The clock on the far side of the wall ticked by the second, in rhythm with the tapping of fingers against a computer keyboard. There was a creak of a chair as a young man around the age of seventeen shifted in his curled-up position, gazing absentmindedly at the woman across the room whose glass-covered eyes were intensely focused on the display of her monitor.

The atmosphere between the two was quite peaceful, even if the door next to the woman's workspace, and desk, leading into the principal's office was not.

Tanaka blinked once in time with the ticking clock and his expression slowly became more sullen as the minutes passed. Slumping against the arms of the stiff wooden chair, his gloominess seemed more distinctive with the blooming bruise on his throbbing cheek.

His entire body was sore, and Tanaka genuinely considered the pros and cons of escaping his soon-to-be scolding by taking a nap in his 50k yen gifted bed at home or in one of his coveted nesting spots around the neighborhood and in the school, but the nagging from Tarou-sensei afterward wouldn't have been worth it. Besides, it wasn't bad hanging out with the quiet and gentle Fujioka-san, the principal's one and only secretary. At least, it was probably better than subjecting himself to the principal's piercing glare in her office.

He could hear Tarou-sensei's, their principal's, low voice, and while he couldn't discern what she was saying to the other three students that had been escorted to the main office along with himself, there was a twinge of iciness in her tone that promised torment and pain.

As the headmaster of one of the most prestigious schools in the country, she took her job very seriously. Her strict, no-nonsense attitude made it hard for bribes, flatteries, and censures to be used against her. As an educator, she treated everyone equally and was known to love her students fiercely, but that didn't mean she wasn't strict with them as well. Tarou-sensei was one of the few adults that knew how to properly scold people when they were at fault.

Tanaka didn't know why he wasn't in the principal's office himself along with the other three students since he didn't deny pulling the first punch, but it was probably because his sister wasn't here yet.

His mom was currently inspecting one of her company's branches in Shanghai. His dad was busy with his book signing at a bookstore somewhere in Hokkaido this afternoon. And Daichi should be training some new personnel that had been recruited into the JGSDF (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force) outside of the city. The only one that should have been available to come was his sister, who was supposed to be in her office at the National Diet Building, but Fujioka-san was unable to reach her, not even through her personal cell phone, so Tanaka was stuck here in the meanwhile.

As he considered taking a nap regardless of the secretary's watchful eye, the hallways outside of the lobby suddenly grew noisier. He wasn't sure what was happening outside since the windows facing the hallways were frosted white, but the commotion was loud enough to where he couldn't fall asleep easily. Usually, he would be able to take a nap despite his surroundings, noisy or otherwise, but in combination with his sore body and throbbing headache, it was difficult for him to even shut his eyes.

He hoped whatever or whoever was outside passed by quickly. Weren't they in the middle of lessons right now? Why were they so many people outside of their classrooms? But then the door next to Tanaka leading out into the hallway opened, and when Tanaka gave the intruder a sour look, his face froze in mid-pout. Immediately, he took back his previous thoughts.

Standing tall above him was a dark-skinned man with night-dark hair, but his eyes were a piercing, golden-brown color. He was cleanly shaved -- which was unusual for Tanaka since there would usually be some hairs on his lower jaws and his upper lips, but it didn't make the man next to him any less handsome or good-looking. His dark grey three-piece suit screamed money and the way the man had forgone the tie gave out a casual rogue kind of feeling. Tanaka had no doubt that the other's shoes are probably just as expensive as his clothes, but he was more concentrated on the familiar scent the man eluded: cinnamon, mint, a touch of lemon, and some turmeric.

"Basim-san!" Tanaka cried out happily, his whole figure brightening as he recognized his good friend from the other side of the world. It had been months since he had last seen the other (the video calls not counting) and despite his current condition, Tanaka found himself relaxing.

Hearing his name being called so excitedly from his most precious person, Basim looked down at the smaller male gazing up at him with brilliant and sparkling eyes, and his whole visage, which originally displayed a hint of dominance and tyranny, softened to the point where his sharp eyes melted into molten gold.

Automatically, almost instinctively, Tanaka leaned closer to the older man, wanting to be closer to the other's scent and Basim shamelessly allowed himself to take his gaze all over his desired person. Instantly, he noticed the blooming bruise on the young man's cheek. The molten gold hardened and then turned darker when Tanaka made a pained expression when the rabble outside of the office increased in volume.

When Basim had entered the school with the intention of visiting the younger man and acting as a replacement for Nanami-san's absence, a bunch of girls and some guys had followed and stalked him like a group of leeches. It was amusing to see how energetic Tanaka's peers were (since the lethargic teen was never active or excitable himself), but it quickly turned into an irritating farce.

With a single step to the side, Basim slammed the door onto the faces of some very persistent teenage girls and moved in front of the young man before him. Kneeling down on one knee, Basim lifted his hand and reached for the bruise on Tanaka's face, his golden eyes gleaming in pleasure when he noticed that the young man didn't even flinch at his touch and allowed the middle-eastern to cup his cheek. The older man especially couldn't help but use his thumb to stroke the corner of the other's eye and watched as the teen's eyelashes fluttered at the gesture.

Though most people would have considered Tanaka as a 'plain' person with no notable characteristics, Basim knew very intimately that the teen had very delicate features that only someone who was close to the lazy boy could appreciate.

There was a reason why the Makis allowed their youngest son to look and dress so sloppily.

Tanaka's indoor lifestyle allowed his skin to be smooth and pale like those beautiful white jade that the Chinese had always praised, its glow would always be covered up by his long-sleeved sweaters and sweatshirts. Even his soft and pleasant-looking face would be covered by the fringes of his hair, effectively hiding all of Tanaka's attractiveness and good features.

Basim knew for a fact, through constant closeness and touching, that the teen was very thin underneath the thick layer of clothes he wore. Not the kind of thin that was mostly bones and skin, but the type that would have subtle curves and a small layer of soft fat. As a very attractive man with a lot of money and a high pedigree, there were no short amount of busty and bodacious women pressing against him, so he found himself surprised by how pleasant the teen felt in his arms.

