Author's Notes: Finished! At long last. A big thank you to all the readers who stuck with it after all these years and to any new readers I've picked up along the way. =)

Chapter 19: The Big Picture

Slowly but surely, Akira and Hikaru's life normalized. After a few weeks, the whispers and rumors died down. Hikaru could tell that Akira, relationship with his father reinstated, started to relax as well.

However, Hikaru still had one more thing to look into before he was willing to put the whole situation behind him – trying to track down the bastard who had taken those pictures. Since the e-mail address he had received from the Go Weekly employee was his best lead, he decided pursue it. Creating a new email address (as per Waya's suggestion), he began his inquiry. His first email was introductory and demanded the culprit's identity. Once a week had passed with no response, Hikaru flooded the perpetrator's e-mail address with dozens of daily insults in hopes of getting a rise out of the other person.

Hikaru's annoying relentlessness finally bore fruit the following week as the owner of the offending e-mail address finally responded sending only a meeting time and place. Ecstatic, Hikaru let out a cry of triumph. In the midst of his celebration, Hikaru finally realized that Akira was standing behind him looking perplexed.

"What happened, Hikaru?" Akira asked when given the opportunity to get a word in.

Hikaru answered with feral smile. When the look on Akira's face changed from confused to worried, he finally clued his boyfriend in. "I've been contacting the email address of the guy who took the pictures. I finally got a place and time to meet up."

Frowning, Akira, always the logical one, said, "How do you know that this person will actually show up? You could be stuck there for hours and never figure out who it is. More likely than not, it's a waste of time."

Hikaru, in his joy, hadn't considered this outcome. "It's as good of a chance as I'll ever have. It took two weeks for me to even get a response. What, am I supposed to ignore it now?"

With a sigh, Akira simply replied, "I don't want you to go."

"I have an opportunity to meet the bastard that sent in the pictures that put us through hell not too long ago, and you're asking me not to go?" Hikaru said incredulously.

"It was a struggle to get through those hard times," Akira admitted softly. "But it's kind of a relief to get it over with. Now we don't have to live with the constant fear of getting found out. We can be ourselves in public."

Scratching his head, Hikaru grudgingly acknowledged the fact. "Ok, that might be true. But the culprit definitely had bad intentions, at least for me. He wanted to steal you from me." With that, he pouted.

"Hikaru, you never had anything to be worried about," Akira told him gently stepping in closer. He put a hand on either side of Hikaru's face, forcing their eyes to meet.

"Yeah, but doesn't it make you mad in the least?"

"You move ahead of your troubles," Akira responded backing away and heading towards the door. "I'd rather look forward than dwell on a past I can't change. Isn't there anything else you'd rather be doing rather than meeting with the anonymous tipper?" With that, he stopped at the doorframe and turned around to face Hikaru. With a sultry look, he unbuttoned the first button on his shirt, and then the next, and then the next.

From his seat by the computer, Hikaru's eyes grew large as he watched Akira's fingers move down the buttons deftly. A ribbon of pale skin showed from neck to navel, both intriguing and enticing him. "Rather be doing?" he repeated Akira's words, choking a little bit on them.

"Yeah," Akira said with a smoky, desire-laced look in his eyes. Although his lips curved into a smile, the flush on his cheeks betrayed his confidence. "I'll be waiting in the other room once you decide what you want," he whispered shrugging his shirt off of his shoulders and letting the material slither down his arms and drop to the floor. With one last pointed look, he turned and headed towards the bedroom.

Hikaru was left gaping, heart beating fast with anticipation. He looked at the computer screen displaying the date, time, and place to meet the anonymous tipper but found his gaze drawn back to the path Akira had just taken; he knew his mind was already made up. Quickly, he typed a careless message to the culprit, whose identity he had wanted to discover only minutes earlier. Now, this mission seemed unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Akira was right; the events drawn to the photographer no longer affected his and Akira's relationship.

Hikaru scanned the brief sentences he had written: "I don't care to know who you are. It doesn't matter to us anymore." He hit the send button and headed over to the other room to join Akira.

When he entered the bedroom, the shades were drawn and Akira was lying shirtless on the bed. Reflections of the dim light that filtered through the blinds illuminated Akira's smooth, pale flesh making it glow with a provocative radiance. Wordlessly, Hikaru walked to the bed and got on hearing the springs in the mattress protest the extra weight. Fingers gently brushed the edge of where Akira's slacks rested against his waist.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Hikaru whispered.

"Yes," Akira gasped.

The next thing Hikaru knew, they were working to undress each other, the moment passing as a blur of awkwardly moving limbs, tugs, and caresses. Akira's delicate fingers played against his flesh, reminding Hikaru how much he missed the other boy's touch.

When Akira pulled Hikaru down to him, their mouths met in a passionate kiss. Lips locked; tongues swirled around each other exploring the already familiar territory of each other's mouths.

Breaking away, Hikaru moved downwards pressing his lips against Akira's chest. His gaze flicked up and observed as the other boy's head tossed from side to side. The fanning pattern of Akira's hair arrested Hikaru's attention as he could only watch his lover's movements.

"Un, Hikaaru," Akira managed, breath heavy. "P-please."

Surprisingly, now, the last thing on Hikaru's mind was the crazy stalker who had revealed their relationship to the public. All he could do was to oblige Akira's wishes as well as put into action all of the fantasies that had been pent up for the past two years …

The next time Hikaru checked his e-mail, he saw that he had already received a reply. The message was just as apt as the one he had sent. It read: "All I was going to say was "I resign.""

End

Author's Notes: I imagine that this open-ended finish might give rise to some questions…which I will attempt predict and answer below.

Q1: Did you imagine this to be the end from the beginning?

A1: When I started the fic all those years ago, I really planned on having the culprit revealed. However, as time passed, I started seeing the characters differently. Additionally, I began to feel that the fic was more about Hikaru and Akira dealing with this situation and becoming comfortable with themselves and not necessarily the identity of the anonymous photographer. This ending took the place of my original plans somewhere in the middle of writing this fic.

Q2: So you know who the culprit is?

A2: Yes.

Q3: Are you going to tell us?

A3: Umm, probably not. I think this person's identity is less important than the fact that this person acted as a catalyst to further the growth of Hikaru and Akira's relationship.

Again, a big thanks to all my readers. I really hope you guys all enjoyed the fic. =)