"Sohryu?"

"Yes?"

The shikigami had his eyes closed, his head resting on Terazuma's chest.
It felt nice, comfortable... familiar.

"Can I ask you something personal?"

"What do you want to know?"

"You're a shikigami."

One eye opened, an eyebrow arching in an ‘obviously' gesture.

"Do you also have a master?"

A slow smile curled the full lips. "Why do you ask?"

A shrug. "Curiosity?"

"Not every shikigami has a master."

"I know. So, you don't?"

Sohryu was powerful, of that Terazuma had no doubt. He had no idea what
kind of shikigami he really was, who he was, and he had never wanted to
know. It was something that didn't really interest him.

"I do. I have a master," was the calm reply.

"Ah."

Those blue-gray eyes regarded him solemnly. "Is that a problem for you?"

"No, was just curious as I said."

A mutual silence fell and Terazuma wondered who controlled his lover,
who could call him. There were eighteen angels of death, him included,
and a good 50% had at least two shikigami. Or more. Three of his closest
coworkers didn't have a single one, each for different reasons. So there
were fourteen left.

"It bothers you," Sohryu rumbled.

"No," he denied immediately.

"But you're thinking about it."

"Kinda."

"Why?"

A shrug. "Don't know."

"Liar."

Terazuma sighed. "It's just... he can call on you every moment, could
summon you to fight his battles, and you would follow his call."

Sohryu smiled, not the least bit disturbed. "Of course I would. I protect
him."

"Because he's more powerful than you."

"No, because I recognize him as a worthy master, an equal in many terms."

Terazuma looked into those sincere eyes. "Because you're his."

"Yes."

So simple. A shinigami could claim a shikigami, and he would have his
loyalty, his love, his protection and servitude. It struck something inside
Terazuma, something that couldn't agree with this ‘contract'. He pushed
it aside. It was an age-old argument of his. He had a shikigami himself,
had never wanted him, but lately he had come to accept the cat.

Sohryu watched him, eyes very attentive. "I'm not a slave, Hajime. I
serve my master, but he's not my owner. We respect each other. I truly
love him for what he is; and I would die for him, defend him in battle."

Terazuma closed his eyes, shaking his head ever so slightly.

The shikigami pushed himself up and looked down on his lover. "Do you
think less of me because I'm serving a shinigami master?"

"No! No, Sohryu, never. What irks me is the fact that someone conquered
you just to fulfill his ego trip!"

He laughed. "That's truly not the fact."

Terazuma bit his lower lip, refusing to ask just who the master was.
He was afraid of knowing the shinigami; hell, he would know him. There
were not too many who had shikigami at their beg and call.

A gentle hand stroked over his face and hair. "It's a mute point to
discuss my involvement with one of your kind. I've been his for many decades
now. He never abused me, he barely calls on me, and we are partners. Just
accept it, Hajime."

"I can't do anything but accept it," Terazuma muttered, feeling ill
at ease with knowing that this man, this proud being, was under someone's
command, was a servant.

"No, there's nothing you can do," Sohryu agreed.

He leaned down and kissed him, and Terazuma replied to the loving contact.

° ° °

Their relationship was developing in leaps, Terazuma thought as he studied
the man at his side, his ‘teacher', his lover and the only person in his
life as a shinigami who knew so much about him. Sohryu had listened to
him when he talked, had just been there when Terazuma had needed to vent
his frustration, his anger, his fears, and he had listened to his dreams,
his hopes, his wants and needs. His simple presence helped. In the two
weeks Terazuma was by now in GensouKai, so much had changed and a lot was
due to the patience of this man.

"Sohryu?"

"Hm?" came the lazy reply.

Terazuma hesitated, feeling stupid. "I... I'd like to ask something.
Promise not to laugh."

The shikigami turned on his stomach and looked at him. "I'd never laugh
at you, Hajime. Ask."

"I like what we do... but... why do you choose a man over a woman? What's
so special about it? A hand job isn't really... different from what I could
do in my room."

He felt embarrassment flush his cheeks.

"Not that I don't enjoy your touch. I do. Very much. Just..."

Sohryu's smile widened, but he wasn't laughing. He sat up and leaned
over, brushing their lips together.

"I was hoping you'd ask me one day."

"Huh?"

"I'll show you."

"Wha..."

A kiss silenced his question and while Sohryu leaned even closer he
still left Terazuma enough room to push him away, to stop if he didn't
want to. But the shinigami was curious and everything else so far had been
quite pleasant. More than pleasant. It had been... a revelation.

Clothes were removed, hands stroked his skin and Terazuma closed his
eyes, letting his senses take over as Sohryu had told him he should. The
Black One purred in the back of his mind, liking the sensations coming
in, just like he seemed to stretch out, turn into a tabby cat, whenever
Terazuma did his Zen meditations, swam, or went through the moves of kendo.

A moan left his lips as Sohryu stroked and kissed and caressed him,
touching his trigger spots, those hot places, and he reached for his gentle
tormentor. His hands were caught, fingers entwined, and Sohryu blanketed
his body, their lips meeting again.