But Basim's favorite thing about the young man before him was his eyes, which were always framed with the young boy's long, dark, and captivating eyelashes. Though they often appeared sleepy and half-lidded, the purity and clearness could barely be hidden beneath the other's thick-framed glasses, and Basim couldn't help but feel attracted to them. The older man had always enjoyed how those dark pearls would always brighten and shine in his presence.

But despite Tanaka's sloven disposition, there was always a worry among the Makis that their youngest would get kidnapped. The young man was much too defenseless, especially when he napped, and if some unsavory person ever had noticed that Tanaka was actually a hidden gem rather than a plain rock— well, needless to say, blood would have definitely been spilled before anything would have been resolved. Especially due to those brother-complex older siblings.

"Did you put ice on it?" he questioned, his voice deep and indulgent, wondering how he should aid those bro-con siblings in the destruction of whoever decided to lay their hand on their precious baby brother. The handsome tycoon didn't bother asking whether the young boy felt any pain. He knew that any idle time Tanaka had would have been spent sleeping, and if Basim hadn't found him trying to take a nap regardless of situation or position, it meant that the teenager had felt too uncomfortable to close his eyes. When Tanaka slowly shook his head, the older man narrowed his eyes. "What about painkillers?"

"Don't want them," Tanaka immediately rejected, making a pained expression. He had a constitution where drugs would hit fast and hit hard. It always made him feel miserable by the time it was flushed out of his system. So other than fever reducers and vitamins, he would avoid taking medicine if he could.

Not surprised by the answer, Basim made a helpless but fond expression before turning to the secretary. "Fujioka-san, would you mind calling the school's nurse to bring an ice pack?"

Fujioka-san, the principal's secretary, looked up from her computer towards the handsome middle-eastern man, completely unaffected by Basim's unrealistic, high-spec appearance. This was a school that taught young celebrities, the sons and daughters of politicians, and many more high-profile people. On their employment contract, all faculty members were specifically required to be unaffected by looks, money, favors, bribes, etc. in order to maintain a fair and proper learning environment. Therefore, by many of the rival schools bittered over their excellent reputation, they were snidely called the 'dead-face' school because of the staff's stoicism.

But even if Kanata Fujioka didn't feel anything for the young tycoon's face, her right eye still twitched at the sight of him.

Basim still had some of the most distinguishable faces she had ever seen, and while it didn't really earn him any favors from her, it would still catch her eyes. Paired with a strong and masculine body, full of subtle muscles and held together in a powerful and domineering posture, one could only imagine the pheromones the man emitted daily, and the number of birds and bees attracted to it.

Of course, this was the source of her misery.

The man was too attractive-- this wasn't the first time he came to the school with every intention of causing chaos and stealing away a certain lazy student. Though Kanata wanted nothing more than the kick the man out every time he entered her office, due to her own professionalism, she had no choice but to give him a visitor badge and set him free to wreak havoc inside the academy. The sight of his devil-like handsomeness had always been a prelude to the secretary's future headaches.

Every single time this person came to visit, some poor young miss or young master would 'fall in love at first sight'. Then they would try to investigate the tycoon, which was not difficult considering the man's international reputation. Afterward, somehow, for some reason, their investigation would always lead back to her. This might be due to the fact that 'Basim-san' was listed as one of Maki-san's emergency contact and had permission to take the teen from school, therefore she had access to his personal contacts, but after the fifth time she was 'asked' (i.e. threatened/bribed) by the love-sick victims and their families for his number, Kanata almost wanted to give it to them out of spite.

Why did she have to be responsible for his young victims' hormonal desires?! Why did she have to endure these harassing calls when the real perpetrator was out flirting with one of their students?!

Fortunately, Basim would usually come only during after-school hours, so his fans within the student body could be counted on one hand. But now, this man actually came during class hours.... Kanata could only imagine the carnage! And she was in the middle of it!

Abruptly, Kanata stood up, her face still as blank as white paper as she spat out, "The nurse should be out for lunch. I will be back with an ice pack for Maki-san." Because if she stayed here too long with the source of her misery in the same room, she might give in to the urge to strangle the other with her bare hands.

Basim smiled at her pleasantly, almost as if he knew what she was thinking, but Kanata couldn't even bother to care as she swiftly marched out of the lobby. As soon as she exited out into the hallway and closed the door, the noisy students that were still crowding around the principal's office instantly quieted.

Satisfied by the staff's proficiency, Basim stood up and promptly stole the secretary's ergonomic and high-quality office chair without the slightest hint of guilt. Not unlike the way an emperor would seat themselves on their throne, the older man sat down with the arrogance of a monarch and held both of his arms out to the younger man in front of him.

Stars seemed to jump in those dark-brown eyes as Tanaka's expression lit up at the gesture. Promptly, the young man jumped onto the older man's lap without a thought, straddling the other's hip before burying his smaller body in his friend's embrace.

Naturally, as they had done so a thousand times before, Basim wrapped an arm around the teen's thin waist and easily tucked the Japanese's head beneath his chin, His golden eyes narrowed out of pleasure and fondness as Tanaka laid on his chest, and within a few minutes, the young man's breath became deep. It was only then that the older man dared to place a careful kiss on the younger's defenseless forehead.

Their position was rather inappropriate for their current surroundings but Tanaka in the pursuit of his lazy lifestyle couldn't care less about social norms and Basim was a shameless man that took advantage of the younger man's listless personality. The smaller body fit perfectly against the larger and more muscular physique, malleable to the older man's maneuvering, but Basim had no intention of disturbing his beloved's rest.

The Makis' youngest son could be considered one of the world's most renowned scholars with more than several scientific Nobel-prize-winning publications under his name. His intellect could rival many masters who had spent decades researching in one field, and the only reason he was still attending high school rather than spending his time in a government or university state-of-the-art lab was because of his family's concerns over his social development. Unless it had something to do with computers, chemistry, biology, and the like, Tanaka was rather slow with everything else.

Basim knew that while he had a special place in the younger man's heart, their feelings for each other weren't the same. Tanaka obviously adored the older man, but probably in the same way he would have adored his pillow or his bed.

