St. Catherine’s took in many children of all ages that either were homeless or had circumstances where the child couldn’t be properly taken care of. In such cases, St. Catherine’s became the legal guardian of the child. They were raised and cared for along with all the other students.
There have been a lot of studies about children raised in boarding schools. People on both sides of the issue will spout a long list of positives or negatives. People on both sides could also agree that no child should be without a home and that St. Catherine’s was a better alternative.
—Anonymous
Kato left straight away to the Sports Complex as there was no point waiting for Takahashi now. He was in a bad mood anyway and just wanted to be left alone.
“Hello,” a voice came from behind.
Kato turned and saw Xan. “Hello,” he greeted back. Even though Xan was astonishingly attractive, Kato didn’t feel anything even remotely what he felt for Takahashi.
“Mind if I walk with you?” Xan asked.
“Sure.” Kato didn’t really want this, but it would be rude to say no.
“So, you’re Takahashi’s boyf—er, friend, right?” Xan asked with a smile, obviously imitating Kato’s earlier introduction.
“I’m his uke,” Kato said.
“He took the time to explain seme/uke to me. It’s an interesting concept, some perversion of the senpai/kōhai relationship.” Xan started walking.
Kato began walking and kept pace. “I wouldn’t call it a ‘perversion.’”
“What would you call it, then?” Xan looked at him.
“I don’t know. I’ve only been here a little more than three weeks and I still have a lot to learn. What I do know is that Takahashi-san is my seme and he takes care of me.” Kato smiled a little.
“What do you do for him?” Xan asked.
“I don’t know that either. It seems whenever I try to do something for him, he goes wolf-mode on me.”
“What?” Xan asked.
“He shuts down and gets aggressive,” Kato explained.
“Ah. I can see that. He does have quite the aggressive personality.” Xan smiled.
“Has he been harsh with you?” Kato asked.
“No, no. Nothing like that. He’s actually been very patient with me, but he certainly doesn’t like to ask for help, or even like it when I offer it.” Xan chuckled a bit. Kato could empathize as this was the exact same thing he was experiencing.
Kato stopped Xan with his arm. “There is one person you need to avoid at all costs,” he warned.
“Would that be Handa-san?” Xan grinned.
“You met him already?” Kato was surprised. He knew Handa was fast, but they weren’t even on the same wing as Murata had been.
“Yes. He’s quite the character,” Xan snickered.
“He’s an asshole, and my roommate,” Kato grumbled. “Did he try to—” Kato couldn’t say what he really wanted to say, so he said, “force you?”
Xan laughed. “He tried to touch me. I bet that hand of his is still sore.” Xan smiled wide with his perfect teeth.
Kato sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Xan continued walking.
“With that jerk as my roommate, no way anyone would swap with me now.” Kato said glumly.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that.” Xan said.
“Huh?” Kato looked at Xan in confusion.
“I think it might be fun to swap and spend a night with Handa-san.” Xan wore a villainous grin that scared Kato a little.
“Yeah, but—” Kato started.
“Don’t worry about it. I am not afraid of Handa-san. I like a challenge. He just needs somebody to tame him, I think.”
Kato stared back blankly. He really didn’t know what to say to that. He was afraid of Handa, and Murata was afraid of him too, and even though Takahashi wasn’t afraid of him, he knew that Takahashi would like to avoid trouble.
“Besides that, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of you and your boyfriend spending time together,” Xan said with a knowing smile.
Kato looked down and felt his cheeks heat up. Hearing a complete stranger toss around the boyfriend term was embarrassing.
“You coming to see him tonight?” Xan asked.
“No. He told me not to.” Kato stated.
“So? Come anyways. I want to see Handa-san for a bit after showers. So, if you come over from 7 to 8, you can spend time with Takahashi-san and I can go spend time with Handa-san. If Takahashi-san has a problem with it, tell him I kicked you out and you had nowhere to go.”
Kato couldn’t believe anyone alive would want to spend time with Handa-san. But he agreed as it would give him a precious hour to spend with his wolf. He just hoped they don’t squander it by arguing. Takahashi seemed pretty firm in not wanting Kato to come over this evening.
