"I see." Asakura smiled, lowering his eyes to hide his expression.

This young man had truly taken him by surprise with his revelations. Not only that, but he actually managed to pull Asakura right out of the closet. And after only knowing him for less than an hour. 

It appeared that Kyosuke was even better than Kota at perceiving some things. The latter took almost two hours to figure out the same thing when they first met.

"Indeed, you are a wonderful friend." Asakura praised earnestly.

"I'm not sure about that." Kyosuke replied, looking rather downcast. "In the beginning I was blind to Sato and Touma's relationship, not seeing the smallest hint of it before they came out to me. If I had noticed something earlier, maybe I could have stopped everything from happening. I'm a failure as a friend." 

Kyosuke groaned in a low voice, his fingers gripping the empty glass tighter.

"That's not true. You're a good friend because you stayed by Sato-san's side when he needed it the most. Even if you knew about everything beforehand, there was nothing you could have done. In the end, it was his choice whom to love. Stopping them from being together doesn't mean you could have stopped their feelings from existing."

After saying that last sentence Asakura stopped talking. He let out a deep sigh, smiling mockingly at himself. 

Yes, he knew the truth behind those words very well. After all, he had personal experience with feeling unable to stop two people from being together. Just thinking about Keita and Rintarou made his heart lurch in pain. 

But that’s how things sometimes happened in life. You gain some and you lose some, all depending on your choices. And regretting your decisions after the fact was pretty useless and counterproductive.

After a while of sitting in silence, the two men got up from their seats and went towards their rooms. 

Just when Kyosuke was about to take his leave, Asakura happened to notice the direction he was heading to. A sudden thought raced through his mind.

"Kyosuke-kun are you and Sato-san sharing the room I exchanged with you?"

"Yes, that's right. Why?" Kyosuke asked with slight apprehension in his voice. He hoped Asakura wasn't about to change his mind about the room.

"Then what about the sleeping arrangements?"

"What do you mean? What sleeping arrangements?" 

Kyosuke sounded more and more confused by now.

"Where are you sleeping?" Asakura asked, breathing deeply in order to maintain his impatience in check.

"The bed, of course."

"And Sato-san?"

"Also on the bed. Where else would he sleep?" 

Kyosuke was baffled. His eyes widened as he saw Asakura's darkening expression. 

"Asakura... -san... What's wrong?" He asked nervously, instinctively taking a step backwards from the dangerous looking man standing in front of him.

"That's unacceptable! How can two grown men like you sleep on the same bed like that?!" Asakura finally snapped.

"Why can’t we? It's not like this is the first time." Kyosuke blinked at him innocently, completely unaware of the menace that was heading his way.

"N-not the first time?!" Asakura blurted out. His eyes widened, looking almost bloodshot.

"En. We used to sleep in the same bed when we were children. He often stayed at my place and, since there weren't any spare rooms, we always shared mine." 

Kyosuke paused for a second, then continued to speak in a pensive tone. 

"After middle school, though, it became more difficult to share that small bed, so my parents bought a bigger one."

"Then, you mean to say that you two continued in this manner even during high school?" Asakura inquired dumbfounded. 

For some unknown reason, he suddenly felt his head aching. Soon, even his breathing was becoming increasingly erratic. 

Had he fallen through a hole leading to a different dimension? How could there be people like this?!

Completely oblivious of the storm he had provoked, Kyosuke nodded. 

"En." he blinked innocently as he continued to explain. "After all, my parents love Sato very much. After entering high school he eventually moved in with us and we continued sharing a room."

"T-this... This is... Are there really families like this? And you... You two are so close. Have you never... I mean being so close to him and..."

Asakura mumbled to himself, wanting to know the answer to his unspoken question but also dreading it. His words soon fell into a stutter and he was interrupted by Kyosuke.

"Well, we're cousins after all, so isn't it normal for us to be this close?"

Those words fell on Asakura’s ears with the power of a lightning bolt. 

Asakura instantly stopped his incoherent mutterings, becoming silent as a dead person instead. He gaped at Kyosuke dumbly, his eyes wide and almost blank. 

After what seemed like hours, the stunned man finally opened his mouth in an attempt to speak.

"C-cousins? You and Sato-san are... Cousins?"

"Mhm, that's right. My mother is his father's younger sister. I'm actually a year younger than him, but I went to school earlier." Kyosuke replied, smiling and rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I see." Asakura nodded his head, not knowing why exactly he felt such a huge relief upon hearing that. "Kyosuke-kun, you should have said so sooner. Otherwise, there will be misunderstandings."

"Eh? But I thought I already told you." Kyosuke scratched his chin pensively.

"No, you didn't." Asakura retorted, drowning his urge to smack this young man over the head.

"Ah, Asakura-san, please don't tell Sato about this. He doesn't like it when people talk about his family.”

"Eh? How come?"

"Well... His family situation is a bit complicated and his relationship with his father has never been good. That's why he spent most of his time at my place."

"Sato-san... He hasn't had an easy life, has he?" Asakura whispered to himself.

As he said those words, Asakura suddenly felt very tired.

All the way to his room, he kept wondering what Gods and spirits were at work, making him get involved in this situation. He had enough trouble managing his own life, without having to stick his nose into other people’s private affairs. 

Nevertheless, as soon as Sato’s charming face popped into his mind, all these troublesome thoughts were extinguished. After all, wasn’t it normal to want to help a fellow sufferer? And if he had the means, why not extend a hand and play the hero for once?