As one of the most eligible bachelors in the world, with a net worth of billions of yen, he was sought out and desired by many people with their own self-interest in mind. He never really minded their approach, since he also planned on using them for his own wants as well, but Tanaka was different.

Though the young man was more than capable of selfishness, his own selfish wishes were simple and harmless. He was selfish for his own contentedness and happiness, but he was also selfish for the happiness of others as well. Tanaka was the type of person that would hack into the government's satellite system in order to record his mother's favorite international shows, create a chemical compound to target specific cancerous cells because one of his father's editors was diagnosed with stage-three prostate cancer, and would start working on cold-fusion energy just because of an off-hand comment made by his sister about better energy alternatives.

It was hard not to be touched by his 'selfishness' and Basim was the same as well. Later on, he became aware that his adoration turned into love and his world inverted upon itself. At first, he was resistant to the idea of having such an attachment over a man eight years his junior, but slowly and surely, like how Polaris would shine brightly after sunset, always pointing north to guide lost travelers in the middle of the wild, his feelings could not be denied.

Basim's life, from the moment he was born, was full of chaos and strife. Nanami, the middle child of the Maki family, had once commented that his history was not unlike the palace dramas that the Chinese loved to make. An illegitimate child born out of wedlock who rose to be more powerful than his siblings and even his bastard father-- it sounded fantastical and aspiring but in reality, that path was full of blood and thorns. Maybe it was because of how he had publicly destroyed his sperm donor's reputation and how he had forcefully seized all the family assets that most of the upper circle knew of his ugly past, therefore creating the assumption that his love would be just as harsh and possessive.

Many women and men did approach him with that assumption in mind, trying to appeal to his 'alpha personality,' as if he wasn't anyone different from his father.

But after meeting Tanaka, he found that his love was nothing that toxic. His love for the young man was gentle and patient, subtle and kind. It was like the warmth of the sun after a cold night, like seeing the moon in a starless sky. It came gradually and not easily, but like how one was certain of gravity's pull, Basim was certain he would never love a person the same way he loves this listless but softhearted young man.

Tenderly, reverently, the older man lowered his head once more to give his beloved another chaste kiss on top of his forehead, which lasted for more than half a minute.

Tanaka, whose thoughts were mostly dedicated to his sleeping schedule, knew little of the other's strong affections and Basim was content to keep it that way. In comparison to his intellectual development, the younger man's emotional development was abysmally slow. The older man didn't want to pressure his beloved with the strength of his feelings and resolved to spend the rest of his life in this one-sided love.

Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't take liberties with Tanaka's need for physical affection-- he would be the last person to turn down anything the young man would give him.

With the teen in his arms, knowing that his time alone with his beloved would be short, Basim shamelessly considered 'kidnapping' the young man back to his newly bought condo. He had personally designed a bedroom with his beloved comfort in mind, furnished with enough pillows to drown a person, blackout curtains for the most optimal sleeping environment, and the latest in mattress technology.

Unfortunately, before that plan could take action, the door into the main office slammed open. His near-golden eyes narrowed in displeasure at the intrusion, and once he saw who was at the door, he almost clicked his tongue in response.

With sharp, dark eyes filled with resentment, Nanami, in all of her 3-inch heeled and ten-thousand-yen designer-suited glory, marched forward with every intention to stab her three-thousand-yen shoes in the tycoon's gut, only to freeze at the sight of her darling little brother in the arms of Satan-in-human-skin.

Smugly well aware of the older sister's dark glare, he raised a finger to his lips without even trying to conceal the smirk on his face.

Confronted with the other's high and mighty attitude, Nanami was on the verge of punching the bastard in the face but was only stopped by a large hand on her shoulder. Though tall enough to reach the top of the door, Daichi's presence was quiet and unassuming. His features were tranquil and good-natured, very much the opposite of his younger sister's sharp and ruthless personality.

Basim found it endlessly entertaining that the sibling that went into politics always wanted to confront him with violence and how the other older sibling, who joined the country's defense force, would effectively pacify the situation with soft-spoken words and humbling advice. Nothing further needed to be said about his beloved, though his eyes were rose-tinted enough to say that Tanaka's laziness was his cutest point.

"Daichi-san, I didn't realize you were in town," Basim greeted pleasantly and stopped his 'playful' teasing. It was always fun to rile up the usually unflappable Maki Nanami, especially when it came to their baby brother. All three of them were similar in age and while they looked very dignified in their respective jobs, they acted very childishly and petulant around each other. It was a very novel experience for the tycoon since his blood half-siblings either wanted to spit at him or kill him.

Not only Tanaka, he considered the Makis' (relatively) warm attitude towards him to be baffling. Whenever he happened to visit the country (obviously to see his beloved), the father always seemed to find the time to invite him to partake in a relaxing afternoon tea-time in their garden. The mother would interrupt his plans by dragging him out to the nearest high-end bar. Occasionally, Nanami and Daichi would tag-team their way into his schedule to 'hang out' and Tanaka was always under the impression that he needed more naps in his life. Carelessly, defenselessly, the young man would pull him into the nearest soft surface where they would rest or nap the day away.

His time with the Makis had always retained a dream-like quality. The family was the personification of peace, a concept he had only experienced as a boy within the arms of his late mother.

In response to the greeting, Daichi smiled back in a friendly manner, serene as still water as he casually lowered the fist his younger sister raised towards their middle-eastern friend. Nanami clicked her tongue and placed her hands on her hips instead, giving the oni-bastard that had her younger brother hostage a dead and hateful smile.

"Basim," she called rudely without any honorifics.

"Nanami," he answered back with the same rude courtesy with a hint of cheekiness.

With her eyes arching into forceful curves, she spat, "How dare you look through my cellphone, you stalker."

"I was only concerned over Tanaka-kun's well-being," Basim implored with fake sincerity. "After all, Tanaka-kun is usually so well-behaved that it's rather difficult to believe that he would start a fight." Though to call the youngest 'well-behaved' might've been a stretch. After all, in the beginnings of his public school education, they had complaints from the staff about the teen sleeping whenever and wherever he pleased, but that was two years ago. Now, most of his teachers couldn't be bothered waking him up, especially since he always managed to be placed first in the school's academic rankings...

