Yo~ Life is hard, I'm so lazy…playing minecraft now…

But, let's get this show rolling~

"Call your family in j.a.pan."

"Ee?"

"Whether you will return to j.a.pan hereafter is a different matter, but first you have to give your family peace of mind."

Right now at this moment too his family in j.a.pan were worried about him.  Arthur's insistence that they should release his family from anxiety and uneasiness as soon as possible was quite right.

"Understood."

Nodding, with the received phone in his hand, Takahito considered who to call.

For some reason or another, before he suddenly talked to his parents he had a feeling he wanted to soften the blow and input the mobile number of his older brother that he had memorized.

Tightly grasping the phone, while the sound of the call rang out, Takahito restlessly moved back and forth alongside the edge of the bed on which Arthur was laying down.

The sound of the call and the sound of his heart could be heard in unison. It was inconceivable that a day would come where he would be this nervous while calling his older brother.

Finally the phone got connected, and a puzzled voice resounded in his ear "Mos.h.i.+mos.h.i.+?" [1] His voice was cautious of the call from an unknown number.

[1] You've probably seen this before, if you read manga etc., but 'Mos.h.i.+mos.h.i.+' is the standard phrase j.a.panese people use when picking up the phone. I left it in because I think it's cuter that way, rather than just translating it as 'h.e.l.lo'.

(Kiji!)

The moment his ear perceived that dearly missed tone of voice, various feelings suddenly welled up inside of him and his throat got stuck.

"Mos.h.i.+mos.h.i.+? Who is this?"

With the question his older brother, who had grown increasingly cautious, made in his ear, Takahito earnestly opened his constricting throat and somehow squeezed out his voice.

"Kiji…it's I"

Silence fell. Leaving behind several seconds of blank s.p.a.ce, Kizuki returned in an uncertain voice "…Taka?"

"Yea…it's me."

"Is it really you Taka?"

"Yes…"

"Can it really be true?"

Kizuki was speechless for a short while, and then suddenly spoke as if relieved.

"I'm so glad…you're safe…I'm really glad…"

"…For making you worry…I'm sorry."

Saying that was the best he could do at this moment.

He had to clearly explain the events up until today…is what he thought, but if he continued any more than this it seemed like his voice would shake shamefully…

With a concerned face, Arthur tightly held the hand that was not holding the mobile phone.

While Takahito gripped that hand in return, as he frantically pressed down the agitation of his emotions, over the telephone receiver Kizuki said "You don't have to apologize…I understand."

"How much of a difficult situation you are in, I clearly understand it."

Being addressed in a soothing tone, Takahito experienced a physical unease.

(He said he clearly understood it…what did he mean by that?)

As he tried to guess at the meaning of those words, Kizuki gave him a question.

"Taka, where are you now?"

"…Wales in United Kingdom."

Takahito had thought that when Kizuki heard that his younger brother was in a foreign country, naturally his reaction would be that of surprise.

"As expected, you really are in UK?"

Kizuki's response was unexpected.

"You said - as expected?"

"To tell you the truth right now I am also in UK."

"Eeee?"

The one who was surprised was Takahito.

"You're lying…"

"I'm not lying. I'll explain it in detail later, but I saw your dream…and from that dream I figured out that you were on a snowy field together with a wolf. From there on as a result of various investigations, we made the conjecture that you've been kidnapped by the Gosford Family. Of course, there is mom, dad, as well as uncle, great uncle and Tsuduki-san with me. Don't worry. We will definitely take you back from the Gosford's. That's why you have to have just a little bit more patience. How is the situation right now? Are you being confined? How are you contacting me?"

Kizuki threw questions at him in rapid succession, but Takahito could not answer.

His thoughts were not able to catch up with the rapid development, and his head was confused.

Everyone…was in United Kingdom. For the sake of rescuing him, they especially came to United Kingdom.

He should be grateful. He should say thank you…

Even though he understood that, he did not speak out at once.

Because earlier he had said that his location was in Wales, them finding out about this 'Forest House' that was the Gosford's private property was also only a question of time.

The Jinguuji party consisted of 6 members.

In contrast, the Gosford Family only had the severely wounded Arthur and the omega Eugene.

No matter how he thought about it there was no chance of winning.

No, it not becoming a fight would be good for both parties.

However, if things stayed like this he would be brought back to j.a.pan…

His heart pounded.

