(( Cuteness warning???

Hope ya'll enjoy the specially prepared fluff. -Soki <3 ))

" Hey, Ash... are you ever going to go back to school?" Eiji murmured the next morning, drowsy and pulled against Ash's side. His bed head was messy and sticking on end, and Ash was clearly tired as well. Everyone had always complained that he was grumpy when he woke up, but that was all different when Eiji was by his side. Sure, he didn't like waking up, but seeing Eiji's face right away helped.

" I don't need school... I already have a better education than most college students in America..." Ash yawned.

" But... don't you at least want your diploma?" Eiji asked, sitting up. " All of your guys have basically dropped out at this point, too..."

" When it comes to gang life, you rarely meet a guy who finished high school..." Ash replied. " You're different... since you have a life after this and you get to go to college."

Eiji wasn't pleased with that answer, and he knew that he would bring it up again at some point. But whatever. It wasn't like they could all just show up at school without a bunch of questions, as well as truancy concerns. At least Eiji had been catching up online and managing all of his assignments.

" Anyways... we should probably get up." The Eiji chuckled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

" Do we have to? You could just stay in bed with me all day..." Ash smirked playfully, and as much as Eiji admired the smile... it made him blush and get flustered. It was always fun to play along, though, and see Ash's reaction.

" Yeah? What would we do?" Eiji replied, smirking back and letting his hand rest on Ash's chest. He was matching that same flirtatious energy Ash had.

Ash's face turned a tomato shade of red and he froze.

" Kidding." Eiji added, snickering. He rolled out of bed after that, leaving Ash with a fast heartbeat pounding in his chest, still thinking about how cute the other was. He almost wanted to bury himself in the blankets and never come back out.

After everything he'd been through, sex jokes should've rattled him. But weirdly enough, Ash felt like he could talk about anything with Eiji, including that, without getting scared.

Eiji began to brew some coffee, pouring water into the pot and filling the coffee filter with grounds. He felt slightly flustered while replaying the exchange that had just happened moments earlier. Things with Ash were slowly returning to normal after the whole airfield debacle, but still, he knew that things would never quite be the same. They'd essentially confessed their love for one another, so there was no coming back from that, not at all.

There were still many questions that Eiji had, however. He knew that Ash wasn't supposed to love anyone in that way, and it almost felt like they were breaking the rules. But he liked it that way, and was beginning to question how much Ash had changed him. He felt like a completely different person with that weight off his chest. But how much would things change from there? Would Ash be looking for physical love, too? Eiji had no clue.

The fridge door closed from behind him and Eiji jumped, nearly yelping from how startled he was.

" What?" Ash asked. " Jumpy?"

Eiji gulped and chuckled nervously, taking a second to compose himself before turning around.

" Maybe a little..." He said, pulling out two coffee mugs from the cupboard, and Ash set out some eggs from the fridge for breakfast, leaning on back the metal surface and watching Eiji. It was pitiful... how shy they both were sometimes. Maybe they should've been laying out some boundaries instead of just staring at each other all the time and waiting for the other to make a move, say something, do something. Ash knew he should've been the one to talk about things, but he questioned if he'd be able to do it without sounding like an absolute idiot.

" So..." The blonde began, all while Eiji had returned to the coffee maker by then and started to pour their drinks. " I think I could get used to you sleeping in my bed..."

What a bold statement! Eiji blushed to himself and gripped the handle of the coffee pot more so as he became extra flustered, wondering if he'd snap it clean off. He had only just finished pouring coffee and put the pot back by the time Ash's arms were around him behind, and he felt Ash's chin resting on his shoulder.

Eiji was only stiff for a moment until he realized what was happening and settled back against him.

" And why is that?" He asked quietly, not yet having the courage to look back at Ash. His heart might not have been able to take how attractive the other was right then and he was painfully self aware.

Ash's heart was beating probably as fast as Eiji's, but he didn't show it. He, for the first time, forced himself to be confident to just wrap his arms around him, to speak about how he felt. This was new to him... but Ash knew that he had to let Eiji see how serious he was.

" Because you make everything feel better..." He whispered in Eiji's ear. " Everything." Pulling Eiji back against himself more snugly, Ash closed his eyes and leaned his face against Eiji's shoulder.