Regardless, other than being used as his classmate's study shrine, where they would leave little trinkets and snacks near the 'study god' in order to get a good score on their exams, Tanaka rarely bothered interacting with the other students, much less starting a fight with them.

"My phone is password protected."

"Tanaka-kun's birthday is not a very good password."

"Stalker."

"Brocon."

"Has anyone asked for an ice pack yet?" Daichi suddenly interrupted, his dark eyes sharpening at the blooming bruise on his little brother's cheek. Tanaka naturally avoided laying on his sore side so all the injuries he sustained on his face were out in the open for his siblings to see. The longer the eldest stared at the colorful, painful-looking mark, the deeper the shadows in his gaze sank.

Suddenly, Nanami, after giving their Saudi friend a variety of bad expressions, elbowed her brother from his unnerving state.

"Hey, they're just high schoolers," she reminded the other with a knowing look. While her older brother was a pacifist with a gentle nature, he had shed blood with his own hands before. She thought of the English quote about how 'demons would run when a good man goes to war,' and easily applied it to her older sibling. Daichi would only go to war for his family and the country they lived in. Therefore, he would only get angry or disturbed when it comes to their family and even more so when the youngest (and weakest) got bullied or hurt.

Granted, Nanami, while much more short-tempered, was the same as well, but she wouldn't take her anger out on a bunch of pubescent kids. At least, not completely. Their parents, on the other hand...

Just as she was about to suggest her own plans of retribution upon the miscreants that dared touch her baby brother to the two men in front of her, the door to the principal office opened as if sensing her mischievous and malicious thoughts.

A line of students and parents came out; the adults were unable to hide their sour expressions, but as soon as they saw the high-profiled figures gathered near the secretary's desk, they fixed their expressions and began to look appropriately chastised. The three teenage boys, on the other hand, with a variety of shallow cuts and faint bruises, looked pale. Under the intimidating gazes of three cold-feeling eyes from across the room, they even began to curl up a little in fright.

Suddenly, there was a loud clap coming from behind the group, breaking the suffocating tension with practice.

A neat and professional woman with sharp cheekbones and a no-nonsense expression that gave the Maki siblings and the familiar, but foreign, man a reprimanding look. Tarou Bunko was Nanami's old classmate during all three years of high school, and Daichi was their senior just a grade above, so she could imagine what these overprotective siblings were thinking. She only knew of Basim through her friendship with the Makis and it was easy to see what kind of person he was through his interactions with the youngest.

"I expect the three of you to report to my office two hours before the start of your first class," she addressed to the young men shuffling meekly out of her office. At first, they swaggered into the room with an attitude and confidence that could only be backed by their parents' status or money, but the longer they were subjected to their principal's scorn, the more spiritless they became.

All three of the teenage boys were actually new transfer students that had just started last week and while their academic scores were below the acceptance requirements for the school, their parents paid a lot of money to have them study here at the academy. But to think that they would make trouble before the month even ended!

Understandably, the parents were livid and embarrassed. And to make things even more mortifying, their kids had to provoke the one family in Japan they should have never provoked!

While the Makis were reasonable and friendly people, ever since that one kidnapping incident over a year ago, no one dared to even approach their bottom line. And that bottom line happened to be their youngest, Maki Tanaka, who had always been hidden away from the public eye ever since he was born.

They couldn't wait to get back home so that they could knock some sense into these miscreants! But first, before the situation could get worse, they had to start appeasing the angry tigers unless they wanted their faces to be bitten off later on!

Regrettably, they were unable to get a flattering word in since the principal quickly ushered the three adults and one lazy student into her office and blocked everyone else off by the slam of her door.

The parents: "......."

Resigned, they could either wait for the Makis to finish their conference with the principal or give up and vent their frustrations at home.

On the other side of the door, Bunko turned towards the siblings, plus one tycoon, with a rather grim expression on her sharp face. While the three seemed to be calm and behaved, the principal knew that they were more than prepared to devour those people whole. "You're not allowed to take action against those boys."

Nanami lifted a single finger in disagreement. "Ah, but those parents--"

"--Are taking corrective actions towards their children." With a sigh and a massage between her brows, Bunko looked as if she was in the middle of doing peace talks with the Russians and Chinese. "I won't make excuses for them, other than being young and impulsive, but Tanaka-kun has admitted to pulling the first punch."

The information had the older Maki siblings and the tycoon blinked in surprise. The youngest's listlessness made it hard for the other to get angry (since such negative emotions consumed energy), but to get to the point where the lazy teen would even take physical actions against those miscreants? Obviously, there was something more to the situation than they thought and the principal confirmed their speculations when she crossed her arms and told them with a grimace, "Thankfully, his classmates defended him. They told the teachers who broke up the brawl that those three boys had been harassing Tanaka-kun for the past few days."

Of course, considering the prodigal teen's personality, he probably didn't notice the harassment since hostile intentions tend to bounce off the young man's sleepy head unless directly stated or blatant. Unfortunately, Tanaka tended to be low-key and inconspicuous, and the teachers rarely had to pay attention to the youngest Maki since all he did in class was either sleep or eat. They never had to worry about the lazy teen making trouble or drama because he was basically the mascot and darling of Class 2-A.

Unless there was a student that would disrupt the learning environment and would need to be moved to a better and more suitable group, the composition of each classroom rarely changed. So all of Tanaka's classmates had been with him since year one and they were all quite familiar with his listlessness. As being one of the easier-to-handle classes in a school full of willful and spoiled students, the staff tended to take a relaxed approach to Class 2-A.

Bunko knew that it would be inexcusable to say that they didn't mean to be neglectful over the situation, especially since it escalated into violence.

"...What was the fight about?" Daichi decided to address first. They could mend wounds and nurse any aches, but it would be better to get to the core of the problem and nip it in the bud. His little brother was not a violent person-- what worried the oldest the most when it came to Tanaka was that the youngest would just lie down and take the beating rather than make the effort to raise his fists.

