As children, Kuro, his brother Mizu, and their next door neighbor Phillip were best friends, always playing together. In their teenage years, when the brothers’ emotionally abusive father fell ill, their friendship fell apart. For a time Mizu dated Phillip, and conflicted and frustrated, Kuro sought comfort from random strangers and did drugs.<br><br>The three men are now adults and Mizu and Phillip have broken up, with little chance for reconciliation. Without anywhere else to go, Phillip and Kuro move into a dumpy apartment, and Kuro hopes the two of them will be happy together. Maybe they’ll even have an opportunity to kindle a romance.<br><br>But Mizu is extremely jealous of their closeness, and both men have their own issues they’re struggling with and trying to recover from. To make matters worse, Kuro is losing sleep, as he’s constantly waking up at three a.m. Will Phillip accept Kuro’s feelings, or will he go back to Mizu? Can Kuro reconcile with his brother and his past?

3 A.M.

“He took care of me after the accident, when I was too injured to work. He was there for me when my parents divorced. He can be an asshole, but do I think he’s an abuser? No.”


“But why? If you told a therapist what happened to you, they would say he is.”


“He never hit me,” Phillip repeated flatly.


Our next morning went by intense silence. We showered, dressed, and headed over to the house. Mom wasn’t home. Her Sedan wasn’t in the driveway, which meant that she was either running errands or visiting with friends. It was typical of her to blow off meeting times. I quickly dialed her number and it rolled to voicemail.


“Hey Mom, it’s Kuro. You said ten, but you’re not here. We’re grabbing our stuff. Just letting you know that we haven’t broken into your house.”


Chapter 5