The kiss was deep, loving, explorative, and Terazuma felt himself flow
with the energies, his skin prickling with each contact. A hand closed
around him, stroking gently, then with a little more pressure, only to
lessen once more.

His breathing became harder.

So far, it was all like before. The touches, the kisses, the caresses.

"Hajime..." Sohryu whispered, his hand again down south again, playing
with the evident sign of Terazuma's wants and needs.

"Yes?" he managed, then swallowed a gasp as those fingers brushed over
the sensitive skin.

"I'll show you... but if you feel unwell, tell me..."

He didn't really understand, but still he nodded.

Hot lips closed over his hardness and Terazuma groaned loudly. It felt
so incredibly good, so fantastic, and it was a man doing this to him. A
man... Sohryu... He lost himself in the sensation of the tongue and hot
mouth over his arousal, until a sudden pressure further down there alerted
him to something else. Before he could ask, the pressure increased and
then...

Terazuma gave an exclamation of surprise and... not pain, no. It was
strange, felt... weird... but not painful.

"Soh...ryu?" he gasped.

"Relax," came the gentle purr.

"What are you..."

The strange feeling intensified and he gasped as it turned... pleasureful.
Sohryu bent over him, kissing him deeply, still playing with him, and Terazuma
found himself losing himself in that sensation.

"Just one finger," the shikigami breathed, wriggling the digit and Terazuma
cried out.

The cry turned into a mewl of ecstasy as Sohryu's finger brushed over
something, something that shot spikes of molten lava up his spine. He screwed
his eyes shut, body arching, wanting more, needing more, and to his relief
his silent wish was granted.

Terazuma gave himself over to the incredible sensation, to the mouth
now working his hardness to completion, to the overloading sense of everything.
He screamed his climax, neurons firing, his world blanking for a full second
before he melted into every pore of the ground, breathing hard, unable
to comprehend what had just happened. Just that... it had felt good.

No.... mind-blowing.

Soft lips kissed his sweaty skin and he shivered as Sohryu caressed
him. Everything felt hyper sensitive, down to his most intimate parts and
Terazuma gasped softly at the sensations.

"Shhh..." the shikigami murmured, kissing one ear lightly. "Just feel
it... let it slow down on its own... enjoy the afterglow."

Terazuma closed his eyes, aware of so much all of a sudden, so intense,
so... perfect. Sohryu still caressed him, giving his senses a way to realign
with normality, home in on his non-arousing contact, and after a while
Terazuma finally opened his eyes. Sohryu smiled at him.

"So that's it?" the shinigami whispered.

"Part of it."

Terazuma wasn't an innocent concerning male sex; he knew what it could
involve. He just hadn't lost a lot of thought concerning the deeper meanings
of...well... that.

"So there's another lesson coming up?" he teased.

Sohryu chuckled. "If you want to."

He drew him down to kiss that wonderful mouth, enjoying the contact
now that he didn't feel so sensually raw any more.

"I want to."

Hands caressed him, soothed him, held him. "Then I'll be happy to show
you more, Hajime."

He smiled lazily, turning in the embrace of his lover. "Looking forward
to it."

° ° °

The day had started out nice enough, but the more it progressed, the
more clouds covered the blue sky, and with it the sun, and the winds picked
up. By the time Terazuma made his daily trip through the small forest to
the lake, it was rather windy and the trees were waving their branches
and leaves, creating a background noise to the occasional rumble from above.

Figures, Terazuma thought. A thunder storm was coming in. Sohryu had
probably stayed home and if he had had at least given it a thought, so
should have he. To his surprise, though, he was expected.

Long hair moving in the increasing wind, Sohryu stood next to the 'meeting
tree', smiling at him.

"The weather is not in our favor today," he remarked as Terazuma walked
closer.

The shinigami cast a critical eye toward the sky, feeling Kagankokushunkei
move uneasily. The lion hated rain and thunderstorms, always trying to
escape his host body without being able to. Terazuma had had hoped with
the ease the shikigami had shown lately that problem had been solved, too.
Apparently not.

"Yeah," he muttered, not looking forward to it all.

He would feel those moods again, he would feel the shifting and the
pressure of the lion within him, and he would need a pack of cigarettes
just to last through the rainy hours to come. It would most definitely
be hours. This didn't look like a brief thunder storm at all. He felt chilled,
and not all came from the ever-cooler growing wind.

Arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him to the warm body underneath
the tree. Equally warms lips caught his, kissing him gently.

"Hajime?" Sohryu inquired softly.

"It's nothing. Just... he... well... gets kinda itchy throughout rain."
He sighed, shaking his head. "I thought it might have gotten better as
well."

Sohryu kissed him again, trailing a nibbling line down his jaw and neck.
"Instinctive fear cannot be soothed by just a few days of meditation and
relaxation. He needs to be distracted." Now those lips were close to his
ear and Sohryu licked one tip, making Terazuma shiver.

"I don't think making out in the rain's gonna help," the shinigami remarked.

Sohryu laughed softly. "No, probably not, but there is somewhere you
might like."

He gave his lover a critical eye, but the shikigami just smiled more.

"Come, I'll show you."

 

tbc...