Leaning against her desk, Bunko made another sigh of frustration. "When we looked into the situation, there were no witnesses to clarify the matter. Both the boys and Tanaka-kun decided to stay silent as well."

"Give me a few minutes with them and we'll see who stays silent," Nanami grumbled rather threateningly, which both Daichi and Bunko ignored for the sake of a mature conversation.

"In any case, we'll make sure to rectify the circumstances. Those boys will be put on probation until they can either earn the recommendations of three teachers or fifteen students in total. They will also be volunteering for laborious activities around school. As for Tanaka-kun--"

"Hey wait--" Nanami butted in, looking righteously indignant. "My otouto is the victim here! Why should he get penalized as well?"

"Tanaka-kun is more than aware that his actions cannot be rewarded or be without consequences." Because of his lazy nature, every action, every movement, was weighed and calculated in order to become the most listless person he could humanly be. More likely than not, he did consider the pros and cons of starting a fight with his harassers and pulled the first punch anyway.

"So he should've just stood there and let them do whatever they want to him?"

"He's more than capable of reporting any uncomfortable developments to the staff." Tanaka was not the type of person who would just cry wolf. Other than eating and sleeping, there was not much, if anything else, the teen would care about. He was also the type of person that would pass on problems to be solved by another person if he didn't think it would inconvenience them.

He's definitely their little brother, Bunko couldn't help but reminisce in exasperation. It reminded her too much of their high school days, where Nanami basically bullied her way into becoming their school's local tyrant. Granted, she never wanted that position even if she did look a little proud being called 'dictator' or 'boss' by some of the rowdier groups.

Who asked Daichi to be one of the most popular seniors in the school and the dream boyfriend of every pubescent girl's fantasy? Who asked those pubescent girls to be jealous of Nanami's sister status with Daichi? Who asked pubescent girls to be stupid enough to dig their own deep graves and be tricked by the same sister to jump into the holes themselves?

Thinking back to all the former delinquents that would greet Nanami every morning at the front gates, remembering how one of the most influential girls in their year first cursed her out one day and then begged for forgiveness the next day, Bunko had the urge to both laugh and cry at the same time.

"I'm already being favorable by giving him three weeks of volunteering."

"Make it one."

"You-- haaa..." Bunko wanted to drop her face into her hands. "This is not one of your political debates. We are not discussing any changes to his penalty."

"Three weeks is too long of a penalty! At least make it into two weeks!" Three weeks... could her lazy little brother even last for a day?

She remembered a couple of years ago, trying to encourage her younger brother to become a more productive member of society by getting some experience at either their father's publishing firm or their mother's company. She thought it would be a good idea, lest Tanaka metamorphosed into the ultimate NEET by his 18th year, never to be seen outside of his room, but their parents didn't seem convinced by her suggestion.

First of all, her parents were very recognizable and high profile. Her father, Maki Akemi, was an internationally acclaimed novelist, and her mother, Maki (maiden name Takahashi) Tomi, had been on the cover of many international financial magazines for the past decade. Her little brother, Tanaka, on the other hand, while a distinguished figure in the scientific community, had only been known as 'the youngest son of the Maki clan' to the public.

Lately, there had been a strong interest over the identity of their youngest, and much to Nanami's annoyance, a lot of people had been trying to use her brother as an introductory topic in their conversation. Yes, she admittedly identified herself as a brocon, but that didn't mean she liked to talk about her private family affairs to just random people! Until last year, only close family friends would even be aware of their youngest's existence and no one else would know that the Maki clan even had another son, but because of that gods-damned incident, everyone acted like her little brother was someone that could be casually mentioned.

Therefore, though she was confused by her parent's refusal at first, Nanami finally understood their concerns.

Other than for school, Tanaka rarely left his room, much less the house, so the older members didn't need to worry about suspicious or unscrupulous people trying to take advantage of their youngest's naive personality. But the one time her little brother surprised-visited her at work, he attracted the attention of this shameless guy!

She hatefully glanced at said shameless guy, who was still holding her baby brother with that smug and pretentious expression on his ridiculously handsome face.

How irritating! She just doesn't see why her little brother likes this irritating guy so much!

If more people knew about her cute little brother, did that mean more irritating guys like Basim would pop up on their doorsteps?!

As if detecting her souring mood, Daichi quickly stepped in with a hand on his sister's left shoulder. "I'm aware that Tanaka's misdemeanor requires some form of consequence, but I believe two weeks of volunteering around campus should be more than enough?" Of course, he was mostly saying this for the staff's sake.

While Tanaka was normally listless, he did have a sense of responsibility. He would agree to the principal's judgment without a word of complaint. But whether the duties he was assigned to would be done well... that would be another story.

Things like cleaning the classroom, aiding the groundskeeper, or doing errands for the staff... while the youngest might take the initiative to help out, it was hard to say whether they could be done efficiently or in a timely manner...

Bunko knew this as well, being the young Maki's principal for about three years, and clarified her intentions: "Three weeks of voluntary tutoring. He barely participates in school activities in the first place. At the very least, this should allow him to interact with his fellow peers more."

Tanaka did not have an impatient personality, and though he would prefer 9 times out of 10 to be napping or sleeping, he was capable of answering a few questions from his classmates. And if they genuinely asked for his advice or guidance, he was willing to forgo his rest to help them.

It was a suitable type of discipline for someone of Tanaka's abilities (and lack of energy). For the other three boys -- if they had the energy and time to bother another student not even in the same class as them, then obviously they needed to spend it doing something more productive.

From a certain angle, she could hypothesize the reason for their misbehavior. She ran the academy in a strict, highly academic environment, and every single staff member had high expectations for their students. One could imagine the pressure that each student faced but that was why the entrance requirements were harsh. They made sure their future students and their current students could handle this type of environment and thrive in it.

Admittedly, some parents would approach them from time to time to admit their children into the school solely for this environment.

