Aiden

The brothers' first meeting with Uncle Jin, the president and owner of the multimillion-dollar Lake Aoi Resort and Onsen, didn't go well. Once Haru collapsed against Aiden and fell unconscious, the room descended into chaos.

Aiden felt sick to his stomach when he felt Haru's limp body against him. The boy's skin felt even hotter than before, and he suspected Haru had caught himself a fever.

Fuck! He had a vague feeling it was his fault, having kept Haru up most nights, making love to him, even when the boy was exhausted from all the traveling.

"Haru! Haru!" he called out.

Reo rushed over, as well as Noah, Mason, Isaac, and Connor. Of course, they had forgotten about the presence of Uncle Jin, as well as Higa-san and Patricia, entirely, so worried they were for their youngest.

"What's happened to Haru?" Isaac asked.

Aiden bent his knees and picked Haru up in his arms. Cradling the boy against his chest, he turned to Uncle Jin and asked, "Is there a doctor around?"

Uncle Jin nodded. Instead of greeting his nephews and their stepbrothers, the elderly man said, "Take him to my penthouse."

Higa-san said, "I'll call Go-sensei right away."

Uncle Jin nodded and then he led the brothers and Connor out the door to the elevator. When they came to the penthouse, located on the top floor of the building, Uncle Jin took everyone through the foyer and then into a spare bedroom.

Aiden laid Haru on the bed and then began to unzip the boy's jacket and took it off, followed by the sneakers. Then he put the boy in between the sheets, tucking him in.

It wasn't long when Go-sensei, a doctor working within the facility of the resort, arrived and made quick work on examining Haru's condition.

"It looks like he has a fever," he said a few minutes later. "Probably due to exhaustion and the change in environment."

Aiden felt even more sick to the stomach, the guilt in him rising.

"He'll need rest."

Isaac said, "Thank God we're not doing any long-distance traveling for the next seven days. Haru will be all right, right sensei?"

Go-sensei nodded. "I'll give him some medication to calm the fever. When he wakes up, I'll do a more thorough checkup and take some blood tests."

Once the doctor moved back, Uncle Jin came over and sat on the side of the bed, his eyes on Haru. He rested his palm on the top of the boy's head, a gentle smile playing about his lips.

"So this is Haru," he said. "He's grown so much since I last saw him."

Reo said, "He was only around eight back then, uncle."

Uncle Jin chuckled. "Hm. He was such a small boy. He was very beautiful, too. Looks like that hasn't changed. The Shrine Maiden gene."

"The Shrine Maiden gene is real?" Isaac asked, flabbergasted.

Uncle Jin raised his gaze to Isaac. He nodded, a smile playing about his lips. "The Shrine Maiden gene is very real." He stood. "You all must be very tired after the long journey."

Isaac nodded. "You bet, Uncle Jin."

"You must be Isaac," Uncle Jin said, chuckling. "I wonder if you have the Shrine Maiden gene, too."

Isaac looked lost for a moment. "Huh? I thought the Shrine Maiden gene was genetic, not contagious. And we have no Shrine Maidens in our family, the Davises, Uncle Jin."

Uncle Jin laughed. "Joke. I was joking." He turned to the others. "Let's have some tea."

Everyone followed Uncle Jin out the room and into the living area down the corridor, except for Aiden. When the door shut, the man took the opportunity and sat on the side of the bed, his fingers gently stroking Haru's hair.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I was being selfish." He leaned down and kissed the boy gently on the lips. "Please be all right."

He stayed with Haru until the boy opened his eyes.

"Hey," he greeted, pleased Haru was finally conscious again. Damn, but that twenty minutes of him just sitting there watching over the boy was nerve-racking. The feeling of guilt mixed with worry kept building within him, fearing for the worse, especially for the boy's health. Simply put, it was torturous.

Haru shut his eyes again and then groaned. "I feel sick, Aiden."

"Yeah, you caught yourself a fever. Probably some sort of infection, too."

"Did I?" the boy asked. "Sorry."

"Why are you sorry? It's my fault you got sick."

Haru licked his lips and then asked hoarsely, "How is it your fault?" He sighed. "My body is weak anyway."

Yeah, Aiden knew that Haru had a weak body, since he had been young, due to malnutrition. So why had he insistently driven Haru to exhaustion by making love to the boy so frequently?

"You must be dehydrated," he said. "I'll give you something to drink."

Haru nodded.

Aiden was about to leave the room to get some water when the door opened and a middle-aged Japanese woman came in.

"Excuse me," she said. "I brought some hot drinks for Haru-kun."

Aiden nodded, and the woman put the silver tray on the bedside table. Haru shifted himself and sat up as the woman handed him a cup of green tea. He drank the warm infusion quickly, so dehydrated he was. Once done and satisfied, he sighed.

"Better?" Aiden asked.

Haru nodded. He asked, "Where's everyone else?"

"In the living room," Aiden said. "This is Uncle Jin's penthouse."

"Are we staying here?"

Aiden shook his head. "We're only here because you fainted."

Haru's face flushed hot. He looked embarrassed, which was adorable in Aiden's eyes. In fact, he simply wanted to grab the boy into his arms and kiss the life out of him. But of course, he couldn't do that, much to his displeasure. The Japanese woman, whom he assumed was Uncle Jin's housekeeper, was still here, after all.