Agreed. He was treating Itaru harshly because he thought Itaru 'abandoned' him for all these years. Chino hid Itaru's letters and Tatsuhiko chanced up Itaru's supposed marriage. However, Tatsuhiko could have have easily cleared all these misunderstandings if he had tried to contact Itaru or meet him face to face. In the end, it was really his own fault for being a coward and for venting his frustration out on the wrong person because of petty misunderstandings. I also thought that the plot was all over the place and that events and relationships weren't clearly explained. All the characters were despicable except Iratu, but sometimes I wished that he wouldn't feel so responsible for Tatsuhiko and go along with his childish whims.
First, let's clear up the "rape" thing. Yaoi is PORN. Fetishes abound in yaoi/porn. "Rape play" is a fetish. Ergo, the concept of "rape" in yaoi is to be "fetish content".
In a culture that emphasizes "knowing your place", someone who was tasked with caring for another would feel responsible for any "harm" that befell their charge. So, of course Itaru felt like the changes in Tatsuhiko were his fault since he had "abandoned his charge.
Going back to the "rape" of Itaru by Tatsuhiko. Tatsuhiko was virtually ignored by everyone in his family after his mom died, except the young Itaru. Therefore, his experiences with expressing his love for Itaru were limited, immature and selfish. He only knew how to "take" the love he desired, like a child. Not to mention, for people like me, it makes for great fetish content!
i'm a little confused by these comments (which i am now reading, after having read the story). i thought the storytelling was weird. chino's whole psychosis, which wasn't quite explained, because i would have thought he would have related to tatsuhiko & itaru's situation. also, after finding out about itaru's supposed marriage, he becomes a ruffian/desirable gigolo type who goes for men or women? um ok. and itaru takes this as HIS fault? don't understand. then tatsuhiko rapes him at some point (when itaru all of a sudden blames himself and (i guess) thinks he deserves this harsh treatment? wtf? i dunno i was not into this one. sensei has a lot of other way better works. seriously. this one was a little all over the place for my taste. plus i hate the "i love you so i'm gonna rape you" thing.