And then there was the well-known, young Maki, sleeping away on his desk without a care in the world. They were probably indignant of the lazy teen's carefree attitude, and it probably didn't help that the teachers were fondly allowing the young student's casual behavior to go unpunished.

Of course, this was no excuse to start a fight or to start harassing your fellow peers, but the majority of the staff had taken a rather tolerant and indulgent approach when it came to the youngest Maki. Though the last thing that Tanaka needed was more 'parental' fans... he had quite enough of those among the friends of his older siblings...

"Actually, there was something else that I wanted to talk to the two of you and your parents about," Bunko suddenly brought up as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "How about letting Tanaka-kun graduate early and attend university classes?"

Both Daichi and Nanami blinked in surprise at the suggestion. Of course, considering their little brother's intelligence, the thought occurred to them more than once, but Tanaka had so few friends in the first place, and it wasn't until a few years ago that he was allowed to attend classes with children of his age.

Tanaka was a surprise baby and nearly a decade younger than his siblings. From the time when the youngest was born, their family situation happened to be very unstable and poor. Their mother was unwillingly absent from the first few years of her youngest's birth in order to stabilize their financial needs and to keep her family's elders and cousins from bullying her husband and children. Their father stayed at home and raised them lovingly while also defending their home from greedy relatives while his wife was waging her own battles on the war front.

By the time their youngest turned five, Maki Tomi became the ruling head of the Takahashi clan and left both of her cousins and her clan elders speechless when she made her estranged uncle from the branch family her successor before finally going back to her own family. A year later, after giving their uncle a crash course in business and household management that could be considered hell on earth, she took a step down from the seat and determinedly cut off her connections with the Takahashi clan.

Unfortunately, during such turbulent events, there was no small number of relatives that decided to harass them. At the time, both Daichi and Nanami were forced to attend the same school as their mother's relatives due to the elders' insistence.

The eldest son was sensible and inherited his mother's noble-like mindset and his father's calm personality; though he encountered many malicious and ill-natured attitudes, he never gave his relatives much thought or consideration. If they thought of him as unworthy or inferior, was it necessary for him to give them any of his time and attention when he was too busy trying to take care of his younger siblings? Unsurprisingly, Tanaka even as a baby was a listless thing, and Daichi at eleven years old was determined to build up enough muscle strength to carry his younger brother everywhere.

The only daughter, however, inherited her mother's fiery temper and their father's passive-aggressiveness. It was only because of Daichi's pacification that she hadn't used her own teeth to rip the throats off of her relatives. Even at only ten years old, her emotional intelligence was well-developed and despite their cousins' attempts to humiliate them at every turn, Nanami always managed to turn things around in their favor.

Honestly, she found her cousins' behavior to be childish and a waste of her time. Did she look like a ten-year-old that had a lot of time? She was much too busy trying to teach her youngest brother how to walk! Or at least crawl. Tanaka was nearly a year old but Nanami had never seen him move on his own. Of course, it didn't help that he was spoiled by both their father and her older brother, always carrying him around as if his limbs were made for decorations. And whenever she tried contacting her mother through the phone about her concerns for the baby's development, the useless woman only cried and blubbered, 'I want to carry Naka-chan too!'

For a bunch of intelligent people, they sure became useless when it came to their youngest, was the thought that went through her mind at the time, unaware that she was a pot calling a bunch of kettles black.

Regardless, those so-called family members were pretty persistent, and since Tanaka was so small and impressionable, they kept his birth a secret. Just until last year, their relatives were pretty much unaware of the youngest son's existence and were shocked when his identity became public.

It would be an understatement to say that they were very overprotective of their youngest. Tanaka was home-schooled for the majority of his youth even after the situation with their mother's origin clan had stabilized, and it wasn't until a rather off-handed comment by a family friend did they consider their youngest son's social development. Or lack thereof.

Obviously, it was unnecessary and a waste for their youngest to take high school-level courses, but Nanami remembered that some of the best years of her youth happened during high school. She hung out with (beaten) a lot of her classmates, participated in (dominated over) a lot of school activities, and experienced a good life as her school's famous (infamous) flower (tyrant). While she thought that a lot of the stuff they taught in class was pointless, the friends (subordinates) she made along the way were worth it.

So she called up Bunko, her old friend (subordinate), knowing that she was the headmaster of her own educational institute, and made the arrangements for her younger brother's attendance. Bunko, unaware like the rest of the world of the youngest's existence, nearly stopped breathing when her high school buddy (boss) contacted her after nearly a decade of silence.

Thankfully, Tanaka was much more mild-tempered than his sister and even more good-natured than his older brother. If only his personality wasn't so listless...

But it came to Bunko's attention that Tanaka... didn't seem unhappy, but he was not happy either. Frankly, there was nothing in the school that interested or stimulated the youngest Maki. He got along with his classmates well enough, but she didn't have to be a politician to see that he was struggling to even initiate a decent conversation with his deskmate of two years.

Considering the age of his classmates, many of his peers were not patient enough to adjust to Tanaka's social ineptness. His slow-witted and unhurried reactions made interactions difficult and uncomfortable for many of his peers.

This situation probably wouldn't change even after he moved on into university-level courses but at the very least, he wouldn't have to feel like an outsider in his own classroom.

"I'm not saying that we don't enjoy having him here," Bunko made sure to point out, just in case these brocons get the wrong idea about her suggestion, "but for both his intellectual and social development, I think it would be best for him to try attending university classes."

For half a minute, both Bunko and Nanami stared each other in the eye. The old school tyrant took in the other's stubborn and righteous stance, scowling ever so slightly.

"...Is this your suggestion as a principal?"

Bunko didn't show any hesitation in her answer, "Yes." In fact, Tanaka would probably adjust better to a college schedule instead of having to attend classes he didn't need every hour.

Nanami pursed her lips but didn't disagree. "We'll discuss it later with our parents," she conceded with a rather unwilling expression on her face. While she didn't completely understand her little brother's social difficulties, they did exist and she would try her best to accommodate them.

