Osamu said quietly, watching every emotion flitter through his son's eyes. "If he will not take care of you properly, I will dispose of him. This is not a threat Shouta. Do you hear me, this is a promise as the Ichikawa boss."
"I hear you." Shouta uttered under his breath, his mind going haywire with the things his father could do to Ren. Shuddering, his eyes locked onto his father's and he watched at his father tapped the watch on his wrist, his face tight with anger.
"The clock is ticking." He snapped, "Go."
~~~
Ren dropped off Misaki, but to his surprise, right before he was about to turn around to leave, Shouta stopped him and dragged him into one of the back offices. Shouta was pacing back and forth in the small room and his smell was intoxicating Ren. Each time he passed by in front of Ren, Ren had to resist the urge to pull him in to devour him.
After pacing for almost a full five minutes in silence, Shouta came to an abrupt stop and stared down at Ren who was sitting on his hands. Breathing in deeply, his words coming out in a rush, almost becoming one words, he said, "Do you remember that night?"
Ren felt as though he couldn't lie to the man in front of him. Even with his hair tied up in a messy bun, his teal eyes shot with what looked like exhaustion, to Ren, Shouta still looked absolutely adorable. He had to clench his hands harder underneath him before he answered truthfully, "Not really."
Shouta hissed and squatted down in front of Ren, yanking his collar out of the way to show him the nape of his neck. There on that pale white skin was a bite mark the exact same as Ren's teeth. Shouta was so close to Ren that they both felt their hearts pounding wildly beneath their skin.
Ren took in a deep breath of that scent Shouta was emitting. Not resisting the shudder that ran through his limbs, Shouta whispered barely audibly, "You left this and ran."
"I'm sorry," Ren whispered back, sorrow in his voice. "I was terrified. I didn't know what else to do."
Letting go of his shirt, Shouta looked over at Ren and stared into those light brown eyes, watching as those gold flecks seemed to increase in color. Shouta couldn't resist any longer as he reached out to touch his mate for the first time in a month. When his fingers came into contact with Ren's cheek, the both of them closed their eyes and shuddered. Heat erupted and Shouta's pheromones began to leak with more intensity.
"You could have stayed."
The whisper full of sorrow hit Ren harder than he thought it would. Unconsciously, he leaned into the hand on his face, feeling the warmth seeping from the fingers that were like butterfly kisses across his skin. He didn't realize that his next words also held traces of sorrow within them, "But I didn't know who you were."
SHouta sighed and took his hand away from Ren even though he wanted to rip off all of their clothes and go for it right then and there. The urge was incredibly tantalizing, so to prevent himself from doing so, he continued their conversation, "I didn't either, but that isn't a good enough reason why, and how you've avoided me for over a month." Shouta realized then that that was what he was most upset about, not Ren leaving after that night, but being avoided.
"Ah," Ren sighed, running his fingers through his auburn hair. He closed his eyes and inhaled that scent deeply before answering. "That's because Kichirou didn't need me to drop Misaki off."
Those teal eyes dimmed as they looked away, "So Misaki is the only reason you'd find me..."
Ren was speechless. How was he even supposed to respond to that comment? He had been avoiding Shouta but he just wanted to sort out his feelings first before making a commitment. This was his entire life they were talking about, not some emasly one night stand.
Shouta sighed, "So you have been avoiding me."
"Well, I'm, you see..." Ren stuttered, not knowing where to begin. There was nothing to really say to an accusation like that. He could only tell the truth, but he didn't want to see that sorrow lingering in Shouta's eyes any longer.
"Enough," Shouta groaned, waving his hand in the air. He looked at Ren seriously and let out a breath, "You also left something else that night besides this mark."
Confused and shocked, Ren thought back to that night. He had grabbed everything, hadn't he? He even remembered double checking he had everything before he had shut that door.
Watching the expressions play out on Ren's face, Shouta decided that it was now or never. Time to jump of the plane and hope he landed in still waters.
"I'm pregnant."