Eiji was ready to explode at that point. This was just insanity! All the blush was going to burn his cheeks alive and there was nothing, absolutely nothing that he could do to save himself! Damn it! He had to figure out how to handle this! And it was just a hug... what would happen if they progressed to other things later?

" You make me crazy." Eiji replied, honest. And it was true. If this tension kept up much longer, he just might've gone mad.

" Good." Ash drew his face back, then used his hands, pulling Eiji away from the counter and flipping him around so they could look at each other. He could see in the way that Eiji's eyes were beading around that no one had ever held him this way before, but Ash already knew that. He leaned his forehead against Eiji's and embraced him.

It was agonizing, but he still didn't kiss him. And Eiji, as he closed his eyes and felt comforted by Ash's large hands on his hips, didn't dare move. There was so much tension that it was near impossible to take, but somehow they did it for the other's sake. It was just a simple embrace that meant everything. Yeah...

" You aren't leaving today... are you?" Eiji asked after a while, pulling away so he could stare up at Ash, and by then, the blonde was a blushing mess as well. He pursed his lips and grabbed his coffee, trying to hide it. Back to normal he went, not wanting to be mushy anymore.

" I should probably check on Shorter..." He replied, murmuring, and hoping Eiji wouldn't be mad at him for it.

Eiji looked down at the floor when he heard that, but he knew that he couldn't stop him from doing that. After all, Shorter had been injured, and Ash had known him for way longer. They were best friends, and truthfully, Eiji was worried about him as well.

" Can... can I come with? I've been wondering how his recovery has been going..." Eiji said, then drank some of his own coffee. He hoped that Ash would've learned his lesson the last time, and didn't just try to lock him up in the condo alone again.

Ash figured that if he told Eiji to stay, things would've gotten ugly. Making him stay there had proved ineffective anyways, and even so... he knew that he still would've been worried about him. It seemed like unless they were side by side, Ash was a wreck and thinking about everything and anything that could've been happening to Eiji.

" Yeah... he's probably at his beat up house down a few blocks from Jessica's and Max's." Ash replied.

That's when something occurred to Eiji.

" Ash... how long has it been since you visited Jessica and your little brother?" He asked, using a concerned tone of voice.

Ash actually had to take a second to think about it... but it had actually been when Jessica was assaulted. That was a long time ago, and he missed Michael and even her! He almost couldn't believe it, but it was true. He did miss her.

" A long time... I would love to see them, but I'm not sure it's safe..."

Eiji wasn't going to accept that. He was there to be Ash's common sense, or maybe his heart, when it came to issues like this.

" Well... if they're on the way to Shorter's, we should see them. Plus, maybe I'd like to see your room?" He winked at the end of it, hoping the humor would help lighten Ash up.

Ash tried to fight off more blush from forming on his face, but it didn't work like that as he fell victim to it.

" Fine! I'll... just have backup outside."

Eiji smiled, looking at Ash for a long time.

" What? What is that look for?" Ash asked, folding his arms.

" Nothing..." Eiji insisted. " I'm going to go get dressed and then we'll go."

And in that meantime, Ash was left to mentally kick himself. He told himself that he was going to draw up some boundaries with Eiji, but all he'd done was tease him and get him worked up. Since when had he been so sloppy?! Damn... he wished that he could compose himself better, but there was just something about Eiji that made him forget things.

Ash was extremely careful about leaving the condo with Eiji, wanting to make sure that they weren't followed. They took a cab to the neighborhood close to their high school, then got out to walk the rest of the way.

Eiji was close by Ash's side as they walked down the sidewalk. He blushed to himself and decided to just go for it, praying that it wouldn't be too much for Ash. He slowly moved his hand and grasped Ash's, turning bright red.

Ash nearly froze in the middle of the sidewalk when he felt Eiji grasp his hand. Okay... so that's what that felt like. He cleared his throat and turned his head to the side, flustered and not saying a word. He didn't have a problem with it, though.

Eiji smiled to himself shyly, happy that Ash hadn't stopped him. It was clear to him Ash had never had anything like that done to him before.

" It's... it's right up here..." Ash said, and Eiji looked where the other's eyes were pointed. That was Max and Jessica's house? For some reason, Eiji had been expecting way worse. It didn't look half bad.

" Cute..." Eiji told him. " Seems like a nice place."

" Don't force yourself to compliment it..."