Satisfied, Bunko might've looked a bit too eager to show them the way out of her office, and hopefully, the way out of her school. While she knew that Nanami was now a well-respected member of the Diet and past the age of her destructive tendencies, she still had nightmares of the firework fiasco during their second-year cultural festival.

Bidding farewell to the principal, the three adults filed out of the office and happened to bump into Fujioka-san, who was waiting for them patiently with a small ice pack in her hand.

"Ah, thank you, Fujioka-san." Basim, who was quiet throughout the meeting, suddenly greeted with one of his gentlemanly and handsome smiles. The one that would usually make most women and young girls swoon.

Everyone could see the way the secretary's left eye had spazzed as if half of her brain was electrocuted in the most unpleasant way possible. Fortunately, she was able to restrain her irritation in order to drop the ice pack into Nanami's rather sympathetic hand before turning towards the principal with a deadpan expression.

"I'm taking lunch;" was her excuse to escape from the room and to avoid any more contact with the source of her high blood pressure.

Of course, well aware of her secretary's pain, Bunko didn't try to stop her and only ushered them further out from their offices.

The trio soon found themselves near the front entrance with a variety of expressions on their faces. Basim, of course, looked rather amused by the turn of the events and Daichi continued being his serene self as always, though there was a slight wrinkle of worry between his forehead. Nanami adopted a rather interesting mixture of exasperation and aggravation as her dark eyes narrowed toward the innocent-faced tycoon.

Innocent her ass.

Gently placing the ice pack against her little brother's cheek, she contemplated whether there was a way to keep Tanaka asleep while she threw this irritating guy across the room. "What did the secretary ever do to you?"

"I don't know what you mean," Basim answered as if he didn't look so entertained by the secretary's obvious retreat. Nanami really wanted to get her brother away from this two-faced bastard.

Before they could bicker any further, a bland but familiar ringtone interrupted their conversation.

The shameless tycoon and the bro-con politician both turned their heads at the same time towards the gentle-faced soldier, who picked up his work smartphone by the second ring.

"Good afternoon, Kaa-san." Daichi didn't even need to look at the screen to figure out who was calling. Though he was using his work phone, only a set number of people would know his number. His position in the defense force was relatively high and in lieu of a national emergency, his smartphone rarely made a sound. "Is there a particular reason why Kaa-san is using my work phone?"

Of course, the exceptions were his family members. Though giving his work number was considered unprofessional, his parents and his siblings were all high-profiled people and there were unavoidable dangers associated with being a public figure.

"Who let all of you keep your phones on silent?" Mrs. Maki immediately grouched from the other side of the line. "Otherwise, why would I have to call my eldest son through his work phone?"

"Yes, this is our carelessness, Kaa-san," the eldest son appeased as he checked his pockets for his other phone. Checking the volume controls, it seemed that he did accidentally leave it on silent. From the corners of his eyes, he saw his sister and Basim doing the same, both showing slightly sheepish expressions towards their smartphones. "But we are just getting out and making our way back home."

"Is Naka-chan okay?" Daichi could hear the distress and anxiety in their mother's voice and considering last year's events, her apprehension was understandable.

"He is fine, Kaa-san," he reassured while taking a short glance towards his sleeping brother, who was currently drooling on the lapels of Basim's suit. He made a gesture towards his two other companions to continue on towards the parking lot since he doubted that the conversation with his mother would end any time soon. "He got into a bit of trouble at school, but it is nothing that you need to immediately come home for." Though he had an inkling that their usually busy mother had already booked tickets for the next flight to Tokyo. By this time, their father was probably on the bullet train coming down from Hokkaido.

The walk from the school entrance to the parking lot was only six minutes long and during those six minutes, he relayed everything he could about the situation to his mother. His report was concise and military-like, which made his mother rather dissatisfied. She could tell that her oldest was avoiding certain details in order not to upset her so she demanded to talk to her daughter instead.

With a rather resigned expression, Daichi gave his phone to his sister and decided to take the driver position of their communal SUV. The siblings came together in the same vehicle and Basim had already dismissed his personal driver for the day. It went without saying that the foreign man would be coming home with them, especially since Tanaka didn't look ready to be detached from his human cushion any time soon.

Putting the phone on speaker as they entered the car, Nanami started bluntly, "Naka-kun started a fight."

There was a moment of silence from the other side of the line while Daichi sighed in a rather aggrieved manner. Basim, on the other hand, snorted while subtly stroking the back of Tanaka's resting head.

After a couple of minutes, their mother finally responded to the new information with an unnerving calmness. "How did the other side look?"

"Mauled," Nanami answered with a particularly sharp-toothed grin on her face. Granted, Tanaka had very little fighting power but that didn't mean he couldn't be ferocious.

"Do I need to intervene?"

"Nah, kaa-san. We got this."

"Okay." Maki Toki didn't sound quite settled but she also wasn't gradually descending to hysteria as she was often prone to when it came to their youngest. "I should be back home before midnight." Of course, regardless of her daughter's reassurance, she couldn't bear being away from her baby boy when he suffered any grievances. Both elder son and daughter shared a look, one full of amusement and the other full of helplessness. "And one of you needs to pick your tou-san up at the train station around 9 o'clock."

"Yes ma'am," her children agreed very obediently. Their neighborhood was quite some distance away from the nearest subway lines and their dad would normally bring a few suitcases worth of souvenirs. Regardless, if they happened to be free and within the city, they wouldn't let their physically weaker father suffer through public transportation. Even their youngest was stronger than their dad and all Tanaka did was sleep and eat.

With a few more exchanges and a belated hello from Basim, who was greeted rather enthusiastically by the Maki matriarch, the phone call finally ended, and everyone couldn't help but either slump forward or backward in response.

Talking to Mama Maki while she was in her 'mama bear' mode (as so aptly coined by Nanami) was always a fight and a half. Though it was named rather cutely, the 'bear' part was very accurate in a literal sense. If the issue wasn't taken care of by her elder children, someone (probably the parents) would be picked clean until only bare-bones were left behind.