Kato learned a few more interesting details about Daichi Xan as they walked. Apparently, his family was also wealthy. His father was a very successful Chinese business owner who met his mother on a trip to Japan. Xan was raised mostly in Japan with his mother but spent all of his vacations with his father in China. Xan was known to be a bit of a playboy and his parents determined that he needed to be placed in a school that could provide him structure and discipline. Xan was understandably annoyed, but he said he would make the best of it.
Kato tried to warn Xan again about Handa, but Xan said that Handa was the one that should be afraid. So, Kato left it alone.
—–
Kato muddled through sports class then walked alone back to the dorm. Handa was there in the room and he had a simple wrap around his hand.
“What happened to your hand?” Kato couldn’t resist asking with a big grin.
“None of your fucking business,” Handa said.
“Okay,” Kato laughed to himself, knowing already what happened. He grabbed a towel and went to clean up for dinner.
—–
Murata wasn’t there but the two other boys who were always together were. But they never seemed to want to talk so Kato ate quietly. He had noticed that Takahashi wasn’t there either. He wondered at the fact that he could feel so lonely in a room of more than 100 other boys.
—–
Handa didn’t have much of anything to say to Kato all evening. Both took their showers and when 7 o’clock came, there was a knock at the door. Kato was standing right next to it, so he opened it and saw Xan, who then waved him to come out.
“Now, listen up. You do not come back until 8 o’clock, okay?” Xan said sternly.
“Yeah, but why?” Kato asked.
“Don’t ask why, just do it. You said you would.” Xan reminded him.
“Yes, yes, fine,” Kato replied.
“Ok, see you then, and not a minute before,” Xan said.
Kato nodded then walked down the hallway. He looked back once to see the door of his room shut. He really didn’t understand what that was all about. Are they going to fight in his room? He hoped they wouldn’t get blood everywhere and on his stuff.
He left his wing and entered Takahashi’s and stood before the door. He wasn’t sure if he should be polite and knock or not. So, he tried the handle and peeked in. The overhead light was off, but a little nightlight was glowing. Takahashi was lying in bed. Kato slipped his shoes off and lightly walked over to the bed.
Takahashi spoke, “I thought I said don’t come over.”
“Xan kicked me out,” Kato said. “I didn’t have anywhere to go.”
Takahashi turned on his side and faced the wall. “Fine, sit down and keep quiet.”
Kato stripped to his boxers and lifted the covers and crawled into bed with Takahashi. He guessed correct in that Takahashi was also in boxers. Kato heard him sigh so he snuggled up against his back and put his hand on his soft belly, finally gently kissing the back of his neck.
“That tickles,” Takahashi complained.
Kato wasn’t sure if it was the hand or the kiss, or both that tickled. Kato simply smiled. He laid there for quite a while, simply content to soak in the warmth given off by the other boy, and to listen to the sound of his breathing. After a bit, Takahashi’s breathing became regular and soft. Apparently, he had fallen asleep.
Kato spent the whole hour just like that. He turned around and saw the clock was almost 8. He slowly crawled out of bed and then tucked the blankets around Takahashi, trying not to wake him. He got dressed again and sneaked out of the room.
He waited near his door for Xan to come out. “Thanks, Kato-san. See you tomorrow!” He walked off.
Kato didn’t see any signs that Xan was injured. He cautiously walked into the room to see that nothing looked out of the ordinary. Handa was standing in his boxers but something was different.
“What happened to your neck?” Kato asked. He noticed that there were several circular bruises on Handa’s neck that weren’t there before. Did they really fight? Did Xan try to choke him? Serves the bastard right if he did, Kato thought.
“Again, none of your fucking business,” Handa reminded Kato.
“Whatever,” Kato shook his head.
Kato suddenly remembered that he needed to get some supplies for his artwork for Culture Day. He went to hunt down Higashihara and told him what he needed and was ensured that he would have the stuff by tomorrow.
With nothing else to do, Kato attempted to read that stupid book again. He was almost caught up with the class now as they were about 75% done with the book. He didn’t make it too far though as his thoughts kept wandering toward Takahashi. He was exceptionally glad that Takahashi let him snuggle for an hour, but it felt like someone gave Kato just a taste of something wonderful and then denied him anymore of it. He fell asleep to pleasant thoughts of his wolf.
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Crescent Moon Translations 