Aiden

When dinner was cooked and Aiden made his usual calling of "Dinner's ready," Noah, Mason, and Isaac turned up.

"I'm starving," Isaac said. "Oh, hello Tina, Peter. Didn't know you guys were here."

"That's because you always have your headphones on when you're in your room," Noah said. "One of these days when you're alone, you'll have an intruder in the apartment and you won't even notice it."

Isaac pulled a face. "Stop saying such scary things."

Everyone settled around the dinner table, with Peter and Tina squeezing in between Mason and Isaac. Meanwhile, Aiden pulled Haru to sit beside him. Then everyone started digging right in. Aiden's pasta, naturally, was a hit and dinner was a success.

"Thanks for dinner," Tina said an hour later. "We'll leave you guys to finish packing. Have fun in Japan, and don't forget to post photos on social media." And then she and Peter were gone.

By eight that evening, the brothers gathered in the hallway, making one final check to ensure they hadn't forgotten anything, like their itineraries and passports. Their luggage, of course, was with them and ready to go.

It was then when Connor, Noah's best buddy, turned up, carrying a backpack. Once Noah let him in, the man greeted cheerfully, "Are we ready for an awesome vacation?"

"Yeah!" Isaac responded immediately. "Definitely. Japan! We're coming, baby!"

Connor came over and ruffled Isaac's hair and then pinched his cheek. "You're lively as usual."

Isaac rubbed his sore cheek when he managed to remove Connor's unmerciful hand from his face. "And you're as mean as usual, you orc."

Connor cocked his head to one side. "I'm an orc, now, am I?"

"Yeah, you are," Isaac said.

"How so?"

"Your behavior," Isaac said. "Listen here, Connor, we're going on a trip together, so you better be nice to me."

Connor laughed. "What are you on about?" He wrapped one arm around Isaac's neck while rumpling the boy's hair with his other hand. "I'm always nice to you."

Isaac started choking. He smacked Connor's forearm to make the man let him go. "Stop it! Stop it!" the boy shrieked out. "It hurt. It hurt."

When Connor finally decided to let him go, Isaac ran off to hide behind Haru. "Don't ever let that man near me. Haru, protect me from the orc."

Haru said, "You're old enough to protect yourself."

Isaac gave Haru a dismayed expression. "You're abandoning your bro, Haru?"

Noah said, "That's enough fooling around, Isaac." He turned to Connor. "You've got everything, right?"

Connor nodded. "Yep. All set to go."

There was a lot of hustle and bustle as everyone headed out the door fifteen minutes later when the taxis arrived. Once Aiden did one final check of the apartment, they were on their way to the airport.

It was half-past eleven when they boarded the plane, and despite the late hour, everyone was alert. Aiden ushered Haru to his seat, which was by the window on the right, and then he took his own next to the aisle. Sitting behind them were Reo and Mason, and along the same row in the middle were Noah, Connor, and Isaac.

"You're in the middle?" Isaac asked Connor, his eyes wide.

Connor raised a brow. "Yeah? And?"

"I thought you were on the other side," the boy said.

Connor showed Isaac his ticket, which clearly indicated that his seat was in the middle.

Isaac muttered something unpleasant under his breath as he proceeded to settle down.

Aiden, being the big brother and having the habit of watching over his brothers since they had been young, witnessed the amusing scene. Of course, he wasn't going to breathe a damn word at the fact that Connor had requested Aiden, who had been responsible for booking the flights, to reserve a seat next to Isaac if it was possible. Naturally, Aiden hadn't thought much about that, until now. Perhaps, just perhaps, Connor liked Isaac, which would explain the silly teasing.

"Oi! Haru, you wanna swap seats?" Isaac's voice came from across the rows.

Noah said, "Settle down, Isaac, you can't swap."

Isaac reluctantly slump back in his seat. He turned to Connor, "If you disturb me during my sleep, I swear I'm going to bite you."

Connor chuckled. "What are you? A pup?"

Once he noted that Isaac finally settled down, Aiden turned to Haru and asked, "Comfortable?"

Haru nodded. "As comfortable as can be. It's economy so the space isn't great." He leaned forward and browsed through the monitor screen, which was attached to the back of a seat in front of him. "At least there are a ton of movies to go through. Good for killing time."

Aiden nodded in agreement.

Once the plane took off and a light meal was served, it wasn't long when the cabin light was dimmed and most passengers cuddled up in their small, compact area to have a little snooze. Aiden felt, oddly enough, content even in such an uncomfortable space since he had Haru, who was sound asleep, in his arms, his face snuggled securely against Aiden's chest. Now and again, he'd kiss the boy on the forehead, the cheek, or the lips, while he watched a movie.

Meanwhile, both Reo and Mason were also asleep, and the same went for Noah. Connor, of course, was watching the half-sleep Isaac shifting about in his seat as he unsuccessfully worked on searching for a comfortable position. He finally settled on leaning against Connor, his head resting on Connor's shoulder, which made the man chuckle in amusement.

"Should I bite you instead?" the man asked teasingly. "Since you're the one invading my space."

Isaac muttered under his breath, "Shut up."