" I'm not. I like it... it's about the same size as my house in Japan." Eiji replied nonchalantly. He finally had calmed down about holding Ash's hand by then.

Ash glanced over his shoulder, knowing that Alex and some other guys would be showing up to be lookouts soon. But still... he didn't want to be caught holding Eiji's hand like that. Not yet. He knew maybe he'd be ready for that someday, but still, he was trying to get used to his own feelings first.

" Do we just knock?" Eiji asked as they stood on the porch.

" I suppose..."

Ash went ahead and placed a couple knocks on the door, and he heard heavy footsteps coming toward it.

Max peered out of the cracked front door, but then swung it open when he realized who it was.

" Ash! And Eiji, hey! Long time no see. What are you two doing on this side of town?" He asked, clearly excited. Ash was his adoptive son, after all. It had been a while since he'd seen him.

" We thought since we were over here anyways, we could stop by..." Ash replied, and when Max looked down, he spotted that they were holding hands. He did a double take, and Eiji was definitely shy as he looked to the side.

" Um-" Max stammered. " Ash, erm-... did you two finally get together, then?"

" Shut up, old man. None of your business." Ash huffed as he stepped in.

" What do you mean it's not my business?!" Max gasped, and Ash let go of Eiji's hand, kneeling down and untying his red Converse. And Eiji slipped out of his shoes as well, not sure what to say. This was Ash's family, not his own. It wasn't his place to talk.

" I'm just happy you finally stopped lying to yourself." Max chuckled and patted Ash's shoulder. He'd always realized that this would happen.

Ash felt like he was going to explode.

" Shut up or I'll just walk right out the door!" He yelled, blushing.

" Okay, okay, easy-" Max chuckled.

" What's going on out here?" Jessica asked, coming into the room. She was surprised when she saw Ash, but who was the attractive Asian boy? Was that the same Eiji that Max had mentioned? " Ash, who's this?" She asked.

Eiji gulped and smiled.

" I'm Eiji... Ash's um-"

Ash glanced over, wondering what he was going to say.

Jessica approached, noticing how Eiji was struggling with the title. Clearly he didn't want to say friend or something other than that, hesitant.

" Well, I'm Jessica, Ash's adoptive mom. Welcome." She smiled and shook his hand.

" Ashhh!" Was shouted from the stairs, and thumping was heard as Michael raced across the floor and came to jump on him. Ash caught him, making an "oof" noise upon impact.

" Hey, little man..." He smiled. " Shouldn't you be at school?"

" I don't have school today." Michael rubbed his eyes. He smiled brightly, though, happy to see his older brother. " Who's that?" He asked, pointing at Eiji.

Ash chuckled and held Michael with one hand, and Eiji smiled and laughed.

" I'm Eiji. Nice to meet you." He waved, using a slightly different tone of voice. He was clearly experienced with kids, and that's when Ash remembered Eiji had a little sister. That was probably why.

Michael got shy at that, and Ash laughed to himself.

" It's okay, buddy... Eiji's nice."

Max and Jessica looked at each other, and they both knew what was going on with Ash and Eiji.

" So... what brings you two here?" Jessica asked.

Ash set Michael down, looking over at her.

" Well... we were on our way to check on Shorter, but you guys are on the way. Eiji also wanted to say hi." Ash explained.

" I see..." Jessica smirked. She already liked this Eiji guy. He was ten times more polite than Ash and would be a good influence on him. " Why don't you stay for lunch as long as you're here?" She offered. " I can make something."

" I mean... it's your house and it's your choice if you want to burn it down..." Ash said.

" Hey!"

" I'll help her. Just relax. You're at home now." Max said, smiling at Ash pridefully. He was just happy that he was okay. Gang life was rough, and he'd read about the airfield incident online and suspected Ash's involvement. At least Ash and the others had made it out okay, and without suspicion from the cops.

" Come on, Michael... you can help me with lunch." Jessica held out her hand.

" But I wanna stay with Ash!" He whined.

" Ash is going to show his friend around. You can spend time with him after lunch, okay?"

Michael huffed, looking at her, then back at Ash.

" Okay..."

With that, Max, Michael, and Jessica headed into the kitchen. That left Ash looking over at Eiji and nervous. Eiji had said that he wanted to see his bedroom, right?

(( Can I somehow justify this cliffhanger if I promise to post the next chapter right away? Heh...))