"…"

"Taka? What's wrong? Taka?"

He could hear Kizuki calling for him. Slowly that voice of his older brother faded from his ear - when he noticed that Takahito had touched the b.u.t.ton for disconnecting the call.

 "Did you finish speaking?"

Finding the state Takahito was in strange, Arthur who did not understand j.a.panese asked him. Languidly lowering the hand that was holding the phone, Takahito turned towards Arthur.

"…Jinguuji have come to UK."

"To UK?"

"To take me back…"

Arthur widely opened his right eyes as if he'd been taken by surprise.

"What to do…if things stay like this, we will be pulled apart!"

Takahito grasped the shoulders of his lover with whom he had just now finally communicated his feelings with and brought it to his attention.

He did not want to be separated from Arthur.

Arthur was his one and only…fated 'pair' in the whole world.

Furthermore, he was seriously injured.

With Arthur in such a state he did not want to leave him even for a moment.

"…"

Lost in deep thoughts while gazing at Takahito's face, Arthur abruptly opened his mouth.

"I had thought it would be necessary to speak with the leader of the Jinguuji Family sooner or later. The fact that I had stolen you away from your family is an undeniable truth. I will wholeheartedly apologize to your parents and family, and accept the appropriate punishment. Moreover, I will request them to let me take care of you."

[T.N. The verb used here technically means 'hand over', so literally he's saying 'request them to hand you over to me', but in English it sounds really cold given the situation so I went with the implied meaning instead."

"There's no reason to think they will allow you to do that!"

Involuntarily, Takahito spoke out loudly.

As there was also the grudge of the attempted robbery 17 years ago, it must be that the leader his uncle and his grand uncle and Tsuduki who were from the three subordinate families had embarked to this time settle the score with Gosford family for sure.

Even if he explained to those guys who had a chivalrous lineage that he had fallen in love with Arthur who was from the enemy side, he did not at all think that they would understand it.

[T.N. I think this is in reference to them being Yakuza as Yakuza members themselves call their groups 'chivalrous organizations'.]

If he said something like that he did not want to return, there was no doubt that first of all they would suspect that he had been brainwashed and had Stockholm syndrome.

If it came to that, it would be next to impossible to prove that such was not the case. The more he'd try to persuade them the more they would doubt him and he imagined increasingly try to separate him from Arthur.

"It's certainly impossible! They will separate us!"

And if they were once separated, there was no definite promise that they would be able to meet again. Or, how should he put it, the probability of then not being able to meet was much higher. Because for the sake of freeing him from the 'brainwas.h.i.+ng' as well, they would probably make it so they would not be able to meet.

(No…anything, but that!)

Crying out inside of his chest, Takahito pulled Arthur's arm. He told him with a tormented expression.

"Let's run away."

"Takahito?"

"Let's ask Eugene to take out the car and let's run away. If we drive till the airport, you said you have a private jet there, right?"

"That's…true. However, Takahito."

Arthur confirmed with a grave expression.

"Turning your back right now here would mean parting with your family. In that case it's likely you won't be able to meet your family again. Are you fine with that?"

As Arthur ascertained the extent of his determination Takahito gasped.

(That's true…it would be just like that)

The faces of his father and mother, older brother, grandfather, uncle and Yuuki-mama, grand uncle, Tsuduki and Mizukawa and Michiru floated in the back of his mind.

The people who had brought him and had always loved him since he was born.

He was about to betray those very important people.

He was a cruel human. Ungrateful. Traitor. No matter how he abused himself, there was nothing he could do about it.

Takahito tightly shut his eyes and gritted his teeth. In that state he shook his head as if cutting off any lingering regrets.

After he had shaken off his indecision he opened both of his eyes, and stared straight at Arthur.

"You confronted your family for my sake."

"…"

"That's why I too…will part with my family for your sake."

At Takahito's grim decision, Arthur knitted his brows as if in heartbreak.

"…Takahito"

So that Arthur would not blame himself Takahito ventured to feign a poker face.

"There is no time."

In a voice supressing his emotions he urged his lover.

"…let's hurry."

…

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Ups, goes who's coming?

We're moving closer and closer to the end, there's only 10 more parts left before we're done~ I've been working on translating TATEV, it's been interesting and honestly quite hard switching author's after working so long on these two books. But I'm making good progress, I think.

Anyways, see ya soon~

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