Connecting wasn’t easy. It should have been.
Rin was his mother. Kyo had irrefutable proof thanks to the DNA test. Their similarities stopped there. They differed on everything else. He did not appreciate a life tied up by Kiyoshi family rules. Kyo did not want to be the good son who dressed up and spent time trying to understand the rules of the family. He did not know the right way to eat with a mind-boggling array of cutlery. What was wrong with a pair of chopsticks? He liked his hair long. Kyo hated suits and felt comfortable in his jeans and t-shirts. He painted. The painting was his life, he made a living that way.
After two months of constant turmoil, Kyo was sure he did not want to be a part of the Kiyoshi family. He missed his apartment. He missed hanging out with Kaori at Hitoiro.
Kyo sat in a sun-bright solarium a day before the agreed two months ended. He stared at the blank page on his sketchbook wondering what he was supposed to do now.
He liked the idea of having a mother. Rin was an interesting woman. She wanted Kyo to change his last name to Kiyoshi but he was unwilling. He was loyal to Grandma and Grandpa Tatsuya. They loved him enough to give him their name, and a home. Abandoning them would be wrong. He couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“You’re frowning again,” Ryuu said into the room, making Kyo drop the pen he was tapping against the sketchpad. “What did you do this time?”
Kyo sighed, unable to stop staring at Ryuu.
Ryuu had become his knight in shining armor. He rescued Kyo from a million situations that would have turned into a nightmare.
On workdays like today, Ryuu was always impeccably dressed. He was in a black suit today with a burgundy shirt that was open at the collar. His dark hair was stylishly cut, and a lock of it fell over his forehead, making Kyo want to walk over and brush it back.
“I’m going to go back to my apartment,” Kyo said, looking away from Ryuu. “I don’t belong here.”
“Kyo,” Ryuu said in surprise. Entering the solarium, Ryuu came to sit beside him on the chaise. He picked up Kyo’s drawing pen from the floor and stared at it for a moment. “You want to run away.”
“Maybe,” Kyo said.
Ryuu held out his pen to Kyo and he took it with a shrug. He shifted on the chaise so that he was looking at Ryuu.
Kyo ran through the information that he’d learned about Ryuu. Ryuu was twenty-eight, single, and was a second-born son. His older brother was married to a Kiyoshi. It was how he had gotten the position he held with Rin’s foundation. The couple had renewed their vows after a few years of being apart on the day Ryuu picked Kyo up from the gallery.
“Of all the people who live in this house, you are the one that belongs the most,” Ryuu said. “Not the two aunts who are giving you hell for not knowing how to use the cutlery. Not the uncle who doesn’t want you working at the foundation. And none of their brats will inherit any of it even if you leave. You are Rin’s only child, her son. You are the only one who deserves her consideration.”
“But it’s too hard,” Kyo said. “I don’t have the kind of strength needed-“
“I can be your strength, Kyo,” Ryuu said. “You just have to get through tomorrow and the next day, and it will all be over.”
“I don’t know if I can,” Kyo said, staring at the blank page again.
Kyo had not been able to draw in a week now. Not being able to draw scared him. He always drew. Nothing had ever stopped that place inside him that felt the urge to create.
Kyo held his pencil, holding his hand over the page determined to make any kind of line, even a straight line would be acceptable. He was supposed to be concentrating on preparing for his thesis. His adviser was expecting a rough draft and a full concept of his final exhibition. Yet, he couldn’t even draw a single line. Kyo closed his eyes in frustration. He couldn’t lose his art.
A warmer hand covered his hand, and the pen was pressed to the sketchpad.
Kyo opened his eyes to find Ryuu holding his hand steady against the page. Turning his head slightly, smiling dark eyes captured his gaze.
“I can’t draw,” Ryuu said. “But I can keep the pen steady if you move it.”
Kyo laughed at the suggestion and turned his attention back to the page. Ryuu’s hand held the pen steady. Kyo moved Ryu’s hand over the page and for an inordinate amount of time, he directed the pen over the sketchpad.
Kyo smiled wide when he stopped drawing and they both stared at the Zen garden they had drawn together. It was rough, hardly spectacular, and would need a lot more work to make it worth a longer look.
Ryuu let go of his hand and took the sketchpad away from him holding it up.
“My first drawing,” Ryuu said into his ear with quiet excitement.
Kyo smiled.
Ryuu had that effect on him.
“Can I keep it?”
“Sure,” Kyo said.
“Thank you,” Ryuu said. He placed the sketchpad on the cushion beside him and pulled Kyo into a hug.
“Don’t leave,” Ryuu murmured into Kyo’s ear.
Kyo pressed his face into Ryuu’s chest, snuggling into the warmth of Ryuu’s body. He wrapped his arms around Ryuu. Taking in a deep breath, he filled his senses with Ryuu’s intoxicating scent.
“Stay, for me,” Ryuu said. “Stay with me, Kyo.”
Kyo’s heart answered the request, snuggling deeper into Ryuu’s chest.
“What if I lose myself here? I feel it already. I can’t lose my art, Ryuu.”
“I’ll hold the pen,” Ryuu promised. “I’ll remind you who you truly are. Please promise to stay here with us a while longer.”
Kyo couldn’t help agreeing to the request. Ryuu had that effect on him, it didn’t help that a soft kiss was pressed to the top of his head and strong arms wrapped around him tightly. He could have stayed there forever.
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