So, I was going to add another chapter in between this one and the epilogue…but, instead I decided I would just add flashbacks. :D Also, I don't state where it happens. So, if it goes into italics without the little apostrophes around it, then it's a flashback. I'm sure you all would've caught onto that though but, for fair warning, I put it.

Thanks to all of my readers, especially Scriverane, Christa-Hime loves yaoi, Miyuku-tan, xMoymoy and Melancholy dreams (If I forgot your name, I apologize) for keeping up with this story since the beginning. :)

Now then, last chapter!

"As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed."

The art building was filled with paintings that contrasted with its peach colored walls, making some of them stand out brightly while others looked fairly dark and dull against it. In the midst of all of the college students that walked around, admiring the artwork, there was a dark haired man that was staring at one painting. He hadn't moved since he got there, trying to shake off the nicotine craving he always got inside of a building.

His eyes went down to the nameplate underneath, which read in golden letters 'SHINOBU TAKATSUKI'. This only further reminded him of who he was waiting for, looking down at his watch and checking the time.

'Jeez, I know Tokyo University is big, but you didn't have to go get lost Shinobu-chin.' Miyagi thought, sighing as his mind fluttered back to the face of the almond haired boy he had been pining to see for so long. It wasn't that the two of them were separated for so long that Miyagi had almost become deprived of him. He just missed seeing his face, and holding him for that matter, for the week or so that Shinobu had been busy going to school.

'It's a good thing he picked a school so close, or else I definitely wouldn't see him.' Miyagi thought, smiling a bit as he remembered the conversation the two of them had after their first night.

The alarm went off early in the morning, the two sleeping lovers not even in the least bit worried about it as it continued to blast its annoying sound into the air. They were much more engrossed in being together and sharing the body heat of one another while they indulged in hearing the calm collected breathing of the other. Soon, one of them did take notice however, and his tolerance for ignoring it seemed to shorten with each passing second.

"Miyagi, turn it off." He mumbled sleepily, nudging back towards the man who was wrapped around him. Of course Miyagi hadn't wanted to leave the position so soon, although the two of them were basically lying in their own releases from last night, which made Shinobu uncomfortable. Shinobu was well aware that the older man was ignoring him, and decided not to argue so much about it and instead sat up and reached over the older man, switching the box off. Miyagi's arms were still around his waist, which made him blush extremely as he tried to release himself from the grip.

"C'mon Miyagi, I need to go take a shower! I'm still dirty!" He cried, wiggling every direction he could think of to get out of this predicament.

There was only silence in the room, then the grip loosened and Shinobu ran off to the bathroom.

Miyagi smiled as he laid there, not being to handle himself at the sound of his cute voice. At that thought, he sat up in bed and looked down at his sketchbook that was sitting next to the bed; his post-coitus sketching seemed much stranger than he had thought. 'What compelled me to draw him? I know I love him but, this is just too weird.' He picked up the book and looked at the unfinished drawing; capturing even part of the boys face that had been sleepy from sex did make him feel better about it. Deciding to get dressed, Miyagi slowly slipped out of bed and began to go search for clothes to wear. After a minor search, he just threw on a pair of the pajama bottoms he hadn't worn last night due to how his night hadn't ended with him showering and going straight to bed as he always did.

The sounds of the shower running stopped abruptly as he finished putting his leg into the pair of pants, the other walking out of the bathroom in only nothing but a towel, not thinking to bring any other clothes. He blushed, Miyagi standing there shirtless and looking back at him. Although, Miyagi had seen every aspect of his body last night, he was still embarrassed.

"When did you wake up?"

"Just a few minutes ago, while you were still in the shower." Miyagi replied, tossing one of his own oversized shirts that was wrapped around a pair of underwear at Shinobu. "Put this one in case you don't want to catch a cold."

Shinobu looked at the ball of garments that Miyagi had given him then sighed and retreated back into the bathroom. After a few minutes, he came back out, the shirt hung down to his thighs and he had his usual bland face while he went and dropped the towel into the hamper. Surveying the room, he realized he had never been in here except for yesterday.

'It's nice…for Miyagi.' He thought, looking at the disheveled bedspread and then making his way out of the room to the kitchen where Miyagi had begun cooking and was pushing meat around in a skillet. Shinobu merely sat down at the table, picking up the newspaper that was folded on the table and flipping to the astrology section to read.

"So, when are you supposed to be going to that Australian school?" Miyagi asked, trying to make idle chat as well as ask a question that had been weighing on his mind for quite some time now.

"What are you talking about?" Shinobu began, almost getting an angry look from Miyagi before he continued. "After all we've done, there's no way I'm going to go to Australia for four years…idiot."