"...Kaa-san and Tou-san are coming back?" A soft and mumbly voice was barely heard over the outside traffic and when Nanami turned, she saw her little brother's large but blurry eyes pop up from Basim's wide shoulders. He blinked a few times to clear his vision and seeing his sister's exasperated but fond expression, he reached for her silently.

Basim wasn't stingy and passed the bundle into Nanami's arms, who immediately stuck onto her not unlike how a clingy octopus would.

"They'll be here later tonight," she responded rather curtly with a quirk of a smile as she soothed her baby brother down upon her chest. He laid obediently against her and the large height difference between them could be seen at a glance. Though Tanaka could eat by the pounds, he never seemed to grow horizontally--or vertically for that matter. Daichi could easily engulf him in a hug and the oldest veered more toward the definition of lean rather than muscular. Their mother once joked it was the gods' way of giving her the chance to carry her youngest baby around more since she barely had the chance to when he was an infant. Nanami commented with a straight face that it was because they kept carrying him around that he turned out so small.

"Hm," was the teen's attentive reply as he buried himself further into his sister's embrace.

The whole interior of the car was filled with familiar scents. The smells he loved were within reaching distance and after his nap, the headache he had earlier had practically disappeared. Warmth and gentleness filled his entire body. He closed his eyes again and no one stopped him when he drifted off to sleep again.

Even buried in his subconscious, he could feel that warm touch of Basim's hand against his cheek, the spicy-citrus scent brushing against his nose. His sister's voice was muffled as if his ears were drifting underwater, a pleasant, soothing hum in harmony with the subtle bass of Daichi's timely reply. He let these sensations lull him deeper into the darkness.

------------

The sun had long risen and the late morning light brightened the entire bedroom through the lavish and large French windows. One side of the room was messy-- filled with all sorts of books, items, and contraptions. And the other side was clean, uncluttered, and, obviously, the actual 'bedroom' part of the room. In the corner was a large bed fit for five adults and in its center was a nest of pillows and blankets.

A young man of seventeen years old was buried in the middle, his young and defenseless face partly hidden against the pillows. A gloved hand reached over towards the sleeping teen quietly and gently brushed their knuckles against the other's cheeks. Such a soft gesture shouldn't have disturbed the young man's sleep but he unexpectedly stirred.

Bleary brown eyes opened in response to the brief scent of spices and when he turned his head towards the source, the first thing he could make out were the familiar abyss-like eyes. Even though it had been years (four years, five months, twenty-two days) since the day he had transmigrated into the life of Thomas Rosetta, he still half-expected to see the earth golden eyes of his decade-old friend. Still half-expected to see Basim hovering over him with unconcealed fondness as he gently coaxed Tanaka either awake or back to sleep.

The memories of his previous life were still as vivid as the day he had lived them, a curse that he was willing to carry for the rest of his current life.

Tanaka was brought out of his sleepy musing by the subtle scent emitting from a large warm hand. The young man trustingly allowed the gloved fingers to brush back his long bangs away from his face and blinked his large, brown eyes at the older man's indulgent expression.

"Are you ready to get up, young master?" Amir inquired with some amusement in the tone of his voice, the butler using small and gentle gestures to coax the younger man awake.

At first, Tanaka stared blankly at the tall and familiar figure before slowly reaching out toward the older man. Amir didn't move, seeing the pale slim hand moving towards him, and hm'ed in surprise when it latched onto his tie.

The young man's pulling force could barely be felt by someone of the butler's strength but Amir followed along nonetheless as the tie slipped out from underneath his vest. With a chuckle, the butler allowed himself to be arranged into his young master's nest of pillows and blankets and didn't even blink when the smaller male suddenly laid his head in the area between his shoulder and chest. He felt Tanaka's nose the curve of his neck, the teen's soft sniffing particularly loud in their intimate position.

Tanaka was unable to see the butler's indecipherable, secretive smile or the way the other had pressed his nose and lips against the transmigrator's soft hair.

"Bad dream?" Amir murmured, the movement of his lips suddenly making Tanaka's scalp feel itchy. While the butler was aware of the younger man's inclination for physical affection, he would rarely be forceful about it.

It took two minutes for the young man to answer the patient inquiry with a slight shake of his head, tickling the older man's neck. It wasn't a bad dream. Nor was it a good dream either. Just disorientating.

He remembered the events as if they had happened just yesterday. The brief moment of anger that suddenly rushed from his head to his toes. The aches echoing from the aftermath of the fight. The blanket of safety covering his shoulders at the appearance of Basim and his siblings.

The expressions of those three boys were crystal-clear in his memories, full of youthful arrogance and self-importance. It was only after they started directing their insults toward his family that their mocking faces turned into ones of pain. Logically, he was well aware that their words held little substance since they were unaware of the identity of his family, but there wasn't much logic in how much he loved his family either.

Tanaka felt the vibration of Amir's humming response rather than heard it, and made a small sound of surprise when the butler shifted their position slightly. Soon, he found himself nose to nose with the older man, his half-lidded eyes reflecting the image of soft morning light glowing against stark, dark skin. He couldn't tell if the growing warmth was from his recently broken fever, the sun rays streaming from the windows, or from the close intimacy of their bodies.

He couldn't see barely anything past the other's gentle yet unfathomable eyes, but it was easy for Tanaka to spot the butler's imperceptible smile. While sincere, it was too shallow for the transmigrator to read into. It had been years since their first meeting, but Amir continued to be a mystery difficult to solve. Not that Tanaka was making much of an attempt in the first place.

"Would the Young Master like to rest longer?" Amir suggested with one arm underneath the smaller body and a gloved hand resting on the small area of the younger man's lower back. There was a slow blink from dazed eyes before the hand that was still clutching the butler's tie tightened its grip in response.

Tanaka tucked himself back into the Zafarian's neck as an answer, but even as he closed his eyes, he didn't allow his consciousness to drift off as usual. The soft textures of his blankets and pillows, the steady breathing of the body next to him, the warmth of the sun, the heat emitting even through thick layers of cloth, the subtle flow of magic in the air, the controlled torrent of mana centered in the middle of Amir's chest, the scent of lavender and spices--he let these sensations ground him to the present.