Miyagi sighed, looking back down at his watch to figure out if he should go searching for the boy until he heard a faint voice calling out to him. Looking back, he saw the young adult walking up towards him with a canvas underneath his arm and a case on wheels full of paints in the other. He gave a small wave to the student, who just continued to walk until he was right next to him.

"Sorry I'm late." Shinobu muttered, handing Miyagi his covered canvas to hold.

Miyagi took it, and then turned his attention back to the painting. "So, you did this, huh?"

Shinobu nodded, looking at the painting with detachment.

"Well, it looks good, good enough for a colorblind brat, anyways." With that remark, he got a rough elbow to his side from Shinobu. He could only laugh in response.

"Don't worry, it looks fine. I mean, I was your teacher after all." He said, only to get another elbow to his hip.

"How mean!" he whined, rubbing his arm and whimpering in a fake manner. Of course, he wanted to try and see if he would be able to draw some emotions from Shinobu.

"That's what you get for saying stupid things." Shinobu muttered. "Old man." He added to lighten the mood.

Miyagi caught on that Shinobu was merely joking, and stopped his false act of pain. Shinobu stared at the picture until he felt the older man put a hand on his head, recognizing the teenager was clearly distressed.

"So, how's your father been since you last saw him?" He asked, bringing up the one item of conversation Shinobu never liked to talk about.

Shinobu glanced over at him, and then looked down as though trying to form a sentence in his head as to how he would answer such a question. "He's okay…it's a good thing it was caught early before it spread though. The myeloma has made him weak, so weak in fact he doesn't even walk anymore. It's depressing, but I think we'll be okay." He almost whispered the last few sentences, the stress from talking about it actually made him even more depressed than he had been when he was just thinking about it.

"Don't worry, Shinobu-chin. It hasn't gotten any higher than Level II, and it doesn't look like there have been many complications to it lately since the last time we went. He'll be fine." Miyagi said, slipping his hand off of Shinobu's hair and laying it on his shoulder.

"I hope so." He mouthed, then brought a hand to his mouth as he yawned softly and stretched out a bit.

"I know I never asked, but when you went to go visit your parents, you didn't say anything unnecessary, did you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, you know your parents still have yet to meet this Miyako, even though you told them she apparently went to that Australian University you were supposed to go to because the two of you were so in love." Miyagi sighed, feeling a bit weird talking about a girl that didn't even exist considering he was 'Miyako'.

"I don't see why you're so worried about it anyways; it isn't like you're some kind of creep for it." Shinobu said nonchalantly.

"Other than the fact that you could be my son." Miyagi added.

"Well, unless you would want to sleep with one of our kids, I don't think we would have to worry too much about that." Shinobu retorted.

"Since when did I agree to this? We've only been dating a little over a year now, I don't think I'm ready for kids at all."

"You're 36 going on 37…at this rate, you'll start shooting blanks if you don't hurry." Shinobu bluntly stated."

"It isn't like you can have kids anyways, that's the beauty of dating a cute little boy like you."

"I still want some, and I will get them if it means I have to milk it out of you."

Miyagi sighed, clearly not being able to change Shinobu's mind if he tried. So, instead he went back to the drawing they had been standing in front of for so long it was making other people start to worry about them.

"So, what made you paint something like that?" He asked.

"I just wanted to see if I could do it, and my teacher said even though it was a little elementary, it's one of the best one's he's seen yet. He was pretty surprised though, considering I can't see colors."

"All of it paid off though, didn't it?" Miyagi asked, trying to get some compliments on his teaching style from Shinobu with no success.

"Just take me home, I'm tired now." Shinobu yawned again, scratching his head while he started to walk away from the painting while Miyagi continued to stand there and admire it for a few more minutes.

"Aren't you coming?" Shinobu asked.

'Well, he's certainly perfected his art now, hasn't he?' Miyagi thought. "Coming, my little Shinobu-chin." He crooned, walking in the direction of Shinobu.

As he walked away, a mother and her small daughter walked by the painting, only for the little girl to stop and stare at it for a moment, her mother trying to beckon her over.

"Come on, sweetie. We don't have time to waste looking at paintings, we're just cutting through, remember?"

"But, mommy. It's such a pretty rainbow!" The little girl said cheerfully, pointing at the painting of the simple picture.

The mother walked back over to the little girl, picking her up and looking at the painting for a bit. "Hmm…it is nice, isn't it? You don't usually see rainbows like this." She said, holding the little girl against her.

"I want to see a rainbow like that…it's so pretty." The little girl mumbled, putting her head on her mother's shoulder as she drifted off into sleep.

The mother started to walk away from the painting, glancing back once more to look at the beautiful hues before she completely walked away.

So, it took me forever to write this for some reason. I guess it just wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would turn out. As for Shinobu's dad, I really tried not to go down the cancer road but it just happened so sorry for such a cliché condition.

Thanks for reading! (: